Searching for Information

I decided to go to India by Flight. It was the best out of all my options. Flying to India in falcon form was too tiresome and I could not go there by portkey since India did not have designated coordinates for safe and hidden portkey travel. I could not put my own coordinates since it was quite possible that I will magically appear in front of a crowded market and risk breaking the Statue of Secrecy.

So after a long flight I reached New Delhi, the capital of mundane India. The first thing I noticed after getting off the flight was the weather. It was too hot and humid. I had to apply cooling charms on myself just so I could walk out in the sun. The higher population density and crowd was not as troublesome.

My purpose in coming here was to learn magic from the tribes but there was a big obstacle that was stopping me from doing that. That is, I did not know the location of any magical tribe. I could find the location by flying around in my animagus form but that would not help me since even if I knew the location I would not be welcome inside their tribe. They will see me as a threat and try to kill me since the location of tribes are supposed to be a secret. My ancestors warned that the only way to safely enter a tribe is to get an invitation from someone belonging to the tribe.

For now, my plan is to roam around the capital city and hope I meet someone magical accidently and that someone can help me solve this problem. I liked this plan very much since it allowed me to have fun and experience the various cultures and cuisines of India.

I had become quite fed up of eating the same food daily. First it was the orphanage meals and then Hogwarts meals. Even my house elves only knew to make the same food as the food served at Hogwarts. Only during the holidays did I have a chance to try something new. Like last year, most of my time was spent trying out the French delicacies. That reminds me after returning to London, I need to ask Liz to go to France and learn to cook from the French elves.

Now, since Delhi was the capital of India, it had restaurants selling delicacies from all over India. Due to this as soon as I started roaming around the city, my main objective changed from looking for a wizard to trying out as many types of dishes that I can. The spicy food was easy to eat with the help of the sweet desserts available. If there are elves in India, I will do anything to own an elf that can make these desserts.

One thing I was very happy about was there was no language problem. English was one of the official languages used in mundane India and almost everyone knew to speak and understand English. I don't think it will be the same in the magical world but I was already prepared for this due to spending the last few weeks learning Hindi which I was hoping is the language used by magical India. I was not fluent but it was enough for me to have a conversation in the language.

Coming to the search for a magical, it was not going well. It seemed like Delhi was not an important city in the magical world. I had my mage sight turned on all the time but I did not find any wizard or witch walking around the city. It was expected since this was the case in London too since magicals rarely visited the mundane side but what was not expected was the lack of any magical buildings which meant that Delhi did not have any relevance to the magical people.

After searching for three days, just as I was about to give up and travel to another major city to continue my search, I found a shop that was protected by wards in a remote place in Old Delhi, far away from the capital. The shop was named Patil's Garden Centre. By looking at the name, I knew that the shop was run by the Patil family. The Patil family was well known in Britain and their main business was selling potion ingredients all around the world.

The shop was a small and ordinary one and did not stand out in the street. The inside of the shop was also ordinary and was similar to a garden back home just that this one was more crowded and not neat.

I was welcomed by a middle aged man on entering the shop "Good Evening. Welcome to Patil's Garden Centre. What are you looking for?"

I checked the middle aged man and found out that he was a wizard which was good thing for me. He will be able to answer some of my questions. I looked around and on finding no one else inside the shop

I said "Good Evening. My name is Charles. Can you spare some of your time to answer some of my questions? This is my first time in this country and I find many things confusing."

The shopkeeper thought for some time and answered "I am free till the next customer walks through that door so I will be happy to answer some of your questions. What do you want to know? I am Sanjay Patil by the way."

I smiled at his answer and said, "Thank you Mr. Patil. What is your relation to the Patil twins studying at Hogwarts? This question is to confirm my suspicion and to make sure that I can ask more questions."

Sanjay looked at me, smiled and replied, "We are distantly related but I did see them during family meetings. I understood. So you are a wizard and I am guessing you want to know about the magical side of India?"

I replied "Yes. I came here to find more about the magical world that is not part of the ICW. All the ICW countries are similar so I don't find them interesting but countries like India and China intrigue me a lot and more fun to explore."

Sanjay "Well I don't know much despite me living here but I can tell you what all I know."

Then he started talking about the magical counterpart of India. The information provided by him matched what I already had. He said that magical India was made up of numerous tribes but he did not know the correct number of how many. They like to stay away from the rest of the civilisation. The Patil family ancestors took advantage of this by trading things between the various tribes. The tribes provide exotic herbs and other things in return for items like daily necessities.

When I asked him if there was any way I could be allowed inside a tribe's settlement he answered

"What you are asking is very difficult to achieve. The only way to enter a tribe is if one of the elders of the tribe gives you permission. I have lived here all my life but I still have not been allowed inside a tribe's settlement. The closest I have been to is the hidden entrance of a tribe and that's all. Why do you want to visit a tribe so badly?"

I replied "To gain knowledge. I want to know if magic used by European countries and the other countries is same and if they are different then how. I also want to learn healing from the tribes as I have heard many good things about Indian healers."

He thought for a while and then said "I am sorry to disappoint you but from what I know about the tribes, they will not allow a foreigner to learn their secrets. Still all hope is not lost. There is a place where you can go and try your luck. I am sure you have wondered how despite there being so many tribes in India, they are not fighting amongst each other for territory and other things. Well that is because there exists a governing body of sorts that monitors them and solves the disputes. It's really a place of learning but since the strongest wizards in the region reside there, people ask their help in resolving conflicts. It's a place where many talented people from the tribes go to advance themselves. They are also the ones who make sure that the statue of secrecy is not broken and have taken measures to ensure that. I don't know the name of the place or the exact location. All I know is that it is located in the Himalayas in modern day Nepal and I heard that the people who want to enter have to pass a test otherwise they are kicked out. I don't know if Foreigners are allowed in too but it your best bet in helping you gain the knowledge that you want."

I thanked him for the information and then we moved on to talk about our lives and other things. Sanjay did not go to Hogwarts. He was an alumnus of Beauxbatons in France. Due to the war that was happening in Europe during his student days he decided to leave Europe and take care of the family business in his home country.

He told me that this shop was opened just for conducting business with foreigners like me and the city of Delhi did not matter much in the magical world. The major Patil family stores were in cities near the location of major tribes and tribes asked the Patil family to not conduct business with foreigners in those shops to make sure that they were not disturbed by the foreigners trying to earn their favour.

I told him my identity as the Falken Heir and promised him that I will buy the exotic potion ingredients from his store in the future as thanks for helping me today. He told me that was not necessary and instead of that I can return the favour by ensuring the safety of his cousins the Patil twins studying at Hogwarts. He had heard about the various incidents that had occurred at Hogwarts last term and was worried about them. I promised him.

We then moved the conversation to the sights that I had to see in the country and the dishes that I had to try before leaving India. This conversation continued for a long time until a customer entered the shop and we had to stop. I promised him that I will come again in the future and left the store. I had already taken too much of his time and he had work to do.

Now I had to plan my trip to the Himalayas and hope that I will be allowed to enter inside and learn.