Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In today’s video we’re once again
going to be discussing French Beauxbatons graduate Fleur Delacour. You guys seem to
be really enjoying getting to know her character, so I thought I’d oblige and continue to
make content covering her.
When Fleur is first introduced as a fierce competitor in the triwizard tournament, she
showed up at Hogwarts positively unimpressed with her surroundings. When she walked in
the room the most obvious thing about her was that she was strikingly beautiful, but
she also gave off a very pompous, arrogant vibe. However, when Harry goes on to save
her little sister Gabrielle during task 2 of the triwizard tournament, something which
Fleur herself failed to do, Fleurs tone changed quite a bit- dropping the icy attitude and
even going on to become friends with Harry.
Now, for those that have only seen the films, you probably don’t know Fleur very well
at all, so most of these things are going to be news to you. As for the book-readers,
I’m willing to bet that there are still a few things that you didn’t know. Either
way, sit back, relax, and enjoy my top 10 interesting facts about Fleur Delacour.
#1 - Her heritage
Though Fleur looks almost completely human, she actually has one quarter Veela blood running
through her veins. For those unaware:
"Veela are semi-human magical beings; beautiful women with white-gold hair and skin that appears
to shine moon-bright. When angry, Veela take on a less pleasant appearance; their faces
elongate into sharp, cruel-beaked bird heads, and long scaly wings burst from their shoulders."
And this is partially what makes Veelas so enigmatic, as where in one moment they can
exude sheer beauty, in the very next moment they can turn in to horrific monsters. Harry
sees this first-hand:
"At this, the veela lost control. Instead of dancing, they launched themselves across
the field and began throwing what seemed to be handfuls of fire at the leprechauns. Watching
through his Omnioculars, Harry saw that they didn’t look remotely beautiful now.”
The beauty of Veelas enchants men who come across them, and despite Fleur only being
one Quarter Veela, it was evident that her beauty had an impact on the boys of Hogwarts.
#2 - Her Wand
Next up we have Fleurs wand. Now, In Harry Potter everyone has a wand unique to them,
so no surprises there- but, among all of the possible wand combinations in the wizarding
world, Fleur’s is still pretty unique.
Garrick Ollivander: "Yes, nine and a half inches... inflexible.. rosewood... and containing...
dear me.. " Fleur Delacour: "An 'air from ze 'ead of a
veela. One of my grandmuzzer's."
You see, Fleurs wand possessed an ancestral element - a familial component- veela hair.
When Fleur was young, her grandmother gave her the hair that was eventually placed in
to her wand. Though powerful, the hair of a veela makes the wand very ‘inflexible’
as well as exceedingly hard to control. If you think about it, this actually fits Fleur
quite well.
#3 - Her Beauty
Being a quarter-veela, beauty is an important part of Fleurs characters. It’s described
constantly, and because of her heritage it almost transcends the traditional idea of
‘beauty’. Everything about her turns heads- and this is because Veela possess beauty sort
of akin to the ‘sirens’ of different mythologies, an alluring-irresistable type of beauty. But
one really interesting thing about Veela is that they don’t completely steal the show
with their beauty, in fact, when they’re in a positive emotional state themselves they’re
able to make those around them seem more beautiful as well. While she was getting married to
Bill, Fleur was well and truly happy, and it was at this moment that Harry noticed that,
even Bill, started looking better and better- despite rocking a faceful of scars. It would
seem that the beauty of a Veela has the ability to ‘emanate’ and effect others to some
extent.
#4 - She worked at Gringotts
From 1995-1997, starting in the summer of 95- Fleur secured a part-time job at Gringotts.
Gringotts, which is operated primarily by Goblins, is the only wizarding bank in that
part of the world. Despite being French, Fleur’s proficiency at speaking English- which developed
as time went on- allowed her to work in this setting. It was at Gringotts that Fleur became
reacquainted with Bill Weasley, the eldest Weasley child. Bill, who worked as a curse
breaker for the bank had returned from Egypt and secured a desk job- at which point Bill
and Fleur started dating. After dating for a brief period, Bill recognized that he was
madly in love- prompting him to propose. The two got married shortly thereafter.
#5 - Molly and Ginny hated her
After Bill proposed to Fleur, he wanted her to better know his family- which prompted
their extended visit to the Burrow in the summer of 1996. However, it wasn’t long
before Fleur made a negative impression on the matron of the home- Molly, as well as
the Weasley daughter, Ginny.
"Bill is very busy at ze moment, working very 'ard, and I only work part-time at Gringotts
for my Eenglish, so he brought me 'ere for a few days to get to know 'is family properly.
I was so pleased to 'ear you would be coming — zere isn't much to do 'ere, unless you
like cooking and chickens!"
You see, Fleur was very proud of her heritage and her background- and this comes across
in her demeanour to a certain degree. She was also very outspoken- a good example of
this was when she visited Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament as during her visit,
she made a bit of a habit of complaining about the school,constantly comparing it to her
own school - Beauxbatons. She showed similar behaviour when visiting the Burrow- comparing
it to her own home, and it was this snobbish behaviour that the Weasley women picked up
on. However, it wasn’t all on Fleur, the Wealsey women also unfairly judged her by
her looks- categorizing her to fit the ‘dumb blonde’ stereotype. Ginny even had her own
nickname for Fleur- ‘phlegm’.
Fortunately, Molly and Ginny did eventually realize their mistake of being too harsh on
Fleur. This came after Fleur demonstrated her loyalty to Bill following his debilitating
injuries inflicted at the hands of Fenrir Greyback. When Fleur stayed with Bill after
his appearance changed as a result of his injuries, it became clear that her relationship
with him wasn’t just ‘superficial’ or ‘physical’ - they truly were compatible.
#6 - Children
It should come as no surprise that Bill and Fleur, after getting married, went on to have
children of their own. Fleur became the mother of three children- Victoire, Louis, and Dominique
Weasley- expanding the already prolific Weasley clan even more. Given that both Victoire and
Dominique were female- and that Fleur had veela blood in her veins, her daughters also
possessed Veela blood. This made them ⅛ Veela. Technically, Louis had the same blood
in him, but it has been reinforced through canon that Veelas are only women.
#7 - Nurse-like Tendencies
Though she was not trained as a nurse, it seems like time and time again Fleur jumped
in to provide medical assistance to anyone that needed it. When Bill was savage by Fenrir
Greyback, she cared for him exceedingly well. Similarly, when others like Ollivander, Griphook,
Hermione, Ron, Harry etc needed medical assistance, she always took them in and cared for them.
Fleur poured her heart in to caring for people when they needed it, and I have no doubt in
my mind that Fleur also possessed an above average understanding of healing magic.
#8 - Special Magical Abilities
I’ve mentioned a few of them already- like her ability to emanate and ‘spread’ beauty,
as well as her ability to help people heal, however, Fleur had a lot more abilities than
that. Perhaps most notably, Fleur was considerably talented at producing charms- such as the
ingenious bubble-head charm that she utilized in the triwizard tournament. Later in life,
Fleur also developed a knack for performing household magic- much like her mother in law
Molly. With already very strong maternal instincts, these spells helped Fleur to cook and clean.
Though Fleur was often preoccupied with caring for other people, she still had an ‘edge’
and was a talented duellist- she was not one to cross.
And that’s it for this video! Whether you’re a book-reader, film-goer or both, I hope you
learned something new about Fleur Delacour. If you guys enjoy this type of video I’d
be happy to do it for other characters, just let me know in the comment section below.
Until next time, remember
It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities