The Daily Diviner - Issue 16

[The Daily Diviner]

Graduation on Potterworld
Feature
Written by Spaghelle
Edited by ShaneChi
​

Greetings, my lovely audience, and welcome back to another edition of the Daily Diviner! In today’s piece, I’m going to take us back a few weeks: all the way to the end of the 2019-2020 school year! For many, it was just a short goodbye until fall; however, for the graduating classes of this year, it was a permanent farewell to their schools as they move onto the next stage of their lives! Unfortunately, the class of 2020 weren’t able to celebrate their graduations as usual, due to the global health crisis that ended the education of many prematurely in the spring. Due to the fact that so many graduates put years of effort and hard work, devoting countless hours to school and their personal lives, the staff team took it upon themselves to form a specialized Potterworld Graduation Event, one that had never been seen before on the server in all its years!

The Graduation Event, lasting from June 12 through June 27, consisted of many parts despite being a mini-event. The concept for this event was originally created by staff members Ralie and WhirlwindWar, and finally brought to life! Players were able to travel to the Graduation Hall through an NPC situated right at the doors of the Great Hall, where you couldn’t miss it! Upon entry, you were greeted with a magnificent hall adorned with purple banners and carpeting, round tables in lieu of the standard Great Hall ones, but most importantly; the hall was filled with the NPCs of graduating staff members! These staff members, rising from all levels of education, are constantly dedicating their hard work to both their education and Potterworld, and it is only right to give them the recognition that is deserved. As you passed by the NPCs sitting at their own house tables, a Droobledore NPC offered multiple gifts of graduation; an interactive graduation cap that had the ability to be tossed into the air, a special 2020 diploma, and a book full of sentiments from all of the Head Staff! It was truly a memorable event in Potterworld history, and hopefully made the graduating class of this year feel like they were being recognized for their amazing achievements.

Alongside the player-based event, the staff held a smaller, more private event to personally celebrate the graduating students among the team. Listed here, to provide recognition of their achievements, are all of the staff, team members, and contributors who were featured in the ceremony! We’d like to thank everyone on this list for everything they’ve contributed in the past and into the future, and wish them well for what lies ahead in life!

RobotWizz, Sunnya, xAutumnn, zachmath15, Serinades, EricaEH, gospojken, SimplyAna, NSgaming, Marijensn, calliemath15, Aoshimason, Polarxo, Crestilia, Queeeni, Mr_Grindelwald, CarlieShock, albanybrookexo, and Decidanny.

I had the pleasure of talking to a couple of staff members and players about the event, and the consensus was astounding! The graduation event was truly a unique experience, as both Serpent Staff member gospojken and Griffin staff member RainTM say:

“I think that it made me very happy to see all of the appreciation that the event gave each and every one of the graduates throughout the entire thing.”

“I really enjoyed seeing all the graduates in the graduation hall, it felt very nice for those who can't really have a party because of what is going on in the world. I think Potterworld did an amazing job of getting these graduates what they deserve after all their hard work.”

I certainly couldn’t agree more; this was one of the most touching aspects of the whole event. Speaking of which, I’d like to introduce the two people who brought the event to life! Without the aforementioned staff members WhirlwindWar (Paul) and Ralie (Emily), this graduation event would have never happened on Potterworld. They were able to devote their time to answering questions about the graduating event, something that I’m truly grateful for!

When first forming the event, both said similar things; COVID-19 prevented close friends of theirs from graduating this year, and eventually they decided to take it to Potterworld so that everyone would have the opportunity to experience a proper graduation. As Ralie (Emily) and Paul said,

“Paul and I were inspired to create a graduation event for the Potterworld community due to the COVID challenges. Unfortunately, the class of 2020 will not have traditional graduation ceremonies this year, but they still worked hard and deserved to be celebrated! Many of our friends on the server were supposed to graduate, so we wanted everyone to come together as a community and show the graduates our support!”

“Obviously, as everyone is aware, the pandemic stopped most graduations from happening, or at least stopped them from happening the way they would have happened sans-quarantine. Because of this, two of mine and Ralie's friends were unable to get the graduation that they had thought they were going to get. As such, Ralie had the idea to host an online graduation. It started as something we were going to do on a small private server, but Ralie and I decided it would be more worthwhile to host it on Potterworld and open it up to any of our other friends and team-members who weren't going to get a graduation the way they had previously thought they were going to.”

