Chapter Text
Xie Lian woke up to his alarm clock blasting headache into his temples. It felt like he had just closed his eyes. With every cell of his body protesting against getting out of the warmth of his bed, he managed to sit up and put some clothes on.
The apartment he was renting at the moment was mercilessly cold, especially this early. The heaters were lukewarm and the cold came in through the gaps and cracks of the old wooden window frames. These days he really missed his wand, a little bit of magical warmth wouldn't hurt anyone.
But he was Xie Lian, the banished darling of the wizardry world, and he had a morning shift ahead of him.
Working customer service was a bit more bearable when he imagined every customer being a wizard for the first time in the muggle world. It made his heart soften when anyone asked weird questions or did not know the basics of muggle customs. However nothing made it easier to bear with the rude, yelling types of customers. He was currently politely smiling and nodding along to a man screaming about how the store is a shame to customer service and how everyone working here is absolutely incompetent, when a strikingly beautiful polar owl flew on full speed aiming exactly at Xie Lian. The yelling man did not notice the owl at all and it managed to scrape his scalp before the owl collided with Xie Lian's chest, making him step back a few steps and push down a clothes rack.
"And on top of this you will pay for the medical bill this beast of a bird did to me! How on earth did you fail to follow sanitary rules and allowed this disease carrying creature inside!" the angry man's yelling increased in volume.
At this point a couple of customers had gathered around and the coworker from the fitting room had also come to see what's going on. Xie Lian quickly grabbed the letter that had fallen right next to him and put it in his pocket, hoping no one had noticed it. Meanwhile the owl seemed to have lost consciousness.
"Are you okay?" Xie Lian's coworker asked him as she was pulling up the fallen rack.
"Yeah… I am fine… I think" Xie Lian answered a little out of breath. The angry man was still yelling something in the background.
After a couple of seconds of customer murmur "oh my god it is an owl" Xie Lian's brain finally registered that he is holding an unconscious owl in his hands and he had to do something. "Um. Emily? Could you cover the register while I… deal with this?" He asked his coworker.
"Sure thing. You know Anastasia could even let you off your shift today, you just have to look real hurt."
"Thanks." Xie Lian said and went to the storage where he tried to find a box to put the owl in until it regained consciousness. He met a few of his coworkers there and had to tell them about the owl and it was a matter of time until Anastasia heard about it and came to check up on Xie Lian. She offered him to take the day off, but Xie Lian refused since he would have to work the hours some other day anyway. He excused himself to take the owl outside. He put the box near the cargo ramp and allowed himself to open the letter, since there were no cameras his boss could access here.
It was from the Ministry of Magic.
"Dear Xie Lian,
We are writing to inform You that Your banishment from the Wizarding World has been a mistake. The decision to annul Your banishment was made yesterday, 5th of February 2008 during the Wizarding court looking over the case put forward by Jun Wu on 10th of May year 2000. You are allowed to own a wand once again and employ positions demanding magic.
However, a friendly reminder, that the cost of court's services is one thousand galleons and the sum is expected to be paid during the next three months, the deadline being the 6th of May included.
If You cannot pay the said sum during the time period above, it is possible to extend your payment time on the premises of the court reviewing the case late.
Yours sincerely,
Ling Wen
Assistant to the Minister of Magic"
Xie Lian did not know whether to laugh or cry. He did not even know Jun Wu had put forward a case against his banishment eight years ago. Jun Wu had probably forgotten himself. Moreover, he was expected to pay for court services he did not even know was happening. It looked like he needed to keep the owl and write a proper response. Maybe he needed the day off after all.
After excusing himself off work and having a very awkward bus ride home with an owl in a box, he put on a kettle of water to boil and sat down to write the answer.
"Dear Ling Wen,
I am half convinced Your letter was a joke. I did not know anything about a court going on, nor did I ask for it. Moreover, it was eight years ago. I have completely integrated into the muggle world and own not an ounce of wizard currency on my person. I do not even own a wand. What exactly do You expect me to do?
Best regards,
Xie Lian
Sales assistant at H&M"
Xie Lian laughed about his own letter but decided to send it anyway. The situation couldn't get any worse anyway.
After a couple of days of peace, Xie Lian came home from a late shift to find two familiar faces sitting on the stairway right next to Xie Lian's apartment now.
No one said a word, they just stared at each other for a few moments. Xie Lian proceeded to unlock the door, and still the only sound accompanying him was the jingle of his keys.
As all three of them entered and doors were once again locked from inside the quiet spell was broken.
"We were sent by Ling Wen." Mu Qing stated dryly. "She said you need help."
Xie Lian burst out laughing. Everything seemed so surreal. The Ministry really expected to just completely ignore the last eight years and ask for Xie Lian as if nothing had happened.
"What… what does she say I need help for?"
Mu Qing and Feng Xin shared a look and Feng Xin spoke:"You are in debt to the ministry. We are here to help you ease back into the magical world in order for you to find a job and pay the debt."
Mu Quing continued: "You have housing guaranteed and you can leave the muggle world anytime you wish to do so. We have a case to solve and you are welcome to join us."
Xie Lian wanted to vomit.