Harry Potter and the Jade Dragon. Chapter 21

Hi - I don't know why the reviews are not showing up in my list (except for muggle genius),
but I got them in my email, so thanks (sorry, I can't tell who sent the reviews until they
show up on the list). Hope you like this chapter. ~ Kim :o)

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HARRY POTTER AND THE JADE DRAGON
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Chapter XXI

Christmas


The snow fell softly in the night
On every branch and twig it lay
Revealing with the morning light
A scene of sparkling artistry;
No hand could paint, no finger trace
The perfect beauty on Earth's face.

~ Anonymous

Harry, now convinced that Snufflegint was up to no good, decided he'd better warn
Jeanne before any harm came to her. He managed to get her alone, down at Hagrid's hut,
the following day.

"I came across Professor Snufflegint's name in a wizard's Who's Who book, in the library,
the other day," he said casually, after they had talked about several other things. "It said he
used to be in a Pugilistic Sect."

Jeanne didn't seem surprised.

"Yes, that's right," she said, smiling slightly.

Harry, who hadn't been expecting this reaction, was rather nonplussed.

"The book said that this Sect dabbles in Black Magic," he said. "Sounds suspicious, doesn't
it? D'you think he can be trusted?"

Jeanne raised an eyebrow.

"Professor Dumbledore seems to think so," she remarked, "or he wouldn't have allowed
Septimus into Hogwarts."

"The Tian-Long students seem to think he's up to something," Harry added. "They say he
isn't the type who'd volunteer to restore old scrolls. In fact, Robert and Chee Chong have
been doing all the restoring; Snufflegint's just been hiding inside his office, looking secretive."

Jeanne looked amused.

"You're imagining it, Harry," she said. "Septimus probably became a Pugilist out of curiosity.
It was a long time ago, anyway. He seems perfectly trustworthy to me; I had a very pleasant
tea with him, that day."

Harry persisted.

"Chee Chong says he goes out every afternoon, no one knows where. What if he's up to
something?"

Jeanne looked speculatively at him, then smiled. Harry held his breath, hoping she wouldn't
suspect that he'd been spying on her.

"If you don't trust Septimus, there's no use telling me, Harry," she said calmly. "You should tell
Dumbledore instead. I've hardly come into contact with him, since the day I had tea with him."

Harry hesitated. He had the feeling she knew he had been watching her. He knew he should
back off. But what if Snufflegint was really spying on her, without her knowing? Should he tell
her what the Map had shown? If she was really doing something together with Snufflegint, and
he told her he knew she was lying, things weren't going to be very pleasant.

In the end, he decided to tackle Professor Lupin instead. Lupin probably knew what Jeanne
was doing near the Forbidden Forest. He stayed back later that afternoon, after their Dark Arts
class. As he approached Lupin's desk, he searched his mind for a way to bring the subject up.

"Just wondering about Jeanne's schedule," he lied, "She's never around between two to four, is
she? I want to ask her something, and that's the only time I'm free nowadays."

Lupin didn't seem to suspect anything; he smiled at Harry.

"Yes, she always Portkeys back to Tian-Long during that time," he said. "She's still taking
lessons from Master Kung."

Harry was dumbfounded. He hadn't expected to hear this. So, Lupin didn't know. Jeanne
was deceiving him. It was unthinkable. Would Jeanne lie to Lupin? What was happening?
Did Snufflegint have the same talents as Deorg, and was he exercising some sort of mind
control over Jeanne?

He looked at Lupin, nonplussed. He couldn't tell him he'd been spying using the Map. Lupin
could not sanction the use of the Map now that he was a teacher, and besides, if Harry told
him, he would be bringing discord between Lupin and Jeanne.

But surely, ensuring Jeanne's safety is more important, Harry thought. However, he was
beginning to feel rather confused now. Maybe he had got it all wrong, and something totally
different was happening. He decided to let the matter rest for the time being, till he'd had more
time to think things over. So he excused himself, and left the classroom.

The holidays soon arrived, and nearly everyone in the school, except for those involved in
the exchange programme, went home for Christmas.

"I'm sorry all of you had to stay, because of us," said Shan, as they went down for breakfast
the first morning.

