VOLUME THREE: CURIOSITY AND FAILURE

CHAPTER ONE

It'd been over a month since Pandora began classes with her peers. She and Luna Lovegood were fast friends, often together both in class and outside. Pandora loved her carefree attitude, and she often looked to her if she was having trouble with her research, along with the genius Hermione Granger. Hermione had no memories of her time at Vanderbilt Prep, but Pandora remembered very clearly, and she knew this girl could help her whenever she got stuck in a problem.

Neville Longbottom was another friend of Pandora's, though the two met unconventionally. Draco Malfoy put a curse on him that made him sweat ink, and Pandora found him curled up in a storage closet near the Ravenclaw common room. With Luna's help, they helped him into the hospital wing without being seen. Pandora stayed with him until the problem was fixed, and the two bonded over light conversation while Nurse Pomphrey did her work.

Pandora was not as close with Harry or Ron. Even in the alternate universe at Vanderbilt Prep, they'd had little contact with each other, and the same was true in Hogwarts. Harry was often facing his own problems from being so famous, but Ron was always the outsider, keeping him from everyone else as well. While she'd tried to talk with him, she knew it was a lost cause. Besides, it'd be so much easier to become friends with other people, except Draco and his friends. They were Pandora's only enemies, as well as the enemy for anyone who wasn't a pure-blooded Slytherin like them. The curse they put onto Neville was nothing compared to the torment they placed on others, and Pandora immediately found that she despised the boys. She'd seen over-privileged types before, and they were often as ill behaved as these boys, but they reached a new level of evil because of their families. Pandora heard plenty from the others about their history, and she knew that the Vanderbilt-character's Hogwarts version was an evil man who controlled each of his army members with ease, when he had power.

Pandora pieced together a lot of information about this character, referring to him as DL in her notes. She learned that sightings or experiences linked to him ended around the time she activated the portal device, and while a few occurred during her trip to the faery world with Professor Trelawney, none had happened since. His people, listed as DE in her notes, were worried about what was happening with him. None of them had made the connection to Pandora yet, but she knew that Vanderbilt would be after her once his strength was up.

Until then, she was a carefree student. With winter approaching fast, she wanted to find her true place within Hogwarts. Her first attempt at making friends, namely by positioning herself beside the right people in her classes, wasn't going as well as she'd like. Her second attempt was sure to be a success, if Dumbledore approved it.

"Good morning, Miss Fields," he smiled, gesturing her into his office shortly before breakfast. "I see you have something to discuss with me. Are these notes for you or for me?" he asked as she scattered them across his desk.

"They're for you, Headmaster. I had an idea about a winter trip for anyone who was interested. I know that many students like to spend their holiday with family, but there are so many who stay here through the break. I'd like to propose a beach getaway trip for the occasion, if any of them would like to go," Pandora explained, pointing to a map she'd used to show the island she'd like them to go to. "It's always warm there, and the water is beautiful this time of year."

"I'm sure it is, Miss Fields, but this is a magic school, not a vacation planning business. Students who remain here over the break are often studying for exams they'll have when they return. If you stay the full length of time, you'll put many at a disadvantage."

"I'm aware of that, Headmaster. We'd leave the day after everyone else, and we would return shortly before the new year. That gives everyone over a week to study."

"I want you to get at least forty students to go with you, as well as four professors—one for every ten students. If you cannot find that many, I won't consider the trip. I feel it's dangerous anyhow unless your chaperones are highly skilled wizards or body guards," Dumbledore said sternly, his eyes moving quickly as his thoughts rushed through him.

"I was hoping you would come along, Headmaster. I hear the plant life on the island is very magical, and I'm sure Professor Sprout would agree," Pandora smiled. She was trying harder and harder to sell the idea, a skill she mastered at Harvard while she was on the debate team. While the headmaster was a much tougher audience, she knew she'd win him over eventually.

"I have business to take care of over the break, Miss Fields. Please, find the others you need before you make any rash decisions. You have until the end of October to finalize your plans, giving you just under a month to work with. I suggest you start now or you'll never meet my demands," he warned, gesturing for her to leave as the house heads arrived. She wanted to stop and ask if they were interested, but Dumbledore wanted her out, so she moved into the Great Hall with her friends.

"How did it go?" Luna asked. While she would be busy helping her father with his newspaper, she was still very curious about how successful her idea would be. Hogwarts had scheduled trips to Hogsmede every few weekends, but a trip out of the country or to a luxurious island was something that had never happened before.

"I need forty students and four professors, one for every ten students. He isn't interested himself, but I think I can change his mind," Pandora smiled.

"Hey, what's this I hear about a trip?" a girl called from down the table. She was two years older than Pandora and Luna, but her interest seemed genuine. Pandora explained her idea and Dumbledore's demands to her. She nodded, taking a few notes on a napkin.

"Are you interested?" Luna asked.

"Well I have family obligations, but a few of my friends are stuck here over the break because their parents are being pains. This trip might cheer them up. And I could talk to Professor Flitwick for you. He's always wanted to leave for the holidays, but his duties to the Ravenclaw house and Dumbledore always keep him here," she explained. Pandora nodded, asking for her name before the bells rang. "I'm Cho Chang. I'll get you the names of my friends if they want to go."

"Thanks," Pandora smiled, turning to Luna. "I think we can pull this off, but we might need some help. Do you know if there are any rules against fliers?"

