Beta: None
Original Release Date: 5/20/16
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the canon Harry Potter universe or any other universe.
Chapter Forty Eight – Trip to Beauxbaton
Arriving just outside of the Beauxbaton grounds via portkey, the French Ministry Official pockets the stub of a pencil before announcing, "We have arrived."
Taking charge, the unnamed ministry official leads the group the way through the beautifully landscaped grounds and up a shallow incline to the castle.
Entering the grandiose castle, the five stand in awe as they look around at the luxuriously decorated entrance hall with dozens of never melt ice sculptures, the handful of awake students pausing at the sight of five unidentified wizards in their midst.
Walking over to Madame Maxime as she enters the hall, the official speaks quietly and rapidly in French for a few moments before exiting the hall.
"'ello, I am Madame Maxime. You must be Marauders Emporium. Eet es nice to met you" welcomes Madame Maxime with a smile.
"Good morning Madame Maxime, I am Remus Lupin, this is Sirius Black my fellow store owner, with our three young future executives in training, George and Fred Weasley, and Harry Potter" introduces Remus formally, each giving a bow respectively.
Giving the octet an inclination of her head, Madame Maxime speaks, "I vould like to begin the process vith the stadium."
Nodding his acknowledgement, Remus reaches into his pockets and pulls out two wooden chests and sets them on the ground.
"Inside these two chest are our supplies for this job. Who brought a broom?" inquiries Remus.
"I did" answers Harry pulling his Firebolt out of a pocket and slinging it over his right shoulder.
"Then let's get to it" replies Remus grasping one end of the chest with Sirius grabbing the other end with, and the twins grabbing the second chest before following Madame Maxime out of the castle and to the grounds.
As they quietly traverse the well-traveled pathway, Madame Maxime speaks up, "Students help vith the landscaping, vith help from 'erbology professor."
"Fascinating! Hogwarts has a groundskeeper, and our grounds aren't this immaculate. Your students should be very proud of themselves" remarks Remus as he looks around at the various flower beds and small swathes of various edible plants being grown outside in the middle of winter.
"Madame Maxime, if you don't mind me asking, how are you able to grow plants even during the middle of winter, without continuously casting warming charms?" inquiries Remus curiously a few moments later.
"That is a Beauxbaton secret" answers Madame Maxime.
"Probably something similar to the Quidditch Gear and the cooling charms" whispers Fred to George, loud enough to only be heard by his brother.
Arriving at a large oval shaped structure, Madame Maxime stops and says, "'ere ve are. Vhat do you think to begin vith?"
Pausing to think, Remus opens his mouth before getting interrupted by Sirius who answers, "Remus and I can set up the control booth in wherever is secure, and we can have our rising executives do the more dangerous job of using brooms to place the cameras."
"We brought our Quidditch Gear just in case" offers Fred slyly with a smile.
Refraining from rolling his eyes, Remus remarks attempting to hold back sarcasm, "That might be useful."
"Vell, let us enter the stadium, then ve break off into groups" instructs Madame Maxime proceeding through a large and curved doorway into the stadium.
Walking through the stadium with vaulted ceilings, the Hogwarts octet ooh and ahh at the craftsmanship of the wooden stadium structure. Finally stepping onto the grass pitch, the quartet carrying the chests set them down.
Opening the crate he and Sirius had been carrying, Remus sifts through it for a few moments before announcing, "Boys, you three have the cameras, so I'll let you three handle that, while Sirius and myself help Madame Maxime with the controls and the rest of the equipment."
"Understood sir" answer the trio in unison before riffling through their chest to get the cameras out.
Putting some of the rectangular cameras into his robe pockets, Harry mounts his broom before kicking off from the ground, heading directly towards the highest portion of the wooden stadium where Sirius, Remus, and Madame Maxime stand in the newly christened Control Booth.
"Where exactly do you want me to put the cameras?" inquiries Harry casually if he weren't floating fifty or sixty feet in the air.
Activating a specialized Omni Play to only display what any of the cameras view, Remus swipes through the screens until the view of the camera that Harry is holding appears, "Let's get a view of both sides of the pitch and go from there."
Half an hour later with eighteen cameras mounted around the stadium with various views, Harry makes his way to where Fred and George stand, guarding the chest from a growing number of students. Buzzing with excitement and curiosity, a beautiful brown haired dressed in light blue robes steps towards the trio before moving her hair out of her eyes and behind her left ear before asking with a slight accent, "Who are you?"
Looking around at the curious faces, Harry answers, "We are from Marauders Emporium."
"Marau-'ow you say it?" says the unnamed girl.
"Marauders Emporium, the makers of the Omni Play and the likes" answers Harry.
"I'm Fred Weasley, this is my brother George, and that is Harry Potter, dark lord slayer, basilisk battler, and best Seeker we've had in a long time. It is a pleasure to meet you, milady" introduces Fred before taking the brunette's right hand and gently kissing it.
Blushing and giggling, the brunette manages to reply with, "Beatrix" before being interrupted with, "Boys, we're onto the next portion of our job" from Remus firmly, following behind Madame Maxime.
Falling in behind the boys, Sirius remarks quietly, "Good job Fred, making a move on the student leader of the Theatre Club. It might be hard to have an international relationship at this point in your life however, so consider your next move wisely" before giving Fred a wink.
"I'm just, erm, not certain what came over me. Her beauty, her accent, her giggle, it was just so…overwhelmingly pleasant" answers Fred unusually out of character with a lopsided smile on his face.
Patting Fred on the shoulder, Sirius remarks, "I'll teach you everything I know about the fairer sex when-Yes Remus?" before speeding up to join Remus at the front of the procession.
