HP: TSH — Chapter 321 - Bonus Chapter: Slytherin's China Trip 2 (Patreon)

They came out of Ruomu Zhai, and at Draco Malfoy's insistence, walked into a shop called Duobao Lou, the Chinese wizarding world's everyday equivalent of Borgin and Burkes, stocked floor to ceiling with all manner of Chinese magical objects, none of them involving the Dark Arts.

The shopkeeper was a white-haired old woman, her hair pinned without a single strand out of place, wearing a white silk qipao, gold-framed glasses on a chain, gold-set white jade earrings. Her smile was warm and unhurried.

"Welcome to Shanghai," she said in fluent English. "What can I show you today?"

"We're looking for gifts to bring back to England." Pansy Parkinson's personal-shopper radar had activated. "Lia, get something nice for your sister!"

Astoria had been drifting around the shop, touching everything in reach. She looked up the moment Pansy spoke. "Right — and Daffy too!"

"May I ask your name?" Praeris was the only one who thought to ask.

The shopkeeper smiled. "My surname is Zhang."

"We have a classmate named Zhang," Praeris said. "Cho Chang. At the dance, she wore something very similar to what you have on. She's a pretty, kind girl."

Praeris didn't have many impressions of Cho Chang. She remembered two: once, Cho Chang had urged others not to speak ill of Harry Potter. Another time, she had comforted Cedric after he lost his father.

"This is our Chinese qipao," the old woman said, smile deepening. "Oh my — then we must be family from five hundred years back!"

"Really?" Draco Malfoy asked, looking a little blank. "How would you know what happened five hundred years ago?"

"Draco!" Praeris covered her face.

That was obviously a pleasantry.

Wang Wenwen couldn't help laughing either, but she smoothed things over for Draco Malfoy: "Because Chinese history has continued unbroken for five thousand years. Trace back far enough, and one way or another, we all share common ancestors."

"Five thousand years —"

The foreign wizards went quiet. A school with a thousand years of history was already considered extraordinary where they came from. China could trace its history back five thousand.

Shopkeeper Zhang turned to Astoria. "What is your sister's name? What does she look like, and what does she enjoy? I can choose magical objects suited to her."

"Her name is Daphne Greengrass, and she looks a lot like me, but a bit taller." Astoria gestured to indicate height. "She likes classical jewelry. The kind that sparkles."

"Western classical and Eastern classical are different things," Shopkeeper Zhang said unhurriedly. "The laurel is a specialty of the Mediterranean, but in Chinese characters there is a name that reads the same — the cassia tree on the moon..."

Shopkeeper Zhang told them the story of Wu Gang. There was an immortal who had committed a wrongdoing and was punished to chop down the cassia tree growing on the moon. The tree stood 500 zhang tall, and the moment it was cut, it grew back immediately. Wu Gang could never finish the task. He never would.

Praeris said, almost to herself: "That sounds like Sisyphus."

"What is Sisyphus?" Pansy Parkinson didn't know Muggle stories.

"A king in Muggle mythology," Grace Jones said. "He revealed to a river god the whereabouts of the god's missing daughter, and in exchange received a river that flowed year-round. Then the god who had taken the river god's daughter came after him. That god had the god of death kill him — but he tricked the god of death, so as punishment he was made to push a boulder up a mountain every day. Every time he reached the top, the boulder rolled back down. He can never end his punishment."

"This Muggle was quite clever." Pansy Parkinson shook her head. "What a pity. The one thing a person can never refuse is death."

Shopkeeper Zhang held a different view from the shopkeeper at Ruomu Zhai. "If one doesn't resist," she said, "who can be certain that death is truly impossible to refuse? The most fascinating thing about life is its refusal to comply."

"Voldemort probably thought the same way," Grace Jones said.

Every Western wizard in the room looked at her.

She blinked. "Didn't he?"

Praeris shook her head, half amused, half resigned. "But that doesn't mean sacrificing other people's lives to do it." She paused. "Though — well. He was one of ours."

The Slytherin concentration in the room was extremely high. Everyone understood exactly what Praeris meant. No one dared continue the thread. In the years since the war, Voldemort had become a topic Slytherins didn't bring up voluntarily, much like Durmstrang students rarely mentioned Grindelwald.

Shopkeeper Zhang watched the mood sink and moved quickly, bringing out merchandise for Astoria to look through.

The first item was a bronze Moon Palace mirror. The back was engraved with a cassia tree at the center, the Jade Rabbit pounding medicine on the left, and Chang'e flying through the sky on the right.

"This is the Moon Palace Chanjuan bronze mirror, many foreign customers love it." Shopkeeper Zhang turned the mirror face toward Astoria. "Try asking it: what's the weather like today?"

"What's the weather like today?" Astoria said it, then caught herself. "Can it understand English?"

