If the first student to step down had not been a boy, Harry might even have suspected that Beauxbatons was a girls' school.
Twenty students, seventeen girls. There were a mere three boys, including the one who had driven the carriage at the start. Still, Beauxbatons had brought more people than either of the previous two schools.
Besides the tall woman-Olympe Maxime, headmistress of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic-three accompanying professors had also come. That was not particularly strange, though. What actually surprised Harry and the others was that several of those accompanying them were clearly only first- and second-year students.
They looked tiny, and one little girl followed beside an older girl. She looked even younger than Dennis Creevey. Harry wondered whether she was even seven.
Rather disappointingly, almost all the Beauxbatons girls wore veils over their faces. The boys, who had already been looking forward to seeing French girls and were now faced with so many of them at once, were left somewhat disappointed.
Madame Maxime seemed very familiar with Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Flitwick, and the three chatted casually for a moment. Afterward, Professor Flitwick led them into the Castle.
How to put it? The sight of tiny Professor Flitwick leading enormous Madame Maxime was quite striking.
Before entering the Castle, Madame Maxime made a point of giving some instructions concerning her Abraxans. Hagrid immediately appeared, and his brief but solid rundown of information about Abraxans amply demonstrated his knowledge of the creatures.
The Beauxbatons professors who had accompanied Madame Maxime all looked at Hagrid in surprise.
After all, recognizing an Abraxan was nothing unusual, but truly understanding Abraxans was no easy matter. They were quite rare.
Beauxbatons had used Abraxans to pull their carriage on this visit, frankly, to show off and flex their muscles. Yet