Protection: The Sword and the Shield

The 7th Task

...Great Hall, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Fleur Delacour entered the Great Hall of the premier English school of magic. She had traveled to England expecting to be constantly disappointed. To her, the English were brash, uncouth and, worst of all, entitled. And she expected that the appearance of the Lady of the Lake in their Ministry of Magic would have only made them more so. Reading the English magical media had already proven that they had ignored that the reason the Lady had appeared was because the English had been prepared to commit a grave injustice against a muggle. She shuddered to think what would have become of the poor woman had she not been under the protection of the House of Potter.

For her personally, she was also not hopeful. She was a Veela. She belonged to a race of mono-gendered magical beings that were ethereally beautiful and surrounded by a magical aura that caused anyone with an attraction to women to become instantly infatuated with them. Most of the men she dealt with in her home country of France were of the French nobility and so had learned to control themselves (to a degree) around the Veela allure, but the English were known to become barbarians at a mere whiff of it. And no matter what had happened at the Quidditch World Cup, she was sure that she would spend much of her time in England fending off brutish suitors.

Oddly however, her night and morning had not been developing as she had expected. Hogwart's presentation during the opening ceremonies had been impressive and she was close enough and observant enough to notice that Harry Potter had come up with it in the time it took their Headmaster to finish his opening speech. She had not been in the Hall to see the phoenix and the Hogwarts Guardian, but she had seen the procession and the transfigurations had been mastery level. Or so she had heard from the teachers.

Then, following the opening ceremony, she had learned that for reasons she did not know, her and her fellow Beauxbatons students had been forced to sleep in the castle instead of their carriage. The carriage was more than large enough to sleep them all comfortably but instead they would have classes in the carriage and sleep in the castle. She had prepared herself for a drafty night surrounded by heavy scratchy blankets. Instead the rooms they had been given were very elegant and had been quite comfortable. The beds were soft, and the linens were of the highest quality. Her sister had even indulged in a bath that she insisted had been heavenly.

The surprises continued in the morning when her group had been met by a male and female prefect who had guided them from their rooms to the great hall, giving a charming tour of the school as they traveled. She would not dare speak it out loud, but in her heart where the truth dwelled, she had to admit that the castle was much more magical than her own school. The presentation the night before had included the Hogwarts Guardian welcoming them on behalf of the castle and she found that she would be unsurprised if it turned out the castle was actually alive.

They had met up with the students from Durmstrang outside the great hall at the end of their brief tour. They had a pair of prefects with them as well and when they entered the hall, they discovered two tables had been set aside for each of their schools. The Beauxbatons table was wonderfully French with table covers and individual chairs, instead of bench seating. There were even two well-dressed elves standing at each end of the table to offer service as needed. A glance at the Durmstrang table showed that it was also made to be welcoming to the culture of that school.

The possibility that the English would be good hosts had never crossed her mind, but they were. She glided to the table set for them with delight, deciding to give the English a chance. They had made great efforts to make her stay comfortable and even though she hadn't expected them to be good hosts, it was no excuse for her to be an inconsiderate guest. She promised herself to share her thoughts when Madame Maxime gathered them for morning classes. She knew the Headmistress would not countenance her students making a poor showing for their school.