* For the video, start at 1:55 for Beauxbatons*
I was woken with a jolt early Friday morning by the ringing bell that hung over our door way. After quickly putting our feet on the carpets below our beds, the ringing bell stopped abruptly letting Marie and I enjoy the heavenly silence of the morning. Then it hit us.
Today was the day.
"Crap!"
The pair of us jumped off the beds in a hurry and prepped ourselves for the trip. Apart from having an obnoxious walk in when my school enters Hogwarts, all Beuxbatons students were to also wear our silk uniforms with no imperfections. That means perfect pleats, no holes in the stockings, our shoes were to be buffed up until they shown, and our hair was to be done up with a curl on one or both cheeks.
"Are you putting on red?" Marie asked, hastily turning to me in her mirror with her lipstick in hand.
"Better safe than sorry," I said before returning behind the dressing board set up across a portion of the room. I finished lacing up my heels appropriately just in time for Marie to get changed, so we switched positions, with me at the dressing table and Marie behind the dressing board.
"I have dark circles under my eyes. What should I do?" I asked, moving my eyes closer to the mirror in curiosity.
"Baby powder. I have some in the top drawer." I hastily looked for it and applied it before finishing up with my hair and then my lipstick with a satisfying pop.
Lastly was our hats which we each did to each other, bending over the mirror to make sure the tilt in our hats were perfect.
"We look good," I said happily, surveying ourselves in the mirror, but it didn't last as Marie only had to glance up at the clock where it read 7:40 am to get us running again to the dining hall for breakfast.
There we found Ana half asleep by her French toast, Rosalie eating a croissant ravenously, Mila slowly spreading jam on her toast and the palm of her hand without even the slightest notice and Gisele, eating an omelet calmly with puffed red eyes from crying. It wasn't until I sat down that I noticed Jacqueline present, in her silk uniform to match, eating a muffin happily.
"Took you long enough to arrive," she said chipper as ever as we sat down to the materialized food in front of us. I was given a fruit salad with a cup of coffee to match. I automatically looked to Marie's plate to see she had gotten two pieces of dark wheat spread in butter, cheese and a sunny side egg on top. Damn, I wanted that.
"I'm surprised you're up this early, Jacqueline," Marie said back, unaware of my plate jealous. "Willing to skip your beauty sleep to eat with us one last time?"
"Oh stop Marie! You're going to make me cry again," Gisele said emotionally to both of our surprise. The rest of the table was not fazed.
"Gisele's a bit upset," Rosalie explained as she took up her fork and started on Mila's untouched French toast. Rosalie's croissant had been inhaled.
"Here, Mila stop," Jacqueline said motherly, as she took the overly drenched toast in blueberry jam out of our friend's similarly slathered hand and wiped it with her napkin.
"Oh wow, thanks," Mila mumbled sleepily, before taking the toast and shoving it in her mouth, leaving blueberry jam all over her cheeks. Jacqueline chuckled before turning to see me starring.
"Eat your fruit, American. I hear Hogwarts doesn't give us such nice selections in food."
"Actually that's not true at all. Much the opposite."
"As long as they make coffee, I could care less about their level of culinary skills," Ana said ruefully, her face still planted on the table.
At 8 am we were found running full speed through the castle and to the unicorn drawn carts at the entrance where students were still rushing to jump in. Jacqueline pushed us on and then hopped in herself, saying she was going to wave us off at the station. This caused Gisele to weep bitterly about how unfair all this was but Jacqueline did not seem in the least bit bothered which was very odd.
Thankfully for us, there was still a line of students waiting to get onto the carriage so we had yet to miss the ride. After a quick look at the number detailed on the side of the blue wood, I realized that said carriage was the same one used to fly the French students to school each term.
"It must be the biggest carriage they have," Marie said back logically. "Or it's just the best kept one."
"You mean the suspicious renovation from last year that none of us have seen yet?" I asked, gaining a nod back.
"Do you really think they knew about this school bonding trip back then?" Rosalie asked curiously. Her eyes were ahead of us, watching Benoît giving the students a once over with her list of names allowed onboard. Toward the back end of the carriage I could see house elves dragging students bags into the trunk. Oliver and the rest of the animals went into the carriage from a different route.
"I just don't know what I'm going to do without you with me this year!" Gisele cried as she rushed to hug Jacqueline as we neared Benoît.
