Thanks to those who reviewed. Here is Harry and his fit. There's
more than that,
to this chapter, though. Hope you like it! ~ Kim
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HARRY POTTER AND THE JADE DRAGON
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Chapter XXIII
The Boggart
Come life, come
death, not a word be said;
Should I lose you living, and vex you dead?
I never shall tell you on earth; and in heaven,
If I cry to you then, will you hear or know?
~ A.C. Swinburne
In the
end, what made Harry's mind up was Chee Chong's announcement that
Professor
Snufflegint would be returning to China in a week's time, and
that he wanted the Imperial
scrolls restored within that period so that he could bring them
back with him.
Harry received this piece of news with mixed feelings. This
meant that if Snufflegint wanted
to harm Jeanne, he was going to do it within the week. Or, if
he didn't harm her, it meant he
would soon be gone, and Harry wouldn't have to worry about him
spying on Jeanne any more.
It also meant that Snufflegint had probably finished restoring
Liu Pei's scroll, and had found
out what he wanted to know. Was he going back to China because
the Great Occurrence
was going to take place there? Why had he come to Hogwarts in
the first place? If he had
been the one who had stolen the scroll from Liu Pei's office,
he could have restored it easily
enough back at Tian-Long. Unless, someone else had slipped the
scroll in with the other
Imperial scrolls, and Snufflegint had come to Hogwarts to retrieve
it. Or had he come to
Britain to spy on Jeanne?
With so little time left, Harry wanted some answers fast, and
he decided that they'd better
get the books from the Restricted Section, however remote the
chance was that they'd find
anything useful in them.
"Good luck," murmured Hermione, as they made their
way to their seats during the next
Divination class. Harry, unsure of producing a convincing enough
performance, had asked
her to step on his hand, if necessary, if he wasn't groaning loudly
enough.
They had fabricated some really dismal predictions for themselves
that week, and read them
out as solemnly as they could, with the exception of Robert who
persisted in reading his very
matter-of-factly, as if it were a shopping list. Professor Trelawney
seemed both surprised and
moved. By the time she came to Hermione, who for once wasn't looking
scornful, she was
close to tears.
"My dears," she said in her misty voice, pulling
out a gauzy handkerchief and dabbing her eyes,
"It appears, indeed, that the portents for this month are
not good winter is always a bleak
period. But we must endure spring, with all its tender
mercies, will eventually reign again."
She moved on to Neville. Ron, turning to look at Harry, mouthed "Now!"
Harry took a breath, and then, falling to the floor, began
writhing and yelling as loudly as he
could, clutching his head in his hands.
Parvati and Lavendar cried out in fright, while Professor Trelawney
gave a small scream and
turned around. Fatty, Chee Chong and Pixie sat where they were,
startled, as Ron and Hermione
jumped up and hurried over to Harry, trying their best to look
worried.
"Harry!" Hermione grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him, "Snap out of it! What's the matter?"
Professor Trelawney, seeing what was happening, came rapidly over.
"Allow me, Miss Granger!" she cried, "I have
experience in such matters! Potter is undoubtedly the
recipient of some unworldly premonition. Let me minister to him!"
Harry had stopped yelling, and was now lying on his back, looking blearily up at them.
"Keep groaning," whispered Ron, before making way for Professor Trelawney.
Harry groaned again, but very half-heartedly. Hermione, screwing
her eyes shut, brought her foot
down on his left hand, which he had flung to one side so that
it was hidden under a tablecloth.
Harry winced, and his groans became more convincing.
Professor Trelawney was now kneeling next to him, an eager
gleam in her eyes, which looked even
more enormous than ever.
"Arise, Potter!" she cried. "The dark night
has passed! Relax your tense limbs, and let yourself be
receptive to the clairvoyant vibrations in this room!"
She caught hold of Harry's shoulder, and held it in a vice-like
grip, as if afraid he would run away.
Harry winced, and groaned again, more realistically this time.
He sat up, and let Professor Trelawney help him to a chair, still grasping his shoulder.
"Now tell us, Potter," she said, fixing her huge eyes on him, "exactly what you saw and felt."
Harry took a breath.
"I saw an old fortress, in ruins," he muttered, carefully
avoiding Ron's eye, "bats were pouring out
of it. And there was a stormthunder and lightning"
"An omen of ill-intent!" said Professor Trelawney, her nostrils quivering slightly. "Continue, my dear!"
"And then - I felt a blinding pain in my head," said Harry, "And I heard a snarling voice in my ears - "
"The sign of Great Evil, my dears!" cried Professor
Trelawney, looking at the rest of the class, who
had gathered around Harry and were listening breathlessly. "A
terrible Event approaches!"
