She soared through the air like the wind, proudly carrying her old flight bag filled with the precious fish against her chest. She was so happy to have made such a successful catch that she amused herself by doing a number of aerial acrobatics, spinning on herself, doing a series of spades before flying back up after grazing the grass with her talons. She even took the risk of flying under the roof of the Ronfleur building's turret, the tips of her wingtips brushing against the pillars as she went. Oops, she thought as a series of colourful invectives were hurled at her by the young couple who had hidden away here for a quiet, isolated moment together.
Flying five or six metres from the ground in the central alley leading to the administrative building, she made a few hats fly off and passed the forecourt of the Flamel two amphitheatre, whose clock would soon strike 4pm. The perfect time for a snack, she told herself, as it was the time when many of her sisters from the dovecote gathered for a mid-afternoon snack. Her fish would be well received!
Flapping her wings powerfully, she gained altitude, flying up the slope of the mountain towards the Dovecote, skimming the treetops. She picked up so much speed that when she got close to the tower, she had to do a loop to avoid hitting the landing zone like a cannonball and doing all kinds of damage. She managed to land safely, the tips of her claws scraping the stone with a high-pitched squeal, attracting the attention of some of her sisters with whom she exchanged a quick greeting.
Oh, Chloé was there on the platform chatting to another veela she didn't know. She trotted over to her and excitedly took her by the arm, trying to ask her to follow, but mixing up her words in her mouth so that what came out was a chaotic mix of chirps. Poor Chloe barely had time to apologise when Myo was already dragging her towards the interior of the tower.
'Myo, what's going on?' Chloe asked with a smile, the excitement and joy in her own aura must be really infectious.
'WehavetofindFleurAlineLinaHeloïseandMargot! she managed to say as she led Chloé towards the central staircase.
'Please repeat that more slowly, darling.
'We need to find Fleur, Aline, Héloïse, Lina and Margot. I need to tell you some things,' she managed to say after taking a deep breath.
'Aline is in her room, Margot, Héloïse, Lina and Fleur were in the cafeteria the last time I saw them. As for Aline, I think she's gone to her room.' Following this reply, a plan was quickly drawn up: Chloé was going to look for and warn Fleur and company, while she went to look for Aline. According to Chloé's indications, Aline's room was on the seventh level, the room with the turquoise curtain.
Flying into the central hollow of the tower, it didn't take her long to find the place. Full of excitement, she drew aside the curtain and entered. 'Aline! Please come!'
Aline was lying in a large oval bed with blue-grey sheets. Her mid-length violet hair was more tousled than usual, a relaxed expression on her face, her golden eyes amused by the reaction of the other veela in the bed, who squealed and hid under the covers.
'Myo, what's going on?
'I'm getting everyone together, I've got something to tell you. She said, patting her belly bag with her hand.
'I'll get dressed and be right with you. She replied as she got out of bed. Turning to her companion, whose eyes and wingtips were the only things sticking out from under the sheets, she added. 'Sorry, Lila, it's obviously an emergency. She quickly put on a dark green tunic embroidered with light green, laced up at the nape of the neck to leave space for her wings. Then they both set off.
As she left the room, Myo asked. 'Are you going to make a nest with Lila?
'No, I like her a lot, but she's a friend and we don't know each other well enough to be that close. Why?'
'Just curious...' Myo said thoughtfully.
It didn't take them long to find Chloé, who had gathered all the others in one of the large refectories on the lower floor. As it was snack time, many of her sisters had gathered to share juice, tea, hot chocolate, fruit and pastries. As always, Myo felt a number of eyes on her, and a number of auras mingling with her own, but she managed to ignore them and make her way to the relatively isolated table that Chloé had chosen.
'What's going on?' Fleur asked as she approached.
'Chloé didn't explain anything to us. Margot added.
'Madame's got everyone worried, when in fact Madame was just hiding in a tree...' Lina grumbled.
'Don't be rude,' grumbled Héloïse.
'That's just the point'. Said Myo.
'You don't have to explain. It's normal to need space, especially in your situation. Fleur said, giving her a look of sudden concern.
Not understanding the reason for Fleur's concern, Myo decided that ignoring her was the only sensible thing to do and placed her large bellybag on the table. 'I wanted to ask for your forgiveness. I didn't want to worry anyone but the result is the same... So to show you how sorry I am, I've brought you some presents!'
She opened her bag and poured out her treasure onto the table, which took the form of a big pile of magnificent fish with shiny scales. A strange silence fell over the dining hall, the veela at the other tables watching the scene with curiosity, and for some, greed.