Harry shrugged.

"I don't think Seamus and the others mind," he said, "Parvati and Lavendar have been planning
all sorts of things for the Christmas party here. I always stay, anyway, and so do Ron and
Hermione, to keep me company, though they won't admit it."

Shan had heard about the Dursleys. She could sympathise, since she was in a similar situation;
but at least she also had Robert and his family.

"There aren't any holidays during Christmas, in Tian-Long," she said. "We have them some time
in January or February instead, when the Lunar New Year comes around."

Harry and the others had missed the first Hogsmeade weekend because they'd been in China,
so Professor McGonagall had given them permission to go that afternoon.

It had snowed heavily the previous night, and they had to trudge through several large snowdrifts
to get out of the castle grounds. Robert, who was so small that he would have easily been buried
in a snowdrift, took it easy at first by following behind and letting them trample the snow down for
him. However, when he saw how tired they were becoming, he conjured up a shovel and bewitched
it to dig a path for them.

"It looks like something out of a story-book," said Shan in delight, when they reached Hogsmeade.
The thatched cottages and shops did look very pretty, their doorways wreathed in holly, the usual
enchanted candles shining in the trees.

Ron had been spending more time with Pixie again, now that she wasn't surrounded by a crowd
of would-be suitors. Predictably, she made a beeline for Wanda's Witches' Wardrobe, pulling
him along with her. Shan, seeing Robert heading for the nearest bookshop, caught him by the
arm and led him toward Dervish and Banges instead.

"I need you to help me choose a new calculator," she said. "Our old one is falling to bits."

Harry and Hermione found themselves going into Honeydukes with Fatty and Chee Chong.

"There's a market for these in China," said Fatty, when he saw the array of sweets in the shop,
a familiar gleam in his eye. He looked around to see where the proprietor of the shop was, and
was soon in deep conversation with her.

"Imagine, we might one day see Cockroach Cluster being sold in Hong Kong," murmured
Hermione, as they filled their arms with goodies for the celebration they were planning on
Christmas day.

Shan and Robert came in to look around after a while, holding a new roll of parchment and
looking pleased with themselves. They then extricated Pixie and Ron from Wanda's Witches'
Wardrobe and went to the Three Broomsticks for a drink, after which they just strolled around
the village.

Ron was looking worried, wondering what to get Pixie for Christmas. When she became
distracted by one of the shop-windows, he managed to slip away and dragged Harry along
with him to one of the other shops.

"Lavendar suggested some embroidered handkerchiefs," he said. "Help me choose, Harry."

Harry had been wondering if he should get something for Shan. She seemed so tomboyish that
he doubted that she would want handkerchiefs. Spying some quaint wooden English clocks in
the same shop, he finally bought a small, old-fashioned bedside clock.

Most of the handkerchiefs looked the same to him, so in the end Harry suggested Ron choose a
set that had Pixie's initials on them. They then hurried back before Pixie could notice Ron's absence.

The next few days were spent decorating the Gryffindor common room. They managed to
squeeze a small fir tree in through the portrait hole, and then bewitched it to grow until it almost
touched the ceiling of the common room. Robert volunteered to decorate the remainder of the
room, while the rest worked on the tree. Hermione looked amused when she saw how seriously
he was taking it. He managed to get hold of some of the decorations Professor Flitwick was using
for the Great Hall, and the walls of the common room were soon festooned with holly and mistletoe.
Robert added little sparkling lights to the garlands, and then stood there, wondering if their colours
matched those of the Christmas tree or not. He would look gravely at the lights for a few minutes,
shake his head, and then change them to another colour.

"Robert, do come and give us a hand," said Shan, after he had changed the lights' colours for the
twentieth time. "The sooner we get the tree done, the sooner you'll know whether your lights match
it or not."

Harry had not forgotten about Jeanne and Snufflegint. Finally, armed with the Map and the Invisibility
Cloak, he set out for the Forbidden Forest one day to see what they were doing. However, he was
still some distance from them when he checked the Map and noticed first Jeanne, then Snufflegint,
moving away from that area. A chorus of chirps coming from one of the nearby trees made him look
up; a flock of sparrows was nervously eyeing the footprints he was leaving behind in the snow. A flurry
of movement to his right also caught his attention, and he saw several rabbits hopping away into a
nearby clump of bushes. Jeanne must have planted watchmen all around the area, he thought, to warn
her if anyone was coming. The Cloak was of no use; the animals could smell him. And Snufflegint was
still following her.

