The Childhood that was still her own (1854 - 1862)
Anyone who knew Miranda as a child would remember her as strikingly different than her subdued, sickly adult self. The first daughter of the Rowle family was a curious and energetic child, all but forcing her presence in her two older brothers’ games. It was during this time of play that Mira’s Sight would first show — she would always guess what card her brothers would play next, making the game no fun, for them at least.
The first thing that Miranda predicted on the Christmas morning of 1862 was the presents everyone would get. The second and that came as a shock to the family that had gathered in the drawing room, was a proper, skin prickling prophecy that sent her to a trance and had her delivering a cryptic message about a fathet's betrayal. Her family was creeped out but when Miranda's voice returned to normal, Christmas proceeded normally... That is, until Miranda was called to her father's study and she was never the same.
The Childhood that was no longer her own (1862 - 1872)
The story was that she suffered another Sight-induced 'fit' which made her pass out. After that day, the previously loud and energetic Miranda became catatonic. She would spend days on end laying in bed, too weak to do anything.
The truth was: Miranda was under the Imperio curse. A small girl, trapped in her own body, a part of herself still sentient enough to observe what was happening to her, but too weak-willed to do anything about it. There was something within her, urging her to remain weak. Sickly. When her brothers asked her to come and play with them, Miranda said she was too weak and she wanted to sleep. She turned from Jo to Beth March overnight.
It was decided to her that she wouldn't attend Hogwarts, too weak and sickly as she was. The Imperio curse didn't include her not feeling devastated about it... Or at least as devastated as someone under the influence could be. For her, it was catatonia. She was sad, but she also couldn't quite feel her sadness. At least by now her father had allowed her to not lay in bed, or sit in a wheelchair, when people weren't around.
She received some magical schooling, if anything because it was dangerous to keep a young witch who couldn't control her magic under your roof. Well, not that Miranda could, under the Curse as she was. She learned the most basic of spells, only ones that her father deemed appropriate for her. Sometimes, Robert or Philip would try to teach her a spell over the holidays, but she didn't seem able to learn it, unless her father seemed to approve of it.
Adulthood Under The Influence (1873 - 1893)
Not much changed for Miranda after she turned seventeen, other than she was now legally an adult. In any case, she remained sickly, dependable on her family. She would never be able to get married in her condition, so her parents saw no point in debuting her in Society. Mira's life was a haze: her days mostly spent resting or reading.
In 1878, Robin, the brother she felt closest to in general, had come over for tea. She had had an inkling but his teacup sealed the deal -- Mira saw that he was planning to elope and as her curse would urge her to do, she reported it to their father. And thus, Robin joined her and Philip under the influence of Imperio.
It was around that same time that Sepaphina was cursed as well. Their father had grown paranoid that she would turn out to be a failure as well and pushed Mira to predict in what way she would do it. With Imperio or not, though, the Sight cannot be forced. All Mira could do See was that Seraphina would be the most obedient daughter -- and indeed she was, after their father cursed her.
Adulthood After The Influence (1893 and onward)
Suddenly, a headache. After three decades under the influence, Mira had forgotten what physical pain even was. Then, a flood of thoughts. Thoughts, thoughs, thoughs, so many of them. "Everyone is going to Hogwarts and you're staying home. You'll never know what House you will be sorted in. Look at Philip and Robin and Seraphina and Edwin all going to Hogwarts without you!" "Mother is dead". "You betrayed Robin-- You betrayed Robin -- You betrayed--"
She was found by her caretaker -- a rather observant woman who, after four months of being employed for the family, had found Mira oddly compliant. Then, Robert called upon her, with eyes similarly red from crying tears bottled for so long.
And suddenly, after about thirty years, Mira is once again her own person and she doesn't know how to feel about it.
