Fleur Delacour

"Listen, no bloke in his right mind's going to fancy Tonks when Fleur's around."

- Ron Weasley

Fleur Isabelle Weasley (née Delacour) (born c. 1977) is a French, part-Veela witch who attended Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. During the 1994 to 1995 school year, she was Beauxbatons' champion in the Triwizard Tournament. Fleur competed bravely, but the Tournament ended in tragedy with the murder of Cedric Diggory and the return of Lord Voldemort. In the following summer, Fleur took a part-time job at Gringotts Wizarding Bank to improve her English, and began dating co-worker Bill Weasley. The pair soon became engaged and Fleur stayed at the Burrow in the summer of 1996 to get to know Bill's family, but her blunt nature rubbed the majority of his family up the wrong way. Fleur participated in the Battle of the Astronomy Tower in 1997; during the battle, her fiancé was badly injured by the werewolf Fenrir Greyback. Despite many others believing that his scarring would be the end of their relationship, but Fleur proved that she truly loved Bill, and the pair married in August of that year, although the wedding was disrupted by Death Eaters following the fall of the Ministry of Magic. Fleur and Bill set up their own home at Shell Cottage, and later assisted Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley following their escape from Malfoy Manor. Fleur fought alongside her husband during the Battle of Hogwarts in 1998. After the end of the Second Wizarding War, she and Bill had three children: Victoire, Dominique and Louis Weasley.

Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and the Triwizard Tournament
"We 'ave all be 'oping to be chosen for weeks and weeks! Ze honour for our schools! A thousand Galleons prize money - zis is a chance many would die for!"

- Fleur Delacour

Fleur grew up in France, with her parents and sister, Gabrielle, and began attending Beauxbatons Academy of Magic around 1988. In 1994, along with Beauxbatons Headmistress Madame Olympe Maxime and a dozen other Beauxbatons students, she travelled to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to enter the Triwizard Tournament. During the welcoming feast on October 30th, she laughed derisively during Albus Dumbledore's speech, and asked Ron Weasley to pass her the bouillabaisse. Ron became somewhat infatuated by her at this time.

Fleur placed her name in the Goblet of Fire, and during The Halloween Feast, she was selected as the Beauxbatons Champion. While waiting for further instructions in a small room off the Great Hall, she learned that the Goblet of Fire had selected a fourth Champion - Harry Potter. At first, she thought that Ludo Bagman was joking, then surprised and outraged that they were to let a "little boy" compete in the Tournament. Fleur originally thought they wanted the Champions back in "ze hall."

Prior to the First Task, Fleur took part in the Wand Weighing ceremony presided over by Mr Ollivander, who considered her wand to be "inflexible". Fleur's entrance into the Tournament was overshadowed in the Daily Prophet due to Harry Potter's participation, and the only mention of her was in the last line of the article - and Rita Skeeter even spelled her name wrong.

The First Task
"You were the best, you know, no competition&hellip;that Fleur girl tried this sort of charm, I think she was trying to put it into a trance&mdash;well, that kind of worked, too, it went all sleepy&hellip;this great jet of flame shot out, and her skirt caught fire&mdash;she put it out with a bit of water out of her wand"

- Ron Weasley on Fleur's performance in the First Task

Forewarned by Madame Maxime that the First Task would involve dragons, Fleur was resigned to facing that fact on November 24th. She drew the Common Welsh Green and the second turn. Facing her dragon after Cedric Diggory, she managed to lure it into a sleeping trance. However, the dragon snored and released a jet of flame that set her skirt on fire. Fleur extinguished the fire with water from her wand, then managed to retrieve the Golden egg.

The Yule Ball and the Second Task
In the run-up to the Yule Ball, Fleur attempted to attract Cedric as a date, but he had already asked Cho Chang. Caught unawares by her Veela heritage, Ron Weasley spontaneously asked her to the ball. Suddenly aware of what he had done, he ran away before she could answer him. Finally, Fleur selected Ravenclaw Quidditch captain Roger Davies as her partner, who was completely helpless to her charms.

Fleur and Roger, along with the other Champions and their partners, opened the dancing at the Yule Ball. As the night wore on, Fleur and Roger left for the gardens, sneaking into the rose bushes for a romantic engagement.

