As Eira savored the last bites of her French cuisine, she couldn’t help but admire the way the al had been served—elegant, effortless, and entirely magical. Around the grand dining hall, the students were enjoying their first feast at Beauxbatons, the soft hum of conversation and clinking silverware echoing beneath the high, enchanted ceiling.
At the High Table, the professors dined more quietly, so engaged in hushed conversation, others simply enjoying the mont. One particular professor, a tall, severe-looking woman with black hair twisted into a chignon, occasionally glanced down toward the Ombrelune table. Her black eyes seed to linger with interest—not over the group, but on one student in particular.
"Do you know that student, Mada Voclain?" Headmistress Maxi asked in a whisper, her sharp eyes catching the woman’s line of sight. "You’ve been watching her since her na appeared on the Mirror."
Mada Voclain did not avert her gaze. Her voice was cool and devoid of inflection. "No, I don’t know her. I simply... sense sothing familiar in her magic, that’s all."
Maxi nodded slowly, as if storing the observation for later. Then Voclain’s tone shifted, ever so slightly curious. "Where is your golden student, Maxi? I haven’t seen her since the start of the ceremony."
A faint sigh escaped the Headmistress. "You know how it is... Because of her condition, she can’t travel with the others. I had to send a carriage directly to her ho."
Voclain’s eyes narrowed just slightly. "You do spoil her, you know. So families have lodged complaints with the Ministry."
Maxi turned her head, her usually warm face shadowed by a flicker of sternness. "Let them talk," she said coldly. "As Headmistress, I have every right to take on an apprentice of my choosing. And I chose her. She’s more than a student to . She’s like a granddaughter. I raised her. Of course I’ll protect her."
There was a long pause. Voclain finally looked away from Eira, her voice softer this ti, though no less asured. "I wish I were like you."
Back at the Ombrelune table, Eira had just finished her al and was about to take her first bite of a delicate lavender crè brûlée when a loud, familiar voice interrupted her peace.
"Ohhh, Snow! Fancy seeing you here. Glad we’re in the sa house!"
Eira didn’t even need to look to know who it was. She sighed and raised her gaze to see Marin grinning at her, having just shoved aside another student to sit directly across from her.
"Marin," she said dryly.
At the sound of his na, Marin clutched his chest dramatically, as if wounded. "She rembers my na! Ma, your son has found your future daughter-in-law!"
Eira arched a brow, amused despite herself. "You’re still just a kid, Marin. Don’t go spouting nonsense like that. And besides, if I rember correctly, your mother said that up until last year you still—"
"Hey hey hey!" Marin cut her off in a panic, waving his hands. "That’s a family secret! Don’t go embarrassing here, especially in front of all these girls! At least let keep a shred of dignity as a man!"
Eira chuckled, her mood lightening. "You can’t go around flirting with every girl you et. It starts to look less like charm and more like harassnt. You won’t find anyone you actually like if you gain a reputation like that."
Marin rolled his eyes in mock annoyance. "I am not harassing anyone. I’m being romantic. French n are famous for that, you know! I’m simply honoring the tradition. Besides, with a face like this, who could resist?"
Before Eira could offer a biting coback, the grand doors to the hall creaked open. A hush fell over the tables as every head turned toward the entrance.
A girl entered.
She was striking—otherworldly, even. Long silvery-blonde hair shimred beneath the candlelight, flowing like moonlit silk down her back. Her deep blue eyes held a distant, magnetic allure, and every step she took was asured, graceful. The hall fell into a strange, enchanted silence.
Eira blinked, her chest tightening. It was like stepping into a dream—and then, just as quickly, she recognized the sensation for what it was.
Veela magic.
Without hesitation, Eira raised her Occluncy shields, clearing her mind and shaking off the charm. As her senses returned to normal, she looked around and saw boys practically drooling over the girl. A few of them looked as if they might leap from their benches in desperation. The girls, by contrast, glared with contempt.
"She pulls this act every year," soone muttered bitterly from a nearby table.
"Ugh, does this bitch have to flaunt her Veela allure like that? Bloody attention-seeking bitch," sneered another, crossing her arms.
So girls resorted to smacking their dazed friends on the arms or heads to break the spell.
Beside Eira, Marin had already risen from his seat with theatrical enthusiasm. "I think I’ve found my true love! I must declare my feelings before the entire school! To prove my pure love "
Eira grabbed his robes and yanked him back into his seat before he could humiliate himself publicly .
"Sit down, idiot. You’ll only make a fool of yourself."
As the girl glided toward the Teachers’ Table, she greeted each professor with respectful nods before leaning close to whisper sothing to Headmistress Maxi. Then, without a word to anyone else, she turned and made her way to the Ombrelune table.
Several boys eagerly scooted over, trying to offer her a seat. She ignored them entirely and instead sat between two clearly displeased girls, who barely concealed their disgust.
Eira watched her quietly, observing the calm poise the girl held even in the face of open hostility. So this is the one everyone talks about... a quarter-Veela, she thought. Her power is dangerous—not just in how it charms, but in how it isolates.
Though she understood the resentnt from the other girls, a part of her couldn’t help but find it unjustified. She never asked for that gift. And power like that... must be a curse more often than a blessing.
The hall slowly returned to its usual buzz, and desserts resud—laughter, gossip, and tales of sumr holidays weaving through the air once more.
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