However, there also came the issue of bringing the idea to fruition forming the event itself, which players experienced first-hand through both the decorated Great Hall and the special collectables of the year. On this, Paul explained,

“So, we approached the HS with the idea for it and got started working on it. Through a little bit of hard work by Ralie, myself and some of the Head Staff and Leads of the server, we were able to get the event out to the public, so that everyone could enjoy at least some resemblance of the graduation that they would have had without the pandemic.”

Getting to see all of the hard work that was put into this event is amazing, and truly makes it an event to remember. Again, I’d like to thank all of the people who I interviewed for answering my questions, and a very special thanks to Paul and Emily for all of the effort they put in to see this event come to life! Even in these troubling times for the world, it’s amazing to see people be able to group together in communities such as Potterworld and celebrate each other's achievements. I hope everyone is able to stay safe and healthy, and a special congratulations to all of the graduating classes of 2020 from the Daily Diviner team! Thank you for reading, and farewell!

 

[The Daily Diviner]

What About the Prefects?
Editorial
Written by Melioraa
Edited by ShaneChi
​

Greetings witches and wizards, and welcome back to the Editorial Column for the Daily Diviner! I believe I speak for everyone when I say that we’ve seen many staff tags in chat. From performers to Arena Squires, there’s a variety of prefixes that our staff and team members have! One of those many titles is the Prefect tag, which comes in four different forms; Jr. Prefect, Prefect, Sr. Prefect, and Lead Prefect. But what exactly is a Prefect, and what do they do? In this month’s edition, I’ll be answering those questions and interviewing three members of the moderation team, Jr. Prefect Sophia_ZJZ, Sr. Prefect uwuTM, and Lead Prefect Serinades! With that out of the way, let’s get started!

For those who are unaware, a Prefect on our server is a member of the Community Management department, and is the main title for those who are a part of the moderation sub-department. Originally, Prefects were part of a totally different department, moderation, but in recent months, it has merged with CM. Fun fact; the Jr. Prefect position didn’t always exist! Earlier in our server’s history, staff members went straight to Prefect before the original role, Trainee, was introduced. Their main job includes moderating all public chats, answering tickets, and helping players with the many different aspects of the server. Prefects are always willing to answer any questions a player may have and is there as a friendly face people may go to if they need help. They also handle anyone breaking the rules, but it’s not their main priority! Members of the moderation team are a friendly face that you can go to in need of assistance and help keep a friendly environment for all.

As previously stated, I had the pleasure of interviewing three members of the Prefect team and asking them some questions. While being a Prefect may seem like a lot of work, it comes with its perks and fun moments. I asked our three interviewees what they like best about being a Prefect, and what advice they’d have for any future applicants!

What do you love most about being a Prefect and why?
Sophia: I probably love how much interaction I have with both the department and the community as a whole. This position has certainly helped me come closer to so many great people, which I am extremely thankful for.
Leyla: My favourite thing about being a Prefect is being able to provide and bring a positive environment in the community and helping others as I love the PW community as I have met so many amazing friends.
Erin: For me, it’s always been the helping aspect. It’s why I decided to apply for Prefect in the first place! I’ve always loved helping out others, (in fact it was a career choice that I considered pursuing in-real-life) so being able to do it on a server I love was a dream come true.

What’s a piece of advice you would give someone looking to join the Prefect team?
Sophia: One piece of advice I would give is to always remain positive. Some situations you run into might be tough, and as much as you might have the tendency to say something, you need to look at the bright side. Being mature is an extremely important part of being on the team, and this would definitely help you out!
Leyla: A piece of advice I have is to be your best self, we are a very welcoming community and are a diverse group. Just bringing positivity and helpfulness is a key stepping stone to joining the team.
Erin: If you are looking to join the Prefect team, my piece of advice for you is to not be afraid! I know we as staff can seem scary, but we are human just like you and have a sense of humour too haha!

In conclusion, Prefects of the moderation sub-department of Community Management work to bring a peaceful, accepting, and friendly community for all those who join. I’d like to take this time to thank Sophia, Leyla, and Erin for giving me the pleasure of interviewing them! Furthermore, I’d like to thank each and every member of the Moderation team, both past and present, for all the work they put into the server! If you’re interested in joining the Prefect team, applications are currently open and will remain so for the forseeable future! You can apply on our website under applications - Jr. Prefect. Thank you for reading the Editorial Column for this edition of the Daily Diviner. See you next time!

