Chapter Four

Our group made its way through the building following Scorpius and his friends. Eventually we came to the dining room where the door magically opened and Scorpius ushered us in. As I took in my surroundings I was surprised, I had expected the dining hall to be bigger though it was extravagant in design. It was an average size room laid out in a wedding style layout, with a head table for the staff and then smaller tables for each year group. Beauxbaton didn't accept very many students only about 16 every year, half the number of Hogwarts. Therefore sitting at a table with my entire year was still fairly intimate and we could get to know each other fairly well. We took our seats promptly and the meal was excellent but it wasn't long before controversy arose. All eight boys at the table had been starring longingly at Elise since we arrived; many other boys from all year groups were doing the same. The girls were also reacting to Elise but in quite the opposite manner, they were becoming increasingly hostile. Although I could understand that this is a natural response to Veela charm it could not bear how rude these people were being to my new friend. The second I heard a girl being deliberately vicious about Elise all hell broke loose.

"How dare you say such a thing about Elise? I've have known her the same length of time as you and yet it is plain to me that she is a lovely sweet girl." I began to rant in French. I was always very good at ranting in French when I got angry. "You are being purely prejudice and discriminative based on her heritage. I believe even France is familiar with Grindelwald and Voldemort! They were also prejudice based on heritage! And boys you will stop starring at Elise like she is a piece of meat! She is a person with feelings and you will respect that!" I looked around, and realised at some point I had stood up. I should have been utterly embarrassed but truthfully I was still filled with righteous indignation. I sat down as gracefully as I could before hazarding a glance at the staff table. Professeur Andres looked amused and Headmistress de Chagny smiled approvingly. Thank goodness they weren't mad about me making a scene. One girl who later introduced herself as Claudia came over to the end where Elise, Annabella and I sat.

"I apologise Elise, our behaviour was uncalled for. Please forgive us and I hope we can all be friends." Claudia whispered offering her hand to Elise, which Elise accepted, standing also and giving Claudia the standard French kiss on the cheek as a sign of forgiveness.

What a dramatic end to my first day at school, I thought to myself as we headed back towards our rooms after dinner. We followed the surge of students heading towards the common room remembering we were all housed in the same part of the main building. As we reached our common room door Scorpius, Tilly and their friend made their way through the throng of students towards us. Their handsome friend whose name I still didn't know spoke first.

"That was quite a speech you gave mademoiselle. You seem at home already here." He had a funny accent that I couldn't quite place. I thought back to my minor foray into other languages that I wished to learn at some point and concluded his accent indicated Eastern European verging towards Russian. Interesting...

"We should go let these ladies have a good night's sleep. Sleep well. Come on Dmitri," Scorpius declared gesturing his friend, Dmitri to the lift. Dmitri, the name although originally Greek would suggest my accent guessing was on the ball. I didn't know much about Russia or Soviet countries but I knew Dmitri was a common name there. As I thought this through I realised how odd I was in analysis every detail of this boy. I watched as Tilly spoke a few words to her sister before followed the boys into one of the lifts.

From there Elise, Annabella and I departed each to our own rooms. I lay awake on my beautiful comfortable bed thinking about this magical place. I was so very lucky to be here. My thought then drifted to my new friends, classes tomorrow and lastly my mind focused on my wand and Mr O's strange words. "Have no fear, you will be a great witch but not in the way everyone will expect. Trust your wand for it holds the secret of your greatest success." Maybe over time I would come to know what they would mean for me.

I woke the next morning feeling refreshed and so very excited about the day ahead. I quickly jumped out of bed, gathered my things and headed for the showers. There was no-one in them yet so I had first pick. By the time I was done Claudia and another girl were waiting and the other four showers were filled. I smiled happily at them and returned to my room. I glanced at my uniform combinations and decided on my blue pinafore with light blue silk blouse and striped tie. I slipped on my black flats and used an air drying charm on my hair. Thanks to my Aunt Gabby, well she is Aunt Fleur's sister but I call her my aunt, for getting me that book on every day beauty charms. I stopped by my desk and debated between taking all my books in my bag to breakfast or whether to hope I'd enough time between breakfast and first class to pick them up. I resolved to ask the girls in the common room. I opened the door just in time to here Annabella say "Tilly told me to leave my books until we get our timetables at breakfast. If we go down now we can eat and have time to come back for our books." I was relieved and left with other girls for breakfast in the dining hall.

