The days that followed, Bing Huan started making the rounds of the professors, getting himself noticed. He snuck into Professor Snape's advanced Potions class and was hauled out; during Madam Hooch's lesson, he flew on his sword and was kicked out. Of course, he got along well with some of them, too. Professor Sprout loved the herbs from China, and Professor Bin was very interested in China's thousand-year history.
Pikachu didn't spend much time with Professor Flitwick, since his wand wasn't ready yet, but he seemed to enjoy going to study with him. These days, if nobody could find him, he was sure to be learning spells from the professor. Plenty of older students knew Pikachu by now.
Sometimes Bing Huan would join the Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw tables. He'd gradually gotten to know Cedric after running into him while lazing on the grass. The little bookworms, meanwhile, were more interested in Pikachu and what he knew about China. As for Slytherin House, students whose families dealt in Potions knew a little about China, and they'd sometimes chat with him when they crossed paths.
One day, Bing Huan was watching Gryffindor and Hufflepuff practice on the Quidditch Pitch. The game was getting heated when a group of green-robed students walked in. Slytherin had come to practice with Professor Snape's permission.
During practice, Bludgers and Quaffles kept flying over from the Slytherin side. Each time, the student responsible raised both hands and sneered that it had been an accident. After it happened several times, tempers flared among the two houses. But with the House Cup judging coming up, nobody could afford to start a fight.
Marcus, however, had no intention of letting it go. This time, he had his team target three girls on the pitch. Wood and Draco Malfoy hurried over to shield them, and Bing Huan, flying on his sword, sliced the last Bludger in two.
Crimson Trail's tip pointed straight at Slytherin. "Get your lot under control, or I'll cut his hand off for you. The professors can't take points from me now, so—get lost."
As they were leaving, the Twins rushed over and threw their arms around Bing Huan from either side. "That was awesome, mate! You've got to join Gryffindor in September. With you on our team, we'll definitely win the Quidditch Cup."
"Why can't you join Hufflepuff?" Cedric had finished calming down his teammates and walked over. "Huan, thanks for helping us just now."
Bing Huan gave a wry smile. "Please give me a break. I'm afraid I'll get carried away and fly on my sword again. Madam Hooch said if she catches me one more time, she'll throw me out with my sword and all..."
"Hahahahahahaha!"
Amid the laughter, one boy spotted something interesting. Wood stepped forward. "Huan, could you fly on your sword for me again?"
"What's up?"
"I noticed that when Huan flies on his sword, he doesn't try to become one with it the way we do with our brooms. He keeps his balance separately and lets the sword carry him." Wood rubbed his chin, as if he'd discovered an entirely new approach to Quidditch.
Bing Huan couldn't help exclaiming, "Well, I'll be!" No wonder they said not even Avada Kedavra raining down from the sky could stop Wood from practicing Quidditch. "Cultivators often have to fight while flying on their swords, so they pay more attention to the basics of balance. If you want to learn, meet me by the lake tomorrow. I can teach you."
The next day, Bing Huan brought a few bamboo poles and some towels. He had them stand on the poles, which floated on the water, and told them that once they'd gotten the hang of it, they had to keep their balance while doing other things with their hands. Finally, he would hit the water to make some small waves.
After a week of training, Wood and Draco Malfoy were already working on the final step, while the Twins and the others could manage the second step steadily. Unfortunately, they still missed out on the House Cup that term. Before leaving school, they all came to say goodbye to Bing Huan and invited him to visit during the holidays.
The campus grew quiet all at once, and most of the teachers had left, too. With nothing else to do, Bing Huan could only study the first-year curriculum at Hagrid's Hut. Hagrid liked Bing Huan and Pikachu, who often tagged along. He simply couldn't resist Fantastic Beasts. Pikachu, however, disagreed when Hagrid said he was as cute as Fluffy.
That afternoon, Bing Huan went with Professor McGonagall to Ollivanders Wand Shop again. Ollivander looked a little more haggard than before, but his excitement was plain to see. "Oh, you're here! Sorry to keep you waiting, child. This has been the most extraordinary wandmaking experience of my life. Look!"
Ollivander brought out two similar wands. "These two are a perfect pair. They're drawn to each other and complement each other, and I can feel their emotions so clearly. Here." He handed Bing Huan the wand on the left.
The moment the wand touched his hand, Bing Huan's vision flickered. It was as if he were back behind the mountain at the Daoist sect, before a pair of phoenixes perched in the Phoenix Trees. "We meet again, child."
