Celestial Map Ceremony

After her grand reveal, Madame Cosette led us first years all into the school. As we walked through the courtyard out front of the entrance, I noticed there was another fountain here like the one in Aurorebelle's town centre, but this one was much larger. No Nifflers were present on this one, just a deep shine of gold with water that sparkled as if it was infused with magic itself. 

As we got nearer to the fountain, I saw a placard on the bottom with the names 'Nicolas Flamel and Perenelle Flamel'.

Recalling information from the books, words spilled out my lips. "Ah that's right… it was mentioned a fountain was made for them…".

As the words left my mouth, the Italian girl who asked what Aurorebelle was on the barge flinched. She was walking next to me, and considering how quiet I had been up to this point; I made her jump with just simple words.

Looking at me, she awkwardly smiled trying to hide her apprehension and quickly paced ahead. 

Seeing her dart off so quickly, I wryly smiled. 

She seemed to be a nice girl, at least attempting to acknowledge my words even if they weren't supposed to be directed at her, but it seemed I already had a reputation amongst this group that led to all of the first years avoiding me. 

As she joined up with the bigger group ahead, she started to speak Italian to a boy and their eyes kept gazing back at me as they spoke.

The compass translated all things they said about me as they talked. It seems that even though the first years seemed distracted by the enchanted mist veil, they had still managed to catch wind of how I 'argued' with Madame Cosette. 

The story the first years were rolling with painted me more as a villain in the whole scenario. Like a game of Chinese whispers, the initial conversation I had was twisted based on their perceptions of me up to this point.

Distracting myself, I gazed back at the fountain that was now behind us. The water that sparkled really did seem special in a difficult to explain way. If I recall, it was said to have healing properties and even 'beautifying' properties to some degree. Was that really true though? 

Honestly, I was half tempted to take a dip right now just to find out if the descriptions of the fountain were just exaggerations or if they were real…

"We are nearly there dears, the entrance is just before us".

Madame Cosette called out to the entire group, stopping my train of thought. She was stood in front of the entrance to the school. Even the door itself had a kind of elegance to it. From my time making brooms with Randolph, I could tell the wood was just simple Oak but there was something different about it.

The closer I got to the door, the more I realised that it was most likely charmed which is why I felt that it was different in some way. Protection charms and such placed on it no doubt. 

Inlaid around the edge of the door were bright white stones that glimmered despite how dark it was right now, seemingly reflecting the moonlight descending on us. Taking an educated guess, it seemed as though the white stones were moon stones considering how they reflected the moonlight.

As the first years all grouped in front of the door, The door autonomously opened without Madame Cosette doing anything. As it opened up, the grandeur of the school was on full display as we all started to funnel in.

Walking through the door, I instantly saw the extreme parallels the school's halls held compared to Hogwarts. Hogwarts had a rustic nature to it, described to be filled with tons of different memorabilia scattered through the halls. Armour, Paintings, Ghosts wandering around, these were what made Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry the unique school it was.

Beauxbatons however was this place of pure pristine, cleanliness and shine. The decor was intentional; the designs of the walls and the paintings, carefully placed in each section, along with the white hallways accented with the occasional plant adding a sprinkle of greenery, made this place feel incredibly regal in comparison.

The difference between a castle and a palace for sure, that's what it felt like. A castle had tons of areas and places to go to, Hogwarts was a place where the halls were almost intentionally difficult the navigate around whereas here whilst Beauxbatons was large, the halls felt more straightforward and intentional.

It was still massive of course, after all it had to house students from all over Europe and it seemed due to that they had made the hallways of the school far wider.

As we continued to walk through the hallways of Beauxbatons, Madame Cosette would occasionally point out the different paths to specific classes along with other important information like where the toilets were as we walked through different 'sections' of the school. She also commented on specific paintings that were hanging in the hallways as well.

The paintings all seemed to move, just like the portraits of Hogwarts but the style of art was far more diverse and abstract. Madame Cosette explained that some of the paintings were actually done by alumni of the school, most likely those who majored in Magical Art and Expression. 

Finally, we arrived at another huge door. This one was different though. It was an ebony wood door; unlike any other door we had seen whilst walking through the school so far. 

Like the door at the entrance, this door also had moonstones embedded into it, but they were placed in specific patterns which looked to me like constellations you would see in the sky. 

