29 •Knowing the Chinese branch

They approached what was the first rock of the floating stairs to go up to the house, Harry was especially entertained thinking about jumping from one stone to the other, however, to his surprise, when the four of them entered the perimeter of the stairs , the veil of reality in front of them seemed to thin, revealing a passage to a completely different place.

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Harry: "Wow, what?"

Rou: "Come on, come on, don't be too long here."

Extimum hadn't stopped and crossed the passage, he had intended to tell Harry when he saw him admiring the houseboat, but then he just left it at that.

Actually, most of the houses of the Shadowless family are hidden in a kind of sub-space, both places are in the same space, but in different dimensions of it, the first or upper layer is the directly connected area. with the original plan and the second or lower layer is where they really live, in this way, anyone who accesses the location will only be able to interact with the first layer, in this case the dark path and the houseboat. When a family member approaches and touches the veil that divides both realities, they can choose to access the one that is hidden under the other, this is one of the strongest security measures that protect important family properties, it is even superior to 'Fidelio' in various respects, having said that, the lower layer is actually the true space that was once in the original plane and that were separated and closed as special territories or sanctuaries that still retain part of their magical nature, however, it is not preferred that all families inhabit it, some like the branch of Extimum, inhabit the first layer in the original plane, it is entirely due to the preference of the head of the family.

Extimum has learned about it since he was little, but he has never accessed the hidden area of ​​his house, he has only seen it in a few photos.

The other side was completely different, the dark and gloomy path transformed into a bright and vegetated path, seeming to ooze life, similar to an enchanted passage, with flowers all over the place and mushrooms or rocks that emitted light, even an occasional one. magical creature could be seen on the way.

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Although the place was pretty and colorful, it was only the driveway to the area where the main mansion was located.

They had to walk for about 5 minutes through the forest until they were able to leave, while they were leaving the forest, the place began to fill with a light fog that grew as they moved further away from the forest, for when they left the forest completely, they found themselves in An open area with nothing but mist around it, however, shortly after, a magnificent ensemble of ancient palaces, buildings, and pavilions that hoisted the Shadowless family's flag seemed to emerge from the mist.

Extimum: 'really impressive'. Even Hogwarts paled in a first impression with the place, on the other hand, Hogwarts was a school and this was the place of an ancient clan.

Harry: "You're right, the outside was nothing compared to this."

Rou looked proud upon hearing his praise.

Rou: "the sanctuary of England must also be just as fantastic, right Extimum? I have seen in the records that they are great magical caves, with unique nocturnal plants and animals, as well as a fountain with miraculous effects, ah, I really want be able to go".

Extimum: "unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to enter myself, but I have seen some photos and stories of the place that Nocturn sometimes tells".

Rou: "oh, it's a shame, but I guess you'll have the chance later, you live there after all."

Harry listened with interest to their conversation, he did not know that there would be such fantastic places hidden there, the only place similar to this could be the forbidden forest, if it were not for its creepy environment and his bad past experiences in it.

-

The small ancient city in front of them seemed truly mystical, with hanging stone paths supported by chains that led to the entrance to one or more buildings and a cover of mist that enveloped the whole place, increasing its mystery and its transcendental air.

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Rou then led them directly to the main building, it was the tallest building almost completely hidden among the mist and clouds, it was located in the deepest part of the small town. The buildings enjoyed great glitz and craftsmanship, however, there were not really many people who inhabited them, although natural wizards had a much longer lifespan, but they were not breeding machines and even so, the world had seen too many wars, so some branches were not as heavily populated as others, that said, the Chinese branch enjoyed many more descendants compared to the English branch, throughout the great place, although they were few, but you could still see a person occasionally by the place.

The features of most of the people they saw retained the inclination towards Asian features, however, they all had certain peculiarities that betrayed the variety among the blood, most of the variations were not necessarily human, but due to the passage of time, the members still retaining inhuman traits among all branches of the family were very rare, current pureblood magical beings / creatures were too rare or elusive and the Shadowless had never associated with impure bloods, if that was the case, they would resort to everything type of rituals until they could "purify" the couple or in extreme cases if they did not want to "purify" the member had to choose between his partner or the family and in case of choosing his partner, they would be stripped of their surname and expelled. That being said, such cases were truly rare and perhaps only one or two would have been seen in the entire history of the family, after all, there was no real reason why a wizard or witch wouldn't want to improve their lineage and it was just impossible. do it if it was a muggle.