Harry gave up and made his way back to the castle, feeling both intrigued and worried. What was she
up to now? He later went to see her with the excuse that he wanted her to help him wrap his present
for Shan.

Jeanne's eyes widened when she saw the clock.

"Are you sure you want to give her that?" she asked, taking the clock from him and examining it.

Harry was rather nonplussed. "Why not?"

Jeanne looked thoughtfully at the clock, then laughed.

"I guess it's all right," she said, placing the clock on a table and looking around for some giftwrap,
"I don't think Shan is the superstitious type."

"What?" said Harry. "Why? What's wrong with my clock?"

Jeanne had taken several sheets of giftwrap from a drawer.

"Nothing's wrong," she said. "It's a very pretty clock. It's just that Chinese people don't usually give
clocks as gifts."

She placed the giftwrap on the table, and reached her hand out to take hold of the clock, but Harry
had already taken it away.

"Hold on a minute," he said. "They don't give clocks as gifts? Why not?"

"To 'give a clock' in Chinese is song-zhong," explained Jeanne, "which also sounds exactly like the
words for paying your respects when someone has died."

She took her quill, and scribbled the Chinese characters on a sheet of parchment for him to see.

"Oh," said Harry.

"I don't think Shan really cares about such things, though," said Jeanne. "She'd understand that
you weren't aware of it."

But Harry didn't feel like giving Shan the clock now. In the end, Jeanne took out a simple photo
frame that she had decorated, and let him have it in exchange for the clock.

It was only five minutes after Harry had left the room, still looking at the photo frame, now nicely
wrapped in red and green, that he realised he had forgotten to pump Jeanne about what she was
doing in the Forbidden Forest. She was still looking tired, and he decided, at any rate, that he'd
better find out what Snufflegint was being so secretive about, in his office. That afternoon, he
managed to corner Robert before he went to the Astronomy Tower. Now that they had finished
decorating the common room, both Robert and Chee Chong had resumed restoring the Imperial
scrolls.

He began to explain about Deorg to Robert, but Robert stopped him.

"I already know," he said. "Sang Nila told me. He says the wildlife around here all know about
Chien-Mei."

Harry was surprised. "Does Shan know?"

Robert shook his head.

"I wasn't sure if Chien-Mei wanted her to know, so I didn't tell her."

Harry privately agreed. Shan was already being so cool to Jeanne, there was no telling how she
might react if she found out what Jeanne had done in Kamchatka.

"I found out that Snufflegint used to be in the same Pugilistic Sect as Deorg," he said. "The
Marauder's Map has shown that he's been spending a lot of time with Jeanne, and I don't
trust him. Can you try finding out what he's been doing inside his office?"

Robert looked at him for a moment, then finally nodded.

Harry could hardly wait for that afternoon to be over. At around four o'clock, Robert
appeared in the common room, and seeing Harry and Shan in one corner playing exploding
snap, came directly over.

Harry hurriedly kept the cards away.

"All right," said Robert, going straight to the point, "I went to Li-Kai's office pretending I
wanted to ask him something, and I saw a scroll and a yellow piece of silk on his desk
before he came out and shut the door."

Shan, hearing this, said at once, "Liu Pei's scroll!" She glanced at Harry. "So - that means
Li-Kai was the thief!"

"Perhaps," said Robert. "When he went out later, as he usually does, I managed to pick his
lock and have a look around the office. I didn't see the scroll anywhere, but a powerful
Repelling Charm has been placed on a cupboard in one corner. I'm guessing that the scroll,
or something important, is inside."

"Did you try breaking the Charm?" asked Harry.

Robert shook his head.

"I'd probably give myself away immediately, if I tried," he said. "It's like a burglar alarm.
Wizards normally plug such repelling barriers into their consciousness, so that they can
feel at once if anyone is trying to penetrate them."

