Chapter Text
I closed my bedroom door gently behind me eager to start looking through the cookbook I now threw down on my bed. It was times like this that I wished my door had a lock on it, but Pa had vehemently vetoed that idea last year when I asked him. Instead, I moved my desk chair in front of my door as I’ve done every time in the past when I wanted a bit of privacy. It might not keep someone out, but it would give me a five to ten second heads up to banish any evidence I might have lying around.
Satisfied with the chair placement, I returned to my bed to start digging through the old book. It clearly had lots of use over the years as the binding was fraying and the pages were worn and tattered around the edges. One corner even looked like it had caught on fire at one point as there was a giant burn mark. Luckily, it wasn’t in the middle of the page where it might have ruined some of the writing inside.
The title on the blue cover was badly faded and I couldn’t even read the title. However, the fancy geometrical pattern lining the borders of the cover was just barely visible. As I cracked open the old book and flipped to the title page, I read the title: Magical Drafts and Potions. I didn’t linger on the cover page long, wanting to get to the meat and bones of what was contained inside the book.
As I turned through the first few pages, I discovered it wasn’t a cookbook at all, at least not a normal cookbook. It still contained recipes, but these recipes weren’t for familiar foods like stew, fried chicken, or apple pie. I stopped on one page with the words ‘Wideye Potion’ scrolled in fancy handwriting at the top. Underneath it read “a potion used to prevent the drinker from falling asleep or to awaken someone from concussion”.
My eyes scanned further down the page to find the recipe used to make this concoction. Add six snake fangs and then 4 measures of standard ingredient. Then add six billywig stings to a cauldron.
I shook my head as if this was some sort of dream and I could wake myself up. I turned a few more pages and landed on a swelling solution used to make things grow in size. Pufferfish eyes, dried nettles, and bat spleens were all used in this recipe.
I closed the book rather forcefully. I had seen enough and I needed answers. I might be putting my backside at risk for more swats from Hop Sing, but clearly I needed to confront him, considering it’s his book after all. The time for explanations had come.
*****
I made my way down the staircase, the book firmly clenched in my left hand. I always thought of myself as brave. You need a whole lot of it to get into some of the trouble I find myself in. But as I reached the landing and descended the last few steps to the great room, all the bravery I had, flew out the window.
Quietly, I made my way through the dining room and into the entryway to the kitchen. Hop Sing was busy preparing what smelled like roast beef and vegetables for dinner and didn’t notice my presence until he turned around.
“What little boy want?”
Now, normally I’m not as bold as to just give myself up to a misdeed. I knew, though, that if I had any chance to solve this mystery, I had to fess up.
“Well, ahh, earlier I took this from your kitchen, but it doesn’t make any sense. The ingredients here aren’t things we should be eating. What exactly is this all about?” I held up the book so he could see what I was referencing.
His eyes met mine and his expression turned firm. He took a few steps toward me, tugging the book out of my hand. Then he reached out and grabbed my arm. I braced myself for a few swats for stealing his book, but to my surprise, he led me to the little table in his kitchen.
“Sit.”
Hop Sing did likewise and placed the book in the center of the table.
“What Hop Sing is going to tell you, you must keep secret. If anyone finds out, I could be sent back to China, jailed, or even killed.”
His gaze met mine, and I could tell he was serious. I didn’t have the best track record for keeping secrets, but I couldn’t imagine life without him. I knew from experience that he was taking a big risk in telling me his secrets. After all, letting the cat out of the bag is a whole lot easier than putting it back in and I vowed to keep this one secret even if it’s the last thing I do.
I nodded my head, but Hop Sing just sat there. I thought he maybe didn’t see my head nod when he suddenly spoke up.
“Hop Sing is a wizard.”
I didn’t know what answer I was expecting, but this was definitely not it. I had heard of witches and wizards in those old-time fairy tales Adam used to read to me, but I thought they were just made-up characters.
I just stared blankly back at Hop Sing unsure of what to say. Thankfully, he noticed my confusion and continued to explain.
