Harry Potter and The Great Escape To China - Part 1

by naughtypixie

Summary

Snape decides to save Lily's son.

The measures are a touch drastic, but Harry isn't minding the results.

Notes

Disclaimer:
None of the HP characters are mine. I am just playing in JK's sandbox.
I am a huge fan of Wu Xia stories as well as Chinese time travel tropes. So, I decided to try and combine them with my love of HP. This is not based on real China, of course – except the tourist sites, those really exist. But I reimagined the Chinese Magical World as a combination of Wu Xia novels and Chuan Yue (time travel) comics, and a splash of Sui/Tang government order and tradition. This is what came out.

** The cultivation chronology is based on popular Chinese novels/myths/comics. The social norms are also based on a combination of ancient traditions and Wu Xia novels. (You can find some of the breakdown at the end of the fic)

Chinese is first language, English is third. Please forgive any mistakes since I had minimal beta. All the help I got was from Leyte, because she is awesome. Largely unbeta-ed.

**Please note the AU means this is an ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE. Some things are the same, many many many are not. Including timelines for some things. If this bothers you, please do not read.

Story starts at the end of Harry's 2nd year at Hogwarts.

*** The chapters in this fic are extra long. If you do not like it, do not read.

* Comments and feedback are very welcome. Even just a "I like it!" is encouraging! Thank you!

The Why

Severus considered himself a relatively level headed man.

That hadn't always been the case, but it certainly was now.

One had to be level-headed to have survived serving Voldemort for years and then later Albus Dumbledore. However, there are still a few things which could trigger in him the kind of rage that wars were started over.

He did not expect to encounter one such as that, only two weeks into June, after all the little monsters have gone home for the summer and Severus was finally starting to relax. However, as he rounded a corner of the now blissfully-empty library, in search of a potion text he needed for his research, which he finally had time for, he heard someone talking.

Without an ounce of shame, Severus paused to listen.

Once a spy, always a spy after all.

It had to be a member of the staff as the castle had no students over the summer and Severus wondered who would be bothering to come here other than himself at such an off time in the late evening.

Albus's voice surprised him.

"Yes, I know you disapprove. I wish there was another way, I really do. However, wars demand sacrifices, you know this."

Albus sounded old and tired, but eager to persuade whomever he was talking to.

Severus took a chance; he was in deep shadow anyway since the potion section was at the back of the library – and wasn't that just telling? – and peered around the old shelf he was standing behind.

He blinked for a second.

Albus was talking to his phoenix, Fawkes! The bird was in its full glory, unlike the last time Severus saw it which was pre-burn. The creatures plume feathers were standing on end, as if the bird was agitated, and it seemed to be glaring at Albus.

Albus clearly saw it too and signed, gently petting the feathers down, while continuing to look through the shelves, obviously in search of something specific.

"I know my friend. I do. But what can I do? I have done everything I could to set him up so that he would be ready for the fate that awaits him." Albus set down the book he had been looking at, seeming not to have found what he was looking for.

Fawkes clearly disagreed because unlike his usual melodic notes, he let out a rather ugly squawk at Albus and shied his head away from Albus's hand, refusing the petting.

Severus had a moment to wonder who Albus was talking about, and why in Merlin's name he would bring a bird of fire to a library of all places but his musings were cut short, as Albus continued to speak to the bird.

"Honestly Fawkes, it's not as if I take pleasure in this! You know as well as I that He will be back, and soon. No one else believes me yet, they are too blinded by their fear naturally, but we know, don't we? Failing to get the stone only delayed him I am afraid, and bought us some much-needed time."

Albus looked lost in his own thoughts now, as if he had forgotten all about Fawkes and his disapproval. "And that diary…that was very nearly too close. No, everything I have done has been necessary. His relatives, his childhood. This entire past year. Everything has been for the greater good."

Fawkes clearly disagreed as he let out another one of those squawks, gave Albus the most disapproving look yet, and popped into thin air away from him.

Albus blinked for a moment at his suddenly empty arm, and signed tiredly again. "You will see my friend, as much as it pains me to do it,"

He turned and started walking away, but just as he was rounding the corner, Severus's blood froze at his final muttered words, "Harry Potter must die." Albus's last words drifted to Severus's ears, "For us all, he must be sacrificed."

Severus couldn't remember how he made it back to his rooms. He felt like he was in a daze.

He didn't know what to think. He knew he had started to suspect, but he never thought Albus would –

There was a building rage inside him unlike any he had felt before. All he could think about, all he could hear in his head was Lily! Not Lily's son too!

He couldn't let this happen. He didn't know why Albus would wish Potter dead, least of all how it tied into Voldemort, for that must be who he was talking about, but Severus knew one thing.

He wasn't going to let Potter die. Not – not after he had failed Lily so spectacularly.

It was his fault that she was dead. He couldn't -

Severus knew Albus however. If he had made a decision for 'the greater good', then nothing would talk Albus out of it.

That meant Severus was going to have to do something drastic.

Soon.

Over the next three days, Severus made his plans. He sent out a great many owls, and he was pleased to receive positive responses from all but one of his contacts whom he reached out to. His plan was risky but if he could pull it off, then he and the Potter boy will soon be out of Albus's reach.

Now, Severus just had a goblin to convince.

He apparated to Diagon Ally, just behind Gringotts and slipped in via the back door which was left open for him, just as agreed. At the end of the dark hallway, an old and wizened goblin waited on him, no one else stood with him. The old goblin looked him up and down, nodded, and ushered him into a room Severus knew had the highest level of warding in Gringotts. When the doors shut, Severus felt his ears pop at the amount of magic that settled around them.

"Severus. It is good to see you." The old goblin smiled with all his sharp teeth at Severus and had them sit facing each other, rather than sit opposite of one another as was the Goblin habit. A great honor for a wizard.

"King Warwick. It is a pleasure, as always. How is your son?" Severus had hoped that he would never have to cash in this favor, but he did not see how else he would be able to get out of England without Albus being the wiser.

King Warwick looked at him under his bushy white eyebrows, "He is good. The curse left no lasting effect thanks to your potion, and his mind is as sharp as ever. But I think you know this, and have come to talk to me about something more serious, yes?"

Severus couldn't help a small smile, nothing got past a goblin.

"You are… unfortunately correct. I came today because I need your help, and because… you are my only hope of success in what I have to do next."

Severus debated not telling King Warwick, but just as quickly dismissed the notion. A father would understand after all, and King Warwick owed his son's life to Severus. Trying to hold on to his temper, thinking of what Albus's had planned to do, he told King Warwick everything.

King Warwick listened intently, even going so far as to demand to see the memory, which Severus showed him, and afterwards, sat back in his chair with a scowl on his wrinkled face.

Yes, Severus thought, a father would understand.

"That – disgusting despicable excuse of a wizard! He wants to sacrifice a child just because a prophecy might come true?! Where are his balls? Why does he not go fight the Dark Lord if he wants him dead so badly!" The old goblin all but spat out, the ambient magic almost thrumming around them at his agitation, "I will help you. For this, I will help you. Gringotts will help you. You bring that boy to Gringotts tonight, and I will arrange everything. The nerve of that man!" King Warwick's white hair was practically standing on end, reminding Severus of Fawkes for a moment in his rage.

"That poor Potter boy. Griphook told me the boy had been neglecting his accounts and didn't even have his key when he came to Gringotts last year. Some giant was holding on to it for him! No doubt Dumbledore's doing. But Severus," the old goblin looked at him again, "Legally, you don't stand a chance. How will you claim him as yours? The Potters did leave a will, but everyone in it is either dead, locked up, or insane. The Potter's will was also sealed, by Dumbledore no less, and requesting it unsealed would surely alert him."

Severus smiled and relaxed a little, things will work out now that King Warwick was willing to help him, "King Warwick, how would you feel about doing a blood relations test?"

Looking surprised, King Warwick asked, "On the boy? Are you saying he isn't a Potter?"

"No, he is a Potter. I meant on me."

King Warwick blinked at him, but waved his wrinkled hand, and a silver bowl, a shimmering silver vial, a ritual dagger and the ancestry-specialized paper popped onto the small table between them.

Severus watched as King Warwick tipped the vial into the bowl, presenting the dagger to Severus, which he used to cut his palm open and let 5 drops land into the potion in the bowl. King Warwick chanted something in Gobbledegook which sounded like sandpaper on metal to Severus, and the potion turned golden. While King Warwick produced a quill, and waved it over towards the potion, Severus took the time to heal his palm so he wouldn't drip blood everywhere.

The quill obediently dipped into the golden liquid and started to write out Severus's entire ancestry, from his witch of a mother, to his wretched muggle father, down to the oldest ancestor. When Severus saw what he was waiting for, he breathed a sigh of relief. They had been so young; Severus hadn't even really been sure it had worked. They had never tested it after all, but Lily had always been exceptional even as a child.

King Warwick read over it quickly, but when he reached mid-way, his eyebrows climbed towards his pointy upright ears.

"Blood-adopted brother of Lily Evans ne Potter?" King Warwick looked at Severus over the parchment, old eyes twinkling, "However did you manage this, Severus?"

Severus found he couldn't really speak from the lump in his throat, just like every other time he had thought about this piece of his history.

They had been young, second year of Hogwarts, before Lily gave James Potter the time of day and they had still been best friends despite both their houses disapproving of their friendship.

Severus remembered that Black had done something particularly cruel to him that day, he couldn't remember what any more, but Lily had caught him in the act and cursed him with every curse Severus had taught her which was decidedly not on the Hogwarts curriculum. She had been livid at her House and at Black in particular and told him he was just as bad as the rest of the Black family, which had had Black turning pale and running off, boil-covered face and feathers and all.

Lily had been furious for the rest of the day, and for several days afterwards, Severus saw her wearing her determined look. He tried to tell her to drop it, that it would do no good and would only alienate her to her housemates but she was Lily, and was not to be deterred. She demanded he meet her that weekend in the unused classroom at the back of Hogwarts where no one went anymore, and there she offered him the Blood Adoption ritual. She said, eyes shining, that this way, they would always be brother and sister, and no house rivalry would ever come between them.

Severus knew blood rituals weren't to be taken lightly, but he also selfishly wanted to keep his best friend and the sister of his soul. He had felt them drifting apart those past two years and he was scared, so he had readily agreed after hugging her tightly and promising that they would always be family.

They had performed the ritual that same night, bleeding together and chanting. It had completely drained them and they ended up having to sleep in the classroom because they couldn't move. The magic had been strong and they were only second years after all, but they both felt it was well worth the weakness that followed that week.

Remembering that only made what happened later even more unforgivable.

Severus shook his head, maybe trying to shake the memory away, and just muttered, eyes sad, "It was a long time ago and we were young. We thought we could defeat anything if we just willed it hard enough."

He looked at King Warwick then, trying to convey how important it was, "But this gives me a claim, correct? After what happened with Lily… I didn't want to think about the boy, and Albus had said he was safe with Lily's muggle family but this would supersede that claim, I believe. If I bring him to you, you could arrange for the ritual which would recognize him as my blood kin?" Severus of course knew King Warwick could. It was a goblin specialty after all, but he still needed to hear him say it for his own peace of mind.

"Yes. Bring him tonight, and bring some pepper-up also, it will be a busy night." King Warwick smiled at him with all his sharp pointy teeth, pleased.

After arranging for everything they would need, shrinking some of his more precious worldly possessions and storing those possessions on his person after identical copies had been made, he took one last look at the room which gave him refuge after Voldemort. If everything went as planned, he wouldn't be looking at this room again. Possibly ever.

He had to leave a great many of his things behind, otherwise the 'accident' wouldn't look believable. But… things could be replaced. Lives could not.

After walking past Hogwarts's wards, he walked a way down towards Hogsmeade in case anyone was watching, half way there, he was gone with a quiet pop.

He apparated to a small park situated near Private Drive and immediately felt himself sneer at the sheer... muggleness of the place. The houses all looked exactly the same, with their regimented lawns and white picket fences. They were even all the same color.

It was… unnatural.

A strong disillusionment charm and notice-me-not later, he hurried to the house labeled No. 4.

The front of the house was just as neat as all the others, the only difference was a rather larger flower garden in the back that Severus could just make out from where he stood. He debated just ringing the doorbell but then heard shouting from inside.

No doubt Potter was throwing a tantrum again over something insignificant, he thought.

It was still rather early in the day, and he figured he would need to play nice with Potter's muggles for at least a little while before they would allow him to leave with their precious little boy. Severus mentally lamented that he wasn't just allowed to curse them. Voldemort might have been a monster but at least under him Severus was never expected to play nice with anyone.

Debating, he cast a quite alohomora and was surprised that he needn't have bothered as the door was unlocked. So much for Precious Potter's safety, he thought sneering, and slipped into the house quietly. The shouting seems to be coming from down the hall and he silently made his way there, marveling at the atrocious taste of the house owners, as everything he laid eyes on had an ugly puce floral pattern. He noticed a small door under the stairs with a very large lock and a door bolt on the outside and wondered what they were trying to keep safe and locked in there of all places, but dismissed it from his mind as the shouting got shriller the closer he got to the slightly ajar door.

It was clearly a woman shouting, not Potter, and he gently pushed the door to open slowly as if the hinges did it on their own accord. Potter was there, looking ridiculous in an oversized and filthy shirt Severus had never seen him wear before, and it seemed he was in some kind of trouble as a woman - must be his guardian, Severus thought - with an unfortunate horse-face screamed at him. Severus was about to sneer again when the words the woman was shouting registered to him:

"You ungrateful little freak! Useless, worthless disgusting abomination! I told you to buy a dozen eggs! Does this look like a dozen?! What if Dudders doesn't have enough to eat because of your incompetence today? I was planning to bake a cake later and now I don't have enough!" Her voice reached glass shattering octaves and Severus winced as he glanced at Potter. The boy stood there with his eyes down, not trying to explain or defend himself, not so much as twitching.

Severus frowned.

This was not how Potter usually behaved.

Petunia - because that was who she must be, Lily's unfortunately muggle sister, Severus sort of remembered her as a jealous, ugly girl Lily called Tunny - didn't seem to be done yet, as she reached behind herself and grabbed a rather heavy-looking cast-iron skillet and Severus, with a start, realized she was about to hit the boy with it. Potter must have realized the same, as his eyes widened, but he only ducked enough that the iron hit him with a glancing blow on the head instead of full on, and his forehead immediately started bleeding sluggishly. Before Severus could react, Petunia swung again, rather harder this time and Severus heard the iron connect with the boy's arm and back. Potter winced and thought better than to stay still this time, bolted through the back-door muttering apologizes and saying something about getting to the garden weeding. Severus watched in astonishment as Petunia threw more ugly curses at the boy's retreating back and with a grimace, went to scrub at her skillet as if the boy's blood was the nastiest of poisons dirtying her precious pan.

In something of a daze, Severus followed the Potter boy into the back garden but realized he had vanished. He was about to cast a location spell when he heard the door of the tiny shed in the back of the garden close quietly, and the boy came out. It seemed that he had wiped the blood with a dirty rag because aside from the red and angry wound there was a smudge of dirt on Potter's head and Severus grimaced, thinking of the potential infection, but Potter didn't seem to care, just hurried to the back of the tulip patch and, getting on his knees, got to work. Severus noticed the boy wasn't wearing any gloves and soon his hands were filthy and covered in cuts and abrasions. It was reaching high noon, and Potter didn't look like he was slowing down or even pausing for a drink of water. Severus absently wondered why he never showed this kind of enthusiasm for his school work, but just then, someone else must have gotten home, because Severus watched Potter flinch and fearfully glance at the back door. Potter's expression tickles something at the back of Severus's mind. Potter never looked fearful. Not even at him. He could hear someone else – another child it sounded like – say something about food and 'where is the freak'.

There was that word again.

Severus frowned to himself and wondered if this was a common occurrence but shook it off. Clearly Potter had pissed off his guardians and was being punished for it. Corporeal punishment wasn't to Severus's taste and he thought Petunia crossed a line with the skillet certainly, but Potter could drive a saint insane so maybe the muggle had just had enough. Still, the words she used…

Severus watched Potter for a bit. The boy had started to sweat and his skin was turning red, but he didn't seem to be pausing or looked like he would break to eat anything. Severus shrugged, maybe the boy wanted to finish his chores before he broke for lunch. He decided to wait and watch a little while longer, and decided to go see what the rest of the family was doing. Severus didn't bother wondering why he had suddenly decided not to talk to Potter's guardians after all but to observe them while practically invisible in their house. Conveniently the back door never fully closed and Severus easily slipped in, and observed what he thought was the single most obese boy he had ever had the misfortune of laying eyes on. The boy was shovelling – that could not be called eating when there was no chewing involved – what must be an entire carton of eggs.

"Mum! Where's the freak? I want to show Pierre a new boxing move I learned from the telly!" bits of egg flew everywhere as the boy spoke, before he even swallowed, a cruel look on his face.

Petunia smiled indulgently at the little whale, "He can't come now darling, Mummy needs him to tend to the tulips. That Misses Thompson gave me eyes last week, imagine! I already taught him a lesson for not doing a good enough job." Petunia huffed, but seeing Dudley's face start to scrunch up in an ugly fashion she quickly added "Why don't you go buy some treats with Pierre instead? Here, take a twenty, I'll make the little mongrel work it off at the neighbors later in the week."

Severus was starting to hear a very loud pounding noise in his head.

Like a whirring.

This usually only happened after the Dark Lord was displeased, Albus had one of his idiotic plans he thought were brilliant or he was forced to teach Longbottom.

He watched as the little whale ambled off, leaving a truly disgusting table behind. Petunia made a face at the dirty table, but left it be.

Severus thus watched Potter weed the garden for a solid 5 hours in the hot sun, not once looking up or coming in to even drink any water. His skin turned blisteringly red, but Potter didn't seem to notice. Petunia meanwhile watched the aforementioned "telly", peered through the curtains to check on the neighbors, 8 times. To check on Potter, also through the window, 4 times, simply sniffing when she saw him working away. She also painted her nails and generally puttered around the house, but Severus noticed she didn't clean anything.

At around 5, Potter had finally finished, and Severus watched him use the hose on his hands which were cracked and bleeding in a few places, and once, fearfully glancing at the house, finally bend down and had a few hurried gulps of water. He then dusted as much dirt as he could off the already disgusting shirt and very quietly came back into the kitchen via the back door. Petunia sniffed and told him to clean the table that the little whale had made a mess of with his revolting table manners.

Potter ducked his head and went to get the cleaning supplies, in the small cupboard under the stairs with the locks on it; Petunia meanwhile went to watch some more 'telly'.

Severus stood rooted to the spot when he saw Potter start to clean, but then glancing towards the living room, the boy started to eat the bits of egg the other boy had spat out on the table. He did it quickly and without a single sign of disgust or hesitation. As if it was something he did all the time. Severus swallowed. Something was seriously wrong here. As soon as Potter heard a slight noise, he swept the remainder of the egg into the bin he was holding. Severus noted that he was careful to sweep it to the side so it didn't get too dirty. Severus has a nasty feeling he knew Potter would be back for that later.

Petunia came back into the kitchen and Potter stood stock still with his head down, waiting, Severus realized. It reminded him uncomfortably of one of Malfoy's house elves. But Petunia just sniffed at him again and ordered him to go start on dinner, which Potter looked relieved to do. No wonder, he hadn't eaten anything at lunch after all. Severus also didn't see him eat breakfast but perhaps he had missed that.

Then Severus was amazed to see that Potter could cook. He could in fact cook very well, which was very confusing because he was absolutely terrible at potions. Severus narrowed his eyes; he knew Potter didn't apply himself but he hadn't realized to what extent. He prepared two enormous steaks on the skillet, searing them expertly, the same skillet that Petunia had hit him with, Severus noticed; a humongous load of mashed potatoes; a mound of toast, a delicately spiced chicken breast with nice healthy-looking salad, Severus was relieved to note, and then he proceeded to set the table.

Severus was just about to nod to himself when he noticed that Potter had only set for three.

Severus frowned.

He had been doing that a lot since he arrived at No 4 Private Drive, he couldn't help notice.

Potter placed all the food nicely, taking great care not to spill anything. When he was done, he went to stand in the corner between the oven and the back door. He hadn't lifted his head past anyone's chest since he came in. Severus heard a car and watched Potter tense, but otherwise just stood very still, trying to blend into the furniture.

The adult version of the little whale then proceeded to walk in loudly, banging the door on the way in, kissed Petunia wetly on the cheek with his walrus whiskers, glared at the corner the boy was standing in, and sat himself at the head of the table. The little whale was right behind him, talking loudly at his father about his day and how much candy he bought. Severus watched as Potter's eyes widened at the news of the candy and his shoulders slump a little, but otherwise, he continued to just stand there, while the whole family sat down to dinner. Severus couldn't understand why he was still there if he wasn't to be invited to eat but then the large whale started to mutter between bites about how hard he worked, how useless Potter was, how much of a freak he was, how he should be grateful to have a roof over his head and how kind and generous they were to allow him to stay. Potter just kept looking down and didn't say a word the whole time. Petunia made small talk with both of the whales but everyone more or less ignored Potter if it wasn't to throw abuse at him.

Severus had to catch himself several times from just grabbing Potter, cursing the muggles to hell and back with some of the nastier spells he knew and apparating Potter somewhere else. But he refrained. He had to do this correctly or his plan would not work, especially now that he had changed it. He gritted his teeth when Potter nearly reacted to a throwaway line about Potter's parents being useless drunks, and getting themselves killed in a car crash of all things, but Potter just took a deep breath and continued to not say anything.

When dinner was over, and the walrus and the baby whale were sitting on the overstuffed coach in the living room, Potter started cleaning up without being told, and then Severus heard him say the first words since he came back into the house:

"Please, Aunt Petunia, can I have something to eat? Even just a little bit? It's just, it's been four days. Please?" Potter said in the meekest, quietest voice Severus had ever heard him use.

Severus stared in horror as what Potter said registered.

Surely not. Any punishment Potter might have earned should not have been so severe to starve him for so long?

Petunia glared down at him and Severus wondered for a moment if she was going to hit him again, but instead, she glanced at the table, where the little whale had left a half-eaten piece of toast. She pointed at it, and Potter all but dived towards it.

Severus felt sick.

"Thank you, Aunt Petunia!" Severus was speechless. He… never imagined this.

But therein laid the problem. He had assumed.

He had been very, very wrong.

"See that you remember our generosity." She stared down her nose at him. Potter was too busy chewing to say anything.

They locked him into a room upstairs.

That was why the locks were on the outside, Severus realized with a start.

But that would mean the cupboard had been –

Forcefully, Severus cut that thought off for later.

Now was not the time.

They let him use the bathroom for 15 minutes, where Severus watched Potter drink as much water as he could, before he was locked away into a room which was so bare that it looked like it was meant for a convict.

Wanting to verify his nasty suspicion, he crept downstairs and looked at the locks on the door under the stairs. Severus briefly remembered McGonagall muttering something about a student whose Hogwarts's letter was addressed to the cupboard under the stairs. He hadn't realized that had been Potter.

No, surely not.

He cast a quiet alohomora on the locks and peered inside. The space inside was tiny, not even enough for a small boy of Potter's size to comfortably fit in there. Standing was impossible. But there, at the back of the cupboard was a thin, worn, and filthy mattress, where clearly, the boy had once slept.

Severus felt something inside him stutter and stop.

Then he felt the anger come.

Albus had known.

Albus had arranged it.

Tonight, he was getting Potter out of here even if it cost him his life.

After Potter had been locked up, Severus was surprised that the little fat whale went up to his parents while they were sitting on the sofa shortly after, and muttered something about "feeding the freak a little, cuz he was getting weak." The boy looked uncomfortable, muttering the words, trying to fake nonchalance, but like it wasn't the first time his parents had forgotten. His father just gave him a speaking look over his walrus mustache and patting the boy on the head awkwardly, "Son, even the freaks don't want to treat that freak like anything but a freak. Remember that. We don't want another visit from that horrible old man. We will feed him tomorrow, alright?"

It was all Severus could do not to go right back to Hogwarts and curse Albus Dumbledore to Merlin's kingdom come, because it was clear that the Dursley's as prejudiced as they were, had also been told by Albus to mistreat the boy.

Severus promised himself that one of his signature untraceable potions would be finding its way into Albus's tea, someday.

After the Dursley's had gone to bed, Severus waited another hour. An hour later, he peered into their rooms, checked that they were indeed asleep. Seeing that they were, Severus thanked his foresight or, he supposed, outright paranoia, that he had brought everything for a backup plan, and drank the potion that would temporarily change his magical signature, making it unidentifiable. This was a potion he created during his apprenticeship after Hogwarts and no one in Britain knew of it. Severus knew he would find a use for it one day, he just never imagined it would be for Potter.

Karma behaved in odd ways indeed, as his old apprenticeship Master used to say.

Instead of using his own wand, he pulled out a crystal focus, which, while brittle, could still handle a few spells before it would disintegrate, leaving no trace of the caster. Rarely used in Britain anymore, but not unknown.

He put the muggles into a deep sleep, and after some consideration, cast a Horrid Nightmare hex and a silencio for good measure. So, he was spiteful, hex him. He was a Slytherin and a former Death Eater, and these people deserved a lot worse than a few nights of nightmares where no one could hear them scream.

He went to Potter's room and cast another silencio and alohomora, then he stepped in, and had to immediately dodge a book to the head, as Potter tried to brain him with what looked like the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Severus quickly canceled the disillusionment spell, as he wondered how in Merlin's name Potter knew he was here when he couldn't see or hear him.

Potter meanwhile was clutching the Britannica with all his might and looked like he was about to swing again when he realized who Severus was, and then proceeded to gape at him like a particularly unattractive grouper.

"P- Professor Snape?! What – I mean, what are you doing in my bedroom. In the middle of the night." As he said that his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "How do I know you are Professor Snape?"

Severus had to admit he was impressed with Potter's survival instincts, as well as his reflexes. A wizard certainly wouldn't expect to be attacked with a book to the head after all.

"It is nice to see you are not a complete moron after all, Potter." He stared at the boy for a second, but decided this would be better with Potter's cooperation, "Very well, on your last day of school, Longbottom blew up his cauldron, in part thanks' to Parkinson adding an extra lacewig into it, and splattered both himself, Granger and Weasley, and narrowly missed you. Your Transfigurations' book still has a green stain on it from that particular explosion."

Potter's eyes widened and the Britannica dropped several inches. "You – you knew that it was Parkinson but you still took points from Neville? He felt horrible about that all day!"

Potter's ability to be outraged on someone else's behalf was at least hereditary as his mother had been exactly the same. Severus wondered why he was only realizing this now.

Clearly, he had made many mistakes.

Severus looked at Potter then, starved and filthy in that prison of a room, and decided then and there, he was going to change the way he related to this boy. This was Lily's son. Not just James Potter's spawn, as he always thought of him.

"Potter." Then he paused because that wasn't right. Not anymore. "Harry." He could hear how unnatural it sounded even to himself.

But it shocked the boy silent, and his eyes widened even more. "You are in grave danger. I cannot tell you the details here, but we must leave immediately. I promise I will disclose everything as soon as we arrive at our destination, but right now, I need you to tell me where all your things are, and we need to leave, right now." He allowed some of the fear he felt to creep into his voice, and that more than anything had Potter running into the room to grab an owl cage, leaving the Britannica on the table and pointed him down the stairs.

"You don't want the book?" Severus asked, surprised that the boy didn't demand more questions.

"No, I memorized it." Potter said distractedly, trying to get his cage to sit under his arm and failing, and hugged it instead.

Severus felt his eyebrows rise. He had read the Britannica before and it was 32,640 pages long. This book wasn't that thick, but even abridged version was at least 20k words or so. Not something a boy Potter's age could memorize, but he let it be.

Severus quickly cast a spell to scatter the afterimages of what had happened in this room, sending it back to one hour after Potter was locked up, in case Albus tried to see what had transpired. At least muggle houses didn't have house elves or portraits to gossip. The crystal showed a crack after that spell, and Severus figured it had another 3 or 4 spells at most in it before it was powder.

"Your relatives are in a deep sleep and will not wake up for several days. It is best if they do not know anything about your leaving, in case anyone comes to question them later." Severus told him urgently, ushering him out of the room.

In a moment they were down the stairs and standing in front of the cupboard again. Potter seemed reluctant but he pointed at the door and said quietly "All my school things are here, they locked them up as soon as I got home."

Severus was quiet for a moment, then asked "This was where they kept you?"

Potter glanced up at him quickly and then away, sighing, no doubt wondering how Severus knew, and just as clearly seeing no point in hiding it since the secret was out, "Yeah, till the letters came. Then they moved me upstairs to Dudley's spare room."

Severus didn't say more as he shrank the boy's trunk and the owl cage, and put it with his own in his pocket.

Potter watched him do this anxiously, and with a jolt, Severus realized the boy's wand must be in there too. He looked at Potter and said, not unkindly, "I promise I will unshrink it so you can get your wand when we get there."

Potter nodded, even though he looked unhappy, his knuckles fisted white. Severus was pleased that the boy did indeed seem to have some strong survival instincts. It would certainly serve him well.

"Is there anything else you need from this house? You will likely never be coming back here again." Severus was pleased to see the shock which quickly followed a kind of desperate hope on the boy's face, but he shook his head no, and now as if a switch had been flipped, he looked just as eager as Severus to be out of there.

Severus quietly cast another spell, summoning all things which belonged to one Harry James Potter within the house. After a moment, a thin blue blanket flew into Severus's hand, it had clearly been stuffed into the attic as it had a musty smell to it, but Severus wasn't taking any chances, and shrank it with the rest, stuffing it into his pocket.

Shaking his head, he realized everything the boy had every owned fitted into that small trunk, a bird cage and a blanket.

"Where is your owl?" Severus thought to ask,

"I sent her to Hermione." Potter muttered, not looking at him. "I didn't think bringing her back was a good idea."

Severus privately agreed.

They made their way out of the house, and Severus once again cast the spell to scatter the afterimages of both the inside and outside of the house till an hour after the boy was locked up. The crystal cracked ominously but still had a faint glow. One last spell, Severus thought, and apparated them away from Private Drive.

Harry would have landed hard on the pavement if a strong hand hadn't grabbed him by the shoulder and prevented his pitch to the dusty street. He had been feeling dizzy all day, partly from hunger, and partly from dehydration and the sun burn, but he quickly shook it off.

He muttered a thank you, because he honestly didn't expect Snape to be so… nice of all things, but then looked around and realized they were in the back ally of Gringotts, just as Snape had whispered to him before apparating them. He recognized the white building because it had been the first place Hagrid took him, and the ice cream store had been just across it, Harry could just make it out from where he stood.

He relaxed a little. He had still been worried that maybe the man wasn't Snape or that Snape maybe wasn't as "good" as he had claimed, and – well, Harry didn't know what he feared, but he felt justified in fearing it! Snape had been vicious to him all year after all, and clearly didn't like him. However, he did also save Harry when Quirrell tried to throw him off his broom during the Quidditch match, so Harry was rather conflicted about him. Gringotts was safe enough though, Snape wouldn't do anything to him in public, even if it was the middle of the night.

He looked up at Snape, but the Professor just ushered him towards a small door at the side of the building, and Harry didn't have time to ask anything before they were through, door closing and locking behind them ominously, and then they were walking down a dark corridor. At the end of it, stood a very old white-haired goblin. At least, Harry thought he was old. He was all wrinkly and had that air that older people had.

The goblin seeing them, smiled, and Harry thought that might be terrifying with the sharp teeth, except this goblin's smile was warm somehow, and not bloodthirsty as the previous ones he had met.

"Welcome Mr. Potter. I am Warwick, King of the Goblin Nation in Britain, and the Master of Gringotts United Kingdom Branch. You and Master Snape are here under my protection, and you will be safe so long as you are within these walls." The old goblin looked at Harry, his eyes piercing but sincere.

Harry was feeling more than a little confused now, and tried to smile tentatively back. It must have been the right thing to do, as the old goblin smiled a little wider and ushered them to a large room.

It felt odd to Harry once he was in.

Quiet.

Too Quiet.

Snape must've seen the look on his face, because he leaned over and told him that the room was warded, and that they were finally safe in here - only he was using a tone Harry wasn't used to hearing directed at him, as opposed to Slytherins. It was quiet and calm, and... not unfriendly.

It was also totally freaking Harry out.

The old goblin told them to sit, and they did.

"King Warwick, might I bother you to get the boy some food? I know it is rather late, but it would be best if we didn't try this on an empty stomach." His professor suddenly spoke up.

Harry felt himself stare at his professor and a thought flashed in his head, how did he know Harry had an empty stomach? Why would he care?

How long had he been watching Harry?

If King Warwick was surprised, he didn't show it. Instead, he summoned another goblin, and after giving Harry an odd look, ordered chicken soup, bread, tea, fruit and a salad.

After the other goblin had left with their order, the old goblin turned to Harry, "Mr. Potter, I am sure you are surprised to be here tonight, and that Master Snape had informed you of the threat to your life. There is however a lot more to this sad story. We both agree that you should know about it, so that you can make one of the most important decisions of your life."

The old goblin spoke slowly, as if considering his words carefully, "This decision is yours to make, though I do not promise Master Snape will not fight very hard indeed to talk you into it, as he very badly wants your agreement. In order to ensure that you have all the information at your disposal, Master Snape has agreed to extract the memory of what he witnessed, and show it to you through a pensieve. Do you know what a pensieve is Mr. Potter?"

Harry stared at the old goblin, trying to process all this information through his tired head, but the adrenalin was keeping him alert for now, and he shook his head no.

"A pensieve is a device where one individual can extract a memory, as I said, and allow another individual or several, to view it and experience it the way they did. It is a rather fool-proof method of checking the truth, because it cannot be forced out of the giver, nor be altered. It can only be cut short. If the memory is fake, it will look blurry, unsubstantial, and often disjointed, as such, it is often used in wizarding court as admissible evidence, usually to prove one's innocence. Master Snape had put seven such memories into the pensieve."

Harry glanced at Snape, because that was kind of a surprise, but his Potions professor just gave him an unreadable look back.

"You will have the choice of viewing them one by one, or all at once, however I would suggest all at once as they tell a story. It is imperative to see all of them before making a conclusion or risk being severely mislead."

The old goblin looked at Harry with such intensity at this proclamation that Harry understood it must really be so. He didn't know what his professor planned to show him, but he felt like he might finally get some answers regarding last year.

So many things had happened to him. He hadn't really had a moment of peace to reflect on it till he got back to Private Drive and had to do hours upon hours of chores, with nothing else to occupy his mind but rethinking all the events and circumstances which lead him to killing his professor and preventing Voldemort's resurrection. Twice. The nightmares had been bad, and he got more than one beating for the subsequent screaming for them.

Harry shivered remembering it, and quickly tried to distract his thoughts.

It was odd how the old goblin King kept calling his professor 'Master Snape', not 'Professor Snape', but then maybe Professor Snape was a Master in something? And it's not like he was King Warwick's teacher, Harry supposed. Or it was one of those odd wizarding things Harry didn't know about yet.

Wizards had a lot of 'things', Harry was starting to learn.

Just then the other goblin came back with their food, and Harry nearly flinched from how hard his stomach clenched at the smell of the food. His professor noticed, but didn't say anything.

Harry felt a little self-conscious as he started to eat, but then he realized that his Professor and the King were also having tea, and he relaxed a little. Harry quickly ate his soup in careful quiet sips, making sure to not clink the spoon on the ceramic, using the soft bread to mop up every last bit of it, then he slowly ate his salad, knowing this was more food than he had eaten in days and would likely come back up again if he wasn't careful. It was a good thing he had been stealing bits of food here and there otherwise he would definitely be sick.

He realized that while he had been distracted with the food, King Warwick had stepped out and his professor was watching him intently again. Harry felt himself blush and ducked his head down, knowing it was too late and the Professor had seen how hungry he was.

"Harry." His name said so calmly had him looking up, startled, still really weirded out by Snape calling him by name, "I have a confession to make." His professor paused then, as if he was shoring up courage, but that was silly, what would Professor Snape, the scariest teacher in the school, had to be scared about?

Before he could ponder more his professor continued, "I was at your house today. All day. Since the morning. I was under a disillusionment charm, and I saw everything."

Harry felt himself freeze completely inside. That couldn't be true, could it?

Why was Snape telling him this? Why did he do it?

… why did he not stop them?

Why would he stop them?

Then, Snape handed him a vial. Harry stared at him, and then looked at the vial. With a start, he realized it was a healing drought. He had seen and been given a few at the infirmary after the Chamber incident.

He looked up at his professor, who just looked calmly back at him, and then looked at the swollen head wound from earlier in the day. Harry blushed, but dared to ask "Sir, is it only a healing drought? Nothing else in it?"

He expected his professor to get mad, but instead Snape practically smiled at him, which was just so weird, and assured him nothing else was in there. It was for his head wound and 'any other wounds he might have'. Harry wanted to die a little from mortification, but he was also grateful, his head had started to really hurt and burn.

After downing it in one go and quickly shoving a tomato from his salad into his mouth to get rid of the taste, he immediately started to feel better, and marveled once more at how amazing magic was. Snape chose that moment to start speaking again,

"I want you to know, that how your relatives treated you is despicable, and they should be ashamed of themselves. I surmise by how causally they did it, that this abuse had been going on for most of your life, is that correct?" Harry flinched at that word, but mutely nodded, looking at his salad, grateful his mouth was still full of tomato, not knowing what else to say.

"I want you to know, the only reason I did not stop it, was because it was imperative that they do not see me take you away. However, if they had started to look like they would hurt you again, I believe I would have blown the plan and cursed them senseless. It is never alright to hurt a child the way your aunt did, and I am sorry I was unable to stop her from doing it. If, however, tonight worked out the way I hope it does, I swear to you Harry Potter, that it will never happen again."

Harry didn't know what to say.

Snape was saying all the words he had hoped as a kid to hear an adult say to him, but how could he promise this? Why would he want to? Harry didn't know what to believe. But he knew he wanted it.

He didn't trust it though.

Harry wanted to know the rest of it. This was a lot, but there was more, he could tell.

"Sir, what is going on? Really." He didn't know how else to ask this.

His professor nodded as if understanding him perfectly, "I am going to be honest with you Harry, and it will not be easy to hear but hear it you must, I am sorry for that." Snape took a breath, "I found out 3 days ago, that Albus plans to let you die."

He said that as if he was blurting it out, and then Harry realized what he said, but before he could react, Snape continued, "He had been speaking to Fawkes and I overheard him. He plans to sacrifice you. No doubt in his insane mind, this is the right thing to do. Somehow. I do not agree to his way of thinking, and I had made a decision to take you somewhere where you would be safe, and you will not have to be a sacrificial lamb for Dumbledore's war. Your mistreatment at the Dursley's hands was partially - if not entirely - Dumbledore's fault, so that you would have the right 'mindset' of having so much gratitude, I assume, to the magical world, that you would happily die for it. I am frankly disgusted with myself that I hadn't suspected it sooner – considering what happened in your first and second year – but I had blindly chosen to trust Dumbledore, and trusted that you were well cared for, even spoiled."

Harry was speechless. If he had been required to speak, he was sure nothing would have come out of his mouth in that moment. Dumbledore arranged all of it? So, the Dursleys maybe didn't hate him that much but he made them? No. They had hated him anyways. You couldn't pretend for so long, right? Why would Dumbledore do this? What had Harry ever done to him to deserve that? Harry could feel his eyes getting hot, but he wasn't going to cry. Crying never helped anything.

But Snape was right, he thought bitterly, he had been grateful. He had been happy when he learned about the Magical world. Even with what happened in the Chamber he had been grateful. To be useful, to be appreciated, and to be accepted.

Now Harry felt foolish. Of course, no one had ever wanted him.

He had thought Dumbledore cared.

He was such a fool.

But what if Snape was lying? He did say he had the memories to prove it, and King Warwick had said memories cannot be altered. Unless he was lying too? Harry didn't know who to trust any more. Everything was one big jumble in his head.

But his professor wasn't done throwing shock-bombs at Harry it seemed.

"I had also wrongfully assumed that you were a pampered spoiled child wallowing in your fame. After today I realize just how deeply my errors ran, and how badly I had misjudged you and your upbringing. All because I trusted Albus Dumbledore."

His professor paused, clearly feeling a deep emotion. Harry thought it was self-loathing. He saw it often enough in the mirror as a child.

"I had served one monster before, and when that monster took away the most important thing to me, I thought I was redeeming myself when I offered my skills as a spy to Dumbledore, just to realize, now, that I had only traded one monster with another. I am so, so, sorry Harry. I had failed both of you. I am ashamed of myself, but if you give me a chance, I would like the possibility of making it up to you."

Harry didn't know what to say.

He never in his life expected to have this conversation with this Professor.

Sure, he thought once in a while that it would be nice if his professor realized he wasn't any of those things the professor called him, but he never actually expected to receive an apology. Especially not from the likes of Snape. He also didn't expect to find out that his professor was a spy that once followed Voldemort. Harry knew there had been rumors, of course, but he never actually expected to have them confirmed. Hermione had been right when she suspected him of being evil. Except apparently, he wasn't anymore.

Harry was so confused.

Then, Harry realized something, "Professor, what do you mean 'both'?"

His professor took another one of those deep breaths, and seem to brace himself, and Harry braced himself reflexively seeing that.

"Harry, I am your mother's blood-adopted brother."

Harry blinked and felt his mouth drop open.

Of all the things he expected to hear, that was definitely not one of them.

Before he could ask, Snape was already answering his next question.

"It happened when we were very young, about as old as you are now, in fact. We had been best friends. She lived down the street from me, but we were sorted into different houses. Certain things… happened, which you will see in the pensieve later, and we had an irrevocable falling out. But your mother was my older sister, for all that we were the same age. When Lily – when your parents died, you should have been given to one of the people in their Will upon their death, but Albus had sealed their Wills, so you went to Petunia. It didn't help that most of the people in their Will were dead, insane or locked up, so there was no one left to fight for you." Snape's face darkened even more, as he spoke with barely controlled anger.

"Because of our falling out, I had assumed Lily would not consider me, and I was riddled with guilt besides, as I blamed her death on myself. I had told Voldemort of a prophecy you see, not realizing this would make Lily, Potter and you his prime targets, as the prophecy had been vague, I didn't put it together in time. Once I did, I begged him to spare Lily, but… he clearly didn't. I was devastated and went straight into Albus's confidence, trusting he would handle everything. I told myself I was too blinded by grief and guilt."

Snape trailed off then, and seem to be fighting tears which Harry never expected to see on his grouchy old professor. He really hoped Snape wasn't about to start crying in front of him.

"I realize I am still not the most suitable guardian. Far from it. But once I understood Albus's plans, I realized that I had to do something. I need to take you away where you can grow up safe, without insane expectations cumulating in your early death. That, is no way to have a childhood and while I am not… ideal, I know I can do better than what you have had so far. I realize you deserve better than that, but I promise I will try my best to do right by you."

"Professor what are you saying?" Harry stammered out.

Harry was having trouble breathing.

He needed things to be clearer.

His heart was hammering so hard he could hear it in his ears.

"Harry, would you let me adopt you?"

Harry stared at him. His mouth was open again; he was sure. He knew theoretically that the conversation was heading there, he didn't know how he knew but, now that Snape had said it, well Harry couldn't believe he said it.

Harry had so many questions. First and foremost, why?

"Don't give me an answer yet. Watch all the memories in the Pensieve first. Watch them several times if you need. This is a big decision. We will be safe in Gringotts for some time, as your aunt, uncle and cousin won't wake up till at least the next day evening. We have a little time yet."

"What is your plan if I agree?" He couldn't make himself say Professor this time, "How will you keep me safe?"

"I am afraid that we would leave Hogwarts, and England entirely. I would take you to Kun Lun Mountain, in China, there is an excellent school there. It is by invitation only, one which we have. There, you will be trained in a school better than Hogwarts with a much wider curriculum. The magical world is a lot wider and varied than they teach you in England, Harry. The Asian magics are completely different."

Harry tried not to hyperventilate.

He would have to leave England?

But what about Ron and Hermione? He would have to leave them behind too!

Harry wondered how the hell he was supposed to learn Chinese, or Japanese or whatever language they spoke there.

Something of his panic or dismay must have shown on his face because Snape continued, "Don't worry about the language barrier. The Master's there have long mastered pill making, which are similar to potions. They can give you the ability to understand their language. Their world is different from ours, their muggles know about them, and they are well received and thought of in the non-magical world." Snape actually smiled at the astonished look Harry must have on his face.

"Surprising, isn't it? Muggles not immediately trying to kill anyone who is different? I was just as surprised when I lived there after my Hogwarts years. I was only there for six years, but I very nearly stayed there forever."

Snape had a wistful look on his face. Harry imagined how different that world must be compared to this one and he shivered. Would he be able to adapt? Should he say no? But Dumbledore wanted him dead, if Snape was to be believed and Harry thought he wasn't exactly okay with that. Then he remembered leaving England meant he would have to leave his friends behind! They were the first friends he ever had and that was a horrible thought, losing Ron and Hermione. Harry wanted to cry just thinking about it.

How was he going to do this?

His expression must have given him away, because Snape gave him a sympathetic look, and that surprised Harry, that his dour professor could feel sympathy towards him. But that was silly, his professor must feel at least sympathy to want to keep Harry, right? He said after all he wanted to adopt him.

"A lot of things would become clear once you watch the memories in the pensieve. I have included some memories of my time there, so you will get a chance to see a little of it. You will not be going into it completely blind like you did at Hogwarts,"

Harry realized with a start that his professor was right. He hadn't known what to expect when he agreed to go to Hogwarts either, but it had been the best choice he had ever made. Now however, he was going to maybe lose Hogwarts, forever. That made him feel very sad and small inside, even more than Dumbledore wanting him dead, oddly enough. Harry supposed it was because Hogwarts was the first place that had felt like home. But even that had been a lie, set up by the Dursley's and Dumbledore. Still, it was good that he will at least not be going into it blind, like last time.

Maybe.

"You must have many questions. I think it would be best if you viewed the pensieve now. I know you must be exhausted," Snape looked at him as if to remind him he knew how Harry spent his day, and Harry realized he did actually know, "After you have watched the memories, you can ask me anything you would like, but then we should get you some sleep. You will not be fit to make any decisions or process this much information without at least a good night's sleep. As I said, your relatives won't wake up for a few days yet, so we have enough time for you to digest a little of what you see and ask more of the questions which I know you will have."

Snape said that as if Harry would be able to digest all of this. Harry wished he was as confident as Snape was, and then realized how weird that sounded. Snape being confident in him.

Regardless, King Warwick had returned and behind him, a flat cylindrical object floated like an obedient dog.

Harry had a momentary thought to wonder if this wasn't some kind of potions thing, because it looked like a large flat bowl with liquid silver and smoke in it, but quickly dismissed that thought when the liquid didn't so much as ripple when the bowl was placed on the table in front of him.

Harry was distracted by the shiny surface which he noticed didn't reflect his face at all, when King Warwick spoke, "This is a pensieve, Mister Potter. You use it by simply putting your face in it. It will feel a little odd as you will be sucked into the memory you are seeing but inside, you will be an observer only. You cannot change anything, nor can the people inside the vision see, hear or speak to you. It is, quite simply, only a memory. I do recommend you watch it all at once, because as I said, you will not get the full story if you do not." King Warwick looked at him to see if he was following and Harry gave a hasty nod that he understood, "Afterwards, I will leave you alone with Severus to talk about what you saw, and ask any questions you might have. If you want me to stay to be a witness, I can do that also. Anything you say or see here will be kept in the utmost confidence; I assure you."

Harry briefly remembered that Professor Binns had mentioned that a Goblin's word was his oath and to question a Goblin's word was the equivalent of the gravest of insults. In fact, the majority of blood wars had been started by someone questioning a Goblin's word and thus their honor, and he hastily nodded again to show he understood and accepted.

King Warwick smiled at him, not unkindly, Harry thought.

Who knew Professor Binns's class would actually come in handy?

He glanced at Snape, but the professor just gave him an encouraging nod towards the pensieve and a twitch of his mouth which Harry thought was trying to be a smile of a sort.

Having no other ideas what else to do, Harry leaned forward, took a deep breath and put his face into the Pensieve.

King Warwick had been right. It felt like something was sucking him in, but not the way apparition felt, it was more like the way Aunt Marge once put both her meaty hands on his face and squeezed while cooing at him, making his mouth pucker up like a fish before she realized he wasn't Dudley and shoved him away from herself.

It wasn't painful, just uncomfortable – his thoughts stopped short when he saw a girl a little older than himself with fiery red hair and eyes that looked just like his.

His mum.

That was his mum!

Before he could say anything or reach out, the girl, who had previously been scowling at another black-haired boy with a very attractive face, pulled out a wand and fired a hex at him.

He had never seen an angrier look on a girl's face before, not even Hermione when they were about to break rules.

She looked scary.

"How. Dare. You. Sirius Black!" She screeched at him, and Harry winced a little. Now he knew where his Aunt got that screech from. "Severus is my friend! I don't care if he is in Slytherin, he is my friend, and you will not hurt him any-more or I swear to God and Merlin both, I will curse you so hard you will sing 7 octaves' higher than any wizard. Do I make myself clear?!"

That Sirius boy was clearly dumber than Harry, because he chose to argue, "You would defend that snake?! He is nothing but a slimy, no good, evil little – "

With a jolt, Harry realized that there was another boy lying on the ground, struggling to stand up behind Lily, his mum. Harry could only gape as a much younger Severus Snape tried valiantly to lift himself up but clearly couldn't. Harry could tell he was also in considerable pain.

His mum had absolutely had enough, because she looked angry enough to spit fire at the boy, Sirius, "You know what Sirius? You claim you are nothing like the rest of the Black family, and nothing like those evil wizards, but from where I am standing? Right now, you are exactly like them."

The look Lily gave Sirius would have curdled milk. Sirius in turn looked like he had lost all the color in his face, highlighting the boils that were starting to show up all over his face, and without a word, he turned and ran away in the opposite direction, the feathers sprouting from his ears leaving a few of their brothers behind in the boy's haste.

Clearly that had been a harsh insult.

Lily stared for a second at his retreating back, but didn't look remotely sorry for having said those things. Instead, she turned around and the look on her face immediately morphed into one of worry, and Harry startled again to see so much love and care directed at the young boy at her feet.

"Are you okay? That Sirius is a seriously nasty piece of work. Let's get you to the infirmary. I don't trust that what he did didn't leave a negative effect."

Harry followed them slowly, as Lily helped young Severus Snape into the castle, all the while fretting at him and cursing out Sirius Black. Snape himself didn't say much, except to try to brush the incident away, but his mum wasn't having any of it.

Harry, after two years of Hermione exposure, knew that expression to mean that this was definitely not over if Lily had anything to say about it.

Time seemed to do something strange, everything rushing by very quickly as if on fast-forward, as his mum left Snape with the mediwitch and Harry took it to mean that Snape was there for more than a few hours.

When he did finally get out, Lily was waiting for him outside the door. She had the same gleam in her eye that always had Harry bracing when Hermione wore it.

Snape clearly recognized it also, but was willing to go along with his mum when she demanded he meet her after dinner that night in the 'little drawing room', wherever that was.

Harry found himself following Snape around that day, and noticed that, other than Lily, no one paid the rather quiet boy any mind. He didn't seem to have any friends in Slytherin, and except for a boy who must have been Lucius Malfoy, who looked to be 3 years above Snape, and would occasionally acknowledge him, everyone else pretty much ignored him. Snape in turn ignored them and almost always had his nose in a book. He reminded Harry of Hermione, in those first few weeks of first year.

After dinner was finally over, Harry eagerly followed Snape all the way to the rarely used East wing which Harry realized must have still been in use during Snape's time.

Turned out, the little drawing room actually did used to be used for teaching magical drawing, judging by the number of broken and dusty easels that still sat at the back of the room.

His mum was already there, and she sat in a circle of runes she had clearly just finished drawing. In front of her were two goblets which she likely stole from the kitchen, since Harry recognized them as the cups they used for special occasions at Hogwarts.

Snape stopped at the door, and once he inspected the runes his eyes widened and he jerked his head to look at Lily.

"You can't be serious." He said, his voice tinged with disbelief but to Harry it also sounded hopeful.

"Of course I am serious! Severus, you are my best friend. You have been like my brother since that day when we were 8 and my mom invited you over for lemonade." Lily looked very determined when she said this. "You are my brother in everything but blood, and now you will be my brother for real. Maybe then those – those – assholes! – will leave you alone. But even if they don't, Severus, I don't want anything to come between us. I don't want – I love Hogwarts, I really do, but this house rivalry is hurting us, and this way, we will always have something stronger than house rivalry to hold us together."

"Lily, this… is a dark ritual. Blood magic. Only Goblins are allowed to use this without government penalty. How did you even learn about it?" Snape was clearly willing but his curiosity was obvious.

Harry marveled at how much younger and less stressed-out Snape looked. Was the war to blame for how he usually looked?

Wait, was his mum a dark witch?

Lily's grin looked somewhat bloodthirsty when she replied, and Harry drank in that expression helplessly, "Stole it from Sirius's and James's dormitory of course. Don't you think it's poetic justice that his family's dark-arts books will be used to bind us together, not just curse you and try to separate us?"

Snape clearly loved the idea because Harry was astonished to see Snape smile at his mum. He had never seen Snape smile like that towards anyone. So open and honestly happy, if a little mischievous.

"Besides, blood magic isn't evil if it isn't used in evil ways. Neither are the dark arts. It is just so much propaganda that the light side sold to the wizarding world after Grindelwald! You know this!"

Harry couldn't believe his ears. Was that the truth? Hermione would lose her mind if she knew.

Harry watched as his mother and Snape started a long incantation. As one, they cut their palms open and poured their mixed blood into the goblet, mixing with the potion Lily had poured in earlier during the start of the incantations. When the magic was so thick Harry was struggling to breathe from it, and all the runes on the floor were lit up, his mother and Snape's voices reached a crescendo and they slammed their bleeding palms into one another in a parody of a high-five, both their eyes turning bright white, all the color gone.

Harry had a moment to panic. But where their palms touched, their blood started to float around their hands, swirling and mingling and glowing brighter and brighter, and what was once two bloody trails was now one. It settled back around their palm, and for a moment Harry had to look away because it was so bright it hurt his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, he nearly panicked again because both his mum and Snape were unconscious on the floor, their hands still intertwined in a dead lock.

Harry could just make out the matching scars on their palms which looked healed but not gone. Like his lightning bolt, they were there to stay forever.

Harry was pushed out of that memory, and he had to sit in the chair and breathe for quite a while before he could do anything else.

Neither Snape nor King Warwick said anything.

Harry looked over at Snape, and he needed -, "Can I see it?"

Snape looked at him, and for a moment, Harry thought he would refuse. Instead, Snape just took a deep breath and showed him his right hand. There, was the scar that had bound him to Harry's mum, looking as clear as if it was made last week rather than years ago.

Harry swallowed and nodded.

He had so many things to think about, but not now. Not… yet.

Steeling himself to think about everything later, he leaned over and put his face back in the Pensieve.

Snape knew what the boy would see. He had put the memories in there himself after all. He still wasn't sure if this was the best way to deal with Pott – Harry, but he needed to start somewhere. While he had wanted to keep those memories to himself, horde them really, he acknowledged that this way at least Harry would know he wasn't lying to him.

He knew what the boy would see next. His father and Sirius tormenting him while Lupin and Pettigrew stood on the sidelines, not stopping them, Pettigrew jeering at him. His own loss of composure and his idiotic temper getting the better of him, calling Lily mudblood… their relationship fracturing.

Lucius approaching him, luring him to join Voldemort's meetings. Him feeling important and appreciated when Voldemort acknowledged his superior potion skills. Flattered him. Paid attention to him.

Him trying to speak to Lily and getting rebuffed. Getting bullied by Potter, Black and their lot. There were a lot of memories of those. He hasn't included most of them. Potter was still Harry's father after all.

His need to leave, to get some perspective. To outrun his bitterness.

His years of apprenticeship in China, and some of the happiest memories besides Lily that he had.

His orientation and adaptation to their ways. The many people who had showed him kindness there.

His reluctance to leave, but in the end, he had still wanted to go home. He felt like he had left things unfinished.

Severus rubbed his eyes and not for the first time, wished he had never come back to England. If he hadn't, maybe Lily would still be alive.

Married to that asshole, but alive.

He knew showing Harry the prophecy might be a mistake but he didn't want to start their new relationship with lies, and truth be told, he didn't want Harry to accept his guardianship without knowing why he had a life debt to pay to Lily.

He could tell the moment Harry had reached the Betrayal, as he called it in his head. When the boy saw Severus give the prophecy to Voldemort, dooming his mother.

Granted, Severus hadn't known the prophecy was about Lily's child, but that was no excuse.

The boy's whole body was tense, but he didn't yank his head out as Severus feared he would. Instead, the boy stayed in, and watched the whole sordid thing. Severus knew Harry saw him arrive at Godric's Hollow and the ruins left. Saw him find Lily's body. Saw him touch Harry's forehead and clean the blood away from baby Harry's face. Saw him hear the arrival of others and his panicked apparition, tears still running down his face. Saw him scream and howl and cry at the death of his sister when he arrived back at his cottage.

Severus hadn't held anything back. He had chosen to deposit all of it, all the good and the bad together in the hopes that a 12-year-old could – what? Forgive him? Look past his horrible deeds and many mistakes? Could … Severus didn't know. He wasn't being a very responsible adult, expecting those kinds of things from a child. An abused child at that. He was mentally berating himself; he knew and he startled badly when he felt a small hand suddenly grip his bigger one firmly.

He looked down and saw King Warwick holding his hand, and patting the back of it with his wrinkled one.

He felt his eyes heat and prickle but this wasn't a night for his own regrets. He knew he couldn't break down now because Harry needed him. Needed him to be the man he simply hadn't been since he turned his back on Lily, and that, more than anything else allowed him to give King Warwick a weak smile and take his hand back.

Now was a time for much harder things than regrets.

Harry was not okay.

He was so absolutely not okay. He just seen what looked like Snape's entire horrible life. From his horrible family – so similar to Harry's, except his parents were alive and still horrible. Snape's mum had been a weak and sad person. Harry imagined that once upon a time, she might have been a confident person, but that time had clearly come and gone. Snape's father reminded him horribly of uncle Vernon except uncle Vernon never left whip marks on his back or beat Aunt Petunia. He never thought he would be grateful to his uncle for anything, but clearly there were worse kinds of families out there.

He saw his mum see Snape and befriend him despite his quiet disposition. He saw her love Snape as family. He saw how much it hurt her when his father – and wasn't that a horrible shock. To realize his father was a bully and enjoyed cruel jokes and so did his friends – bullied Snape. He saw Snape retaliate, but lose because he was always alone. He saw his mother's determination and felt his own heart swell at how proud he was that she was at least not a bully and protected the weak, even though thinking of Snape as weak left something horrible churning inside Harry's belly.

He saw that his mum couldn't stop it all. Didn't even see most of it. He saw the look on Snape's face when years later, he saw Lily hang out with his tormentors. The look of betrayal on Snape's face every time she laughed at one of Jame's jokes.

Then to his horror, he watched as Sirius lured Snape out on the full moon, and watched as Lupin – who turned out to be a werewolf of all things – nearly mauled him to death.

He watched with something very cold in his stomach when Dumbledore forgave Sirius almost carelessly.

He watched Snape see it and he felt like he could feel Snape's hate even years later.

He thought he maybe understood a little, how someone like Snape could take such a bad turn.

A part of him thought Snape should have known better.

A part of him wondered if he would have known better if he had been sorted into Slytherin and hadn't made the friends he made.

Harry almost didn't pay enough attention when the pensieve threw him into the next memory. One of Snape in China getting his apprenticeship. His thoughts were all jumbled and his feelings were even worse, but he took a deep breath and forced himself to focus because this was important. He doubted he would be allowed to see this again and he did need to know what was waiting for him.

The memories were all excerpts of Snape's daily life.

There were many moments of sitting cross-legged on a cushion, hands extended towards a large oven-like pot-thing which looked like one of Aunt Petunia's incense burners but much, much bigger. Harry had no idea what that was suppose to be, but watched Snape put herbs and things into it, and round colorful pills came out of the oven after some time, so Harry figured it was some kind of potions caldron that made pills instead of potions.

He saw even more memories of Snape taking classes, long-haired and dressed in flowing robes which would look girly except everyone was wearing them, and Harry remembered having the same thought the first time he saw the British wizarding robes, so he assumed he would just have to get used to them the way he had with the British wizarding clothes.

He knew he was distracting himself with the inane, but; it helped. To space out the shock.

He saw a lot of people showing Snape respect, but he also noticed that, other than a man with white hair, Snape didn't spend a lot of time with the other students, just like at Hogwarts.

Seemed that Snape was antisocial no matter where he was.

Harry did notice Snape smiling a lot more and looking overall happier and more relaxed however.

When they finally left the memories of China behind, Harry was almost regretful. There was a sense of peace in those memories that Harry badly wanted to hold on to.

The next series of memories were a lot less pleasant and peaceful.

He watched Snape tell Voldemort about a prophecy, given by Trelawney of all people, and once again hated Albus Dumbledore a little more for keeping so many things from him. Harry knew now that Snape hadn't known that the prophecy was about Harry. He watched as a frantic Snape all but threw himself at Voldemort's feet and begged him to spare Lily. Harry was shocked because he never imagined his proud and dignified professor begging anyone for anything but Snape in the memory was frantic, and past all reason. Fear had clearly driven him and he showed no shame in begging Voldemort over and over again, until Voldemort got fed up with him and crucioed him for begging for a mudblood, but promised him to spare her so she could be his plaything.

Distantly he acknowledged that Snape had only begged for Lily. Not James or Harry, but he put that out of his mind for now.

Then he watched Snape pace back and forth until he obviously couldn't take it anymore and apparated to Godric's Hollow himself.

Harry thought he knew how things would go from there, and unsurprisingly, finding his mum dead, broke something inside Snape.

He watched the grief-stricken man go to Dumbledore and offered to spy for him. He watched Dumbledore use Snape's grief against him to talk him into teaching at Hogwarts in exchange for protection, and for the first time ever, Harry thought he understood why Snape was such a bad teacher. He had never wanted to teach in the first place, but Dumbledore had made it a part of their deal and Snape had had no choice.

He was perhaps most shocked when the past Snape asked Dumbledore to let him adopt baby Harry but Dumbledore refused, making Snape think that it was because he didn't trust Snape to raise a child of the light. Snape hadn't fought him after that.

The next memory was a lot crisper, and Harry took that to mean it was more recent.

He watched Snape overhear Dumbledore and Fawkes speaking.

It was exactly as he had said.

Dumbledore did want him dead.

Harry couldn't help feel a deep twinge. He had held out hope that maybe what Snape had heard could be interpreted in a different way, but… there was no mistaking Dumbledore's words.

When Harry did finally leave the pensieve, his mind was so full of thoughts and questions and grief that he nearly threw up the food King Warwick generously gave him earlier.

Thankfully he managed not to, but he couldn't look either King Warwick or Snape.

Snape reached out to touch him, but Harry shied away from him because he was still processing everything and he couldn't imagine–

He didn't know –

Harry realized that he couldn't take any more and asked the King, quietly, if it was okay if he just went to bed.

The old King looked at him, and ushered him out of the room and down quite a few stairs with Snape trailing them from further down the corridor. There, below, the rooms looked carved out of some kind of metal with heavy looking doors made of the same. King Warwick opened one of them, using his nail, just like Harry's account manager had done back in first year, and Harry was led into a rather nice room. At the back wall was a large bed with no canopy, and to his left he saw another smaller door, and thought it must be the bathroom. The room being underground, it had no windows and somehow Harry was grateful for it.

King Warwick advised him to take a bath if he had the energy and to get some rest. He also let Harry know that no one in the whole wizarding world could break through this level, not even house elves, and that he was in fact in the royal-family wing. The King assured him that someone would be by in the morning to bring him food and let him out of the room, and showed him the bathroom which was indeed next door, and had what looked like a swimming pool for a tub.

Snape meanwhile unshrank his trunk, and no matter what else, Harry felt happy when his wand was back in his hands, just like Snape had promised him.

Something small and warm settled inside Harry's stomach and lodged itself there.

They left him alone after that, Snape giving him another unreadable look, and Harry tired to give him a smile because Snape looked like he had just dug his heart out of his own chest. It seemed to work because some kind of tension left Snape and he offered Harry his own weak smile in return before walking out behind King Warwick.

After the doors closed, Harry felt his ears pop again. He had been sealed in.

He stood there for what fell like ages but must have been only a few minutes.

Too many things had happened in one day, and he honestly didn't even know where to start. He kind of wished he had Hermione and Ron there to help him make sense of it all.

As soon as that thought occurred to him, he immediately dismissed it.

Ron would make a huge deal out of Snape and call him all kinds of names. Hermione would try to rationalize everything and try to forgive everything. Problem was, Harry didn't want to attack Snape but he also wasn't sure he was ready to let it all be bygones.

His head hurt, despite the healing potion and he felt completely worn out.

What was he supposed to do now?

He stood there blinking at the shiny floor for a bit, and finally decided he wasn't going to be able to make sense of it all tonight anyways, so he might as well have that bath.

After all, he did kind of stink.

Much later, laying in the quiet room given to him on the sub-level of Gringotts, trying to pull the sheets over his head so he could hide under them for a little while and think, Harry felt very young, and very alone.

Sardonically Harry thought he was lucky because he had a lot of practice in scary, terrifying, adrenaline-stimulating things happening to him in short order, else he – he didn't know. Maybe everything happens for a reason? But he couldn't believe that. Even the Dursley's didn't believe in Jesus or Christianity. It was too fantastical for them to believe in anything without there being nice solid normal proof. Belief in an imaginary deity must have smacked too much like magic to Aunt Petunia, so neither she nor Vernon bought into it. Dudley had asked about it once, because a teacher in school had mentioned it, and Vernon had scoffed so much, Harry never even bothered asking. He would have just gotten in trouble if he had.

In a way he was glad because the idea that all of this was meant to happen to him was just too much and too ridiculous to even contemplate.

A part of Harry knew that tomorrow he would have to make a decision, which would yet again change his life, but a part of him… a part of him wanted that. Harry hadn't realized just how much the last two years had weighed on him. How much all this responsibility had weighed on him and a very large part of himself did acknowledge, if only with his face under the sheets and his heart hurting from too much of everything, that he was ready to give up on Hogwarts and the wizarding world of Britain just a little if it would mean he could be a kid for just a while and not carry the burden of the world on his shoulders any more.