 

[The Daily Diviner]

Tournaments and their History
Games & Sports
Written by Melioraa
Edited by ShaneChi
​

Greetings witches and wizards, my name is Rani and welcome back to the Games & Sports Column of the Daily Diviner! With the release of Revelius, there’s been so many new additions to the server we all love to play, the most topical being the changes to magical items like wands and brooms. With the removal and change of how spells function and the changes to the brooms, it’s only a given that one of Potterworld’s most attended and well-known monthly events will change! In this edition, I’ll be bringing you a look at the history of the Dueling and Flying tournaments! We’ll be looking into what they are exactly, how they work, and even see the statistics of how many tournaments each house has won! With that out of the way, let’s get started!

Firstly, let’s talk about how the tournaments used to work. For those like me who didn’t really pay attention to them, I’ll explain the basics! Each month the Arena Masters from the Game Design department would hold qualifiers for both Flying and Dueling. The top three from each house in these qualifiers would move on to play at the tournaments, while the fourth, fifth and sixth would be the backup - just in case someone couldn’t make it! However, there weren’t always three backups, sometimes there was only one.

When the date for the tournament came around, this was where the two became different. For Flying, there were three heats. The position you came in the qualifiers would determine which heat you played in, so whoever came in first for Griffins in the qualifiers would be in the first heat. Whoever came first would win three points for their team, the second was two points, third was one point, and the fourth-placed student unfortunately got no points. Once the three heats had concluded, whichever house had the most points would be declared the winner. If it was a tie, a tiebreaker between the two houses would follow. Dueling, on the other hand, was a bit different. The qualifying members would be placed into a team and would fight the three other houses three times. Each win would grant them one point, and if they won two out of the three matches against a house they received an extra point. Like flying, the house with the most points would win! These tournaments used to be streamed on the PotterworldMC YouTube channel every month just before the weekly hangout. If you would like to see some, feel free to go and check them out!

The first Dueling tournament was back in 2016 on the 20th of March, while the first Flying Tournament was back on the 29th of April - meaning that Potterworld has hosted quite a lot! But how many did each house win before the newest changes? I’ll bring you that information!

For Dueling, Serpents and Ravens won thirteen tournaments out of a total of thirty-nine hosted, Honeybadgers won nine and Griffins won five.
On the other hand for Flying, Serpents won thirteen tournaments out of thirty-three, Honeybadgers won ten, Griffins won six and Ravens won four. So as we can see, it’s not just one house winning all the time but instead a range over time.

With the release of Revelius, changes not only to the dueling and broom systems will affect how the tournaments work and proceed from here on out. We took one final look at the tournaments that have been with us since 2016 and today, we say our final goodbyes. I hope everyone enjoyed reading back on a part of the history of our server, and I encourage you to get involved with tournaments if you enjoy Dueling or Flying! Stay safe everyone, and I wish you the best as you enter this new chapter of the server with us!

 

[The Daily Diviner]

The New Team of the Arena
Games & Sports
Written by AndreuShock
Edited by ShaneChi
​

Hello witches and wizards, and welcome to the second Games & Sports article of the 15th edition of the Daily Diviner! Across Potterworld, some of the most popular activities to practice daily include dueling and flying. Attending challenges, classes and tournaments can give you the opportunity to enhance your skills in these sports with multiple methods. On that note, the position of Arena Squire, a dueling and flying focused position, is the newest entry rank in Game Design! However, some still may be curious about how this role functions and some responsibilities that Arena Squires hold. Allow me to introduce kryiinq (Krynos_Alzarin) and LittleI (Little_Alzarin)! Both of them joined me today to give us some information about the Arena team.

What are some of the responsibilities of an Arena Squire?

Krynos:
Arena Squires typically help with challenges throughout the month as well as tournaments. Most of our work is helping Professors who are hosting dueling and flying challenges since tournaments don’t occur very frequently. We help them keep track of who wins tournaments and who places in what position. With this information, we can ensure that people get the appropriate rewards.

Little:
My responsibilities as an Arena Squire include helping in tournaments and challenges that happen throughout the month. We also help track the winners so as to make sure that everyone gets the rewards they are obliged.

What is your favorite part about being an Arena Squire?

Krynos:
That is actually a tough question, since I like being an Arena Squire for many reasons. I felt as if the role was meant for me when the application was released. I love being able to watch students duel and fly as well as help Arena Masters with challenges. It's a great experience and I have met lots of wonderful people.

Little:
My favorite part about being an Arena Squire would have to be working with the other Arena Masters and Squires. A close second would be helping in challenges and tournaments that I would personally love participating in as a student.

Do you have any words of advice for future Arena Squire applicants?

