Beauxbatons Academy of Magic

**Beauxbatons Academy of Magic** (French: *Académie de Magie Beauxbâtons*) was the French wizarding school located in the Pyrenees mountains of southern France. It was one of the three largest wizarding schools in Europe (the other two being Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and the Durmstrang Institute).

The school took many of its wizarding students from France, as well as large numbers from Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Belgium. It is unknown if students from other countries were allowed. The school's coat of arms consisted of two golden wands crossed over one another, each shooting three stars.

## History

Founded sometime before the 1290s, Beauxbatons had many noteworthy students over the years. Most prominent were Nicolas Flamel, the alchemist famed for creating the Philosopher's Stone, and his wife Perenelle. Apart from the Flamels, famous ex-students of Beauxbatons included Vincent Duc de Trefle-Picques, who escaped the Terror by casting a Concealment Charm on his own neck and pretending that his head had already been cut off; Luc Millefeuille, the infamous pastry-maker and Muggle-poisoner; and Fleur Delacour, who fought in the world-famous Battle of Hogwarts, married Bill Weasley, and was awarded medals of bravery from both the French and British Ministries of Magic. Olympe Maxime, Headmistress in the mid 1990s, was (in spite of her protestations to the contrary) a half-giantess; clever, elegant, and undeniably awe-inspiring.

Beauxbatons participated in the Triwizard Tournament that was held in 1792 and the tournament that was held in 1994. During the 1792 tournament one of the tasks involved catching a cockatrice. However, the beast went on a rampage and injured three of the judges; one of the injured was at the time the head of Beauxbatons. In the 1994 tournament, Fleur was selected school champion and finished in fourth place behind the other three contestants. During the 1994 tournament, Madame Maxime served as head of the academy.

In 1927, French wizarding newspaper *Le Cri de la Gargouille* reported a potion scandal involving Beauxbatons students.

## Palace and grounds

*Main article: Palace of Beauxbatons*
The Palace of Beauxbatons was a beautiful chateau surrounded by majestic gardens and fountains magically created out of the surrounding mountains. The school looked very impressive despite having stood for over seven hundred years. In the Dining Chamber, Wood Nymphs serenaded the students while they ate, and at Christmas, the hall was adorned with great, glittering, non-melting ice sculptures.

It was said that the stunning castle and grounds of this prestigious school were part-funded by alchemist gold, for Nicolas and Perenelle Flamel met at Beauxbatons in their youth, and a magnificent fountain in the middle of the school’s park, believed to have healing and beautifying properties, was named after them.

## Traditions

Students and staff were transported by use of the Beauxbatons Carriage (French: *Le carrosse de Beauxbâtons*[*citation needed*]). The carriages were light blue, pulled by a dozen winged horses. Despite being used as transportation by Beauxbatons, travelling in an Abraxan horse-drawn giant carriage the size of a house was a breach of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. The Abraxan horses only drank single-malt whisky.

The students at Beauxbatons Academy were taught to stand at attention from when their Headmistress entered the room, only sitting down when she sat herself, showing their great respect for her.

At the Palace of Beauxbatons, they had ice sculptures all around the Dining Chamber at Christmas. The ice sculptures didn't melt, and were like statues of glittering diamond. According to Fleur Delacour, the food that was served at the school was superb, with choirs of Wood Nymphs that serenaded students as they ate.

Fleur also implied that Beauxbatons valued order and did not admit mess, as she claimed a poltergeist would be quickly expelled out of the palace.

### Uniform

The students' uniforms were pale blue robes made of fine silk.

## Reputation and rivalry

Education at Beauxbatons Academy was of a similar calibre to the education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Scotland. However, there were differences, such as Beauxbatons students taking their examinations in their sixth year, rather than their fifth, like their Hogwarts counterparts.

Typically, Beauxbatons Academy enjoyed a very warm, cordial relation with Hogwarts, as even during the Triwizard Tournament the two schools enjoyed a healthy rather than bitter rivalry; Beauxbatons won the Tournament sixty-two times and Hogwarts won sixty-three.

In the last of these tournaments, from 1994–1995, their relationship with Hogwarts was somewhat more strained, due to Lord Voldemort's servant placing Harry Potter's name in the Goblet of Fire thereby giving Hogwarts a second champion, though the relationship did not become outright hostile (as individual Hogwarts and Beauxbatons students remained friendly towards one another and some even attended the Yule Ball with one another). In addition, Madam Maxime returned to Hogwarts for Albus Dumbledore's funeral, demonstrating that the cordial relationship continued between the schools.

The schools were also rivals in Wizard's Chess. At some point before 1989, the two schools participated in a chess tournament which saw Hogwarts' students crushingly defeated, and Beauxbatons had been both undefeated and unchallenged by Hogwarts ever since. Their record was broken in the 1988–1989 school year, however, when Jacob's sibling and their friends defeated the number one student player in the wizarding world, Celine Castillon, in the Walter Aragon Wizard Chess Competition.

## Known students

* Nicolas Flamel
* Aurélie Dumont
* Celine Castillon
* Fleur Delacour
* Gabrielle Delacour
* Perenelle Flamel
* Luc Millefeuille
* Vincent Duc de Trefle-Picques
* Davet Dumont
* Various unidentified students
* Ministry Witch

## Etymology

Beauxbatons was likely devised from the French *beaux bâtons*, literally translated as "beautiful sticks". In French, *baguette* is the word used for "wand" but *bâton* might be a reference to it, although it would be more likely translated as "staff" (e.g. Mad-Eye Moody's staff).