After all, didn't he deserve that? To be safe and healthy like other kids got to be? Even if that meant having Snape as a… guardian.

He wanted to think more about it but every time he tried to think about the more painful aspects of what he learned tonight, he instinctively shied away from them.

All of it was too much, and Harry was exhausted. Just before he drifted off, he wondered how Snape was going to get away with taking him to China without anyone knowing.

The next time he woke up, he felt considerably better than he did when he went to sleep. His head no longer throbbed the way it had for weeks at Private Drive. He still felt pleasantly full from his meal the night before, and the bed had been as comfortable as the one back at Hogwarts. The bath had helped loosened up most of the tense and knotted muscles in his back, and he even got to wear clean clothes, even though they were his school uniform but it was still nice to be able to throw away the stinky rags he had arrived in last night.

He stuffed the dirty things into the bottom of his trunk and wondered what time it was. He could easily cast tempus to find out but he wasn't entirely sure that he was allowed to use his wand. King Warwick said that no one could find him here but Harry didn't want to be any trouble and Snape's plan of scape would only work if no one knew he was missing before they were gone from England so he refrained testing his theory. He hadn't failed to notice that Snape hadn't used his wand in Private Drive.

Just as he started to get lost in his thought again about the events of last night, he heard the telltale screech of the goblin nail unlocking his door. When nothing else happened, he called out, "Hello? You can come in if you like?"

Only then did the door open and King Warwick and Snape walked in.

"How did you rest last night, child?" King Warwick's tone held warmth and a genuine desire to know. Harry, for all his hesitancy caused by last nights events, still remembered some of his manners that he watched Aunt Petunia try to instill in Dudley and took a deep breath before replying.

"Much better, thank you. I took your advice and took a bath before bed and I feel much better today." Harry politely replied even though he badly wanted to stare at the floor and fidget. Very belatedly, Harry realized he must have looked disgusting last night, what with his dirty ragged clothes and having worked and sweated in the garden all day. He didn't want the old King to think of him as dirty on top of everything else.

"That is very good to hear! You see Severus? Children are a lot more resilient than we give them credit for." King Warwick smiled at Snape, while the other man just kept starting at Harry.

Harry didn't know what to say or do, but he figured Snape was probably as uncomfortable as he was after last night's revelations, and he did come and save Harry from both Dumbledore and the Dursleys, so Harry figured he should say something, "Sir, thank you for getting me out of there yesterday and for… choosing to save me from what… the headmaster had planned for me." There. Harry had said it. He could do this. The rest can sort itself out slowly.

Snape looked surprised for a moment, and then replied in a rather rough voice, "You never should have been in that situation in the first place. I just did what any normal person would have done. You don't need to thank me for that Harry."

Harry was honestly surprised, thinking maybe Snape would use the rescue against him but instead he remembered the young boy his age, clutching Harry's Mum's hand and swearing they would always be together as family.

Huh. Harry hadn't thought about it last night, but maybe Snape was using this as an opportunity to honor his word to his Mum.

Maybe, Harry was the one doing a favor for Snape.

What an odd idea.

He was interrupted from his musings with King Warwick leading them out of the room and back up the stairs again. Harry noticed that his trunk remained in the room, but no one said anything when Harry slipped his want into his robes. They ended up back in the same room as last night, but this time, there was a scrumptious breakfast of toast, jam, scones, butter and tea set out for them.

While he hadn't felt hungry this morning, the smell of food clearly woke up something inside him and he happily sat down and dug into his breakfast when King Warwick motioned to it.

He ate two entire slices of toast and jam, with butter and felt incredibly full, content to just sit there and sip at his tea while the King and Snape discussed the details. He felt like he should probably pay attention but he was so pleasantly full and he didn't really want to start thinking about the things that happened yesterday.

His subconscious however had clearly taken the night to think things through for him, because Harry felt more clear-headed than he had in a very long time and for once, his head wasn't hurting him. Maybe because he was finally not hungry.

He knew they still had to talk about thing. Harry knew Snape would ask him again. A-About the adoption.

Harry shook his head. He couldn't even think about it in the privacy of his own mind without mentally stuttering.

He had always dreamed about being taken in by someone who wanted him but he never imagined Snape of all people being that someone.

Now he supposed he better think about it.

Did he want Snape to adopt him?

What would he even be then? Snape's ward? His apprentice? No that wasn't right. Apprentices aren't adopted were they.

No.

Kids were.

He would be Snape's kid.

Harry's mind screeched to a halt.

Snape hated him.

Would that make Snape his Da—No. He couldn't even think it.

His. Something. Family maybe? Maybe Snape could be his uncle or … or godfather maybe?

Before he could work himself up in his mind, King Warwick cleared his throat to get his attention.

"Now that everyone has rested and eaten, we can proceed to the next part of this." Seeing Harry tense, King Warwick not unkindly said, "Maybe you had some questions after last night that you wanted to ask Severus, Harry?"

Harry jolted a little, realizing that yes, he did have questions. He glanced at Snape and realized that although he was looking casual, his grip on his cup was tight and actually now that Harry was looking, Snape looked incredibly nervous. That actually made Harry feel somewhat better. He wasn't the only one who felt weirded-out by this.

"Yes I… did have some questions." He turned to Snape then a little, to indicate the question was for him, "Sir," but then he had to stop because he didn't know how to ask this question. So, he decided to ask another.

"Will we – are you sure we will be safe in China, Sir? That he won't be able to find us? Either of them?" because it would help no one if this was just going to be a long run rather than a solution.

That question seemed to relax Snape somewhat and Harry congratulated himself in not asking the hardest question immediately. Maybe Snape was just as nervous as he was.

"Yes, I do believe we would be." Snape said seriously, "China is a very large country, with a very tightly controlled government. Much more so than the British government, and thus has more control over it's population. Outsiders aren't welcome unless they have special invitations and everyone who arrives must be registered."

Harry was about to ask if that wouldn't just make them bigger targets since the registry would have their names but Snape clearly saw the question and simply answered without being asked, "King Warwick has kindly invited us to be the Goblin Nation's guests in China. Our Visa if you will, will be issued by the Goblins who do share the information with the Chinese ministry but only when asked since they are considered their own Nation and even though they have a large population in China, they are governed by their own King rather than the Chinese ministry – muggle or magical. Think of them as an autonomous region of their own. Just like in Britain, they manage the finances of the magical communities in China, thought not exclusively, but they also have their own lands and government completely separate from other magical folk. We would be Royal Friends sent from one King to another – the Chinese side's Goblin King is called King Yao, which is more a title than her name."

At Harry's confused look, Snape said, "I'll explain later, that's not important now. Essentially, unlike in Britain, they have a completely different status in China, with their own lands, own laws and own government. If someone comes looking for us, they will not only need to have a certain level of pull with the Chinese magical government but the Yao Royal Family as well, which I know for a fact Dumbledore doesn't have." Snape said with some satisfaction.

"In addition, we would also be under the protection of my former Master, under whom I did my apprenticeship. He is a bit of a celebrity, and not many people would dare to offend him to help a foreigner who will be here today and gone tomorrow, like Dumbledore would be. That is, of course, if he can even figure out where we went in the first place."

King Warwick spoke up then, bringing Harry's attention to him, "In addition, you will shortly be getting a potion, which combined with Goblin magic, will hide your scar." At Harry's surprised look, King Warwick chuckled, "Yes, no wizard's magic could hide a dark scar like that, but I am not a wizard, am I?" He said with a smile.

Harry smiled back at him, and then realized the King was clearly going out of his way to help Harry, and Harry hadn't even thanked him yet. He had been such a mess last night when he arrived.

"Thank you, your majesty. I really appreciate all your help." Then he quickly added, "and the help of all your people also. And for giving me a place to hide. And food. And –" before he could work himself up explaining, King Warwick cut him off.

"Please don't mention it. I owe a debt to Severus. He saved my son you see, many years ago, at considerable risk to himself, just because he thought it was the right thing to do. Now I return that favor, because this is the right thing to do also." King Warwick told him kindly, and Harry realized that, right, it was because of Snape, not him. "Dumbledore is wrong for what he is doing to you Harry Potter. He was wrong when you were a babe and he is wrong now. I don't know if the war had simply broken something decent inside him that he would be willing to sacrifice innocence like this, but –" King Warwick paused here and his eyebrows gather together in a fierce scowl, "Only Dark Wizards make these kinds of sacrifices Harry. He has crossed a line."

Harry wasn't sure what to think but he must not have looked very convinced because King Warwick continued, "In the Goblin Nations eyes, Dumbledore is no longer different from Voldemort. Both have been driven mad and evil by their desire for control and power." King Warwick shook his head sadly.

Harry stared at him, speechless.

He hadn't thought that the Goblins saw Dumbledore the same as Voldemort. He was just one boy after all. But Harry realized that maybe that was the problem. Maybe it didn't matter that he was Harry Potter to the Goblins. It only mattered that he was A boy, any boy. Or girl. A child. And they would have seen Dumbledore as evil no matter which child he had tried to sacrifice. That somehow made him feel a little better. He didn't want to be the cause of the Goblins falling out with Wizards, but it seemed they would have felt like this no matter whom Dumbledore sacrificed. Wasn't Neville's birthday also at the end of July? Harry realized with a start. It could have been Neville!

Realizing this, Harry nodded at King Warwick, "I think I understand. I am sorry for my part in it just the same."

"Oh, dear boy, the one person who does not owe us any apology, is you, and I will hear no more about it. We have chosen to do what is right, not what is convenient or cowardly, and Lady Magic will judge us for it when it is our time. For what it's worth, I think she will be most pleased at our decision." He smiled conspiratorially at Harry. "Now, what other questions do you have?"

Harry though he really didn't want to ask this but, he felt he really did need to know. Turning to Snape again, he asked quietly, not daring to look at his old potion's professor this time, "Sir, am I… that is to say, am I your… penance?" He rushed to add, "It's just… you've always hated me but you've saved me more than once, and looked out for me since the… the broom incident. Am I your… I don't know… atonement? Or something?" He finished lamely and held his breath.

Snape looked at him and Harry didn't dare look up till he said, "Harry."

The tone was so – Harry couldn't not look up at him. "Yes and no."

Harry wanted to say that wasn't an answer, but thankfully he continued, "Do I owe your mother a life debt? Yes, I do. Would taking care of you repay that debt, yes I do believe it will." Harry felt something a lot like disappointment begin to pool in his stomach, but Snape wasn't done, "However, I do not need to adopt you to do that. Nor is it the only reason I want to."

Snape took a deep breath and Harry imagined this really couldn't be easy for his very reticent professor, "I want to adopt you because you are my dearest friend's greatest creation. The one thing she treasured above all else. She didn't hesitate to sacrifice herself for you, that is how much she loved you." Snape paused here, and seemed to be working himself up to something, "Most of all, I want to adopt you because it is the right thing to do. You have no one in your corner and you are an innocent child thrown into a warzone and convinced that your only value in life is to be a martyr."

Snape's eyes were very intense and Harry was starting to wish he hadn't looked up, because while he wanted to protest the child comment, he couldn't protest the rest, "After meeting your guardians and realizing why Albus insisted on sending you there, I realized you never had a choice but to feel this way. You were literally manipulated into feeling like you owe the wizarding world something, when in reality, you do not owe them anything. You are, in fact, owed by the wizarding world for inadvertently stopping an evil and losing your mother and father for it. They owe you, Harry. Not you them."

Harry wanted to cry. No one had ever said anything like this to him before. Like he… like he actually mattered as a person.

"It should have been the adult's job to keep you safe and give you a childhood, instead you got those despicable muggles." Snape paused, and took a deep breath, "Everyone has a choice on how they deal with injustice Harry. Some chose to turn a blind eye. Some contribute to it. I have made those choices before and regretted them. I chose now to do something I know is the right. To keep you safe, and give you a proper education and a childhood. I chose this. Not because you are Harry Potter, but because you are a boy, and you deserve better."

Harry couldn't keep the tears away anymore, and to his embarrassment he could feel that his cheeks were wet. He knew Snape wanted this but he never thought Snape felt that way. He never imagined. Not… like this.

He mutely nodded to show he heard and understood Snape, but he had no idea what else to say. 'Thank you' seemed too small but – "Thank you." His voice was weak but he thinks Snape heard him because he took another breath, and put his hand on Harry's shoulder, and squeezed gently.

Harry wiped his eyes with the back of his shirt quickly and flushed red again when he realized King Warwick was still in the room and saw Harry crying, but the old Goblin didn't say anything and just let him calm down some, while he called for some more tea.

Once tea was served and Harry had had a few more gulps to calm down, King Warwick spoke again, "Do you have more questions?" Not unkindly, Harry thought.

"I…do, but not now? I think… I asked the most important questions. Except, um." Here he had to stop because he honestly didn't know how to ask that. At King Warwick's encouraging look, Harry blurted, "what would I be to you?" without looking at Snape.

He couldn't. Not yet.

Snape seemed to have been expecting the question, and he moved his hand away from Harry's shoulder. Harry bizarrely missed the warmth already.

"A blood adoption like this can take a few different forms, but –" another deep breath. This really couldn't be easy for his professor, Harry thought in sympathy, "I don't have any heirs, and I had been thinking…" Snape touched Harry's hand then, and Harry jerked his head up in surprise to look at Snape, "Harry Potter, would you let me adopt you as your father, and be my son?"

Snape was holding Harry's gaze and this seemed incredibly important. That his professor could look him in the eye and ask him that.

Harry never imagined having another father, so he didn't know what to think but he thought, maybe it would be nice to have an adult whose entire job is to keep Harry safe and healthy.

After what felt like eternity, Harry felt himself nod. Snape in turn let out a breath he must have been holding and smiled an honestly wide smile. It reminded Harry of the smile he had given his mum so long ago, in that dusty classroom, and couldn't help return it with his own smile.

He had consented. Snape was going to be his new Father.

He had a hysterical thought that Ron would lose his mind over this.

The moment was broken by King Warwick clapping his hands together loudly and exclaiming, reminding Harry of Professor Flitwick, "Oh wonderful! Wonderful! I do love it when a plan comes together. Now then! Let's do the adoption! Unless… do you have any more questions, Harry?"

Harry shook his head no, mutely. He thought even if he had more questions, he literally couldn't deal with any more emotions. Hermione would be cross with him for letting such a good opportunity go.

He felt like everything was moving really fast, and a part of him wanted to pause, to question if he was really sure he wanted to do this, but then he remembered that they were actually on a tight deadline, and Snape had already taken a risk to not push him last night. The Dursleys could wake up at any time, and his disappearance could be discovered. Harry really didn't want to die, and… while he never expected Snape to be the person to come save him and take him away from his horrible relatives, he had spent his entire childhood wishing someone would. Snape had already saved him several times now, so Harry, while he did feel rushed, did ultimately want this to happen. At least, he hoped he did.

No, no, he knew he did. He was just completely and totally freaked out that it was actually now happening. He had a hysterical thought that this felt just like finding out he was a wizard.

One minute, normal. Next minute, Wizard.

One minute orphan. Next minute Adopted.

Harry shook his head mentally, who was he kidding? He had never been normal a day in his life.

King Warwick rang a bell, and within a few minutes, there was a knife, goblet, a silvery looking potion and a long yellow parchment-and-quill brought into the room by another Goblin.

That potion looked oddly familiar, and with a blink, Harry remembered where he had seen it. It was the same potion his mother had used when she bound Snape to her family line!

Suddenly Harry was excited to do this. He will be doing something – choosing something! – his Mum had also chosen and done! Best of all, it will also be with Snape. Somehow this held a lot of significance to Harry, like it was something right and correct, something he should do.

All his previous misgivings felt rather far away suddenly.

Snape had made mistakes, true, but given time, he realized his mistakes and he was given a second chance. Harry will be getting his own second chance this time round too.

He had a brief twinge when he thought about his dad being replaced, but remembered how cruel his dad looked tormenting Snape, and how often his Mum yelled at James and his friends to leave her best friend alone, and they didn't, just because he was in Slytherin. It made Harry remember how everyone thought he was the Heir of Slytherin just because he spoke Parseltongue and somehow all of this was all twisted together inside Harry. The unfairness of it all.

He didn't want to be like his dad, and hurt people just because they are from an unpopular house. It wasn't right. Like Snape said, he could choose what to do and he choses not to be a bully like his dad had been.

He knew he was oversimplifying thing, and that likely his dad wasn't all bad, but at the moment he needed to be okay with this, so that's what he focused on. Snape was going to be his new family, and Snape wanted that. Harry wasn't being a burden or an inconvenience. Snape chose this.

So, Harry will choose him back.

"Now then, I think you know what will happen? You watched it in the pensieve." King Warwick smiled at him as Harry nodded, "I will make a slight modification however. Being a King of the Goblins has it's perks you know." King Warwick winked at him, and Harry couldn't help smile at him a little.

"I will be your intermediary as you mother and Severus should have had, had they asked anyone." At this he gave Severus a fond-scolding smile, while Harry was amused to see Snape actually squirm just a little, "This way, the bond will become unbreakable, and you will both not fall into a faint for 3 days due to magical exhaustion." King Warwick chastised, "Honestly I am still surprised you both survived it unscathed!"

King Warwick stood up then and waved them to the left side of the room where Harry noticed there was a clear space big enough for a circle.

Extending his wizened hand, King Warwick wiggled his fingers in a strange way, and his eyes lit with a green glow. On the floor, a bunch of runes popped up in a circle. At first, Harry thought it looked identical to the circle in the pensieve but realized that the center diagram had one different symbol.

"This is the adoption circle, that you saw in Severus's memory. Both of you, stand in the center, and here, take the potion with you." King Warwick handed the goblet which he had decanted the potion in, and handed Snape the dagger.

Snape handed the goblet to Harry with a quick "Hold this for me?" and started to unbutton the top part of his robes. To Harry's surprise and shock, he opened the entire front of his robes so his sternum was visible – and wow okay Harry can see why people thought he was a vampire, Snape was pale! - and without a bit of hesitation, drew a sharp deep gash across his heart. The blood immediately started to run down his left pectoral, but Snape had clearly expected this because he calmly passed the bloody dagger to Harry, while gathering the heart blood from his chest with his other hand and dripping it into the goblet Harry was still holding.

Harry very nearly dropped the bloody dagger honestly.

"To become a parent, Magic demands that you give of your heart. This is why the blood must come from the heart, otherwise it will refuse the adoption. Magic is very protective of its children, as it should be." Snape smiled as if to reassure Harry this is what he wanted. What he chose, again. "Now you, on your left hand."

Harry passed the goblet to Snape and with a breath, cut his left hand from left to right, all the way. He knew this scar will never fade, just as Snape's and his mums didn't.

He dripped the blood into the goblet and it changed to a bright shade of ice white.

It was actually really pretty.

Snape leaned over and took a big swallow, and passed it to Harry who drank the rest of it.

The magic had them after that.

Harry could feel all the magic in his body flare up and warm through his whole body, he could feel it take him over and he thought he could feel his eyes glowing.

Without thinking about it, his left hand lifted and he placed it across Snape's still-bleeding chest wound.

Strange words were coming out of his mouth which he couldn't understand but the magic inside him was only asking one question, do you accept this man as your father? To love you and protect you, to keep you healthy and whole, to always keep your good in the forefront of his mind?

Harry said yes. He wanted that. He was afraid but he wanted it.

The magic thrilled again and suddenly there was only white whitewhitewhite –

Everything was –

He woke up on the sofa in King Warwick's study, with no recollection how he got there. Snape sat only a hand's reach away, having clearly woken up before him.

His shirt was still open, and Harry muzzily realized that the wound on Snape's chest was closed. It looked healed but was very obviously still there in the form of a deep scar. Harry glanced down at his own hand, and there was a matching scar across his left hand.

He flexed his hand instinctively.

No pain.

He felt really tired though.

He glanced up and only realized he was smiling when Snape's returned it with a tired but satisfied smile of his own.

The spell had worked, and they verified this with a genealogy potion – that had been what the paper and quill were for apparently – and there, where Harry's father's name should have been, were:

James Potter (Paternal), and under James, in black script,

Severus Snape (Blood adoption via familial blood bond).

The spell had worked.

Harry Potter was now Harry Snape.

Harry really hoped he hadn't just done something monumentally stupid.

He thought he didn't, but his life was never normal. This had to be taken into consideration.

Maybe another nap would help?

In the evening, along with his dinner, he was told they will leave England tomorrow night. King Warwick informed him that instead of going to the apparition point like you would normally travel – this was news to Harry but he didn't let on – they will be leaving directly through Gringotts own apparition point because the goblins had their own by right of sovereignty and, no, they were not required to submit the travel list to the Ministry.

Harry hadn't known that, but judging by both Snape and King Warwick's faces, this was a Big Deal that the ministry wasn't very happy about.

Harry could get behind that.

Freedom to the people, and all that.

Hermione had been a strange influence on him.

Either way, he thought he would sleep well tonight.

Severus has never been a morning person but after such a large outpouring of magic, he slept surprisingly deeply, with no dreams at all which was unusual for him. He was very pleased how the ceremony had worked out and Harry seems to want this as well. Severus shushed the part of himself that said Harry had very little choice after all. The magic would not have taken hold if Harry didn't want it enough, whatever his reasons.

They had been here three days and would be leaving tonight, if all went well. He was glad he would get a chance to warn Harry a little about how China functioned. It would have been better if they had more time, but Severus was honestly glad he had any time at all.

He sat with Harry, this time on the right-side sofa's while King Warwick did some required business. Severus had started telling Harry about all the things he will need to know and there were a lot.

"One of the first things you need to know, is that in China, muggles know about us. I mentioned this before. However, there they are not referred to as muggles but as Mortals." At Harry's surprised look, Severus smiled and continued, "Although maybe not in the way you think. Mortal here means they will live approximately 100 years and then die, and they possess no magical core of their own that we know of. Unlike us, the 'magicals' who, with proper training can live for thousands of years."

He wanted to laugh a little at Harry's wide-eyed look but refrained, he hadn't been much better when he learned about this after all, "There are three kinds of classifications in China: The Mortals, the Magicals, and the Celestials. Celestials are the true immortals as you understand them. Their power levels are such that they reached enlightenment and thus immortality. However, it is important to note, that there are also many races which fall under these classifications and not all of them are human. I will tell you about them in detail, but if you see people walking around who don't look human, try not to stare. It would be considered rude."

"So, you mean, creatures are treated better there?" Harry asked skeptically,

Severus was surprised, he didn't expect social rights at the forefront of Harry's thoughts, but maybe he should start expecting the unexpected with his new son.

Son.

He had a son.

Severus ignored what his stomach did and continued, "Yes, one can understand it that way I suppose. It is more accurate to say that power and potential there is what determines your treatment in the magical world. The mortal world is entirely different and they have their own set of rules." Severus looked at him to make sure he way paying attention, and Harry huffed a little at him. Teenagers.

He has a teenage son.

He was so screwed.

"The magical community in China… these are a very formal people Harry, and they have had an unbroken history of 6500 years. During that time, they went through many forms of social methods and some truly bloody wars. Thousands of wars in fact. Finally, for them, this is the form that works best. We like to think of ourselves as possessing a formal civility in Britain and as the leaders of civilized society, but we do not hold a candle to the Chinese, and this applies across the board. This is also true of what is considered polite, and what isn't. China does not follow the west and has a completely different set of behavior patterns, belief and norms." Severus felt this might actually be the biggest issue for Harry to adopt to. Wizarding world might have been different, but at least most of the social politesse's were the same. China was completely different and would be completely alien to Harry. He shook of this concern for now, and tried to remember King Warwick saying children were adaptable.

"The wizarding community has a casts system there too, and they are deeply traditional. This is not a world one wants to look rumpled in, as an example, or say the wrong thing to the wrong person." At Harry's worried look, Severus added, "Do not worry, my son. I will teach you what you need to move through their society. At least, to know how not to give offense and how to avoid trouble."

Severus could see Harry struggle with that title every time it was used since the adoption, but after some consideration, he came to the conclusion that Harry needed someone to chose him, and to constantly verbally do so. He doubted very much if anyone had ever done so for him except maybe his friends calling him friend.

Plus, it had the added bonus of getting Severus used to it also.

Severus might not have experience being a father, but he did have experience profiling. His new son –and he can feel the magic inside his heart thrum a little when he thought the words son – will it always do that? - His son, had a lot of issues. Considering who raised him, Severus honestly wondered how they didn't have another Voldemort on their hands, and instead had this boy, confusing as he was.

"The Mortals on the other hand have chosen the rule of The Communist Party of China. There is a lot to the Mortals also, and their history is nearly as old as the Magicals Chinese. Since this is a 24-hour crash course, the most important thing you need to know about them is that they have a blood binding, magical agreement, which is good for 100,000 years with the Magical Chinese Community to co-exist in peace, and each govern its own people. It's a long story how this agreement came to be, and it isn't relevant for today. I will get you some books about it if you like."

At Harry's hopeful look at the word 'books', Severus was amused that Harry Potter, one of the lazier students of his acquaintance, even though he might be Severus's son, seem to actually not shy away from reading. He always thought it was only Granger's bullying that had Harry and Weasley ever opening a book.

Then Severus had to chide himself again, to not make assumptions about his new son, because, clearly, thus far, he had been woefully wrong about everything.

"Sufficed to say, Magicals and Mortals try not to have any arguments. The magical backlash I heard, is… very unpleasant and can often be lethal." Severus can't imagine Harry having to hang out with many Mortals but since he wasn't assuming anything, he had to warn the boy just in case.

"We have a few months time before the entrance exams begin. Even though you have been pre-approved, we still need to go through the motions, I am afraid. Magic there is used differently from how it is in Britain, and we will need these few months, not just for etiquette training, but also magical and martial training. You have the advantage of having attended Hogwarts, and that is a form of magic we should continue to develop, but their magic is combined with several disciplines and while you do learn all of them, you first chose a specialization to develop towards."

"During the entrance exam, your magic will be tested, and that will show you, and everyone else I am afraid, what your aptitude is in, and how strong your magic potential is." Severus smiled at the boy reassuringly, because he was starting to look worried, "You will be asked to place your hand on a very large crystal, and pour your magic into it, raw magic that is, no wand, and do it as hard and as fiercely as you can."

Here he considered and decided to give him some Slytherin advice, "I advise doing your absolute best in that, as the higher the score, the easier your life in that part of the world will be." Harry quietly swallowed and nodded and Severus continued, "Here Mortals have their own cities, but there are a number of cities which have a mix of magical and mortal populations, we will be going to one of them, very near the school. There, we will meet my mentor, Great Master Xuan."

Severus paused, and looked at Harry, then very carefully pronounced the odd name to Harry again and again, making him say it out loud a few times, making sure the tone and intonation was correct and then continued. "Greet him with 'Potential disciple Harry Snape greets Great Master Xuan.' while clasping your hands like this" Severus demonstrated a standard greeting of clasping the left hand into a fist and resting the right-hand open-palmed and fingers together on top of the first. Then adjusted Harry's hands until he was holding them correctly.

"Then you bow, from the hip down. There is a lot of bowing in this culture. Not unlike how we shake hands. For him you will wish to bow low, at least till your belly button. Make sure not to fall over however." Severus thought to add, when Harry glared at him, he laughed "You think I jest? I nearly fell over the first time I tried it."

Harry clearly wasn't buying it. Oh well. "Here you address yourself as 'potential' as you have not yet been selected, but plan to go for the choosing. Modesty is important here."

At Harry's nod of understanding, he continued, "Great Master because he is my master, and I am your Father, or Parental Figure if you do not wish to claim me with that name." Harry gave him a very peculiar look at that and looked like he might ask something, but then decided against it.

Give him time, Severus, he chided himself, this cannot be easy for him. It's only been a short while. It is already too much for a boy of 12, no matter how exceptional. "It will get easier, Harry, and there are pills that can help you learn the language in under a month. You will get your first pill before we portkey."

At Harry's surprised look, Severus amended, "It takes a month for the very complex languages. Arabic would also take that long I am afraid. The easier languages with the help of pills, you can learn in a week." Getting back on topic, Severus remembered to explain, "Here, family and faction or clan is very important. We will be belonging to the Kun Lun School, sort of like Hogwarts but a lot bigger, with tens of thousands of students."

At Harry's boggled eyes, Severus smiled, "China has a lot of people, and a lot of magical people, a great deal of resources, unspoiled nature and wealth. The magical community has been around since the founding of the first settlements on that land, and has always co-existed with Mortals. There are many magical beasts still roaming in the wilds in sections of the magical mountain ranges, and many Magicals combine martial arts with their magic to tame beasts as their mounts and companions. Using them to fight and as transportation."

Harry's eyes seemed to be permanently set on boggled. Severus tried hard not to laugh. This was important.

"You have heard me refer to pills, instead of potions. Masters are able to combine magical plants and other substances into pills using large or even giant Alchemical stoves that, like our potions gives many benefits, but most of all, help with your increase in power."

"There are other disciplines such as Ward Making, Technique Crafting, Care and Taming of Magical and Spirit Companions, Weapons and Artifacts Crafting, History and Culture, Martial Arts, Botany, Ethics and Morality, Art and Sound Magic and Daoist Magics. Among them, Ethics and Morality, Martial Arts, Spells - which included charms and transfigurations – ", He tried to remember what else he had to take back then, he doubted anything has changed, because the Chinese magical community was a place of tradition first and foremost, but it had been a few years.

"Botany, History and Care and Taming are compulsory, Pill Making everyone is required to test for it, but if you have the aptitude for it, it is mandatory – this is determined by a kind of innate magical ability you have or you don't – then generally it is deemed best that if you have it, you continue in it, as the benefits are tremendous."

Severus took a deep breath. Trying to cram so much knowledge into a boy of 12 who has just had his life turned upside down is going to be hard, but Severus had to try, else Harry would feel even more unprepared. He consoles himself that Harry will at least have a few months for orientation so he won't be completely unprepared. Which reminded him… oh Circe, now he wished he had written all of this down, he was sure he was forgetting half of it.

"Harry… there is a reason I and by proxy, you, were given an invitation which is in effect a type of permanent residency, to a country that doesn't generally allow immigrants. It is because I am a Potions Master, and I also have the aptitude for Pill Making. A very strong aptitude, and the head of the faction there recognize that. Being a Pill Maker on that side of the world makes you someone no one wishes to alienate and few people would pick trouble with. This is because pill makers can bring someone from having only ordinary aptitude for magic to someone with exceptional aptitude. Those who are already exceptional, therefore, end up getting considerably stronger, shortening their training by decades." Severus chose his words carefully, as this was too important to let Harry's formative years force him into making the wrong associations, "Pill Makers are respected for their ability to change a man's fate and even fortune, and they themselves are quite formidable as they can make their own pills, used in expanding one's magical core and ability. They are considered key members of society, and have always held high social status."

Severus thought he has gotten through to the boy, by telling him he would avoid trouble and people looking for it, since Harry, Severus realized, deep down was a boy who just wanted everyone to get along. If he did have the aptitude for pill making – determined by his ability to ignite his magic and turn it into magical fire, needed to power the enormous ovens used for Pill Making – then Severus definitely wanted him to develop it. It would only help him.

"There are of course many types of pills, as there are potions, and many uses for them. Unlike potion making however, preparation of the ingredients isn't as important as the ingredients themselves. That, and the Pill Maker's ability to control the magical fire used for making the pills. It requires someone with deep wells of internal magical reserves… or Dian Tian, in Chinese."

At Harry's quizzical look, Severus tried to explain, "There is no English equivalent but picture it as a magical body of golden water residing inside you. The size and dept will determine your aptitude in part. But magical fire is a natural born ability. Either you have it or you don't. If you don't, there are still many paths for you to chose from and focus on. Majority of people do not have this aptitude, and this is one of the reasons it is so prized. But like I said, there are others also. Martial Arts is something I suspect you will excel at, for example."

Severus thought Harry would likely sort into that sect anyways, since he excelled at Defense so much, but there were marked difference. Harry had never straightened his core as an example, though all those chores and Quidditch might have been some form of enough. Hopefully.

His magic was certainly strong enough for him to quickly bridge the gap however.

"Martial Arts themselves break down into many sub-subjects such as Weapons Fighting, Form, Comprehension, Care of Weapons & Treasures, and Weapon & Armor knowledge. All the subjects break down into other sub-subjects as well. We can go over them in depth when we reach Kun Lun City."

Severus paused to gather his thoughts. There was just so much information, and so little time. He had to try to give as broad an overview as possible without losing the boy completely.

"Kun Lun City is one of the largest cities in the Liao County, in part because of Kun Lun School, which is known as one of the 5 largest and best schools in China for magical training. I will tell you about the others slowly, as we have more pressing things to go over. Kun Lun School is known for its well-rounded education and fantastic magical beasts, as they have one of the largest wildlife reserves in China, comprising the entire Kun Lun mountain range…"

"…remember the Mortals have different geographical divides from the Magicals. It would be easier when I can show you a map… "

"… no, the Mortals have a socialist/communist governed by a one-party system. Under them, China is one country. They don't have any Emperors; they have a Chairman. The Magicals on the other hand, can't seem to keep magical China united under one emperor, so there are many counties and provinces, all of them ruled under one emperor or another. They still follow the old ways of the caste system, and refuse to do what the Mortals have done. It gets a little complicated, but we will be living in Liang County under Emperor Wen Di. He is a decent emperor from what I have seen, and Liang County prospers under his rule…"

"…in case no one has seen fit to tell you this yet, NEVER piss off the Goblins! No matter what country they live in, they are still vicious and never worth antagonizing…"

"…the demons and elves are also two peoples you do not wish to piss off if at all possible…"

"… yes house elves do fall under the elf people, but they are a less developed race than your normal elf, although some would question that also…"

"…no, all beasts and companion animals were once wild. You have to go into one of the magical wildernesses to hunt one and tame it, or hatch it from an egg directly. No, before you ask, it isn't just stabbing it with a sword! You have to have an affinity with it, the beast must submit willingly to you and make a blood pact with you. Why yes, that is actually considered dark magic in England. You will see that a lot. The Chinese have a completely different metric for what is considered dark magic. I will get you some books on that too…"

And so, it went for the whole day.

Severus caught himself thinking, it's like being a professor, for one person. But one you really want to see succeed.

No wonder fathers perpetually looked stressed and pleased at the same time. Lucius for example was eternally smug while being pissed.

Perhaps Lucius wasn't the best example to emulate.

Fatherhood, as expected, was hard.

He made a note to pack more calming droughts and brandy.

A lot of brandy.

And Dittany, oh Merlin. All the Dittany.

And Bezoars.

It was China after all. Poison was a common tool there.

He was going to need another storage ring.

Merlin what has he gotten himself into?

Harry's New Home

The portkey to China had been incredibly unpleasant. Mostly because it felt like it lasted forever, and like Harry was on a roller-coaster that had lost control as soon as he got on it.

He was incredibly glad that Snape had given him an anti-nausea potion before the portkey and, had even taken one himself. Harry was sure his very delicious dinner would be all over the nice clean tile – was that tile or marble? - at the portkey receiving platform. In addition to that potion, Snape also had him swallow his first translation pill, as promised.

The pill had been the size of his thumb, perfectly round, and black. When he looked at it closely, he could see markings of even darker black on the pill's surface. It smelled horrible but Harry could feel the magic emanating from it. That had been the first translation pill. Snape had said he needed two more when he was done absorbing that one, and that it was the only pill he could absorb before his 'xue' was open, whatever that was. Apparently, it worked as a time release thing, till your body absorbed it all. But being round, at least he didn't have to taste it for more than a second.

Unlike the really disgusting potion that King Warwick had spent five solid minutes chanting over and then fed him. It had made Harry very nervous when it kept changing shades inside the vial. He was assured that it was a potion that could mask his scar for a year, but needed both Snape's potions expertise and Goblin magic to make it work. The level of magic required was apparently very high and only goblin nobility really had the magical reserves to cast it.

Luckily, Harry had both Potions Master and Goblin Nobility in front of him.

It tasted as nasty as it looked, but while Harry knew his scar wasn't truly gone, just invisible to everyone, he was still quietly pleased that for at least a year, no one would be looking at his forehead and pointing.

The portkey dizziness thankfully only lasted a few moments thanks to the anti-nausea potion and Harry was able to look up and with Snape's help be guided off the platform to what looked like an enormous hall. It was absolutely gigantic and Harry briefly wondered if it wasn't a converted football pitch originally, but bigger. Maybe a stadium? There were dozens of receiving areas like the one he came off of, and with a start, Harry realized that there were muggles welcoming them on the platform. When he looked around, he realized that the left side was completely dedicated to magical folk – and not just people who looked like him but there were even people with horns on their head, and Harry even passed two witches who looked completely human except for their very long and pointed ears – but the right side looked like an ordinary muggle airport. There was a glass wall dividing the muggles from the magic folk, but the lineup for documents was exactly the same as that one movie Harry had watched on the telly when the Dursley's where out of the house.

Well, Snape had said that the muggles knew about them, but Harry still wasn't quite prepared for what that had meant.

"Sir, where, exactly, are we?" Harry couldn't hold in his curiosity anymore.

Snape gave him a small smile for the question – and wasn't that just tripping Harry up even more than anything else – "We are at the Shanghai Hong Qiao airport. Welcome to China, Harry." He started to lead Harry down the aisle where everyone else seemed to be going. There were a lot of people. A lot.

It was a bit overwhelming and Harry was kind of glad Snape was right next to him.

"China has a strict rule that all sentient persons entering its sovereign borders must be registered, as I mentioned before. We are using the Goblin line, so we will not be registered by the Muggles or local Magical government, but we still have to land here through the receiving area first. Don't worry, no muggle surveillance can penetrate the glass." Harry wondered why Snape felt the need to add that on, when he realized Snape was reassuring him of his safety, and had to swallow at the feeling this caused.

"We could have gone through the Beijing airport but honestly, there is always and endless line since we still land at the old airport not the new, and the Shen Zhen airport would have been too hot for both of us I think, considering it's barely 24C in England while it is 40C in Shen Zhen with humidity. I didn't think either of us wanted to arrive sweaty and smelly, hm?"

Harry just blinked at him and shook his head. Snape was acting odd. Well, odd even for him. He seemed… Harry didn't know. Happy maybe? Exited? Hyper? Relieved to be gone? Harry honestly wasn't sure.

He couldn't help notice that his normally very reticent professor – is he still Harry's professor now that he was adopted? Harry didn't think so. – was downright chatty, and this was towards Harry. Whom he has spent two solid years belittling. Did adoption really change Snape so much? Did the adoption make him like Harry suddenly? Harry didn't think so, he didn't think the magic changed anything inside him, but he was grateful for the change in Snape, if for no other reason then he was rather nervous if he was honest, to be in a foreign country. This was the first time in his life that he had left the UK and he felt a bit like the first time the Dursleys allowed him in the car and they went to a new place. Or like going into Diagon the first time. But a lot scarier somehow. He was half way across the globe!

He also wasn't going back.

Harry felt his palms start to sweat.

It was all becoming very real.

He had committed to a path that he knew very little about. But he consoled himself that there was still magic, and flying, and there were still potions. He could feel his face wanting to scrunch up in distaste, but it was true. Based on what he learned from Snape, there was also a lot more kinds of magic.

Here he didn't have to worry about breaking the law if a muggle saw him. They knew about his kind and were apparently just fine with it because of some magical agreement. This still boggled Harry's mind.

But more importantly, no one was actively trying to kill him.

Yet, anyways.

Snape did mention that it was very easy to cause offense in this society, so he has been drilling Harry in etiquette and manners almost every waking hour that they had. Harry still wasn't sure Snape wasn't having the mickey on him but it was still better to be prepared, just in case.

Hagrid didn't prepare him at all, and Harry walked into quite a few blunders almost right away after all. Being a Gryffindor didn't have to mean he had no manners. Or, or was ignorant! Granted no one had taught him much, but he did watch people a lot, and he read a lot of books at every recess. Library was the one place Dudley did not know the location of.

Ron and Hermione had taught him more, especially Ron. Ron had no manners at all, especially at meal time. Hermione also conveniently harped on him and Harry learned without having to ask.

Actually, it might be easier, Harry mused, because Snape already told him it was completely different, so it would actually be okay to ask and maybe Snape would even offer him books and teaching like he has been without Harry needing to ask?

It was so odd having an adult who was helpful.

It was even odder that that adult was Snape.

His new father.

Snape had them join a queue for the Goblin Nation, and they got a few quizzical looks for that but, mostly they were just ignored.

Harry could see another 15 rows in each direction full of people of all sorts. There was a lot of people, Harry thought.

He kept having that thought, he noticed.

But it didn't seem to slow the queue down any. While they waited for their turn, Harry surreptitiously looked around himself and noticed that the person to his left and a bit further down had bright blue hair and wore a very short school uniform skirt. She also had a lot of piercings. The older lady who must have been her mum in contrast was in rather stiff and elaborate Chinese robes, a small sheer round fan in her hand. Her hair was a very normal black but had quite a few colorful ornaments in them. It was also done in a very complicated updo that indicated her hair was very long when put down. There were many jewels and pins holding everything in place together with the ornaments.

Harry wondered how her neck didn't hurt from all the weight, but assumed it was magic.

There was also a bored businessman in a muggle suite who was completely absorbed in his cell phone.

Harry blinked. He didn't realize that wizards even knew how to dressed as muggles. Must be a Muggleborn.

In front of him was a family of Goblins.

At least he thought they were goblins.

And a family.

Now that he thought about it, maybe he shouldn't assume he knew anything.

These Goblins were considerably paler than King Warwick had been, more a pale blue then the usual green-grey he associated with Goblins. They wore wizarding Asian robes however, and the little kids – those had to be little kids, right? They were tiny! – also had golden ear plates at the tip of their ears. Harry actually thought they looked really cute.

On his right side however, he had to swallow so he wouldn't gasp out loud, were two really big and tall individuals. They were really, really very…tall. Clearly not human because their skin was a bright fiery red and they both had horns on their heads. The first one looked more like a ram with his brown horns while his counterpart had two pure white horns sticking to the left and right of his temple. They both had black hair but only in certain places on their heads and Harry was relieved to see they were deep in conversation to notice someone his size gawking at them.

"When we reach the terminal, I will do the talking. Keep your head down and don't say anything. We are trying to enter unnoticed after all." Snape's quiet comment and swift adjustment to Harry's cape hood finally had him looking away from the giant demon people, and he quickly agreed. Snape pulled the hood all the way down, and Harry stopped trying to see how many other species were around them.

When it was finally their turn, Harry just looked at his shoes and tried to look really shy, which wasn't hard since this was how life with the Dudley's always looked like but it amused him that something learned so unwillingly was now coming in handy.

Snape spoke in confident Mandarin, and Harry was relieved to note that he was starting to understand bits of what Snape was saying to the Goblin at the booth. He produced some papers and gave the Goblin together with them, a long rectangular jade with some character on it, the Goblin's eyes widened seeing the signature on the paper which Harry assumed was King Warwick's, then at the jade and suddenly they were through what Harry assumed must have been immigration and heading out of the terminal before Harry could finish blinking.

Snape confidently led them off to a branch in the airport and Harry realized they were now going to another terminal.

"Sir, are we not staying here?" Harry thought it a bit of a shame if they didn't even get to leave the airport but they were in hiding. Still, would have been nice to see a little of the outside.

"Not this time I am afraid. We are going straight to Kun Lun City. Great Master Xuan will be there to meet with us later and we still have some errands to finish before meeting with him." Snape walked them for quite a while and Harry again marveled at how huge this place was. It felt like it never ended, and he wondered if muggles really didn't use expansion charms or if they worked with wizards?

"Almost there" It was as if Snape could read his mind.

They turned into a much smaller terminal alcove and Snape handed over their documents a second time to another Goblin. That man however just stamped their document with a chop and once through, Snape led Harry to another departure point similar to the one earlier. There, Snape had them hold on to a shoestring and before Harry could say anything they were off again.

This time the trip was considerably shorter and felt like a normal portkey.

Harry still nearly tripped and fell.

Kun Lun Mountain was breathtaking. That was the only word Harry felt described it. It wasn't so much one mountain as a whole mountain range. Harry could see the clouds obscuring the peeks. It looked like a painting, perfect and untouchable, covered in snow and lush vegetation.

Harry still wasn't sure this had been the right thing to do, but he thought if anything else, the air here smelled clean and the feel of magic was so thick that Harry felt a little drunk on it, just standing there. Flying here would be amazing, was Harry's last thought before Snape whisked him away into what seemed to be carriages for hire.

They seemed to be drawn by normal enough looking horses, but Harry nearly stumbled and fell off his cushioned bench when they suddenly pulled out with incredible speed away from the airport, right by the taxi stand. Harry noticed they were on the oppose side of a large highway, and wondered again how the muggles weren't shocked seeing an old-fashioned carriage drive faster than a sports car in the opposite direction.

Maybe it helped that everyone had their own lane and they didn't need to share with the muggles?

Harry couldn't really pay attention to the scenery since it sort of all blurred together very quickly but he did notice there was a lot more nature around, and everything seemed very organized. The carriage streets were very wide, and each road seemed to be able to take 3 carriages side by side in each direction without any problem. Due to this, even thought their carriage traveled at wizarding speeds, it was still not a bumpy ride even though it was a ridiculously fast one.

Half way through the ride, Harry felt his ears pop. He thought about asking Snape, but figured they had just passed through some kind of magic barrier.

When they pulled through the gates of the city, Harry had to try not to let his mouth hit the floor because the gate walls were enormous! Easily the height of a 30-story building, it towered imposingly over everything. In front, Harry could see a huge red gate with metal knobs all over them, and what looked like military inspection at the gate.

Their carriage slowed down when they reached the gate, and Snape got off the carriage to present their credentials again. Harry got off with him just to stretch his legs a little, but also to just stare at everything around him. It was clear that even muggles would struggle to get over these walls. Harry also noticed that the streets were very clean, and there was even a row of decorative flowering shrubbery on both sides of the wide road leading to the main gate, as well as stone poles with little mage lights inside them, they even had a cute little roof-thing to keep the rain out.

Similar to the airport, the guards took one look at their papers and jade, and just like the Goblin, their eyes widened and suddenly they were very politely told that all was in order. The guard even bowed shallowly to Snape and the other guards to the left and right did the same.

Harry wondered about that but Snape distracted him by hurrying him back into the carriage and they were through the gate before Harry could even look back to see what the other side of it looked like.

The city looked really big to Harry, nothing like Diagon which really comprised basically of only three streets in any one direction.

Compared to that, Kun Lun was an actual city. However, unlike Diagon and its many twisting streets, Kun Lun City was a giant square it seemed. All the streets were even and well-maintained, and while there wasn't anything like muggle sidewalks, there were grooves on the streets themselves just wide enough for carriage wheels to fit into, like tram tracks. People just seem to walk to the left and right of those.

Harry wondered if that meant all the carriages had standardized wheel sizes but was distracted from asking when their carriage jolted gently to a stop.

They had arrived.

Snape paid their driver in a few blue colored stones, and the carriage driver smiled at them, bowed and sped off, leaving them in front of what Harry assumed was the Chinese Gringotts. Mostly because the sign said Gringotts.

The Chinese branch of Gringotts was the tallest building in the district. It was a large round pagoda going up several dozen floors, from what Harry could see.

Inside however, while the decoration looked different, Harry could see the operating system was similar.

There was still a teller, even though they were dressed in Chinese looking robes, and you still needed to produce identification. A quick glance at the letter, and they were ushered into the back of the bank, and were greeted by King Yao herself.

King Yao was a very pale female Goblin, similar to the family Harry saw at the airport. Unlike King Warwick who didn't have any hair, King Yao had a head full of long black hair. She also had a little gold circle-like decoration with a pin through it on the top of her head holding some of her hair, Harry remembered seeing it on several of the male wizards at the airport on their way to the other terminal and in the city, and wondered if females wore those too. Her big pointy ears were slanted more to the left and right and had a droopier feel to them that King Warwicks.

Her teeth, when she smiled where shorter and denser that King Warwicks, "Welcome to China. King Warwick had told me you would be coming. I trust your arrival went smoothly?" She said, in perfect English.

"Yes, thank you, you Majesty. Your agents were efficient and discreet and my son and I are most grateful." Snape replied for both of them while bowing, and Harry caught himself thinking that this was actually quite nice. He didn't have to worry about offending anyone if Snape could speak for both of them for now. So, he just stood there, looking shy and polite as best he could.

"I am glad to hear it went well. I must admit I have been hoping you would one day choose to move back Severus." King Yao said with some familiarity and Harry realized they knew each other already. "Your potions continue to sell well during auction, and you have actually quite a loyal following here in China. They sell all over the country now and the capital has a standing monthly order of course. I had received many requests and quite handsome bribes besides for the chance of an introduction, you should know. I have always rejected of course, but now that you are here, maybe you might decide to change your mind? The noble houses of Liang are still very generous."

Snape smiled, and offered, "We can discuss it once my son and I are settled down perhaps. It is not out of the question any more."

Harry abruptly realized that Snape was a Somebody here. Harry hasn't failed to notice the deference which both the immigration Goblin treated him as or the wizard guards at the gates. Snape had pill making was lucrative but if Kings and nobility all paid attention to him then he was – well, Snape was a Slytherin after all. It would make sense. Power was kind of their thing, wasn't it?

With all this on offer, Harry wondered, why did he come back to England?

Was it really just for his mum?

"Good, good. Now then, as discussed, Grand Master Xuan insisted he arrange your accommodation. Since he was your former master, I felt I had to give him that face, and he knew it, the old bugger." King Yao said this with not-a-little fondness, and Harry wondered how long those two had known each other.

"We will do our best to keep the information of your arrival here a secret that does not reach Dumbledore's ears, but considering you are dead there – oh and did the golem I send you work out? Passed the identity spells, didn't it? It was one of my newest models! – I was saying, considering you are dead there and Harry will only be "missing" at least a dozen days later, I think you should be in the clear. Still, it never pays to be careless." She started to lead them to the sitting area of his office, and Harry was amused to find an English tea set and some round cake-looking thingies laid out for them.

"Thank you. Yes, the spell couldn't detect anything but my DNA. I was most impressed." Once they were seated, Snape said, "It was my hope that we can remain undetected till my son is strong enough for it to no longer matter." Seeing the tea set, Snape said, "Oh, sour plum cakes, and English tea. Very kind of you. You know they are my favorite." Picking up one of the plum cakes, Harry watched him take a bite and make a pleased sound. "Just how I remember them. Your mate still makes the best cakes I ever tasted."

"He liked you! Said I had to bring you some now that you were back. He said to express his gratitude for those back potions you sent him. He is showing no signs of his spine bowing any more. You apparently get to have as many plum cakes as you want. He had me pack some for you in the ring. Here:"

King Yao passed Snape a solid looking silver ring, with some kind of markings on it. "4000 cubic, and I put 10 million gallons worth of soul stones inside, plus some mortal money in case you go into their cities." Harry thought he heard wrong, even though King Yao was speaking English, both on the number and for some reason 'soul stone' sounded like 'ling shi'. The translation pill was working, but really oddly, Harry thought.

He wondered if he somehow just missed that Snape was rich.

"The rest of your money has been transferred from the English branch to here, as well as your son's various assets and accounts. All former keys have also been made null and void, so you are aware. This might raise a flag with the old thief but it cannot be helped. He might also conclude your son is dead and the accounts sealed, since Gringotts in London won't confirm or deny without your approval."

They talked about more news and changes while Harry ate his plum cake. It was both sweet and tart and went very well with the tea. Harry hasn't realized he had been hungry but after eating that cake he felt he could hold off a little longer. The time zones were messing with his stomach.

"And you, Mr. Snape Jr." Harry jolted at suddenly being address, with that name no less. He had been Mr. Potter his whole life and that just sounded so odd to him, "If during your schooling you come across artifacts you wish to sell for soul stones, or other better artifacts, bring them here. Auntie Yao will give you the best deal in town." King Yao smiled at him,

Harry wondered how she suddenly because Auntie Yao to Harry but at a glance at Snape, who gave a tiny nod, decided to just go with it, and smiling at King Yao, said, "Yes I will, thank you. Um. Auntie Yao?" and bowed with his hands clasped in front of him for good measure, how Snape showed him.

"That's right! Good boy." The Goblin king patted his hand for moment, and Harry hoped the plum cake wasn't still on his finger. King Yao looking up at Snape then, and said, "Well, I think that's all for now. Your papers are all in order and you are parked under Great Master Xuan's house but also have my Nation's protection behind you. Go settle in, and while I am sure Master Xuan arranged everything for you, just in case, maybe go get some proper clothes and some hair potions before you see him, yes? I suggest the Silk Emporium. They have a large stock of ready made and they can do custom work in a day. There are a few changes since you were here last but Spring Fragrance Pavilion still had the best duck and fish in my opinion." She walked them slowly to the door where another goblin waited to walk them out. "Come see me after you have settled in and we can deal with the details then."

Harry wondered what other details there were but they said their goodbyes quickly and walked out of the bank.

Outside the sun was bright, and Harry thought even the sky looked different.

There was a lot more traffic in front of the bank for one.

Maybe this was going to be just as exciting as the first time he was in Diagon, Harry thought giddily.

While they walked, Harry realized he had a problem.

He – didn't know what to call Snape anymore.

He couldn't call him Professor. 'Snape' seemed…rude, for how much the man had done for Harry already. Father – it was too much of a leap for Harry. James Potter was his Dad, and he didn't want to forget that, but he did note that the Prof—that Snape suggested Father. A more formal way off addressing their relationship that Harry thought, with time, he might be able to get used to. It was still a stretch thought. He knew Snape's name was Severus, but that just felt like… like taking liberties. But that had to be silly also, right? Snape had adopted him after all, no bigger liberty than that.

While he had been having his little mental argument, it seemed they had arrived at the shop Snape had been leading them to. Harry noticed the difference compared to Madam Malkin's and immediately felt disloyal for thinking it. This store was just, so much grander. A wide entrance welcomed people. So wide, a dozen people could have walked in shoulder to shoulder, with two enormous wooden pillars holding up the entrance roof. The walls were gleaming white and it made a very pretty contrast against the big wooden pillars. Harry noted the eves and awning were decorated with intricate carvings which moved very gently as if in a breeze. Some kind of fairy danced among the clouds. It all felt, well, very magical.

All the roofs were very … Chinese. Harry didn't know how else to describe them, they were all made of beautiful grey roof tiles and curved at each end of the roof. There was also something that looked suspiciously like a lion on each end of the pointy roof bit. A young man, clearly an apprentice based on Snapes earlier lectures, welcomed customers inside with a smile and a formal greeting. Above him, a big sign in Chinese proclaimed this the Silk Emporium.

Harry blinked, and realized he could read the characters even though he had never seen the language before in his life except maybe in the martial arts movies Dudley used to watch when he was a lot younger and going through his Beat-Harry-using-different-weapons phase. The Samurai were a favorite of his and he used to chase Harry around with a long stick, pretending it was a sword. Harry didn't think that was the same as the Chinese, since they were different countries, but that was the only reference he had, except the few library books he saw about other cultures.

Harry also noticed that just like his first trip to Diagon Ally, everyone stared at them, likely due to their different kinds of robes from the local people. That, and that they were obviously not Chinese. Everyone here wore flowy robes with long sleeves, even the men, and Harry privately thought they looked a lot more comfortable than his school robes, which was what he was currently wearing. Even the muggles wore robes of a kind, thought they looked slightly different. Everyone seemed to have a kind of large jade or plaque hanging from their belt, and Harry noticed that no one had bags or purses. Maybe they stored their things in those voluminous sleeves? Harry wondered how he was supposed to move with those always getting in the way, but everyone he saw seem to be rather elegant wearing them, so he supposed he will figure it out. He also noticed that some men carried fans, which he thought was rather weird. No one carried a wand though, and that made Harry inexplicably nervous. He stayed close to Snape, just in case.

"Greetings valued customer; how may the emporium be of service to you today?" The cheerful apprentice said, bowing a shallow bow towards Snape and Harry.

Snape brought out one of those plaques, about the size of his hand, different one than the one he showed at the airport, Harry noticed. It was also rectangle except one end was pointed like an arrow, it was all black except Harry noted his was decorated in gold trim with a few gold characters on it. Harry blinked and the characters resolved themselves to say 'Pill Master, Grade 9', it must have been very impressive however, as the apprentice's eyes widened dramatically just like the customs agents had, and his bow got significantly lower.

"Forgive this apprentice, Noble Master, I did not recognize Mount Lu when it was right in front of me*, I will call the Owner immediately to personally take care of you, please come inside with me to the VIP room and enjoy some refreshments, I will immediately go fetch him." The apprentice sounded so awed that Harry immediately realized Snape hadn't been fooling him when he said Pill Masters got a lot of respect right from the start. Harry had to admit that was nice, no one questioning if he was allowed in or not. He wondered what Mount Lu had to do with anything though, since he thought they were by the Kun Lun Mountain, but shrugged it off as a cultural thing.

"Thank you, apprentice." Snape looked just as haunting as he did during potions class, but somehow, Harry thought he seemed a lot more relaxed now that they were away from England. "My Son and I will accept your hospitality." Harry definitely started at the 'my son' comment. Snape had said it a few times now, Harry had noticed. He felt a kind of odd warmth pooling in his belly when he realized Snape apparently planned to let everyone know Harry was his son. He also noted that not once did Snape say 'adopted son'.

They were ushered upstairs and Harry marveled at how bright and big the store was even on the first floor. Completely different from the cramped environment of Madam Malkin's. Here three corners of the room had display dummies, wearing some kind of beautiful gauzy silk and dark cotton robes. The dummies would from time to time move their sleeves to better show off the shimmer, or turn around to show the flow of the robe from the back. Ladies and gentlemen robes were at different ends of the large room, and Harry noted they sold more of those fans on the gentleman side, while the ladies side had long counters with all kinds of accessories there. Harry noted delicate golden pins, colorful silk embroidered satchels – though Harry had no idea what they were for as they were rather too small to carry anything of significance inside them – little delicate bells, and even one enormous gold phoenix design which looked like it would cover the whole head of the unfortunate person wearing it. Harry also saw those sheer round fans the older lady in the same airport queue as them had. There were also rows upon rows of silk slippers and other decorative items which Harry didn't immediately recognize.

Upstairs, the bustle of downstairs suddenly died down, and a feeling of calm quiet settled around them as they were escorted to a private room with sliding doors. The room was spacious and airy thanks to the large open window that looked into a beautiful garden. In front of the window, there was a square table of lacquered wood and two intricately carved chairs with red silk squared cushions on them.

Harry surreptitiously glanced at Snape to see what he would do, but Snape just told him to sit on the chair on the right, and moments later, the same apprentice came back with a tea tray, carrying a pot of tea and two pretty light green but very shallow little cups. Thankfully the apprentice had left the teapot, otherwise Harry wondered if in China they only drank one sip of tea before they were done. There were also little cakes on small round plates, which Harry, still not used to getting food whenever he wanted, eyed with interest.

Thankfully, Snape saw, and told him he could help himself. He did caution Harry that most desserts on this side of the world weren't very sweet, and rather used fruit or beans – beans, really? Harry wrinkled his nose at that – to sweeten the food. Sugar was not something which was used in large quantities, as it was harmful to health.

Harry found the cake to be of a pineapple filling, which he had never tasted and Snape had to tell him what it was, and rather crumbly, but very delicious. He ate a second before realizing there were only three cakes on the plate. He wondered why they served three cakes for two people but before he could ask and feel more embarrassed for stealing Snape's dessert, the apprentice slid the door open and an older man stepped in behind him. The apprentice stayed politely by the door after shutting it, Harry noticed.

"Esteemed Master, it is an honor to have you visit our humble store today. My name is Master Liu, and I am the owner of the Silk Emporiums of Kun Lun City." Snape had stood up when the old man came in, so Harry stood as well, surreptitiously trying to dust his hands off behind himself so as not to get crumbs on the man if they were to shake hands. Then realized with a start that no one here touched each other as a matter of course. He hadn't realized that he had noticed this, but there seems to be a lot less physical contact between people, and Harry was frankly happy for it.

There was more bow-greetings, which Harry just sort of imitated, not know what else to do, Snape had covered a lot, but greeting shop Masters hadn't been on the curriculum. Thankfully Snape did the talking, and put a hand on Harry's shoulder, which Harry realized seemed to be a signal to the older shopkeeper.

The old man turned his attention to Harry and Harry gave him a small smile, not knowing what else to do or say, sort of bobbing his head in a half-attempted bow.

"Please forgive my son, we had been traveling for some time, and came from a different culture. He is not yet used to the etiquettes of your beautiful and proud country." Harry with a start realized that a) he understood everything Snape was saying, in Chinese! And he also realized he should have been saying something in greeting but didn't know what so he just stayed quiet and tried to look meek while Snape made his excuses. It bugged him that he didn't know what the right ways were, reminding him of the first time he met Malfoy and how the other boy had had all these manners and ways of speaking that were alien to Harry. He swore to himself he would get Snape to teach him and he would pay attention this time.

"We will be staying in Kun Lun City for some months, before making our way to the Mountain. My Son and I both require a new wardrobe befitting our station, as our old one is more befitting the country we lived in before. My Son will also need school robes, as he will be taking his entrance exam in three months and we expect him to pass. I will be joining the Masters in teaching myself and will need teaching robes as well. Please, be thorough, as I am afraid none of our previous garments will be suitable for here."

If the Master had been impressed before, now Harry noted that Harry himself was extended a modicum of respect, despite his lack of apparent manners. He assumed it was because the shopkeeper was told he would be attending the school and realized with a start that this meant it was not easy to get into this school. This came as a surprise since Snape had mentioned tens of thousands of students, so Harry had assumed everyone just attended Kun Lun School, but by the shopkeeper's reaction, it was a big deal.

"We can certainly do that." As if summoned by some silent signal the apprentice was by the Master's side suddenly, immediately taking notes of the rapid order the shopkeeper gave. He bowed low, and left the room. A moment later, 4 other assistants came in caring mounds and mounts of stacked wooden boxes which Harry assumed had clothes for both him and Snape.

Harry had no idea how the man knew his measurements or Snape's, but it seemed the old shopkeeper really was that experienced that he could tell by just looking at them. They were still measured and Harry was amused to note that at least in this, the magic seemed to be the same, as the measuring tape slithered all over him, taking measurements which, the attentive apprentices took down. None of them gaped at him, and none of them so much as looked at his scar.

There was no scar for them to see.

Harry kind of loved that.

Maybe this place won't be so bad after all, even if they all dressed funny, and made Malfoy seem casual in comparison.

Harry hadn't realized it, but trying on clothes was completely different in China than it was in the UK. Back home, he had to manually try the clothes on. Here though, the apprentices brought in a large mirror in a beautifully carved frame, and every time the Master waved an item of clothing in front of Snape, the mirror would show him wearing that outfit.

Harry couldn't even begin to image what kind of charms were on that mirror but it was really cool. Saved a lot of time too.

Within moments, the Master had selected a great many robes for Snape. He seemed to still favor darker tones, but Harry noticed that there was some deep greys, greens and blues among Snape's robe selections, not just black, and most were made from a much higher grade of heavy silk. He could feel the magic radiating from some of them, and realized those must be the fire-retardant robes Snape had asked for.

When the Master was done with Snape, he turned to Harry. Harry felt a little apprehensive having such an old man dress him but he shouldn't have worried. The old man picked out pale green, blue, grey, charcoal, black and red robes for him. It seemed he debated on lilac but seeing the look on Harry's face, laughed and put those aside. Harry was relieved to see that his school uniform was also blue, and that not all of them possessed the long sleeves Harry had been worried about. He was told that for most of his martial classes and pill classes he would be wearing a different kind of uniform, which had a long-sleeved white shirt underneath and a blue sleeveless robe overtop, but instead of flowing robes, the shirt was synched by long bracers around the wrists, and a kind of wide belt sash with yet another string-like sash overtop of that. He was relieved to see that he would also be wearing pants. Well, at least they looked like pants anyways. It seemed his school was rather more formal, as he had several types of school robes and the old Master assured him, he will indeed need all of them. One of them Harry noted was clearly designed for fighting, while another seemed to be for ceremonies. He was assured that the apprentices would label each robe so he knew what to wear when. He was also told that all the long-sleeved robes had a featherlight storage compartment inside, and all his robes had many enchantments woven in for safety. Snape seemed to not have spared any expenses. Harry had wanted to protest but remembered Snape's reminder during their few days at Gringotts that a Harry's appearance and actions also reflected on him, and shut his mouth. If Snape wanted to peacock him up, Harry won't say anything unless he really insisted on going crazy. Who knew, with how often he was in life and death situations, maybe some of those protection spells will come in handy.

Additionally, he was also given dragonhide shoes, which he had never seen before, only boots seemed to have been a fashion trend in England, as well as what he could only describe as slippers made of the same, and dragonhide gloves, presumably for working on potions and botany. He was also given a huge number of other items which he had had no idea what they were for, and really hoped those apprentices were detailed labelers.

The littlest apprentice – a slim, friendly looking girl who looked only a few years older than him with ridiculously long hair, must have seen his confused look, as she quietly pointed out each item and explained their uses.

"This is a pill carrying box, it is cushioned with silk with a preservation charm so the pills do not deteriorate." She whispered quietly to him, "No doubt your esteemed Father has others but this one is common among the apprentices. This is a scent satchel; you may fill it with any herbs which calm the mind and help with meditation. This is a gentleman's fan." She opened it for him to examine, and he saw that it was decorated with a picture in black and white of a mountain range and a tiny man on a boat. He assumed there was a river there which was not drawn, "We do not yet know which sect Noble Son will be sorted into, as such, we chose a generic scene for your convenience, but if you prefer another, we do have many more selections." At Harry's hurried assurance that it was fine, even if he privately thought it was rather girly, the apprentice quietly told him, "A gentleman's fan is usually unique and a sort of identifier of who he is. One such as yourself will definitely have a unique one later on."

Then she asked him to show her his jade or plaque so they may better design it into his wardrobe, he was stumped and quickly glanced at Snape for help. Snape seemed to have been watching intently, as he produced a beautiful nearly-translucent white jade which Harry was immediately terrified of breaking, as it was carved in such detail and with such care, that Harry was sure it would break within a day of being on his person.

