Chapter 392: Fleur Delacour

To Dumbledore's right, sitting in the front seat, was Madame Maxime, headmistress of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, a very large woman.

Ivan had only seen one person in his life who could compare to her; Hagrid! There was almost no difference in height between them.

Ivan knew it was because they were both half-giants!

However, perhaps because he was familiar with Hagrid, Madame Maxime seemed even stranger.

Under the overhead candlelight, he found that Madame Maxime had a beautiful olive-skinned face with a beak-like nose and large, black, liquid-looking eyes.

Her hair was pulled back in a glossy knob at the base of her neck.

She was dressed from head to toe in black satin, and was laden with opal jewels, glittering on her neck and thick fingers.

Madame Maxime, with an elegant smile on her face, looked politely at Sirius, who had just entered the Great Hall, and invited him to sit in the vacant seat to her right.

Equally notable in the room was Fleur Delacour, who was seated at the head of the student bench.

She had long, silver-blonde hair that fell almost to her waist, and she looked very beautiful.

She looked like an adult version of Gabrielle, both part Veelas. She had large, deep blue eyes and very white, even teeth. She was stunningly beautiful.

Possibly due to regular exercise, Fleur was also in good shape. Her fair skin was wheat-colored and she looked remarkably healthy. Despite wearing the same uniform as the others, she was still the most striking of all the Beauxbatons students.

Needless to say, when Ivan's eyes turned away from Madame Maxime, they fell for the first time on Fleur, marveling at her beauty.

There was an empty seat next to Fleur, which was reserved especially for Ivan.

After Sirius was invited to the guest table by Madame Maxime, she stood up with a smile and walked gracefully towards Ivan, inviting him to come and take his place.

"Hello, Ivan Mason!" Fleur extended Ivan's hand with a smile and said, "My name is Fleur Delacour, it is an honor to meet you."

She spoke English, with a slight French accent.

Fleur's voice sounded very special, slightly nervous.

"Thank you, it's nice to meet you too." Ivan replied hurriedly, and followed Fleur to the seat next to him and sat down.

Before they could speak again, Madame Maxime had risen to speak.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and our distinguished guests!" Madame Maxime said with a smile and gestured to Dumbledore at her side. "Tonight, it is with great joy that we welcome Albus Dumbledore, the greatest wizard in the world, who came with his fellow Hogwarts students to Beauxbatons. I hope and believe you will feel comfortable and happy here."

There was a round of applause in the Great Hall. As Madame Maxime spoke, all the Beauxbatons students stood up.

They all looked sideways at Dumbledore, waiting to see what he looked like.

But when Madame Maxime said that Dumbledore was the best wizard in the world, Ivan clearly heard a sarcastic grimace.

He turned his head and saw several senior students looking at him provocatively with arrogance and disdain on their faces, as if to see what he would do.

With such people, Ivan's treatment had always been to ignore them completely.

He turned his head as if he hadn't seen them.

Behind him, there was a hint of disappointment on the faces of the boys, who frowned and looked at each other, surprised at Ivan's indifference.

Fleur watched the change of expression in their eyes, but remained calm and composed.

Her blue eyes looked at Ivan as if she hadn't noticed anything unusual.

Ivan looked at her and she smiled and blinked.

Ivan didn't know if it was an illusion, but he could sense that Fleur's relationship with her Beauxbatons students was not very good.

Her classmates, especially the girls, were alienated from her and deliberately kept their distance.

But at least, so far, she had been nice to Ivan.

Or more accurately, she was very interested.

At the main guest table, Madame Maxime had finished her speech. Instead of sitting down directly, she pulled out her wand and waved it gently.

A faint sound of music came from somewhere, and all the Beauxbatons students began to sing. The voices grew louder and louder, and the Great Hall fell into the sea of music.

They were singing a French song, which Ivan could not understand.

However, he could feel the melody becoming lighter and more relaxed.

This song had that French character, like a pub tune, which sounded pleasant.

A few minutes later, when the song ended, Madame Maxime motioned for everyone to sit down.

When the banquet officially began, the empty plates were full of French cuisine, and all kinds of dishes were placed in front of Ivan. He wasn't sure which dish he should try first.

"You can try this bouillabaisse (Bouillabaisse is a French assorted fish and seafood soup). It tastes very delicious. It has been cooked in the authentic French style. I think it would be hard to find it in your country. You'll like it." said Fleur, pointing to a plate in front of Ivan that looked like Salmagundi seafood.

"Thank you!" Ivan poured himself a bowl and asked uncertainly. "That song just sounded good - is that your school song?"

"It's Beauxbatons' school song, and we sing it at the beginning of the semester or at important events." Fleur frowned and said, "But I don't like it. The melody sounds very light, but the lyrics are very tragic. This song has been handed down from the Middle Ages, how to say, the style is somewhat dark..."

After the Bouillabaisse, Ivan started tasting a quirky dessert. He didn't know the name of the dish because he had never seen it before.

"Ivan, may I call you that?" said Fleur with a smile. "In fact, I often hear my little sister talk about you. You're her idol."

"We are faithful friends. We often write to each other since Christmas." Ivan glanced at Gabrielle and found that the girl was looking at him in return. She immediately looked down shyly as their eyes met. He smiled at Fleur and said, "She mentioned you in her previous letter."

"Oh, what did she say?" Fleur was interested.

"She calls you the best sister in the world!" Ivan repeated Gabrielle's actual words and made Fleur laugh.

Normally, the two of them got along quite well.

The others at the long table seemed less happy, not to mention the previous student provocateurs.

Most of the remaining people were also unhappy with Fleur's exclusive occupation of Ivan.

Realizing that, Fleur ignored them all as well.

Ivan's sentiment proved true to him. Fleur and her classmates did not get along very well.

This did not seem to be something caused only by her presence; it seemed that their relationship was also like that in normal times.