Pandora Thorn

## Pandora Nymphadora Thorn

* Human Form
* Siren Form

"*I did unspeakable things to protect my family. Or watched them being done on my orders. I never lost a night's sleep over them. They were necessary. And whatever I imagined necessary for the safety of the House of Thorn, I did.*"
— Pandora to Lorenzo Antebellum

**Pandora Nymphadora Thorn**, **Duchess of Marseille** and **Marchioness of Mayfair**, (b. 9 June, 2009) is a pure-blood witch, entrepreneur, noblewoman and the matriarch of the aristocratic wizarding family, the House of Thorn. She is the biological daughter of Barclay and Althea Thorn, though due to their untimely death, she was raised as the adoptive daughter of her godparents, Emmeline and Silas Vanderbilt. Pandora is the wife of French pure-blood wizard, Kristian Walker, with whom she mothered five children. She is also the mother of an illegitimate child, to whom she conceived in an affair with her former schoolmate and lover, Lewis Finnigan.

Despite residing in Great Britain, Pandora initially attended Beauxbatons Academy of Magic in France for her first two years of magical learning, where she was sorted into the Rouerie house. Dissatisfied with the institution, Pandora made a request and transferred to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at the start of her third year of learning, where she was then sorted into the Slytherin house. Pandora soon befriended Lily Potter, as well as Moses Leander, Jannessa Longbottom, and Eliza Finnigan. Despite rebelling much in her third year, Pandora had a strong aptitude for magical learning and quickly developed skills in various magical fields, allowing her to achieve successful qualifications in both her O.W.Ls and N.E.W.Ts. She exercised said abilities in the battle against Dagerfly in her seventh year, as well as the many battles that proceeded.

As an adult, Pandora quickly rose to success as a noblewoman and entrepreneur in society, founding Thorn Industries, a large real estate, and construction company. She is a master of magical politics and intrigue *par excellence* and is globally known for her wit and sarcasm. She has been popularly nicknamed the **Queen of Thorns** in reference to the Thorn sigil ― a rose ― and her cutting, barbed comments. Pandora is a witch of great capability and magical skill, though her true power lies within the extensive deal of knowledge she holds and her substantial ability to manipulate others. Pandora is also the second known Siren to be born in her family, allowing her a greater deal of strength and ability than her opponents.

## Biography

### Family lineage

"*Ah yes, all Leanders are lions, all Malfoys are snakes and when a Thorn farts it smells like a rose.*"
— Pandora referencing the Thorn sigil

### Later life

"*We should have stayed well out of all this if you ask me. But once the cow's been milked, there's no squirting the cream back up her udder, so here we are to see things through.*"
— Pandora regarding their connections with House of Antebellum

## Personality and traits

"*The Queen of Thorns is a remarkable woman, a strong woman, and an unrepentant sinner.*"
— Lorenzo to Yvaine
Pandora's most prominent traits are her sharp wit, high cunning, and intelligence. A politically astute woman, Pandora has been a master of magical politics and intrigue her entire adult life. Her strength and competence in politics have made her the Matriarch and head of the House of Thorn. An outspoken woman with little patience for any inconvenience, she is unafraid of using her societal power, wealth and status to threaten her enemies. Pandora never shies from stating her opinion, unless it is more advantageous to mask it, and has expressed her hatred for individuals such as Emmeline and Silas Vanderbilt for their cruelty, incompetence, and deep selfishness.

Pandora is incredibly intelligent, as well as wise enough to understand that sometimes people must work with their enemies rather than constantly compete against them, which also explains why she respected Lord Lorenzo. On the darker side, Pandora has no problem harming other individuals, regardless of age, proving she can be just as ruthless as her Italian counterparts, although not entirely without reason, as her actions always reflect Pandora's intention to better the state, security, and safety of her family. She also mentioned having done or had done unspeakable things for the safety of her house and family and never regretted them since she deemed them necessary.

She appears to have a very dark sense of humour and likes to mock those around her, including her own family. Despite this, Pandora clearly loves her family dearly, especially her grandchildren. Furthermore, she reveals to her granddaughter that even though she considered her daughter Seraphine a disease and a despicable being incapable of compassion, she genuinely loved her deep down and in spite of their battles, struggled to accept her death. Pandora clearly is a staunch supporter of the House of Thorn, despite being raised amongst the Vanderbilt family, unaware of her true family lineage, and similarly to Lorenzo Antebellum, places the power and prestige of her House above all else. Unlike Lorenzo, Pandora strikes a far healthier balance between loyalty to her House and affection for her family than he ever did. Where Lorenzo's son, Filip, grew to bitterly resent him, Pandora's children dote on her and show content to be under her rule.

