BeauxBatons Academy of Magic II
August 12th, 1970
The heat was annoying Agnes. She had always loved summer, especially when she could spend it at her grandfathers' because he had beautiful gardens and a large library filled with all sorts of books.
This year, the winter had been terrible at Beauxbatons, the cold had spread through the dorms and the house elves had to protect the school with a stronger heating magic. In France, muggles and wizards had gone through a tough winter, therefore had not expected summer to be this warm. Agnes had turned 12 in march and had spent her first birthday away from home.
Now it was already the month of August, and she had come back from Beauxbatons to her mother who was now living with monsieur Lenoir, Agnes's grandfather. His health was declining, but he was a strongwilled man who (although always on a bad mood) cared for his wellbeing as well as his family's.
The summer had gone by so fast, ang Agnes had not had time to go through all of her books for her second year of school. During long afternoons, she would play with her now best friend Jeanne Delacour who had visited Agnes for a few days at the Lenoirs'.
They had spent all their time spying on magical creatures hiding in the gardens and nearby fields, and they had learnt how to ride a bike (Pierre had told them about it and the girls had been eager to try it during the holidays). They came back home with a few scratches but could now ride for at least a hundred meters without falling on the side.
When Jeanne went home, Agnes suddenly felt quite lonely. She was surrounded by people all the time back at Beauxbatons and had very little time to spend on her own. She was always accompanied by her friends or her roommates, with whom she had gotten closer to throughout the year.
Now, she was alone in this large manoir, silence as her only companion. Her mother had some errands to run, and would not be back until dinner. Monsieur Lenoir, on the other hand, was taking a nap, as he always did after lunch, avoiding the hottest moment of the day.
Agnes walked down to the library, and opened the heavy wooden door with both her hands. Not using magic during the summer was quite annoying for her. Indeed, she had been using it everyday during and after class, practicing spells and charms. For now, her wand was stored in her luggage, waiting to be used when the young girl would go back to Beauxbatons.
She had particularly liked Muggle studies as a subject, as well as the arts. She had performed with Jeanne as an end-of-year spectacle a traditional dance featuring all sorts of artistic charms. She was very proud of her new-founded activity as a dancer, and liked that she could link it to her magic and make it super-spectacular.
But she had to admit that Jeanne was the most enthusiastic about it, and would live, sleep, and eat only for dancing. Agnes had followed along mostly to spend time with her but had ended up really liking it.
Agnes grabbed a book from the nearest shelf. It was ' The Authentic Art of Duelling '. The young girl had never tried duelling before. She knew some 6th and 7th years who followed the annual championship passionately, but Beauxbatons did not seem to adverstize their duelling club that much. When Pierre and Antoine had commented about a match they had witnessed, they had claimed it was a much cooler wizarding version of 'the fencing', a muggle sport popular among Antoine's old schoolmates.
Agnes had to search for more information and had even asked her Muggle studies professor about it to finally understand the rules of the game. It did seem fun, she had thought.
She went through the pages of the book she was holding, and overviewed a few spells to disarm an opponent, as well as the top 5 world's best duellists still alive to this day. She felt even more annoyed for not being allowed to use her magic, as she would have wanted to try one or two spells from the book.
The heat of the outside seemed to have no impact on the indoor temperature, thanks to a cooling spell Murielle had done before she left for errands. Agnes heard her grandfather waking up upstairs, and she decided it was time to go for a walk. Her hair was braided beautifully, and she was wearing a nice summer dress. She stepped outside and took the direction of the gardens, to check on some gnomes.
***
September 1st, 1970
- Antoine! How was Bordeaux? Did you ride a bicycle? Because me and Jeanne tried and fell a few times only! It was so much fun! told Agnes when she sat next to her friend Antoine for dinner.
The young witch had arrived with all the other Beauxbatons students at school earlier in the afternoon, after a few hours of travel. She had kissed her mother goodbye, and had left the Manoir for her second year at Beauxbatons. She felt really excited to see her friends with whom she had exchanged letters throughout summer, but she had not received any answers from her muggle-born friend Antoine and Pierre, who seemed to still struggle with the wizard method of mail post.
- We sure did! Answered enthusiastically Antoine Deguire. My father took us to the beach and we swam there everyday for the whole month of august! Only came back yesterday and had to pack in a hurry to come here!
Agnes was always happy to hear anecdotes about her muggle-born friends. Their life was similar, yet completely different from hers, and their hobby were all so new to her. She had much to learn, and hoped that this year would be fulfilling her thirst for new adventures.
The first days at school were quite relaxing. Even the professors seemed to spend their time daydreaming of their summer days, and remembering the hectic Quidditch World Cup which had taken place in Bulgaria a month prior. The national French Team had reached quarter finals and everyone was talking about it among Agnes' classmates. she had never found a true passion in the sport in itself, but enjoyed attending her friends' matches and supporting them from the crowd. Her grandfather had been keeping up with the world cup results throughout the summer, and she had not seen him this excited before.
Agnes was brought back to the present by her friend Jeanne Delacour, who was trying to show her a new Wizarding magazine her mom had gifted her. It was a special edition it seemed. Jeanne could not wait until class was over and was excitedly turning page after page, checking up every few minutes for the professor who was boringly teaching the students on dangerous ingredient mixtures in potions.
September went by fast, and summer ended eventually, as well as the beautiful and innocent days, although no one really paid attention at the time. Everywhere in Europe, fanatics were coming together under the name of a dark wizard whose name seemed to start appearing on multiple criminal record documents.
The First Wizarding War had silently begun.