Lavendar put a hand to her mouth, and gave a frightened gasp.
Professor Trelawney turned, and
looked expectantly at Harry again.
"I closed my eyes, because of the pain, and when I opened
them I found myself in the fortress,"
continued Harry, "and this three-legged demon was there,
in front of me all covered with slime"
"The foul Mirkindole!" cried Professor Trelawney,
becoming more and more excited. "The
accursed beast who lurks in the shadows, and snares human prey
for its repasts!"
Harry's eyes suddenly met Shan's, and he felt an uncontrollable
desire to laugh. He looked
away, and found he had forgotten what he was supposed to say next.
He closed his eyes. He had rehearsed it, five times that morning, with Hermione
"Courage, Potter!" said Professor Trelawney, catching
his shoulder in her pincer-like grip
again. "Do not leave us! Awaken, and finish your tale!"
Harry opened his eyes; he decided he'd had enough. "I can't remember the rest."
Professor Trelawney looked disappointed. Harry hastily said,
"I think the demon came up to
me, and stared at me, and thenI passed out again, because
of the pain. That's all."
He slumped back in his chair, trying to look despondent and worn out.
Professor Trelawney looked commiseratingly at him.
"Peace, Potter," she said, patting his hand, "The
ordeal has passed. Your vision tallies with
what I have already foreseen for you pain and suffering
fear of your deadly enemy
the shadow of the Grim, always hovering over you "
She gave a deep sigh, and gazed sorrowfully at Harry, then
stood up and looked around at
the other students.
"We shall end here for today," she said mistily,
a melancholy expression on her face, "and let
Potter recover from his harrowing experience. Potter, I shall
ponder the profound consequences
of this premonition, and divulge my conclusions to you during
our next class."
"Good job," muttered Ron, coming over with Hermione, who was looking apologetic.
"Sorry if I hurt you, Harry."
"Forget it," said Harry, and turned to Shan, who
was standing nearby with Robert, holding the
letter which they had already prepared. "Let's get that signed,
and get out of here."
He took the letter from Shan, and hurried after Professor Trelawney,
who was moving to the
other end of the room.
"Professor?" he said, holding out the letter. "Some
of us would like to do additional research
since this is a cultural exchange, and we're studying the movements
of the planets we'd like
to borrow some books from the Restricted Section of the Tian-Long
library, so that we can
compare both Chinese and Western methods."
Professor Trelawney looked extremely moved.
"Potter, your diligence is astounding," she said,
signing the letter without even looking at it,
"Displaying such determination even after what you endured
today it saddens me, that one
endowed with courage should be destined to meet such a fate as
I have foreseen for you "
She returned the letter to him, and left them, holding her
hand to her chest, as if clutching at her
heart, and still looking moved.
"Done it!" said Shan, looking delighted. "Harry, you were marvellous!"
"OK," said Harry, handing the letter to her, "I've done my part, time for you to do yours."
They were in a hurry to get the books, as they wanted to find
out what Snufflegint was up to
before he left, so Shan had volunteered to transform into a Silverwing,
and Apparate back to
Tian-Long to get the books.
"Chen-Kang will get them for me, he owes me a favour or
two," she had told Harry. "He's
discreet, and he won't ask what it's for. I'll be back in time
for Defence Against the Dark Arts."
Ron and Hermione, who didn't know that Shan could transform,
were curious to know how
they were to get the books on time, but seeing there was some
secret, had decided to be tactful
and not ask.
---------* * *---------
Pixie felt a chill settle into her bones. Snape's office was even
creepier than the Potions classroom,
and mould appeared to be growing on the walls. The room was full
of shadows, and the sightless
eyes of pickled animals stared out at her from the shelves of
jars which lined the walls.
Pixie had a horror of all things and places dark and slimy.
Although no one at home seemed to
have any time for her and she often felt lonely there, still her
parents' house was bright and cheerful,
and filled with the beautiful objects of her father's trade. In
Tian-Long, the classrooms were all
pleasant enough, and although there existed regions under the
school which were less appealing -
as Harry had discovered - she managed to avoid those as far as
possible. The Potions classes in
Hogwarts she had tolerated so far, because Ron and the others
were there, and Jeanne managed
to make the lessons fairly entertaining. But to be all alone in
Snape's office, without her friends
around, was decidedly unsettling.
Snape wasn't around at the moment, having gone off for one
of his classes. Pixie carefully removed
the sting from the tail of a scorpion. She glanced at the clock,
and saw that there were still fifteen
minutes left before she'd have to go for Defence Against the Dark
Arts.
