Palace of Beauxbatons

Beauxbatons Palace
Organisation information
Founded	13th century or earlier
Leader(s)	Headmaster/Headmistress of Beauxbatons Academy
Headquarters	France
Affiliation	Beauxbatons Academy of Magic

"Zis is nothing. At ze Palace of Beauxbatons, we 'ave ice sculptures all around ze dining chamber at Chreestmas. Zey do not melt, of course...zey are like 'uge statues of diamond, glittering around ze place. And ze food is superb. And we 'ave choirs of wood nymphs, 'oo serenade us as we eat. We 'ave none of zis ugly armour in ze 'alls, and eef a poltergeist ever entaired into Beauxbatons, 'e would be expelled like zat."

— Fleur Delacour criticising the Hogwarts decorations in the Great Hall to Roger Davies at the Yule Ball.

The Palace of Beauxbatons is a wondrous, glittering palace located in the Pyrenees in Southern France. It is home to Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and, for that reason, its whereabouts are kept hidden and protected so as not to reveal the academy's secrets to other schools. The Palace is presumably entrusted to the Headmaster or Headmistress, which was Madame Olympe Maxime during the 1990s.

The Building

The glittering Beauxbatons Palace was built over seven-hundred years ago and is presumably brighter than both the Hogwarts and Durmstrang Castles, and located in the south of France in the Pyrenees. At Christmas time, the dining hall is adorned and decorated with huge, beautiful ice-sculptures which do not melt, and the students eating in the hall are serenaded by choirs of Wood Nymphs. The Palace is also under the protection of Unplottability, which protects it from Muggles and rival schools.

Events

Beauxbatons students at the Triwizard Tournament.

Students in their sixth year of study take their first set of examinations, which are, presumably, equivalent to the British Ordinary Wizarding Level, which is taken in fifth year. In December, the dining hall (possibly the equivalent of the Great Hall) is decorated with huge ice sculptures, which do not melt. The Academy also took part in the Triwizard Tournament, which took place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They traveled there by powder blue carriages, carried by Abraxan horses.

Education

Education in the Palace is just as good, if not better, than the education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Scotland. Beauxbatons students take their equivalent of Ordinary Wizarding Levels in their sixth year, rather than their fifth like in Hogwarts, and students who are of age were shown to be able to cast the Avis Charm wandlessly and nonverbally. However, the pupils' success could be questioned when considering that their Triwizard Champion, Fleur Delacour, came last during the Tournament of 1994.

Food

Beauxbatons students dining.

Beauxbatons students, and possibly teachers, eat their meals in the dining chamber. As they eat, they are serenaded by choirs of Wood Nymphs, who sing and dance around the hall. The food served there is lighter than the food served at Hogwarts, according to Fleur Delacour, and one known meal served at the palace is bouillabaisse, a fish soup.

Transport

In place of Broomsticks, the Palace seem to prefer the use of trained winged horses as means of personal transport. During the 1994 Triwizard Tournament, at least a dozen giant winged horses were used to pull the Beauxbatons Carriage that transported Madame Olympe Maxime along with the delegation from her Academy.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (First mentioned)

Behind the scenes

• J. K. Rowling had previously stated that Beauxbatons was located near the city of Cannes. Pottermore, however, retcons this, instead placing its location in the Pyrenees.

Notes and references

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