Author's Note:

To those of you who have come from the previous version of this story (The Road Not Taken + The Path He Chose) – WELCOME! I hope you enjoy the new and improved version.

To those who haven't read the previous versions of the story – feel free to go back and read The Road Not Taken, if you like, but keep in mind that I wrote it several years ago and the writing may be less mature (and the plotting... needed a facelift).

At any rate, I hope everyone enjoys "Beyond the Veil!"

PS: potential trigger warning for panic attacks and numerous mentions of death


Something Like Alice

There is magic in a story, in the telling of tales. It's the power of hearts and minds and imaginations joined together. There is magic in characters who breathe and feel and fear and fight; in a world filled with love and hate and the hearts of a hundred thousand dreamers.

There is magic enough to give the story a life of its own, to turn its own wheels and spin its own fate. All it takes is a little faith and a little sacrifice.

It's not so hard. Dying is easy. Easy as breathing, though the irony is understood. Just a little slip – of a knife, of the tongue, of one's attention – and death will catch you in its waiting arms.

Everything starts from there.


On an idyllic summer's day in Scotland, a family was having a picnic in the park. Children were laughing, women were gossiping, and men were making sandwiches. In a tree nearby, one little girl was reading a book, nestled cosily among the branches.

Beneath her perch, Su's brothers were playing tag with their cousins, squealing and screaming and running like wild things. But she didn't hear them – all her attention was on focused on the book in her hands. She was absorbed in the story, imagining a world of magic and mystery and danger and excitement. She barely noticed the turning of the pages – all she wanted to know was what happens next?

In her mind's eye, she could see Harry Potter and his friends frantically battling Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries. Her fingers curled around the edges of the book, creasing the cover as the story came to a head. And then–

No.

No, it's not fair.

It's not fair.

She had to close the book to catch her breath. Her heart hurt. Harry had lost Sirius now, but in some ways Su felt like she'd lost him, too. Her mother had always told her that she became too involved in stories.

"Su?" Startled out of her trance, Su dropped the book. Her mum stood under the tree, hands on her hips and frowning up at her. "What are you doing up there? You could get hurt."

"I was just reading."

Su's mum rolled her eyes.

"Of course you were," she said. "Lunch is ready. Go wash your hands and meet us at the table across the park, okay? I'm going to get your brothers."

"Yes, Mum. I'll be right there."

Her mum walked away and Su took a moment to dream about receiving a letter from Hogwarts for her eleventh birthday and learning about magic and potions and ghosts and goblins. But magic wasn't real and neither was Hogwarts, so she sighed and leaned across the tree to see if she could spy her fallen book.

She could see it peeking through a gap in the raised roots of the tree, the phoenix on the cover lit up by a stray ray of sunlight. From that angle, it almost looked alive, like it might set the tree on fire with her in it.

A breeze shook the branches, leaves scratching at her face. She lifted one hand to bat them away – and that's all it took. Her hand slipped on the branch and then she was falling. She saw the earth rise up to greet her, saw the hole her book fell into, and felt something like Alice, who fell headfirst into a rabbit-hole and found Wonderland on the other side. Far away, through the fog in her head, she could hear her mother screaming. Right in front of her, a phoenix rose to greet her, swallowing her whole with a burst of pain and light… and then blackness.


Her body felt heavy and light all at once. She felt as if she was floating, adrift in the ocean, but at the same time, her limbs were too weighed down to move. When she opened her eyes all she could see was darkness and, somewhere in the distance, the faintest glimmer of starlight.

Su's first thought was that she was dreaming. But dreams never felt this real, with air so heavy she could hardly breathe and an echo of a heartbeat in her ears.

Her second thought was that she'd fallen into Wonderland, down the rabbit-hole and into the abyss. But Alice was just a story, and she was floating, not falling.

The stars were coming closer and Su could now see that they weren't stars at all, but tiny pockets of silvery mist, glowing in the black expanse.

Oh. Oh.

She was dead.

It was the only thing that made sense, and Su felt the weight of truth pressing on her chest. She was dead. She'd lived nine years and now she couldn't live any more.

She didn't even get to finish her book.

One of the pockets of mist floated closer and closer until she was passing through it, surrounding her with a soft, silver light. The mist was cold, but to her surprise, when she touched it, it soaked into her skin until she herself was glowing. It felt strange – like putting on clothes that were too big for her, that would pinch in all the wrong places until she grew into them.

She could hear whispers now, coming from the mist, though she couldn't make out any words. She couldn't even tell if the whispers were in English, let alone what they might be saying. Su tried to listen, but the more she strained her ears, the less clear the whispering became, a faint buzzing hum in the back of her head.

She didn't know how long she floated. Maybe hours. Maybe days. Maybe weeks, or years, or even centuries. Time seemed meaningless when nothing was happening and when nothing would ever happen again. She knew she should be sad, or scared, but she just felt… heavy.

She drifted past other clouds of mist without touching them, listening to them. Some of the clouds sounded angry, like a hive of bees, while others shrieked like dying cats. Some were silent and some slurped like sticky things unsticking.

After a time, she fell into a daze, something resembling sleep – if the dead could sleep. She was startled awake by something tugging at her ankle. If death was like an ocean, then the tugging was a rope of seaweed – slimy and frightening and attempting to pull her even deeper into the dark.

The clouds of light became smaller and smaller as she was pulled down until they were just pinpricks in the black. A scattering of stars above her.

She began to panic, her heavy limbs sluggishly thrashing as if she could twist free of the invisible rope. The silver under her skin, however, reached down, moving toward whatever was trying to eat her. That scared her even more – her only source of light leaving her alone in the dark – and Su curled in on herself, grasping the invisible rope with both hands. She followed the light down, down, down, into the abyss.

She didn't see the door until she was about to pass through it – the silver mist was never as bright as she thought it was. Before she realised what was happening, Su tumbled through the curtain in the archway and crashed to the ground.

After so long in the dark, the sudden light burned her eyes, and she screeched like a banshee, clutching her face and hiding from the burning brightness. She could hear people shouting, much louder than anything in the dark place she was in before. The ground beneath her was solid and the air she breathed was cool and sweet.

There was a flash of red and Su fell asleep at last.


Madeleine Locke once thought that the word 'impossible' had been struck from her vocabulary during her years as an Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries. Now, as the Head of the Department faced a rather panicked pangolin patronus, she realised that there were still quite a few things she considered impossible, and one of them was being proved quite possible right now. She could feel the headache coming on, building behind the bridge of her nose.

"A child fell through the Veil?"

The pangolin nodded its silvery head and said, in the voice of Unspeakable Alfred Yao: "We've taken her to the infirmary. You have to come see her."

The patronus faded, but Locke's headache did not.

She snatched up her wand and strode out into the main hall, shrugging on her outer robe as she walked. Three doors and an uncomfortable drop later she found herself in the Department Infirmary, staring down at the tiniest girl she had set eyes on in the last decade.

"Has she said anything?"

Beatrice Li looked up from casting diagnostic charms on the girl and shook her head. "She was shouting about the light burning her eyes when she fell through, but Yao stunned her a little after that."

Locke glared sharply at the man, who at least had the grace to look sheepish.

"She scared me," he admitted. "People don't come through the Veil – they only go through. One-way trips only. I wasn't expecting her."

Locke pursed her lips but said nothing. Honestly, she couldn't deny that she might have done the same in his position. Li, on the other side of the room, continued to fuss over the unconscious girl.

"Can we wake her?"

"I don't know," Li frowned at the girl. "It might be quite a shock for her. Look how young she is. And we have no idea how much time has passed since she died – she could be waking decades in the future, completely alone."

"And look at her clothes," Yao gestured at the girl's jeans, t-shirt, and sneakers. "Obviously muggle. She might not even be a witch."

"Muggle…" Locke frowned.

"What is it?" Yao asked.

"She might have died in the war," Locke pointed out. "Muggle or Muggleborn, she would have been a target of You-Know-Who."

"If that's the case, she's probably an orphan," Li added.

"We could ask her," said Yao.

"Yao!"

"What? We'll have to wake her up and ask her questions eventually anyway. Since we have to ask her name and age, we might as well ask after her family, too. If they're still alive, we can probably contact them as well."

Li sighed and looked at her boss.

"What do you think?"

Locke peered at the girl, tiny and pale in her sleep, and sighed.

"Let's wake her up."


Su woke up with a start. Her body felt sore all over, as though she'd been slowly squeezed through a very small hole. She was vaguely aware of a woman hovering beside her, but she was too achy to focus.

"What happened?" she mumbled. "Am I at the hospital?"

A brief pause and then:

"Yes. Yes, you are. Do you remember what happened?"

"I fell. I slipped and then I fell."

With some effort, Su managed to open her eyes. What she saw did not look like any hospital she'd ever heard of – unless hospitals had black marble ceilings and were lit by fires in iron sconces. There were two women on her left and a man standing a little further away – all three were dressed in long black robes. Su frowned at them, utterly baffled.

"Where's my mum?"

The nurses shared a worried glance and Su's stomach churned uncomfortably.

"Where's my mum?" she asked again.

"She's waiting outside," said the man. "We'll let her in after we ask you a few questions."

"Yao!" The older woman hissed through her teeth.

"What?"

"Don't lie to the child!"

