-8-
The Budding Rune Savant and Potions Mistress.
-8-
Zi Yuan, now eleven years old at this time, smiled at her group as they worked collectively to solve the Alchemy puzzle; really, Alchemy was really easy when you got down to it, it was just an advanced mix of potion brewing mixed with transfiguration and charms.
As Harry Potter, potions had seemed like a fascinating topic for her, and she had gone to her first class hoping to discover a talent just waiting to be discovered only to be disgusted and disappointed.
Snape had ruined too many dreams and lives, although that was mostly all down to Dumbledore's insane plans which made so little sense in the long term and were nothing more than poorly thought out little schemes, but the potions teachers here were not only born in a time before someone as self-serving as Albus Dumbledore would come along and purposefully sabotage the lives of so many people by allowing Snape to deliberately vanish potions, unnerve students, and destroy potion samples. They were dedicated, and Zi Yuan had benefited enormously in just a few months here, at a real magical school than she'd ever had at Hogwarts as Harry Potter.
The biggest problem with alchemy that separated it from actual potion-making was it was extremely limited, focusing only on producing a philosopher's stone, or a similar substance that could transmute metal into gold. The study of alchemy was sadly being taught in the basics from the start of the student's school career and it wouldn't be until they reached the age of twelve and could choose their electives that real alchemy could be taught. It was simply too dangerous and too advanced for young children to play games with, the Forbidden City ensured it was an elective after at least a couple of years of advanced potion brewing was under their students' belts, and as the years passed, Yuan and her friends had witnessed memories of famous alchemists or amateurs making extremely small mistakes, a mis measuring of an ingredient like powered fairy wings, or slightly too much unicorn horn…and then there would be a massive bang.
Ever since her arrival here, Zi Yuan had been playing games like this, watched memories play out with pen sieves of some of the most important laws, and had found an interest in alchemy, although it was marred by the knowledge she already possessed from her time as Harry Potter that the philosopher's stone Voldemort had chased in her first year as the Boy Who Lived was part of an elaborate, multi-century con trick that disguised a massive embarrassment.
But that didn't mean she couldn't be fascinated by it, all the same.
Chang Su smiled at her before she placed a couple of pieces of the puzzle onto the slate. "You're very happy right now," her friend noted.
"I sure am, Su," Yuan grinned. She had wondered if Su was going to be an ancestor of Cho Chang from Ravenclaw, but she didn't care to find out, "I love these games."
It might have seemed weird, a game or a puzzle dealing with studying alchemy, but there was logic here. The puzzle was in fact to uncover alchemical formulae by piecing together the puzzle pieces. In appearance, the pieces were not too dissimilar from the mundane puzzles played by muggles in the 20th century. But this was a magical puzzle, and it was magical as a result. The pieces were blank, the trick was to carefully go through the pieces and when they found compatible pieces, the enchantment on the pieces would then fall away, revealing symbols of alchemical formulas, that would then be placed in with the larger whole. The students would then have to guess the symbols they found, even if they were small; to make it extra tricky, the symbols were enchanted to change into something different, to keep the students alert and focused.
Lin, one of Yuan's best friends, cursed irritably. "No!"
Yuan looked up worriedly at her friend. "You alright, Lin?"
Lin waved her off. "I'm alright; I just thought I'd found the right pieces."
"The professor did say the puzzles were difficult and complex; just take your time."
"I said I'm alright!" Lin snapped.
Yuan recoiled. "Alright, I'm sorry…," she trailed off, worried.
Sadly Lin's voice was slightly louder than necessary and it caught the attention of the professor.
"Is everything alright there, girls?" He demanded, his voice making it clear he hoped nothing disturbed the lesson.
Not wanting Lin to blame her for getting her into trouble, Yuan spoke up, "I'm sorry Professor, I just found a few pieces and was delighted!"
The professor nodded. "Mm, very well, but while enthusiasm is a superb thing to have, try not to disturb your fellow students too much."
"I understand, Professor," Yuan nodded before turning to Lin, who was looking at her sheepishly.
"I'm sorry, Yuan, I didn't want to get you into trouble," the other girl apologised.
"Oh, that's alright," after all the times she had gotten into trouble at Hogwarts, Yuan didn't care about getting into trouble; she had come to see, especially now she was more or less immortal at this point, that it wouldn't affect her future education here, "What's wrong with you, seriously? Why is it you always get flustered during these games?" Yuan went on.
Lin sagged as she focused more on the puzzle in front of her. "My family are pressuring me to do well, especially in alchemy, as it's one of the most greatest arts."
Yuan knew what it felt like to be pressured - her new family in China wanted her to do excellently and follow in the lines of the greatest members of their family, but Yuan wasn't bothered that much. "I know what you mean," she said diplomatically, "but has it ever occurred to you that your future could depend on a different subject?"
"You think I don't know that, Yuan?" Lin countered while they both found several compatible puzzle pieces and then carefully wrote down what they saw. "My family have been studying alchemy for generations, they want me to take it to the next level."
"In that case, I would meet other alchemists and learn from them; don't depend on independent studies too much," Yuan commented, frowning before she smiled when she found and pieced together four pieces, joining all of her finds together with the main piece.
-8-
If alchemy wasn't to be taught by the time the students of the Forbidden City were old enough to cope with the pressures of potion brewing, then runes were taught in practice.
In her time as Harry Potter, Yuan had been pressured into going into Care of Magical Creatures and Divination but knew Dumbledore was behind it as the old bastard hadn't wanted his weapon to be well trained as a wizard. That hadn't stopped him from secretly spying on the class learning it independently and discovering an interest there. But as Yuan, she had learnt about runes since her first day. Thanks to her knowledge already, she had soared to the top of the class.
The Runes teacher had given them the tools to make a rune cluster that would extinguish fires. For Yuan, this was child's play; all she had to do was create a rune which created a bubble around a fire and cut off the oxygen flow. Sure, Yuan knew full well that if this sort of thing went into production it could endanger lives. What if it created a bubble around someone's head and suffocated them? To cope with that, she carved a timer that would only keep the bubble going for a minute, not the 5 minutes it took for true suffocation to last, and then the fire would be doused with water.
While she was coming up with an advanced design for the cluster, this time coming up with runes that would douse the fire a webbing or a foam that would block off the oxygen and then dissolve.
The rest of the class displayed their rune clusters, many of them using ideas similar to her own, but Yuan went to the top of the class with her clusters.
"Those were extremely inventive, Yuan," the teacher praised her openly, "you are showing an imaginative mind which is a strong quality in a Rune Savant. Well done."
Yuan was a long way from being the frightened boy who had been scared of doing too well and had hidden his mind from his cousin, from his relatives, and from people like Hermione Granger. As Yuan, she had been praised by her family for years, especially since her reports showed how well she was doing at school.