Chapter Six, Sorting

As the large pale blue carriage pulled by large Abraxan horses of honey and palomino colours flew closer to the immense but stunningly beautiful site of the white Beauxbâtons castle located in the mountains of Pyrenees of southern France. All of the students, both new and old, suddenly turned towards the nearest window watching the white palace gleaming breathtakingly in the light of the Full Moon.

"Wow!" Persephone whispered, amazed, along with her friends - which now included Audrey - only to jump startled when a knock on the compartment door frame pulled them from the view. "Fleur!" Persephone, Camille and Océane cried happily, the three being the closest do the elder quarter Veela, having known her for longer.
"I do not believe we 'ave met." Fleur smiled kindly at Audrey. "Bonjour and Well Met. I am Heiress Fleur Delacour." Fleur introduced herself.
"Bonjour and Well Met, I'm Heiress Audrey Blanchet." Audrey replied in kind, although a timid waver could be heard in her voice but Fleur kindly did not comment on it.

"You are all enjoying ze view I take it." Fleur smiled. "I wish you all luck on your Sorting. No matter your Houses, know I will be there for you if you need me and I want you to look after each other. Especially Sephy, Cami and Océane who are like my sisters." She added sternly, but a kind smile still graced her pink lips. "And for any who enter my House Ombrelune, I shall see you there. Don't look so nervous you will all do amazing and Sorting is nothing too serious." She advised, offering them all a comforting smile along with tight hugs and kisses to both cheeks.

Once Fleur had returned to her own compartment with her friends, Persephone and the others started putting their things away as they noticed out of the window that they were getting closer towards the grounds and what looked like the stables.
"Come on Nyx, Hedwig, in we go." Persephone coaxed her Familiars. "It's only for a little while and once in the Dorm you can have all the cuddles you wish." With that promise the snowy Siberian owl and half Bengal cat- half silver Kneazle kitten returned to their cages with the help of Mila. "Thanks Mila." Persephone smiled at one of her best friends.

"It was no trouble, Sephy." Mila assured her best friend as they returned to their seats gossiping excitedly over what their lessons and activities would be like. They were all rather excited to start their first year At Beauxbâtons despite being sad about leaving home.

* * *

The moment the carriage touched down the students were greeted by Professor Rémy Vleuxpont the Horse Riding Instructor who greeted all of the students warmly with his cheeky smile, and Deputy Headmaster Raphaël Pelletier who also had a warm smile on his elderly face but Persephone and her friends could tell he wasn't a wizard to mess with despite his warm demeanour. Following the example of the elder students all of the First Years bowed to their Deputy Headmaster before he led them up to the palace informing them of rhetorical history behind this great school, while the second through to seventh years followed Professor Vleuxpont up to the Grand Hall. They finally came to a pause in their journey in an antechamber off of the Grand Hall.

"Attention please!" Professor Pelletier called loudly to a few students taking in the back when they had finally stopped he continued once he was sure he had everyone's full attention. "Thank you. Before you can be Sorted I'm going to teach you all a spell that will aide you to carve your name on these silver arrows," he said pouting to a barrel of silver arrows and light blue feathers on the end, "unlike most schools, you will need these arrows to determine which House will be your home for your seven years here. There is a target placed in front of the staff stable where you will shoot the arrow, as it flies through the air it will burst into flames of the colour of your House. There is dark blue for Ombrelune, light purple for Papillonlisse, and light green for Bellefeuille."

With a wave of his wand he handed all of the students an arrow.
"Now, the spell you will need for this is: Domas Nōmen. It translates from Latin into House Name, and the wand movements are a sharp flick upwards from left to right and back down in a loop directly over your arrow while thinking your name in your mind. Like this." He instructed, first showing the wand movements without a wand and then completing the spell over his own arrow to show them. At once the chamber was filled with dozens of dozens young girls enunciating the spell while practising the spell without their wands, once the Deputy Head was sure they had the spell down he encouraged them to carve their names into the arrows as time was getting on and it would soon be time for the Sorting while watching over them and correcting if need be.

As the sounds of spells slowly began to cease Deputy Headmaster Pelletier checked each and every arrow of the thirty First Years standing before him.
"Follow me please." He requested, once everyone was ready, he turned leading them into the Grand Hall smiling at their gasps of awe as they took in the white and gold French architecture, the large windows looking out over the mountains and grounds showing a picturesque sight under the Full Moon. Dozens of round tables sat in three double rows draped in tablecloths depicting each of the three Houses: Ombrelune (a dark blue with a silver-white Full Moon), Papillonlisse (a light purple with a butterfly alighting on a deep green leaf), and Bellefeuille (a light and dark green background with five leaves, two leaves on the dark green section and three on the light green section).

Redwood chairs upholstered in the House colours and emblems sat in groups of five around each table, the tables closest to the long staff table at the top of the hall sat empty showcasing where the first years would sit, the next row was for the second years and so on until the seventh years sat closest to the grand double redwood doors. The staff table was draped in pale blue with a large Beauxbâtons emblem in gold in the middle of the cloth, the teacher's chairs were much the same as the House ones except the upholstery matched the tablecloth covering the staff table. Two large fireplaces sat in the middle of the Grand Hall on the West and East facing walls and dozens of crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling.