The uncomfortable curl in Su's stomach tightened further. Lie? Where was her mum?

"We can just obliviate her afterwards if it worries you that much."

What.

"What's your name, dear?" asked the third nurse, smiling kindly.

"Su," she answered, frowning at them. "Su Li."

"It's nice to meet you, Su. My name is Beatrice. Can I ask how old you are?"

"I'm turning ten in July. What do you mean obliviate?"

The three nurses hesitated. Su saw Beatrice's eyes widen and her face pale, mouthing the words nine years old to herself.

"Muggle. Told you."

"Yao!" Beatrice hissed.

Muggle, Su thought, as if they're not. As if they're– but they can't be. Because magic isn't real. It's just a story. She looked again at their robes – heavy and worn, like something out of a fantasy film only not quite. More realistic. More worn in.

"Alfred Yao, you have the tact of a grindylow, honestly," the other lady rolled her eyes. "Hello Su, I'm Madeleine Locke. Do you remember what happened to you before you woke up here?"

Su frowned, trying to recall. The details were weirdly fuzzy and her body still hurt.

"I fell. And I hit my head. I thought–" she cut herself off, remembering the strange black limbo with the silver clouds and how she felt as though she'd floated there for a thousand years.

"What did you think, sweetie?" Beatrice leaned forward, a gentle look in her eyes.

"I thought I died," Su whispered, tearing up.

"Oh, sweetie," Beatrice sighed, reach out to stroke her hair. Su flinched away.

"I want my mum!" she cried. This was a nightmare. It had to be. She'd never dreamed anything that felt this real, but it had to be a dream. It couldn't be real. "We're on holiday and we're going home next week. I want to go home."

"Li, what do we do?" Yao asked.

Su started sobbing in earnest, tears stinging her cheeks and her breath coming in short, sharp bursts. The ache in her body was bone-deep and she'd never been so scared in her life, not even when she'd gotten lost at Disneyland when she was six.

"I've got a calming draught," Locke pulled a flask out and leaned towards Su. "Here, drink this."

"No!" Su screamed and tried to bat the potion away, but her body was still weak. Her hands barely moved, but she still heard the tinkling sound of shattering glass. "I want to go home!"

"Yao," Beatrice barked at the man behind her. "Grab a Dreamless Sleep potion. It's on the second shelf behind you."

Su shuddered, still crying. They were saying things that made it sound as if they were magic. But they couldn't be. Because magic was just a fantasy – it wasn't real.

"Here, Li."

Before Su realised what was happening, a flask was pressed to her lips and milky, slightly sweet syrup was poured into her mouth.

She fell asleep almost instantly.


"What do we do now?" Beatrice asked, her hands still shaking, putting the empty potions vial on the table beside the girl's bed.

"Get records. See if we can find an obituary for a Su Li anytime in the last twenty years. She's probably either a muggleborn or half-blood, so look through both muggle and wizarding papers."

"You think she's a witch?" Yao asked.

"She knocked my potion away with accidental magic," said Locke.

"She said her name was Li. Any relation to your husband, Beatrice?"

Beatrice shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe. I can ask Nathan tonight. But it's a common name in both worlds. And her accent… she's not from anywhere in Britain."

"Mmmm. Australian. I think," Locke nodded. "Maybe New Zealander. I can never tell the difference."

"What about the girl?" Yao gestured to their guest. "We can't just keep her in the Department forever. We can't send her back through the Veil, obviously. So what do we do with her?"

"We can care for her here for now," Locke sighed. "I'll ask Pearl to come check on her since he's in charge of Healing Research."

"And after that?"

"If we adopt her, it'll have to be an Unspeakable," said Beatrice. "If word gets out that a girl came through the Veil she'll be as famous as Harry Potter. That's not healthy for a girl her age. Not to mention the target it'll put on her back."

"Imagine what rogue necromancers might do if they learned about her." Yao paused and frowned, then shuddered. "Actually, don't."

"We'll arrange a meeting to discuss our options," Locke sighed. It will have to be in the morning, though I'm calling Pearl here now to make sure she's in a stable condition. I only want the four of us to know about this, for now."

Yao nodded and left the room, but Locke snagged Beatrice's sleeve before she could do the same.

"Beatrice… I don't want to impose on you," she said, "but can you talk to your husband? Try to find out how he feels about adoption and older children. At the moment our options are limited. That might change in the future, but for now…"

"I understand," Beatrice smiled. "I'll talk to Nathan. See you tomorrow, Locke."

Locke nodded and walked away, probably to write to Pearl. Beatrice sighed and went back to her office to gather her things so that she could return home.

Wandering out into the sunny streets of London, Beatrice felt as though the weather was wrong for the occasion. The weather should be dark and stormy when someone came back from the dead. At the very least it should have been very late at night when the streets were eerie and empty. Instead, the people of London – magical and non-magical alike – were going cheerfully about their day, the sun still shining brightly overhead.

Beatrice sighed and turned down an alleyway before apparating home. She didn't even bother taking off her cloak or kicking off her shoes – she just flopped into a chair at the kitchen island and dropped her face into her hands, groaning loudly.

"That bad, huh?" her husband asked.

"Nathan, promise not to tell anyone about this?"

"I always keep your secrets, Bea," he reminded her.

"I've just had the longest day of my life," she moaned, kicking off her shoes and summoning a bottle of wine. "I swear, when I took this job I didn't think– well I did and then I stopped– because being an Unspeakable isn't supposed to be– well the things that happen aren't supposed to be–"

"Bea," Nathan put a hand on her shoulder and took the wine bottle in hand, pouring them both a generous glass. "What happened?"

"Yao and I were working in the Death Chamber today," she began, taking a hearty gulp of wine. "It was his project – the one with time-turner sand. Another attempt to communicate beyond the Veil."

"Let me guess – something exploded?"

"Worse."

"Worse?"

"A girl fell through the Veil."

A pause. Beatrice took the opportunity to drink more wine. She tried to remember if they had anything in the house that was stronger than wine. She thought they might have a bottle of firewhiskey somewhere, but she wasn't sure where.

"A girl. Fell through. The Veil."

"Yup." Beatrice topped up her glass. Nathan still hadn't touched his.

"But that's impossible!"

"That's what I said!"

"So why are you telling me? I imagine this isn't the sort of thing Locke would want to be shared. This is– well I don't know how people would react, but I don't really want to find out. Shit, Bea. What is this?"

"I don't know. I really don't. Locke's organising a meeting tomorrow to try and figure out what to do with her."

"That still doesn't explain why you're telling me this. You don't usually share the delicate details of your work with me. For obvious reasons, Unspeakable Li."

"She's nine, Nate," Beatrice sighed. "A nine-year-old girl. It's not like we can keep her in the Department forever – if at all."

Nathan sighed, finally taking a deep drink from his wine.

"I see where this is going – they want us to take her in. Is it because you're the one who was there when she came through the Veil?"

"I think it's more because I have a wonderful husband with lots of spare time to look after a kid. Oh, and because of her name, too, I suppose."

"Her name?"

"Su Li. Yao asked if she was any relation."

"There are so many Li's in the world I wouldn't be surprised either way," Nathan admitted. "But if she is, it's not a close relation."

"Look into it, please? Judging by her clothes she can't have died more than twenty or so years ago. She's dressed like a muggle, though, so there might not be anything to find. At least, not on your end."

"Bea, are you sure about this? Death is Death – it can't be defied without serious consequences. And time-turners… terrible things happen to people who mess with time. You should know this better than anyone, Bea."

"Changing the past is one thing," Beatrice replied. "But giving a future to someone who deserves one – who was too young to die – surely that's the best option?"

"The kindest one, maybe," said Nathan. "I guess this is the sort of stuff you'll be talking about in your meeting tomorrow, isn't it? What to do, what the consequences might be, what you know and don't know et cetera et cetera."

"I imagine so, yes."

"Well then. Let's get you to bed so that you can rest up after your very long day and prepare for the next very long day." He plucked the wine glass from his wife's hand, laughing as she blindly grasped for it without lifting her head from the crook of her other arm.

"I hate you," she muttered.

"You love me," he replied. "Come on. Bath and then bed."


When Su woke up again, she was in a similar room to before – black marble walls and ceiling, lying in a curtained-off cot. There were no people around, this time. There was no sound. The one time she had been to the hospital to visit her cousin Aaron when he broke his leg, it had looked nothing like this. The hospital had been bright and white and loud, filled with beeping machines, chattering guests, and the murmuring of doctors and nurses discussing their patients.

This dark and silent place frightened her. There was no movement or sound. It was like a mausoleum – or what she might expect a mausoleum to be, having never actually seen one in person. Nevertheless, she was positive that whatever this place was, it was not a hospital and her mum wasn't here.

That was the worst part – she just wanted her mum. She just wanted to be hugged and told that everything would be okay, that this was all just a nightmare and that the monsters under the bed wouldn't get her as long as she cleaned her room and ate all her vegetables – even if she was too old now to believe in monsters.

A choked half-sob, half-laugh burst from her throat at the thought of the old stories her mum would tell her to simultaneously rid her of her fear of monsters under the bed and also do her chores at the same time.

"You alright, there?"

