Yeah. Though things should be nicer at Hogwarts soon, too.

Assuming everything goes to plan, yeah.

Fay's taking care of it, now. That - makes Anathema feel a lot better.

Yeah. She's good at taking care of things.

She nods.

Everything big being in competent hands leaves Anathema and Ellie free to plan the really important stuff - like their Yule party!

Sirius slinks in as Grim the morning of, posture a bit sheepish.

At least he's not late.

He seems determined to spend most of the day as a dog, in fact, except for meals which he acts awkwardly at.

Anathema overcomes some of that with persistent cheerfulness, her excitement bleeding over into every movement. She ends up eating while standing because she's fidgeting too hard to stay in a chair long, constantly bouncing, tapping her feet, flapping her arms. Still - she does manage a lot of the Yule-specific ceremony stuff, and the lunch feast is amazing (given Anathema's been learning to channel her excited restlessness into cooking and baking; the house elves have been remarkably tolerant of her desire to learn while cooped up in the castle).

The exact moment of truth is late in the afternoon, before it's really evening - Anathema watches the clock anxiously leading up, counting down to the best moment to try and turn for the first time.

It's a spell, at this point - they've done all the witchcraft already. Not so much a Transmutation as an activation of the magics already swirling about them from their work over the last few months, heady with potential.

Ellie's preferred method of dealing with anxiety is meditation, so she's outwardly a little more calm than Anathema in the minutes leading up to the appointed time.

Anathema watches Ellie closely - she wants to time their transformations to match -

The appointed minute ticks over, painfully slowly.

And - the spell.

Ellie casts-

-and shifts.

Anathema shifts in the same moment and immediately starts prancing. She tries to exclaim about how Ellie looks so cool and it comes out as a deep satisfied rumble.

She then starts trying to see as much of her body as she can, twisting around, lifting her paws, running in circles a bit.

Fay laughs, clapping, and conjures a mirror for them both.

Ellie makes a sound that's half chirp, half growl, and trips over her forelegs a bit trying to get to the mirror.

Four legs- check. Scales- check. Sharp teeth- check. Wings- uncheck. Darn. She's also only about the size of a deer, which is good for not breaking the house, she guesses.

Excited tiger noises!

...Wow not having human vocal chords is inconvenient.

She does not want to stop being a tiger which means she has no way at all to yell 'you're a DINOSAUR.'

Ellie squawks again, and noses Anathema.

Headbutt! She tries to indicate 'playfulness' through body language alone, jumping back and forth some.

Yes! Nod nod.

Door?

Door!!!

...They do not have opposable thumbs. Ellie could probably manage a lever door handle, but not a knob.

Fay laughs and spells the door open.

Before shifting into a tiger herself.

Time to play!!

Anathema breaks into a sprint across the yard, before bouncing off a tree and proceeding to run around - testing her agility, her speed, her ability to climb trees, to jump -

Fay chases after her, showing her some tricks, especially for jumping and climbing.

Scarlet comes out too, ears up playfully, watching the movement like they're seriously considering ambushing the next Animagus to get into claws' reach.

...Which turns out to be Sirius-Grim, who starts bouncing around the edges of the yard a bit, tongue lolling out of his mouth up until some very sharp claws lance into his heel. He yelps, and Scarlet sprints away, clearly amused and checking for if Grim is giving chase.