**Filip Antebellum**: "*The Queen of Thorns, she's called. Isn't that right?*"
**Yves-Thierry**: "*It is. You'd best not use that name in her presence, though, or you're likely to get pricked.*"
— Yves-Thierry to Filip

In spite of Pandora's barbed comments and sharp tongue, her general exterior presents that of a conservative pure-blood witch who upholds prudent values of societal behaviour. In truth, Pandora is extremely promiscuous and is known for her seductive, licentious nature. In her youth, Pandora would freely speak of sex and never shied from displaying her sexuality vibrantly, exacerbating her innate attraction towards both male and females, as displayed in her various short-term relationships with school peers such as Lewis Finnigan and Megan Thistlewood. Although she is not incapable of romantic feeling, Pandora is known for her penchant of eroticism and is a formidable sexual force. It would be easy to assume her strong libido stems from her genetic makeup as a half-breed of Siren and human. Sirens, being naturally seductive creatures of legend and lore, have been mistaken for enchantresses and succubus', both beings of immense lustful passion. Pandora often takes advantage of her inherited gifts and employs them into her own personal relationships, further empowering her already potent sexual nature.

As a child, Pandora was seen as self-absorbed, conceited and boastful of her beautiful appearance, apparent wealth and blood purity as a witch. Although this may have likely been a mask for Pandora's inner insecurities as an adoptee, she was not unconfident of her physical exterior and even in her childhood, celebrated life's luxuries and lavished herself in material possessions that her wealth allowed her to indulge in. Even in Pandora's adult years, she continues to celebrate her passive materialistic characteristics and gluttonous urges, as displayed by ensuring that herself, her husband and each of her children wear the finest of clothing with the finest of accessories. With this vanity, essentially comes with a sense of disregard for the less fortunate. Pandora seems to show a level of negligence towards people of lower classes, her only care laying within the security and welfare of her family. Pandora understands the value and necessity of money, and though already coming from a wealthy family, she managed to build the House of Thorn to an impeccable state of financial security, so much so that they were deemed the *"second wealthiest family in England"* by the time of Pandora's great-granddaughters youth. She never shies from using prosperity as a means to threaten, belittle or intimidate others, though as the Matriarch of a powerful and affluent house, she is aware of the significance of such wealth and in spite of her materialistic ways in her youth, now continues to fairly administrate her families wealth in ways of earning profit.

Pandora originally attended Beauxbatons Academy of Magic located in the Pyrenees, in Southern France. She was sorted into the Rouerie house, that coveted students of great intelligence, excellent wit, compassion, though also shyness. Pandora held a great deal of insecurity for being an adopted child and feared the cruel opinions of others. This became evident during her two years of teaching at Beauxbatons, where she struggled to befriend other students, lacking a desire to socialise or mingle amongst the crowds. She deemed their flamboyant, graceful exteriors as false, deceiving and unnecessary, and was seen as a black sheep in the school, despite physically being the ideal candidate for a Beauxbatons student. Silas and Emmeline questioned if Durmstrang Institute had been a more ideal academic institution for someone of Pandora's calibre, though having emphasised a desire to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the path of her adoptive parents, it was settled that she would transfer in time for her third year. Being sorted into the Slytherin house at Hogwarts, rather than the Ravenclaw house which resembled that of her former house of Rouerie, showed the development of Pandora's characteristics as an adolescent and her growing ambitions, even at the mere age of thirteen. She quickly fell into the friendship group of Lily Potter, Moses Leander, Eliza Finnigan and Jannessa Longbottom, who guided Pandora as she began an adventure at a new magical learning institution.

Throughout Pandora's academic years, it was evident she had manifested some degree of depression that she still burdens as an elderly woman, potentially stemming from her innate fears of abandonment and disregard from her peers and loved ones. Pandora's occasional displays of erratic and promiscuous behaviour acted as an emotional shield to guard her against heartbreak and disappointment. Although she was never clinically diagnosed, it is suspected by Pandora's friends that she was suffering from some degree of depressive and anxious thoughts that occasionally caused her great deals of stress. Pandora had also initially possessed a level of envy and jealousy that she held towards her close circle of friends, envious of their larger families that dated back into magical history by generations, notably the Potter and Longbottom families. Despite being adopted into the Vanderbilt family, a smaller, half-blood though still relatively affluent British family, Pandora was generally unfamiliar to many of her adoptive relatives across Great Britain and was therefore kept within her adoptive parents' discreet social circle of the top socialites of Britain's magical community. This innate jealousy, however, provoked Pandora to create her own large, loving and powerful family that would not abandon or disregard her, as their Matriarch.

