Flora rang her uncle up in the following week, and asked him whether his invitation was still standing. Unable to hide his excitement, he replied that yes, he was waiting for her.

Her feelings were as confused as they could be. On the one hand she was very excited with the possibility of getting to know the magical world, a world that also belonged to her family and herself, although they had been totally unaware of it till then. But on the other hand, she was also scared because there was something very sinister involving Mr. Malfoy. She felt that what she had grasped in his recollections about the elf meant little compared to the potential evil in him. But she was sure she could stand to whatever he would present her. She felt as if she could fight it, although this might be pure naivety.

*

The trip to London was all right, such as the flight that was as smooth and fluid as her thoughts. At the airport her uncle and aunt, who made a smartly dressed couple with dark clothes, were already waiting for her. For a moment she felt she could be ill-clothed, but tried to compensate it with a very upward posture through which she tried to show she was very self-assured. This seemed to work, because they did not express any displeasure at seeing her, quite the contrary; her aunt hugged her and said smiling, although she seemed sad:

“You have my sister’s build. You don’t quite look like her, though, as you’re much prettier. However, if I had looked at your shadow, I would’ve said it was Bella who had arrived. Nice to meet you, I’m Narcissa Malfoy.”

Her apparently cordial and friendly speech hid fears that Flora could not understand at the moment. Flora had the impression that her expression was more than missing her sister, it seemed, in fact, that Narcissa had feared Bellatrix.

Mr. Malfoy came forth and took her luggage; a behaviour that was not compatible with his arrogant way of being. Flora noticed it, but didn’t say anything. She looked at her aunt and uncle with affection while followed them through the crowded airport.

In the parking lot, they got in a posh car. In their way, her hosts, just like tour guides, explained whatever they’d pass through in their way. They looked kind of awkward, as if they did not know about what to talk with her. An hour later, they arrived at the Malfoy Manor, ‘a place of much fanfare and little joy,’ noticed Flora without commenting anything. She was so impressed as asked in thought, who would be those people, the Malfoys? Would this house belong to her father, the lord Riddle? Or would he have been even richer than Malfoys were? If Lestranges were like Malfoys and they worked or served the Riddle, he should be millionaire... She did not dare ask or say anything as she did not want them to think she was interested in their money, she was just curious.

Mrs. Malfoy said she had invited over her son Draco, his wife and son to have dinner with them. Her purpose was to introduce Flora to Draco and his family. Flora went to take a rest in the guest room until dinner, on second floor of the manor, which should be at least five times greater than her own home. Breathless with excitement, and trying to absorb all the information gathered up to the moment, Flora rang her husband up to tell him where she was. She also did it as a precaution to activate the GPS of her mobile phone. After taking a shower and dressed herself to dinner, she was undoing her bags when, she heard the sound of a discussion that was coming from the other side of the house. Draco Malfoy had arrived. The sound attracted her like a magnet. Uncertain of what to do, but very curious because she had noticed that she was the subject of the discussion, Flora hesitated in the doorway for a moment before came down the stairs and followed it. They were still in the entrance hall, she noted from her hideout in the darkness of the hallway. They, on the contrary, did not notice her, as they had their backs to her.

“Why did you bring her here, Dad? Hadn’t we already given up old habits? Why put the family at risk? Do you really know who she is? My mark is tingling, father, it can’t be good.”

Then, Draco showed his father his black mark now visible again. It was kind of a magic tattoo with a skull and a snake going through it. Draco’s father also showed his son his own mark and said:

“Isn’t it wonderful? My mark has also come back! She’s got the power, son! And as we‘ve found her, we will be rewarded. Listen to what I'm telling you.”

Flora, who couldn’t contain her curiosity to see the marks, caught both of them by surprise when she got silently in the living-room saying disguising her anxious voice, however she was betrayed by the movements of her chest rising and falling rapidly::

“Excuse me. I hope not to be disturbing you both.”

Draco took a deep breath, lowered his eyes and resigned, introduced himself stretching out his hand to greet her. She noted that when she tried to look at him in the eyes, he looked away. After a short while, he excused himself, and said he would have to leave because he had got an urgent call from work. Nevertheless, he promised her they would meet at another time. He had come alone, having left his family at home. She noticed that and considered a care very interesting. Her uncle apologized to her for his son's behaviour, saying that sometimes he gave more importance to the work than to the family. Then he smiled at her, and offered his arm to escort her to the dining room. Flora accepted the gesture and said they would still have time to get to know each other, there was no hurry.