Myo was proud, and all her friends were speechless, staring at the fish with what she decided was admiration. Without further ado, Myo began to distribute the fish, placing a pike in Fleur's hands, a beautiful perch in Chloé's and so on.
'I caught them myself just now, coming straight from the pond... you know what, I even came across a heron that was actually a lady, like Elvétia! She scared me at first, I thought she was going to steal my fish, but in fact she was quite nice. I get the impression that she's quite lonely, but the important thing is that I've brought you lots of delicious fish to make up for it! She ranted at full speed, waving her arms and wings, puffing out her chest and feathers with pride, her flames even appearing on the tips of her wings.
'That's very thoughtful of you'. Said Chloe with a smile, her carp comically large in her hands.
'I don't know of any ponds with this type of fish near the campus, did you fly all that in from far away? Margot asked with an approving smile.
'I don't even like fish! Lina declared, holding her eel by the end of its tail with a pout of disgust.
'That's because you have to cook it properly, you see, with eel, the key is the cooking and the spices, you have to...' Myo was interrupted by the sudden sound of a curtain being drawn aside, followed by a shout.
'Myosotis Potter! There you are! What's the matter with you? Emilie Genin had just appeared at the refectory door, her aura boiling with anger.
She strode over to their table, brandishing her index finger and starting to speak in a threatening voice. But Myo was already no longer listening, terrified by the threatening aura of the professor in charge of the dovecote. Myo didn't recognise her; in her lessons on magical beings, she was always gentle and patient...
Panic-stricken, Myo flew into the middle of the refectory, throwing herself out of the tower, half feather, half flame, gaining more and more altitude. She only flapped her wings more frantically when she saw a figure darting after her. She climbed higher than the few cloudy cumulus clouds in the sky, her flames protecting her where otherwise her feathers would have been covered in frost. She climbed so high that it was almost hard to breathe, and she climbed until the sky grew darker, even though it was still daylight and the curvature of the earth became visible. Only then did she stop climbing and glance back. She had never felt an aura so full of outrage and anger directed at her. It was terrifying.
Nothing could touch her here, nestled in its flames, more fire than feather, she could stay safe here for as long as she needed. Wasn't it in Madame Genin's nature to lose her temper like that? What could she have done? Suddenly, a thought occurred to her: what if Mrs Genin had been infected by the Vernons? That would explain her sudden change in behaviour...
Not knowing what to do, not daring to go back down but not knowing where to go, she began to describe very wide circles, far, far above the clouds. From here, Beauxbatons and the village of Chouettecahier were just tiny grey dots in the middle of an ocean of green.
She exhaled slowly, the freezing air, the silence of the high and the warmth of its flames reminding her how little this whole thing mattered. At any moment, she could return to her tower in Scotland and drop all this, of course she would have to discuss it with Luna, but she doubted that she would see this as a problem. Of course, she would only resort to this extreme if staying here became unbearable, and that was far from being the case, but the last few days had been particularly taxing. Why on earth had Madame Genin barged in like that? Did she realise how scared she'd been at the time?
Maybe running away at... she didn't know what altitude was a bit extreme, but she'd had quite a scare... The silence here was pleasant, maybe she should stay a while to let the pressure off. Madame Genin could wait, that would surely give her time to calm down.
Her mind was soothed by the cold, the calm and the detachment that came with the extreme altitude and the fact that her flames, which at the moment were as mischievous as they were playful, danced between her feathers, almost tickling her, pushing her higher and higher effortlessly as they warmed the air beneath her large wings. After an indeterminate time, her thoughts wandered from subject to subject, from the strange feeling left by Luna's words, to the prospect of managing to spend more time on the perch without the auras of her sisters from the Delacour flock making her flee by overwhelming her with too intense a sensation. Or the idea of spending a weekend at the Tonks' to celebrate Nym's birthday with the Lovegoods, Elvetia would be there, as well as some of Nym's friends...
As she was dreaming about the cake that would no doubt be served that day, her gaze was drawn to a small white dot far, far below her. A great egret? No... these wading birds never come into contact with this altitude. It was then that she caught the discreet, distant whiff of Fleur's aura in the air. What was she doing here? She was going to catch a cold with no flames to warm her. Without asking herself any more questions, driven by her concern for her friend, she dived, drawing her wings tightly around her body, forming a perfect V-shape. Her flames intensified by themselves to protect her, giving her the appearance of blue comets as she swooped towards her target at dizzying speed. It was only thanks to a barely controlled loop and several of her most powerful wingbeats drenched in bluish flames that she managed to stop at the right altitude.
