Part II- La Fête de Bienvenue
"Hurry up Jean! You're gonna' make us late!" Henry yelled back through the door to the room. Rémy, Célestin, and Antoine were standing next to Henry on the landing outside the tower room.
"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Jean yelled back through the door. From standing outside the door, they heard rushed footsteps and suddenly Jean flew out the door in his dress robes, his unruly hair was already falling in his face. No amount of moose could hold his hair.
"Well hurry up, its almost 6 o'clock. We have to be at dinner by then." Célestin said with a hint of concern.
The group headed down the stairs to the dorm's lowest level, it took longer than you would think to go down 4 flights of stairs. By the time they reached the bottom it was almost six o'clock.
"Hurry it up!" Rémy urged as they reached the statue of the dragon at the bottom of the stairs in the common room. Henry quickly drew Dagaz on the statue's eye. In seconds all of them were in the main corridor. "Alright then, GO!" Rémy urged again.
All five boys sprinted down the hall, powder blue overcoat tails flying behind them. The dim bluish light in the corridor cast eerie shadows on the group as they ran by to the already full main hall.
Stumbling into the Hall, and quickly finding a seat was a trick now that almost all the seats in the Hall were now taken. Célestin and Jean looked for Christelle and Pauline, but they couldn't see them anywhere near them, so they spotted a seat near the doors just to the right. There were a few open spots. Célestin walked over and got one of the seats, Jean sat down next to him, and there was now one seat open across from them, which was now filled by Antoine. Henry and Rémy had also found a seat somewhere, but they weren't visible anywhere now.
"Made it." Célestin whispered to Jean as the light in the Hall changed from a day time light to a soft purple and dark blues. The ceiling above them now showed hints of stars and constellations.
"Attentions Students," Madame Maxime stood up at her place in the center of the staff table at the west end of the Hall. Her voice carried across the entire Hall. "I would like to welcome you back to Beauxbâtons Academy for yet another year. I would also like to welcome our first year students, seeing as this is their first Welcoming Ball ever." The Hall erupted in cheers for the new students, but most of the new students looked bashful and embarrassed either because they didn't want the attention or they just wanted to jump right into magic. "I would also like to give a round of applause to our students for whom this is their last year at our academy, and their last Welcoming Ball." And now the Hall made even louder noise and all the premiers seemed to like the attention, and they courteously accepted the applause.
"But on to the real ideas. I officially now welcome you back to the Beauxbâtons Academy!" The applause and cheers started after that line and maybe only half the students heard the next part, "Now let the Ball begin!"
Platters of zoomed in on man-less wheeled carts and the plates whizzed down each of the 12 long tables in the Hall. Loafs of bread first came on large dished with butter. After the bread came the main dish, which for tonight was, oysters and shrimp with various sauces, and there was also veal and chicken.
"Miam miam, this is definitely better than last year, gross pork!" Jean noted as the main dish skidded to a halt in front of him. He picked up his silverware and dug in right away. Soon enough goblets of red wine appeared in front of all the students.
Célestin was too involved in eating to speak. He was such a slow eater, it was hard for him to be polite and not talk with his mouthful, and finish the course at the same time. So he just listened to the conversations around him and nodded to yes or no questions. Jean struck up a conversation with Antoine though. It was all about the Quidditch Matches of the year, and all the odd, the traded players and such, very informative.
Next to Célestin was Mélanie Dremont, a 2ème girl from Lune. She talked non-stop with her friend Lisa. The giggles never ended, nor the high pitched squeals. Célestin could stand them for only a short while, and he would've given anything to just start the dancing.
The next part of the meal zoomed on to the table from the un-manned carts. It was pâté, a liver paste that was eaten on crackers.
Jean looked at it in disgust, "Gross…. Liver….. I can't eat it. You take mine." He shoved his towards Célestin.
"Are you sure you don't want this? How often do we get pâté? Twice a year? And you're going to pass?"
"I'm positive!" Jean almost looked like he was going to be sick. But Célestin ate the pâté gratefully. Although he didn't really care for the taste it was still good somehow. Maybe it was one of those things that you have to acquire a taste for.