I spent so much time taking in the design of the door in front that I didn't notice there was another teacher present. As Madame Cosette walked up to her with a smile, the woman in front of the door kept a sharp gaze painted on her face.

"Here they are! our new 'stars' Ivana, are you all ready in there for them?". Madame Cosette broke the silence first as she spoke to the woman stood waiting for us.

'Ivana' glanced over all of us for a moment, before turning back to Madame Cosette. "Seems like everyone is here. Head on in Cosette, everyone is ready".

Madame Cosette nodded, turning back to the first years. "Well, this is where we split off! Don't worry though dears, you'll all see me in your charm's classes. I'll leave you in the capable hands of Madame Ivana-".

"Madame Petrovic is what you students should refer to me as…" Madame 'Petrovic' interjected; a commanding tone sounded out as she spoke. 

Madame Cosette giggled, brushing off Madame Petrovic's cold response. Waving us all off, she opened the door and entered into the room behind Madame Petrovic. All the first years became restless seeing Madame Cosette leave, being handed off to this teacher who didn't seem as 'friendly' as Madame Cosette left a few of the more anxious first years shaking nervously.

As Madame Petrovic scrutinised us for a moment longer after Madame Cosette left, she began to speak slowly and clearly. "Welcome first years to Beauxbatons. My name is Ivana Petrovic, the deputy headmistress of Beauxbatons. I come from Croatia personally, but as you all should be aware of by now; this school has many different students from countries across Europe so its not anything too shocking.".

Her eyes seemed to glance over me for moment and her expression didn't change at all.

Continuing, she explained. "In this school, we make English the primary language to speak as much as possible. Most of the world speaks it after all, so please do try to speak in English and learn it whilst you study here. Anyway, onto what's beyond this door behind me…"

Pointing at the door behind, each 'constellation' made up of moonstone pulsated with light slightly as Madame Petrovic introduced it, as if it was alive.

"Behind these doors you will be sorted into three houses. These houses are Bellefeuille, Papillonlisse and Ombrelune. In order to get sorted, you will each undergo the celestial map ceremony. You will all see shortly how the ceremony works so don't ask any questions".

Unlike Madame Cosette who seemed to jump at the chance to answer student's questions, Madame Petrovic cut off all the first years from asking anything pretty brutally.

Madame Petrovic then opened the door slightly, seemingly exchanging glances with someone inside. She nodded and closed the door soon after, turning back around to us first years. 

"Looks like they are all ready for you now" She spoke. "Follow me into the room, keep gathered together, I will lead you to where you need to stand and wait before being sorted".

As she finished explaining, she pushed the doors open revealing a massive room with tons of people within. All their eyes glued onto us, as us first years walked into the room. 

The room itself was circular, with students from all years lining up next to each other. The walls surrounding all had different marbled statues protruding out of them, each representing a celestial body of some sort from what I could tell.

Lifting my gaze from the walls, I looked up at the ceiling. The ceiling wasn't normal, similar to the Hogwarts great hall, it was enchanted to look like the night sky. This sky differed from Hogwarts, with three distinct constellations within it that mirrored the constellations on the door we just entered. Clouds also calmly swayed across the ceiling, adding to the night sky above.

Whilst walking in, an excited Swiss girl spoke to her friend. "My dad told me about those constellations! They represent each house in the school. Bellefeuille is the constellation that looks kind of like 5 leaves. Papillonlisse is the constellation that looks like a butterfly and Ombrelune is the circular constellation which I think is supposed to represent a moon…"

Looking at the constellations myself, I could kind of picture what the Swiss first year was saying. I had to admit though, the houses not being represented by physical beasts like Hogwarts did make me quite confused trying to think of what meant what. With Hogwarts, its easy to say lion is brave, snake or a serpent is sneaky, eagle is smart and badger is… badger.

But with 5 leaves, a butterfly and a moon… What could each represent? Maybe it wasn't that 'deep' here compared to Hogwarts. Having the houses be enigmatic concepts rather than specific concepts meant it didn't end up with one house being the 'evil' house.

Madame Petrovic grouped us first years near the centre of the room, but not directly in the centre where there seemed to be a pedestal. Looking on the floor below, there were runes that seemed to be directed towards the centre of the room where the pedestal was. 

