Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling

(1) This is a fictional work, elements of the original work can be altered for better compatibility with this story.

(2) English is not my first language.

(3) This story was participating in the Nyah Fanfiction's Challenge - Myths, Folks, Legends.

I hope you enjoy!

"What is a flower of the annunciation?" Little Luna asked, peeking at the article her mother was reading.

"Oh, it's just a legend, honey."

"What kind of legend?"

"I was about your age when I first heard about it," Pandora began, putting the magazine down and looking at her daughter.

Luna's eyes glittered with anticipation. "What is this flower? Does it make people passionate or seeing in black and white?"

"Despite the name, this story isn't about a flower, honey." Luna stared at her mother, confused. "It's about a man."

"A man? What kind of man? A wizard?"

"He wasn't a wizard."

"A Muggle?"

"Well, he didn't have magical powers, at least, not the powers you're used to knowing."

"What kind of powers?"

"About that, better tell the whole story… My mother used to say that in the city there was a man. He was a Muggle like any other, if it weren't for the fact that he rode around town on the wooden horse ", Pandora settled back in her armchair, putting the magazine completely aside.

"Wooden horse?"

"Like kids have, and because of that, people made fun of him, thinking he had a mental problem or something."

"Did he?"

"I can't say, but the townspeople tried to denigrate him because they thought he was weird." Pandora paused. Luna knew what it was like to be excluded for being different. Even as a young girl, she noticed how the neighbors looked down on her family and how many teased her father with jokes. She very much hoped that when she went to Hogwarts, people would be more understanding.

"Didn't he feel bad about it?"

"Probably, he looked very sad every time I saw him."

"You saw him?"

"One day when I was a kid, my dad answered the door, and there he was, holding a flower. He was crying when he handed the flower to my father." Luna knew that her grandparents had died before she was even born. And that was it. Her mother was very good at hiding the past, it was as if a significant part of her life had started when she met Xenophilius. "My father died a few days later, he had a heart attack and died instantly." Her hands moved restlessly in her lap.

"Was Grandpa's death this man's fault?"

"No."

"But… You said he gave Grandpa a flower. The flower of the annunciation?"

"Exactly."

"Is the magic flower?"

"No, it's just an ordinary flower."

"I still can't understand why this story is called 'flower of the annunciation' if it doesn't even matter", Luna commented disappointed.

"She has, it's just that your mother isn't very good at telling these things", Pandora wasn't as good a storyteller as her husband, usually she messed up and the listener ended up losing interest. "If you want, I can ask your father to tell you something more interesting."

"No mother. Please finish the story."

"I met him again when I was seventeen. I was shopping with a friend and we found him on the street, by chance. My friend was horrified and made us cross the street, so as not to cross him directly. At that time, I still didn't quite understand why people disliked him so much."

"Was that the last time you saw him?"

"I saw him one more time."

Pandora was just over twenty when the man appeared on the doorstep of their home, crying profusely while holding a flower. He didn't say anything, just stood there, staring at her, until Pandora's mother appeared. The man tried to hand the flower to the woman, but she chased him away. Her mother spent the day in a mixture of shock and fury, ranting that her husband should never have answered the door that night. And finally, young Pandora understood. The woman's long silences heightened her curiosity.

"His grandmother died two days after she received the flower from him."

Luna opened her mouth, but the words wouldn't come out. Even in her mind, everything felt fragmented.

"Did he curse her or… did he know she was going to die?"

"What do you think?"

"He doesn't seem like a bad person," Luna said based on the information she had. "But divination is a normal skill among wizards, isn't it? Even though he's a muggle, is that something weird?"

"Divination is a relatively common skill, even among Muggles," her mother confirmed. "But to say that his ability was divination is inaccurate. It was more like an omen," Pandora explained. "He knew the person was going to die soon, but he didn't know how or why. But people didn't understand," she took a heavy sigh. "People thought he caused these deaths, even more so when people died 'suddenly', as my father died."

"What happened to him?" Luna asked fearfully. "They didn't do him any harm, did they?"

"He died of old age, as far as the stories go."

"What happened next? And the wooden horse? The story can't end like this," Luna complained. But before Pandora could respond, Xenophilius entered the room, speaking loudly.

"Do I interrupt?" he asked, seeing that none of them seemed very interested in his research on the diamond-skinned biting fairies a stranger had reported possessing.

"It's okay," Pandora stood up, stretching her legs. "I'm just telling an old story."

"Which history?" Xenophilius asked.

"From the flower of the annunciation." the girl replied.

"Ah, the ghost that leaves flowers for those who are going to die."

"Ghost?"

"I haven't gotten to that part yet." Pandora responded not-really- angry that her husband had brought the story forward.

"Sorry, I better…go." He said, slipping out the door.

"Ghost?" Luna repeated after her father left.

"It's not quite a ghost, as no one has ever actually seen him. But the flowers do appear, heralding a death." And the point of the legend, explored by the magazine, was exactly that. After the old wizard's death, flowers, like the ones he used to offer to families, appeared on the doorsteps of houses. And whenever one of these appeared, some villager would soon die, usually in strange and mysterious ways. Luna's mouth dropped open, now the name made perfect sense. But she felt incomplete not knowing the fate of the wooden horse. He might be useless, but he couldn't just be gone, someone should have him.

"Did you know anyone who received one of these flowers?" Luna asked.

"I only heard stories". Pandora commented thoughtfully. "That friend's cousin's neighbor received it and died the next day… Things like that. But I never heard anyone say that he showed up at the door of the house. It's just a legend after all."

"But the man and the horse existed," Luna said determinedly.

"Yes, but his ghost leaves a flower announcing death…" Pandora shook her head. "I imagine that man's soul must be at peace." Her mother's thought made sense, but Luna wasn't sure she agreed.

The man suffered for every death he sensed, it was an extremely heavy burden. But he didn't need to warn the families beforehand. It was his way of protecting people he barely knew and didn't care about him. The act of warning was seen as a bad omen, but for Luna, the man was just giving people a chance to say goodbye and enjoy the time before the inevitable embrace of death.

Luna still wondered how he knew: if he had some kind of vision of the future or if looking at that person on the street, he just knew that he would be the one who would die. If other Muggles had the same ability or maybe the man wasn't such a Muggle after all, maybe he had a little bit of magic in him, just nobody noticed. Perhaps the wooden horse was an anchor, which still kept him trapped in our reality, while his mind was permeated by the fateful fate of so many people.

Luna promised herself that when she was older, and had more resources, she would investigate this story further, find the horse and even visit the man's grave.

"It's getting late, it's time for your bath," Pandora pointed to the bathroom as she prepared to make dinner. The girl headed for the bathroom, but before reaching the stairs, she heard a knock on the door.

The mother answered and stared into space for a few seconds before bending down and picking up something from the floor.

"Who was?" the girl asked when her mother closed the door.

"I think it's just a mistake." The woman murmured. "C'mon C'mon". Mom hurried and Luna ran upstairs. She hadn't realized that her mother had a flower in her hand.

Notes: N/T: The legend is based on a legend from my city: There was a man, who was attributed mediumistic powers to know who was going to die. He walked the city, mounted on a wooden horse and went to the homes of people who would soon die. A lot of people didn't like it and ended up chasing him and blaming him for the death. He also went to all the funerals and brought flowers. After he died, miracles were attributed to him. Today, it is common to place toy horses on his grave as thanks for a miracle.

Thank you for reading.

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