Hellooo again! Sorry I took so long posting this chapter, my laptop does not have Word and so I am using my step-dads and, well, he's very laptop possessive. I know this is a very long chapter but what I wanted to accomplish is a list of personalities and characters to give you an idea of what Pandora's year is going to be like. I PROMISE I will not detail her days like this anymore, as it will become too tedious, but now you know whats going on in her world for the rest of the story and hopefully no one will b e confused. If I messed up on any spells or classes or characters I deeply apologize. I did A LOT of researching to get all the info I did and I really hope I did it justice! Let me know how you like it =)
The early morning sun peaked through the soft crack of the curtains and illuminated the peaceful face of Pandora. She squinted her eyes against the bright beam of light and sat up abruptly, scanning the room with trained eyes in the darkness surrounding her. She shook her head slightly, remembering where she was, and swung her legs out of the bed. Just a silly reflex. She turned around to face the plain white shirt and black robes she was required to wear sitting on the night table with a look of slight disgust and began buttoning up the plain shirt and slipping on the dark skirt. Pandora barely glanced at herself in the mirror before walking past the sleeping Gryffindors towards the girls wash room where she brushed her teeth and applied dark make-up around her green eyes. She returned to her four-poster bed and skimmed through her text books until she found her schedule for the school year.
6:00 – 7:45 am – Breakfast
8:00 – 9:00 am – Transfiguration, Professor McGonagall, First Floor
9:15 – 10:15 am – Potions, Professor Esson, Dungeons
10:30 – 11:30 am – Herbology, Professor Sprout, Ground Floor
11:45 – 12:00 pm – Break (Tutoring)
12:00 – 1:00 pm – Lunch
1:00 – 1:15 pm – Break (Tutoring)
1:15 – 2:15 pm – Defence against the Dark Arts, Professor Bates, Second Floor
2:30 – 3:30 pm – Charms, Professor Flitwick, Third Floor
3:45 – 4:15 pm – Apparition, Professor McGonagall, Headmaster`s Office
6:00 – 7:30 pm – Dinner
9:00 pm – 6:00 am – Curfew
Pandora`s eyes widened slightly at the work load she would be receiving this year. She decided to gather the first three textbooks she would need along with a long role of parchment and her quill and ink, hooked the cauldron in the nook of her arm once more, and headed downstairs to the dark common room just as a few waking moans were emitted from the students. The fire was alight in the round room, creating a golden glow that made the room appear warm and welcoming. Pandora was just about to walk out the portrait hole when a voice froze her feet.
"Oh, Pandora? Is that you?"
Pandora slowly turned around to face the person who she knew belonged to that voice: Hermione Granger. She smiled sweetly at Pandora and took a few brave steps towards her.
"I'm Hermione. I'm sure Professor McGonagall has informed you that I am to tutor you this year?"
Pandora stared at Hermione with a blank expression on her face. Hermione stood her ground and continued.
"Yes, well, um...just come here after your third class, the one before lunch, and I will help you with anything you think you need further advancement on, all right?"
Pandora nodded curtly and turned around on her heel towards the portrait hole. Hermione sighed, gathered her things off the desk, and hesitantly followed the strange girl.
Pandora kept up a quick pace down various stairs and through long halls towards the Great Hall. She gasped as she realized, halfway down, that the staircase she was currently descending was moving. She grabbed onto the railing with one hand, dropping her quill and one text book, and looked wildly around her until the movement stopped. She cautiously walked down the steps and reached for her quill but stopped abruptly when a small hand grasped the long feathery piece. Pandora shot her head up in surprise when she saw Hermione kneeled down beside her, handing her the quill, and grabbed the text book, eyes never leaving the form in front of her.
"I was a little unsure of the staircases as well. You get used to them."
Pandora obtained her fallen quill from Hermione and eyed her suspiciously. She nodded her head curtly once more and rose to her full height. By the time Hermione rose as well, Pandora was all the way down the steps and turning the corner down the last corridor. She continued her brisk walk until she reached the great doors and peeked through. There were very few students sitting at the four tables when she walked towards the Gryffindor table, sitting in the spot she vacated last night. There was no grand appearance of endless amounts of food as there was the night previous, but instead every now and then a platter of treacle tarts or a plate of bangers would arrive in random parts of the table. Pandora picked at bits of food in the platters in front of her without any signs of interest showing upon her face, her posture still perfect and stiff. A familiar blonde-haired Slytherin slowly made his way to Pandora from the entrance. Pandora felt someone's eyes on her back and heard faint footsteps and so decided to stand up and face them and demand they keep their eyes in their own sockets and move along. She came face to face with Draco Malfoy, who was grinning like a fool and too close to Pandora for her liking. Noticing the look on her face, he took half a step back but spoke anyway.