Snape smiled at his panicked look and assured him it had been soaked in a potion, making it nearly indestructible. Harry relaxed at that, but also noticed that both the old Master and apparencies were unobtrusively listening in, and looked somewhat awed when Snape mentioned using such a potion on a jade. Maybe the potion wasn't common in China? Only the charm? Did they have that charm? Harry had no idea what kind of magic was common and which wasn't in China.

Harry felt that for every answer he seemed to have twenty more questions and bit his lip to not try and ask them all at once, and thus reveal his ignorance, in front of an audience no less. Hermione would be in heaven. Or maybe she would combust from the need to know. Hard to tell.

The Jade was passed to him, and he noticed that it was as beautiful as he first thought when he saw it. It was intricately carved and nearly translucently white, a little bigger than his palm. He was about to object when he noticed the design in the center, Di Son HJPS of House SS. It looked a little strange, with the English for his initials written in Chinese and the Chinese character for House or Family. He also stared at that last S in his own name.

That… will definitely take some getting used to.

There was also a small character for Pill Master next to the SS, he noticed. Meaning he came from a family with a pill master as the head. At first, he thought it rather pretentious but then realized that it must serve a little like someone's business card. After some consideration, Harry realized that with such a large population, they would have had to come up with a way to identify the people one did not want to offend, since it seemed a very formalized culture, and this seemed to serve as a form of ID.

The girl spent a few minutes studying the jade Harry held up, but she never reached to take it, so Harry figured personal jades are not often touched by others. She nodded decisively, and then they were back at it.

Then came the sashes, and he was even offered earrings, to which he quickly declined, bewildered that China seemed to have a completely different form of boy and girl clothing indicators. The old shopkeeper inquired if they will be needing rings, to which Snape gave an affirmative before Harry could even think to decline.

They were presented with a large selection of plain – Harry was relived to note – rings, which oddly did not seem to be for boys or girls specifically. This confused him till he was informed that these were storage rings, and not only decorative. Apparently inside was a huge amount of space which could store nearly anything if the ring was big enough inside. Harry was amazed to learn, that all of his school books, robes, pills and potions equipment would be stored there, rather than in a trunk as he had assumed. In fact, his storage trunk would also be stored inside the ring itself. This explained why no one on the streets carried any kind of bag or purse, Harry realized.

The apprentice was curious that he had never heard of them and quietly asked what they usually stored things in where he was from, but when he told her it was a trunk, her eyes went wide and she bowed low, murmuring that he must be very wealthy indeed to need such a large storage space.

Harry didn't get a chance to tell her that actually his trunk was rather small. He then remembered the Gringotts pouch he had been given by King Yao with what looked to be his entire vault inside and thought better than to say anything at all.

Snape had him select a ring which he was told had a significant amount of space, to which Harry understood a house worth of things could fit into it, and cut his finger. Apparently, blood magic was a casual thing in China. Harry's mental voice sounded a little hysterical when it reminded him that he could go to Azkaban for doing blood magic in England. This had the ring flare white for a moment and Snape explained that the ring will now only open to him and no one else. He also advised putting his Gringotts's pouch into it. Harry was amazed Snape was willing to give him that much privacy but it also made him feel… good, to have something only he could get to.

Snape told him they will go shopping later for other essentials. Harry had no idea what else was essential but just nodded. It took some time for Snape to order them custom wand holsters. To Harry's surprise, the Master had known about wands but never had the pleasure of making a holster for one, so it took Snape some time to explain all the details to him regarding materials needs and specification.

Snape also belatedly warned Harry not to use his wand at all until they could remove the ministry tracers on them, since apparently his wand needed to soak in some kind of solution to get rid of it.

Snape also ordered them both jade pendants, which he was told he should wear under his robes. He felt odd about this, until Snape whispered that the pendant was used to anchor a portkey which would take him away from danger if he spoke a phrase.

Harry felt an odd twisting inside his gut, that Snape seemed so focused on his safety. No one had ever paid that much attention if he was safe or not, till now. The old Master didn't seem to find anything odd about this, but asked Snape if he had any other children, to which Snape said that Harry was his only Di Son.

When the old Master was giving more instructions to his apprentices, Harry thought to ask,

"Sir, why did you say that? The 'Di' I mean. What does it mean?" He hoped Snape won't be angry that he asked, but he really wanted to know.

"It means you are my eldest and the son who will inherit all that I have, Harry." Harry noticed Snape deliberately spoke English, maybe so the others wouldn't immediately understand. "In magical China, a man can have several spouses, but the Head Wife of the household is the one who gives birth to the Di child and the one who controls the finances of the house. That is her right by old Chinese law. The children of the other women are called Chu children, and they generally may not inherit their family wealth upon the death of the patriarch. Mortal China doesn't practice polyamory anymore, but in the old days it was like that for them also. Consider it a kind of status symbol. It means you are the most important child in our family, and should be accorded that respect." Snape pointed to the first letter before his initials on his white jade which did indeed say Di Son. Harry hasn't paid much attention to that first part till Snape pointed it out.

Harry didn't know how to feel about that. He tried to picture Aunt Petunia having to share the house with other women, and children, and his mind came to a screeching halt in horror. Better not to consider Uncle Vernon with other women and children, he shuddered at the mare thought.

The old Master clearly understood Harry's importance in the Snape household as he stopped offering the cheaper items altogether and only focused on the more expensive things, 'befitting the oldest of the house' as he put it.

After all of his purchases had been completed, Harry tried to reach for his money pouch only to stop dead at a look from Snape. The old Master hid a smile when he saw it, and generously pretended he saw nothing when Snape pulled out a large sack of shiny blue stones.

Harry belatedly remembered that Gringotts had helped them change quite a lot of their gallons to these stones, together with some smaller stones and even stone fragments.

Snape had him change into one of the blue flowy robes, while he himself donned a dark charcoal grey robe, both robes and intricate patterns on them, and Harry noticed his robes had pale yellow leaves that looked like little fans falling. Harry had been struggling to put everything on, even with the male assistant's help. Snape seemed to have noticed, and helped him adjust his sash and his jade so they sat just so, and despite the awkwardness, Harry was pleased to note that he had been right, these felt a lot more comfortable than his much scratcherier school robes. Maybe because they were silk? It seemed that most people in China wore this material and Harry could immediately see why, if they could afford it.

The weirdest by far had been the shoes. Harry was used to his oxfords which were part of his school uniform, or his trainers, beat up as they were. Instead, he was given silk slippers in matching color to his blue robes. They even had the same kind of little yellow leaves on them the same as his robe.

Slippers. Honestly.

The quiet assistant who had been speaking to him earlier assured him that the slippers were both charmed with cushioning charm, noise canceling charm and were water, fire and dirt proof. Harry felt a bit better hearing that, since he was sure they would be filthy in 10 minutes otherwise, despite the obsessively clean streets.

The Master also offered to lengthen his hair, to which Harry quickly declined, but the Master insisted on giving him quite a number of hair ornaments and ties as well as ribbons, for when he chose to wear his hair 'properly'. Harry noticed belated that everyone had some form of long hair, be they boy or girl, even the goblins who had hair, wore it long, and privately thought that might be one of the hardest things to get used to even past the slippers. He pictured what his aunt would say if she saw them and snickered inside, then blushed when he realized he probably shouldn't care what his aunt thought ever again. Snape saved him by telling the old Master he will take care of that with his own Manegro Potions after and that seemed to settle it, since apparently all pill makers preferred using their own pills? Harry didn't know but he noted that Snape asked to have a few ties and ornaments included in his things as well, most of them matching his new clothes and school robes, so maybe he will be sporting long hair soon too.

Harry tried to picture Snape with long hair and just couldn't. Would it still be as greasy? Surely not, if appearances seemed to matter that much in this country. Harry honestly wasn't sure.

He noticed belatedly that Snape had been really kind of decent. Making sure Harry was never embarrassed or humiliated from his lack of knowledge. He knew Harry's actions reflected on Snape but he thought maybe he didn't realize what that actually meant. It seems that it meant he had someone who would always protect him, at least in public. That made Harry feel kind of good, even if he didn't know what to make of it.

A nice Snape was just so… weird. Especially a Snape who was nice to Harry.

Just thinking about how much he still had to learn gave Harry a headache, and he resolved to learn all of this as fast as possible. Thank Merlin he didn't have to learn Chinese as well! He really thought he would have a pre-exam-Hermione-level breakdown if he did have to learn that too.

After they had been escorted out of the Emporium with much bowing and farewells, Snape took them several stores down what seemed to be a weapon's place.

An eerily similar scene of greeting met them, and Harry privately thought that maybe he just had to Master a dozen forms of greeting and he would be okay, as everyone seemed to be equally awed and impressed by Snape and by proxy his status. They were again escorted to a private room upstairs, though Harry noted the apprentices here looked a little less friendly and a little more, well, martial overall. As if they could be nice, if you were nice, but could just as easily kick your butt if you chose to be rude.

Snape however behaved in exactly the same way, not exactly friendly and somewhat haunting but no one seemed to feel he was being rude at all, instead like he was behaving exactly as they expected him to.

Harry could see how powerful people here could easily become arrogant and made a silent vow to himself to never become that way.

Upstairs he was introduced to a Martial Master Feng, Harry noted the title difference, and then was proceeded to be shown what he privately thought was a ridiculous number of weapons of all shapes and sizes. He was very amused to note that many of the weapons could shrink or expand on command, and had self-sharpening charms on them.

He got really excited when he was told that good quality treasures such as swords and fans and the like could actually fly, and he couldn't help shooting Snape a questioning look, wondering if that was the same as his Firebolt to which Snape subtly nodded and then Harry got a lot more excited selecting his weapon.

He settled on a not-very-heavy-for-him sword, which he was assured once he learned enough energy work, he could make fly. He wondered if he would be required to hold the hilt while flying and privately thought that would get exhausting really fast, but when he asked, the shopkeeper laughed – though not unkindly, Harry noted – and explained that Masters 'stood on their swords' while flying. Like a surfboard!

Snape was looking at him with a kind of indulgent expression on his face that Harry had never seen directed at him, but before he could get embarrassed, Snape said, "Think of it like surfing, but in the sky." And then Harry was too excited to question odd looks from his old professor.

It seemed okay to ask more questions here, so Harry asked Martial Master Feng if all Masters traveled on swords, to which he laughed again and said, "No! Of course not. Many travel on their animal companions, on magical transportation devices such as flying ships and the like, or if they are Grand Masters, they do not need any items to fly. Their Qi magic allows them to do it without any assistance."

Harry boggled at that as he distinctly remembers Hermione harping about flight being impossible without a broom and some kind of flying device. It seems the laws of physics were different in China? Or Hemione had been wrong? Was that even possible? But how could that be? Did England just not know how? Did the books lie? Harry had so many questions!

Snape also had him select a bodysuit which he instructed Harry to wear under his clothes at all times. He was assured that the garment was super thin, strong, airy, flexible and made of demon-spider silk, making it impenetrable to most magical weapons and capable of absorbing many kinds of attack spells. Harry had a fleeting thought that it would have been nice to have this during Quidditch matches when the bludgers were after him, or you know, when facing Voldemort and the Basilisk, but then shook it off. He was told it also had a self-cleaning charm as these kinds of garments shouldn't really be washed that often. Snape instructed him how to put it on and had him change into it immediately.

Harry felt that warmth pool in his belly again at the evidence of how much Snape did value his safety. He wondered bitterly why Dumbledore never gave him any kind of protection like this, but shook it off. Now was not the time for such thoughts.

He was also given bracers, which apparently made him a little stronger, and would absorb yet more spells and could stop a sword – even though privately the thought of being attacked by a sword and stopping it with just armguards terrified him – as well as insoles for his shoes which would allow him to tire less, and walk faster if he so chose, guaranteeing no blisters. In addition to this he was also given several portkey type things, a circular disk that looked like it had a complex mandala on it, a bell which he was told could imprison both magical beasts and Martial Masters under level 5, a little disk-like object which he was told was a shield, and a few other items he could not understand right away but which Snape assured him he will need.

Harry briefly wondered how much fighting he would be doing that he needed this many protection items but Snape did seem to take his safety very seriously so Harry said nothing about it.

After the Martial Store which Harry belatedly realized was called Sky Splitting Mountain – because wow okay if the weapons there could do that, he could see why it was so impressive – they went to what Harry privately thought of as an apothecary but which was aptly named Herb Heaven. If he thought Snape got a lot of respect in the other stores, it was nothing to how they were treated here.

The owner came out nearly immediately, as if he knew they were coming, and fawned and bowed over Snape in a way that surprisingly did not feel awkward or embarrassing.

Snape was clearly in his element here as he ordered what looked to be a great deal of the herbs in the store, to the ecstatic joy of Herb Master Yao, who was apparently expecting this. By this point Harry had managed to ask Snape while they walked to the apothecary how he should greet these people and Snape had told him to do the hand-clasp thingy from before, but bow shallowly, keeping his eyes up and say 'Harry Potter-Snape of House Snape greats the esteemed Master.' Harry didn't know how he felt claiming himself from House Snape but Snape assured him this was the correct greeting form, so he decided to go with it for now and ask about it later, bowing to Herb Master Yao and offering the greeting. The Master complimented Snape on having such a fine son, to which Harry understood he had greeted him correctly, and they proceeded to business.

As it turned out, there was a lot to pill making. It seemed to have considerably more ingredients than potion making did, and many of them Harry had never heard of.

Snape assured him they will be going to a book store soon, and that he will get everything Harry will need for beginner's pill making. He was amused to see that the store did actually have a section for potions making as well, but it was much smaller with a smaller selection of cauldrons and other items. Harry noted that Snape seemed to indeed be quite well off, judging by how much he was buying, and that Master Yao seemed to think it perfectly normal. Maybe all pill makers were rich on this side of the world? He remembered thinking this back at the Chinese Gringotts and it seemed he had been right.

Harry was then asked to select an 'Alchemical Oven'. He pictured the cooking stove he had back at Private Drive and wondered how that would work without electricity. He hoped he didn't have to try and chop wood for it, and was surprised to see that these ovens were nothing at all like the ones from England when he did finally see them. They ranged from ones starting at knee high, to ones that towered over the whole room and must take many Masters to activate. To Harry they kind of looked like giant intricate pots with lids on them and handles on both sides but they were made of some kind of metal. He assumed like cauldrons, they were sometimes made of many kinds of metals, and he was pleased to note that while he could indeed recognize some, there were many more he had absolutely no clue how they were made.

Each one of the Ovens were put into squared shelves which seemed to be built into the wall and had some kind of down light on them to highlight their designs, Harry assumed.

Herb Master Yao asked Snape if he knew Harry's affiliation yet, and Harry was about to reflexively answer Gryffindor when Snape told the Master no, Harry will be tested in three months time, and Harry realized it was a totally different affiliation they were talking about. The Master hummed at that, and then told Harry that no matter, Harry could still find his ideal Oven. He just needed to put his palm on each one and see which one hummed back at him.

Harry had no idea what the master meant by 'hummed back' but he assumed it was like at Ollivanders when he had been choosing a wand and some wands just hadn't liked him at all, while others tolerated him. He hoped it would not take all day like it did at Ollivanders.

As it turns out, it didn't take too long at all, the seventeenth Oven, a dark bronze metal one with intricate frogs and elephants' carvings of all thing on it, and rather small fire hole opening, hummed loudly enough that Snape and Master Yao both heard it loud and clear. The Master seemed to think this was a good omen for him being able to craft his own pills, and informed him that this Oven was considered Mid-Level Oven, more than enough for his needs till he reached Master level, but had exceptionally high sensitivity to magical fire. Harry was told it won't be easy for him to control it but that it also allowed for quite a few different types of fires to be used on it, if the user was skilled enough. Since both Snape and the Master looked suitably impressed and please, Harry mentally shrugged and considered it a good thing.

After storing his rather insanely expensive new alchemy oven in his storage ring, which Snape assured him was a fair price for a growing-oven, explaining that the oven will grow in power as he grew in power, just like his sword, they went back downstairs and through another large door which led them back to the general apothecary. Here Snape asked for a doctor for Harry, and they were escorted to another private room.

Harry felt somewhat nervous regarding the doctor, but relaxed when he realized Snape had meant an eye doctor. It turned out few people in China needed to wear glasses as a single pill was able to cure his eyes permanently. Snape told him that when it came to eyes, it was best to have a specialist look him over, and prescribe a pill rather than him making it, as he wasn't an eye expert, which made sense to Harry.

The doctor – a Doctor – not Master this time, Harry reminded himself - Yi, asked him to take off his glasses and then put both of his hands on each side of Harry's face, next to his eyes. Harry started a little when his hands started to glow, especially so close to Harry's eyes, but when he realized it didn't hurt, he resigned himself to sitting still thought he couldn't really relax. The doctor nodded after a few minutes later and removed his hands. He spoke to Snape directly and told them to come back in an hour for Harry's eye pill, and that was that.

Snape promised to be back in an hour, then they were on their way to the book store.

The bookstore by the name of One Thousand and One Disciplines looked very different from book stores Harry was used to. They still had rows and rows of shelves but almost all the books had blue or brown covers and the covers were rarely-if-ever hard covers. All the books were bound in a kind of white thin rope which was visible from the outside. Snape explained that due to the volume of people, book printing was big business, and many books which had powerful techniques regardless of which discipline they were from were considered precious, and generally only schools and powerful families had copies they did not share with others. Harry didn't really understand, since the bookstore clearly had thousands of books, but he was kind of used to only half-understanding the things out of Snape's mouth so he just nodded.

Harry personally thought that was very selfish but Snape informed him this is generally how powerful people held on to power.

Harry supposed that was a very Slytherin way of thinking of it.

Actually more and more, Magical China made him think they were more Slytherin-inclined then not. He tucked that thought away for later pondering when he was alone.

They picked out a lot of introductory books for his school, and much to Harry's delight, an entire stack that were not for his school, but just books Snape thought Harry would enjoy. Some looked rather more like what Hermione would have picked but that was okay. Harry had already privately decided now that he no longer had to do poorly in school from fear of displeasing the Dursleys, or upsetting Ron, he wanted to actually spend time reading and learning. Snape had also informed him that in China, how well he did in school also determined his status in society. It had been great fun to not take school so seriously last year and just have fun with Ron, and Hermione, though her fun still involved a lot of books and studying, but coming face to face with Voldemort, and how quickly Quirrell was able to overpower him, Harry realized he really did need to take his studying seriously or likely die a very early death. Snape can't protect him forever, and it would be up to him, so he had to learn more, at least enough to defend himself. It was clear that jelly-legs jinks weren't going to work on the really bad people in the world.

They picked out books on what to Harry seemed like every subject under the sun, and he really did start to worry that the language despite Snape's reassurance, will become a barrier, so he was quite relieved to see that Snape included quite a few beginners' Chinese books on idioms and even a few household spell books.

Snape also assured him they will be coming back for more once his entrance exam was over and they knew what kind of magical core he had, then they could customize his disciplines better. After they had stored everything into Harry's ring, they said farewell to the shopkeeper and stepped out into the late morning sun.

As they walked, Harry did notice that their clothes were quite fine compared to the average person, but he did also see others wearing similar quality clothes. Clearly just like back home, there were different social groups of people here too. He saw a few people with what looked to be his not-long-sleeved school uniform but the group of boys wearing them were all older and were all carrying rather intimidating weapons, so Harry didn't dare stare for too long.

Instead, he focused on walking somewhat more gracefully, when he noticed he was waving his sleeves around just to feel them sway and that some kids across the road were laughing at him. He blushed and ducked his head but then realized that they were just kids, laughing not because he was Harry Potter but because he was just some kid doing silly things, and relaxed again.

Harry thought he could really get used to not being famous for being Harry Potter. Snape seemed to think he would be famous here also but not because of something he doesn't remember doing but because of the achievements he will one day have. Harry thought he rather liked that idea a lot more. It was okay to be known for something you worked hard for after all, like Snape and his potions. Snape might not have a nice personality but no one could argue that he was a really good potion master, even if he sucked as a teacher. At least Harry thought so anyways.

They walked for quite a while, and Harry noted the opulence of the city. Nowhere was dirty, everywhere the roads were wide and cobbled, and store fronts big, well maintained and welcoming. The paint on them fresh and magic was everywhere in subtle and less subtle ways. Harry remembered his first impression of Diagon Ally, and while he loved its quirky nature and whimsical designed shops, he couldn't help but note that Kun Lun City was on a different level. It was clear that whoever was the mayor – did they have a mayor? Was he called something else? A king maybe? – was clearly doing a good job. He also noticed regular military patrols which Snape quietly told him were actually police, but could serve in any capacity in defending the city, and that they were well uniformed same as the guards at the gate, and carried serious-looking weapons. They walked with confident purpose, and Harry felt they were proud of their role in society. It made Harry wonder if maybe crime was an issue, but he didn't think so. People on the streets didn't look fearful, nor were they terribly afraid of the patrolling military police. Sure, they gave them their space, but Harry thought it looked more out of respect than any kind of fearfulness. There were also many restaurants, street foods and frivolous-looking shops as well, and Harry realized he was getting kind of hungry, even though the time difference was making him confused if he wanted breakfast or dinner. When they had ported in, it had been the dead of night when they left England, but here it had been early morning, and the shops had just been opening.

Snape glanced down at him and seemingly read his mind, "You must be feeling hungry by now. There is a good restaurant down the street here, we can grab something simple to eat for now till we move into our residence."

Harry was just grateful that he didn't have to ask for food and that Snape seem to have everything under control.

Snape led him to a tall pagoda-like building with thick red beams and the several tiered rooves which all had pointy ends. The building was at least 8 floors tall; it was taller than most buildings around it anyways, and as they were walking in, Harry noticed the giant plaque on top of the door read Spring Fragrance Pavilion. This must be the place King Yao recommended.

Despite it being late morning, it was already packed full of people and Harry could see many servers running to-and-fro serving people. Harry had noticed that everything in China was bigger. The restaurant must have seated 200 people comfortably and looked like it had that much space upstairs too.

A well-dressed greeter welcomed them at the door, and just like everywhere else, he noticed them glancing at Snape's waist plaque, and then to his jade, and immediately ushering them upstairs to a private room. This private room also had a table by the window, but with more chairs around it. Harry was amazed when he looked out of the window, expecting to see the tables below, instead what greeted him was a rather large park, with a beautiful pond-river - it was too big to be called a pond, Harry thought, plus it had a waterfall at one end of it - full of lotus's blooming in them, and quite a few flowering trees Harry had never seen before in his life. The smell of them permeated the room almost immediately and Harry felt himself relax fully for the first time that day despite himself.

The waiter came in, but Harry noticed there was no menu. He was just about to ask how they were supposed to order, but realized he shouldn't have bothered since Snape was already apparently ordering for them. Harry shrugged to himself, it's not like he would have known what to order after all, and he always ate whatever was put in front of him anyways.

They were served yet more tea, but this time Harry noticed it was somewhat more bitter and darker in color. He didn't dislike it but it wasn't as nice as the other green-yellow colored tea they got served in the Silk Emporium. Noticing his expression, Snape told him this tea was good for digestion so it was often served during a bigger meal like a lunch or dinner.

When the food arrived, Harry realized he had a problem. Everything looked amazing but the waiter had put all the dishes in the middle of the table and none in front of Snape or Harry. That was a bit confusing, and he wondered if they were supposed to share? He could identify meat and fish dishes, and a few vegetable dishes, as well as what looked like plain rice, and some kind of soup. A few of the dishes had big spoons in them, but most of them didn't have any kind of cutlery, so Harry decided he would just watch what Snape did, because he could not picture his professor eating with his hands. That would just be too odd.

Once the server was gone, Snape started to serve him. Harry was about to object that he could do it himself – it seemed that yes there were sharing – when Snape started to talk.

"To Magical Chinese people, eating together is very important. For many occasions you would be invited to a meal. New friendships, new business deals, Holidays and so on. It is a big part of the culture, to share a meal together. It signified that you were not enemies if you could all sit peacefully and share food. As such, the custom of this country is to put all the food in the middle of the table, and take a little of everything. Sometimes the younger will serve the older, sometimes the older will serve the younger, depending on who was inviting and the status and relationship of the guests present. Right now, I am serving you because it is your first time trying this food, and I thought you might have some trouble using chopsticks." Snape murmured, adding a bun-like thing to his bowl.

"You will always get a bowl, a small plate, chopsticks with a little stand to rest them on, and a spoon. The spoon is generally used for the soup, you notice how much thicker the spoon is than ours?" At Harry's nod, Snape continued, "It is ceramic so that it would quickly cool the soup and the chance of burning your tongue is less. That and silverware is expensive, and saved for imperial meals in order to check for poisons." Harry must have looked at least a little alarmed for that but Snape ignored him and kept talking, "as such, everyone just prefers ceramics. The chopsticks are your main utensil, don't worry, there is a trick to using them and I will show you to make sure nothing falls off till you get used to using them."

"Here, people generally start with the cold dishes, then the main course and only at the end do they drink the soup. Rice is served at every meal, and you can basically think of it like a bread roll, something to fill you up if there wasn't enough of the other food that you liked. Today we are just grabbing a simple lunch, but I ordered a little bit extra so we can take it back to our residence, since I don't think we will be equipped to cook tonight."

Harry stared in amazement at all the food being put on his plate. They all seemed to be bite sized things, and he was grateful for that as he had no idea how he was supposed to cut something to a smaller size without a knife. He eyed the two sticks on his right dubiously. They were a little shorter than his wand, but a lot thinner also. Not so thin he thought he would snap them but … He glanced up at Snape helplessly.

"Here," Snape said, reaching over and picking up his chopsticks, and tying – Harry squinted, - what looked like a rubber band at the end of them and charming it invisible. "This should make it easier. You hold them like this, and pick up things like so. The rubber band will help you keep them together till you are used to how they work." Snape demonstrated how to hold the two sticks and Harry thought that it didn't look that hard thankfully.

Harry tried, and after five or six tries, and Snape having to adjust his hands twice, he managed to pick up a broccoli. He felt ridiculously proud of himself, till he dropped it again.

Right.

More practice.

Never one to give up, he kept trying till he was able to feed himself more or less without dropping everything back on his plate. He loved the meat dishes. They weren't as oily as the meat he had back home, but he also loved the taste of the vegetables, as they had a lot more flavor than the ones back home. The fish had been great too, something Harry rarely got to eat even at Hogwarts. Everything tasted different from what he was used to, but still really, really good. He happily tried a bit of everything, and only when he reached the bun did, he realize it was possibly too big to pick up with his two little sticks. He looked up to ask Snape what he should do, just to realize that Snape had been watching him the entire time, and had a kind of gentle small smile on his face.

Harry stared for a second, as he was honestly unaccustomed to Snape looking like that at anyone, let alone Harry but before he could say anything, Snape said, "You could pick it up with your chopsticks, even though it is big, like this." And he demonstrated. Somehow the extremely white bun-thing looked a lot smaller when he did it, "but as you are still a child, you could also just pick it up with your hand, though I would prefer if you learned proper table etiquette early as people will judge you on this also."

Recalling Hermione's appalled look at Ron's table manners, and Malfoy's condescending sneer when he looked at Ron's eating habits, he privately agreed. He tried a few times, but ultimately thought to just stab his bun and eat it that way.

Snape laughed, and told him that was actually a very impolite way to eat it – apparently it would have been more polite to use his hands, which just made no sense to Harry at all – and that at no time should he stab his chopsticks into his food, but especially to never do it to a bowl of rice, as that looked a lot like the incense you burned for funerals and it was basically a way to non-magically curse someone to die. Very bad omen apparently.

Harry sweated a little at all these rules, there seemed to be so many of them, but shook his head. Hogwarts had all kinds of new rules when he got there too. Granted they weren't about food, but still, he could adapt. He had to; he had already made his choice and it wasn't like they could go back.

Thinking that should have depressed him, but instead it just made him more determined to learn all the ways of this new place. He felt like this was a new chance. A new beginning. So, what if everything was new and unfamiliar? It will become familiar quickly enough and it was a small price to pay to be safe.

Though, personally, it had been really satisfying to stab that bun.

It had tasted amazing too, full of some kind of meat and vegetable. He had eaten it in 4 bites and decided this was definitely one of his favorite new foods.

Eating soup at the end had been only a little strange, but considering how full he was, it made a kind of sense. He drank a little of it, and was amazed at how light it tasted. Like a light chicken and vegetable broth.

After Snape had called the waiter to package everything that was left over, and ordered a few more dishes for them to take back, the waiter departed, but not before serving them another kind of soup.

This one was in a smaller bowl, and had absolutely nothing Harry could recognize inside it.

Snape just smiled and told him to try a little. When Harry carefully did try a little of the clear soup, he was surprised to find that it was sweet! Very mildly so, but still definitely sweet. There was some kind of dried red berries inside the soup, a white sort of flowy textured thing that Harry had no idea what it was, and a round root vegetable looking thing with many holes in it. Biting into the vegetable, Harry was surprised to find it rather crispy and it was so mild it went really well with the sweet tartness of the berry. He asked Snape what it was, and Harry was surprised when he pointed at the lotus pond.

"Sir, are you saying this is a lotus flower? It… doesn't really look like one." He knew the end of that sentences came out more like a question than a statement but honestly, there was no petals! How was it a flower?

"No. It is the lotus root actually. It has many uses, and it can be cooked to be both sweet or savory. You will come across it often I think."

Well, at least that wasn't so weird, Harry thought to himself. After all, a potato is technically a root also, wasn't it? Or maybe it wasn't. A turnip? That was a root, right?

"I will teach you slowly. Be patient with yourself, this is an entirely new world for you. You will not be able to learn everything in one day." But the way Snape said it, sounded like Harry would learn it all one day, and that made him feel better. He was also really surprised Snape hasn't called him an idiot even once.

That was definitely new.

After they were done, they picked up their packages and Snape stored all of the food in his ring this time. Then he cast a quick tempus, and told Harry they needed to make their way back to the eye doctor, to pick up Harry's eye pill.

Harry was privately excited about this, as his glasses were often knocked off his face or broken, plus he had been struggling to see out of his left eye a little since before the summer started, and he had actually been worried how he was going to see the snitch if his eyesight continued to deteriorate, but if Snape was to be believed, the pill would fix his eyes for good! He had been told that he would need to come back for a few more checkups but that it was just a matter of one pill to fix it for good, baring any complications.

Harry wondered why no one in the UK ever used these pills. Maybe they didn't know the recipe?

Going back to the apothecary, they went straight to where the doctor's side had been and upon seeing them, the nice doctor smiled at Harry and produced a brown-colored thumb sized pill with no markings of any kind on it.

For a moment, Harry had no idea if he was going to be able to swallow such a large pill, but Snape assured him it would be no problem, and just like the last pill he took, handed him a glass of water.

Thinking, the hell with it, he put it in his mouth and washed it down with a generous amount of water, and to his surprise, it did indeed go down without issue. He hardly even tasted it.

The doctor told him to sit back down, and good thing too because his butt had just met the chair when the world suddenly felt like it had turned upside down for a moment. He closed his eyes to shake the feeling of vertigo off but when he opened them, everything was blurry.

Before he could panic however, Snape quietly said, "Take off your glasses." And Harry thought, oh. Right.

He did that, and suddenly the world around him was incredibly clear. Everything was in such sharp focus he had to shut his eyes again immediately least he be overwhelmed. When he opened them again, things were still just as sharp but the sense of vertigo was gone, and he started to smile.

He will never be vulnerable due to his eyes again!

Snape put a hand on his shoulder, and seemed to be just as pleased for him as he was. Or maybe because Harry was, he wasn't sure. But he just asked, "Alright?"

Harry could only nod, because he was afraid, he was going to cry otherwise. Somehow this felt more overwhelming than anything else they had done so far. Maybe because it was a real physical thing Snape had changed for him which he always thought of as a weakness, and he had done it so casually. As if it was a matter of course.

Just for that, Harry resolved to be as nice to Snape as he could. He would make a real effort, to show him how grateful he was.

Snape's small smile got a little wider, and after the doctor did his check again, and confirmed that Harry did indeed have perfect sight now, with no complications. Snape paid the Doctor, and Harry thought maybe he paid a little extra because the Doctor told him he was too kind and bowed again.

Snape handed him another potion and Harry realized it looked a lot like a healing potion but the color was slightly off. At Harry's silent question, Snape said, "Headache potion. You won't be used to your new vision for a few days yet." Harry figured he was probably right, and downed it in one. It still tasted like molted socks and Harry badly wished he had another plum cake to wash the taste off.

Snape then asked Harry what he wanted to do with his old glasses, and Harry found he didn't know what to say. It was like he was saying goodbye to his old life with his glasses being gone, even more so than the adoption and the leaving of England. It felt like… like a truly new start.

Still, never being one to throw away things that could still be used, Harry decided to just store them in his ring instead of destroying them.

As they were leaving, he dared to tug on Snape's sleeve, and when the older man looked down at him, Harry looked up at him, and simply said, "Thank you sir. That was… just. Thank you."

Snape sucked in a breath, and stared at Harry's eyes for a few beats longer, and Harry wondered what he was seeing, but then his professor just said, "You are most welcome."

And that was that.

Since they already had an early lunch, Snape decided they should head over to where their lodging was, and then come back out when they saw where they were staying and what else they would be needing. He told Harry to stand back a little, and from his own ring, he produced an Asian looking carriage. The carriage while very nice looking, wasn't what Harry was staring at however. It was the creature at the front of the carriage which held Harry's attention. It looked frankly like a giant sea snake, but it was on land and it hovered! It had very large eyes, which were kind of milky with no iris's, as if it was blind. Snape told him to get in, and Harry snapped his gaze away from the large creature – it was at least as big as the skeletal hell-horses that pulled the carriages at Hogwarts, Harry never did learn what they were called – he went to get into the carriage when he realized a little pair of steps had materialized so he could get in easily. Once he got in, he realized the inside must have had some kind of expansion charm on it, because there was enough room for at least 8 to 10 people to sit comfortably. He saw Snape get in, and wondered who was going to drive the carriage when it suddenly took off at incredible speeds. Harry had to stick his head out of the window which instead of glass only had a kind of long cloth, just to see the giant snake-lizard-thing slitter on air with incredible speeds towards… somewhere. It had to have been magic because Harry could hardly keep up with the scenery flying by them.

He hadn't even notice Snape buying the thing, and he marveled at the level of magic control these people had that they could store living animals in their rings.

Apparently, the residence that the Great Master Xuan – Snape had warned him to always use the full title, even in his head, least he said the wrong thing – had arranged for them was on the north side of the town, close to the Imperial Palace of the city. Harry noticed that once they turned towards there, all the shops slowly disappeared, and while the road still remained wide, well paved and clean, only tall white walls with little tiny grey roofs stretched endlessly on each side. Every so often, the white wall would be broken by a large gate which read this or that residence and Harry realized this was kind of the residential suburb of the area.

Then he started, as he realized each one of these long walls was just one residence, and they must have been huge, even without wizarding space. Harry wondered if they needed a carriage to reach one end of the house from the other.

Was Snape extremely rich or something?

Snape had them stop at a seemingly random gate – Honestly Harry had lost track, they had passed so many already – though Harry noticed this one read Xuan Residence, and that was also when Harry realized Great Master Xuan's Xuan was actually a surname, sort of like Weasley, he supposed – and Snape had him get out of the carriage.

Harry nearly tripped and fell because he still wasn't used to the flowy robes but Snape caught him before he could pitch forward. Harry was grateful once he realized there were two guard in front of the residence door. They both stood at attention when they saw Harry and Snape approach but after the glance-at-the-belt which Harry was starting to get used to, both guards did the fist-on-palm greeting thing, and the one on the left said, "Honored Guest, you must be Master Snape, Master Pill Maker and your honored son. Great Master has been expecting you, please follow me inside, and I will inform the Eldest Chamberlin you have arrived, he will take you to see Great Master."

The guard put his hand on the big red door with the giant matching knockers, and the door seam glowed blue for a moment and opened. Harry had never been to a magical home like this before, where even the door was protected, warded? He didn't know but he found it kind of neat. He went to walk through together with Snape when he realized there was a big door stopper across the whole bottom of the door that he had to step over, while holding his robe up a little like a girl in a dress. He felt a wash of magic as he did so, and tensed but nothing happened, so he shrugged and hurried to catch up with Snape.

Instead of walking into a house as he expected to, they were led by an old man with elegant robes whom Harry assumed was the Elder chamberlain through an enormous courtyard, which as they walked, Harry realized was a garden with another big pond-river thing, and further down the stone path, he could see more walls, though these were shorter and seemed to divide individual residences.

Again, he marveled at the sheer size of the place. Maybe he was meeting a king, not a master? He was sure not even the Malfoys had such a large place.

They were ushered into a one-story building with white walls and the same grey roof tiles he was starting to notice everywhere, which seemed to be just for receiving guests, and were again served tea and told that Great Master will join them soon.

Harry though soon he would have to ask for a bathroom if they kept having so much tea but refrained for now, too curious to meet Snape's Master.

Snape leaned over then and in a quiet tone reminded him again how to greet the Great Master and how to bow and behave. Harry would have thought it was annoying to be treated like a moron, but it was clear that even Snape was a little nervous so he just dutifully recited the words and waited quietly.

The room itself was beautifully decorated with big vases framing the back walls and a painting of a big Chinese character – Harry squinted and the character resolved itself to him – reading Pill between the two white-and-blue vases. The furnishings were all made of a dark red wood, and all intricately carved. Harry privately thought that this country must have some amazing artisans. Everywhere you looked, there was art and beauty.

His musings were interrupted by Great Master Xuan's arrival. Harry had to remind himself again that it was normal for very old people to look very young here, and vowed to keep that closer to the front of his thoughts, least he offends someone thinking they were a kid, but it turned out they were 1000 years old or something. Great Master Xuan had completely white hair, despite looking younger than Snape and wore white robes with green and silver trim, which Harry had to admit, looked really elegant on him.

As soon as then man walked in, Snape smoothly stood up, and Harry stood up with him, albeit a little less smoothly. Snape than surprised Harry by doing the hand on palm thing and bowing low, saying in a clear voice, "Inner sect Master Disciple Severus Snape gives greeting to Shifu, Great Master Xuan." Harry noticed he did not lift his eyes or look at the young man.

Harry quickly looked down too, imitating Snape's bow, and did not rise till Snape did.

"Severus, no need for formality. Welcome back to my humble home." But Harry noted that he did not sound like he did not want the greeting just the same, nor was this in any way a humble home. Then the Master turned to him, and Harry quickly did his own greeting as instructed previously by Snape, making sure to bow very low, and not look up till the Great Master spoke to him. He wondered why he had to do it twice but didn't dare ask now.

At first, he thought it would be humiliating to constantly be bowing and scraping at others, but since literally everyone he met did some form of this, either lower or higher based on their station, it quickly lost its demeaning feel and started to just be One Of Those Things to Harry.

The Master smiled at him, and nodded his approval, giving his permission for Harry to straightened, commenting on how dashing his new robes looked. Harry blushed a little to be so scrutinized but privately he felt rather pleased, especially when the Great Master mentioned how big and bright his eyes were and Snape commented that they were all from his mother. Harry felt warm all over after that, liking that his mother also got mentioned.

They were all invited to sit again, and Snape and Great Master made some idle talk about how much Snape and Harry managed to do in such a short time. Great Master Xuan asked if they had eaten, and if Snape had hired some help yet, to which Snape replied that he decided they should see their residence first before deciding on the help.

Harry didn't know what help they meant, but considering he wasn't asked, he just sat quietly and listened. He rather liked it when he was allowed to just sit and listen without being the subject of their focus.

Soon enough, Great Master Xuan suggested he take them personally to their new home, and after some polite refusals of taking up too much of his time, Harry realized it was just part of the culture to offer refusal even though no one expected it to stick. Kind of like when Aunt Petunia would say "oh but you shouldn't have gone out of your way" while still reaching for the cake the neighbor brought over.

They quickly left the residence, and got back into their carriage, to which Great Master Xuan complimented Snape for getting such a reliable purchase, apparently the giant eel-snake thing could fly also! Harry knew he would be pestering Snape soon to try that as soon as they could, even if he got mad. But to Harry's surprise, they arrived nearly immediately. Apparently Great Master Xuan had obtained a courtyard house only four courtyards away from his own place. Harry wondered if this was a status thing, and decided it definitely had to be since all the courtyards looked ridiculously luxurious to Harry. Surely normal people couldn't afford that could they?

They reached another red door, only slightly smaller than Great Master Xuan's, with an equally large plaque on top of the door. However, this one read Vacant Residence. As soon as they stepped out however, Great Master Xuan had Snape cutting his finger and placing his palm on the door, muttering a quiet password. The door flashed blue all around and the plaque changed to read Snape Residence. Harry had to squint because to him it read Snape but if he looked at it just so, he could tell it was actually three separate characters which made up the word Snape. He wondered how he could have missed that and figured it was something to do with the translation pill. Great Master Xuan then had Harry do the same, and Harry silently wondered if he should say anything about the casual use of blood magic, which Madam Pomphrey had once said should never be used casually and was illegal and will get you sent to Azkaban, but shrugged and just went with it. He assumed this was to ward the house and he really wanted to be able to come home without Snape's permission or say so.

Once the door had flashed and accepted him also, Snape made a show of inviting Great Master Xuan, and Harry realized that it was the only way to allow him entry as his blood was not on the door.

Stepping over the same door stopper thing – Harry honestly had no idea why that was there and resolved to ask Snape sometime – he noticed he didn't feel a very strong wash of magic, but he assumed they will have to add the wards to the house themselves later. He nearly stopped dead as soon as he walked in, as the inside wasn't open, the way Great Master Xuan's house had been, but a path made of large round flat stones of different shapes and sizes was bracketed by thick bamboo, leading one… somewhere.

Great Master Xuan smiled and said, "I thought you would appreciate a quieter atmosphere, and considering he is your son, likely he would feel the same. Come," and started to lead them down the path.

A little ways down, the path turned and it did open up onto a courtyard garden. A large tree sat to one side, its branches providing shade. Harry didn't know what kind of tree it was, but combined with what looked to be a not-very-dense bamboo forest to his left and right, it gave off a cool, relaxed feeling.

Further up the path it opens up even further, and lead one to what must have been a main hall. Harry could see that on the left and the right, an open wooden corridor led one further somewhere he couldn't see.

Harry abruptly realized their house was going to be huge, because magic, and because apparently the Chinese always did everything on a grand scale.

He thrilled a little at getting the chance to explore this interesting new world. Who knows what else they had?

Great Master Xuan took them through the main hall, and just as they sat down, an older lady in a long dark green robe came in, with two younger girls, one in yellow robes and one in orange, on her left and right. They bowed, in what seemed to be unison to all of them, and the older lady said, "Great Master Xuan, everything is ready as per your orders."

"Excellent. Master Snape, this is Yi Momo1, and her two assistants, Chun Mei and Dong Mei, I had them get everything ready for your arrival. You didn't give me much warning, but I think it was enough. You will need to get some of your own help, especially since you plan to keep the residence even after you go up to the mountain I assume?"

Snape quickly nodded, "Yes, Great Master. I think it would be good for us to have a permanent home, even when Harry goes to study and I teaching."

"As I thought, I took the liberty to prepared your stores for two months, and stocked the potions lab with everything you might need, as well as adding some necessary essentials. I hope you do not mind. I figured it would not take you long to find your way. I have also taken the liberty to inform the various pill suppliers and ingredient merchants to treat you well, as you were my former apprentice, now a Master in your own right. They will be sure to treat you fairly."

Harry understood that to mean that they will be giving outrageous discounts to Snape in order to curie favor.

He thought he was starting to get how their speech worked. Everything was subtle, and always courteous, it seemed, but under the courtesy, there could be things implied.

Yup, Harry had been right in his original thoughts, he was in Slytherin. A very polite and pretty Slytherin, but still very much Slytherin.

Harry sighed.

Well, the sorting hat did say he would do well in Slytherin.

"Send word to me after you have settled in. I will introduce you to our family's Tooth Lady and I will personally take you around."

Harry blinked at the Tooth Lady comment wondering if his translation pill failed or if they needed a dentist for some reason, but figured someone will tell him later.

"Some of the stores have changed ownership since you were last here, and you never did spend a lot of time in the city, rather most of it on the Mountain." Great Master Xuan said, "You always did keep to yourself, no matter how interested the other apprentices were. Everyone just figured you worked really hard, which indeed you did, otherwise you would not have made Master so young!" Great Master Xuan laughed, and Harry got the feeling the Great Master rather liked Snape, despite Snape's personality.

"Now, I can leave Yi Momo and the girls for a few more days, but you do know, now you need to hire some people. I will set the wards with you before I leave, if you like, but for the boy's sake, you will need more security and while I am sure you will want to manage your own potions garden – it is by your brewing house, the pill house is opposite as I figured you might want to grow some things together – I don't think you want to manage the rest of the chores yourselves."

Harry realized they were talking about servants, and he wondered if they had house elves here also. Judging by the fact that this Yi Momo – was that a short for mother? Matron? Harry didn't know, and the translation pill gave no indication – and the two assistants were clearly magical humans, he doubted he would find house elves.

After a few more pleasantries, Master Xuan got up to go and Snape and Harry escorted him to the gate, where his carriage waited for him, complete with chauffeur and white winged Abraxans.

Harry congratulated himself in recognizing at least one creature here.

"Great Master Xuan, Large favors do not require verbal thanks. I look forward to both our families prospering in the future together." Snape said, sounding painfully sincere. Harry wondered about the odd phrasing but figured, like everything here, it was a Magical China thing.

"Ah Severus, you were always a gifted one. No matter what the elders said about foreigners stealing our ways, I knew one day you would come back to us. We are fortunate that in your time of need, we had left a good enough impression on you that you would place your trust in us. I am grateful for this, and I very much look forward to our weekly pill discussions resuming! I had very much missed them these past years. No one here gives me a challenge, just pandering." He waved his goodbyes at them, in much more jovial way on his way out than Harry had expected, like a kid who just got his favorite candy back actually, "I will send the Tooth Lady over shortly. Come find me when you settle in properly."

Snape and Harry stood at the door till the carriage vanished out of sight and only then went back inside. They were both silent for a moment, walking along the bamboo path, and Harry honestly couldn't believe this was going to be his home! But he had to know…

"Sir, why do we need a dentist?"

Snape looked down and blinked at him. The question surprised him, Harry thought. How?

"Dent – oh. The Tooth Lady isn't a dentist Harry, thought I can see how the translator pill would fail to translate this as the name does use the word for teeth. She is more like a head-hunter." At Harry's no doubt alarmed expression, Snape laughed, "Not actual head hunting, no. A head hunter is a person whose job is to help one find certain kinds of employees. They do the background check of the person and tell the employer the chosen employees skill set. They also deal with the legal employment contract. This being a magical contract binding the employee to the household or to one Master, and generally that employee will work for that family from then on. Good employees generally don't leave their Masters ever and stay for their whole lives or until they start their own families and sometimes even then. There are generational servants here, yes. Very different from Britain.

Harry didn't know what to think of that.

"Are they treated better than house elves, Sir?" Harry had to ask.

Snape glances at him, and seemed to think about it.

"Yes, they generally are. There are laws in place that protects them from majority of abuses, though I will admit, not all. Some of the methods of punishment might seem cruel to us from England, but it is just the way here. Humans after all, are cruel by nature, given the opportunity. Not all, but many. Remember that, son."

Harry personally vowed that if her ever got to see Hermione again, he would try to avoid explaining this to her.

Just in case.

She might decide to start a revolution after all.

While Harry wandered around the bamboos waiting for the Tooth Lady to come, he realized that he could hear tiny laughter from among the stalks. He had no idea if any magical creatures lived in artificially-made tiny-woods but you never knew, so he cautiously left the noise be and walked over to join Snape who was looking at a display hovering at eye level. Snape seeing him, lowered the display a little seemingly carelessly, and Harry could see a blueprint hovering.

That was when Harry realized that the display was a map and that the house was a lot bigger than he imagined.

He thought at first there were 13 courtyards in total, all within one giant enclosure wall, usually made up of 4 houses making up a square – or courtyard - with the middle being hallow. But he realized that that was only part of the property. There were at least 5 exits for one, though only one main gate. Harry didn't get a chance to count them all but he thought there were a lot of individual houses.

Some rooms were labeled, like the kitchen, bathrooms, receiving hall, pill and potions rooms, martial arts hall… they even had what looked like an astronomy tower! Other rooms just said Vacant – guest room 1, or Master's rooms. Or even Head Wife's rooms and Di Son's and Di Daughter's rooms.

He wondered if that meant him, and realized that the Di Son's rooms where very closed to the Master's rooms even though they were divided by cloister.

Harry hadn't known that's what it was called but Snape told him that cloisters connect each courtyard with the main section of the house, and the house was actually divided into two main Gates within the house, not to be confused with the various exits of the house. Harry wasn't sure of much, but he did resign himself to just like at Hogwarts, be lost in his own house for several months at least.

The Di Son's rooms also looked to be an entire courtyard with four buildings and a park and pond, and Harry wondered how he was supposed to live in such a large space by himself when he had never even owned his own bed before.

Well, at least Snape won't be able to complain that he was underfoot all the time.

Just then the arrival of the Tooth Lady interrupted those thoughts.

The Tooth Lady turned out to be an elderly woman in relatively nice-looking clothes and elaborate hair ornaments, followed by two women and two men in matching outfits. Other than the Tooth Lady, the others didn't speak and didn't look up to acknowledge Snape or Harry.

Once the obligatory bowing, greeting and fawning from the Tooth Lady was out of the way, Snape laid out his request:

50 guards, with minimum Foundation Phase martial arts – to which the Tooth Lady's smile became somewhat oily and pleased, Harry noted. All with 'clean' backgrounds, to which Harry understood to mean no criminal record but assumed there was more to it.

22 Shadows – Harry had no idea what that meant – with no less than Primordial Infant phase, and no loyalty conflicts. – Harry honestly thought the Tooth Lady would start dancing a jig, she looked that excited, but clearly was too used to rich clients to lose composure like that. Harry kind of admired it, since he felt completely lost already.

2 Chefs and 6 kitchen assistants, versed in 5 types of Chinese cuisine including imperial, here Snape muttered, ideally trained from the Palace if possible. The Tooth Lady nodded her understanding and said she knew just the place to get them. Snape also added that if she found anyone specializing in medicinal cuisine to hire them no matter what, to which the Tooth Lady just seemed more exited.

6 boy runners, including a Companion boy with some martial potential or skill for Harry himself, from a good family and of high intelligence. Harry was about to protest that he didn't need some kid pretending to be his friend or chaperone or whatever a companion boy was, but one look at Snape and he decided it was best to just go with whatever and complain later, when they were alone. He did promise himself to be nice to Snape after all.

One Head Chamberlin and one Head Momo, as well as 3 other Momo's and 24 attendants of grade one through 'rough'. Harry didn't know what the rough stood for but figured it must be general cleaners maybe. He mused that he would have been considered a 'rough' boy if he had still been with the Dursleys.

Snape was quite particular what he wanted in the two Heads and the Tooth Lady went as far as to pull out a floating piece of paper and a brush to write down the details.

Snape also asked for 2 chauffeurs, an accountant, assistant accountants, and surprisingly, a bunch of Pill and Herb boys or girls. Harry assumed these were kids with pill making ability, and thought about his own abysmal potions' talents. Hopefully he would be more gifted in pill making then he had been at potions. It… would be a little embarrassing if his… father was a master pill maker and he couldn't even make the most basic pills or potions. Harry flushed a little thinking about it and vowed again to himself to work harder this time round. He wondered what Snape would say if he suggested Neville for an Herb Boy. Then he had to stop thinking that or he was going to laugh out loud and embarrass Snape, and Snape would have to kill him.

When he was done with the seemingly endless list of staff they would need, Harry had a moment to wonder where all these people would live when he remembered the large pile of buildings that had no details on the map but did say Servants Quarters in big bold letters. Harry remembered thinking there were quite a lot of individual apartments and houses there but not many windows and they seemed to all be on the north side of their Courtyard house, close to the front door. He remembered that Snape's Master's courtyard was south-facing, while Harry's own was actually on the west. At least he thought it was his. Snape hadn't exactly had time to assign rooms yet.

He wondered if the position of the houses had any significance and realized that these were quasi-Slytherins so of course there was some significance, even if he had no clue what those were.

The Tooth Lady seemed to be very pleased with Snape's order and promised to deliver the people Snape wanted within 2 hours. Harry then watched her bow, and when she straightened, her assistants came to the left and right of her, each placed both their hands on the Tooth Lady as if to support her walking and from one moment to the next, the only thing left where they stood was a little bit of blue smoke and a sense of magical release.

Side-along apparition, Harry thought, but with no crack? How odd.

Chinese magic sure was different from what they taught back in England.

1 Momo is a term for a Head Housekeeper in old China, and is only used for females. This title is no longer used today.

While they waited, Snape walked Harry thought the entire property.

Harry had been right that the courtyard was less of a courtyard and more like Hogwarts. It could fit a school worth of children and professors and had room to spare. Snape laughed when Harry voiced that observation and told him that he would be happy to know, that all Chinese houses in Kun Lun took this courtyard format. Apparently, the smallest courtyard traditionally consisted of 13 rooms – 13 rooms! Who needed that many rooms? Harry wondered – but apparently, they were generational houses, which Harry supposed made more sense, if your grandparents and parents and their children and their children's children all lived there together.

Harry rather liked that idea. The whole family living together for several generations… if the family liked each other, that could be pretty great.

Snape told him that the larger ones usually had two or more entrances, which was the one most common smaller middle-class families resided in. Snape told him this with a quirk of his mouth indicating he didn't much care for what he was telling Harry but that Harry should know it anyways, that there was an old saying to describe traditional ladies who don't mingle with Society as – then he said a bunch of Chinese Harry had no hope in following as the translation pill couldn't follow – Snape seeing this said "She doesn't step out of the First or Second Gate", and pointed to first the bigger opening which seem to divide the house into the Front and Back of the house. Snape said there was another door like it and that ladies from 'good' families generally stayed behind the second gate and never went out without their husbands or some kind of escort. However, he also added that exceptions are made for Di children and any child who was powerful. The more powerful one was, the more privileges they had.

Harry marveled at this, and wondered what Hermione would do to someone who tried to keep her inside the house for life. At least, Harry thought, this place had a library.

The Front Courtyard which included all the spaces before the Second Gate but excluded the Dao Ci Fang – Harry couldn't get the translation for this yet clearly – Snape explained it was the windowless rooms where the servants resided in, was for hosting, home office and study, guest rooms and the like. This would keep the family life separated from the business and social life to ensure privacy, Snape explained.

Harry asked if houses were supposed to have two gates, how come they had what looked to be 5 exists? Snape scoffed and said that was because Great Master Xuan did not understand the concept of modesty when it came to his friends and insisted, they have a house befitting their 'station' as it will likely be their permeant home for many years to come. To which Harry understood it as, Snape asked for a small place and Great Master Xuan reinterpreted Snape's request and adjusted it accordingly, so they got this instead. Considering the Snape name was now parked under Great Master Xuan's House, maybe it also had to do with Great Master Xuan's face. Harry was starting to get the basics of face giving and receiving. It was really way too formal for Harry's liking but he guessed it couldn't be helped if Magical China was as Slytherin as he thought it was.

Harry tired to imagine a country full of Slytherins all trying to get along, and figured some very rigid rules had to exist so they didn't all kill each other due to perceived offenses.

From that, Harry understood that the more entrances you had, the more grandiose the courtyard was seen to be.

The cloisters connected all the rooms, which really just meant there were a lot of open hallways. Open because they had a roof – a really pretty one, as Harry craned his neck to see the moving colorful pictures under the hallway – and a walkway but no walls on the left and right, so one could walk from one end to the next without getting wet or too hot when the weather was not ideal.

The Jin Yuan – and here his translator failed again but he thought he understood entrance to courtyard or something like that – also had a common area in the middle. This, he was told, was for resting, tea time and a playing space for the children.

The basic principles of the rooms were similarly regardless of the size of the courtyard. Harry thought this was good because he felt he would spend his entire time in Magical China feeling lost otherwise. The south facing Master's Rooms or Main Apartment as they were called, was reserved for the oldest members of the family as they had the best light and most sun. Then the west and east were for the children. The row of rooms closest to the Front Main Gate – the Dao Ci Fang which his translator failed to translate previously - were for servants, horses and storage as it was north facing and lacked natural light.

Snape was in rare lecturing form where he would provide a throve of information and didn't care one wit if you remembered it all, but Harry was really glad because he really wanted a general overview of what was what before he started making assumptions or guesses. Harry was also amused to note that because he was so used to Snape's teaching style, his brain was remembering a surprising amount of information.

If the adult children were married, and the family was able, Snape informed him as they walked, the bigger courtyard with extensions on both sides would be used for them to grow their own families and expand further. It was important to note, Snape said and even looked down at Harry when he said it so Harry knew it must be important, that the deeper the courtyard the more private it got. If the midline courtyard had more than two gates, the family resided close to the very back of the yard, giving the front part of the yard to libraries, socializing etc. It was also important to know that the single unmarried females always lived towards the very back of the house, giving them the most privacy, and Harry was to NEVER EVER go there unless explicitly invited or escorted and to never be there alone, least someone accuse him of misdeeds and he was forced to marry the girl because he was found in her private quarters, alone.

Harry gulped and said he agreed that this was very important information and he would be very sure to remember it. Snape smirked at him for that.

The prat.

He had been pleased to note that he had been right, and he did indeed get the Di Son residence for himself, complete with a large personal apartment. As well as a side library with a study, a martial training hall with a meditation room, a small servants quarters close to his apartment, and a receiving hall for his friends when he made some.

His bedroom was awesome. The bed was to the right of the room and divided with gauzy curtains so that someone who just entered could not see him, he assumed. They must have been magical because from the bed area he could see out but anyone standing on the other side of them could not see in, assuring his privacy. The bed itself was very big, and while it was still a four poster, it was totally different than what he was used to. The posters were intricately carved instead of blank pillars and the curtains were layers of the same gauze rather than heavy wool curtains which he had been used to at Hogwarts. But instead of the bed being length-wise like in England, this bed was cross-wise like a day-bed. It also had three of its side's closed off with a half- length board, and only the side you got on-and-off the bed was fully open. There was even a small raised dais at the foot of the bed for his slippers. There were carpets nearly everywhere on the wooden floor and Harry had a fleeting thought that he would never even need house slippers if everywhere was like this.

Against the back wall facing the door, two ornate chairs divided by a tall rectangle table leveled with the chairs for tea and talks, more chairs on the left and right for other people to sit if he had visitors. There was a large shiny pale blue carpet on the floor in front of the two chairs, and Harry realized it was shiny because it was silk. There were even two large vases on the left and right of the two chairs. It made him wonder why it was set up a little like a throne for a king and queen with a small table between them but shrugged it off. Between and above the two chairs sat a scroll, very similar to the one he saw in the receiving hall of Grand Master Xuan's house, but his scroll also had one character, though a different one, his said Martial on it, and Harry had to wonder who decorated the place or if the apartment came with everything in it. On the table, the obligatory tea set. Harry was starting to realize that tea was like a handshake to these people.

Considering he had never even had a bed of his own, let alone carpets, vases, or tea sets, he wasn't going to complain.

Harry also discovered he had a beautiful round dining table for when he wanted to eat alone apparently, complete with 5 round wooden stools, also carved, a makeup table with a giant mirror near his bed, and a large wardrobe by the dressing table. His mirror did not talk, thankfully. He spotted a few trunks also at the back of the room as well as yet more cabinets, bookshelves and the like. He didn't get a chance to check out the right side before Yi Momo was back to show him around more.

Yi Momo patiently explained what was what, including how the bathroom worked because Harry couldn't help notice that there was no tub in the bathroom when they finally reached there. He was informed by a rather amused Yi Momo that the bathtub was in his private rooms, on the left side from his bedroom, and the tub is manually filled and empties by servants when he needed it. They also were supposed to assist Harry with his daily things such as hair and clothing.

Harry gave her a suspicious look because that just sounded weird but she just serenely smiled at him and moved on to explain the details of his study.

Harry was really happy to note that his 'pond' was absolutely huge, and that he even had an outside hot spring separate from the pond – Snape had one too, so Harry didn't feel too guilty – it was according to Yi Momo a very common fixture in pill Master's homes, because their muscles would feel very sore after a lot of pills making and it was said to help replenish the Qi lost during the cultivation of pills.

Personally, Harry was just happy he had a big enough space to play Quidditch. It wouldn't be as nice as falling on grass, but falling into water might actually hurt less, Harry thought. His pond even had large colored fish it them! Yi Momo told him that those were special Ling fish – Harry had a memory of hearing this word, Ling again but couldn't remember where he heard it – which were famous for collecting the ambient Qi in the atmosphere, and when one meditated near it, it helped a lot with gathering ones own Qi and cultivating it. She showed him that his meditation room had an entire section that extending over the pond, with pillows on the ground, no doubt for gathering said Qi.

Harry didn't want to tell her that he had no clue what Qi was least she thought him a country bumpkin but resolved to ask Snape later. If Snape laughed at him, well, at least Harry was used to that.

His courtyard also had a really big Japanese maple tree and several large cherry and pear trees. Under the big maple, a stone table and round stone cylinder benches sat serenely in the shade. Harry thought he would be spending a lot of time there.

He assured Yi Momo that he could finish exploring on his own, and Snape looked pleased that apparently his rooms pleased Harry. Harry hasn't known he cared and didn't think he would, but apparently it mattered to Snape that Harry felt happy and comfortable in their new home.

That did funny things to Harry's insides again and he quickly suggested they go see Snape's place instead. Yi Momo mentioned that she had planned to take them to the Master's rooms first as was proper, this was said a little pointedly at them both, but since the Master wanted to make sure all was in order with his son's room, they had gone to Harry's rooms first.

Harry's stomach had just calmed down, when it was doing that squirming thing again.

Snape's residence was amazing also. It was clear that Great Master Xuan was the one to pick out the details himself because Snape kept walking over to this or that bookshelf or table and picking up various objects which must have been his during his apprenticeship and he thought he would never see again. Harry could sympathize since he had very few things to call his own also, but it seemed that this really touched Snape because he got that expression again that Harry thought meant he was Feeling Things Strongly but could't express them.

Yi Momo seemed to think so too because she discreetly hid her very pleased smile and Harry just knew Great Master Xuan would be getting a nice, long report tonight about Snape's reactions.

Snape's residence had even more silk carpets, beautiful vases of all shapes and sizes, jade objects and carved wooden furniture. If opulent had taste, Harry thought, this would be it. A smell which had Harry all but humming was emanating from Snape's bedroom, and Harry vowed to find out what kind of incenses those were because they made him feel incredibly at peace all of a sudden.

He had only had experience with professor Trelawny's incense which made him sneeze and get a headache right away, and Aunt Petunia's smelly candles which she only brought out on special occasions.

Nothing this gentle and delicate, like this smell.

Yi Momo must have noticed him sniffing like a dog, because she covered his mouth with her long sleeve to laugh delicately, and mentioned that these were special Ling incense used for meditation, and that she will make sure to put some in Harry's rooms also if he liked them.

Harry just nodded dumbly at her while still sniffing, and smiled.

Two hours on the dot, found Harry standing by Snape's side in one of the First Gate largest courtyard. Harry could feel his eyes get wider and wider as a small-town worth of people slowly lined up in their courtyard. Some of them were in pretty ragged clothing, others wore good materials and had on clean robes.

The Tooth Lady stood in front of them all, looking very pleased with herself. Her assistants very quickly had the mass of people divided into groups and Harry noticed the kids were all on the outskirts to the left, while the meanest and strongest looking men stood at the very front. The Tooth Lady then waved her hands in a complicated pattern, and a yellow translucent dome covered her, her assistants, Harry and Snape. Harry tensed at that but Snape glanced down at him and muttered "privacy ward" and Harry relaxed again.

Looking at all the people, Harry had a moment of panic trying to figure out how he would remember all their names, but before he could say anything to Snape, or even ask why they needed this many people for just the two of them, the Tooth Lady came over to them, and with a flourish presented her findings:

"Greetings Master Snape, as promised I have returned and as you can see, with the people you have requested. You are most fortunate, Master Snape, that Great Master Xuan gave me a heads up that you would be needing a noble courtyard worth of staff, so I had time to prepare and," She sniffed, "rule out the undesirables. Only the best quality staff for you, he had been quite clear, and seeing as he is one of my oldest customers, I did not dare providing anything lesser. These here –" The Tooth Lady swept her hand to indicate the people behind her, "were all men, women and children from former noble houses that have fallen into ruin or disfavor. They are all well educated, can read and write, and have strong foundations going up with solid Confusian morals." She smiled at both of them, and Harry felt a shiver run down his arm, "This is Chamberlin Wang and Zhao Momo." As she spoke, her two assistants lead two people who seemed to have the nicest clothing on them into the dome. The man – Chamberlin Wang – looked to be a fit man in his 50s with a no-nonsense look about him, which reminded Harry strongly of McGonagall. Harry glanced at Snape, and realized he must be thinking the same thing, and he had an of-course and why-me look on his face, something Harry often saw on him when having to teach poor Neville. Compared to Chamberlin Wang, Zhao Momo had an incredibly maternal and somewhat serene face, and looked to be a slightly rounder woman of around 40 or so.

"Chamberlin Wang was head Chamberlin to the former Prime Minster of the neighboring Yan County. When their King fell, never even having been crowned Emperor yet, the Prime Minister's house was 'cleansed', and Chamberlin Wang having been sent out on an errand by his master a few weeks prior, narrowly escaped. By the time he got back, there was no longer a family for him to serve, so he decided to come to Liang County. He brought with him his letter of recommendation, given to him by his Master who surely saw the downfall coming, and clearly wished to spare his old servant."

Harry was wide-eyed again because what do they mean by 'cleansed'? As in, dead? The whole family? He wanted to ask Snape but figured it was something for another time.

