Harry Potter and the Jade Dragon. Chapter 9


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HARRY POTTER AND THE JADE DRAGON
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Chapter IX

The Translator


If you place me round your neck
Then you will understand
The Chinese language, spoken word,
Said by any man

Shan seemed rather subdued over the next few days. Harry thought of asking
her if anything was wrong, but with Robert sticking next to her all the time, this
was impossible to do. His puzzlement over the matter was soon forgotten, anyway,
by another more momentous event.

One day before dinner, Pixie breezed into the room where they took their meals,
and announced dramatically, "Master Liu Pei is back!"

"What?" exclaimed Fatty, looking startled. "Are you sure?"

"Of course!" she said. "I just had Potions" - she made a face - "and it was Liu Pei,
not Lady Han-Yin, who conducted the lesson."

"But, does Master Yang-Kang know?" asked Hermione, looking rather excited.

Pixie giggled.

"That's just it!" she said, a curious gleam in her eyes, "No one knows where he is. The
teachers have been searching high and low for him - he seems to have disappeared!"

There was a split second of silence, as they absorbed this piece of news, and then
everyone started talking.

" - Liu Pei must have finished him off," said Fatty.

" - No more yelling during Black Way," Ron was looking relieved.

" - was Liu Pei wearing his onyx tiger?" asked Shan.

"Who will conduct our Black Way class?" Hermione looked worried.

They could talk of little else during dinner; after all, it wasn't every day that one of your
teachers killed another in a duel. Pixie said that Liu Pei was indeed wearing his onyx
tiger, and that she was sure he had killed Yang-Kang, because one of her classmates
had overheard Lady Wen-Li asking him if he knew where Yang-Kang was, and the
expression on his face had been very smug, although he said "no".

They were still talking about it when dinner ended, and were so absorbed that they
forgot to tip Ting-Ting, until she gave a very loud and indignant squeak, and stood
there, glaring at them, while they filled her little tray with coins.

Harry and Ron found Ping and Pong on their beds when they reached their dormitory.
The two Pandas had become regular visitors, and the boys had become used to
seeing their sad little faces suddenly appear at the window, like two masked bandits.
Ping had attached herself to Harry, and would regularly hide various pieces of junk
in different parts of his bed. Once, Harry woke up and found her trying to stuff an
apple core down his neck, while on another occasion she stuck an old and broken
comb in his hair.

The Pandas were not the only creatures that interrupted their sleep. Chee Chong
had installed Chester, his cricket, in a little bamboo cage by his bed, and Chester
had rewarded him by routinely chirping a loud and tuneful song every night.

On this night, Chester's chirping had just lulled Harry to sleep when he heard a familiar
furry voice in his head again. He turned, and lay on his back. The voice went on.
Something seemed rather odd about it. It wasn't speaking Chinese this time

Harry woke up. Ping was on his chest, tugging at something. He looked down, and
found that she had somehow managed to put a pendant around his neck.

I would like some honey. The furry voice was speaking English!

Harry blinked. He picked Ping up, and looked at her.

"What did you say, Ping?" he whispered.

She looked at him for a moment, then batted at the pendant round his neck.

Now you can understand me. The furry voice had a satisfied tone to it.

Harry looked at the pendant, then took it off.

Ping looked reprovingly at him. She batted her paws at the pendant, and the furry
voice came again, but in Chinese this time.

Harry put the pendant on again. Ping looked gravely at him, then yawned.

I am going to sleep. She turned her back on him, then curled up near his feet and
went to sleep.

Harry took his wand out, muttered "Lumos!" so that light flared from it, then took
the pendant off and held it near the wand. It looked like one of the dragon trinkets
that he had seen in the Celestial City, made of green jade.

At this moment Fatty, who was a few beds away, sat up, looked at Chee Chong
next to him, and hissed something at him in Chinese.

Harry extinguished his wand, and put the pendant on. All at once, he found that
he knew what they were saying.

"Can't you tell your cricket to shut up?"

"He likes to sing till midnightit shows he's happy!"

"He's keeping all of us uplook, Mighty Mo's awake as well!"

"It's all right," said Robert, "I always have insomniaI usually don't sleep till the
early hours."

Harry took the pendant off. The voices went back to speaking Chinese again.

He held the pendant tightly in his hand, feeling excited. There must be some magic in it,
which made the wearer able to understand Chinese! But where had it come from?

After a while, Fatty and the others stopped talking. Chester also finally stopped chirping.
Harry was wide awake. He was too excited to go back to sleep. Now he would be able
to understand everything that was said around him!

He got out of bed and wandered over to one of the windows, wondering if he should
take his Invisibility Cloak and roam around the palace a bit. Looking out at the grounds,
he was surprised to see a figure walking toward the Pagoda from the direction of the
bamboo grove. It looked like Jeanne.