I understood at once what Scorpius meant about the smaller round tables. Our group split up leaving Elise, Annabella and I at a small table near the centre of the room. As I observed the room I noticed although people were eating there was no food to be obtained. Last night the food was along the centre of the tables but it was different today. From the corner of my eye I noticed Annabella waving before I realised she was indicating for Tilly to come over. Tilly had just arrived with Scorpius and Dmitri, all three looking as though they were models in the school uniform. Dmitri was talking to a girl similar looking to him and very beautiful. She could have passed for a model also. This school seems filled with beautiful people! The group approached our table to Annabella's beckoning and Tilly introduced the girl as Natalya, Dmitri's sister before Natalya abruptly ran off to sit at a table alone. Dmitri cast her a worried look, as Tilly and Scorpius began explaining that ordinarily food was ordered from the menu on the table.

We could choose any of the dishes on the menu and ask for seconds if we desired. Scorpius suggested bacon and eggs whereas Tilly suggested a croissant. This suggestion was met with a poke in the ribs from Scorpius. The three third years then left to find another table as we each ordered breakfast. I decided to mix both suggestion and had a croissant with bacon inside. This was met with horrified looks from my companions. I guess a breakfast roll isn't exactly how the French eat their croissants.

A stately looking Professeur approached our table as we were finishing. He offered each of us a timetable before introducing himself and explaining the programme for the day.

"My name is Professeur le Blanc, I teach History of Beauxbaton and later in the year we will begin History of Magic. Your classes begin at 9 o'clock promptly. Tardiness is not accepted in this school and is punishable with dentition. Your first class of the day is with me, on the second floor. Ask an older student if you have difficulty finding the correct classroom, they will gladly help you. Your schedule is made up of three classes then a break, followed by another three classes and lunch. Lunch is served at exactly 1 o'clock. Classes begin again at 2 o'clock. After lunch there will be three classes, followed by a break and another two classes. I am aware that the sheer number of classes may seem extreme but I assure you they are not all boring magical lessons. You will see your timetable also included physical exercise, equestrian training, art classes, etiquette lessons and these regularly change throughout the school year. I look forward to seeing you all outside my door in half an hour."

We each started to examine our timetables as Professeur le Blanc walked away toward the other first year tables. Even though the Professeur had just mentioned equestrian training, I was still surprised to see that I had equestrian before lunch. I knew from looking at the timetable that this school taught a lot more than just magic. I looked up at the other girls smiling. Elise looked similarly surprised to me at the classes so maybe she didn't know much about Beauxbaton either. Annabella looked quite at ease, so I supposed Tilly must have told her all about Beauxbaton, or perhaps all her family had attended here. I must remember to ask them more about their families. Annabella roused me from my thoughts as she stood and gestured for me and Elise to hurry up. "We have now only 20 minutes to pack our bags and find our classroom, come on!"

With that said we rushed to our rooms to get the correct books for this morning's classes. We only needed our potions and transfiguration texts and lots of extra parchment. Five minutes later we met outside the common room with all our things. Firstly we went up the stairs beside our rooms only to discover that the residential part of the school was only connected to the rest of the building by a corridor on the first and fifth floors. We crossed at the fifth and spent a long time finding the correct staircase back down. Eventually a 4th year student told us where to go.

We arrived just in time for the bell. I studied the room momentarily before taking a seat. There were only sixteen seats in the classroom in rows of four, so we sat in the second row along with Claudia. The desks were rather formal and the Professeur's desk was intimidating but around the room there were colourful posters of this and that. Professeur le Blanc started the class by calling a role, I had been waiting for the pause and recognition of my name that Albus and James always complained of but it never came. Once the role was complete the Professeur began posing some questions about Beauxbaton Academy.

"Does anyone know when Beauxbaton was first formed? Why the school was named Beauxbaton? Who is the schools founder?"

