鳳凰相見
First Encounter with a Phoenix
A diary snippet of Newt Scamander's adventure across the continents in search for magical creatures for his first book, featuring the elusive phoenix in the equally mysterious country of China.
5th July, 1920
Sunny
Upon receiving a letter a week ago from Zhao, a Chinese wizard I once met in the blistering hot Cairo desert, I arrived at the outskirts of Tian Shan. It was a spectacular system of highlands situated along the Chinese borders with some central Asian countries I couldn't fathom the spelling of their names. While lush green grasslands rolled across the European Alps, Tianshan was largely covered in jagged rocks and sand dunes that emphasized its harsh climate. Zhao's letter mentioned a certain discovery that would greatly interest me, and he wanted me to see it in person.
Zhao was already waiting at the end of the rocky path where the grey fine sand converged with the redder, coarser debris. He came running to me, almost tackling me to the ground, the turban on his head in danger of falling off any moment. It took a while to calm the overexcited man down for him to utter an interesting word:
Phoenix.
"Fascinating creatures," said he. "No one knows where they come from, much less where to find them. I was lucky to spot one hidden among the mountains here during my hiking trip."
That got my full attention. Ever since I began traveling around the world looking for magical creatures of interest to complete my first commission for Obscurus Books, phoenix was one of those at the top of my must-see list. A creature so shrouded in mystery, so rare that it was nothing more than a mystical legend to humor children to bed.
Amongst Tian Shan was an area called the Flaming Mountains. Like its name, the eroded scarlet rocks seemed akin to dancing fire. This place was even warmer than Cairo; I was completely drenched in sweat by the time we reached the summit. Zhao then led me into one of the caves hidden among the burning rocks. Smoke rose out of the fissures, hissing with menace, and I felt like my feet were melting into the sizzling ground. My eyes widened when we finally reached the end of the cave.
Perched on a circle of stalagmite was a bird's nest, but the creature was more than just an avian, with crimson feathers lined with gold streaks that radiated with pride and power. My breath stopped as I locked gaze with its piercing dark eyes, and I could hear a song reverberating with every part of me inside out. I had never experienced anything like this in my whole life.
"Some say the phoenix originates from Ancient Egypt," said Zhao. "A magical bird that lives for centuries before burning itself on a funeral pyre and rebirthing from the ashes." He gestured at the nest. "But here's the catch: there's a newborn chick inside."
I raised my eyebrows at him.
Zhao smiled. "That's why I invited you here—to find out more."
We decided to camp outside the cave for the night. I'd love to study more about this phoenix tomorrow.
Flaming Mountains, or better known as "Huoyanshan" in Chinese, is one of the locations along the Silk Route. It's also one of the many well-known places visited by Buddhist monk Xuanzang on his pilgrimage to India featured in the fantasy epic "Journey to the West". It's named so because of its relatively hot climate compared to the other areas around the Tianshan mountain ranges, and how the shape of the eroded rocks along this mountain area looked like dancing flames (as described in the oneshot above).
I picked this place as the setting for the fic because of its geographical and climatic nature—how it's often related to the element fire in various Chinese myths, which is also the element that phoenixes are often associated with. According to the HP wikia, phoenixes are said to be originated from a few different places, including Egypt and China, and most often found in the mountains or highlands far away from human population. The Flaming Mountains is situated along the historical trading route between China, Middle East and Africa, where most people would avoid due to its extreme hot climate, but used it as a landmark to reach an oasis near the foot of the Flaming Mountains area.
Forum: The Houses Competition
Year/Round: Year 2, Round 3
House/Position: Gryffindor, Prefect 1
Category: Drabble
Prompt: [Creature] Phoenix
Word Count: 496 (gdoc; excludes title and A/N)
Rating: K
Beta: CK, Tiggs