Like most magically manipulated objects, the carriage was much much bigger inside in comparison to it's exterior shape. I was standing in the middle of a large entry way lined with flickering crystal light fixtures.  A long blue Persian rug lined the hall matching the line of painted walls, decorated with white lined panels, a nod to Versailles.  

A stairwell stood imbedded to one wall with a silver carpet down the center. On the first step was an old witch who, just by the way she held herself, looked liked a ball of irritation. Side note to stay away from her.

"No students upstairs today, mademoiselle," she informed me in french as she saw me staring. The woman had wavy brown hair with hints of grey tightly wrapped in a large bun on top of her head, a pinched expression on her face, and grey robes with silver accents that helped her blend in with the stairwell. In one hand she held, what I assumed was a man's pocket watch, though bewitched to be twice the size and to make a loud clicking noice as the clock hands moved.

Deciding not to give the witch any more reason to speak to me, I walked to the first door to my right, that slid open to reveal a room the color of cream with a low hanging ceiling of pale white. Tables and cushioned seats with girls scattered about was what greeted me as I entered, all in no-maj clothes with no luggage or animals to be seen.

No wonder the porter took Oliver away from me. 

One look around the room reminded me I was not longer in the US or in Hogwarts. Girls were dressed in pretty colors, their hair was combed and outfits were steamed and free from wrinkles with polished shoes to match. Bright eyes, red lips, blushing cheeks free of acne was what I faced as I searched the room for a kind face.

Where was my confidence that I had last year? I should be able to strut into a conversation no problem. Isn't that what my mother has been training me to be like this summer? But the thought of speaking french to native speakers who were not my family seemed to be a whole other challenge on itself, never mind the fact that I had to start the conversation. 

I brushed my hair out of my face, a bit flustered as to how I must have looked in comparison to the others. All the booths were packed with girls getting reacquainted with old friends. Both older and younger girls intermixed, ignoring the age hierarchy seen at most schools. 

I was just about to try another  room when I saw a girl with a short curly dark hair wave to me from across the room, her eyes fixed on me as if we've met before. 

Have we met before? I spun around unsure if I should wave back or if the welcome was angled at someone else. When I turned back, I saw her make her way toward me with another girl in tow. 

The brunette stepped short in front of me with a quirky smile on her face that exuded confidence and charm, the likes of which my mother would have begged me to act. 

"Pardon us, I can't help but notice how new you look. Is this your first year?" She asked in a bell-like voice that suited her very well. I gave my most bashful smile before nodding quickly.

"Yes, my name is Ava Fountaine." The girl's smile turned into a full grin as she lent out a hand. 

"Jacqueline Auclarc. And this," she said motioning to a tall chestnut blonde standing behind her, " is Gisele Hulette." Gisele stepped up and shook my hand lightly, her eyes dancing with amusement behind a fashionable set of cut bangs, brushed to the side.

"You look so surprised! Don't be, Jacqueline can't help but introduce herself to new faces, yours included." I watched with some amusement as Jacqueline elbowed her energetic friend in the gut while muttering in quick french, "Stop, you're making me sound strange!" I saw a glimmer of silver and my eyes dropped to her left hand where she wore a class ring on her pinkie. 

Jacqueline turned back to look at me with an embarrassed grin before adding, "Don't listen to all of that, I just like to make sure you have a place to sit on the trip. Mind joining us?" I readily agreed and followed the girls back to their booth where we sat, two to one. 

It didn't take long for them to notice the ring on my finger as I purposefully angled my hand to let the ring gleam. Gisele took my hand eagerly and looked for the class year.

"1968! Jacqueline, wasn't you mother's 68?" Jacqueline, who was people watching out the window gave out her hand as a second thought for Gisele to hold up to her eye. After a moment, Gisele's eye brightened as she dropped both of our hands and elbowed her friend enthusiastically.

"Looks like your new friend has a family member in your mother's class!" Jacqueline turned back to give Gisele a comical look before turning to me with her same quirky smile. 

"I assume it is your mother's?" I nodded and scouted closer to the window, where I pointed her out among the crowd. Sure enough, standing on the platform next to my bubbling grand'mère and Cèlia was my mother smiling to herself as she continued to look around the place she visited so often as girl. 

"Ah, she looks just like you-"

"Is that Cèlia?" Gisele stepped in as she came closer to the glass. Up close I could smell lavender on her person, with her long light hair illuminating her slender face. Jacqueline, who was promptly toying with her pink ribbon in her hair, stopped to turn back to my family and let out a laugh.

"Why it is." She turned back to me accusingly with a flint of curiosity. "You're not related to her are you?" 

I explained a brief history of how our families were closely tied, making Gisele look back at my family with awe. 

"And I thought you were just a rich American," Jacqueline muttered in surprise.

