Chapter 4 I do not own Harry Potter, any french is google translate, srry
The second she stepped into the Entrance Hall she relaxed. "That man is scary!" she said to herself, walking toward the doors before realizing that she had left her wand in his office. She turned around with a groan and started back towards the stairs when she collided with a person.
"Je suis vraiment désolé, je ne t'ai pas vu là-bas!" she said in surprise at the impact.
"I'm sorry, what'd you say." the boy said, bending down to gather what he dropped
"Sorry, I forget. I didn't see you there." she said, embarrassed, helping gather his things.
"It's fine, no harm's been done. I'm Tommy." he said, holding out his hand.
"Cassie," she said, taking his hand.
"I've seen you around the past couple of days, what are you doing here?" he asked, still holding her hand.
"I am considering transferring here next year. I was just finishing the Potions exam to see my placement." she tried not thinking about the cute guy still holding her hand.
"Where are you transferring from?" he asked.
"Beauxbatons." she said, then added, "The French school."
"Ah. Never would have guessed." he said, realizing he was still holding her hand and letting go quickly. "Well I hope you get in. Hogwarts would be much better with a pretty girl such as yourself." he said, obviously flirting with her.
"T-Thanks. I hope so too. I was just headed back down, left my wand in Professor Snape's office." a blush creeping into her cheeks.
"Well, I'll accompany you," he said, holding out his arm for her. "I still get lost and I've been here three years." he joked.
"I appreciate that Tommy." she said with a smile, accepting his arm and descending the stairs together.
"So what house do you want to be in? Do they let you choose?"
"I'm not sure. On either counts." she said, quirking her head to the side. "What do each house represent?" she asked, her accent thick.
"Officially? Slytherin is cunning, Ravenclaw is Wit, Hufflepuff loyalty, and Gryffindor bravery." he answered
"Unofficially?" she prompted.
"Slytherins are bullies, Ravenclaws are nerds, Gryffyndors are idiots and Hufflepuffs are pushovers."
"Oh, I see, and to which house do you belong to? Gryffindor?" she asked teasingly.
"I am offended." he gasped dramatically, "Pushover house."
"Ah, Hufflepuff." she said nodding her head in agreement.
"Yup. So which house?"
"Which one has the prettiest view?"
"Not Slytherin, they live in the dungeons. And us Badgers live underground as well. Ravenclaw and Gryffyndor live in towers, but I'm not sure which has a better view."
"I suppose I'll have all summer to think about it." she concluded. "IF I get accepted, and that's a big if. I think I did horrible in the potions exam!"
"Don't worry, it's Snape. He's too intimidating. Scary."
"My thoughts exactly!" she exclaimed.
"I'll wait out here. No way am I spending more time with that man than necessary." he said, shaking his head with a goofy smile.
"Okay." Cassie said, turning the corner and walking up to the door to knock on it politely.
"Enter," came the drawling voice.
"Sorry to interrupt, professor. I left my wand in here earlier." she told him, waiting to be invited in further.
"It's on the workbench, Gratien." he drawled out lowly.
"Thank you, Professor. Have a nice day." she said, and closed the door gently as she walked out.
"Well?" Tommy asked as she rounded the corner.
"He's not that scary." she teased.
"You've only been with him for a few hours." he defended
"More like fifty minutes." she corrected.
"You've made my case, Cassie. Have you seen the grounds yet? There's this spot by the Great Lake that is truly beautiful in the spring. Although it's bound to be crowded. Everyone goes there. "
"Professor Sprout showed me around quickly, but I wouldn't mind seeing more of it."
"Come with me. There's this spot up in one of the towers, you can see everything." he said, taking her hand once again and leading her up the stairs.
"Sure." she said, already running up the stairs in her heels. They went up multiple flights of steps, stopping every so often for the stairwell to change, until they finally made it to the seventh floor tower.
"It's not the highest, but it's the only one that's always open. There's a few more steps to go up mind you." he said, noticing she was slightly out of breath.
"Beauxbatons is only four floors, how are the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws supposed to climb up so many stairs every day?!" she asked frantically.
"No clue!" he said grinning at the base of the stairs. Letting her catch her breath.
"I certainly would need new shoes if I were to get into Gryffindor!" she said, looking at her heels.
"Oh. I hadn't noticed them, sorry." he said rubbing the nape of his neck sheepishly.
"They were the most serious pair I own. All my shoes have some embellishment or other on them that makes them shiny. And they're all heels."
"Is that part of the uniform?"
"No. I just like wearing heels. Makes me look taller. I'm rather short."
"Not that short. Besides, you're only, what, eleven."
"I turned twelve in December." she said, breathing normally.
"Come on, it's just a few more steps, it's worth the pain. Trust me." he said, holding out his hand again.
"Okay." she said, taking it and following him up. He wasn't wrong! From the tower you could see the mountains in the background and the expanse of the forest and the lake. She could see the students who stayed for Easter walking around, lounging on the grass, playing with the squid, all of it. It was breathtakingly picturesque.
"C'est belle!" she breathed out in wonder, stepping closer to the railings and delicately running her hands along the top.
"It definitely is." Tommy said, looking right at her.
"At Beauxbatons," she said, turning around gracefully and looking at him, all you see wherever you look is mountain peaks, and the sight in the winter is breathtakingly beautiful, but the chateau is only four stories, so you can't see as far out. The grounds at Beauxbatons are much better kept, but this sight…" she trailed off, spinning back around, "This sight is truly magnificent."
"What are the grounds like?" Tommy asked, wanting to keep her talking.
