Chapter 240: The Gap Between Beauxbatons and Hogwarts
A corner of the Beauxbatons dining hall. Leonardo and Reiman were having dinner.
"Just on the food alone, Beauxbatons has the old Hogwarts beat," Reiman said, cutting a small piece of foie gras and lifting it to his mouth. "If you hadn't taught the house-elves all those new dishes, we'd probably still be working through fish and chips and baked beans in tomato sauce…"
"Beauxbatons is pretty strict, though. The lower years even have etiquette classes and that sort of thing. That's one area where Hogwarts is definitely better."
Leonardo nodded quietly in agreement. Two days of observation had made it clear that Beauxbatons students held their professors and Headmistress in a kind of reverent awe. Hogwarts, by comparison, felt considerably more relaxed.
"By the way—you've been sitting in with the fifth years. How is it?"
Leonardo considered for a moment.
"Not as difficult as I expected. The pace here isn't quite what I'd imagined."
The corner of Reiman's mouth twitched. He very much wanted to point out that Leonardo was hardly a fair reference point for anything.
"Well, from what I've heard, Beauxbatons is a bit of a special case. Their O.W.L.s are in sixth year, so the curriculum moves more slowly. When I was in fifth year at Hogwarts, we were already deep into revision."
He shook his head.
"And I've still got N.E.W.T.s waiting for me when we get back. Coming here practically counts as a holiday."
Leonardo found that relatable enough. As the school year wound toward its end, fifth and seventh years were always the most stretched — filling the library, turning up in every quiet corner of the castle with their books open.
The wizarding world's equivalent of secondary school and university entrance examinations rolled into one.
He made a mental note: when he returned to Hogwarts, he should look into developing some potions to support focus and stamina during study periods. The Vigor Draught was a reasonable starting point, but its effects were fairly limited and not especially strong.
Reiman: "Also — maybe it's just me — but I feel like the Hogwarts professors explain things more clearly? It's easier to follow?"
He'd said it with some uncertainty, but Leonardo could observe it plainly enough for himself. In terms of overall teaching quality, Beauxbatons fell somewhat short of Hogwarts.
It might not matter much during the student years. But for those who wanted to pursue serious research in a particular field after graduating, the breadth of perspective their professors had helped them develop at school would prove decisive.
Reiman suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, right — Professor Shafiq said she wants to give us some extra lessons. She probably thinks the Alchemy level here is high enough that we need a bit more preparation before the competition starts."
Leonardo was genuinely surprised. That particular professor, who treated avoiding work as a personal philosophy, was voluntarily putting in extra effort.
They had arrived at Beauxbatons ahead of schedule, and the tournament hadn't officially begun yet. The first written examination was the day after tomorrow — last-minute cramming wasn't unreasonable. Short-term revision had its uses.
After dinner, Reiman glanced around at the students nearby and broke into a grin.
"People told me before we came that Beauxbatons had a lot of beautiful girls. Turns out they weren't wrong."
Leonardo laughed despite himself. Nicolas had said something similar.
"Didn't you mention you have a fiancée?"
In some Muggle households, young people from privileged families started thinking about marriage early enough. Among pureblood wizarding families, who placed enormous weight on lineage and tended toward tradition, it was even more so. Partly for the continuation of bloodlines, partly to secure family interests — wizards from pureblood backgrounds like Reiman often had their match arranged well in advance, and marrying shortly after leaving school was not uncommon at all.
Reiman's expression straightened. He spread his hands with a resigned air.
"Exactly. So I'm just enjoying the view. And when I get back to Hogwarts, there's Valentine's Day to deal with — even though we've been through it several times already…"
As he said it, a faintly roguish smile crept back onto his face. He looked at Leonardo with a gleam in his eye.
"Speaking of which — the most talked-about student at Hogwarts, the dashing and charming Leonardo Grafton, has no plans for Valentine's Day?"
"There are plenty of girls in Ravenclaw. And if I'm not mistaken, there are even a few in Slytherin who haven't quite got you out of their heads."
Leonardo was about to brush it off with something vague when a system chime rang through his mind, and his expression shifted to something distinctly odd.
What on earth was a "Valentine's Day Offensive"?