Chapter 346 Beauxbatons

Southern France, the Pyrenees.

Tucked away in a mountain gorge, surrounded by majestic magical gardens and unfrozen fountains, the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic has stood here for over seven hundred years.

'The British Ministry of Magic has failed to respond satisfactorily to the disturbances at the Quidditch World Cup site, and to this day has not produced a satisfactory answer, which makes us wonder whether they can shoulder the burden of hosting a vital and ancient event ...

The following is part of the opinion of the British Daily Prophet - The Ministry of Magic (note: this refers to Britain, not France) has lost enough vigilance by indulging in the illusion of peace, and with years of lax law and order as well as dark wizards on the loose, the Ministry of Magic (note: ditto) has long since become vulnerable, like a stumbling old man. The Ministry of Magic (Note: ditto) has become weak and fragile, like an old man, walking step by step to the grave, we urgently need fresh blood to join ...

...

It is easy to see that the British wizards have also lost confidence in their own Ministry of Magic, and perhaps, in this year's tournament, they will see the elegance from France.

It is worth mentioning that Felix Hap, the wizard who shone in this crisis, is at this time in the pride of France, the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, as he has befriended the headmistress, Madame Olympe Maxime during the world cup, and accepted an invitation for a visit to the school. In addition, he is one of the board members of Beauxbatons, and it is reported that he will be involved in the selection of the champion candidates ...'

Felix closed the French Daily Journal and muttered, "It's all bollocks, school hasn't even started yet." He put the newspaper aside and concentrated on his breakfast - French croissant, orange juice, fruit platter, and small cookies.

As the newspaper said, he had accepted an invitation from Madame Maxime to visit the Beauxbatons School on the very day the Quidditch World Cup ended; it hadn't opened yet, but it isn't empty without a single student either, as some aspiring champions had applied to stay in school.

The French side of the news is relatively open, unlike the UK, where the news is kept so dead, so these students have a handful of gossip, either true or false.

There are rumours that the number of Champions at each school may change, not one but four. These students discussed it at the square table as if they had seen it with their own eyes, and one young girl seriously retorted that each school would send a squad of three to participate in the event.

But anyway, a lot of minds came alive, and if there had been only one candidate, most students would have given up, but as soon as there is a second chance, many feel that their hopes have instantly increased tenfold.

So every student Felix now saw at Beauxbatons is a champions' seedling of the competition, a true elite.

Word also has it that Ilvermorny school of witchcraft and wizardry headmaster suggested a five-school showdown before putting the candidates' names into the Goblet of Fire so that the others wouldn't have made the trip for nothing, a proposal strongly supported by Uagadou - their school has so many students, it's said that over a thousand have signed up within the school alone!

And there were more students at Uagadou than at all three European magic schools combined.

Among these three schools, Hogwarts has the least number of students, this is because it mainly recruits local qualified students in the UK, other places are not easily accepted, for example basically they won't take the initiative to issue invitations; while most of the students of Beauxbatons come from France, there are also a few young wizards seeking education from Spain, Portugal, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands, and as for Durmstrang, which is located in Northern Europe, their range of students also spans more than just Germany and Bulgaria respectively.

But when it comes to the most famous school in Europe, the first one that comes to mind internationally is Hogwarts, especially since nearly half a century ago, Albus Dumbledore, who served as Hogwarts' headmaster, deterred two generations of Dark Lords by himself and defeated and imprisoned one of them, pushing this prestige to new heights.

...

Beauxbatons dining room table is very characteristic, it is the large square dining table, each side can accommodate five or six students seated, the table is decorated with exquisite gold and blue floral pattern, the center of the table resembles a candlestick vertical decoration draped with a cluster of flowers.

A short distance away from the square table, across from Felix, two Beauxbatons students kept quietly checking him out.

They whispered in French, "... so young to be a school board member ..."

"I heard he is the heir to Mr. Nicolas Flamel."

"Why is his hair black?"

"What do you mean?"

"Mr. Nicolas Flamel's hair was brown when he was young, and I've seen his portrait ... The last name doesn't match either, could it be his distant descendant or relative?"

"Or a relative on Ms. Perenelle's side?" They chattered and discussed, talking louder and louder.

"Keep your voice down!" One of them said as they peered around for a moment, relieved to see Felix not reacting to the conversation between them, as he's studying the various fruit jams on the table, spreading them one by one on the bread to try the flavours, "Maybe he doesn't understand French."

The girls then got to the subject of the tournament -

"How's your magic practice going?"