On the 24th of February, Fleur participated in the Second Task. Having figured out the clue in the Golden egg and understanding the need to breathe underwater for an hour, she chose to use the Bubble-Head Charm. During the Task, she was attacked by Grindylows and was forced to retire. Back on dry land, she learned that her sister, Gabrielle, was the "hostage" that she had to rescue, and became increasingly concerned for her safety, and guilty at her own failure to rescue her. She was overjoyed when Harry, determined to rescue all the hostages, not just his own, returned to the surface with both Ron and Gabrielle. She thanked him and Ron profusely, then, upon learning that she had been awarded twenty-five points, remarked that she deserved zero. After two tasks, Fleur was in last place going into the Third Task.

The Third Task
Fleur joined the other Champions in viewing the beginnings of the maze for the Third Task on the site of the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch. On the day of the Third Task, Fleur was visited by her parents who had been invited to watch the final part of the Triwizard Tournament. She also laid eyes on Bill Weasley for the first time, and was immediately attracted to him.

Being in last place, Fleur was to be last to enter the maze behind Harry, Cedric Diggory and Viktor Krum. However, due to the machinations of Barty Crouch Jr (disguised, via Polyjuice Potion, as Alastor Moody), Fleur did not last long. Crouch wanted Harry to reach the Triwizard Cup so that he could be transported to meet with Lord Voldemort. To achieve this, he used Moody's magical eye to find Fleur in the maze, then stunned her. Harry found her immobilized and being taken away by vines, and sent red sparks into the air.

After the Triwizard Tournament and the murder of Cedric Diggory, Fleur attended the Leaving Feast at Hogwarts that served as a memorial to him. She left Hogwarts the day after, saying goodbye to Harry and telling him that she hoped they would meet again since she was hoping to return to England to work and improve her English.

Working for Gringotts
"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!"

- Fleur Delacour

During the summer of 1995, Fleur secured a part-time job at Gringotts Wizarding Bank. She was reunited with Bill Weasley, who had returned from Egypt and taken a desk job to help the Order of the Phoenix, and the two began dating.

Fleur and Bill dated for a year, falling in love, until ultimately Bill proposed to her. Fleur accepted, and, in the summer of 1996, Bill brought Fleur to the Burrow so she could get to know his family. However, her blunt nature and critical attitude brought her into conflict with the female members of the Weasley family. Mrs. Weasley didn't care for her at all, believing that she was not the right choice for her son, she even tried inviting Nymphadora Tonks over for dinners, and Ginny disliked her for her general attitude towards everything; she gave the older witch the nickname "Phlegm," although she never openly used it in front of her. Still, she was tolerated for Bill's sake. It may have been that her Veela ancestry interfered with the gender dynamics, as the male family members seemed to take no issue with her. She spent Christmas that year at the Burrow as well, furthering annoying Mrs. Weasley by stating her dislike of Celestina Warbeck, Mrs. Weasley's favourite singer.

Second Wizarding War
Although Fleur does not appear to have been an official member of the Order of the Phoenix, her fiancé was, thus Fleur supported the Order and fought for them in a few battles of the Second Wizarding War.

Battle of the Astronomy Tower
In the June of 1997, during the Battle of the Astronomy Tower, Bill was savaged by the werewolf Fenrir Greyback. Fleur rushed to Hogwarts with Bill's parents, and was shaken by Bill's scarred face. However, Fleur railed at Mrs. Weasley's assumption that she would not now want to marry Bill since he was no longer attractive. Taking offense, she criticised both the idea that she would not wish to marry him out of vanity, and that his feelings may have changed towards her because of possible werewolf contamination. In fact, she took pride in his wounds as living proof of his bravery, and stated she didn't care about how he looked as she was beautiful enough for both of them. Mrs. Weasley, finally seeing that Fleur and Bill were truly in love, reconciled with her future daughter-in-law over Bill's hospital bed, and offered Fleur the use of her Aunt Muriel's goblin-made tiara for her wedding day. In the days following, Fleur took care of Bill as he recovered from his injuries, and attended the funeral of Albus Dumbledore.

Battle over Little Whinging
"Bah, Bill, don’t look at me – I’m ‘ideous."