Fleur's skin was a bluish grey, and despite what she saw as several heat spells stacked on top of each other, she looked frozen, her teeth chattering uncontrollably. Immediately, she positioned herself right above Fleur, closing her arms around her chest and letting her flames engulf Fleur in their protective aura. Despite the thick layer of fluffy white feathers covering Fleur's wings, they were so cold that it was a miracle the poor thing had managed to fly here at all. Moreover, she seemed to be struggling to breathe...
Increasingly worried, she began to descend towards the dovecote, forming very wide circles. It took her no more than a few minutes to reach the dovecote. It wasn't that Myo had set off on a pike with Fleur in her arms - she wasn't that stupid - but her pace of descent had been very steady. Increasingly worried about Fleur, she took her straight to the infirmary window. Juliette Belleforte would surely know what to do to help Fleur!
She stepped through one of the infirmary's sky-blue curtains and burst inside. The large room had seven beds, one of which was occupied by a veela with very light pink plumage that Myo didn't know. She placed Fleur gently on one of the beds and began to search through the infirmary, uttering little cries of distress, soon joined by those of the stranger, who, although half asleep, had begun to sing in the same anxious tone as Myo.
'What's going on? Myosotis? Are there any seriously injured people? Said Madame Belleforte as she hurried out of the infirmary storeroom, her blue-grey uniform stained with a liquid smelling of medicinal herb.
'It's Fleur! I don't know what's wrong with her!' Said Myo before trying to stop herself chirping in distress.
Mrs Belleforte ran to the bed where she had left Fleur, took out her wand and inspected her with a few spells too complicated for Myo to follow. 'Hypothermic, lack of oxygen...' she said. A translucent bubble formed around Fleur's head thanks to a spell from Madame Belleforte, then another covered her body in an orange veil... ' Myosotis, stop this song of distress, Miss Delacour is fine'.
Indeed, she was regaining some colour and enough strength to sit up with a little help from Juliette. Myo, reassured, finally calmed down.
'Myosotis, what on earth happened?'
She told her how Madame Genin had frightened her and how she had instinctively fled, with the sole aim of climbing high enough to feel good again. Then she spotted Fleur far below and that was it...
Madame Belleforte sighed and put her hands on her hips. 'Your story doesn't explain anything, fortunately I'll be able to ask Miss Delacour. She had indeed regained her normal colouring and Myo sprang at her like a cannonball, hugging her and wrapping her in her wings to warm her up.
Fleur rubbed her forehead, looking a little lost. 'I was climbing up... It was so cold... Myo! Are you all right?' She said in snatches before reciprocating the hug.
'I see. sighed Mrs Belleforte.
'What happened? Fleur asked, Myo too busy trying to cover her with warmth.
'I think I've got it. Tell me, Myosotis, how high were you?
'I don't know... it was where you can see that the earth is round and the sky starts to darken. She said distractedly, smoothing Fleur's feathers with patience and application.
'This kind of phenomenon starts at an altitude of 10,000 metres. Miss Delacour, I'm afraid you've tried to climb much higher than your limits... '
'But Myo was still a long way up, I had to go and convince her to come back down, I shouldn't have had any problem reaching her. Wait, did you say 10,000 metres? she finally said, her jaw hanging open in surprise.
'More precisely between 10,000 and 15,000, you should pay more attention to the advanced flight courses... Climbing too high is extremely dangerous. The cold and lack of oxygen will put you to sleep and you'll die without realising it. It's even more dangerous with heat spells, they prevent you from clearly realising the danger.'
'That's not possible, Myo couldn't fly that high!'
'For a veela latina, it is indeed impossible, but for a tavaalta, this kind of behaviour is quite common...' Madame Belleforte began to explain as she prepared a mixture smelling of cinnamon and ginger on a flint in the corner of the room. It wasn't long before she returned with a cup of steaming liquid in her hands and handed it to Fleur, who took a sip and let out a sigh of relief as she clutched the hot cup to her chest.
Meanwhile, Belleforte continued her explanation. 'It's not common knowledge, but tavaalta are more flame than flesh. For little Myosotis, the freezing temperatures and lack of oxygen are far less dangerous than the exhaustion of her magic. As you know, we're in a constant state of transfiguration, our real form being the one we take when transformed... '
Myo leaned over to Fleur's cup and gave her curious looks. Amused, Fleur let her take a sip. The contact between her tongue and the pungent, boiling, honey-sweet liquid caused her to squeal in surprise, but this was ignored by her two elders, as Fleur continued to listen to Belleforte's explanation. '... and as you may have guessed, that's also the case with Myosotis, she can't yet maintain her true form indefinitely because it uses more magic than Myo can generate at her age. In short, just because you see her climbing absurdly high doesn't mean it's a good idea to imitate her.'