"Gisele. There's no need for this. Calm down."
"How can you be so calm about this? You were dreading being stuck here!"
"Deep breaths," Rosalie reminded her with a calming pat as Gisele released Jacqueline from her hug. Gisele was started to get red again from tears but we had reached our turn with Benoît so she simmered down to avoid a scene.
"Names."
"Madam, you know our names!" I said smartly only to get a steal gaze back to check myself.
"Titia Marie De Vries," Marie said, stepping up. Madam Benoît gave my friend a once over before checking the list and ruefully dashed out the name with her wand.
"Very good, De Vries, you may proceed. Just remember about your posture on your trip. It still needs work." Marie gave us a comical look before walking into the carriage.
Mila was next followed by Ana who clung to her friends arm like a sloth to a tree branch. When she was ripped from said slumber it took Benoît a full minute just to reorient her student.
"It's a miracle you made it here on time at all, Ana Bakker! I should hope you would not interact in such a manner in front of our hosts. Could only imagine what you will show against Beuxbatons."
If Ana had been in her usual mood, she probably would have talked back, however, Ana was still half asleep so the words just rolled from one ear and out another before she walked to the carriage and entered.
Gisele and I waited alongside Jacqueline while Rosalie did her best to speak in clean French to a frowning Benoît.
"You promise to write to me if I write to you?" Gisele was asking her friend, who was paying little attention. Instead her eyes were fixed on our headmistress who came walking up behind us, classic and sophisticated in nature.
"Don't worry Gisele, I'll be fine," was all Jacqueline said, though her expression on her face said otherwise. She seemed on edge, her good naturedness from earlier was now gone.
"Mademoiselles if you could please not idle, we have a schedule to keep which we are already behind on!" Benoît exclaimed, causing Gisele to quickly rush forward.
"That you are right, Madam Benoît. Though I assume these are the last of our students to board?" Madam Maxime said in her low voice as she stepped around Jacqueline and I and turned to look down at Benoît's list of names. Gisele was trying very hard not to cry in the midst of this.
"There seems to be two girls missing, Madam," Benoît said with authority. "Other than the other two I've yet to mark," she added, nodding to us. Maxime made a tsking noise before ascending into the carriage ahead of Gisele who after being waved ahead by Benoît gave Jacqueline a last hug before disappearing inside.
Jacqueline walked with me to Benoît as I gave her my name and waited patiently for her to find me amongst the list.
"I assume you will do your best to behave yourself for your school, mademoiselle?" She asked me with a suspicious glance that I felt was uncalled for.
"But of course she will, Madam," Jacqueline cut in with a smile that seemed to irk Benoît.
"Jacqueline Auclarc, I fail to see your name on this list."
"Wow, what a compliment for you to remember my name without a simple hint from me," Jacqueline said in awe. "I am blessed indeed." Benoît's mouth went into a firm line as she rolled up her parchment and deposited it into her robes.
"If you are not on the list, you can not join your friends. No exceptions."
"I never asked for such an exception, Madam," Jacqueline said fiercely. "I've just come to say goodbye to my dear friends."
She then turned and kissed me on both cheeks superficially before adding a bear hug to the session. I felt her face turn in the direction of my ear.
"When the carriage moves, open the door."
"Wha-?"
"Au Revoir, Ava!" She said chipper as ever as she released me. "Make sure to write to me! Otherwise I will be unbelievably bored here."
Benoît was watching this interaction with eagle eyes but seeing nothing wrong waved me away to enter the carriage. Sharing a last knowing look with Jacqueline that I couldn't fully understand, I slowly entered the carriage.
As was expected, girls were every which way, racing between the rooms where we had in the past sat on our journeys to and from school. But new to my eyes was the stair well in the entrance that led up to the renovation I had yet to see.
A charm's teacher for the seventh year walked past and asked if I knew where I was to sit. I gave her a simple nod, muttering that I was just waiting for my friends to make it to the carriage before she walked off, satisfied.
I turned back and watched from the window by the doorway, Jacqueline stand by Benoît who seemed irritated not only by the company of her most problematic student but also by the late schedule the school was facing. There seemed to be three girls missing and they were no where in sight.
I waited five minutes anxiously watching Jacqueline who seemed perfectly calm before Benoît snapped and called for the same Charms teacher I had seen rushing around earlier. She appeared from one of the rooms and rushed to the door.
