Written for The Houses Competition
House Hufflepuff
Prompt: Discovering that you are a magical creature or squib.
Theme: First experience or first time doing something.
Word count: 1,652
Beta: Aya
Would she, or wouldn't she? The thought ran through everyone's minds that night. The time had come. Her entire family had congregated in the Delacour French home as the youngest of them grew closer to discovering any previously hidden traits. It was tradition for a family with any creature blood to gather together when one of them grew of the age that that creature's traits would emerge. For those with Veela ancestry, it was their sixteenth birthday and Gabrielle Delacour was about to turn sixteen.
Gabrielle had been attending Beauxbatons Academy of Magic for a few years already, so her family knew that due to the high content of magic in and around her, there was a higher chance for the Veela attributes to emerge. Of course, they could not know for sure until the time had arrived and passed. Thus, the whole family was mingling in the sitting room while Fleur and Gabrielle waited patiently (or impatiently in Gabrielle's case) for the magic to start its work in the young girl's bedroom.
Bill Weasley was also present, having been invited due to him being married to the eldest Delacour daughter. He had been honoured when Fleur had told him he would be coming to this highly private and family-only event. It meant that the rest of the Delacour's had accepted him as family, even if he sometimes had bouts of werewolf tendencies. He figured that being from a family of Veela descent, they were more used to being around those who also exhibited traits of various magical creatures.
Inside Gabrielle's bedroom, said child was currently panicking. "What if nothing happens?"
"Then you will not be Veela and nothing changes," Fleur replied calmly from her seat on the bed as she watched her younger sister pace back and forth.
"But everyone expects me to change! Everyone expects the magic to recognise the Veela in my blood and accept it!"
"It is not your duty to fulfil expectations of others, even those of our family. Yes, we expect that you shall change, but we will not treat you any different should you not. There are past examples of changing and we know that changing is increased when exposed to magic. So we think it is very likely for you to become like me."
"But what if I don't become like you?"
"Then you are Gabrielle Delacour, just as you are now."
Gabrielle flopped down on the bed next to her sister and heaved a great sigh. "I'm scared, Fleur."
"I know," Fleur laid down and wrapped her arms around her sister in comfort. They lay there together as the clock counted down the minutes and seconds until the moment of Gabrielle's possible transformation.
Gabrielle had managed to fall asleep, exhausted from fretting and excitement. Fleur watched over her sister as she slept, happy to let her sleep until magic descended upon her. Somewhere out in the hall the grandfather clock chimed but was unheard by the two in the small bedroom. Suddenly, golden light appeared above Gabrielle and the young girl woke up screaming.
The light sank into her body as she continued to shudder and scream while Fleur could only stand by and watch, holding herself back from comforting her sister. She could not interfere with the magic as it went about its business and she hated every millisecond of it. Over an hour passed before the light finally faded fully.
Half an hour in, Gabrielle had stopped screaming and had instead been overcome with minute shudders that overtook her body entirely. She had curled up into a ball and huddled against the headboard. Throughout the whole process, Fleur talked as soothingly as she could, reminding her sister that she was not alone. Her fingers kept twitching as she forced herself not to reach out and touch her sister, to hold her hand or brush back her now sweaty hair.
Finally, it was over. Gabrielle sank back onto the bed in a mass of tired limbs and Fleur immediately pounced forward to gather her sister into her arms. Soothing words were now whispered into Gabrielle's ears and the sweaty hair was brushed away from where it had been stubbornly staying for the past hour.
Every possible Veela was warned of the pain that would accompany a change but being told it would happen was nothing like actually experiencing it. The pain of having whole new areas of magic opened up was comparable to the Cruciatus Curse and lasted much longer than a normal casting of said curse would. New pathways were forcefully paved by magic as a Veela was born.
The knowledge of the allure was thrust into the mind, the ability of transforming from normal human to bird-like creature was unlocked, features rippled and changed so that they would always appear to be what the viewer most desired. It was by no means a pleasant experience and no pain-numbing potions could be taken in the fear that they would interfere with the transformative magic.
Gabrielle sobbed lightly as she curled up in her big sister's hug, she had known it would hurt. She had thought that she was prepared for it even as it scared her. She almost wished that she had not been considered to have enough Veela blood within her to qualify, but then she thought of how proud her family would be and how much she had wished to be just like her mother and sister. That thought had comforted her during the eternity that her body had been changed by magic. That and the knowledge that Fleur was right there with her as the magic ravaged her entire being and left behind something new.
All heads snapped up as a loud scream echoed into the living room. Sighs of relief and winces of sympathy were given by almost everyone in the room. They knew that Gabrielle had wanted nothing more than to follow her mother's and sister's footsteps, but they also knew the pain that the young girl was currently going through. Many of them had felt the same pain as they too, had been transformed by magic into the creature they were today.
They waited in silence as the screaming continued, each of them sending out prayers and hopes for Gabrielle's wellbeing. When the screams tapered off, they relaxed slightly. The worst part was over now, the blinding pain would now merely be agonising and that in turn would dissolve into aftershocks before disappearing entirely.
"To Gabrielle Delacour, a Veela," one of the Delacour uncles said, raising his glass and the others murmured their assent before toasting the young girl and drinking from their individual glasses.
Several weeks later, Gabrielle had settled into her new life as a Veela. Her first experience with Veela magic – like every Veela before her – was not in the slightest bit pleasant. Blinding pain generally isn't considered as a good thing, after all. After that, however had led to a whole new slew of challenges such as controlling the transformation between human and Veela appearance.
The first time she had changed was when Fleur had (in her mind) taken far too long in the bathroom. Annoyance had surged through her and suddenly she had wings, claws and a fireball in one hand. Startled, Gabrielle had jumped back – a useless endeavour seeing as she was trying to escape from herself – and accidently dropped the flaming ball.
Fleur had rushed out when she heard screaming and found Gabrielle in full Veela mode trying to douse a flame while inadvertently creating more flame balls in her panic. Grabbing her wand from one of the bathroom counters, Fleur had cast Aguamenti and gathered up her shaking sister when all the fire was gone.
Drawn by the commotion and the smell of smoke, their parents and Bill had come rushing into the hallway with their wands out. When they saw the two sisters in a hug with one of them transformed and the scorch marks on the floor, they relaxed. Their mother came up and enveloped them both in a hug while the other two started repairing the floor.
It was the first unintended transformation but it certainly wouldn't be the last. With every new Veela, it took a different amount of time for them to gain control. With Fleur, it had taken almost six months until there were no more accidents. She said as much when Gabrielle had expressed a fear of never being able to control her transformations.
Fleur also reminded her sister that until she had fully grasped her new powers, Fleur wouldn't be going anywhere. It was always advisable to have other creatures around when someone was settling into their new inheritance. Thus, Fleur as another Veela and her sister would be around should Gabrielle need her. Bill would also be there, as both the husband of Fleur and someone with a werewolf presence.
The man may not be fully werewolf, but he was one enough for the Veela's to recognise another creature. The protectiveness of wolves over their family was well known and the Delacour's were Bill's family. He would be there for Gabrielle should an actual Veela such as her mother or sister be available or the young girl had any problems that she wasn't comfortable going to her blood family for help.
And so passed the first five months of Gabrielle Delacour's sixteenth year. There were always new challenges that popped up, but with the aid of her family, she worked through them. She was glad that she had become a Veela, glad that the magic had found her worthy. Gabrielle knew that if she somehow went back in time to when she had not been Veela, she would not fear the pain for she knew that what came after it was well worth an hour or so of pain.