A/N: I had so much fun writing this! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do and please leave a review if you did!
THC – Round 8 – Slytherin
Class: Potions
Category: Standard
Prompt: [character] Pandora Lovegood
WC: 2,683
WARNING: Murder
Betas: Aya Diefair, VanillaAshes, CupCakeyyy
~ discoveries (let me close your eyes) ~
"Panda?"
Pandora practically jumps out of her skin, completely startled, and looks up at her husband. Panic instantly fills her as she looks for her pocket watch underneath all of the papers on her desk. "Oh, no! I got carried away, didn't I? What time is it? Has Luna had dinner? Is she in bed?"
Xenophilius chuckles. "I think it's about two in the morning, and Luna's been in bed for five hours."
Pandora sighs and puts her head in her hands. "I promised her I'd read her a story tonight."
"She was a little disappointed, but she cheered up when I read her Unusual Fungi manual," he tells her kindly, and sets on her desk what is probably a mint infusion.
Pandora can't help but notice that the edges of the cup are slightly brown as if there has already been tea there before, and she knows Xeno probably forgot to check if the mug was clean before handing it to her. She also hopes he took the time to remind Luna to shower, and helped her brush her hair before bed. Her husband's a darling man, but he can be quite forgetful at times, which is why she's usually the one to take care of things like that, but when she gets carried away…
Her eyes drift back to the books scattered on her table, and the pages and pages of parchment she's filled with notes. The feeling of dread she's been experiencing for the last couple of days fills her once again. Her hand-writing, anxious black scratches, sometimes breaking through the parchment, show just how nervous she's been feeling.
Xeno, though seemingly always head-in-the-clouds, has picked up on her nervousness as he wanders to her desk and picks up the pieces of paper. "What have you been working on, darling?"
She involuntarily shudders. "I—I think I might've found something."
He frowns and looks up from her frantic notes. "On the magical core?"
She nods. What she may or may not have discovered is unbelievable, in the sense that she literally cannot wrap her mind around it. The immenseness of what her research has led her to find is just… It's shocking. It could be dangerous.
"What's this all about, Panda?" Xeno continues as he scans her notes. "Tether? Ley lines? Muggles?"
"I know," she agrees, but her voice has quietened down.
Pandora gets up from her chair, and walks briskly over to one of her bookcases. Her entire office is an absolute mess. She's usually a very organised person, with everything where it should be, but now, there are stray books everywhere, pieces of parchment on the floor, as well as precariously balanced dirty plates, piled one atop the other. This is how she gets when she's doing research, and things start to get big.
After rummaging around for a while, she finds what she was looking for. Pandora doesn't promote Pureblood superiority at all, but she can't help but acknowledge that having a family that goes generations back is more than helpful. Her library is filled with old books, some dating back to two centuries ago, and, thrown in the midst of everything, are rolls upon rolls of brittle parchments that are even older. Exactly what she needs.
Pandora's most recent research has been on magical cores. She found a passion for experimenting with spells back in school, and since then has kept on looking for new subjects to explore. Lately, she was trying to find how spells and magical cores are connected, as a subject already vastly worked on by the Unspeakables, but she was convinced that as an independent she could also add things. However, her research led to shocking discoveries on the very nature of magic she now needs to show Xeno.
"Look at this," she tells him, rolling out a parchment. It's very fragile, and is probably from around the Bronze Age so she makes an effort to clear things out before showing him. "These are primitive runes from the Bronze Age in England."
Xeno peers at the parchment, but she can tell he's struggling. He was never quite as good as her in Runes.
"It tells of the stone circles," she explains, "Stonehenge, for example."
"Yes?" He's confused. So was Pandora at first.
"But see, they all explain how they're situated on crossroads between ley lines. Places that concentrate magic."
Xenophilius nods. But here comes the part that shocked Pandora.
"It's been the general and accepted theory that they were built because these places have concentrated magic, but look closer." Pandora taps her wand lightly on a few runes, just a simple highlighting spell that does no harm to the parchment. "These runes are binding runes."
He frowns. "I don't follow."
"Xeno," she says in a hush, her tone insistent, "I don't think they built them there because the magic was strong, but rather, the magic is strong because they built them there."
There's a silence in the room as he understands what she's suggesting. The air is tense inside the small office. "So, you're saying that magic has been tethered down to these places?"
Pandora nods. "I think that in the past magic used to be everywhere."
