Callidora Nott has always known exactly what is expected of her.
As the daughter of one of Britain's oldest pure-blood families, her future has already been carefully planned; alliances, power, and a life shaped by tradition she never chose. At home...
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Flying Lessons
For weeks, Callidora Nott practiced transforming whenever she could.
Mostly at night.
Mostly in the Forbidden Forest.
Getting used to the Thestral body had been strange enough on the ground; the long skeletal wings, the weight distribution, the strange second heartbeat that seemed to pulse through her chest alongside her own.
But flying, she hadn't tried that yet.
Not really.
Until tonight.
Calli stood in a small clearing near the forest edge, wings half unfurled. The moonlight caught along the thin membrane stretched between the bones.
She flexed them uncertainly.
It felt natural.
Too natural.
Which was slightly terrifying.
"Right." She muttered to herself, though the sound came out as a low huff in her Thestral form.
She crouched slightly.
Then pushed off the ground.
For half a second, nothing happened.
Then suddenly the air caught under her wings.
Her body lifted.
The ground dropped away.
Calli immediately panicked.
I am flying.
I am flying.
I AM FLYING.
Her brain, very unhelpfully, chose that moment to remember that she had absolutely no idea how to land.
Her wings flailed.
The treetops rushed up toward her.
Midair, instinct completely abandoned her.
She transformed back.
Which was a terrible decision.
Human again and still several feet above the ground, Calli dropped straight out of the sky.
She landed hard on her back near the tops of the lower trees with a loud whump, the breath exploding out of her lungs.
For several seconds she simply lay there staring up at the branches.
"Brilliant." She wheezed.
Eventually she rolled onto her side, groaning as every muscle protested.
At least she hadn't been that high.
If she'd been higher, well.
That would have been awkward to explain.
After brushing leaves, dirt, and several twigs out of her hair, Calli hurried back toward the castle.
