Visitors from the East
Just then, the fireplace hissed again at an inopportune moment, and with a bang, emerald green flames erupted menacingly.
A wizard dressed in dark gold robes slowly stepped out.
The wizard's face was covered with wrinkles like those of an old tree, and his long black and white hair was tied up high with a bamboo hairpin. He looked older than Newt and Charles, and probably about the same age as Dumbledore.
However, he did not give people a sense of gloom because of his aged face. On the contrary, like Dumbledore, he had a strong aura as soon as he stood up, and everyone present held their breath and focused their attention on him.
Clearly, this was a powerful wizard, not much less so than Dumbledore, and his demeanor and magnificent attire subtly revealed his noble status—an aura that only those accustomed to high positions and power possessed, which was the thought that popped into most people's minds at this moment.
Judging from the expressions of everyone present, it was clear that most people had recognized the wizard's identity and background. At the same time, the astonishment on their faces showed that his arrival was unexpected by everyone, except for Dumbledore.
The wizard clearly sensed something was off about the atmosphere, but he didn't seem to care. He greeted everyone with a faint smile, "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen!" He cleared his throat, "Please forgive me for traveling so far. I sincerely apologize for interrupting your conversation with my sudden appearance—it seems... I've come at a somewhat inopportune time?"
Dumbledore's face initially lit up with undisguised joy, but a hint of doubt flickered in his eyes. He glanced carefully at the fireplace in the Headmaster's Office, making sure the flames had died down, before speaking, "Oh! My old friend, thank you so much for coming—look, it's been almost 70 years since the last Phoenix Summoning Order... We haven't seen each other for so long, so naturally we have a lot to talk about..."
"Oh? Is that so?" A strange look flickered in the wizard's eyes, and he wore a playful expression. Without lingering on the topic, he changed the subject, saying, "Dumbledore, I know what you're thinking. You don't need to wait any longer—I'm all alone today..."
"Liu, what's going on?" Dumbledore frowned deeply, clearly surprised.
In this world, due to Skylar's appearance and meddling, the Order of the Phoenix faces a far worse situation than in the original books—and the complexity of the wizarding world far exceeds the descriptions in the original works. This includes the ancient, lost Dark Arts and ferocious ancient plants that appear in the Goblet of Fire III, Grindelwald's mysterious escape from prison without a wand after decades, and Hermione Granger's abduction from the Hogwarts Castle she built herself...
All of this gave Dumbledore very bad feeling.
Although he has not yet had direct contact or conflict with the Shadow of the Magic Dragon or the Knights of Walpurgis, his intelligence makes it not hard for him to guess that they must have been behind the bizarre events in the wizarding world in recent years.
Therefore, unlike his counterpart in the original work, he decisively used the "Phoenix Summoning Order," which he never used until his death in the original work. As a result, the Order of the Phoenix in this world is far stronger than that in the original work.
The last time the "Phoenix Summoning Order" was invoked was when Grindelwald first summoned his global supporters in Paris —on which Nicolas Flamel and Euryale Hicks, a professor of Charms in North America, discussed how to respond. That conversation laid the foundation for the group later led by Newt to rebel against Grindelwald.
But even that one time, it didn't alarm any wizards outside of Europe and North America.
This shows just how determined Dumbledore was this time—he directly used the highest-level "Phoenix Summoning Order" to invite this very important figure in the Eastern wizarding world.
The wizard whom Dumbledore called "Liu" was named Liu Tao. He had known Dumbledore since he was young. In the Fantastic Beasts movies, Liu Tao appeared as the Minister for Magic of China and competed for the position of President of the International Confederation of Wizards International Confederation of Wizards alongside Grindelwald and Visania Santos.
Although he didn't have a single line of dialogue throughout the entire series, and ultimately lost the election to Santos, in reality, he was a titan of battle magic in the Eastern wizarding world, ranking alongside Japan's Yagyu Kaguya as one of the two great war gods.
Putting aside his own combat prowess, the Liu Family he comes from is one of the oldest and most powerful Pure-blood families in China.
The Liu Family has produced many legendary wizards, the most famous of whom was Liu Xiu, the Grand Sorcerer of the Han Dynasty.
Wizards in that era were not as feared by Muggle people as they are today. In addition to being a powerful wizard, Liu Xiu was also an excellent emperor. In his famous battle, the Battle of Kunyang, he used the "Mist Summoning Spell" and the "Meteor Summoning Spell" to create the largest battle in China history with the most unequal troop strength, where he defeated a much larger enemy force.
Compared to the Western world, the China wizarding community is relatively low-key and mysterious. There are not many Pure-blood families that can rival the Liu Family in terms of international renown, but the Zhang Family, which originated from Zhang Guo of the Tang Dynasty, definitely has the strength to be considered one of them.
Five years ago, before Harry enrolled in school, some scoundrels in the China wizarding world caused a Zombie outbreak in the Western Hunan region. At that time, Dumbledore, then president of the International Confederation of Wizards, was invited to assist the China Ministry of Magic in quelling the riot. During that incident, Dumbledore also established a close relationship with the Liu and Zhang families, who were involved in the operation.
According to Dumbledore's conjecture, as long as the Liu Family sends Liu Tao, who is skilled in Transfiguration, and the Zhang Family sends Zhang He, the Transfiguration master who is famous throughout the world, it would be enough to raise the strength of the Order of the Phoenix by several levels.
Moreover, Zhang He and he were both masters of Transfiguration and often had academic exchanges. Zhang He's granddaughter was also studying at Hogwarts and had visited him earlier this year during the Quidditch World Cup. He had used the highest level of "Phoenix Summoning Order," which clearly indicated that he was in a very troublesome predicament and desperately needed help. He never expected that Zhang He would be absent from such an important occasion.
"Zhang... is he really not coming?" Dumbledore asked again, still unwilling to give up.
Liu Tao shook his head slightly and said softly, "He won't come..." Liu Tao continued, "Perhaps you're too busy to notice, but in fact, he's rarely appeared in the Phoenix contact list these past few years..."
"I've heard..." Liu Tao gave Dumbledore a deep look, his expression enigmatic, and said, "He's very close to the House of Malfoy here in Great Britain... to be precise, he's closely associated with a certain young member of the House of Malfoy, um... that young wizard who recently won the Triwizard Tournament and is currently riding high... Skylar Malfoy..."
Dumbledore took a deep breath.
He believed Liu Tao's words without a doubt.
Given their relationship, Zhang He had no reason not to come when invited and asked for a favor. Even if he was busy, he should have sent someone to deliver a message. His direct absence could only mean one thing: he himself did not wish to come.
Dumbledore long known that Skylar had established his own circle in the international academic community, but he never expected that Skylar's influence would be enough to affect a master-level figure—after all, there are fewer than ten people in the world who can be called masters of Transfiguration!