"But is that so bad? Having magical hotspots that allow greater magical feats?" Xeno asks, which is a good question. Pandora pushes a few loose hairs behind her ear.
"I agree. But then if you look carefully at what's written here, you'll see that the magic is being bound to the stones, but not only." Once again Pandora points out the rune in particular. It's a simple one, one that almost anyone should be able to read.
"Man," Xeno breathes out, and Pandora nods anxiously. "Pandora, are you saying that—"
"Yes," she confirms. "If the stones are strong with magic because it was bound to them, then the same thing could've happened to men."
Suddenly, the enormity of what she has possibly just discovered fills Xenophilius' eyes, and his mouth drops open. But she knows that, as a Ravenclaw like her, he isn't just going to accept her theory that easily. His brain is probably desperately trying to find ways to show that it's wrong. Not because he doesn't want to believe her, but because that's the only way to find that it's true.
Pandora quickly grabs a few other parchments and books that prove the same thing. "Look, Xeno. It's the same binding magic everywhere." She flips through the pages. "It's different runes, but always the same meaning."
"Pandora—"
"I know," she whispers. "And if you read what follows, and you compare the maps, you find that places surrounding the stone circles are sucked dry of magic."
"Which means that… if this is true… that the same would've happened with wizards and Muggles?" Xeno asks feebly.
Pandora nods. "They stole the magic and rewrote the magical tether into their very genetic programming."
"But, how can this be?"
She brings back up her notes. "I'm not entirely sure yet. I think there's some sort of ritual. I've been comparing all the different texts that show any sign of this happening. The only thing is that they're often very heavily magically protected or destroyed altogether. I don't think they wanted people to find out."
"Well, it changes the entire definition of wizardkind," Xenophilius murmurs.
"I'm trying to find a spell that could reverse this tether, allow magic to roam freely again, and distribute it equally," she tells him. "That's why information on the ritual is so important. I just can't seem to find it."
They both stay silent for a moment, after this revelation, just looking into one another's eyes. A discovery like this will change wizardkind forever, she knows it, but she needs to do so much more before. A small part of her brain can't help but think that Xeno's hair is getting a little long, and she should take the time to cut it for him.
"Maybe…" he starts, "maybe the Department of Mysteries has more information?"
Pandora grimaces. She doesn't really get along with the Unspeakables, and they've already had a few altercations. But this is above their pettiness. This is above anything they've ever discovered, and maybe working together is the key to a brighter future. "Maybe…"
"You should probably go see them," he tells her.
"You're right, let me grab my coat—"
Xenophilius stops her before she can move. "I meant tomorrow morning. It's past two in the morning."
She smiles fondly at him. Trust Xeno to be the responsible one of the two of them in situations like this. Usually, it's always the other way around. "All right."
Pandora casts a quick spell to clean up the mess in her office, contentedly satisfied once everything has returned to its designated space. She turns the light off, and follows Xeno to their bedroom, but first pauses by Luna's door.
Trying to make as little noise as possible, she tiptoes over to her darling daughter's bedside. She looks so peaceful, asleep like that. Her little witch. Pandora carefully pushes her blond hair away from her forehead, and gives her a quick kiss, before heading back out. She wonders how the implications of what she has found will affect her daughter. Who knows what the world will do with this sort of information? Return magic to Muggles? Change the established order forever?
It's far past two when Xeno and Pandora finally get to bed. He's already half asleep. That's one of the things that always surprises her about Xeno, how he can fall asleep whenever, no matter the situation. He can be tired and overstressed during the day, but as soon as his head touches his pillow, he's already snoring. Pandora, on the other hand, can't even seem to close her eyes. Her mind is still buzzing, but there's nothing to be done until tomorrow.
"Will you read me a story tonight, Mum?" Luna asks the next morning at breakfast.
Pandora smiles as gets up to put her dishes in the sink. "Of course, darling. I'm sorry I forgot last night."
"Great!" her darling girl exclaims. "We're at a very interesting chapter on the magical properties of fungi on beasts and beings."
Pandora chuckles. "Well, then. I can't wait for tonight. Have a good day, darling!" Luna gives her a slightly marmalade-y kiss before she makes her way to the fireplace. Xeno follows her there, and before she can leave, he touches her arm.
"Promise me you'll be careful?" he asks.
Pandora frowns. "Why would I have to be careful?"
Xeno shrugs. "I don't know. Maybe they already know, the Ministry."
