Durmstrang Headcanons: Rules of Admission and Muggleborns

(Those are not canon, but headcanons based on the idea/implication that Durmstrang is an exclusive private school, as well as the name being based on Sturm und Drang.)

Technically, the rules of admission for Durmstrang did not exclude muggleborns.

That is, there was no written down rule of "Student has to have one or two magical parents".

Instead, the rules simply worked in a way that made it almost impossible for anyone without existing connections in the magical world to comply.

Unlike Hogwarts and Beauxbatons, Durmstrang did not send out invitations. Instead, students had to apply many months in advance, which of course required knowing about Durmstrangs existence first.

With the deadline for applications at the end of January, many muggleborns wouldn't even find out they had magic before it had already passed.

Next, Durmstrang taught students from all across Europe, but most classes were held in German. So, the application also required proof that students could speak the language, easily justified as a means to make lessons go more smoothly.

Of course, if you were a witch or wizard with the means to send their child to Durmstrang, you would start those language lessons early and not run into any problems. And while that still left all the German, Austrian, etc muggleborns born between September and January in play, it still excluded most of the muggleborns outside of those countries.

Which is what the general education test was for. Again, officially it existed to make the selection fair and ensure a smooth integration into lessons. But as this test also included some hard questions about the magical world, it was often the excuse used to deny the few muggleborns that made it that far.

And then there was the price point. Durmstrang charged a pricey tuition for attendance, and didn't hand out scholarships. Again, it wouldn't keep out every muggleborn - but it would keep out "the poor", which was probably even more important for the rich elite that send their progeny here.

Lastly, Durmstrang restricted the number of students that could attend each year, which meant the school made a selection out of all applicants.

There was no official rule that excluded muggleborns. But as long as Karkaroff was headmaster, that selection simply never included them.

SEBASTIEN FONTAINE is TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OLD and an ESCORT at FAIR FARIBAULT’S in KNOCKTURN ALLEY. He looks remarkably like CHARLES MELTON and considers himself  NEUTRAL. He is currently TAKEN. 

→ OVERVIEW:

tw: death

True love can be shown in many different ways, through lavish gifts or quietly whispered words of affection, but to HUGO and ANTOINETTE FONTAINE their love was shown through the small looks they gave one another across the rooms at high-class parties and functions. A single look between the pair could convey a thousand feelings of love, comfort and need for the other and all of their friends could see it, those that were unmatched themselves would prey upon Merlin himself to have a love that shined even as half as brightly as that of the Fontaines. Blessed with a silver spoon since birth, Hugo created a potions empire for the couple to never want for anything financially. However, all the silver spoons in the world could not offer them their deepest desire. A child. Years of trying and failing, even with the beautiful looks and grace her veela blood offered her, the one thing she truly desired was still out of reach. Finally pregnant Antoinette was well into her third trimester when she wanted to ease her fears for the child so she took it upon herself to get some reassurance about the birth. Waiting for Hugo to leave for work she went to visit a well-known seer in the area VANA RAYNE to see if the woman could see her child’s future. The seer spoke of a fork in the road, there was a choice to be made in regards to the life within Antionette, only one would survive the day of his birth and Antoinette was adamant it would be the child, happy to give her life so that Hugo could raise their child with the love of both parents. 

The day her waters broke Antoinette was rushed to the nearest wizarding hospital and slyly passed a note to the head midwife there, requesting that if it came to a choice between her and her son, they would choose to save his life, knowing that Hugo may not be in the right state of mind to make that decision himself. Complications came and Hugo showed his true colours, he loved Antoinette with all his heart and demanded she be saved, not caring for the babe within her. Keeping to her wishes the midwife saved the baby and his mother died with him in her arms, Hugo, distraught, pushed the baby away when the midwife tried to hand him over and that day set the tone for the rest of Sebastiens upbringing. Raised by the house elves and his tutors Sebastien saw little of his father, and what he did see he wished he hadn’t. The only interaction between father and son was cold looks and harsh words for Hugo didn’t see the light of Antoinette that shined within the boy, he only saw her cold unmoving body whenever his eyes were set upon his son. His childhood was a lonely one, after his wife’s death Hugo closed himself off from all of their friends thus closing Sebastien off too, all the other children would play together at parties and Sebastiens only friends were his house elves and the characters in the story books his tutors read to him on an evening. Alone and unhappy Sebastien longed for the day that this nightmare would end. That day came in the form of a sunny Tuesday in May when he received his letter to study at Beauxbatons allowing him the opportunity to be far away from his fathers indifference and cultivate a life for himself outside of the Fontaine family walls. 

