38 Working
This was the exact reason why he had spent so many arduous days in the Room of Requirements, he under no circumstances wanted to be in Erasmus' shoes. Just the thought of something like that happening to his mother made his blood boil.
Because Lucas was in deep thought, he didn't notice how Erasmus reacted to his mere thoughts and subconscious release of magic. His body jolted every few seconds, desperately trying to free itself from his hold and his bloodshot eyes looked like they were about to explode. His heart was racig and his jaw bit down painfully.
When Lucas focused back on his client he could feel the tremors shaking his mind and the air reeking from the tension.
"What kind of weapon do you need, Erasmus Thorne?"
With one sentence Erasmus felt all the hatred and pain vanishing into thin air and a pleasent, almost addictive form of bliss overtaking him.
It took a few deep breaths for him to get his wits back together, the surprise that the veiled figure knew his name didn't help either, but at this point he didn't care anymore. He would make a pact with the devil if it meant he got his revenge. After all he had nothing to loose anymore.
Still unable to do anything, Lucas instead watched as a sword manifested in his mind.
"A sword might be too conspicuous."
"…"
"A gun? Really? Come on Erasmus, a little more creativity!"
"…"
"Now we're talking."
What appeared was hard to put into words, because it didn't really have a physical form. Instead it represented more a concept than a weapon.
Pandora's Box.
Lucas, intrigued by the choice, couldn't help but appreciate the symbolism behind Erasmus' request. The concept of Pandora's Box as a weapon was both creative and fitting for the depth of suffering he had endured.
"Pandora's Box it is," Lucas declared. The invisible chains that bound Erasmus released their grip, and the wizard stumbled backward, finally free from the immobilizing effect.
'And I already have an idea how to do it.'
Erasmus watched as the veiled figure shortly looked at the house elf, who disapparated them both somewhere.
"WAIT!" he screamed, but he was too late, they were already gone. A little defeated and overwhelmed by the rollercoaster of emotions he just went through, he sat down and worked through everything that had happened.
----
Lucas appeared in his bedroom and hastily dug out a box containing six wands from a hidden compartment in the floor. They were the wands he had collected from the people he had killed on his first visit to Knockturn Alley.
He took out one of them.
Originally he wanted to test a few things with them, like how the ministry reacts to a spell being fired on the muggle side of London. But that could wait for later.
If he wanted to mimic Pandora's Box than he would have to make sure that whatever his creation was, would be strong enough to match its name. Unfortunately he didn't see himself being good enough of an enchanter or powerful enough to do it on his own that's why he wanted to engineer a wand into a power source for the actual weapon.
The moment he let his magic flow through the wand he felt resistance, not a lot, but some and a quiet roar of a dragon accompanying it. 'Not good enough.'
Lucas took out another and did the same thing, this time it felt like he was trying to pump water through a clogged pipe and the neigh of a unicorn threatened to turn him deaf. 'Definetely not.'
The third one felt good and he decided to use that one. It amplified his magic, not as much as his own wand, not by a long shot, but it would do. He could work with this one.
Lucas, holding the chosen wand, began the meticulous process of refining and amplifying its magical properties, mostly by trial and error. The room crackled with energy as he infused his own will onto the wand's. He might have had to rebuild his room a few times in the process.
But as Lucas kept infusing the wand with controlled bursts of his own magic, he could feel the inherent resistance to enchantments of all wands giving way, something he as well just found out. Wands resist enchantments.
The subtle hum of power emanating everytime he successfully did so was ecstatic though.
Hours passed as Lucas meticulously wove the enchantment, layer upon layer, until he felt the magical tapestry reach a climax. He feared any more would bring the wand over the tipping point and cause it to explode, possibly killing him in the process. If he was in the muggle world he would definitely land on a list of top 10 OSHA-violations whith his current working conditions.
Satisfied with the result, Lucas set the wand aside. The next step was to craft and enchant the container that would work as the trigger. Once the right moment arrived Erasmus only needed to start the applied enchantment on the box, which would try to layer another enchantment on the wand, bringing it over the tipping point and releasing its pre-enchanted magic.
Just to be on the safe side he implemented a five second delay for Erasmus to apparate away, he had seen in his mind that he was able to do so.
Satisfied with his work and a little disappointed that he wouldn't be able to see the results of his work in its full glory, he called for Pippin to bring him back to the cart.
Pippin, appearing with a pop at Lucas's summon, looked up at him. "Pippin is ready to take you back, sir. Did everything go well?"
Lucas nodded with a smile. "It went splendid. Now, take me back to Diagon Alley."
*pop*
With another apparition, Lucas found himself back in the streets of magical London, by now it had turned dark and the alley was lit by enchanted lamps.
Erasmus Thorne, still seated nearby, remained oblivious his thoughts were too consumed by the promise of vengeance to notice them. Only once Lucas had walked in front of him did he return from his daydream. His eyes, clouded with a mixture of anticipation and despair, met his.
