17:35
Arianne's quarters, office

"Merci d'avoir accepté mon invitation, Monsieur Sacha-Anatole"[1] she said smilingly as she settled the coffee tray on her perfect rococo-inspired coffee table. She took one cup, and then another and settled them in front of her colleague and, respectively, in front of herself. She took a seat, and crossed her long longs, waving her wand to set the cups to fill themselves just rightly, according to how they each took their lovely warm beverage.

She discreetly rubbed at her temple, the Gala last night dragged until the wee hours of the morning and she was nowhere near rested enough for any sort of activity, much less a social one. But she had wanted a chance to talk with her colleague for a long time, but there were such few days off from her society life. So she made the impossible possible and managed to schedule an appointment for a coffee and some chit-chat.

"Oh, this holiday passed all too quickly, with the ball, Christmas and the Gala last night. I have to admit I feel more tired than ever" she let a small laugh escape her lips. "I don't even want to think that they're all returning tomorrow" she sighed deeply and took the small cup —that just finished preparing itself— between her index finger and her thumb. "I am terribly sorry we didn't get to do this sooner, but you know how the lives of us, dames de la société[2] are" she sighed dramatically then grinned big. "But I am much more interested to hear how did you spend the break, Monsieur?" she asked interested, always up for some gossip and tidbits of one's personal lives.

1.	(fr.) Thank you for accepting my invitation, Mister Sacha-Anatole
2.	(fr.) society ladies

"Je vous remercie de m'avoir Mademoiselle Arianne,"[1]Sacha-Anatole responded with a brief smile. He watched as his host went about setting out the tray for the coffee. He was glad when Arianne had asked for him to come and talk. It seemed the break had been nothing but one owl after the next, each one with a new problem for him to deal with. It made him almost miss the days when a publicist answered the majority of the mail for him. There were rumors of big things happening at Beauxbatons, and Sacha-Anatole had that weighing on his mind on top of the letters. So the idea of some coffee with the beautiful Social Graces Professor, seemed to be just what the doctor ordered.

"J'adore votre table à café."

Sacha-Anatole wiped away any thoughts of headmasters  or the like from his mind and sat back in his chair. He absentmindedly ran a hand through the silver tidal wave that was his hair and picked up the other cup of coffee. His coffee was black, he enjoyed the rich taste of the beverage without anything added. Besides that, he knew he would be up late again and would need the caffeine.

"I don't really think you will be more interested once you find out what I did during the break. I answered a lot of letters, and I did a little reading, and I did some planning for the classes in the coming term. I'm afraid the dourness that seems to permeate from the stone walls of this place have affected me. I'd be surprised if I made it outside at all in the last few weeks. I am glad we are getting to speak now though. I'm sure if I went straight from that melancholy to dealing with students again that I would have them doing wand motions until their arms fell off. You'll have to tell me about the Gala."

The small cup in his hand found its way to his lips again. He looked up from it to Arriane and gave her another small smile, which anyone who knew him knew meant he was enjoying himself.

1.	Thank you for having me Miss Arianne

"Merci beaucoup, c'est un héritage de famille"[1] she responded to his compliment with a small smile and a nod of her head. She appreciated a man who recognized beauty when he saw it.

"The Gala was—I would like to say it was lovely - enchanting, but I'm afraid my upbringing has taught me not to lie—at least when hypocrisy is not considered a virtue like in high society conversation" she chuckled softly. "Maybe it is my education, my position, or even my nationality, but I cannot help but think that this country and their customs either too antiquated and cold or, au contraire, too barbaric and—and plebeian" she shook hr head disapproving. "The difference in education and behavior between social classes and age groups is truly worrisome in this country. And the weather, cher Monsieur[2], do not start me on the weather" she exclaimed laughing wholeheartedly.

She took a small sip of the French roast coffee and smiled pleased. Whomever had stated nectar was the drink of the Gods had certainly never tried coffee. "However, I am pleased to announce that I plan to rectify the small problem of manners within the young society, at leas at Hogwarts. I shall be starting a seminar on Social Graces, for all the schools currently housed under the roof of this castle. I am not sure how many will sign-up for it, but I plan to charm them at my first seminar next week" she smiled please. "I'll have to say I am a bit nervous. With our students, you can at least count on them to be respectful and polite but from what I've been seeing outside of classes, some of these English children are incredibly bad-mannered. I truly do not know how the Hogwarts professorial staff manages them..." she sighed deeply.