Jeanne! She could talk to any animal, thought Harry. She could ask Ping-Ping where
the pendant had come from.

He picked Ping up, still fast asleep, quietly carried her out of the dormitory, and
waited at the top of the spiral staircase for Jeanne.

She had a troubled look on her face when she appeared; but her expression became
one of surprise when she saw Harry.

Harry hurriedly told her about the pendant. Jeanne looked thoughtfully at it, but could
give no explanation. Harry then shook Ping-Ping awake.

Jeanne said something to Ping, who looked grumpily back at her. Jeanne sighed,
then turned to Harry and shook her head.

"She's in a bad mood, Harry. She's cross that you woke her up. She won't say anything."

Ping wriggled out of her arms and curling herself into a ball, fell to the floor. She
bounced up and down a bit, then rolled back into the boys' dormitory.

They stood watching her as she disappeared inside, and then Harry turned to Jeanne.

"Are you practising your Internal Magic this late at night?" he asked.

She shook her head, and the troubled look was back on her face.

"I just went to see Mrs Chen again," she said, in a low voice. "Ididn't want to, at first,
but she seemed so keen for us to visit her again that day, and I kept thinking of her,
all alone there"

She was silent a while, a frown on her face.

"What's the matter?" Harry asked.

She looked soberly at him, for a moment.

"Harry, that old lady is dying," she said quietly. "I thought something wasn't quite right
about her the first time we saw her, but I thought maybe it was because she'd just
fallen into the river. But just nowshe looked worse. She seems to be thinner, and
she's getting weaker. It's as if something is sucking the life out of her, slowly."

Harry stared at her.

"Hasn't she asked anyone for help?" he asked.

"She says she went to see the school Healer, but nothing could be done," said Jeanne.
"She says she doesn't know why it's happening, either. She refuses to come and stay
in the palace. She wants to stay in her hut, where she feels she belongs."

She sighed, and went to one of the nearby windows and looked out. Harry followed her.

"She's lonely," said Jeanne. "She wants us to visit her, especially Shan. She knows Shan
because Shan often goes there to visit the Pandas, and she's taken a liking to her."

The door of the girls' dormitory, which was next to them, suddenly opened, and who
should come out but Shan, with LeafSong coiled around her wrist.

"I heard voices. What - ?" and then she saw Jeanne. To Harry's surprise, her
expression hardened.

Jeanne looked rather anxiously at her.

"I've just been to see Mrs Chen, Shan," she said softly, going over to Shan, "She's sick.
She wants us to visit her, expecially you."

Shan looked at her, her face expressionless.

"Maybe," she said coolly. "I'll think about it." And then, to Harry's astonishment, she
turned around and went back into the dormitory, and shut the door.

Jeanne stood there, staring after her. Harry looked at the closed door, then turned
to Jeanne.

"She's been looking queer these past few days," he whispered, in case Shan could
hear them from inside. "I don't know what's the matter with her."

Jeanne sighed, and bit her lip. She looked at Harry.

"Mrs Chen will be gone before we leave Tian-Long, Harry," she said quietly. "I can't
just let her die there, all alone. I'm going to move my things there, and stay with her."

Harry felt rather worried.

"Can't we do anything?" he asked.

She hesitated, then shrugged.

"I'll ask around," she said, but her tone was uncertain. She gently put a hand on
his shoulder.

"Go back to bed, Harry. Don't worry too much about it. Maybe it's just her time
to go."

Harry went back into his dormitory, still feeling puzzled over Shan's behaviour.
Jeanne was still standing at the window, looking out, when he closed the door.

Shan seemed her usual cheerful self when Harry saw her the next day, and he
decided to let the matter rest for the moment. Only Fatty, Chee Chong and Pixie
had lessons that morning, so he waited till they had left, and then showed Shan and
Robert the dragon pendant. Ron and Hermione were also there, watching curiously.

Shan shook her head when she saw it, then handed it to Robert.

"It just looks like a normal pendant to me," she said.

"Say, Harry, d'you think I could borrow it?" asked Ron hopefully. His face was
rather red, and he added hurriedly, "Pixie asked me to go out with her and her friends,
sometime," - Hermione looked most disapproving - "and that pendant would save me.
I know they'll all be talking away in Chinese."

Harry grinned at him and said, "Sure."

Robert was taking his time to look at the pendant. He turned it around in his hands,
brought it to the window, held it up to the light, then came back.

"It's a Chinese Translator," he said. "Translators are usually used in the Intelligence
Service - for spying."

He handed it back to Harry, and the rest all crowded around, peering curiously at it.

