One of his students was getting very close to the final stage of the project. This was slightly unusual, as the others were still having trouble with the navigation aspects and had yet to realize the importance of orienting the spell to the movement of the stars, as well as the sun and moon.
Clow had been keeping very close track of the store rooms, and had noticed someone had been taking the very things he would have used for a temporary artifact.
The part that confused him the most was that whoever was almost finished had been taking them one piece at a time, which was odd because he had made it clear that they could use the materials within freely. To a point anyway.
Curious, he decided to put a scrying spell on the door to see who was using it.
You could imagine his confusion at the slip of a child sneaking in at a ridiculously early hour, grabbing a few things, before heading back to his stables.
He was peripherally aware that a new stable boy had been hired, one who was at least competent. He hadn't realized they were so young though.
Seeing as how the child had picked up the last remaining components they would need, Clow waited patiently. If they were even remotely passable as a mage, then they would wait for the next full moon to complete the project.
There was a particularly good spot less than a mile away where one could complete it undisturbed, and would be perfect for to orient the spell itself.
So he waited, patiently after night fell. As the moon reached it's peak, Clow saw the child again. This time carrying the spell components in a small bag.
They set things up in an exacting manner, and it was clear the child had some magical training. Though it was incomplete, as they failed to create a circle to contain the magical energies.
Whatever they planned to do would be quick and sloppy work, not something any Master would condone even if they did complete the project. He'd have set any student of his to doing endless amounts of boring, but practical chores for a month at least for not doing the proper prep work.
He kept silent as the child managed to complete a rough prototype of an artifact that would be considered a completed project, if only because it could be used as a basis for a more permanent one.
However doing so had drained their magical reserves extensively, and they were barely able to clean up and start heading back to the stables to sleep it off.
He scooped up the child, as they were falling asleep on their feet and hit them with a minor sleep spell.
He had not expected to find a mage child hiding under his very nose...especially not one with such potential.
Ming Yue, or rather 'Raven', knew she was in for it when she realized she wasn't asleep in the stables, but an actual bed. It was rather comfortable too.
Hearing the soft sound of a page being turned, she tentatively opened her eyes to find...Master Reed.
She knew she was in trouble now, as she had sensed a spell near the door but hadn't thought anything of it.
"I know you're awake, little one," said Master Reed, not even turning to face her.
Raven sat up properly and noticed her little project nearby. Inwardly she winced, knowing she was going to be yelled at for borrowing supplies.
"So. What is a mageling child doing hiding in my stables?" he asked.
His voice was calm, but his gaze was calculating.
Well, if she was already in for it because she had borrowed something she shouldn't, then she might as well go for broke and do what she came all this way to do.
She looked him dead in the eye, which seemed to surprise him a bit, before stating calmly in Chinese.
"My name is Ming Yue, and I'm here because my mother has completely lost her mind and started using forbidden magics on children. I'm not certain what spells she's using, but several children in my old home have been found without magic and all reports keep leading to a woman that fits my mother's description."
Whatever Clow expected, that was not it.
"Who is your mother?" he asked, in the same language.
"My mother's name is Su Yung," said Ming Yue. "She specializes in water scrying and magics, and she has a hair pin that I suspect my father gave her because she treasures it so."
The pit in Clow's stomach dropped. He looked at the child properly and to his shame realized the child looked entirely too much like his ex-lover to be a coincidence. And if he was honest with himself, he had sensed something while they had completed their prototype.
A sense of familiarity that went soul deep.
"Why come to me? Why not reach out to the authorities?" asked Clow finally.
"My mother is stronger and more cunning than she looks. And if she has delved into forbidden magics, there's no telling what else she has hidden. However she has spoken of you at length. You were the only mage I could think of that might be able to counter her tricks and put an end to her madness."
Clow didn't have to think too hard on the matter. If his ex-lover really had fallen so far that her own child had sought out help from an unknown, then they must be truly desperate. And he had been getting foul portents of late from his mother's homeland.
His scrying had alerted him to 'unfinished business', but had failed to alert him what it was.
Before he could say anything else, there was the sound of a loud rumble. Ming Yue flushed, embarrassed that her stomach had betrayed her. To be fair, she had skipped dinner to complete her prototype and rituals like the one she used was hungry work.
Clow chuckled, and sent for a larger than normal lunch. The servants were too well trained to ask questions by this point, and his students knew better than to disturb him.
Once properly fed and rested, Clow observed the child. They were incredibly mature for their age, but at the same time rather childish.
"Who taught you magic? Your ritual was incredibly sloppy and the lack of a protective circle was appalling," said Clow.