"You are new here, aren't you? Malfoy-Draco Malfoy." He took Pandora's hand and kissed it, the smile never leaving his face. Pandora's face remained unaffected, however. "If you need anyone to show you around, maybe see the special hiding places that only I know, you can find me over there." He nods his head to the table behind Pandora and winks. Pandora raised an eyebrow at Draco and promptly spun around, plopped herself back down on the bench and resumed picking at the food in front of her. Draco walks towards his table dumbfounded, and sent a curse word towards Blaise who covered his laughter behind his hand.
After another unexpected encounter with more moving stairs, Pandora finally made her way to Transfiguration class with five minutes to spare. She picked a seat near the back of the large classroom and set all but one text book on the floor beside her desk along with her wand, quill, ink, and parchment. There was a short, buzzing sound heard and Professor McGonagall emerged from her office and descended the stairs. A few more students ran into the classroom out of breath and beaded with sweat.
"Mr. Finnigan, Mr. Thomas, it would be wise to be on time from now on." They nod fervently and take one of the empty seats near the front of the class. "And that goes for all of you. Welcome to your seventh and final year in Transfiguration. As I'm sure all of you are aware, the spells will be more difficult, the lessons will be more detailed, the expectations will be higher and the homework will be more extensive. Failure to keep up with demands of this classroom risk failing my course, so learn the importance of hard work and do not underestimate it. Now, first lesson of the day..."
Pandora spent the lesson taking notes from McGonagall and from the textbook about Animagi and the complications one goes through during the process of becoming one. The homework consisted of an eight-inch essay on the process of an Animagus and various forms, due Friday of the next week. Just as Pandora was about to head out the door, McGonagall called for her to stay for a moment. She approached the witch and eyed her oddly as a small smile was placed on her firm face.
"I must admit, I am impressed at your vigour to learn. Keep this up and I see a future for you in the wizarding world. Off you go, don't be late." Pandora, once again, nodded curtly and headed off in the opposite direction. "And don't give Granger a hard time, Ms. Witte."
Pandora delved deeper into the dungeons as she searched for the Potions classroom. Too proud to ask directions, she followed the gentle flow of students until she caught a familiar flash of jet black hair. He's in Gryffindor. She subtly followed the boy until he disappeared in a dark, smelly, eerie classroom. A skinny, bald man sat at the desk near the front of the class, eyeing every student who entered his classroom with a piercing silver gaze. Pandora once again took the seat near the back of the classroom and watched as the dark-haired Gryffindor sat beside another student with dark skin.
"Didn't know it was possible, I think this bloke has a look that could rival Snape."
Dean held back a laugh and turned to Harry, grinning.
"Well, Snape had those dead eyes, you know, this bloke can bore a-"
"Welcome, all, to your final year in Potions. I have very few expectations. Listen, pay attention, and be on time. Failure to comply with these could result in viewing my bad side."
"I was unaware this was his good side-"
Dean jumped when Professor Esson's face was suddenly directly in front of his desk, glaring at him with harsh red eyes...red?
"Mr. Thomas, I greatly appreciate you abiding my rules but, please, save some arse-kissing for the rest of the class." Esson's voice rang harsh through Dean's ears and he visibly shrunk in his seat as the Professor returned to the front of the classroom. Harry narrowed his eyes slightly at Professor Esson and remained wary of him throughout the lesson. "Now, turn to page forty-seven, read, and take notes."
Pandora glanced up from her parchment every now and then to look at the Professor and found that his cold, accusing eyes had never left hers. Unaffected by his gaze, Pandora finished her notes and began the assignment on creating Veritiserum and the rules surrounding it. Pandora all but ran out of the classroom at the end of class and made her way up two flights of stairs towards Herbology. As she neared the greenhouse just outside the castle walls, she noticed a small commotion of sorts through the blurry cover and a growing collection of students just outside the entrance. Professor Sprout exited the green house just as Pandora reached it and heard her attempts to clear the area.
