The idea for this story came from the mental image of a gross old man in a spangled dress attempting to lure children with the promise of magic.
The title came from another story idea that I had, which is also one that I'd like to incorporate into this story. Basically a Hufflepuff becomes immune to the influence of Dementors because she's depressed and used to feeling like shit. Babyface is gonna be a little badass.
Possible pairings: no idea. Though Oc is going to become good friends with the Weasley twins because I need there to be chaos.
Disclaimer: I don't own 'Harry Potter' but J. K. Rowling does.
Chapter 1 The pervert in a sparkling dress.
At the age of 8, Joke Kinkel got handed a letter from a very strange man in a purple her, he seemed about as old as her papa but when compared, this man had more hair on his head and his face looked decidedly meaner. The strange man had introduced himself as Professor Deschamps and went on to tell the young girl, in his deeply accented voice, that he had something important to explain to her and her family. He ended his speech by asking the young girl if he could come inside for a little while.
Joke had slammed the door shut and squeaked out that her parents weren't home. Her parents had always taught her and her siblings not to talk to strangers and she took it to heart. They said strangers could mean her harm and her parents didn't want her to get hurt. She was also not supposed to open the door for strangers, especially so when there was no one else in the house with her. But Joke had forgotten that little rule up until she came face to face with the strange man in purple.
If her parents knew they were going to be so angry with her.
She waited anxiously until she saw the man's form leave in the obscured glass of the front door and only then scurried out of the hallway. She went back into the living room where the television was still playing Beauty and the beast on VCR.
She took her seat in front of the television once more, but this time her eyes weren't fixed on the screen, the eight year old curiously looked over the elegantly decorated letter in her chubby little hands. The envelop was smooth and it barely weighted anything at all. It smelled sweet too, like flowers but she couldn't name which ones. The paper was thick and coloured a light brown, something like a skin tone but to Joke it seemed more like marble, it shimmered slightly as she held up in the light. On the front of the envelop Joke could with some difficulty make out her full name and address written in thin sweeps and curls. And additionally to that was a short description of where exactly her bedroom was located in the house.
Her bedroom.
Strangers weren't supposed to know that. Especially not mean looking old men in purple dresses.
Joke dropped the letter and fearfully shifted her eyes to the window above the couch that looked out over the front garden. The man wasn't there, thankfully, but that didn't easy the young girl's anxiety in the slightest. She got to her feet, raced over to the window and closed the shutters, then went on to the next until the whole house was shut down.
Joke hid herself in her parents' closet with the doors closed. The bottom layer of the closet had been stacked with folded t-shirts and jeans, though after some shifting and wiggling when she got inside, they really weren't all that neat anymore.
The eight year old sat hunched into herself with her head in her knees. Her hands covered her mouth, helplessly trying to keep any sound from spilling out but it seemed futile. Her shoulders shook with every sob and she whimpered pitifully into her hands. Tears had started to make their way down her cheeks long before she crawled into her parents' closet.
She was scared.
Strangers weren't supposed to know things like that about her. Private things. That only people could know after having walked through the house before. The man at the front door didn't look familiar to Joke. Her mama and papa never mentioned any professor friends of theirs. Nor did they tell her that they were expecting a house visit that day. So, she decided, her parents didn't know about the man. Didn't know who he was or that he came by. And yet that man had somehow been in her house before?! How did he get in? Did he break in while nobody was home? Can he come into the house right now?
Circling her arms tightly around her legs, she let out another sob.
Quite some time passed while Joke waited in silent dread. She feared to hear something, anything that could indicate that there was somebody else in the house with her. But she didn't hear anything. She waited longer, almost anticipated a sudden loud bang to be heard in another room or heavy footsteps across the hall. But all kept quiet, and slowly but surely her nerves started to ease up again.
After what felt like an eternity of hiding in the darkness of her parents' closet, Joke decided it to be save enough to come out.
Carefully, she pushed against the wooden door and cringed as it let out a squeak. She stopped and waited, once more; fearful to hear something move elsewhere in the house. But again, nothing was heard and the young girl climbed further out of the closet.
