"That kind of potion isn't recorded in the Restricted Section, Professor."
Louis chuckled. "It should be considered a family secret passed down through generations. The ingredients are extremely rare—only three doses can be made in this world."
"Passed down through generations? Only three doses?" Snape was deeply disappointed, but still unwilling to give up. He asked, "Then how long does one dose last?"
"How long does it last?" Louis revealed a strange smile. "There is no duration. It's permanent."
"Per—permanent?" Snape's eyes widened, almost shouting. "But…"
But then why did Harry turn back from Harlie into Harry?
"That potion allows someone to permanently obtain tremendous power. Harry right now is very strong…" Louis deliberately looked at Snape with puzzlement. "Professor, why are you so worked up?"
Snape choked, his expression darkening.
Because he had assumed that what Louis meant by "permanent" was only the enhancement effect.
[You used a blend of truth and falsehood to deceive an adult wizard who was anxious and pressed for answers.]
[The effect was remarkable.]
[You gained Deception Points: 1000 points]
[Current Deception Points: 137,800 points]
Mm. Exploiting someone's anxiety and sharp thinking to feed them misleading information and achieve deception.
Louis silently noted this as a specialized technique aimed at clever people. Ordinary people would patiently listen to the whole explanation instead of filling in the blanks themselves.
"Although the potion's effect is extremely powerful, its side effects are also obvious—just like what you saw that day, Professor. It causes a sex change."
Louis had no intention of teasing Snape for too long and said casually, "At first, there were no obvious changes. But later, because Harry's magic surged, he subconsciously used the spell Aguamenti."
"And then he suddenly changed."
Aguamenti?
Snape immediately caught onto the key point.
"That's basically it." Louis smiled at Snape. "Professor, you can keep looking. Maybe you'll find some similar potions. You'd like to strengthen yourself too, wouldn't you?"
"Absolutely not—this is purely academic research!" Snape denied it at once.
Louis was only joking. He didn't actually believe Snape was interested purely in academic research.
Wasn't it just because he wanted to see Harlie? Louis could understand that.
He'd practically shoved the answer into Snape's mouth already. If he still didn't get it, that was beyond Louis's concern.
…
Harry or Harlie, and Snape's little schemes, were nothing more than daily embellishments. Louis had always been clear about his goals.
He had already learned the Fiendfyre Curse. According to his plan, it was time to begin attempting to devour Fiendfyre.
This time, Louis did not choose the Room of Requirement as the location. That place was saturated with magic—a wondrous room constructed with magical assistance. Casting Fiendfyre there would be like lighting a fire at a gas station.
Louis was still unsure of his level of control over Fiendfyre. Moreover, many accidents could occur during the process of devouring it. He would never do something so uncertain.
No form of divination would help with this either, because prophecy only shows different possibilities—and using Fiendfyre in the Room of Requirement would definitely include a possibility where Fiendfyre devoured the Room of Requirement itself.
So prophecy isn't omnipotent either, at least not all the time.
The Chamber wouldn't work either. That place was constantly under Dumbledore's watch—any disturbance at all would alert him immediately.
Louis had no intention of being blocked by Dumbledore halfway through devouring Fiendfyre.
That would mean either surrendering helplessly for the sake of Fate Points, or giving up a massive amount of future Fate Points just to blow Dumbledore apart.
Neither option had any upside.
So Louis needed to find a remote place—somewhere he could release Fiendfyre freely, and where there was enough fuel to let it grow stronger.
Louis knew of a location that was perfect, but what left him somewhat helpless was that he didn't know its exact whereabouts.
It was the gigantic sea cavern where Voldemort had hidden one of his Horcruxes—the Slytherin locket.
Of course, there was no Horcrux there anymore. It had already been taken away by the loyal house-elf of the Black family, Kreacher.
That place was remote enough that no one could possibly stumble upon it; otherwise, Voldemort would never have felt safe leaving a Horcrux there.
And yet he was stabbed in the back by a trusted subordinate, who stole the Slytherin locket outright and even left behind a fake with mocking words, clearly intending to test Voldemort's blood pressure.
The result was a lack of prior communication that ended up harming allies—eventually leading to Dumbledore's death.
Which inevitably brought up one man: Regulus Black—Death Eater, and one of Voldemort's most trusted followers.
When Voldemort set up that sea cavern, he had borrowed the Black family's house-elf, Kreacher. That made Regulus the only wizard who could possibly have had direct contact with that place.
This brave man ordered the house-elf to take him to the cavern. But because he was poorly prepared, he could only open the entrance with his own blood and drink the potion that inflicted unbearable pain—doing all of this solely so that Kreacher, the only one capable of leaving the place alone, could take the Horcrux away.
If not for Regulus's well-intentioned but disastrous actions, Dumbledore's death would not have seemed so abrupt and powerless.
But if Regulus had never existed, Dumbledore likely wouldn't have had any chance of finding clues about that place at all.
In the end, one became an undead Inferius, while the other was weakened by the potion and seized upon and killed.
The former had already happened; the latter was still a matter of the future.
Besides, remoteness was only one of the reasons Louis wanted to go there to devour Fiendfyre. The more important reason was that the place contained a massive number of Inferi. With them as fuel, Fiendfyre could expand to an even greater level of power.
If he was going to eat, he might as well eat until he was full. Louis had no interest in hunting for Fiendfyre three times a day—if he was going to play, he'd play big.
All that remained was to find the place.
Louis didn't know where it was—but someone did.
No, not someone. A house-elf.
The very same Black family house-elf who had been forced to abandon his master and leave with the Horcrux—Kreacher.
All he needed to do was find him.
Once he made his decision, Louis released a substitute to attend class in his place, while he himself left Hogwarts directly using phoenix-flame translocation magic.
Number 12, Grimmauld Place.
Louis arrived there quickly. To avoid any accidents, he transformed himself into an ordinary-looking middle-aged man.
Grimmauld Place itself wasn't difficult to find. What was difficult was locating Number Twelve, hidden among the others.
Of course, that difficulty only applied to Muggles. Although Louis was overflowing with magic and likely unstoppable by anyone, he was still classified as a Muggle and could only perceive the location of the Black family's ancestral home through spiritual perception.
He walked straight toward it and came upon a dilapidated old door.
---
RedX43's Note:
➤ Want More? Read Extra Chapters on Patreon!
➤ [email protected]/RedX43
➤ Thanks for the support! 🙌