1.	(fr.) Thank you very much, it's a family heriloom
2.	(fr.) dear Sir

"De rien. It really is an exquisite piece. I've always been, I think enamored is the word, with meubles that transcend being just an object into being art. There seems to be a lack of that sort of thing here. Everything is stone and wood. It's all very dreary."

Sacha-Anatole found himself laughing along with Arianne. Similar thoughts to the ones she'd expressed had been running through his mind ever since his arrival to the country.

"I'm sorry the Gala was not more to your liking. I think I understand what you mean in regards to the culture here, there seems to be a distinct lack of identity. The purebloods in this land remind me of something out of a fairy tale. They live in brutish stone castles and drink whisky from skulls. The rest might as well be muggles. There's no unification, no esprit de corps. I think it would of done this wet country well if the Great Emperor Napoleon had rode through England and brought them all under the glory of The Tricolore."

Sacha-Anatole followed Arrian's lead and took another sip of the coffee as well. The warmth spread through him and he let out a small sigh of contentment. After spending so much time locked away with parchment and quills it felt nice to share some time and café.

"S'il vous plaît pardonnez-moi si je parlais brutale,"[1] he smirked. "Sometimes I get deluded. I think the students from the other schools could all use some instruction from you. Many of the Instructors could as well. It should be mandatory that everyone attend to the class. Maybe then some of these English children will pull some of the metal out of their faces. If it would please you I could stand in the back of the room, take any of the ill mannered children out when they present themselves, and then we can coordinate with their Instructors as to their punishments. As for the staff here, they seem to mean well I suppose. The problem might be in the fact that the Instructors seem to be either close to a hundred, or not even a decade out of school."   

1.	Please forgive me if I spoke brutally

She nodded and smiled approvingly. The castle was very dreary indeed, and it did nothing for Arianne's pale, bright complexion. The weather was awful, the

She laughed wholeheartedly, "brutish stone castles" and "skulls" for chalices indeed. She took a delicate hand to her mouth trying to stifle the fit of giggles and continued to listen attentively. "Cher Monsieur, I could not have said it better myself" she smiled musingly. "Perhaps, we're in luck and the ghost of Le Petit Caporal[1] still roams the plains of Longwood. Maybe then, this Minister of theirs could be encouraged to have a chat with his excellency" she smirked.

"Pas de problème[2]" she smiled "you know I appreciate frankness—at least in private" she grinned waving off his apology.

She clasped her hands together and smiled warmly. "Monsieur, you are too kind! I would be very appreciative of your assistance in my seminars. I'm afraid of how I might react to these children. I wouldn't like to be blamed for being too assertive, or get the children too frightened to properly participate. On the other hand, if they are too many —which I am almost sure they will not, they might end up being too much for me" she sighed and rolled her eyes.

"The staff is far too lenient. And they change so often—c'est très absurde[3]! A child needs a steady hand and a steady environment in order to properly develop" she pursed her lips and shook her head disapprovingly.

"But enough of that" she smiled, a white perfect smile. "What of our own charges? Are they still diligent in your classes?" she took a small sip of coffee. "I was most disappointed in the Tournament results for the second task. I expected more of the Fontaine sisters. Not only were we in second place for this task, but overall we are in the last place?!" she asked with a huff.

"Ce n'est pas possible! C'est vraiment scandaleux[4]" she exclaimed, now truly angry, hands raised in the air.

1.	The Little Corporal - one of Napoleon's nicknames
2.	No problem
3.	it is most absurd!
4.	It is not possible! It's truly outrageous.

“Mademoiselle I doubt there is a room you could not command, no matter what the size. I don’t mean that to be a flagorneur[1] or whatever. I just trust in the ability of our Instructors. Our Académie has always put out the best and brightest. It would be better for you to break these children into the correct behavior, than for our students to start picking up on the behavior of these strange children. So I would not worry about being too assertive. It is like you’ve said, even if one of the Instructors here takes issue they will probably be gone before the end of this term anyway.”