Shan looked dismayed. "There's no way to get near the cupboard, then."

"There might be," said Robert, looking at Harry. "I looked around the rest of the office.
Li-Kai left an old Pugilist's Manual on his desk, and there was a chapter on Repelling Charms
in there. Those Charms were developed by the Mongols during the Yuan Dynasty to work
on the Han Chinese. They may not have any effect on a non-Chinese. Harry might be able to
bypass it."

Shan turned to Harry, an excited look on her face. Harry, however, wasn't so sure.

"I heard you mention a lot of 'mights' and 'maybes'," he said. "We're not completely certain,
are we?"

"The worst that can happen is that you won't be able to get near the cupboard," said Robert.
"Li-Kai can feel if someone is trying to penetrate the barrier, but he won't be able to tell who
the person is. He'll most likely suspect it's me or Chee Chong. That's probably why he used
a Mongol Repelling Charm in the first place. A normal Repelling Charm is easier to perform,
but far less powerful."

"You can do it on Christmas night, Harry!" said Shan enthusiastically. "Professor Dumbledore
is having a special little dinner for us Tian-Long students, and he is insisting Master Li-Kai
attend, as well. All of you are invited too, but you can pretend that you're still feeling too full
from our Christmas party."

"Fine, let's say I do manage to get the scroll," said Harry, "What, then? I can't just nick
it - Snufflegint will be looking everywhere for the thief!"

"You don't have to steal it," said Robert, "Just duplicate it."

Harry stared at him. "Duplicate it?"

"You can easily look up Duplicating Charms in the library," said Robert. "Hermione should
be able to perform them, with a bit of practice."

Harry looked at the two of them.

"You seem to have decided everything for me and Hermione," he said.

"Well, you want the scroll, don't you?" said Shan, grinning.

Harry glared at them, then thought of something else.

"Did Chee Chong know why you were breaking into Snufflegint's office?" he asked Robert.

Robert hesitated.

"I don't know if I should mention this," he said, rather reluctantly, "but I think Li-Kai has
been interrogating Chong about something. He kept Chong back for half an hour the other
day, and I think he did a Memory Charm on him, because he didn't seem to remember
anything about it when I asked him later."

Harry and Shan looked at each other in dismay. It was a good thing they hadn't told
Chee Chong about Liu Pei's scroll yet.

"Chong doesn't know I broke in," added Robert, "Li-Kai's office has two entrances : one
from the chamber, and one from the corridor outside. I said I had to go somewhere for a
while, and then let myself in by the corridor entrance."

"I can't imagine why anyone would suspect Chong of anything," said Shan. "He's so - well,
harmless."

Harry suddenly remembered something.

"The Plateau!" he said. "Chee Chong knows about it!"

Both Shan and Robert looked at him.

"That's true," said Robert, "but how would Li-Kai suspect that Chee Chong knew? There's
nothing on the Plateau that would interest him, anyway."

That was true, Harry thought. It was just a pleasant place, with flowers and Talking Tortoises.
He decided not to worry about it for the time being, but concentrate on getting the scroll instead.

There was no time to lose; the next day was Christmas. Harry managed to get Hermione
alone, after dinner, and tried to persuade her to help him duplicate the scroll.

"All right," said Hermione, a gleam in her eye, "But you've got to help me smuggle the tortoises
out of the Plateau."

"What?" said Harry. "Haven't you given up on that idea? You haven't managed to get them to
speak a single word of English!"

"I've thought of a way," said Hermione firmly. "You just have to help me locate them tomorrow.
It'll be easy enough to put them to sleep, and I'll do all the carrying."

So, that night, they put the Cloak on and headed for the storeroom. Shan came as well, because
she was fond of the tortoises, and said she knew how to lure them out into the open.

They came across Argus Filch on their way there, and stopped to let him pass. Filch was scowling
and looking extremely annoyed; he had been in a very bad mood lately, and with good reason.
The Monkey King had been having the time of his life, masquerading as Peeves, and wreaking
more than his fair share of havoc. Because he was able to make himself look exactly like Peeves,
it was impossible to tell when the mischief was done by him and when it was due to the real Peeves.
Peeves, of course, was furious; he didn't mind messes made by himself, but he resented the fact
that he was being taken advantage of, and a full-scale war had erupted between him and the
Monkey King. This, of course, had resulted in even more work for Filch.