She had initially felt she hated Snape, and when her detention
ended that first day she would
probably have felt a great relief and vowed never to step foot
in that office again, if Jeanne had
not happened to come in, carrying a box of potions ingredients.
Pixie's first reaction was one of relief when she saw Jeanne.
It was some consolation, at least, to
have a fellow human being in the room with her, even for a few
minutes. She was also secretly
hoping Jeanne might persuade Snape to let her off.
Jeanne looked surprised to see Pixie sitting in a corner, but
a few words with Snape soon
explained the situation to her. She gave Pixie a sympathetic smile,
then began to unpack and
store away the ingredients.
Pixie noted that Jeanne seemed quite familiar with Snape's
office and knew where everything
should be kept. Having emptied her box, she was about to leave,
when Snape called her over
to the desk and began discussing the progress of Lady Han-Yin's
Tian-Long project with her.
The terms they were using were so technical that Pixie wasn't
sure what they were talking about.
She wondered how Jeanne, who was no more than the gamekeeper's
assistant, seemed to know
so much about Potions. She continued extracting the tongues from
preserved salamanders and
keeping them away in small jars, only half-listening to the conversation.
After a few minutes, Jeanne and Snape finished their discussion
of the project, and then Snape
went on to talk about other things - the way the school was being
run, how badly some of the
classes were being taught, what he would do if he were in charge,
what a mess the Ministry of
Magic was in, among others. Pixie found herself listening and
watching. Snape criticised the way
Jeanne had taught the Potions exchange class. He had plenty to
say about Professor Lupin, and
made no effort to hide how much he loathed him. Jeanne listened
in silence, a neutral expression
on her face, and only a slight flicker of anger in her eyes betrayed
the fact that some of the cutting
and hurtful remarks disturbed her.
Pixie had forgotten about the salamander tongues. She watched
Jeanne putting up with Snape.
She watched Snape talking. From the way he looked at Jeanne, it
seemed that he almost hated her,
and yet at the same time he was like a dam bursting, as if he
harboured a desire to communicate all
the feelings and plans and ambitions that he had, to another person
Snape talked for about twenty minutes. Jeanne said less than
ten words in reply. Snape ended by
looking impatient, and saying he was busy, implying Jeanne was
encroaching on his time and should
leave. Jeanne said quietly that she would check if any more bats
had frozen in a cave somewhere in
the grounds, since he wanted bats' intestines for the project.
She then turned, and left.
Snape turned and frowned at Pixie, who quickly looked down
and began extracting tongues again.
She looked up at Snape every now and then. He was sitting at the
desk, staring sourly at the project
report on it. Pixie had the impression that Snape thought the
project a waste of his time, even though
Lady Han-Yin was doing most of the work back in Tian-Long. She
finished extracting and putting
away the salamanders' tongues, and then turned to a huge pile
of scorpions. She knew she'd never
be able to finish it within the day.
She had only managed to remove ten scorpions' stings when Snape
suddenly snapped at her to get
out, because it was lunchtime and her time was up. She looked
up at the sallow face, at those eyes
which always had that awful glitter in them, but which never betrayed
any sign of emotion.
Her offer to come back another day and finish the scorpions
was received with a curt, almost
indifferent nod. She left the room, but didn't go to the Great
Hall; instead she went up to the
Gryffindor common room, which was empty, still thinking about
Snape's conversation with
Jeanne, which for some reason disturbed her.
---------* * *---------
Defence Against the Dark Arts was going to start soon, and Shan
had still not returned. Robert,
who was painstakingly restoring Liu Pei's duplicated scroll in
the common room, told Harry to go
first, saying he would wait a bit longer for her.
As Harry came down the corridor, he saw Seamus and Dean carrying
a large packing-case into
the classroom : a packing-case that shook and wobbled, as if something
inside was trying to free
itself and come out
Harry looked at his watch; Lupin should be coming any minute.
He hurried toward the classroom,
hoping that Shan wouldn't make it back in time for the lesson.
Neville, Fatty and Chee Chong were already there, looking curiously
at the box in which the Boggart
was imprisoned. Seamus was trying to get Chee Chong to say "Riddikulus"
without mixing his r's and
l's up.
Parvati and Lavendar soon came in, and so did Hermione, together
with Ron and Pixie. Pixie was
applying ointment to her hands, and looked rather subdued.
"Professor Lupin said he'd be a bit late," said Lavendar,
"I just saw him in the staff room. He's being
held up by a meeting." She noticed the packing-case. "What's
that?"
"Boggart," said Seamus, proudly.
"But, I thought we're doing Red Caps, today," said Parvati.
