Su caught a lift up to the fifth floor again, crammed into the small place with about ten other people. This time no one bothered to ask her what floor she was heading to, instead they all ignored her. A pair of wizards muttered to each other, complaining of the space and three witches talked to each other about some sort of conference that was taking place that day. Su ignored the words surrounding her until something the another wizard said caught her attention.

"Did you hear about the Mark that appeared in the sky over Britain Halloween night?"

Su's head snapped over to her. "What did you just say?"

The speaking wizard looked at her in surprise. "I said a Mark appeared in the sky over some party in Britain."

Su felt her heart jump in her throat. A Mark? A Dark Mark?! A Dark Mark over Hogsmeade? The only party they could have been talking about was in Hogsmeade. Panic wracked her body immediately, she pushed through the crowd, exiting the lift on the third floor and running down the hallways to the stairs. She pushed through the doors and took the stairs at top speed. She got to the Owlery out of breath and no less frantic than before. She pulled a piece of parchment out of her bag and quickly wrote a messy note.

She paid to borrow another owl, feeling guilty for acting so irrational. Clearly if something had happened, she would have been notified. She tucked her hair behind her ears and watched the owl disappear, suddenly feeling very alone.

---

Su got to the meeting room with only five minutes to spare. Every chair in the room had been filled the day before, but this time there was an empty chair.

Minister Chen looked grim as he sat at the head of the table. His normally wrinkle-free face had deep creases, his brown eyes were filled with worry. Su had no clue what was going on. A shiver went down her spine as she sat down, surveying the serious faces around the time.

"I'm sure everyone has heard by now," Minister Chen suddenly said, his voice the only one in the room. "But two unfortunate and horrible things have occurred." Su sat up in her seat, leaning forward toward the Minister of Magic. "On Halloween night," he went on, ignoring the rapid change and quick attention he drew from the room, "The Dark Mark -- yes, Lord Voldemort's sign -- appeared in the sky over Hogsmeade. It was shown over and over being eaten by another sign... by a purple peacock."

There were no laughs, no snickers, no sign around the room at the idea of another sign being of a peacock, which was not a scary object in itself.

"Then last night, right here in Beijing, delegate from the Irish Ministry in Dublin was found... dead this morning."

This received a collective gasp of shock from the room. Clearly she wasn't the only one who was no informed before now.

"Now, we do not know anything more about these events. We do not know if they are related or not, but this Ministry and hopefully the Ministries who are being represented around this room will join us when I say we are not going to rest until we find out what is behind this. With that said, if there is anyone who has information on either, please feel comfortable to come to me." He looked around the room, stopping to look at everyone in the eye.

Su felt cold. She wrapped her arms around herself and pressed her lips together. It was a strange action, but she didn't receive any odd looks for anyone. It seemed everyone felt the same way she did.

"Miss Li," Minister Chen said suddenly, catching her eye again. "I know this might be hard for you, seeing what could possibly be going on in London, but please stay for the rest of the summit. We need the British delegate here to speak for her Ministry as well as take back the words of the rest of us."

Su nodded. "Of course, I'm staying." She was numb, the words just fell from her mouth without her consciously deciding she was staying.

"Thank you."

The meeting continued. No one seemed to know what was going on, and the discussion took an ugly turn when the three Irish delegates spoke up. They accused one of the other Ministries of carrying out the murder of their colleague in an act of espionage. Everyone was outraged, denying their involvement. Su fought the urge to speak up and say she overheard two Chinese witches talking about something happening last night dealing with someone from Ireland, but she bit her tongue. She did not need to make an international relations nightmare over this. She had no proof; she had no witnesses; it was her word against... who? She didn't even know who she had heard having the discussion.

The Irish were persuaded by the ever vigilant Minister Chen to stay for the summit as well, being reassured he had this top Aurors on the case. Following the meeting, Su wandered back to the inn, feeling lonely and scared. She contemplated going back to London for the night then coming back in the morning; it didn't seem like such a waste of energy with the new events.

"Miss Li?" the man behind the front desk spoke up as she walked by.

She turned to him. "Yeah?"

"Your things have been moved to Suite five. It's on the top floor."

Narrowing her eyes, she nodded. She knew Suite five was the biggest and most elegant suite in the whole inn. The man continued after a moment, "Compliments of Minister Chen himself! Fully paid for. In fact, you have a refund coming to you. Would you like it now?"

Frowning, Su shook her head, feeling like she was being bought off. "I'll get it later," she muttered, walking to the lift. Clearly, she was staying the night.

Summary: In Beijing, Su finds out about two very disturbing events.