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Li Feng had no shortage of ways to snuff out the locket. The pseudo-angel feather could burn it to ash. The Key of Solomon brimmed with exorcisms—rituals to drive out parasitic spirits while sparing the host. In theory, Voldemort's Horcrux was little more than a parasite riding cold metal.
The problem was theory. Voldemort wasn't a demon. He was still human—what was left of one. Would those spells hold? And if they failed, or worse, if the fragment slipped free, what then? Handing Dumbledore an empty locket would be worth less than the tin it was forged from.
He pinched his nose, scowling. "Method one: the Sword of Gryffindor. Cuts the locket clean."
Kreacher's face twisted. Everyone knew that sword. Everyone knew it was missing. "Even if you found it, master," the elf rasped, "others would fight you for it. Blood would flow before the blade ever touched the locket."
"Method two?" Kreacher asked warily.
Li Feng scratched his jaw. "The basilisk. Snake that kills with a glance."
Kreacher blinked, then muttered, "A rooster's egg, hatched under a toad. A monster of legend."
Li Feng grinned. "Exactly. Though I'd like to meet the rooster pulling double duty—laying eggs and crowing at dawn. Must be one hell of a retirement hobby."
The elf's eyes bulged. If not for the Ministry's ban on house-elves striking wizards, he'd have caved this lunatic's skull in just to see if it was stuffed with dung. "And if the beast is blinded?"
Li Feng slid back under his blanket. "Unless you gouge its eyes first, forget it. I'm not suicidal enough to duel a basilisk."
Kreacher leaned forward, voice taut. "If the basilisk were blinded—would you help me destroy it?"
Li Feng studied him, amused. "You'd throw your life away for this?"
The elf's bloodshot eyes gleamed with pride. "My greatest wish is to end as my mother did—head severed, mounted on the Black family wall."
Li Feng blinked. Was that a vow or a death wish? Still, the loyalty impressed him. Regulus had been dead decades, yet Kreacher clung to his command like gospel. What would Sirius say if he knew? Maybe Li Feng did need a servant that loyal.
In truth, the simple option was patience. The basilisk would surface soon enough; Harry Potter's "story" demanded it. With his protagonist's halo, the boy would turn snake soup out of anything with scales.
Still, Li Feng shuddered. Centuries-old monster meat? He didn't want to think about the parasites crawling through it.
He exhaled. "You gave me the Quill, I gave you two ways. Fair trade. Don't expect me to risk my neck."
Kreacher muttered, "You ask me to buy a sword or a basilisk. Where?"
"That's for you to figure out." Li Feng shrugged. "Or change the deal. If by Hogwarts' summer break the locket's still around, you serve me instead."
"Never," Kreacher snapped. "I serve the House of Black."
Li Feng had expected it, but still felt the sting. "Not even if Sirius says so? He can't stand you. Might hand you over just to be rid of you."
Kreacher faltered. Sirius' disgust was no secret. Torn between Regulus' command and Sirius' authority, he wavered. At last he muttered, "I will ask Sirius. Keep your word."
He tried to Disapparate—only to rebound, eyes wide. "Impossible. Even Hogwarts cannot bar elf magic. How does the Leaky Cauldron—?"
Li Feng chuckled. "You're not in the Leaky Cauldron. This is Mirror Space. You leave when I say." He opened a portal with a flick. "Try now."
Kreacher vanished with a crack—then reappeared moments later, smug. "Sirius says: 'Get lost.' His words, not mine."
He mimicked his master's sneer. "House-elves are marks of nobility. You're a penniless stray. Think you can buy honor with a stolen trinket?"
"This isn't a trinket," Li Feng cut in coldly. He tapped the scroll-wrapped bundle at his side. "It's a Horcrux. If Sirius doesn't know the word, explain it. The Black line knows enough lore to understand."
Kreacher froze. He'd known it was Voldemort's, but not what it truly was.
"And remember," Li Feng continued, voice like steel, "Sirius and I had a deal. Anything from that vault was mine. The locket was payment for breaking him out of Azkaban. Mine. Not stolen."
His smile was sharp as glass. "The deal was I'd destroy it come summer. If you want it sooner—raise the price. Because plenty of others will."
Kreacher stiffened, horror dawning. "You mean to bargain with the Dark Lord?"
Li Feng smirked. "Why not?"