Once Filch had gone, Harry and the other two managed to get into the storeroom and were soon
in the peach orchard, hunting for the tortoises. They found Chester there as well, who looked
pleased to see them. He flew up into a peach tree and began chirping away happily, watching
them as they searched around for the tortoises.

They found seven without much trouble, but the rest proved to be more elusive.

"Surely we don't need all of them," said Harry, when they had managed to catch another two.

"We need thirteen," said Hermione, "if they're to sing Partridge in a Pear Tree properly."

The captured tortoises, which had been placed in a sack on the grass, were making a lot of
noise. Hermione tapped the bulging and squirming sack with her wand, and the tortoises
promptly fell silent and stopped moving.

"Time to use a lure," said Shan, conjuring several strawberries with her wand. Within a few
minutes, the remaining four tortoises came lumbering up to her.

The smallest one, a little horn-coloured fellow, was so cute that Shan picked it up, and said
a few affectionate words to it.

"Is that another kindred spirit?" asked Hermione, looking amused.

"Not quite," said Shan, placing the little tortoise on the grass again. She watched it for a while,
as it swallowed one of the strawberries, then said, "So far, no animal can beat a wolf I met
once, back at Tian-Long. I felt really happy talking to it."

Harry, keeping his face expressionless, stuffed the other three tortoises into the sack.

"Wonder what it's like, to be a wolf," said Shan, now looking absently at the mountains in the
distance.

"I guess you could ask Jeanne, or Professor Lupin," said Hermione, "They'd be able to tell you."

Shan looked surprised. "Professor Lupin?"

Harry searched his mind for another topic, so that he could change the subject, but Hermione
was already continuing.

"Professor Lupin used to be a werewolf," she explained. "Everyone in the school knows about
it. But he was partially cured last year, so now he only transforms into a normal wolf instead,
during full moon."

Shan had gone rather pale. She glanced at Harry, who was suddenly very busy fiddling with
the sack of tortoises.

Hermione spotted the horn-coloured tortoise disappearing behind a peach tree, and went to
look for it.

Shan came over to Harry, who was still staring at the sack and looking very busy.

"He's been visiting Chien-Mei quite often, hasn't he, at Tian-Long?" she said, in a dangerously
quiet voice.

Harry didn't know what to say. He cautiously lifted his eyes from the sack, and saw that Shan
was glaring at him.

"Both times I saw the wolf, it was full moon, and Chien-Mei was there," she added. Her face
was now red, and she was beginning to look extremely embarrassed.

Harry found his voice.

"He didn't mind you talking to him, Shan," he said, trying to think of something tactful to say.
"Jeanne told me he refused to tell her anything you told him."

Shan's face went even redder.

"You knew," she said accusingly, "and you didn't tell me."

Hermione had come back with the tortoise. Not noticing Shan's embarrassed face, she placed
it in the sack, then took her wand out.

"Soporus," she muttered, tapping with her wand. The little bulge in the sack immediately stopped
squirming.

Hermione tapped the sack once more, saying, "Agitabilis!" and then lifted it easily and slung it
over her shoulder. As they were about to leave, Harry happened to glance at the peach trees,
and noticed that the flowers of one had all fallen to the ground, making it stand out from the rest,
which were still covered with pale pink blossoms.

"First sign of change," he thought to himself. At least some things did change, on this mountain.

Shan was still looking slightly red-faced. However, she had now noticed something else.

"The tortoises are snoring," she said. "We'd better not pass Mr Filch again on the way back."

The tortoises were, indeed, snoring very loudly. They sounded like a pack of chain-saws.
Hermione tried the Sleeping Charm again, hoping it might quiet them, but they just snored
louder than ever. Finally, Shan took her wand out.

"Maybe I can soundproof the sack," she said, and tapping it, said something in Chinese.

It worked. The sack, though still vibrating, became silent. They left the Plateau, waving to
Chester, who was still chirping away in his peach tree, and managed to get back to the
common room with no one the wiser about their expedition.