"Well, we can do those another day," said Dean. "We've been waiting for this Boggart for ages."
They waited for five minutes, and then Harry said,
"Let's just start. Robert said that he and Shan will be
coming soon. You've already explained what
we're to do, and we know how to handle Boggarts, by now."
He was hoping they would get rid of
the Boggart before Shan came.
The others agreed, so Pixie, Fatty, and Chee Chong queued up
near the packing-case, the latter
two looking rather excited.
"OK," said Seamus, and pointed his wand at the packing-case, so that the lid flew off.
A corpse-like zombie stepped out, its limbs and body stinking
and decomposed, with a small piece
of red paper attached to its face. Pixie, who had been standing
in front of the packing-case, took a
step back, her face rather pale. Then, she lifted her wand, and
pointed it at the zombie.
"Riddikulus!" she cried. There was a noise like a
whip-crack, and the zombie stumbled; it was now
dressed in frilly pink dress robes, the same ones that Pixie had
given Ron for Christmas.
"Fatty, you next," said Seamus, looking excited.
Fatty came forward, wand ready in his hand. Crack!
The zombie turned into the ghost that Harry had seen in the tunnel
leading to the Lake of Blood.
Except that this ghost was twelve feet tall, and his face was
completely black. His sightless eyes
stared down at Fatty, boring themselves into him.
At this moment, the door opened, and to Harry's dismay, Shan came in.
"What's happening?" she said, seeing him standing
near the door, and then opened her bag with a
smile to show him that she'd managed to get the books.
"Where's Robert?" asked Harry, wondering desperately
if he could 'accidentally' exterminate the
Boggart before her turn came.
"Outside, talking to Professor Lupin," said Shan. "They'll be coming in in a few minutes."
Harry wanted to go outside and tell Lupin about the Boggart,
but he didn't dare leave the classroom
in case Shan decided to give the Boggart a try. Wishing that Lupin
would hurry up and come in, he
turned, and saw that the dark-faced ghost had now shrunk to the
height of a child's doll, and was
hopping up and down and squeaking in rage.
Chee Chong, looking nervous, came forward. Crack! The
tiny ghost disappeared, and a large
demon with three heads and long tentacles appeared. It came toward
Chee Chong, its tentacles
writhing.
Chee Chong had gone very pale. He retreated a few steps, and raised his wand.
"L-liddikurus!" he squeaked.
The demon came bearing down on him, a cold light in its pale
eyes. Chee Chong, looking alarmed,
retreated a few more steps, and then stood still, as if paralysed.
Shan was watching Chee Chong with a rather worried look on
her face. Before Harry could stop
her, she suddenly ran forward, pushed Chee Chong aside, and turned
to face the demon.
There was a crack! and the demon disappeared. A corpse
lay on the ground; it was a man, whom
Harry instinctively knew was Shan's father. His eyes were closed,
and he lay, sprawled as if he
had fallen from a great height, blood staining his robes.
Then the corpse began to transform, into another lifeless form,
that of a woman. Harry recognised
Mrs Chen. Her eyes were wide open and staring, fixed unseeingly
on Shan, and there was a look
of great bitterness and hatred on her face.
Shan stood as if frozen, staring at it. Her face had gone very
white. She brought her hands to her
mouth, and began trembling. Then, she suddenly burst into a storm
of loud weeping.
The classroom door flew open, and Professor Lupin came in,
with Robert behind him. Lupin took
the entire scene in with one look, and then strode swiftly over
to Shan and pointed his wand at the
still form on the floor, so that it rose from the ground and flowed
back into the packing-case in a
strange, fluid motion. He put a hand on Shan's shoulder, and she
automatically turned and clung to
him, still sobbing uncontrollably.
Lupin put one arm around her, and his eyes met Harry's.
Harry felt himself shaking slightly. He looked miserably back at Lupin.
"She - she ran forward so fast," he said. "I couldn't stop her."
Lupin shook his head slightly, as if to say it didn't matter, then glanced at the weeping girl.
"I'll bring her outside," he said quietly, looking
around at Seamus and the others, who were standing
nearby with sober faces, and then turned back to Harry. "You
might as well finish the lesson with the
Boggart. I know you and the other Hogwarts students can handle
it on your own." Then he turned
and led Shan, still weeping, out of the room.
Seamus and the others watched as they disappeared out the door,
looking startled and dismayed.
Harry felt terrible. Lupin probably thought he was hopeless; he
hadn't even been able to keep Shan
away from the Boggart.
Dean and Seamus turned back to Chee Chong, and tried to get
him to perfect his pronunciation of
"riddikulus" again. Robert was standing as if rooted
to the spot, staring at the door which Shan had
just gone through, his face pale.