The mirror surface lit up with the sun, temperature, wind speed, humidity, and a recommended outfit for the day.

"Of course," said Shopkeeper Zhang. "You can also ask it to recommend a hairstyle and makeup look."

"Uh," Astoria wasn't sure what to say, so she simply repeated the suggestion. "Recommend a hairstyle and makeup look for me."

In the mirror, a pair of large earrings appeared at Astoria's ears. They looked completely natural. Her eyebrows had been subtly reshaped as well.

"Oh, this is wonderful!" Pansy Parkinson slapped Millicent's arm. "This one. Combined with your automatic hair band, you won't have to think about styling every morning!"

Shopkeeper Zhang warmly invited Millicent to try it. Millicent instructed the bronze mirror to design a style using the hair band, then had the automatic hair band braid itself to match the image in the mirror. A few words, and both hands were free.

"Buying it," Millicent said.

Astoria covered her face and moved on to the next item. She ended up with a sterling silver sachet bearing a cassia tree pattern, small, exquisitely made, and a generous quantity of matching Chinese magical spices.

"There's a Constant Balance Frame inside," Shopkeeper Zhang said. "It keeps everything level at all times. Nothing will spill."

The Western wizard tourists made a thorough sweep of Duobao Lou. Praeris bought Winnie Brown a Chinese wizard's beaded bracelet, 12 beads in a row, each one representing an animal from the Chinese zodiac, each carrying its own small magic.

No one left empty-handed. Draco Malfoy bought such a large quantity of Chinese alchemical materials and metals that the shopkeeper gave him a complimentary booklet on the history of Chinese alchemy.

Diagonally across from Duobao Lou was a shop called Baishou Yuan, the Chinese wizarding equivalent of Eeylops Owl Emporium, except the selection was far, far richer.

"We send letters by carrier pigeon," Wang Wenwen said. "Almost every wizard keeps one. So the ones tapping on Chinese young witches' and wizards' windows aren't owls, they're carrier pigeons."

The shopkeeper of Baishou Yuan let out a long-suffering sigh. "The worst fear is someone scatterbrained enough to stew a carrier pigeon."

"Oh, we would never eat an owl!" Pansy Parkinson shook her head vigorously.

A young witch in a black robe trimmed with color, wearing a matching hat, grinned. "Roasted squab is delicious."

"That won't do, that won't do!" The shopkeeper shook his head harder than Pansy Parkinson had.

Wang Wenwen wiped a bead of sweat from her temple. "The Chinese Ministry of Magic forbids the consumption of magical creatures. This is a witch from Baiyue, they always say they eat everything. She means ordinary squab, the same way you eat turkey."

Praeris blinked. Wang Wenwen hadn't explained why that regulation existed.

But every law had a story behind it.

"Where is Baiyue?"

"The south. Very close to Hong Kong, where you'll be making your connecting flight."

Chinese carrier pigeons served the same purpose as owls, but wizards kept other magical creatures as well.

"This is a li nu, though nowadays people just call them cats." The round-faced shopkeeper turned cheerfully toward the cage. "Mimi,"

The cat inside lazily turned its head.

The shopkeeper laughed, a little awkward. "She has her own ideas."

"Has her own ideas?" Millicent liked that. "I have a cat too, a kneazle. British kneazles also have their own ideas, but mine is different. She's not very clever."

Lady Bulstrode had always insisted on the best for a pet. Millicent had been dead set on Nini regardless. She didn't think of herself as a particularly clever witch, so why should she need a clever cat?

Nini wasn't a clever little cat, and Milly wasn't a clever little girl. That was simply the bond between the two of them.

"Hey!" The shopkeeper forgot this was a customer. "That's not how you put it, li nu don't need to go to school, so what would they need cleverness for!"

"That's true!" Millicent had a sudden revelation. Her mood lifted considerably. She bought a pile of Chinese cat treats.

The magical creature li nu came in several varieties: primarily the li hua, the xuan mao, and the shizi cat. The li hua was highly intelligent and formidable in a fight, but prone to running away from home. The xuan mao looked frightening but was extraordinarily loyal, and was said to be able to sense danger in advance. The shizi cat was gentle and friendly, and could become completely invisible in snow.

"We also have ling quan," the shopkeeper said. "Spirit hounds. But they need to be walked often, so we don't keep them here. You can make an appointment to come and see them."

Beyond that, pets varied by region. Wizards in the southwest kept wu du, the five venoms, including toads that British wizards kept as well. Beijing wizards preferred parrots. Dangerous magical animals were forbidden in the capital, the shopkeeper added, without elaborating. Northeast wizards kept hunting dogs and haidiaoqing. Northwest wizards favored falcons and horses. Southeast wizards kept jinli, ornamental koi said to bring good fortune.