"Chamberlin Wang was a Self-Sell to us, of course, but came with a caveat. You see, the ah, 'errand' his Master sent him on prior to their house's demise was to escort the Prime Minister's only son to his uncle's house. However, as the new King was fearful of betrayals, the uncle also did not survive persecution, as such Chamberlin Wang offered us a Final Sale – no chance of buying back his freedom – on the condition that the Prime Minister's son remained with him, and ideally was put in a position to be educated as his former station would have demanded. Your situation seemed ideal, as you requested a Companion boy for your son, and since the Prime Minster's son was only 9 when this unfortunate business happened, he has since been re-trained to be a nobleman's Companion Boy so it is a good fit. The boy is also your son's age. However, if you are not pleased with this notion, I would be happy to present other with less hist – "

Snape cut her off with a hand wave as if to indicate this was not important. Harry thought it was rather important overall but both the Chamberlin and the Tooth Lady seem to breathe better afterwards. The Tooth Lady then said, "Yes well, if that is to the Master's liking, then it is settled. Let us move on then." Pointing at the motherly looking lady, she said:

"Zhao Momo is from our own Liang country, she used to serve the Noble Consort Mei before the Noble Consort was found plotting the death of our Emperor, most unfortunate business, and thrown into the Cold Palace. She passed away two years ago, and everyone feared associating with her former staff, in case the Emperor thought one harboring dissidents, so the palace sold her Ownership Deed to me. She is an excellent Momo, and has never had any infractions, but families with history in this city would not buy her, just in case. You and your son are foreigners so owning her would be perfect for your house with no danger to you. She was a government sale, as is expected of the palace but is also a Final Sale."

Harry was about to protest that that sounded horrible, but then he glanced up at Zhao Momo and saw that she looked both hopeful and pleased at the prospect of serving a family of 'foreigners', so Harry swallowed his protests and glanced up at Snape again to see if it really was okay.

Snape looked down, and offered him a small reassuring smile, turning to the Tooth Lady, he said, "I see. That should be just fine, I think. My son and I are focused on our pill making and martial arts cultivation and have no political aspirations, being foreigners. We need capable and loyal people only, and care not of their previous details as long as they are willing to take and unbreakable vow of loyalty to myself and my son."

That was news to Harry as he didn't think he was ready to be anyone's Master – he had no idea what that even meant! – but it seemed it wasn't really up to him so he just shifted on his feet a little and let Snape continue.

The Tooth Lady's sharp eyes didn't miss Harry shifting around, and said more or less to herself, "Then the loyalty bond will be to both the Master and the Di son? Very well, I think that can easily be arranged." She then looked at Harry, and as if she was speaking to both of them now, started to point to the 3 dozen or so men that the assistant where ushering forward, while the other assistant escorted Chamberlin Wang and Zhao Momo to stand outside the circle and to the right.

Harry quickly glanced at them, and both were smiling and nodding at whatever the assistant was telling them. Both looked… rather happy to be selected by Snape and Harry.

Harry shook it off and focused on what the Tooth Lady was telling them:

"…all of the men are in good health, trained from birth to fight, and as requested no one is lower than Foundation phase, and three of them are in the Golden Core phase. They don't have any binding contracts on them, nor forced loyalties, so they were able and willing to take on a loyalty contract."

Snape nodded, and asked, "3 Golden Core? Well done. Now, how did you get your hands on so many well-trained military men I wonder?" Snape gave the Tooth Lady a look that Harry was very familiar with having been on the receiving end multiple times, usually following the words "what are you three doing indoors on a day like this?" together with that suspicious look that made any wizard with an ounce of self preservation want to tell him everything.

The Tooth Lady was no exception, as she visibly paled, and hurried to explain, "Nothing that isn't above board I assure you, Great Master! All of them have Ownership papers, and were Government Sales. They were former military but when our other neighbour Zhou County fell and was swallowed by Liang and Yan, these men were sold to various traders as spoils of war as is customary. They have neither king nor country, so they are a safe prospect. They have military discipline and training and are easy to control once you have their loyalty." Harry noticed she was sweating a little, and quite urgently trying to explain and wondered if Snape was really that terrifying. Then he remembered that Snape for all that he was a good guy now, was also once Voldemort's right-hand man and privately applauded the Tooth Lady's wisdom to view him as a threat if he was displeased.

Snape looked at her a little bit longer, and only said, "Hm." Then proceeded to walk around the men who stood stock still, facing forward, and were deadly silent.

Snape still wasn't quite satisfied it seemed, because he picked a man at random – at least Harry thought it was random – and asked, "Is this true? Were you former military, who were defeated and became indentured servants?"

The man he was addressing looked the same as the other men, in similar clothes, but his eyes were sharp when he finally looked Snape in the eye, and replied with a simple, "Yes. Sir."

Snape kept looking at him, and Harry had to admit the man had balls because he didn't look away or look intimidated, "You were from a minor noble house, weren't you? You were a captain, then?" The man looked surprised but nodded, "How many men served under you?" Snape asked, and Harry wondered why he was suddenly so interested, then realized that these people were meant to protect their house in the future.

"10, 000 men. Sir." It was clear the man wasn't quite happy to call Snape sir, but also knew not to piss off his potential future Master.

"Very well Captain. You and the other 2 Golden Core phase can have the rest of the men report to you three. You will report to me and my son directly. Do your jobs well, which means never – and I do mean, never – let harm come to my son, and me. For your loyalty, I will make sure that every man who is at Foundation will reach Primordial Baby phase, and you three, I believe, should be able to reach Incarnation phase. I will of course still need an unbreakable loyalty vow. Do you accept?"

The man's eyes widened comically, and Harry was about to laugh till he glanced at the Tooth Lady and saw her and her assistants looking completely pole-axed. Harry wondered what it was that Snape had promised them since he didn't really understand what babies have to do with anything, but then suddenly, all the men who had been standing looking like statues, all 5 dozen of them fell to one knee as if they had practiced it their whole lives and in one voice which Harry had to admit was kind of cool proclaimed loudly, "These servants proclaim loyalty to the Master and Di Son. We will serve unwaveringly and till the last man standing!"

The Tooth Lady looked like a new day had arrived, and patting her forehead with a silk handkerchief, said, "Master, to make such a promise… is it wise?"

Snape just smirked at her, and said casually, "Didn't Great Master Xuan tell you? I am a grade 9 Pill and Potions Master."

Harry had never seen a bunch of people look so happy over a proclamation. The military men who were still kneeling on one knee seemed to be hiding wide smiles, and two of them were even openly crying. Harry was completely bewildered, and he glanced at one of the assistants who seemed to have recovered rather quickly. Clearly his what-the-fuck look didn't need translating, because she discreetly came over to him and explained in a quiet voice that Snape had basically promised to save them from guaranteed mortal death. She explained that Foundation phase fighters could only live 200 years, while the Golden Core men only had 500-year lifespans," Harry personally thought that was already longer than any wizard in Britain but to his astonishment, she continued to explain, that the Primordial Baby phase meant 1500-year lifespan while Incarnation phase meant a whopping 2000 years lifespan!

Harry had never even heard of such a thing, and wondered why in Merlin's name Voldemort needed the Philosopher Stone if there were much easier ways to obtain immortality, and decided to ask Snape about it later.

He felt like someone just took the carpet out from under him. The assistant explained that a Grade 9 Pill and Potions Master could make such a guarantee because most people used pills to cultivate higher phases, because True Encounters – and Harry could hear the capital letters here so he figured it was another Thing – didn't happen to most people. Only very rich families could afford the pills needed to extend their lives that long and one still needed to be gifted in the Art before it would work.

The way she spoke, made it sound like she was contemplating ditching her own Mistress and begging Master Snape to take her into his house.

The man who Snape referred to as Captain Li, offered to take the oath then and there with his men eagerly echoing the sentiment, and Harry saw Snape give one of his classic smirks when he was pleased the way a situation worked out. Harry thought of it as his Slytherin Smirk, but wisely didn't say so.

Snape assured them that the oaths will be taken shortly before they officially entered the house and all the men left the yellow dome in a much more jovial state then when they had arrived. They all moved over to stand behind the Chamberlin and Harry could see the Chamberlin quietly ask the men what had happened. The man, Captain Li seemed eager to tell him, and Harry watched both the Chamberlin and Momo's eyes widen and both started whispering excitedly to each other, smiles on their faces.

Harry shook it off and got ready to be introduced to the next batch, which turned out to be the Chefs. Chefs were apparently kind of a big deal, especially the ones versed in imperial cuisine, because Tooth Lady seemed even more proud of them than the military men she found for Snape.

"These are two of my best Chefs, and they are under Open Contracts – meaning they could buy their freedom one day of course – they are in very high demand and I can tell you some of my noble houses will not be best pleased that I sold them. Chef Ma is from Chuan County – Mortals call it Sichuan – and he specializes in northern imperial cuisine, as well as Sichuanese, Hunan, and Shandong cousins. Chef Lu on the other hand is from the south, and he specializes in Imperial, Cantonese, Fujian, Jiangsu, Anhui and Zhejiang. Between them, you have all eight culinary cuisines." The Tooth Lady smiled, toothily, "I also took the liberty in brining along a pastry chef, even though you didn't ask for one, but I figured you had a growing boy to feed, and a new household which will receive many visitors. Her tea cakes and desserts are very superior, and she even knows how to make goblin desserts. Many noble ladies would 'borrow' her during Flower Viewing or Poetry Events" The Tooth Lady was clearly very well connected because Harry didn't think anyone knew about Snape's love for goblin plum cakes but, Snape only nodded and said to add her to the kitchen staff, looking pleased.

Both chefs looked confident, though Chef Ma was in his late 30s early 40s and of a somewhat short stature, while Chef Lu was comparatively taller but older, in his mid 40s. Both looked a little unsure how they were supposed to please the palate of two foreigners, but Harry smiled at them tentatively and they both seemed to relax a little. The lady Chef, whose name turned out to be Chef Song Mei, was short and plump, with a very happy face. She was the youngest of the lot, looking like she wasn't even quite 30 yet.

"You also requested someone with medicinal cuisine experience, and I am pleased to inform you that Chef Lu has quite a reputation in it, and Chef Song Mei also has some passing knowledge. She could easily be trained in the art."

While the Tooth Lady extoled the virtues of the various chefs, Harry again reminded himself that this was Magical China, and people's age and their face did not necessarily indicate their actual age. For all he knew, Chef Song Mei could easily be 3000 years old or something. He vowed to not make assumptions and to treat everyone courteously and respectfully. That at least couldn't be wrong, could it?

After having met the next two batches of men and women – namely the grade one to 'rough' attendants and each were sorted and assigned to the Chamberlin and to Zhao Momo, including the two backup Momo's who were to report to Zhao Momo herself. Harry could see a sort of hierarchy forming among the staff. There were some really weird comments like "They are all virgins of course" as if that somehow mattered? And there was a funny moment where the Tooth Lady implied that if Snape was interested in a Head Wife, she could be of service to which Snape quickly and sternly declined.

Harry marveled that everyone just automatically knew where they stood in the pecking order. He could tell that by the way the 'lower' cast 'rough' staff stood as far away from the Chamberlin and Momo's, while the grade one servants stood close to them. The military men on the other hand stood around all the servants in a kind of protective U, and Harry couldn't help feel happy that the clearly saw themselves as protectors of the entire household, not just Harry and Snape. Something inside Harry relaxed a little at that.

Then the Tooth Lady brought forward the boys. Harry was very curious about them, and managed to ask Snape quietly how come they were being sold, as if they were slaves. Snape quietly told him in English that some of these kids were sold by their parents for money because they came from poor circumstances, and others had similar fates like his new Companion boy. Harry quietly asked what the Companion boy's job was and why he needed one, and Snape just as quietly told him that the Companion boy's job is to be a personal servant who took care of things Harry didn't want others to know about or see, as well as helping him navigate Chinese society and as a companion for learning, so he won't be alone in his classes when he wasn't on the mountain training.

"You – didn't just buy me a friend, did you?" Harry hissed at him, scandalized. Snape just laughed at him, and informed him that no, that was just a servant who was simply better educated. Then Harry's head turned so fast he nearly heard it crack when Snape smirked and said rather distractedly, "Great Master Xuan will be selecting your friends in a week or two, don't worry."

Oh, they were going to have words later! Harry thought, fuming.

He must have been scowling because the boys who were being presented all shrank back as one, except for one boy who looked like he dearly wanted to step back but his pride wouldn't allow it.

That must be my companion boy, Harry thought. Well, may as well make friends.

So, he walked up to the boy who hadn't retreated, and stuck out his hand, saying, "Hi, my name is Harry. What's yours?"

The boy looked completely mystified and somewhat apprehensive of Harry's stuck-out hand, and then Harry clued in that the poor boy probably had no idea what shaking hands was, and grabbed the boy's right hand and shook it once, before letting go, and smiling at him.

The boy looked completely confused on what was happening but offered a tentative smile. Harry wondered why he didn't reply but then realized that maybe Harry hadn't spoken in Chinese but in English. He looked back at Snape for help, and found Snape trying not to laugh.

Seeing that the Master and the little Master were smiling and touching the servants, without violence, the rest of the boys seemed to relax a little. That had been what Harry had hoped for but he didn't realize that he had to make a fool of himself first.

Snape helped to translate to the boy, and explained to him that Harry didn't actually speak Chinese, which made the boy look terrified again, and then explained that he had taken the translation pill, and he would need the boy's help to speak Chinese to him as often as possible so that the translation pill could properly be absorbed.

Hearing this the boy looked a lot happier and even eager, and said in what Harry now recognized as Chinese, "My name is yours to give Little Master. It is my honor to serve you and be your companion for the rest of my days." The he bowed very deeply to Harry.

Harry turned to Snape and what he thought sounded maybe a little high pitch hissed out, "He doesn't even have a name?!"

Snape looked like he was about to laugh again, but refrained thankfully, "Most servants were renamed by their master once they were under a Permanent Contract. You can name him whatever you want but I suggest you ask the Chamberlin what would be appropriate. I don't think he would appreciate a foreign name he can't even pronounce."

Harry felt a headache coming on, but vowed to himself that this was just … Another Thing. He would get used to it. He would.

But Merlin, it was just so… odd.

Meanwhile Snape told the boy that since they were foreigners, they did not wish to give the unattractive names to all their staff, so maybe the boy could tell them his original name and they could work from there?

The boy nodded tentatively, and almost at a whisper said, "Yes Master. My name had been Ye Yong. However, Chamberlin Wang warned me to never use my name, in case…" the boy looked down at his shoes, and looked a step from fidgeting.

Snape got a thoughtful look on his face, and said, "That was very smart of him. Yes, I think it is best if we do not let you use your old name. How about we call you Ye Wen instead. Your father had wished you to be a martial man one day, but I think, being a literary one has just as much merit. What do you think?"

The boy's eyes got very round, and in a broken voice he said, "Master, you would… let me keep my last name?"

Snape didn't say anything for a moment, then said, "Yes. A boy should always remember where he came from. I think that would have pleased your father, who clearly loved you very much, to entrust you to Chamberlin Wang's care before disaster struck."

The boy had tears running down his cheeks and Harry was almost embarrassed for him; except he didn't look ashamed. Just… really grateful.

Maybe crying was viewed differently here?

"Thank you Master. Thank you, little Master. I will not let either of you down." Then he bowed even lower than before.

Snape nodded at him, and said, "Raise, and go join Chamberlin Wang now. Good boy."

The boy – Ye Wen – nodded, whipped his face, and with a big smile at Harry, bounded off towards their Chamberlin.

Chamberlin Wang hugged the boy to his side and bend down to speak to him, glancing back at Snape and Harry. Ye Wen clearly told him what Snape had said, because now the Chamberlin also had tears in his eyes, and he bowed low to Snape again.

Harry though, okay, so, kindness goes a long way here, like everywhere. Good to know.

The Herb and Pill boys and girls were more men and women than boys and girls, but Harry didn't comment since Snape seemed satisfied. Harry supposed that there were a few younger boys and one younger girl but Snape seemed overall pleased, after he spent 15 minutes quizzing them in rapid fire Chinese.

Unlike his potions class however, these people were focused and determined, and answered quickly and if one missed a detail another immediately spoke up to add to it.

Yeah, Harry thought, Snape sure looked pleased with that bunch.

The Tooth Lady was clearly skilled at her job because all the applicants had passed swimmingly. Harry wasn't sure if this was because Snape standards were low – unlikely – or because the Tooth Lady really was just that good – much more likely, since Great Master Xuan vouched for her.

She went into great detail and knew just what information was relevant and which was not. She clearly had Great Master Xuan's confidence for a reason.

She did this with all the staff, explaining their backgrounds, skillsets and the like. The head accountant turned out to be a tiny woman by the name of Xiang Rong. She smiled from beginning to end, and just seemed very happy with her lot in life overall. Harry wondered if it was okay to give all their money in the courtyard to be managed by someone so happy-go-lucky, till she turned and started barking orders like a military sergeant to her other two assistants who seemed to be very used to this and immediately produced floating scrolls with brushes that recorded all her orders in neat script.

The Tooth Lady conspiratorially told him that Xiang Rong was very good at her job, and that her two assistants were always sold with her as they were her nieces, and were trained by her since birth to do math and assist her.

The Shadows, which Harry had been most curious about, only arrived when all the other staff had been ushered away by Chamberlin Wang and Zhao Momo. The Tooth Lady had also brought with her 2 tailors and 4 of their assistants in the late afternoon, and Chamberlin Wang and Zhao Momo nearly pounced on them to produce staff uniforms overnight.

Snape had been consulted, by the Chamberlin and Accountant Xiang Rong and they were both assured that the Master was a rich man, and therefore the uniforms should be of the highest quality. For color scheme, in leu of a Lady in the house, Harry was asked, and he decided a blue would make a nice neutral color between the Gryffindor red and Slytherin green.

He suggested, since the manor had no Mistress, that the men who served Snape should be in greens, and people assigned to him should be in shades of blue. For the ladies, he blushed and said he had no idea what was appropriate, to which Zhao Momo looked at him with a great deal of fondness and suggested that shades of lavender would go well with the blues and greens of the others. Harry then and there decided that Zhao Momo was his favorite.

His Companion boy would be given dark charcoal robes which matched his dark blue ones nicely, she told him, and highlight the boy's long hair.

When all the servants had left them, and only the Tooth Lady and her two assistants - who now only looked at the floor and nowhere else - were left, the Tooth Lady brough down the dome, which surprised Harry, then clapped her hands twice.

Suddenly there just were 22 men in black clothes and black facemasks kneeling in front of them. If Harry hadn't been so used to being terrorised by Dudley, he would have jumped out of his skin.

As it were, he only felt his heart try to reach his brain stem in shock, and wondered where in the hells these men had come from since they were standing in an open courtyard with the closest tree and bush at least 20 meters away.

The Tooth Lady waved her hand again, and the yellow dome covered them again, except this time, it was opaque.

"These are the Shadows you requested. 6 imperials trained, the rest royal noble houses and the like. All of their loyalty contracts had been broken with their masters' dead. None of them had failed in protecting their masters as their orders had been to protect family members or gathering information, as is their training. All of them are above Primordial Infant early or mid phase, as you requested. None of them have names, only numbers." The Tooth Lady was surprisingly serious when she said this, and Harry wasn't quite sure why, but Snape said, "Imperial trained. I see. You may rise." That to the Shadows, then to the Tooth Lady, "Good job. You have earned your bonus."

The Tooth Lady smiled the biggest smile yet, and left the dome, her assistants right beside her. Harry wondered why she left when Snape then turned to the Shadows, and started to speak, "You are all men who had a noble purpose once, and who were trained for that since a young age. You lost your purpose at the death of your masters, of no fault of your own. With your purpose, you also lost your benefactor who raised you up, fed you, clothed you, and invested in you to be at the Primordial Baby phase that you are in now. With that loss, you also lost your chance to be at the pinnacle of your martial arts and magic. Without a benefactor, you will die of old age, like a mortal." He stood in front of them, while they stared at him, faceless men in front of a general, it seemed. "I am a grade 9 potions Master."

Snape let that sit in the air for a moment. No one moved, but Harry noticed that the magic in the air suddenly thickened.

"My son and I are under the protection of Great Master Xuan's House, as well as the Goblin Nation."

Snape let that settle in also.

Harry belatedly remembered that Snape had been the Slytherin Head of House. Power play was kind of his thing, wasn't it? To keep all those snotty aristocratic wizards in line for all those years. Not to mention Voldemort.

"There are people after my son. Very powerful people. But they do not know he is in China, and they are far away in Europe. They will hopefully, never know. My son must fulfil a prophecy, and that will be his driving force, to get strong before the time of the prophecy forces him to fight one of these very powerful people, and change the fate of an entire country. He does not have a choice in this, as it is a true prophecy. It would therefore be your job, to protect both of us, but most of all him, from any and all threats to his life and well being. I won't lie to you, he is a magnet for trouble, but he is also a good boy who will end up having to fight and kill a monster. You would be risking your lives and might even be asked to lay down yours for his. In exchange, I can guarantee you Divinity phase. On your own, you would never reach it. But with my help, it would not even take 100 years. Less so for those of you naturally talented already.

I will give you a few minutes to decide."

Snape then turned away from the Shadows and his eyes landed on Harry, and Harry just gaped at him like an idiot. He hadn't expected Snape to – get him bodyguards of all things! That was just – so over the top! Harry had no idea what to say or do. He wanted to say no, because it wasn't okay to have to follow a kid around just in case something happens to him, but on the other hand, he kind of thought it might have been nice to have some bad-ass wizards on his side when he was fighting the Basilisk. That had been kind of scary, and maybe then he wouldn't have been bitten and almost died by the worlds deadliest poison. He was incredibly conflicted, but then Snape leaned down, and muttered quietly in English, "You aren't allowed to refuse. You have had too many close calls already, and I won't take those kinds of risks to your life. You trusted me to not let you die, let me do what I must to make that happen. Not just Dumbledore and Voldemort are dangerous Harry. China has its shares of dangers too. Besides, you won't even know they were there."

Snape stood up and turned back around, looking for all the world like he was willing to wait for ages.

He needn't have bothered, by the time he had turned around, he had 22 kneeling-on-one-knee Shadows, their answers clear.

Snape smiled a truly pleased smile then.

The Shadows were sworn in right away. The Tooth Lady pleased as punch as she handed over their Ownership contracts, received the notice that money would be transferred to her via Gringotts by the morning, and blood loyalty oats given.

The spell had been fairly simple, their blood given willingly, Snape and Harry's blood to bind them to both, a few strings of Chinese chanting, and that had been that. Harry hadn't even pulled his wand out.

He felt rather annoyed about that actually. Until he realized he performed blood magic with his adopted father to own a human being.

That felt. Yeah, Harry wasn't okay with that. Bu then he remembered Snape's offer to them, a combination of pills and soul stones, and decided to try and think of it as a really odd employment contract. He wondered how many years Divinity gave if Primordial Baby gave them 1500 years. It must be a lot, because no one looked regretful, or even hesitant to be joining their household. Harry wondered if they just didn't understand what was after him? Could that be it? China probably hadn't heard of Voldemort after all.

Out of 22 shadows, 12 of them were on permanent Harry-watch. Two of them at a time no matter where Harry went or what else was happening.

Harry was simultaneously mortified and comforted. It was a really conflicting feeling!

His two Shadows - because he couldn't bring himself to acknowledge the other 10 - with Snape's help, he named An Ying and Yin Ying.

That evening after they had settled all their new staff, or more accurately when their new Chamberlin and Momo settled their new staff, Harry took a quiet moment of sharing yet more tea to ask Snape:

"Sir, um, what is Qi, exactly?" Harry had been dying to know since the afternoon and he finally got a chance to ask.

Snape looked at him, but not like he didn't want to answer, more like he wasn't sure how best to describe it. "For all intense purposes, think of it as magic." Harry looked at him in surprise, "Yes magic. But magic in its most raw form is known as Qi here. You will hear it referred like that often because Chinese wizards do not use wands. You noticed that didn't you?" Snaped smirked at him, and continued, "Instead, they use the rawest form of magic and with years of practice, transmute it inside their bodies to be something very powerful. Their magic is a lot more powerful their ours actually, but takes comparatively considerably longer to learn. They also use it completely differently from us. Before you ask, you won't have a steep learning curve since your wand has never been able to contain your magic very well anyway, which leads me to believe that you had been trying to channel raw Qi for a long time instinctively and this was why you had very little control over it. If anything, your wand had been limiting you."

Harry looked at his want, feeling mixed feeling of betrayal and indignation. His wand had been the first thing that showed he was a wizard; how could it hinder him?

Snape gave him a small knowing smile, "You will see. Once we have settled in, I will show you the basics. You will pick it up quickly, I am sure."

Harry nodded reluctantly, and then decided to leave it and ask something else instead:

"Sir, then what is Ling? I keep hearing it. The fish and the incense and – oh, those blue stones Gringotts gave us which were supposed to be money! King Yao called them soul stones but that didn't seem right to me. What is it actually?"

"Well spotted, Harry." Snape said and Harry felt that warmth again, he was starting to get used to it already, much to his horror, "Ling is a word you will hear often attached to magical thing. It derives from the word 'Ling Xing' which are things that have both self-awareness and magic." Snape explained, "It gets a little confusing because while the fish are clearly alive and can gather ambient magic for you, the incense aren't alive, are they?" at Harry's headshake, Snape continued, "They are called Ling incense because the plants needed to make them have Ling in them, or rather, they were both alive and magical prior to being made into incense." Snape paused in thought, "There are many things which are considered having Ling. Things like sprites, certain kinds of trees, plants, even food. You will frequently hear of animals referred to as Ling Shou, or Magical Animals really, because with enough time and magic, magical animals can become as intelligent as humans, and the more powerful ones can even shapeshift themselves into humans." At Harry's astonished look, Snape smiled and added, "Yes imagine if your pet could suddenly turn into a human one day. That is however unlikely. It takes thousands of years for Ling Shou to reach that level of sentience, otherwise there would be a lot more advocacy for animal rights I imagine."

Shaking off the idea of a talking pet, Harry thought to ask an even more pressing question:

"What makes you think we will be safe here Sir? Wouldn't Dumbledore know where you apprenticed?"

"Did this only just occur to you? Hm. Well I suppose that can't be helped. You weren't raised in Slytherin so you wouldn't think of it immediately." At Harry's indignant look, Snape laughed, "Yes, Dumbledore knows where I apprenticed even if he doesn't know the details. But I faked my death before I left Hogwarts, so he won't think to look here. Even if he did, our house is now under Great Master Xuan's protection, as I am his former apprentice. The courtyard itself has a great many enchantments on it already, but we do need to add more now that we will be staying here frequently."

Harry gaped at him.

Surely, he was missing the point. Surely. "Sir, f - faked your death?" because, Harry thought, don't just throw that out there and keep going! Merlin!

Snape had the audacity to smirk, "Yes, my better work I must admit. What did you think King Yao was talking about when she talked about loaning me those golems of hers? The explosion I arranged made quite a mess in the potions classroom I am afraid. Experiment gone wrong, you see. Very sudden. Very unexpected. Quite violent I am afraid. Only an arm was left, the one with the dark mark of course. I thought it poetic really. I had to leave my rooms exactly as if I had expected to return at any moment. I even left a half-eaten tea-cake on the table by my favorite chair by the fireplace. I thought it a rather nice touch personally." His smirk got bigger as Harry continued to gape at him.

"My books are fine, of course, as everything that I kept in Hogwarts were copies and Albus knew that. I wonder what kind of funeral they will hold for me." Harry rather thought Snape was talking to himself, and realized Snape was relaxed for once. It just figured that blowing up his classroom and faking his death would be the thing to relax him.

Slytherins, honestly.

Taking the opportunity of Snape actually being chatty, Harry dared to ask, "But... that means you gave up your life for good in England."

Snape's gaze snapped towards him as if coming out of some deep thoughts and fixed on him, after a moment he said, "Yes Harry. I decided you were worth doing that. It can be a new beginning for both of us."

"But, but what about Voldemort?" Harry couldn't help ask.

"Grow up, grow strong, then worry about Voldemort." Snape said seriously, "They have a country full of wizards, sooner or later someone will take him out or at least weaken him, and that someone doesn't have to be you. Until you are an adult, your responsibility is to study, develop as a person, and get stronger. That would benefit you with or without Voldemort, so it goes without saying."

Harry stared at him some more, but had to nod after a while. It wasn't like he was that much help against Quirrell or even the Diary Voldemort, and that had been just a memory.

Harry rather liked knowing what he was supposed to do. Snape didn't expect anything else from him other than what any parent expected from their kid. Harry knew that, but he hadn't known-known that. Snape was telling him to just grow up first, then worry about adult things. He wasn't sure if he would feel this way if Hermione got hurt, or Ron, but for now, there wasn't more he could do anyway. Both Dumbledore and Voldemort wanted him dead, and he was kind of really not on board with that idea. So, he resolved again to study as hard as he could this time round, and make some friends who also want to study hard maybe?

Harry refocused as Snape started talking again, "Harry, I can only provide you an opportunity in this world, and I will try my best to support you in whatever area you wish to develop, but some things – many things – you will have to fight for on your own, as all things in life. The professors here will favor talent, but we are two foreigners in a country full of politics, and while we have Great Master Xuan's backing, which is by no means insignificant, as he is the head of the Pill Sect here in the city, but we still have to return his support with our achievements. In essence, we are permanent guests here. You saw today how Pill Masters are viewed, so our lives won't be bad, but we will be under some scrutiny. However, I promise it would be nothing compared to your time in the British wizarding world."

Harry couldn't help but smile. It would be hard to top the wizarding's world insanity towards him. Harry also personally thought it made a kind of practical sense. He had learned when he was very young, that everything had a price. He also realized he didn't trust many things if he could not clearly see and accept what that price was. Magical China seemed to put all that out in the open. Certainly, there seem to be kind feelings and sympathetic help, but everyone lived on a kind of equal trade system where relationships which were not family were maintained by the exchange of favors, gifts and mutual acknowledgement of one's place in the world. Family seemed to be even more complicated.

He really did have a lot to learn.

Harry also asked Snape if maybe the translation pill was working correctly because all through the day, he had been able to more or less understand the conversations going on around him, and even read some of the characters, but he still couldn't speak the language without actively, well, trying to speak it. When he wasn't paying attention, he would still slip back into English like he did when trying to talk to his companion boy. He had managed to offer the correct greeting at the shops and to Great Master Xuan but besides that, everything he said still came out in English.

Snape assured him this was normal, because hearing didn't require new muscles, but speaking a language he had never spoken did. Snape warned him that in the morning, there was a likely chance he would have a sore throat or feel strange tingling in his esophagus, but assured him that was normal and it was just the pill doing its job. He promised that tomorrow it will get easier, and Harry reluctantly accepted that.

When Harry asked what was up with the babies finally and why everyone was so obsessed with them, Snape wrote this out for him, explaining these were the stages a wizard can go through to attain long life and even immortality, and it also increased ones bad-assedness. Well, no Snape didn't say that but he meant that. On a scroll like paper – and what did the wizarding world as a whole have against pens? – using brush and ink expertly, Snape wrote:

锻体 (Duan Ti – Body Forging or Body Phase ) – 100 years

练气 (Lian Qi – Qi Refining or Meditation Phase) - 100 years or more

筑基 (Zhu Ji – Foundation Building phase ) – 200 years

金丹 ( Jin Dan – Golden Core or Pill Forming Phase) – 500 years

元婴 (Yuan Ying – Primordial Infant or Immortality phase) – 1500 years

分神 (Fen Shen – Incarnation phase ) - 2000 years

出窍 (Chu Qiao – Divinity phase) - 5000 years

合体 (He Ti – Merging or Transcendence phase) - 10,000 years

渡劫 (Du Jie – Tribulation or Judgement phase)

大乘 (Da Cheng – Mahayana)

地仙 (Di Xian – Earth Celestial)

天仙 (Tian Xian – Sky Celestial)

神仙 (Shen Xian – Godhood)

Well.

That.

Made no sense to Harry. At all.

None of it made sense.

Voldemort made no sense either because if this was true, and it seemed that an entire country believed it to be, then Voldemort… was… an idiot.

They bid each other good nights quite late, and Harry wondered at the change in Snape.

His old professor was acting completely unlike himself. For one, he was very patient with Harry. For two, he hasn't insulted or embarrassed Harry even once, and even went as far as to make life easier on him. For three, he seemed to be treating Harry's safety like the most important mission in his life.

Okay maybe Harry was being little dramatic, but still.

Harry was struggling to reconcile his acerbic, Gryffindor-hating, everyone-else-except-Slytherin-hating professor, with this… person.

It occurred to Harry, that if he felt like his entire life had been a lie, and his actions killed his best friend, even if they were estranged, and then learned that the person who was supposed to be his savior was just as bad as Voldemort, and had also forced him to teach children which he hated and had no interest in teaching for years on end… well, Harry admitted, he might be a touch grouchy also.

Aunt Petunia would have called him crochety maybe.

He mused about this as he tried to remember how to get back to his apartment. Harry had to turn and double back twice before he found his own apartments but he managed.

See, he thought, just like Hogwarts.

To his surprise, his companion boy Ye Wen was waiting for him in his rooms. Someone had found him a nicer robe, and the boy looked a lot better in a charcoal robe, and matching head circlet for his long hair. The boy smiled at him, and pointed at Harry's shiny new table, where Harry found some kind of rice soup thing sitting in a bowl, and a bunch of tiny little dishes laid out around it, with a ceramic spoon on a little stand waiting for him.

Ye Wen smiled at him again and gestured for him to eat.

Harry wondered why he wasn't speaking, then he remembered that Ye Wen probably didn't realize Harry could understand him.

He focused as hard as he could, and noticed the moment the pill forced Chinese out of his mouth instead of English, he could tell he had a horrible accent and hoped Ye Wen could understand him anyways, "Thank you for preparing that for me, but I am not very hungry right now. It is late, why are you still here? Did Zhao Momo not assign rooms for you yet?"

Harry thought he said that, but he noticed he sounded different from how Chinese people sounded when they spoke and that some words had been changed. He had tried to say "Did Zhao Momo not give you rooms yet" but the pill seemed to prefer a more formal way of speaking. He will have to pay attention to that, Harry thought, or end up sounding like… well, like Snape actually.

Ye Wen's eyes widened when he realized Harry was speaking Chinese, albeit horribly accented Harry was sure, and said in a hurry, "I apologize little Master. I meant no disrespect. Zhao Momo already assigned me rooms, but it is my duty to serve your daily needs so I will be staying by your side until you retire, and it will also be my job to guard your rooms at night in case you had any needs. I will clear away the food right away."

Harry stopped him with a hand because the boy, who honestly looked the same age as Harry, looked a little frantic, as if he was afraid he had upset Harry.

Harry focused again, because he had to get this right, "You did nothing wrong Ye Wen, please relax. I know we only met today but…" Harry sighed. He didn't really know how to do this. "I am not… used to servants. Or having anyone around me actually. I… grew up in a very different world from this one. So, there are many things I don't know. You will have to tell me about those things that I do not know."

Harry could tell the pill was formalizing a lot of his speech but it couldn't be helped. He hoped Ye Wen didn't think him a dunce or something, "I… only found out we were coming here a little more than 2 days ago. Before that, I knew nothing of your country, as I imagine you know nothing of mine?"

When Ye Wen nodded reluctantly, Harry smiled at him.

"That's good then. It means we are both starting from the same point. From nothing. We can teach each other. What do you say?"

Ye Wen's had started to smile tentatively, but at Harry's question, he immediately dropped to his knees and bowed low, saying loudly, "Yes little Master! Of course, it will be my privilege and pleasure to serve you."

Okay, Harry thought, clearly, I said something wrong. He bent down to quickly hoist Ye Wen up from his knees.

"Please don't do that. The… kneeling thing. I am very uncomfortable with it, because where I come from, you don't kneel to anyone. Ever. Only maybe the Queen herself, and even then, it is on one knee." Harry said, when Ye Wen looked very confused, "See this is what I mean Ye Wen. I did something wrong just now. I wanted to –" here he had to pause and think because what had he wanted exactly? "I wanted to make you more comfortable and to tell you it is okay that you don't know anything about my culture and I don't know anything about yours. That we will learn together. That was all. But somehow, what I said, made you feel like you needed to reassure me of my authority? This is what I mean by I don't know what I am doing. I only consumed the translation pill this morning, so even right now, what I mean to say, is coming out all wrong and… formal. I will definitely need your help to learn." He smiled reassuringly to Ye Wen, who looked like he had finally clued in that Harry was seriously struggling, and offered his own reassuring smile.

"Little Master, if what you said is true, then you are already much further ahead then anyone gave you credit for!" Ye Wen started to walk Harry towards his bed area, as he spoke, "Our ways are very different from what Chamberlin told me, to the western ways. It will take a little bit of time, but please do not concern yourself. You will be entering Kun Lun School soon, and with your superior talent, I am sure you will only be successful."

Mentally, Harry added 'personal cheerleader' to the job of a Companion boy, and felt a headache coming on. Snape had a lot of to answer for, Harry thought grumpily.

He was too tired to try and explain this all to Ye Wen tonight, so he decided to just leave it, because maybe by tomorrow the pill would be working better and he could try again. Instead, he decided to just call it a day, and head to bed.

He told this to Ye Wen who immediately smiled and went to get his pajamas for him.

Harry was about to protest that he wasn't a little kid and could get his own clothes thank you very much when he realized he had actually had no idea where his clothes even were.

Turned out, his clothes were in the giant cabinet against the far-right wall near his bed and the dressing table. He didn't even know when Snape had time to drop off his things or when exactly the staff had seen fit to put them away. He didn't much care for this feeling of helplessness, so he vowed to explore his own rooms first thing in the morning.

Ye Wen insisted on helping him undress also, which would normally have mortified Harry, but considering he honestly wasn't sure how he had even put his robes on in the first place, he was also kind of grateful for the help.

Ye Wen seemed to notice his discomfort and chatted at him that in Magical China, it was perfectly normal to have help with dressing, especially for someone of his 'station', since the wealthier you were, and the higher your family status was, the more complicated your clothes got. He even conspiratorially told Harry that when it came to the Imperial Family, one needed several servants to dress one, because the clothes got that elaborate. Ye Wen also mentioned that for the ladies, that was doubly so as their hair required a lot of time to be made just so.

Harry could tell that Ye Wen was curious about Harry's own short hair, but still didn't know him enough to dare to ask, so Harry offered that in his country, only females wore their hair long and if a boy wore his long, many people would try to make fun of him.

Ye Wen had a rather horrified look on his face, and Harry imagined, if Ye Wen had been as comfortable with Harry as Ron was, he would be calling the westerners barbarians.

That made him want to laugh a little inside, because who was he to say that wasn't true?

His pajamas turned out to be a white robe very similar to his underrobe, but from a very soft silk. Harry was almost afraid of putting them on, because he felt that if he so much as turned over in his sleep, he might rip the delicate garment. Since Ye Wen seemed to have decided the best way for Harry to get used to him was to chatter at Harry about whatever they were doing, in the hopes of discovering difference Harry assumed, that he also mentioned this was very high-quality silk but it was deceptively sturdy.

Ye Wen also commented that Snape must treasure his Di Son very much, that even his sleeping robes had protections on them.

At Harry's surprised look, the boy looked at him realizing Harry didn't know what he meant, and explained that the robes seemed to have a dreamless sleep enchantment woven into them, as well as a mid range mind protection embroidery woven in.

With some surprise, Harry wondered if maybe Voldemort or Dumbledore would try to get to Harry through his dreams or something, and suddenly felt very grateful to Snape for thinking so far ahead.

Snape really did seem to care, Harry mused, as he was led over to a basin with clear water and some kind of blue flower petals in it, and Ye Wen instructed him to wash his face with the water.

Immediately he felt sleepier and more relaxed from the fragrance coming up from the water, and asked Ye Wen what was in it.

Smiling, Ye Wen said this was a standard set up for nobility, as the flower was a type of ling rose which helped a person rest better. He pointed at the color of the flowers, and told Harry that in the morning, they will be pink ones, which helped one feel more refreshed and kept the skin nice and supple.

Harry wanted to say that he wasn't a girl to need his skin supple but before he could, Ye Wen said "after all, it is not just women who must care how they look. Everyone in a civilized society must put their best face forward in front of others, as that is the only way we can differentiate ourselves from animals in such a turbulent world." And Harry felt his teeth click, swallowing his protests.

A lot to learn, he reminded himself. A lot.

Toothbrushes at least looked the same, but there was a charm on them apparently so one didn't need toothpaste, thought Harry nearly spat his out because it didn't taste like mint at all! Instead, it tasted like tea! Green tea of all things.

It was really kind of gross, and he asked Ye Wen if maybe he could please have his old toothbrush instead.

If Ye Wen was surprised, he didn't show it, just smiled and said, "Of course little Master," and went to get it for him.

Once Harry had brushed his teeth - twice, for good measure, - that nasty taste of artificial tea lingering in his mouth no matter what he did, he decided that he really had enough for one day, and told Ye Wen he was going to turn in.

Ye Wen asked if he wanted him to 'guard his sleep' tonight, and he assured the boy he didn't need that, but to maybe leave a lamp on somewhere since Harry might need to use the restroom at some point. Ye Wen waved his hand over the food he had laid out, and it vanished. He then waved his hand again and a few small lanterns lit up with a mellow glow. Ye Wen waived his hand a third time, and a very quiet sound of bells could be heard around the room.

At Harry's quizzical look, Ye Wen told him it was a Servant charm, it would notify Ye Wen if the little Master called for him and he wasn't close enough to hear Harry.

Harry thought that was rather clever and told him so, and Ye Wen looked terribly pleased that his little Master approved of his care.

Bidding him goodnight, Ye Wen left him alone after drawing his bed curtains back and his room curtains closed, the mellow lantern light could be seen past them. Comforting without being annoyingly bright.

Lying on his new bed, with a ridiculously comfortable silk covered futon thing, Harry felt a little like Draco Malfoy in all this opulence.

You will get used to it. You will. So, what if you slept in a cupboard for most of your life? This, like Hogwarts was a new life. He thought to himself as he watched the sheer curtains close themselves when he thought of them closing, and they shimmered around him.

Harry realized that the curtains must have some kind of charm on them also, because they felt like a shield or some kind of protective magic. It felt warm and comforting, like all the stressful things in his life could no longer get to him.

With a smile on his face, he closed his eyes and was out before he could even wonder what tomorrow would be like.

Thanks to the time difference, he woke rather early the next morning. For a moment, he tried to reach for his glasses, but realized there wasn't a night table within reach. Then realized he could see even without them. Then he realized he didn't know where he was, except that he had slept very deeply, and didn't have any dreams at all. Not even about the Basilisk. He stayed in bed for a bit, just orienting himself and trying to let all the things that had happened in the last few days wash over him.

He was in his bed.

He had a bed.

He had a room.

Several rooms actually.

He was in Magical China and that still made everything inside him thrill a little in excitement.

He had left England.

And that meant…

He never ever had to go back to Private Drive.

That thought had him sitting up and smiling. Just then, seemingly feeling his excitement to start the day, his bed curtains opened on their own and silk cords fastened around the gauzy material.

Then Harry nearly jumped out of his skin because Ye Wen was right there.

"Good morning little Master! Did you not have a good rest last night? Did you wish to rest a little more maybe? It is barely Mao hour after all.

Harry blinked at him. "Mao hour?"

Ye Wen blinked back at him, and said hesitantly, "Yes little Master. The… time of day when the sun rises? Do you not… how do you keep time in the west little Master?"

That's how Harry found himself explaining the 24-hour counting system to a very mystified Ye Wen.

"If I understand correctly little master, Mao hour should be between 5 a.m. – here he paused a little to sound out the a.m. as he had clearly never heard of it – and 7 a.m." Ye Wen informed him hesitantly.

Harry just sat there staring at him.

It seemed Magical China didn't even tell time normally, Harry thought, and immediately had to chastise himself for having those thoughts. They are the normal ones; you are the foreigner in their country. Your way is the weird way, not theirs Harry, He reminded himself again.

Rubbing his forehead, a little, Harry tried to figure it out, "Okay so in China, you don't have 24 hours, you have 12? …right?"

"Oh, the Mortals have 24 hours. But in the Magical world, we still use the traditional way to count time." Ye Wen assured him, as if that was normal, then he hesitated,

Harry looked at him, and sighed, "Tell me please?"

Ye Wen smiled hesitantly and said, "We also do not follow the sun calendar but instead follow the moon calendar. Even our Mortals still follow both." He wasn't looking at Harry when he said that, but was tying off the curtains as if they hadn't just done it on their own already.

"So, my birthday is different in China then?" Harry asked, because Ye Wen was clearly waiting for him to blow up and he couldn't do that. Plus, he was honestly curious.

Ye Wen glanced at him then, and casually asked, "When is your birthday, little Master? In the sun calendar I mean." Suspiciously casually actually.

Harry started to get out of bed, and Ye Wen rushed over and knelt down to help him put his socks on. It seemed that the Chinese magical society had never heard of elastics because all their socks were made of cotton, but as soon as they were on, they tightened to fit perfectly around Harry's foot. Harry then leaded over with a sigh to haul Ye Wen off the floor again, because honestly, why so much kneeling? He could put socks on without help, he wasn't bloody Malfoy.

"I was born 1980, July 31st." Harry said quietly, thinking of all the birthdays he never had. Last year had been worse, because Dobby had hidden all the presents his friends had sent, and while Harry had been used to not getting anything on his birthday, the year before had spoiled him, what with Hagrid's cake and going to Hogwarts, so it had been extra disappointing.

"That would be 1980 June 20th in the moon calendar, little master." Ye Wen replied without missing a beat. "You missed it this year, but you are a westerner, so maybe celebrating it in July would make more sense? It is coming up soon after all."

Harry wondered if everyone just memorized these things or if it was just something you learned from childhood and shook it off. He realized that yes, his birthday really was coming up soon, end of the month in fact and felt a pang that he won't be getting any presents this year after all, since none of his friends knew where he was.

He wondered if Hedwig was okay at Hermione's.

Harry hoped he would get to see her again some day. The owl had been his first friend after all.

Shaking off the depressing thought, he told Ye Wen that he was still jet lagged so even if he wanted to, he couldn't sleep more right now. He got up and went over to the basin while Ye Wen looked through his wardrobe to find something appropriate for him to wear.

While it was still really uncomfortable for Harry, he was privately really glad for Ye Wen's existence in his life already. He really didn't want to go to Snape just to tell him he didn't know how to dress himself or what even to wear. He supposed that was why Snape had gotten him Ye Wen, because he likely also didn't want Harry going to him for every tiny little thing, of which there would be many, Harry thought.

Ye Wen selected another dark blue outfit for him, and Harry realized that while the outer robes were a dark blue embroidered with what looked to be flying cranes among clouds, there were also 2 other inner robes. The middle layer was a pale blue, while the innermost was white with a blue trim which matched the outer robe. The robes had to be worn from inner to outer. After Harry had yanked down his spider silk armor thing, which he had also slept in, Harry noticed. Ye Wen hadn't taken it off and Harry had been too tired to notice. Definitely had orders from Snape, Harry thought.

He was again ridiculously grateful for Ye Wen, as he couldn't for the life of him figure out which thing tied to what. All the robes sort of folded one against the other, so that the innermost white only peeked out at the collar, the light blue layered over that, and the dark blue over the lot of it. There were pants inside, but the flowy robe covered them, so you couldn't even tell he had pants on. Then there was the sash which seemed to synch everything together and hold the many layers in a nice uniformed way, and then another thinner sash which looked more like a white rope to Harry – but what did he know – was put in the center of the sash and tied off too. Harry wondered how he was supposed to use the bathroom wearing this but figured there had to be a way. His Identity Jade was fastened to dangle elegantly with a white tassel which matched the rope and made it look like it was meant to go together.

Harry had to remind himself several times that the jade won't break dangling like that. Snape had said he personally made it indestructible and Harry had to trust that he knew what he was talking about.

Ye Wen then brought him a bunch of accessories on a lacquered bamboo tray. Harry tried to protest, but Ye Wen looked absolutely scandalized at the idea that he would let Harry been seen without being properly dressed.

Considering this was the first extreme emotion Ye Wen had shown him so far, Harry decided it was probably a culture thing, and told Ye Wen that he should pick for him today but to keep it…modest.

This seemed to please the boy a lot and Harry congratulated himself in doing something right. He had a fleeting thought that Ye Wen reacted a lot like a house elf would – well, any house elf except Dobby that was – and immediately chastised himself for thinking that. Ye Wen was not a house elf!

…even if he was pleased by similar things as them.

The boy seemed to also take Harry's discomfort into account, and had him wear his storage ring, his second portkey – he never took the first one off last night Harry noticed, and wondered if this was Snape's instruction or if Ye Wen just didn't want to presume – and he absolutely insisted Harry have some kind of clip in his hair, like a girl would.

Harry was okay with the ring and portkeys but he really hated the clip, but Ye Wen assured him that since his hair was… eccentric, some normal styling was required for it to appear proper. He also waved his hand at Harry's hair for a while, and Harry was about to tell him not to bother, that his hair was a lost cause, when he felt his hair go somewhat limper on his head. Looking at the dressing mirror, he noticed that his hair looked smoother somehow, and miracle of miracles, it wasn't sticking up in any one direction.

At his look of surprise, Ye Wen muttered that he used to have two older sisters, and they were forever using his hair to experiment, plus it was a must-learn spell for a companion boys.

Harry had never felt so self conscious about having short hair in his life. He had insisted the clip be on his right side, since his scar was on the left, and he surreptitiously touched it to make sure the glamor was still covering the lightning bolt on his head. He trusted King Warwick of course, but Harry always had horrible luck when it came to things like this.

Ye Wen debated making him carry a fan, but seeing the reluctance on Harry's face, gave in and once his matching slippers were on his feet, Ye Wen proclaimed him dressed and presentable to the world. He then passed Harry 3 separate money pouches. 2 of them he instructed Harry to wear inside his ring, and another inside his left sleeve.

The robe Ye Wen had chosen today had the same long flowy sleeves as yesterday, and after Ye Wen had him put in a sword; 3 cases of pills from yesterday's shopping for healing, poison and prevention of drunkenness respectively; two changes of clothes including sash, shoes and head clips, all kept neat in a wooden box; a fan – just in case, apparently it served a tactical purpose? Harry had no idea but was actually quite curious. It was another thing if a fan was a weapon after all; Several gifts of various quality with matching boxes; and another dagger, also, just in case – Ye Wen said he was ready for the day.

Harry just stared at him, and finally shook his head. He felt a little like he was going off to war, not a day in his house, but it did help that it didn't weight anything at all. He could in fact forget he had anything on him, if he couldn't feel the very slight draw on his magic.

That was another thing. Ever since they had arrived to Magical China, Harry had been feeling like… well, it was a lot like how he felt from being able to breath while he was in Surry verses when he was at Hogwarts. His magic was breathing better. Everything in their courtyard had felt full of ambient magic, so much so that Harry felt a little high on it. He felt good, strong and like… he wanted to drink it all in. He thought he might have been drawing it into himself while he had been sleeping last night. Something about his bed made is really easy to do that. Just gulp in that magic and –

He really needed to talk to Snape.

That thought more than any other stopped Harry a little, because… he was getting dependent on Snape, and that could be dangerous.

Granted, Snape was the only link from everything he knew, so of course Harry would feel closer to him suddenly. But it was still odd to Harry. He wasn't used to being dependent on anyone, only wary of adults, and these new feelings Snape was causing inside him –

Harry didn't know what to think.

He liked it.

He was very afraid to like it.

Snape could be very cruel when he wanted to be. Harry knew this from the first day he met the man. To want to have those kinds of feelings towards Snape was –

Unsettling.

He still didn't know if he could trust Snape. Maybe that was silly to think now, after he let Snape take him away from his home, and become his – he still couldn't think Father. He wasn't sure he wanted to. He wasn't sure he dared, no matter how many times Snape called him son.

Harry shook those thoughts off. He still needed information, and Snape had already said they would speak more today about the things Harry needed to know.

Harry decided to just leave it for now and started to step out of his apartment.

Then Harry stopped dead, and glanced at Ye Wen, "Where, exactly am I going to?"

Ye Wen blushed, and said, "To breakfast of course little master, I apologize for not informing you. Master had requested you join him when you awaken for breakfast, at his courtyard."

With Ye Wen's gentle, 'left little Master, here by the peony', 'right little Master, here by the plum tree', he found Snape's place rather quickly.

He stepped through the gate of the courtyard, and right away, Zhao Momo was there to greet him, together with two servants behind her. Harry thought she looked really elegant in a simple deep purple robe with yellow embroidery on the hem and sleeves. She wore her hair in the same way Harry saw her wear yesterday, but with an intricately carved jade pin through her large up-do. She looked like a very dignified lady, Harry thought, and was rather happy that he would get to see her often.

Her two attendants also looked really nice in light purple robes with a light blue sash with pale yellow embroidery, and matching blue flower pendants in their hair.

Harry felt like he never used to notice how people looked as much as he had been noticing since he got to Magical China. It was mostly because everyone looked so properly dressed all the time. He had seen shop keepers and the like having simpler clothing but it was always of good quality, finely pressed and clean. Not everyone had embroidery on their clothes but Harry had noticed the more hair ornaments, the more embroidery the clothing had. The odd part was these included men too. Something it was prints also, or just plain cloth, but always richly dyed. He thought about some of the people he had seen coming out of Nocturn and wondered if everyone here was just rather wealthy, or maybe they had better enchantments?

Snape came out of his rooms at that moment, and waved Harry over with a, "Good morning, son. The weather is nice today, and I thought we could eat in the garden." Harry saw where he was looking and realized that just like his courtyard, Snape's courtyard had an outside stone table and stone stools.

"Good morning," not wanting to have to pick a name for Snape, he hurried to say, "Yes weather is nice, would be nice to enjoy it."

He must have said something wrong, because Ye Wen quickly glanced at him, but whatever it was, Ye Wen didn't say because they sat down and Zhao Momo had their breakfast brought over.

Harry was interested to see that there was kind of a lot of dishes, including that rice soup that Ye Wen prepared for him last night, but it had a pile of vegetables and other things inside that Harry couldn't identify. There was also a very small chicken with crispy brown skin already chopped into bite size pieces and some kind of red berry, there was those bun looking things but they looked smaller and fluffier inside a bamboo steamer, there was – Harry blinked – feet. Chicken… feet. In some kind of brown sauce, there was also tiny little dumpling things that looked very flat sitting inside another bamboo steamer, like they had liquid inside. Some vegetable dish that looked bright green and smelled amazing, and lotus thing! He recognized it from the restaurant sweet soup thingy that he tried; those berries he saw on the little chicken were also in that soup!

He must have looked eager to start, when Snape said, "Help yourself", he reached over to the chopsticks, just to remember that he needed Snape's rubber band, but there were servants around and he felt uncomfortable asking.

Snape clearly saw his dilemma, Slytherin that he was, and in English said, "I took the liberty to charm yours earlier."

Harry flashed him a grateful smile, and started to reach over towards the mini-chicken when he realized that only he and Snape were sitting, Ye Wen and Zhao Momo and the other two ladies stood a ways away, in case one of the Masters needed them.

"They will eat later, as is their custom, do not worry. This is just the way things are in this country." Snape said, and put a piece of baby chicken on his plate.

"They… won't go hungry, right?" Harry lowered his voice and focused on not speaking in Chinese.

Switching to Chinese, Snape calmly explained, "No, of course not. It is our obligation as Masters of the house to make sure everyone is well fed, has adequate clothing and shoes, is paid on time and if they ever get sick, to provide them medical care in a timely manner. It was in our oath to them when they swore their fealty to us. You didn't realize?" Snape asked him calmy, "You do remember me also promising them pills for their cultivation as a bonus?"

Harry looked down and nodded, "I just… I don't want anyone to go hungry."

Snape looked at him knowingly, but only said, "No, of course not."

Harry noticed Snape looking over towards Zhao Momo, and she nodded her head in understanding. He wondered what that was about, but then realized he must have accidentally switched to Chinese in his distress when Snape did, the pill forcing him to hear and speak Chinese.

"Once the pill is done being absorbed, you will feel a distinctive switch the same way I imagine you feel with Parseltongue when you speak with snakes."

"Actually sir, I can't tell when I am doing it. At least right now, I can still switch to English when I notice myself slipping. Once I see a snake, I automatically switch to parseltongue and to me, it sounds like I am speaking English." Harry said a little sheepishly, he figured he couldn't hide that long with a Slytherin for an adopted parent.

"That's… fascinating actually. We will have to do some tests on it. See if it isn't something you can learn to feel." Snape said and ate another piece of meat himself. Harry groaned, a little dramatically he would admit, but then ate his tiny chicken.

It was actually really tasty and Harry reached for another pieces as soon as he swallowed, asking, "What kind of chicken is this? It's really good."

"It isn't chicken, it's pigeon. People in the south favor it for a breakfast food," Snape said, amused, "I personally find it a tad too sweet, but do like to enjoy it from time to time just the same."

Harry felt a little weird eating a bird he had seen all over Aunt Petunia's garden, but it really was tasty and it's not like Harry could bring it back to life now anyways.

He ate his way through all the dishes and found he absolutely loved the little dumpling things, even though he burned his tongue on them, because he popped the whole thing into his mouth without realizing there was a hot soup inside the thing, and Snape had to cast an Episkey on his tongue afterwards.

It had still been delicious.

"Compliments to our new chefs, breakfast was to both our liking and delicious. Not only because the Chefs managed to put up such variety on such short notice, but the ingredients were skillfully prepared also." Harry heard Snape say to Zhao Momo, "My son especially enjoyed it. Tell them to feel free to show us the range of their cooking over the course of the next few weeks, and we will slowly narrow it down to our favorites. Tell them not to be afraid to buy Ling vegetables and Ling meats also, for every meal, for everyone in the house actually." Harry could see Zhao Momo's eyes widen, and a big beaming smile was directed at Snape, "You saw my son's concern that no one should ever go hungry, correct? I made him a promise that this would be so, I trust you and the Chamberlin will make sure of it."

Harry smiled at Zhao Momo then because he wanted her to know he agreed with Snape, the food was awesome, and the chefs should be complimented, also no one should ever-ever-ever go hungry! Harry had been a little afraid, since he spent so long hungry. He figured he would eat anything but, losing everything he knew, still worried him. So maybe he was a little food-centric. That wasn't a crime, right? Not like he was going to get… fat or something. That was for people like Dudley, but he still really liked good plentiful food that was fresh and tasted good. Who didn't, right?

Well, he apparently lucked out in China for food.

Zhao Momo thanked both of them for 'the Master's kind considerations' and agreed to speak to the chefs and the Chamberlin right away.

Snape also asked her to let the accountant know he will want to see her, as well as the Chamberlin and Zhao Momo at Si hour.

Snape sent all the servants away, to eat, Harry presumed, and they sat in the courtyard watching the sun slowly come up into the trees, while enjoying their tea.

Snape broke the silence, "How are you doing? Did you sleep alright last night?"

"I… slept really well last night actually, thank you sir. I felt like the bed was enchanted for it actually, was it? It felt very nice." Harry figured this was a safe enough topic.

"Yes, it was. The wood it is made of is very special, it absorbs ambient energy. In its bottom frame, is also a thousand-year-old ice jade, which is one of the best things for ambient Qi absorption. The curtains are enchanted against projectile weapons, and most mid to low level spells. Your sleepwear also has some protections on them." Snape said, "but you still didn't tell me how you are doing?"

Harry looked up at him, and seeing Snape completely focused on him, quickly looked away, "I am fine Sir. It's… everything is really interesting. There has been a lot." Then he had to shut up because he really wasn't sure what else he would say if he kept talking. Though… it was nice of Snape to ask.

Snape didn't say anything and Harry winced internally from fear that he hasn't said what Snape wanted to hear, but Snape just said, "Let me know if anything is missing in your rooms and we will go and get them."

"There was, one thing, actually Sir." Harry looked back at him, because this was kind of important, "Um, can we do that thing we need to, to fix my wand? Please?" He hurried added on, because he wasn't a complete idiot.

"Yes, we best do that. Later today, I will also have a doctor come by to look you over," At Harry's surprised look, Snape added, "At the very least, you need some nutrition potions, and other such things Harry."

Harry looked back down and nodded. He probably did, yeah.

"Let's go fix your wand." With that Snape stood up, and Harry perked up at the idea that he would get to do magic again soon.

Fixing his wand really just involved soaking it in a potion, inside a bowl and Snape chanting a bunch of incantations on it. Harry almost felt cheated that there was no bleeding involved. Then he smacked himself mentally because what was his brain thinking, seriously?

He could hear Hermione in his head telling him off.

Snape must have put some kind of enchantment on the bowl, because as soon as he stopped chanting, the bowl flashed white and a blue shield flashed all around it, containing the white flash within itself.

Snape smirked his Satisfied Slytherin Smirk as Harry thought of it, and waving his own wand, vanished the liquid in the bowl. Harry reached over to pick it up and it wasn't even wet. He looked up at Snape and asked, "It's done? I can use it again?"

"Yes, though I would prefer it if you refrained from using it outside our place unless you were in danger for now." and Harry eagerly nodded, just happy to be able to do magic again.

Then Snape made his day by adding, "and you can go flying within our courtyard as well if you like, just don't go out for now. There are regulations about that."

Harry thought he could hug the man.

Harry looked to be settling alright, even though it had only been one day. Severus had been worried because it was a rather big change for anyone, but seemed that Gryffindor bravery was good for something. Harry hadn't complained once, nor misbehaved, and Snape could only pray to whatever deity resided here and still bothered with them, that it continued in that vein. Logically, he knew Harry would have to kick back sometimes. There were just too many changes, Harry being a teenaged boy, and also having been abused and threatened. Severus couldn't help notice that Harry's first concern this morning had been that everyone had eaten.

He would fit well in this country actually, considering his concerns.

'Have you eaten?', was a standard greeting after all.

He made sure that Zhao Momo understood that no servants were to ever be punished with the sometimes-traditional punishment of going hungry for 2 to 3 days. She, being an experienced Momo understood immediately. He also didn't miss that apparently; he spoiled his servants.

The Chamberlin had come to him early this morning, with the news that the tailor had come through and delivered their staff uniforms before the rooster had even crowed. Severus did love the conveniences money could buy; he had missed living in the miracle that was Chinese efficiency. Made sure to tell the Chamberlin to tip generously for the speed of the service.

The staff had all looked very proper in their new clothes. Now he had to sort the household accounts, empower the appropriate staff – though they were well on their way in falling into line, like well trained staff should – and check on his potions and pills room and gardens. He was looking forward to that very badly, but it would have to wait till later in the day, possibly even early evening before he would be able to get to it.

Getting Harry sorted and settled was his first priority now.

Yi Momo came to see him, and asked if he had anything he needed from Great Master Xuan, and Severus had asked for a good doctor who was discreet. Yi Momo hadn't even blinked, and only told him she will pass the massage and try to arrange it for this afternoon.

He knew the boy had been starved and likely beaten, probably a dozen other kinds of casual mistreatments dating back Merlin knew how long. Severus feared he had other not-immediately visible injuries, and the only reason he hadn't dragged Harry to a doctor as soon as they arrived, was because he had already fed Harry a healing potion and did a cursory scan of the boy.

He comforted himself that Chinese healers were exceptional, and they always healed the root cause, never just the symptoms.

Severus marveled at his own thoughts, so focused on the boy.

His son.

This was his son, Lily's child, now with his blood in him.

Maybe he could ask for the doctor to come soon?

No, Severus had fixed the boy's wand, and allowed him to fly. Maybe he should have waited till the doctor told him Harry was completely right?

Was he endangering his son?

He already promised Harry he could fly, but maybe he could distract him till the doctor arrived?

Settling on a plan, he distracted Harry by asking him what he thought of Ye Wen.

Harry obliged him with a one part embarrassed one-part grateful retelling of trying to figure out his clothes, and time, and location. The disgusting toothpaste, which Severus privately agreed, and told him so.

Harry told him about the odd basin petals and how Ye Wen knelt a lot and could Severus maybe tell him not to do that please?

Severus laughed a little, remembering his own feelings when he had been an apprentice. He had rather enjoyed the kneeling, till he experienced it from the other end in front of Voldemort. He told Harry to simply forbid the boy from doing it and to give him a way of showing respect which didn't involve him on his knees.

Harry looked at him and asked a little unsurely if he was sure that would work, and Severus smiled at his innocence, and told him of course it would. "You are his master and he is your companion boy, he will do as you tell him to."

Harry groused that he didn't even know what companion boys were supposed to do, and was having unwavering faith in his abilities one of their jobs or something?

Severus then had to hear that story because what had Ye Wen done?

He nearly laughed out loud when Harry told him the whole misunderstanding. He himself had had at least a dozen situations similar to that in his first year here, and he vowed to warn Harry about some of the weirder culture shocks still awaiting him.

"Harry, I would like you to stick with me today, because I plan to spend the day setting up our house, and I think that as my Di Son, you should also be aware of how the household runs. One day you will run your own after all." Severus held his breath, hoping Harry would be reasonable and see Severus's attempt in teaching him the basics which Great Master Xuan had taught him so long ago after he had asked.

Harry being the Gryffindor he was, agreed without too much fuss, and Severus was pleased to see some interest in the boy. It seemed nothing could kill the curiosity in his boy.

Severus reminded himself that that curiosity was what had Harry facing a 6-meter Basilisk and Voldemort's possessed diary, as a child.

He still felt his heart speed up at the memory.

Maybe Harry would suddenly develop a taste for reading? Or botany?

Which reminded Severus, he needed to ask Great Master Xuan to introduce some appropriate friends from Kun Lun School to Harry.

Harry would end up picking his own friends, Severus didn't delude himself that he could control Harry's choices to that degree, but maybe if he met some nice, calming influences, before attending school, he would at least have someone to talk some sense into him when he tried to do something suicidal again.

Severus could only hope.

The accountant Xiang Rong and her two assistants arrived together with Chamberlin Wang and Zhao Momo as scheduled, and Severus had them all relocate to the main storeroom. He was pleased to note that the storeroom already came with a secret chamber, and that the blood magic which recognized him and Harry as the house's masters was already transferred to the wards in the store. He noted quite a few physical deterrents – booby traps and the like - as well on the floors and walls, and vowed to add a few more just for safety.

Then telling the staff and Harry to stand back, he started to unload one of his rings.

As expected, Gringotts had been diligent in investing his soul stones into various ling herbs, artifacts, medicinal pills, old vases, carpets, furniture, jewelry, clothing and Merlin knew what else was in here.

But Severus supposed, that was the point of today. All of these items needed to be sorted, categorized and placed into the store for daily usage. Some will be given as gifts to curry favors, others will be used by him and Harry whenever the need arose.

Half way through, he had to stop the ring's unloading because the room was full to the ceiling and he feared he would need to involve a few more servants to help. Good thing the storeroom could magically expand otherwise it definitely wouldn't all fit.