"Off to your classes, now, all of you! Any student scheduled for Herbology during this time must please return to your dormitories or remain in the Library. I'm afraid class today has been cancelled due to an unfortunate Venomous Tentacula incident." She turned abruptly and grasped two and the three students squealing and writhing slightly and marched them into the castle. The students surrounding the building looked around at each other questioningly and Pandora winced as a long, dark tentacle slapped the wall nearest her. She sighed silently and made her way back to the Gryffindor tower, having no clue where the library was. She jumped slightly as she heard angered screaming upon entering the portrait hole and raised an eyebrow at the culprits.
"Ronald, I am not saying that you are dense! I am simply pointing out that are intelligent if you apply yourself, and you don't! There is no need to insult me!" Hermione's hair blazed wildly around her red face as she lost control of her anger.
"That's easy for you to say, Hermione! You're the smartest witch of the age; it comes so easy to you! I try my flaming arse off and get disappointing results every time! No wonder why I no longer apply myself, Hermione! Face it, all I'm good for is wizard's chess and being Harry Potter's stupid sidekick!" Ron's red face and defeated figure approached Pandora and he stopped suddenly, his face growing impossibly redder. He shook his head slightly and walked past her towards the portrait hole. Hermione never turned around, but instead sighed deeply, shook her head and moved to sit on the couch in front of the fireplace. Pandora raised an inquiring eyebrow at the situation and sat at the desk set on the other side of the room, but flinched when the chair screeched across the floor, causing Hermione to leap out of her seat and point her wand at Pandora. Hermione took a deep breath and lowered her wand by the time Pandora took her seat and began her first assignment.
"Sorry. I'm afraid I'm a little on edge."
Pandora nodded her trademark nod and remained focused on the task at hand.
"Don't you have a class to be at right now?"
Pandora took a deep breath and looked Hermione right in the eye.
"Venomous Tentacula."
With that said, Pandora went straight to her work once more as Hermione nodded, eyeing her oddly.
"Do you need help with anything?"
Pandora raised a single finger in the air, signalling Hermione to wait, without breaking her concentration. Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but snapped it shut and replaced her seat on the couch, the only noise filling the room being the scratching sound from the quill marking the parchment and occasional crackle emitted from the fireplace. After no longer than forty-five minutes had passed, Pandora shut her text book and rolled her parchment into a thin cylinder. She was just about to make her way upstairs when that same familiar voice once again froze her steps.
"Did you still need help with anything?"
Pandora turned her head slightly but continued up the stairs to the seventh year girl's dormitory. Hermione sighed once more and rubbed the bridge of her nose in slight exasperation. Just as she was about to return to the couch, she heard footsteps descending the staircase and turned to find Pandora face to face with her, wand in hand. Hermione's eyebrows rose considerably.
"I'm curious."
Hermione nodded. "So...what would you like to learn?"
Pandora seemed to have trouble with socialising and asking for help, but spoke confidently and never faltered. "What did you learn your first year?"
Hermione furrowed her eyebrows slightly and eyed her wand. "Lumos."
Pandora blinked as Hermione's wand tip lit up. She lifted her wand in front of her face and took a deep breath. "Lumos." The wand tip flickered on and off a few times before staying unlit completely. Pandora eyed the wand fiercely.
"It's all right, it's completely all right. Don't expect everything to work for you the very first time. You need patience. Just try again."
Pandora took another deep breath. "Lumos." The wand tip illuminated brilliantly and although no smile graced her face, Pandora's glare softened slightly and she looked at Hermione expectantly.
"Oh...well, very good. To extinguish the light...Nox." Hermione's wand tip darkened.
Pandora glanced from Hermione to her own wand and uttered the proper word. "Nox." Her wand tip darkened as well and she nodded approvingly.
"Levitation is quite simple as well, although there are more complicated wand movements. I remember them as 'swish and flick'. Combine this movement with Wingardium Leviosa." Hermione did just that and levitated a forgotten piece of parchment lying on a nearby chair. She lowered her wand and so lowered the parchment. Pandora eyed the parchment and her wand in turn.
"Wingardium Leviosa." Pandora swished and flicked her wand and the parchment reacted properly. She replaced the paper to its spot and took a deep breath. She looked Hermione in the eye and nodded her head once more before returning up the stairs. Hermione smiled to herself returned to her seat in front of the fireplace.
Pandora took her familiar spot at the Gryffindor table and her ear picked up a conversation held a little ways down.
"You had another row with Hermione, didn't you?"
Ron never lifted his gaze to his best mate but the solemn look worn on his face answered Harry's question.
"Ron...I don't even know...the both of your are too sensitive sometimes, you take things too far-"
"Look, Harry, if you're going to take her side, then just go ahead. I really don't care."