"There are so many gardens and statues and fountains. There's one fountain that is an exact replica of the Fontaine-Saint Lazar, and another that resembles the Medici Fountain, but the real masterpiece is right in the center of a maze. It's this circular fountain with one grand statue in the middle, and four statues placed equidistant from each other. The main statue has this beautiful Pegasus carved from glittering onyx twisted gracefully around a unicorn carved from white granite stone each carrying a beautiful woman on their back with gold embellishments. The water in the main statue comes out of their mouths, each falling in a different direction. And the four smaller statues are dolphins carved from alabaster with shells where the tails should be and water shooting out of their mouths facing the main statue." Cassie told him animatedly, her mind traveling back to the gardens giving her a dreamy far-off expression.
"It sounds beautiful. We have a few fountains in the courtyards, but none as grand as that one sounds." Tommy said as the sun dipped lower in the sky, casting the warm orange light to bounce off Cassie's golden hair.
"I should be getting back, There's studying to be done. I have yet to take my Defense and Astronomy exams." Cassie said softly, looking out at the sunset.
"I'll walk you to the gate," he said, offering her a hand up.
"Thank you." she said, accepting his hand and letting him lead her down the stairs.
The next morning found Tommy waiting at the gate with Professor Sprout in conversation.
"Bonjour Madame, Tommy." Cassie greeted as she approached the gates.
"Good morning Ms. Gratien. Mr. Louchty here volunteered to escort you up to the Headmaster's office." she said, eyes twinkling, "I have to tend to some plants that have gotten quite aggressive in Greenhouse 3." she added, turning to leave.
"There's not really any plants that have become aggressive, is there?" Cassie asked him surreptitiously, taking his proffered arm.
"The Weasley twins set off some dungbombs in there, the plants don't like it, but it doesn't hurt them."
"I have a feeling those Weasley twins would be my favorite people." Cassie said, nodding in thought.
"You're scary when you get that look in your eyes. What are you planning?"
"Oh, can't say. But, I do have the perfect scapegoats now. Weasley, you say? I have time before the Astronomy exam, introduce me to them. We have much to discuss." Cassie said, a mischievous smile gracing her features.
"Gryffindor."
"What?"
"You'll be a Gryffindor." he said with finality, walking up the grand staircase.
"I'll have to ask the Headmaster when I get sorted. If I do get in." she said quickly.
"From what Professor Sprout just told me, you will." he said.
They walked up multiple flights of stairs making pleasant talk and parted ways when they reached the gargoyle statue.
"Chocoramo." Cassie said, the gargoyle moving over to make way for her to pass. She stepped onto the moving staircase and knocked on the door when they stopped.
"Enter."
"Good morning, professor. Headmaster." Cassie greeted the two men as she walked forward and placed her bag down next to the table.
"I-I-I w-would like t-to d-do the p-practical ex-examination f-first." Quirrell stuttered, waving his wand and moving furniture to the side and conjuring a training dummy.
"Of course professor. Before we begin, may I ask the headmaster a question?"
"Y-Yes. Y-Y-You m-m-may." he agreed nervously.
"What is a Chocoramo?"
"Oh, it's this delightful Colombian candy I discovered recently. You see, one of my colleagues from America traveled there recently and sent me a whole box! They really are quite delicious. Would you like one?" he said, walking around his desk excitedly.
"I would love one, thank you." Cassie said, with a wide smile reaching out for the small chocolate covered cake. "I think I'll have it after lunch." Cassie piped up, turning back to Professor Quirrell.
"I-I-I will g-give you a list of sp-spells that I-I w-want you to p-p-perform in o-o-order, aiming at the d-dummy." he stuttered. "The V-Verdimillious Ch-Charm, the C-Curse of the B-B-Bogies, the Knockb-b-back J-Jinx and the V-Vermillious Tr-Tria. W-When you have c-cast those, cast the sp-spell that is m-m-most ef-efficient a-against a g-g-ghost. And f-finally, c-cast the t-two charms that w-ward off the G-Gytrash best."
Cassie performed each spell in order, although her Knockback and Bogie were slightly weak, and moved on to the wand-lighting charm for ghosts. For the Gytrash, she used the wand-lighting and vermillious charms correctly.
"V-Very well, Ms. G-Gratien. Y-You now h-have t-two hours for the wr-wr-written ex-exam. W-When y-you have f-fiished, h-hand it in a-at m-my o-office." he said, handing her the parchment and quill and leaving the office.
Cassie helped Dumbledore clear up the room a little before sitting down and starting the exam. Most of it had to do with dark creatures, though there were a few questions regarding the theory behind the Knockback jinx. She finished with minutes to spare.
"Professor Dumbledore, where would I find Professor Quirrell's office?Professor Snape's was rather easy to find as it was in the dungeons, I only got lost there, but his..."
"Turris Magnus, Serpentine Corridor, I'm sure you can find someone to escort you." he said, a knowing look on his face.
"Okay. What time should I make my way to the Astronomy Tower, Professor?"
"11:30 should suffice, if you do get lost, ask one of the portraits." Dumbldeore said with twinkling eyes.
Cassie nodded and gathered her belongings, calling out a final farewell as she closed the door gently and walked down the stairs. She was surprised when two red haired boys greeted her.
"Hello, I'm Gred."
"And I'm Feorge. We hear you have a prank idea!"
"Yeah, Tommy's never been one to prank, but he does appreciate a good one, and from what he's told us…"
"C'est un plaisir de vous rencontrer." Cassie said cordially, reeling from the unexpectedness of it all.
"Don't speak french." Gred reminded her.
"Yes, I know. Help me find Quirrell's office, and then I'll let you in on my plan." Cassie said with twinkling eyes full of mischief.
"Oof! You wound us," George joked, holding his hand to his heart.