Severus pulled out his wand, and noticed the curious looks on all the faces of his staff, turned to Harry and said casually, "I think we can sort these by category, what do you think? Since all the potions ingredients will be near the potion's storeroom, we can arrange the medicinal herbs in the darkest driest left side corner, and maybe put the weapons, armors, artifacts and the like in the middle." Severus was hoping that involving Harry and giving him, some say in how things were arranging would make him feel like this was his home to. After all, if Private Drive taught Severus anything, it was that Harry could live somewhere, and never really consider it home.

Harry looked a little surprised that Severus was trying to involve him, then briefly glanced at the staff – all three accountants had scrolls and hovering brushes out, waiting to start recording – and he slowly nodded. Then seeming to gather his courage, said, "That sounds good sir. Maybe… we could also put some of the things we will need to use often at the front?"

"Good suggestion Harry." Severus was glad Harry seemed willing to play along, and decided to encourage him, "We could put the items we won't likely use but are of higher value, and select them as gifts which we will inevitably need to give for relationship-building."

At Harry's frown, Severus paused for a moment to figure out what was upsetting the boy, and then the knut dropped, "Before you think the wrong thing, all relationships in Magical China are build on exchanges of gifts, remember? Think of it like birthday. No one is bribing you when they give you a birthday gift are they?" Severus explained, while noticing his new staff were all paying close attention. Let them, Severus thought, they don't yet know what kind of Masters we are, and they do need to understand that Harry is completely new at this.

Harry shook his head a little reluctantly, but then said, "Sir, I don't really understand." He looked a little embarrassed to be admitting this, but not enough to make him look down. Good. The boy needed to get used to asking Severus things that confused him.

Severus paused for a minute to think how best to explain, "In a country that has a lot of people, and frequent wars throughout history, relationships are built more… the Slytherin way." Severus smiled a little knowingly. "Most relationships are built on mutual benefits and across similar power-bases. If I gave someone of the same station as me, a grade 6 pill, they would likely gift me back something of equal value in thanks." Severus noticed Harry frowning more, and asked, "That seems strange? It isn't that generosity doesn't exist, but it is more the acceptance that long-term relationships should be balanced. Both parties should gain equal benefits from each other so that no one feels taken advantage of."

Noticing Harry's expression clearing in understanding, Severus congratulated himself in explaining this in a way Harry could accept.

"There is a lot of… fairness in this society, and it stretches across the board." Severus was about to continue when he noticed Harry wanting to ask something but not wanting to interrupt him, he indicated Harry should ask with a look, and Harry said, "Sir, what happens if someone gives me something expensive and I don't have something of equal value to give them back?"

"Excellent question, son." Severus noticed Harry still startled at both being complimented and being called son, and reminded himself again to be patient, "There are many ways to respond. One is to simply demure and not accept the gift, though this is the equivalent of not accepting an offered hand." He cautioned him, thinking back on his godson ranting that Harry Potter refused his friendship, "Another way, is to accept, but to acknowledge that you are now indebted to that person, such as with Great Master Xuan." Harry nodded, seeming to understand, "That means that if that person came to you, and asked for a favor, unless it was really impossible, you shouldn't turn it down. This is a chance to pay back a favor or debt that person is owed, so you should always try to do it. Of course, what they ask might be proportionally too high in cost for you to do, in which case if you did do it, the other person would owe you then. This is applied from the smallest offering of food, to life debts." Severus thought to caution since Harry had a nasty habit in being in life threatening situations, "In Magical China, Life debts are taken extremely seriously. So much so, that if someone saves your life, and you do not have the ability to pay them back, you could go as far as to become their servant."

Severus turned to Chamberlin Wang then, and raised his eyebrows. The man was clearly an old hand at raising kids because he stepped forward then, and said, "Little Master, one of the reasons my former master could entrust his sole heir to me before our house was wiped out, and why I was his Head Chamberlin was because in my youth, my former master saved my life, and offered my family protection and financial support. As such, I offered my services to him as I was unable to repay his generosity. By trusting me with his son, he was telling me that my debt to him was paid if I could save his only male heir."

Harry nodded slowly, and said, "What goes around, comes around."

Severus nodded at him, pleased that he could understand this, "When injustice happens here, you will not see many people rushing to help out unless they are very confident in their ability to survive such an encounter. Because all actions have consequences here. If you upset the wrong people who are in higher power positions than you, you could not only endanger yourself, but every single person who lives in your house, including all the servants."

At Harry's wide eyes, he added, "This is also why you have a companion boy, shadows, and such experienced Chamberlin and Momo in our home. They will warn you if you are about to endanger yourself and others because you do not understand the consequences."

Severus was as much explaining this to Harry as he was telling everyone in the room, including the companion child who had snuck in unobtrusively behind Zhao Momo and stood quietly in the corner, unobserved by anyone. The Head Shadow especially needed to be told this, because normally a Shadow would hide until the Master was in danger, but Harry's Head Shadow should have just been made aware that he was also on babysitting duty.

Judging by the softest of sighs coming from the roof support beam, the Head Shadow understood.

Good. Severus did so love smart people.

"Do not worry, I will be speaking to you more about things, and you will be going out with me to meet a variety of people. During those outings, I would like you to watch what I say, how I say it, and how I behave. Possibly also how others behave, including their children whom you will also be meeting, then you will naturally pick up what you should and shouldn't do." Severus said this more for everyone else's benefit, so they could all prepare the appropriate gifts, clothing, carriages and Shadow's servants and the like for the upcoming few weeks. It always helps to warn the staff that their new master wasn't entirely a hermit.

Now for some practical demonstrations of power, Severus thought, and lifted his wand.

With a flick of his wand, he lifted up all the items he had deposited into the air and sorted them by category. Only when he was pleased that the shelves he had selected were in their right places, and all the preservation charms were on all the correct cabinets and the like, did he deposit the items accordingly.

He wondered if Harry had noticed how impressed their staff was at Severus's control. There were after all thousands of items, possibly more, and he had lifted all of them up and sorted them with what seemed like only a few flicks of his wand.

Severus hadn't lied to Harry, Chinese magic was actually stronger in power level than what the British wizards used, but Chinese magic did not use spells. Rather they used a combination of incantation which through deeper understanding, manifested the magics they wanted. It took considerably longer to master – hundreds of years rather than the dozen or so it took for the British wizard– mostly due to the wands. The wands limited a wizard's power output but also drastically cut down on the mastery time. Most British wizards had no idea why saying Lumos lit up a wand, or why you needed to swish and flick the wand just so when you wanted to levitate something. Comparatively, Chinese wizards used their bodies like a wand.

This was also likely the reason wizards in China couldn't cast Avada Kadavra, the killing curse. The Avada curse basically severed the link between the spirit and the body, forcing the spirit violently out of the body and thereby killing the wizard. Because Chinese wizards used their bodies like wands, they could do this only after they had reached a certain stage of cultivation and only if they had the talent for it. Only a very small number of Chinese wizards who mastered a mind energy technique could project that magic like a scalpel, and enter a wizard's mind. Through the mind, they could sever the spirit's connection to the body, however, this was extremely hard to do, and by the time a wizard was at the Divinity stage, it was also almost impossible to do, since their mental protections would be so deadly, no one would try it for fear of dying themselves.

Severus shook off that thought, and decided he will have to sit Harry down and break down the difference between the Asian magics and the western approach, least Harry misunderstood and thought he wasn't capable of Asian magics at all.

For now, Severus just separated the items into piles and told the 6 servants behind him to start recording. Xiang Rong immediately took over, and conjured up scrolls and brushes that trailed behind each staff member like an obedient dog, recording each item.

Which reminded Severus that his new staff also had no idea that Harry was one of the more powerful wizards of his generation. Perhaps a practical demonstration was in order?

"Harry, we are going to need a lot of boxes and containers for some of these items. Would you please assist them and make the appropriate boxes? Feel free to make them in the British style since I doubt you've seen enough Chinese silk patterns to make it in their styles. Just make it the way you would the snuff boxes, but bigger, and as… extravagant as you can." Severus checked to see if the boy would protest but Harry actually looked a little exited to be able to help. Or maybe just for the chance to do magic again, Severus wasn't sure.

Seeing a bunch of splintered wood which must have been a chair a very long time ago, he pointed to the splinters and said, "You can use those if you like, or summon some pebbles from somewhere, it doesn't really matter as long as the transfiguration will hold."

Harry nodded and pulled out his wand eagerly. Severus noticed that all the staff paused to discreetly watch what Harry would do. Ye Wen didn't even pretend not to be completely focused on his new Master.

Well, it was as it should be, Severus thought.

Harry might not be Hermione Granger, but Harry did still have McGonagall as his transfiguration teacher. It took him no time at all to produce a dozen boxes with intricate carvings and precious looking gems on them.

Harry came over to show him, and Severus pretended to examine them, while actually paying attention to his staff. As expected, they were all slightly wide-eyed.

In China, transfigurations took on a different form, so turning one object into another was considered very advanced magic. Having it not revert back was also rarely seen. The Chinese wizards could split a mountain in half, something British wizards could only dream of, but transfiguration was something their magic was not so accustomed to. Severus knew it would impress them and it would be child's play for Harry, with his ridiculous magical reserves.

Harry seemed to have a flair for the dramatics – Merlin save him from Gryffindor's – and all the boxes he made were very colorful. One of the smaller ones even had a tiny little snitch that flew around the box lazily.

Granger had clearly been some kind of good influence on Harry since that was actually third year magic but Severus just nodded and told him they were acceptable for their needs.

Harry seemed shyly pleased that Severus didn't find any faults with them, and Severus reminded himself to praise the boy more often, since he clearly hasn't done much of that throughout their acquaintance and Harry reacted very positively to it, Severus noticed.

Harry gave the snitch covered box to Ye Wen who was sorting out gifts, and the poor companion boy nearly dropped it in shock when the snitch moved.

Asia didn't have Quidditch, and Severus honestly wasn't sure how Harry would react when he found out.

The sorting took several hours, and Severus tried not to think about this being the content of only one of his many rings. He knew he was making a lucrative profit selling his potions to the Chinese Gringotts but he hadn't realized just how much more they sold for on this side of the world. Gringotts certainly had been busy.

After everything had been sorted, labeled, boxed and put in its appropriate shelf, Severus decided it was time for the accounts, and ushered everyone back towards his courtyard. There he led everyone to his office, which was on the left-hand side of the courtyard, and just like most rooms, the sliding doors opened up to a patio with no fence. It was more like a walkway then anything else, but it was often used to sit and enjoy the garden scenery while he worked, and get a nice breeze while he was at it.

Severus had everyone sit on the walkway, their feet planted on the ground, while he expanded the courtyard temporarily. He then pulled out the ring King Yao gave him and started dumping out soul stones.

Like the last ring, he had to stop half way through because the ordinary soul stones – or ling shi as the locals called them – was already taller than the fake mountain by the pond.

He then waved Harry over, and told him to separate the perfect soul stones, from the imperfect ones, and to make another pile for the ordinary soul stones. He told Harry to think of them like gallons, sickles and knuts. Except the value of one ordinary soul stone was significantly higher ever even the sickle value.

Harry looked a little daunted by this task, but Severus just reminded him that accio was a great spell, thought to be careful to put a protego on himself first, least he be buried in soul stones.

Harry actually grinned at him, and ran forward to do this, while Severus turned to the other 6 plus several shadows which were… somewhere. He assigned Xiang Rong the task of counting it all, recording it and storing a portion of it in her own ring so she could finance all the household expenses.

Severus also instructed Chamberlin Wang to list out the various houses they will need to visit and to make a list of appropriate gifts for a first-time visit.

He instructed Zhao Momo to ensure that all staff had 5 uniforms each for each season. Shoes, socks, cloaks, hair decoration, underclothes, and the like in grade 7 cloth – he knew this was somewhat extravagant, there was only 8 grades after all, but he did have all this money, and he wanted to smooth Harry's way to school with a reputation of being generous and gracious. He made sure to instruct that ling fur should be used in the cloak, and high-grade charms applied on the clothes for cooling and warming depending on the season. Shoes should have silence charms, fast pace charm, as well as fatigue removing charms applied to them.

His staff was looking a little frozen, and awe struct.

Hm.

Maybe it was more than generous. Severus honestly didn't care. He wanted his people to be in their best possible condition so that they could protect Harry, and not be slowed down by something as mundane as being physically uncomfortable.

He ordered the shoes custom made, which made Zhao Momo actually stutter.

He thought maybe – Harry's hesitant voice paused him

"Um, sir?" Severus turned to see him floating a huge mountain worth of ordinary soul stones behind himself.

At his raised eyebrow, Harry sheepishly said, "Didn't want to accio this cuz even protego won't stop me from being buried. Do you have a ring I can dump this into? Maybe a smaller one Xiang Rong could keep?"

That's when Severus remembered his new staff didn't have much. Yet.

"Tie Sha" Severus said, and braced himself because –

- his personal Head Shadow was on one knee in front of him, waiting orders just like that.

Merlin, he loved this country. Every ball-crawling terrifying square inch of it.

"Send two of your men, together with two of Zhao Momo's girls, a cargo carriage and 6 rough men, go buy every servant in this house a storage ring. Make sure that Xiang Rong, Chamberlin Wang, Zhao Momo, You, Tie Yong, An Ying, Yin Ying and Ye Wen all have at least 2000 cubic each."

This had even his Shadow looking wide eyed.

Good.

"Go through the store room, and except for the few Celestial weapons and armor, use any and all weapons and armor which fit your men. Then go out and buy whatever else is missing. Everyone should be armored like they were going off to war, without restricting their speed, and make sure everyone had good quality weapons. Our safety depends on it, so make sure you are… generous."

Now his Shadow had literal tears in his eyes.

Severus thought that the man might actually hug his legs and cry in joy, if Severus looked more approachable.

Thankfully he didn't, and the Shadow just looked very shiny-eyed.

Severus coughed a little, and said further, "I will be making pills for everyone once I can finally make it to my cultivation room, but in the mean time, the Goblins made sure we had a great many healings, poison and the like pills. Make sure your men are all fully equipped for any eventuality.

All of you will be carrying extra portkeys on you, which I will provide you in a day or two. Harry already has his own, and in case of danger, he would be teleported to a safe location. But I want everyone to have a way out. Likely the portkeys I give you will send you either back here, or to another location we will agree on. I don't expect trouble yet, but it is always prudent to be prepared."

Now even his other staff was looking shiny-eyed.

Merlin. He had forgotten how little the nobility cared for its staff. Magical China wasn't for the faint of heart that was for sure.

"As you saw, money isn't a concern for us. I prefer to have the best for those who serve me, as that will directly help me achieve my goals. I do not like to sacrifice unless there is absolutely no choice, and that includes all of your lives. I will be most cross, if any of my servants die or are injured permanently because they didn't have what they needed to get out of the situation safely once they ensured Harry and my safety.

Severus could feel Harry looking at him, even though the mountain of gems was still effortlessly hovering next to him, but the boy for once didn't say anything.

Harry had been surprisingly cooperative up until now. He hasn't behaved like a spoiled Gryffindor at all. Severus couldn't exactly ignore the voice that said that was because he wasn't spoiled and never had been. He sighed at himself, and continued,

"You represent my house, and I do not tolerate rudeness, bullying, sexual harassment or disrespect. That goes for my servants' attitudes and for other people's attitudes towards my servants. Harry also will not tolerate those things, so make sure everyone in the house is briefed."

Here he paused, thinking, "Harry and I are not as formal as some of the Houses you have seen and served. Harry especially prefers relaxed over formal, however, never forget that he is my only Di Son and Heir, and my first priority is him, and therefore so is yours. His safety especially is extremely important. Go make sure that the house has everything it needs so that my son can thrive here."

He stopped then because he was pushing Harry, he knew but the staff needed to know where everything stood so they could do the correct things.

His staff must have realized he was done, because almost as one voice, they replied with "Yes Master. Thank you Master for your kind considerations."

His Shadow and Zhao Momo vanished, and Severus wondered if his Shadow had picked up the woman and just carried her out, or if his new Momo had shadow magic with exceptional martial arts also. He could tell she was Foundation phase but nothing more than that.

He needed to look over the Ownership deeds the Tooth Lady left him.

…he needed to do a lot of things still actually.

Such is the chores of setting up a new home. At least he had help now.

Severus had sent Yi Momo back to Great Master Xuan, after mentioning that it would be nice if his son could meet some respectable stabilizing influences his own age. Ideally one martial and one bookish, to keep with tradition, and thanked her for setting up his house so well. He told her to visit Zhao Momo sometimes, and that his doors are always open.

She smiled at him politely, and told him that it has been her pleasure. The Pill Master's son was especially a delightfully nice young man, and she was sure Great Master Xuan already had some ideas about this.

After Yi Momo and her two competent ladies departed, Severus was left thinking that he will really need to go see Great Master Xuan and soon. Which meant, he really needed to fix up his pill and potions labs. Thankfully he had already had both Phoenix tears given to him by Dumbledore some years back, and 50 vials of Felix Felicis, 5 vial of Veritaserum, 5 vials of Draught of the Living Dead, 25 Strong Exstimulo, 10 vails of Skelegrow, 35 vials of Draught of Peace, and 10 vails - in stasis - of Polyjuice potion. He also threw in 40 bottles of Strong Healing potions as a small sweetener.

He owed Great Master Xuan a lot for providing them refuge, but this made a handsome Greeting Gift.

Thinking about the potions and pills, he turned to Chamberlin Wang,

"I would like to look through my laboratories later in the day. Please have a report for me before the Shen hour today. As well as a general overview of the gardens. Work with the pill children and let's see how far we can get."

Chamberlin Wang eagerly agreed and hurried off, and Severus realized it was only Harry's companion boy left and he was already waiting on Harry's needs.

Harry meanwhile was clearly debating if he should put the pile down or not. Ye Wen however was already offering him Harry's spare storage ring that Severus had gotten him last time.

Since that ring wasn't yet bound, he put the mountain of stones into it, and handed it to Xiang Rong with a, "just give it back later when you get your own."

Xiang Rong and her ladies were already done tallying everything and she looked a little like a Kneazle that got into the cream. Must be knowing she will be working for a wealthy family. She was an accountant after all.

Thinking of Kneazles, Severus realized he hadn't seen Harry's white owl anywhere. Remembering that Harry said he had sent her off to live with Miss Granger for the summer, he pondered how he was going to be able to get the owl back to Harry.

Maybe he could write to King Warwick?

But was he ready to burn another favor for an owl?

He looked at Harry, laughing at something Ye Wen had said, and thought, 'yes I actually think so.'

Still, it would take time. Maybe he could get Harry a ling pet first? He could likely use the companion during his schooling.

Merlin there was still so much to do.

Harry was actually having a lot of fun.

Snape hadn't excluded him from anything!

Harry didn't much like some of the things Snape had said, but he hadn't hidden anything from Harry.

Harry really liked 'being in the know', as Lavender called it.

He also really liked that Snape was generous to their staff. Maybe because a part of Harry always felt like slave labor at the Dudley's, and he was always cold or hot or in pain. It was nice to know that if he had to have staff, then at least he didn't mistreat them.

He would admit to himself that their pleased and happy expressions had gone a long way in soothing Harry's fears in being a… in owning people. Perhaps he really should think of it the way Snape advised, that their staff are just that, employees who were in previously bad situations and now Snape, and Harry by default, can give them a better life?

Was that the 'magical thinking' Hermione was on about when she talked about elf rights?

She had only mentioned it a few times but…

Harry wasn't sure. He wished –

- he wished he could write to her and tell her about his life here, and ask her opinion about things. Ye Wen was great, but he wasn't Ron or Hermione.

His thoughts were interrupted by the unexpected arrival of one of the other Momo's, who came to inform them that Great Master Xuan had come to visit. Without so much as pausing, she informed them that she had settled him with tea and fresh cakes at the reception hall.

Harry blinked and watched her retreating back as she walked away. He kind of liked her, and thought her name was Zhang Momo or something like that.

Snape meanwhile straightened his robes quickly, then glanced at Harry, though he shouldn't have bothered, Ye Wen had been straightening his clothes and reapplying the charm to his hair every chance Harry wasn't paying attention and he thought he looked more presentable than normal.

Snape seemed to agree, and even sent a little nod of approval at Ye Wen who puffed up like a tiny chicken. Harry would be annoyed but Ye Wen had been looking a little unsure, so Harry let it go and hurried to catch up to Snape who was already half way out of his courtyard.

It only took them a moment to reach the receiving hall, and to bow in greeting to Great Master Xuan.

He waved them both off, and said, "It is good to see you both properly dressed and settling in your own home. I heard from the Tooth Lady that you bought yourself some people, which is good. Now I do apologize for showing up unannounced, but I simply could not contain my curiosity any more." He looked at Snape expectantly.

Snape blinked at him.

Harry tried not to laugh, because wow wasn't that a rare sight!

Clearly Great Master Xuan also saw his confusion because he actually huffed at Snape, which looked hilarious on such a young-looking face as his, "Is he talented in pill making or not? Don't tell me you haven't tested him yet!"

Snape actually flushed and muttered something about having been busy setting up the house, to which Great Master Xuan just looked at him.

- and looked at him.

Till Snape kind of wilted, and feebly offered to lead them back to his courtyard so they can perform the test.

"You know for someone who is supposed to be in the house of the ambitious, you sure have a strange way of prioritizing" Great Master Xuan said as he started to follow Snape towards his courtyard.

Harry did laugh then, even though he was quick to turn it into a cough at Snape's sharp glance in his direction.

Ye Wen, who was standing right behind him whispered, "and this is when a fan to hide your face behind is a very useful tool to have, little Master."

Actually, yeah okay he might have a point there.

They were ushered into Snape's meditation room which was opposite of this office, on the right-hand side, and Harry hadn't realized it, but Snape also had an open extended patio which stretched over the pond in the same way his did. He could see the ling fish swimming around, under the stilts, their red white and black bodies graceful in the water.

"I took the liberty of bringing the Pill Sect Testing Stone with me, since I figured you wouldn't have time to get your own yet," Great Master Xuan looked at Snape with an eyebrow up, which Harry took as another chastisement to Snape's priorities. He almost felt a little bad because Snape had been focused on making sure Harry was safe, so that was still pretty important.

He still found it funny to watch his very serious and proper potions master looking like a naughty first year who blew up his caldron.

"Alright Harry-boy, we will just do the test here then shall we?" Great Master Xuan ignored Snape's mutterings and from his storage ring, pulled out a large – very large, it's tip actually touched the ceiling – crystal.

The crystal wasn't like anything Harry had ever seem. It was clear but not translucent like a normal crystal would be. Harry could feel the magic emanating from it, but couldn't really tell what it was supposed to do. It hovered a few inches from the ground and seem to do that naturally.

"Normally this test would be performed in front of everyone during your entrance exam, but I am sure no one will mind if we just take a small peek, hm?"

The man looked positively gleeful, eyes shining in anticipation. Harry was actually very amused, because he was nothing like Dumbledore, expect how he looked just as mischievous.

"Well? Go ahead, Harry-boy. Put your hand on the crystal and push your energy into it, as much as you can."

Harry swallowed his nerves down, and did as he was told.

The crystal felt a little warm on his hand but –

- absolutely nothing happened.

Maybe he wasn't pushing hard enough?

He focused some more and pushed with all his might, but it felt like he was trying to push things through a straw. Like when you drink something thick and a chunk gets lodged into the straw and then you're just not getting anything. That happened to Dudley once, and the tantrum he threw had been epic.

Harry looked at Great Master Xuan and, he still looked expectant but he was starting to frown.

"Hm. I am sure I brought the correct crystal. Harry-boy, how does it feel?"

"Like I am trying to push something through a very small space and it's not going." Harry admitted. He wondered if that meant he wasn't talented at all and would now be a disappointment to everyone.

Great Master Xuan stroked his beard, and without turning, smacked Snape on the back of his head.

Hard.

There was even a loud TWACK.

"Ow! Master, what –" Snape clearly hadn't seen it coming, because he rubbed the back of his head and looked most put out.

"You haven't even opened up his Xue have you? Honestly, I know you are new to Fatherhood, but these are the basics Severus. Must I remind you of everything?" Great Master Xuan grumbled at Snape, and Snape looked both irritated and like something had just occurred to him and like he wasn't best pleased about it.

"I haven't had time! We only just moved in yesterday. I –" Snape rubbed his head some more and looked away, "I didn't want to overwhelm him."

"Well, coddling him won't get you anywhere either! Look at him. He thinks something is wrong with him, when this is really on you Severus." Great Master Xuan gestured to him, and Snape did turn to look at him. Whatever he saw made his expression crumple a little, and he sighed.

Great Master Xuan smiled at Harry then and said, "It is a good thing you have your Uncle Xuan isn't it Harry-boy. We will get you fixed up in no time, don't you worry. Now then, take off your clothes please."

Harry blinked.

That. Okay. He was used to wizards saying odd things, but this was odd-er than normal.

Ye Wen clearly wasn't as mystified as Harry however, as he discreetly closed the door which opened to the courtyard and came over to help Harry take off his outer robes, then his inner two layers. He stopped at Harry's pants thankfully, and just left Harry standing there with his chest bared and white inner pants on. Harry tried not to fidget self consciously at being half naked suddenly.

"Come over and sit here on this cushion now, with your back to me. This won't take long." Great Master Xuan said, as he started to rub his hands a little in anticipation, like a little kid before Christmas morning.

"Um, Sir?" At the Look Great Master Xuan gave him, he hurriedly said, "I mean Uncle! What will you do to me?"

"Ah! I see he really hasn't taught you much yet has he, this lazy disciple of mine. Very unlike him! I will be doing Dian Xue on you, which is… how do you say in your language? Like an acupuncture. I will be pushing my own energy into your body in specific puncture points, forcibly opening your Xue, or … what is that word you used Severus? Chakma? Chakra?" He waves his hand, as if to say 'you understand'. Harry didn't, but he didn't think it would be polite to say so, "These are points in your body which allows your energy or your Qi or magic as you know it to flow unrestricted through your body. All your energy should be sitting in your Dan Tian, which is the area between your belly button and pelvis. It is a major Xue there and your will be able to gather and cultivate your energy properly there. However, all wizards from the west have very congested Xue because you have been taught to use your wands. The use of wand is like a crutch. Think of it like hurting your leg and having to use an actual crutch to walk. Over time, your leg that was hurt, its muscles will atrophy and while you could still walk with a crutch, it is never as fast or as well as you would have with your actual leg. Your Xue has been congested and in some areas even atrophied. What I will do now is push the energy through so that it begins to flow properly. You have been using a wand for 2 years?"

At Harry's nod, he said, "Good good, not as bad as poor Severus when he came to us. For him it was a rather painful process I am afraid. For you, it might feel like you will suddenly explode with power, do not worry, you will not. It just feels that way. When you feel that sensation of being overfull, you just place your hand on the crystal and release as much of that energy as you can into it."

Harry was about to nod, when he felt Great Master Xuan start to jab him on his back in various places. The jabs weren't pleasant but they weren't painful exactly. His back was starting to feel warm. Then hot. Just when he was about to say something, Great Master Xuan spun the cushion he was sitting on, and suddenly he was facing the white-haired master.

"Are you ready?" Harry was about to ask ready for what, but before he could, Great Master Xuan jabbed him on his shoulder, his sternum, his belly and when he jabbed Harry right under the belly button, something inside Harry just –

- exploded.

He couldn't see anything. He couldn't see because he was on fire. He had never been this hot in his life! It felt like the fire was all consuming, he couldn't even scream. He couldn't tell what he was feeling because it was so hot and so big and so LOUD inside him. His eardrums were vibrating, and he felt like his whole body was made of light, so much bright burning light!

In the inferno, something touched his hand and placed it on something cold.

It felt amazing, and Harry slapped his other hand on it to. He wanted to put his face on it as well but the cool thing was sucking the fire out of him, and it felt so good! He pushed all of the fire towards the cool thing, and he could feel his hands vibrate against it.

There was still so much fire and it was still swallowing him but –

- it felt better, and it was starting to recede.

When he could finally open his eyes, he saw that the cool thing which had saved him was actually the crystal.

It was a different color now, but Harry was distracted by Great Master Xuan actually crying!

He turned, alarmed to see if Snape knew anything, and was surprised when he was suddenly being held by strong arms and hugged to within an inch of his life.

It felt a lot like one of Mrs. Weasley's hugs, warm and like nothing could get to him, but a lot less soft.

He realized it was Snape hugging him.

He was so surprised that he nearly pulled away but then Snape grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him away, just enough to see his eyes.

Snape looked like he was feeling a great emotion. Not as bad as the crying Great Master Xuan, but enough to have Harry gaping at him stupidly.

"Oh, my boy, my dear good boy. Congratulations my Severus. We have another Pill Master in the family." Great Master Xuan was smiling so wide, even his tears looked like they were helping him smile.

Harry, startled, looked up at the crystal.

The now purple crystal, deepest purple on the tip, clearly said in Chinese:

Xian Tian Lighting Core, Xian Tian Wooden Core

Potential: Grade 9 Pill Master

Ye Wen had been just as ecstatic as Great Master Xuan and Snape, and kept obsessively fussing with his clothes and hair clip till Harry almost wanted to swat him to get him to stop.

Snape had been like a strutting peacock. The way Harry imagined Lucius Malfoy would have looked when Draco got into Slytherin. Both Great Master Xuan and him have had their heads together for the last 15 minutes, practically talking over one another in their plans for Harry.

Harry meanwhile had finished getting redressed and since few things about him were ever not about Voldemort, he figured he may as well let them have their moment.

He understood that this was a Big Deal, but he wasn't really sure he was as excited as Snape or Great Master Xuan because wasn't pill making kind of like potions?

Harry was pants at potions so he wasn't sure that it was as big a deal as they thought, because so what if he had potential, he had hated potions. He kind of worried they would be disappointed in him if he hated pill making as much as he hated potions.

Though, since Snape adopted him, he has stopped being mean to Harry so maybe potions won't be as bad if Snape wasn't always putting him down? Harry somehow doubted it. He just didn't have the dexterity needed to care about the difference between mincing and dicing things.

He figured he shouldn't let them get too far into their plans before he disappointed them and felt he needed to say, "Um Sir? And uh. Uncle. Sorry but… I am kind of crap at potions. I am not sure I will be as good at pill making as that crystal implied?"

He felt a bit bad having to burst their bubble so soon, but maybe better soon than when they have all these plans made and Harry's whole life laid out.

Great Master Xuan and Snape turned towards him almost as one, and Harry would find it comical if he wasn't so nervous.

"Do not worry, Harry. Pill making is nothing at all like potions. Potions requires a solid foundation in the basic handling of ingredients, and the potions creation is only as much about the exact steps as it is about the ambient magic the wizard or witch releases into the caldron while they are making it. Even a relatively weak wizard could make potions if they were diligent enough. Pill making on the other hand requires Magical inner fire to make. It is all about power level, magical reserves – of which you have a frankly ridiculous amount even at your young age – and about the quality of the ingredients themselves. I promise you my son, you will be a natural at it." Snape sounded so earnest that Harry could do nothing but nod even though privately he still has some serious doubts.

Still. Maybe it if it was about magic and not about all the finicky steps, it won't be so hard?

Harry rubbed his belly surreptitiously. Every since Great Master Xuan has done what he has done to Harry, He had been feeling a warm heat inside his belly. Kind of how you feel when you had a lot of warm soup on a cold day. It wasn't unpleasant exactly, but Harry had this irrational fear that it was going to suddenly heat up and feel like he was on fire again if he so much as sneezed or coughed wrong.

Great Master Xuan clearly saw his hand, because he said, "It feels warm, yes? That is your Dan Tian filling with magic. It will grow larger over time the more you absorb it. This is why all cultivators spend long hours in meditational cultivation, so they can 'process' the raw magic they are being filled with from their surrounding and make it part of their own Dan Tian. With time, your Dan Tian will grow, and the energy will solidify, it will first turn into a light river, then into an ocean. If you continue to cultivate, it will over time solidify and turn into a solid core, and later yet, into the primordial infant. But none of that is important now –"

Harry was sure it was pretty important if he was one day going to have a baby in his stomach! He was about to say that when Great Master Xuan continued,

"—the more important part is that you now have Xian Tian fire, or I suppose you would call it innate fire. Since you are in the Foundation stage of your cultivation, since we only just opened your Xue. Do not worry Harry-boy, I felt how much raw power you have, if you cultivate properly, you will be jumping levels in no time at all!"

Ye Wen looked downright emotional hearing this, and couldn't seem to stop patting Harry's robes. If he had been Ron, Harry was sure those would have been back slaps and "Good job Mate!" 's.

"Does this mean I don't need to be tested during the schools entrance exam?" because that would be really nice.

"No of course you do! It would not do for those first years to underestimate you after all. It was high time those royals were shaken up a bit." Great Master Xuan's smile was a touch bloodthirsty, and Harry hated to put a dampener on that but –

"Um Sir? Weren't we supposed to be keeping a low profile?" He asked Snape delicately.

Both Great Master Xuan and Snape blinked at him, and Harry could visibly see them tamp down their grand plans of boasting to the world.

"You have a point. Like this, I will quietly write you into the Registry Book, which every member of the Kun Lun School needs to be registered in to acknowledge you as a student there. Since I am the Head of the Pill sect, I have that right." Great Master Xuan looked at him then, and Harry felt something wash over his mind. It seemed to pause at his forehead, but pulled back before Harry could more than wonder if he imagined it.

"Harry-boy, I want to take you as my Inner Disciple, what do you say?" Great Master Xuan smiled at him, and Harry had a momentary flashback of Snape's pensieve memory of China.

Great Master Xuan had said similar words to Snape a long time ago, and today, Snape is his own Master.

Harry had very little experience in these situations, but he figured having his 'uncle' who was the Head of the Pill sect in Kun Lun be his teacher, that had to be an amazing opportunity. Plus, maybe if Snape isn't the only one teaching him, he won't suck that badly and let everyone down.

He glanced at Snape, who nodded his head that Harry should accept.

So, Harry bowed from his hip this time, copying Snape's actions from so long ago, putting his fist in his hand, raising them all the way to his forehead, and bowing very low, so that his hands almost passed his knees, and said loudly and clearly, hoping he remembered Snape's exact words of acceptance, "Shifu is on the top. Accept this bow from your disciple." He really hoped that came out correct. He bowed three times, not too quickly.

"Good, good. Then it is settled. Rise, my disciple." Great Master Xuan sure did look happy, smiling widely at Harry, and then at Snape.

Snape came over then, and quietly told him that Ye Wen had already gone to get the tea, and with a small start, Harry remembered there was still one more step to the ceremony.

Ye Wen returned then, and placed a tea cup with no handles but with a saucer. The interesting thing was the tea cup had a lid on it with a little matching ceramic handle on the top, he realized the tea leaves were already in the cup, a teapot of boiling water and another smaller teapot with no lid – looked almost like a milk saucer but bigger, tea tongues, and a rather large bowl, all on the tray on the nearby table. Harry walked over to it, and gulped a little, not knowing how it all worked.

Luckily his trusty Ye Wen was there. He guided Harry with quiet murmurs through the process: First pour boiling water into the large bowl. Use the tongues to pick up the small teacup – no that's the big teacup, leave that alone – the small one over there. No little Master, it was just hiding behind the other pot. Pick it up using the tongues and without dropping it, rinse it through the boiling water in the large bowl in a circular motion. You dropped it, that's ok, pick it up again – not with your hand! The tongues little Master that are still in your other hand, yes. Now take it out of the bowl and rest it face up. We will be pouring tea into it shortly. Now open the lid of the larger teacup and set it aside. Pick up the teapot – the one with the boiling water – carefully pour in a circular motion around the cup starting from the outside towards the inside, okay stop, stop! That's enough water. Set the teapot aside, and put the lid back on the teacup, now you will carefully tilt the lid of the teacup to the left, don't let any tea leaves past and pour the tea into the empty small teapot, yes, the one with no lid. Good! Almost done, now set down the teacup and pick up the teapot with no lid, and pour the tea into the little cup. Put that little cup on this small tray here, and bring it to your Shifu. Good job little Master!

It was like having a mini-Hermione by his side.

He presented it to his Shifu with a quiet, "Shifu, please enjoy this tea."

Great Master Xuan accepted and took a sip, exclaiming, "Excellent Ling Tea, Harry-boy! Very good for your first try." And Harry breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

"Now then, what kind of Shifu would I be, if I didn't give you an Acceptance gift, hm? Here is a proper stove worthy of my disciple, and my diary of learning how to make pills as well as a book on 10,000 plants. Study them well. In addition, here is a Grade 9 life extension pill. Keep it on you at all times, if you are mortally wounded, it will save your life even in the worst situations." His face must have given away his surprise because Great Master Xuan winked at him and said, "I suspected I would be taking you on today, so I came prepared." By the look on Snape's face, this pill was a big deal, so Harry bowed low again and accepted with gratitude.

And just like that, Harry got his second father figure in a week.

Though he didn't learn about that till much later.

The doctor's visit later that afternoon was a lot less eventful.

A good-looking man who looked to be in his mid 30, Doctor Liu was a man with a quiet but no-nonsense attitude. Great Master Xuan told him privately that the man was actually in his late 80s, but being a doctor of the magical world, kept himself in very good health.

The doctor asked Harry to sit down by the table, he took the opposite seat so the table was between them. Then he produced a little pillow and placed it on the table and asked Harry to give him his right hand. He put Harry's hand on the pillow, wrist up, and placed three fingers on Harry's pulse point.

Harry felt the doctor push his energy gently into Harry's wrist and up his arm, and nearly panicked and pulled away but Snape's hand on his shoulder stopped him.

Snape said, "Let him, he is checking you over." So, Harry tried to relax and not fight the weird presence he could feel inside him.

The doctor didn't say anything throughout this process, but did frown a few times and tilt his head as if he was listening to something.

After about a minute of this, he pulled his energy back out of Harry, as gently as he had entered, and sighed.

"Your son is currently without injuries; however, he has had a very bad start in his early life. There is severe magical core tearings which has healed over time, indicating the body was under frequently physical or magical strain and his magic had tried to compensate. He is malnutritioned physically, and will need to go on a strict pill-plan which might last several months. His bones are brittle because magic was used to heal them from their previous breaks and with no pill support, they didn't heal very strongly. He could also use a serious body cleaning if you have the conditions for it, both via herbal baths and magical cleansing pools. The good news is that I sense very little pill poisoning, is there a reason for this?"

Harry, by now extremely confused, was about to ask for a translation when Snape spoke up, "He has a Xian Tian wood core." As if that was supposed to explain everything.

"Ah. I see,"

…which apparently it was. Huh. Harry made a note to ask Snape later what that had been about.

"Well. The good news, is a few months of medicine, and he will be in full health with no permanent consequences, if you follow my suggestions. Feed him more Ling food, ideally only Ling food if you can manage it. His core is still growing and I do not advise more tearing as a method to grow it forcibly."

"Are you saying that the conditions he grew up in actually expanded his core rather than stunted it?" Snape asked in astonishment, and Doctor Liu gave him a Look.

"I see it was not done intentionally. Very well, yes it somehow did not hurt him but grew even bigger. He seems to have vast reserves of magic within him. More than his body's conditions would allow actually. I do not like the look of his forehead, there is dark magic sitting there, but it seems currently contained. I advise you to find a solution to get that out of the boy, though it may also explain the additional unexplained reserves."

Harry had to look down at that. So, he was powerful because of Voldemort. Whatever Voldemort did that night, Harry must have taken his power. Like speaking to snakes and not starving to death when he should have apparently.

The doctor and Snape spent a little while longer talking, but since Harry saw Ye Wen paying close attention, he figured he could ask him later.

Great Master Xuan spoke to him suddenly, "Severus told me about what happened to your parents and how you grew up. Your mother clearly cast a very powerful blood magic spell to protect you. Even in China, it is a rare spell to see." At Harry's surprise, Great Master Xuan laughed softly, "Oh yes, we have records of it, even though it is only a page, and no full book was found on it. Your mother not only saved you, but made sure that your enemies power now belonged to you, by right of conquest. It is very powerful magic indeed. She must have been a very powerful witch, and loved you very much to have defeated Voldemort."

Harry had never thought of it that way. It hadn't been him who defeated Voldemort after all, it had been his mom! His mum who used blood magic to do it. Blood magic which was illegal in Britain. It was her power which beat Voldemort, and it was her magic which stole all her enemies' power and gave them to her son. Harry felt astonished to have never realized that. All this time, he had felt bad that he was tainted with Voldemort's power, when actually, his mum kicked Voldie's arse and gave his power to Harry in punishment! His mum paid with her life for this. The least Harry could do, was use it.

Harry felt a lot better all of a sudden.

Proud somehow, and powerful.

Which made no sense, but he still felt like that. Like he maybe could understand his mum a bit. She was a real lioness.

"I hope those Mortals would receive the punishment they deserve one day. If I know Severus, they will and not too long from now. Severus talked about your mother often to me you know. I think in the end, that was why he went back. Unfinished business maybe." Great Master Xuan lamented, and Harry was pretty sure he was supposed to be thinking about this a great deal.

His new Shifu had already stated teaching him it seemed.

Severus went over to where Harry and Great Master Xuan were talking. Doctor Liu had taken Chamberlin Wang with him to pick up Harry's medicine and bring them back.

He spent a little time answering Harry's questions about Qi and how the Chinese magics worked. He knew it was terribly confusing after the structured way Hogwarts was taught. It was in fact a completely different way of thinking about magic. Severus remembered struggling with it for months after coming here.

"Chinese wizards pooled their magic into their bellies, over long periods of time. They didn't just use their own magics but absorbed all the ambient magics within their surroundings. At first, this absorbed magic would first harden the body – known as the Body forging phase. This phase also allows the body to become extremely durable. After this phase is completed, usually involving ten separate stages of transmutation, the Qi inside the body will then slowly begin to transmute and be compressed into a liquid state, causing a kind of pool or ocean to form within the body. This compressed energy is called Zhen Qi, or Real Qi. This pool would be made up of pure compressed magical energy, and it would start to cleanse the body of all impurities. The magic user becomes more resistant to diseases, poisons and the like because the magical pool within cycles through the body, removing any and all impurities that it finds. However, one was still susceptible to illnesses and the like, just more resistant. Some wizards are capable of such large energy reserves, that their inside looks less like a pool, and more like a golden ocean." Severus privately thought Harry would end up with a virtual sea inside when he reached that stage.

"This stage also had ten separate transmutations. Over time, that pool or ocean would be compressed so much by the magic user's transmutation, that the magic within would solidify into a pill-shaped core, also known as the Golden Core or pill forming phase. As they continued to gather energy and transmute it inside themselves, over time this golden core will transmute into the primordial infant."

"There are many stages after that, but for now, this is what you need to know. We will work on adding details to the chart I gave you before."

Severus made a mental note to walk Harry through this a few more times because it was extremely unlikely Harry would understand with only one explanation and no demonstrations. Maybe Severus could show him how his own looked?

But he didn't think the boy was ready to face Severus's inner self, nor was Severus himself ready for that if he was honest. He resigned himself in trying to explain slowly in as many details as he could and answer as many questions as the boy might have. If he was willing to ask them.

Severus couldn't help but notice Harry often didn't ask the questions which were clearly on his mind. Severus would have to find a way to break him of this habit.

Slowly.

He had patience.

It was already late afternoon, and Great Master Xuan excused himself, after telling Harry his new identification jade as an Inner disciple of the Kun Lun school will be ready tomorrow as well as to remind him that his uniform should be changed from the normal student to the one of the Inner disciples.

Harry mentally groaned at another clothes shopping trip, but then figures last time hadn't been so bad.

Snape led them back to the Second Gate, and surprised Harry by going to his courtyard and into his study. There he picked up a piece of square paper, which Harry noticed had a leather holder around a stack of these, and wrote a few words on it that Harry couldn't see with a brush, blew on the words a few times, and started to fold it.

Harry stared.

Within a few seconds, there was a paper crane sitting in Snape's hand. Snape looked at it, and said, "To the Silk Emporium, Master Liu." And to Harry's astonishment, the little bird took flight. Surprisingly quickly too.

"Messenger cranes. Most people in China use them for communications. In the British Ministry it had been paper planes. Have Ye Wen make you a few dozen till you learn to make them yourself." Snape said casually.

Then out of nowhere -

"I am very proud of you Harry. You not only displayed incredible potential, effortlessly getting into Kun Lun School, which is by no means easy, but you were also selected to be my Master's Inner disciple. I don't think you realize what an amazing accomplishment that was, my son. I think we should have a celebration tonight, I will send people out to the Spring Fragrance Pavilion, and buy everyone a big Ling Dinner, what do you think? It will help with your health and make everyone happy while they celebrate your success."

Harry wanted to protest, but he also kind of didn't. He had gotten into school, and he did have a new Shifu. Plus, everyone would be so happy to get a great meal, it was a win-win right?

So, Harry smiled at Snape and nodded shyly, because it was still a little embarrassing that Snape was making a big deal out of it, but Harry figured, why not, just this once. Snapes words made his stomach do that thing, making him warm all over and like he wanted to flush.

Zhao Momo certainly looked happy when Snape gave her the order and hurried away after she was told everyone, yes even the rough servants, and definitely the Shadows too, were to celebrate tonight. A loud cheer was heard several minutes later behind the courtyard wall and Harry laughed a little.

Snape smirked-smiled also, seemed he also liked spoiling their staff, which Harry hadn't expected from him.

Now that Harry-related obligations were over, Snape looked very eager to go see the pill rooms. Harry felt a little bad that he had taken up so much of Snapes time, and thought about excusing himself but he had to admit he was curious too because he heard they even had a medicinal garden somewhere but he had yet to see them.

Their house was ridiculous, Harry figured he would need to go up on his broom in order to figure out just how many small courtyards there were and where everything was. He briefly wondered if it would be weird to ask Chamberlin Wang for a map.

Snape seemed to think Harry should see it too now that it was known he had potential in pill making, so they walked to the left of the family house, where another courtyard connected to Snapes courtyard with a long corridor was through the moon gate – and wasn't that a cool name? Ye Wen told him it was called that because the gate was a perfect circle with the bottom cut off, looking like a full moon – a large pill room was on the right while the potions laboratory was on the left. An herb and plant garden took up the entire central courtyard, though privately Harry thought it looked a little small. Turned out, on the other side of the pill room, was a literal forest of herbs and plants. Harry hadn't realized it, but it seemed it was common to put pocket dimensions with concentrated Qi in order to grow your plants and the like. Ye Wen told him the kitchen area had another entire field that was just for growing Ling food, though at the moment it laid fallow.

No one had dared enter the Potion Master's lab of course, everything was how Great Master Xuan had arranged it.

Harry thought it looked like a potion masters dream. Caldrons of all shapes, colors and sizes hung on one wall, far away from the brewing area. The brewing area itself could not look more different form the potions lab at Hogwarts. While the Hogwarts labs had been underground, with no windows and oppressive heavy stones, the lab here was a wide-open space, with several fires arranges in rows. Harry was most distracted by the myriad of red colored runes which covered every wall, ceiling and floor. At his very eloquent "um?" and wide-eyed stare, Snape was nice enough to explain that they served the same purpose as the Hogwarts stone walls had, namely, to contain explosions. Which was good to know, since now he knew that if a potion was about to blow, he needed to get out of the runed area as it created a dome of protection, trapping the explosion inside.

The ingredient 'cabinet' was actually the entire central building. Against the back wall, a huge cabinet with hundreds of drawers sat prominently. It seemed that the left side of the cabinet was dedicated to potions, while the right side were the ingredients for pill making. Both sides were surprisingly small but the center section was huge. This it turned out were the ingredients which could be used in both potion and pill making. Harry supposed that made sense, since they were sort of a similar discipline even if they went about doing things differently.

Harry couldn't help his curiosity, and pulled out one of the drawers. Inside the space had clearly been charmed with an expansion and preservation charms, because it was a lot deeper than it looked. To Harry's surprise, the ingredients where not in jars, but were directly deposited into the drawer. Each drawer had labels of plants directly carved into the wood. Harry briefly wondered what they did with the more, er, wet ingredients like newt eyes and the like, but decided he really didn't much care. He would find out later anyway.

Snape seemed very pleased with the cabinets, as well as the large table in front of the cabinet which had weights, scales and even an abacus on the counter. Square pieces of brown paper were also sitting neatly to the side, together with rope and scoopers.

It looked nothing at all like the gloomy potion's laboratories Harry had gotten used to. It was airy and bright, and several of the herb boys had been running around organizing everything when Harry and Snape had come in. Snape had asked one of the boys to call for Herb Master Xu, and that was when Harry found out that Snape had outright hired a man who used to operate apothecaries for six centuries. The man had been close to retirement, but apparently when he heard that a Grade 9 potions master under Great Master Xuan needed a knowledgeable Herb Master, he had given his shop directly to his son and came to work for Snape.

Harry was amazed how fast news traveled and how quickly things could be organized.

He was also in charge of all the ling herbs they would be growing in the garden and chatted happily with Snape about the quality of the soil, making suggestions for this or that improvement that Harry only half listened to. This was also how Harry learned that Snape planned to transport practically half a mountain worth of good soil into their back yard within the next few days, and that Herb Master had already taken the initiative to go around town, and request good quality seedlings for them. Harry also discovered they had a green house somewhere, but he had no idea where it could be hiding.

The Pill Room in contrast looked very different. It was divided into two large rooms, and had incredibly high ceilings for some reason. He could see the same red runes over every square inch of the walls and floor, but the floors were made of a kind of glossy and very hard-looking wood. There was a platform where the oven should go, and around it, there was one big seating cushion on the floor. Behind it, were 6 smaller cushions arranged in a semi circle around the first cushion.

Harry wondered a little about this, but figured someone would tell him eventually how that worked.

Snape must have realized Harry looked a little bored, because he told Harry he still needed to stay and arrange some things, and why didn't Harry go fly for a while, and maybe watch the sunset?

That sounded like a brilliant plan to Harry, since even Ye Wen had left his side to help out with the tons and tons of arriving clothes weapons foods and the like which Snape had ordered bought earlier.

Harry pulled out his Nimbus 2001, and kick off. He heard a few gasps below but figured it had nothing to do with him, and he lost himself flying for the next hour.

He had been right; their house was absolutely ridiculous. At first Harry thought Snape was insane to hire so many servants, but now he realized Snape had maybe been conservative about his hiring. They even had an 8-story pagoda tower for Merlin's sake. Harry had no idea what it was for, but he very much enjoyed flying to the roof. He realized this was going to be one of his favorite perches from now on. From there, he could see most of the city, and the sunset had been spectacular.

Harry had previously found it odd that despite being quite far west and high up in the mountains, the temperature had remained very mild, very similar to the temperature he experienced for all of 20 minutes in Shanghai. He wondered if that was just because this place had so much ambient magic that it kept things temperate? He made a note to ask Ye Wen later, and spend a good hour just enjoying the scenery.

Just as the sky was losing all of its purples and darkening to dark blues and blacks, a little paper crane landed on top of his head.

When he unfolded it, he could clearly see Snape's pointy letters in English with only a "Come to the dining hall." Scribbled on it.

Shrugging, he mounted his broom and did a nose-dive off the tower, letting the wind ruffle his hair and his long sleeves flapping like a demented bird from hell behind him.

The dining hall, which they hadn't used yet, was within the First Gate, and was clearly designed to hold large banquets and gatherings. Harry only found it with how many lanterns floated in mid air in the area.

It seemed the whole of their staff had heard about the party tonight because everyone was chatting away happily and there were huge round tables, many of them, set up which sat around 20 people. On top of the table was a slightly smaller piece of elevated round glass table – like a table within a table almost - which spun very lazily and slowly. Harry could see why, since so many dishes were placed on top of the tables, there was no way for someone on one side of the table to reach anything on the far side. This glass table seemed to serve as a sort of easy access for that. One just had to wait for the circle to make its way to them so they could eat the dishes on that side.

He easily spotted Ye Wen, and flew down to him.

Ye Wen for his part looked like he might have a heart attack when he saw his 'little Master' on a broom of all things.

Clearly, China did not have flying brooms, and Harry thought that was just a damned shame since brooms were awesome.

Ye Wen also ushered him quickly back to his own courtyard and had him change into a more vibrant color of blue, since he was apparently the guest of honor tonight. After he had reapplied the hair charm twice, he proclaimed Harry ready for the feast and they hurried back to the dining hall.

Harry wondered if all Chinese houses were this big because their food was that good, and honestly everyone would be fat if they didn't have to trudge back and forth from one end of the house to the other.

As soon as he approached the dining hall moon gate, a loud cheer went up the moment he was spotted.

Snape had given strict orders that although it was Harry's Apprenticeship celebration, no gifts were to be given. Everyone was just to have a good time of it.

Before leaving Great Master Xuan had warned them there would be an elaborate dinner tomorrow night at his own residence to both officially welcome them to Magical China, celebrate Harry becoming his inner disciple and to introduce the Snapes to the gentry and other important folks. Harry had a sneaking suspicion this was a political move, but since not once had Great Master Xuan so much as called him Harry Potter, he has pretty much been exclusively Harry-boy or Harry Snape, so he didn't think this was about his fame so much as Snape's fame.

Which was just fine to Harry.

He realized that he has felt a lot happier since they had arrived to China. He noticed it in both himself and in Snape, as if a great burden had been lifted off both their shoulders and they could both breath better. Maybe, that was why Snape has been so disturbingly nice to Harry this whole time too.

Now that Harry thought about it, Snape hasn't once called him an idiot, or disparaged his parents, or his fame, or his intellect, looks, or general magical capabilities. He had been acting like… well, like he was happy to be here, and happy that Harry was here with him.

It was downright bizarre.

He shook off his thoughts, because Snape had come over while he had been spacing out and suggested that everyone take a seat. He took the center seat where he could see everyone, and had Harry sit on his right side, with Ye Wen on his other size. Chamberlin Wang and Zhao Momo sat on his other side. When everyone had taken their seats, all the various tables full because even the guards and shadows had joined them, only leaving a skeleton crew as a look-out, Snape stood up, and holding out his tea cup – which turned out to not be a tea cup at all but alcohol cup – he said loudly and clearly:

"Thank you everyone for honoring myself and my son tonight and joining us in this celebration. This dinner is in part to celebrate the establishment of the Snape House in Kun Lun City, and all of your joining to make us a prosperous and powerful house!" A great cheer went up at that, "and also, some of you might have heard that my son was tested today, and received such phenomenal results, that he was asked on the spot to become Great Master Xuan's 13th Inner disciple!" Everyone exploded at that, since it was clear not everyone had heard about this.

"Some of you know, that I myself was his 9th Inner disciple, and I could not be prouder of my son, who has brough great honor to the name Snape today, for being able to follow in my footsteps." Here, Snape looked directly at him, and Harry felt that deep warm feeling in his belly again, which he had started to associate with Snape recently. He just knew his face was beat red but he couldn't help smile, since everyone looked so incredibly happy for him. Genuinely happy, and not the polite fake smiles some of his former year mates used to give him.

"We haven't had much warning to do a proper banquet, but my son and I wanted you to join in our happiness and celebration. Please everyone, raise your cups in honor of my son. Gan Bei!"

Everyone around Harry lifted their cups, and everyone was smiling and toasting him all at once. He had no idea what to do, but Ye Wen just passed him a small cup with clear liquid and murmured that he should drink it all, and not choke.

He threw Ye Wen a sharp glance at that, but did as he was told.

Right away he knew why Ye Wen said not to choke, that alcohol was strong!

Merlin, it felt like his insides were on fire again, but just when he was sure he was going to try to spit it back out again, it quickly it settled into a deep warmth in his belly and he felt like he was full of magic. Like he could cast anything. His mouth also felt like he had pear or peach perfume in it, the taste was actually quite addictive.

"Ling Alcohol. 70 years old. The best the Pavilion had to offer." Ye Wen laughed a little at him and drank his own. "Costs a small fortune and it will make you feel great tomorrow. No hangovers either."

That was good to hear, since it seemed as soon as Snape sat down, everyone from Chamberlin Wang to his own Shadows came one by one to do another Gan Bei2 with him.

At a glance from Snape, Ye Wen slipped him a pill which he muttered would help him remain more or less sober no matter how much he drank, so he didn't embarrass himself.

Harry gave Snape a pathetically grateful look, since this was the first time in his life he ever had alcohol and he had heard horror stories of what happened when you got drunk and people decided to take advantage of you. Seamus's uncle was apparently legendary for making a fool of himself at the Christmas table every year.

Harry had also never realized just how many people Snape had hired because every single one of them had came up to him for a toast. He was very grateful that Chinese culture demanded you state your name before the blessing, so he got a lot of "Little Master, Wang mou wishes you the best success and congratulations on your good fortune!"

He was a little confused because he thought he figured out the name system. He knew the last name came first, so this "Wang mou" his last name was Wang and his name should have been mou, right? Apparently not, since a number of them came up to him with Liu Mou, Zhang Mou, Li Mou, Du Mou and so on. He wondered if the pill had failed and he was already drunk and being confused.

While were was a breather for everyone to eat a few bites, he asked Ye Wen what was up with so many people having the same name, and Ye Wen actually laughed a little, explaining that it was a way to say "somebody", so Wang Mou meant Wang Somebody. This was apparently a way to show respect to the person they were talking to, knowing they weren't important enough for their names to be remembered after so many drinks, and also a way to show modesty and a form of socially acceptable submission. Before Harry could protest, Ye Wen, without even looking up, said, "Not submission as you understand it. I will explain it in detail tomorrow, please enjoy the evening little Master." Saying that, he pointed at Harry's bowl, which was heaped with food, and Harry shrugged and dug in.

Half way through the dinner, half a dozen ladies showed up in flowing robes and elaborate headgear, and Harry realized someone must have hired a band to play. Though this was very different from a normal band, the music was Chinese for one, and Ye Wen told him it was traditional banquet music. The magic in the music was supposed to elevate the happy mood, assist with digestion and negotiations if any were to be had, and generally just make everyone happy.

It certainly did do that and Harry found that he absolutely loved some of the songs the very pretty – now that he was looking – ladies were playing. They didn't look at the people eating much, and mostly just focused on being really into their music. Their robes and silk ribbons around their arms swayed as if the wind itself was obeying them, and Harry realized that maybe it was. As they played, the air started to shimmer around everyone at the banquet. It looked a lot like millions of fireflies which were smaller than normal fireflies and looked more like luminescent glitter was floating in elegant swirls across the whole courtyard.

Harry had a brief tipsy thought of wondering how it would feel to fly through that.

He wanted to test it out, but there were still people coming up to him to toast him, so he gave up on that and just enjoyed everyone laughing and having a great time at his expense.

He had a momentary thought that if all celebrations were like this, no one calling him a savior but just happy for him for achieving something, well, that would be pretty nice too. He always hated being the center of attention but now he realized it was mostly because he was the center of attention for the wrong reasons.

This, felt… nice.

Severus had been very glad he remembered to tell Ye Wen to pick up an anti-drunkenness pill for Harry, because it seemed all their staff was hell bent on showing Snape, through Harry, how much they appreciated their new Masters.

All night long, Harry was approach for toasts, in the typical Chinese Gan Bei style, and Severus remembered this from many banquets he had to attend as Great Master Xuan's Inner Disciple. When the people really liked someone or wanted to show them respect, paradoxically they would swarm that person and initiate Gan Bei after Gan Bei till the person they were targeting was on the floor unconscious from alcohol poisoning. Severus had only had to attend one such banquet to never forget to carry both anti-drunkenness pills and sobering pills. After the third such banquet, he also started carrying anti-poison pills.

Jealousy was a universal issue after all.

Which reminded him, he would need to have a talk with Ye Wen to make sure Harry was always prepared. Ye Wen at least seemed to take his responsibilities seriously. Small wonder, thought Severus, this job opportunity must seem like a fate-send to both Ye Wen and Chamberlin Wang.

Nothing quite like someone trying to kill you, to appreciate second chances.

Speaking of which…

Severus glanced at Harry, to find him blushing scarlet again while their herb boys swarmed him for yet more Gan Bei, and Severus idly wondered what they could be saying to the boy to make him so bashful.

Harry will be happy he took that pill tomorrow, either way.

2 Gan Bei – means Dry the Cup or Cheers. Traditionally, one must drink everything in the cup when Gan Bei was spoken.

That party had clearly been the right decision, Severus thought the next morning, since all their staff were a lot more relaxed around both himself and Harry now. They were still formal of course, never losing sight who was master and who was servant, least they got into real trouble outside the Snape house doors, but the atmosphere had changed overnight. Everyone smiled when they saw him, but especially when they saw Harry.

He was their little Master who made all of them proud, even though they had nothing to do with his success. That was the way of the Chinese family homes. Everyone's achievements brought honor to the house, and similarly, the individual disgrace brought disgrace to the house as a whole.

Severus was glad Harry looked more at ease also, and congratulated himself again for the last-minute decision. Normally, the Master of the house and his family wouldn't be caught dead sitting at a banquet table together with their servants like that, but neither Snape nor Harry were Chinese, so he figured a little occasional relaxation of the rules harmed no one, and if it allowed his son to feel more comfortable in their home, well then it was worth it.

His son.

Even days later, thoughts like these left him feeling wrong-footed.

Harry has thus far not addressed him as father, which Severus could admit, stung a little, but considering their… less than stellar history, was to be expected.

In fact, Harry himself seemed rather lost on what to call him, defaulting to the trusted 'sir' as much as possible.

So far it hasn't been a problem, mostly because 'sir' translated to something like a respectful honorific in Chinese, so everyone just thought his son was overly formal. Severus could see that it puzzled the people around them, especially since Harry was not formal in anything else he did, but they currently all shrugged it off as a cultural quirk.

Severus hoped that everyone they met would continue to do so, though knowing how sensitive Chinese society was to titles, he doubted it would stay that way for much longer.

It was perhaps fortunate then, that soon Harry would be able to address him as professor again, especially in Kun Lun School, which would be expected.

Thought privately Severus promised himself to try harder to be a better father to Harry. He had little experience with fatherhood, in fact, the only example he did have was Lucius Malfoy, which perhaps wasn't the best example after all.

Thinking he could maybe use some help in this department, he vowed to speak to Great Master Xuan.

But in the mean time…

He picked up a brush, and penned a quick order to the book store. Maybe some books on how to be a father would not go amiss.

Harry woke up clear headed and stinking like the hog's head after a quidditch match win. Not that he had ever been at the hog's head after quidditch but he heard the Twins talk about it enough to safely make the comparison.

He was pathetically grateful to Ye Wen for that pill last night because he figured he would have been in considerable pain this morning if it wasn't for it's – heh – magical help.

Crawling out of bed, he decided that a bath was in order before he even tried to leave his rooms. Thankfully, Ye Wen seemed to have known his thoughts because when he followed the corridor which led to the outdoor hot spring, he found Ye Wen already throwing herbs into the water.

"Ah! Little Master, you are awake." The cheerful boy said, and Harry wondered how much happier Ye Wen seemed since he first met him only a day or so ago, "I have taken the liberty of adding detoxing herbs into your bath, since the amount of alcohol you consumed yesterday is unlikely to be completely purged with one pill. You should soak in the water for at least 20 minutes before dressing, to insure no, ah, offending smell clings to you." He snickered, and Harry couldn't exactly begrudge him that considering he would have been drunk as a skunk if it wasn't for the quick thinking of his companion boy.

Harry wasn't really sure the herb smell was much better than the alcohol smell, but when he got into the water, once he assured Ye Wen that no he didn't need help getting out of his sleep clothes, thank-you-very-much, he realized that once the herbs came into contact with the water, they didn't smell nearly as pungent as the they did when Ye Wen was throwing them in.

Magical plants were weird that way, Harry supposed.

The hot water did feel amazing, and the herbs seemed to have some kind of muscle relaxing properties because Harry felt incredibly refreshed afterwards. He did also smell much better, he could admit. Kind of spicy and a little musky.

It was like nothing he ever smelled before, but he found he quite liked it.

Harry was surprised that the clothes laid out for him today looked a lot more elaborate, and where more charcoal than anything else, with some dark trim here and there along the collar and rim of the inner robe, and a semi-invisible print of bamboo leaves in a dark shade of black on his sleeves and the bottom of the robe. It seemed bamboo was the go-to print for Harry, according to their tailor.

When he asked why the semi-formalwear, Ye Wen gave him a Look, so similar to the one Hermione gives him when he wasn't using his brain that he nearly teared up. Clearly the party had been a fantastic idea to loosen everyone's nerves around him and Snape.

"Little Master, did you forget? Great Master Xuan mentioned that you will be getting your identification plaque today."

Harry nodded slowly, but for the life of him, he couldn't see the correlation between formal wear and plaque-receiving.

Wait, Ye Wen couldn't mean –

"Do you mean there will be some sort of… ceremony? Today?" Was that even the right term? His Chinese has been improving by leaps and bounds, the pill clearly working overtime to cram the complicated language into his head but he knew he was still missing words and meanings constantly.

Seeing Harry's honest confusion, Ye Wen seemed to take pity on him, "No Little Master. But there will most certainly be a banquet later in the week, so Great Master Xuan could introduce you to the important and affluent people in the city. Perhaps some of the Great Masters would also come down from the school to join in the celebration, to give face to Great Master Xuan. He hasn't taken an apprentice since his last one died suddenly four years ago and everyone will want to meet the man who changed his mind in taking another apprentice. Coupled with the fact that you are a… outsider, this will generate much interest in you, and thus a big showing." Ye Wen explained, while adjusting Harry's broad sash, his voice a little muffled since he had to wrap his hands around Harry's waist.

Harry himself still wasn't used to needing someone to help him dress, so he just stood there awkwardly with his hands out in a T, as per Ye Wen's polite demand that he not get in the way of 'helping' Ye Wen dress him.

Harry wondered briefly if this was how Victorian women felt when trying to fit into their complicated dresses, and then Ye Wen's words registered.

"Wait, you said, 'next week', so why am I dressing formally today?"

Ye Wen seemed to sigh very, very, quietly. Harry had noticed the other boy doing that whenever Harry said something which he deemed particularly ignorant.

"Because Little Master, in preparation for getting you ready for formal events, we will need to practice!" Ye Wen said as he tied a thin white silk string-belt once around Harry's black sash, synching everything in place. Harry noticed his white identification jade was hanging attractively from the string-belt also, in full view.

