Annelies de Vauclair || First Year || Beauxbatons

Two kids from two different lives, Martsje Veenstra born to two muggle farmers in the Netherlands and Henri de Vauclair a French pure blood wizard and heir to the family business. The two initially met at Beauxbatons and although they were two years apart in age, their love and talent for potions brought them together. They started dating at the end of Martsje’s last year and went on to become engaged after dating for four years. While Henri’s family held him to certain standards, they openly welcomed Martsje into the family after the two started dating and were very fond of her due to her natural charms, intelligence and hard working personality. After the two were married in 2014 they went on to enjoy a lovely honeymoon and a month later they discovered they were pregnant with Annelies.


When Martsje discovered she was pregnant she initially wanted the pair to move closer to her family in the Netherlands but ultimately they decided to stay at the de Vauclair estate until after the baby was born. The de Vauclairs’ made sure Martsje had every comfort even redecorating the guest space they were residing in on the estate to have a lovely nursery for when the baby arrived. On June 12th, 2015, Martsje and Henri welcomed their first child, Annelies. While they decided on the name together, they gave her the middle name Marguerite after Henri’s mother who was probably more excited than the two of them as this was her first grandchild and would become the next heir after Henri for the de Vauclair business.



While the three of them were able to visit the Netherlands to visit Martsje’s family there, after spending a year and a half in France at Henri’s family’s estate, Martsje wanted to be closer to her family and they decided to make their move to Leeuwarden. This allowed them to be close to her family and allowed Annelies to see her mother’s heritage as well. This allowed the baby to naturally learn to speak French and Dutch from her young age.



Annelies had an interesting childhood growing up in her early years in the Netherlands and spending a lot of time at the Veenstra family farm while also visiting the French family at the estate frequently. Due to this she was fluent in both French and Dutch and even learned Frisian as well from a young age as her grandparents spoke that on the farm. As a toddler her curiosity started to show as she would often wander around the farm to visit the animals, follow her family members around to watch them do their farm chores and want to explore everywhere.

When Annelies was three the family welcomed in their second child, Rosalie and three years later another baby girl was born, Liliane. Annelies was beyond excited to become an older sister and was always by her mother’s side to watch and help with the babies. As an older sister, Annelies wanted to be the best role model she could be. She enjoyed getting to play with her sisters, read to them, do their hair, and as she got older she even made her own bedtime routines with them to help them go to sleep.

Growing up between the farm and the estate and the very different lifestyles her Dutch and French families lived, she always found herself in the middle of both worlds but truly enjoyed both, not one more than the other. She loved spending time on the farm, boots on, getting dirty and helping her family where she could but she also loved spending time with her French family at the estate and getting dressed up for outings and events that they would take her too. Their lifestyles were more different than just that. The French side of her family were all wizards, magic was common place at the estate so she saw early on the difference between their magical household and the Veenstra family farm where they lived simply and without magic.

But while she enjoyed her life the way it was, as she continued to get older her family’s expectations began to be put onto her. Her grandfather Armand de Vauclair held her in a special place in his heart, truly loved his first grandchild with everything but also wanted her to truly live up to her fullest potential, especially because in her he saw the future of their family’s legacy. He and her grandmother Marguerite were often telling her she needed to be the best role model for her younger sisters and eventually her younger cousins as well as they would all be looking up to her. While they did this with her best interest in mind, the feelings of needing to be perfect and wanting to please everyone began.

Her Veenstra grandparents, on the other hand, didn’t hold her to the same expectations as the de Vauclairs. While they too encouraged her to do her best, they instilled more of the work ethic into her to always try her best and work hard, the same things they lived by in their lives on the farm. She was close to her grandfather Wiebe as he would let her follow him around, show her how to do different jobs on the farm, listen to her multitude of questions and always encouraged her to play and run freely.

At home, away from the farm and the estate, Annelies was probably the most relaxed and most herself. From an early age she fell in love with dance, dancing around the room as a toddler and creating her own performances. Her parents put her lessons for dance and, at the request of Henri’s family, piano and violin lessons. She enjoyed all of the lessons thought and loved getting to perform for her family members on both sides. Outside of those lessons, she was also sent a private tutor from the de Vauclairs to give her a proper education before she would able to follow in her family’s footsteps and attend Beauxbatons. On most days in her free time she loved reading, art of all kinds and wandering around outside in the small garden and greenhouse her parents had. When she was eight she also began horseback riding, learning from her mother’s sister, her aunt Alies and even was gifted her own horse for her 9th birthday that she affectionately named Fleurie.