With Yule Ball fast approaching, Nurcan is also using what time she has to try getting someone to experience Yule Ball. By helping a potential partner with coursework before asking them, mostly.

  Last time, I didn’t attend Yule Ball because I had no invitation from a fourth-year or above. This year, I feel pressured to find a dance partner and not simply because I’m a survivor of the Triwizard Tournament, Nurcan starts wondering whose offer to accept.

  But, at the same time, Ricardo and Paulinho are both already taken, as are some other boys. Then comes Nacien, whom she seriously considers taking as a dance partner:

  “Nacien, je t’ai aidé à plusieurs reprises. C’est à ton tour de m’aider!” (Nacien, I helped you on multiple occasions. It’s your turn to help me!)

  “Je te dois une faveur. Tu m’as aidé en arithmancie et en divination!” (I owe a favor to you. You helped me in Arithmancy and Divination!)

  “Veux-tu être mon cavalier pour le bal de No?l?” (Do you want to be my dance partner for Yule Ball?)

  “Oh oui!”

  “Merci!”

  “Avant de commencer, s’il te pla?t, garde en tête que ce que tu portes au bal de No?l pourrait être utilisé après la graduation!” (Before we begin, please keep in mind that whatever you wear at Yule Ball might be used after graduation!)

  Ouch. I really hope that I have saved up enough to buy a dress not unlike those Muggle diviners, like I heard about those charlatans at home, or perhaps the kaftan dresses that some of the Imperial diviners, Muggle or wizarding, wore, with the understanding that I might have to wear it after graduation. Selim III sure believes that a worldly court would help him achieve the post-Iasi tajdid that the Irad-I Cedid is but a part of! But I might be called upon to become one of the Imperial diviners, albeit at the Bab-I Humayun rather than the Muggle harem, Nurcan is frozen in place by the implications of clothing.

  “C’est vrai!” (That’s true!)

  “Très bien, Miss Irad-I Cedid, l’heure est venue de magasiner!” (Very well, Miss Irad-I Cedid, the time has come to shop!)

  Nacien then brings her to Visigny on Saturday, where, on their way to the local Gringotts branch, they can both overhear the Muggles on the other side of the river talk about how Louis XVI’s trial for treason has opened.

  “Après l’Armoire de Fer, c’était juste une question de temps!” (After the Armoire de Fer, it was just a question of when!) the Muggle who sold Nurcan a Muggle peasant dress for the cahier over three years ago exclaims.

  “C’est quoi l’Armoire de Fer?” (What’s the Armoire de Fer?) Nacien asks her, hoping for an answer.

  “?a a probablement été découvert pendant que j’étais à Hogwarts; je crois que le scandale de l’Armoire de Fer était lié à des documents compromettant l’ex-roi!” (It was probably discovered while I was at Hogwarts; my guess is that the Armoire de Fer’s scandal was tied to documents compromising the ex-king!)

  For all the flaws of the Revolutionaries, at least they’re still willing to adhere to their own due process reforms for now. But the evidence against him will take a while to process, Nurcan ruminates on the implications of due process on legal proceedings.

  “Tu en penses quoi du procès?” (What do you think of the trial?) Nacien asks her before getting to Gringotts.

  “Je crois que le verdict et la sentence vont être déterminants dans la direction future de la Révolution!” (I believe the verdict and the sentence will be critical in the future direction of the Revolution!) Nurcan explains herself while she’s at Gringotts’ doorstep.

  Upon arriving at Gringotts, it becomes clear that, post-TT, the French-language sales of The Rise of Miss Irad-I Cedid have skyrocketed, since her balance in bezants increased during her stay at Hogwarts, too. The question remains: would there be anything like she wanted locally? If so, could she afford it? If not, could there be some fabric that she could use magic to dye and subsequently sew, or simply use magic to change one of her existing outfits?

  “Tu m’as paru plus ouvert à la Révolution…” (You appeared more open to the Revolution…) Nurcan comments about Nacien’s attitude.

  “?a te tient à c?ur, je le vois!” (It’s dear to you, I see it!)

  But, as she strolls the village to look for clothes, it becomes tiresome to her to have to answer the locals’ questions about the Revolution, and, of course, her positions on various topics, such as democracy, separation of powers, and centralization of government. On top of fiscal and judiciary reforms.

  Which, in her mind, underscores the limits of the residents’ understanding of Muggle politics and current events.

  Yet, there seems to be one topic that everyone and their dogs avoid: war.

  Upon returning to Beauxbatons, unsatisfied with the clothing offerings in town, the couple decides to just go to the theater department, then get unclaimed old costumes that sat there for months.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  When they get their hands on one set apiece, one male and one female, and put them on the floor, Nacien asks her:

  “As-tu appris le Multicorfors à la maison?” (Did you learn Multicorfors at home?)

  “Non!” Nurcan gasps. “On n’est pas aussi obsédés de mode chez nous; ?a fait quoi, du Multicorfors?” (We’re not as fashion-obsessed; what does Multicorfors do?)

  “?a change ta tenue!” (It changes your outfit!)

  “Comment faire alors?” (How to do it then?) she asks.

  “Visualise la tenue que tu désires avant de chanter Multicorfors et d’agiter la baguette en conséquence. Tu peux toujours changer la couleur plus tard!” (Visualize the outfit you want before saying Multicorfors and waving the wand accordingly. You can always change the color later!)

  Nurcan then visualizes her dress to be a kaftan purple dress, embroidered with golden lace, not unlike those worn by the witches working for the Bab-I Humayun, and possibly one of those Imperial diviners.

  “Multicorfors!” Nurcan shouts in the dress’ direction.

