Chapter Text
### (1966)
For as long as Pandora could remember, she had ‘nightmares’ of a certain black-haired boy with stars in his eyes, getting pulled down into a lake by bony thin fingers, digging into his fair skin.
Sometimes the ‘moonlight torments’ had his dead cold body next to a seemingly endless body of water. Pandora was always on the side of the lake, frozen in place. Always shivering. Always cold. Always forced to watch this rather unfortunate event. Over and over again…
These agonies end with a blood-curdling scream, hot tears rolling down her smooth cheeks, and a worried brother bursting into her room.
“Pan! What’s wrong? Tell me!” Evan said, not hiding the distress in his voice. He squeezed his sister tightly before crawling underneath the bedsheets with her. The two tiny bodies took up very little space on the comfortable bed. “Shh… it’s okay… it’s okay… I’ll stay with you for tonight, okay?”
Her little brother’s warmth blocked some of these ‘nightmares’. The minority of them anyway.
That was just the start of those episodes. They would continuously get more horrific and gory as Pandora grew up. Sometimes, it was Pandora herself getting pulled down by those corpse-like fingers. Evan frequently ran into Pandora’s room whenever he heard a single scream. In the end, their father installed a bunk bed for them to sleep in and charmed it to make sure the two magnificent beds didn’t crash down on each other.
Pandora was only five years old when those visions started, she had pale blue curious eyes, chestnut brown skin and rosy purple cheeks. Her twin younger brother looked the same as her, with slightly more vibrant blue eyes and dark brown hair, in contrast to his sister’s silvery white locks.
Their parents were always busy with their work, their father in the ministry, and their mother, the principal of the local primary school, which meant the twins were left alone with Fanny, the house-elf. The family lived in a lovely private three-story manor with a 20-acre garden, close to some forests and a few muggle villages outside muggle London. The house was made of white brick, which gave it a more fantastical look, especially because of the red roses adorning the side of the mansion which Fanny and Mrs. Rosier lost control of a few years back.
The inside was even more romantic. Wallpapered walls, a large family tree painting in the living room, their family crest and motto front and centre (A nightjar wrapped in roses: Beauty and intelligence). Portraits of their ancestors, dating back times that Pandora couldn’t fathom, decorating the hallways between rooms, and heaps upon heaps of ancient tales and literature in their library.
Their parents were never as prejudiced against muggles as, say, the House of Black. Mrs. Rosier periodically let Pandora and Evan go to the public library or parks in those villages, and sometimes, the church, under the guise of being two homeschooled muggle children.
Pandora couldn’t bear to see that boy drowning every single night. She had been reading muggle storybooks she had borrowed from the muggle library under her bedsheets with a glass jar filled with tiny amber fireflies keeping her company til the break of dawn.
This habit did have unwanted effects. She would frequently open her eyes only to herself on the cold, hard bathroom floor, the warm green grass, or the leather couch in the living room.
It wasn’t until Pandora was seven years old when she got the cure for her ‘nightmares’.
### (1968)
They had gone to Horace Slughorn, who was friends with Mr. Rosier, desperate for a cure for their little girl. They met at his house over the summer because of Hogwarts’ rule of ‘no outsiders allowed inside school compounds’.
His house was quaint and smaller than the castle she was used to, but otherwise very spacious and filled with bookshelf upon bookshelf each stuffed with various subjects, namely, potions. Pandora was itching to ask if she could read one while the adults talked. She followed them down into the basement into his potions lab.
The messy lab was filled with tonnes and tonnes of tools, charts, open books and ingredients of all kinds of rarities. Bottled potions filled the locked glass cabinets, adding colour to the professor’s dark and mysterious laboratory.
The first moment the potions professor looked at Pandora, she knew that he knew about her abilities, more than she did.
“Your child is a seer,” he had said, an audible gasp from Mrs. Rosier following. “Those nightmares were visions, is your family related to any seers, Theodore?”
“From my side, no,” he glanced at Mrs. Rosier, who gave him a slight nod, “My wife is a squib.”
“I was disowned when I was young,” she said bravely. “I was a Farlskey,” she revealed with a hint of gloom. Pandora never really knew about her mother’s past. She had said she grew up in a muggle children’s home, but nothing much after that.
“Ah, you might be related to a Trelawney then,” Slughorn smiled warmly. “ But I’m confused, I thought you married a pureblooded witch? The Daily Prophet said so.”
“Uhh..”
Pandora looked up at them. Eyes wide and brain gears turning. What did ‘seer’ mean? What was a Trelawney? She had to research this later.
“It’s okay, keeping it private? And I thought it was odd you didn’t invite me to your wedding.” He said kindly. “It’s truly fascinating, a squib producing a magical child that is also a seer? Truly incredible.” Slughorn took out his wand and began to search through the many books in his dark oak cupboard.
“Don’t tell anybody, Horace, I don’t want to lose my job just because the woman I love isn’t a pureblood,” Mr. Rosier said, voice hard.
Slughorn paused for a few seconds, he looked at Mr. Rosier in the eye and said, “Theodore, I promise, don’t worry,”
Mr. Rosier sighed, “Tough times we live in.” And Slughorn did not say a word to that.