"Pretty cool," said Ron, looking fascinated. "No one would guessit looks just like
a common trinket. Who d'you reckon Ping stole it from - Dimbleby?"

Harry couldn't tell him.

"What a pity all of us can't have one," said Hermione, looking longingly at it. "Then
we can attend all of the classes here."

They met Master Liu Pei for the first time that day, during their Potions lesson. He
was not as impressive-looking as Yang-Kang. He was old and stooped, with long
greying hair and a wispy, ragged beard. His robes were grey as well, rather faded,
and he had a mean and cunning expression on his face.

He gave them a complicated potion to prepare. Harry wasn't even sure what the
potion was supposed to be used for, because Liu Pei had a tendency to mumble.
Fortunately, they were given written instructions, and simply followed those. Pixie
looked bad-tempered, as she tried to grind dragon's bones, which were extremely
hard, into fine powder.

"This is the second time I'm doing this," she whispered to Ron. "He gave us the same
potion to prepare the other day."

Harry was glad when the lesson ended. He wished Lady Han-Yin was still conducting
the class. Many of Liu Pei's ingredients reminded him of the horrible slimy things he'd
seen in Snape's office, and his arm ached from all the grinding; he hoped he'd never
see another dragon bone again in his life.

"Too bad he and Yang-Kang didn't finish each other off," said Pixie dolefully, as
they left the classroom.

Harry found Shan in the Green Dragon common room later that evening, holding a
set of Robert's shabby robes, and trying to mend them with her wand.

"I'm no good at sewing," she said, as she ran her wand over a rip, and an untidy row
of stitches appeared.

"Can't Robert mend them himself?" asked Harry. "He seems to be able to do most
things."

She shook her head, and glanced at Robert who was sitting nearby, his face buried
in a book. "His sewing is even worse than mine."

Ron came over to join them, looking rather distraught.

"Pixie got permission from Lady Wen-Li to go out tomorrow night," he said to Harry.
"And I know she'll dress up; but I only have those horrible maroon robes. They look
worse than ever - Mum fixed on the lace and frills again during the holidays."

"I tell you what," said Harry. "We'll get Jeanne to alter them. She's good at this sort
of thing."

He looked at Shan. This will be a good opportunity to make her go down and visit
Mrs Chen, he thought.

"She'll be at Mrs Chen's now," he said. "Shan, you'll have to show us the way there.
It's dark, and we're still not that familiar with the grounds."

Shan looked reluctant, but Ron looked so anxious that she couldn't refuse.

They left Robert reading, and set off. The moon was out, but it became dark once
they entered the bamboo grove, and they had to light their wands. The bamboo
grove seemed a lot spookier at night, the branches creaking mournfully in the wind.
A few rabbits scampered out of their way as they approached the hut, and several
of the mountain wolves were lurking there, their eyes gleaming eerily in the light from
the wands.

To Harry's annoyance, Shan refused to go into the hut, and stayed outside instead to
talk to one of the wolves, pretending (so Harry thought) that she taken a fancy to it.

Mrs Chen was sleeping when they went in. Jeanne was sitting next to the fireplace,
surrounded by herbs, quietly preparing some potions. She looked surprised to see
them. She chuckled, though, when she heard of Ron's predicament, and looked at
his dress robes.

"I'll see what I can do," she said.

Harry and Ron, not wanting to disturb Mrs Chen, went outside. Shan was sitting
next to the wolf, talking cosily to it. Ron looked at her.

"She's a bit balmy, isn't she?" he whispered to Harry.

Jeanne didn't take long to alter the robes. She removed all the lace and frills, and
changed them to a navy blue colour. They even looked rather elegant, and Ron
was elated.

"Now, that's more like it!" he said, looking jubilantly at the robes as they walked
back to the Pagoda. "She really knows how to do clothes. Shan, you should let
her mend Robert's robes."

Shan remained silent. Harry felt even more puzzled than ever. Was it Mrs Chen
Shan didn't want to see, or did she have something against Jeanne? She had been
perfectly fine until that day by the river, when she'd discovered Jeanne was a
shape-shifter. But why should she have a problem with that?

Pixie was positively glowing the following day, looking forward to that night's
excursion. Ron, however, was a bundle of nerves.

"She's bringing ten of her friends along," he said to Harry. "I'll be the only male
there. And I still can't use chopsticks properly."

"You can borrow Chee Chong's," suggested Shan. "He has a special pair, because
he's so accident prone. They've been charmed so that they won't drop anything."

Pixie, noticing that Ron was looking edgy, cornered Shan and tried persuading her
to come along.

"Ron already knows you," she said coaxingly. "He'll feel better if more of the people
he knows comes along."

"Well, ask Harry and the others as well, then," said Shan, not looking enthusiastic
at all.