Dinner went on being quite un-eventful. Célestin eventually started to talk to the people around him, even with Mélanie, though she still squealed throughout the entire conversation. After the pâté, there came a salad and then after that, there was cheese.
The dinner was quite good overall, Célestin's stomach was appeased, although he didn't overeat like some of the students must have done, for some of them looked horrid after they finished their dinner.
Madame Maxime stood in her place once more and so did all the students with her. "Now that we have eaten, let the Ball begin! But before we do, I would like to remind students that this year is to be a learning experience. This is not just all fun and games we must work hard also to achieve our goals and graduate accomplished wizards. All right students, enjoys yourselves. Let the Ball begin!" And with that the tables disappeared and at the opposite end of the Hall, a stage appeared with an orchestra. This orchestra was interesting because there were no orchestra members. All the instruments played themselves.
"So first its classical I get it!" Jean nudged Célestin. "Let's go get dancing!"
"But we have to go meet Telle and Lina in the Court." Célestin objected.
"Ouais, we'll find them don't worry."
"That's what you always say lunkhead. Let's go find them first then we can dance. Besides I don't like classical dancing." Célestin grabbed Jeans arm and pulled him toward the North exit of the Hall, and towards the Inner Court.
Getting through the now immense crowd of people was getting to be a challenge. Everyone was now moving around looking for dance partners or was now dancing. They pushed their way through the crowd, slowly making it to the north exit. Finally they pushed their way past the last wall of students to see the north door. Célestin, still holding firmly onto Jean's arm, pulled him right through the open doors. Passing into the Northern Corridor, not many students were out in the corridors because of the ball, but there were a few. They passed Marine Frenier, a 2ème from Lumière.
"Hi Cel, hi Jean!" She said as they passed her. She was a really nice girl, they had a few classes with her last year. Being in her ball gown she looked especially pretty. The school's ball gowns that the girls wore were fashioned of a flowing powder blue satin. It was tight at the top, leaving the shoulders exposed and having two arm straps that went around the arms trimmed with gold sparkles. The bottom of the dress was very simple; it had three layers, the powder blue on the top, white in the middle and a darker blue on the bottom. Marine was also wearing a sash of blue with golden stars scattered about.
"Hi Marine." Cel walked up and gave her bisous. "How have you been?"
"I'm not too bad. And you two?" She asked looking at them with her bright blue eyes. Her eyes were roughly the same color as the blue ocean colored stone surrounding them.
"Oh we are just a bit tired, long day, were going to meet Pauline Leroux and Christelle now in the Inner Court." Jean answered for Célestin.
"Do you mind if I come with you?" She inquired with a hopeful look.
"No, sure you can come with us." Célestin said incorporating a cheery smile into his words.
"Thank you. I really don't want to go into the Ball room."
"Why not?" Jean asked.
"Because there is someone I don't want to see." She replied looking down at her feet.
"Who is it?" Jean asked his second question. Célestin elbowed him in the side for being rude, it really wasn't their business. They started walking slowly down the hall.
Marine obviously saw Célestin elbow Jean, because she immediately responded, "Oh it's a right Cel. It's Derek Vanier, the 2ème in Étoile… He refuses to see me." She said still looking at her feet. Marine and Derek have had a history. Last year they were the talk of the school, they were always together. So now it seemed strange that Derek wouldn't see Marine.
"I'm sorry. But I wonder why he is doing that?" Célestin said compassionately.
"That's just the thing, I'm not sure why he won't see me." They turned left around the corner, they were almost at the Inner Courtyard doors. "I just tried to talk to him this afternoon and he wouldn't have anything to do with me."
Inside the court yard, Célestin could see Christelle and Pauline standing in front of a large potted palm tree through the large windows that lined the hall facing the inner court. The night's pale moonlight filtered down onto their figures from the skylights six stories above them. The Inner Court was the indoor courtyard that took up the entire north-west corner of the castle. It had dozens of potter plants and flowers, and a water garden in the southern corner. There was grass inside the Court, just like the Outer Court, which was on the opposite corner of the castle. However this courtyard was on the outside of the castle, there was no skylight, it had no ceiling.