Krynos:
Since you'll be working with tournaments, it would be good if you have attended both flying and dueling tournaments before applying. You’ll be able to get a feel on how tournaments work and understand what procedures to take with different scenarios as an Arena Squire. It is a great team and I would definitely recommend that students apply for it!

Little:
I still have no idea how I got accepted. However, my advice for future Arena Squire applicants would be to write the answers of the application questions with a decent amount of detail. Also, make sure you attend several flying and dueling challenges before applying. The Arena Team is a really fun sub-department to work in. To any applicants, I can't wait to hopefully see you on the team!

Thank you to the both of them for their cooperation in taking the time to answer our questions. It seems as if the interviewees particularly love to watch students work through challenges amongst their many duties, including keeping track of rewards and helping out Arena Masters. If you are interested in helping to tend the arena and you meet the requirements, I encourage you to apply for Arena Squire! Following the advice that the Arena Squires gave, such as being active in the competitive scene and being detailed in your application, might help get you accepted! I am personally excited to see the work the team does to make tournaments and challenges unique and enjoyable. This has been Andreu with another edition of the Daily Diviner. Stay safe everyone!

 

[The Daily Diviner]

At Home Hair Tips With Spells: What You Should and Shouldn’t Do
Lifestyle
Written by MamaDuckie
Edited by ShaneChi
​

As some may remember, in Issue #11 I covered common spells that could be used in household chores. Today I will be covering common spells that could be used for at-home styling and care - making it cheaper for the average witch or wizard to get a new look! Take note that all of these should be only attempted with caution - or possibly not at all! No one knows what could possibly come from attempting these hair care and styling techniques at home, so having a professional do them instead is far better. With that being said, let us delve into the trials and errors of these common spells being used in hair care and styling at home techniques!

The very first spell I tried was Divindo, a well known cutting spell. Quite obviously, I tried to cut my hair using this charm. While it in fact did cut the hair, I may have cut off just a little too much, though I can’t say for sure if that was a backfire of the spell or a fault of my own. However, I am digging my new bob cut! Needless to say it does actually work, but I highly suggest proceeding with great caution and not putting as much force into the spell: on top of cutting my hair, I also severed my curtains.

After the hair cutting fiasco, I moved on to coloring it. This was an adventure in and of itself as the charm I tested is not meant for human hair. In fact, it is meant for dying sheep wool! Despite this, I tried anyway. Unfortunately, I think I tried just a little too hard as, since this attempt, my hair seems to be in an endless loop of changing to every color of the rainbow and I’ve yet to figure out how to stop it. Although, I can say that it did successfully change the colour of my hair, even if it won’t stop changing. Success with a drawback. An interesting drawback...

Engorgimus was another spell that I attempted to use, this time it was an attempt at giving my hair more volume as the new bob cut sat kind of flat on my head. While the spell works great for increasing the size of magical beasts, it does not work as well on hair by itself. I gave several attempts at using the spell to increase the volume of my hair, but in the end I did nothing except increase the amount of frizz that I had, which was far from being my intention. I call this experiment a failure - unless you want frizzy hair.

Now, for these next spells one might think I’m crazy, however, I did attempt to use both Mollio and Orchiflora for styling purposes. With Mollio, I transfigured an empty box into a giant block of slime, that I then tried to use as a hair gel. For Orchiflora, I picked the flowers and then incorporated them into my hair with pins for decoration. Both spells were failures in their own ways. The slime from the Mollio charm did not work in the slightest. Instead of holding the curls in my hair, it simply made it look wet and slimy and, moreover, it got everywhere! The flowers, while they looked nice, attracted far too many bees and they got stuck in the slime.

In order to remove both the slime and in-turn the flowers from my hair, I tried using Aquamento while standing outside so that I didn’t clog my shower drain with slime and flower bits. It worked fairly well, though I was entirely soaked by the end of washing them out. I then followed it up by casting Ventimus on my wet hair to dry it. Though the small bob cut then ended up becoming a poofy mess, at least it was clean and dry.

All in all, I did manage to change my hair up which is the reason I tried all of these techniques in the first place. I’ve slowly grown fond of my new short do and the ever-changing rainbow color loop my hair is in, although it is keeping me from setting foot in the unmagical world until I can sort it. Still, I achieved my goal in one way or another and clearly I saved money doing so since it was all at home DIY hair styling and care. If you’re careful, I see almost nothing wrong with trying out the ones that worked yourselves if you take caution. With all these amazing discoveries, I think next time I can give home decoration with spells a shot!