Harry wasn't sure how he felt about practicing in formalwear but figured Ye Wen wouldn't be doing it, unless it was something Harry did, in fact, need to practice, so he didn't say more.

He did however, give Ye Wen a look when the boy tucked a white fan with a bamboo print into his sash, "Little Master, a fan is an essential tool for a young man who has not yet declared himself either martial or literate leanings, and it is invaluable during formal events when you are not yet used to… hiding your true feelings about various things.

That pause had been a bit pointed, so Harry assumed he had somehow blundered last night, but figured Ye Wen would tell him what he did wrong later.

"Besides, Master mentioned you might be having visitors today, and one must always present ones beside side to non-family and family alike."

This was news to Harry, but he figured he could ask Snape who else was coming today when they had breakfast.

Breakfast turned out to be a surprisingly challenging affair that morning, after Harry nearly put his extra-long sleeves into his soup for the second time without meaning to, he privately started to see Ye Wen's wisdom in practicing in formalwear.

Formalwear was heavier than casualwear, even though Harry didn't find the casual-wear all that casual by his own dirty t-shirt and old-faded-jeans usual ensemble. The silk was stiffer, even though it still didn't restrict his legs any. The shoes were stiffer too, and Harry was privately grateful that Snape had paid for comfort charms and adjustment charms to be placed inside or he was sure his feet would be very unhappy.

Food today was totally different from yesterday also, but again really delicious. Harry was happy that Snape had cleared most of the servants because Ye Wen had to stop him a few times, and show him how he had to use one hand to hold the sleeve back while the other one tried to pick up the food in question in his chopstick.

Snape had thankfully showed him the charm he used to make Harry's chopsticks useable, and while it took him a little while to figure out how to cast it wandlessly – his magic didn't seem to want to do it, though Snape assured him that was normal for a few weeks till he was used to channeling it differently – he could at least cast it now without help.

Snape had given him an Eyebrow when he showed up all peacocked up for breakfast, but Ye Wen had quietly and with dignity informed 'Master' that 'Little Master will need a few days to get used to the Ways of Social Behavior.' Harry could hear the capitals without them being spelled out, and evidently so could Snape, because he looked a little chagrined on Harry's behalf but didn't say anything further.

Harry suddenly had a foreboding sense that he would soon be getting an etiquette tutor or something like that, if Ye Wen didn't just decide to bring Harry up to shape himself.

After Ye Wen showed him for the 4th time how to hold his sleeve to not get food on it, Harry thought he might have gotten the hang of it. It was kind of like cooking, Harry thought. One hand holds the sleeve, other hand reach… everything had steps to it.

He grimaced a little thinking about having to do this all the time, but reminded himself this was only really needed for formalwear. His previous robes didn't seem to need so much…caring. And surely, there won't be that many formal occasions, right?

He could hope.

Snape mentioned casually, while watching Harry try to grab a particularly fiddling piece of vegetable, that Great Master Xuan would be by later in the day, and asked him to set some time aside for him. It seemed the Great Master was very eager to teach Harry the basics of pill making – Snape muttered here that likely he wanted to make sure Harry could at least produce inner fire, and didn't trust Snape to teach him himself, which Harry privately found hilarious, especially since Snape looked so disgruntled about it – as well as to bring his new plaque.

"Now Harry-boy, I want you to sit there, sit with your legs crossed, yes. Now put your palms face up on your knees, you will be focusing on the feeling in your palms shortly. We are going to be igniting your innate fire for the first time today."

"Now, close your eyes. Yes, close them. No, you won't be cultivating any pills yet, do not worry. Close your eyes, when you can sense your magic, I want you to follow it inwards. This part is a little hard for those of you from the west who were never taught to look within yourself at your magic, which by the way, here in China we consider a crime against education that you were not even taught such basics, but I digress." Saying this, Great Master Xuan was clearly seated behind him in a similar position. The Great Master put a hand on the center of Harry's back.

Harry could tell this was clearly a sore topic for the man, since he sounded honestly aggrieved, but he did as the Great Master requested and closed his eyes. He had to really concentrate, but within a few heartbeats, he could feel something inside his hands. Like a kind of warmth. The more he focused on it, the warmer his hands got. He peeked one eye open just to see if there was anything different in his palms, but immediately the warm feeling vanished.

Harry huffed to himself, and quickly closed his eyes and concentrated again. This time the warm feeling came back quickly and it felt warm all the way up to his elbows.

Great Master Xuan's voice penetrated his focus gently, "Good. Now you can feel your magic in your hands, yes? Now I want you to spread that feeling, up your hands, to your shoulders, down your chest and belly. You should feel it pool right under your belly button."

Harry did as he was told, and slowly, very slowly, he started to feel that warmth inside his belly, right below his naval. He had no idea how long this was taking him, but Great Master Xuan's hand stayed put on his back, keeping him focused, and not rushing him.

"Good boy. Now, I want you to put all your focus into it. Focus completely inwards, feel that magic inside you. Can you feel it's shape? It is like a magical mist inside you, isn't it?"

Mutely, Harry nodded. He felt like he was in a pensieve again, but inside his own body this time. He felt suspended in mid air, and all around him, beautiful blue and gold white mist glittered.

"Good, good. You are now inside your magical core, or your Dan Tian. Remember this feeling well Harry. You will be visiting this place very often in the future. From here, if you focus, you can feel the health and breath of your magic. Do you see towards your left, there towards the top, you see that clump of muddy-looking ball of magic? That, Harry-boy, was the damage done to you when you were still a baby. Do you see the red-colored runes which encase that muddy sickening magic in a sphere around it? That is your mother's magic Harry." Harry stared at it, completely transfixed.

That black muddy mass looked revolting to him, but all around it, in a perfect sphere, were floating red-gold runes. They sparkled with power which Harry could feel even without touching them. He was sure that that black stuff would make him sick if it wasn't for the beautiful red sphere, keeping it trapped inside.

"You should be careful to never try to pull it apart, or pour too much of your own magic into it, least you weaken it. That is keeping the poison from tainting your own magic and effecting your person."

"But what is it, Master?" Harry whispered. He thought he did anyways. His throat was suddenly so very dry.

"It is a sphere of entrapment. It had clearly been a very powerful protection spell, powered by blood, magic, and her life-force. It is very old magic, Harry-boy." Great Master Xuan said behind him, thoughtfully, "Such magic is rare to see anywhere in the world today. Myth has it, that only very strong love or hate, the kind in which you are willing to give up your life for, could have cast it. It would protect the recipient from any malicious spells, or if it was cast in hate, would rend your soul into nothing in seconds."

Harry shivered thinking of the night Voldemort killed his family. His mother had clearly planned to save him, no matter the cost.

"I had not seen its cast form, only read about it in books. The fact that it is still active, tells me that on that faithful night, something got inside your magic, maybe by accident, maybe not, but your mother's magic insured that it will forever be trapped inside you like this, until you can remove it. It will never be able to take possession of you, thanks to her. Do not fear it, Harry-boy."

Harry hadn't even been aware that there was something 'other' inside him, let alone that it might possess him! He thanked his mother again for her sacrifice. As much as he wished it hadn't been necessary, he was glad that her magic had protected him from… becoming another Voldemort or something!

He felt sick just thinking about it.

"Alright, now pull your awareness back from there towards the center of your Dan Tian. Here, as you cultivate, this mist will condense into a liquid form over time. But that will come later. For now, I want you to try and gather some of this mist into a concentration. Focus them towards your right palm for now. Can you feel it?"

It took him a minute of trying to do what his Master wanted, since it felt so different from how he usually handled his magic, but after a little bit of slip and sliding inside himself, he managed to get a nice ball-shaped chunk of magic into his palm. It felt… warm. Good. He wondered why he never tried doing this before now actually. Why they never taught this at Hogwarts.

"Focus Harry. Good, I can feel it now in your hand. Now Harry-boy, set it on fire."

Harry felt himself blink inside.

"Um?" He said eloquently, then immediately wanted to smack himself because, he wasn't actually five.

Great Master Xuan laughed thankfully, "Yes I know, it sounds impossible, but I promise you it isn't. You can feel the magic, yes? You can feel it move and shift? Keep it concentrated in your palm, and start to excite it, make it move faster without escaping your palm. Picture the molecules moving in a very fast way, rubbing up against each other and causing friction."

Harry tried, he really did, but no matter how hard he focused, the stubborn ball of magic only sat placidly on his hand.

"It is alright. Let's try it a different way. Some people need emotions for this to work. Think about something hateful, someone who has hurt you or hurt someone you loved. Think about wanting to throw this ball of magic in their face, but it is not allowed to leave your hand. So instead, think about how much you hate them, how much you want them to stop, and maybe return some of the pain they caused you or someone you love."

Harry immediately thought of Uncle Vernon, his ugly face, his meaty mean hands. His awful words and how much he wanted to punch him when he called his dad and mum a drunk and 'lose woman'. How many times he called his parents useless and… all those horrible names! How much he wanted him to just SHUT UP –

- and just like that, he felt something explode inside his hand!

He was so startled he opened his eyes instinctively, and very nearly cried out in shock even though he should have been expecting it.

In his right hand, a brilliant blue flame hovered.

He had never seen anything like it before in his life. It felt… alive. As if it was just waiting for his command to – well to burn Uncle Vernon to a crisp he supposed.

That thought nearly had him lose the flame completely, because he didn't want to hurt anyone! Not really. There was no heat that he could feel, just that same warmth. Harry could feel that it was his own magic sustaining the flame, but the draw was so small he could only feel it if he concentrated.

Great Master Xuan was overjoyed it seemed behind him, and walked around to see it more clearly.

He examined the flame from ever angle and proclaimed it a beautifully stable Innate fire.

Apparently, he wasn't supposed to be able to produce this at all for at least two more cultivation levels, and Great Master Xuan gleefully proclaimed him a prodigy.

Snape who had been sitting behind them both, also go up to see, and Harry was sure he would say something disparaging to Great Master Xuan's proclamation but instead, his now-parent said, "I always knew Harry was exceptional, but I thought it was from the magics done to him as a baby and his mother's genetics of course. I was clearly wrong."

At Harry's no-doubt astonished look, he added, "This magic is your magic, Harry. No outside force can influence it, only taint it, and thus limit it. No matter what happened that night, this magic is your own gift, son. You are indeed as Great Master Xuan said, a prodigy. I have no doubt that with the proper training and hard work, you will become a great Pill Master."

Harry had a funny sensation in his eyes, and realized they were getting hot and itchy. Somewhat horrified that he was actually about to cry, he quickly asked, "Um, sir? Master? How do I, you know, put it out?"

"Tell me Harry, do you feel tired? It is causing a great drain on your magic at this time? You have had it up for a little over 3 minutes now." Great Master Xuan was clearly excited because his face was very close to Harry and his flame suddenly.

"Um. No sir. I mean, no Shifu. The drain – I can hardly feel it at all. If I don't pay attention, I think I would accidentally put it out."

Snape and Great Master Xuan both looked at each other with a speaking look, and Harry got the sudden feeling he would be the focus of both men, for a while to come.

He didn't actually mind it. Snape was alright when he wasn't being mean, and had a wicked sense of dry humor. Actually, Harry could admit that he hadn't been mean since the adoption, and really, Harry had started to trust in this new Snape he was experiencing. Great Master Xuan was just awesome. He never got impatient with Harry, as opposed to Old-Snape during potions as an example. He seemed to have all the time in the world and a genuine desire to teach what he knew. Harry felt both relaxed and eager to try out things the Great Master suggested. He had also showed that he was willing to adapt his teaching when Harry needed him to, and Harry had a kind of unexpressed gratitude for the old man because of that.

It was also weird to think of him as an old man because he looked no older than 30 but Harry knew he was much much older than that.

"I want you to keep the flame going until you feel tired. For as long as you can. I want you to hold it so long that you forget you are holding it, but I want you to not let it go out even when you forget it's there. Let us see how much magical reserves you have. This too is a form of test. There are many pill masters who cannot refine the more complex pills not because their technic is bad, but because they do not have the magical reserves needed to hold the flames going for hours even days on end for the more complicated crafting's."

Harry wasn't sure if he wanted to spend days burning magic like this, but it wasn't like it felt hard. In fact, it felt easier on his magic than transfiguration class with McGonagall did, so he supposed he could let them test him.

He also quite liked that he seemed to be good at something that had nothing at all to do with Voldemort. Snape had said that, and Harry believed him. Snape had never lied to him in order to flatter him after all.

Harry mentally snorted, Hell would freeze over sooner, he thought.

"You remember the feeling you had when you ignited it for the first time? Do you think you could do it again?" Great Master Xuan said, peering at him with interest.

Harry thought about it, and now that he knew what the trigger felt like, he thought he could do it again without the need to feel hate again. He slowly nodded, than at Snape's eyebrow, nodded more firmly.

"I think so, Shifu." He confirmed.

"Good! Now, create another fire in your left hand, without putting out the one in your right."

Harry stared at him for a beat, but then turned his eyes on his left palm. He found it easier when he looked at the area he wanted to ignite, and after 5 minutes of trying and with a few false splutters, one of which nearly put out the fire in the right hand before he quickly refocused on it which Snape reminded him to not lose both, he managed to set the other hand on fire too.

His left hand seemed to need a little more focusing, the fire kept trying to get away from him and spread up his arm, but after some mind-wrangling, he managed to produce two identical blue fire balls.

Great Master Xuan actually clapped once in delight, and conspiratorially informed him that students usually needed months of practice before they could do what he was now doing.

Harry quickly glanced at Snape, for denial or exaggeration he supposed, but Snape looked both impressed and proud at the same time, and Harry nearly completely lost both flames because he was so distracted by that expression.

Great Master Xuan asked him if he felt a drain yet 10 minutes in, and while he did admit that it was hard to keep both flames going, he also admitted that it felt like it was hard because the flames wanted to 'be together'. He had no idea why he felt that way, but since it felt right, he said it without overthinking it. Snape snorted, but Great Master Xuan nodded, saying it was quite common for apprentices to say this, when their magic reserves were deep and the magic wanted to be used for a purpose, and not just sit idly by.

To distract him from just sitting there, hands on fire, Great Master Xuan then started to tell him the basic principles of Pill Making, which at first sounded like a boring lesson in herbology, but quickly turned into fire control, and a discussion on magic reserves. It seemed that Pill making, unlike potions, was mostly dependent on the control of the magic user and their use of various inner fires. The ingredients were just as important, but the basic principles were less like cooking and more like extracting the magic of the plants using various forms of inner fire and magical fires, condensing them to their purest form and refining them into a pill. If done right, the pill will come out with markings on the surface from the inner fire's purification, and an overwhelmingly strong smell.

Snape muttered that it should be right up Harry's ally, since it involved brute force which was controlled rather than delicate and detailed chopping and mincing. Harry made a face at him, but privately agreed that it sounded a lot better than potions making, especially since it looked like his future will be full of Pill Making, if Great Master Xuan had anything to say about it.

With a small jolt, Harry realized more than an hour had passed, and while he did have to periodically refocus to not lose the flames, he didn't exactly feel tired per se. It felt more like… quidditch practice actually. Using his magic to fly and do barrel rolls rather than casting with a wand. It felt… good. He could see it being exhilarating if he actually got to do something, rather than just sitting here like a particularly inflamed doll.

Great Master Xuan checked in on him again, and after realizing Harry wasn't flagging even a little bit, he pronounces that he had passed the test and that Harry can put out the flames now. He looked very pleased, and Harry figured that could only be a good thing.

As he tried to put the flames out, which didn't really want to be put out, so he had to insist before they would listen, he mused that even Snape looked pleased, which surprised Harry some, since the man had never really looked remotely pleased when Harry brewed potions, but that… kind of felt like a lifetime ago now. Too many things had happened in a short amount of time, he supposed, and his world just didn't look the same as it did even a week ago.

Had it only been a few days?

Is this what adults meant when they said kids were adaptable?

Harry hoped so. He wasn't particularly comfortable yet, and he was actually really nervous about starting a new school, but at least his adoptive… guardian? Parent? And his new Shifu both seemed satisfied with him so Harry supposed that was better than his reality a week ago.

His musings were cut short, when Great Master Xuan said, "Now, I assume you have already absorbed the book of 10,000 known herbs?"

At Harry's panicked look, Great Master Xuan did something Harry didn't expect. He glared at Snape!

Harry thought he was going to have to save Snape by saying he just hadn't had the time when his Shifu snapped, "Let me guess, you haven't shown him how to use the training books yet, have you?"

Snape for his part did look a cross between sheepish and slightly defensive, "I… haven't had a chance yet!"

Snape wilted at the disapproving look his Shifu leveled at him, and Harry hurriedly made a note to try and never get that look directed at him. It was worse than Dumbledore's Disappointed Look.

The look Great Master Xuan turned on him was nothing but patient and kind, which had Harry blinking a bit, "Harry-boy, what your Father 'forgot' to mention to you, is that you do not need to read magical books in the same way. When you have decided to learn one of the enchanted books, you must only hit your head with it, and the knowledge will be transferred into your head."

Harry gapped at him.

Kind of a lot.

"Shifu, do you mean to say, people in China don't need to read to learn things?" Because surely not. It would be too easy.

Hermione – Harry suddenly feared for his life, because if Hermione ever found out about this, she would murder him for keeping it from her.

Laughing, Great Master Xuan assured him, "Oh we do need to read. It is only certain kinds of books which carry forms, or specific magical knowledge, which can be learned quickly like this. It was invented by a long-dead ancestor many dynasties ago, because he had too many disciples and could not tutor them all personally. So, he invented a form of magic which duplicates and traps a piece of his knowledge within the pages. It is part of Art magic, and you will learn about it soon. These kinds of books are rare, and usually kept among the Nobel and Ancient families, passed down from father to son."

Harry suddenly remembered what Snape had said on their first visit to the bookstore in China. How some powerful books are only kept in the family. Harry remembered being confused about it because there were clearly tons of books on every subject in the bookstore, so Snape's words had made no sense at the time. This must have been what he had meant. That there were still tons of normal books out there, but the ones which had magic imbued in them, the ones you could tap to your head and learn were few and far between because it transferred knowledge directly to your head!

Sure, the bookstore books also had moving images like the books at Hogwarts did, to illustrate a motional or an image, but not ones you could just absorb knowledge from the way Great Master Xuan said.

Suddenly very eager to try it, Harry gave both Snape and Great Master Xuan a pleading look, and at their nod, he tapped his ring, and out came the book he was thinking of.

Neat, that.

He hadn't realized he could use it like that.

Shaking that thought off, Harry eagerly took the book, and glancing once more to Great Master Xuan for assurance, he wacked himself over the head with the book, hard.

He might have been a bit too eager, because that kinda hurt a –

Then he was no longer feeling any pain.

He was in fact not in the room they were in before and both Great Master Xuan and Snape were gone.

He was suspended in mid air, there was a ground there, he knew, but he couldn't see it. Somehow though, he wasn't worried.

In front of him, gold characters floated in beautiful ribbons in mid air. Images of plants and –

He touched one of the letters.

Then he could do nothing else but stare as all of those characters, were materializing in his consciousness. Not like a pensieve. Nothing like a pensieve.

The knowledge was just there.

As if he had known it all his life.

That. Was. AWESOME!

Harry suddenly saw himself, his future, making tons of money, just so he can afford these amazing books and never have to memorize another thing again.

Yeah, Hermione will have his head when she finds out.

After he came out of his learning-daze, various images of plants and herbs still coming to his mind at a mere thought, assuring him it wasn't some academic-induced dream, he managed to turn to look at the people in the room with him.

He knew he was smiling because his face actually hurt a little, but the answering smiles from Great Master Xuan and even Snape was infectious.

He felt like he was practically vibrating. It was the kind of high he only remembered experiencing when he first climbed on top of a broom and swooped after Neville's Remembrall.

If learning things was this fun, no wonder Hermione never left the library.

"Now, we can begin." Great Master Xuan said, and Harry had to laugh.

He still had to read, but the pill was doing its job, and it was almost as easy as reading English now. Apparently having a Xian Tian Wooden core meant that he was really really good at absorbing pills, among other things. What those other things were, he didn't know yet, but it explained why everyone was 'Ah'-ing whenever pills and wooden core was mentioned.

He had wondered.

But what all that meant was that his translation pill was being absorbed much more efficiently than normal wizards would have, and that he was able to take his second pill weeks before Snape had thought he could.

All of that meant, that reading was now a lot easier than before, but what no one had thought to tell him was that reading and understanding what he was reading were two completely different things.

Namely, Chinese language apparently had something called idioms, which were usually a four-letter word or eight-letter sentences which did not mean together what they meant as individual characters.

Harry remembered Snape using those a few times around him, the most memorable was 'Large favors do not require verbal thanks.' That one still made some sense if broken down, but others went right over Harry's head.

Thankfully, the educational books didn't use them too frequently, except for the Morality and Ethics books which were completely riddled with them much to Harry's dismay, but every so often Harry had to turn to one of his many dictionaries – which seem to be growing in number, though Snape never seemed to mind buying him books, on any subject Harry fancied, which was fortunate because for every answered question, Harry had 27 more it seemed – to make sense of them.

More and more, he was determined to be good at pill making, for no other reason than because they were really cool, and because they were REALLY expensive. Harry really wanted to be able to afford a library of books he could just wack himself to learn.

It seemed to be the shortcut he had been hoping existed to overcome his cultural ignorance, and how behind other students he must already be.

Ye Wen had been invaluable, and even Snape had been giving his classes on random subjects whenever he thought of something Harry had needed to know.

Harry had been seriously worried when Snape first proposed them because their history of Snape being the teacher and Harry the student hadn't been the best to put it mildly, but something had happened to Snape since they got to China. The man seemed to have… unbent. A lot.

Harry still didn't trust it, considering they haven't even been here a week, but he really liked this new Snape.

He was still snarky and acerbic, but it had more humor and less malice in it now. Actually, Harry thought Snape just looked relaxed all over since they left England.

Maybe it was not having to teach ignorant small kids anymore, and maybe it was not having to be around Dumbledore, Harry honestly wasn't sure, but whatever it was, Snape seemed to have let something which had been tormenting him go.

Whenever he wasn't paying attention, a stray thought would pop into his head which said 'Maybe it was because you let him adopt you' but Harry always dismissed that as ridiculous.

Because it was.

Sure, Snape called him son now, and acted like a father who wanted to protect him, looked out for him, and made sure he ate well, and took all his supplement pills and potions, and bought him clothes that fit and books and –

- ok so maybe Harry had something to do with it but…

But it was still ridiculous. Harry was sure of that.

Even if learning from Snape was totally different now.

Like today.

Since the day that Great Master Xuan had shown him how to learn-by-wacking, his Shifu had been coming over nearly daily to speak to Snape and to teach Harry.

Harry thought those conversations were also doing Snape a lot of good because the man smiled more, and generally just had more expressions than his usual Dower Displeasure and You Idiot looks he generally sported. He also wore colors a lot more often. Harry often saw him in dark green now, and on one memorable occasion, even a dark lilac number which honestly had Harry staring.

Snape thankfully hadn't noticed.

Today, however, Snape had shown up at Harry's study and after seeing that Harry was struggling with the social structure of the government, he had offered to explain.

Which is how Harry found himself sitting on his cushion, watching Snape draw squares in mid-air to illustrate how everything was connected and who reported to whom. He even drew a Chinese man in yellow robes and an officers hat in the corner. Which Harry couldn't see any educational purpose for.

Snape just seemed to be having fun with it.

While teaching Harry.

It was downright bizarre.

Harry squinted at the characters, often they still took a moment to translate to him, but he was getting better at it.

He briefly wondered why at the top corner Snape wrote about Sui and Tang Dynasty central government, but figured it was somehow relevant.

"Now then. The Chinese government system dates back as far as the Sui Dynasty – you can review it in the Chinese History and Dynasties book you bought – and while it has changed a few times since then, it has also more or less remained the same. It is interesting to note that the muggles also used this same system, and it was so popular that even Korea and Vietnam post-China also implemented it.

"The system is both complicated and simple depending on how in-dept you study it, but for your purpose since you don't plan to go into government, it is enough to know the above chart and simply understand their functions.

"As you can see above, there are three departments under the emperor, colloquially referred to the three provinces. They aren't actual provinces, but the character used is the same, so that's how we translate it.

"As you can see, only one of those three have 6 departments under it. At one point, that one department was the only department under the emperor but their power grew too large and threatened the throne, as these things tend to happen, and subsequent dynasties added two departments mostly to countermand that one department's power.

"These three are called, in order: Zhong Shu, Men Xia, and Shang Shu.

"Zhong Shu drafts Edicts – I wrote it in blue as you can see; Men Xia does refusal reviews – basically proposals which refused and need to be reviewed; and Shang Shu, the most powerful of them, is responsible for executions of orders."

Harry dutifully copied this down, since it wasn't like he would ever remember it. The pill after all could not translate words and positions that didn't exist in English.

"The Zhong Shu, as I said, drafts edicts for the emperor regarding military affairs, appointments and removal of important officials and so on. Think of it as a decision-making body. If the title has the words Zhong Shu in it? Chances are they are from that department. Think of it as a decision-making body, though one rather different from U.K.'s muggle parliament.

"The Men Xia are responsible for reviewing courtier's memorials – their records on their job executions –and reviewing the imperial edicts, and is basically a review body.

The Shang Shu on the other hands is a little more complicated. Their job as I said is basically implementation of the various orders and Edicts.

"The Six Ministries which are under the Shang Shu are: Ministry of Officials; Ministry of Household; Ministry of Rites; Ministry of War; Ministry of Criminal Affairs and Ministry of Industry."

Harry thought that was at least straight forward, thankfully. He dutifully wrote it down using a quill and parchment because his brushwork was still impossible even for him to read.

"Each of these Six then have Four other under them, making it twenty-four departments all together. Now, why am I teaching you these Harry?"

Harry blinked, being asked questions was new.

"Um, I don't know sir? To know which department handles what in case I need them?"

Oh, there was the You Idiot look, Harry had almost missed it.

"No, Harry. You are still thinking like a Gryffindor. It is to know what station the person you meet is in society, how they relate to you and who holds more power over whom. But yes, also in case you need them some day. Being a future Pill Master, all of these people will try to ingrate themselves with you in a larger or smaller degree. The greater your proficiency in pill-making or martial arts, the higher the chance of them wanting to befriend you. Especially if you become a pill master over the rank of 7, even the Kings and Emperors pay attention to us then. Do you remember your first class with me at Hogwarts? What did I say?

Harry knew what he was talking about immediately, "That you can put a stopper onto death."

Snape smiled, looking pleased that he remembered, "That wasn't dramatic effect. We do in fact have this ability as Pill Masters. Of course, there are others like the Flammels who through alchemy can do similar things, but their stone is also turned into a potion and drunk, so we consider it a part of potions as well."

Harry thought maybe now he understood why Malfoy looked so awed when Snape had said that. Harry had thought Snape was exaggerating but clearly, he had been mistaken.

"Now, while you don't need to know a great deal of detail about these departments you should at least know what each one does, in case, as you so eloquently put it, you need them in the future. I will attempt to keep it simple."

Yeah, that was more than a little sarcasm there, but Harry was honestly pleased to see some of his old professor coming out. The bite wasn't there, but the snark definitely was.

"The Ministry of Officials is an agency dedicated to the management of civilian officials. It is in charge of the appointment, dismissal, assessment, promotion and transfer of officials throughout the country."

Here Snape paused and added, "Examination is what everyone from commoner to nobility must pass in order to hold government office. Think of it like Newts on steroids." Harry must have looked surprised because Snape snorted and said, "Yes, I know what steroids are, I am a half-blood after all."

"Ministry of Household is in charge of land, household registration, taxes, fiscal revenue and expenditures and so on in the country. Fairly straightforward, but does tend to have a lot of corruption in its ranks, unsurprisingly.

Ministry of Etiquette is in charge of national laws and regulations, ceremonies in the palace, sacrificial schools – don't look so alarmed, they don't sacrifice humans. Well, not anymore anyway and they were never as into it as the Aztecs for example – imperial examinations, receptions for foreign guests and dignitaries and other similar things.

Ministry of Defense is in charge of military command selection, military training, military status, ordinance, military protections and orders and basically anything military related. These days there is less use for them, but magical China has never allowed that department to be dismissed, just in case. Whenever there is a Magical Animal Tide which sometimes happens on this side of the world due to the overpopulation of Magical animals, the ministry of defense is the one that steps in to handle it.

Ministry of Criminal affairs is exactly as it sounds like, in charge of laws, criminal and prison affairs. If you ever get locked up, these are the people I would be bribing to release you."

Harry had to give him a Look at that because honestly! No matter what the Dursley's said, he wasn't a criminal. Snape just laughed at him, the prat.

"and finally, the Ministry of Industry is in charge of wilderness management, Tun Tian which is the development of farmland for the purpose of maintaining large militaries, craftsmen, water conservancy, transportation, dam building, various projects such as these, as well as the nobilities daily necessities.

I know it's a lot, but for now, just write them down, and as you meet people, Ye Wen or I will be able to tell you which of these departments their families fall under, or don't. This will be important to you later as you develop in society."

Harry must have looked a little dismayed because Snape actually smiled a little at him, "Don't worry about it too much. The colosseum wasn't conjured in one day, and neither will learning everything happen for you that easily, however before you ask, no there are no nifty charmed books you can get hit over the head and know everything about this. It is simply things every schoolchild learns eventually. What did I say to you before?"

"Have patience." Harry muttered dutifully. He was getting a little sick of that phrase but he can't deny that it did help that no one, not even Snape, expected him to know everything right away.

He remembered Snape asking him about bezoars and draught of the living dead on his first day of class, and wondered again at the differences in the man's attitude.

It was only later that Harry, remembering Snape's last words, felt a sense of marvel at an adult who seemed to care about his future and place in society.

His first attempt at making a pill came a few days later, when Great Master Xuan who seemed to be more impatient for this than even Snape was, came to see him. He had originally planned a social meeting with Snape to discuss various potions making methods, but their talks seemed to have devolved to Harry's lack of applying himself to his previous schoolwork.

Snape had admitted that his teaching method might have had something to do with Harry's lack of success in potions making, but also defended himself that Harry also didn't bother to apply himself overmuch to potions.

Great Master Xuan had decided to defend his honor, and claim that any student can be exceptional with the right motivations, which had led both Master and Great Master to Harry's study hall, still arguing good naturedly and ushered him to his pill room.

His Pill Room had been unused until that day, as Harry had been explicitly instructed to not try to make pills without one of them present.

This however seemed to be the day he would get to finally make something.

Or fail at making something.

Which was more likely.

Harry didn't have nearly the amount of faith in his talent that Great Master Xuan did, but didn't tell him so.

Great Master Xuan had him take out his Oven, the one he gave him which had dragons for handles and fish on the lid, all in a pretty silver-bronze color with 3 paws holding it up. It came up to Harry's naval and always gave off a lovely low-grade hum when Harry handled it.

Having set up the Oven, he had Harry lay out the ingredients for a low-level body forging level up pill, as Harry called it in his head, since the original name was too complicated for Harry to remember. Once that was done, he had Harry pull up his Innate fire as he had taught him. It took Harry a moment to get it right, but he did.

The Great Master Xuan showed him how to use his magic to put the ingredients into the Oven without touching them or waving a wand. That had taken Harry a solid 10 minutes to get because he was so used to Wingardium Laviosa-ing everything and it just didn't feel natural at first to do this.

After he managed it, Great Master Xuan sat with him, and using his own fire, he guided Harry on the process.

Harry found both the controlling of Innate fire's temperature to be rather hard, as well as the final process of solidifying the pill, which required extracting the essence of the materials using his innate fire, and only then putting them into the oven.

He was sweating with concentration by the time he was done, because there had been 8 separate ingredients and Great Master Xuan demanded he extract two at a time while still keeping the Oven temperature even the whole time.

Harry definitely felt the drain on his magic this time, but he realized that both Snape and Great Master Xuan had feared he would use so much magic that he passed out. Once he assured them for the third time he wasn't feeling dizzy, light headed or about to faint like a damsel in distress, even when the 6th ingredient melted because he wasn't paying attention and was answering them and he had to replace it with a new one and start the process on this 6th ingredient again, he still didn't feel like passing out, but he was definitely breathing hard and he felt like he had played Quidditch for a solid three hours.

Finally, the Oven gave a quiet rattle and Great Master Xuan declared the process completed, and asked him to condense his power towards the oven like a giant fist closing.

Harry did so, and could feel some of them slip through his mental hands, but he also felt something solidify.

Turned out that, out of 10 pills he was supposed to get, only 3 were useable, the rest melted into black balls that stank to high hell. But Great Master Xuan looked inordinately pleased and kept giving Snape smug looks for the rest of the afternoon while Snape griped that clearly Harry liked Great Master Xuan more than Snape-the-teacher himself, and attributed his success to beginner's luck.

Great Master Xuan in turn kept patting his hand, and smiling like the cat that got the canary, so Harry figured he did okay for his first try, even if his Shifu was helping him along the way.

Later that night, Ye Wen who wouldn't stop gushing about Harry's success till Harry finally asked him what the big deal was, informed him gleefully that most pill makers needed 6 months before they could even make one single pill which was barely useable. This was on the condition that they made pills every single day and practiced expanding their magical reserves every single day and only then did they see some small margin of their efforts being paid off.

Harry, according to Ye Wen, was a prodigy.

Harry, who still didn't believe anything at all about himself and prodigies or anything of the like, just shook his head and decided to go to bed.

He was out before his head even hit his pillow.

It was later towards the week that Harry met his first peers.

On Thursday of the first week of his arrival, in the early afternoon, his reading was interrupted by the Head Chamberlin, to announced that Si Yu, Di son of Zuo Pu Shi, and Bai Wu, Di son of the Minister of Criminal Affairs were here to see him.

Harry looked to Ye Wen for a translation, and Ye Wen being the amazing person he was, immediately got the question before Harry could voice it.

"Zuo Pu Shi is the main assistant to the Shang Shu Ling. Very similar to a…" here he paused to think, he had been learning English as fast as he could and all things about the English culture so he could help Harry navigate, because he was awesome like that, "like a deputy prime minister if you had several of them. A very powerful station in the country. His Di son is known by everyone as abnormally beautiful, so much so that they call him Little Lan Ling3!"

At Harry's blank look, Ye Wen sighed and Harry could just see him adding another book to Harry's ever growing Must Read Before You Go To School book list. "Not important. Just that he is very beautiful, almost like a woman, but he is known to be very cunning and not easy to befriend. He is known to be good friends with the Di son of the Ministry of Criminal Affairs since they grew up together and studied together. They are your age I believe, and you should be in their year as they are both inner sect also. It is good for you to befriend them and to be on very good terms with them. You could all be very useful to each other"

Harry felt his expression quirk because the idea of making friends with someone just because they might be useful was an alien one for him, but he was in Slytherin country and he could understand the concept at least.

Apparently both sons were attending Kun Lun School and also had houses in Kun Lun city which they frequented. It was apparently a great honor that they have decided to visit him, before he was even in school. Privately Harry suspected Great Master Xuan's involvement and the two boy's family's resources in gathering information but didn't say so.

At first, he thought the boys would be brought to his apartments but Ye Wen told him that would be inappropriate for a first meeting, and that it should be at the Greeting Hall instead, so Harry and Ye Wen made their way over there. Before going in, Head Chamberlin muttered that he had already served them tea and cakes, as was polite, and Harry blushed a little that it honestly wouldn't have even occurred to him. He had never had a house before where he was one of the masters of, so he didn't have any habits of how to treat guests visiting him, since no one ever had. Ron breaking him out of his bedroom didn't really count.

Upon reaching the Hall, he could see that both boys had been seated on the chairs to the side, with a table between them and tea and refreshments as promised, but now he realized he had no idea where he was supposed to sit. The two chairs at the head were theoretically where the master and the mistress should sit, but he was a son, not the mistress of the place so…

He glanced at Ye Wen, and somehow the other boy immediately knew what was bothering him because he quietly whispered, "The head chair to the right, little Master. The chair on the left is always for the Master of the house."

Before he could enter though, Ye Wen also added quietly, "Say, Harry Potter-Snape greets the two esteemed gentlemen. You honor me in my humble home."

Honestly, he had thought Snape was going overboard when he got him a companion boy, but thank Merlin for Ye Wen or Harry would be completely lost most of the time.

He entered, trying to not look as nervous as he felt, and couldn't help notice that both boys were exactly as described. One boy was slightly taller than Harry, and had a ridiculously beautiful face. He was in a very fancy-looking light purple robe that Harry thought only girls could pull off till he saw it on this boy, and he was holding a fan in his hand. He also sat closest to the head chair, indicating his higher status.

The other boy was a much burlier sort of guy, and much taller than them both, with a deep red robe with black trim, and unlike the pretty boy, had bracers on his arms. His robes were also cut in a way that indicated that he could likely fight in them. Still, his robes were of excellent quality also. Both boys had long silky looking hair and that ornamental pin thing which held a section of their hair up, tied off with that clasp thing Harry saw all the men wear, though both had different designs.

The purple wearing boy looked to be around 13, same as Harry, but the bigger boy looked at least 14 or 15, even thought Ye Wen had assured him both were the same age as Harry.

Before he could be caught staring, Harry did the hand-fist-greeting thing, saying what Ye Wen had suggested. Both boys had stood up to greet him also, and did the hand-fist thing also, introducing themselves.

"We had heard rumors that there has been a most fortunate addition under Great Master Xuan, and when we heard that Pill Master Snape had a Di son our age, who will be attending school with us and was already accepted into the inner sect as Great Master Xuan's disciple, we came to offer our congratulations and to make your acquaintance." said the beautiful boy.

"We thought that since you are new here, you probably don't know anyone." said the burly boy, who seemed to not be as talkative as the purple-robed boy.

"Yes." Harry said, then realized he had no clue what else he could say to that. He tried anyway, "Thank you for coming. I have not met anyone my age since I arrived except for Ye Wen, and some of the other servant boys our age in the manor – I mean courtyard." Harry blushed a little, but soldiered on. "Please, sit."

When they all sat back down, and Harry took the chair Ye Wen had indicated, he thought to offer, "Truth be told, everything has been happening very fast. I only learned that I was coming to China a week ago, and I am still struggling with your language and customs. It is… very different from my home." It was more open than he would normally be, but he also didn't want the silence to get awkward. Besides, Ye Wen had told him that he should let people know he wasn't accustomed to their ways, in case he accidentally offended someone, which would then give him an out, if he had stated it in advance.

The two boys looked very interested in him, like they were honestly unsure how to interact with him, but clearly the beautiful boy – Si Yu – was the spokesperson for them both because he said, "You have already managed far better than we thought you would for someone who just arrived. We don't get many foreigners here, and most of them are still from Confucius Countries, so we did not know what to expect. Your command of our language does you credit, in such a short time."

To which Harry understood he hadn't yet made an arse of himself and breather a sigh of relief.

"Honestly, I am struggling some. I wasn't even sure what the right way to say hello to you was, and Ye Wen had to tell me. I am trying to read up as much as I can but, the translation pill can only do so much in a short time."

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry could see Ye Wen wince a little, and realized he maybe shouldn't have been so honest with a bunch of Slytherins he just met, but then mentally shrugged, because once a Gryffindor, always a Gryffindor.

To his surprise, the burly boy laughed. A big open-mouthed laugh, which immediately endeared him to Harry because everyone here had been so reserved, Harry has started to wonder if no one ever expressed emotions at all, but not this boy it seemed. "You are an honest sort! How novel. I did not think to see this in your people. It does you credit!"

Harry noticed that although he heard the word for "I", so far he had actually yet to hear anyone address themselves as actual "I". They always used another word, either their own name, or their title or something, but "I" seemed to be a bad word in this country, and Harry belatedly wondered what words were coming out of his own mouth when he referred to himself as "I". He knew it wasn't "I" or there would be a lot more offended people and Ye Wen would have told him. Seemed the translation pill was automatically changing it to something else.

"I still have a lot to learn," Harry admitted, "probably I haven't learned enough not to offend people without meaning to just yet. Your culture really is very different from mine. Where I come from, people are a lot more casual." Harry mused, "Probably why we have so much trouble getting along, now that I think about it."

Both boys were smiling at him now, so it seemed although he was probably breaking a million etiquette rules, these boys didn't seem to mind so much.

"We see now why Great Master Xuan spoke so highly of you to our parents." The beautiful boy said, "We brought you some congratulation gifts. Please accept them. We are both very pleased to make your acquaintance."

Two servants materialized out of literally nowhere that Harry could see, holding out two large packages of different shapes, and Ye Wen immediately stepped forward to accept them without Harry even needing to say anything.

"Thank you. I love presents." Harry said, politely, and then blushed when both boys laughed this time. That had clearly not been the correct way to accept gifts, but they both didn't seem to mind.

Harry kind of liked them. They seemed nice, even thought they were no-doubt sent there by their parents.

"Do you both go to Kun Lun school also then?" Harry asked, after the gifts had been accepted and the two servants vanished as quickly as they had appeared.

"Yes, I am the inner disciple under the Martial sect, and Si Yu is the inner disciple of the Head of Kun Lun School. We have both been attending since we were 10, as is customary." Said Bai Wu "Si Yu's younger sister is also in the Martial sect with me."

"We heard that your country uses magic very differently, and that all your people use a focus to channel magic." Said Si Yu

"Yes, we use a wand. From what I understand, we learn some of the same subjects as you, but because our wand makes things easier, we can cast more complex spells somewhat earlier than people here, although they usually aren't as powerful till we are older." Harry offered, and pulled out his wand to show them. Now that his wand had been soaked it the potion which removed the ministry trace, he felt comfortable casting a few casual spells around the two boys. He turned a tea cake into a kitten to demonstrate. His transfiguration wasn't the best, but he could still do this after McGonagall's many lessons of Snuffboxes, needles and doves.

Both boys looked completely startled that the tea cake they were enjoying was now a kitten washing its paws and mewingly demanding attention. Clearly Chinese people didn't often turn tea cakes into animals. Even Ye Wen looked suitably impressed.

"That is extraordinary! I have seen Master's do similar spells but no one your age could do it." Si Yu said, sounding honestly impressed.

"Actually, we learn this spell in first year, I am just not very good at transfiguration. See, the kitten still looks a little green around the head and tail? It's because the tea-cake was green. My friend from home was always better at it than I was. I am much better at defense and charms." Harry said, a little bashfully, because it wasn't that impressive when you have seen Hermione do transfigurations.

"So, it is true, you have spells. Words you must use?" Said Bai Wu

Harry nodded and turned the kitten back to the tea cake, floating it back on to the plate with a swish and flick.

"Yes. For the more complex spells. I don't always need to say the words, but I do need to move my wand just so, or horrible things happen." Remembering Seamus and his explosions, Harry smiled a little, "Not all magic we use needs spells of course. To play Quidditch, we just use our innate magic to control the brooms, as an example."

"… pardon, did you say, 'brooms'" asked Si Yu uncertainly, "As in, the cleaning equipment?"

Harry smiled a little, "Yeah, believe me, when I first learned I was a wizard, I was just as baffled, but these are magic brooms, and they fly."

Both boys looked so astonished, that impulsively, Harry decided the only way they would believe him was if he showed them.

"Do you wish to see? I would be happy to show you if you like. I know it's not the custom here but…" He trailed off uncertainly, unsure how they would take it.

The two boys looked at each other, and both turned with big smiles on their faces, "That would be most agreeable."

And this was how Harry found himself explaining the rules of Quidditch to two very amused Chinese wizards. He showed them how to fly, and realized that both boys were naturals, even though Si Yu refused to straddle Harry's broom properly, and insisted on sitting on it crossed legged like he was on a mat. Harry was worried he would fall off, but he somehow seemed to keep his balance just fine, even thought Harry wondered how he would ever do a barrel roll like that.

Quidditch seemed to go over well for both boys, Bai Wu declaring it a warrior sport and thumping Harry on the back when he said it, while Si Yu commented that a broom would be a wonderful stealth tool, since it was so small and barely gave off any ambient magic at all on its own.

Harry had never considered stealth, but he could see how yes, a broom would be pretty useful for sneaking around at night.

Both boys had relaxed considerably around Harry, despite still being more formal than Harry was used to from any of his friends, but considering that Bai Wu had touched him voluntarily and everything, he thought he was making good progress.

He promised he would ask 'his Father' how both boys might be able to obtain brooms of their own, perhaps via owl-order, thought Harry hadn't been sure if owls would deliver overseas, but promised to check.

By the time both boys had left, with much warmer smiles and promises of coming back soon, Harry felt like he had finally done something right in this country.

3 Lan Ling or King Lan Ling was one of the four most beautiful men of ancient China. Why yes, there is, in fact, a ranking system.

Later on, Ye Wen told him many of the things he had missed, because he wasn't actually raised a Slytherin, such as how both boys probably found him nice to be around because it was clear he wasn't a scheming sort, nor one who was there to befriend them for their connections. But he also assured Harry that both boys seemed to honestly like him, and chances were good that they would in fact become friends.

Ye Wen also reminded him that he needed to return gifts to them, and after seeing the items they had brought – a beautiful set of Four Treasures from Si Yu, which Harry was informed were Chinese brushes, ink bars, paper and a grinding stone for said ink bars which were the 'tools of any self-respecting gentlemen'; as well as a very well-crafted dagger from Bai Wu which seemed to be Goblin forged. Both very expensive gifts, which Ye Wen promised to help him pick out gifts of similar quality in return.

Harry briefly wondered if they used owl here also, but figured he would find out soon.

As it turned out, China did not, in fact, use owls, but pigeons, and other types of birds, and on one memorable occasion, a 6-meter-tall eagle.

Harry hadn't realized eagles came in that size, but apparently, if your magic was strong enough, and your determination stronger, these birds could be tamed to both be a riding companions and a messenger bird.

That particular bird had been sent by the Silk Emporium, with what looked to be a mound of new clothing, predominantly in white which Harry assumed was for the inner sect disciples, with a very nice note of congratulations and a few items from the store free of charge for attaining this status.

Harry tried to not see it as a bribe. Much.

Ye Wen told him many magical birds and animals attained gargantuan sizes due to the ambient magic around them, and could even learn to shift into human form when they get old enough and their cultivation reaches a matching level.

Harry understood that as "a long long time, but it was possible."

Muggles apparently had all kinds of stories about them and they appear in many romance and martial arts muggle movies, which Harry found really really cool.

He was actually rather pleased that he had started to pick up the words-under-the-words speaking method. It wasn't that different from reading aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon to see when he needed to duck and when he needed to run. Though in China this was elevated to a kind of artform. He still rather sucked at it, he assumed, since everyone commented how 'open' his nature was and what a straightforward boy he was. He didn't think they were complimenting him, so much as pointing out that he still had a lot to learn.

Still, Snape was a master at it, and he assured Harry that for a beginner and a Gryffindor he was doing 'remarkably well'.

Harry somehow didn't think that was a compliment either. Maybe a backhanded one. Maybe. If he was generous.

Harry's two new friends came to visit him several more times throughout the following weeks, which made him inexplicably happy because despite being a complete lemming in the culture, at least the two boys seemed to like him enough.

Ye Wen had explained that Harry being a foreigner actually made him safer for the two boys to relate to and drop their guard because foreigners couldn't participate in politics, and Harry's 'straightforward nature' also made the two boys not have to worry about backstabbing tactics.

Harry personally thought having to worry about those things among your friends sounded bloody exhausting but Ye Wen assured him it was a good habit to develop while young.

Everything evolved around Guan Xi – or relationships – in this country. Merit was also extremely important but these silent connections between people dictated a lot.

Either way, Ye Wen felt it was safe enough for Harry to relax around his new friends, since they seem the sort to mostly be wary of backstabbing but not the types to initiate them unless sorely deserved.

Harry had been a little alarmed at Ye Wen's very casual assessment, but overall, he could kind of see his point. Harry, was no threat to the two boys, who were due to their families, of high station. He was neither interested in politics, nor power, and he was clearly rich enough to move in their social circles. Harry also had a nagging suspicion that the two boys viewed him as a younger brother who needed protecting from the more ambitious or blood-thirsty among their classmates.

Bai Wu even went so far as to ask him if he had an arranged marriage already. When Harry replied that they didn't really do that in his country, Bai Wu looked surprised and said he thought all Ancient and Noble families did that.

Harry actually had to pause and consider this because yes, he did actually remember a bunch of Slytherins and Ravenclaws having arranged betrothals already. Even Neville mentioned his grandmother had narrowed down the candidates, whatever that meant. He said as much to Bai Wu, to which Bai Wu asked him who his friends were back home.

He explained who the Weasley's were, and mentioned that Hermione was a muggleborn. Bai Wu and Si Yu exchanged glances, and both declared that from now on Hermione will be his betrothed if anyone asked, since she was never likely to actually come to China.

When Harry asked why he needed a betrothed, both boys slapped him on the arm – Bai Wu hard like a slap from Ron while Si Yu more tapped him with his fan – and said that since he is the son of a Grade 9 Pill Master, unless he wanted to be mobbed by girls at every corner, he best have a betrothed.

Harry gulped and hastily agreed.

He just hoped Hermione never heard of this, or he would never live it down.

Snape found out about this lie a few weeks later, and actually laughed so hard he nearly ruined his potion, because he dropped one too many berries into it.

Harry didn't see what was so funny, and told him so but it only made Snape laugh harder.

Seeing as how Snape was now openly laughing and smiling around Harry, he decided not to hold it against him too much.

After he had calmed down, much to Harry's dismay, he announced that this was a good match and that he, as the Father, had been most pleased with its arrangement.

Apparently, that was also an important detail Harry hadn't known – the approval and satisfaction of the parents – but Ye Wen, Si Yu and Bai Wu all just gave him their 'your naivete is both refreshing and alarming, and we have no idea how you aren't dead yet' looks, which Harry was getting very very sick of.

Still. It was good to have friends who watched out for you,

Even if they were little shits about it.

As usual, his friends had been right, and Harry mused as he tried to pry another girl whom he didn't know off his arm, that for a country that has such strict rules about boy-girl relationships, girls who decided they wanted you were just as aggressive as the British version.

He was also pathetically grateful that he was friends with Si Ye, because the other boy usually took the brunt of the attention no matter where they went and for once Harry wasn't automatically the center of attention.

He still got more than his fair share but that was because he was a foreigner, and because he was literally the only person with short hair on the streets.

Snape had grown out his hair with a potion within the week of their arrival and he clearly used some kind of charm or pill or something because it was ridiculously glossy and straight. A very sharp contrast to his previous greasy look.

He actually looked really good now. His face was less sallow and pale, and his body looked surprisingly fit now that he didn't wear 27 layers of black robes. Chinese robes suited him and considering he was always a rather elegant man, they only seem to highlight that now. He didn't wear elaborate decorations like some people Harry had seen, preferring a simple hair ornament-and-stick to hold a section of his long hair up in a bun while the rest flowed loose, but his clothes were always of a high quality, he even wore a fan from time to time.

Harry had not given in to the long hair yet, but he thought he would soon. It was just too annoying to have people want to touch his head to feel his hair stick up.

Who knew, maybe his hair would be less unruly when it was long.

His hair was not less unruly but it according to his friends, it made him look 'even more exotic'.

He had hoped for pin-straight hair the way Snape's was, but it seemed Lily's genies did not allow him that. Instead, his friends told him he looked a little like an anime character who was powering up. Hair still having a mind of its own, still as thick as ever, and still loving to go in every which way at the slightest breeze.

After another incident of 'Oh your hair is so odd! What happened to you?' from random strangers who thought it was okay to ask personal questions of that nature just because he was young, he decided, when in Rome, be a hippie.

His friends had been ecstatic that he was finally willing to look 'civilized', as Ye Wen and Si Yu called it, and Harry nearly fell over laughing at the look Aunt Petunia would have had if she heard them calling anyone with short hair uncivilized.

Snape had given him the potions weeks ago but also made it clear that it was his choice, and Snape would not insist no matter what anyone else said to Harry.

Harry had been grateful because he honestly wasn't sure he was ready to change the way he looked that much – the lack of glasses had resulted in the above-mentioned pawing by strange women on the street which he was still not on-board – but he was also really sick of standing out that much, so he figured, in for a knut and all.

Si Yu insisted on helping Ye Wen 'discover his look' with him, while Bai Wu sat on the sidelines cheering them on, like a normal bloke.

He honestly didn't know what the big deal was, till he tried to tame his newly grown hair and realized he had no clue what to do.

At all.

The small crown-like wrapping-and stick looked simple enough, but when Harry tried to do it, all his hair just fell right back down.

Si Yu also insisted they try all kinds of clips, ribbons, pins, crowns, and even feather ornaments to which Harry put his foot down as a firm no.

Ye Wen and Si Yu almost went into their own little world of discussing the pros and cons of each look until Bai Wu pointed out that Harry was more like him then like them, in the sense that he preferred a simpler look.

Harry had never wanted to kiss a boy so much in his life.

They finally settled on a 'reserved but elegant' look for him, with a crown covering with a round dark-jade piece in the center and a dark jade pin going through his hair on the top of his head. He was told it was emperor Jade and that it had natural protective properties, was strong enough to double as a weapon if needed and 'matched his eyes nicely.'

Harry had never had more sympathy for Hermione when Lavender decided to play dress-up with her than now, and told them all so.

They all faked hurt and pointed out that a man's look reflected his station in life, and Harry threw his hands up in surrender, just letting them at it.

Even Bai Wu didn't speak up for him this time, the traitor.

The result wasn't quite what he had hoped for. He still got approached, still got asked if he was betrothed, to which he now always said yes with no hesitation. He only made that mistake once, and he still shuddered at the ensuing chaos that followed.

People still asked to touch his hair, but now because he apparently looked like a character from Dragon Ball Z, which was apparently a story about a Chinese wizard with magic ape bloodline who didn't know he was a wizard and his adventures in attainting Celestial Godhood status. Harry wasn't really sure how this was different from the Adventures of the Monkey King, but he was assured it was Very Different.

Apparently even muggles loved these stories and made cartoons and everything.

It was still trippy for Harry that muggles – he shook his head mentally, Mortals knew about magic and were totally cool about it, but he was starting to get used to it.

He was starting to get used to a lot of things, such as how often his hair got stuck to various things. His clips, his belt, his sleeve, his ribbon holding his jade, random chairs, and sometimes even the table itself. He started getting Ye Wen to help him tie it off with a ribbon at the nape of his neck thought he absolutely refused to use a red ribbon, preferring black and dark greens and blues. He still had some standards after all.

Ye Wen and Si Yu were forever laughing at him for attributing certain colors to men and women, since China clearly didn't do this the same way as the west, but he couldn't shake his British education so easily, so he didn't try.

Sufficed to say, when school finally started 3 months later, he was both used to his robes, his eyes, the way people spoke and even his long hair.

Which at this point was just a bloody relief since nothing else was going to be familiar anyway.

Harry actually couldn't wait.

Three days before the entrance exams were to start, Snape had him don his white inner disciple uniform, pack up everything they will need for several months, bid their house retainers goodbye after leaving instructions and money for them, and took him and Ye Wen in their carriage to Kun Lun Mountain.

Great Master Xuan had already gone up several days earlier, so Harry was told he would be meeting them there.

His first view of the school had him sucking in such a hard breath that Snape and Ye Wen both turned their heads to look at him, but he honestly couldn't help it.

He had been expecting, well, a mountain. What he got were mountains and land which floated in mid air. There were waterfalls falling into the sky, to land Merlin only knew where. Dozens upon dozens of peaks and land-platforms hovered serenely, covered in pagodas and Chinese-style buildings, doted with flowering trees and other greenery.

It looked like someone's idea of paradise, if Harry was honest.

Like a place where the gods lived.

As they got closer, he could see apprentices and masters gliding to-and-fro on various items of power like swords, fans and even lotus leaves. Magical animals also carried their masters elegantly and effortlessly to various different peaks.

Snape explained that every peak was dedicated to a discipline, and while there were mundane stairs for those apprentices not yet skilled enough to fly, most masters and their students preferred to just fly across rather than walking the long way.

As they were slowly climbing in altitude, Harry noticed way down below a long staircase, which stopped at the lowest platform. That must be where the students will come to report on their first day. Harry wondered how they would be brought to their respective peeks later.

He was a lot less nervous than he thought he would be, probably because he was technically already accepted and even had a Master who he was under. Great Master Xuan had on multiple occasions told him that he was pleased with Harry's progress and that while he had to work hard, he should have not doubts that he had the talent to claim the inner disciple's place by his side.

Harry hadn't realized just how coveted his position was, but Si Yu and Bai Wu assured him that other than Si Yu's own Master who was the head of the school, Great Master Xuan was among the best of the best in his field and many would kill to be in Harry's shoes.

Harry would have been afraid that there was some serious nepotism at work here, except how every time his Cores were mentioned and his test results, everyone seemed to agree he deserved to be there, and Ye Wen, Bai Wu and Si Yu all assured him there was no favoritism at play here.

Harry was taken out of his musing when their carriage started to drop towards one particular platform. He could see tall white buildings with red Chinese rooves further down the path, and below, two people in pale orange robes waited on the platform.

Once they landed, and the carriage stored back in Snape's ring, Harry noticed that the two orange blobs had been two older students, a tall boy on the skinny side with rather wispy-looking hair and stained hands and a cheerful looking girl with big… um. Yeah. With a good body.

They both look to be around 17 or 18, and they bowed almost in unison, "Inner sect disciples Shanguan Yan Er and Ban Zuo greet Master Snape, and Junior Brother." Harry noticed they bowed low to Snape but both straightened to a half-bow for him, indicating that he was still above them, but since he was a junior to them, only his Inner disciple status to Great Master Xuan afforded him the curtesy.

Harry was rather proud of himself for being able to decipher that. Ye Wen would be proud.

Snape did a basic greeting small-bow, to be polite, Harry thought, and he offered his own deeper bow. Ye Wen had drilled him on how to show humility even when bowing and when it was appropriate and when it was not.

Since the girl was the one who spoke for them, she continued, "It is a pleasure to have such a great Master among us, and Great Master Xuan sent us to bring you to the Pill Sect Halls where you will be staying. He wanted to personally introduce you to the Kun Lun Head."

Snape replied for them, "It is good to be here, even if the journey was a short one this time. This is my son, Harry Snape and his companion boy Ye Wen, who will be attending classes with Harry." Harry noticed the boy's eyes widen but since Snape didn't offer any explanation, the boy said nothing, "We are pleased to be here."

Harry remembered just in time to bow again together with Ye Wen.

"It is good to have you here. Please, follow me, and I will take you to Great Master Xuan." But instead of walking them anywhere, she pulled out a large leaf, which she enlarged for all of them to fit on. Harry blinked a little, but since he had been at Kun Lun for the past 3 months, he had seen several wizards and witches use these as a form of group transportation.

Stepping on, Harry marveled that it looked and felt like a lotus leaf.

Within a few minutes, they had risen and glided to the large white building Harry had seen earlier, which turned out to be the greeting hall of the pill sect.

The building turned out to be enormous, with large red pillars supporting a 7-meter entrance roof. Inside was also incredibly spacious and cool, probably because air could move freely. As soon as they got close to Kun Lun school, Harry had already noticed an increase in the ambient magic around, but it was nothing compared to how the Greeting Hall felt. Harry almost felt like panting, because he was fast becoming a little drunk on how much magic was around him and his instincts were telling him to absorb it all as fast as he could. If this was where he was supposed to make pills, he doubted he would ever run out of magic reserves, since they would be replaced before he could finish using them.

"Shan Guan Yan Er. Any relation to the famous Wan Er?" Snape suddenly asked the girl who was leading them.

The girl beamed at him, "Yes. Master Snape has excellent knowledge of our history. She was my ancestor."

"Mm," Snape said thoughtfully, "it is good to see that your family had not deteriorated in the least."

The girl's smile got even wider, "Master flatters me. I am but a lowly inner disciple with no Master as of yet. I still need to work hard to live up to my family name."

While the words sounded modest, Harry could tell Snape's comments pleased her. He leaned over to Ye Wen with a questioning look.

Ye Wen, always paying attention whispered quietly enough that only they could hear. "Shang Guan Wan Er was the first female prime minister. A very accomplished magical. This was before the Divide of the Magicals and Mortals. The Shangguan's are one of the older Ancient and Noble families."

Harry had read up about the various dynasties but since there were so many, he couldn't remember them all, and he found himself once again grateful that he has someone as amazing as Ye Wen as a friend and companion.

The first time he called Ye Wen a friend to his face 2 months ago, Ye Wen had broken down and actually cried. Harry had panicked not knowing what he had done wrong, but between broken sobs, Harry understood that the caste system was a lot more rigid than he had realized and call a servant a friend was simply not done. From that moment on, Harry had decided he would befriend whomever he wanted, and for once, not care about the Proper Way of Doing Things, because Ye Wen was awesome and Harry loved him the same way he loved Hermione and Ron. If Ye Wen's family hadn't run into so much trouble, Harry reminded him, they would be allowed to be friends openly anyway and Harry didn't see how taking advantage of someone's misfortune made him a better person, so he absolutely refused to not consider Ye Wen a friend. The boy had helped him so much, and it was Harry who had gone to Snape and Great Master Xuan to ask permission for Ye Wen to come and study with him.

Both Snape and Great Master Xuan had seen right through Harry's fake 'but I am a helpless foreign boy and need Ye Wen to function' act immediately of course, but since Great Master Xuan did seem to have a soft spot for Harry, he had laughingly agreed to speak to the Head of Kun Lun to make an exception.

Ye Wen had started shaking as soon as Great Master Xuan had informed him, he needed to be tested to enter and brought out the same giant stone-thing Harry had been tested on.

Turned out, Ye Wen had a Ji Pin water core. Ji Pin turned out to be 4 levels below him, but considering you only needed a middle grade core to be considered eligible for inner sect, he figured Ye wen was qualified to come to classes with him. He had been warned that for some of Great Master Xuan's classes, Ye Wen would not be allowed to attend, because they were core knowledge and only Harry was his core disciple, but Ye Wen assured him that just being able to attend, especially attend within the inner sect was such a privilege that it would change Ye Wen's life forever.

Harry had wanted to argue but Snape assured him that Ye Wen was correct, and that this was already a tremendous privilege, so Harry reluctantly let it go.

After that incident, Ye Wen had become practically Harry's shadow. He had always been very attentive to anything Harry needed or didn't understand but afterward, there was a fervour to him that Harry just didn't understand. But Harry also noticed that he held his head higher and had lost all traces of self deprecation he previously had. Whatever had happened that had gone over Harry's head had clearly done the other boy tremendous good, so Harry decided that in the end, if it made Ye Wen happy, that was all that mattered to Harry.

Even now, he followed quietly behind Harry in his pale orange inner disciple robes, looking like all was rather perfect in his world. Not a trace of nervousness showing on him.

Harry was jolted out of his thoughts when they finally arrived, and Great Master Xuan sat at the head of the room, a few other young and old Masters in different colored robes sat to his left and to his right.

Seeing them, Great Master Xuan stood, and Harry could see the surprise on the other faces.

Shang Guan Yan Er and Ban Zuo bowed and politely announced then, then stepped to the side.

Snape and Harry with Ye Wen trailing a step behind him stepped forward and bowed low in greeting. Harry had been instructed to address him as Shifu, so he did, and clearly not everyone in the room had heard the news because the two Masters further down the seating area sat up a little straighter, with twin scowls on their faces.

Uh-oh, Harry thought.

Snape had clearly seen it too, but his face only looked bland and almost pleasant. Harry knew that expression. It was the same one he had seen Snape use, but only around Dumbledore, and he felt a frission of excitement. Harry had realized he rather liked Snape's Snapeishness when it wasn't directed at him or his friends.

Great Master Xuan it seemed wasn't going to give anyone a chance to say anything, because he smiled at them and spoke in an authoritative voice, "Ah Snape, you brought my apprentice to me, good, good. School entrance will start in a few days, but since Harry and Ye Wen have already passed theirs with such impressive results, you will be by my side in two days when we welcome the new students."

"Thank you, my Master. It is indeed a pleasure to be back in these hallowed halls again. My son and I are honored to be welcomed back, and are ready to take our place by your side." Snape was using his smoothest Slytherin tones, which always used to make every student sit up and pay attention and poor Neville start to shake.

Harry noted this was a performance, and having watched Slytherins do this song and dance for two years, knew what was expected of him. But before he could offer his allegiance publicly the way his adoptive father had; one of the two scowling masters spoke up.

He was a chubby man, who looked to be in his late 50s, with a mustache so thin Harry honestly couldn't understand why he bothered, burst out aggressively, "Master Xuan, this is highly irregular!" Harry heard Ye Wen quietly inhale, probably because the rude man addressed Harry's Shifu so disrespectfully, and Harry could see Snape's eyes narrow. "We did not see any exams administered, and people will talk! Why, we already made an exception when this – foreigner, was allowed to enter Kun Lun previously, and just as some feared, he stole our knowledge and brought it back to his country! What is to stop his son from doing the same?"

Great Master Xuan clearly didn't care for the man also, but he kept his composure. Something Harry was determined to learned to do. Si Yu had already told him the importance of not showing one's feelings too openly towards others, since only the low-born were so tactless – which had nearly caused a fight between Harry and himself until Harry realized the boy hadn't been offending him but teaching him to survive in his culture. It went against everything Harry knew as a Gryffindor, but he was determined to not lose either Snape or Great Master Xuan's face, since they had been so descent to him.

"Junior Master Feng, you must not concern yourself with the worries of the lowly and the simple. Master Snape has never to my knowledge stolen anything from us. He had however learned from us, but had also never taught or used what he had learned from us to anyone else. His son used to be his student, and he himself knew nothing of pill making till he arrived to China. I have personally tested him and found this to be true."

The chubby man with the thin mustache opened his mouth to retort but Great Master Xuan cut him off, "Furthermore, I have also tested both of these boys, and I assure you, they are more than qualified to be here. I do believe it is my own choice whom I chose to take as my core disciple, and no one else's. As I have taken Harry, as I had taken Severus before him. That was my agreement with the Head of Kun Lun when I deigned to teach here, at the multiple requests of the Head. You, Junior Master, are overstepping your place."

Junior Master Feng'a face had started to resemble uncle Vernon's after Harry had royally pissed him off. His face turning a very unhealthy shade of red.

Great Master Xuan looked away from the man, then, "My former core disciple Severus Snape has also achieved the rank of Senior Master in Potions in his home country, a Grade 9 achievement I might add. As such, The Head has extended to him an invitation to teach potions alongside me, thereby enriching our school's curriculum and bringing yet more prestige to our school. His son, shows no less potential than Severus himself, and I am confident that he too will reach great heights."