"You have to leave them. Otherwise you all will be late and that will not do. Merlin knows if they cared they would have tried harder to make it on time."
"But I'm sure waiting five more minutes surely-"
"No, I insist you leave. Olympia will not accept tardiness nor with Albus I am sure." I took a step back from where I was standing and watched from the door way of a packed room of students as the charms teacher said her goodbyes before turning and closing the door shut. Giving it a final look over, she then turned and headed for the stairwell.
The moment she was out of sight, I rushed to the door and began to unlatch the sides just as I felt the carriage shift, preparing for flight. Undoing the last latch, I flung the door open just as the carriage started to move. Benoît's head snapped towards me in alarm giving Jacqueline the right moment to run full speed for the carriage. The carriage was slowly moving forward just as Benoît raced to grab her wand from her pocket when Jacqueline ran in line to the doorway, her hand outstretched.
"Here!" I gave her my hand and pulled her in, slamming the door shut just in time to ricochet the stunning spell Benoît cast a second too late. We both crashed to the ground as the carriage shot forward, hitting us with the momentum. The carriage door, unlocked, reopened showing us open blue sky and the last peaks of the pyrenes.
"We have to close it!" I squeaked as the wind from the air pushed my hat off my head. I reached for it when the door abruptly shut on itself and the latched automatically locked.
I grabbed my hat and slowly Jacqueline and I got up, shocked at what had just happened.
"I can't believe we did that!" I gawked her way, as Jacqueline gave an authentic smile.
"You didn't think I was going to miss the opportunity to visit Hogwarts just because of Benoît did you?"
"How about that of your headmistress?" Came a low feminine voice from behind us. We both turned around to find Madam Maxime standing a few feet from the stair well from which she had descended moments ago, her wand hanging loosely in her hand, her dark eyes watching us curiously.
But I wasn't fooled by her natural charm. Her figure and height radiated superiority the likes of which made me want to cower like church mice.
"I-I" Jacqueline started to say, but she was waved off from Maxime who was surveying us closely.
"I assume you were not on the list?" Jacqueline nodded slowly, avoiding her headmistress's gaze. Said gaze then turned to me, making my heart beat rapidly.
"And you?"
"I was on the list," I said back with difficulty as my mouth was dry. She gave an arched brow.
"What are your names?"
"Ava"
"Jacqueline."
Another pause. This time with Jacqueline and I now mustering up the coarge to look at our headmistress with a bit more confidence. Even if there was a high change both Jacqueline and myself were to be booted from the carriage; hopefully it would be from the ground and not the air. Finally she spoke.
" I assume, you did not pass the exam, Jacqueline?" My friend nodded.
"I missed it by ten points."
This was news to me as I had assumed Jacqueline had missed the acceptable grade by a landslide. Obviously not. Madame Maxime as well seemed to find this news as interesting as she released her crossed arms and pocketed her wand back into her robes.
"Very well. Seeing as we are already late and there are three seats free, you may stay. Though I do not wish to see such behavior again," she warned, though her eyes deceived her. Maxime, though a scary figure to be lectured to, seemed to find Jacqueline's dangerous method of venturing on this trip to be more courageous than fool hardy.
So, with a wave we were raced from her presence and went on overcome with relief at getting away with something most students if not all would not have gotten away with if Maxime wasn't in such a good mood.
After all, she was expecting this year to be the time where Beauxbatons beats Hogwarts for once in the Triwizard Tournament. What's the harm in having another student join the spectacle? Even if they can only speak French.
The looks on our friends faces when we appeared was monumental and was a time where I itched to have had a photo to replicate it.
When we arrived at Hogwarts I had my nose pressed against the window with the rest of my friends circled around to get a better look.
The familiar north tower peaked over the landscape with the setting afternoon sun that brought such a wave of homecoming that it almost brought me to tears. Just as we circled around the great lake the mask of a ship rose from its dark waters revealing what the girls and I could only assume was Durmstrang.
"I can't believe we've made it!" Ana said bubbily with excitement as she jumped up and down from her seat. "And to think that we will be surrounded by boys our own age soon is almost too much."
"Stop before I barf," Marie warned causing me to chuckle to myself. Though the thought of who I was about to see did cloud my mind. I was an hour if not less than that away from seeing my old friends from Hogwarts. Sam, Ginny, Dominic, my brother and even the likes of Draco.
