A Nymph's Melody

Man, what a shit show that was…

Seeing that girl Bianca get sorted first had me initially worried, and as the ceremony progress that worry festered further. Paired with my mind rolling from the crowd scrutinising me and old memories resurfacing, no amount of mental willpower could help me quell my emotions.

It took me a long time until I finally calmed myself, but in the end, it was enough to display my deep-seated troubles to the entire student body and faculty. The initial gazes of intrigue had all devolved into fear and pity.

People feared what they couldn't understand after all.

Seeing those clouds shift between different things that had influenced me to this point had left an extremely bitter taste in my mouth.

It was one thing to suffer and work through it, but the vulnerability of having those moments being shown to others so blatantly… it made me feel incredibly weak. The way people navigated around me was already wary enough and now that display had essentially cut me off from probably most, if not all the students here.

I didn't intend to make friends, but people actively avoiding me at every turn was going to be taxing on my mind overtime.

Like a fragile patient in a mental institution, their words towards me, the patient, would be delicate. Treated like a burden rather than a person, that was something I hated deep within my soul. Ever since the forest, since Randolph, this feeling had remained.

Randolph took time to start treating me like a person, but that's because he sensed I hated being treated like a fragile boy so he acted in turn. It took him months to change how he spoke to me.

To convince the entire student body and faculty to do the same, that was an extremely exhausting task, enough to make me feel completely lost.

My body itched as the gazes around the room remained glued onto me for a long time. I closed my eyes in this moment, blocking out everyone around me as the Celestial Map Ceremony continued and other students proceeded to get sorted.

The rooms mood started to shift as the ceremony continued. As each student got sorted, the atmosphere lightened. There were many students and teachers who probably wanted to question me, but right now wasn't the time during the ceremony. I doubt many would try and speak to me anyway, even if they did have questions.

After all, the first years didn't talk to me even when I joined back with them. Most likely due to how I supposedly 'yelled' at Madame Cosette.

Magic. This enigmatic force that was initially a power that seemed wondrous to me was starting to change in my head to a necessity. I needed it, I needed to learn how to use it as much as possible. Not just to protect myself physically, but mentally as well…

As the last first year stepped down from the pedestal. Madame Petrovic turned to Madame Maxime and nodded, signalling that the sorting was fully concluded. Madame Maxime smiled, walking forward and talking to the crowd surrounding the area.

"That concludes the celestial map ceremony" she said. "Everyone, please enter into the doors over there which lead to the dining hall. I believe a feast is in order to welcome our new foals!"

Excited clamouring sounded as all the students started to head towards the exit. Madame Maxime stood towering above all the students and teachers like a beacon, leading the students through the halls of the school towards the dining hall. A couple of the teachers stayed back, making sure all the students followed.

The first years around me all darted off quickly as well, funnelling out of the ceremony room towards the dining hall where the rest of the crowd was heading. As I started to trail behind them, an older student touch me on my shoulder causing me to jump back and scowl at him.

"Sorry, didn't mean to frighten you… What was all that back there?"

His Romanian accent was distinct as he spoke to me. The boy had other students around him as well. Looking at all of them scrutinise me, my gaze chilled. As I was about to open my mouth, another voice sounded out.

"That's enough dears".

Madame Cosette wandered over with a smile. Looking at the older boy who questioned me she spoke. "Anghel, we should all be heading to the dining hall now, please keep up with the group".

The older boy, Anghel, nodded and walked off with his group in tow. Madame Cosette briefly glanced at me with a sad expression before turning and heading off as well. I groaned, following the groups all heading out of the room.

The students flooded the hallways so it was easy to see where we needed to go. Following along slowly we eventually arrived at another set of doors that were already open. Inside was the dining hall.

Compared to Hogwart's dining hall, this place once again had Beauxbatons signature pristine to it. Shrubberies and plants lined the white walls this room boasted. The most interesting difference this dining hall had compared to Hogwarts however was that the tables weren't split between houses.

The tables instead were all scattered around, much like the tables within the Magical Barge. Whether it was cultural differences or intentional, the houses of this school weren't as solidified a concept as they were in Hogwarts it seemed. They were most likely just there to promote some light competition, but not to influence the entire student body.

I walked over to the closest table I could see that was empty. Sitting down, I rested my hand on my chin and looked at the dining hall more intently. The ceiling had paintings on it, reminding me of the inside of the Sistine chapel and big chandeliers hung from above as well, illuminating the hall with a soft yellow light.

The paintings seemed to depict different magical beasts as well as different old witches and wizards. They all seemed to move as well, one specific painting had a wizard casting a spell at a dragon which piqued my interest.

As my gaze stayed on the paintings above, some students sat themselves down at my table. One of them was Anghel, the boy who had asked me about what occurred when I was sorted. As he sat down, he glanced in my direction a couple of times as his friends nudged him, as if 'goading' him to talk to me.

Eventually he spoke. "So… Axel, wasn't it? What was all that back there?"

I sighed deeply. "Not too sure myself".