"I - I've never seen her cry like that, before,"
he said, sounding rather shaken, when Harry came
over to him. Hermione, too, was coming over.
Robert continued to stare at the door. Harry looked uncertainly
at him for a moment, then said,
"D'you - d'you want to have a go with the Boggart?"
Robert suddenly turned, and looked at the packing-case. With
one silent, awful movement, he lifted
his hand and pointed a finger at it, and it immediately exploded
violently into flames. Then he made
a gesture at Shan's bag, which was lying on the ground nearby,
and it flew over to him. Holding both
Shan's and his own things, he turned, and left the room without
a word.
Harry looked at what was left of the packing-case. The flames
were rapidly dying down, and soon
nothing but small pieces of ash were left.
Ron and the others were watching, stunned.
"What did he do that for!" said Seamus, half-startled,
half-annoyed. "We haven't finished with the
Boggart yet!"
Chee Chong was looking crestfallen. The others stood around
for a few moments, looking at a loss,
then, since the Boggart had obviously been obliterated, started
collecting their things and leaving the
room. Pixie said something to Ron, then picked her bag up and
followed suit.
Ron came over to Harry and Hermione, looking gloomy.
"She's gone off to Snape's office again," he said.
"What's with Robert, anyway? Over-reacting a bit,
isn't he?"
Hermione was looking at the small pile of ashes on the floor with a rather odd expression in her eyes.
"Oh, Ron," she said softly, "don't you see - he's in love with Shan."
There was a silence for a few seconds, as Harry and Ron both turned to look at her.
"What?" said Ron, "Robert? C'mon, Hermione, the guy's hardly human - he never shows any emotion!"
Hermione looked as if she regretted saying anything.
"Did he tell you that?" asked Harry quietly.
"No," she said, rather hesitantly, as if unsure whether
to tell them or not, "Jeanne told me. She said that
Sang Nila told her, while we were still in Tian-Long. Sang Nila
knows everything about Robert."
"That Merlion?" said Ron incredulously. "Who'd believe anything it says?"
"Explain what we just saw, then," said Hermione,
impatiently. "Why d'you think he carries that book
that she gave him around all the time? You're so dense, Ron; you
don't understand anything about people."
Harry had recently decided he didn't want to have Shan as anything
more than a friend. He knew that
she only regarded him as such, anyway. Even so, he felt a sudden
pang in his heart, and a loneliness
spread over him.
"Well, in that case, bully for Robert," said Ron
sourly, glancing at Harry. Ron was still harbouring hopes
that Harry and Shan would get together. "He's always with
her anyway, isn't he? Nothing to stand in his
way."
Hermione said nothing, but looked sadly at the pile of ashes
on the floor, then picked her bag up and
left the room. Harry watched her, feeling rather confused. Of
course, Robert cared for Shan. That
had been obvious all along - he was, after all, her cousin. But
this put things in a different light.
He left the room with Ron, feeling rather uncomfortable. They
passed a flight of steps that led down
to the dungeons, and Ron, glancing at it, looked gloomy.
"Tell you, Snape's bewitched her, Harry," he said,
referring to Pixie. "She's been going to his office,
almost every other day."
Harry didn't reply; he was still thinking about Shan and Robert.
Malfoy was still making annoying
comments about Harry and Shan, because he knew it made Harry uncomfortable,
and although he
always did it out of earshot of Robert, Harry felt sure the news
was capable of filtering down to the
latter. Some of the Gryffindors, especially the girls, also seemed
to assume Harry and Shan were a
couple, and kept giggling and making silly remarks. If Sang Nila
was right, then how would Robert
feel when hearing such comments? He had remained perfectly friendly
to Harry, all this time. Jeanne
could have been mistaken. What could a Merlion know about human
feelings anyway?
Shan and Robert didn't turn up for dinner. Harry checked the
Marauder's Map, but couldn't find
them anywhere. He happened to meet Jeanne, and asked her if she
knew how Shan was.
"Remus spent some time talking to her," said Jeanne,
"I didn't ask him what he said to her. She
still resents my presence, so I made myself scarce." She
looked rather hurt, as she said this.
Harry felt rather worried. "Where is she now?"
"I don't know," said Jeanne. "Remus said she
and Robert left our room a while ago. He said Shan
was all right; she just wanted to go somewhere quiet for a while,
and think things out."
Harry, hearing this, guessed that Shan and Robert must have
gone to the Plateau. He knew Shan
liked it there; she had once commented on how serene the place
was, and that whenever she
went there she felt as if all her troubles had been left behind
in the tunnel.