Su sobered immediately, drawing her knees up to her chest in order to get as far away from the strange woman as possible. She didn't know what they wanted from her, and she was terrified out of her wits, but she wouldn't go down without a fight if that were what it would come to.

It didn't look as though the woman – Beatrice, she'd said her name was – would attack her. She had a tray of food in her hands and was smiling gently at Su. The robes she was wearing were long and cumbersome – if she needed to, Su could probably trip her over and tangle the woman in her own clothes, using the confusion to escape. But she had no idea where she was, or how to get home, so for the time being she would stay put.

"I've brought you breakfast," Beatrice held up the tray. As if on cue, Su's stomach rumbled loudly. Beatrice laughed. "I didn't know what you'd like, so we have congee, bacon and eggs, and pancakes. Which would you like?"

Su stared at Beatrice and then stared at the tray. It all looked – and smelled – delicious. And she was hungry, hungrier than she'd ever been in her life.

"Everything, please," she said. Beatrice's eyebrows went up, but dutifully handed over the tray and Su dug in. It was the best meal Su had ever eaten, but that may also have been because she hadn't eaten in what felt like an eternity.

Beatrice smiled at her and said: "I'm sure you have a lot of questions."

Then she pulled out a wand and conjured up a chair. Su choked on her pancakes, coughing and spluttering while her eyes were glued to the chair that had just appeared out of thin air.

What. What.

"Was that– was that magic?" Su asked, voice still raspy from choking.

Beatrice smiled sheepishly and nodded.

"I suppose we can start with that," she said. "You have probably been raised by muggles – what we call non-magical people – and have been told that magic isn't real. This is not true. I am a witch, and so are you."

"WHAT? No, I'm not!"

"Haven't you ever noticed strange things happening, when you are upset or angry? Have you ever wondered what might have caused them?"

"No!"

"No?" Beatrice frowned. "Don't you remember knocking away the calming draught we tried to give you before, without even moving your hands?"

"I didn't– I don't– I've never done anything magic before."

"I understand that this might be a shock to you, but what I'm telling is true. Magic is real. Witches and wizards are real. And you are a witch, Su."

Su was silent, absorbing what she'd been told. She definitely hadn't had magic before – she would have noticed, especially after she started reading Harry Potter books and became nearly obsessed with being a witch.

This had to be a dream. Or, if not a dream, then something must have changed when she… when she fell into the rabbit-hole, metaphorical or not. Maybe when she came into this world – where magic was real – she was given magic in order to live in it? She had no way of knowing the truth.

"I know it's a lot to take in," said Beatrice.

"I'm– I'm okay," I think. Su shook her head. She had to change the subject. "Where are we? This isn't a hospital, is it?"

"No. We do have healers – Sherlock Pearl is our best."

"Sherlock?"

"Pearl," Beatrice nodded. "He's the healer in charge of your case. You were in a very delicate condition when you came here."

"Delicate?" Su frowned.

Beatrice hesitated. There was no easy way to say your bones were disintegrating into dust, held together only by your magic, and you almost died five times over the last month. Pearl probably would have just said so outright – while he was an incredible healer, his bedside manner was abhorrent. That was probably why he was an Unspeakable and not working at St. Mungo's.

"You've been asleep for almost a month now."

"A month? But –" Su wanted to ask after her parents, but she didn't want a solid answer to what she already suspected – that they weren't here and never would be, because she'd gone somewhere they could never reach her.

"Yes?" Beatrice prompted.

"I feel fine," Su said instead. "Tired, but fine."

"Pearl is a master in his field," Beatrice nodded. "Speaking of Pearl, I should let him know that you are awake. He'll want to talk to you about your symptoms. Rest up – your magical core is severely depleted right now."

Su frowned. Depleted? What did that mean?

Beatrice had disappeared out the door before Su realised that she'd never answered her original question. Where was she?

Slowly she finished her breakfast, barely tasting the delicious food with so much on her mind. She had her suspicions – especially when Beatrice had used the word 'muggle' – but she had to know for sure. She had to know if she shared a world with Harry Potter, and what that would mean for her.

Soon a man in robes showed up at the door. He was tall and thin, with a stiff, pinched expression, and introduced himself as Pearl. Though he looked severe, his hands were gentle when he looked Su over, checking her health.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Tired," Su admitted. "And heavy."

Pearl nodded. "You are magically exhausted, and that can often take a physical toll. I imagine the heaviness will remain for at least a week or two more. When you are less tired we will start exercising you, to build up your health again."

"What– what's going to happen to me?" Su asked, afraid of the answer. "Where are my parents? What happened to me?"

"As far as I know – you died," Pearl told her, not looking her in the eye. "I don't know what happened to your parents, but we can find no trace of your family through your blood, neither have we found any record of your death."

That's because I didn't die here, Su thought. I don't belong here. This is not my world. She didn't know how to feel about dying – being told that she was dead. The confirmation didn't surprise her, not exactly, but a chilling numbness spread through her body and she felt like a stranger in her own skin.

"As for what happens next," Pearl continued, waving his wand and frowning at whatever he saw in the spell, "I do not know. Most likely we will find you a foster-family, you will go to Hogwarts, and we will try to give you the life you should have lived. I doubt that comforts you, but you cannot stay here forever."

"Where is 'here', anyway?"

"The Department of Mysteries."

Su gasped, her head throbbing. Vaguely she recalled the Veil that she fell through, guessing that it was the same one that she had read about, though the book was forever lost.

She sat in stunned silence as Pearl finished his examination. She didn't notice him picking up her breakfast tray, or leaving the room. When she did eventually realise that she was alone she curled up in the bed and started to cry.


"What did you say to her?" Beatrice hissed while the girl's sobs echoed down the hall. Pearl just shrugged, lips tugging down into the barest hint of a frown.

"The truth. I answered her questions, nothing more."

"Pearl!"

"What?"

"You have no tact. You're worse than Yao!"

"Hey!" Yao protested from across the room. "I resent that."

"You know what you did, Yao," Beatrice rolled her eyes.

"I answered her questions," Pearl repeated, stubbornly. "While it may not have been gentle, I do believe I was kind. She has answers now, and some peace of mind."

"Does she sound peaceful to you, Pearl?" Beatrice asked, waving her hand in the direction of the crying girl. "She's nine years old. She doesn't need to know all the gory details of her death."

"I gave her no details," Pearl frowned. "I simply confirmed the suspicions she already had. You were the one that told me that she was at least partially aware of her own death. Fortunately, it sounds like it was simply a tragic accident and not the product of the war."

"Ugh! You're impossible," Beatrice threw her hands up in the air and spun on her heel, needing to get away from fools who gave hard truths to children. She could still hear Su crying – stifled, breathless gasps that indicated she was trying not to – and her heart was breaking. The girl was far too young to have died, and far too young to deal with the consequences of returning to life without her family.

She found herself storming all the way into Locke's office – a journey that had surprisingly few detours into weird and wonderful Mystery Rooms. Maybe the building itself was on her side, or at least the crying girl's side. Li frowned – the seeming semi-sentience of magic itself was a mystery they at the DoM barely even touched on. It was an enormous and slightly worrying concept after all.

"We have to do something," she exclaimed as she burst through the door. Locke sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. There were three tall piles of paperwork on her desk; mounds of scrolls all bunched up and tied with different coloured ribbons, some squawking indignantly, some shrieking urgently, and others grumbling grumpily. Locke's hair was frizzing out of its bun and she looked minutes away from setting her entire office on fire.

"What's all this?"

"Harry Potter's going to school next year," said Locke. "Some nincompoop at The Daily Prophet wrote an article about it and now it seems that every department in the Ministry is wondering why we haven't figured out how he survived the Killing Curse. I've been casting silencing charms for the last hour, but they just keep coming."

As if on cue, three more small owls swooped down a chute above their heads to drop several more scrolls on Locke's desk. She opened a small drawer and pulled out some treats for the birds – the poor things were clearly overworked – and promptly set the new scrolls on fire.

"I hate bureaucrats," she said, turning her back on the fiery mess and fixing her hair. "Let's see any of those Ancient and Noble arses do my job. I dare them."

"Can I make you a cup of tea?" Beatrice asked, already crossing the room to fill the teapot on Locke's shelf. Her boss nodded, fishing out her Department Head 'Do Not Disturb – Mystery In Progress' sign from under her desk and using a sticking charm to cover the owl-chute.

"So you know how my day's going," she said. "How are you?"

"Delightful," Beatrice said shortly. Locke's eyebrows shot up.

"That bad, huh? Yao again?"

Beatrice shook her head.

"Pearl. The girl woke up–" Locke almost dropped her tea in surprise, "– and I told her that she was a witch. She didn't take that well – clearly muggleborn, the poor thing – and then Pearl waltzed in to do her checkup and immediately told her that she died, that she has no family, and that she'll be sent away to live with complete strangers as soon as she's well!"

"Well," said Locke, sipping her tea. "Well," she said again.

"Exactly," Beatrice nodded, drinking her own tea. The two witches sat in silence for a few minutes, gathering their thoughts and calming themselves down, before Locke put her tea down and looked at Beatrice.

After a moment, Beatrice put her tea down as well and looked at Locke.

"You wanted to do something?" Locke asked. Beatrice nodded. "Then what do you suggest?"