- Fleur to Bill after being disguised as Harry Potter

Three days before Harry's seventeenth birthday in 1997, Fleur was part of the effort to get Harry safely to the Burrow and participated in the battle that ensued. She took the role as a fake Harry, using Polyjuice Potion to take on his appearance. Paired with Bill, the two were to fly north on a Thestral in an effort to fool any Death Eaters. After departing, Fleur witnessed the death of Alastor Moody as the Death Eaters descended on them in an effort to capture Harry. Fleur and Bill were chased by half a dozen Death Eaters, but managed to escape and return to the Burrow and relay the news. Fleur was upset over Moody's death, and voiced the opinion that someone may have betrayed them as the Death Eaters seemed to know the plan to escort Harry to safety.

Wedding


On August 1st, 1997, Fleur and Bill were married at the Burrow. Ginny and Gabrielle were both bridesmaids. Fleur wore a simple white dress and Muriel's tiara. The celebration was overshadowed, though, by the news that the Ministry of Magic had fallen to Lord Voldemort, and that Rufus Scrimgeour was dead. Death Eaters, with the full power of the Ministry behind them, broke the protective spells surrounding The Burrow and Apparated into the reception. Fleur was questioned by them, along with the rest of the Weasley family, but was later free to go.

Shell Cottage
Fleur and Bill set up their own home, Shell Cottage, and spent their first Christmas there together along with Bill's younger brother Ron, who had secretly come to stay with them after abandoning Harry and Hermione Granger on their Horcrux quest.

Following Harry, Ron and Hermione's escape from Malfoy Manor, Fleur helped to look after them and their fellow escapees Dean Thomas, Mr Ollivander and Griphook. She helped Hermione recover from the torture she suffered at the hands of Bellatrix Lestrange, and healed Griphook's legs with Skele-Gro. Over the course of the next few weeks, she looked after her unexpected guests, although she disliked Griphook. When Ollivander was well enough to be transferred to Aunt Muriel's, she asked him to take Muriel's tiara back with him as she never had a chance to return it after the wedding. Fleur expressed concern over Harry's plans to leave Shell Cottage on his quest, telling him it was better for him to stay where it was safe.

Battle of Hogwarts
Alongside her husband and his family, Fleur answered Neville Longbottom's call to arms to fight in the Battle of Hogwarts against Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. During the tense reunion between Percy Weasley and his family, she led Harry and Remus Lupin in a side conversation regarding Lupin's son, Teddy, so they would not intrude. Fleur and Bill survived the battle, and she comforted her husband over the death of his brother Fred in battle.

After the War
Following the war, Fleur and Bill had three children, Victoire, Dominique and Louis Weasley.

Physical appearance
"I'm telling you, that's not a normal girl! They don't make them like that at Hogwarts!"

- Ron Weasley upon first seeing Fleur

Fleur was very attractive, and gained a lot of attention from boys. She was tall and willowy, and she had an air of gracefulness. Her hair was silvery blonde, and she had deep blue eyes and white, even teeth. Her beauty "usually dimmed everyone else by comparison", but on her wedding day, "it beautified everybody it fell upon". Ron declared early in the Goblet of Fire that he believes Fleur to be part Veela, which is confirmed later in the book when during the Weighing of the Wands. Ollivander identified Fleur's Wand core as being a Veela hair. Fleur reveals that the hair is one from her grandmother's head.

Personality and traits
"She's as much a fairy princess as I am."

- Barty Crouch Jr (disguised as Alastor Moody) about Fleur

As a quarter-Veela (inherited from her grandmother), Fleur has the inherent ability to attract men. Although hers would not be as strong as that of a full Veela, it can overwhelm unsuspecting individuals when she decides to use it.

Fleur was also a powerful and talented witch, as was evidenced by her selection as the Beauxbatons Champion. However, circumstances in the Tournament conspired against her, and she was unable to fully showcase her talents.

Fleur had a very blunt nature, expressing herself in no uncertain terms. She often came across as arrogant and shallow, and spoke her mind. She was highly critical of unfamiliar things, and would make her feelings on any particular subject known, from the state of Hogwarts Christmas decorations, to the way the English over-cook their meat. However, she seemed to not realise her comments could be insulting to some. Fleur's attitude may have stemmed from her confident nature; only when she feared for her sister's life did she let her guard down.

Fleur could also be very warm and caring; she fretted over the safety of those she loved. She also cried over the death of Alastor Moody following the flight from Little Whinging.