Leaving for Beauxbatons his father gave him little in the way of comfort nor did he offer the boy a single hug or pat on the back, the only words of wisdom he offered before apparating on the spot was this; ‘make good connections amongst the Pure-Blood elite, you’re going to need them later in life.’ Stepping in that carriage and setting off was like stepping into a new life, a new opportunity to prove his worth to his father and also make some friends that weren’t small with big ears and there to serve him. Becoming close with a boy in his house Sebastien made his very first friend in ALEXANDER TREMBLAY, a Pure-Blood boy with an appetite for the finer things in life he brought Sebastien out of his shell. Finding his personality with this boy, Sebastien went from a scared little boy to embracing his new life and although he would always be quiet and reserved it was no longer out of fear of rejection, it was instead to revel in his new reality. Through Alexander Sebastien was introduced to other rich socialites MIRA IYER and ALEXANDRA ROSIER creating an exclusive group of students that ruled the school. Alexandra was the queen of the group and Sebastien was happy to follow, pleased that he had both fulfilled his fathers wish and also made a group of friends he loved and adored. Coming out of his shell at Beauxbatons had also led him to notice the looks he would receive on a daily basis, many looked at him with lust-filled eyes that he had to put down to the veela blood running through his veins. Although Sebastien clearly had many admirers there was only one girl for him as Alexandra made it clear to all the others that he was hers.

Happy in his relationship and his group of friends Sebastien thrived in school, he became known for his strong and silent nature but those close to him knew him to be soft and kind when needed. The person who knew that most was Mira, Alexandra’s right hand woman and the girl she usually took the brunt of her annoyance out on Mira was someone Sebastien related to well. Wanting the approval of Alexandra the same way he needed the approval of his father led to the pair creating a bond, whenever Alexandra was too harsh or cutting towards Mira he would always be there to squeeze her hand in comfort of whisper reassuring words her way. It was well-known around school that Andra was a piece of work, and although her inner circle often saw a different side to her it was the face she showed to the rest of the school that lead to Sebastien and his other friends having to follow her lead and be cruel towards her biggest rival CLAUDETTE DELACOUR. A pretty girl that Sebastien didn’t know well enough to discuss; he acted cold towards her to comfort Andra’s insecurities. Her coldness only became much more apparent when tragedy hit the Rosier family and her father died, Andra came back to school after the death even more cruel and cutting than before, and although Sebastien could see through her coldness to the kind, witty and insecure girl beneath her sharp words and her savage demeanor began to take its toll on their relationship. Evident that Andra had the weight of her family’s name pressing down on her shoulders she began to close Sebastien out, her aspirations of furthering her families name in Pure-Blood society held no space for a Half-Veela boyfriend and so she cast him aside. 

Desperate to get out of France and away from his heartache and the pressures surrounding the Fontaine name Sebastien moved to London and started working at Fair Faribaults, an escort agency who dealt with rich Pure-Blood clientele. Having a business venture in need of financial backing Sebastiens plan was to use his veela allure to lure in rich backers since his father wouldn’t give him the funds he needed. Working at the agency he became friends with the owner GEORGINE FARIBAULT and renowned vampire DAHLIA BLACKWOOD who was beautiful and rich but whose story scared Sebastien too much for him to ask for backing from her. He also met fellow escort CONSTANCE SONG, a veela like himself the girl had many of his own qualities, quiet and reserved he saw a lot of himself in her, yet when she spoke her words were cutting and cruel. The pair became obsessed with beating one another at their own game, both using their good-looks and strong silent personalities to lure in customers they began to compete for the title of top-dog, constantly trying to one up the other for who brought in the most money and who caught the richer clients. Amongst this competitiveness the pair have begun to find the other attractive, although they haven’t quite admitted it to themselves and even if they had, they wouldn’t dare admit it to each other. 

Now established in London Sebastien was happy to find that Mira and Alexander had also made the trip over the sea to begin their lives in London, meeting up regularly with them and new found friend STAR DAVENPORT the group was once again as close as they were in school, minus Alexandra of course.To his surprise his school friend Alexander had not come to London on his own but in fact had brought his fiance, Claudette, the beautiful blonde that Andra had so despised at school. Hoping to start over Sebastien was now trying to get close to Claudette and apologise for his past behaviour. Once again close to Mira Sebastien moved in with her and was proud of the girl’s accomplishments once she had escaped the grasps of his ex-girlfriend. However, finding out that Alexandra was in fact in town made Mira question whether to allow the girl back into her life. Despite Sebastiens advice she did and now Sebastien is waiting for the day he has to be in Alexandra’s company once again, hoping upon hope that old feelings won’t surface and he is once again under her charismatic trance. Awaiting the day he sees Alexandra again Sebastien is trying to focus on other things, such as potential backers for his business venture, his new found school friends and the irritating yet kind of attractive Constance who takes up his every waking moment with ways to beat the know-it-all witch. 

→ ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Blood Status → Half-Blood (½ Veela)

Sexuality  → Up to Roleplayer

Relationship Status → Single

Previous Education → Beauxbatons Academy of Magic

Family → Antoinette Fontaine (deceased mother), Hugo Fontaine (father)

Connections  → Mira Iyer (best friend/roommate), Alexander Tremblay (best friend), Alexandra Rosier (ex-girlfriend/potential love interest), Claudette Delacour (former adversary/friend), Georgine Faribault (boss/friend), Dahlia Blackwood (colleague/friend), Constance Song (colleague/potential love interest), Star Davenport (friend)

Future Information → N/A

SEBASTIEN FONTAINE IS A LEVEL 5 WIZARD/VEELA.