What happens when progressive Beauxbatons students get stuck in Scotland for a year? They provide a crash course in inclusion to the Hogwarts student body.
Scotland was cold, and trudging back and forth between the drafty castle and the carriages was unpleasant. At least today was an unseasonably warmer day. Students from all three schools were lounging around the lawns. Fleur and her friends decided to venture outside of their intimate circle and introduce themselves to some of the residents. One of the crasher students, Cormac he said his name was, inched closer to Ray after a few minutes.
"So Ray, are you a boy or a girl?" Cormac blurted while eyeing Ray's fitted pants and neutral uniform top.
"My pronouns are they/them. I identify as gender fluid," Ray replied. The confused look on his face prompted them to continue. "Are you interested in learning more about gender identities?"
Cormac nodded, "yeah that would be really great! It's not something I've heard much about before."
Another Beauxbatons student, Cleo could not stop her eyes from wandering over to a Ravenclaw with glittering blue eyes and flowing brown hair. Her crush was quite obvious to her friends and they teased her good naturedly. Cleo built up enough courage to approach the brunette and ask her to Yule Ball. Initially the girl was surprised yet pleased, as she blushed prettily. She voiced concern about societal norms and was unsure if attending with another female would be permitted. Cleo offered to test the waters by first going on a date to Hogsmeade.
The girls had a wonderful time. Cleo noticed some looks from Hogwarts students as she and her date walked hand in hand through the village, but her Ravenclaw did not seem to mind. Her date confirmed Cleo's observations by kissing her at the front gates and asking if the Yule invitation still stands. Cleo grinned the whole walk back to her carriage.
Fleur and her friends were walking from class back to their carriage when they came across a crowd of older boys blocking a young girl in. They were sneering and loudly insulting her with demeaning phrases about boys in skirts. Fleur and her friends stepped in between the crowd and their target, wearing hard glares and with wands drawn. Leading the fourth year away, the french students offered Blaise a safe space for the year.
Blaise slowly relaxed as her new friends seemed to truly want her around and accept her. No one made snide remarks or refused to call her by her chosen pronouns. Classmates, seeing how the Beauxbatons students embraced Blaise in their circle, started to more openly support her. With many of the students in her grade, all of the french contingent, and many other students throughout the school accepting Blaise as she identifies, the group of bullies were unable to continue their cruel treatment without retaliation from multiple directions.
At the end of the Triwizard tournament, all the visiting students prepared to return to their home schools, while leaving their marks on Hogwarts. The castle residents were a bit more vocal in their acceptance and more open to express their nonconformities. As their carriage took off, Bray murmured to Fleur, "maybe there's hope for Britain after all."