"I want to take her home," said Beatrice. "The Department is no place for a child and all the Unspeakables are here to work, not babysit. Nathan works from home – he has more time to spend with her. We've already spoken about the possibility of taking her in, at least for a little while."

"Are you sure about this, Beatrice?" Locke asked, as a friend and not as her superior. "A child is a great responsibility, especially one who has as much baggage as Su does. If you're going to do this, you must commit."

Beatrice bit her lip and frowned into her teacup. It wasn't an easy decision, and she and Nathan had gone back and forth on the subject ever since Su had appeared. There were a number of reasons that this might not work out, a hundred ways it could all go wrong, but… but there was a little girl without a family, and she and Nathan had always wanted a little girl. It was not, perhaps, the most conventional way to gain a child, but it wasn't any less valid.

"Yes," said Beatrice. "I'm sure."

Locke saw the resolve in her eyes and nodded.

"All right," she said. "I'll draft up the paperwork. We'll need a backstory for the girl – where she came from, adoption papers, et cetera et cetera. I don't want anyone outside the Department to know where she came from. Yao is right; she'd be in great danger if anyone knew about the Veil. Until everything is prepared, I suggest that we all lay low. We don't need anyone from the upper floors digging into this."

As if on cue, Locke's 'Do Not Disturb' sign ripped in half and numerous shrieking scrolls spilled out of the chute, covering her desk in obnoxious papers.

"I hate bureaucrats," Locke scowled.

"I'll get started right away," said Beatrice, standing up. "Thank you for the tea, Madeleine. Good luck with the paperwork."

"Ha!"


Su spent most of the next week sleeping, still recovering from her… ordeal. She cried a lot for the first few days, but as the week continued it was almost as if she'd begun to run out of tears.

She spent most of her time alone but was visited at least once a day by Pearl – who apparently hated his first name – and Beatrice. She found that, as she began to get over her shock of dying and appearing in a fictional world, she quite liked the two Unspeakables. Pearl was brusque and awkward, but not unkind. He answered her questions simply and straightforwardly and was happy to explain the spells he was performing on her if she asked.

"This is a diagnostic spell," he would say. "I'm measuring the state of your magical core relative to your physical health. See how that ball of light does not quite fill the silver net around it? That indicates that your magical core is not quite full. See how this outline of your body is glowing, all your bones lit up like that? That shows where the magic is going, where you are still healing yourself, your bones knitting themselves back together. It's a miracle you aren't dead, actually."

Beatrice was gentler than Pearl – or perhaps simply more sociable – and Su could see that the Unspeakable was careful to measure her words so that she wouldn't frighten or upset her. That consideration was touching. Lost, confused, and essentially orphaned, Su appreciated the kindness.

She always made sure that Su was comfortable, well-fed, and had a few books or magazines to entertain herself whilst unsupervised. Su read books like The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and even got her hands on a few copies of The Quibbler.

When she read an article about Harry Potter going to school in the next year, she was surprised – hadn't he already graduated? All the books had been published in her world, though she hadn't yet read them all. She checked the issue date of the magazine – April 1990, twenty-five years out of date. But when Su asked for more recent issues she was informed that those were the most recent issues.

That information freaked her out almost more than finding out that she'd been dead and had passed through the Veil – that, at least, she had half-expected. Time-travel, however, was… she didn't know what it was. She could barely eat or sleep for two days, too shocked by her discovery.

She spent most of that time either trying to distract herself by gaining some control over her newfound magic – though the most she could perform without a wand was making her glass of water tip over without touching it – or by trying to learn as much as she could about the world she now lived in.

The Quibbler was filled with accounts of animals that may or may not exist, gardening tips, de-nargling advice, and the occasional conspiracy theory that He Who Must Not Be Named was actually still alive disguised as a muggle named Bob. It was hard to tell what was nonsense and what was real, especially with a limited understanding of 'normal' in the wizarding world, but Su trusted it more than the Daily Prophet – at least when it came to political opinion pieces.

Being nine years old, she didn't understand most of what she was reading – there was something about a lot of pureblood families trying to pass policies that benefited them and only them, some kind of passive-aggressive back-and-forth between Albus Dumbledore and Lucius Malfoy, and a brief mention of werewolves being spotted hunting in Northern Scotland.

What little she did understand made her think very hard.

She had no doubt that Harry Potter would defeat Voldemort and save the Wizarding World and probably send Umbridge to Azkaban for being a nasty, unpleasant toad, and would likely win the House Cup for Gryffindor seven times in a row. But she also knew that the problem between purebloods and those they believed to be inferior to them would not be so easily solved.

Su was very young and fairly sheltered, but she saw the way her mum's eyes tightened when people mentioned her 'exotic' looks, how her friends at school expected her to be good at math because she was Asian, how her father sometimes got scolded for speaking to her in Chinese because he was 'not in China anymore'.

Just because people didn't think they were racist didn't mean they didn't hold prejudices or certain expectations. Her mum sometimes said that bad culture was a more sinister enemy than a bad man – the man could be seen, caught, attacked, and defeated. But ideas were abstract and incorporeal. She couldn't punch an idea in the face. She had to change people's minds, one person at a time.

She didn't even know where to start.

Lost in thought, Su almost didn't notice Beatrice knocking softly on the door of her room. When she looked up the Unspeakable was standing by her bedside, wringing her hands nervously.

"Is something wrong?" Su asked.

"Wrong?" Beatrice blinked, laughing nervously. "No, nothing's wrong. I just, um…"

Su sat very still as Beatrice took a seat on the side of her bed and gathered her thoughts.

"You're a very bright girl, Su," Beatrice began. "And I'm sure you're aware that we've had some trouble locating your family."

Su nodded slowly, frowning. Where was this going?

"We've kept you here while you've recovered from… from what happened to you. But the Department of Mysteries isn't really a place for a child."

"I can't stay here forever," Su nodded.

"That's right," Beatrice smiled, still wringing her hands. "We've been talking about you and… well. Would you like to come home with me tomorrow? You could stay with my husband – Nathan – and me."

Su swallowed, her fingers clutching her blankets until her knuckles turned white. For a few moments, her mind was completely empty. She couldn't see anything except her mother's smile, her father working on the accounts with his glasses slipping down his nose, with her brothers' shrieking laughter echoing in her ears.

"Su?" Beatrice gently touched her hand, and Su carefully unclenched her fist.

"Okay," she said quietly, trying very hard not to cry. "That's– that sounds nice."

"I know it's scary for you," Beatrice whispered. "I know you must miss your family very much. I'm not trying to replace them, I promise. I just want to take care of you."

"I know," Su choked on a sob, scrunching up her nose to stop her tears from spilling out. Her face felt itchy and warm and her vision was blurry with tears. Angrily she scrubbed her eyes with her sleeve as if she could shove the tears back in place.

"I know," she said again. "I'm just–"

She sobbed again, and when Beatrice held her arms open for a hug, Su couldn't stop her tears any more. She collapsed into Beatrice's arms and cried. It was such a scary thing, being in a strange place without her family. There was so much she didn't understand, and she didn't know how being here, in this world, would affect the story. What if Harry Potter didn't save the day? What if – because Su had messed everything up – Voldemort won? What if she'd ruined everything just by existing?

She missed her mum, who would hold her and stroke her hair as Beatrice was doing, but who would smell like her mum and feel like her mum. She missed her dad, who would hover awkwardly in the doorway, not knowing what to do, and would later come in with a cup of tea and a serious expression and tell her that she was a smart kid and she'd figure it out.

She missed her stupid little brothers, as loud and annoying as they could be. Ken was a year younger than her and was at an age where he believed girls had cooties and enjoyed putting bugs and crawlies in his sister's hair. Jo was only two years old and had a bad habit of putting anything he could get his hands on into his mouth, including some of Su's favourite sparkly barrettes and iPod headphones.

But they were also incredibly sweet, sometimes. Su remembered Jo plucking a flower from a garden and pressing the half-crushed blossom into her hand, a wide smile on his face. She remembered Ken playing chess with her, very seriously studying the board while they played. He'd only gloated a little when he'd won.

"It's okay," Beatrice murmured softly, holding Su while she cried. "It's okay."


Su stumbled out of the fireplace, coughing. Behind her, Beatrice appeared in a flash of green flames. Beatrice wiped the ash from her face with a handkerchief and offered a spare to Su, who gratefully accepted.

"Nate?" Beatrice called out. "Nate, I'm home! I've brought a guest!"

"I'm in the kitchen, Bea!"

Beatrice smiled and gently guided Su through the house, towards the kitchen.

Su was finding it hard not to stare. The room she'd had in the Department of Mysteries had been pretty sparse, with undecorated walls and only her hospital bed and a bedside table as furniture. There hadn't been much for her to see there, and she hadn't been allowed to explore the rest of the Department.

But now there were things to see everywhere. A wizard's house wasn't enormously different from a regular house. The living room had couches and a coffee table, and bookcases and shelves full of photographs and knickknacks. But the photographs were moving, peering curiously at their new houseguest, and the knickknacks were things like hovering toy brooms and sleeping little gold cat statuettes with actual moving tails.

The house wasn't very big – from what Su could see there was only the living room, two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen-dining area – but she liked it. Mostly because she noticed that there were books crammed into every possible corner, on every subject imaginable.