 

[The Daily Diviner]

Misunderstood Mishaps
Original Works
Written by Silquer
Edited by ShaneChi
​

Lily Allen, a fourth year Honeybadger, sat in the History of Magic classroom listening to one of Mr. Wiggenwald’s infamously dull lessons. It was the last class before her mid-afternoon break, and that fact alone made it unbearable to sit through.

However, today was going to be different. She was going to add something interesting to the old teacher’s lesson.

Just as that thought crossed her mind, the classroom door opened, and a boy stepped into the room shyly.
Mr. Wiggenwald looked up from the textbook he was reading. “Ah, Mr. Lewis, welcome.”

Lily frowned at the boy as he walked to the front desk. She vaguely remembered him as Glen Lewis, a third year who just missed the age cutoff for Lily’s class. Well, it didn’t matter who he was, as long as he didn’t interrupt her plan.

As the professor spoke to Glen, Lily drew her wand from her pocket and whispered a spell. A ball of water appeared in the air, and she carefully directed it around the desks and chairs.

A few students gasped or giggled at the sight, but no one said a word, even as the sphere slid up behind the unsuspecting Glen. It slowly moved around him and in front of Wiggenwald until it hovered between the two of them. Almost there…

She heard Glen gasp and saw him try to steer the water away.

“What in the world are you doing?” Wiggenwald asked in surprise. Before Glen could thwart her joke, Lily, with a flick of her wand, splashed the water in the professor’s face.

No one breathed for a tense moment, the entire room watching as water dripped down Wiggenwald’s face and robes. “Outside. Now,” he said to Glen, who had no choice but to follow the professor out the door.

As soon as the wooden door closed, the entire class broke out into laughter. Everyone, except Lily.

What had she done?

-----

Not long after Wiggenwald left, Lily stepped into the hallway with her classmates and glanced around at the assorted crowd. A group of Ravens over there, a lone Honeybadger here, a cluster of Griffins talking and laughing loudly not far down the hall, and a professor lecturing a student amidst the chaos.

Lily stood by the door nonchalantly, catching a snippet of Wiggenwald’s scolding.

“... learned wandless magic, but it is not a talent to use for crude and poorly-timed jokes.”
Lily scowled. Her jokes weren’t crude.

“But sir…”

“If you insist on denying it, I’m going to have to send you to the Headmaster’s office.”

Lily didn’t wait to hear more; she had to act fast. She slipped back into the classroom and began looking for any clue that pointed the joke to her.

As she scoured the room, Lily cursed her thoroughness. There was absolutely no hint that the spell came from her. There had to be something…

Oh, of course! Lily sighed in relief. She already had all the evidence she needed. When she left the classroom, her eyes did a double take. Glen was gone, presumably to the Headmaster’s office, and Mr. Wiggenwald was already walking back to his classroom.

-----

A considerable amount of time later, Lily found herself in front of Droobledore’s office. Steadying her breath, Lily pushed the door open.

The office was massive, filled to the brim with trinkets. Standing at the head of the office was Glen, already speaking to the Headmaster.

“... and that’s what happened, sir, but there’s been a misunderstanding.”

“Oh?”

“I’m not sure who did it, but it wasn’t me, sir.”

Lily spoke up before the situation could escalate. “It was me.” Both pairs of eyes landed on her. “I used a fourth year spell, Aquamento.” She nodded to Glen. “He’s only a third year.”

Droobledore smiled. “I suppose that clears that up quickly, yes? You’re free to leave.” Glen sighed in obvious relief and walked to the door.

Lily waited in silence for him to leave, holding her breath. As soon as the door closed with a soft “click”, Droobledore spoke.

“No need to be tense, Miss Lily. I never intended to punish anyone. In fact, I found it rather funny.”
Lily’s mouth fell open. “What?”

The Headmaster’s eyes glittered in good humor. “As long as it’s harmless, it shouldn’t be a problem.” He winked at her, and she took it as permission to leave. He probably had better things to do than lecture students, anyway.
When she opened the office door, she was greeted by an anxious Glen waiting for her.

He looked up. “Are you okay?”

Lily smiled. “Yep. No punishment.”

Glen visibly relaxed. “Oh, good.”

They began walking down the steps in silence, before Lily finally spoke. “I’m sorry for getting you into trouble like that.”

Glen shook his head. “It’s fine. Honestly, I’m kind of jealous.” Lily looked at him in surprise. “I’ve never been confident enough to pull jokes like that.” They reached the bottom of the staircase. “Also, it was kind of funny.”
Lily smiled proudly and stuck out her hand. “Friends?”