'I see, I thought I was doing the right thing...' Fleur said as she placed her hand on Myo's head, still snuggled up against her, to stroke it. Myo reacted almost instinctively and pushed against her hand to prolong the contact.
'By the way... Myo!' Belleforte exclaimed.
She, who had thought herself out of the conversation, reacted in a perfectly sensible way. 'Eeeeep!'
'The Delacours and Isabelle tell me that you have all the books you need to learn how to take care of yourself and the customs of the flocks. Where are you with your reading?'
Myo's mind wandered to those big, boring volumes that were gathering dust in her tower somewhere hundreds of miles north of Scotland, and she did her best not to turn pale, she hadn't opened them for months... more precisely since she'd tried to follow a traditional veela honey biscuit recipe in them. There was no danger of them getting damp where she had left them in the potion laboratory in the cave beneath her tower. She did her best not to show her inner panic and answered: 'Yes, of course, I haven't finished them, but I'm making good progress, the pipa biscuits are very good.' As she felt drops of sweat trickle down the small feathers on her back, she prayed that the emotions carried by her aura would not betray her.
Belleforte raised an eyebrow but seemed to attribute her nervousness to what had just happened to Fleur... Which was partly true. 'In case you haven't read these passages yet, Myosotis, just because you're less vulnerable to certain things doesn't mean you can act carelessly. You're more made of magic than matter, which means that magical exhaustion can easily become a mortal peril for you and that you're more susceptible to many curses and spells, so take good care of yourself. In fact, how long has it been since you've been preened? Your feathers are all damaged…'
'I haven't thought about it since I arrived on campus... I think I'm a bit stressed...' concluded Myo in a rare moment of introspection.
'Well, at least you realise that!' sighed Belleforte. 'If you don't feel better in the next few weeks, even once you've settled into a routine, come and see me. As for you, Fleur, you can have some more of this herbal tea at dinner.'
No sooner had they left the infirmary than Fleur looked serious. 'Madame Genin wants to see you...' she said. Myo's feathers puffed up and she let out a long, threatening whistle as she spread her wings. 'Calm down! Be calm! I'll be with you, and she's calmed down, so you've got nothing to worry about, all right?'
After a long moment spent staring at Fleur and tasting her aura for the slightest trace of duplicity, Myo nodded and placed her hand in hers, allowing herself to be guided towards Madame Genin's office on the ground floor.
…
Madame Emilie Genin's office had not changed since her last visit. It was a well-organised space, with one wall devoted to large solid oak bookcases filled with books and files, probably containing the files of all the residents and information relating to the administration of the dovecote. The back wall opened onto a large window with rounded edges overlooking the outside. On the other side, the wall was covered with photos of Madame Genin and her children, or memories of significant events such as this photo full of Veela huddled together, all smiling, one of them holding up a trophy. Underneath it was written, ' Beauxbatons team, victorious in the 1990 acrobatics competition' . There were also drawings, well, more like colourful scribbles by the office occupant's children.
The latter was sitting on a high-backed chair, her wings folded wisely. She was holding a fountain pen between her long, dexterous fingers and seemed to be dealing with some administrative paperwork. When she heard them step through the thick ochre curtain, she looked up from her work and spoke, pointing to two of the three chairs on this side of her desk. 'Ah, there you are at last, thank you Miss Delacour for fetching Miss Potter. Settle down, settle down'.
As Fleur sat down, Myo turned the chair round and straddled it, so that the backrest wouldn't bother her tail. What's more, she felt a little more protected with the thick, rounded plank of wood between her and Madame Genin.
'I'm sorry madam, you really scared Myo and ... You saw what happened.'
Fleur said, Myo merely pouting.
Turning to her, Madame Genin said, her face and aura full of sincerity. 'I'm really sorry Miss Potter, scaring you like that was not my intention, my emotions got the better of me at the time.'
Myo nodded and asked. 'I don't think I've done anything stupid...'
'That you don't realise it is part of the problem. I've been receiving a lot of complaints about you for several days now.
'What do you mean?' Myo asked in surprise, desperately searching her memory for a time when she had done something wrong to someone.
Fleur's gaze darted back and forth between Myo and Mrs Genin. 'Madam, Myo is one of the nicest young veela I know, so I'd be very surprised if her complaints were justified.