Robert didn't come back to the boys' dormitory that night,
but both he and Shan appeared in
the Great Hall the next morning for breakfast. Robert looked his
usual calm self, while Shan
looked composed enough, though her eyes were rather red. They
were very quiet throughout
the meal, and the other students in the exchange class left them
alone, unsure what to say to them.
Harry had been so distracted by the previous day's events that
it wasn't until he saw Chee Chong
heading toward the Astronomy Tower that he remembered that Professor
Snufflegint was due to
leave in three days' time. The scroll and its interpretation lay
in Shan and Robert's hands, and
Harry didn't have the heart to badger them about it at present.
However, he needn't have worried.
Shan and Robert promptly took the scroll as an excuse to isolate
themselves from the rest of the
class, and began to spend all their free time in a corner of the
Gryffindor common room, restoring
and translating it.
By the third day, Harry noticed that the entire scroll had
been restored. Shan had brought out the
calculator scroll that she had bought in Dervish and Banges, and
Robert seemed to be writing all
kinds of complicated equations on it, which faded once he tapped
the scroll with his wand, to be
replaced by an answer a few seconds later.
Chee Chong had reported that Snufflegint had left early that
morning, and that the chamber and
his office were now empty. Jeanne was still going around doing
her chores, and Harry felt relieved
that no harm had apparently come to her. He suspected that Robert
and Shan had made some kind
of breakthrough, for they skipped lunch and spent most of the
early part of the afternoon looking at
the scroll and their calculations, softly discussing something
in a mixture of English and Chinese.
Harry was tempted to take the Translator out and eavesdrop
on them, but resisted. Shan seemed to
have forgotten her unhappiness; there was a curious light in her
eyes, and she was talking animatedly
to Robert, as if trying to persuade him to do something.
Finally, around four o'clock, they took the scroll and bronze
vessel, and disappeared out the portrait
hole. After about ten minutes, Shan came back in to look for Harry.
She seemed her normal cheerful
self again, and there was an air of suppressed excitement about
her.
"Robert and I think we have solved the scroll, Harry,"
she said. "Get Ron and Hermione, and come
to the empty classroom at the end of the corridor outside, and
we'll show you what we've found."
Harry's heart leapt in excitement, but even as he turned to
look for Ron and Hermione, he stopped,
and looked back at her.
"Are you all right now?" he asked.
She hesitated, then shrugged.
"I guess so," she said. "I had a long talk
first with Professor Lupin, then with Robert. I'm working
on it ... I'll sort it out, eventually."
She looked rather sad as she said this, but then remembered
the scroll, and the excited look came
back into her eyes.
"Call Ron and Hermione quick, Harry," she said, "We don't have much time."
Robert and Shan were sitting on the floor in a corner of the
classroom, looking at the scroll, when
they arrived. Hermione seemed excited, but Ron looked wary. The
way in which Robert had
destroyed the Boggart had unnerved him, and Harry suspected that
Ron was secretly rather afraid
of Robert.
Robert seemed as placid as ever. He brought a sheet of parchment out, and handed it to them.
"It looks as if Wu-Hsien was quite famous in his day,"
he said. "Several legends seem to have
gathered around his person. We found a passage that tells a story
which possibly shows how
the vessel and scroll are related; we've written out a translation
for you."
Harry, Ron and Hermione bent over the parchment, and began to read.
Wu-Hsien had at one time become very poor, and had had as a
neighbour one
Wang Lao, who often helped him. Wu-Hsien had tried to make some
return,
especially during the Khai-Yuan reign period when he was in high
favour with
the Emperor. Eventually Wang Lao, having killed someone, was imprisoned,
and called upon Wu-Hsien for help. Wu-Hsien went to see him and
said, "If
you want gold and silver I can give you all you want, but as for
the law, I cannot
change it." Wang Lao reproached him, saying, "What good
is it to me that I ever
knew you", and so they parted.
Later Wu-Hsien was in the Hun-Thien Temple, where there were
several hundred
workers. He ordered some of them to move a huge pot into an empty
room. Then
he said to two servants, "In a certain place there is a ruined
garden. Do you hide
there secretly tomorrow, from noon to midnight. Something will
come - if it is seven
in number, put them in the pot and cover them up, and if you lose
one I shall give
you a great beating." About six o' clock in the evening,
sure enough, a herd of seven
pigs appeared, and they caught them all and put them in the pot,
and covered it with
a wooden cover and matting. Then they ran off and told Wu-Hsien,
who was very
pleased.
