Eastern Taoists Actually Swish Potions in Hot Pot and Eat Them-How Terrifying

As she emerged from between the British Museum's grand columns, Harley was still thinking about the ancient Egyptian pharaohs' masks. She didn't know whether Harley had ever been to the British Museum with the Dursleys, but as Harry, he had never been there once.

"Harley, look!" Hermione tugged at her sleeve, keeping her voice low.

Harley followed her gaze and saw a little girl of about five or six sitting on the stone steps in front of the museum.

Her hair was black as ink, tied into two little buns. Her obsidian eyes were bright and lively, and her skin was as white as fine porcelain.

She wore a plain white robe embroidered with pale green cloud patterns along the hem, and carried an exquisite little wooden sword on her back.

There wasn't an adult anywhere near her.

What kind of adult would leave such a young child in a place like this?

Hermione frowned and hurried over, with Harley close behind.

"Where are your parents, sweetheart?" Hermione crouched down, speaking gently.

The little girl held a finger to her lips in a "shh" gesture and glanced mysteriously from side to side before lowering her voice. "I snuck out!"

Harley and Hermione exchanged a glance.

"Then what are you doing here all by yourself?" Harley asked.

The little girl whipped the wooden sword from her back and cut a jaunty arc through the air, her face full of righteous determination. "I'm here to catch all the thieves in one fell swoop, of course!"

Hermione: "...What thieves?"

The little girl: "The bad guys who stole things from our country!"

Harley: "...Bad guys?"

The little girl: "Yes! They hid those things here!" She pointed at the British Museum behind her, her tone perfectly assured. "Master says they're called 'cultural relics,' but a lot of them are ours!"

"Um... sweetheart," Hermione said as patiently as she could, "what's your name? How about we take you to the police first and have them help you contact your parents?"

At the mention of the police, the little girl immediately shook her head vigorously. "No! I don't want to go!"

Harley sighed. "Then I'll go get a professor."

She turned and hurried over to Headmistress McGonagall and the other professors, who were standing nearby, and briefly explained the situation. When the professors came over, their expressions were rather peculiar-especially Professor Burbage's. Her eyes lingered on the little girl's wooden sword for a few seconds, and an awkward yet knowing expression appeared on her face.

Headmistress McGonagall crouched down, her tone gentle but brooking no refusal. "It's dangerous for you to be out here alone, child. We need to take you to the police station and wait for your parents to pick you up."

The little girl pouted, then suddenly pressed her palms together, quickly forming several hand signs with her fingertips as she muttered under her breath.

A wisp of pale green smoke drifted past, and the little girl vanished on the spot.

The air froze for two seconds.

"...Merlin's beard," Ron muttered blankly.

Headmistress McGonagall took a deep breath and turned to call out, "Black!"

Sirius poked his head out from behind the crowd. "What is it?"

"Contact the Eastern Taoist Alliance," Headmistress McGonagall said, rubbing her temples. "Describe what that child looked like and tell them to keep their students under control."

Sirius grinned. "All right, I'll go do it now."

After they boarded the coach, the young wizards were still reeling from what they had just seen.

"Did you hear that?!" Ron whispered, his eyes wide as saucers. "They said 'Eastern Taoist Alliance'! Does the East have spells too?!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Ron, calm down. That child's wooden sword was probably their version of a 'wand,' and the way she vanished on the spot... was probably some variant of Apparition."

"No, that wasn't Apparition." A cheerful voice cut in.

Arthur Weasley had come over to their seats at some point, an excited expression on his face. He always looked like that whenever Muggles or unusual magic came up.

"The Eastern system of spells is completely different from ours," he explained enthusiastically. "They don't call it 'magic,' but 'Taoist arts' or 'spells,' and the way they practice is very different too. For example, the 'escape technique' that child just used is a method of spatial movement, but instead of a wand, it relies on incantations and hand signs."

Harley blinked. "So... there really are wizards in the East?"

"They don't call themselves wizards," Arthur said with a smile. "They call themselves 'cultivators' or 'Taoists.' I've heard their sects have very strict rules. You have to take a master to join, go into seclusion to practice, and there are all kinds of precepts... They're much stricter than our magic schools."

As a witch of Asian descent, Cho Chang asked curiously, "Don't they use brooms to fly? I didn't see her carrying one."

Arthur laughed. "Their flying tools aren't brooms, but actual swords, like the one that child carried on her back."

Hermione looked thoughtful. "So some of the 'cultural relics' in the British Museum might really be their magic treasures?"

Arthur shrugged. "Who knows? Eastern things are very mysterious."

In the back of the coach, Draco Malfoy had listened to all of this with his ears pricked up.

Eastern spells? Cultivators? Flying on swords?

That's so cool!

Beside him, Pansy muttered, "Sounds like a trick to me..."

Draco didn't answer.

...Maybe the East has ancient Pure-blood families too?

He silently decided to have his father look into it when he got back.

"Does Professor Snape know about Eastern Taoists?" Harley asked Snape.

She hadn't expected Snape to answer her question, but to her surprise, his expression became a little complicated. He pressed his lips together, the muscles in his face twitched for a while, and he nodded gravely.

"I do," Snape said. Seeing the young wizards around him turn their eyes on him, he went on with difficulty, "They're simply unreasonable. They're even harder to understand than Muggles, and sometimes they can even seem frightening."

Even Professor Snape thinks they're frightening...????

The young wizards drew sharp breaths.

Just how powerful would an opponent have to be to frighten someone like Professor Snape, whose mouth was harder than a corpse's!

The young wizards swallowed and waited for Snape to continue.

"They can swish Potions in hot pot and eat them."

The young wizards gasped. Even Draco, who had been listening in with his ears pricked up, widened his eyes.

Eastern Taoists! Terrifying!