Madame Genin cleared her throat and said with a pained expression. 'I'm not going to read you the complaints one by one, but here's what they say. Myosotis Potter, you are an airborne terror.'
'But!?'
'Myo! What have you done?'
'I don't know...' She said in bewilderment.
'Flying low across the campus, flying inside buildings because of staff disturbances, kidnapping students...'
'...it was Hermione... and Luna, and Nym, and the blond boy because he called Luna a liar...'
'MYO!' Fleur exclaimed in outrage.
'... performed dangerous aerial acrobatics, broke a window to, and I quote, 'avoid being late', was caught clawing at the parquet, the carpets and some furniture before escaping through the window before she could be arrested. Gave a live fish to your history teacher, Mr Terrot. The poor man took it as a threat...'
It was true that Mr Terrot had seemed frightened by her during the last history lessons, but nothing Mrs Genin described seemed wrong to her, she hadn't hurt anyone. Except perhaps what she'd done to the Blond boy, but he'd had it coming! And it wasn't her fault that Mr Terrot couldn't recognise a present when he saw one under his nose. His lessons were interesting and the passion with which he spoke was infectious. For the rest, the teacher's outrage seemed completely out of proportion to what she was accusing her of. What was she going to say next? Criticise her for singing when she was looking after her feathers? She knew she had a very pretty voice, and Mr Dupuy and the other members of the choral club were full of praise for her voice. The only thing that made her consider Madame Genin's reproaches was the scandalised look Fleur had been giving her earlier.
'Myo, your claws on the floor? Is that so? You've got all the trees in the forest for that! Fleur asked.
'... It's in the report,' sighed Madame Genin tiredly, the last traces of anger having left her features in the last few minutes, leaving only weariness on her face.
'The parquet floor and the carpets feel really good under my claws when I'm clawing, but I don't have time to hunt and roost enough for my claws to wear out as much as when I'm at the roost or in my tower...' Myo justified this by making a beeline for the roost. Myo justified this with a pout, the last traces of fear she had felt earlier gone, replaced by a strong desire to defend herself.
'By the way, Miss Potter, if you could stop scattering the skulls resulting from your hunts all over the tower block and the surrounding woods, it would be for the best, as the report mentions that these macabre decorations frighten certain students'.
Myo rose to her feet, standing on the back of her chair, her talons biting into the soft wood. Her wings beat the air to keep herself in balance, the wind thus created having the unfortunate effect of blowing the documents off Mrs Genin's desk, which she didn't manage to cover in time. 'I can't do it! I can be more careful when I'm flying, I can only claw in my room, I can stop giving presents to teachers, but I can't stop offering the best places for the skulls of my prey! It's a question of respect, I take their lives and their flesh when I hunt them, it's the least I can do to honour them by offering the best resting places to their most important remains! I don't...' the rest of her speech, fiery with passion and outrage, became a series of inarticulate cries, whistles and birdsong, her plumage swollen with anger, her flames enveloping her, illuminating the interior of the room with a bluish glow.
Madame Genin stood up, abandoning all attempts to protect her documents and backing away to the curtain at the back of the room. Fleur had stood up and was holding her by the waist, trying to tell her to calm down.
'Would it be possible to keep them around your room and your retreat, you and Miss Lovegood? It's far enough away in the woods not to frighten the other students.' she said, holding up her trembling hands.
Myo gradually calmed down and finally sat back down, letting Fleur hold her hand. It would take her several hours to make all the trips, but that shouldn't be a problem, especially if she did it the way she thought she would. What's more, her nest would be better protected with all the skulls of her former prey around it, so it would be like a mixture of defence and warning, as well as respecting her prey. It was then that something obvious in what Madame Genin had just said jumped out at her. 'How do you know about the nest? she asked defensively.
'A nest?' exclaimed Madame Genin, visibly outraged, her hand on her heart. 'Delacours! You told me it was just a cosy place Miss Potter had made for herself to recharge her batteries when the dovecote became too oppressive!'
'Why did you tell her about our nest?' accused Myo, glowering at Fleur.
'I'm obliged to give any information directly related to a resident's health, I couldn't do otherwise, I didn't say it was a nest though...'
'You should have! Miss Potter is far too young to even think about that sort of thing!
'That's just it, there's no risk.' Fleur leaned forward and whispered a few words in Mrs Genin's ear. She seemed to calm down a little, but added all the same. 'I'm still of the opinion that it's not a good thing. Miss Potter is at the age where she should be thinking about playing with her sisters and studying, not making nests... '
'Myo, imagine, hypothetically hypothetically, if, ever, you were prevented from returning to you and Luna's nest, and prevented from making a new one, what would you do?'