Looking around the area now as we stood still waiting to be sorted, I started to feel the itchy sensation return. I was hidden in the group of first years but there were so many students and teachers stood around all with their eyes on us. 

I felt like I was up for display and memories I'd rather forget struggled, trying to surface into the forefront of my mind affecting my train of thought. 

I really hope this doesn't end up taking too long…

Trying to pull my mind away from my catalogue of trauma, I looked around the crowd wondering if I could see any familiar people at all. It didn't take long for me to spot a particular person who towered above all the people around her. 

She smiled as she looked over at us and as my eyes made contact with hers, she walked towards our group, parting the crowd as she strolled over to us.

"Welcome to Beauxbatons our new foals. I hope you will all grow into beautiful witches and wizards. My name is Olympe Maxime, I am the headmistress here at Beauxbatons. You can all call me Madame Maxime. As for the other teachers and students, we would spend all night introducing each one so be sure to get properly acquainted when classes start… Now Ivana, do you mind getting things going?"

Madame Petrovic nodded, pulling out a list from her pocket. As she scanned the list over once she then called out a name.

"Bianca Oracoli"

Just ahead of me, the Italian girl who smiled nervously at me earlier responded with a stutter. "Y-Yes?"

Judging from her tone, it sounded like she thought she was in trouble but that was obviously not the case. Madame Petrovic smiled slightly as she signalled to the pedestal in the middle of the room.

"Please step forward to get sorted".

Bianca shakily walked over to the pedestal. Stepping up onto it, the runes on the floor all seemed to glow and surge towards the pedestal in the middle. The display in all honesty was incredibly extra, but it matched the atmosphere of 'mysticism' and 'beauty' this school seemed to constantly shove in your face.

As the pedestal glowed for a moment, the clouds above to rumbled slightly. Calm humming sounded from above as the clouds and 'sky' above brightened, reacting to Bianca stepping onto the pedestal. 

As the room became brighter the clouds above started to dance around happily, shining different colours and also forming into different shapes.

When I used to stargaze with my father, I remember the many times I would point out a cloud looking like something. Now the clouds were purposely shaping themselves into different things. Sometimes it was faces, sometimes it was a book, it seemed to not stop changing as it gave everyone in the room insights as to what emotions and aspirations Bianca seemed to hold within herself.

It was a far more extravagant show compared to a sorting hat I had to say… but seeing how it was honing in on emotions and hopes I started to feel my gut churn and worry boil in my stomach. The itchy feeling still persisted as the pressure of the surrounding crowd persistently made me feel on edge and kept tempting bad memories to resurface.

The clouds eventually dispersed and the room darkened again, with the stars in the sky being the only light descending onto us all now. The three constellations of each house remained dim for a while after the clouds dispersed, making Bianca who stood on the pedestal start to shake nervously.

Eventually, one constellation started to glow. It started off shining dimly but then the shine brightened greatly, illuminating the entire room. As the constellation shined brightly, the surrounding older students all started to clap. The teachers also clapped with Madame Maxime's clapping taking centre stage as each of her claps sent shockwaves through the room.

Madame Petrovic then declared. "The 5 Leaves constellation, Papillonlisse. Please step off the pedestal Bianca".

Bianca nodded and hopped off with glee. Heading back over to the group of first years with a smile and a sigh of relief as well, glad that it all went forward without a hitch.

After seeing the display once you became numb to it as more students got sorted after Bianca. 

Different displays, colours and 'cloud shapes' came with each sorting process and whilst it was exciting at first soon it just became tedious and monotonous. As I was starting to get restless, with a sense of foreboding still in my chest Madame Petrovic spoke calmly again.

"Axel Everhart".

Hearing my name, I hesitated for a moment before walking out from the group of first years. All the surrounding students and teachers now had their eyes placed on me. I did my best to calm myself, glancing briefly at the clouds above as I stood onto the pedestal. 

Whispering under my breath, inaudible to anyone else, I attempted to shake off any worry. 

"Let's just get this over with…"

.

As the boy dressed in the blue uniform of Beauxbatons stepped up to the pedestal, all the eyes in the room that were glued to him were laden with different emotions.