Harry sighed and shook his head before grabbing Ron's shoulders and forcing him to face Harry.
"You thick headed...boggart!" Ron blinked at this and raised his eyebrows slightly. "How long have we been best mates? How much have we gone through together? You know I don't take sides. But you two need to work all this bloody crap out, and soon." Harry dropped his hands to the table and looked around cautiously before dropping the volume of his voice considerably. "You know what Dumbledore had set out for me...for us. We need to stick together now more than ever. And you and Hermione need to...grow up!" With a definitive nod, Harry began his lunch, leaving a dumbfounded Ron blinking wildly and repeatedly opening and closing his mouth.
Pandora returned her attention to picking at the food in front of her with disinterest.
Hermione walked into the common room and noticed Pandora sitting on the couch in front of the fire place, gazing into the fire intently.
"Is there anything else you would like to know?"
Pandora turned her head slightly in acknowledgment of Hermione and rose gracefully from her seat, wand in hand. Hermione pulled her wand out of her robes and walked towards Pandora, illuminated by the flame's light.
"One of the spells that will make your life easier is the Summoning Charm." Hermione pointed her wand towards Pandora's quill set on the table to the side of the couch. "Accio quill." The quill immediately raced to Hermione's open hand, which she promptly replaced on the table. Pandora looked around the room and her eyes focussed on her Charms text book set upon the same table as her quill.
"Accio Charms book."
Her text book bounded off of the table and straight into Pandora's hand. She eyed the book approvingly and set it back down in its original place. Hermione eyed an ancient plaque placed upon the fireplace and reached for it. Pandora eyed her oddly and raised an eyebrow as she watched Hermione drop the item on the ground, shattering it to hundreds of pieces. Hermione took a deep breath and looked at Pandora with amusement flashing in her eyes.
"I am not mental. Gently flick your wand in the direction of the broken pieces and say, reparo."
Pandora slowly pointed her wand towards the broken mass and flicked her wand while muttering, "Reparo."
The pieces of the plaque instantly jumped back together and immediately sat at its base, apparently unaffected by its previous trauma. Pandora replaced the plaque upon the fireplace and nodded curtly at Hermione before gathering her text books and robe and headed out the portrait hole.
"Who was the last professor in DADA who lasted longer than a year, anyways?" Ron inquired as he, Harry and Hermione entered the infamous classroom.
"Galatea Merrythought. After she retired, You-Know-Who wanted the job."
Ron gave Hermione a cold look and sat in a seat near the back of the classroom, leaning his head on the palm of his hand. Harry and Hermione vacated the pair of seats just in front of him, thinking he needed to calm down before engaging in any human interaction. Ron lifted his head as a shadow covered his desk and noticed Pandora standing beside him, scanning the room supposedly for empty desks. She sighed softly and slid into the seat next to his and promptly set her text book, parchment and quill on the table in front of her. Ron noted her stiff posture and blank face with a strange look and nearly fell off of his chair when she turned to face him, her blank expression now masked with a look of annoyance.
"What are you looking at?"
Ron's eyes widened and he quickly whipped his head around to face the front of the room. Pandora eyed the strange boy seated next to her for a moment before returning her gaze to the tall, dark skinned woman.
"Welcome to your last year in Defence against the Dark Arts." Her voice was deep and rich and enticing. "I am Professor Bates, but, please, call me Anastasia. Don't want to make me feel any older than I am." The class chuckled gently and relaxed. "My job this year is to teach and show you advanced defensive magic. Magic that can be expanded on. Magic that can be used in these dark times. Magic that can be used in the future. And maybe...magic you shouldn't even be aware of at this age." She eyed each student in turn, an amused glint in her eye. "Now, if you all please turn to page twenty-eight and read along with me. No notes needed, please."
The lesson included the professor reading off of the text book and taking in inquiries and questions any student had and the only assignment she had provided was reading the chapter on the Disillusionment Charm. Ron slowly gathered his books and such into his arms and his head shot towards Pandora as her leg pressed against his while picking her things up off of the floor. She stood up abruptly and left the classroom, supplies in hand. He shook his flaming red hair and headed off to Charms without Harry, deep in thought.
Pandora was heading up to the second floor of Hogwarts for her Charms class when she heard the clomping sound of an approaching human. She kept up her pace down the corridor and around the corner until she came to stop in front of the classroom whose doors were currently closed. The footsteps stopped behind her just as she lifted her hand to test the large doorknob.