Anghel's face showed that he knew I was lying. He leant forward and questioned again. "That black beast thing was insane, did you actually meet something like that? In Romania where I'm from, we have dragons that are scary at times, but that thing actually freaked me out more than some dragons have!".

I remained silent, not wanting to entertain him any longer. Seeing me like this, Anghel clicked his tongue and stopped talking to me, turning to his friends instead, speaking in Romanian to them.

The compass translated his conversation.

"What a freaky guy, I've seen dragons with more emotions than him"

One of Anghel's friends, a girl, spoke. "You and your damned dragons, is that all you talk about?"

Their conversation trailed away from talk about me to Anghel's obsession with dragons giving me some peace finally. Turning my gaze away from them, I looked over to the other end of the dining hall where the teachers all sat down at.

The table they were all sat around was shaped like an arch. Madame Maxime's chair was comically larger than the others, with the other teachers sat around the arch and Madame Maxime sat at the middle of the arch. Her chair and size made her look like a monolith in the middle.

As I looked over at her, she stood up and clapped loudly, silencing all talk from the students within the dining hall in a simple move. As the voices simmered, she spoke clearly to everyone in the room.

"Welcome again to our new students! Hopefully this year at Beauxbatons will allow you all to blossom into beautiful witches and wizards. Just as a winged Abraxan horse does, I encourage you all to soar into the skies with your talents!"

Hearing her mention Abraxan horses and thinking back to all her references to 'foals' made me realise this woman had a specific infatuation towards horses… If I recall she was said to have bred her own Abraxan horses that she uses to pull her carriage for transportation.

She continued to speak. "Learn well and grow well this year! The sky is the limit as you all become bright stars within our enchanted sky! Now, let us begin the feast!"

Another clap resounded from Madame Maxime as the feast began. Food appeared on the tables in front of us students and everyone started to tuck into the dishes laid before them. Looking at the dish in front of me, I had to admit it was beautifully plated.

Like a Michelin star restaurants dish, the food was placed intentionally on the plate. Now that I thought about it, Magical Cuisine was an optional class here, so maybe cooking food was just a part of the class and plating a dish was another. Some of the food even looked like it was floating slightly off the plate, as if it was about to jump into my mouth, tempting me to take a bite.

As I stared at the food before me, my stomach rumbled deeply. A bottomless hunger overtook my senses as stress was replaced with craving. Picking up a knife and fork, a cut off a piece of floating steak and lifted it to my lips.

As I took my first bite of the food, my taste buds started to dance. The food really was delicious, pairing well with how beautifully it was plated. As I cut off another piece and lifted it to my mouth, soft singing started to reverberate throughout the dining hall taking the attention of all the students away from their food.

Looking up, the shrubberies that lined some of the walls in the dining hall had little nymphs poking their heads out and singing. As their serenading started, they all flew out of the shrubberies and glided around the dining hall, spreading their voices throughout the hall as the students continued to eat.

The students and teacher's expressions all noticeably loosened as the serenading started, a calming atmosphere descending into the room. As the singing reached my ears, I had to admit it was somewhat pleasant, enough to at least relax me a fair bit.

As I continued to eat though, I noticed the singing was never too loud where I was. The nymphs flying through the dining hall all seemed to noticeably be avoiding the area where I was. I frowned seeing this, where they aware of what had happened and held a bias against me already?

As this thought past through my mind, I sighed and continue to eat. As I took more and more bites out of my food, I noticed the singing did start to eventually get louder. It was slight at first, but eventually it got so loud that I had to lift my head from my food.

Lifting my gaze, I saw a little nymph stood in front of my plate on the table.

"Laaa~ Laaaaa~ Laaaaaaaa~"

Looking at the nymph closely, she was quite pretty. An ethereal 'beauty' that only magical beasts would boast, that was for sure. Her hair was coloured red and gold, similar to the leaves and shrubbery in the dining hall.

Within her hair were flowers and leaves as well, however these flowers and leaves were actually a part of her, not just being worn it seemed. Her eyes were also gold and twinkled as she sang looking up at me.

Anghel and the other students on the other side of the table all looked at the little nymph with awe. Surrounding tables did the same as well. I looked at the students around me with some confusion until Anghel muttered in a low voice.

"Nymphs don't usually get so close… do they?"

All the students around him shook their heads. It seemed nymphs weren't meant to do what this one was doing, getting up all close and personal. Seeing attention being brought to me once again, I stared at the nymph with some difficulty waiting for her song to finish.

As the serenading came to a close, I clapped slowly and commented.

"Thanks for the song…"

After praising the nymph, I went back to eating thinking that was the end of it. Soon after though, the nymph started to sing again, as if someone had hit the loop button on her. A feeling of exasperation started to fill my lungs as I looked at the little nymph with more confusion.

The personal serenading continued throughout most of the meal. No other nymphs came near this table and remained airborne, whereas this little nymph stayed stood on the table giving her all to her performance directed at me.