She could see titles like A History of Time-Travel: Past and Future by Martin McDowell; Mythical Creatures That Really Do Exist by Xenophilius Lovegood; The Narnia Myth by Icarus Smoke; and Aeroplanes: Can Muggles Fly? by Tamara Knoll.

Would she someday be able to perform some of the spells in Advanced Travel Charms or 101 Useful Transfigurations? She'd always been fascinated by the magic shown in the books, but Su imagined that an entire universe of magic would contain possibilities that she'd never even considered.

Beatrice giggled softly and gave Su a little nudge, startling out of her book-lust trance. Blushing a little, Su allowed herself to be led into the kitchen where Nathan Li was cooking dinner. Su watched, fascinated, as he chopped vegetables manually while behind him on the stove a pot was stirring itself, and another spoon was serving rice into bowls without assistance.

Magic is amazing, she thought. And it's so ordinary for them.

"Nathan?" said Beatrice, placing her hands on Su's shoulders.

"Yeah, Bea?"

"Guest?"

"Oh! Right!" Nathan put the knife down and span around, smiling widely. Su giggled a little at the bright green apron tied around his waist with the words Kiss Me I'm Irish written on it in flashing letters. "Hello – Su, right? Come in – don't be shy. Beatrice has told me all about you – only the good stuff of course. I hear you can hop on one foot for half an hour while singing Spanish Opera? Is that right?"

Su giggled and shook her head.

"Hmmm, no? Really? Well, can you juggle with your feet? Eat an entire warthog? Play the concertina?" He mimed playing the accordion, hopping from foot to foot like a fool. Su kept giggling and kept shaking her head.

"Well, I never," Nathan gasped, dramatically holding a hand to his heart. "Beatrice, what tall tales have you been feeding me about this lovely young lady?"

"Oh, knock it off, Nate," Beatrice rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "What's for dinner? I'm starving."

"Me too," Su agreed.

"Nothing fancy," Nathan shrugged. "Just some chicken rice and stir-fried vegetables. I didn't realise we were expecting company, or I would have tried harder to impress you. Roast pork belly or steamed fish or my Nan's curry."

"It smells really good, though," Su smiled.

"I'm glad," Nathan grinned. "We'll cook up something more interesting together over the weekend, maybe? Can you cook?"

"Only pancakes," Su admitted. "But I'd like to learn."

Nathan's smile was warm and soft.

"I'd love to teach you," he said.

Su liked Nathan – he was friendly and patient and didn't talk down to her in the way some grown-ups did. He treated her like a child, but not like an idiot. She guessed that Beatrice had told him at least some of what had happened to her, if not everything, because he spoke very carefully and deliberately, especially when he talked about his family.

Su learned that Nathan was one of four children – he had two older sisters and one younger brother – and that his family was quite close, though only one of his sisters still lived in the UK. He was a potions master and loved to cook – two interests that he strongly believed were tied together – and worked largely from home, shipping potions to customers by owl or portkey-stamps.

Before she knew it, they had finished both dinner and dessert – sticky date pudding with butterscotch sauce – and her eyelids were growing heavy. She found herself nodding off at the table, struggling to keep her eyes open.

"Tired, Su?" Beatrice asked kindly.

"No-oooo," Su shook her head, yawning halfway through the word. "'M not."

Nathan and Beatrice exchanged a wry look and then turned back to Su.

"The guest room's just this way," Beatrice smiled and led Su to her room. The room was bigger than Su expected, containing a whole wall of bookshelves with sliding glass doors, a number of tables cluttered with potion-making equipment like a mad scientist's laboratory, and a small bed shoved into the corner next to a narrow wardrobe and the door to an ensuite bathroom.

"It used to be Nate's workshop," Beatrice admitted. "But we're building another one and we'll be able to move most of this stuff out of your way in the next few days."

"Maybe he can –" yawn "– teach me," Su murmured sleepily.

"Maybe he can," Beatrice smiled, helping Su into bed and tucking her in.

Su hummed, a smile tucked into the corner of her mouth.

She fell asleep almost instantly.


"How's the paperwork going?" Nathan asked quietly.

"It's almost done," Beatrice sighed. "Madeleine coordinated with the Hong Kong Department of Mysteries and fabricated an Unspeakable there who had a fatal accident. As far as the Ministry is concerned, Su is an orphaned half-blood from the colony. The adoption papers should come through tomorrow."

"Blood adoption?"

Beatrice shook her head.

"The girl has been through enough already. She may not want such a permanent change… But it's too soon to tell. Maybe later, when everyone is settled, and we have time to talk about it."

"She's registered for Hogwarts?"

"Where else would she go?"

"Beauxbatons has a portkey commute," Nate suggested.

"I don't think Su speaks French," Beatrice shook her head.

"A boarding school though…" Nathan frowned.

"We have a year," Beatrice reminded him. "We have a year to help her adjust, to teach her things so that she doesn't stand out too much. We have time, Nate."

Nathan shook his head but dropped the subject.

"She seems sweet," he said.

"She's very bright," Beatrice agreed, smiling softly. "A shoo-in for Ravenclaw I imagine."

"Ravenclaw," Nathan scoffed. "That's your house pride talking."

Beatrice grinned, eyes sparkling.

"She's been very brave, all things considered," she hummed. "Maybe red's more her colour."

"Oh, shut up," Nathan rolled his eyes.

"You'll be all right with her tomorrow? Do you think I should take the day off work, help her adjust to the house?"

"We'll be okay, Bea," Nathan smiled. "We'll just have a quiet day in. I don't imagine she has enough energy to be too much of a handful."

"Famous last words," Beatrice smirked. "But I'll trust you – just this once."

"Your confidence in me is inspiring," Nathan drawled, leaning forward to kiss his wife. Beatrice just giggled.


Su dreamed of falling. She was Alice down the rabbit hole, falling down, down, down, past witches on broomsticks and floating cauldrons stirring themselves and a rabbit with Pearl's voice reading a recipe for pasta out loud.

And then she was in the dark, falling towards a cloud of silver mist and then falling through it. She tried to scream and grab for the light, but it slipped through her fingers as she fell away. The light grew smaller and smaller as she fell, and Su knew that she would be trapped in the darkness forever, all alone in the blackness.

She woke up sweating.

In the early morning light, the potion's-lab-turned-guest-room was pale and ghostly – all the metal gleamed silvery and cold. Su shivered and stepped out of bed, feeling the cold of the floorboards even through her socks.

Quietly she padded into the kitchen, looking for a glass of water.

Nathan was already awake, sorting through a pile of letters and drinking tea. On the stove, a self-stirring pot bubbled with congee. Su's mouth watered at the smell.

"Good morning," she mumbled.

Nathan looked up from his letters and smiled softly at her.

"Good morning," he said. "Tea?"

Su nodded and Nathan stood up to find her a mug. While he busied himself in the kitchen Su investigated the nearest pile of books, perched on the edge of the dining table. There was a copy of The International Journal of Alchemy underneath a hardcover of Poisons of the Mind, Potions for the Soul and stacked on top of a catalogue for mail-order magical herbs.

"Would you like to read something?" Nathan asked.

Su nearly jumped out of her skin. She hadn't realised that he'd come up behind her, holding out a second mug of tea for her.

"Sorry," he winced. "Didn't mean to scare you."

Su shrugged.

"Here," he handed her the mug of tea and then walked over to a bookshelf in the living room, shoving piles of books right and left so he could look at the books behind them. "I've got something you might like, probably a bit more at your level… Aha!"

He pulled a book off the shelf and raised it above his head in victory.

"For you," he said, holding it out to her. "If you like."

Shyly, clutching her tea in one hand, Su took the offered book. Potions For All Occasions: Volume 1. It was clearly well handled, and when she opened the cover she saw the words "Property of Nathan Li" scrawled on the title page.

"It's mine," Nathan said, stating the obvious. "From school," he clarified, stating the slightly less obvious. "It was my potions book in first-year. I, uh, may have written some– a lot– of notes in it. But it's a good place to start. If you were interested. Which you might not be– potions aren't for everyone but–"

He cut himself off, realising that Su was no longer listening. No longer listening because she'd beamed at him and then immediately sat at the table to read the book, sipping at her tea.

The book was fascinating, filled with Nathan's notes about possible adjustments to the recipes based on ingredient interactions, with references to his first and second-year herbology texts, which Nathan obligingly dug up so that Su could cross-reference as she read.

Beatrice entered the kitchen soon afterwards and found her husband and her newest house guest mechanically spooning congee into their mouths without noticing the taste, entirely caught up in their reading – Su with her potion's textbook and Nathan frowning over The Daily Prophet, with a copy of The Quibbler by his elbow.

She smiled, glad that Su and Nathan had bonded over something that she could share equally with them. Reading was apparently a passion for the whole– well, not family, exactly– but the whole household.

Neither Su nor Nathan noticed when Beatrice served herself some congee and sat down next to them, though her husband smiled at her when she knocked his elbow with hers, before refocusing his attention on the latest article about Cornelius Fudge and Lucius Malfoy working together in the Ministry.

Beatrice remembered Fudge from school – a low-level Slytherin with high ambition, but without much independent thought. He was charismatic, certainly, but not much of a thinker. Beatrice worried about Lucius Malfoy's obvious influence over Fudge, especially with regards to the Ministry budget.