The grey eyed stare appeared into my head making me shake my gaze away from the ever growing castle.
"It doesn't look as pretty as I thought," Mila said with a judgmental tone that hit me the wrong way.
"That would be because it's a castle and not a palace like Beuxbatons," Gisele said matter-a-factly.
"What's the difference?" Rosalie asked from the window.
"A castle has character," I said back stubbornly.
When the carriage touched down, the Durmstrang students were already lining up by the stairs of the great entrance to the castle. It was a remarkably windy day out, causing all of us to feel the cold go straight through our silks. The Durmstrang boys on the other hand, were in jackets of red with lining of fur that I was looking at enviously. The other girls however, were looking at the boys more so out of bashful curiosity which was shared back in both directions.
I watched one guy look Marie up and down as she was purposefully not looking their way. I couldn't help but laugh as she caught me looking back at her slyly.
The humor and awkwardness of teens interacting quietly with only glances and passive smiles ended the moment Madame Maxime walked out of the carriage bringing her students to attention. We were already in our three lines, from the correct height as Benoît had instructed and although we were cold, the moment she appeared, the girls covering their heads with their silk sleeves quickly dropped to attention and listened to our headmistress respectively.
I couldn't help but feel my heart beat faster as my eyes became readjusted to the school grounds of Hogwarts. I was standing here not even two years ago as a fellow first year, ready to be sorted into Slytherin. And now I was a visitor. A guest.
The Durmstrang students rapt to attention rather aggressively with sticks materializing into their hands as their headmaster, a wizard with a dark gaze, major facial hair and a staggering walk appeared from the stairs and stopped in front of his students. The caretaker, Filch had opened the door to let us in and began readily speaking to both headmasters in hushed voices.
We were now in the main hall where portraits of every variety covered plots of wall unceremoniously. Something very different from the tasteful decorations at Beuxbatons.
"You actually studied here?" Ana asked in disbelief.
"Yeah," I said proudly. "I really did."
Filch left the hall through the great doors of the great hall and appeared moments later to speak in whispers to Maxime and the Durmstrang headmaster. Maxime than turned to her students who rapped at attention.
"We will be the first to enter. Professeur Dumbledore will announce shortly so if you please, Fleur and Gabrielle to the back. The rest of you spread out and remember your steps."
Fleur rushed past us to the back of the three lines as the rest of us spread out to fill most of the great hall, leaving the Durmstrang boys to file to the back of the room. My heart was beating so fast now I could feel my hands start to shake.
How was I supposed to transfigure butterflies now with shaking hands?
The doors suddenly began to open and I could hear Dumbledore's voice radiating from the front. I looked through the lines of students and blue hats to see Hogwarts students in their house tables.
Now it felt only too real.
"For now, please join me in welcoming the lovely ladies of Beauxbatons academy of magic and their headmistress, Madame Maxime."
The doors opened to their full extent and suddenly we were walking forward and all I could think of was of the numerous eyes on us and the steps I had to follow.
First came the saunter into the room as students turned to us in blue. Then there was the first bend to the right, with arm extended, back up soft smiles and sigh. Girls in the first line released butterflies.
Next came the repeat to the left after a few more saunters forward. I stubbornly kept my eyes to the Ravenclaw table and no further as it was the third line's turn to release butterflies.
And then we ran the rest of the way forward until we were a third from the front of the room and with a final sigh we slowed into fourth position, and in crisscross motion our line turned into two as we released butterflies and came to the front where all of us returned to smaller lines to watch Fleur and Gabrielle complete their solos of simple turns and flips. They each landed in a heavy fourth position and then altogether we bowed at the student body.
The room erupted into applause as Madame Maxime made her way to Professor Dumbledore who promptly kissed her hand in welcome.
Just as soon as we started it had ended and a wave of relief dropped over me as I turned to look at the Great Hall with familiarity. I was in such raptures over the applause that I overthought looking at the Slytherin table and promptly made eye contact with a pair of dark quizzical eyes looking back at me in waves of raven hair.
Sam.
--
Hello there!
This was a long chapter thus the reasoning for why it took forever to write but I had to make it work. It's such an important part to this story that I knew I had to get it right.
I hope you like it. I'll see you friday.
Lots of Love,
-WG-