With McGonagall’s visit as a wake up call and her nails as a way to get starting capital for her mother to get her potion business back up and running, she tried to get her mother to start teaching her magic before she has to go to Hogwarts, but her mother was adamant on the fact, that she should master her transformation, to the point where she could go for a human, first, as there’s no way for her to hide her tail with transfiguration magic when she’s close to some of the most powerful witches and wizards the world has to offer.

“Mom, look! I did it! I did it! Look!”

And today, 2 and a half years after McGonagall’s visit and with a little over 2 years before she has to attend Hogwarts, Almira is jumping in front of her mother with her skirt raised high to show her now tailless butt.

“Yes, I can see sweetie.”

Her mother smiles and shuffles her hair, forcing her to stop jumping.

“Can you now teach me magic? You promised you would teach me magic.”

“Yes, I did dear, and I will. Is there something specific spell you want to learn from those you have seen me use, or do you want me to pick something easy for you?”

Almira’s eyes widen as she hears her mother tell her to choose a spell, and without even having to think, she yells.

“The cleaning charm!”

“Scourgify? Now why would you be so eager to learn that?”

Her mother wonders, as she can’t see that spell as something a child would be eager to learn as a first spell.

“Well, because cleaning my tail is hard and takes ages. So, so, it would be nice if all I had to do was wave a wand, and it would be cleaned!”

“But doesn’t the dirt disappear when you transform?”

“It’s not the same thing mom!”

“Fine, fine.”

Her mother caves in under her daughter's exitement and motions her daughter to follow her to the kitchen. She takes some flour and spreads it on the countertop before pulling her wand out.

“As we'll go buy your wand after the letter of acceptance arrives, we’ll be using my wand for your spell practice untill then. Wizards and witches use wands as a focus for our spells, making them easier to cast, but once you are skilled enough it’s possible to cast spells even without it, though it’s easier with simple spells like lumos.”

She lifts her index finger as she casts the spell and Almira looks in wonder as it lights up with white light. After keeping the spell up for 10 seconds she lowers her finger and the light disappears.

“And then there are spells like transfiguration, that are almost impossible to cast right without the use of a wand.”

Hearing this Almira’s ears perk up and she asks.

“But I can transform without a wand. Why is it different?”

Her mother smiles at her question and answers.

“The difference is that transfiguration changes something to what it’s not. This also makes it so that others can tell when something is transfigured and can undo the spell, turning the target back to what it was. Your transformation on the other hand is close to what we call animagus and metamorphmagus. Animagus is a higher form of transfiguration, where a wizard or a witch give themselves an animal form, by binding the spell into their true form. Metamorphmagus on the other hand is someone who has had the ability to change their form at will from the moment they were born. Neither of these, as is also the case with your transformation, can be felt by others as there’s no external spell being used and as such learning animagus is highly regulated by the Ministry and everyone that learns it has to register their animal form at the Ministry.”

Before, Almira didn’t think much of her ability to change her form anything special as her mother could do the same with a transfiguration spell, but now listening to her mothers explanation, she finally realizes how awesome her ability to transform really is.

“Does metamorphmages also need to register?”

“No, as it’s something someone is born with and Ministry doesn’t really have a way to regulate someone who can literally turn into anyone. Anyway, we’re derailing from the original subject.”

Her mother answers her question and once again brings the topic to the spells.

“A spell has 3 components, incantation, wand movement and intent, with intent being the most important of the three. Without intent, no amount of shouting and waving the wand helps you in casting the spell, but with enough intent, the spell can be cast even without the incantation or wand movement.”

Her mother puts her wand into Almira’s hand and moves to stand behind her, with Almira now facing the countertop with flour spread over it.

“The incantation for the cleaning charm is scourgify (skur-ji-fy) and the wand movement is a gentle S.”

Her mother speaks the incantation with clear voice, while gently using her hand to move Almira’s hand, making a gentle S-shape, before saying

“Now you try, and remember you have to use your intent to tell the spell what you want it to do.”

Her mother lets go of her hand and steps back, giving Almira some space. She points the wand towards the flour, imagines it disappearing before saying

“Scourgify.”

And waving the wand in an S-motion, but nothing happens.

“It was a good first try sweetie. Now try to put a little more emphasis on the ‘scour’ as you say the incantation.”

Almira tries again, doing as her mother advised. Readying the intent, waving the wand and

“Scourgify.”

This time the flour disappears from the counter, leaving it sparkling as if just polished.

“Mom, mom, I did it!”

“Yes you did dear. Congratulations on casting your first real spell.”

Almira starts jumping up and down with a bright smile on her face as her mother watches her with a proud look on her face.

“Mom, let’s do it again!”

Almira asks her mother, with excitement still visible in her eyes.

“Now, now. We’ll need the flour for cooking so we can’t just make it all disappear.”

Her mother says and the excitement in Almira visibly dissipates before her mother continues.

“But you could practice it by cleaning the house.”

Almira’s eyes light up and she runs out of the kitchen to find something to clean.

“And remember to not go to the laboratory! I don’t want you to accidentally ‘clean’ some of the ingredients away!”

Her mother yells after her, hoping her daughter heard what she said.