The Christmas presents Harry received that year were quite unlike any he'd received before.
Pixie's gifts were little ivory spheres, which she had carved herself, while Fatty distributed
small hampers of Chinese sweets, labelled "With the compliments of the Season, from
Mui-Fatt Enterprises". Robert gave everyone a block of chocolate shaped like a Merlion -
Pixie had an extra large one - which growled menacingly when it was about to be eaten.
Shan banded together with Chee Chong, and handed a sack of firework sticks around.
These, when set off, flew to the ceiling and exploded into multicoloured Chinese dragons.
They danced around for a while before dissolving into small glittering lights, which arranged
themselves into four Chinese characters before eventually fading. Chee Chong said that the
characters meant "Merry Christmas", and that he and Shan hadn't been able to get hold of
the English version.

Ron managed to bring Pixie to one corner of the room and gave her a small parcel wrapped
in psychedelic orange and purple. Pixie, on opening it, looked astonished. She hesitated,
then gave Ron a dazzling smile and kissed him quickly on the cheek.

Harry, who had been watching out of the corner of his eye, noticed Chee Chong and Fatty
also watching and looking rather shocked. They began muttering to each other, in Chinese.

Harry looked uncertainly at them. Shan came up with a box of Christmas crackers, and
offered him one.

"Anything wrong?" she asked, looking at his face.

"That's what I'm wondering," said Harry, glancing at Ron and Pixie again. Pixie had just
brought out a large parcel, and was watching Ron unwrap it. "Ron just gave Pixie a set of
embroidered handkerchiefs, and Fatty and Chee Chong didn't look too pleased about it."

Shan seemed amused.

"Some Chinese don't like handkerchiefs as gifts," she explained softly. "They're associated
with weeping, and tears. It's as if you're wishing the recipient unhappiness."

"Oh," said Harry, wondering what her reaction would have been if he had given her the clock.

"I don't think Pixie minds, though," said Shan, turning to look as a burst of giggles erupted
from Parvati and Lavendar, who were watching Ron and Pixie. Ron was holding up a new
set of dress robes. They were bright fluorescent pink, and ten times frillier than his maroon
robes had been. Pixie was standing demurely by, looking her most innocent.

"Like it, Ronniekins?" she asked, and then, seeing the horrified look on his face, began to giggle.

"I'm just joking, Ronniekins," she said. She took the robes, and taking out her wand, transformed
them into a sprig of mistletoe. "Here's your real gift."

Ron looked uncertainly at it.

"It's, er, very nice, Pix," he said, holding it up and looking at it.

Pixie dimpled at him, then giggled again.

"You obviously don't know how it's used," she said. "Let me show you." And she began
leading him toward the portrait hole and out of the common room, almost knocking into
Hermione who was climbing in, holding a cauldron.

"What's that for?" asked Harry curiously.

"Singing Solution," said Hermione placidly. Taking a piece of holly from one of the garlands
on the wall, she dropped it into the cauldron, and then carried it over to the corner of the
room where she had left the sack containing the tortoises. The sack was beginning to squirm,
indicating the tortoises were starting to wake up.

"I hope that works on live animals," said Shan, looking rather anxious as Hermione took
one of the tortoises out and squirted several drops of solution into its mouth. It gave a
couple of surprised hiccups, then looked at Hermione with its boot-button eyes, and
began to sing We Wish You A Merry Christmas in an alto voice.

Hermione, a triumphant expression on her face, began dosing all the tortoises, and they
were soon trundling around that corner of the room, singing Christmas carols with great
enthusiasm.

"They're all singing different carols," objected Shan, listening to the confusion of song that
was getting louder and louder.

"I've thought of that, too," said Hermione, flipping through a Charms library book. She
stopped at one page, and pointed her wand at the tortoises.

"Concentio!" she said.

The tortoises all immediately launched into A Partridge in A Pear Tree.

"Ooo, they're all singing in parts," said Pixie, who had come back into the room together
with Ron. Neither mentioned what they had been doing outside, but Ron's face was
extremely red, and he had a dazed expression on his face.