Sneaking quietly out of her parents' bedroom, she peaked out into the landing. Finding nothing, she began to check all the other rooms on the second floor and then followed it up by checking her brother's room in the attic. The man wasn't anywhere to be found and Joke felt her fear ebb away only to be replaced with embarrassment.
She walked down stairs, still mindful of the noise she made as she descended. The hallway was clear and so where the kitchen and the living room. Joke was alone in the house. Feeling heat creep up her neck she groaned loudly.
She felt so silly.
Maybe she had somehow misread the whole thing.
Maybe she misread the swirling cursive on the letter.
Perhaps it was just some kind of stupid prank. She thought of Hans, her older brother. He could have pranked her. Maybe he asked his friends for help. The man in the purple dress could have been a dad of one of them; Joke never met any of the parents of the friends of her brother.
Joke didn't think it was funny though. She just felt embarrassed.
Out of their own accord, her eyes travelled over to the beautiful letter that laying innocently on the carpet by the television.
It was odd though. Joke hadn't thought that her brother could make something so pretty. No, he was too much of a boy for that. Surely somebody else must have written it. Curiosity started to bubble up in the young girl. What could have been written in the letter? Maybe it was just a dumb drawing telling her that they had fooled her… Or maybe it was something else?
She wanted to know even if it was just a prank. It couldn't hurt to take a look right?
Joke sat herself down on the carpet and once again cradled the letter carefully in her hands. She tried to read the front of the envelop again. It wouldn't have been the first time she couldn't read something properly and it wouldn't surprise her if she had accidentally done so again. She frowned as she still reading the same thing. A description of her bedroom. Yuck.
Turning the envelop over, the envelop was closed off with a light blue wax seal. The wax had dulled and didn't shimmer like the rest of the envelop, imprinted in the wax was a cross design that started thick in the bottom and thinned out at the top, six little stars fell around the thin tops of the cross.
If it wasn't for her name, address and bedroom being written on the front of the thing, she could have easily believe that the letter was written centuries ago.
She eased her finger into the opening and wiggle around with care, she didn't want to break the wax seal, but the last bit remained stuck on the paper and chipped off. She opened the letter and took out three pieces of paper, all were somehow lighter in colour than the envelop but still shimmered all the same. They were written on with dark blue ink and swept and curled just like the text did on the envelop. One of the two papers seemed to list things off, so Joke decided to first read through the one letter that seemed to tell a story.
BEAUXBATONS
ACEDEMIE DE MAGIQUE
Headmistress: Madame Olympe Maxime
Mademoiselle Kinkel,
We have the great pleasure to inform you of your acceptance to the Beauxbatons Academy of Beauxbatons Academy, those of unimaginable nature from all across Europe attend for our unparalleled offer in education. Official classes in the arts of magic are offered. As are additional classes in music, dance, etiquette, foreign languages and foreign cultures. Please find enclosed a list of supplies and equipment begins on 1 September, we await your owl by no later than 31 July.
Cordialement,
Monsieur Chapelle
Monsieur Chapelle
They await my owl..? what? I don't have an owl…
Re-reading the letter again, the young girl's brow rose into her hairline.
This letter was… an acceptance letter to a magical school..?
She sat unmoving, eyes trained on the elegant letter in her hands.
Her mind had gone completely blank.
What?
How could that-… Why would she-… What?
Surely this was a prank, right? Hans couldn't actually think she would fall for this. Magic wasn't a real thing. Saying magic's real was just something adults would do for their children so they could be children for just a bit longer. It's like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.
Well, the joke's on her brother. Joke was already very much aware that it was all fake. She didn't understand how other children her age could look at Sinterklaas and just not seen the fake beard. But Joke sure had. She just never bothered telling anyone she knew because she didn't want the holidays and the free candy to stop coming around. She is the youngest child in her family after all. If she stopped believing too, then why would they continue to celebrate?
Still, there weren't any holidays centered around a magic school. Or at least, not that she knew of.
And for her brother to, not only make someone else write a fake letter, but to have somebody's dad deliver it in a dress… It just seemed like too much effort. Hans' practical jokes usually aren't that… big. He would suddenly jump around a corner to scare me, put something in my hair or he'd make fun of something stupid I said. He has never really done something like this before.