They opened the door to the inner court and stepped in.
"There you are." Christelle said with a smile. "We missed you at dinner. You were late huh?" Christelle finally noticed Marine, walking next to Jean. "Oh, hello Marine!" Christelle looked extremely beautiful in her uniform ball gown too.
"Hello Telle, Lina" She said back hiding her anguish behind a rather fake smile. She stopped just a bit behind Jean when they had reached Christelle and Pauline in front of the large potted tree about half way across the court. The pale light that lit the court was dancing in the fountain pool next to the pot.
"Well now that we all met up, let's head back. We still need escorts you two…" Pauline said eyeing the boys. She made a move to seize Jean's arm, and he took it graciously.
"Alright then. I don't exactly see why we had to come all the way out here, but ok." Jean said looking quite smug when he turned with Pauline to go.
"We better hurry up, we don't want to miss anything. Well… Christelle?" Célestin looked at Christelle and blushed a bit. He looked at Marine next to him, she was still looking down at her feet. "You too Marine."
Marine looked up immediately, she smiled and took his arm. Christelle slid her arm underneath Célestin's also, and they turned to walk out following Pauline and Jean who were now five paces a head of them laughing and giggling.
The three of them made their way back to the Grande Pièce giggling and talking the entire way. When the trio entered, Jean and Pauline ahead of them, the room was darkened, many stars and the bright moon lit the ceiling of the hall, and the mass of students were crowded around a circular stage that was now in the center of the room. On the stage there was a band, Célestin had never heard them before.
"I love Les Petites Sorcières!" Marine said loudly over the blaring music. The five girls on stage were rocking out to, all 3 guitarists making a show of their playing. "I just love Mélanie! She's the keyboardist, she's so cool." Marine finished off.
The group moved closer in to the mosh-pit of dancing wizards and witches. The five of them danced for about 30 minutes, until the lead guitarist grabbed the microphone and said very loudly, "Were gonna' take a break now, but until we get back to rockin', your headmistress would like a few words, and I think she has a bit of a surprise for you!"
At this the five female signers stepped back off the stage, and disappeared down through the top of the stage. Mme Maxime then stepped up, her short dark hair bouncing as she drew herself to her full height of more than ten feet. "I would like to say, welcome to all of you. To the Premières, I would like to bid you welcome to the Beauxbâtons Academie, and to the rest of you, to welcome you back for yet another year, which I am so pleased with all of you." Everyone in the room smiled at that remark. Usually, Mme Maxime didn't outright say she was pleased. "But this year is going to be a very good year for academics, our teamwork, to build our individual relationships with each other and our skills." At 'build our individual relationships' Jean turned around and sniggered at Célestin, who was standing very near to Marie, and Christelle was scrunched right up against his shoulder. Célestin glared back at Jean who seemed to take it as a compliment.
"This is why," continued Mme Maxime, "Our Quidditch teams will now be co-ed. The teams will comprise of a Female House, paired with a Male House. The teams will be as follows: Nuage and Soleil, Lune and Terre, and Lumière and Étoile. Teams will have two co-captains, of the existing captains. There will still be seven players on the team. Your captains will hold their own tryouts, and Mme Jacquemin will once again be your advisor in the sport."
Célesin and Christelle looked at each other and raised their eyebrows at this last part. Co-ed teams? That means, Célestin, Christelle and Jean would all be playing on the same team, suggesting they all made it.
Mme Maxime took a second of silence as the students went into a fluster of chatter about the teams. She finally put up a hand, at which the students stopped their conversations immediately. "I also have one last thing to say, before we get back to our feast." The headmistress displayed a large smile while saying this sentence. "I'm sure you all remember our champion Fleur Delacour?" Another wave of whispers went through the hall, but Mme Maxime spoke over them all in a very happy, and welcoming voice, "I would like to welcome back Miss Fleur Delacour to our school once again!"