  She then puts on the dress, while Nacien puts on his own outfit, which makes him look like a Convention Nationale member. Once the dress is on:

  “Jolie!” (Pretty!) Nacien comments on her appearance wearing that dress.

  “Je suis peut-être jolie, mais il y a des tonnes de filles aussi jolies que moi, ou même plus belles encore!” (I might be pretty, but there are tons girls as pretty as I am, or even prettier!) Nurcan comments on the student body’s girls.

  “Tu es clairement un cerveau!” (You’re clearly a brain!)

  “Merci!”

  He might not be familiar with, say, Alejandra, but I know better than to underestimate her, magically or intellectually. She might be a little hot-headed, or take things personally a little too much, Nurcan, now having secured her clothing and her partner for Yule Ball on December 25.

  So, after the exams end, between dancing lessons, she starts writing her memoirs on her experience at the Triwizard Tournament, along with key events from July 14, and their significance to the Muggle world, after she submits the expense report to the Bab-I Humayun.

  While the resulting text is far from complete by December 25, it seems like every survivor of the Triwizard Tournament and their respective partners are herded at the Great Hall’s main entrance. With everyone wearing either formal clothing as worn in the outside world, or Multicorfored outfits to achieve the same result.

  Oh nice, the only time where we can wear something other than our uniforms while on campus! Ricardo thinks while the doors are about to open, while next to Alejandra.

  With hundreds of students attending, and the need to reserve enough space for them to both dance and eat, the room is magically expanded, and the tables, transfigured into a different shape, before the doors could open.

  Once the doors open, they reveal a hall filled with ice sculptures that don’t melt, representing St. Nicolas driving a magical sleigh, and seven reindeer. With a holly wreath, and a tree harvested from higher up the Pyrenees, filled with garlands, and other decorations.

  And, of course, a smorgasbord, as served at Durmstrang, on one table, British and Irish food on another. And, obviously, Christmas food from all over the territories Beauxbatons draws its student body from on other tables, while not neglecting local Couserans dishes.

  So, in the end, it appears this year’s Yule Ball is hosted almost exactly as if it hosted the TT, with the primary difference being that, instead of champions opening the dance, survivors of the actual TT do.

  Like Paulinho, who’s drawn to Emmanuelle having used Multicorfors on her Quidditch jersey to turn it into a black, ankle-length qipao dress as found in Zhanjiang, with silver trim.

  Or Alejandra, and so on, so forth. So, once the 12 couples start dancing for a bit, it seems like Nurcan’s dancing the contredanse is a little stiff.

  “Pas le meilleur couple au monde, sauf que…” (Not the best couple in the world, except for…) Christine comments on the two dancing as she’s about to start dancing.

  It seems like the Duke of Trefle-Picques didn’t invite me to any of these events at the Versailles court, or there might not even have been any of these events during the short time I was at the Estates-General! After all, I saw how hectic the Estates-General were… Nurcan gets some flashbacks of the time she spent in Versailles upon hearing from Christine about how Nacien didn’t form the best pairing with her. However, an echo from a past interaction with Nacien resurfaces in her mind: Mais de ce que je connais de l’amour, une relation purement transactionnelle ne dure pas!

  “Et maintenant, la musique!” (And now, the music!) Armand announces the attendees.

  Nurcan gets to the smorgasbord table, along with Christine, both wondering what do people at Durmstrang differ from the food they ate while at Beauxbatons. Just like the other 11 survivors do, Christine follows suit, under music played by one musician each from the catchment areas of Hogwarts and Durmstrang.

  But because she spent a month at Hogwarts, as did all other TT survivors, she skips the table filled with British dishes.

  Cold, salted fish and meat, salad, and then meatballs. I just want to keep some room to eat other stuff from elsewhere. But the selection seems to be a little limited, Nurcan is left wondering how different Durmstrang is going to be from a culinary standpoint, especially for someone used to the food at Beauxbatons.

  Which leads Nurcan to question Griet:

  “Qu’est-il arrivé à Luc?” (What happened to Luc?)

  “Luc a démissionné une fois de retour ici! Il disait qu’il ne pouvait plus cautionner les actions de la Convention Nationale après le Tournoi des Trois Sorciers!” (Luc resigned after he returned here. He said he could no longer caution the Convention Nationale’s actions after the Triwizard Tournament!) Griet explains to her.

  “Attends un peu, Griet: la Convention Nationale est le gouvernement moldu. Pourquoi tient-il la Convention responsable pour le TT?” (Wait a minute, Griet: the Convention Nationale is the Muggle government. Why does he hold the Convention responsible for the TT?)

  “Il prétendait que la Convention Nationale jetait notre jeunesse aux loups!” (He claimed the Convention Nationale threw our youth to the wolves!) Griet answers her.

  “?a ne lui ressemble pas! La Convention a peut-être considéré des sorciers morts comme un prix acceptable à payer pour l’atteinte de ses objectifs, cependant…” (That’s so unlike him! The Convention might have considered wizard deaths as an acceptable price to pay for the pursuit of their objectives, though…)

  But, as the ball progresses, it becomes clearer that the administration wanted to capture as much as it possibly could of the cultural aspect of the Triwizard Tournament after the actual competition was cancelled.

  When the midnight bell is about to toll, and students are about to return to their rooms:

  “Don’t forget: we leave for Place Cachée, tomorrow morning, I take my History of Magic BUSE and, after that, we’re bound for Washington!” Emmanuelle explains to Nurcan.

  “échange Scolaire Officielle is where you need to go to take your extraordinary History of Magic BUSE!” Nurcan tells her.

  And then I need to empty my bezant balance and exchange it for dragots; not sure the Visigny branch would have enough dragots, or even the Place Cachée one, but some bank in Washington will… Nurcan ruminates.