Hu Li alighted from the train with her trunk and the other three students. She was still feeling slightly uneasy about the Sorting Hat, but began to feel a little bit better during the long, bumpy carriage ride up to the magnificent castle. As long as the silly hat doesn't tell anyone what it sees, she thought.
A stern witch in glasses and a tight bun met them at the door. Harry whispered to Hu Li that this was Professor McGonagall, the Transfigurations Teacher. She explained a few things and then ushered them into a huge room. As Hu Li was trying to go through the door among the crowd of students, McGonagall caught sight of her. The professor's face brightened, and she pulled Hu Li off to the side.
"Hu Li Zhang?" Professor McGonagall said, hidden safely behind a suit of armor once worn by Caroteus the Colossal. Hu Li nodded.
McGonagall went on, "You're here for the special job for the Headmaster, is that right?"
"Yes," Hu Li managed, "The em -"
"Shh," said McGonagall. "I'm Deputy Head here, so I know about it, but the majority of the other teachers do not. However, two, Severus Snape and Rubeus Hagrid, are both involved in other facets of the project, so they will be alerted to the fact that you will be helping Dumbledore."
"I know Severus Snape," said Hu Li softly. Professor McGonagall looked at her strangely.
"You would, wouldn't you?" she said quietly. "Well, no one else knows, so don't tell anyone."
"You got it," said Hu Li wretchedly.
McGonagall still looked at her. "You are sure you're up for the job, now? Considering Sou Mei …"
Hu Li said firmly, "As far as I am concerned, my mother is dead, and I would appreciate it if you would tell that to anyone who might ask. Furthermore, I do not believe I am up to the job, but Professor Dumbledore does, and I trust him more than I trust myself."
Hu Li wasn't sure, but she thought Professor McGonagall's thin mouth smiled for just a moment. Then McGonagall said crisply, "Very well, Zhang. Let's go into the Great Hall, where you will be Sorted into the proper house."
They walked together into the huge, cavernous room, lit by many candles suspended magically in the air. Four long tables were in the center of the room, and one smaller table on a platform for the teachers was off to the side. In the center of the room, a tiny first year was seated on a chair, wearing a tattered old hat that came over her eyes. So that's the Sorting Hat, Hu Li thought.
McGonagall steered her to the end of the line of first years. "There is one other transfer student this year, a third year. After the first years are Sorted, his name will be called, then yours. Walk up to the platform and put on the Hat," whispered McGonagall, and then swept away, leaving Hu Li with a sickly feeling in the pit of her stomach.
The first years were Sorted all too quickly. "Caparotta, Paolo," shouted McGonagall. Hu Li swallowed as she watched Paolo toss her a frightened look and stumble up to the hat. In
moments that would be her.
There was a silence of about twenty seconds before the hat shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!" Everyone cheered as Paolo Camparotta walked off the platform to the Hufflepuff table.
"Zhang, Hu Li," barked McGonagall. Hu Li walked slowly up to the chair as if it were the gallows. She could hear Ron shouting, "Go, HL!" and Hermione saying to him loudly, "It's Hu Li, not HL!" She glanced over at the Slytherin table. Draco was watching her. He gave her a tentative smile and a thumbs-up, and she felt a little better.
Hu Li sat on the chair and stuffed the hat on her head. Immediately a voice said, "Hmm, interesting. Peculiar, very peculiar. You seem to have loyalty and ambition and bravery and a love of learning and knowledge. There's quite a bit of talent, yes, great physical and mental strength, and determination. I see cleverness and integrity and a mind beyond its years in wisdom. Well, Hu Li Zhang, I don't know what to say. You have the important traits of all four houses. Perhaps I'd better let you choose."
Her stomach dropped unpleasantly. Interesting – a moment ago, she didn't think she could ever feel sicker than she did then, and now look at her. "You want me to choose my own house? But – but I hardly even know the names, I -"
The hat said calmly, "How about Hufflepuff?"
"No, I don't think so," she said miserably. Somehow she didn't think lying to your friends meant loyalty was your best trait.
"What about Ravenclaw?"
"No," she replied. She may have had a love of knowledge, but she also knew that knowledge was a double-edged sword. Knowledge could be good and it could be bad. It could bring someone happiness and it could disillusion someone. She herself was a victim of both facets of knowledge. Sometimes it was better not to know.
"Slytherin?"