A ridiculous amount of money was being put into useless endeavours, like the building of a new wing for the Ministry's Department of Magical Games and Sports – which was full of Pureblood heirs with very little to do except play indoor Quidditch in their new stadium – and there was not enough funding being put into more active departments, including Magical Law Enforcement, the Department of Mysteries, and the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes.

While Beatrice frowned over how she and Locke would have to approach the bureaucrats at the Ministry for more funding, Su was absorbed in Nathan's potions book. The process of potion-making was fascinating, though Su doubted she would ever memorise any of these complicated recipes, which included directional stirring – clockwise or widdershins, for a certain number of stirs – and occasionally lined up with the phases of the moon or the alignment of planets or the weather.

She had three books spread open in front of her, having started reading with Nate's Potion's textbook and then been distracted by the uses of ingredients as detailed in The Potion Master's Comprehensive Guide to All Useful Ingredients and Their Properties by Damocles Belby, and then distracted again when cross-referencing with an old, dusty tome labelled Potent Potions: First Steps and Preparations by Deimos Black.

She'll be a Ravenclaw for sure, Beatrice thought, shaking her head and smiling fondly.

"I've got work now," she told Nathan. "Why don't you and Su get to know each other? Maybe you can teach her some potions basics?"

"I was thinking we'd clean up her room first."

"Why can't we do both?" Su asked, looking up from her book. "We can clean up the room first and then practice a potion. Maybe one that won't take too long?"

Nathan grinned at her.

"Sounds like a plan, champ."

They waved Beatrice off as she flooed to work and then turned to each other.

"So, where do we start?" Su asked hands on hips.

"We'll keep it simple, I think," Nathan said, leading her back to her room. "We'll clear out my things, put aside a couple of cauldrons to play with later, and then we'll get your room fit for living. I'm a bit rusty at transfiguration, but I can at least whip you up a rug for the floor."

He started shrinking his potions equipment and transfigured a nearby stool into a crate that Su could put everything into.

"Can you teach me that? Transfiguration?" Su asked.

"Not yet, kid. At the moment you're too young be taught really complex magic – even something as apparently simple as making a rug."

"Why, though?"

Why, Nathan thought, a Ravenclaw's favourite word.

"How old are you again, Su? Not quite ten, yet?"

"I'll be ten in July."

"Right," Nathan nodded. "At the moment, your magical core is still developing, it's not quite stable. It's changing from a– a sort of wild thing into something more contained. Instead of responding to your emotions and primal fears and desires as it has for all your accidental magic, it is instead becoming more attuned to your will and your ability to use magic deliberately."

Su mulled over this for a few moments, puzzling it out.

"So kids can only use magic accidentally, but when you get older you can only use magic on purpose?"

Nathan squinted at her and tilted his head. Teaching was harder than he thought.

"Yes and no," he said. "You can still do magic on purpose from a young age – that's why you go to school and learn it. But there are some things you can't do because your magic is too– too untrained. Sometimes magic needs to be controlled in a very specific way, or you need a lot of magical power to perform a spell. Most kids your age don't have the precision or the strength to do more complicated or powerful magic."

Su frowned.

"It's kind of like this," Nathan said, picking up a cauldron and setting it next to Su. The cauldron was cast-iron and big enough that she could put her head inside it. "I can carry this cauldron pretty easily because I'm a fully grown man and I'm used to carrying heavy things. Now you try it."

Su tried to pick up the cauldron, but only managed to hold it up for a few moments before she dropped it back on the ground with a loud BANG!

"Your body is still developing, and you're not strong enough to carry the cauldron. Even when you do grow strong enough to carry the cauldron it would take a lot of time, training, and effort for you to carry it long distances, for example."

"So magic is kind of like a muscle? That you have to exercise?"

"Yes. Magic is like a muscle. It's also like any other skill that you have to practice to become precise in. Like painting. You have to practice a lot before you're able to paint with fine and exact detail. In the same way, you have to develop your skills in magic a lot in order to perform fine and exact charms or transfigurations."

"That's really cool, Uncle."

Nathan fumbled a little behind Su as she packed shrunken potions equipment into the crate. Uncle Nathan. He'd probably have to get used to that.

"Can you tell me more about magic?"

"Well… what do you know about Hogwarts?"

"That's…" Su hesitated. She knew about Hogwarts, of course, but how much could she let slip? What would happen if she told Beatrice and Nathan that the world they lived in was just a story? They'd probably lock her up as a crazy person. "Hogwarts is the school for witches and wizards, isn't it?"

"That's right," Nathan smiled. "Hogwarts has been the biggest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the UK for the last thousand years."

"Are there other schools?"

"There are a few – some small, local schools in the country, a few bigger ones on the continent, like Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Those three – Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang – are the schools most British wizards attend. But obviously, there are schools of magic on every continent, and then there are the apprenticeships, too."

"Apprenticeships?"

"Well, if you want to be a Potions Master, like me, you have to take a potions apprenticeship under a guild-approved Potions Master who will teach you the advanced aspects of potions-making beyond what you might generally learn in school. Or if you want to be a broom-maker or wand-maker, you have to apprentice under the masters in the field."

"What about doctors?" Su asked.

"Doctors… Do you mean Healers? It's a little bit different for Healers – there are actually special schools for Healers-in-Training, and a lot of those are closely tied to magical hospitals like St. Mungo's."

Su tugged her ear, absorbing all this information.

"So what school am I going to?" she asked, though she suspected she already knew.

"Well… when you're eleven, I expect you'll receive your Hogwarts letter," Nathan shrugged. "Bea and I both went to Hogwarts. It's a great school. It's had a bad run with Defence Professors recently though, so you might need a bit of tutoring in that."

Su nodded, thinking about the ever-changing rotation of Defence Against the Dark Arts Professors in the Harry Potter books. There was definitely something there.

"Hogwarts is a boarding school," Nathan went on. "So you'll be living there during the school term with your house-mates. There are four houses at Hogwarts – Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. Each house has their own values and their own reputation. Just remember that no matter what their house is, every student at Hogwarts is a complete person – they're not defined by the colours they wear. Just because someone is a Hufflepuff, don't assume that they're slow-witted or un-ambitious. Not all Slytherins are, well… Slytherin has a rather unfortunate reputation for being, er, 'evil'. We're not evil. Just… ambitious and driven."

"You're a Slytherin?" Su blinked in surprise. She hadn't really thought about what houses Beatrice and Nathan might have been in, but Slytherin would not have occurred to her. She winced at that thought – she'd fallen into the trap of thinking all Slytherins were evil, like Malfoy and Voldemort.

"I was," Nathan nodded. "Look, when you go to Hogwarts, the house you join will seem like the most important thing in the world. For some people, that's still true even after we graduate. But not every witch and wizard in the world goes to Hogwarts, and when you leave school and go out into the world you'll find that it's so much bigger than green, blue, red, and yellow. Your house does not define you, Su. You define you. Whatever house you join in school, the most important thing is to embody the best traits of all the houses."

"What are those?"

"Slytherins are ambitious and cunning – they value patience and strong will. Ravenclaws are intelligent and studious, but also creative and full of wonder. Hufflepuffs may be a friendly, easy-going house, but they also value hard work and open-mindedness."

"What about Gryffindor?"

Nathan winced.

"I'll admit, I did not have the best relationship with most Gryffindors," he sighed. "There's a very strong rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Just because I'm not defined by my house now doesn't mean that I didn't get caught up in all of that in school." He shook his head and put a hand on Su's shoulder.

"That being said – Gryffindor is supposed to be the brave and courageous house. The best of them stand up for what's right and protect their friends, even when it might get them in trouble. It's better to do what is right, than what is easy."

"What house do you think I'll be in?"

Ravenclaw, Nathan thought, but then shook his head. He, of all people, should know that curiosity and intelligence could be found in any house. The Sorting Hat looked beyond the surface when it made its decisions, even if sometimes it was hard to fully understand its sortings in the beginning, everything made sense by the end.

"No one can really know what house they might be in until they go to Hogwarts. The sorting is… a mysterious process."

You put a hat on your head, Su thought. It's not that mysterious.

"How does it work?" She asked, just to be cheeky.

Nathan smirked, all Slytherin.

"Now that would be telling," he said. "It's traditional that first years go to Hogwarts without knowing how the sorting works. It'll be a nice surprise for you when you get there."

"Sure it will," Su rolled her eyes. She'd bet that there would be books around about the Sorting Hat somewhere, probably in one of the histories about Hogwarts and the Hogwarts founders. She thought that the Hat might have once been Gryffindor's, but she wasn't completely sure.

Using magic, it didn't take them long to clean up the room. Su watched, fascinated, as Nathan transfigured an old teacup into a brightly patterned rug, and turned the matching saucer into a lamp for her desk.

"We'll buy you some other things tomorrow," Nathan promised. "A wardrobe and some art, maybe. Clothes, definitely. Really make it yours. But I think this will do for now. What do you think?"

"It's nice," Su admitted, shyly. It was a bit bare and she thought she might want to paint the walls or something, but it was nice. It just wasn't home.

Nathan noticed her slight shift in mood and put an arm around her shoulders.

"I know you miss your family, kid," he said. "I know it's hard. But you're a really brave girl, you know? And Bea and I are here for you."