Sacha-Anatole smiled at his own joke and allowed himself a short chuckle. The smile slid away from his face pretty quickly however when Sacha-Anatole realized how poignant Arianne’s words were in regards to the situation that was taking place behind the scenes at Beauxbatons.

“My classes, though I run them the same as at the Académie, I feel are lacking here. I believe it is because of a few things. The tournament weighing on everyone’s mind of course. That one is even almost forgivable. But there is also this sort of general malaise that seems to be affecting the students. I feel it may be because of their mixing with the indolent students from the other schools. I can’t help but think maybe it would do well to have our pupils spend less time with the other schools.”

Sacha-Anatole nodded along gravely as Arianne spoke of the Tournament itself. While he did not feel that the sisters did exceptionally poor, he did not feel that they lived up to his strict standard. The champions as a whole from Beauxbatons were letting him down with their performances.

“I don’t even know what to say of the Tournament anymore. We should have come and crushed the competition. Instead our students are lazy. Maybe we should isolate them all, allow them only to study, eat, and sleep. They have shown they cannot handle the freedom associated with the lycée.”

1.

sycophant

"I thank you for your confidence in my skills, monsieur Sacha-Anatole and I must admit that I share in your worry about our charges picking up some of the less amiable habits of the Hogwarts students" she smiled politely and let out a small chuckle upon hearing the small joke of her colleague.

"I agree with what you are saying, wholeheartedly. But I'm afraid it would defeat the entire purpose of magical cooperation between the schools. No, I'm afraid there's really no other way but to go directly to the source, their children are a problem, not ours after all..." she mused.

She took another sip of coffee and smiled as the rich taste invaded her senses once more. This was pleasant, although she would've preferred to go with Izola for a drink, this was pleasant enough.

"Enough of the school, we only have today left to  enjoy the peace and quiet" she said grinning. "What else have you been up to? Made any friends on the Hogwarts staff" she asked with a small smirk and an intrigued arched eyebrow.

“I’ve had a few discussions agréable with my Charms colleague Professor Kesali. He’s young, but seems talented. His knowledge of Charms is bon. We’ve discussed le programme d'études a few times. He is a very good pâtissier, I recommend you try any one of his baked goods one of these days. They are très magnifique. We are doing a class together soon after the term starts. I want to see how the children behave during instruction. I think it will be most illuminating. I’ve not spoken to my Salem or Durmstrang équivalents, at least not at length.”

Sacha-Anatole looked down at the glass that his stark black coffee was contained in. He noticed that it was a nice piece as well. He wondered if it was also an heirloom. He reached for it, and then drained the remainder of the brew held within.

“What of you Mademoiselle? Have you been mingling well with the foreign instructors? It hasn’t been too hard on you has it? Being the only instructeur de la grâce sociale that is.”

Sacha-Anatole felt that Arianne’s position was a difficult one normally. When you added the fact that the other three tournament schools just let their students behave like animals her task seemed to him to be an insurmountable challenge. She didn’t have any backup like Sacha-Anatole or any of the other professors did. She had to manage teaching four schools of children good graces all on her own. Sacha-Anatole did not envy the task.

She, inadvertently, arched an eyebrow and felt the corner of her lip raise slightly at hearing the name of the Charms Professor. Oh, Arianne would most certainly like to try his baked goods. But this was neither the time nor the place to think of such things, so she instead plastered a polite smile on her face and nodded.

"It is good to hear, at least one of us is making some progress. I have not yet, formed any new acquaintances, but I have discussed with some of the staff at the Ball. Aside from one very dear friend of mine, that I have known for a while. The Magizoology Professor, Bai Li Yang?" she asked while sipping on her coffee. "But, yes, it is rather sad I do not have a counterpart at any of the other schools. Preposterous... I do not understand how one cannot care for the manners and behavior of their children" she huffed. "Alors, this subject is becoming rather dreary" she said with a  wave of her hand and a frown.

"Well then, Monsieur, it has been a pleasure, but I must prepare for the new semester. Pardonnez-moi, but I think I will retire early this evening" she smiled sweetly and raised to her feet, waiting to lead the man to the door.