Before long Wu-Hsien received a message to go urgently to a
certain palace, where
the Emperor met him and said, "The Head of the Astronomical
Bureau has just
informed me that the Great Bear has disappeared. What can it mean?"
Wu-Hsien
replied, "This sort of thing has happened before. In the
Later Wei dynasty they even
lost the planet Mars. But there are no previous records of the
disappearance of the
Great Bear. Heaven must be giving you an important warning, perhaps
of frost or
drought. But your Majesty, with your great virtue, can influence
the stars. What would
most affect them would be a decision on your part in favour of
life rather than death."
The Emperor agreed, and issued a general amnesty.
Later the seven stars of the Great Bear reappeared in their
places in the heavens. And
when the pot into which the pigs had been put was opened, it was
found to be empty.
Ron finished reading first, and looked up.
"Wang Lao's name is on the bronze vessel, isn't it?"
he said. "So this means he and Wu-Hsien
knew each other."
Shan nodded.
"There's more," she said. "Wang Lao was later
poisoned by one of his enemies. He took refuge
in Wu-Hsien's house, where he repented of his misdeeds, and as
he was dying he left whatever
possessions he had to Wu-Hsien, including a collection of old
bronze vessels. We're guessing
that this bronze vessel was one of those."
Harry looked at the vessel. "What do the inscriptions on it say?"
Robert turned the vessel around.
"There's still a lot of dispute as to how these inscriptions
are to be interpreted," he said. "I can only
make a guess. It seems to say, 'I, Wang Lao, was present at the
Great Event on - ' and then a date
is given. I'm estimating that the year is around 1000 B.C., and
the month is Hsiao Han - the time
of lesser cold, which is the first fortnight of January. The day
I haven't been able to figure out yet,
because it's given by a time-recording term."
Seeing the others looking blank, he continued.
"There are several time-recording inscriptions which appear
on bronze vessels during the Western
Chou period," he explained. "They refer to a day based
on the observation of a particular lunar phase,
such as a crescent or a full moon. They were used together with
the month and year, to record historical
events. But so far no one knows which lunar phase these time-recording
terms refer to."
Ron looked confused.
"That means, Wang Lao was the one who carved the inscriptions on the vessel," said Hermione.
Robert nodded.
"But, I thought this was a Western Chou bronze!" said Hermione.
"It is," said Shan, smiling.
"But it can't be," protested Hermione.
Harry and Ron turned to look at her. "Why not?"
"Robert said Wu-Hsien lived during the Tang Dynasty,"
said Hermione. "If Wang Lao lived during the
Western Chou Dynasty, he would have been more than a thousand
years old when he met Wu-Hsien!"
Robert was smiling now. He took another sheet of parchment out, and passed it to them.
"Here's what the scroll itself says," he said. "Maybe you'll understand after you read it."
I leave you this scroll and vessel behind as my legacy.
I, Wu-Hsien, say this to you. When
Sui-Hsing is in Fang, Tai-Bai is in Wei, and Tai-Yin completely
hides her perfect face from
us, then shall the Great Occurrence take place again. When that
day approaches, bring
your sons and daughters with you to Khun-Lun. Then will our family
build a Dynasty, one
that shall prevail and endure forever.
Harry and Ron looked blank after reading it. Hermione was frowning.
"Khun-Lun," she said. "I've heard of that somewhere"
"Er, I don't get it," said Ron. "What's all that Sui-Hsing and Tai-Yin stuff?"
"Sui-Hsing is Jupiter," said Robert, "Tai-Bai
is Venus. Tai-Yin is the moon; Fang and Wei are two
of the Lunar Mansions."
Harry was trying to collect his thoughts together.
"So, you're saying, the scroll is giving us the position
of the planets in the sky when the Great
Occurrence will take place."
Shan nodded. Hermione's eyes suddenly widened.
"Khun-Lun!" she said. "I remember now
the western paradise!" Her eyes grew larger. "So
that's what Professor Snufflegint is after!"
Shan and Robert grinned, and nodded at her. Harry and Ron were beginning to feel very cross.
"If you don't tell us what's happening soon, I'm going
to get violent," said Ron, glaring at them.
"What? What is Snufflegint after?"
Shan looked solemnly at him.
"Immortality, Ron," she said. "That's what Li-Kai is after. Immortality."
Hermione, seeing that he and Harry still looked blank, continued.
"There's a legend that in Mount Khun-Lun, there grows
a peach tree which fruits every three
thousand years," she said. "Its fruit, when eaten, can
give eternal life."
Harry looked at the bronze vessel again.
"You said Wang Lao carved the date 1000 B.C. on the vessel,"
he said. "That was three
thousand years ago. Wang Lao must have been present the last time
the tree fruited, and
managed to eat one of the peaches. That's why he was able to live
until Wu-Hsien's time,
when he was poisoned."