Muggles or non-magic were seen in different ways by ancient families in general, but there was something that was present in everyone to a greater or lesser extent, that was contempt and caution, they would not underestimate the Muggles, but they would not see them either very high, although the ancient families did not suffer losses directly in those times, but they still lived and interfered to some extent in those wars and unlike the others, they still preserve the history of those times. Muggle-born wizards, on the other hand, are not looked down upon to such an extent, but unless they prove themselves, they will not look favorably on them either.

Being families with so much history, ancient families even take Muggle knowledge into consideration, but few really study it in detail, the magical world like the Muggle is governed by certain natural laws that establish a sense of reality, the non- magicians with their science and magicians with their magic, that is why very few fix their attention on such knowledge, although some theories and concepts are applicable on both sides, especially magic, but diseases that kill non-magicians can be something inconsequential for magicians or just need a wave of their wands to eliminate them, that is why both worlds are so distant in their methods, magic is wonderful but at the same time complex and not everyone has the wit, luck or simply the dedication to progress in it and open a new path for magic.

-

Some time later, they finally reached the main building, although the building was very large, they were mostly guest rooms or specialized rooms, so getting to the inhabited or gathering areas wasn't really that difficult with Rou leading the way. In a certain area there was even a platform that functioned as an elevator if they didn't want to go up the stairs, Rou led them to it and they went up to the highest part of the building.

The highest part of the building was a large terrace arranged in such a way that the entire area looked like a garden high in the sky. The garden had a lake in the center with a display platform and a pavilion on either side of the lake.

There were only three people in the entire garden before Extimum arrived. In one of the pavilions a couple was sitting affectionately, they were observing a girl on the exhibition platform, the girl appeared to be about 12 years old and was practicing a martial dance with a sword.

The woman in the pavilion had a slender figure and wore a light blue hanfu, she had delicate features and a gentle gaze, her hair was long and silver in color with eyes that ranged from cyan to lilac, her appearance placed her between the 25-30 years old, however, the depth in his gaze contained wisdom and experiences beyond his age, in his hand he held what looked like a sprig of flowers, but on a more detailed look it was a magic wand that he occasionally fiddled with. On the other hand, she was sitting on the man's lap as she watched the girl on the platform.

The man on the other hand, had a robust build, was quite tall and muscular, he wore a dark blue hanfu that he wore a little open in his chest area, his features were not Asian, but more European, with light skin and brown hair leafy giving it a slightly rebellious touch, his eyes were yellow and had an outline around him with a marked black color, highlighting his sharp gaze, he seemed to emit a kind of wild aura, but at the same time careless.

The girl on the platform had similar features to that of the woman in the pavilion, sharing her silver hair and the color of her eyes, however, she had a more serious and elegant disposition, which added to her charm by brandishing her sword, she was wearing a blue kimono and seemed focused on the movements of her sword.

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The scene seemed quite calm and harmonious, a couple watching their daughter practice with the sword, only the occasional whistle of the wind was heard when the sword was shaken.

Not wanting to interrupt the scene, they did not enter directly, but waited for it to end.

Rou: "Let's wait a bit, we'll go in after Mei'er finishes her sword dance, meanwhile, I'll give you a brief introduction, that great man you see there is Leonardo, the husband of the woman sitting on his lap, Lian Hua, my sister, she is the head of the family and Mei is her daughter. Leonardo comes from the Italian branch of the family, I have heard that he has manticore blood, but in addition to his great body, I have never seen him show anything related, I think it is only those Italians who invent stories to show off ". Rou was pointing at the person while talking about her and even though she seemed sarcastic in the last part, she knew it was true.

(To clarify, it's Lian Hua Shadowless and Leonardo Shadowless)

Harry: "Uh, and how can a human have children with a manticore? Manticores aren't like… you know… like a lion?"

Rou: "hahaha, what kind of question is that? You don't really ask, right?" Rou first laughed upon hearing Harry's naive question, but seeing that his face was still confused and blushing a bit from his mockery, she seriously questioned.

Rou: "What a funny friend you have, Extimum, you really don't know something as basic as that, those schools today don't teach like before, I'll tell you, a long time ago, when the world was dominated by magic, creatures and Magical beings had a very powerful magical lineage and when they reached a certain level with their magic, or some even from birth, they could take a humanoid form, so in such times, the union of various races was feasible as long as you liked that kind of beings, of course, the mediocre manticores of now cannot do it, they are only beasts ".

Harry: "But, Are not such relationships despised?"

Extimum: "in fact it is, but it is different, there are methods to hide such peculiarities, also, the manticore you think of is not the same as the past, it is like comparing a phoenix and a sparrow, both are birds, but they are not on the same level ".