As the students and teachers analysed this new first year properly for the first time, they took note of his appearance. The scars on his face, the streaks of white in his hair, the cold eyes that he wore as he scanned the room whilst standing up onto the pedestal, these things all gave everyone their own initial impression of the boy, like looking at the cover of a book and trying to guess what the contents could be.

Some students started to whisper among themselves with some teachers also doing the same. 

Madame Cosette to one side looked at the boy with a difficult expression. Another teacher, a man with round glasses and a twirled moustache, stared at the young boy standing on the pedestal with a difficult gaze as well.

As the runes activated on the floor, the entire area glowed for a moment until the glows dimmed again. The clouds above started to move slowly just as it did for all the other students before. 

The clouds shifted shapes until every single one turned into tall trees. A forest made of clouds appearing above the heads of everyone in the room.

The teachers and students all looked at the clouds with confusion, usually the clouds would turn into different things each showcasing emotions and feelings within someone's heart. Why was this boy's heart just filled with… trees?

The clouds that turned into trees then suddenly shifted again, this time becoming increasingly violent as they swirled around. 

The false night-sky became so chaotic that some students started to step back slightly. The cloud forest that appeared initially was simply the calm before the storm.

Streaks of blue light started to weave their way through the clouds as if lightning was embedded in them. The clouds shapes then all shifted into faces of anguish and despair with deep yells reverberating against the walls of the room.

"Koji kurac- " Madame Petrovic couldn't help but exclaim in Croatian as she instinctively stepped back as well. Other teachers also followed suit as well, completely in shock at what was happening.

The only exception was Madame Cosette who stood completely still, in absolute shock. Her eyes watered slightly as she saw the sight before her. She realised that she really was naïve. She wanted to fix 'this' with just some light conversation? Axel's words reverberated in her mind in this moment.

"If you are under the impression that exchanging pleasantries will simply 'fix' me then you are far too naïve".

She thought Axel was just being stubborn deep down but seeing this, she realised that Axel's words were true. Realising this made her heart break, she really didn't see the forest for the trees.

The clouds then morphed again; different shapes started to appear now. An old man's face laughing maniacally, a chair with straps, a brick with words etched into it, a circular device and finally the biggest cloud of all in the centre, a huge dark beast that stared down at the students below.

The dark beast formed from clouds seemed sentient as it scanned the audience with a cold gaze. The first years who watched this all fell onto the backsides, shivering and shaking in fear. Even some of the older students felt themselves frozen in place looking at the display above. Despite the chaotic and scary sights, everyone's eyes remained peeled on the clouds above.

The clouds then shifted once again, morphing into swords, plants, potions, there seemed to be no end. How could someone who was only 11 experience so much and have all those memories ingrained so deeply that the clouds would act this way?

Axel who stood on the pedestal below looked at the sight above with a chilled expression. He closed his eyes and his breathing seemed to steady slowly.

The chaotic clouds started to calm as he did this. To the select few who had their eyes on him in this moment, it seemed like he was meditating, attempting to calm himself. The clouds above all shifted again but instead of the chaotic shapes they shifted between before, they now changed into more 'pleasant' things.

A broom, a wooden cabin, carving tools and finally a face with a beard that seemed to be smiling. As the clouds turned into these things, the night-sky calmed fully and the clouds dissipated soon after.

The constellations next revealed themselves and they all stayed dim for a long while, longer than any other student being sorted before. Madame Petrovic looked as if she was about to say something due to how long it was taking but as a single syllable escaped her lips, a single constellation started to shine.

The constellation that looked like a moon illuminated the room. Axel's house had been decided and he was placed into Ombrelune.

Madame Petrovic who would usually proclaim where the student was sorted didn't say a word. 

Axel quietly stepped off the pedestal, not saying a word either, having no intention of explaining himself. His face didn't change once during the entire display as he walked back to the crowd of first years and closed his eyes.

As all the students and teachers were still reeling, A resounding clap started from the side of the room. A warm smile coming from Madame Maxime as she started the 'congratulatory' clapping that each student before got. All the other students and teachers then started to join in. 

Axel's eyes remained closed, the only change from him was a quiet sigh escaping his lips. 

The ceremony which was supposed to simply sort him into a house ended up being a display of his traumas. To everyone watching it was a shock but to Axel who kept burying these feelings…

He felt incredibly weak and vulnerable in this moment…