Harry surreptitiously looked around without moving his head, a talent he learned in order to survive the Dursleys ironically, and noticed that quite a few masters were starting to look interested in the proceedings. A lady with a very elaborate hairdo and a very large man sitting next to her with very hairy arms looked especially intrigued.

"I am sure you will learn to get along, after all, he will be your senior in ability." Great Master Xuan had a very bloodthirstily cheerful smile when he was out for blood, Harry decided.

Harry tried not to show his own smile.

"I can understand the Junior Master's concerns," Snape said, in that smooth, smooth voice that Harry had learned to never trust, and clearly so had Great Master Xuan because his eyes were sparkling in amusement, "However, I wish to assure everyone here, that myself and my son, have both decided to stay in China permanently, and not return to our home country. We wish to bring our country's knowledge and share it with this esteemed school."

"Would that not cause friction with your government, Master Snape?" the pretty lady with the cool hair spoke up delicately, before the uncle-Vernon-wannabe could. Harry could tell she too was performing for everyone there, but he privately thought she was Great Master Xuan's side.

"Not at all, Master Yang" Snape answered her pleasantly, and Harry could tell Snape was actually rather fond of her. "It is a pleasure as always to see you again, I might add. Your martial prowess had risen another level since we last saw each other, much to my admiration. No, our government and my former school have no restrictions on knowledge sharing so long as it is within the magical community. We believe, as educators, that knowledge is not for hording but for bettering of the next generations."

Harry wanted to applaud. It was such an elegant way to slap a man, while complimenting the female Master, that Harry immediately made a note to have Si Yu teach him to speak like that.

"Of course, if Great Master Xuan decided to take a core disciple after so many years, it can only be a good thing and we all here congratulate the Great Master," and this time it was the other scowling man who spoke up, though his scowl had lessened after hearing that Snape planned to settle down and teach in China, so maybe he was less of a prat? Harry could only hope. "However, the school does have its rules and traditions. All students must be tested using a school crystal, and their results recorded in the Book of Students. I am sure I do not need to tell this to the Great Master after all."

Great Master Xuan waved him off, somewhat negligently, Harry thought.

"Of course, of course. The rules must be obeyed, that is why I tested them both personally and recorded their results a few weeks ago already. The Head was very impressed with young Harry, and commended me for snatching him up for the school. His father was of course invited months ago, and had a standing invitation from his own apprenticeship with me, but the Head was very pleased with their addition. You may of course look in the Book of Students for their details when you have the time."

Harry could see that the other master wanted to say more, but wisely just nodded his understanding. The uncle-Vernon junior master looked like he was about to start frothing at the mouth soon but also didn't say more.

Harry suspected the poor Headmaster was about to get a number of complaints soon.

Great Master Xuan moved the conversation along, by arranging for seats for Snape and Harry, while Ye Wen stood behind Harry's. Harry would have protested, but the other two inner sect apprentices also stood behind their sect masters so Harry realized it must be a thing. He wondered if he should even be seated but maybe those white robes gave him that right, which the other pale orange robes didn't have, next to their own masters.

Snape was introduced to all the various sect Masters one by one, and while Harry tried hard to remember everyone, he knew he couldn't possibly. He hoped Ye Wen was paying more attention.

The big burly hairy man next to Master Yang turned out to be Master Wei, head of the weapons sect. He seemed to be a stern but expressive man whose biceps looked to be the size of Harry's entire torso. Master Yang was the head of the Sound magics, while the short Master seated on her left who looked part goblin or elf - Harry wasn't quite sure - was the head of the wards department.

He also met the heads of the Puppet sect, which he won't be taking for a few more years as it was advanced magics. The head of the divination sect had such a perfect face, Harry briefly wondered if he was a relative of Si Yi, but turned out he was just part fairy. Which Harry hadn't even know was a race. The only fairies he had ever met were the Cornish pixies that Lockheart had released in his classroom that one time.

The cranky Junior Master turned out to be the assistant head of the culinary sect. Apparently the head was out looking for highly potent ingredients in the depts of the Kun Lun mountains. Harry hadn't even known there was a culinary sect and was deeply curious how magic could be applied to cooking to warrant a sect of its own, and if there were any crossovers with pill making. The head of the armor sect was part demon, and absolutely huge, which apparently rather controversial as they were not normally known as a benevolent race. His coloring, unlike the red demons Harry had seen at the airport, was rather more pink than red, and he also had two little horns on his forehead. He was a very jovial man, and reminded Harry a little of Hagrid. Hagrid had been part giant, and he had been perfectly friendly, if a little confused on the definition of dangerous animals, so Harry figured he would give him the benefit of doubt.

He also met a Master Li who looked like the most ordinary person there. Harry actually would have overlooked him had he not been specifically introduced to him. He was the head of Technique sect which Harry learned was basically "make your own magic and see what happens, ideally without dying." and he thought that sounded kind of awesome, thought possibly really hard.

The head of the Animal sect which Harry privately called care of magical creatures out of habit turned out to be a very petite female who looked to be both Harry's age and Harry's height. She had a kind of zen quality to her which Harry privately thought would make most animals relax around her. He himself wanted to relax around her, so he figured animals did too. Her hair was put up completely, unlike the other female instructors who mostly wore theirs long, but it did have a lot of braids and ribbon things inside it. She also carried a little golden bell on her waistband which made no noise when she walked.

The Master for Art was the neatest looking person besides the Divinations Master, and his hair was so glossy, it resembled a hair-waterfall to Harry. Harry made a mental note to ask Snape if this was a pill or a potion which made it that way of if the man was part cat or something.

All in all, most of the Masters didn't look unfriendly to Harry, but they all seemed more focused on Snape than Harry, which suited Harry just fine.

He had really started loving being 'just' a student, without anyone pointing at his forehead. China, so far, was a very relaxing country for Harry, even with all the weird rules and formalities.

Later, when they were alone, Harry thought to ask Snape, "Sir, why didn't Great Master Xuan just tell the masters what my test score was? Wouldn't it have calmed them down?"

Snape chuckled, and said, "I suspect it was because he didn't want to have a riot on his hands when the other masters start yelling at him for snatching you up before they could get their hands on you. This way, they have lost the opportunity to argue that you would be better off placed somewhere else, such as with their sects."

Harry blinked at him. "Sir, why would they do that?"

Snape laughed more and actually put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Son, sometimes I have no idea how I ever thought you an arrogant child." And with that, he walked away, leaving Harry staring at him in complete confusion.

His new apartments turned out to be within the Pill sect, as he had expected, and not too far from Snape's own, which privately soothed something inside Harry. He felt a little odd feeling that way because this was Snape and he shouldn't want to be that close to him, but Harry reasoned, that Snape was the only connection to his old life, so maybe he had developed some form of unhealthy co-dependency. He was going to have to watch that.

His apartment was also absolutely saturated with ambient magics. This was apparently due to the fact that pill masters required tremendous magical reserves in order for complex cultivation of pills and often were completely empty of magic by the end of their classes.

Harry felt a little drunk just being in his living room, honestly.

Ye Wen's rooms which turned out to me in a whole other section of the floating islands were comparatively much reduced in ambient magics, and it seemed he was required to share with another person he hadn't met yet.

Harry frowned.

That… really didn't work. At all.

Thankfully Great Master Xuan had decided to come with them for the introductory walk-around, and must have noticed Harry frowning because he said, "Harry-boy, what is it?"

Harry took a deep breath, and decided to do something he had never done in his life, he decided to ask an adult for a favor. "Sir… I mean, Shifu, is it possible… that is to say… would it be okay if Ye Wen stayed with me? In my apartments? Please?" Glancing up at the man, he hurried to add, "it's just that, I am not used to so much space, and you gave me an entire courtyard to myself. Ye Wen had been such help to me, making me feel, well, at home, here. And he already has to share with someone else anyway, wouldn't it be okay if he just shared with me? That way I can ask him questions about the culture and he can help me study better. Please sir? I mean Shifu?" He asked in the nicest way he knew how, thinking of Lavender when she wanted a favor from Dean or Seamus. He felt only a tiiiiny bit dishonest, because he really wanted Ye Wen to have access to the huge amount of ambient magics which his apartments had rather than the limited amount those other apartments did. He was sure he would ask Ye Wen cultural questions but he really did just want the other boy to have the best like he did.

Ye Wen himself startled a bit but also looked hopefully at Great Master Xuan, clearly hoping he would say yes also.

Snape coughed a little, and muttered that Ye Wen was Harry's companion boy, and blood bound to him, so he would also serve as an added bit of protection in case Harry needed it, but his tone also indicated that he would leave the decision to Great Master Xuan.

Great Master Xuan seemed to consider it, then glance at the hopeful looks on both boys face and clearly caved, giving in to his core disciple's wishes. "Very well Harry. Know that this is highly irregular, but you are a foreigner, and Ye Wen is bound by blood oath to you, so I don't see the harm." Turning to the other boy, he said sternly, "Know this is a privilege only given to you, and you must treat it as such. It would be good for Harry to have a friend, who will help him settle in." The way he said that implied that Ye Wen better not shirk his duties but the other boy nodded eagerly, and Harry couldn't help beam at Great Master Xuan. Harry was really starting to love his new Shifu a lot.

Great Master Xuan clearly loved seeing how excited both boys were and laughing, told them both to go run along.

Ye Wen took the smaller spare room on the left of the main courtyard, and both boys eagerly unpacked their things. Harry remembered to ask Snape where the Shadows would be living, and Snape pointed out that his courtyard did in fact come with extensions for servants which were not as luxurious as their rooms back in Kun Lun City but still really nice. The Shadows who have finally shown themselves, had looked a little touched that Harry remembered them, assured him the rooms were more than enough for their use. They also told Harry that most students weren't allowed to bring their Shadows or servants with them, so Harry had to keep their existence secret since this was another exception Great Master Xuan had made for him. An Ying told him that they were given special jade plaques which would identify them as belonging to the Pill Sect, so even if they were seen by someone, no one would question their right to be there.

Having settled everyone who mattered to him, and having unpacked everything with the help of a very insistent Ye Wen – apparently, he hadn't learned how to fold his clothes properly into the wooden shallow drawers each outfit was kept in, and just made a bigger mess for Ye Wen – they all went to the courtyard, and his Shadows and Snape helped him put a strong ward around his courtyard. Jealousy was a universal issue, and Snape and the Shadows warned him that while he was under the direct protection of Great Master Xuan and Snape himself, it was still best to ward everything.

Three days later found Harry and Ye Wen, as promised, by Great Master Xuan and Snape's side, watching a giant round floating mirror thing like the highest definition TV. The entrance exams had started a little over an hour ago, and thousands upon thousands of potential students had lined up to be allowed to put their hand on the testing crystal and see if they were worthy to be the next generation of disciples at Kun Lun.

Harry, who had passed his exams already thanks to Great Master Xuan, got to relax behind his Shifu and watch the show. Ye Wen, who stood by his side, muttered that he should have prepared watermelon as is traditional for such an activity. His Shifu in turn had commented that that was a great idea and that he would propose it to the other masters for next year.

Several of the master who sat around them observing the proceedings in their own chairs snickered at their antics, but the Head of Kun Lun, who sat in the middle of them, reminded them to behave, and besides, sunflower seeds would be better.

Clearly, none of the Masters were very serious people when they didn't need to be, much to Harry's delight.

Maybe because he was the son of a Master at the school, or maybe because the masters had finally gotten around to seeing his exam scores, he was treated with less severity than most students. All the professors had decided he was a quiet obedient boy with way too much potential for someone so small, and treated him almost like he was their little darling. Harry wasn't sure how he felt about that, but it sure beat some of the severe attitudes they had towards the normal disciples. Ye Wen, who had clearly decided his place was no more than 7 inches behind and to the left of Harry at all times, was offered a similar treatment by proxy it seemed. All of this served Harry just fine, and reminded him of his first Christmas at Hogwarts where all the professors were relaxed and friendly. Si Yu and Bai Wu had arrived two days ago, and although their apartments were on different floating islands, they had decided Harry's places was where they would all hang out. This meant that for the past 2 days, all four boys could be found at Harry's and Ye Wen's courtyard.

Si Yu's place had only a little more ambient magics than Harry's own, as he was the core disciple of the Head of the school, but claimed that Harry's place had four nice ginkgo trees and seating area he preferred. Harry personally thought Si Yu's walnut tree was bigger and offered more shade than his trees, but didn't argue. He figures Si Yu could maybe relax more at his place. Si Yu was also rather enamored with Snape for some reason, and Harry wondered if Si Yu will try to join Snape's potions class.

Snape himself seemed to like Si Yu well enough, which was to say he treated him the way he would any competent Slytherin, with a touch less sneering and biting remarks than he offered everyone else, but this didn't deter Si Yu one bit. If anything, he fanboyed even harder, and was constantly asking Snape potions related questions. Harry was surprised how quickly the two boys had become his friends, and wondered how deliberate it was.

Either way, they were all standing behind their respective masters now, quietly placing wages on who would score the highest. Harry would worry about this, except the Master's themselves were doing the same thing, and bickering good naturedly who would claim which exceptional student.

Just then, a girl in pretty pink short robes walked up confidently to the crystal and after tossing her long hair over her shoulder very reminiscent of the Patil twins, put her hand on the Crystal. She turned out to be a rank 4 ice core, and beaming, skipped over to the group of kids who had all tested over rank 4. That seemed to be the middle core level, which Harry suspected will make up the new generation of inner sect disciples.

A boy whom Harry had seen shove another boy with shabbier clothing earlier stepped up to the crystal behind her with an arrogant smirk, which immediately reminded him of Malfoy, and he tested as a rank 4 fire core. He swaggered his way over to join the girl, and Harry frowned.

He hated bullies.

Great Master Xuan must have been thinking the same thing, because he commented that the boy while possibly talented, had a bad personality foundation, and was not likely to go far in achieving celestial status. Harry was surprised by this, as he thought only power mattered, but considering that a number of masters agreed with him muttering the same, Harry thought maybe personality played a part in going far in the Chinese wizarding development.

The demon-teacher, Master Luo from the armor sect and Master Wei from the weapons sect seemed to be scrutinizing him carefully also, however, Harry noticed that Master Yue the Master for Martial arts whom Harry privately thought of as Kung fu Superman due to his ridiculous physique, didn't look interested at all. Harry somehow doubted the arrogant boy who was likely from a good family would want to be an armorsmith or a weaponsmith, likely thinking himself a martial artist first, but seemed that wasn't in his cards.

He felt strangely vindicated when the boy in the shabby clothes tested as a grade 6 electricity affinity, and Master Yue did look at him with interest. It would serve the arrogant boy well if the boy with the shabby clothes was not only more talented than him but also got into the sect he himself wanted to get into but couldn't.

He felt a bit petty feeling that, but then shrugged. Bullies shouldn't be empowered to bully more, he thought.

"I want that one", Master Jun, the Divination Master, suddenly spoke, quietly.

Harry turned to look, and saw a girl with a somewhat vague, dreamy expression whom a girl in yellow robes had to nudge gently to get her to move up to the podium and place her hand on the crystal. She was in a pale green robe and looked like a little doll that someone else dressed.

Harry wondered how Master Jun had known, when the crystal lit up showing a grade 7 soul affinity.

None of the Masters looked surprised or like they even remotely wanted to fight him for her, despite how talented she clearly was.

Harry supposed that was what a real Divination professor looked like.

The Head, nodded, and that must have been a signal, because Si Yu, blew on his palm and a paper crane messenger that Snape had shown him before flew out of his hand towards the examination platform.

Shortly after, Harry noticed the crane landing on the examiners hand, in the mirror, and upon reading the content of the message, the examiner – a short stout man with a long white beard – went and asked the dreamy looking soul affinity girl to step away from the grade 4 kids, making her own group.

She looked not even a little surprised by this, and just did as she was told.

A few minutes later, a boy with a winged stripped cat on his shoulder was snatched up by Master Chen, just like with the Divination Master before he could even touch the crystal.

He tested as a grade 7 water and wood affinity and was told to join the dreamy girl's group, before the examiner could even receive the instructional paper crane.

There was almost a scuffle between the Poison Master's sect and Animal Master's sect when 10 minutes later, a boy with bright red snake with two heads and a bunch of centipedes on his robes tested as a grade 6 wood affinity. The poison sect master won, but only because the Head spoke up, commenting that animal sect had a lot of candidates already while poison affinity was a rare gift. Master Chen didn't look pleased, but gave in gracefully enough.

So it went for the entire afternoon, and Harry was glad that someone had thought to provide refreshments for everyone. The Art sect nearly came to blows with the Ward sect over 2 students but it was agreed that they would share them since they were clearly equally talented in both disciplines. The Sound sect got 3 new students, while the martial arts sect got 23. Culinary sect also got 3, while pill sect only got only one from the thousands that tried out.

Harry was starting to understand why Great Master Xuan was so excited when he tested Harry.

Only a few people tested as high as Ye Wen. None tested as high as Harry.

Great Master Xuan didn't look unhappy however, and Harry wondered if that was because Harry had already accepted him as his Master.

Harry also noticed that some masters didn't look like they would take anyone, such as the puppet sect, technique sect and oddly enough, Snape. But Harry figured they would pick later from the already available senior students.

He was right when later he overhead Great Master Xuan tell Snape that he had 4 students already selected for him and whomever else he himself selected after classes started. Snape said likely he would need to test them separately to check their levels, but nominally agreed. Harry also noticed Si Yu giving his Master pleading looks, and Harry suspected Snape would be getting another student soon.

Harry watched as the last students completed their exams, and the ones with a grade 1 through 3 were sent off somewhere else down the hill. Harry suspected they would become outer sect disciples and be given blue robes like he originally bought. The grades 4 through 6 were inner disciples, and were taken away on a large lotus leaf by a cheerful looking master. The ones whom had joined the dreamy girl however, where divided into their respective sects and Harry noticed that each master had sent a white robed disciple to come and collect them, to take them to their chosen mountain sects.

Since the Pill sect only had that one disciple, Harry noticed that another boy in orange had come to collect him. He noticed that that boy also wore rather simple robes, but he had such a wide smile on his face, one could easily overlook his clothes.

Harry was glad to see that at least in Kun Lun, your power level and potential trumped your family status and wealth. He was sure there was more to it than that, but for now at least, that felt pretty awesome to Harry.

After that, all the Masters dispersed, and since Great Master Xuan wanted to talk potions with Snape, Harry and Ye Wen went back to their own courtyard to get ready for classes the following day.

Harry had been musing on why some people were in orange robes and why some where in white and he wondered out loud to Ye Wen if it had anything to do with power level. However, Ye Wen shook his head and told him:

"That is because you are a core disciple and I am an inner disciple, thanks to you." Ye Wen said, very matter-of-factly, while he dug through his trunk, looking for something.

Harry blinked, this whole time he had been thinking his rank was Inner sect disciple, and while that apparently hadn't been wrong, he was actually a core disciple not just an inner one. Since all core disciples were automatically inner disciples, that did make sense. Harry had wondered why the inner disciples wore pale orange robes while his, Si Yu and Bai Wu were all white but now it made sense. Core disciples were apparently disciples who were chosen by one master to pass on their most secret knowledge known as core knowledge – a totally different meaning from the English definition, which was why Harry had been confused, he figured – while inner disciples received more resources than Outer disciples who only took general courses and might even be kicked out of the school one day for not being talented enough. Once a person reached inner disciple level, it was unlikely they would ever be kicked out unless they violated very serious rules.

So, Harry, was actually a core disciple, not an inner disciple. Why hadn't anyone bother to tell him that? Well, no. Harry thought he knew why. Great Master Xuan probably forgot to explain the difference since it was something that for everyone else was common knowledge, but of course Harry had no clue.

Harry sighed. One step forward, two steps back it seemed.

Harry shook his head, and dismissed the thought. He knew it was going to be like this. Snape told him it took him years before some of these things started to make complete sense, and even then, he ran into cultural differences all the time.

"Ready for your lessons in writing?"

Hearing that, Harry groaned and put all thoughts of sect levels out of his head.

Harry's first two weeks of school had been eventful. His classes had been… interesting, to say the least.

If Harry thought Pill Making hadn't been so bad, he immediately had to re-evaluate his opinions because he absolutely sucked at Art and Sound magics.

Sucked more than he had sucked at Potions even.

He couldn't draw to save his life, especially not with a brush and ink, so that was totally out.

He couldn't even write Chinese in anything resembling elegant. In fact, he had his doubts if it was even legible. He really kind of doubted it, since every single one of his teachers made faces at his homework.

He actually felt bafflingly ashamed, like he was illiterate or something.

Even the Dudley's has sent him to school after all.

He was assured by several of his classmates that everyone started off awful, everyone learned by thousands of hours of repetition throughout their childhood, and very few people actually had any talent in it. Plus, no one expected him to have great calligraphy or anything as a foreigner anyway, but still. Harry would kind of like it if his homework could at least be read by his teachers.

Ye Wen had been trying to teach him, but Harry hadn't made much progress.

Maybe he could ask Snape for a tutor?

The music wasn't so bad, mostly because he literally couldn't play a single instrument and was essentially starting from zero. All his classmates could at least pluck away at something that resembles music at least, but Harry had no talent in it what so ever. In the end it was decided he would take up flute, as his breath control wasn't too bad, thanks to two years of quidditch practice.

He was still pants at it of course.

Warding was the same kind of painful he imagined arithmancy would have been had he stayed at Hogwarts. There was a lot of drawing with a brush, but a lot of rune magic also. He wasn't bad at imbuing his magic into the paper but he was still pants at using a brush so it wasn't going so great for him. His professor didn't seem overly concerned however, and had the same optimism as professor Flitwick. Maybe it was a goblin thing?

He was ridiculously impressed with Ethics and Morality, because it studied not just magical Ethics, but talked about how to be a decent person. Harry thought privately that Britain could have really used some of these lessons. It was also interesting because all the various professors took turns teaching it, and while they all followed the same books, it was clear everyone had different opinions on what was considered right and wrong. Harry found it rather enlightening that there was not a one-rule fit all.

He absolutely loved Magical creatures, and was this close to begging Snape for a pet. He missed Hedwig terribly.

The best part of martial arts, was that he was a lot further along than he had realized. It turned out all those years of Harry Hunting, injury via Quidditch and Dark Lord, really helped his inner Dan Tian break and reforge his body, so that he was technically already past the Body Forging phase and well into Qi Refining. That would also explain why he could use Innate fire even though he just started using this form of magic. That and he could set his sword on fire, though it had a bad habit of melting the weaker weapons the school sometimes used for the student's safety.

He thought he would get in trouble, but the teacher just looked like he felt like an idiot for forgetting that a Pill Master's son might also be a Pill master apprentice who could use innate fire. He didn't say that though, just sighed and told Harry to go to the Weapon's Palace to get another stronger sword, and to specify his level and status this time to the Palace Master.

The forms were however completely alien to Harry, and despite being fit from Quidditch, his muscles were always sore after that class. Still, he excelled at defensive magics, and his classmates quickly learned not to try and prank him just because he was a foreigner.

Botany was easy, if rather boring because with Great Master Xuan's book of 10,000 plants, he already knew them all by sight. All the plants they studied were useful in either pills or potions. They also covered poisons, which Harry thought somewhat unethical at first, till he realized they also taught the antidote to most common poisons, which turned out to be surprisingly practical.

Technique crafting was absolutely fascinating to Harry, and involved not just developing new forms of martial arts but spells, wards and generally new ways to use magic. This of course made it the most supervised class with not one teacher but four, all walking around and preventing various disasters from happening. Still, Harry found it liberating to be allowed to think this way and try new things based on his own affinity to various magics. This was also the class Harry learned the difference in the Chinese wizard's opinion on Dark arts.

It seemed that unlike back home, where whole branches of magic were deemed as dark art, such as blood magic, in the Chinese wizarding world, only those arts that taint the soul (such as torture and murder), used lifeforce for personal power gain or trapped souls unwillingly were considered Dark.

Just like in the Britain, his teacher used his mother's sacrifice as an example, but without naming Harry or brining attention to him which he really appreciated, only saying that the last documented incident of blood magic channeling love and life voluntarily, was recorded in the west some 13 years ago. Harry learned that day that blood magic could also be considered light, and that his mother wasn't a dark witch after all.

Pill Making was directly with Great Master Xuan, and he was alone with him for one on one which was kind of fun. He never had the undivided attention of his teacher before, and he rather loved it. Because Great Master Xuan didn't seem to mind questions, and seemed to encourage them in fact, Harry found that he was picking up the basics really quickly. Or so Great Master Xuan told him anyway. He hadn't been allowed to actually craft anything yet, not since that day at his pill room, but instead this Shifu had him juggling balls of flame while he asked about various combinations of plants that could be combined and under which temperature. He had watched his Shifu crafter a few simple pills to show him and he thought he could maybe succeed in one or two with a few tries without his Shifu's help, but he won't know till he was allowed to try.

All in all, classes could be a lot worse.

Severus, much to his chagrined amusement, discovered that after nearly 13 years of forced teaching, which he had resented passionately, he suddenly found himself enjoying the experience.

It could be that the students – all 7 of them, including Harry's new friend Si Yu – were already quite skilled pill masters, and therefore Snape didn't have to teach them plant basics like he did the ungrateful dunderheads at Hogwarts. Certainly, there were plants they hadn't encountered, and Snape had spent a week grilling them mercilessly to discover where those gaps lied, but he also felt there was a vast difference in attitude.

It is not to say that his Hogwarts 7th years hadn't been dedicated, but the Chinese wizarding students despite being quite a bit younger, had such an awe towards their professors, he never had to wonder if they would be inattentive to his teaching and thereby blow themselves up.

He found himself having to teach them dicing and mincing techniques more than nearly anything else, but Great Master Xuan had also signed these 7 up with the culinary sect to learn chopping and dicing so their progressed considerably faster than his Hogwarts students did. They were also extremely interested and often asked intelligent questions regarding the crossovers between pill cultivation and potions making. Snape found himself staying after class often to explain certain minor differences which he himself hadn't much paid attention to until he was required to teach it.

He also vastly appreciated the respect they automatically showed him, due to his Mastery. He wasn't a man one could flatter into success, but he did enjoy not being called greasy bat behind his back.

He mused that the potion he now used due to his hair being longer made a big difference, as well as the spell Master Yang had shown him all those years ago to keep his hair up during potions brewing. One strand of human hair falling into his cauldron while brewing could have disastrous ramifications, something he had gleefully demonstrated on their first day of classes by blowing up half a classroom and then vanishing the mess with a careless wave of his wand, when one student asked – quite innocently he would admit – why they needed the updo-hair spell.

His students were also endlessly fascinated by his wand and seem to consider him an inordinately powerful wizard because he could do things like vanish objects with a careless wave of his 'power stick' as they called his wand.

Harry had also proven to be an endless delighted, since Great Master Xuan couldn't stop gushing about his power levels and control. He never thought Harry was much for control himself but watching the boy juggle 4 balls of innate fire with one hand while trying to train his hand to use a brush properly with the other, he had to admit that Great Master Xuan might have had a point. The boy was made for pill making.

How Severus hadn't seen this was beyond him, but he could admit to himself that there had been a great many things about the boy Severus had been blind to before.

For one, Harry seemed to be quite a diligent student now, spending hours upon hours practicing his writing and other classwork with Ye Wen, Si Yu and Bai Wu.

Severus had been dubious when Great Master Xuan had suggested introducing him to some 'appropriate' friends so the boy wouldn't be lonely and miss his old life overmuch, since in his experience, Potter never did anything the way he was told to –

Severus paused and had to correct himself again. It was Harry, not Potter. Harry was his son.

The Potter he knew, he could admit this now, was a construct made up by Severus in his mind due to his years of hatred towards James Potter, the boy who took his Lily away.

Severus had also been forced to do some serious soul-searching, and had realized that, much as he loathed to admit it, James Potter hadn't been the only one to blame for his loss of Lily. He himself had contributed as much to that outcome as James and the Mutt and their cronies had.

But things were different now. Harry was his son, to raise as he saw fit. To educate and teach and… love.

And Merlin help him, he had started to love the boy.

He realized this over the course of the 3 months they had been waiting for school to start. Harry had also made it easy, very rarely trying to fight him or antagonize him.

The more Severus relaxed, the less he saw Harry as James, the more Harry relaxed around him and opened up to him.

The first time Severus saw Harry spot him across the teaching halls and smile, had been like a gut-punch to Severus's equilibrium.

The boy genuinely looked forward to seeing him now.

He still hadn't called Severus Father to his face, but Severus did overhear one conversation where Harry had called him his father – with barley a small pause – to another student when asked who Snape was to him.

He was already making so much progress with the boy that he scarcely dared believe it.

Looking down at the crumpled letter in his hand, he yet again debated waiting till Harry's lessons were over for the day, but decided against it.

It hadn't been easy to earn even the amount of trust Harry showed him now, and he didn't wish to take a step in the wrong direction by keeping things from Harry which he knew were important to him.

He took a deep breath and walked into the classroom.

"… as discussed before, Tang Swords are generally 75cm in length, not including the hilt. They are 3.1 cm wide and 0.7cm thick, and not including the hilt are 2 jin in weight" Master Wei turned to address Harry directly, and thought to add, "That is approximately 1 kg in western units."

The burly man said this so casually that Snape noted Harry didn't look embarrassed to be singled out, and just nodded, jotting the information down. Snape also noticed that Harry's hard work with the brush was paying off as he only looked a little awkward using it. Snape himself knew how hard it was to write with it without endless practice, as it had taken him 2 years before Great Master Xuan had commented that he could finally read his writing.

Master Wei finally noticed Snape and paused in his lecturing, holding the Tang sword casually in one hand. Due to his bulk, he made the sword look small, despite Snape knowing it was actually a normal sized sword for most people.

"Yes, Master Snape? Has something happened?" He asked politely, despite Snape being the one to walk into his classroom.

"I apologize for the interruption Master Wei, but I need to speak to Harry. It is important, I am afraid." Snape knew it would alarm the boy, but it was better than waiting till the end of the day. He still had hours of classes to go, and he knew Harry had already reviewed everything for this class yesterday.

"Of course. Go on Harry. Take your books with you. Ye Wen can catch you up on anything you miss."

Harry, having been looking back and forth between them, had a somewhat alarmed look on his face, but didn't say anything, just gathered his things and hurried to Snape's side.

Snape put a hand on his shoulder, but quietly said, "Not here. Come." And led them quickly back to his apartments which weren't too far from there.

Once they had arrived, he could tell the boy was getting more and more anxious, so as soon as they were in a private enough place, he pulled out the letter and handed it to him. "This arrived for you through Gringotts today. It seems your Owl Hedwig, knowing she could not make the trip all the way here, had brought the letter to King Warwick. How she knew to do this is anyone's guess but Owls have their own magic. King Yao sent it to me only a few hours ago. I thought you might want to see it, and not wait till the end of the day."

Harry glanced at him, and Snape knew he had made the right choice to show it to Harry right away. The boy looked both apprehensive and relieved at once, which was an odd look on him.

"I apologize that I had to glance through it to make sure there were no trace magics on there. Sometimes they would not be immediately evident, but only when you started reading would they be triggered. I will leave you alone to read. Go back to your next class when you are finished." He told the boy as gently as he could. He thought to add, "We can discuss this evening whether you should reply and if so, how we can go about doing it."

Harry nodded but his attention was already on the letter.

Snape left him be.

Dear Harry,

I don't know if Hedwig will be able to deliver this letter to you. School started and when you didn't show up, Ron and I first tried to get information from Professor McGonagall, but when she wouldn't tell us anything, Ron convinced me that Professor Dumbledore must know something and we sat outside his office until he stopped ignoring us, and finally told us that you had disappeared! He didn't want to tell us much, but Ron thinks he also doesn't have a clue. Ron wrote to his mom, and she also confirmed that Professor Dumbledore only told her that you vanished without a trace! Luckily, as we agreed, I had brought Hedwig to Hogwarts, but I had completely forgotten that she might be able to find you until Ron reminded me. Ron was worried Death Eaters got you, but we used Polyjuice again, and Malfoy didn't know anything! Neither did any of the other Slytherins, even the upper years we all suspect are likely Death Eaters. I 'borrowed' enough Polyjuice from Professors Snape's stores for several trips but so far, we can't find anyone who knows where you went.

Something else happened. Over the holidays, Professor Snape was killed. I know you never liked him, but it really surprised everyone. Professor Dumbledore said it was a freak potions accident. It happened over the summer, only a few weeks after the holidays started. Professor Dumbledore didn't tell us much, but the Slytherins said the explosion was so big, only his left hand was left! How horrible! I didn't like him much, and he treated all the Gryffindor's very unfairly but I am still really sad he is dead. He invented the wolfsbane potion, did you know? We still don't have a replacement potions teacher, but Professor Dumbledore said an old professor who used to teach potions has agreed to join in a few weeks.

The other thing that happened was that Sirius Black, a notorious Death Eater has broken out of Azkaban, the wizarding prisons. He broke into Gryffindor tower and attacked Ron! Ron said he looked like a skeleton and it was only Ron's screaming – I mean, his manly shout of alarm, Ron made me say that – that saved him. Ron's rat scabbers however was not so lucky, – you remember him? He was a really ugly rat with one missing toe on his paw which Crookshanks, my new Kneazle cat absolutely hated –Sirius apparently turned into a dog and ate him! I don't think I could ever be so hungry to eat rats, but Ron swears that was what happened. Sirius hasn't been seen or heard of since! We still don't know why Ron was his target, but Ron thinks he was looking for you and got the wrong bed. Ron is devastated about his rat and I am thinking of mail-ordering him another pet just to cheering him up because he has been moping for weeks.

I am rambling, I really hope Hedwig can find you, and that you are okay. Ron is hoping some long-lost American relative found you and took you away from the Dursleys and that it happened so suddenly you didn't have time to tell anyone since you didn't have Hedwig. But if that's the case, why haven't you sent an owl to let us know you are alright? Or called my house? It doesn't make sense and I am so worried for you. If you get this, please let us know somehow that you are alive and well.

Worriedly,

Hermione Granger

Harry knew that realistically, his friends probably knew by now he was missing, and that Snape was 'dead', but seeing it in a letter, almost being able to hear it in Hermione's voice through the letter left Harry feeling shaken and off kilter.

Distractedly, he noted it was good that everyone had bought the lie but it still left a horrible lump in his throat. He wished there was a way to reassure her, and Ron without giving all of it away, but he knew it was simply too risky. He felt his eyes start to prickle and he quickly wiped at them, absently thinking the long sleeves were at least useful for something.

He sighed deeply, and thought again about if there was maybe some way… but he knew he couldn't do it. He couldn't go behind Snape's back and risk everything, especially since Snape gave up his entire life to save Harry. It was just too much a risk. He knew that.

Then why did he still feel like such a traitor?

Severus watched Harry read his letter from across the courtyard and sighed to himself. He knew the annoying Gryffindor girl meant a lot to Harry, and even the Weasley boy, despite his inconsistent loyalty also meant something to him.

He thought privately it was because Harry likely never had any kind of friend growing up. No doubt the Dursley's being the people they were never would have allowed it, and that fat whale of a son of theirs likely bullied anyone who did try. With a pang, Severus wondered how far he would have gone if someone told him to leave Lily's friendship behind at Harry's age. He knew he wouldn't have listened.

He hoped Harry wouldn't try something foolish and reach out to them somehow. That would jeopardize everything. Severus hesitated, but decided this was not something he could leave to chance, so instead of leaving Harry to process like he had originally planned, he walked back quietly to speak to the boy.

He had been right, Harry was clearly upset, as he no doubt tried to hide his tears by wiping them on his robe sleeve. Severus grimaced at the abuse of the clothes but let it go. He would be far worse if he was in Harry's shoes, he knew.

He walked up quietly to the boy, and in a rare impulse, put a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder.

The boy looked up quickly, but just as quickly looked away.

"Don't worry. I won't…do anything stupid. I know how important this secret is, and… I know I can't tell them." Harry sounded like he was forcing himself to say it, and Severus felt another pang for the boy.

He let the silence sit for a minute, as he didn't know what to say. He wanted to comfort the boy, but he didn't want to make any promises he couldn't deliver.

Knowing this would eat at Harry, and that it wasn't a long-term solution, he felt compelled to offer, "Thank you for that. I know this is… hard for you." He hesitated but still decided to add, "Don't give up hope just yet. Maybe if we put out heads together, a solution will present itself which would both keep us safe and still let them know you haven't been harmed." He knew it was small consolation but that was all he could offer.

It had clearly been the right thing to say, because Harry looked up at him with such gratitude on his face, Severus promptly decided then and there he would put some real thought into finding a solution for his – for Harry.

"We will figure it out together Harry. There has to be a way, and if there is, we will find it."

Harry looked like he was about to cry again, and Severus shifted uncomfortably, prepared to let go if the boy needed privacy, but Harry shocked him, by throwing his hands around Severus's torso, and hugging him with what felt like all the strength in his skinny little body.

Severus was so surprised he froze for a moment, but then he tentatively hugged the boy back.

This too, was progress, he thought to himself.

"Thank you"

Severus nearly didn't hear him, because the boy mumbled it into Severus's robes. His head only came up to Severus's chest but even then, the boy just hugged him harder. Severus thought he might be crying again. His voice had that rough quality to it, and felt another twinge inside.

"You have been so good to me. I know you hated me, but you still – everything. You gave up everything to protect me, and then took me away from that horrible house, and adopted me and gave me a home and –" the rest of it was rather incoherent but Severus thought he got the gist of what the boy was trying to say.

"Shush now, silly child. I didn't do anything that I didn't want to do, and I don't regret doing it." Severus found himself saying into the boy's hair, and how did that happen? He was getting downright maudlin in his old age.

"Still. Thank you. I promise, I won't do anything stupid." Harry wiped his eyes and looked somewhat embarrassed to have been crying in front of Severus. That wouldn't do, the boy had nothing to be ashamed of.

He found himself wiping a stray tear the boy had missed, and adding gruffly, "Of course you won't. You don't need to. I told you, we will find a way. A safe way. I will speak to the Goblins, maybe they will have some idea, hm?" That hadn't been the plan, but he thought it might not be a bad one. Maybe the Goblins had some way of protecting Harry's friends from Dumbledore's Legilimency. Speaking of which…

"The other reason we cannot tell them directly, is because Dumbledore has a nasty habit of reading the minds of the people whom he feels are withholding information from him. Granger and Weasley wouldn't stand a chance if he decided to look into their minds."

Harry gaped at him, since clearly this was new information for him, and Severus watched as a flash of anger skittered across Harry's face.

"Yes, I thought you would see my point. None the less, there might be a way just the same. I will give it some thought and consult the Goblins, then we will come up with a plan."

Even Severus felt better, knowing he could offer at least this much comfort to the boy. Harry certainly looked a lot better.

"Now, do you want to take the rest of the day off, or go back to your classes?"

Harry seemed to be tempted for a moment, but surprised Severus by saying, "No, I want to go back to class. If I don't, I will just drive myself crazy thinking in circles, and I am already too far behind, I don't want to miss more."

Feeling inexplicably proud of the boy for some reason, Severus found himself nodding in approval, and patting the boy's shoulder in a rare show of approval, "Good. I think that would be for the best. Maybe you can do some extra flying after your classes today. Clear you head."

That was clearly the right thing to say, as Harry immediately smiled at him, and nodded.

Maybe this parenting thing wasn't as hard as he thought.

Then again, maybe pigs could fly.

Warwick tapped his sharp fingernail against his lip as he waited.

Hermione Granger had been summoned to see him under the pretext of a minor problem with her account, but in reality, Severus Snape had asked him for a… performance.

Warwick thought they were risking an awful lot so Harry Potter could keep his friends, but the Goblin also did know the value of true friendship, and he supposed he himself wouldn't want to give up on that quite so easily either.

Just then a quiet knock alerted him to the arrival of his guest.

Warwick had been told that this witch was one of the cleverer ones of the new generation, for all that she was not of the Old Blood. Personally, he was of the opinion that very few Old Blood families were all that clever, but he kept that opinion to himself.

The Granger witch had not been told who Warwick was, just that she was to see someone about the account issue, and Warwick thought that was for the best.

"Ah. Miss Granger, please have a seat."

The witch has been sent an official Gringotts two-way portkey, standard for all businesses pertaining to students still attending Hogwarts and instructed to come during the Hogsmeade weekend, thereby negating needing to inform the Headmaster. The token had the Gringotts logo which was not duplicatable, so the students couldn't be kidnapped, but were deposited directly inside Gringotts, and the portkeys were valid for only the one time use for there and back. Miss Granger had clearly been informed of this, and Warwick watched her clutch her token tightly in her hand, while seating herself in front of his desk.

"Now I do apologize for dragging you here on your weekend off, the issue with your account turned out to be a clerical error which I am happy to say has already been resolved. However, since you are already here, there is another matter I may as well discuss with you, which has to do with the Heir Potter accounts."

As expected, the blatant lie was ignored in favor of the more pressing mention of Harry Potter, and Warwick watched the young witch sit up straighter in her chair.

"You see Miss Granger, we are in the process of sealing the Potter accounts, and as such there was a matter which came to my attention. Mr. Potter had left some instructions should he ever go missing, and one of these was to you. Gringotts was instructed to give you this book, with the following message: "Isn't Occlumency a fascinating subject? I bet you would find it very useful to learn. As soon as possible."

Warwick thought the young witch's eyes couldn't get any bigger and for a moment he feared she would leap across his desk to get to him and the book he was holding, but she clearly composed herself quickly and hurried asked: "Thank you sir, but why are you sealing his accounts?"

"Ah, that I am not at liberty to discuss." Warwick did take a certain perverse pleasure in tormenting the wizarding purebloods since they disdained his kind in turn, but this girl was clearly distraught, fearing the worst for her friend and Warwick felt a little bad in having to deny her the answers she so desperately wanted.

"I see. And when did Harry give you this message, please?" She was clearly disappointed but shoved it aside in gaining more information from him. He was a bit surprised she was in Gryffindor.

"I am also not at liberty to say I am afraid."

The witch was clearly frustrated, but held on to her manners by her teeth and said, "Thank you for telling me this and for giving me the book. Could you please tell me if there was a time-limit put on this message?"

Clever human child indeed, Warwick thought, despite himself.

"Not as such, but it was understood it would be the next time you were in the bank to see us. Those had been the instructions given, and I took the opportunity today since you were already here. Thank you again for coming in."

She clearly heard the dismissal and understood no more information would be forthcoming, and he thought he could almost see her teeth click shut on the many questions she still had.

She took the book, somewhat reluctantly to leave, but leave she did with no further comments except a 'thank you for your time and for delivering the message.'

As she was walking out, Warwick very casually said, "Miss Granger? Try not to look at Albus Dumbledore's eyes too often, hm? That could be a dangerous thing."

The little witch's eyes went wide but she was ushered out before she could ask anything more.

Warwick just hoped that Severus's faith in Miss Granger's intelligence wasn't misplaced.

Hermione had read the book from cover to cover, and then again. And again. Then she had found every single book that so much as mentioned Occlumency and Legilimency in the entire Hogwarts library. Since the portkey had dropped her off at Hogsmeade on her way back, she had also had the foresight to stop at the bookstore and buy up every other book that mentioned the discipline.

She had debated not telling Ron, but he pretty much asked her what was wrong within the first two hours of her arriving back so she told him, after swearing him to secrecy. Including what the goblin had said about Albus Dumbledore.

Hermione felt a little guilty not bringing it to a teacher but after what the books described, she was relieved she hadn't jumped the gun.

A week had gone by, since her Gringotts meeting and she felt she had absorbed as much information as she could from books about The Matter. Now there was only -

At the end of their transfigurations class, Hermione grabbed Ron, waiting till everyone had cleared the room, and walked up to professor McGonagall's desk. She looked up at their approach and Hermione steeled herself to lie to a professor. Something she normally hated but –

"Yes?" Hermione knew she was being silly, but Professor McGonagall looked extra severe today, eyeing them from under her little round glasses.

As if she knew.

Oh no! Was it not only Professor Dumbledore who could read minds?

"Professor, I just had a quick question about a book I am reading." She made herself ramble, as that would be the most disarming thing she could do, to not make the professor suspicious. Ron had told her that it was 'in character', whatever that meant but she believed him.

"I found this fascinating book about Legilimency and Occlumency and the mind arts, and it was just so interesting! But the book said it was a very hard discipline to master, and I wanted to ask if this was true, or if it was like the Petronus charm which was only hard because of the emotional component? Also, I wanted to ask, if the sorting hat could sort students because it had Legilimency somehow woven into its fabric, but that would mean that it *wasn't* an emotional component at all! The book was awfully vague you see, it just said that no one knew who invented it but that it had clearly been around for a long time because Salazar Slytherin knew it back in the 10th century and I –"

From the corner of her eye, she could see Ron deliberately rolling his eyes and making eye contact with the professor as if to say, 'do you see what I have to put up with?' and she thought, so far so good.

"Take a breath Ms. Granger, least you pass out in your excitement." Professor McGonagall clearly didn't find anything suspicious, since she gave Hermione an indulgent look.

Hermione made herself look embarrassed but prepared to lead the good professor towards what she actually wanted to know.

"Sorry professor. It's just so interesting!" she hoped she wasn't overdoing the childlike enthusiasm a bit too much, but the good professor just looked more indulgent so she thought she was in the clear.

"Yes, I am sure it is. Now then, yes Legilimency is a very strict and hard to master discipline, that much is true. It isn't so much to do with emotions save that one had to keep a very disciplined mind and meditate quite regularly to maintain it. I know there are tricks to it, but as I myself am not one, I can't speak much about its technique."

Hermione made herself look surprised, as if she never could have imagined a disciple her head of house couldn't master, and Professor McGonagall just looked even more amused. "I never found it to be of much interest if I was honest, as it was just as easy to simply ask the person rather than snooping in their head."

No, a woman like you wouldn't, Hermione caught herself thinking, but there are others who would.

For the first time Professor McGonagall looked a little suspicious, "Why are you interested in it, Ms. Granger?"

Just as rehearsed, Hermione looked down, as if suddenly embarrassed, and she thanked Ron's foresight in making her practice this because she was really bad at looking at her professors and lying to their face.

Ron, reliably, jumped in, sounding almost bored, like he was indulging her, and drawled, "It's for Harry professor. We, that is Hermione, felt that since we can't do anything to help find him, we could at least do some research for him for when he gets back."

Hermione was a little disturbed at how good Ron was at this but, as he rightly pointed out, he had a lot of brothers and chef among them were the twins who were masters at misdirection, "Harry had been complaining about nightmares on and off, and we thought, maybe it was You-know-who or that scar of his, but either way, it had to do with mind things, innit? So, Hermione here looked up a pile of books on how to help him once he came back." And I got dragged into it, was left unsaid but heard by everyone in the room.

Professor McGonagall immediately softened and Hermione thought if she had been anyone else, she would have cooed at them, "You are good friends. I am sure Harry will appreciate it. When he is back."

Hermione looked up then, and asked the question they had really came there to ask, "Professor, the book said very few people are capable of Legilimency. If you are not one, do you know anyone who is? Is it really that rare a discipline?"

The professor's mind was clearly still on the missing Harry, as they had hoped, and she absently said, "Well yes, it is rather rare. Professor Dumbledore is one of course, and Professor Snape is –" her breath caught, and Hermione kicked herself for not realizing Professor Snape would have been one, since he was a spy and all. But Professor McGonagall had confirmed what they needed to know.

The Goblins had been right. Professor Dumbledore was the reason they were given that book, and it had something to do with why Harry was missing and why he hadn't contacted them.

Apep

Severus had noticed Harry had been rather down these past few weeks. No doubt his continuous inability to do anything about telling his friends weighing heavily on him.

The boy also seemed to miss his pet owl quite a lot, and while Severus knew that Harry felt better sending Hermione the book on Occlumency and Legilimency, he was still antsy if Miss Granger would put two and two together and come up with the right conclusion without spilling the beans to anyone.

Severus himself also had his doubts, but knowing Miss Granger, he was pretty confident she would. Now they just had to wait, and unfortunately, his new son was not terribly good at waiting.

So. A distraction was needed.

Since the weekend was coming up, Severus decided that a trip back to Kun Lun City was in order.

He told Harry and Ye Wen that evening, and both boys perked up considerably. The excitement in front of them preferred over the worry of something Harry could not change immediately.

Watching the boys giggle and laugh as they dashed from one stall to another, Severus congratulated himself on making the right call. He allowed the boys to buy small trinkets, and several bags of honeyed nuts and sweet cakes as treats, acting the indulgent parent. Now that he knew Harry was nowhere near as spoiled as he thought the boy was, he was rather pleased to be able to spoil him from time to time. Merlin knew the child had very few instances of it.

Harry himself seemed to allow himself to act like a boy his age, rather than the more serious child he had been acting like recently, and Severus patted himself on the back yet again for figuring this out.

Seeing the boys were slowly winding down, Severus decided to steer them back to the original reason they were here today.

Ling Beast House was a large, well-appointed shop in the main avenue, quite close to the bookstore Severus had brought them to the first day, and it was there they were going to today.

Severus was hoping that a new pet was just the distraction Harry needed.

Harry, having realized where they were going, did start to look excited, but Severus thought it was more because he had heard so many stories about the different familiars and mounts China had than with any real idea of getting a new pet himself.

Still, no boy wasn't excited to go to a pet store, and Harry was no exception.

Clearly the word of who Severus was had spread in town because the manager Master Wang himself practically materialized as soon as they walked in. As before, they were ushered upstairs and after tea was served, several heavy tomes materialized in front of them, with all manner of creatures.

Harry was clearly surprised that Severus had requested a book on eggs or newly born animals, but went along with it, looking carefully at the moving pictures of how the animals will look once born or hatched.

The boy showed his surprised that even mammals could be born in eggs, and Severus explained that these were all Ling beasts, and thus were really born of magic more than anything else.

He explained to the boy that some beasts were still born the way normal mammals are born but some hybrids could easily be hatched from an egg, one just never knew.

Harry seemed especially fascinated by the book on reptiles and Severus remembered the boy was a parselmouth. That actually might work out. In China, familiars bonded with their masters anyway, and no one would find it odd that Harry could talk to a snake.

Severus found himself urging the boy to look closely, and Harry after giving him a look to make sure he really meant it, did just that.

He seemed especially fascinated with one egg, which was rather dark in color and had bright blue veins across it.

Severus leaned over to see the inscription, and it read:

Name: Soul Swallower.

Classification: Extremely rare.

Characteristics: Hard to tame and very loyal once bonded. Low attack capability but with exceptionally long life due to its preferred food choice.

Coloring: This species of snake has been seen in a variety of color, though generally it can manifest as pure black, black with blue markings, black with blue veins, black with blue stripes, black with blue splotches and pure blue. The shade of blue varies depending on the linage of the snake. It is generally assumed that the brighter the blue, the purer the linage, however this has not been proven. The eye color of this snake can range from black, to blue and sometimes yellow, though the yellow eyed are generally considered to be cross-breeds.

Venom: The venom of this species of snake is considered fairly benign as its bite only paralyses for approximately two hours, though few antidotes work on its venom, and cultivation seems to be useless against resisting this venom. Its venom is also known to be used in certain rare pill recipes, generally associated with strengthening the connection between the body and the soul.

Preferred Food Choice: This snake will eat normal Ling food like any other pet, such as small rodents, chickens, pork, beef, fish, rabbit etc. but its favorite food is negative qi, dark qi, and eating dark or corrupted souls makes it grow faster and stronger.

Size and abilities: This species of snake can grow to be quite large. At full size, 15 meters (female), 20 meters (male) within 2 years of its life. Thankfully, like most Ling beasts, it can shrink to a smaller size in order to stay on its magical's person and seems to not mind remaining smaller for most of its life. It is capable of flight, though it does not possess wings, but instead it uses cloud-stepping in a similar fashion as the Black Tortoise, White Tiger, various species of Qilin (Krillin), White Ling Deer and so on. It is interesting to note that although this species does not have a strong lethal venom, it seems to be immune to every known poison, and its liver is also used sometimes to counter exotic poisons, similar to a bezoar. Perhaps because this snake has two livers instead of one.

Due to its low attack, it is not favored by many magicals, and thus very little is recorded about it. It was once considered extinct, but due to the development of new pills, it has come back into some modest popularity, mostly as a pill ingredient as it's heart and liver are both useful in pills which cure dark qi afflictions. It was once also favored by practitioners of necromancy, as the snake can be quite useful if the magical has taken on a malignant spirit it could not tame. It's magical properties seem to have a cleansing effect on negative qi as well as tainted items and people.

Nothing else is written about it, but Severus noticed that Harry was rather focused on it. His finger kept the page even while he looked at other eggs and babies.

Severus had originally hoped for a stronger pet for Harry but he knew these things could not be forced. The snake might be weak, but maybe it would help with countering Harry's scar left over by Voldemort, since that was most definitely tainted Dark qi.

Decision made; he asked the boy if maybe he wouldn't like to hold the egg he kept looking at.

After checking that Severus really didn't mind, the boy eagerly nodded. Clearly, he was already feeling some kind of instinctive draw to this egg, and Severus figured, if the bonding didn't happen, the snake was at least useful for ingredients.

The manager looked a little disappointed that they weren't interested in more powerful animals, and thus more expensive ones, but Severus assured him that they are looking for something very specific today, and that they will most definitely be back for other ling creatures at another time.

When the egg was finally placed in Harry's hands, Severus knew they would be going home with it. Harry couldn't look away from it.

The manager instructed Harry to pour some of his blood onto the egg, and Severus could only marvel how far the boy had already come by the sheer lack of hesitation in essentially performing casual blood magic.

Severus wonders if he should be worried.

Or overjoyed.

As soon as Harry's blood touched the egg, it lit up, indicating the initial bond had been accepted. The manager looked surprised and commented that in all his time, this type of egg had never accepted even an initial bond, let alone so quickly.

Severus mildly commented that it was clearly meant to be.

Harry, looked absolutely riveted and Severus knew there would be very little moping for the next while.

As instructed by the nice manager, Harry diligently infused the egg with his qi every single chance he got. At first, he had thought he would need to sit on it or keep it warm or something, like a hen or bird, but Snape had only laughed a little at him – kindly. And that was still a surprise. – and told him that the box the egg came in already had a permanent warming charm designed for egg hatching and all Harry had to do was infuse it regularly with his own energy so it would hatch faster.

Harry's hard work had clearly paid off because not even 10 days later, the egg started to show signs of cracking.

He was so excited he refused to sleep, and Ye Wen and Snape both stayed up with him to watch the little snake come out of its shell.

When it finally happened, and its little blunt head poked through the shell, Harry heard himself make a guttural sound. He was so nervous, and he wasn't even sure why. Maybe because was about to be a parent himself to this little creature.

The little snake was strong, and within a few minutes its entire body was out of the shell. It paused a bit to shake of the bits of clear film still sticking to it, but then it opened its eyes and the most electric blue eyes connected with Harry's own.

Harry had a moment to wonder if he'd ever heard of a snake having blue eyes before – they were still slitted the way a normal snake's eyes would be but the color was a lot brighter than he was used to seeing on any animal or person, like they glowed a little or something.

The little snake's body was completely black otherwise except an electric blue long stripe starting from its forehead and going all the way down the tip of his tail. In Harry's opinion, he was the most beautiful animal, save for his snow-white Hedwig, that he had ever seen.

The little snake looked at him, then at Snape and Ye Wen but quickly looked back at him, and hissed, "Daddy?"

Harry was momentarily speechless, because he was so totally not ready to be anyone's Daddy, so he quickly told it, "I am your big brother, my name is Harry. Not Daddy."

The little snake flicked its tongue at him, and hissed, "Hello Daddy Big Brother Harry."

Harry had to laugh a little because that was totally toddler logic. He gently picked up the little snake, careful of its newborn body, and held it close to himself.

"Welcome to this world little brother." He hissed back.

He could hear Ye Wen sucking in a breath, but Snape was taking care of it, so he allowed himself to focus completely.

The little snake flicked its tongue at him again, and then –

Harry felt a sharp pain in his thumb, which was the closest digit to the little snake and he very nearly dropped the little guy who had just bit him.

He had a moment to wonder if baby snakes also had paralysis venom but before he could panic the little snake spoke.

"Daddy Big Brother Harry, I took your blood so we can be connected and family. No venom. From this day onwards, we will be together" except Harry realized he heard that in his mind!

A blue symbol flashed on the little snake's head, and he felt his own forehead heat up and something flashing above his eyes. Before he could panic, Severus's calm tones reminded him that the snake had just accepted the final bond, and that their bond symbol had showed up briefly on Harry's forehead the same as it did the snakes.

"Daddy big brother, your name is Harry. What is my name?" the little snake asked directly into Harry's head and okay this might take a bit of getting used to, but it was also kind of really, really cool because Harry realized, he will never be alone again.

He had a brief moment to feel that warm feeling towards Snape, his… father, because this was something else the man had given Harry, and for no other reason than that Harry had been looking a bit down.

If you had told Harry a few months ago that Snape could be this kind of awesome and considerate he would have laughed so hard he puked, but clearly old-Harry had no clue.

Focusing on the little snake again, he tried the mental link, "Were you given a name when you were an egg? Did you snake-mum give you one?"

"No. She told us our companion will one day do that." It said primly. The little guy looked ridiculously dignified, coiled up on Harry's palm.

"Alright, I think your name should be Apep." Harry said to it, "Ron told me his brother Bill told him about it. It was the name of an Egyptian serpent who ate souls. He was a badass, and since your favorite foods are corrupted souls and bad qi, I figured it fit you quite well. Do you like it?"

"I like the idea of being a powerful snake one day, yes. My name is Apep then." The little guy sounded so pleased, like Harry was flattering it by naming it that, and Harry supposed it was kinds of an awesome name.

Harry carefully turned and showed the little snake to Snape and Ye Wen, "This is Apep. He is in my head now, and we can hear each other." Harry focused and thought at Apep, "This is Severus Snape, my father and this is Ye Wen, my friend and companion boy. Please be nice to them, they are my, er, den mates."

"They smell good. Like clean happy things, though your Snape smells extra good to me. But you smell better." Apep flicked his tongue out at Snape, and Ye Wen, and Harry knew he was memorizing their scents.

Both Snape and Ye Wen got a chance to pet the little snake, which Apep clearly enjoyed. If snakes could purr, Apep would be purring. Ye Wen apparently was very warm, which pleased the little snake.

Harry wondered why he and Snape of all people smelled great to Apep but shrugged it off, thinking it was the blood bond doing its thing.

It was only later, when he was snuggled up in his bed, Apep safely sleeping by his face, like a little hand-sized doughnut, that Harry realized he had called Snape his father.

It was clear that Kun Lun school, like Hogwarts, was used to its students having pets and familiars. Harry was allowed to keep Apep in his sleeve and Apep himself, once he had eaten 6 meals and practically doubled in size overnight, was content to wind himself on Harry's person during the day and sleep. Every so often, he would mutter something to Harry that amused him, or some smell that intrigued him, but for the most part, he was as he called it, developing.

Harry was just glad that Apep did turn out to be a boy and not a girl, because the name quickly stuck. Harry wondered what he would have called him if he turned out to be a she. It's not like he could called him Apepina or something horrible like that.

Everyone had wanted to pet Apep, and at first the little snake sent a flash of nerves and unsure to Harry's brain but after assuring him they just wanted to admire his beauty, see the shine of his scales, Apep got right into the showing-off game, twisting and turning to show off his bright blue color while also snuggling into the pets like any spoiled cat would.

He especially liked it when the students oohed and aahed at his bright blue eyes, proclaiming it his due.

Harry for his part really enjoyed being able to chat with someone in his head, without having to say a word out loud, and disrupt the class. He also quickly learned that although Apep was often napping, he was also able to understand human speech just fine, and often reminded Harry of something he had forgotten that the teacher had said earlier. Harry wondered if that constituted as cheating but Apep reminded him that they will always be together, so what Harry knew, Apep knew too.

Harry found himself telling Apep things from his past. The little snake was still really young, but maturing at speed, and growing in size at an alarming rate.

Snape had reminded him that technically Apep will grow to be 5 meters longer than the Basilisk he had killed in the Chamber of Secrets – which Snape still looks disapproving every time he talks about it, but Harry knows Snape had greedily harvested all the parts and venom so Harry thinks he is a bit of a hypocrite but doesn't tell him so.

Harry felt a little faint when he tried to picture Apep that large but Apep just laughed at him, and reminded him that for the most part, he prefers to be small so he can get all of Harry's warmth across his whole body. He only turned to his full size when he needed to be extra intimidating or eat really big souls like those of dragons.

Harry kind of blinked a lot at him for that, and firmly decided not to think about the fact that he now slept next to a creature that could eat dragon souls if the fancy struck him.

He did however notice that Apep really liked lying on Snape's left forearm. Namely, right on the dark mark.

It had totally freaked Snape out, Harry knew, the first time Apep had done it.

Snape told him he heard Apep hissing quietly at it. It being the Dark Mark, and Harry wondered if Apep could feel the dark magic in it.

Apep was happy to tell him that yes, he could, and that it smelled delicious to him.

Harry hoped that one day Snape won't wake up with Apep having eaten his arm, but dismissed that notion. After all, Apep was still a baby, and he himself told Harry that he was only big enough to eat souls the size of mice right now.

Harry found another fun thing was that since he grew his hair out, and absolutely hated every single tie, clip and other decoration inflicted on him by Ye Wen, Apep had started winding his tail around Harry's hair. Since most of his body was so black, he neatly blended into Harry's hair, while the blue stripe looked beautiful as decoration and hair tie, at least according to Ye Wen and Si Yu, whom Harry privately considered his fashion experts.

Bai Wu just said it looked badass, so Harry considered it good.

Both Si Yu and Bai Wu congratulated him on bonding with a familiar, and while Bai Wu did lament that it was too bad it wasn't a stronger, more deadly familiar, Si Yu said that that wasn't necessarily the case, since Harry's affinity with electricity also gave him soul affinity apparently, so maybe it was an excellent match after all. Si Yu chastised Bai Wu gently and reminded him that magic always chose, and always chose for a reason, and the wizard had very little say in the matter after all. Harry personally thought Si Yu just really loved how beautiful his snake was, to which Apep told him that was as it should be, and promptly paralyzed Bai Wu for an hour, while hissing at him that he could have died a thousand deaths while he couldn't move.

Harry had been horrified but Bai Wu just laughed once he could move, dismissing Harry's fervent apologies, and petted the little snake, conceding that it was indeed a mighty weapon worthy of being Harry's familiar.

Apep was smug for the whole week about it.

Literature class was the bane of Harry's existence.

He was sure of it.

It wasn't so much that it was hard, which yes it really was, but there was just so much of it. It made sense, Harry thought, since they had such a long history, and therefore that many more years worth of literature but honestly!

Apep pointed out that everything humans did was overly complicated with too many rules but Harry ignored him.

He did fine on the Confucian/Mencius classics, they at least made sense even if they were a little rigid and conservative in their thinking, in Harry's opinion. Especially about 'a woman's place in society.' Hermione would Have Things to Say, Harry was sure.

But he honestly couldn't keep any of the other classics straight to save his life.

He had gotten into the habit of studying with Si Yu and Bai Wu, the way he used to study with Hermione and Ron – and there was still a pang for that thought – but sometimes it just seemed like they were miles ahead of him in some subjects.

Okay, most subjects.

Harry ran his hand through his hair in frustration, glaring at his textbook as if it had personally offended his intellect. Which, it kind of had.

"What?" asked Si Yu without so much as looking up from his wards text. Clearly Harry had been glaring somewhat loudly, and his friend was somewhat used to his silent frustrations by now and often took pity on him.

"I can't make sense of these. How can you tell which story is about what?" Harry huffed in irritation.

"What does the title of the novel end with?" Si Yu asked absently, while flipping through another ward book. It looked old and dusty, and Harry would quite frankly be afraid to touch it.

Harry blinked at him, "What do you mean?"

"Does the title of the story end with a "Zhuan", a "Xing", a "Ling", start with a "Da", end with a "Fu" or does it have a title with a bunch of numbers in it?"

Harry blinked at him again, feeling exceedingly stupid.

"Uh," closing the book to check the title, he said, "It… ends with a Zhuan."

"Then it's a story about one woman." Si Yu said distractedly, without even looking at Harry's book title.

The prat.

"How could you possibly know that? You didn't even look at my book!" Harry pinched his brow, feeling a headache coming on.

Si Yu finally deemed the conversation important enough to look at him, and recited as if it made the most common sense in the world, "If the title ends with something-something-Zhuan, it's a story about one woman. If it ends with Xing, it is a story about a man and a woman; if it ends with a Ling, it is a story about two men; if it has a pile of men? It starts with a Da-something-something; and if it has a pile of men and a pile of women, the title ends with Fu; If it's not about any specific men or women and has a bit of everything? Then the title would be something like 'The Seven Word quatrains' or something similar to that."

Harry blinked at him, "How – do you ever keep track of this stuff? It's like you all have a secret language for remembering this."

"Eh. Mostly get beaten enough by your teachers from an early age, and you get motivated enough to learn all the tricks." Bai Wu said from the side, face buried in a book on tactics.

Si Yu nodded, and started to trace one of the wards carefully into his yellow ward parchment with his brush.

"Repetition, repetition, repetition!" they both sing-songed at him in unison without looking up and Harry groaned, faceplanting into his book.

China, he was convinced, would be Hermione's heaven, and was his hell. He was sure of it.

Three months into their training, and Harry was feeling a lot more confident with some of his classes. Others still gave him headaches, but some he had picked up like a duck to water.

Martial arts and pill making were two of his favorites.

At first, he had been worried about martial arts, because he hadn't really used a sword much, except to stab a Basilisk to death that one time, but a few weeks into training, and his Master Yue was very pleased with him. He said Harry had excellent muscle development, and was bulking up fast. Harry privately thought that was due to Snape force-feeding him nutrition potions and appetite stimulators every single meal since he had been taken away from the Dursleys, and because he already had good stamina and wiry muscles due to running away from Dudley and training in Quidditch for 2 years. Oliver Wood had been a sadistic maniac when it came to training after all. Chinese classes also tended to go for longer in the afternoon, and many kids trained long and hard in their favorite disciples, with very few exceptions. There were very few students with Ron's attitude of 'just coasting by'.