Fleur was also fiercely loyal. After Harry saved her sister from the lake during the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament, her opinion of him changed immediately. She had seen him previously as nothing but a little boy, but came to see him as an equal. During the summer of 1996 at The Burrow, she was genuinely pleased to Harry when he arrived, and in the summer of 1997, volunteered to help escort Harry from 4 Privet Drive. She also allowed him to stay at her home, and even honoured his request that the Goblin, Griphook, be allowed to stay. While she played host to Harry, Hermione, Ron and the others at her home, Harry noticed she had become a lot more like her mother-in-law, Molly Weasley, in traits such as worrying and fussing in a motherly fashion over him and his friends.

Bill Weasley
"You thought that I would not weesh to marry him? Or per'aps you hoped? What do I care how he looks? I am good-looking enough for both of us, I theenk! All these scars show is zat my husband is brave!"

- Fleur Delacour after seeing Bill's badly-scarred face, insisting upon caring for his injuries

Fleur first encountered Bill Weasley just prior to the Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament when he accompanied his mother to Hogwarts to support Harry Potter. She was attracted to him from the start, eyeing him from across the room while in the company of her parents. In the summer of 1995, Fleur took a part time job with Gringotts to improve her English. Bill had taken a desk job at the bank so that he could assist the Order of the Phoenix, and the two began dating. They had been dating for a year when Bill asked Fleur to marry him, and she accepted. Although his family (especially his mother and sister) were unimpressed by her, they accepted her when she showed how much she really loved Bill following his scarring at the hands of Fenrir Greyback in 1997. They were married on August 1st, 1997, the same day that the Ministry of Magic fell to Lord Voldemort. Although their wedding was disrupted by Death Eaters, Fleur and Bill were allowed to go free and set up home in Shell Cottage. Following the end of the Second Wizarding War, Fleur and Bill had three children; eldest to youngest, Victoire, Dominique and Louis.

Gabrielle Delacour
"You saved her even though she was not yours to save!"

- Fleur after Harry saves Gabrielle in the Second Task Fleur has a very close relationship with her sister, Gabrielle. During the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament, Gabrielle was taken into the lake as the thing that Fleur would sorely miss. After Harry Potter evidently saved Gabrielle's life by bringing her from the lake, she warmed quite a bit to him. At her wedding, Fleur made Gabrielle one of her bridesmaids, along with Ginny Weasley.

Harry Potter
"'Arry, you saved my sister's life, I do not forget."

- Fleur to Harry Potter at Shell Cottage.

In the beginning of their relationship, Fleur seemed to dislike Harry Potter, partially because she felt he was too young to participate in the Triwizard Tournament, and believing, like so many others, that he must have cheated his way in for personal glory. Her attitude toward him reversed completely after he rescued her sister from the lake. Eventually, she joined the Order of the Phoenix and married Bill Weasley, for which Harry was present. After their escape from the Malfoy Manor, Harry and several others came to her home at Shell Cottage. Having so many people at her home, especially the goblin Griphook, tested her patience, but she was still kind to Harry, of whom she still had a high opinion because she believed he saved her sister.

The Other Weasleys


The Weasleys' reaction to Fleur was initially lukewarm. They became more annoyed with Fleur when she and Bill became engaged, but tolerated her presence for his sake. Ron Weasley always had a soft side for Fleur, he always stuck up for her and once he asked her to go to the Yule Ball which she refused. Molly and Ginny Weasley in particular did not like Fleur, considering her snooty. Molly was irked by Fleur's criticism of her household and her favourite singer, Celestina Warbeck, and Ginny called her "Phlegm" and made fun of her behind her back. However, when Fleur did not break off their engagement following Bill's injuries, the Weasleys saw how deeply she loved Bill, and became more accepting of her. Molly convinced her aunt Muriel to lend Fleur her tiara for the wedding, and Ginny served as one of Fleur's bridesmaids.

Behind the scenes

 * Fleur was portrayed by Clémence Poésy in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
 * According to J.K. Rowling, her name comes from the French phrase fleur de la cour, meaning "flower of the court" or "noblewoman".
 * Fleur, in the books is said to have silvery-blond hair. However, Clémence Poésy has darker hair.
 * Fleur is french for flower.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (game)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Notes and references
Fleur Isabelle Weasley