The Wizarding World Geocache Series
"Upon the signature of the International Statute of Secrecy in 1689, wizards went into hiding for good. It was natural, perhaps, that they formed their own small communities within a community."
— The secrecy surrounding the wizarding world
The Wizarding World, also referred to as the magical community, is the society in which wizards and witches live and interact, separate from non-wizarding society. The two communities are kept separate through the use of charms, spells, and secrecy. Wizards and witches are forbidden to reveal anything about magic to Muggle society due to the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, but that does not mean that the two worlds live entirely apart.
Welcome to the Wizarding World
"Thought to be situated somewhere in the Pyrenees, visitors speak of the breath-taking beauty of a chateau surrounded by formal gardens and lawns created out of the mountainous landscape by magic."
- Description of Beâuxbatons Academy of Magic
The Beâuxbatons Academy of Magic, the French magic school, founded sometime before 1290 and located in the French Pyrenees mountains. The school, one of the three wizarding schools in Europe (the other two being Durmstrang and Hogwarts) is a predominantly female boarding school and has a preponderance of French students, although students from Spain, Portugal, Holland, Luxembourg and Belgium also attend in large numbers. The headmistress of Beâuxbatons is Olympe Maxime. Nicholas Flamel, noted alchemist and only creator of the Sorcerer's Stone attended Beâuxbatons, which is also where he met his wife.
The Palace of Beauxbatons is a beautiful chateau surrounded by majestic gardens and fountains magically created out of the surrounding mountains. The school looks very impressive despite having stood for over seven hundred years. In the Dining Chamber, Wood Nymphs serenade the students while they eat, and at Christmas, the hall is adorned with great, glittering, non-melting ice sculptures. The students' uniforms are pale blue robes made of fine silk.
Education at Beauxbatons Academy is of a similar caliber to the education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Scotland. However, there are differences, such as Beauxbatons students taking their examinations in their sixth year, rather than their fifth, like their Hogwarts counterparts.
The school's coat of arms consists of two golden wands crossed over one another, each shooting three stars.