In the next moment, his awareness returned to his body. Ollivander watched him with satisfaction, muttering "Perfect" over and over. Bing Huan looked at the other wand. "Grandpa Ollivander, why is there another wand?"
Ollivander came back to himself. "That's the other extraordinary part. I'd planned to combine the two tail feathers into a single wand core, but they didn't seem to want that. And since you gave me enough Phoenix Tree wood, I made two wands instead. This one has the core of a Phoenix Feather, and the one you're holding has the core of a Phoenix Feather."
"So I have two wands?!"
"I'm sorry, child. This wand with the Phoenix Feather core is quite fond of you, but she doesn't want to leave with you." Ollivander smiled apologetically. The materials belonged to Bing Huan, but he didn't want to go against the wand's wishes.
For some reason, a figure appeared in Bing Huan's mind. He waved a hand. "Then let her wait here for someone who's right for her." He stepped forward and paid double the custom-wand fee, then gave Ollivander a bottle of pills to nourish his health. He only managed to get him to accept them by threatening that he'd never come back for wand maintenance.
Outside the shop, Professor McGonagall said, "Child, go explore Diagon Alley for a while. I need to pick up a young wizard from a Muggle family and help him buy his things. When we're done, let's meet on the second floor of the bookshop, all right?"
"Of course. Go ahead. I'll wait for you at the bookshop."
Two hours later, Professor McGonagall entered the bookshop with a couple and a little girl with bushy chestnut hair. Bing Huan, upstairs, froze. He sensed it carefully. It was his talisman!
He looked out the window. Professor McGonagall had already led the three of them outside. There was no mistaking that unruly hair. He secretly slipped into the wand shop, and after Ollivander confirmed it, Bing Huan had no idea how he floated back to the bookshop. When Professor McGonagall returned, he was still muttering, "She really came."
After they returned, Bing Huan quickly steadied his emotions and resumed the spell practice he'd set aside. He couldn't let someone younger than him overtake him.
But as he practiced, he found another problem. Casting spells was exhausting for him. Compared with Pikachu, he often had to use three times as much magic to get the same result. Stumped, Bing Huan knocked on Professor McGonagall's door next door.
Professor McGonagall had Bing Huan demonstrate a spell. His incantation and movements were perfect. She examined him, too, and his magic flowed smoothly. Unsure what was wrong, she took him to see Headmaster Dumbledore.
After going through the same steps, Dumbledore looked at Bing Huan. "Child, first of all, there's nothing wrong with your studies or your body. But something is unusual, which means there must be something about you that's different from us. Go back and think it over. Come find me when you've worked it out."
"Before that, I'd like to ask: what are spells? How do spells and wands affect the results of magic? And what is the essence of casting a spell?"
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected the boy to get to the heart of the matter so quickly. "Magic, in essence, is the result we envision when our minds resonate with our magic. A wand is like a stabilizer at the end of a gun in the Muggle world, with the added effect of amplification. Spells help your mind and magic resonate, bringing them more quickly to the frequency and rhythm of the spell you want to cast.
"That's why Gellert and I could manage silent, and even Wandless Magic, once we'd become sufficiently proficient. Professor McGonagall can cast silently with ease, too. I expect she's close to mastering Wandless Magic as well."
Professor McGonagall smiled without confirming or denying it. "I still have a lot to learn, Professor."
Bing Huan seemed to have thought of something, but he couldn't quite grasp it. He said goodbye to the two professors and went back to his room to keep thinking.
The next day, Bing Huan wandered around while thinking and somehow ended up at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid called out to him in time. "Huan!"
"Whoa!"
Hagrid walked up to him. "What are you thinking about so hard?"
Bing Huan looked at Hagrid. "I'm thinking about spells. Lately, I've been practicing... Wait, Hagrid, what did I just say?"
"I'm thinking about spells."
"No, the sentence before that!"
"Something like 'wo cao,' I think. You said it was a phrase in Chinese with lots of uses." Hagrid scratched his head as he replied.
"Right! That's it. I've got it. Thanks, Hagrid!" With that, Bing Huan vanished.
Hagrid (ο´･д･)?? "Did Little Huan turn into a ghost?"
The next moment, a crest in the Headmaster's Office lit up. This was also the Flying Thunder God, a secret technique he'd obtained from the palace in his sea of consciousness. As long as he could sense the mark and had enough energy, he could teleport to it. It was very useful for fighting multiple opponents or traveling short distances.
Dumbledore looked at the boy who had suddenly appeared. "You've already figured it out?"
Before you continue