Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 226: A Trip To a Mystical Land
"A crow?!"
"What is that thing doing here?" Druella and her husband, Cygnus, were the first ones to react.
This was because, among wizard families, it was customary to use crows as messengers only when very grave news had to be delivered, or in rare cases when one family was declaring a blood feud with another.
"James, who is sending you a crow?" his father asked with concern, as he was thinking the same thing as Bella's parents.
James picked up the small rolled piece of paper and noticed the symbol engraved on it.
He then sighed and shook his head. "You are all getting the wrong idea. 'She' is just very old-school."
After saying this, he gave the crow a small piece of fruit from one of the platters. The bird took it in its mouth and flew away.
"She?…" Andromeda glared at him with suspicion.
"Who is sending you messages with a crow?" Bella was making the exact same face as her sister.
"Would you calm down? It's nothing like that." James unsealed the note. "Just some information that I have recently bought."
"Why a crow though?" Sirius wondered. "Aren't they only used for like… death threats or something like that?"
"Blood feuds," Regulus corrected his brother. "You never paid attention during Father's lessons when we were kids…" This was common knowledge among the old magical families.
"You're not wrong… but that is just the modern use for crows. The Ministry made it a rule for people to use owls as the common way to deliver messages to each other. But before the Ministry of Magic existed, many wizards and witches used a variety of birds, and crows were very common because they are easy to train," James explained while he read the contents of the letter. "Smart birds..."
"Before the Ministry?" Euphemia looked over at her son. "That was over four hundred years ago."
"I said she was old-school." A smile appeared on James' face.
"Good news, I take it?" Sirius asked.
"Very good news." He crumpled the paper into a ball and burned it away with his magic. "I apologize for the interruption. Please, continue enjoying the dinner." He tried to sound polite, at least.
'I will need to have a talk with Lady Rose about sending me crows at night when I'm at home with my family,' James thought.
"Are you going to leave us wondering?" Andromeda looked somewhat annoyed.
James turned to look at her. "Yes." And then he resumed eating his dinner while ignoring the stares and comments.
Once things started to return to normalcy, something occurred to him.
"Father," James called.
"What is it now?"
"Would it be too difficult to get a portkey to China by tomorrow morning?" James asked.
"China?!" Fleamont exclaimed.
<><><><><><><><><><><>
In the northwestern part of China, the Kunlun mountain range rises like a majestic dragon, or at least that's what people like to say.
There are many legends about these mountains, and unbeknownst to most of the country's population, many of them were real.
Deep inside this mountain range exists a majestic palace, hidden away by powerful mystical protections, and beneath the palace, one can find a massive underground city that shared the same name as the mountains standing above it.
This is the place from where one of the most important Chinese magical families had ruled the land for countless centuries.
James was glancing at the palace from the comfort of his flying broom, but promptly decided to descend as his presence had already been noted.
As soon as his feet touched the ground, several guards were already running down the long set of stairs that led to the main gates.
"Halt, foreigner!" they yelled.
"You are trespassing in 'Kunlun Di' territory."
Kunlun Di translates as the Emperor of Kunlun.
Unlike a place like Magical Britain, China had very few ancient magical houses. But each and every single one of them was an absolute powerhouse with thousands of members and enough military power to take down entire countries by themselves.
This was the house of the Kunlun family, and their ruler is referred to as Emperor instead of Patriarch.
Luckily for Westerners, they had little interest in conquest anymore.
'Good thing I remembered how to use the universal translation charm.'
James raised his arms in a placating manner. "I am well aware of where I am. I have an appointment with the Emperor."
The guards stopped and looked at each other with clear confusion on their faces.
It was obvious that they didn't receive visits from Western wizards very often.
James glanced at their weapons. These guards held something resembling spears, but on closer inspection, one could see the runes carved on their surface, as well as the crystal embedded at the end of the handle.
These were magical foci and could be used for spellcasting as well as martial fighting.
"My name is James Potter. I believe a woman known as Lady Rose had contacted your palace very recently on my behalf." James tried to sound confident.
He didn't like having put so much trust in that woman and hoped she didn't try to pull a fast one on him.
The guards murmured something to each other before turning their attention back to him.
"Foreigner, wait here." The guard pointed at the spot where James was standing before turning around and running up the stairs.
The other guard remained in place to keep an eye on him.
"So you guys don't have flying brooms?" James asked.
The guard just glared at him and said nothing.
"No, I get it. Running up and down those stairs is probably enough to keep you in good shape," said James.
The guard still said nothing and just clutched at his spear.
"Beautiful palace, by the way," James commented to the silent guard and hoped that the other people in the palace would be more talkative than these two.
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