A few hands appeared around the room but the majority of students seemed uncertain. I was surprised to see Elise's hand raised as I thought she didn't seem to know much about Beauxbaton and classes earlier. The Professeur indicated at Elise to answer.

"Beauxbaton was formed in 1231 under the rule of King Louis IX who was in fact a wizard. After his father's death, Louis IX was crowned king at the age of 12 however had little control of his magic for his father, also a wizard, had yet to teach him magic. King Louis then decided to form a school to teach those with magical capabilities. Aside from the initial founding King Louis IX was never associated with the school and never visited this location. It is unknown if he himself learnt and used magic," Elise reeled off.

"Obviously someone was wise enough to read ahead. Merci, Mademoiselle Michel. Over the course of the next four months we will be learning from our forefathers about the history of this establishment but also how they impact us today. For today's lesson we are going to think about the school name. Later next week we will begin researching King Louis IX and the world in which our school was formed." Professeur le Blanc looked around excitedly, "There is no textbook for this class because we do not wish rival school to know our history or secrets therefore it is necessary for you all to take notes. There are sources with details of our school history such as the one Mademoiselle Michel just recited but these have never been verified therefore other sources do not trust them. Thankfully our secrets remain hidden."

This instruction was then followed by a 20minute lecture on beautiful wands and forest surrounding the lake. He was cut off by the bell and he dismissed us without homework. It was an intense class but I found I was very interested in the history. The history for this school anyway, perhaps not goblin wars which James complained of learning at Hogwarts. Professeur le Blanc had begun taking about the willow trees by the lake when the bell rang and I felt as though this topic held some great secret, perhaps the secret of my willow wand and Mr O's strange words.

My next class was potions where I discovered a surprising talent for the subject, like I had a gut instinct about what do to. I must mention that when I write home, maybe one of my parents has an aptitude for potions. We began with a very simple potion but half way through I had a feeling to stir the potion anticlockwise instead, when I asked the professeur he let me try it. My potion came out more potent than the others although they were also correct.

Transfiguration didn't come just as easy as potions did but I discovered that my magic was fairly powerful. I was able to transfigure my match into a pin on the third attempt, only one other boy in the class managed to transfigure it before the bell. Needless to say I was a bit shocked but as a child my magic manifested itself very powerfully before I was able to control it. At that time I had merely put it down to being the daughter of Harry Potter, a very powerful wizard. Perhaps this is something else I should enquire about. Equestrian was the class I was most looking forward to today, as was Elise, so we raced towards the stables.

"Annabella how come you are not more excited about horse ridding?" I exclaimed as we reached the edge of the paddock where the Professeur stood. As she shrugged I turned to examine the beautiful creatures in front of me. There were several different horses standing about the paddock. A few were munching food whereas others stood proudly examining our approaching class.

"My name is Professeur Doleuze and I will be teaching equestrian. We will be learning how to care for horses as well as riding. For first years equestrian is mandatory but after this year you may drop the subject if you are not interested in ridding. Only sixth and seventh years are allowed near the Pegasus horses. If I catch any of you near them you will be kicked out of my class, understood? Know let's have a show of hands, how many of you have ridden a horse before?"

Elise raised her hand along with a boy whose name is Elliot, I think. I had always loved animals but unfortunately I had never had the opportunity to go ridding. I was very excited about this class though I was a bit worried about my clumsy nature and lack of balance.

"Alright then we have much to learn. Today I will merely show you around the stables and you can get to know the horses. As we toured the stable a beautiful French Trotter came towards us and started nosing at me. I was taken back at first until I noticed the beauty in this magnificent animal. He was about half a foot bigger than me and a gorgeous sandy bay colour.

"This one is named Apollo. He is usually very independent but appears to have taken a liking to Mademoiselle Potter." Professeur Doleuze offered me some fruit to feed Apollo. As he finished eating the bell sounded and Apollo raced around the paddock recklessly. Professeur Doleuze dismissed us, but indicated Elise and I should wait behind.

"The various clubs and evening activities will begin next week, I would like to encourage the two of you in particular to join the equestrian club, although all others are welcome." We smiled and thanked her as we raced to lunch not wanting to be late after our stern warning on punctuality. For being half way through my first day of school, I couldn't be happier!