I'm not brave, Su thought. I'm just here. There's nothing I can do about it.

"Thanks, Nathan."

"Come on, kiddo," he nudged her and grinned. "Let's go make some potions. We'll start off with something simple."


"Miss Li, welcome back to the Department of Mysteries," said Locke. "How are you adjusting to living with Beatrice and Nathan?"

"They're really nice," Su grinned up at Beatrice. "We went to Diagon Alley this week to buy some things for my room. And Nate's been teaching me about potions."

"That's good," Locke smiled. "I'm glad things are working out. Now, did Beatrice explain what you're doing here today?"

"You want to make sure that I'm not dying, right?" Su hadn't fully understood Beatrice's spiel about regular visits to the DoM, but the gist of it had been 'health checks' to monitor her adjustment to being beyond the veil.

The Department of Mysteries was concerned about Su's health, especially after the fragile state she'd been in when she first came out of the Veil. She was also an incredible and rare opportunity – as far as they knew, no one had ever come from beyond the Veil in the thousand years they'd been monitoring it – and they wanted to study the girl. Therein lay another problem, however. Su was just a little girl and no matter how curious they were in the DoM, they weren't monsters that would cut up a child just to see what answers she might offer.

Hence, the health checkups.

"That's right," Beatrice nodded. "Once a month Pearl will conduct a full physical, just to make sure that you're okay. Coming through the Veil was a big ordeal and we just want to make sure that you stay healthy and happy."

She hesitated and glanced at Locke, who pursed her lips.

"Su, I want you to listen to me," said Locke, bending down and leaning in close so that she was eye-level with Su. "We Unspeakables want to keep you safe, you know that right?"

Su nodded.

"Well, that won't always be the case. You're a very unusual girl – no one has ever come through the Veil before. There are people out there who would– who would hurt you if they knew. They'd do terrible things to you to figure out your secrets."

Su frowned and shrank back into Beatrice's arms.

"I'm not telling you to scare you," Locke sighed. "I'm telling you the truth to protect you. For your own safety, never tell anyone where you came from. We'll come up with a story together, as close to the truth as possible, about why you're living with Beatrice and Nathan. But never tell anyone outside the Department about the Veil. It's a terrible and powerful secret and it could get you badly hurt."

"Do you understand, Su?" Beatrice asked.

"I do," Su whispered, shaking. She hadn't really thought about it, before, how dangerous her situation might be. It was scary being in another universe, and she was slowly coming to terms with the loss of her family and everything she'd known before, but the idea that this world might be dangerous instead of just magical…

She should have known. She already knew that Voldemort was going to come back – she'd read enough of the Harry Potter books to know that. She also knew that Harry would eventually defeat Voldemort, since the hero always wins in stories, eventually. But she also knew that people would die – people like Cedric and Sirius – and possibly people like her.

It was suddenly very difficult to breathe. She gasped for breath but her lungs wouldn't fill right. Her head felt heavy and she could feel the blood pulsing under her skin, trying to escape her body.

"Su?"

Beatrice's voice sounded hazy and far away. Su barely noticed when she fell to the floor; too busy pressing her hands to her chest to keep her fast-beating heart where it was. Had breathing always been this hard? She couldn't see anything except her untied shoelace. She was hunched over her knees trying to inhale. Her body was not her body. She wanted to cry but she didn't know if she could even do that.

Someone pressed a glass vial to her lips and Su drank without thinking. She coughed when some of the potion went down the wrong pipe and she choked a little on the potion.

It was a fast-acting calming draught and Su was able to breathe again within minutes. She felt floaty and hazy as she blinked up at Beatrice and Locke. There was some part of her still screaming in her mind, some part of her that didn't like this false calmness, some part that was still panicking under the potion, but the rest of her was just happy to be breathing again.

"Are you okay, Su?" Beatrice asked.

"Of course she's not, Li," said Locke, helping Su to her feet. "I didn't mean to scare her like that."

"She's only nine," Beatrice murmured.

"Maybe you should come back tomorrow."

"But—"

"The calming draught will interfere with Pearl's readings," Locke pointed out. "And she's been through a lot today already."

"I want to see Pearl," said Su, blinking away the haze of the calming potion. She could feel the fog of it on her brain, still, but she bit her tongue to sharpen her senses. "I'm– I'm not okay. But he'll make sure that I am."

"We can come back tomorrow, Su."

"We can come tomorrow, too," Su nodded. "But – I want to know. That I'm okay. I don't want that to happen again."

Beatrice and Locke exchanged a glance. Finally, Locke sighed and nodded.

"Pearl is waiting for you anyway," she said. "But tell him nothing too strenuous, Li."

"I promise."

Beatrice left Su in the corridor while she went to speak to Pearl – probably about all the things he could and could not do. Su busied herself by practising magic again, trying to move a quill with her mind.

Practising magic was helping clear what was left of the calming draught from her mind. Her body was slowly beginning to feel less heavy and clunky as well. She couldn't do much with the quill other than making it float slowly up and down, but she thought that if she kept practising she might be able to make figure-eights or something soon.

"Hey, kiddo."

Su yelped and the quill fell to the floor. An Asian man waved at her sheepishly.

"Who're you?"

"Uh, I'm Alfred Yao. You might not remember me – I was working on the Veil when you came through."

"Oh. Hi. I'm Su."

"I know," Yao smiled. "May I sit?" He gestured to the chair opposite her.

Su shrugged.

"That was some pretty impressive magic I saw," he said, smiling.

"I can't do anything," Su shook her head. "I can only make it float."

"That's more than most people," said Yao. "Even at my age. Especially at my age, actually. Kids have an easier time of it – not set in their ways. Most people don't practice wandless magic these days. Not in Britain, anyway. You should keep it up."

"Really?"

"It's a good skill. Not much you can really do with it. But it'll help other things."

"How does that work?"

"Practicing wandless magic helps refine your control and your power. If you start now, when you get older you'll be able to do some really precise spells or some really powerful magic."

"That's pretty cool," Su grinned.

"It is, isn't it?"

"Are you helping Pearl check up on me?"

"Not today. Pearl's a Healer, so he focuses more on the body and what's happening to you physically. But I'll help later."

"What do you do?"

"I investigate magical cores and the origins of magic."

"What's that like?"

Yao laughed.

"Pretty difficult actually," he admitted. "Magic can be very personal, for a lot of people, and magical cores can be a touchy subject. It's private, you know? So most people don't really like strangers looking at their magical cores."

"Oh. Well, what do you do then?"

"In the Department? I look at the magical roots of animals and plants, or I go to exhibition duels and duelling tournaments and measure the magical power of spells. It's not the same as looking at a person's magical core, but it's pretty good."

"Su?" Beatrice peered out from the doorway of Pearl's office, frowning at Yao.

"Yao and I were just talking," Su shrugged.

"Yeah?"

"I'll see you around, kiddo," Yao grinned and ruffled Su's hair.

"See you," Su waved at him, also grinning. She felt better after talking to Yao.

"Come on, Pearl's ready for you," Beatrice took Su's hand and led her into Pearl's office.

Unlike the rest of the Department of Mysteries, which was mostly black marble and flaming torches in iron sconces, Pearl's office was made up of light colours and bright white lighting. Unlike his serious disposition, Pearl's office was almost sunny, with pastel blue walls and a sunflower growing in the corner.

"Su," Pearl nodded at her.

"Pearl," Su smiled at him, hopping up onto his examining table.

"You've been eating well," Pearl observed.

"How can you tell?"

Pearl explained the spells he was using and what the results were telling him as Beatrice watched anxiously from the corner. Most of Pearl's tests revealed that Su was healthy, but she'd known Pearl longer than Su and had explicitly told him to keep any distressing news from the girl unless it was of immediate concern. She saw the slight frown on his face as he cast spells to measure the strength of her bones and the state of her mind.

Nathan came to pick Su up from the Department soon afterwards.

"What do you want for dinner, Bea?"

"Whatever Su wants. Maybe pasta?"

"Sounds good."

She waited until the door shut behind them to talk to Pearl.

"What did you find?"

"She's healthy, for the most part," he said. "Small for her age – but that's from her genealogy, not her health. She's been eating well. Not as much as she could be, but a lack of appetite makes sense given her circumstances."

"Anything concerning?"

"Her bones are weak— the damage they suffered when she first came through the Veil has had its effects. I can give you a bone-strengthening potion, but there's only so much it can do."

"Is there a more effective solution?"

"Vanishing her bones and giving her Skele-Gro, but that could be even more dangerous. It's not just limbs – it's her entire skeleton. It would be very painful for her."

Beatrice sighed and slumped in the chair by Pearl's desk.

"It shouldn't be too much trouble," Pearl reassured her. "Her bones are a touch more fragile than most witches her age, but unless she's playing Quidditch or throwing herself off tables, she should be fine. You know how to heal broken bones."

"Anything else?"

"She— her mind is fractured. It's hard to tell in what way, or how to fix it. Like her skeleton, her mind is functional, but there are parts of it that are… murky. I'm not sure how else to explain it. I think her memory has been damaged or altered in some way. It's hard to tell what effects are from the Veil and what may be from her death itself. You know that the Wizarding World hasn't made much progress in mind-magics and mind healing in the last two hundred years."