So then…
A thoughtful look took its place of her face as she trailed her fingers carefully over the shimmering paper.
It seemed so genuinely real.
She didn't know if she loved or hated that it did.
She bit her lower lip and placed the acceptance letter on the carpet in front of her and then picked up the other paper with the list.
BEAUXBATONS
ACEDEMIE DE MAGIQUE
First-year students will require:
Uniform
Three sets of blue lace agate robes (fine silk)
One matching blue lace agate hat for day wear (fine silk)
One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
One light blue cloak for evening wear (velvet)
Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry nametags.
Course books
All students should own a copy from each of the following:
Spell Theory for Starters by Valentin Janvier Pelletier
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
Brews and Tonics for Beginners by Beau Dupuis
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
The Theory Behind Transfiguration by Pablo Delgado
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
Illumination of the Dark Arts by Louise Boucher
To Know Proper Etiquette by Lucille Duchâteau
The Astrology Apprentice by Mortimer Lafollette
First-year students will learn the fundamentals on their chosen foreign language and culture studies directly from their professors. In the second year students will be expected to obtain course books on these specific studies.
Additional equipments
One wand
One cauldron (Pewter, standard size 2)
One telescope
One set of brass scales
Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl OR a cat OR a toad. Other creatures may be permitted with the approval of the Headmistress.
Parents are reminded that students under the age of twelve are not be permitted to fly their own brooms on school grounds. If an underage pupil is found, either carrying or flying a broom without supervision, they will serve a punishment and the parents will be notified.
Cordialement,
Monsieur Fusilier
Monsieur Fusilier
Joke felt like her brain had short circuited and was currently smoking out of her ears. She didn't know what to think anymore, she trailed her fingers over the shimmering paper. It seemed so real. But that was ridiculous. It couldn't be real. Magic didn't exist. Joke felt something prick behind her eyes. She fixed the paper with a glare. It wasn't fair. She refolded the paper and carefully slipped both letters back into the envelop and then placed it on the television furniture where it would be unlikely to be overlooked. She decided to wait for her mama or papa to come home so she could show what kind of a meanie her brother Hans was.
She just couldn't believe he'd do something so cruel to her. She didn't care that she didn't quite get how he pulled it off. It had to be him because it couldn't have been anyone else.
Joke simmered in her bound of justified anger for the remaining of the day. Muttering to herself as she marched circles in the living room. Now and then she'd look over at the envelop and then her mood would sour even further. She was absolutely vivid when her mama finally came home.
Mrs. Kinkel had been surprised to see her usually quiet daughter so emotional and was quick to grab a hold of her.
"Schätzen, what's wrong?" She asked worriedly.
Joke felt the pricking behind her eyes again, "Hans is being mean again! He made this fake letter and had one of his friends parents deliver it to me!" She sobbed.
Mrs. Kinkel looked even more lost. "A letter?"
Joke nodded and attempted to rub her eyes dry with her sleeves; she sniffed and then walked out of her mother's arms to the television furniture. She picked up the envelop and walked back to her mother then handed the open envelop to her awaiting hands. Joke buried her face into her mother's neck as she read through the letters.
"You… got accepted into a French magic school?" Mrs. Kinkel sounded confused, "Joke, who gave you this? How do you know it's from Hans?"
"Hans is always playing tricks on me!" Joke cried. "It has to be him!"
"Joke, sweetheart, who gave you this letter?" Her mother asked sternly.
Joke sniffed and pulled her face from her mother's neck, "There was a man at the door in a purple dress. I thought Hans had forgotten his keys again so I opened up. He handed me the letter" looking ashamed, Joke sobbed "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I know I'm not supposed to do t-that!"
"Did he do anything else?" The look on her mother's face made Joke sob even harder, believing her mother was angry at her.
"H-he asked to come inside but I shut the door immediately- I'm s-sorry!" She cried and her mother cradled her in her arms, softly shushing the hysteric girl.
"Is that why all the shutters are down?" She asked, Joke nodded and sniffed.
"Okay, okay…" She patted down her daughter's hair. "Here's what we're going to do. We're leaving the shutters down and I'm locking the doors. You stay right here-" Mrs. Kinkel lifted her daughter up in her arms and placed her on the couch, "Right here. And I'm going to call the police alright? And they are going to help us with this mess."