"Just don't put them on the paintings. You'll have a lot of angry people on your hands if you do," she giggled, leading the two from the Great Hall and into the dungeons for their potions class. Luna took a seat at the cauldrons with everyone else, but Pandora had a back area of the room to herself so that she could study the potions and ingredients for the almost daily papers Professor Snape required of her. He was still slightly upset about the potion incident during her first days, but he was gradually becoming easier to deal with. He had saved her during the battle for the pixies, carrying her through the portal and into the hospital wing without complaint. That kind of bond could easily overpower even the greatest of hatreds.

She wondered if he would want to help with the trip as he approached her with another topic. She was to do a history analysis on two ingredients, comparing and contrasting their uses throughout history between the different eras. It would be a difficult paper, due before the next evening, when she would give an oral report on a potion she'd been researching.

"I have to say you bring honor to people like yourself, Miss Fields. You're obedient, and my other students could learn from you," he muttered darkly, moving quickly into his office while the other students prepared a potion for an exam. Pandora smiled to herself; she could easily win him over. She'd give him a few days, but then she would strike. He'd never know what hit him.

"My grandmother said I could go on the trip, but only if the right professors are going," Neville whispered, sniffling slightly. His allergies seemed to be acting up, but Pandora knew that Draco had something to do with it by the way he kept eying their table.

"Cho's friends contacted me during study hall to say they'd be going for sure. Here's their three names," Luna smiled, passing her the list. "Where were you during study hall? Were you persuading some of the professors to join the trip?"

"I was working on a project for Professor Snape," she sighed, passing her what she had so far for her oral report. "He's already assigned something else, this one even harder."

"Hermione should be able to help you. She's helping Ron with a minor charm problem for Professor Flitwick's next exam, but she'll gladly help you later," Neville said, eying the Gryffindor table carefully. He was supposed to be sitting there, but so far no one had noticed.

"You shouldn't worry about the trip then. Let me handle it. I'm very persuasive," Luna grinned, looking around the table. She tapped the arm of a seventh-year, who was mid-conversation with a beautiful girl. The expression on his face when he turned around was one of disgust. Luna couldn't say a word before the boy turned around again. "Well that wasn't very successful, but I'm quite good. My father could print some fliers for us in case that doesn't work. I designed one during study hall, if you're interested."

The drawings depicting the island were whimsical, but the poster had the artistic quality of a masterpiece painting. Pandora tucked it into her things to take a better look at later.

"I'll do what I can with the trip later, after I finish my work for Professor Snape. I managed to complete my other assignments in class, but his always take much longer," Pandora sighed. "Has he always been this difficult?"

"He likes challenging his students, and they tend to gain from it later," Luna replied. "He likes focusing on troubled students the most because they need his expertise more."

"That's why he tends to pick on Hermione in class. She already knows the answers, so he doesn't like her that much," Neville shrugged, sniffling as he took another bite of his food. "He also prefers students born from magical parents. You're pure-blooded, so you should be fine."

"But my family has been cursed to not use magic. Could that make him harder on me than the others?"

"I doubt it, Pandora," Luna smiled. "Embrace his thinking, and I'm sure the reward will be great."

Pandora left the two to return to the library. She took over a table in the corner, covering it with books for her paper. She wished she could use an invisibility charm to stay in the room all night, but she knew it'd only backfire. She sighed heavily; frustration was setting in.

"Your oral report was lacking in many areas," Professor Snape sighed, handing her a piece of parchment with a heavily-inked "C" on the top. "That rubric should explain everything. I have a meeting to attend, but we can discuss this later in class. And your paper?"

"I could only get in enough research for one of the ingredients, at least for the elements you requested. The other was a rare item of sorts, and most of the items were in the Restricted Section of the library. In fact, the librarian wanted me to ask why you would request me do such a topic. She wouldn't tell me why, but she would like a prompt answer," Pandora explained. He nodded, sitting down and looking over her parchment carefully.

"I was testing you, just as I do all my students. If I cannot test your knowledge in a hands-on setting like your peers, I must have you do the extra work. And I take that this intense research is the reason for your poor oral report?" Professor Snape asked. She nodded nervously, not knowing if that was really a good answer or not. "Dumbledore asked why I was being so harsh on you," he whispered, marking something on the parchment. "I gave him an honest answer, just as I will give now. I do not tolerate an atypical curriculum. I like standards, and what you're doing is far from atypical. It's almost amoral what we're having to do to handle your weaknesses, but...I do have some answers for you on that front," he said, handing her back her report. He'd marked calligraphy errors, namely her using American English rather than British English. When she looked up, he was handing her a small journal, smaller than most books.

"What is this?"

"I found this in the storage room when I first acquired this position. A serial cursist was roaming around Hogwarts around seventy-five years ago, plaguing numerous students with unknown charms, spells, and curses, all obviously negative. If your family belonged to his class, they may've been targets. As for your father, I have these documents," he said, handing her a few scrolls of parchment, all of them cracked from aging. "His employment records until his capture and death sentence," he nodded. "If your father's family ever worked at these places, that could be the cause of your double dose of curses. They usually wore off within months, so your case is, as per usual, atypical."

"Thank you, Professor. And I'll look into researching possible cures for the curse. I want to participate in your course, though I enjoy this research portion as well. My mishap with you earlier explained why I never was a good cook, but I'm sure you didn't need to know that," Pandora said, smiling at first but frowning as Professor Snape's face remained the same.

"I try to forget that mishap as much as I can, Miss Fields. I suggest you do the same and use your position in my class to regain my trust. I can tell you are a dedicated student, but how you can achieve a mastery of potions without ever making one yourself is beyond my expertise," he said sternly, gathering his things. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm late for my meeting. Enjoy your marks," he said, writing something down and passing the scrap piece of parchment to her.

He'd given her a B+ on her paper, and raised her grade for her oral report to a C+. He was coming to her side, but it would just take more time.