Because current magical beings / creatures are mostly nothing more than a mediocre version of their ancestors, having a lineage associated with them is considered impure and abominable, furthermore, such creatures have already lost the ability to adopt humanoid form, so the only reasonable way for him to obtain his lineage was, that you had certain very particular tastes in your sex life or that they performed forbidden rituals to obtain them, therefore, ancient families that had members with traits of the union of ancient lineages with such beings / creatures, they hid it from the general wizarding community, due to possible stigma and to maintain an image before the public. On the other hand, it was a source of great pride and presumption among ancient families to have such traits, after all, they had records of such unions and the actual proof of their power as indications of the purity of such a union. As for the general magical community and the current great wizard families, they were not suspicious of the less discreet traits due to the fact that the members of the ancient families have always had a rather particular appearance in one way or another.

Rou: "oh, Mei'er is done, let's go."

Following Rou closely, they entered the pavilion where the couple was and now the girl as well.

Even up close, Leonardo had a great height, It wouldn't be strange if he was almost as tall as Hagrid and it had to be taken into account that Hagrid was half-giant.

Rou: "Sister, I have brought our guests, they are Extimum, the son of Callum and Ava and a friend that he brought along with him."

Extimum: "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Lian Hua: "Ah, what a pleasant surprise to receive visitors, I must say that they already had me a little worried, in recent years, Ava and Callum have not established contact with the other branches of the family and I was worried that something had happened to them, but seeing your son come here to visit, gives me the assurance that they are well ". Lian Hua's voice was soft, she almost seemed to have a velvety charm in her words, she spoke while retaining a gentle smile and she looked especially weak and delicate sitting on her great husband's legs, she was like a kind of beauty and the beast. .

Leonardo:" hahaha, you worry too much Hua'er, on the other hand, Extimum, you are a really interesting boy, I can feel more in you than meets the eye, it seems that future generations in the English branch will be prosperous, don't be too formal, you can call us uncle and aunt, we are of the same generation as your parents and given the extension of our family it would be too troublesome if we looked for a suitable title for each member". Leonardo's voice was thunderous and relaxed, fitting well with his imposing figure, emanating more of a carefree but slightly fierce feeling.

Harry was going to introduce himself too, but they seemed to focus all their attention on Extimum, ignoring him.

Extimum: "thanks for the compliments, uncles" Extimum had no problems about such direction, he already expected something similar seeing Rou's effusiveness.

Lian Hua seemed to notice that Harry had been completely ignored and apologized.

Lian Hua: "Ah, excuse our lack of manners, it's just that family gatherings always get us a little excited, what's your name?"

Harry: "I am Harry Potter."

Lian Hua: "Potter ... uh ... yes, you had a really outstanding ancestor, the Peverell, on the other hand, you are also very interesting, that particular scar and the ancient magic that runs through your blood." Lian Hua acted with the same sweet attitude, but her words betrayed her ability to see Harry completely through, being the head of a main branch, no less would be expected of her abilities, besides, Harry had no defenses of any kind, so it was really transparent to them.

Harry: "What about my scar?" Harry already knew about the magic in his blood from Dumbledore, but even though he knew there was something strange about his scar, he didn't know what.

Lian Hua: "It's a shame ... but I can't interfere, it's not time yet ... certain chips must fall into place and when that happens ... naturally you will know." Lian Hua pouted at not being able to tell him, acting totally out of his age and commented with a slightly glassy gaze, as if observing something elsewhere.

Leonardo: "ah, don't bother the boy, if you didn't plan to say anything to him, you didn't have to tempt him with your words, well, Extimum, this is my daughter, Mei, she's beautiful right? Would you be interested in marrying her?" .

Mei: "Dad, how can you tell him that when you barely know him."

In fact, neither Mei nor Extimum overreacted, it was something common within their perception, therefore, what bothered Mei was actually the fact that they had barely met Extimum today.

Extimum: "I appreciate your consideration, but it is still too early to talk about marriage, furthermore, I think I remember that, if it is not discussed before the birth, it is not very ethical to propose such proposals before the family reunion."

Extimum referred with his words to the family tradition, there were certain rules that had to be followed for such proposals, therefore, they could only occur in three ways: the first was that it was an agreement before or shortly after the birth, such as the commitment of Extimum's parents , the second was that both members had built a true relationship and had feelings for each other and the third was of course, in the family reunion, in said meeting all the previous and current generations would meet, so they all had the opportunity to meet and they would be in equal conditions to propose a compromise between two parties; of course, the deliberate approach by the parents was prohibited so that the second form was fulfilled, it had to be something happened by chance.