Joke nodded and whimpered.
It had been three days since the man in the purple dress came to the Kinkel house and there hadn't been a sight of his since. The police had come knocking on the door, around 10 minutes after Mrs. Kinkel made the call. They had questioned Mrs. Kinkel and Joke for well over an hour, trying to extract as much information about the potential kidnapper / sex offender as possible.
Joke's papa came home during the questioning and had gotten a right scare from seeing the police car parked outside their house. He had breathed out in relief seeing that his wife and youngest child were alright. And again when he heard that his other child hadn't left his school yet.
Joke had been both shy and fascinated by the policemen and she liked the nice lady that came with them to draw a picture of the man with the dress. She had asked her a lot of questions about him, for instance what his ears were shaped like or how big his nose had been. Joke had also gotten her fingers covered in ink and got instructed to press each separate finger into a little square, as did her mother.
The police officers left soon after with the promise to do all that they could to catch the man with assumedly ill-intents. They took the drawing of the man and the envelop with them. Joke had been sad to see the letter go, but she understood that they needed it to find the man. They also informed the neighborhoods officers of the situation and saw to it that they had a watch assigned out on the streets.
Joke felt save knowing that the police were doing their job and that her parents were home with her. Mr. and Mrs. Kinkel however hadn't felt all that much better at all. They decided it best to keep a close eye on their children for the coming weeks and agreed to switch driving them from and to their schools from now on. Mr. Kinkel even went ahead and searched the internet to find the best possible security system for their house. He had realized that their current one wasn't quite up to their standard anymore. He even bought expansive security cameras to hang outside their house, in case the child offender ever came back, that way they'd have a better image of the man for the police to work with.
Mrs. Kinkel had driven to Hans' school to pick him up. She had evidently explained the situation to him on the drive back as he immediately went to hug Joke the moment he caught her in his vision. He had lightly teased her for thinking it had been him to send that letter to her, saying that he'd never do something so childish and unnecessarily elaborate. But Joke could hear how upset he was as it became harder for him to spew the words out. She hugged him just as tight.
Three days had passed since then and there had been no sight of the odd man in the purple dress. Joke had asked her mama when she would be getting the letter back from the police but her mother had replied that she probably wouldn't get it back at all, even if the police were finish examining it for fingerprints. Joke didn't like that and felt confused because of it. She knew it had been a mean prank or maybe even something much worse from that terrible man, but she still couldn't shake the feeling that there was something special about the envelope.
She berated herself for wanting it back. Because of course she would want to have the letters, which was what it was for, wasn't it? To attract her. But now she knew it was a trick, so she refused to let it have any effect on her. She decided to pretend like she never received it in the first place. But she couldn't help but recall the shimmering of the paper every time she was presented with a boring blank one.
It had been a quiet Sunday morning in the Kinkel household when somebody knocked on the front door.
This may sound innocent to many but to the Kinkel's it was odd, they had a doorbell after all and it had worked just fine the day before. Mr. Kinkel stood up from his seat at the dinner table and walked over into the living room to glance out of the window. Then he swore loudly and successfully pulled the attention from the other Kinkel's that were still tending to their breakfast.
"He's back!" He exclaimed as he marched back into the dining room, "Derica get on the phone and call the police, I'm gonna get my bat."
Mrs. Kinkel hurriedly shot up from her chair and sped off into the kitchen as Mr. Kinkel left into the hallway to retrieve his old baseball bat. Joke and Hans shared a worried looked.
"He's not getting in here, is he?" Joke asked in a small voice and Hans shook his head with firm look in his eyes. "There's no way he's getting passed papa!" He proclaimed reassuringly and hopped off of his chair. He moved around the table and pulled his little sister into his arms. "And if he does he needs to get through me second!" He added on, though Joke noticed that he sounded less sure of that.
"Get the hell off of my property!" They heard their father yelling from the hallway. "And don't think we're letting you anywhere near my daughter, you bastard!"