She hesitated. She thought of Draco, his sly, wistful face, his low, drawling voice, his kindness, his sarcasm. He was in Slytherin. Ambition – she did have that, as well as cleverness. But something was telling her "NO!" Hu Li hesitated for just one more second before saying, "No, not Slytherin."
The hat sounded pleased as it said, "Then better make it GRYFFINDOR!"
Hu Li was almost numb with nerves as it yelled the last word, and as she made to pull the hat off, it said, "Good choice, Hu Li Zhang. I was going to pick Gryffindor for you myself, but I wanted to let you pick. Very good choice."
Hu Li walked dazedly to the Gryffindor table, where three red-haired Weasleys, Hermione, Harry, and Lee Jordan were cheering and clapping, and seated herself between Hermione and George.
As the announcements from the caretaker began, Ron whispered to Hu Li, "We thought you'd died under there, you were sitting there for so long. Almost a minute and a half before it picked."
But it didn't pick, Hu Li thought. I did.
Professor Dumbledore stood up after the caretaker. There was none of the usual joking twinkle in his bright blue eyes. He said seriously, "I believe Mr. Filch has covered many of the new rules for this year. There is nothing I would wish to add to that list. However, I would like to remind you that the Dark Lord is indeed rising to power again. This year, more than any of the others, is not the time to be disobeying school rules and wandering off to the Forbidden Forest or even to strange places in Hogsmeade. Third years and up, be very aware of your surroundings and the people near you when you visit Hogsmeade. I cannot tell you enough times to be careful. Lord Voldemort is very powerful and very, very dangerous."
He said a few more things of less serious tone, but Hu Li was thinking of his first announcement. Voldemort had killed her paternal grandparents when they were trying to infiltrate the organization of Death Eaters and spy for their side. The Aveta Kedavra Curse had killed them immediately – at least they had not been tortured for days like others – that was a condolence. The Dark Lord himself had killed them. That was why her father had chosen to become an Auror.
Harry interrupted her reverie by saying to her, "Oh yeah, we get to go visit Hogsmeade, you know."
"No, I didn't," she replied. "What's Hosmeade?"
"It's not a what, it's a where. It's a village made entirely of wizarding folk. It's brilliant! There's Honeydukes – they have the best sweets in Britain – they've got Feather Quills and Peppermint Toads and Cockroach clusters – oh, but don't get those, they're foul -"
Hu Li listened while he told her all about Hogsmeade and noticed that he had the most charming green eyes that she'd ever seen. Just as she was about to ask him about the owls in the post office, food suddenly appeared on their plates and on the tables.
Hu Li jumped. "What's this?" she exclaimed.
Harry said, "Oh, the house-elves send the food up by magic from the kitchen."
"Marvelous, I'm starving," said Ron, and began eating with gusto.
Hu Li looked down at her food. This is my first British dinner, she thought. "Er –
Hermione?" she asked tentatively.
"Yes," responded Hermione.
"What is all this food?" said Hu Li plaintively.
Quickly Hermione pointed out kidney pie, mashed potatoes, beef stew, and something else of which Hu Li didn't quite catch the name and didn't dare eat. She ate the rest of it without much interest, wishing she could have some rice and steamed vegetables.
"What the hell is this?" said Fred Weasley farther down the table. Harry glanced over and said, "Hey, Hu Li, do you know what that is?"
She looked up and said in delight, "That's shrimp foo yong! Throw that down here, Fred. What's this doing in the kitchens of Hogwarts?"
"Bet Dumbledore sent instructions to the house-elves to make it especially for you," said Ron. "Seems like the sort of thing he'd do, doesn't it?"
Hu Li ate a bite of shrimp foo yong happily. It didn't taste exactly like the stuff she ate in Hong Kong and China, but it was close enough for her. She looked up to say something across the table to Ron and froze.
Up at the teacher's table, Severus Snape was staring at her in a startled way. She stared back at him, knowing what he was thinking. Dumbledore has always been known for letting all sorts into Hogwarts, but isn't that one going a bit far? After everything Sou Mei has done – everything that one is capable of? She stared at him, too frightened that he would reveal everything to even move. Then Professor McGonagall saw them staring at each other. The professor tapped Snape on the shoulder and whispered something in his ear. He relaxed very slightly, still looking warily at Hu Li. She mouthed, Don't tell. He looked at her for a moment and then nodded. She sighed with immense relief and mouthed, Thank you. Then she smiled at him, looked down, and began eating again.