“Ahah! I found it!” he placed the dark purple hardcover book down on the messy potions table.
The three of them peered over the table, the book read ‘The Draughts and Painkillers for the Otherworldly’ in gold foiling.
“A friend of mine gave me this, friendly-old chap, works in the department of mysteries,” he said proudly before focusing on making the difficult-looking potion. Mrs. Rosier breathed a sigh of relief, as if she had been holding her breath this entire time, and started beaming with hope.
He read through all the instructions and told Mr. Rosier, “This potion will take a couple of days to brew, Theodore, maybe even months,” he took out a constellation chart and began studying it.
“Maybe we could take the book home? To save you the trouble?” he suggested.
Slughorn shook his head, “Anything for a dear friend.” He smiled, “While you're here, want some tea? It will take a few minutes to brew the first stage of the potion.” He took his wand out again and started using it to weigh some sort of herb.
“Sure,” Mrs. Rosier responded kindly.
“I will help you then,” Mr. Rosier took out his wand and read the book.
A few months later, the finished potion arrived in a blanketed basket via Hogwarts owl attached with a letter.
Dear Theodore,
I hope you and your family are well. How are the kids?
This potion was tricky to make, but that makes it more fun, no?
Make sure to give Pandora the potion one vial per night, the potion must only be drunk after her dinner . The potion has sleeping draught effects so she will sleep soundly after 30 minutes.
Also, the potion should be diluted every year. Just replace one tablespoon of potion with one tablespoon of water. This is so that she wouldn’t be dependent on it.
Once the supply has run out (which I hope not because I made quite a bit!) and she has still not been able to control her visions, do contact me to make more!
By the way, I heard that crystal balls can help people hone their divination skills. I never looked into it, but you lot could always give it a try.
Yours Sincerely,
Prof. Horace Slughorn
She had read this letter over the arm of her father when he had called her into his study.
This letter would later be given to Pandora for her first year at Hogwarts.
“Here you are, Dora,” he handed over a turquoise book entitled “The Dream Oracle”. “I found this in Diagon Alley today after work, it is fifth-year stuff but I don’t think that will stop you from reading it,” he said, a smile on his face. “I will find a crystal ball for you tomorrow, okay?”
Before Pandora could respond, he added, “Also, it’s best not to tell anyone about your abilities, you can only tell those you trust,”
Pandora nodded, she didn’t even question it and promptly headed off to her room to start reading… and reading… and reading… Until she realised that she couldn’t find an exact translation of whatever she had been seeing.
She looked at the contents, and flipped to chapter 10, which read, ‘Death and Misery’.
The death of a loved one: The person you are dreaming of is in danger by someone whom you do not know or have a strong hatred and or suspicion towards…
Pandora thought this was interesting, but she didn’t even know the boy she was having nightmares about.
Drowning: You are going to have to do a lot of work in the upcoming year, you will be under a lot of pressure from your elders…
Oh? Maybe the focus wasn’t the boy at all, maybe next year Fanny might just give her a crap ton of homework to do.
Most dreams have symbolic meanings, few have literal meanings… Open your inner eye to see the true meanings of your dreams… Exercises to improve the clarity of your dreams…
“Lady Pandora, your mother called for dinner,” Fanny said with a bow. The house elf bowing only made her uncomfortable, but she never had the heart to tell the diligent elf not to. She seemed to enjoy bowing to her masters.
She headed down the steps, one at a time, and met the rest of the family in the living room. The table was large and rectangular, made from the finest timber. Not suitable for a family of four which never hosted any events.
“Pan! There you are!” Evan looked up at his sister.
“Yeah,” Pandora sat at her usual spot beside Evan. “I got a new book.”
After dinner, they crawled under Pandora’s comforter, which is something they usually do to share a funny story or two. It was usually Evan who spoke, and it was Pandora ending up in giggles, and their mother would knock on the door and tell them to ‘Go to sleep!’.
This time it was Pandora who broke the ice first.
“Ev, I have a secret which you cannot tell anyone,” she said, with what she perceives as being stern.
“Okay, I won’t tell,” he nodded vigorously. “What is it?”
“I’m a seer,” she said, and all climax and dramatics abruptly ended as Evan said, “Woaahhh, wait, what is a seer?”
After answering Evan’s questions (‘It’s like a person who dreams about the future.’) she could have finally slept soundly, her first night of comfortable sleep since she was 5 years old, yet her curiosity led her to read late into the night.
### (1969)
“Pan! Wake up!”
Pandora stirred. She had slept right onto an opened book of magical creatures. “Hmm… What is it?” Pandora yawned.
“Mom said her friend is coming here today,” Evan said excitedly jumping up and down.
“Oh,” Pandora got up and dragged her body to get dressed in the bathroom.
“She said her friend has a son our age,” Evan sat in front of the closed bathroom door.
Pandora came out of the bathroom wearing a petite light blue gingham dress with white ruffles for sleeves. “She wants us to make a friend,” Pandora said excitedly.
“I thought we were going to match outfits today,” Evan was wearing a bright green shirt, dark brown shorts and a pair of scruffy black sneakers.