"Sloppy, the professors found the most frequent spells that have appeared in previous contests for us to take as reference, and I've only mastered a third of them ..."

"That's not bad, Professor Sanchez said my reaction is always half a beat slower than others, I think there's not much hope of me being selected." The young girl said sadly.

At that moment, a girl approached Felix lightly and said in French, "Mr. Hap, Madame Maxime invites you to the professors' afternoon tea party."

"Thank you." Felix said in perfect French as he stood up and bowed slightly toward the two dumbfounded girls next to him, "Regarding your previous questions, the answer is: I am not related to Nicolas by blood, I just inherited his alchemy."

...

"Hello, my name is Fleur, Fleur Delacour." The girl leading the way said as she walked ahead as she spun back, she had long silver-blonde hair like a waterfall.

"Hello, Miss Delacour, I've heard your name quite a few times these days."

"I hope it's not a bad reputation, I don't get along with the girls, they complain that I steal their thunder!" Fleur tossed her long hair, the surface of her silver-blonde hair jumping with bright curves of brilliance.

"They think you're the first choice for the champion."

"Oh, that's a truth." Fleur said confidently, "I will definitely be a champion."

Beauxbatons resembled a Palace, and as the two walked through the exquisite suites, galleries, and side halls, Felix stopped for a moment at the Abraxans kept in the gardens.

They had beautiful silver manes and each one as large as an elephant.

"These are the Abraxans, with beautiful shapes, especially their manes, which I think are the most beautiful of the four types of Pegasus, and they are so strong that they will pull the school carriage across the straits and mountains when the time comes." Fleur said braggingly.

Felix nodded slightly, "Madame Maxime introduced them to me, and she said that the carriage had multiple enchantments applied to it, especially the concealment and floating enchantments."

Madame Maxime waited in a French aristocratic parlour, and when Felix appeared, she rose to welcome him, followed by a dozen French professors.

"Mr. Hap, sit over here - thank you, my dear." She said to Fleur, who left with a brisk step.

Madame Maxime made introductions to Felix: "This is Professor Sanchez, in charge of the spell training for the students during the summer. This is Lemaire, she is in charge of potions, and this is Boyle, he is very good at herbalism and alchemy ... Honestly, I don't know if alchemical items are allowed, but it's best to prepare in advance."

Felix nodded and smiled at them, "I've interacted with Professor Boyle, and his attainments in alchemy are marvellous."

Boyle - an old professor with a full head of white hair and a slim body - said tremblingly, "This statement should be passed on to Professor Hap as it is, I really can't understand how, although he is young, he knows all kinds of ancient magic artefacts by heart and has solved many of my problems. "

The professor named Sanchez couldn't wait to ask: "Professor Hap, what do you think of Beauxbatons's students, I heard that Hogwarts didn't prepare for summer training, are you guys that certain that you will win?"

"Confident indeed a little high, but-" Felix looked at the others, "This year is different, with new schools joining the competition, I guess the competition will be a lot more difficult."

"That's true," Sanchez nodded, scratching his big red beard, as the professor in charge of the students' summer training, he is responsible for a subject similar to Hogwarts' Defense Against the Dark Arts, so he has deliberately tried to gather information about them.

At this moment he said with confidence: "The difficulty will certainly be adjusted, after all, we must consider the performance of other schools, it is just not easy to say whether to raise or lower it, for the first time it is estimated that we have little experience. Unlike before, there are only three schools who all know each other well ..."

He tentatively asked, "If Ilvermorny and Uagadou became rampant, does Hogwarts have any countermeasures against them?"

The other professors froze, and then stared at Felix with unblinking eyes, Felix shook his head: "I don't know much about other schools, the only thing I can do is to improve the ability of our students, I am more optimistic about some people, they have great potential ..."

"That's true ..." Sanchez was a bit reluctant, "but it's our competition, we can't let an outsider take the championship, right?"

Other professors secretly nodded their heads, this statement is somewhat xenophobic, but the three schools, after all, belong to Europe, vaguely counted as an alliance, although there is competition between them internally, in fact, their relationship is quite good.

But if in the end If Ilvermorny or Uagadou won the championship, it would undoubtedly be a very humiliating thing for the wizards of the whole of Europe. All of them would also be scolded for being a failure by the public.

Felix scanned the room and said lightly: "From the beginning of Hogwarts, it has lasted for a thousand years, during which it has experienced countless challenges, but no one has been able to bring it down, hence the motto - never tickle a sleeping dragon - so I believe we will show our strength without losing our honour."

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