Myo's plumage, which had only just returned to its normal size, swelled again, both from the air heated by her flames and her sudden hostility. 'I'm going back to my tower and you'll never see me here again' she bellowed through gritted teeth, the very thought of such a thing revolting her to the depths of her being. If someone tried to destroy her nest... she... she... she wouldn't even bother adding her skull to her growing collection.
'All right, all right. Nobody's going to touch your nest.' Said Madame Genin with a gentleness hitherto absent from her voice. 'However, I can't let you go without appropriate punishment for the damage you've done. Myosotis, you're on detention every evening from 8pm to 9pm until you've finished writing a letter of apology and explanation to everyone you've offended or frightened by your actions over the last few weeks.'
Myo nodded slowly, it was obviously a great injustice, she hadn't done anything out of the ordinary for herself, but if it meant she could be left alone and with the assurance that no one would touch their nest, an hour a day seemed a worthwhile sacrifice. 'Can I go now?' she asked, overcome by a sudden urge to go and preen her feathers to relieve all that stress.
'Not quite, I have one last announcement to make. The sub-councils of Hymgaabal have decided to take charge of your situation and assign you a chaperone.'
'A chaperone? What's that?' Myo asked with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension.
'An older veela responsible for accompanying you, looking after you and teaching you about community life and the customs of the flocks, especially the role of the tavaalta in our society. Having her by your side will also prevent the reasons that led to this meeting from happening again. Now, shoo!'
Myo was quick to respond and stormed out of Madame Genin's office, followed closely by Fleur. As they walked side by side, Fleur said with an amused look on her face. 'You know what, I'm going to give you some scrapers, maybe that'll help you save the campus furniture.
oOOOo
The great general library of Beauxbatons, or Bibliothèque Pierre-Dubois, was by far Hermione's favourite campus building. It was a tall, cylindrical structure of stone, brick and wood, with a chaotic architecture, at the centre of the campus. Large black wooden beams set into a limestone base supported bricks coloured from black to red to light ochre. Large Romanesque-style windows opened at regular intervals high up in the walls. After three high floors, a vault of coloured glass, almost a mosaic, supported by a series of long beams, covered the building.
The interior of this architectural marvel left nothing to be desired. After a short vestibule, where Jaque, a patient man with thick eyebrows, supervised entrances and exits and took care of loans, a double wooden door carved with low floral reliefs opened onto what she called a treasure trove. A huge room with a wooden floor, enchanted so that visitors' footsteps made no noise, revealed rows and rows of books sorted by theme, sub-theme and then alphabetical order, arranged in large shelves that looked as if they had been carved from solid wood. In the centre, the building was open right up to the dome, letting the light tinted by the coloured glass illuminate all the floors of the building. There was a staircase leading up to the upper floors, but it wasn't really necessary, given the self-service floating platforms and the books on the upper shelves, which were four or five metres high. She was taking full advantage of her marvellous devices, as stairs were still a problem for her. Her legs were almost completely healed, but still weaker and clumsier than normal. Her doctors had said that in a few months she would be fully recovered and would only need light monitoring. She would also cease to need her cane, but she intended to keep it, purely for the sake of style.
Although the organisation of the books was excellent, there were dozens of desks near the entrance, each holding a huge book. Each was a complete register of all the books available in the building, with their current status updating automatically. Finding a particular book became extremely simple, as once you had found it in the register, all you had to do was type its name with your wand, and a small piece of conjured paper would appear with information about the book and how to find it.
This architectural marvel was one of the buildings of which Beauxbatons was most proud, just behind the Flamels buildings. It had been built in 1665, just over twenty years before the start of the Status Wars, as a gift from Louis XIV and built by the archmage-architect Pierre Dubois to thank Beauxbatons for its part in the war effort during the Battle of the Dunes on 14 June 1658 against the Spanish armies. It was a place steeped in history and knowledge, having accumulated works over several centuries. Hermione had even heard that deep cellars beneath the building were used to store the oldest, most fragile or dangerous writings. There was even a cultural exchange programme with the great library of Alexandria, giving Beauxbatons students access to otherwise inaccessible books.
One of her favourite features of the place was the one she and her group of friends were using at the moment. These were small, discreet alcoves at the ends of the corridors formed by the large shelves, separated from the main room by a wall of small tiles supported by wooden crosspieces. The interior was furnished with a number of comfortable chairs that always seemed to have the right number for the occupants of the moment, and to adapt to them. Myo, for example, was currently sitting on a padded stool whose lack of a backrest allowed her long, feathery tail to be accommodated.