Draco Malfoy immediately perked up. "Can they really bring good luck?"

Praeris couldn't help smiling. He was still just as interested in turning his luck around as ever.

The shopkeeper laughed heartily. "Tradition holds that they have this effect, but good fortune, well, heavenly timing, geographical advantage, and human harmony. Not one element can be missing."

...Incomprehensible. Chinese wizards spoke in such roundabout ways.

After they moved to another part of the shop, Wang Wenwen glanced back toward the shopkeeper and said, carefully: "This magical creature, if you keep it well, the wizard is happy. And when you're happy, your magic works better."

What she meant was: in practice, no luck-turning function. But since magic was genuinely somewhat mind-dependent, you couldn't call it useless either.

Chinese wizards really did choose their words carefully.

Having visited three shops, everyone had found something for themselves. Wang Wenwen took the opportunity to give them a rest, leading them to a teahouse for afternoon tea.

It was a square little building where you could order tea and dim sum. At the front of the room stood a small stage, where a man and a woman sat playing a stringed instrument while singing. The sound was melodious and gently winding.

"This is ping tan," Wang Wenwen said. "You won't be able to understand the words, that's all right. Many Chinese wizards can't follow it either. Just enjoy the dim sum."

"Even without understanding the language," Praeris said, "music and feeling come through."

Wang Wenwen smiled at that.

British people were accustomed to black tea, and Wang Wenwen had ordered it for them. But Chinese black tea tasted quite different. Chinese wizards had an entire dedicated tea set, and no additions were used, no sugar, no milk. Steeped and drunk pure.

Thoughtful of her foreign guests, Wang Wenwen asked if they'd like sugar cubes. Everyone except Millicent and Praeris said yes. What she brought back were paper-wrapped packets of white granulated sugar instead of sugar cubes. It would have to do.

Millicent waved off the offer entirely. "When you're somewhere new, you're supposed to experience what's local!"

They worked through the menu. Xie huang tang bao first, soup dumplings filled with crab roe, a little unusual, but reasonably good. Then sheng jian, pan-fried buns with a golden-crisp base, also unusual, also good. Then layered steamed cake and glutinous rice cakes stuffed with sweet fillings.

Magnificent.

The British contingent still had a sweet tooth, and the glutinous rice cakes were an enormous hit. Rose-flavored steamed rice cake, triumph cake, double-stuffed glutinous rice balls, long-strip red bean rice cake, not a single plate went unfinished.

Chinese wizards, it seemed, enjoyed listening to music while they ate. At first everyone sat up straight, listening attentively, not touching the dim sum even after it arrived. They were worried about disrespecting the performers.

Wang Wenwen told them this was meant to be enjoyed while eating. Everyone relaxed.

The performer playing the pipa on stage was deeply absorbed in the piece, and she played beautifully. The story seemed to be about a snake who fell in love with a human. Translated, the title was: Legend of the White Snake.

Draco Malfoy and Praeris exchanged a glance. They both knew what the other was thinking. Both had been reminded of Voldemort's well-known fondness for snakes.

"This story takes place at West Lake," Wang Wenwen said. "In Hangzhou. Not far from here."

Coming out of the teahouse, directly across the street was a Quidditch sports supply shop. Millicent said, with authority: "China's Quidditch team is very strong."

Chinese potions were very different from those of other countries.

As Wang Wenwen had mentioned earlier, ancient Chinese wizards had included alchemists who refined elixirs in furnaces, combining potions with metallurgical alchemy. Modern Chinese wizards still worked this way. Their potions had a clear distinction: temporary decoctions were liquid; long-term preserved potions were solid, small black pellets refined in a furnace.

Only dedicated potions researchers bought their own furnaces. Schools provided practice furnaces for students. At home, students hand-rolled their preparations and hoped for the best. Furnace explosions were the primary fear.

The shopkeeper laughed, with a hint of pride. "Gunpowder was invented during the process of refining elixirs."

As they left Danxin Tang, they noticed a sign posted on the door.

Praeris had studied a little Chinese before the trip. It wasn't enough, Chinese didn't come easy. But she could make out the general meaning: Special offer! A classical formula said to aid memory and retention! Specially treats study forgetfulness and information going in one ear and out the other! Your one essential choice for revision week!

She suppressed a smile and turned away.

So students were the same the world over.

Despite the rather alarming things various Muggle nations said about China, Praeris and the others had been treated with nothing but warmth and friendliness. After coming out of the deep, winding lane districts, they made a reservation for the Chinese Ministry of Magic's visitor tour before heading back.

After leaving China, Millicent made good on her promise. She wrote up the experiences of both China trips in full and submitted it to The Daily Prophet. It ran, and the discussion it sparked went on for weeks.

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