June 06th, 1895 — Mulciber Home, Wellingtonshire

It had been less than two weeks since Flora had said goodbye to the corridors of Hogwarts forever, and she had—mostly—been left to her own devices. There had been dress fittings, routine teas with family and friends, and preparation for her finishing in September, but her home had truly become a purgatory of sorts. No parties and balls with her friends, no social calendars to keep track of. It was just as agonizing as it was relieving; although she knew she'd done the right thing by agreeing to a year at Pendergast's, it didn't stop her from feeling like she was missing out.

The only silver lining? It gave her just enough time to perfect the one skill she'd been pursuing since her third year.

"You'll never believe it," she said in a hushed toned, pulling her cousin into her bedroom by the wrist. She shut the door quietly, the sound of her Mama and uncle's voices disappearing the click of the door handle. "I've done it, Ada. I've finally done it."

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Edelweiss Prewett

  

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She’d been called to the Mulciber Household with instructions to make extreme haste. Given that it was just to Flora’s house, and not paying an official call, Edelweiss took one of the maids as a quick chaperone, as she didn’t want to disturb Malou any more than she had to. The life of a debutante was far more involved than Edelweiss would have imagined, despite knowing what would happen once she entered society. But she was glad for a reprieve — though being called in such an urgent manner made her a little worried for her cousin.

They arrived and were seen to with little fanfare, and Ada had followed Flora immediately, her eyes scanning her cousin to make sure she was physically alright. I’ve finally done it.

There was no need for any elaboration. Edelweiss knew exactly what it was, and her eyes widened. Her hand shot out to Flora’s arm, her mouth popping open in astonishment. She even scanned Flora’s person once more as if she would spontaneously show her right then and there without any warning. “You - you did?” Her voice was equally as hushed, though she quickly withdrew her wand and cast a lightweight sound-dampening charm on the room. “How? When?”

  

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Flora gripped her cousin's wrist tightly, a broad smile on her face. She was practically vibrating—and why shouldn't she be?

"Well," she said, unable to mask her giddiness, "I started the process immediately after my NEWTs. It helped take my mind off of everything." Between graduation and the Coming Out ball and her decision not to attend Pendergast's School instead of debuting, the anxiety had set in a moment after she set her quill down for the final time. It was so easy to slip into the routine rituals of the transformation, allowing it to serve as a meditation of sorts while her relatives and the school staff sorted out the end of her Hogwarts career.

"And it's not as though I've had much else to do since graduation. I thought... well, I was overdue to attempt it again." She'd only attempted it once before, and that was under the watchful eye of her Transfiguration professor. She'd failed, but it wasn't the type of failure that discouraged her—rather, she was eager to try again and again, desperate for that rush of excitement that came with the magic.

"And so," she continued, "I've been isolating myself in my room for the last week. I've come down for tea and dinner, but nothing more. I think Mama thinks I'm melancholic, but I know she'll understand once she sees what I've done."

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With the excitement pouring from Flora in waves, Ada easily reached out to take her cousin’s free hand and gripped it. She felt a swell of excitement as Flora told her tale, and there was a brief moment when it felt as if they were children again, giggling and keeping things from their parents.

“Oh, Flora,” She gushed, resisting the urge to jump up and down in excitement. “Well don’t keep me in suspense, show me, show me!” She exclaimed. “What’s your form? Is it positively magnificent?”

  

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Flora couldn't contain her grin as she whipped out her wand. "Alright, but you must promise—and I mean it, Ada—you must promise not to squeal or scream or make any kind of noise. If someone comes running and see's me as a—" She paused, catching herself before she could give her big secret away. "Well. I'll eat you." Her grin widened.

She let herself relax then, focusing all her energy on what would hopefully be yet another successful transformation. The seconds of silence ticked by, and only when she'd calmed her heart and let her limbs loosen did she raise her wand and cast the incantation.

And then, as she'd intended, she disappeared—and in her place, a tiny brown wren with a crown of white splotches atop its head. Flora chirped... and chirped, and chirped again. She chirped so noisily and fluttered her wings, just as birds do. She was a genius.

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Flora’s excitement was infectious. Despite the image of the proper debutante she was supposed to be Edelweiss couldn’t help but clap her hands in anticipation, her eyes wide and focused on her cousin as Flora took out her wand to cast the incantation. At Flora’s warning, her eyes stretched even wider and she could only nod animatedly as her mind raced with all the possibilities of the animal form her cousin would take.

“Eat me?” She repeated, knowing full well Flora was kidding (maybe) but now very much unsure as to if this room would be big enough to contain Flora’s animagus.

She took a step back, fully expecting a lioness to appear in front of her. In fact as Flora disappeared, Edelweiss looked around the room, bewildered for a second before directing her gaze down at the ground to see —

“Oh my -” She almost squealed before clapping her hands over her mouth and crouching down on the floor. “Flora, you did it!” She whispered giddily, rapid-fire clapping her hands as softly as she could in applause. “Oh how magnificent, cousin! Have you flown yet?”

  

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Flora had successfully transformed a handful of times before, but never in the presence of another. That being said, she quickly found that there were certain... difficulties in communication.

"Yes!" she tried to respond, but it only came out as a vaguely excited chirping noise. She launched from her spot on the ground and landed on the back of her cousin's arm. She chirped again. It's so easy to hide! Chirp. I'm lovely, aren't I?

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Flora, in her avian state, was quite beautiful, though that was hardly a surprise given the fact that her best friend was already lovely. Ada reached her arm out in case her cousin might want to perch. Even in animal form, Flora was quite expressive in her body language, especially if the chirps were any indication. It suited her quite well, Ada decided. As Flora hopped onto her arm, chirping again, she giggled, “I can hardly understand you in this form cousin, but your animagus state is quite magnificent! Show me how you fly!”

  

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