A loud bang was heard for the living room and Joke whimpered, covering her ears with her hands. Her brother had let her go and ran off into the hallway screaming for their papa. Joke didn't understand what was going on but stubbornly kept her eyes tightly shut, she was so scared.
"Bonjour Mademoiselle Kinkel." Joke heard from her right and she squeaked. It was him! How did he get into their house? How did he get past her papa!? The man, now wearing a cobalt blue dress with silver stars, walked further into the room and stationed himself on the other side of the dining table, hands resting on the back of her brother's chair.
"Now, now, there is no need for that." He remarked as he noticed the tears streaming down Jokes cheeks; he lifted one hand off of the chair and went to grab at the silvery stick attached to his hip. "If you, and your family, would just calm down then I can-"
He cut himself off with a painful groan, his left eye twitch. He seized up for a moment and then dropped to the floor unmoving. Mrs. Kinkel appeared from behind him holding a black remote shaped device that sparked at the metal ends. She breathed heavily for a moment and then laid her eyes on her daughter. Her eyes melted from a wide panic into a worry as she quickly stepped over the man and toward her daughter. Joke already opened her arms up to her. "Are you alright Joke? He didn't do anything, did he?" Mrs. Kinkel asked frantically and heaved her daughter into her arms.
Mr. Kinkel and his son came into the dining room then, "How did he get in here?!" Mr. Kinkel demanded, "Is he dead?" Hans asked in a panic.
Mrs. Kinkel scurried over to them, walking widely around the fallen body of the man that meant her family harm. She tightened her grip on Joke in her arms. "N-no, no dear. Just unconscious, I think…"
Mr. Kinkel pushed his wife and his children back into the hallway, "Go wait outside for the police." He told them firmly. "And see if the neighbours are awake yet."
Turns out, the neighbours had been awake and had heard some of the commotion from inside the Kinkel house. They had even started to accumulate outside on the street, looking both curiously and worriedly as the mother and children hurrying out of their own house.
They took cover at the Jansen's front yard and Mrs. Kinkel tiredly answered all of the noisy questions that Mrs. Jansen threw at her. Joke hadn't released her dead grip on her mama's neck nor had Hans on their mama's hand. She watched multiple men from all over the street make their way into their home and she wondered what they were doing there.
The police arrived not long after and also made their way into the Kinkel house. Some of the other men left then and returned to their own families. Her papa came out awhile later followed by the police officers as they dragged the odd man with the starry dress behind them as he cursed up a storm. Joke was surprised to notice that the man was bleeding quite heavily from his nose and sported an ugly bruise on the side of his face. He flailed around wildly and once more sprouted his complete nonsense of being a highly respected professor from France and such.
The police read him his rights and pushed him into the back of their car and then they drove off, leaving a cheering crowd in its wake. A couple more of the neighbors came over and wondered what had happened. And after another hour or so of conversing, the neighbors seemingly felt satisfied with the Kinkel's story and went back into their own houses and then everything was quiet once more.
Later that same day, the Kinkel's were all sitting together in the living room. A documentary about sea creatures was on in the background as the four of them played a board game. The intrusion of the odd man had been a shock for all of them and Mr. and Mrs. Kinkel decided it best to stay home for the day and spend some quality time with their kids. Everything was slowly becoming normal again, and then there was another knocking on the front door.
Mr. Kinkel shot up and looked out through the window, but this time, instead of getting angry he seemed to grow more confused than anything.
"Who is it?" Hans asked carefully.
"No clue." Mr. Kinkel replied and walked out to the hallway. Joke and Hans glanced up to their mother, but she seemed just as confused as them. Mrs. Kinkel stood up and walked over to the window, then gasped.
Now extremely curious about the mystery visitor, Joke and Hans both joined her at the window. Outside stood one of the tallest women they had ever seen. She had an olive-colored skin and a beak-like nose. Her hair was drawn back into a tight knob at the base of her neck and she wore a black velvety dress laden with green jewels.
She made an odd sight and it became even odder when Joke noticed how much taller the woman was compared to her papa. She was nearly twice his size!
The woman was allowed into the house by her papa. Her mama moved from the window and hurried into the hallway. Joke and Hans glanced at each other, neither knowing what to say. They climbed down from the couch and sat themselves back on the floor.