In the middle of the room was a large oval table currently occupied by piles of paper, books, pencils, pens and inkwells. On the wall was a blackboard with chalk on which Luna had drawn all sorts of flowers and animals that Hermione was increasingly reluctant to call imaginary. Although the inside of the alcove could be seen from the outside and vice versa, it was isolated by a wall of silence, giving it a cosy feel. Although it was necessary to make a reservation in order to find a free alcove, as they were so popular, this nevertheless made it Hermione's favourite place to revise and do her homework (and to take advantage of it to help Myo and Luna, who tended to have a little more difficulty. )
While she was reading a fascinating book about the speciation of the different sentient magical species and their co-evolution, Luna was sitting on her right, busy making Elvetia melt into her owl form at the moment with some skilful stroking and scratching. From time to time, the little owl let out a little hoot of happiness. They had both finished their homework half an hour ago, unlike Myo who was stuck on her ritual study essay and seemed to be constantly distracted. She was vibrating in her chair with contained energy, brief glimmers of bluish flame visible between her feathers at times. When Hermione raised her head, she could see Myo's eyes drifting towards the window, or on Luna and Elvetia with envy and jealousy.
Today, Nym wasn't with her, currently at her runes application class if she wasn't mistaken, leaving the four of them in relative peace. Hermione had time to read one more chapter on the relationship between nagas, centaurs and mermaids before Myo suddenly stood up, waving her arms in the air, splashing ink on her face as she did so. 'I'm done!' she exclaimed.
'Show me, please.' Myo handed her her copy, her wings fluttering with excitement.
'Well, well, well?'
Hermione began to read, the quality of the writing was acceptable, the ideas clear, although Myo did tend to go off on not always relevant tangents. Hermione remembered how the poor girl had needed to retake the ritual exams four times to be allowed to join the practical sessions, how she had almost cried, complaining that she was really struggling with rote learning, and that the lessons were too long... As she had feared, it was halfway through the third page that things started to go haywire, the text becoming more and more disjointed, until it didn't make any sense at all. The last few lines repeated the words 'Luna, cuddle, Luna, cuddle...' over and over until they were just one big ink blot. And indeed, Myo hadn't waited for her to reply, and had thrown herself on top of Luna to snuggle up to her. It was as adorable as it was ridiculous, three of them on that little chair.
She had been watching Myo carefully for several weeks, especially during the long lessons. Myo seemed to completely drop out after an hour, an hour and a half if she was in good form. And if she didn't have a busy morning, she'd be completely out of it all afternoon. She had researched the few books available on this kind of problem and it seemed that certain potions could help, although they should not be taken in too large quantities and were described as causing great mental fatigue after the effects had worn off. But she had no idea whether this kind of potion was suited to a veela's metabolism. Not wanting to worry Myo any further, especially after she'd made such a fuss at the start of the revision session about her chaperone arriving and how unfair and unnecessary it was. She had even almost put off carrying out her plan, but with this new example she couldn't do nothing.
'Myo, the beginning was good but you messed up again at the end. I think you should start again from the beginning of your eighth paragraph tomorrow. The rest doesn't make sense.'
'Oh crap, I was sure I got everything right.' Said Myo with a pout, 'Thanks Hermione. Say, me and Luna and Elvetia thought we'd see if the palm court was open. Are you coming with us?'
'I'm sorry, I've got something urgent to do, I'll join you afterwards.' She replied, quickly packing her things into her bag. She grabbed her cane and walked out of the room, leaving the trio packed in behind her.
Hermione hobbled, leaning on her cane, to the exit, registered the book she wanted to borrow from Jaque and headed back outside. The fresh autumn wind sent a shiver down her spine, lifting a few dead leaves from the ground. She pulled her jacket and scarf tighter before setting off again. She didn't really like what she was going to have to do, but it was for her angel's sake. The veela tower, or dovecote as the place was known, sometimes mockingly, sometimes affectionately, overlooked the valley from the top of a hill. She couldn't walk the whole way, not with her legs still recovering. She took out a small wooden cube from the inside pocket of her coat, pressed one of its sides with her wand and it unfolded into the shape of a kind of seat with a solid base, made of carved wood, padded in places, levitating a few centimetres above the ground. Or rather, resting on a few thousand tiny bluish-grey rubber feet. She sat down on it and without having to do, say or think anything, the seat moved, carrying her at a brisk walking pace towards her situation.
The hospital had lent her the item at the request of her doctors and the school, and Hermione could only be grateful to them as she was carried effortlessly up the narrow cobbled path ascending through the forest.