Founded in the loving friendships she made at Hogwarts, Pandora values loyalty, alongside love, family and friendship. In spite of her cold and calculating nature, in par with the critical decision making she has made as the Matriarch for the Thorn family that has resulted in the death, torture and dismantling of witches, wizards and families collectively, it has all been enforced to ensure the safety and protection of those closest to her.

## Magical abilities and skills

### Siren abilities

"*What's her name? The girl you love, who is she? And don't lie to me, Lewis. I can make any man, woman, god or beast do my bidding unless their heart belongs to another.*"
— Pandora to Lewis Finnigan

* **Amphibious transformation**: Pandora is capable of taking on an ordinary human appearance through a quick metamorphosis that allows her to visit land for varying amounts of time. During this process, Pandora sheds the membrane of her tail and will decrease in length. She will undergo this metamorphosis again when returning to waters of a natural geographical origin.
* **Aquatic habitation**: Pandora is able to survive and adapt to any underwater environment she encounters due to her complex internal structure, including high water pressures and extreme water temperatures. This allows Pandora to habituate in some of the deepest zones of the ocean, between the mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones which range between depths of 200 and 4,000 metres below the surface.
	+ **Terrestrial habitation**: Pandora is also capable of surviving and adapting to terrestrial environments on land. Being of a half-breed nature, Pandora is able to remain at land or sea for as long as she desires, due to her natural biology and physiology being catered to suit both habitats.
* **Enhanced strength**: Pandora is noticeably physically much stronger than humans, and many other creatures, as sirens are considered one of, if not the most physically powerful aquatic humanoid inhabitant, which is in part due to the bones and tissues of a siren being incredibly dense.
* **Enhanced speed**: In water, Pandora's powerful and streamlined tail allows her to propel through the roughest waters with incredible speed, grace, and agility with minimal restrictions to water resistance. Sirens are noted as being five times faster than a sailfish, the fastest animal in the water.
* **Enhanced agility**: Sirens are naturally agile creatures, due to their long tails that allow them great moves of flexibility and speed within the water.
* **Enhanced senses**: Similar to other aquatic mammals such as sea lions, whales and dolphins, sirens have superior enhanced senses to that of average beings, such as their ability to hear sounds far off the ultrasonic frequency. Sirens also have enhanced sensory systems comparable to sharks, including smell, hearing and sight. Below the water, Pandora can hear sounds with frequencies ranging from 10 hertz to 150,000 hertz, frequencies that exceed audibility for humans on both ends of the scale. She is also able to see clearly in the darkest of waters, due to the tapetum lucidum that is located behind the retina. This allows Pandora to see far more clearly in dim light than that of a human.

**Jannessa**: "*Is that why you tried to hurt me? In the water? Because you were in pain?*"
**Pandora**: "*Pain? No. In the water, we fight. I kill, or you kill.*"
— Jan and Pandora talking about her species

* **Underwater protection**: An ability popular in nautical folklore, Pandora can also grant a gift of temporary underwater protection onto a human by kissing them. For the duration they remain under the water, they can breathe as they do on land, though they are not immune to the dangers of the sea, such as water pressure and temperatures. When they return to the surface, the enchantment breaks.
* **Siren song**: Pandora is able to emit a captivating singing voice that allows her to manipulate another's feelings and actions, seducing and controlling her opponents. The power is rooted in her unique voice box; a hybrid of a larynx and a syrinx at the base of the trachea. It is noted as being a melodious, haunting song of vocals. The song cannot affect an individual who loves another, as told by Pandora herself. On humans, the song typically creates a negative effect, creating a type of lesion on the brain beginning in the frontal lobe (the region that controls impulses and inhibitions), which can lead to various side effects such as hallucinations, delusions, lowered inhibitions, amongst many more, though the exact nature of all symptoms is unclear. Based on historic findings, the song is known to cause obsession within individuals, hearing the song wherever they go, where they are eventually driven into the water to find the siren and eventually drown.
* **Fear inducement**: Similarly to the hypnotic singing of the siren song, Pandora can also emit a sheer force of doubt onto her opponents. Causing lasting neurological side effects like the latter, the affected quickly begin to doubt their own selves and show extreme levels of fear and timidity. This ability, however, is not cast by song; Pandora will display a change in facial appearance, her eyes darkening to black, appearing hollow, her face resembling similar to a gaunt skull-like image.

## Etymology

The name **Pandora** is of Greek heritage, in it's meaning translating to *all-gift*. In Greek Mythology, Pandora's curiosity led her to open a mysterious box gifted to her from the Gods, thereby releasing the world's greatest sorrows into the world.

Pandora's middle name, **Nymphadora**, is a variation of Latin heritage: a nymph, also known to define *gift*.

The surname **Thorn** derives from an English and Danish background. It is a topographic name for someone who lived by a thorn bush or hedge (Old English, Old Norse þorn).