After Headmistress Madame Olympe Maxime gave a welcoming speech to her new and old students, telling them of the rules of the school such as: no wandering the grounds after seven pm in the summer term and six pm in the winter term, and no wandering around the palace after after eight pm; a five book policy from the library where they can only have five books out at a time and if any are damaged they will be charged for the cost of replacements, when Quidditch season will start and the rule of no First Years are allowed to try out for their own safety.

"Students from Third Year onwards will be able to visit St Marwenne Promenade the local Wizarding village on select weekends throughout the term; however, they will only be able to do so if they have handed in parental permission slips to their Heads of Houses; Professor Isabelle LeMahieu for House Bellefeuille and Professor of Earth Magic for those students who have this ability. Professor Lauren Rochelle De Barbeau for House Ombrelune and your History of Magic Professor, and Professor Audrey Sara Riqueti for House Papillonlisse who is also Professor of the Arts." Headmistress Madame Maxime informed them, the Grand Hall silent as each student listened attentively.

"It goes without saying that I want all our old students to make them feel welcome. It is also on this note that I must warn you that any form of bullying or discrimination of ANY kind will NOT be tolerated and will result in your immediate suspension where you will have to have a meeting with myself and/or Deputy Headmaster Pelletier, your parents and Head of House, and depending on the circumstances the head of our Board of Governors may join us as well. Your re-enrolment to Beauxbâtons will depend on your attitude and the circumstances of this meeting." She said sternly looking firmly at each student who was held captivated by their Headmistress.

"We have also implemented Coaches for the Quidditch teams this year to aide the Captains but your Heads of Houses will inform you more of this in due course, and finally I wish to introduce you to your Head Girl and Prefects who will be more than happy to help you as will all of your teachers and myself. Now, before the Sorting I wish to congratulate our new Head Girl Miss Nevaeh Thewlis from Bellefeuille House, and our prefects this year, sixth year prefects Danielle King from Ombrelune House, Ebony Martinez from House Bellefeuille, and Annika Patel from House Papillonlisse. Finally, all students from First through to Seventh year will be able to participate in our other clubs such as Duelling, Gobstones, the School Choir, Art, and many more.

There will be a notice on the notice boards in each Common Room for you to pursue at your leisure. From Fourth Year you will be able to select Duelling as an elective under Professor Marie-Noëlle LaFitte if you so choose. As a reminder, if you need assistance or help for anything at all my door is always open, and you can also speak to our Deputy Head Raphaël Pelletier, or your Heads of House, Head Girl or your Prefects. Now, I have detained you all long enough, so let the Sorting commence." As she sat down once more in her redwood chair, identical to each member of staff, an explosion of noise erupted as students and staff applauded their warm and welcoming Headmistress.

Once the applause had died down, Professor Pelletier pulled out a scroll and started reading from the list. One by one, Persephone's peers were sorted into their Houses by shooting arrows with their names carved upon it towards a target which would burst into flames of that particular House dark blue for Ombrelune, light purple for Papillonlisse, and green for Bellefeuille.

Each time one of Persephone's peers were sorted she applauded with the rest of the student body only to applaud slightly louder when one of her friends were sorted. Her new friend Audrey Blanchet was sorted into Bellefeuille with her best friend Camille Moreau, her other best friends Dominique Durmont and Océane Laurent were sorted into Ombrelune, and Mila Janssen was sorted into Papillonlisse, and finally it was Persephone's turn.
"Persephone Potter-Black." Deputy Headmaster Pelletier called, Persephone took a deep breath as she stepped up, ignoring some whispers coming from behind her in the second year sections of the House tables.

Accepting the bow, she slotted the arrow into place, and taking a slow deep breath she drew back the arrow until her fingers reached her cheek and released. It was silent as everyone held their breaths waiting to see what House Heiress Potter-Black would be sorted into until finally the arrow reached halfway through the air when it burst into bright light purple flames.
"Congratulations." Professor Pelletier and Professor Audrey Sara Riqueti congratulated, bright smiles upon their faces as Professor Riqueti magically stitched the patch of Papillonlisse onto the left breast of Persephone's uniform.

"Merci." Persephone replied nervously but with a bright smile she handed back the bow and hurried to her seat beside Mila, the pair sharing a comforting hug before smiling widely at their friends Camille, Audrey, Océane, Dominique and Fleur before they turned their attention back onto their remaining peers. Persephone couldn't wait to see what this next chapter of her life will hold.

She couldn't wait to see her Common room and dormitory and to tell her Daddy, Batsy, Rhodo (who she suspected would soon become her Papa), and Vinda and Falco. She missed them so much as well as her Dad and Mum but she knew they'd want her to enjoy her time at Beauxbâtons which she will especially with her friends new and old beside her - but that didn't stop her from counting down the days until she saw her family at Yule, but for now the letter she was mentally composing would have to do.

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Spell Translation:

• Domas Nōmen: means House Name. Beauxbâtons' students use this spell to carve their make into a silver arrow to help them be sorted.

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Author's note: DO NOT ask me to update in any way shape or form. There are other ways of telling me what you thought of this. Many may disagree with the Houses but this is what I feel they suit, especially Persephone and Fleur. As Fleur will be a Curse Breaker she will obviously be curious about the world.

Also who should portray Audrey's parents? For a reminder she is a Nymph of African-Belgium-French descent, with light mocha skin tone, forest-green eyes, and curly blonde hair and portrayed by Rose Bertram.

Note two: the following chapter will be pictures of Beauxbâtons for information purposes I will explain them when Persephone either has those classes/ extracurricular activities or explores the gardens etc.