Memories Of Them

Chapter 7- The Announcement

Cassie had always loved the sorting ceremony at Beauxbatons. The event always felt like a celebration, with each of the three houses loudly cheering and clapping when a timid first year was placed in their house. Beauxbatons' sorting ceremony had always seemed wild to Cassie; whoever thought that arming a 12 year old with a silver bow and arrow, and instructing them to shoot said arrow over the heads of the entire school population was out of their mind. Of course having been through her own sorting ceremony and watching every sorting since, she now understood that the arrow would disappear in a puff of purple, green or grey smoke representing the school houses- Bellefeuille was green, Ombrelune was grey and Papillonlisse was purple. Much like the other wizarding schools Beauxbatons houses reflected a student's most prized attributes. The students of Bellefeuille house were known to be brave, sensitive, loyal and nature loving, these attributes were well reflected in their house crest of a leaf. Those sorted into Ombrelune were cunning, logical, ambitious and curious, they were considered the smartest in the school however they often had the coldest temperaments which Cassie thought was reflected well by their house emblem of a sinister moon. Finally Papillonplisse was the social house, they were known to be kind, artistic, mature and idealistic, the social butterflies of the school were represented by the emblem of a butterfly.

When Cassie had first been sorted upon her arrival in first year she had been disappointed to be sorted into Bellefeuille, she had always thought that her house had the worst colour and emblem of the lot. She had secretly been hoping to be sorted into Papillonplisse, out of all the houses she thought they had the best house colour, and she'd always loved butterflies from a young age. But her time at Beauxbatons had taught her house pride, and as she created the small group of tight knit friends she knew she was exactly where she was supposed to be.

After the boys had helped her drop her bag and trunk in the large entrance hall Cassie ran to the first floor changing rooms to change into her uniform. Smoothing out the wrinkles of her dress and delicately pinning her badge to the front of her blazer she emerged to find Fabian waiting outside.

"Where's everybody else?" she questioned him, snapping him out of his daydream.

"Odd managed to ladder her tights already and Lib somehow packed 2 left shoes, Bonnie and Hugo have gone to help them find their trunks," Fabian sniggered, rolling his eyes slightly.

Cassie couldn't help the small snort of laughter that tumbled from her lips, thinking about her scatty, clumsy best friends.

"I said we'd meet them in the entrance hall before gathering on the lawns for the sorting," mentioned Fabian, adjusting his tie.

Cassie nodded, linking her arm with his tugging him slightly back down the corridor towards the entrance hall. Students were lingering, throughout the corridors waiting for the sorting to start. Most were dressed in their blue school uniform, others were frantically running towards the changing room desperate to change, trying to make sure that they would not be late for the sorting; They would be reprimanded harshly for tardiness. When Cassie and Fabian reached the Entrance hall they sat at the bottom of the grand staircase, chatting, waiting for their friends. Sitting there surveying the room, Cassie wasn't sure she would ever get over the grandeur of Beauxbatons. The enormous entrance hall had a towering white ceiling, patterned with white moulding and gilded with shimmering gold. These patterns cascaded down the light blue walls creating decorative floral patterns around the room. Lining the walls in golden frames were the formal portraits of every headteacher of Beauxbatons school, smiling pleasantly down at all of the returning students. To the right of the towering front doors stood the white double doors of the ballroom, the largest room in the school where the entire student population convened for meals, assemblies and decorum lessons. Cassie was already excited for dinner, looking forward to the fresh cooked french cuisine, especially the beautifully fluffy breads and tarte cheeses. The grand staircase they were currently sitting on split a couple of steps above them, one side took you to the east wing and the astronomy tower beyond whilst the other took you towards the west wing. Above the staircase a giant stained glass window, depicting a wood nymph in a meadow, was casting down streams of vibrant coloured light onto the marble floor below.