She puts the dress away and lays out the jewelry. (It's actually really tasteful for her norm - she'd made herself sad doing it, but she'd thought about splurging some of her mom's money on nice jewelry, and then thought to see if she had any family jewelry and found some of her mom's pieces that looked like they'd work. (Her mom had a lot of jewelry, though a good portion of it looked inherited.)) There's a complicated necklace with small blue gems woven in with chains, and a small mess of bracelets and bangles (most plain or patterned metal, some with gems, one is a broad bangle with ceramic panels, a few beaded ones), and some very nice hair sticks she's been practicing wearing occasionally, and some small barrettes. "I don't think I want to wear all the bracelets," she says, "But I liked them all, so went ahead and packed them... I'm attached to the necklace and hair sticks, though."

Makeup, as well - nail polish (deep blue and shimmery), eye shadow (multiple blues, also shimmery), and some more subtle foundation and blush and lipstick and eye stuff she was going to ask Fay for help putting on.

Shoes - only a very slight heel, a deep bronze color so she can wear them to things other than this. Tights - a dark, almost black blue, opaque (they'll show under her dress's hem, especially when she's moving).

Wand holster - should be nearly invisible under her skirt unless she's getting really acrobatic, she figured she'd bring it for completion's sake. (...She's also attached to this.) A purse - small on the outside, with a long strap so she can sling it over her shoulder, with a damask pattern in different shades of bronze. (She's unsure about bringing this, but it's kind of just generally useful and also pretty.)

Elodie is quite competent at arranging Anathema's options to best effect, including all the things she doesn't want to compromise on. She can also help with makeup and a hairstyle that will best suit the hair sticks and show off the necklace.

Anathema giggles a bit throughout, but she's attentive and appreciative and does give feedback - she has a really good eye for color and pattern and art, even if her usual preferences run toward the tacky. Still, she wants to seem - mature, here, so she doesn't suggest a bucket load of glitter like she would've a year ago.

Several hairstyle ideas leave her ears exposed, which has Anathema tugging at the bottom of her ear thoughtfully. "I don't have my ears pierced," she says, "But - I dunno, this might look nice with earrings... Unless that'd be too much..."

"Either way can be made to work."

"I think I saw some small studs that had a little gem on them, those should be a good middle ground..." In her mom's stuff. Hopefully Elodie won't ask where, 'ex-homeless muggleborn with a large inheritance' is kinda hard to explain.

"I'd have to grab them over winter break or get Fay - uh, Professor Reynolds - to take me into London Saturday morning."

"Will you be taking care of the piercing at that time as well?"

"That was my thought, yeah."

"Very well."

She hums, leaning back a bit.

"I think that's my outfit settled, then. Though... If you don't mind spending non-Ball time with me - I had some questions about the music you used in the First Task."

"Of course. Ask away."

She launches in with a technical question right off the bat - she very clearly is well read on theory, and has some actual non-magic music training, but she's also clearly an enthusiastic amateur who's never been formally taught. A clever and insightful one, though.

Elodie has a great amount of tradition to draw upon for her explanation, though some of the more esoteric aspects are considered family secrets and will remain such.

Anathema doesn't push at all - there's plenty else anyways, and she can synthesize the information quickly enough to zoom off into increasingly tangential or specific questions.

What a clever little... mind she has.

Heee. (And a little blush.)

She likes magic. A lot.

There is much about it to like.

"Yeah. School's boringly easy, pretty much, so I spend my free time studying stuff like this. It's hard to find good resources sometimes - and there's nothing like talking to an expert."

"Indeed not. Magic passes best one mind to another, or so it is said."

"Better with two clever minds."

She laughs.

(She is really unfairly pretty.)

"Lots of my studying so far's been in transfiguration and combat charms - especially ones that lean really heavily on emotion and intent. Branching out is really nice."

(...Anathema has possibly not thought this plan through entirely, but, pretty.)

"That is an excellent basis for sung magic. Intent is very important."

"Yeah. The transfiguration builds on it too, actually, even if it's more centrally focus and visualization than emotional control - some advanced charms like the Patronus really get into the visualization parts, though."

"I'm also more practiced at wandless transfiguration than wandless charms, so getting the magic woven into the song can be a bit finicky for me - so far."

This naturally leads into another round of discussion.

Anathema's more firmly in 'quasi-expert' than 'learner' about those! (She doesn't hesitate to admit she's also mastered the Animagus transformation and has theories for further modifying her form - though so far it's been a tough nut to crack...)

She blinks partway through, suddenly a bit distracted - "Oh hey, do you know if using magical talent languages for music affects things at all?" She's started to realize there's an actual Parseltongue language, which is being magically translated for her through the talent - she'd need to get better at focusing and isolating it to adapt it to music properly, but she bets she can...