"I intend to, but while Harry and Ron decide to sleep their lives away in the meantime I am getting ahead on my Potions essay. I fully expect Ronald to ask to look at mine anyway, so might as well get ahead while I can. Can't have these boys failing everything! I do wish they were a bit more dedicated. But, I'm the crazy one, right?" Hermione said, shaking her head.
After that brief encounter, Padma walked down the staircase to the Great Hall and could not help feeling that something was not as it should be. As she entered the Great Hall she was waved down by her sister. She took a seat, and asked where Luna and Ginny were. "Oh, they finished breakfast already and said they would meet us by the lake.Luna said she wanted to visit the Giant Squid before we headed into Hogsmead and I decided to stay and wait for you of course!"
The pair made their way out to the grounds towards the lake and saw a couple figures down by the Black Lake. Not only that, but the lake seemed to be emitting a strange glow. Near the shore, there seemed to be a glowing object, causing light to dance on the waves as they lazily grazed the shore. As they got closer they saw Luna and Ginny both on the ground, not moving. The glowing orb in the waters was almost hypnotizing, and Parvati seemed to forget her friends were unconscious on the ground next to her and ran to see what was in the cold waters. Before her fingers were submerged in the gentle water, a voice could be heard resounding from the waves. "Do not touch my lake! Not before answering me this riddle! I roam the woods of Hogwarts school. And my coat is a glowing white, but don't you dare drink my magical blood, or you will be cursed for the rest of your miserable life. What magical creature am I?"
Parvarti, mesmerized by the white orb at the bottom of the shore, paid no mind, almost in a trance-like state, and went to reach for waters. As soon as her fingertips made contact with the lake, she fell back, unconscious, before the scream could leave Padma's lips. Padma hurried over to her sister, panic and dread rushing through her body. Again she heard the eerie voice coming from the lake,
"Do not touch my waters! Or you will meet the same fate as your comrades. But, if you answer my riddle they will awaken from their slumber. Again, I roam the woods of Hogwarts school, and my coat is a glowing white, but don't you dare drink my magical blood, or you will be cursed for life. What creature am I? And do not keep me waiting lest I lose my patience and strike you down."
Her heart was almost about to pound straight out of her chest as she racked her brain. Padma was hit at once with memory of last week's lecture in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Thank Merlin for Professor Lupin!
"Unicorn!" she yelled.
And with that, the white light in the lake disappeared, and she heard the girls next to her start to stir...
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"Padma! Wake up! We are going to Hogsmead, but I swear to you if we don't make it to breakfast I will give you something to cry about!"
Parvarti was bustling around the dormitory trying to get ready while in a daze, Padma could not believe the dream she just had. It felt so real...
Exasperated Parvarti yelled, "Oy! What's gotten into you? Come on now, you have to get up!"
"I really should stop reading all of the books Mum sends us before bed...it gives me strange dreams", Padma said with a sigh.
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| Loch Shiel, from scenes of Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban Image Source: Wikiepedia |
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Author's Note:
So I decided to kind of incorporate a small amount of the wizarding world of Harry Potter into this week's storytelling. I'm still going to find ways to do this for my final project but, I had a lot of fun writing this! I just knew the Pandavas' encounter with the mysterious voice in the lake would kind of be fun to use since the Black Lake located on the Hogwarts grounds is known to have a slew of mystery behind it and even more weird creatures in it. Who knows?! It could have been a mermaid or even the giant squid! In the original story it was Yudhishthira's father in disguise, but here this strange being a magical creature that dwells in the lake. I decided to make it interesting by having one of the twins dream about this part of the Mahabharata. It would be cool if their parent's were to send them traditional Indian epics to read just to help cure their homesickness and to keep a part of their culture alive since they were away for a majority of the year at school. Of course they would have grown up hearing these tales I would assume. It would make sense, considering the Harry Potter stories are set primarily in the United Kingdom and there is a large Indian population.
I am reading Narayan's Mahabharata.
Bibliography:
Narayan, R. K. The Mahabarata. London: Mandarin, 1978. 88-92. Print.
Hi Pita! I really enjoyed you twist to the story in the Mahabharata. Harry Potter is one of my favorite book and movie series. As soon as I read “Patil,” I knew that it was about Harry Potter. You incorporated a lot of cool details and personalities from the books. Hermione’s actions and words were spot on. Great job!
ReplyDeleteWhat a clever way to retell the story of the Riddles at the Lake. The Patil twins probably knew the stories of the Mahabharata because of their Indian heritage. Since the UK has a pretty large Indian population, I wonder how familiar people in the UK are with Indian epics or if Harry Potter has any influences from the Mahabharata. I also like that you made the story a dream. I still can't read the links under your pictures. Change the color to make it easy to read.
ReplyDeleteHi Pita! I absolutely loved your version of this story. I chose to do my story this week on the Riddles at the Lake as well! I thought it was such a great section of our reading this week and immediately knew I wanted to tell it myself. You did a much better job than I did at getting really creative with your story though! I lived the little details and changes you added to make the story more entertaining. I would have never thought to go with the Harry Potter theme like you--great idea! I look forward to reading more of your clever stories throughout the rest of the semester!