Although such a tradition seemed a bit strange, in reality it was faithfully followed by all members of the family, this was because such regulations were actually a formula that acted according to certain patterns of destiny and love, the formula was written by great magicians of the Shadowless family who in ancient times investigated in such areas, their objective was to ensure that the union between both parties was the indicated one and that there were no couple problems, until now it had never failed, all couples united by such considerations ended with a great compatibility.

Leonardo: "hahaha, you're right, I was hasty, on the other hand, wouldn't it be wrong if they only knew each other a little while sparring with their swords, right?" Leonardo said when noticing the sword that Extimum carried on his waist.

Rou: "Stop trying to marry my niece off, there are only a few years to go before the family reunion, family traditions must be followed if you don't want me to be unhappy."

Lian Hua: "well, let's have dinner, so we can get to know each other better." Lian Hua got up from his place on Leonardo's lap and spoke.

Since it was approaching dinner time, no one disagreed, so everyone climbed onto the magical platform that led them down to the lower floors and then into the dining room, where they took their seats.

The dining room was a large and well-lit room, the wall facing the outside had a large window that covered the entire length of the room, giving a great view of the palaces and outer pavilions of the territory. In the center was a large round wooden table along with its chairs, and there was a door on the other side of the one that likely led to the kitchen room.

Shortly after taking a seat, a group of house elves wearing clean white coats entered the room decorating and organizing everything in their path, tablecloths and plates, silverware and napkins all arrived at their place. After decorating everything, they quickly left leaving only one to snap their fingers and make all the food appear on the plates arranged on the table.

The dinner was luxurious and lively, everyone shared a little about themselves, Harry and Extimum also talked about their last experiences they had when arriving in China, at some point during the dinner, Lian Hua got a little closer to Extimum who was sitting next to to her to speak more closely.

Lian Hua:" your friend, Harry Potter, really has a very dark destiny ... and that scar, I'm sure you know what it is and you can feel the sinister feeling in it. I see it in your eyes, you have the empathic ability of the family, a great skill, it's a blessing and torture at the same time, although you seem to control it quite well". Lian Hua spoke softly near Extimum so that only he would hear.

Lian Hua: "well, let's talk about happier topics, it's really interesting that you could find an ancient fairy and one with such a pure lineage ... I'm sure it's very special, but the other families better not get to see her, it is good that they are not so scattered nor that they are as numerous as we are, otherwise, if when you return to England someone saw you with her, hehehehe, another magical war could occur, ah! the blood, that iron smell, so warm to the touch and that beautiful red color, how I miss her, there has been no action for a long time, imagine a new epic war between the 9 great ancient families, how much lost magic would resurface, how many more souls would not be harvested, I still have a collection with the shadows of the Osset family, although I can't see them, sometimes when I get bored, I torture their shadows, just imagining their faces twisting wherever they are makes me excited, hehehehe hahaha, ahem, excuse me dear, I got excited a bit with the idea, just remember to be careful that they don't discover its true origin". Lian Hua had started to speak with his usual kind demeanor, but the more he spoke, the more he seemed to get excited, it was strange to witness such a sweet voice, but seeing the slightly unhinged look in his eyes and his wide smile as he imagined and narrated in detail its reminiscences of torture.

Lian Hua was a witch with a great predominance of divination magic, therefore, it had a certain sense that it made her more perceptible to certain things, such as the fairy that lay asleep between Extimum's hair.

As for the spell she was referring to, it was one of the family brand spells, "shadow stealing", a true spell to torture your enemies, you should only be able to grab the shadow of your target and you could rip it off and take it, then you could do whatever you want with it, the Shadowless family had the habit of collecting them in jars or lamps and then playing with them, it was perhaps one of the most insane and deadly spells in the collection, as long as you had their shadow, the person could never recover it and their life would be in the hands of its owner, although some families had methods to counteract them the cost was half their lives to recover their shadows, although such a spell did not seem to affect the target unless it damaged the captured shadow, the reality is that having no shadow It had several consequences, people were more prone to being attacked by dark creatures and being more vulnerable to them, in addition, at certain times of the year, looking in a mirror could ia resulting in being trapped in them, the most interesting thing about the spell is that apart from the Shadowless family, no one else could touch the shadows, so they could only take it back if it was put in a container.

-

Extimum blinked a little at his outburst, he did not consider himself the sanest and was aware that he was having problems with his changing personality, but even he did not expect such a side of her, it was unexpected, but not incredible, not everyone grew up in such times peaceful as the current ones, in addition, magic had its own dark side that corrupted the minds and souls of some if not treated with care, the tales of dark magic were not only to scare children, those who could not master to magic they risked losing or transforming a part of themselves in the process, even ancient families were not spared from it, it was fortunate that strong genes and secret arts of the mind could keep them sane for the most part, from otherwise the world could have been devastated.