Their parents came back into the room a little later and asked the two of them to clean up their game while they attended to their guest. The woman ducked under the doorway and into the living room, she had to hunch forward or else she'd bump into the ceiling. She greeted the two of them with a nod and a heavily accented "Bonjour." And then sat herself down in one of the cushioned chairs. It creaked under her weight but out of politeness, nobody mentioned it.
Once they were all stationed around the coffee table, the woman started to introduce herself.
"My name is Madame Olympe Maxime. I am the headmistress of Beauxbatons, the Academie de magique in France."
Joke gasped and the Kinkel parents noticeably tensed up.
"Listen here lady, this has gone on for long enough!" Mr. Kinkel stated angrily, "I don't know what you people want from my daughter bu-"
"Why to teach her of course!" Madame Maxime proclaimed firmly, "Why else would we sent her the acceptance letter? Your daughter has been favoured by magic herself! She should be taught how to use her gifts! And we, at Beauxbatons, would love to teach her!"
"You're not taking my daughter anywhere with you!" Mrs. Kinkel spat out and Joke almost couldn't believe it had come out of her mother. She had never heard her mother shriek in anger like that, having only ever only seen her mildly upset with her brother and herself. It has honestly rather shocking to see how aggressive her kind mama could be. "I don't know what kind of game you're playing here but I will not have it in my hous-"
And that's when the light bulbs in the ceiling lamp burst and shattered on the coffee table. Thin glass shards broke on impact with the table and ceramics, bright sparks flew down and disappeared into nothing.
"Now see here…" Madame Maxime started calmly and pulled a thin long stick from under her dress, "I believe we got off on a misunderstanding." With a smooth wave of the stick in her hand, the shattered glass pieces of the light bulbs recollected themselves from across the table, shifting in between the cookie platter and the milk as a few strays floated up from the floor and out of their drinks. They reattached themselves to each other in mid air and then floated back up into the ceiling lamp to settle back into their old spot.
The ceiling lamp was fixed but the light didn't return.
The room had gone quiet as the Kinkel's all sat through various states of disbelieve.
"As I was saying…" Madame Maxime went on all the while looking rather pleased with herself, "Your daughter is of magic. She needs to learn how to practice it, refusing to do so and she could end up hurting herself and those around her. "
That easily pulled Joke's attention from the ceiling lamp, "…I-I'm dangerous?" Joke asked quietly, her brow flurried with worry.
Madame Maxime settled her large black eyes on the youngest of the Kinkel's and her eyes seemed to melt a little, "Non chère," She reassured, "Not if you're properly taught."
"How did you…" Mrs. Kinkel mumbled, still looking up at the ceiling lamp with her eyes wide open.
"Magic, as I told you." Madame Maxime explained slowly.
"But it was… in pieces…" Mr. Kinkel objected lamely.
"That was so cool!" Hans exclaimed his excitement as he jumped up from the ground and firmly settled his starry eyed gaze on Madame Maxime. "Was that really magic?!"
"Merci, young man," The large woman replied in slight amusement, "and oui, it was."
"…Unbelievable…" Mr. Kinkel muttered in a tone that suggested he was rather close to delirious.
"If my last display of magic was insufficient to convince you then maybe another example would?" Madame Maxime didn't seem to wait for an answer as she once more waves the stick in an intricate pattern; although this time she exclaimed something in a foreign language with it.
A light blue light shone brightly out of the tip of the stick as it shot a thin line through the air and landed on one of the apples on the fruit bowl that was located on the far end of the television furniture. The blue light constricted the fruit and slowly lifted it up into the air. Then suddenly the red off the apple disappeared and its shape disfigured into something longer. Two wings appeared on its side and then quickly took off into the air. A brilliant blue bird with long feathers on its tail sailed circles in the Kinkel's living room as it chirped sweetly and eventually perched on the side of the tall cupboard in which we kept all our old ceramics and other kitchenware that we couldn't find a place for in the kitchen.