"One should not trust appearances," Gisele warned her friend with a knowing stare that made the two laugh lightly while my confidence plummeted. They could hear my American accent. My mother would be mortified. 

Sensing my thoughts, Gisele snapped her fingers to get my attention.

"Don't take it personally about your accent. I assure you it's very light in comparison to others that I've heard. Tourists are so much worse." Jacqueline nodded fast in agreement before adding, "Your accent is actually quiet cute!" I couldn't hide my sarcasm as I muttered, "I wasn't aiming for cute." 

This got both girls to laugh again.

"Ah, there she is. The real Ava." Jacqueline turned to Gisele with a knowing smile.

"We have ourselves a little spit fire, isn't that nice." It wasn't until they started laughing with me that I realized this was their humor. A sudden ringing of bells was heard from the platform making Jacqueline, who was closest on her side to the window, open the glass so as to wave the parents outside who started to step away.

"Come on!" Gisele chided, grabbing my arm and making me stand up to join them in the open window to wave to my family. Charlotte was the first to see me wave and promptly pointed me out to the rest of the family, who all smiled waved my way. 

"It's too bad we aren't in the front cart," Gisele mentioned as we waved. "If we were, we would be able to see the abraxen's take off and fly!"

Another jolt was felt as the wheels started to move and suddenly we were rocked forward, rushing off the platform and flung into the air, leaving the stables behind us.

We were laughing, watching the wind hit us as Jacqueline stuck her arm out of the window, waving her hand in the air with various curly cues. It wasn't until the same old witch in the silver robes from earlier, walked by and critiqued Jacqueline in fast french and casting the window shut that our fun ended. Jacqueline soon rubbed off of me as a mischievous type who was always following her emotions. In this case, I watched, trying to keep back a laugh as she spit her tongue out at the backside of the old witch as she went on down the row.

"Who is she?" I asked, curiously , turning back to Gisele.

"She's Madam Benoît. Ignore her at all costs. She loves critiquing us."

"It seems to be her mission in life," Jacqueline added with a smile. Gisele gave her friend a nudge and placed a finger to her lips.

"What?" Her friend exclaimed with an ever growing smile.

"The walls have ears, Jacqueline. Lower your voice." Jacqueline gave me an exasperated look that made me chuckle. "Walls could talk... sure. If walls could talk, life would be so much  more difficult. Everyone would know everything about one another and there would be no fun surprises anymore."

"That's not too bad," Gisele commented. "We would never be in danger if everyone knew where we were."

Jacqueline looked at her friend as if she were crazy before turning to me. 

"And you? Do you like always having someone watching you?" 

"Merlin's no. I would never be able to get away from my brothers otherwise. Always feeling like you're being watched.." a trill went down my back at the thought making me squirm. Jacqueline chuckled at my discomfort but Gisele was still thinking about the topic seriously.

"But think of all the bad people that we would be able to put away if we knew everything! We wouldn't have dangerous people running away from prisons or..."

"You're not still worried about the Azkaban outbreak, are you?" Jacqueline asked, her face going serious in disbelief.

"Azkaban outbreak?" I repeated, unfamiliar. "You don't mean the British prison, do you?" I asked the two girls. They looked at me as if I were dumb.

"Have you really not heard? It's all over the news in Europe!" Gisele squeaked, causing a few girls in neighboring booths to look our way. I could only think the reason why wizarding news from Europe was not heard by me was because of how loose the American papers are at sharing news outside of their own country. Why worry about an Azkaban outbreak if the likely hood of the inmate reaching our shores were so dismal? But then again, no one escapes from that jail, so I've been told so you'd think someone would have written about it in the US. Jacqueline put a reassuring hand on her friend before turning back to me.

"One of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Name's loyal allies, a Mouseiur Black, Siruis Black that is, escaped early in the summer and they've yet to find him. Though why Gisele is so worried about this is beyond me. We are not in the UK, silly!" She said nudging her friend affectionately but Gisele was still rushing a hand through her hair nervously. 

I knew the name Siruis Black. But how? 

My mind went back to the first night the Malfoys came to visit Newport and the conversation my father tried to keep me out of came to mind. They were talking about it even then.

"Oui, but what would your first idea be if you were on the run from those horrible guards? I'd switch countries fast. And the distance between Azkaban and the shores of France are..."

"Far enough away for him to drown in. Now stop worrying about it, Gisele, before you scare the 1st year-"

"I'm not a first year! I'm starting my 2nd. My first was Hogwarts," I cut in automatically. Jacqueline looked up curiously after surveying me again.

"I would have never had guessed that. You look so little. Don't you think, Gisele?" Her friend was no longer looking as us but had her back turned to watch Madam Benoît scold an upper class-men for wearing her hair up in a messy bun.