"I know."

"I'll keep an eye on things and do some research to help her. For now, she's fine, but we'll monitor her progress."

"Thank you, Pearl."

"You're welcome."


The backstory that the Li's had come up with for Su was fairly simple and close to the truth. They pretended that Su was the daughter of some of Nathan's many cousins, very distantly related, and it was easy for Su to refer to them as 'Aunt Beatrice' and 'Uncle Nate'.

The difference in the story was that Su's 'parents' had died, and sent Su to live with her relatives in Britain from Australia. The official story was that she was a half-blood raised among muggles, to explain her muggle leanings and lack of knowledge about the Wizarding World.

Though Beatrice and Nate were teaching her as much as they could about the Wizarding World, and Yao, Locke, and Pearl also told her stories, Su worried that she wouldn't fit in at school the way she was supposed to.

So she did as Hermione had done and studied hard, looking at history books and potions books and practising magic as much as she could. Under Nathan's tutelage, she was becoming pretty good at basic potions and was even able to adapt some potions recipes based on the knowledge of ingredients and tools she was given.

Nathan had almost cried tears of pride when she'd completed a Wide Eye potion without any assistance from him. She was also getting pretty good at wandless levitation and some cleaning and cooking spells when Nate wasn't looking.

He caught her once and Su bowed her head in shame. She knew that underage witches and wizards weren't supposed to do magic outside of school – which she thought was silly, because how else would they practice? – but she didn't think it could hurt.

"This house is warded," Nathan explained to her. "So you won't get in trouble from the Ministry for practising underage. But it can be dangerous, Su. You don't have full control of your magic yet. If something goes wrong, you could get hurt."

"I understand."

"Good. I don't want you practising magic unless Bea or I are here to supervise."

Su perked up.

"You're still in trouble, young lady," Nate admonished, though he couldn't quite hide his grin. It was pretty impressive magic for a nine-year-old. "I want you to clean the kitchen – by hand, this time. Tomorrow we can review some very basic spells you can perform without a wand. Understood?"

"Yes, Uncle Nate."

Slowly Su adjusted to her new life.

She still cried sometimes, when she thought of the family she'd left behind. She missed her mum and dad and even her silly little brothers. She missed her friends at school, and even school itself. Apparently, there weren't public schools for witches and wizards until they turned eleven, so Nathan was her home-school teacher, tutoring her in reading, writing, history, and potions.

In July she got to meet some of Nathan's family, Tai Gong (his mother's father), Tai Po (his mother's mother), Mama (his mother), Yeye (his father) and his sister and her family. He promised she could meet his other sister and his brother another time, probably during the Lunar New Year.

Cho had just come back from her first year at Hogwarts, and Su was so excited to hear about school that she almost forgot that Cho Chang was one of the characters in the books she'd read, until Cho said that she was going to try for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team in her second year.

"I'm not sure that I'll get it though," Cho frowned. "A lot of people want to be Seeker. Seekers get all the glory. But I just like flying, and Seekers get to do the most exciting stunts!"

"I'm sure you'll get it," Su said, entirely positive.

"I don't know, Su."

"Well, you're small, right? Seekers have to be small and agile. You've got that already. And you can practice flying over the summer. I'm sure you'll be a great Seeker!"

"Thanks, Su," Cho smiled. "I hope you're in Ravenclaw next year. We can hang out all the time then."

"You'd still hang out with me even if I wasn't in Ravenclaw, right?" Su asked.

"Of course!" Cho hugged her tightly. "We're family now. Family looks out for each other. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll fit right in at Hogwarts."

"I hope so."

Slowly the Changs left the Li house, going back home for dinner and to rest up for work the next day, until only Tai Gong and Tai Po were left, talking quietly with Nathan and Beatrice by the fireplace.

"— and who knows what that Potter boy will be like," Tai Gong was saying, scowling at the fire. "Missing for ten years, and famous at that! All the potential for being worse than his father."

"James wasn't that bad," Beatrice murmured.

"Not to you!" Tai Gong snapped. Nathan sighed.

"Not to me, either, GongGong," said Nathan. "Not really."

"No respect for Slytherins," Tai Gong scoffed. "The whole family. Not all of us are blood-obsessed hooligans. But of course, the Potters thought they were so much better than us. Charlus was always so suspicious at Potions Guild events, as though I'd do something as classless as poison his wine! I was horrified by his death! Such a brilliant potioneer! And a good man, for all his faults. But arrogant. Just like his son. I do hope the boy doesn't follow their footsteps."

"They were good men," said Beatrice.

"I know that!" Tai Gong snapped. "Good men! But prejudiced. And arrogant. It's what got them killed – thinking they were so clever. A damn shame. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Name, phah! He's killed half the best minds of your generation, and most of mine! I hope the children have better luck."

"You-Know-Who is gone, GongGong," said Nathan. "And Harry Potter is only a child, like Su and Cho. I'm sure after his first year at Hogwarts things will settle down. When people see he's just a regular wizard like the other boys his age there will be no need for anyone to make a fuss."

Su winced at that, knowing in advance how eventful Harry's years at Hogwarts would be – her years at Hogwarts, now that she thought about it. Voldemort would show up just about every year one way or another.

But she did wonder – how did everyone know Voldemort's name if no one liked to say his name? Surely all the kids who went to Hogwarts must've heard it at some point? Or was it like Elvis Presley – everyone just knew the name without really knowing why or how they knew it?

"What's wrong, Su?" Beatrice asked, noticing her looking at them.

"I was just wondering," she said. "Why do you say 'You-Know-Who'? I don't know who. Who is he? What's his name?"

"Well," Beatrice glanced at Nathan and his grandparents, who were all frowning warily at Su. "Before you were born there was a really evil wizard. He killed a lot of people. But there were a lot of people who fought back, as well. People who weren't afraid of him. But You-Know-Who's greatest power was fear, and he put a magical taboo on his name. Death Eaters – those were his followers – would attack anyone who said his name."

"What's a magical taboo?"

"It's, uh, it's kind of like the tag put on underage wizard's wands—"

The WHAT? Su's eyes widened in surprise.

"The Ministry can use one of the origin stones in the ley lines–" Su had so many questions about that sentence, "– to track certain words. But only words with power, like certain spells, or unique names. Words that have magical weight. Early in the war, You-Know-Who found a way to do the same thing with his own name. People became afraid to say his name because they'd be attacked for it."

"Oh."

"These were very dark times, Su," said Tai Po, who'd been quiet for some time. "We lost a lot of good friends to You-Know-Who and his followers. Most of our classmates from Hogwarts are dead. You're very lucky to live in a world without him."

Su was quiet for a long time, thinking about what she'd learned. Later, when Tai Po and Tai Gong had left, she padded into Nathan and Beatrice's room and sat on the end of their bed.

Without speaking, they lifted her into bed between them and tucked the sheets around her. The three of them lay in silence for a little while, all of them disquieted by the conversation they'd had that evening.

"What was the name?" Su whispered.

"I don't think—"

"Voldemort," Nathan cut Beatrice off. "His name was Voldemort. I don't want you saying that name, Su. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named may be gone, but there were a lot of people hurt by him and I don't want you bringing it up. Everyone you go to school with will know someone who died. It's a sensitive topic."

"How did Harry Potter defeat him? Wasn't he only a baby?"

"That's the great mystery," Beatrice whispered. "All we know is that he survived the killing curse, reflecting it back on the Dark Lord."

"How do we know that?"

"Everyone knows that."

"But how do you know?" Su repeated, frustrated.

Ravenclaw, Beatrice mouthed at Nate over Su's head.

"Dumbledore," Nate said, nodding at his wife. "After the Potters were attacked, Albus Dumbledore made a statement to the Daily Prophet that Harry Potter had survived the killing curse and defeated You-Know-Who."

"Let's not talk about this anymore," Beatrice sighed, hugging them both. "It's not nice to think about what happened then."

Su stopped talking, lying in bed and thinking about what she'd heard. After a while both Nathan and Beatrice fell asleep, their breathing becoming deep and even. Su stayed awake, processing everything she'd heard.

If what Beatrice and Nathan said was true, then things would get a lot worse after Voldemort's rise before they got better. Probably a lot more people than just Cedric and Sirius would die. Maybe even her. She would be ten at the end of July, and next year she would get her Hogwarts letter and have to take classes with Professor Quirrell, which means she'd be in the same room as Voldemort.

She had about five years to prepare for Voldemort's eventual return. It was a scary thought and Su could feel her breath coming shorter and shorter as she thought about it, just like at the Department of Mysteries.

She scrambled out of bed, careful not to wake Nathan and Beatrice, and ran out into the living room. The fire was burning low, but it was still warm, and Su crouched beside it as she tried to get her breathing under control.

Her head was pounding and her heartbeat was too fast and it was hard to breathe. She tried to focus on deep breaths, taking deep, stuttering inhales and long shaky exhales.

To get her mind off the inevitable war she practised wandless levitation again, trying to move cushions from one couch to another. The distraction helped as most of her focus went to moving the cushions. She dropped several cushions on the floor and hardly noticed when her breathing went back to normal because she was so focused on practising her magic.

She practised until the fire went out. Beatrice and Nathan found her in the morning, sleeping on the floor surrounded by couch cushions.