Across the Great Hall Draco Malfoy was watching them.
Later, after the feast and a good-night announcement from Professor Dumbledore, the crowd of Gryffindors surged through the doors of the Great Hall and turned up the grand staircase. Hu Li followed Hermione, not knowing where she was going.
They ended up at a large portrait of a fat lady in a pink ball gown. "Password?" she said.
A seventh year prefect came hurrying through the crowd, crying, "New password is 'persnickety toast'! Prefect coming through! Excuse me!"
"Sounds like old Percy," said Ron. "My older brother," he explained to Hu Li. She smiled.
The crowd of Gryffindors poured into the common room. Most headed straight off to bed. Hu Li was interested in the common room, but Hermione said, "No, we've been up late and we've got school tomorrow. Let's go to bed!"
Reluctantly Hu Li followed Hermione up the girls' staircase. "No co-ed dorms?" inquired Hu Li slyly.
Hermione sniffed, "Of course not! Now here we are, fifth year girls' dorms." She opened the door and they went through.
There were three other girls chatting and giggling amongst themselves as they got ready for bed. The talking stopped dead when they saw Hu Li.
One of them, a blonde girl, said with wide scared eyes, "Aren't you that transport from China?"
"No," replied Hu Li, wondering what her problem was, "I'm that transfer from Hong Kong, thank you."
Another girl with a long dark plait said solemnly, "We saw you get on the train and we wondered who you were."
"Wonder no longer," said Hu Li. "Hu Li Zhang. And you three are?"
They introduced themselves as Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil, and Cecelia Feathersnip. Hu Li noticed they seemed wary of her, as if she would take out a knife and murder them horribly any moment. "Don't worry, I don't bite," Hu Li said cautiously.
Parvati Patil looked right at her and said softly, "Oh, you don't?"
Hu Li felt a small shiver start at the base of her spine and work its way up. "What do you mean?" she said slowly. Beside her, Hermione tensed.
Cecelia Feathersnip said, "We know who you are, you know. You don't have to pretend any longer. And I just want you to know, I have garlic around my neck and a wooden stake under my pillow." She lifted her pillow and pulled out the stake.
Hu Li laughed nervously. "What is this?"
Lavender said, "We know your real name is Sou Mei, and you're a vampire." She held up a huge braid of garlic. "So stay back while I go warn the Headmaster."
Hu Li laughed heartily, Hermione joining in. "You think I'm Sou Mei? Just because I'm Chinese? Really, this is too funny."
They stared at her as if she was ready for the nuthouse. "You're saying you're not a vampire?" said Cecelia dubiously.
"I'm saying I think the lot of you are incredible idiots!" She bent in half and yelled with laughter. "Sou Mei, what a gag!"
Parvati said, "Okay, prove you're not." The other two nodded.
Hu Li thought for a moment. "All right." She went over to Lavender and yanked the garlic from her and draped it over her shoulders. Then she crossed the room and stood in front of the large mirror that the fifth year girls shared and crossed her arms. "See the garlic? See my reflection? I'd do something else, but I really don't fancy plunging a wooden stake through my heart to see if I'd die, would you?"
The three glanced at each other doubtfully. "I guess we were wrong," said Lavender reluctantly. "When you got on the train – you just looked like a picture of the vampire that I'd seen somewhere before."
"Right," said Hu Li. "I know you British. You think all Asians look exactly alike. Take a few
minutes to open up your eyes, so you can pick out the alive from the undead. And I certainly
hope you're happy, because now my hair smells like garlic."
She and Hermione gave a few more giggles and then went to go brush their teeth. But as Hu Li looked up at the reflection of herself in the bathroom mirror, she thought, that was a close one.
***
She was dreaming.
Somewhere, deep in her psyche, she had the vague notion that what was happening was not real. But the constant pain – the fear – that was real. Pain, fear – they were old friends of hers.
She was in a dark dungeon, far below ground level. The only light came from a single torch on the wall. Somewhere, there was a dripping noise, and she thought of a dam of blood that was slowing cracking, bit by bit, about to break. Any minute now she would be covered in blood, rivers of blood.
She twisted, trying to break free of the chains that bound her to the wall before she drowned in the sea of blood. But it was useless. It was titanic uranium, the strongest substance on earth. Add the fact that they had starved her for nearly a week, and add the fact that they had beat her and tortured her – and she was never breaking the chains.