And then Madame Maxime once more raised the stick and swept it about with a proud exclamation of the same unknown language. And Joke watched in awe as the larger woman showed and, let's be honest, preformed her abilities to her gaping audience. After the repaired lamp and the blue bird, the woman made the tulips on the windowsill bloom and then turned her own robes to an auburn red colour before flashing it to a canary yellow and then turned it back to black again. She made a couple of sugar cubes float around in a circle before returning them to the sugar pot and then she stashed her stick and daintily leaned back into her chair as her cup and saucer obediently floated up into her awaiting hands. She took a sip as silence once more engulfed the room.
Joke really didn't know what to do at this point. This woman, Madame Maxime, was unmistakably true to her words and that made her feel something. Only she couldn't tell if whatever she was feeling was a good feeling or a bad feeling. Her parents seemed to be in a similar situation as her as they were still very much gawking at the apparently magical woman in front of them. This really wasn't a prank was it? It couldn't be. There was no way to explain the things Madame Maxime did, or at least not with something that sounded even remotely plausible.
What was she supposed to do now?
Hans had been ecstatic throughout the entire magical display of the larger woman. Throwing out oooh's and aaah's with every little thing the woman did. Was she supposed to react like that as well? To just ignore the obvious headache in front of her to gasp and cheer at the lightshow? She somehow didn't really feel like doing that though… Her shoulder sunk as she settled her eyes back on Madame Maxime's enormous form. The woman was still sipping at her tea, clearly pleased with herself as the she basked in the excitement radiating off of Joke's older brother. And then her large black eyes glanced over at Joke and Joke quickly looked down.
"You will be able to do this too one day." Madame Maxime said eventually.
"I think you have the wrong person." Joke disagreed quietly. It hurt. Joke pulled at the bottom of her sleeves and started fidgeting with it. For some reason it hurt to say that out loud, but Joke was sure of herself. She had never been able to do anything quite like that at all and she didn't exactly feel very magical either. So then how could she ever do anything as amazing as what Madame Maxime just did?
"I'm certain that it's you, mon chère." Madame Maxime stated firmly, "After all, it wasn't moi who burst the overhanging lights just now."
Rather startled, Joke glanced back up at the larger woman.
"Joke did that?" Mr. Kinkel asked in astonishment before looking down at his youngest child. Joke shifted uncomfortably in her spot as she slowly came to realize that her papa actually starting to believe Madame Maxime. She glanced over at her mama and found that, she too, was looking at her with something akin to amazement.
"…Maybe the light just broke on its own?" Joke tried to disagree again, though she knew she sounded a lot less sure of herself. It wasn't exactly like she knew a lot about how lamps worked in the first place…
Madame Maxime sighed heavily before settling herself back into her perfect posture. "mon chère, my academy has been able to successfully locate all the new witches and wizards from across the continent for well over seven hundred years now. It is highly unlikely that we'd start making silly mistakes such as these at the present time. So I am certain when I say that you're a witch, Mademoiselle Kinkel."
A witch… Joke took in a long breath. She was a witch..?
"Excuse me Ma'am, but…" Mrs. Kinkel nervously turned to the larger woman, "are you absolutely sure of that? I mean, how can you be sure?" Mrs. Kinkel winced at the almost haughty look Madame Maxime was throwing her, but resolved to push on. "My daughter could be right about the lamp, it could have sprang on its own and I'm pretty sure I've never actually seen my daughter do anything familiar to what you just did."
"You simple might not have noticed." The larger woman huffed and then she turned to Joke, "Surely there were instances in your past which you couldn't explain. After all, it's quite unheard of for new witches and wizards to not show any form of accidental magic in their youth."
"I've never experienced anything like that." Joke replied steadily, now feeling more confident in her answer. There was simply no way she'd forget making something float or that she turned something into a bird.
"Oui but that's-" Madame Maxime's started but then seemed to realize what the younger girl said. Large black eyes shot back to Joke's form, "You don't?"
"Not at all." Joke replied confidently.
Madame Maxime hummed thoughtfully, "That is most unlikely… Though regardless, I am certain it was you who broke the lamp, mon chère. I have no doubt about that. You are a witch. And as such, you have the right to be taught how to use your gifts."
Joke shifted uncomfortable on her place on the ground as the enormous lady stared down at her with knowing eyes. She was a witch? An actual witch? Her head felt like it was spinning. Why? How?