The dovecote was even more impressive from its base, a very large tower with carved walls reaching skywards, constantly surrounded by dozens of what looked from a distance like huge birds flying in and out of the multitude of openings in its walls. The place didn't really look like it was designed to receive visitors, and in addition to the long climb to get there, the door at the base of the tower looked more like a service door than a real entrance. In fact, it was the only wooden door, all the other openings in the tower being closed by curtains.
She hesitated for a moment, as it seemed to her that the veela of the dovecote did not like to be disturbed by non-veela visitors. Summoning her courage, she knocked on the door and waited. A good two minutes later, she knocked again and received no reply. So she got up from her seat and tried to push open the door. To her surprise, the door offered no resistance, opening with a simple turn of the handle.
The moment she entered the dovecote, Hermione immediately felt as if she had entered an aviary. The sound of wings, singing, whistling and cooing mingled with dozens of voices. From time to time, she would see a feather fall softly. Then, it took her a second before the effects of the dozens of auras of the inhabitants came crashing down on her with almost physical force. The air felt thick, almost hard to breathe. She was suddenly hot, her dresses feeling heavy and suffocating. She couldn't move, pinned in place.
It wasn't long before her presence was noticed. A tall figure emerged from behind a thick, dark red curtain a few yards to her right. Hermione could only stare at the tall girl with long braided chestnut hair and spotted red wings stretching out. No doubt emerging from a nap. By the time Hermione's gaze plunged into the stranger's turquoise irises, she had already given in and staggered forward until she came into contact with the veela, closing her arms around her waist, intoxicated by the intensity of the auras.
'Shit! What the hell are you doing here?' The stranger asked, but she was in no condition to answer. 'Someone must have forgotten to lock the door.'
Hermione couldn't answer, she felt light-headed, and at the same time too weak and relaxed to even move. Only one thing mattered to her at that moment, to be as close as possible to the person from whom this sweet energy was emanating. Her cane had fallen to the ground, forgotten.
Hermione felt herself being lifted off the ground, wrapped in a cloth, but she didn't care, she wanted to be closer, even though her cheek was pressed against the stranger's chest. A few seconds or minutes later, she couldn't tell, she felt herself being deposited on a rigid surface. Hands tried to detach her from the source of the softness, but she refused. Several unsuccessful attempts to get her to let go later, a voice as sweet as honey whispered to her that she would be so happy if Hermione would drink the liquid that was presented to her.
Hermione happily accepted and drank great gulps of an icy liquid that tasted like mint. A few moments later, she blinked, looking around with surprise and curiosity. She was sitting on the edge of a hospital bed with light blue sheets, in a fairly large room with a vaulted ceiling, well lit from the outside by large openings in the wall. Opposite her was the veela with the turquoise eyes and an older woman in clothes bearing the symbols of a nurse.
Strangely, she felt more relaxed than she had in a long time. 'What's happened to me? She asked in a small voice, her gaze finding her cane, bag and armchair in the corner of the room.
'You've just had aura poisoning, and in the loft nobody holds back, so for someone who isn't used to high intensity, the effects are immediate. Fortunately, the auras in the tower are always diffuse and unpolarised. I've just given you a sedative, the infirmary is magically isolated from the rest of the tower, and Magalie and I are in the process of containing our auras. So all it took was a mild sedative to snap you out of your trance.'
'I'm sorry, I didn't think it would be that I... Urg...' Hermione said as she rubbed her forehead, the urge to go and snuggle up to the one the carer had called Magalie slowly evaporating.
'What's your name, little one? Why have you come? Don't you know that if you want to talk to the dovecote, you have to do it by post?' asked the caretaker.
'Wait a minute, I recognise her, she's one of little Myosotis's friends! They hang out together all the time. Magalie exclaimed.
'I'm Hermione Granger, and I'm sorry, it was urgent and I thought I didn't have a problem with auras, I'm always by Myosotis's side and I hardly feel anything, do you see...'
Myosotis's aura is still ... shall we say, hyper-sensitive and out of sync. Her aura only reacts strongly to aggression and has trouble balancing with the others. And the other veela all have an amulet distributed by the school which helps to reduce the aura to a minimum, so it's normal that you don't feel them when you come across one of our sisters.'
'I'm sorry...'
'There's no need to apologise, you haven't hurt anyone. However, you did want to tell us something urgent.'
She was indeed facing a veela carer, she wouldn't have a better opportunity. Without further hesitation, she began to talk about her concerns, under the more serious gaze of the two veela.