Ming Yue blinked.
"I've had some formal magical training, but they've never mentioned protective circles. Mother was always too busy to give me any formal training, and what little she did was mostly the bare basics," said Ming Yue slowly.
Hogwarts education was more about wand movements and pronunciation. She had never even known protective circles were a thing before she left England.
"I thought as much. Your prototype is adequate, but the prep work was so shoddy that any real master would have you doing chores for two months to relearn the basics," said Clow. "Though I will admit, you oriented it better than any of my current students have attempted."
"I recognized the formula," she admitted. "Though it's the incomplete form of the one I remembered. Once I knew what the project was, I wanted to try it myself since it was so useful."
"Oh?" said Clow with interest. "So you know how to read?"
If the child was who he suspected, it would be good to know her abilities first. The fact she was able to enchant something of this level was impressive enough. It didn't hurt she was clearly fluent in multiple languages.
Ming Yue cast her glance at the books on Clow's shelf, and calmly began to read their titles. Clow looked rather pleased, as most children that age would have trouble pronouncing the titles...especially those in Latin.
While he was aware that he would one day have children, including a young girl who would later inherit his greatest work, he never expected it to be this soon.
Ming Yue (or Raven), was a girl of fierce intelligence, sharp wit and incredible courage. She also had a well of common sense that was sadly lacking in most, as evidenced by her ability to traverse the ocean disguised as a boy for well over three months with none the wiser.
Since she had completed the project, even if he had never assigned it to her personally, Clow spent the next month and a half drilling the basics of magic use into her.
Her practical magic was good, but very sloppy. And her knowledge of basic spell circles was almost nonexistent.
Which made perfect sense as she had admitted to being mostly self-taught with a bare minimum of training.
Clow found the girl a delight to teach, as she patiently listened and asked proper questions. She didn't mind spending time indoors studying over playing like most her age.
What she didn't know was that Clow had been making preparations to visit China and deal with his ex-lover. Now that he had an idea of what was going on, he had used magic to find out the full situation...only to realize things were worse than he thought.
Raven had not been exaggerating that her mother was performing dark magics. Even a basic scrying over the area he knew her home to be in had given him pause, as it felt incredibly foul to his senses.
Some time later...
Raven was a little confused as to why there was a Chinese qipao on her bed. While her room was not as large or as grand as the rest of the students in the home, the mere fact she had one was enough to set the niffler in the vaults among his students.
They were all highly suspicious of why an untrained mageling child was permitted to study with them, or why Master Clow gave her such attention. If she were older, there might have even been rumors of special 'favors' being traded, but she was entirely too young for such things. Besides, Master Clow had never shown such inclinations before.
"Master Reed wishes to speak to you in his study," said the head butler.
He had his own suspicions about why the Master had shown such...interest...in a girl child, but was too well trained to say as much.
The unspoken knowledge she was to be dressed appropriately in her new outfit passed between them. While her hair had grown, it was nowhere near as long as it had been before she had cut it. She could put it into a loose ponytail, if needed.
Clow looked rather pleased seeing her in the dress. It bothered him that Raven had such a preference to men's clothing, but for the trip they would be making she would need to be in more appropriate attire.
"Raven, I'm glad to see the dress suits you."
She kept silent, as she was still curious as to why he had it left in her room to begin with.
"We'll be making a trip soon. One that is long overdue."
Realization hit her.
"How bad?" she asked.
"Enough so that I cannot put this off any longer. We leave in the evening," said Clow simply. She winced at the implication.
"It's going to take us months to reach China from here," she pointed out.
"If we were traveling normally, that is true. However I have a waypoint spell in my house across the sea. We can teleport straight to there in only a few minutes."
Once again she was struck at how powerful Master Clow was. Even Dumbledore couldn't pull off a spell like that casually!
Raven leaned in close to Master Clow, who steadied her with a gentle hand on her shoulder.
This was the first time she had seen such magic up close, so she was very excited. Her mother never let her watch any of her big spells.
Clow had an indulgent smile on his face as they teleported the thousands of miles from Wales to China.
Raven had been forced to mature far too quickly, so seeing her act like the child she was made him happy. The girl wasn't even ten yet after all.
"Feel free to pick a room, as we'll be staying for a week at the least," he told her. Raven was off like a shot.
He would need a day or two to recover, and to gather the materials he'd need to deal with Su Yung. And, once that was over he fully intended to spoil Ming Yue...as well as tell her the truth about why her mother had spoken so much about him. She deserved the full story after all.