"You said the school- the academy?- is situated in France, that's quite a bit away from here…" Mr. Kinkel let his question trail off.
"Ah- oui, many parents seem to find that rather cumbersome, especially so when it concerns their first magical child. It is necessary though, I assure you. Beauxbatons is a boarding school, you see. And as such, it allows our student to completely submerge themselves in their studies while they attend."
"A boarding school?" Joke cast a questioning glance at her parents.
"It means that the students life in the school building throughout the school year, schätzen." Mrs. Kinkel explained, her voice softened with sadness.
"I won't get to come home after school..?" Joke choked out as she felt something getting caught in her throat.
"Oui, that is quite right. Though you will be allowed to visit home during the winter and summer break." Madame Maxime calmly add on.
Only during the winter and summer breaks? That's… maybe two and a half month a year? I-I'd only get to see my parents and Hans for that little..? With eyes burning and tears leaking down her cheeks, she shook her head vehemently. "I don't want to go! N-not if I can't-"
Madame Maxime sighed at the sight of the distressed girl in front of her, and Joke disliked the knowing and understanding look the larger woman was sending her. "A lot of the younger students first feel that way, mon chère. But they all grow to love it at the academy all the same." Madame Maxime glanced over at Mr. and Mrs. Kinkel. "Boarding schools - even the ones in the muggle world so I've heard – implement this to improve their students independency and sense of responsibility. And really, all magic school are, in fact, boarding schools for this very reason."
"But she's barely nine, she's still a child! She-she shouldn't be independent or-" Mrs. Kinkel protested as she gently patted her daughter's hair down.
"Its tradition at Beauxbatons to start at an early age- it's to allow our students more time to prepare themselves in the theory behind magic before they actually start with the practical application of it. It is much saver to do it this way- Who'd ever allow an uneducated child to wave about a power they do not even remotely understand?"
"That does sound most responsible, but I…" Mrs. Kinkel worriedly glanced down at her hiccupping daughter, "What about homeschooling?"
Madame Maxime raised her brow at her, "You are not of magic? How could you possibly-"
"No- no, obviously not us. I mean, there must be independent teachers, surely? Magic people - with the right credentials - that could come and teach her here? I don't think my daughter's quite ready to set off just yet – actually, I'm not at all ready to send her off on her own. Especially so considering we know absolutely nothing about this… magic side of existence? I don't mean to offend you, ma'am, but I'm rather uncomfortable with the idea of her going off with somebody that I unsure off I can trust with her safety."
The tall woman pursed her lips, looking very much like she'd wanted to protest and assure Mrs. Kinkel of her schools decorum. But after a moment longer of silent conversation between the two women, the headmistress sighed in slight disappointment. "I can see that Iwon't be able to change your mind on this matter… Very well, if this is the course you want to take for your daughter then I won't object. As for the Homeschooling for Mademoiselle Kinkel…" The tall woman passed a thoughtful look over the sniffing girl, "There will be a number of actions you will need to undergo before you can successfully hire someone for the job. I can have one of my professors act as a guide to help you navigate the wizarding world but, as you already said yourself, she will acquire a personal tutor if she is to become familiar with our culture."
A collected breath of relieve was heaved in the living room. Finally something seemed to be going the way they wanted to.
"Speaking of- one of my professors should have visited here this morning but I haven't seen or heard from him in a while… A Monsieur Chapelle? He's in charge of guiding the muggleborn students from the Netherlands in their first encounter with magic. He should have already met Mademoiselle Kinkel, if briefly. I believe he only got to deliver her acceptance letter though since neither of you seemed to be home at the moment and she wouldn't let him inside the house without you present..."
The air quickly turned uncomfortable as Mr. and Mrs. Kinkel shared their sudden realization with a wide-eyed look of dread.
"Wait- that pervert was a teacher at your school?" Hans carelessly question broke the silent.
"Perv-" Madame Maxime sputtered as she leaned back into her chair as if shocked, "Garçon, what exactly do you mean by that? I can assure you that none of my employees deserve such an insulting-"
"Madame- Madame Maxime, please. I believe there has been a terrible misunderstanding…"
Am I going to continue this story? I sure hope so! Might take a while though….