She heard a noise, a patter of feet on the cold stone floor. It was a rat, she thought in fright, one of the huge man-eating rats that she had been heard about. These rats wouldn't wait before you were dead and buried to devour you – they would eat you alive, taking tiny nibbles at a time with their needle-sharp teeth so you'd stay alive until the very end. It was coming to eat her, sent by Jun Tao. She could hear it coming closer, and she wept with terror.
The rat came closer into the small circle of light provided by the torch. It was a normal sized little rodent, probably as starved as she was. What was wrong with her? She was going mad. She could feel it. Her reason, her sanity, was slowing slipping away. One could only stand starvation and excruciating pain for so long before one went over the edge.
There were footsteps. She was definitely not imagining these. They were slow, meaningful, purposeful footsteps, descending the twisted stone staircase that led to her dungeon. She shivered with fear. This, she could sense weakly, was Jun Tao. She could not use her senses to their fullest – they had put a locking spell around her mind so she could not use her full powers, but she still
had her instincts. The lock made her feel naked and exposed and weak and truly human. She was not accustomed to feeling so vulnerable, chained up both mentally and physically. This, especially, was why she was going mad. Of course, the torture bit helped too.
The footsteps crossed the room and stood just out of the torch's gleam. The only things she could see were the highly polished shoes and the glittering, malicious eyes.
"Hu Li," said the low, harsh voice. "You have been here for nearly six days. You have been tortured brutally and beaten and starved."
She cut in, "Thanks for rubbing it in, jackass. I know what happened to me."
She heard him laugh, a low, evil sound. "It's good to see you have not lost your spirit, Hu Li. But that's also bad. It means we'll have to hurt you more. You know that if you tell us your secrets, we will just leave you be?"
She snarled, "I have nothing to tell you, Jun Tao. But when I get out of here, I will tell the world about the Mad Minister of China and his sick pleasures of torturing the innocent!"
He chuckled again. "Admirable ambition. But unless you tell me your secrets, you will never leave this dungeon. You will be tortured until you are dead or insane."
"I told you, there is nothing to tell. I don't know what you want me to say," she said, her voice cracking with fatigue and pain. It hurt to talk and even to breathe.
Jun Tao's voice sharpened. "I want you to tell us what you are – what makes you so different from the other half-bloods. The others must drink blood to survive. You do not have to. The others cannot stand direct and fierce sunlight. You can. You also have magic – you can pass for a witch, but the others cannot. You are just like a human – but more than human. You are an enhanced human, evolved and superior. You have the intellect and strength and mental powers and intuition and immunity of a vampire, but you need no blood and do not need to hide at mid-
day like the other half-bloods do."
"I don't know what makes me how I am!" she screamed at him. "I am what I am! Do you think I asked for this? Strength and mental powers and intuition – it's not always a gift! It's also a curse? Don't you understand?" she sobbed, knowing he did not.
"No," he said crisply. "I don't see what makes it so bad. We could create a new race of humans superior to the old kind if we had your knowledge. No sickness, humans that are smart and strong and psychic, humans that heal from every disease and every wound, humans that are the ultimate creation, the ultimate triumph of mankind!" He stepped forward into the light, and she looked into the darkest depths of humanity, into eyes of the purest evil. "Don't you understand?"
She spat in his face. "Go to hell, you miserable creature. I know nothing except that you are wrong and you are evil."
Jun Tao stared at her, the spit shining on his face. Then he whipped out a handkerchief and wiped the spittle slowly off. He said angrily, "You will pay dearly for that, bitch." He snapped his fingers.
A guard came forward. Jun Tao said, not taking his eyes off Hu Li's, "Burn a hole in her tongue. That will teach her to spit at the Minister of Magic." He smiled at her as the guard hurried off and she involuntarily began to shake violently. "You may heal from every wound," he said coolly, "but we both know that there is agony before there is healing."
She said evenly to Jun Tao, "You will be the one that pays. I will come after you and I will take my time killing you. It will be the sweetest pleasure I will ever take."
Jun Tao smiled at her one last time as the guard came back, bearing a red-hot iron in his hand. He said to the guard, "Leave the door open. I want to hear her scream."
The last thing Hu Li heard before she blacked out were the shrieks of incredible and ultimate suffering.
It was only after she passed out before she realized they were her own.