"Locked?" A deep voice rang in Pandora's eyes and she turned her head just enough to catch a flash of red hair.
"Evidently." Pandora responded sarcastically.
"Try Alohomora." Ron said casually.
Pandora turned her head fully to eye Ron questioningly. It was then that he noticed her height; her fierce green eyes were level with his calm blue ones. His ears began to burn red and he decided to ease her curiosity. Ron cleared his throat and pointed his wand at the doorknob.
"Alohomora."
The knob made a struggling sound and twitched this way and that before returning to the inanimate silence it had occupied before. Pandora sighed loudly and leaned against the wall next to the old door.
"Did you mean for that gibberish to affect the door?" Pandora asked Ron, a bored undertone heard in her voice.
"It was...uhh...supposed to unlock the door, yeah." Ron lowered his gaze to the floor and leaned against the wall on the other side of the door. "Probably has a more protective charm on it. Should've known...since it is Charms class." He chuckled humourlessly and stuck his hands in his pockets. Pandora shook her head slightly and opened her text book, reading through the first page. Ron jumped as a sudden click of the knob and squeak of the hinges broke the silence surrounding the corridor. Pandora lazily turned her head towards the entrance and blinked when she noticed no one was there.
"Ah, Mr. Weasley, sorry I frightened you there. Well, you're here rather earlier than usual..." A small voice erupted from the doorway and Pandora looked lower in the doorway to see a small, bearded elderly wizard with kind eyes.
"Err...yeah, Professor Flitwick, thought I'd try harder this year." Ron replied as he entered the classroom. Students began to walk by the classroom as others filtered into it and Pandora decided to follow. The long classroom and high ceiling created a stuffy and open feeling at the same time and Pandora decided to take a seat in a spot nearest the door, regrettably nearest to Ron also. Harry entered the classroom just before Flitwick began speaking, and took a seat on the opposite side of Ron while giving him a strange look.
"Alright, now that you are all here, welcome to seventh year Charms! Best of luck to you all. I recognize many faces here today so I shall just get on with the lesson. I would like to remind you of some of the spells we learned within the last two years. Now, everyone remembers Aguamenti, Silencio, and, of course, the Bat Bogey Hex. One thing we did not learn last year, however, was the Patronus Charm. Now, I believe this is one of the most important charms to learn, not only against Dementors, but to send important messages to others that would take too long to send by owl. Now, keep in mind, one needs an exceptionally happy memory to sustain your Patronus. Let it embrace you, and utter the words Expecto Patronum. Go on, now, I'll leave you to it."
The entire classroom erupted with chatter and determined yells of the incantation. Pandora was the only one who could not conjure a Patronus, and no one seemed to notice save for one curious student.
Pandora sat stiffly on the floor in front of the fire, mesmerized by the dancing flames. Little by little the Gryffindor students began to file upstairs to their dormitories until the only ones left were Hermione, Ron, and Pandora.
"Ron?" Hermione asked, meekness touching her strong voice.
"Mmm?" Ron grunted from a chair in the corner of the room.
"Are you still angry with me?"
Ron opened his eyes slightly and sighed. "I s'pose not. Had time to calm my thick head down."
"Ron-"
"No, you're right, Hermione. I've got a bloody thick head. But...that's me. It's hard to change seventeen years of habit."
Hermione smiled. "It's hard to change seventeen years of being a know-it-all."
Ron smiled back. "Harry's right. We need to grow up. He needs us. Both of us."
"That's very...mature of you to say, Ron."
Ron stood up from his chair and headed towards the stairs. "It's been known to happen."
As he disappeared up the steps, Pandora rose from her spot on the floor, glanced from Hermione to the spot Ron had just vacated, and headed up the stairs towards her dormitory. As she rested upon her bed and closed her eyes, vivid images soon flooded her mind and her restless sleep was filled with flashes of people around her fighting, screaming and running towards her with bruises and blood covering their face. She covered her face so the images could no longer haunt her and opened her eyes to find a kind, young face smiling up at her, laughing one moment and crying the next. Pandora suddenly leaped upright in her bed and looked wildly around her in the dark until her eyes focused on a small figure sitting upright as well, a wild mess of hair surrounding a pair of chocolate brown eyes which were focused sharply on her own.
Oh my goddddddd over 4000 words. Long chappy. I tell ya, very few will be this long, but I hope I didn't bore ya! Thank you so much for the reviews, even though there aren't very many, they make me smile =)