Hearing the same song at least 20 odd times in a row though was starting to get a little grating, enough so that I interjected as she was about to sing again.

"I appreciate the singing little nymph… but why are you so focused on me? Can't you just leave me be at least for a little bit?"

The nymph patted her chest and spoke proudly with a beaming smile. "Well newbie, you look very serious and fed-up. I can only assume you are filled with anxious thoughts or worry! I will help you calm those emotions!"

As she began to sing again, I interjected quickly. "Please don't trouble yourself".

The little nymph stubbornly shook her head. "I can't. The other nymphs are scared of you but I'm not! I see you as a challenge!"

"Scared of me? Why are they scared of me?".

The little nymph sighed and stated. "Not counting your looks and constant glaring, we nymphs can see people's emotional states. Most students will glow brightly, like a white light in the dark. Some students who are feeling bad will have some black spots in that glow meaning they need to be sung to. You though are the first student us Nymphs have seen that has no glow at all!"

No glow at all huh? Why am I not surprised…

Looking at the small nymph I chuckled deeply. "Well, if simple singing was able to resolve all these issues, you could call yourself the best therapist in the world".

The nymph smiled. "I may not be a th- the-pist, but I am the best singer out of all the nymphs here! They call me Sylviana the Songstress!"

"Well, it's nice to meet you Sylviana the Songstress… but trust me, you are just wasting your time".

Sylviana pouted and flew up near my face. As she got close to me, I backed up slightly, wondering what she was trying to do.

She studied my face for a moment and then huffed to herself, crossing her arms. "Normally newbies will be calm after a song or two, yet you've heard 23 of my great melodies and you are still as jaded as that silly groundskeeper usually is… I. won't. give. up!"

Sylviana flew over to my shoulder, sitting herself down on it and started to sing again. The singing was gentle as her song drifted softly into my ear. I looked at her singing for a moment and decided to leave her be.

I wasn't so far gone that I would chase off someone trying to help me so genuinely and innocently. Besides, the singing itself was the most pleasant experience I've had since I got off the barge, so I wasn't in a rush to chase her off.

As Sylviana continued to sing into my ear, the students surrounding the table I was at all started to speak again. It was rare that a nymph would sing directly to a student, but sitting on their shoulder and personally serenading them was unheard of completely.

Their shocked expressions were enough to help me understand this point.

This calm serenading in my ear blocked off a lot of the talking around me, helping me to relax a bit more. The compass that was initially supposed to help me 'fit in' was also inadvertently subjecting me to gossip about me. When the gossip started, I was half tempted to take it off, but that would leave me in the dark completely and the idea of that left me uncomfortable.

With Sylviana singing in my ear, a lot of the translations didn't reach me, giving me a moment of respite.

Finishing up my meal, I kept my eyes closed relaxing myself. Soon after, Madame Maxime clapped once again, pulling the attention of the room to herself. All the wood nymphs in the room stopped singing… all except one.

"Sylviana, you can stop now. Madame Maxime is about to talk".

Sylviana hiccupped as she heard me whisper to her, stopping her singing. Looking at all the gazes directed our way, including Madame Maxime who was also staring across the entire dining hall at us, she blushed a crimson red and flew up into a nearby shrubbery, embarrassed she got so carried away.

Madame Maxime seemed to enjoy the display between me and Sylviana, laughing lightly before she spoke. "Seems some of you are making friends already, how lovely".

I clicked my tongue, hearing her light comments directed my way. The other students all whispered in hushed tones before Madame Maxime spoke again.

"That concludes the welcoming feast. Please students head back to your dorms and make sure to get a good night's rest before your first day of classes tomorrow! First years, group up near the exit of the dining hall and stand near your respective prefects of your house. They will be wearing a badge that looks like your houses crest".

All the students in the dining hall stood up and started to walk out of the hall quickly as Madame Maxime sent us off. I was sat near the exit, so I stayed sat down for a moment longer, looking at where the prefect was for Ombrelune.

As I was looking, a face slowly moved into my vision. Hanging upside-down from my head, Sylviana's face appeared.

"You really aren't a normal newbie, are you?"

Her eyes twinkled with curiosity as she looked at me. I stood up after she spoke, causing her to lose the grip she had on my head and fall off. Catching herself in mid-air, she flew in front of my face with her arms crossed.

"Seriously" she pouted. "Most students treat us nymphs delicately, but here you are throwing me off your head like I'm a flea… I'm far cuter than a flea!"

Smiling wryly, I spoke. "Well… I guess I'm not like most students then".

She huffed again. "That sentence sounds like it has layers… what is your name?"

Catching the prefect of Ombrelune in the corner of my eye, I started to walk off. As I walked away from Sylviana, I replied.

"It's Axel".

Sylviana whispered just loud enough for me to hear. "Axel… that's a nice name".

She then flew back up into a shrubbery nearby, joining the other nymphs that had already headed back.

I guess they sleep there then…

Thinking of sleep, I yawned deeply. It had been a really eventful evening.

A bed was sounding really nice right now…