After dinner, some house elves indicated the rooms for everyone to rest.

Leonardo: "Extimum, could you wait a moment."

Before Extimum left the room, Leonardo stopped him.

Extimum: "of course, tell me."

Leonardo: "I hope you don't give too much importance to what Hua'er said, she… has suffered a lot, the last world war of those disgusting Muggles took more than one wizard by surprise and Hua'er lost her parents, due to as a result, she forced herself too hard to learn dark magic to defend the Chinese branch and her personality was affected a bit, but she is actually still the sweet person you met. " Although Lian Hua had largely whispered their conversation, but Leonardo had great physical senses and it was not difficult for him to hear the conversation.

Although the magicians were aware of such wars, but none expected the true extent of the devastation that nuclear bombs could cause, therefore, some unfortunate ones who were in the wrong place and time were victims of such an event by underestimating their destructive power, naturally Its effects were later countered by the great magicians, but some others had already claimed their lives, only those who lived in cities or ancient places that had true defenses against enemy attacks could withstand the first barrage.

Extimum: "don't worry, although I was a bit surprised by his sudden change, but yeah * ahem * are we family after all, right?"

Leonardo: "hahahaha, you're right, well go rest". Leonardo's face expanded into a big smile, making him look wilder, then he patted Extimum hard on the back and pushed him a little out of the room.

Extimum: "Well we'll see you tomorrow." Extimum rubbed his back a bit, Leonardo really had quite a bit of strength, it left him a bit sore.

Extimum then turned and followed the house elf waiting outside to guide him to his room.

Leonardo: 'he really has a very strong and mysterious lineage, not everyone can receive my slaps with half all my strength and keep walking as if he did not feel anything'.

Although Extimum's lineage was very well hidden in his mage lineage, but the difference between Extimum and Leonardo's magical abilities was quite wide, after all, Leonardo was an accomplished great wizard from an ancient family and had a Manticore lineage. ancient, so his sensitive capacities were naturally very strong, even with such capacities, the hairs on his body couldn't help but stand on end slightly when he tried to pat Extimum, since he saw him he knew he had something special in him, but after feeling His hair stood on end and seeing how Extimum resisted half his physical strength, his suspicions were confirmed, he would not meddle in the affairs of others and less since he is a "nephew", but it really made him curious about the background of such a lineage.

It was unlikely that someone would actually discover Extimum's abnormality, Leonardo had only been lucky because he was the possessor of a very strong lineage and was a great wizard, but most likely anyone else would only feel a certain pressure, but could not identify anything let alone Extimum's magical growth rate, it would be only a matter of time until no one could see through it, unless Extimum was deliberately showing it or was heavily forced.

.

The room assigned to Extimum was quite spacious and cozy with an oriental touch in the design.

Taking off his clothes, Extimum took his pajamas out of his bag and changed, it was mainly comfortable black pants, he found it more comfortable to sleep without a shirt lately.

After changing, she brought her hands to her hair and grabbed the fairy who had fallen asleep at some point, it was not unusual since she was still recovering, however, she woke up when Extimum was holding her in his hands.

Extimum: "I'm sorry if I woke you up."

???: "Okay, on the other hand, now I remember ... my name... is Bloom".

Extimum was a bit surprised by her words, it wasn't because he remembered her name, no, it was because she had spoken in English.

Seeming to sense their confusion, Bloom spoke up.

Bloom: "I learned it after listening to them speak and interpret your intentions, it is similar to another language that I remembered so it was simple, otherwise it would have cost me more time".

Extimum: "do you remember anything else?"

Bloom: "No, there are only blurred memories of a fight, then a great darkness that seemed to envelop everything, and cold, very cold and then ... nothing."

Extimum sat on his bed and placed the fairy in front of him.

Extimum: "there is no need for you to push him so hard, for now, it would be better if you just try to understand the new world around you."

Bloom: "and what about the connection between us?"

Extimum: "... at first they were just precautionary measures ...".

Bloom: "and now?"

Extimum: "And now ... I guess we'll find out as time goes by".

Extimum: "let's go to sleep." Extimum took it and put it on his chest and then covered himself a little with a sheet, since he could remove his tails, he no longer felt the need to wrap up with blankets when sleeping, with one of his tails he covered Bloom a little.

Bloom: "you're not human either ...".

Extimum: "I don't think it really matters?"

Bloom: "you're right, it doesn't matter." Bloom nodded and then settled on Extimum's chest using her tail as a coat.