Is This Beauxbatons?
"I'm sorry, darling, for not being there to say goodbye in person, but I'm a little busy here," said Wanda as she spoke through the two-way mirror.
Harry was sitting in the living room, ready to leave through the fireplace to his new school.
His friends were waiting there, patiently.
"Don't worry, Mum. I'm not a little kid who needs his mother's attention all the time," Harry replied with calm simplicity.
The expressions on his friends' faces, however, clearly screamed of course you are. But a single annoyed glance from him was enough to make them swallow their words.
"I know you spent the whole night studying golems again. You'd better get some proper rest at Beauxbatons, or I'll be angry," Wanda warned with a serious look.
"Alright," Harry answered, serene.
"When we see each other again, I'll give you a big surprise to make up for not being there today. How does that sound?" Wanda added with a smile.
"Don't worry, Mum. Although… I wouldn't mind receiving a gift," Harry replied, while his friends looked at him with teasing grins. "Alright, I have to go now. Don't worry, I'll ask Liz or Gris for help if needed. And we'll surely run into Aunt Pandora and Aunt Selene, who will be sending Luna and Astoria there as well."
"Good. Take care. And if anything happens, contact me. Remind the others to use the translation accessories," Wanda said, still with a note of worry in her voice.
"Yes, Mum, don't worry. Even if they don't use them, they understand some French. I forced them to learn the basics so they wouldn't look like country bumpkins," Harry said with a light smile.
"Alright… take care." Wanda ended the call, though her expression still betrayed her unease about sending them off without personally checking them over. It wasn't Hogwarts, and at least here they didn't have a direct rivalry with the headmistress, unlike with Dumbledore.
Harry sighed, his face showing the exhaustion of having stayed up all night researching. Even with Mr. Flamel's help, he had gotten far too excited about his progress.
"Are you ready for our new school, Harry?" asked Daphne with a smile full of excitement.
"I suppose," he replied without much expression.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked, noticing the seriousness on his face.
Draco, silently, observed him closely. If something worried Harry, it had to be important.
"We're going to another school… one that isn't Hogwarts, but still in Europe," Harry explained gravely. "Hogwarts is supposed to be the safest school on the continent, and you already know what happened in just our first year. I don't even want to imagine what the other schools are like."
The others widened their eyes in surprise, realizing the hidden truth in his words.
Hogwarts had been described again and again as the safest school in the world, so much so it was practically brainwashing. Yet they themselves had witnessed the opposite: a troll that nearly attacked Hermione and Daphne, a teacher in disguise who tampered with bludgers to harm Harry, a three-headed dog locked in a room that later escaped (thanks to Red, of course), ridiculous trials supposedly protecting a stone any wizard would kill to possess, wounded unicorns… and above all, that basilisk Wanda dragged into the Great Hall along with the Chamber of Secrets itself, created by one of the Founders no less.
And now they were heading to a school about which they knew nothing regarding safety. Silence fell over them: the four were nervous.
"W-w-we should wear full suits of armor, don't you think?" Draco asked seriously, trying to hide the tremor in his voice.
"Oh, no…" Hermione murmured, covering her head with both hands, nervous. Then she looked at Red, who was lying happily on his back, rubbing himself against the new cushion they had bought him. "I'm staying with Red," she said, hugging him as if he were her guardian. The small dragon looked at her in confusion.
"Damn, Dad took away the grenades I got again…" Daphne muttered in concern, though it seemed she had only just noticed, despite having prepared them earlier.
Harry looked at his friends and smirked mockingly, a gesture that made it obvious he was just playing with them. It earned him several annoyed looks.
"Idiots. Obviously, Hogwarts isn't the safest school in the world. We only believe that because we're English and all the adults went there. Maybe the generation right before ours was peaceful, but the one before that was at war: factions formed inside the school and later fought each other to the death as soon as they graduated. And before that, Voldemort was already doing his thing. I even heard that about eighty or ninety years ago there was some special student who got into trouble with a goblin and something about a secret order," Harry said with a mocking tone.
"Tsk. You're an idiot," Hermione retorted, irritated, letting go of Red, who ignored her and stayed comfortably sprawled on his cushion.
"Ahem, I only mentioned the armor because I thought it would look cool to show up wearing one," Draco said with an air of pride, trying to hide the fact that he had actually been scared for a moment.
"Either way, I'm going to get something that makes things explode," Daphne added with a mischievous smile.
As they continued talking, the fireplace in the living room burst into bright green flames. A young woman stepped out with firm strides, dressed in a black leather jacket, her hair messy and dyed bubblegum pink. Her eyes scanned the room before settling on Harry.
Without saying a word, she walked over, hoisted him effortlessly onto her shoulder, and turned to leave.
"Good," was all she said.
"Wait, wait!" Hermione exclaimed, rushing to stop her.
The others, meanwhile, stood frozen, stunned by the bizarre kidnapping unfolding before their eyes.
"Why do you let yourself get kidnapped so easily?" Draco couldn't help but ask, staring at Harry, who remained calm on the young woman's shoulder.
"Well… at first I was a little surprised by the whole thing, but since it's only Tonks, I got lazy and just let it happen," Harry replied wearily, as if it wasn't even worth caring about.