“Hop Sing can make things happen and do things others can’t. This book is book of potions that I can make. They help with doing things and cure ailments, much like medicine. I have to mix odd ingredients together and brew them in a big pot called a cauldron. Then I can bottle them to use later.”
So far this all seemed to make sense. Unknown to him, I had seen the inside of that book and everything he just told me was in there.
“Do you ever give us these medi-, I mean potions?”
“Sometimes. Mostly when very sick. I have several bottles of healing potion in cupboard.”
“Oh, so do you only make potions?”
“No. I can also make things happen or get tasks done. It’s called magic. When I say special words and something happens, it’s called a spell. Depending on outcome they can either be just ordinary spell to make things happen, a charm, jinx which is just annoying charm, hex, or curse. Curses are most dangerous types of magic and we try to never do them.”
I just sat there trying to absorb all the information he was telling me. One question nagging at the back of my brain was how he knew this stuff. I know doctors and such have to go to college to learn how to make medicines and cure people so it would only make sense that Hop Sing would have to have some training in how to make potions and do spells correctly.
“Umm… so how did you know you are a wizard and where did you learn how to do all this?”
“When Hop Sing was a little lad, he was recruited to attend a special school in Japan called Mahoutokoro. I was only about seven years old then and had to fly there each day on petrel which is type of seabird. When I got older, I boarded at school, much like older brother did when attending college. It was beautiful school, made of white jade and located on top of the volcanic island Minami Iwo Jima.
“Here we were isolated from the rest of world and were able to learn how to use and control magic safely. Besides the core subjects like potions and charms, we also had special subjects. Some of those included care of magical creatures where we learned about animals such as unicorns and arithmancy which is much like your arithmetic. After seven years, I was trained enough to use my magic in world.”
“You went to school in Japan? Wasn’t there a school in China?”
“There was one called Fenghuang, located at top of mountain near Beijing. However, it was more recent school and not as well known. Across world, there are nearly dozen wizarding schools to teach and train young witches and wizards, including at least one in America.”
Who would have thought there were that many wizards that they need over ten schools across the world to train all of them. For all I know, I could be friends with one or two without even knowing it!
There was still one more thing that Hop Sing needed to explain to me though. One thing that would absolutely solve this case of mysterious things on the Ponderosa.
“Wait, if you know how to do all these spells and stuff, shouldn’t you have been able to put out that fire the other day by yourself, with magic?”
“Very clever little boy. You are correct in your thinking. Most wizards and witches can easily do wandless spells, but when I was training, I was never able to really accomplish the skill. I can do them sometimes, but I’m completely useless in high tense or stressful situations. For these, I must use wand.”
“Wand?”
“It’s special object used to help witches and wizards do spells, much like rifle helps you, or pistol helps your Pa when you’re working around the ranch. Similar to gun, it is extremely dangerous if it falls into wrong hands or given to someone who knows not how to use it. Therefore, I keep it locked up most of time away from growing and curious boys.”
“Oh… so because your wand was locked up and the fire was a stressful event, you were unable to put it out, correct?”
“Yes. Does little boy have any other questions?”
I thought long and hard. He gave me a plethora of facts and information in just under a half-hour and I was trying to digest it all. All this explained how Hop Sing always seems to have the right medicine to make us better and how he never seems to get tired. Most importantly, it definitely explained the odd things happening over the past few months.
“I don’t think so.”
“Remember this is our little secret, so come to me if you have more questions. You cannot tell anyone, not even your family.”
I nodded my head in agreement. It was exciting to know something the rest of my family didn’t know, especially my bossy older brother Adam. I knew I couldn’t tell him, but I would have loved to just rub it in his face that I knew something he didn’t for once.
Over the next several days and months, everything became hunky-dory on the Ponderosa once again. As time went on, I had many more questions about the whole wizarding world and Hop Sing was gracious and patient enough to answer each and every one. He might have even let me help with brewing a potion once or twice. That’s a story for another day, though.
Most importantly, I never broke my promise to Hop Sing, not even long after he passed away. This will be one secret I will carry with me to my grave.