Robert nodded.
"So you're saying he told his secret to Wu-Hsien, and
Wu-Hsien recorded it in the scroll,
and passed it down to his sons," said Harry. "He probably
figured if his descendants could
become immortal, they'd have a chance to start a dynasty that
would last forever."
Ron's eyes were rather large.
"So, the Tree's going to fruit again?" he said. "When?"
"It's not easy to estimate," said Robert, "We
can't tell the exact date the Tree last fruited
from the vessel because no one knows which lunar phase those time-recording
terms refer
to. We only know that it'll be this year and sometime in early
January. However, Wang Lao
might have given the exact date and time to Wu-Hsien, so that
Wu-Hsien was able to calculate
the time the Tree was going to fruit next. That's what the star-map
and the text on the scroll is
all about."
"Well, that solves it, then," said Ron, looking at
the scroll, "You can calculate, can't you, when
the planets will be in that position?"
Robert took out his sheaf of calculations.
"Not directly from Wu-Hsien," he said. "The
methods of prediction during the Tang Dynasty
weren't very accurate. I've had to calculate backward from the
answer he arrived at, using his
methods, and then calculate forward again to get the correct answer."
Hermione looked excited. "So when is it going to take place?"
"Tonight," said Robert, "anytime between eight and midnight."
Harry's heart sank. There wasn't enough time; they would never
be able to figure out how to
get to Khun-Lun, wherever it was, in time.
"Snufflegint probably knows," he said. "That's
why he's gone back to China. He must have
reached this Khun-Lun place by now, wherever it is."
"What's the use of knowing," said Ron, grumpily.
"We can't go to China anyway. Unless,
someone here can fix up a Portkey to bring us there."
"We don't need to Portkey," said Shan. "And
Master Li-Kai isn't as far away as you think.
He's probably camping out on the Plateau, right now."
They stared at her.
"Are you saying," said Harry, "that one of the trees in the peach orchard is the Tree?"
Shan nodded.
"It seems likely," she said. "The Khun-Lun mountains
lie between Sinkiang and Tibet, which
is exactly where the Plateau seems to be located. And we can even
guess which tree it is - one
of the trees there seems to be dying. It has lost all its flowers,
and even the leaves are beginning
to wilt now, while all the other trees are still in full bloom."
Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other.
"It's a good guess," said Hermione, "But I still
don't understand what all this has to do with
Professor Dumbledore. How did that tunnel leading to the Plateau
get into the wooden chest?"
No one could answer her. Harry, looking around, could see that
one thing was for certain,
anyway : all of them intended to go to the Plateau that night.
"Of course we must go," said Shan, speaking this
thought aloud. "But are we just going to be
bystanders? Or are we going to stop Li-Kai?"
"Yes," said Harry and Ron, at the same time.
Robert spoke up.
"Despite his background, I don't believe Li-Kai is evil."
Hermione hesitated, and looked at Ron and Harry.
"I agree with Robert," she said. "I don't believe
Professor Snufflegint is evil. Desiring to be
immortal is not a crime. I don't think we have any right to stop
him from taking the Peaches."
Shan said something in Chinese to Robert, a hopeful look in
her eyes. Robert just gave her a
small smile, and shook his head firmly. Ron scowled, evidently
thinking that Hermione just
wanted to side with Robert.
"Well, I guess we can't decide anything now," said
Harry quickly. "Let's just see what happens
when we get there."
So, that evening, they swallowed their dinner and left the
table as soon as they could. Four of
them just managed to squeeze under the Invisibility Cloak, because
Robert was so small. He
was carrying Shan, who had transformed herself into a little green
snake, in his pocket. Ron
and Hermione were led to believe that Robert had transfigured
Shan into a snake. Hermione
looked slightly disapproving, because such an act was against
the rules, but since she had a
soft spot for Robert, she said nothing.
Holding the Cloak tightly about them, they made their way over
to the storeroom, and down
through the wooden chest to the Plateau.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chinese Notes :
The folk legend above was originally about I-Hsing,
a Tang astronomer, and not Wu-Hsien.
The astronomer Wu-Hsien actually lived in the 4th Century B.C.
I replaced I-Hsing with him,
because I preferred his name, and it made more sense for him to
have lived during the Tang
Dynasty, when astronomical calculations were more accurate, than
during the Warring States
period.
If you would like to know more about the Khun-Lun mountains
and the Peaches of Immortality,
go to http://www.chinatown-online.co.uk/pages/culture/legends/mu.html
~ Kim :o)
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