All of this meant that when their Master informed them that today they would be doing their training on "real targets", Harry was a lot more prepared than he originally thought he would be in just these few months of wielding a sword.

He finally got the sword flying down – it wasn't really that different from flying on a broom – though it was a lot hard to do backflips and barrel rolls. Harry had to project qi into his feet to anchor himself to the sword least gravity did its thing when he tried to flip upside down, but overall, the sense of balance was the same. It really reminded Harry of the one time he tried skate boarding in school before Dudley had shoved him off and scared the student who offered him the board away.

They were all instructed to mount up onto their swords or flying instruments, and follow Master Yue to the foot of the first mountain behind the school. There, they were told to form teams of 4, and that they would encounter beasts ranging from difficulty level 1 to 4. Their job was to kill or subdue the beast, and take their inner cores. Each group had to collect at least 4 cores and they had 8 hours to do it in.

All the students looked nervous and excited, while Harry was just glad they wouldn't be dueling one another. Beasts were somehow easier for him, mentally, since he was assured, these were generally destructive animals with low intelligence and had an overpopulation problem anyway.

Harry lamented to Si Yu that Ye Wen was having special classes with Master Shu, as it turned out he was rather gifted in Art magics, otherwise they would already have four.

Harry quickly made a team with Bai Wu, Si Yu, and a girl from their class called Qing Tingting, an acquaintance of Bai Wu.

Bai Wu told him Tingting was also from an Ancient and Most Noble family but wasn't nearly as stuck up as some of the other girls, and most importantly, didn't seem to be boy crazy in the least. Si Yu confirmed this, but added that it was likely because she was already betrothed to another boy whom she grew up with and by all accounts they were best friends. He was away on a Travel Training Trip with his master otherwise they wouldn't even get a chance to team up with her. Both boys confirmed that she was 'pretty good' with her double blades, and could be relied on to hold her own, as befitting a noble lady.

They flew for about half an hour, then were instructed to land. Master Yue and four senior white robes were with them, looking to be in their early 20s. Ye Wen muttered that they were likely senior apprentices. These 4 gave each student an item, which Harry realized was a disk-like stone tablet the size of his palm. These were communication devices, they were told. If they broke it, they would be portkeyed out to where the teachers were. If they injected energy into it, they would send a signal indicating they needed help and where their location was.

Harry thought this was rather practical and was relieved that the school at least had some plan to guarantee their safety.

The teams were all instructed to go to specific locations so they didn't overlap, and Harry was glad to see his team's location was literally 30 minutes flying straight into the forest so they didn't have to fly further.

In the first hour, they came across a dozen rabbits, 3 foxes, a deer and a very grumpy porcupine but no magical beasts.

Just as they were starting to get a little bored, they heard a rustle, and suddenly Harry has to yank Bai Wu by the collar, hard, before he could be gored by a boar the size of a cow. Tingting also jumped out of the way in time, but Si Yu only had time to blink, not used to sudden ambushes. Thankfully he was standing to the side, and the boar had clearly been aiming at the largest one among them, which had been Bai Wu. The beast turned around surprisingly quickly from its aborted charge and paused to assess them, red eyes flashing and wide nose snorting air in anger. They had clearly walked into its territory and it did not appreciate it. Harry figured it was a level 2 beast judging by the qi it was giving off. Bai Wu recovered quickly and pulled out his large two-handed sword, while Harry and Tingting pulled out theirs. Si Yu jumped up on the tree branch above him, and placed his Qin in a play position.

Bai Wu gave out a loud yell, getting the beasts attention and charged at it head on, while Tingting and Harry did their best to cut it open from the size. Before Harry could stab it however, Apep had darted out, and bitten the boar on the side, and suddenly the beast just – dropped. Completely paralyzed.

"Well. That was anticlimactic." Bai Wu said, before killing the boar in one swift slice.

Harry almost said something about cheating, but Apep just looked at him from within their shared soul space expectantly and Harry clicked his mouth shut, offering a good job instead.

Tingting blinked a little and laughed, coming over to admire Apep and compliment Harry for having such a useful pet, for which Apep just preened and sent many 'I told you so' vibes at Harry.

Slytherins, right.

Whatever got the job done.

Si Yu jumped down and playing a few notes, the boar's belly flew open, blood nearly splattering Harry if he hadn't been fast, which earned Si Yu a glare, and floating the beast core into his hands.

They debated a little, but Ling boar was tasty, so they stored its meat into Harry's ring for a BBQ later that night.

In the next 4 hours, Tingting managed to filet a level 3 crocodile that Si Yu distracted with his music; Bai Wu killed a level 2 large Owl-eagle thing with vicious claws and mean red eyes, with a well-placed throw through its chest with his bastard sword; Si Yu completely mesmerized and put to death-sleep a level 3 Ling deer which they also stored next to the boar; Tingting got invited for dinner with them, since there was no way they could eat that much meat between them.

They walked for another 2 hours and they noticed that it was actually starting to approach dusk. Harry wondered if they just weren't going to encounter any more beasts before they had to call it a day.

He opened his mouth to say as much, when Tingting cried out in warning. Harry didn't think, just leaped to the right as hard and fast as he could. Something still grazed his robe however, but didn't penetrate his demon-spider silk under-armor. Harry had a moment to mentally thank Snape for making him wear the under-armor all the time, so that it became a part of his clothing routine, otherwise his back would no doubt be bleeding now.

When he did get to look behind him, his breath caught in his chest.

Standing in front of them was a level 5 crimson scorpion. One of the more deadly creatures in the Kun Lun mountain. It was huge in size, around 3 meters in length, known to be wicked fast, vicious and even a drop of its poison could kill a fully grown magical in under a minute. Its exoskeleton was also extremely tough and resistant to most weapons. Harry had no idea if they had simply walked too far into the mountain or if this creature somehow found itself on the outer edges of the forest for some reason, but either way, it looked really pissed. And hungry.

Bai Wu yelled that they should break their talismans and get the hell out of there. Si Yu was cursing and already starting to play a confusion song at it. Tingting looked like she agreed with Bai Wu, but before they could decide what to do, it charged at them. Actually, no, it charged straight at Harry for some reason –

After that Harry was too busy dodging, flipping, bending and generally trying to stay away from its stinger and its claws to consider running for it.

Si Yu's song did mess with it some and slow it down a little, but no matter how much Bai Wu yelled or Tingting try to sneak beside it, it had firmly focused on Harry.

Later, Si Yu would theorize that it was because among them, Harry had the largest amount of qi reserves, so the more intelligent creatures would deem him to be the biggest threat, but that didn't help Harry any when he was fighting the crazy thing.

When it did a fake lunge and then swatted Tingting into a tree with its tail, Harry thought, right, enough of this.

Using his momentum from moving, he hooked his hand onto the back of the creature's giant claw, and very reminiscent of his first-year troll-fighting days, jumped onto the creature's back in one swift move.

Bai Wu shouted at him to get down, but Harry knew that none of their swords could do anything to the arachnid's tough exoskeleton. Their only hope was for Harry to – there! He found the overlay of the carapace, and using all of his might, stabbed down into the area where the two plates met, near the creature's head.

It let out an unholy shriek which scattered all the birds in the area, gave a horrible twitch and started to collapse.

Harry, already having committed all his weight forward, tried to twist so he could keep his balance. He completely failed, and with one foot extended forward towards the creature's butt, his body started to fall backwards over the beast's head.

That's when Harry felt a sharp sting that nearly had him crying out, but he was a little too busy catching himself on his sword to do anything, other than try not to fall head over tea kettle.

When he finally did right himself, he looked down and though, oh shit.

All three of his companions clearly saw what he did, and there was a panicked chorus of "HARRY!"

When the blasted thing had started its death throws, its tail had stabbed down, clearly in an automatic self-defense move designed to take its attacker with it, and stabbed its stinger down.

If it had hit Harry in the chest, his armor would have protected him, but as his foot had been extended, the giant stinger stabbed him through the foot instead, right through his cloth slippers.

He managed to yank his foot off the thing, even though it made him make a Nghaa sound, but at least he was free of it.

He rolled off the very much dead creature now onto the soft grass underneath, and took a breath, inspecting the wound. It wasn't as bad as he originally felt. The cloth of his slipper did protect him some, and the bleeding wasn't that bad.

He pulled out his wand from his other pocket, and just as Snape had been instructing him, cast a disinfection spell, and then preparing himself for what he had to do next, which will undoubtedly hurt.

He could hear Si Yu and Tingting frantically calling for help, and he almost told them not to bother, because, the wound really wasn't that bad. Bai Wu was on his knees next to him within a second, ripping the sleeve of his robe and wrapping it across his calf in a tight tourniquet Harry was a little confused, since he really wasn't bleeding that much. It was a foot, not a leg after all. Figuring his friend had his reason, he focused on slowly easing his foot out of the slipper, and when he managed it, he kicked the slipper off, took a deep breath and started to do a slow stead Episky on his foot.

However, as soon as Bai Wu realized what he was doing, he grabbed Harry's wand hand, and Harry had to immediately stop or actually hurt himself more. He glared a little at Bai Wu in confusion, but seeing the other boys completely pale and panicked face, he turned it into a question.

"You can't heal it. The poison will just –"

But before he could finish speaking, there was a loud pop behind him, and Harry had a moment to try and turn his head to see who had just apparated before his brain caught up to him and all he could say was, "I am fine! They just got freaked, because I am bleeding a little. It's almost healed anyway, but since you are here, could you help me reparo the slipper? I would have done it, but it would have ruined the pretty embroidery." Then Harry turned his most winsome smile, and on a very irate Severus Snape.

Snape paused long enough to glance at the dead monster in front of them, clearly categorizing the type of creature it was and then quickly assessed Harry's injury.

His two friends and Tingting meanwhile where practically vibrating with stress, trying to talk over each other, "You are not okay!" "It poisoned you! How are you okay?!" "We need to get him to a healer right away! It's already been more than 30 seconds!"

Snape took a deep breath, and cast a diagnostic scan at him. Reassured by what he saw – which Harry would have told him had he been asked, but he hadn't been so – he just glared down at him instead.

"I leave you alone for half a day." The scowling man said to Harry, which okay not really fair, he was sent here to fight monster so that's not really his fault was it? But Harry didn't think there was much point pointing that out. Instead, he gently removed Bai Wu's hand from his wrist which was a bit of a challenge since the boy had a death grip on him, and under Snape's watchful eye, cast another two Episky's on his foot.

Once his foot was completely healed up, much to Bai Wu's protests, he passed Snape his slipper and gave him his best cheeky smile.

Only a few months ago, he never would have dared, but the two of them had been through a lot in the past few months, and he knew Snape would understand it as Harry really being fine.

Snape shook his head in exasperation, and Reparo-ed Harry's slipped, embroidery and all, back to the way it was, and handed it back.

Harry put it back on, and happily got back to his feet, while the other three kids gaped at him.

Si Yu got his composure back first, and managed to ask, "How is this possible?" in a tone one part relieved and shocked.

Snape just huffed at him, as if to say, "you explain" and went over to collect the core of the very dead thing oozing green sludge into the grass behind them, and likely some poison for his potions.

"Funny story, did you guys know that if you combine Basilisk venom and Phoenix tears inside one person, they become immune to most poisons?" He told them a little sheepishly, "We figured it out a few months ago when Sna—when my father had the healers do some tests on me to fix – uh, well anyways, basically those two things cancel out everything else, so I am basically immune to poisons. Who knew?" he laughed a little weakly because he could see they were still completely freaked out and were only now starting to realize Harry won't be dropping dead on them immanently.

Tingting and Bai Wu had their mouths open but no sound was coming out. Si Yu was doing a little better, but his eyes were very wide. Then he blinked, and asked, "wait, did you say Basilisk venom?"

Harry could hear Snape snort, and Harry taking the better part of valor, suggested they head back, in case more things decide to attack them, before he was forced to retell that story. Again.

That evening, a completely freaked out Ye Wen kept clutching his arm as the three other kids explained what happened, and then all of them looked at him expectantly.

With an internal sigh, he retold the story of his second year, and the Basilisk. Then he had to answer about a million questions while trying to eat his boar. Yes, it was a real Basilisk. No there were apparently not extinct, though this one was very old, and yes that made it quite big. How old and big? Well, he hadn't been quite sure, but Snape helpfully told them it was more than 800 years old and 15 meters in length; to which all the kids just stared at the Snape because yes, okay, maybe that was a bit much to immediately swallow. Then Snape added fuel to that by saying that yes Harry had only been 12 when he slew this level 10 monster, alone, in a secret chamber, which no one else could reach or enter without him, and of course he didn't leave out that the 'foolish boy' got bitten by its enormous fang in a very similar fashion as he got stabbed today, due to the creature's death throws when Harry had put his hand into its mouth to stab his sword into its brain.

Harry thought that was a little unfair, but did muse that he really did have to work on that, because there had to be a more elegant way to kill dangerous things without getting bitten, stabbed, or had its face melt off.

Snape just shook his head and walked away. Refusing to say more, and Harry found himself ginning at his adoptive father's back.

Tingting, still a little dazed, said, "Right. All foreigners are insane, and I am totally hanging out with you from now on."

Harry looked at her with interest while the other three boys looked at her like she had gone mental. She just shrugged, and asked, very reasonably, if they thought they would ever need to fight anything more dangerous than a mythical ancient extinct giant snake that could kill by looking at you, and if Harry could survive that, was there anything that could really kill him?

They all blinked a little at her, even Harry, and nodded slowly. Agreeing that from that day on, Harry was their lucky mascot charm.

Harry thought about protesting, but then Ye Wen shoved more deer at him, and Si Yu shoved more plum juice at him and Bai Wu just looked at him, and Harry gave up, and obediently took a bite of his deer.

Tingting also turned out to be very useful in explaining magical qi infusion to Harry a week later. They shared most of their classes as they were in the same year, so these days she often sat with them. Their little group taking up an entire left side of the classroom. He had been struggling with his wards class, not understanding how he was supposed to turn it from a bunch of squiggles into a magical ward, when she asked him how his Episky had worked.

He explained that there were set wand movement and set words.

She then asked him for more detail, and he found himself explaining how he needed to do a slow release of magic through his core into his wand, and down into his foot while his hand traced the pattern he was taught and then infusing his intent into his words.

She then looked at the ward, looked at the diagram on his page, and looked at him, like he was a particularly slow child.

Considering how many times Hermione had looked at him like that, he did feel a little stupid not getting it sooner.

Once he pictured his brush to be his wand, and the squiggles to be the wand movement, and did a slow, slow, release through his hand into the brush down to the paper, he could suddenly feel that the brush was magical, the ink was magical and so was the paper. It was more dispersed than how a wand felt, but the principle was extremely similar.

He did set a few papers on fire because he got impatient but by the end of the class, he was able to produce wards which he wouldn't have even dreamed of being able to do when the class had started.

Master Hohot was incredibly impressed and awarded Tingting 55 whole contribution points for it. Calling it a break-through assistance.

Harry had originally struggled with the concept of individual contribution points instead of house points but then he realized it was a little like currency. You did a thing like mastering something, or killing a monster or beast, or cleansed an area, made some high-level pills and you got "paid" in contribution points which you could then exchange for everything from time off, to less chores, to weapons, pills, ingredients and so on that the school had, depending on what you wanted. He liked it a lot more than how Hogwarts did it, and marveled that unity didn't seem to need contribution points to happen after all, but individuals definitely were more motivated knowing they had personal benefits if they behaved well or contributed to the school.

Either way, Harry was just glad he could finally make wards and not just glare at them.

Bai Di

Severus was taken completely by surprise, when Harry very much out of the blue, exploded at him in mid September, only 4 months into their arrival to China.

It had been over such a small thing too. Harry had wanted to go flying again, but Severus needed them to get ready for a banquet in his honor, and as Severus's Di Son, Harry had been required to attend.

Suddenly everything annoyed Harry. His robed were too flowy, he hated the hair ornaments, his long hair was in his way when he flew, the food was odd, the language was odd, the people were odd, and it seemed the most offensive thing of all? There was no pumpkin juice. Also why did he have to attend anything that was for Snape? It had nothing to do with Harry. He wasn't going.

Severus had no idea where all of this had come from, and told Harry this, to which the boy just let out an incoherent ARGH sound and stormed off to his room.

Severus looked to Ye Wen for some kind of explanation, but the boy was as clueless as him it seemed.

Feeling completely blindsided and confused, Severus thought about forcing the issue, but thought better of it. He went to the banquet without Harry and made his excuses that the boy was feeling under the weather and didn't want to bring everyone down. The banquet went over well, but Severus was still completely mystified afterward. He went to see Harry but the boy had turned in early, according to Ye Wen. Most alarmingly, Ye Wen himself had been kicked out of Harry's room, something the boy had never done before and Severus could see that while Ye Wen was too professional to show it, the other boy was rather hurt by Harry's brisk action. Though, Ye Wen also told Severus he could hear crying when he stood outside, so it was clear the boy didn't take it personally.

He tried talking to Harry, but the boy was suddenly uncommunicative, sullen and somewhat mulish.

It was like they had stepped back in time, and the four months of congenial relationship they have developed had evaporated as if it had never been there.

At a completely loss as to what to do, he brought it up to Great Master Xuan during their weekly chess game, and the old master just laughed at him.

"You were just the same you know." Great Master Xuan said, "You spent the first three months too wide-eyed to feel any culture shock, other than amazement maybe. It was not till half a year and then some had passed, that our culture started rubbing you the wrong way. Though, I must admit, you did adapt fairly fast, for an outsider. Harry, unlike you, had little choice in coming here. It is natural that he would start to feel the chafe of a different culture sooner than you."

Severus gave him an incredulous look, but had to admit, upon thinking back, that Great Master Xuan was right. The first few months he was so in awe of everything he saw, all the new magics and traditions and everything, that he hadn't felt homesick till much, much later. Maybe Harry was going through something similar?

Severus would have to pay attention to that. He remembered many sudden rage fits which seemingly came out of nowhere back then, and he would rather spare the boy that if possible.

As he was discussing this with Great Master Xuan, and as Great Master Xuan reminded him of more than one rage fit he had, Severus heard a rustle of rubes outside their window.

Since no staff members would be around the windows, and the Shadows never made any noise unless they wanted to and since – and yes there it was:

"Little Master," came a quiet hiss, "We shouldn't be here." Severus heard some more scuffling, and then silence.

Seemed Harry had heard them after all.

"I am sorry." Harry's quiet voice snapped Severus out of his thoughts. He had been trying to read an article on a new potion, but set it aside when he heard Harry speak. "I don't know what came over me."

The boy shuffled into the room, like a child much younger than Harry's actual age.

"Everything was fine, and then suddenly, it wasn't and I – I am sorry I lashed out. I didn't mean it."

The boy did sound sorry too. He also sounded confused and frustrated.

Severus could sympathize. He was also feeling a bit of the old chafing though nothing as severe as what Harry was feeling.

He chided himself for not realizing this would happen, considering Great Master Xuan had been right, he had himself gone through it.

"It's alright Harry. I should have foreseen it. I know you overheard my conversation with Great Master Xuan." At Harry's guilty look, Severus waved it off. "It's alright, this time. Perhaps it is good that you did hear it. As you heard, I went through it also." Harry still looked frustrated, so Severus continued, "It is culture shock, and yes, it can be delayed by quite some time, but when it hits, it always hits hard. Everything that was wonderful overnight becomes annoying and all you can think about it how its not home."

At Harry's amazed look, Severus surmised he had nailed the issue on the head.

"The good news is, it will pass. The bad news is, it is like grief, and you will go through several stages of it before you find your – peace, for lack of a better word. But the good news is, you will find it. Everyone does, eventually. Give yourself time."

Harry looked completely unconvinced, but nodded just the same, and quietly left.

What they needed, Severus mused, was a break, and maybe an adventure. Maybe something outdoors, with less rules and less structure. A breath of fresh air as it were.

He knew just the place.

Severus debated leaving Ye Wen behind and making this a father-and-son thing, but he quickly realized that Harry had started to see Ye Wen almost like a security blanket, the way he had previously seen Ron and Hermione, and he thought it might be easier for the boy if he had a buffer between Severus, whom he was still learning to relax around and trust, and himself.

So, Severus told Ye Wen to pack them up for a trip lasting no less than a month, and specifically to pack both muggle – mundane, he corrected himself, some habits from home never die it seemed – clothes and casual magical ones. He was very specific about this, and once Ye Wen realized what he had planned, the boy looked nearly as excited as Severus imagined Harry would be.

-And he hadn't been wrong; once Harry heard they were leaving the school for 'training in the world' as Severus had called it to the members of the school, he was besides himself with joy. He pestered Ye Wen to pack this or to not forget to pack that and practically ran around in circles until Apep told him to settle down because he was getting dizzy.

Severus had expanded their chariot as well with custom commissioned charms on the carriage, so there was a lot more space for them to stretch out and even sleep if needed.

Severus found he was growing nearly as excited as the children, and mused that, perhaps, he also needed a little break.

He first decided to take them to Shanghai, since Harry had originally expressed a desire to see it. Great Master Xuan had arranged fake aliases for them through the Goblins, so they were Mr. Smith and family. Harry was called Jack, Ye Wen was Larry Wang and Severus was ironically called John. They were posing as South Africans since their accents couldn't really be hidden and 'Jack' was an exchange student visiting with 'Larry'. Both boys had died laughing when Severus had told them, and pretended they were on a secret mission, laughing and acting like the children they were.

Magic use was for emergencies only, and wandless only when there were no witnesses, but otherwise they were to spend the whole week in Shanghai, being tourists and just relaxing.

Severus was extremely amused when Harry nearly cried with joy at being told to wear jeans and a hoodie. Ye Wen looked absolutely scandalized when he saw him wearing such casual garments, but quickly got into the spirit when he realized Harry got to be his guide this time. Ye Wen had never much interacted with muggles, or Mortals as he called them, and he was rather excited once he realized his job this time was only to follow and experience the whole thing.

Severus decided they all needed a treat, so he booked them into the Westin on the bund, and at first both boys looked a little uncomfortable to be so under dressed at such a fancy place, but Severus assured them that, as children, they were expected to be casual no matter their social status. He himself dressed in a polo shirt, light jacket and black slacks, and no one gave them more than a few passing looks, as he expected.

They spent two solid days just walking down the long Walking Street. Severus introduced the boys to Japanese food, which both of them loved; French food, which had Harry nearly licking the plate – but considering that the restaurant was Jean Georges, a Michelin 3 star next to their hotel, he couldn't really blame the boy. On the rooftop of the same building, they ate crapes with Nutella – which Severus had never had but admitted it was something no child could say no to, except maybe Ye Wen who complained it was too sweet, - and watched the boats on the river slowly drift by.

The Ocean Aquarium had both kids gaping, and Severus marveled at how far muggles had come with their technology that they could hold the ocean at bay, while walking in the worlds longest underwater tunnel and admiring the endangered Chinese marine life. Well, muggle marine life anyways. He wholeheartedly approved of the discouragement of eating shark fin soup, and Harry was especially horrified at the practice while Ye Wen sadly nodded.

They got sidetracked while walking the bund sightseeing tunnel also on the Pudong side, because Ye Wen had shrieked a little when he saw the interactive 3D museum called Magic Fun House. Severus assumed it was the magic that caught his attention, but since he had never seen the boy shriek before, they all had to stop and spend some time standing in front of the art that looked like you were in it. Ye Wen kept babbling about confounds charms and other illusion magics but Severus assured him it was just mortal ingenuity.

They of course had to go to the Oriental Pearl Tower, though neither boys were very impressed with the glass bottom observation deck. Considering one flew on a thin sword and one on a broomstick, this surprised no one. They both however loved the virtual reality roller coaster and Severus congratulated himself in his foresight in not participating but instead having a coffee at the revolving restaurant. Ye Wen looked completely green afterwards and had to be given an anti-nausea potion while Harry just asked if they could go again.

Apep professed his undying love of the Shanghai Natural Wildlife Insect Kingdom and made smacking noises at every single poisonous insect there, while the boys and Severus looked appropriately disturbed.

They skipped Madame Tussaud's this time, but did go to Shanghai Circus World to see ERA-Intersection of Time which left the children gaping so much Severus had to remind them to close their mouths. Ye Wen kept insisting there was no way these people weren't secretly magicals because no mortal could do what they did and not die a horrible death, Harry told him that it was possible but that it was the first time he himself had seen it. He also said there was something called Circus Soleil which was also really impressive. He saw it on a 'telly' once. Severus made a note to look that up, since he was pretty reasonably sure they were some kind of French acrobatic group and that Harry was butchering the name but that was a mystery for another time.

But perhaps the thing that both boys loved the most was the Shanghai Disneyland. Severus had agreed with them that he wouldn't be participating in any fast-moving muggle contraptions, but that they boys could ride them as many times as their little hearts desired, while Severus sat at a nearby restaurant enjoying the sunshine and pastries. Everyone was happy with this arrangement and Severus was glad to see both boys go completely insane in their ambitions to ride everything at least twice. They ate more candy than was natural for one human being and even Apep had fun, saying the roller coasters and spinning teacups were excellent training for hunting.

They were exhausted by the time they got back and opted to just eat by the side of the road. None of them cared too much for the overly sweet Shanghainese food, but the dumplings were good, – though everyone agreed that ling food was still tastier.

The next day they took a day trip to Zhujiajiao ancient water town and had fun riding the boats and exploring but everyone agreed that Kun Lun city felt a lot more 'ancient' in comparison. Harry rightly pointed out that Kun Lun didn't have boats and waterways, nor could they wear muggle clothes and goof around.

On the last day, they went to Tianzifang and explored the old shikumen-style Shanghainese buildings in the French concession dating back to 1933. Ye Wen was particularly charmed by this area and dragged Harry to every single gallery, design studio, and boutique while Severus joined them from time to time, but mostly sat around the cafes enjoying the local coffee.

Despite not seeing everything, they were very excited to be heading to Beijing next. Beijing had a large magical community, which used to be mixed in with the mortal districts, mostly consisting of narrow streets and courtyards, but around 30 years ago, they folded those streets into pocket worlds, and today any visiting magicals had to go through designated gates in order to cross over. Mortals knew they were there, but nothing happened when they tried to cross over unless they were being escorted by a magical.

By unanimous agreement, they decided to forgo the magical community entirely, as they would have to get all formal again if they did, especially since the imperial city was there, and there were Protocols and Forms and Gifts to be observed and no one much felt like that while they were on holiday.

Of course, it wasn't unheard of to enter the imperial city using an alias the way they were, but it was also understood that in that case, one was not offered the usual deference one was normally entitled to via their station. Nor where they offered the protection of their station either. Which was just too risky for Snape and Harry at this time.

Normally Severus would have given Harry a potion to turn him blond, but having black hair actually helped him blend in better, so it was more of a camouflage than not. With his scar hidden via Goblin magic, and without the iconic Potter glasses, Harry looked like any other foreigner in a city which boasted half a million foreigners.

They had to dress warmer than they would in Shanghai but autumn in Beijing was beautiful with the gingko trees turning bright yellow everywhere, so sightseeing was enjoyable. They hit all the tourist sights, starting with the Temple of Heaven. Harry and Ye Wen marveled at the huge trees and Severus pointed out that the giant circle in the center of the park was often used by magical folk during Litha and Mabon, though they called it a different name in China. Severus noticed Harry dragging Ye Wen to the center of the circle and both boys had to be reminded several times to control their qi as their hair was starting to stand on end from all the ambient magic the place produced.

Summer palace – which was apparently best viewed in the summer, hence the name Severus supposed; - was still very beautiful in autumn. There were so any different species of trees and they spent a glorious afternoon paddling the boats across the giant lake. The pagodas were also beautiful and well maintained, and the kids loved the museum. Ye Wen especially loved telling Harry all the hidden history behind the various objects, some apparently magical in nature. The willows were completely yellow on the water and it was incredibly peaceful, though Severus was very glad he was a wizard because pepper up was used liberally or they would have collapsed from so much walking.

The National Museum was very impressive, and Ye Wen was completely in his element, telling them stories of various wars, and dynasties. Including the scandalous bits which were definitely not in history books. He loved to point out which emperor was a mage, and which general was, and yes absolutely Zhu Ge Liang was a magical, and an accomplished Legilimens. Apparently, there were entire additions to the history which the Mortals didn't know about and those already very impressive figures did a lot more deeds that only the magicals knew about. How else did they think Qin Shi Huang united an entire country? By sheer charisma? Naturally not, Ye Wen told them. His armies were considered indestructible because they actually were wearing enchanted armor. Severus was especially surprised and impressed with some of the pill-making ovens which were proudly on display, and wondered out loud what the Muggles – Mortals – he really needed to remember this, thought they were used for. Ye Wen has snickered and said they thought they were for incense burning and often used them in front of temples or areas of prayer. Severus was somewhat horrified that these ovens were just left there, without being able to be used, but Ye Wen told him they were actually very realistic replicas and that the magical community had long since switched them out. Harry was fascinated by the various types of swords on display. Ever since he started sword and martial classes, weapons have been slowly growing on him. He wasn't very strong, but his magic reserves were exceptional and he was very quick on his feet due to Quidditch and running away from Dudley. Severus had to pause and marvel a little when the boy asked some very impressive questions about the different compositions of the various blades during different dynasties.

Severus had to laugh when Harry, staring at the jewelry from the Tang dynasty, commented in a wry voice that Ye Wen made him wear and almost identical replica of that particular head-crown, while Ye Wen sounded somewhat scandalized that Harry thought he would make Harry wear something that was so out of fashion and how no, it was absolutely not the same, little Master!

That evening they ventured to the noodle places, one of which the Shadows had recommended quite by accident, and which boasted the best beef noodles in town. When they got inside Severus thought they booked the wrong place because, despite it being packed, it looked like something from the past century. All the tables were old wood, the chairs were all stools, and it definitely did not feel like the sort of place which catered to the upper classes. However, once the noodles arrived, no one could question the Shadows recommendations. The children were too busy stuffing their faces, while watching one of the chefs yank-and-stretch the noodles in front of them turning a tiny ball of dough into meters and meters of perfectly even noodles.

The following evening, they went to Wangfujing night food street, after a full day of yet more sighting of temples and pagodas, and Apep insisted they buy him no less than 10 scorpions-on-a-stick, proclaiming it the best part of the trip.

He grew a solid half-meter in length from that alone, munching happily on the arachnids while everyone stared at him in less-than-mild horror. He also demanded they pack up some centipedes-on-a-stick as well as anything else even remotely venomous.

Harry flat out refused to try any of it, he also refused the seahorse-on-a-stick, and the starfish-on-a-stick, firmly sticking to lamb-on-a-stick and other things he could identify.

Most of the bugs in general were avoided and Severus honestly couldn't blame him. Ye Wen however couldn't get enough of the stinky-tofu-on-a-stick, which made both Severus and Harry gag just from the smell. Ye Wen insisted it was delicious and after much coaxing, Harry took a tentative bite. Severus nearly died laughing because the boys expressions went from what-is-in-my-mouth to oh-hey-yes-okay-if-i-was-drunk-maybe to yes-more-please, and Severus resigned himself to adding it to their household menu. Severus himself opted for a rou-jia-muo, a Chinese hamburger, which was much safer, and frankly delicious.

Harry insisted they pack up a little of everything to give to the Shadows, who naturally came with them but had kept out of sight the entire time, and Severus thought he heard a little sniff from above them. Honestly, Harry was totally spoiling their guards, but Severus didn't have the heart to stop him.

The next day they decided it would be a food-and-shopping day, so of course they had to go and try Beijing duck. They decided to try out Quan Ju De – arguably the best Beijing duck in town, however, Severus was forced to use a mild confundus charm on the poor server at the door in order to get a seat as they forgot to book a place. Once inside, both boys did their puppy eyes at the manager who caved pretty quickly after the waiter was told off for letting them in without a reservation.

When the food arrived, Harry and Severus stared at it, while Ye Wen explained that no, there was no mistake, the main point of the duck was the skin, not the meat, and the meat will be arriving later in the form of duck soup and other dishes. The skin itself was super crispy, and Ye Wen showed them how to put it into a little thin crape, slathered in a salty dark sauce, cucumber slices and spring onion, then wrapped up. Ye Wen then had them pause to listen for the 'crunch' when he took a bite, because he said that was the entire point of the experience. Harry said he didn't get it, but then he took a bite and then, apparently both he and Severus had identical looks of rapture on their faces, because Ye Wen laughed so hard he nearly fell off the chair, commenting that they were indeed 'father and son'. Severus looked at Harry in mild horror. This was the first time anyone had said anything like that.

Then Harry shocked him even more by actually smiling at him.

Severus thought Beijing duck might deserve the title 'Best food in Beijing'.

Dinner was soup dumplings at Din Tai Fung, which were excellent, but Harry managed to burn his tongue despite Ye Wen warning him repeatedly not to take a big bite right away. Severus looked smug, but didn't tell anyone that his tongue was also stinging because he hadn't been patient enough to wait for the soup inside to cool enough.

He made a note to tell his chefs to add them to their menu just the same, despite them being considered a 'modern' Chinese food.

They saved the Great Wall for last, and left themselves a day to recover afterwards because that was a long trek up many steps. Many, many, many steps. The view had been spectacular when they finally reached the top, but even the children were exhausted, and Severus was definitely glad that he was a wizard, because despite Beijing itself being mild-weathered this time of year, there was a strong wind on the Wall itself and everyone definitely felt the bite of it. Thankfully it was nothing a few warming charms didn't fix. Apep however could not be coaxed out of Harry's sweater and told them to enjoy the nice human mud-and-stone thing themselves.

They also stopped at the Ming tombs, both Harry and Apep looking a lot more awake suddenly, and both commented that the place was filled with souls, though none of them malignant. It seemed both felt the need to stay and meditate for a while, which Severus privately thought of as gorging on the atmosphere of the place, but let them be. Neither boy nor snake looked tired afterwards and Ye Wen muttered that it must be nice to have a soul affinity, and that perhaps they should have visited Japan instead.

They left Beijing feeling considerably more relaxed and they were before they came, and perhaps the children were that much more cultured, which had been the point.

Severus then decided to take them back into the magical portion of China, but he insisted they do the traditional training-while-traveling and only wear casual wizarding clothes, which Harry got ridiculously excited about because he said that martial arts movies talked about this as incognito-wear. Ye Wen agreed this was long standing tradition, and promised Harry no hair accessories other than the most functional ties to keep his hair out of his face. They went to Yun Nan next, and as whole swaths of the area were dedicated to a natural magic reserve, they spent several weeks just walking through the mountains, flying across tall peaks among the clouds, training, meditating and eating at roadside stops. As promised, Harry got to wear dark cotton robes instead of silk, with simple sashes. He flat out refused the straw shoes, no matter how magical, complaining that anything that went between his toes was a hard-no. He stuck to his boots even when Ye Wen teased him that he was giving his station away wearing such nice shoes. Harry stuck his tongue out at him, and told him that some things a wizard just had to do.

Severus particularly enjoyed this portion of the trip because he got to show Harry and Ye Wen where the various magical plants they often used grew, how to harvest them, which were poisonous, which never to touch with their bare hands, and which plants would bite their hands off if they tried it. There was more than once where he had to give the boys antidotes because teenagers didn't listen as well as he might wish, and once Ye Wen even got bitten by a snake before Apep could paralyze it and Harry could tell it off since they hadn't threatened it, just startled it.

The Shadows stopped hiding as much during this portion of the trip and a great deal of camping was done. Severus refused sleeping under the stars, since his back would have murdered him if he tried it, but the carriage was more than big enough for them to sleep in. The Shadows made a wonderful camp every evening anyways, and everyone had magical tents when the rain hit, which it did often in Yun Nan.

This was also the first time Harry had gone hunting, and the poor boy had turned a little green when he had to butcher his first deer. Severus thought about sparing him the butchering, but Harry insisted that he had to learn and reasoned that, since they were going to eat it anyway, and its skin would be saved, they weren't killing for sport, which was a despicable practice that Harry objected to.

About ten days into their trip, they came across a beautiful valley, with a clear wide river running through it, and decided to set up camp there. Severus wanted to find a kind of glowing mushroom which he heard could be harvested there, while the boys and the majority of Shadows decided to strip down and go swimming in the cool waters. Severus took two of the shadows with him, and after making sure the boys were supervised by four other shadows, went into the forest to forage. The place was particularly peaceful, and the branches of the trees were low hanging and covered in moss. In fact, there was moss and lichen everywhere, and Severus breathed the air deeply, marveling at how beautiful it was. He told the shadows to split up and look for the mushroom he needed but not to touch it. After about an hour of searching, he was startled by a rustling sound behind him. He instinctively pulled up a wordless protego, but just as he was about to tense and fire a stunner, Harry's head popped up from among the bushes.

Severus glared at him, because honestly the boy was determined to give him a heart attack, but Harry was clearly unrepentant. The cheeky boy just smiled at him, and commented that he was bored because Ye Wen was cooking the fish they caught, so he thought he'd join Severus.

At first Severus felt a little irritated that his peace was somewhat disturbed but then shrugged it off and pulled Harry towards him with a hand on his shoulder. May as well teach the boy some things. As they walked deeper into the woods, he showed Harry how to leave magical markers so they could find their way out and the shadows could follow. He showed the boy which moss could be eaten, and told Harry not to make such faces. Some moss was very tasty! Harry looked dubious but didn't question it. Severus showed him how to gather it carefully, how to use the knife in order not to damage the best parts, and showed him the black mu er mushroom which was one of Harry's favorites. The boy was surprised that this mushroom grew on trees, but eagerly gathered a pile for their fish stew later.

A particularly hard to find flower caught Severus's attention, which he knew needed to be harvested very carefully with its root intact or it would wither within a few minutes so he set about doing that. He must have been taking a while because Harry said he was going to go a little further ahead because he was getting bored, and Severus, somewhat distracted, told him to leave markers. He wasn't too worried as the boy carried his sword on him and his wandless magic had come quite a ways now that his Xue were opened, but it never paid to be cocky.

It must have been about 20 minutes after Harry wondered off, that Severus's heard a loud roar and his head shot up in fear. He dropped the last plant he was harvesting, and sprinted towards where Harry's last marker was, his heart in his throat, all the while berating himself for letting the boy wander off by himself in a foreign wood filled with magical animals. He hadn't thought there would be anything dangerous there but clearly, he had been wrong.

He comforted himself that he couldn't heard any sounds of fighting, or screaming but then remembered his little Gryffindor wasn't exactly a screamer and made himself run faster.

When he did finally find the boy, his heart nearly stopped.

Harry stood frozen, in front of a large – very large! – white tiger, which was actually, now that Severus could see, lying down but still actually threatening the boy. The tiger was covered in blood however, and had a vicious gash across its abdomen. Its hind legs were also covered in blood, as was its tail.

The cat looked up and its mouth opened, showing razor sharp teeth at the new threat that was Severus.

Before Severus could say anything, Harry started to reach a hand out towards the tiger, and it was all Severus could do not to yank the boy towards himself. Harry's other hand was holding his sword, but it wasn't raised, and Severus only had a moment to wonder why before the creature spoke:

"You lied! Another of your kind comes!" It roared, sounding very angry but also in a lot of pain.

Harry in turn sounded much calmer, "I didn't lie. This is my father. I am still a kid, and no parent would let their child go into a dangerous wood by themselves, right? You are hurt, and my father can help you. He is a pill master. Please let him?"

Severus nearly stopped breathing because his mind caught up to him. This was a tiger that was capable of speech, which meant it was already a level 9 magical beast with human-level intelligence. It might even be capable of turning into a human. Harry was in a lot more danger and really so was Severus himself. This kind of beast was nothing to sneer at when it chose to attack.

The tiger glared at him, but seeing Severus not offer any immediate threat, the tiger closed its mouth some, and groaned a little. Clearly it was very badly injured.

Severus decided to not just stand there, and slowly crouched down so he made less of a threat to the tiger. Now that he wasn't in a complete blind panic, he could see that the tiger had recently given birth. Clearly whatever fight it had, forced it to give birth before she was ready, and she was bleeding not just from the deep gashes which looked a lot like craw marks, but also from her rear end.

"My son is right. You are badly injured, and you are still bleeding. Let us help you. You have my word as a wizard and a magical being that I and my son mean you no harm." Severus forced himself to use the voice he generally used on a pissed off Voldemort or a suicidal first year, hoping the animal wouldn't decide to just end them where they stood.

The tiger looked at them both, but clearly, she was losing too much blood, and before she could decide whether to trust them, she passed out.

Severus had half a mind to grab Harry and make a run for it, but one look at his son, and he knew that Harry, the little Gryffindor, was not leaving till they saved this animal.

Severus mentally sighed, and started fishing through his pockets for dittany.

It was going to be a long day.

The tiger woke up several hours later, and immediately tried to jump on Harry.

Harry, somewhat startled, still managed to not scream like a little girl. Which he was rather proud of, despite there being a big – very big! She was even bigger when she stood up! – tiger-paw with very, very sharp claws pressing him down to the ground.

Snape however did let out a distressed sound, and thankfully the tiger looked up at him before she tried to eat Harry. Which was really nice, Harry thought.

"Please, we healed your wounds. You were also poisoned. But you are alright now, you will make a full recovery. Please don't hurt my child." Snape sounded just a touch frantic, and Harry craned his neck to see him, pressed down as he was.

The tiger must have only then taken stock of how she was feeling, because after a moment, she did remove her giant paw from Harry's shoulder. That was gonna bruise, Harry thought.

She allowed Harry to slowly crawl up and into a standing position, all the while staring warily at them.

"Where. Are my cubs, mage?" She growled out, her yellow eyes not even blinking. Her tone promising swift death if any of them had been harmed.

Harry didn't let Snape answer before he simply pointed at the 3 cubs sitting behind her, still chewing on various pieces of meat. They had tried to defend their mother, despite only just being born. It had taken Severus and Harry a moment to explain to them that their mother was hurt but not by them and they were there to help her.

Once the cubs – who were a lot bigger than a normally just-born tiger cub would be – saw that they were helping their mum, and that she had stopped bleeding, Severus had used his magic to take out her milk from her swollen teats and put it in a hastily transfigure bowl for the cubs to lap at. The cubs themselves had immediately start to jostle each other until Severus had huffed and transfigured two more bowls so everyone had their own. The biggest of the cubs even asked if they had any meat, and Severus after blinking, summoned the leftovers from the deer carcass they had caught the night before and gave it to them.

Harry marveled at how resilient magical beasts were, that they could not only open their eyes immediately after birth, but basically had the size of very chubby 6-week-old German Sheppard puppy, though they were much more agile. Normal tigers, Harry knew, were completely helpless at this age.

Harry figures that since their mum was ridiculously big, maybe that made sense. They also seemed to have no problem tearing into the deer meat, their teeth and claws clearly sharp enough already. The fact that they were capable of speech right after birth meant that their mother was an old creature indeed, likely 5 or 6 thousand years old at least. It was a very, very, good thing they hadn't tried to fight her, or else their bodies would be what the cubs were feeding on now, injury or no.

"We wouldn't hurt your kids. They are newborns." Harry must have sounded a little offended because she chuffed at him, somewhat derisively, he thought.

"Humans have done worse." She said, after checking to see that her babies were alright. The kids, seeing her awake, all bounded over to her and headbutted her in turn, and she licked them, somewhat meditatively.

"You seem alright now. I would like to take my son, and leave you in peace." It didn't quite come out as a question, but Harry thought Snape was still feeling a little… tense. Maybe because Harry was still within eating-distance of the tiger.

She looked back at him, and then at Harry. Harry felt a shiver go down him, because he could feel her magic touching him, but he left himself open for her to sniff-feel.

"You saved me, as you said you would." She said, and Harry was glad she realized that. "I would not have been in such a sorry state if that blasted frost toad hadn't ambushed me. Do not go further towards the interior, human. That toad is very powerful and its poison strong, as you saw. You would not survive an encounter with it, and it has claimed that mountain for its own." She nudged her head to indicate the mountain looming in front of them.

"We won't. We were only here to gather herbs and enjoy the stream." Harry told her, "There are a few more of us, but none of them will bother you. They are our family and are all good people. Er, humans." He didn't want to wake up tomorrow with half his family eaten after all. The Shadows had been understandably distressed when they had rushed to Snape's aid, just to be told to go back and not crowd the man while he worked.

No doubt some of them were still nearby, watching, in case they were needed. None of them were this tiger's level, and all of them would die if they had to attack, so everyone wanted to avoid that if possible. Still, they could have run and left her to die.

"Yes, you do seem to be an honorable sort. Your father put you both in danger to save me, a stranger, and my cubs. For that, you deserve my gratitude. I will not harm any of you." She spoke, looking thoughtful.

Then she growled something at her cubs, and the biggest one, the one who had asked for meat, ran forward.

"This is my oldest, and strongest. Take him with you, he will protect your son. He has much magic in him, and will make a strong companion." This was said to Snape, and Harry could feel the shock radiating off the man.

"Are you… sure? He was only just born. It is too precious a gift." Snape was clearly as shocked as he looked because Harry had rarely heard him this tentative.

The big tiger chuffed again, as if she was laughing this time. "Yes. Even though he was just born, he is strong already. He will grow quickly. Your son has a pure heart, and my child would benefit from being his companion. My kind, we are dwindling, as the humans encroach into our territories, and it would be good for us to learn to coexist with them as much as possible." She nuzzled her oldest, and nudged him towards Harry a little. "A mother always wants what is best for her child, even if it hurts me to part with him. My kind doesn't care for many humans, and it is rare enough to meet one like you and your son. I think it would benefit both your son and my cub."

The cub, looking at his mom one more time, seemed excited, and bounded over to Harry.

Harry couldn't help but crouch down immediately, and gently picked up the baby, making sure to support his butt. His fur was so soft, and he immediately tried to headbutt Harry's chest.

"Give him some of your blood. I will not have any child of mine a slave to anyone. You will have an equal partnership, or I will take my cubs back." She said, voice only a little threatening.

Harry glanced up at her quickly, and didn't even bother looking at Snape for confirmation before reaching for his dagger to prick his finger. "I would never want a slave. Ever." He felt rather offended that she would even suggest it.

Apep chose that moment to slitter out, and looked at the tiger.

The tiger blinked a little in surprise, and sniffed him, raring back as soon as she caught Apep's scent.

"You have a Soul Eater." She said, in wonder, voice sounding a little strange.

"Yeah, that's Apep, my little brother. He is still a baby, but we are bonded too." Harry said, a little absently, as he tried to figure out where to draw blood from and decided his thumb was probably the best place. Then something occurred to him just before he would have stabbed his thumb, "That won't be a problem, would it? I mean, I could have both of them, couldn't I? I am not giving up Apep!" He had to make that clear because while this cub was absolutely adorable, Apep was his little brother!

The large cat gave him a strange look, and then laughed. Harry hadn't even known cats that large could laugh the way humans do. "No, it will not be a problem, and it does you credit that you would not abandon your… you called him your little brother. You consider a beast your kin?" She asked, somewhat wonderingly.

"Yes, of course. Apep is great, and I watched him hatch and everything. Race is no barrier to being family." Feeling more reassured now that no one was asking him to give up his little brother, he stabbed his finger gently, and brought it to the little cub to drink.

It immediately latched on to his finger and started a very contented purr.

Wait, that's not right.

"Uh, I thought tigers couldn't purr?" Harry didn't remember much of his muggle education, but he did remember his teacher teaching them about various animals, and he was sure that tigers and lions and such could not purr.

"Mortal tigers can't no, but they also can't talk. We are magical creatures; it isn't the same." She gently corrected him, and then leaned over to sniff him again. "Yes, I think I did make the right choice to give my cub to one such as you."

Harry felt his forehead burn again, and saw a corresponding silver sigil show itself on the cubs forehead, same as it did with Apep.

Trying to ignore the burning, he asked, "One such as me?"

"One who would consider a creature family." She told him gently. Whatever she sniffed on him, must have satisfied her, because she sat back on her hunches, her other cubs coming to sit under her.

Snape had been strangely quiet, so Harry turned to check on him, and while he looked a little wide-eyed still, he also looked a lot calmer.

"Anything I should know about raising him? Anything he can't eat or …" Harry thought to ask.

"He will tell you. Magical creatures born from old linages have genetic memory, so he will know what he can and cannot do. Just… love him, and raise him well. I think you will." She leaned over to lick her cub in Harry's arms one last time, and turned to leave. "Take care of my child, human mage, and he will take care of you."

Before Harry could say more to her, she and her cubs had vanished into the forest.

There was a pregnant pause, and then Harry thought to say, "So… that happened."

One of these days, Severus will make peace with the fact that one Harry Potter-Snape, original spawn on of James Potter and his beloved Lily, was placed on this world to give him conniptions, migraines and heart attacks.

Of all the things his son could have found, in an otherwise peaceful forest, it had to be a magical white tiger, one of the five most powerful animals in the magical kingdom.

Severus thought his heart would stop when he saw the tiger pinning Harry down under its great weight, jaws open and inches from Harry's throat.

His idiot son meanwhile didn't even try to stab the thing with the sword he had still been holding.

Severus took a moment to despair at Harry's lack of self preservation instincts, but comforted himself that they would all be dead if his son did actually try to stab the giant animal.

He couldn't believe that they all came out of this alive and whole, and not just whole, but with a white tiger cub no less! A cub now bonded to his son. Out of all the magical animals his son could have gotten as a fighting companion, the only one possibly better would have been a dragon, and white tigers have been known to take down dragons, with their teeth and claws.

This animal was a cloud-stepper, and Harry would likely be the envy of everyone in Kun Lun school when they went back. Good thing the mother insisted on a bond, because otherwise people might kill his son just at the chance of stealing the cub, it was that precious. Thankfully, the Five only bonded once, and never again, otherwise Albus would have been poisoned a long time ago, for his phoenix. Granted, Albus's phoenix wasn't a pure blood, but a mix, otherwise it would be considerably bigger, though like Apep, capable of shrinking its size. Fawkes had none of the attack capabilities of a pure-blooded phoenix but being half, he did retain the immortality and healing properties, as well as the intelligence.

The cub in Harry's arms was an entirely different story. Had that mother not been close to giving birth, and been ambushed and poisoned first, there would have been very few creatures capable of threatening it. It would take the cub some years to grow up and come into its full power, but it was immediately clear to Severus that this was a pure-blooded white tiger.

Harry, with his generous heart and foolhardy Gryffindor tendencies, had found a real treasure it seemed.

Harry's snake, Apep seemed to have a lot to say to the little cub because the little cat had its head tilted and it seemed to be listening to something in its head. Severus wondered if Harry was feeling a mite crowded in his head by now, with the voices of two magical creatures, but judging by the giant smile on his son's face, Severus doubted it.

Poor Ye Wen. Severus wondered if the boy would soon develop the same kind of anxiety disorder that Severus himself was developing every time Harry was out of his sights. He hoped for the boy's sake that it would take him some time to realize the kind of trouble-magnet Harry was.

Harry was feeling a little crowded, but it was a really warm kind of crowded. Like snuggling up in a fleece blanket in the dead of winter.

The cub was a curious and bold little guy, totally not shying away from asking all kinds of questions, starting with what Daddy's name was.

Before Harry would correct him, Apep, clearly deciding to establish a pecking order, informed the cub that Harry's full name was Daddy Big Brother Harry, and that he was now the littlest brother of both Harry and Apep. Apep went so far as to call him third little brother.

The cub accepted this like he had accepted everything so far, and immediately called Apep Second-Older-Brother, asking all kinds of questions about Daddy big brother Harry.

Harry wondered if a person could blush only on the inside, because he felt like he should be blushing.

He reminded Apep, for the millionth time it seemed, to just please call him big brother or simply Harry, to which Apep told the cub that their Daddy was a very modest magical, but that that was why he had them, to show the world how wonderful he was.

The cub nodded firmly and told Apep that he was already a wonderful second big brother, to which Apep preened and said he was a very smart cub.

Harry mentally shook his head, and left them to their chatter, focusing outwards to see how far they had walked already and realized he could hear the river, so they must be close.

Snape had been walking quietly beside him, clearly still reflecting on what had happened and with a jolt, Harry realized the man must have been worried sick, but still healed the mother just because Harry asked, despite it probably not being safe for them to do so.

Harry felt a little chagrined, and decided to say something, "Thank you. I know you took a big risk, but I couldn't just watch her die when we could do something. But…I realize it probably wasn't the safest choice, so… thank you."

He felt a little embarrassed inexplicably but felt he did need to actually say something. Hermione would be proud of him.

Snape glanced at him, and shook his head, somewhat good naturedly exasperated, but said, "Only you Harry. That was incredibly dangerous, but as the Chinese say, from great calamity, comes great fortune. You are a very lucky and very foolhardy little Gryffindor."

Harry blushed a little but felt that warmth he had started to associate with Snape rush through him.

"You have no idea what you hold in your hands, do you?" Snape said somewhat conversationally.

Startled, Harry glanced at the cub who was still chatting with Apep, it looked cool but it was just a baby tiger wasn't it? He looked back at Snape, and judging by the look on Snape's face, no, Harry had no idea.

"That, my son, is one of the five most powerful magical animals on this planet. You may as well be holding a baby dragon right now." He said, tone still somewhat odd.

Harry felt his eyes widen and looked down at the cub. A baby dragon? Really? That was so cool! But that meant… that the mother likely could have eaten them for breakfast, and Snape had known it, and still helped just because Harry asked.

The warmth this time was something Harry very much wanted to wallow in.

"Wow." He said, completely at a loss.

Snape snorted, "Quite."

Harry thought to ask the cub, really? You will grow up to be that strong?

The cub looked at him, big yellow eyes staring, Yeah, momma is really strong, and I think I will be the same as her. She is really old too. No one can beat her when she isn't birthing us. Don't worry, I will only eat the people you tell me to eat. Momma told me to be good for you, and I will be.

Harry felt a little shocky suddenly, but Apep laughing his snaky arse off at him snapped him out of it.

Apep thought at him, and this is why you are our big brother. Your innocence and good heart do you justice. The cub sent his agreement, and all Harry could do was marvel at his luck and keep walking.

Ye Wen nearly had – heh – kittens when Harry came back holding a white tiger cub, and so did the Shadows that hadn't followed. There were many looks thrown at the Shadows who had been there in the trees and it seemed all they could do was shake their head in amazement at their 'little master' and his good fortune.

Severus thought he at least had company now, in both his desire to keep the boy safe and his sense of futility in keeping his son from insanely dangerous situations. But somehow Harry always came out more or less in one piece. Trying not to remember the cursed broom, or the Voldemort incident or Basilisk incident – Severus just shook his head.

Trying to distract himself, he asked his son, "What will you name him?"

At that Harry got a thoughtful look on his face and said, "Well, it should be something that matches his brother. Apep was named after a god, after all… hm." He glanced at Ye Wen, and Ye Wen seeing his cue offered, "White tigers are known to be Kings of the beasts. Their tails turn white after their reach their 500th year, and that is when they become absolute Kings but even now, there won't be any other magical beast who would dare approach us once they smell him."

Harry glanced down at the cub, and petting his soft little head said, "Yeah you are a little king aren't you. Okay then. I will call you Bai Di - White Emperor-King. That will be your full name, but while you are still a baby, that's too much of a mouthful, so for now I will call you little Bai, or Xiao Bai. I think that will make you more approachable. What do you think?"

The cub licked his paw, and said, "Big brother decide. I am happy to be your Xiao Bai. For now. But later I want to be called by Bai Di please."

Harry laughed at kissed his little head. He was such a headstrong little guy and he was barely a few hours old.

"I am hungry again though. Is there more meat please?" Xiao Bai asked, and Harry immediately made a note to start hunting a lot more.

Thankfully, while there was no meat, there was plenty of fish, and Xiao Bai absolutely adored fish. Fish was his favorite, except how meat was also his favorite, and his mother's milk was also a favorite and –

Harry decided 'food is Xiao Bai's favorite', and that will work out fine. He did think to ask Xiao Bai if he still needed his mother's milk but Xiao Bai assured him that as long as he had enough ling meat, fish, and eggs he will be just fine. Though he wouldn't say no to milk if Harry had any.

Harry hurriedly told him that males didn't have milk but that he would keep a lookout for him. Mentally making a note to get Snape to buy them some goats or something.

Xiao Bai did seem perfectly content devouring a green-colored fish that was the size of his entire body, and Harry wondered if he should tell the cub to watch out for bones, but hearing the contented crunching, he decided not to bother. Clearly there was nothing those teeth couldn't get through.

It was early October now, and while the weather in the North was starting to turn cold, it was still around 15C where they were. Harry wondered if they would go further south or start heading back to the school soon. They had been traveling for close to a month now, and the previous frustration that Harry felt had ebbed quite a bit. Now he felt better, less prone to surprised angry fits and irritation at the drop of a hat.

Snape had taken the female tiger's warning that a frost toad had taken over the mountain they had previously planned to head towards, and while Harry had laughed at the idea of a toad being a scary beast of all things, he changed his mind when Snape told him the thing usually averaged around 10 meters in height, had a very toxic and poisonous breath and claws, and was known for its ill temper and territorial nature.

As such, they decided to pack up that same day, load up their expanded carriage, and started their journey back. Snape even checked on him, to make sure he was ready to go back, but hugging Xiao Bai to his chest, with Apep around his neck, Harry honestly did feel a lot better. The trip had been the right thing to do, and he felt more himself than he had in a long time. He had a new family member and he was eager to go back and settle Xiao Bai in.

It took them several days to get back, mostly because they weren't in a hurry and chose the scenic route. Once they could see the city walls of Kun Lun, Snape suggested they spend a few days at their home, to check up on everyone and to maybe do some more shopping. Even the Shadows looked happier than before, though that might be because Snape had been making pills and potions with all the new ingredients they had been collecting, and the Shadows have been benefiting from his craft.

That, and no one died.

He had been corresponding with Bai Wu and Si Yu the whole time, and they were both excited to hear that he was on his way back. He promised them that they would have a get-together lunch as soon as he was back, so he could tell them all about it. He even hinted at having a piece of special news to tell them. They were going to be so shocked about little Bai Di! Harry couldn't wait.

Harry had been noticing that as his cultivation increased, his inner Dan Tian now being a completely liquid ocean state – and he had found out from Great Master Xuan, who definitely doted on him, that the size of his inner ocean was indeed impressive for one so young – that he was beginning to notice the ocean getting, well, thicker. More syrup-y than ocean-y, for lack of a better word. Great Master Xuan said that he was moving at phenomenal rates, and that was an indicator that he was slowly reaching the middle of his foundation building stage. He said that Harry would probably need some time to turn such a vast ocean into a solid form, so not to rush himself. Harry had written to Great Master Xuan, too because he really did seem to see him as another grandson or something, and Harry felt that the same warmth he felt towards Snape, he felt towards the old master now.

In less than half a year, he had gone from being beaten and starved and unwanted to having a real family. It was still really bizarre to him that Snape was at the center of this change, and sometimes Harry felt an overwhelming amount of gratitude to the man whom he had previously disliked only a little less than Draco Malfoy. While he had felt stifled and irritable only a month ago, now he felt freer and more carefree than he had in a long time. Sure, he will still have to regularly go to Gringotts to have King Yao reapply the magic that hid his scar, but Snape had said he had been researching to try to remove it from Harry's head, as well as the tattoo on his own arm, and Harry thought that yeah, maybe there really would be an end in sight one day. In the mean time, he had a new family, a house and room of his own, friends who seem to really like him, a mentor who doted on him and two little brothers whom he no longer ever wanted to be parted from.

He still couldn't tell Hermione and Ron the truth, but Snape had promised that there would be a day he when be able to, and Harry surprisingly believed him.

But all in all, life, for one Harry Snape, was pretty damned awesome.

- The End (for now)

Names:

HOUSEHOLD:

An Ying – Shadow 1 – Harry's personal shadows

Yin Ying – Shadow 2 – Harry's personal shadows

Shadow 3 through 12 – also Harry's shadows but he still can't bring himself to acknowledge them, though he did learn that they simply named themselves three through 12.

Zhao Momo – Head Momo of the Snape household

Chamberlin Wang – Head Chamberlin

Chef Ma – Imperial and North cuisine

Chef Lu – Imperial and south cuisine, Medicinal cuisine

Chef Song Mei – Pastry chef, Medicinal chef

Companion boy – Ye Wen

Harry's apartment maid 1 – Zi Yu (Purple Jade)

Harry's apartment maid 2 – Qing Yu (Green Jade)

Snape apartment maid 1 – Hong Yu (Red Jade)

Snape apartment maid 2 – Mo Yu (Black Jade)

Snape apartment male attendant 1 – Bai Song

Snape's Head Shadow - Tie Sha

Snape's Shadow 2 – Tie Yong

Accountant – Xiang Rong

SHOPS:

Spring Fragrance Pavilion - Restaurant

Silk Emporium – Clothing shop – Master Liu

Sky Splitting Mountain – Martial Arts Store – Martial Master Feng

Herb Heaven – Apothecary – Master Yao

One Thousand and One Disciplines – Bookstore

Ling Beast House – Bestiary – Master Wang

FRIENDS/CLASSMATES:

Si Yu – Di son of Zuo Pu Shi (has a younger sister, Si Rui)

Si Rui – Younger sister of Si Yu, Di Daughter of Zuo Pu Shi

Bai Wu – Di son of Minister of Criminal Affairs,

Qing Tingting – classmate

Yang Xue Er – classmate

Dong Bai – classmate

TEACHERS:

Head of Kun Lun School – Tai Shi Lao Zu – Master of Si Yu – Multi-disciplinary master, specialist in Martial Arts and Wards.

Great Master Xuan – Head of Pill Sect – Male, looked to be young but had completely white hair. Took Harry as personal disciple.

Master Yang – Head of Sound/Music sect – Female, old but looks in her 30s, loves elaborate hair. Instrument of choice: Gu Qin

Master Wei – Head of weapons sect – Male, large hairy burly man. Magical Smith. Big arms.

Master Hohot – Head of Ward Sect – Male, pale grey-skinned half goblin.

Master Jun – Head of Divination sect – ,part fairy and very beautiful.

Master Cai – Junior Master, Deputy Head of Culinary Sect – Male

Master Luo – Head of Armor Sect – part demon, pink skinned, two small horns on his head. Bigger than Hagrid.

Master Shu – Head of Art Sect – Male, neatest person Harry ever met. Very glossy black-haired male who looked to be in his 30s. His hair resembled a waterfall.

Master Li – nominally the Head of Technique Crafting – the most normal looking teacher at the school, but had very sharp eyes. This class always had other teachers helping out.

Master Chen – Head of Animal sect – a very short but very powerful female instructor. Looked really young. Harry suspected she was at least 100. Wears her hair up with many braids and ribbons

Master Yue – Head of Martial Arts Sect – Male, a strong warrior, who reminded Harry a bit of superman with long hair. Preferred using a very large and heavy sword, but proficient in all weapon types including hand-to-hand.

Master Du – Head of Poison sect – a creepy looking man with sunken eyes which Harry almost always wanted to sneeze around. Works often with Pill sect, Potion's sect, and alarmingly, culinary sect.

The various stages of Chinese magical training are as below:

锻体 (Duan Ti – Body Forging or Body Phase ) – life expectancy: 100 years – absorbing the energy into the body to toughen the body, in preparation for Qi Refining Phase, Qi Refining cannot happen until Body forging is complete as the body would not be able to handle the amount to Qi in the body and the caster would die or be crippled –

练气 (Lian Qi – Qi Refining or Meditation Phase) - life expectancy: 200 years or more – – absorbing the Qi in the earth and sky, once inside the body, transmutated to Yuan Li 元力 – Dan Tian is in the form of aura, and you have initially mastered the use of aura skills – already possessed the spiritual consciousness 神识 – cannot survive on fasting and pills, must still consume food

筑基 (Zhu Ji – Foundation Building phase ) – life expectancy: 200 years – can use Innate Fire 先天之火 – Dan Tian is in a liquid state, like an ocean or pond – spiritual consciousness is doubled – Still cannot fly on light, can fly on a sword for a long time – can stop eating food

金丹 ( Jin Dan – Golden Core or Pill Forming Phase) – life expectancy: 500 years – can use Dan Fire 胆火 – The ocean/pond in the Dan Tian has condensed into a pill form – can refine magical weapons and imbue runes and use certain ancient treasures 古宝 (needs substantial magical reserves to activate.) – Have stopped eating food

元婴 (Yuan Ying – Primordial Infant or Immortality phase) – life expectancy: 1000 years – Break the pill in the Dian Tian to become an infant, the Primordial Infant—Can use Ying Fire 婴火— can learn Tong Bao通宝决, can control/drive/operate 灵宝 – Primordial infant can leave the body, to escape via teleportation(only applies to infant) instantaneously, thereby making the caster very hard to kill –

化神 (Hua Shen – Incarnation phase ) - life expectancy: 2000 years – 天地灵气 – 不怕隔界之力— The Primordial Infant doubles in size, Yuan Ying starts the transition to Yuan Shen – Have mastered the Yuan Li 元力 – Primordial infant can leave the body, to escape via teleportation(only applies to infant) instantaneously

出窍 (Chu Qiao – Divinity phase) - life expectancy: 5000 years – Primordial Infant completes transition to Yuan Shen, returns to the void and emerges from the body, turning into a clone or many clones of the caster. Everything they learn, the main body of the caster will know once the He Ti period comes.

合体 (He Ti – Merging or Transcendence phase) – life expectancy: 10,000 years – The clones and the body are merged back into one, to 'return to the basics, and return to the true' – Begin to understand magical divinity – can 'break through' and understand thousands of incarnations

渡劫 (Du Jie – Tribulation or Judgement phase) – life expectancy: varies when you chose to try for it. A transition phase to reach Mahayana – The realm of transition from mortal to immortal. After the person ascends to the upper realm, they firsts grasps the law of heaven and earth, the body's vitality gradually transforms to the immortal power or spiritual power. If this process fails, this would be a mage in transcendence, and they would die of old age one day. If the conversion was a success, the mage can be integrated into the law of heaven and earth, and can live the same lifespan as heaven and earth, thereby becoming immortal

大乘 (Da Cheng – Mahayana) – life expectancy: 20,000 years to immortality – Skillful use of magic or creation of own unique magical powers, mana/body has the conditions to ascend to the upper realm,

There is no more orthodox classification system for immortals, the below is for reference only:

地仙 (Di Xian – Earth Celestial)

天仙 (Tian Xian – Sky Celestial)

神仙 (Shen Xian – True Godhood)