"My question is, how did he know that Beatrix is the student leader of Beauxbaton's Theatre Club?" muses Harry loud enough to be heard by only Fred and George.
"Does it matter?" sighs Fred contentedly.
Exchanging looks, Harry and George continue carrying the cumbersome chest with them through the winter, warming charm patches inside of their robes keeping them toasty. Entering the castle, the octet deactivate the warming charm patches before following Madame Maxime up a stationary staircase trimmed with wrought iron handrails. Continuing down the well-lit and white marble floored hallway, the group finally comes to a stop outside of a large oak door.
Moments later Madame Maxime leads the way into a spacious auditorium, floor sloping gently towards the stage far from the door. Setting the chest down gently on the carpeted floor, Harry and George wait for further instructions while Fred stands in a nearby corner, murmuring something to himself.
"I vill let Beatrix make the call on 'ow she wants it set up" states Madame Maxime before striding out of the room, many of the students following after her.
Putting her hands together, Beatrix announces, "Vell, let's begin vith cameras."
Quickly retrieving three slightly larger cameras, approximately five inches wide by seven inches tall and seven inches long before being permanently placed onto an adjustable metal column with four miniature wheels on the bottom, two handles on all four sides to help move the unit around.
"You three can handle this while Sirius and I attend to a few more items on our to do list, right?" inquiries Remus curiously.
"Yes sir" answers Harry with confidence.
Pulling an Omni Play out of the chest, Harry activates and pulls up what Fred's camera view is, giving a tutorial to Beatrix. Half an hour later and several explanations later, the three Gryffindor students pick up the chest and take a few steps towards the doors when the doors open with Madame Maxime, Sirius, and Remus entering the room.
"It's time to leave, someone shrink the chest and activate your PRT devices, and get back to Hogwarts" states Sirius placing his right thumb on the watch on his left wrist, disappearing seconds later.
Rolling his eyes, Remus wordlessly activates his simple black wristband and disappears as well. Activating theirs as well, Harry and George watch in growing horror as Beatrix grabs Fred right before they disappear. Seconds appearing in the conference room of their Hogsmeade branch, Harry and George brace for the worst, not knowing if Beatrix had been transported with Fred or not. As seconds drag on and eventually into minutes before Fred appears alone.
"What happened?!" George demands in relief.
"Beatrix…she wanted to know if she could write to me, so I said yes" answers Fred sheepishly.
"Just wait until mum hears about this…" remarks George with a smirk on his face.
"And I bet she wants to see you again too, am I right?" inquiries Sirius curiously.
"…sort of…" mumbles Fred turning red.
"You know that part of why we went there today was to install equipment to help them watch the Triwizard Tournament that will be held this fall at Hogwarts, right? So you'll probably have a chance to see her again" states Sirius with a smile.
"Triwizard Tournament…?" chorus Harry and George.
Sighing, Remus answers, "You MUST keep this a secret, as only ministry officials, Dumbledore, and now us know about this. It is a three school tournament with a randomly selected representative from each school competing against each other. That's about all we know at this point about the current tournament, the last one being held quite some time ago and being stopped due to the amount of fatalities occurring."
"And two of the schools competing are Hogwarts and Beauxbaton?" asks Harry, interest piqued.
"Correct, but you won't be old enough to participate. Nor do I expect you to find a way around any measures erected to prevent underage students from competing" answers Remus with a stern look.
"Will we be-" begins Fred earnestly before being interrupted by Sirius, "No, not according to what I've heard about the restrictions being tightened. Besides which, you all will have front row tickets to the action, as we have to put a film crew together to cover the events for broadcast. The only audience will be students and staff of the three participating schools, and us."
"That sounds fascinating!" exclaim George, Fred, and Harry together excitedly.
"But remember, you can't tell ANYONE ANYTHING about this until Dumbledore or a ministry official officially declares it" reminds Sirius seriously.
"Now get back to Hogwarts before anyone notices" instructs Remus firmly but kindly.
As the three students disappear from view, Remus sighs before taking a seat at the table, "Do you think we did the right thing taking the boys with us?"
Taking an opposing seat, Sirius muses for a few moments before answering, "I think positives of us taking them to Beauxbaton outweigh the negatives. We don't know how today will ultimately affect Fred and Beatrix. Perhaps they will have a beautiful friendship and that's it. Or perhaps it will evolve into something deeper, that is something that isn't controllable by us. I do think it opened their eyes to a world outside of the United Kingdom, which I think is a good thing."
Thinking over Sirius's words, Remus comments, "I think you're right. Especially if they are to be executives and travel around the world. However, that call is theirs and theirs alone, not ours. We can only instill values such as hard work into them and let them go wherever the world takes them."
"Except Harry. I call dibs on him being some part of the company" jokes Sirius with a short bark-like laugh.
Author note: Thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited, etc! I don't always get to answer reviews, but I do try. I hope all of the mothers out there, whether are current mothers, mothers to be, etc, had a wonderful Mother's Day on Sunday.
I haven't an idea of what kind of activities they would have at Beauxbaton, but I figured there was probably some form of dance club and/or even theatre performances. Something a bit more cultural than Hogwarats, but that may all be in my head.
Today, 5/14/2016, my parents and I had to put our dying family member, a dog named Fox, down. This is to him listening to me outline ideas for this fanfiction since the inception.
Thanks to AriArlene for Beatrix's name (I'm pronouncing it 'Bee – tricks'). I'm not very good with names (that aren't from an anime, since I watch so much). I hate just saying 'that girl' or 'that one boy', I like giving names to characters.