"You mean they would purposely be holding back the information?" Pandora thinks of the implications of what he's suggesting, but it seems almost absurd to her. This discovery is crucial, surely they wouldn't withhold it? But Xeno is anxious, so she simply says, "Don't worry about me."
"Panda…"
The nickname makes her smile. "Don't worry. I'll be careful. See you soon!"
She grabs a small handful of Floo powder and steps into the fireplace, loudly declaring her intent to reach the Ministry. She needs more sources, and there's only one way to get them.
Pandora stumbles out of the Floo and back into her home. She falls on the floor hard, out of breath. Xeno comes rushing in, surely startled by the noise, and gasps when he sees her. Pandora knows she's a sight, her hair is everywhere, and her coat is torn on the right. She's just run like her life depended on it, which it probably has.
"Pandora, what's wrong?" he cries, helping her up from the floor.
"Xeno, you were right," she whispers, still out of breath, and suddenly, tears begin to form in the corner of her eye.
"What do you mean?" His voice is confused, panicked.
"The Ministry, they knew…" Pandora wants to explain everything, but she doesn't have time.
"What did they know? About the magic?"
Pandora nods, and frantically begins to make her way towards her office. She needs to put her findings somewhere safe, somewhere where they can't be found, at least for now. Xenophilius follows her closely, questions written all over her face.
"Pandora, what's going on?" he asks again.
"They knew. They have known all along, and you were right." She looks him dead in the eye. "They have been withholding it. They don't want to—"
She's cut off by the terrible feeling of dread. She can feel her heart speed up, and the blood leaves her face. They can track her so easily, they're going to come for her. "Oh, Merlin. I shouldn't have come back here. Now, they're going to get to you, too."
"What do you mean?"
Panda finishes putting all her notes in a folder. Some of them are folded, or crumpled, but as long as they're all there. Her mind rushes through all the protection and secrecy spells she can think of, and then stuffs the file into a book, before placing it back on the shelf.
"Mum?" Pandora and Xeno both turn around instantly to see Luna standing by the doorframe of her office. "There's someone downstairs, and…" Her voice is small, and scared.
"Oh, no." There is indeed the sound of someone walking around, they must not have heard the sound of the Floo. She knows without a doubt that they've come to get her. As planned, she went to the Ministry, she was let into the Department of Mysteries. She explained her case. But then she saw their impassive faces, and the doors closing slowly behind her, and she understood. They'd known all along, how wizards had stolen the magic from the Muggles. But they were far more selfish than Pandora had ever thought, and they weren't going to share. And now they are downstairs…
"Luna, Xenophilius. You need to leave. Now!" she practically barks at them.
"But what about you?" Xeno asks.
"What's going on, Mum?" Now Luna is worried, too. Fear fills Pandora completely. She shouldn't have come back. She should have Disapparated far away from her home, told Xeno to leave afterwards. But now they're trapped. They're marching up the stairs now.
The door suddenly flies open, and two Aurors burst in, the same two who were guarding the Department of Mysteries.
Luna screams when she sees them, but they don't pay attention to her little girl, thankfully.
Instead, they point their wands at her, and the last thing she sees is Xenophilius' horror-filled face. She has one last thought for her husband and daughter but then it's—
"Avada Kedavra."
"She was a quite extraordinary witch, you know, but she did like to experiment and one of her spells went rather badly wrong one day. Yes, it was rather horrible," Luna says, smiling sweetly at Harry.
He looks at her completely horrified, but also slightly reassured. She was scared too, when she first saw them, the thestrals.
But, thankfully, Harry doesn't press her for more details. That's what she likes about Harry, he's not too inquisitive. Besides, while she doesn't mind talking about her mum, it still leaves this strange feeling in her, like her head is all muddled. Some people call it grief.
She can only remember walking in on Mum's spell going terribly wrong. The next moment in her memory is one of two Aurors, sitting down with her in the kitchen, with a mug of tea and a blanket, telling her what happened.
Daddy was so confused. He said that Mum was always so careful with her spells; experimenting, but always safely. Her death was such a shock for him, too. The Aurors left some time afterwards, but a special team to take care of Mum's office came back. They left with it looking spick and span, but not quite like her. After that, Daddy didn't speak for a month, and therefore, neither did Luna.
But she's better now, and she knows her mother was one of the most brilliant witches ever to have lived. She hopes she'll become like her one day, and make her own wonderful discoveries.