Chapter Text
1) Beauxbatons N.E.W.T Placement
Aideen Couture was cradling a letter in her lap, as she sat on the pristine, leather sofa in her living room, after having just received her examination results through owl post.
Beauxbatons' examinations were taken differently to those at other Wizarding schools. Whilst at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry their O.W.L examinations were taken in their fifth year, Beauxbatons students wouldn't take their examinations until their sixth year. Many of the students were thankful for this, as it gave them much more preparation time and much more of a chance at passing.
Aideen had previously been failing one or two of her subjects, but in others she had been balancing between 'Exceeds Expectations' and 'Outstanding'. Of course, the subjects that she was failing weren't of much importance to her, for it was Aideen's dream to become an Auror at the Ministry of Magic in London. However, Aideen lived in France, and such an opportunity would be unlikely to arise. And, Hogwarts wasn't taking student transfers for Defence Against The Dark Arts assistants.
Hogwarts was, however, accepting transfer students in assistance with Potions and Muggle Studies. Unfortunately, as Aideen was informed when she opened her results letter, Potions was one of the subjects that she had failed, only receiving a 'Poor', whilst in Muggle Studies, she had received an 'Outstanding'.
Well, of course she had. It was only natural. After all, Aideen was a muggle-born witch. She had never met her father, but her mother had informed her that he was a muggle just like her.
It's not something that every child wants to hear, but her mother had told her that they had met one night in a bar. Apparently her mother was infatuated by him, and he her, but the infatuation only lasted a matter of days, before her father left his holiday to France to return back to England. In other, more simple terms, it was quite obvious to Aideen that she had been a mistake. Nevertheless, Aideen's mother cared for her greatly, whether she intended to have her or not.
"Mother, have you seen the newspaper? Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry are accepting assistants for Muggle Studies and Potions." Aideen announced, as she sprang from the sofa and headed for the kitchen, where her mother was making crêpes.
"'Ow vonderful dear! Are you going to assist een Potions?" Her mother asked, flipping the crêpe in the frying pan on the stove. Aideen swallowed slightly, as she feared that her mother might be disappointed in her for failing Potions.
"Ah, actually, I was thinking of assisting in Muggle Studies. Well, I failed Potions you see–," before Aideen could finish her sentence, she had been cut off by her mother's voice, almost being smacked in the face with the frying pan.
"Ah! Your results! They 'av arrived!" Her mother gleamed with joy. "Vell, don't keep them to yourselv! Show me!"
Aideen unfolded the piece of parchment that she held in her hands, and handed it to her mother, who moved out of the way so that Aideen could take over making the crêpes. She flipped the finished one onto the plate full of cooked crêpes then poured the remainder of the batter into the pan, swirling it around by making rounding motions with the pan. She focussed her attention solely on the crêpes for the next five minutes, as she was scared of the reaction that her mother might hurl at her. But, what she received wasn't as she had expected.
"Aideen, darling! This eez fantastic. Outstanding een almost everything apart from Potions and Divination. Vonderful!" She beamed at her daughter before pulling her away from the stove into a tight hug.
"But, mother, I failed two subjects." Aideen responded, clearly disheartened by her results.
"Aideen, you 'av done a great job!" Her mother assured her. "You can go to 'Ogwarts like you 'av always wanted! Don't vorry about me, darling. I vill never be disappointed. I don't even know vat this Divination ees, nor Potions for a matter of fact."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll write my letter to Hogwarts now!" Aideen's mood had been lifted somewhat by her mother's enthusiasm, so she left the kitchen to find some parchment and a quill, before returning to sit at the breakfast bar to write her letter. As she wrote, her mother placed the pile of crêpes next to her, a long with many different accompaniments, and joined her at the breakfast bar too.
'Dear Professor Dumbledore,
I am a Beauxbatons student hoping to be accepted as a transfer student in assistance for Muggle Studies at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I have just received my examination results and I received an Outstanding in all of my subjects (including Muggle Studies) with the exception of Potions and Divination.
I sincerely hope that you will give me a chance to work alongside your brilliant teachers, as it has been my dream to come to Hogwarts for as long as I can remember. In terms of my future career, I was hoping to become an Auror, but no such opportunities have arisen, so I am seizing an opportunity to possibly become a Muggle Studies teacher, or perhaps even work in Muggle Relations or at the Ministry of Magic in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office.
I hope you take my application into consideration and I hope to hear from you soon!
Aideen Couture.'
"Zat should do eet!" Aideen's mother said, as she lifted her glasses from her nose, after proof-reading the letter. After her mother's approval, Aideen sealed the letter with wax and handed it to her Tawny owl, announcing "Professor Dumbledore, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy", before the owl fled through the open window.
"And, now, we wait."
...
And, wait she did.
It took around two weeks for a response to arrive from Hogwarts. She hadn't heard it at first, as she had just been in the shower, but her Tawny owl had been tapping on her bedroom window for at least twenty minutes. She ran into her luxurious bedroom, and opened the bay window to allow her owl access to the room. He entered, and dropped the letter in Aideen's lap. She didn't hesitate a second before ripping the letter open.
'Dear Aideen Couture,
We are delighted to offer you a placement at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in assisting Professor Charity Burbage in Muggle Studies.
You will also have the opportunity to take further studies for the year of your choice, which we can assign upon your arrival at the school. Books for these subjects will be provided for you after you have made your decision.
A portkey will be available for you to take from Beauxbatons on 1st September, as Madam Maxime has already made available. Upon your arrival at the school, a feast is held in the Great Hall. Hagrid, our gatekeeper, will escort the transfers (you) along with the first years.
The portkey will bring you out at Hogsmeade station where you will wait for Hagrid's arrival, before you arrive at the feast to be sorted into your Hogwarts house. This is when the appropriate school robes will be provided to you and a meeting with your head of house also to determine the studies you would like to take this year.
I, and many of the teachers at the school, are sincerely looking forwards to meeting you and our other transfer students.
Have a safe journey,
Sincerely,
Professor Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.'
She skipped over the terribly long title of the headmaster, throwing the parchment down to the floor immediately, before heading downstairs to tell her mother the wonderful news.
"I got in!" She beamed, as her mother reciprocated her excited facial expressions and they each did a funny little dance, before embracing in a tight hug.
"Ven do you leave, dear?" Her mother asked.
"The letter said that I can get a portkey from Beauxbatons on 1st September." Aideen replied.
"Vat! On such short notice? Ve 'av to pack! You're leaving tomorrow!" Her mother gasped, immediately running up towards Aideen's room to help her pack her trunk to take to Hogwarts. Aideen followed her closely behind up the stairs.
They spent the whole night packing all of the clothes in Aideen's wardrobe, and somehow managing to fit them all into the small trunk that she had. She put her Tawny owl in his cage, after having finished packing everything else. Then, she put her pyjamas on and said goodnight to her mother for the last time before she left.