“Friends,” he said, taking her hand.

As they went to their separate classes, Lily skipped down the hall. Maybe she would pull a joke again tomorrow.

 

[The Daily Diviner]

Estranged
Original Works
Written by kvmw
Edited by ShaneChi
​

Dusting the ashes off her jeans as she stepped out of her grandparent’s fireplace and into their living room, Rachel Huang already felt uncomfortable. The living room in her home back in England had been cozy—containing large, plush white couches that sat on a patterned rug, with the coffee table in the center often full of cookies and drinks. Her parents would frequently sit there as she played the grand piano that sat in the corner of her living room, while a large fire often roared in the fireplace.

Her grandparent’s living room was different, however—sparsely decorated, with elegant geometric designs decorating the backs of the short sofas. A low table sat in the center of the room, where a tea set and a single flower sat. The floor was cold stone under her feet, her shoes sitting near the fireplace as her aunt bent down to lay sandals near her feet. Muttering a “thank you”—it was one of the few words in Chinese Rachel knew how to speak—she stepped back as the last of her family members strode out of the fireplace.

A cacophony of sound erupted from the living room as Rachel’s father stepped through the fireplace. His parents and siblings rushed forward to hug him, spilling compliments and greetings in a flurry of words that Rachel could not understand. Her mother, also Chinese, smiled indulgently by the side as she held Rachel’s younger brother in her arms. Rachel, on the other hand, stood glumly by the side as her cousins swarmed into the room to greet their uncle with a politeness that shocked Rachel.

Once the greetings were over, they all sat around the low table in the living room. Rachel’s mother and her younger brother sat next to her, squished between the many relatives that tried to fit onto the seats. Her father sat between his parents, clearly looking happy as a cup of hot tea glided to him. Rachel was also offered one but shook her head. “I don’t like tea.”

Everyone stared at her in puzzlement, other than her direct family. Her father shot her a glance, telling her to take the cup without complaining. Internally grumbling, she took the cup and gave her aunt a large, fake smile while pretending to sip the drink. Almost immediately, she moved the cup away from her lips and winced. The tea was hot.

Her relatives all giggled—they had been watching her with interest, and her reaction had clearly amused them. Flushing, she stood up and stalked out of the room.

;​

The following week of their stay was not much better. Rachel and her cousins shared almost nothing alike—not in language, not in interests, not in hobbies. True, she played the piano like many of her cousins, but the embarrassment of being a great deal worse than all of them—even the seven-year-old—drove her away from them. Even in magic, they could not connect. Their education had been so different that she found it difficult to even talk to them on the subject.

Rachel rarely came downstairs, spending the rest of her time cooped up in her room, plowing through books after books relating to the next term’s courses. She had N.E.W.T classes, and it was important that she did well. She learned about non-verbal spells, the recipe for making Hiccoughing Solution, and a Water-Making spell. Though reading wasn’t her favorite thing, she found comfort in the books—whenever she left the sanctuary of her room, she would be greeted and talked to in a language she didn’t understand. All she could do was nod and smile and pretend to understand what she was being told.

But she understood books. She understood the language in them, and didn’t feel so alone with them. Only a few days had passed when Rachel began to only come down for mealtimes. So when her mother appeared at her door, she knew that she was in trouble.

“What?”

Despite her passive-aggressive tone, her mother merely smiled at her and sat down on the bed. Rachel hated that bed—a netting around the bed was supposed to prevent mosquitoes from getting in, but they always managed to do so, leaving her arms itchy. And it wasn’t even a good bed.

“You’re not very happy here.”

Rachel wanted to scream “No duh!” but she kept her silence, staring at her textbook.

“What’s wrong, Rachel? I’m your mother—you can tell me anything.” Feeling her throat choke up, she began to spill. The language barrier she felt between her parents, the discomfort with the unusual foods, the self-doubt she felt at seeing her cousin’s accomplishments. It poured from her, and once she was done, her mother leaned over to give her a hug.

“What you feel is normal, Rachel. When I came to England, I felt the exact same way.”

She sniffed and buried her face in the crook of her mother’s neck. “I hate it. I don’t want to be here. I want to go back home.”

“We can’t, Rachel. Your father hasn’t been here in years—this was where he grew up, you know. If you can’t do it for yourself, do it for him.”

Using a finger to lift Rachel’s face up, her mother smiled at her. “How about this. There’s more to Beijing than this house—how about I take you out, go sightseeing a little? How does that sound?”

And for the first time since she had arrived, Rachel smiled.