Chapter 6: The Departure

With the First Wizarding War coming to an abrupt end, the Li family were ready to move out of the Yang Manor and return to their British home after their almost one-year stay. Simon was required to return in later summers to continue his lessons with En-han before he began his proper schooling and he promised to write to his cousin, who he had grown decently friendly with.

"En-hua cannot make it even for the departure…how unfortunate," Simon heard his grandmother say as the Lis prepared to leave. Simon heard of many stories about this elusive cousin but never met him during his stay at the Yang Manor. From what Simon was able to piece together, En-hua's father, the current Lord Yang's younger and only brother Tian, was also unpopular with older members of the family like Jane. With Aunt Xiao on the Academy's Board of Governors, En-hua chose not to go to the Academy like his older sister Wanyang. Hence, he self-taught himself Japanese and went to Mahoutokoro when he turned of age for magical education. Last that was heard from him was that he was staying with the Japanese branch of the family.

En-hua's move seemed to have further sealed the fate of Uncle Tian being a pariah in the family, who was seen as unable to rein in his wayward son. Uncle Tian did not even live in the manor anymore and did not visit this year. From Simon's perspective, En-hua sounded like a badass who he would love to meet. Wanyang did come to the last dinner before the Li family's travel to Britain and doted on Sue. Simon would really like to have the opportunity to get to know these cousins and Uncle Tian. Maybe in a future stay at the manor. Nonetheless, Simon was excited for what adventures awaited him in Wizarding Britain as he was about to leave China with a peculiar creature in tow.

Not wanting to reveal that he had brought his nephews to see occamies in fear of earning the wrath of En-han's over-protective mother, Uncle Diego had to come up with a story of how the occamy came to be Simon's familiar – it was through a later excursion that did not include En-han. Aunt Xiao seemed perturbed that such a powerful beast had chosen to bond with Jane's son, having made a comment over a dinner that her grandson Zeren could bond with a Chinese Fireball if he so wanted to. Simon's parents seemed accepting of the familiar, and any doubts were washed away just for the joy of seeing how much the occamy annoyed Xiao.

*"If you want, I can go peck that lady's head off as soon as I could fly again."*

*"No, that would not be needed, Raze."*

Simon was quite proud of the name he came up with, which his familiar chose to accept. It was a nod to Rowling's choice to name the beast after the theory of Occam's Razor. Also, Raze just sounded cool and like "ruizi", which translates to "appearance of an auspicious omen" or "virtuous grace/form." After Simon had gotten bitten, he found himself able to understand the occamy and quickly learned he got one sassy drama queen of a familiar. This young male occamy definitely appreciated this name with a bilingual flair.

Raze was not the only new addition to the Li family. When Simon had his last lesson of the year with Master Lian, the old wizard gestured for Simon to stay behind after class to receive a parting gift. The old wizard produced an intricately embroidered scroll tied with a thin red ribbon and passed it on to his student.

"Open it up."

Simon slowly unrolled the scroll to reveal a breathtaking scenery with rolling mountains framed by a beautiful and lush terrain. A little cottage peeked out on the side of a creek. A poem could be found etched on the skyline in wildly cursive calligraphy. Thankfully, the master did not ask Simon to read the poem out loud, as Simon had great difficulty deciphering the artistically written words.

"I am sure you would continue to read the books I have given you in your spare time in England. However, it would be a bit grossly unfair to have you completely self-study while En-han could ask me questions almost every day of the week. This was not the deal I believe your grandmother made in your favour."

Before Simon to ask more questions, Master Lian knocked lightly on the cottage door. Suddenly, it opened, revealing a familiar face.

"What do you want, Lian Hao?"

"Lord Lian, I would like you to meet my student, Simon Li."

"Yes, I had met the boy!" the ancient scholar who announced Simon's return to consciousness replied, "When did you take this painting out of the attic?"

"A few hours ago," the old master said before turning to address Simon, "You see, Simon, I am a distant relative of the Honglong Yang Clan – Lord Lian here is one of our shared ancestors back in the Ming dynasty. There are supposedly over forty paintings of him but only four we know of, with two that are currently hung."

"He may not look like it, but Lord Lian was once a renowned magical scholar!"

"What do you mean by *'he may not look like it'*?" the scholar in the painting snapped back, "If it were not for me Lian Hao, our family would not have been involved for generations in managing the royal libraries!"

Master Lian ignored the former Lord Lian's outburst. "Anyways, Lord Lian's two portraits are currently hung in the Lian family study room and the Yang manor's guest room. He is not going to learn anything new in the Lian family study room he built himself and his talents are clearly wasted in the guest room. All he does is watch the family squabbles and provide live commentary. I believe our shared ancestor would prove to be a fine tutor should you need any help on your studies."

Learning from an ancient scholar seemed like a wonderful opportunity. However, Simon noticed the suspicious glance this scholar gave him as he paced in front of the painted cottage.

"What do I stand to gain from tutoring this prepubescent child?" the former Lord Lian demanded.

Master Lian seemed to flash a Cheshire cat smile at this challenge their ancestor lodged. "Want to make some points, young Simon?"

Taking a deep breath, Simon spoke up.

"Um…great ancestor, have you been to *Britain* before?"