Happy New Year everyone!! <3<3

"It... it doesn't seem possible to me... without any special charms or a dozen defensive spells," McGonagall said, puzzled. "Of course, a lot depends on the level of magic proficiency, and perhaps for some, just one spell is enough for such a trick... In any case, it should be powerful enough."

"Alas, the fighter we are talking about was just a noodle-maker's assistant at the time and hardly had any knowledge of the secrets of high-level witchcraft... But this is not the only case when some... supernatural forces manifested themselves in the abilities of the inhabitants of our world. Some did not consider it essential to use this gift for good purposes, which once almost resulted in the death of my loved ones and the complete disappearance of our craft."

Shifu paused to collect his thoughts.

"Just as you like", he uttered humbly. "But you are right: in the secular I'm called master Shifu. In turn, I was incorrect for not asking your name. May I know how to refer to you properly, madam?"

"My last name is McGonagall. Still, master Shifu, I do not understand what's the connection between... witchcraft and martial arts can be."

Shifu thoughtfully ran his slender fingers over his beard several times, figuring out where to start.

"Decades of immersing myself into the craft to which I am devoted whole-heartedly, have allowed me to become convinced of the existence of a certain boundary, when crossing which Kung Fu transforms into actual magic. But the comprehension of this amazing transformation is not available to many, but only to animals with the gift of sorcery.

Imagine, madam McGonagall... one of the most important sections of the study of Kung Fu is the introduction to the technique of managing the life energy of Chi. Chi flows constantly in each of us... Any of the lessons that a Kung Fu warrior has to learn to some extent is related to the ability to handle it correctly. All my students are familiar with the techniques of replenishing and maintaining the balance of Chi in the body, but not all are able to use it to travel through space or make a giant energy dragon a reality..."

McGonagall thought of Weasley twins and their invention, tested in the Great Hall of Hogwarts in their last year at school - a magical firework in the form of a gigantic sparkling mystical lizard.

"Wouldn't I hamper You if I settled right on the table?"

"Pardon me?"

"I wouldn't ask for that, Madam, but otherwise You'll have to reach across the desk in order for us to at least, maintain the eye contact."

"Oh, yes, sit down please...", McGonagall sighed, a note of chagrin in her voice at not immediately understanding what did he mean.

The headmaster's desk was wide enough for Shifu to fit in at the other end of it; he leapt up to the top of the table with an agile jump and sat down opposite McGonagall.

"Accept my apologies for such a late visit," he said, tucking his paws under him to do a cross-legged position and straightening his cloak, "there were some difficulties on the way here."

"Have you come from far away, sir?"

Shifu nodded affirmatively:

"On the issue of formation of a school for animals with innate magical abilities in China."

The magician narrowed her eyes in puzzlement, wondering if she had heard correctly.

"Magic school for... animals? I'm sorry, Mr. Shifu," McGonagall added, rather dryly than surprised, "you've got to be joking with me."

"No, not at all," the red panda said calmly, "I must admit, I thought that You, as the deputy headmistress, were aware of our negotiations with professor Dumbledore..."

"Good evening, sir," replied McGonagall evenly, "unfortunately, the head of the school was forced to go urgently to the Ministry of Magic this morning, and the exact time of his return is currently unknown.

Shifu looked at the magician in the emerald robe attentively with his ice-blue eyes; McGonagall wanted to go back to marking her parchments, but she kept looking at the visitor with an appraising and incredulous expression. Dumbledore had never told her about this Shifu, and she was really curious - was this an Animagus being at the stage of incomplete transformation into a red panda, or a Metamorphmagus who decided to change his appearance in this way for some unknown purpose?

"Well, it looks like we've missed each other a little. I guess I could wait for him to arrive somewhere nearby. Thank you, Madam."

Shifu pressed his fist to the palm, bowed deeply, and started back toward the door.

"But since I am currently the deputy headmistress, you could tell me the purpose of your visit, and perhaps your case will be resolved now."

Shifu turned to McGonagall, and she gave him another peering look. He returned her gaze with a slight smile.

He flinged the massive oak doors open with his small paws. The lobby was surprisingly quiet, except for the crackle of wall torches and the echo of his footsteps on the cold stone floor. No doubt he had the ability to move silently, but there was no need for it now - a truly magical silence in which he wanted to feel his presence, feel the atmosphere, to evaluate and to probe what is this ancient school of witchcraft.

The master always seemed miniature to everyone, no matter what room he was in, but compared to Hogwarts, he was really just a grain of sand. Outwardly Shifu was as detached as ever, but what really amazed him was the colossal columns rising into the high ceiling, the majestic bronze statues of boars, and especially the enchanted moving staircases.

"Hey, ears!", a mocking voice suddenly boomed. Shifu noticed a poltergeist in a bow tie hovering above him, "The kitchen with the house-elves is on the floor below. What business are you here for?"

"Not exactly for the one you should care about", the master replied coldly.

He ascended the front steps to the Headmaster's tower, and soon a gargoyle statue appeared before him.

"Fizzing Whizzbees", Shifu read as he fished the password scroll out of the folds of his jade cape, and the stone creature leaped aside, opening a passage to the spiral staircase. Thinking that Dumbledore could have come up with a classier password, Shifu went to the headmaster's office and knocked on the door.

Professor McGonagall was correcting errors in the third-year animorphism research homework, and when there was a knock on the door, she glanced over her glasses at the headmaster's silver wall clock — it was late. Dumbledore had warned her in advance of the possible arrival of a foreign visitor, but now the professor was outraged by the unpunctuality of the guest, as well as, with all due respect, the headmaster's prolonged absence.

"Come in", McGonagall said, waving her wand — the door opened.

At first, she didn't even see the one who was standing in the doorway, but when the stranger stepped into the light, McGonagall saw a small animal with large furry ears and a striped tail. However, there was a little animal about the guest's appearance — he walked on two legs, looked expressively from under thick white eyebrows, and was dressed in a deep green cloak over an old-type Chinese kimono.

"Good evening, Madam", he said, walking into the room and bowing his head slightly in greeting. "My name is Shifu. I'm going to see professor Albus Dumbledore."

...she could not imagine that there was some another mysterious land inhabited by such astonishing intelligent animals, hidden from prying eyes, as safely as Hogwarts was hidden, appeared to the non-magical world in the form of the ruins of an old castle.

Shifu was definitely a guest from another dimension — and the headmaster hadn't deigned to say a word about the personality she was to meet today?!

The red panda was scrutinizing a copper Sneakoscope that rotated on a thick stack of Dumbledore's books with a genuine interest. McGonagall took a moment to collect her thoughts, but she didn't say even a half of what she had on the tip of her tongue.