"This is an unusual Christmas lunch," said Lavendar, looking at the spread on the table.
The Tian-Long students had insisted they must contribute something, and had summoned
Ting-Ting out of the kitchens the day before and described what they wanted. And so,
besides the normal Christmas turkey and mince pies, there was also a small table groaning
with Chinese food : dim-sum, consisting of ten different types of dumplings, small spring-rolls,
and a whole array of desserts.

"I hope there's enough for everyone," Shan whispered, as she handed Harry a goblet full of
iced lychees; but as the others helped themselves, they saw that the dishes immediately
replenished themselves again.

"What's this?" asked Neville, trying out a transparent, jelly-like dessert.

"Bird's nest," said Fatty.

Neville looked dubiously at it.

"But it doesn't look like a bird's nest," he pointed out.

"Well, it is," said Fatty. "Type of swift, to be precise. They don't use sticks or mud to build
their nests, like most birds."

"What, then?" asked Lavendar, trying some.

Fatty grinned at her and Neville.

"Saliva," he said.

Lavendar spat her mouthful of bird's nest back into her goblet.

"What?" she spluttered. She looked at Fatty with big eyes, and then, realising he was
serious, went dashing off to the girl's toilet to rinse her mouth.

Neville, who had swallowed his mouthful, was looking rather green. Shan, looking
worriedly at him, said, "It's really quite edible, Neville. In fact, it's a delicacy. This stuff
usually costs a fortune."

None of the British students, however, dared to touch the bird's nest after that. The
Tian-Long students, looking amused, helped themselves liberally. Lavendar came back,
looking rather pale, and insisted they explain what all the other dishes contained before
she would agree to consume their contents.

Robert had smuggled one of the Imperial scrolls out of the Astronomy Tower, and once
lunch was over, Hermione curled up in a corner of the common room with a pile of Charms
spellbooks from the library, and began practising Duplicating Charms on it. Neville and the
others could see what she was doing, of course, but didn't seem surprised, because Hermione
was always trying out spells that were not in the school syllabus.

"You'll have to make a better copy than that, Hermione," said Harry, an hour later, looking
at the pile of duplicated scrolls next to her, "or we won't be able to make out what the words
are."

Hermione, screwing up her face in concentration, tapped the original scroll again.

"Imago," she said; another copy appeared.

"Still no good," she murmured, examining it. "Try another one."

She referred to her spellbook, and muttering, "Simulo!", tapped the original again.

"Li-Kai's office is on the third level from the top, with an east-facing window," said Robert,
that evening before he and Shan left for Professor Dumbledore's Christmas dinner. "The
Repelling Charm appears as a green line on the floor. If it works on you, you'll feel something
like an invisible wall there; if so, try to get out of the office as fast as you can."

Harry nodded, as Ron came over with Fatty's crystal globe.

"Fatty's got a spare," he said, handing it to Harry, "which I'll borrow from him, when I see
Snufflegint leaving the table. I've told him you have a family emergency, you're waiting for a
call from home."

Harry took the globe. "How d'you use it?"

"Dunno," said Ron. "You don't need to, anyway. I'll be the one calling you. I'm going to ask
Shan to activate it, when the time comes."

Harry tucked the globe into his robes. It was just a safety measure, for he intended to keep
an eye on Snufflegint using the Marauder's Map, anyway.

"Good luck," said Shan, looking as if she wished she was going with him and Hermione, as
she and the others left the common room.

Hermione was still sitting to one side, practising Duplicating Charms. There was now a small
mountain of duplicated scrolls next to her.

"Snufflegint's leaving his office now, Hermione," said Harry, checking the Map. "Let's go."

Hermione distractedly stuffed several sheets of parchment into her robes, on which she had
copied all the various Duplicating and Unlocking Charms. She then jabbed her wand at the
pile of scrolls, and they immediately disappeared. Harry, bringing his Firebolt over to the
common room window, waited till Hermione had seated herself on it, behind him. This proved
to be a bit of a squeeze, for the Firebolt was not made for two. They then covered themselves
with the Invisibility Cloak. Harry kicked the floor with his right foot, and the Firebolt sailed
swiftly up in the air and out the window, and carried them away into the wintry night.

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