Haji had heard Felix mention that "the professor" possessed a magical tool called a Pensieve, a basin filled with liquid and memories. When a user submerged their head in the Pensieve, they entered that memory and could see events from the past, yet the people within the memory could not detect the user's presence.
But a basin of water could not compare to a bucket, a bucket could not compare to a stream, a stream could not compare to a lake, and a lake could not compare to the sea.
Haji looked at the small lake before him. Two swans and several black-headed geese drifted leisurely through the water.
The park was full of Sphinxes in different forms. Some were unmistakably Egyptian in style, while others had the faces and upper bodies of young women, with a child riding on their backs. Those Sphinxes all wore french-style curled hair.
"What a strange place," Haji said nervously.
"Good afternoon," someone said behind Haji.
Haji turned around. Even someone as unflappable as him could not help being startled by the person before him.
He wore robes, though not ordinary robes. More precisely, he wore a monk's robe and had a shaved head. There were temples in London too, which meant that the man disturbing Haji's peace was a french monk.
"Good afternoon," Haji replied in English as well.
"I heard from Madame Guinevere that you intend to send your son here to study ballet," the monk said.
"I'm considering it." Haji looked the monk over. "Are you here to enjoy the ballet too?"
The monk laughed. "Do you know how this garden came to be?"
"I heard Marie Antoinette had it built," Haji said.
"Actually, she made a bet with the Duke of Artois. The Duke funded its construction."
"Oh," Haji said