ReplyDeleteI love Harry Potter. I've read all of the books and love them so much. It was so interesting reading a story centering around the Patil twins because I loved them in the books. It was so creative to have incorporate the Mahabharata into the story through a dream. I have not seen that yet in any of the storybooks or portfolios. I read your other story before, I actually think it was one of the very first ones I commented on, and this one is just as good! I love the riddle and I loved this story from the Mahabharata, so your magical interpretation made me very happy. This was such a clever version of the story and you did a great job telling it. Your riddle was so creative and you worded it so well. I tried my interpretation of this story, but my riddle did not turn out nearly as well! I also loved the picture you chose and your background is also awesome. Good job!
ReplyDeleteI love that you combined a story from an Indian epic with Harry Potter… It made for a very unique storytelling style! This is something I need to work on in my own writing- combining stories we read in class with stories I am familiar with. It was clever how you incorporated small details and characters from Harry Potter without actually coming out and saying “Harry Potter.” I honestly wasn’t sure which story you were interpreting until the voice appeared at the river. Then I recognized the significance of the names, and the reasons for the girls to be passed out. What a plot twist for the whole thing to be a dream! I did not see that one coming! Do you plan to maintain a Harry Potter theme for your entire portfolio project? Great story and keep up the good work! I look forward to seeing how the rest of your project unfolds!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great way to tie together two different stories! This story from the Mahabharata was laid seamlessly into the magical world of Harry Potter. I’ve only read the first couple of books of Harry Potter but it seems you were able to tie in events from the Mahabharata with characters from Harry Potter. I also like how you made the conflict of the story end with the main character thinking it was all a dream. It was also a nice touch to incorporate the speaking dialect that’s used in Harry Potter into your story (Oy, Mum, etc). I think keeping the riddle the same was a good choice, because I knew exactly what you were referencing and if you changed it too much, I probably would have had a harder time remembering which story from the Mahabharata it came from. Overall great job and you may want to run a quick spellcheck on the title.
ReplyDeletePadma and the Black Lake. This sounds like it could be pretty interesting. Ah the world of Harry Potter and wizardry. I like it. I like how your character is interacting with the characters from the Harry Potter series. It grabs the reader, especially if they’re familiar with the world of Harry Potter. When I read the line about visiting the giant squid, I knew things were about to get interesting. Sure enough. This orb certainly has some powers. I like how you incorporated a riddle into your story. I’ve liked stories with riddles ever since reading The Hobbit when I was younger. Padma did a great job remembering her training from class. This is what saved her and all her friends there at the Black Lake. But of course! It’s all a dream. I really enjoyed this twist. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this story. There were no blaring weaknesses. I think it flowed wonderfully and the layout with speech is good. Great job!
ReplyDeleteAlright, I have to admit, I was so drawn in by your title. I've been on a Harry Potter kick lately, and as I love the series already, I was excited to see your take on Indian Epics in the Wizarding World! You did an excellent job with it. Truth be told, I haven't tried a Harry Potter themed story because I'm unsure of my ability to separate it from the original story, but I think by choosing to focus on a secondary character instead of the golden trio, you avoided this problem nicely. The riddle was also great! It was reminiscent of the original riddles, in that it had to do with death, but was still related to something Padma would know. There are a couple grammatical errors here and there, but they look like quick typing errors, and not major flaws. Really well done, Pita! I'll be back to read more!
ReplyDeleteHi Pita! I don’t recall reading any of your stories, which is a cry and shame, because I really enjoyed this one a lot! I think it is awesome when you are able to mix two different mythical storylines into one. I try to do that as much as I can (with Lord of the Rings). I think Harry Potter was a great choice, because it is hard to find someone nowadays that isn’t at least familiar with the characters. You did a fantastic job with the dialogue and keeping the Harry Potter characters in character. It was very well written and easy to follow. And then you threw in the plot twist at the end of it all being a dream, awesome! That was like the icing on the cake. Altogether, I think you did a great job with the story. I look forward to reading more of yours in the future.
ReplyDeleteHi Pita! I'm a huge Harry Potter fan and I'm so glad to see you incorporated the Patil sisters into your story! It makes a lot of sense given the amount of fantasy and magic in the epics and in the Harry Potter world. This was also a really great idea from a a writing standpoint because it allows you to put this story into a context that people will be familiar with but without removing any of the extraordinary elements. Your prose was really well done, and you did an amazing job of describing the characters and the scenes. The dialogue was believable and it felt in character for all of the lines. You also did a great job of weaving in the original story from the Mahabharata, and it was very clear what you were referencing which can be hard to do with these more elaborate retellings. I really liked how you added the bit at the end about the books coming from her mother because that is something that would conceivably make sense: her mother could have very well sent her a copy of the Mahabharata and that was what caused the strange dream. Overall, really well done, and I look forward to reading more from you!
ReplyDeleteHello again, Pita!
ReplyDeleteI am returning from the Myth Folklore class to read another one of your portfolio stories! Once again, I was not disappointed. I love that you are using a Harry Potter theme! Yours is definitely my favorite portfolio project of all those I’ve read.
This week, I read your story Padma and the Black Lake. Right off the bat, I loved how you included a segment about Hermione! It was so awesome to see such a familiar character. Your author’s note really helped me to see where you got your inspiration for the story. You did a really great job of integrating the source material into the world of Harry Potter! It really was a perfect setting. It was a great twist when she woke up to realize it was all a dream—you adding the part about her reading before bed was a really great way to hint at the origin of her dream.
Nicely done!