Lucas spoke with a serious voice. "Erasmus Thorne, your request has been fulfilled. The weapon you seek is ready. Handle it with caution, you only have five seconds to get as far away as possible once you activate it. I suggest you apparate. Just infuce your magic into it to start it."
Erasmus nodded solemnly, the weight of the impending revenge sinking in. He reached for the intricately and beautifully crafted box, feeling the magical energy in his fingertips. The concept of Pandora's Box, now a tangible reality in his hands.
"Thank you," he murmured, his voice a mix of gratitude and determination. The promise of justice and retribution lingered in the air as Erasmus clutched the box tightly. He quickly hid it in his robes and brought out a pouch containing the last few galleons he had. "I know it might not be enough, but it's all I have left."
Lucas took the money and gauged that there were around 50 galleons inside. Not a lot compared to the worth of the weapon he had created, but the moment he had seen the concept of pandora's box inside of his mind, he wondered more whether he could make it, instead of how much money he could get from it. Additionally he didn't want to be connected to it.
It didn't matter how much publicity he would get from it. If everyone knew that his shop created it, he would be relentlessly hunted by everyone. "It's fine as long as you promise me to forget my shop."
Erasmus swallowed hard and asked. "What do you mean?"
"It will take just a moment."
Lucas forcefully tweaked his memory, removing any trace that could lead to him or his shop.
----
Back at home in the evening.
There was something else Lucas had decided to do. The statues he had made weren't his best idea and he had come up with another, better one. The problem with them was that he basically kept the person as it is, which had had its side effects. That's why he was currently in his mind, inside his library.
He went down one floor to the room filled with statues, where he approached the first one, a woman, after shortly thinking about how to best proceed from here. He put his hand on top of her head and closed his eyes, concentrating deeply. The whole life of the person flashed before his eyes, as he gathered everything that made her, her.
Once he was done the woman's statue crumbled to the ground and he had a swirling mess of information in his hand. He had already killed her remaining personality and emotions back in the Basilisk attack, an oversight that had come out of his recklessness.
Firstly, he separated her academic knowledge and other facts she had learned throughout her life, which made up most of the glowing ball, from the rest and sent it into a new clean room made out of marble.
Secondly, was her professional and personal information. It consisted of formalities, traditions, and habits and was placed in a normal wooden room. This wasn't that important to Lucas.
Thirdly, her memory. All the names and faces of people she had met over the years, as well as all knowledge of the places she had visited or learned about was transported into a new room, one with seemingly no walls, only a glowing blank sphere.
Lastly, her language skill was extracted and sent to a new room. Unfortunately the only language she spoke was english.
Done with the first one, he began the long and exhausting work of breaking everyone down into these 4 concepts. By his calculations it would take a while, maybe even the whole summer if he doesn't use both of his foci at full capacity, which he didn't plan to do in the first place. What kind of summer would it be if he was holed up inside his room all the time.
----
It was a few days later and Pippin received a call to apparate to the cart for their second customer. This time the shop was located at the edge of Knuckturn Alley, where you would be able to see it from Diagon Alley.
*pop*
"What can this one do for you, sir?" Pippin said his practiced greetings.
"Ehhhh!" The young wizard, whose name was Adrian, yelled at the sudden appearance of the house elf. He hastily looked around if anyone had heard his scream. When he found no one he sighed out of relief.
In the meantime Pippin examined the robed wizard, who looked fairly young, somewhere in his late teens. He wore normal black robes without any fancy ornaments, even though Adrian Burke was a pure-blooded wizard from one of the sacred twenty eight.
He recently graduated from Hogwarts and was currently looking for ways to clear his head from the troubles waiting for him back home. His father had forced him to work in the family business, which he didn't want to do. Yet he couldn't really say no and that is why he was here, he looked at the cart with a mix of skepticism and nerviousness. "Can you really enchant anything? Even more mature things?"
Pippin nodded with a friendly smile. "Yes, sir! This one's master is very skilled. What enchantment can we make for you today?"
Adrian hesitated, then leaned in closer to Pippin as if sharing a secret. "I need something... discreet. Something that can help me relieve a certain urge."
Pippin remained professional and summoned a blank parchment, "This one understands. Please, write down what you want and supply the needed materials."
Adrian, slightly embarrassed, took the parchment and quill. He hesitated for a moment before starting to write, glancing around to ensure his privacy. After a few moments, he handed the parchment back to Pippin, who looked at it with a neutral expression.
"Here is the note and I will quickly get the materials." Adrian weakly muttered.
*pop*
*pop*
He reappeared with a chest in hand and newfound vigor, he evidently was looking forward to his product and had kept whatever he brought neat and tidy, ready to be moved at any time.
"Very well, I will deliver your note to this one's master. Please wait here until I return."
*pop*
Pippin popped into Lucas' room and handed him the parchment. "Sir, the note!"
Lucas read it and was too stunned to speak. 'This is for a sex doll, isn't it?'