Just like that, Fleur appeared out of thin air. She smiled graciously, and excited cheers and yells broke out that Fleur was back. Célestin gawked at her. She hadn't told him that she was coming back! She was supposed to be working in England, for a bank.
The Delacours and Clemenceaus were neighbors in Dijon France, to the South-East of Paris. They had known each other for a very long time, since they were kids. Fleur was three years older, but they had come to be good friends.
She stepped up to where Mme Maxime was standing and pointed at her mouth and her lips read sonorous. "Hello again everybody! I'm so glad to be back here." The hall erupted in cheers and screams again. Fleur had been quite popular at school, she could be a bit of a snob, but she was nice most of the time to everybody. OF course there were people that didn't really care for Fleur's company, such as Henry Evard. Henry didn't really dislike her, but she did get on his nerves.
"I came back to visit for a bit, I will be staying here in the castle for this week. I'll make sure I see all of you personally, ok?" She smiled very big, but sweetly as her blonde hair that was pulled back and done up in curls bobbed at the back of her head. "Now let's get back to that feast!" Mme Maxime nodded in agreement.
The band returned to the stage, and started to play again. Fleur slipped off into the crowd visiting various people, and greeting them happily.
"Did you know she was coming back?" Jean asked Célestin.
"No, I had no clue, she was supposed to be in England working for a bank. Her mother said she had to improve her English in order to start work for the International Confederation of Wizards."
"She has a job at the Confederation?" Christelle sounded amazed.
"Ouais, and the Bureau Fédéral de Magie." Célestin tacked on.
"Oh wow. I didn't know that!" Jean exclaimed.
They continued dancing for quite a while, it must have been around one hour to midnight when they had finally left the Grande Pièce. Célestin and Jean said goodnight to Christelle, Marine and Pauline, who went back to their dormitories.
"Well that's a surprise now isn't it?" Jean started up as they strode toward the Entrance Hall, and the statue of the crouched Dragon. "Fleur coming back to stay for a bit. I never expected that."
The reached the Entrance Hall. Célestin whipped out his wand and drew Dagaz and were apparated into the tower above.
"Jean, I'm so tried, let's just get to bed. We can talk later. Besides we have class tomorrow." The climbed the stair to their dormitory on the far end of the room. "Oh by the way, what do you have first tomorrow?"
"Oh we both have Charms and Hexes, with Mlle Auclerc." Jean yawned, "Maybe we can do some cool charms and hexes this year."
"Maybe. In any case, sleep sounds awfully good right about now."
They had reached the door to the Dormitory. Antoine was climbing into his four-poster bed with bright blue pajamas on. "Night!" He said gleefully as he pulled the light blue curtains shut. Each hanging had a yellow sun embroidered on it, since this was the House of the Sun. Célestin suspected that the other houses had their emblems on their hangings too, but he had never been inside another dormitory besides his own. Nobody else had returned to the dormitory yet besides Antoine and themselves.
"Night Antoine." Célestin replied back.
"Night." Jean said through his shirt trying to pull it off over his head. His overcoat was already lying on top of his trunk.
Célestin took off his powder blue overcoat and folded it neatly and stowed it away in his trunk. By the time he had pulled on his green pajamas, Jean was in bed in his red pajama bottoms and his dress robes lying all over his trunk.
"What? Not even going to wear all of you pajamas?" Célestin said jokingly.
"Nope. It's too hot in here… Oh wait, it's just me." He laughed at his own joke. Célestin laughed too. "G'night then."
"Good night Jean." Célestin pulled his bed hangings shut, and flopped onto the bed.
Why is Fleur staying here? Why isn't she in England? He thought to himself. I'll have to talk to her soon. I only have a few days though, before she leaves.
Before he could think anymore, he drifted right off to sleep.
Notes
Miam miam – Yum!
Bisous – The customary greeting kisses.
Les Petites Sorcières – "The Little Witches"
Bureau Fédéral de Magie – Federal Bureau of Magic (The French Ministry)