Traditions, Celebrations, and Extracurriculars
So what do Beauxbatons students do in their free time? Hogwarts students go to extravagant feasts and can participate in things like the Duelling Club, Gobstones Teams, House Quidditch teams... how does all this work at Beauxbatons? Let's find out!
Clubs
Due to the style specializations, Beauxbatons appears to have less clubs than Hogwarts typically does, as students dedicate most of their free time to working with these specializations - for example, the Fencing Society students practice fencing, the Gardening Society students tend to the garden, etc. Typically the "class" time dedicated to their specialization is not sufficient enough. Aside from that, Beauxbatons students gather based on other interests, and prefer being able to switch between groups than be dedicated to a single one for an ongoing basis. However, Beauxbatons still has some clubs:
Traditions
Beauxbatons students arrive to school in carriages pulled by flying horses, which pick them up from pre-arranged meeting spaces that are made temporarily unplottable. First year students arrive at the Palace two weeks prior to the start of the school year so they may experience and eventually choose their style specialization. Upper-year students volunteer to offer the specialization workshops; these students may arrive up to a month before the school term starts, depending on how much preparation their workshops require, and typically send owls back and forth throughout the summer to plan them. Beauxbatons students attend for 7-8 years; students may choose to take a preliminary year (when they are 11) if they feel their magical education or knowledge may be insufficient and put them at an academic disadvantage - for example, if they were Muggle-Born. They may also choose to attend early if they simply desire more practice or more ability to take a variety of classes, which is helpful since Beauxbatons offers so many possible electives. Students complete their O.W.L.s after six years of study rather than five. They complete their N.E.W.T.s during the summer after their final year. Beauxbatons students are taught to stand at attention when their headmistress enters the room, and do not sit down until she has seated herself. Beauxbatons students always give a short applause at the end of lectures to show their appreciation to the professors.
Celebrations
At Beauxbatons, meals are always a celebration! Wood nymphs perform in the Dining Halls of Beauxbatons, serenading students while they eat.
At Christmas, the Dining Halls are adorned with massive, glittering, magical ice sculptures, and a humongous tree is placed in the Grand Foyer, which the staff and students in their final year decorate together. Each Society may also choose to have their own trees in their dormitories and decorate them together. This is usually a display of each society's uniqueness - the Gardening Society grows their own trees and has even made one of many flowers, the Fencing Society once made an entire "tree" out of foils, the Quidditch Society always puts a Snitch on top of their tree... the list goes on!
The Welcoming Ceremony is the most popular of the year! The first "official" day of term, after students have chosen their style specializations, students gather in the Dining Hall for breakfast and upper-year students give the first years small gifts. The rest of the day is dedicated to moving into their official dorm room and completing bonding activities with their society. At the end of the day, they have their first style specialization class, which allows them to meet some of their professors as well.
The final day of term is similar. Beauxbatons students stay at school one extra day after exams to have a final, school-wide farewell party. There are pick-up Quidditch games, presentations of independent research, an all-day feast, students are free to ride the horses around the grounds, and all kinds of things! Students leave the following day after breakfast.
Clubs
Due to the style specializations, Beauxbatons appears to have less clubs than Hogwarts typically does, as students dedicate most of their free time to working with these specializations - for example, the Fencing Society students practice fencing, the Gardening Society students tend to the garden, etc. Typically the "class" time dedicated to their specialization is not sufficient enough. Aside from that, Beauxbatons students gather based on other interests, and prefer being able to switch between groups than be dedicated to a single one for an ongoing basis. However, Beauxbatons still has some clubs:
- Gobstones: Beauxbatons has its own Gobstones team, but it is mostly composed of younger students.
- Potions & Alchemy: Beauxbatons Potions & Alchemy club spend their spare time exploring the creation of new potions and alchemical pursuits, as well as gaining practical understanding of the laws that govern their creation. The club is closely supervised by two faculty members to ensure the safety of the experimenting students.
- Care of Magical Creatures: Since the Beauxbatons Magical Creatures class focuses more on knowing facts and figures, so to speak, interested students formed their own club dedicated specifically to caring for and owning magical creatures. They help out with care-taking for the creatures used in the field portion of classes and offer advice to students who want to bring pets (magical or otherwise) to school but may be first-time owners. At Beauxbatons, students are allowed to bring any creature to school that has a rating of XXX or below as long as they register it with the staff and prove they are able to take proper care of it.
Traditions
Beauxbatons students arrive to school in carriages pulled by flying horses, which pick them up from pre-arranged meeting spaces that are made temporarily unplottable. First year students arrive at the Palace two weeks prior to the start of the school year so they may experience and eventually choose their style specialization. Upper-year students volunteer to offer the specialization workshops; these students may arrive up to a month before the school term starts, depending on how much preparation their workshops require, and typically send owls back and forth throughout the summer to plan them. Beauxbatons students attend for 7-8 years; students may choose to take a preliminary year (when they are 11) if they feel their magical education or knowledge may be insufficient and put them at an academic disadvantage - for example, if they were Muggle-Born. They may also choose to attend early if they simply desire more practice or more ability to take a variety of classes, which is helpful since Beauxbatons offers so many possible electives. Students complete their O.W.L.s after six years of study rather than five. They complete their N.E.W.T.s during the summer after their final year. Beauxbatons students are taught to stand at attention when their headmistress enters the room, and do not sit down until she has seated herself. Beauxbatons students always give a short applause at the end of lectures to show their appreciation to the professors.
Celebrations
At Beauxbatons, meals are always a celebration! Wood nymphs perform in the Dining Halls of Beauxbatons, serenading students while they eat.
At Christmas, the Dining Halls are adorned with massive, glittering, magical ice sculptures, and a humongous tree is placed in the Grand Foyer, which the staff and students in their final year decorate together. Each Society may also choose to have their own trees in their dormitories and decorate them together. This is usually a display of each society's uniqueness - the Gardening Society grows their own trees and has even made one of many flowers, the Fencing Society once made an entire "tree" out of foils, the Quidditch Society always puts a Snitch on top of their tree... the list goes on!
The Welcoming Ceremony is the most popular of the year! The first "official" day of term, after students have chosen their style specializations, students gather in the Dining Hall for breakfast and upper-year students give the first years small gifts. The rest of the day is dedicated to moving into their official dorm room and completing bonding activities with their society. At the end of the day, they have their first style specialization class, which allows them to meet some of their professors as well.
The final day of term is similar. Beauxbatons students stay at school one extra day after exams to have a final, school-wide farewell party. There are pick-up Quidditch games, presentations of independent research, an all-day feast, students are free to ride the horses around the grounds, and all kinds of things! Students leave the following day after breakfast.