The elf's head throbbed, Regulus' dying command pounding in his skull. Kreacher slumped, then vanished again—this time to warn Sirius. And to tell him the truth: the locket wasn't just a relic. It was a Horcrux.
Kreacher reappeared in Li Feng's rented room, hunched like a criminal dragged before judgment. He wasn't alone. Sirius Black stood at the front, fury carved into his face, with Remus Lupin just behind—wand already trained on Li Feng.
The message was clear: they knew about the Horcrux.
Li Feng smirked faintly. Good. Saves me the trouble of explaining.
He snapped his fingers, sealing the tavern room inside his Mirror Dimension. If things got ugly, it would be his battleground, not theirs.
Kreacher bowed low with oily subservience. "Master, this wizard is the one who trapped me before. That is why I could not Apparate."
Sirius shoved the elf aside, eyes burning. "What do you want?"
Li Feng leaned back lazily. "A Time-Turner. And the research behind it."
Sirius barked a bitter laugh. "Time-Turners? The Ministry has vaults of them, but no one understands how they work. Trinkets, not mastery. And you think you will?"
Li Feng's smile didn't falter. "And lessons. Magic. From the ground up."
That gave Sirius pause. From the ground up? He never even went to school. No wonder his power felt thin.
Lupin studied Li Feng carefully. "I can teach you fundamentals. But you'll tell us where you come from."
Li Feng cocked his head. "And you are?"
"Remus John Lupin. Call me Lupin."
The name clicked. The werewolf professor. His reputation for teaching was solid. But maybe I can get more out of him.
Li Feng drew out his wooden box, cracked it open, and let the pale gleam of the pseudo-angel feather spill into the air. "I'll sweeten the deal. Help suppress your lycanthropy—maybe even strip it out—in exchange for lessons."
Lupin's wand trembled. The feather's aura steadied his thoughts, soothed his blood. And yet deep inside, the wolf in him recoiled, terrified.
Li Feng slid a grimoire onto the bed, tapping a page. "Inscribe these incantations into your body. Even under a full moon, you'll never transform. You'll be weakened, but not a monster."
Lupin scanned the page, then closed it with quiet finality. "I don't know how you uncovered my secret, but I won't trade the locket for this. Killing Voldemort would bring me more peace than curing myself."
"Remus—" Sirius began.
But Lupin cut him off. Calm, steady. "The locket, or your origin. Nothing else will satisfy. And if you won't yield, we'll take it."
Li Feng's eye twitched. I just want lessons, and these lunatics act like it's Armageddon.
After a beat, he exhaled. "Fine. The locket, in exchange for a Time-Turner, lessons… and Kreacher."
The elf choked, but Sirius and Lupin only exchanged a glance and nodded. Compared to a Horcrux, Kreacher was nothing.
"As for my origin…" Li Feng tilted his head, lips quirking. "Parallel universes. You understand those?"
Their blank stares said it all. He gave them the simplified version.
Lupin snorted. "So. You're from another world. Could've just said that."
Sirius' eyes widened. "That's why none of your magic looks familiar. You're an alien. Your kind doesn't even need wands."
Li Feng sighed. Alien. Fine. Call me that.
Sirius leaned forward, still bristling. "If you've never been here before, how'd you know I was in Azkaban?"
Before Li Feng could reply, Lupin murmured, "Time."
Sirius frowned. "What time?"
"The first thing he demanded was a Time-Turner," Lupin said slowly. His gaze locked on Li Feng. "You use time magic."
Li Feng let a faint smile play at his lips. "Fragments. Glimpses of past and future. My reserves aren't strong enough for more."
It was the perfect cover—explaining what he "shouldn't know" without giving anything away.
Sirius' eyes went blood-red with fury. "You said you knew where Pettigrew was. You weren't lying."
Li Feng spread his hands. "Of course not."
"Where. Is. He?" Sirius trembled with rage. Even Lupin's calm was cracking, desperation burning in his eyes.
Li Feng opened his mouth. "I want—"
"Deal!" Sirius roared, cutting him off.
Li Feng blinked. I didn't even name my price yet.
Lupin dragged Sirius back with a scowl. "What do you want for the information?"
Li Feng's grin turned razor-sharp. "Knowledge. All of it. I want your magic and our books."
Sirius hesitated, then nodded. "You can copy them but the originals stay with me. They're for Harry."
Li Feng's grin widened. "Deal."
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