"Are teachers aloud to critique us on our looks like that?" I asked, turning back to the two girls, horrified. I thought I escaped the critiques from my mother by going to boarding school but as I watched the two girls nod, I realized I had not. 

"Especially Benoît. She's the... what do you call it?" Jacqueline asked, turning to Gisele. 

"Governess. Her main role is to attend to how we look and our manners. Though I heard a rumor that she was also going to be part of the fencing program this year."

"Fencing program?" I repeated. The girls nodded as if this was common knowledge.

"I'd quit if I wasn't in year three. I'd hate to be stuck in a room with that woman for more than five minutes."

"Arn't we stuck with her until we reach the castle?" I asked smartly. Jacqueline gave me a look while Gisele nodded, giggling.

"Oui, and she just loves Jacqueline, right?" Gisele asked her friend. Jacqueline refused to comment. 

The journey was shorter than the Hogwarts express route which makes sense when you think about how far away the outskirts of Paris are to where Beauxbatons is; the French Pyrenees. 

By the time we saw the mountains, Gisele and Jacqueline had told me all the new news about Beauxbatons, starting with how I was definitely not the only American here. In fact, I was not the only french girl present either. Beauxbatons housed girls from many countries, including Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, and Belgium. And while I didn't see any girls from these countries in our carriage, the moment we arrived and made it on the platform, I saw other carriages filled with girls speaking in dialects I had no understanding of arriving alongside us. 

Each country represented had their own carriage of students. And you could definitely tell who was from where. The girls from Spain and Portugal were shorter with darker skin and long flowing dark hair that some had chosen to chop off in what my mother called "modern updos". The Dutch were the tallest of the students present, with pinker skin and golden hair with those bright blue eyes you only gained from being near the sea. 

As for the Belgiums and girls from Luxembourg...

"They look like a mix of everyone," Jacqueline said bluntly making me look at her bug eyed. She gave me a look back.

"What?"

"What if they heard you? I doubt either of them would like to hear something like that." This made Jacqueline laugh as she roped her arm into mine and stirred me down the cobbled pathway.

"Let me tell you something about the student life here, little American. While the popular language here is French, we all have our nationality that makes us who we are. This includes politics. And do you want to know how often the Dutch and us French go after the Belgiums for their accents? And Belgium to Luxembourg on our forms of ettiequte is a whole other fight.."

"Basically, what Jacqueline is getting at, is that this place is a melting pot of these countries and while we have a lot of differences, we also have a lot of similarities. Jacqueline enjoys spotting out our differences which I tend to ignore, but otherwise..." Gisele trailed off as we were walking up a steady incline that lead to a post filled with silver carts tied down to a flock of unicorns. At the sight of these creatures I stopped in awe as I watched other girls walk up to them to pet their backs gently. 

"Come on, American. Time for you to meet Beauxbatons various pets," Jacqueline said as she continued to drag me toward the animals with a smiling Gisele gliding beside me.

Up close I saw just how pure these unicorns were. I had only read about them in my textbooks but seeing a full flock of them up close was breathtaking. Letting go of Jacqueline, I moved slowly towards one of them who stood waiting patiently for the cart it carried to fill up with passengers.

The unicorn noticed me as I stepped closer and to my surprise, it did nothing to move away from me. I watched as one girl walked up calmly to the unicorn and reached out her hand to pet it's mane. Up close to the animal, the girl was almost the same height, her eyes in line with the unicorn's white ears. Seeing my hesitation, she beckoned me closer, saying in a heavily accented French, "It's alright, she likes attention. Come here." Slowly I took a step closer until I was standing right next to the other student.

"Now show her your palm. If she likes you she will nod her head," the girl instructed. I did as told and watched in awe as the unicorn did exactly that, letting me reach to touch the animal's fur. Like I imagined, a unicorn's fur is as soft as dove feathers. I must have been smiling because the student grinned knowingly my way.

"This your first time with a unicorn?" I nodded. "They don't have many unicorns at Hogwarts." A look of surprise followed by a quick scan of me past through the girl's face before she flipped to english.

"What brings you to Beauxbatons? Hogwarts not enough fun for you?" Even in English she had a strong accent, but it wasn't french. She must have been from one of the other countries present.

"Something like that. My mother went here and she has always wanted me to attend." The girl nodded as she let her hand fall from the unicorn.

"What year are you joining?" 

"My 2nd year." The girl smiled in recognition 

"Same. What's your name? Mine's Marie. Oh rather, Titia Marie but only my dutch friends and family call me Titia."

The realization that she was dutch made sense with her height and accent. She was more sure of herself in appearance than Jacqueline and Gisele were. Or maybe that was just my imagination.

"My name's Ava."