Harry, however, had no desire to go out with Pixie's friends; and neither had Fatty,
or Chee Chong.

"I have a mah-jong session," said Fatty.

"I must crean Chester's cage," said Chee Chong.

And they both disappeared.

Shan knew it would be useless to ask Hermione to go, so she said, "I'll only go
if Robert goes."

Robert was sitting nearby, reading Vorg the Vampire.

"No," he said.

"Come on, Shan," Pixie begged. "It's for Ron. You don't want this to spoil the whole
exchange programme for him, do you?"

"Well, who asked you to bring your friends along!" said Shan, exasperated. "All
right," she said grudgingly, "I'll go."

She turned to Robert, and said grimly, "And you're coming too. I don't see why I
have to suffer alone."

Robert looked at her, his expression unreadable because of his glasses.

"Hm," was all he said. And then he retreated behind Vorg the Vampire again.

Harry lay awake in bed. He didn't think Ron would be back early, but he intended
to stay up and find out how the night's happenings had gone.

Finally, he heard voices outside the dormitory, coming up the spiral staircase. He sat
up in bed, and saw Fatty and Chee Chong also sitting up, wide awake.

"Couldn't sleep," said Fatty, nonchalantly. "Cricket kept chirping."

The door opened, and to Harry's astonishment, a stretcher floated in; Ron was lying
on it, looking very green. Robert was next to the stretcher, guiding it with his wand,
followed by Shan and Pixie. Hermione, who had obviously waited up for them as well,
brought up the rear, and was hissing at them like an angry goose.

"What happened?" said Harry, watching, transfixed, as Robert guided the stretcher
over to Ron's bed and slid him off onto it.

Ron moaned, and then retched. Robert obligingly conjured a paper bag for him.

"No need," he groaned, "there's nothing left to come out."

Pixie stood next to Ron's bed and looked sadly at him.

"Poor Ronniekins," she said, sorrowfully.

"Well, what happened?" demanded Fatty, impatiently.

Hermione glared at Ron.

"He's drunk, that's what," she snapped. "He should have more sense. It serves him
right."

She turned around, and marched out of the room.

Shan, although she looked as if she felt sorry for Ron, also seemed to be trying not
to laugh.

"We had some rice wine," she explained. "We didn't know that Ron can't drink. He
had two small glasses, and they just knocked him out."

Ron seemed slightly better when he got up the next morning, but he had a terrible
headache.

"It was awful," he told Harry. "There were twenty girls there, and I was the only
guy - you can't count Robert. And I had the Translator on, but they were chattering
so fast I didn't know what they were saying anyway. They kept looking at me and
giggling. After dinner, we went to some kind of nightclub, and they ordered drinks.
That's when I passed out."

Pixie looked penitent during breakfast.

"Ronniekins, I'll bring you to see the school Healer," she said.

"No!" said Ron. "I'd rather have the headache. I've heard of Chinese medical
practices - they stick you full of needles."

Lady Han-Yin, however, noticed Ron looking indisposed, and was very angry with
Pixie when she found out what had happened. She relegated Pixie to one corner
of the Potions classroom, and made her prepare a complicated tonic for Ron,
which tasted terrible, and didn't seem to make him feel any better.

Ron had given Harry the Translator back. Harry found himself looking at it throughout
the day, and feeling restless. Since they had started taking their meals in the Pagoda,
the autograph-hungry students had not been able to waylay him in the Hall of Dragons,
but they had somehow managed to get hold of his timetable, and the minute he stepped
out of class they would pounce on him. The first-years had stopped bothering him,
but now the second and third-year students seemed to have jumped onto the bandwagon.
They even seemed to know when a class had been cancelled, and when and where the
makeup class would be held. Every time he tried exploring the school, whether alone or
with the others, a crowd of ardent fans would come after him. It was already their fourth
week at Tian-Long, and he still hadn't had a chance to have a good look around the palace.

Harry turned the jade pendant around in his hand, and made up his mind. That night, he
was going to put his Invisibility Cloak on, and explore the palace properly.

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Note from Kim/Starlight :-

Hi, I know I am one of the most unresponsive of authors, but THANK YOU to all those who
reviewed so far - I'm glad that you're enjoying the story. :o)

To muggle genius - Harry won't be talking to any dragons, because a parselmouth only talks to snakes.
But you'll see him speaking more parseltongue in the next chapter, don't worry.

To Ms DS Moony & NC Granger, in Mirror's Gift chapter 4 Jeanne changed into a dragon as well as
the animals in the school crest because the school motto is Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus,
which I'm told means 'never tickle a sleeping dragon'.

Sometimes all the Chinese stuff can be a bit confusing, but if you have any questions to ask, pls feel
free to email me at gryffindor1970@yahoo.com

:o)

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