"Hey! What do you mean 'only Tonks'? That sounded like an insult," complained the pink-haired witch as she set him back down on the floor with an annoyed look.
"So, Dora, you finally regretted joining the Aurors and switched over to the dark side," Daphne joked with a mischievous smile.
"Of course not. I'm an honorable Auror trainee, respectful of the law," Tonks shot back with arrogance and a proud grin.
"Yeah, sure… says the woman who just carried an eleven-year-old boy on her shoulder as if it were the most normal thing in the world," Draco muttered with exhaustion, staring at his cousin and wondering what kind of family he had ended up with.
"Aren't you twelve already?" Tonks asked, fixing her gaze on Harry.
"In July," he answered simply. "So, can you explain what you were trying to do? If you wanted to kidnap me for ransom, I don't think it would work. You'd probably end up with half of England destroyed by my mother. And besides, there were plenty of witnesses… you'd have to silence them all. But the worst part is that Red's cushion is new, and he'd definitely be angry if you ruined it."
Harry pointed at the little dragon, who immediately went into defensive mode upon hearing those words, protecting his cushion as if it were a priceless treasure.
"Bah, I already have money," Tonks replied cheekily. Draco, Hermione, and Daphne all turned to Harry with looks that seemed to say: Seriously? Are you giving her ideas?
"I came to take you to your new school. It was actually supposed to be Sirius, but apparently he has an interesting meeting with Moody, so I took the chance to sneak out," Tonks explained shamelessly.
The four of them stared at her with a touch of distrust.
"What? Come on, it'll be fun. I've never been to any other school besides Hogwarts. And besides, I can give you some ideas on how to make sure Hogwarts' name stands tall in other countries," Tonks assured, turning to walk… only to trip over a table and fall flat on her face. The vase of flowers on top of it tipped over, soaking Red's cushion.
In an instant, the small dragon leapt furiously at Tonks and began yanking at her hair with his teeth. Of course, if he wanted to, he could actually hurt her—but instead, he was just punishing her. To Red, those belonging to the master's family were never true enemies, but they could suffer a little.
"Ouch, ouch! Wait, Red! I'm sorry, I'll clean it!" Tonks cried as she struggled to get him off her.
The others didn't intervene. On the contrary, they watched the scene in silence, convinced it was wiser never to repeat whatever Tonks might try to teach them, lest they end up like her.
…
"Why did you let Red keep at it for more than ten minutes?" Tonks grumbled as she walked ahead of the four of them through the Ministry corridors, trying to fix her hair, which was now an absolute mess.
"Because it was fun," the four replied in unison.
Tonks clenched her jaw in frustration but said nothing more. Finally, she led them to the travel section, where the Portkey to France awaited. With the proper permits in hand, she activated it, and in an instant they arrived at the French Ministry, where they were greeted with a warm welcome.
Tonks, however, only exchanged a few quick words and moved on briskly.
"It's better if we leave quickly. We don't want to draw too much attention. Everyone's very excited about this whole school union thing. Many see it as an opportunity to build connections with other countries, especially in trade. And of course… with students from influential families like yours, expectations are even higher," she explained with a serious tone.
"Well, it seems something so improvised turned out to be quite beneficial for everyone," Harry commented with interest.
"Yes. They're even talking about organizing something bigger in a couple of years, though it's still under discussion," Tonks added as she guided them toward one of the Ministry's fireplaces.
When they stepped out of the Floo, they found themselves in a charming little village. The streets bustled with life: witches and wizards strolled peacefully, vendors sold magical goods in the open air, children played in the squares. The atmosphere was warm and welcoming, with many locals smiling and waving as they passed by.
They continued until they reached an area where a line of beautiful white carriages awaited, each one drawn by majestic winged horses, gleaming and perfectly aligned.
Many students were climbing aboard the carriages with their families. Inside, they seemed far larger than they looked from the outside.
"Well, this is where I leave you," Tonks said with a grin. "Your parents bought mansions in France, so I guess we'll be spending the holidays here this year. And remember… give that school of princes and princesses a touch of Hogwarts' spirit."
The kids only smiled without answering.
After saying their goodbyes, they headed toward one of the carriages and climbed in. Inside, they discovered small separate compartments, like the ones on the Hogwarts Express, but far more elegant: plush cushions on the seats, bright decorations in every corner, even a small dining area prepared, though the trip wasn't supposed to be long.
Everything they had seen so far demonstrated one thing: elegance and class in every detail. And this was only the beginning.
The anticipation only grew regarding what the school itself would be like: Beauxbatons.
After waiting a short while, the carriage lifted smoothly into the air. They all leaned toward the windows, watching with fascination as the French landscape stretched out beneath them.
An hour later, as they descended through the clouds, their eyes widened in awe. Before them rose a massive white-stone castle, with elegant blue rooftops, surrounded by majestic scenery. It was imposing and dazzling, so beautiful that, for the first time, the four couldn't help but admit in hushed voices: it looked even more incredible than Hogwarts.
"So… this is Beauxbatons," Harry said with interest at the start of his new school year.