"Oh I'm so proud, she's making friends!" I heard Jacqueline say from far off making me turn to find her seated in one of the carts, smoking a cigarette next Gisele. They waved at me happily as I tried to suppress a glare. Why did I feel like I had a new set of older siblings all of a sudden? Marie glanced up to see who spoke and gave the girls a crooked grin.

"I should have known you would take the new girl under your wing, Jacqueline," She said switching back to french. Jacqueline winked in response before changing her attention to a dark haired beauty who was waving at her for attention.

"Ay, bella!" The girl was reaching for Jacqueline's cigarette which she gave to her happily as the dark haired girl sat down beside the two french girls. 

"You know Jacqueline?" I asked, turning back to Marie. Marie snorted.

"Everyone knows Jacqueline. She makes it her business to know everyone. It's actually very nice though I think she does it to get gossip," she said back in english. We started to laugh when suddenly the dark haired girl snapped everyone to attention by pointing behind us. "Veja!"

I didn't need to know portuguese to know that I should turn around. I  found Madam Benoît stalking up the path with rapid annoyance when I turned.

"What are you all doing? Do you want to miss dinner? Do you want to keep Madam Maxime waiting? Leave those beasts and get on the carts!" Marie and I followed the rest of the girls lulling about into the left over carts that started up the moment I sat down.

The moment we were out of ear shot of Madam Benoît, Jacqueline started imitating the governess with enough drama fit for a stage. 

"God I hate that woman!" She cried with a laugh as we bumped along the steep pathway. I watched as we neared a large castle nestled among a grounding of rocks. The lights shimmered through the windows and down the cliffs that we slowly climbed up, laughing all the way.

As we got off I was introduced to the girl who kept stealing Jacqueline's cigarette as Mariana.

"I heard you're American!" She said in strong english that had me question her nationality. She had hazel eyes that seemed to always have a bit of mischief in them that only someone like Jacqueline could appreciate and dark raven black hair that made me envious.

"How does everyone know I'm American? Is this what Jacqueline has been spending her time doing?" I asked, turning to find Gisele smiling impishly at me from the stairs we started on to the front entrance.

"Just accept that everyone will know where you are from in a matter of days. Everyone is going to like you. We get to practice our english with you! I'm so much better at English than French. My accent is horrible!" 

When we reached the front gates to the school, they had already swung open for the students who had arrived earlier. 

Beauxbatons home was a palace chateau, different to the Hogwarts castle in both looks in grander. While a castle was known to have defenses to keep things out when necessary, a palace was meant to show off luxury and light. The palace was long as it was wide with grand glass windows on every other blank space of marble. The only protection Beauxbatons had from the outside world was an enchanted gate that we had passed moments before. Apart from it being enchanted to ward off no-maj folk and defuse any dark magic in the area, the gate was just as it seemed; A pretty entrance way. 

 Even the interior of the palace was vastly different to Hogwarts. All the walls I passed were painted with white panels engraved in the sides. Large windows gave space to the mountains hugging the castle around us and orbs of light fixtures of various rococo style hung in the air above our heads, giving us fair shadows in the halls we passed. Portraits of famous french wizards and witches stood in appropriate spacing on the walls, far different to the clutter of decorations that made up Hogwarts. Persian rugs adorned the floors and the ceilings were painted light colors of blue and silver, with rococo curls on the pillars that held up the vast hallways we walked through leading up to the Great Dinning Room. 

Inside were a vast number of small tables fit for twelve girls a section, each angled to look in the center where a long table stood with every teacher, I assumed, now stood, waiting for all the students to arrive. Statues of wood nymphs stood in each corner of the room, watching us with pleasant faces as we entered the hall. A soft humming of light high voices filled the air as a melody unknown to me, played. The walls were white with gold trimming, and the ceiling, which was a high rise, held various chandeliers spinning with lit candles dancing majestically. Alternating white and black marble tiles decorated the floors, with draped white table clothes with gold accents on the trip loosely touching the floors.

Drifting back and forth in a game of tag, half visible girls in late 18th century dresses ran past the tables, giggling merrily.

"Those are our palace ghosts. A bit fickle though, so beware them," Mariana informed me as we continued on through the hall. 

At the front stood a bunch of little girls, probably age 7 or 8, waiting patiently in their new uniforms by a large table.  The girls behind me almost crashed into me as I stopped at the sight of them. I thought you started school at 12.

In reality, Beauxbatons had girls as young as 7 here up to what I assumed were upper class-men at age 17 or 18. That was over ten years worth of an age gap!

"Do I need to keep escorting you everywhere to keep you from causing trouble?" Jacqueline joked as she linked arms  with me again with Gisele following suit. 

She didn't give me time to answer as the two girls steered me to a table for what was going to be my first feast.