Beauxbatons Stage Line
HarbourFront is a district located on the southern tip of the main isle of Singapore. It is also the gateway to a smaller offshore island, Sentosa. In the second tower of HarbourFront Centre is a station that allows passengers to
board enclosed capsules shaped like giant jewel cases with windows on
every side.
Next to the counters selling tickets for these jewel cable cars would be a Universal Studios ticketing booth, where admission passes can be purchased or collected. Each pass comes with a cheque for 11 Silver Sickles that bears the seal of Gringotts Wizarding Bank.
Some distance away from the booth would be a delicate doorway, blocked by a row of turnstiles. Instead of a plain metal bar, the stiles would have finely wrought iron panels, so that they act like waist-high revolving doors. On each turnstile would be a metal plate embossed with the letters and lines of a Gringotts cheque. Inserting the cheque (for 11 Silver Sickles) into the slot in a turnstile allows one person past the stile and beyond the layers of lace draped across the doorway.
Behind the lace would be a luxuriously appointed boudoir. New entrants would be led to circular padded benches in the centre of the room, where French maids could be seen serving refreshments to the waiting visitors. Lining the walls around the benches would be small alcoves, hidden from sight by heavy velvet curtains.
When a curtain is drawn aside and a flamboyantly dressed couturier behind it beckons, a maid would lead a visitor to the unoccupied garment maker and draw the curtain close. The couturier would proceed to fussily take body measurements, as well as record the his/her name and other personal particulars.
A stiff scarf, embroidered with the couturier's label, would be loosely draped round each visitor. After all preparations and arrangements have been completed, a maid would then lead them out of the boudoir and onto a boarding platform with a signboard hanging overhead, sporting the words “Beauxbatons Stage Line”.
New entrants would be drawn towards the towering branch of the Gringotts Wizarding Bank, where Muggle money can be converted into wizarding currency. Other must-stops would be the Owl Post Office and the Newsstand. Dotted between the three establishments would be kiosks selling dainty French cuisine, but with a wizarding flavour.
With all the excitement, it would be easy to forget the fashion detour. That is, until the scarf lights up with a message. Embedded in every scarf is a tiny receiver tuned to a unique frequency. When a newly tailored outfit is completed, a transmitter set to the corresponding frequency would be activated. The radio waves generated would wirelessly charge the battery connected to the paper-thin OLED that lights up, displaying the words, "Garment ready for collection".
At a quiet corner of the platform would be a counter with a signboard "Garment Collection" hung overhead. Surrendering the luminous scarf over the counter yields a set of light-weight, pale blue robes, including a white beret tastefully emblazoned with the Beauxbatons emblem, all cut and sewn to measure.
The platform afforda a panoramic view of the surrounding landscape. But this would be nothing compared to the wonder of watching a speck in the sky resolve into a golden winged horse pulling a pale blue carriage, clearly a Beauxbaton Stagecoach.
Next to the counters selling tickets for these jewel cable cars would be a Universal Studios ticketing booth, where admission passes can be purchased or collected. Each pass comes with a cheque for 11 Silver Sickles that bears the seal of Gringotts Wizarding Bank.
Some distance away from the booth would be a delicate doorway, blocked by a row of turnstiles. Instead of a plain metal bar, the stiles would have finely wrought iron panels, so that they act like waist-high revolving doors. On each turnstile would be a metal plate embossed with the letters and lines of a Gringotts cheque. Inserting the cheque (for 11 Silver Sickles) into the slot in a turnstile allows one person past the stile and beyond the layers of lace draped across the doorway.
Behind the lace would be a luxuriously appointed boudoir. New entrants would be led to circular padded benches in the centre of the room, where French maids could be seen serving refreshments to the waiting visitors. Lining the walls around the benches would be small alcoves, hidden from sight by heavy velvet curtains.
When a curtain is drawn aside and a flamboyantly dressed couturier behind it beckons, a maid would lead a visitor to the unoccupied garment maker and draw the curtain close. The couturier would proceed to fussily take body measurements, as well as record the his/her name and other personal particulars.
A stiff scarf, embroidered with the couturier's label, would be loosely draped round each visitor. After all preparations and arrangements have been completed, a maid would then lead them out of the boudoir and onto a boarding platform with a signboard hanging overhead, sporting the words “Beauxbatons Stage Line”.
New entrants would be drawn towards the towering branch of the Gringotts Wizarding Bank, where Muggle money can be converted into wizarding currency. Other must-stops would be the Owl Post Office and the Newsstand. Dotted between the three establishments would be kiosks selling dainty French cuisine, but with a wizarding flavour.
With all the excitement, it would be easy to forget the fashion detour. That is, until the scarf lights up with a message. Embedded in every scarf is a tiny receiver tuned to a unique frequency. When a newly tailored outfit is completed, a transmitter set to the corresponding frequency would be activated. The radio waves generated would wirelessly charge the battery connected to the paper-thin OLED that lights up, displaying the words, "Garment ready for collection".
At a quiet corner of the platform would be a counter with a signboard "Garment Collection" hung overhead. Surrendering the luminous scarf over the counter yields a set of light-weight, pale blue robes, including a white beret tastefully emblazoned with the Beauxbatons emblem, all cut and sewn to measure.
The platform afforda a panoramic view of the surrounding landscape. But this would be nothing compared to the wonder of watching a speck in the sky resolve into a golden winged horse pulling a pale blue carriage, clearly a Beauxbaton Stagecoach.