Pandora took her book and left the bedroom. Voices could be heard from the overhang.
“Oh Eleanor, I do hope Theodore won’t tell my husband about this little meet-up, I believe Barty deserves to have some fun with friends,”
“Oh? Why’s that?” Their mother inquired.
She looked beside her, eyeing her twin, “Ev, don’t go down the bannister,” Pandora said.
Evan huffed, “How did you even know I was going to do that?”
“You always do!”
Actually, Evan had been told off so much by Mrs Rosier that he stopped the habit. Pandora just felt that he might try to rush down the stairs. Was that something a seer like her could do? Do seers just have feelings that something is going to happen? Was it always good or bad things?
She walked down the stairs, being careful not to miss any steps as Evan slid down the rail beside her, ignoring his sister’s advice and reached the ground first.
“Evan! I told you not to do that!” Mrs Rosier said sternly, her hands on her hips. She was standing next to a tall thin woman with permed brunette hair. She had a mole next to a pair of brown, kind eyes. Behind her stood a scrawny 7-year-old boy with dusty-brown hair and brown eyes.
“This is Mrs Crouch and Barty Crouch,” Mrs Rosier gestured towards them. “This is my son, Evan, and my daughter, Pandora,” Mrs. Rosier added. After a round of compliments, the kids were shooed away into the backyard.
There, Evan pointed out an enormous oak tree. The Rosiers’ great, great-grandparents allegedly planted the tree seven hundred years ago. Evan ran his hand along the bark and climbed onto a particularly sturdy branch; Pandora plopped down onto the tree’s bulged-up root and opened her book to read. As Evan explained the myth, he laid out his hand and gestured for Barty to join him.
“I believe there’s some sort of treasure underneath all that dirt,” Evan exclaimed.
“ Cool! We should dig it up,” Barty said eyes lighting up.
As the two boys prattled on about where to get shovels. Pandora was busy reading “Bowtruckles! A Complete Encyclopedia”.
Hours sped by like seconds, and the trio became fast friends. Evan and Barty were talking about anything and everything, and Pandora quipped in from time to time.
### (1971)
“Hello, Fanny, is Eleanor here?” Mrs. Crouch asked, sounding a bit impatient.
Hearing voices from the main door, Pandora closed her book—Introduction to Charms. She rose from the leather couch where she had spent the last few hours sipping tea and headed straight to the door.
“Good afternoon Mrs. Crouch,” Pandora greeted. “Hi Barty,” she added. The cheeky boy stood next to his mother, whose eyes seemed to be a bit…dim?
“Hiya, Pan,”
“Mrs. Crouch, please come in and have some tea, Mistress has been expecting you, but she is out doing the shopping with the young master,” Fanny said, finishing with a graceful bow.
Mrs. Crouch waited in the dining room whilst Barty and Pandora headed to the living room. There, they had a rather interesting conversation about the charms they knew, testing them out on a sofa pillow as they waited for Evan to return.
“Heya, lads,” Evan finally came home with two paper bags filled with vegetables.
“Hey! Garden out back?” the pillow he was enchanting dropped to the floor with a final plop.
The trio went to the grand oak tree. Pandora sat right in the same spot as she had weeks before while the other two clambered up the bark.
“What Hogwarts house do you think we would get sorted into?” Pandora asked.
“Slytherin! I hope.” Barty replied, a cheeky grin plastered on his face. “My Dad was in Ravenclaw,” he added as the glimmer of light in his eyes faded slightly.
“That’s the coolest house, in my opinion,” Evan sighed. “But I think Pan and I will both be Ravenclaws—our father was.”
“Well, you seem too thick to be a Ravenclaw,” Barty teased.
A loud thud hit a cackling Barty as Evan’s boot fell off the tree and hit the ground beside Pandora.
“I reckon Pandora is the only one here intelligent enough to get in.”
“Evan! Your boot!” Pandora shouted, before hurling the boot towards Evan, smacking the middle of his forehead. He wobbled for a bit before plunging.
“Holy shit!” Barty reached out but to no avail. Evan slipped right out of reach and plunged towards the ground.
Pandora froze, her heart pounding. Her eyes widened, then shut tight, bracing for the impact. She felt a forceful wind rushing towards them as tears rolled down her cheeks.
“W-woah!”
Pandora opened her eyes slowly to see…a floating Evan?
“You good?!” shouted Barty from above, voice shaking.
The twins stared at each other in stunned silence, their mouths agape. Slowly, their expressions shifted into large smiles and bountiful laughter.
“That was amazing!” Evan exclaimed, arms wide
“I’m so sorry,” Pandora cried, running to hug Evan. “You could have broken your arm-”
“COMING DOWN!!!”
The twins pulled apart, a blurry flash zipped past Pandora’s vision and landed straight into Evan’s arms.
“Aww, I didn’t get any wind,” Barty complained.
“WHAT THE HECK! WHAT WAS THAT?” Evan yelled, dumping Barty onto the ground and brushing his arms.
“Oww… That hurt!” Barty groaned, rubbing his back.
Pandora couldn’t help but smile.