The dining-room was somewhat oppressive with its huge table and dark furniture, as well as the long corridors they passed, with their high ceiling and so formal wallpapers. That table seemed that there was a sinister vibe in the wood, as if there had occurred rather more than family dinners in that room. The table set for six persons was quickly rearranged by magic to accommodate the remaining three. While Flora was still standing beside a chair, she closely watched her aunt do agile movements with her wand, she repeated them mentally. Lucius came out through a side door, saying he would choose a good wine. Narcissa said:

“Sorry, I forgot that you are not used to using the wand. We need to take you to Diagon Alley for you to purchase one. Mr. Ollivander passed all his knowledge on to his nephew that seems to have even more dexterity than him in making magic wands. I wonder how it’s like to be an adult witch without any basic knowledge of magic. It's almost like being a Muggle!”

Flora was uncomfortable with this comment, she lowered her head and looked at her bare hands, taking a long breath. Her aunt realized it and tried to fix her remark.

“You surely don’t know what is to be a Muggle... Muggles; well…They’re the people without magic powers. But of course, being the daughter of who you are, you’d never be like a Muggle, ain’t it so? You must have developed a natural technique to let out the magic that flows within you. Oh, sit down, dear.”

The aunt said pulling a chair for herself and gesturing towards the chair in front of her niece, smiling slightly. Flora sat upright, smoothing her clothes, sheepish. Narcissa smiled at her again, while examining her manner - which made her even more uncomfortable. Finally Flora decided to relax and continue talking. For no use she pretend an elegance to resemble her aunt, they were clearly very different. Flora finally agreed and told her aunt a little about how she used it to get into the mind of her patients to help them better understand their own problems. Her aunt was delighted and exclaimed, looking at her husband who had just returned and was sitting down while cleaning a dusty bottle with a white napkin:

“Legilimens!”

“Just as her father.” Added Malfoy nodding satisfied.

Her aunt's eyes couldn’t disguise the horror that her husband's comment caused on her. She swallowed, however, her tone of voice didn’t change, as if they were just chattering away

Flora pretended not to notice it and asked them about her mother. She wondered how and who she was.
“Oh, sure... Bella...” Narcissa's eyes lost focus for a moment, then she raised her eyebrows, and gazed intently at Flora, examining her features as she spoke:

“Your mother was beautiful, though one could say that she was not impressive in comparison to you. She wasn’t a very kind person, was a person - practical - so to speak... But she was very dedicated and very loyal ... However, not to her husband, as we now know.” Narcissa giggled.

“And my father?”
Lucius smiled broadly, his eyes sparkled with excitement. He replied proudly, as he served her the wine:

“Your father was a great man. Very dedicated and committed to defend our world from any threat. He was a great wizard, very intelligent and powerful.” Lucius excitedly said.

“Did they ever suspect of my existence?” Flora ventured.
Said Narcissa, submissively looking at her husband, as if asking for his approval:

“We don’t think so. He was too absorbed in fighting for our cause, so fatherhood was the last thing he would dream of... And my sister believed that you had been born dead ... Don’t think about it dear. The important thing is that you are here and that tomorrow we are going to take you to Diagon Alley to show you a little more about our world; and to do some shopping as well. I believe you want to get some magical objects, don’t you?”
“Oh, yes. Nevertheless, I haven’t brought much money with me this time...” Flora replied.

“Don’t worry about it, honey. Your mother left a good inheritance for you in Gringotts, the wizarding bank. Nobody could access it because the bank vaults only allow withdrawals from their owners. We found it strange in the beginning, because if Lestrange had no heirs as we thought he didn’t, Draco should have access to the money. As it didn’t happen, we started to believe that my brother-in-law might have a ******* child. We’d never imagined it was Bellatrix instead.”

So, that was it, Flora thought. The fear that had rounded her went away, since now she believed that the Malfoys sought her in order to access her mother’s legacy. For that matter, she had no intention of keeping any money she hadn’t helped anybody to win. She’d give everything to her aunt and would have nothing else to do with these people. However, she immediately got sorry about having had this thought: her aunt was being so kind. She didn’t seem as nearly as sinister as Mr. Malfoy. With half a smile on her face, Flora excused herself:

“Well, then tomorrow we go shopping ... Now I’m going to sleep. I’m tired.”

Flora left the room and went to her bedroom.

In her room, Flora couldn’t sleep because of her great excitement. She looked through the window at the beautiful garden outside. Nothing moved in the breezeless night. She started to seek for something in the room that could amuse her. Perhaps a book to read. In a small trunk which she found ajar, some old school books with Draco’s name on the back cover. Her eyes twinkled when she saw they were witchcraft books. She got The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk and started reading it while still walking about the room with the purple nightdress dragging on the ground. She mentally imagined the wand movements described there, trying to get everything. At first, she didn’t see much use for some of the spells found in it like spells to levitate objects; to give a shoe lace; to enlarge an object, and so on. Still, she had fun imitating the gestures described there with the imaginary wand in her hand. She sat on her bed a few hours later, without taking her eyes off the book. Still holding the book and sitting on the bed, she fell asleep when the sun was almost rising.