One minute later—
"Um… Jon, I'm ready…" Astoria's voice came from behind the curtain.
At the same time, a bare arm extended from behind it.
"Just give it to me… and no peeking…"
Her voice grew softer and softer, heavy with shyness. One could easily imagine her face burning red right now.
Jon quickly pressed the crystal vial—filled with several herbal liquids—into her hand.
"Try to spread it as evenly as you can," Jon reminded her seriously. "And be careful not to breathe too much of it in through your nose… This stuff is extremely hallucinogenic. If you inhale too much, you could lose consciousness… and that would be bad."
"Mm, I understand. I'll do my best!" The girl behind the curtain nodded.
Soon after, the faint rustling sounds resumed from within.
...
By then, Jon had already turned away, focusing his attention on the workbench in front of him.
He first took out a sheet of airtight parchment and weighed it on a set of brass scales.
Then he glanced at the branch of the Karaba Tree of Souls he had obtained in Albania, resting nearby.
The branch was still lush and green in its vase… Astoria had been tending to it with great care over the past few months.
But now, Jon had to take it out. Carefully picking up a pair of scissors, he spread the airtight parchment flat across the workbench, then cut the branch into sections, laying each piece neatly on top.
He weighed it again—
"The entire branch weighs three and one-sixth dozen lan… According to Unveiling the Secrets of the Darkest Art, crafting a Horcrux only requires one and a quarter dozen lan of fresh Soul Tree branch fragments. That means I can attempt it twice…" Jon murmured, his expression grave.
Which meant he could afford to fail only once.
He carefully took out a mortar and added all the branch fragments, then spent ten full minutes grinding them into a fine powder. Using the brass scales, he measured out exactly one and a quarter dozen lan and placed it into the crucible.
There wasn't the slightest mistake—no deviation at all.
Felix Felicis was still at work… filling Jon with confidence, both mentally and in his hands.
...
The next ingredient was yew bark, which also needed to be ground into powder. However, Unveiling the Secrets of the Darkest Art only described the amount needed as "a small amount," a rather vague instruction.
Fortunately, the quiet voice in Jon's mind had already offered guidance.
He picked up a small silver knife and sliced off a tiny piece of yew bark.
A basin of clear water immediately appeared in front of him—the Room of Requirement responding to his needs.
He rinsed the mortar in the water, dried it with filter paper, and then ground the small piece of yew bark into a fine powder.
He continued processing one ingredient after another—
Moonstone… lionfish spine powder… black pearl powder…
Every step was executed with flawless precision.
Once everything had been mixed together, Astoria's voice sounded from behind him.
"Jon… I've finished applying it…" There was a hint of drowsiness in her voice. "But suddenly, I feel so tired…"
"Hold on… don't fall asleep," Jon said quickly. "I'm almost done here!"
The materials were nearly ready. All that remained was a vessel for the Horcrux.
Jon looked around, then reached into his pocket.
From his right pocket, he pulled out a locket.
It looked like a small, gleaming golden timer, attached to a long, delicate gold chain.
The locket's so-called "true identity" was a "Time-Turner"… though one that had been used years ago to fool people.
In reality, its actual origin was a Christmas gift from the Hogwarts house-elves—a purely decorative ornament with no magical properties whatsoever.
"Then it'll be you," Jon decided. Unlike his predecessor Tom Riddle, he didn't have any sort of collector's obsession.
And while, in theory, any object could serve as a Horcrux vessel, it was still better to be cautious. Since Tom Riddle had once used a locket as a Horcrux container, Jon could do the same.
He placed the "Time-Turner" on the table and carefully piled the mixed powders beside it.
Then he raised his wand.
According to Unveiling the Secrets of the Darkest Art, the final step required gently smoking the powders into the vessel with flames—the stronger the fire, the better the effect. The text even recommended using Gubraithian Fire, an inextinguishable flame.
But Jon's intuition told him there was a better option.
He took out the silver-white regular octahedron Gellert Grindelwald had given him and lightly tapped it with his wand.
A pale, roaring flame surged out of the small box.
Jon carefully guided this Fiendfyre, smoking each portion of powder into the locket… until they fused completely with it.
The Horcrux prototype was finally complete.
Of course, one final step remained—splitting the soul and infusing it.
...
Astoria stepped out from behind the curtain.
Her entire body, from head to toe, was coated in a layer of emerald-green liquid that looked faintly unpleasant.
Wrapped in a blanket, her face flushed crimson with embarrassment, she lowered her head and said softly, "I didn't even know how to come out, but this room conjured this for me."
"How do you feel?" Jon asked with concern.
"I'm okay… just sticky all over… and a bit uncomfortable," Astoria replied.
"That's fine," Jon reassured her. "Just make sure you stay clear-headed… the smooth soul liquid needs three to four hours to achieve the best effect."
After a brief pause, Jon picked up the golden locket and handed it to Astoria, adding, "It'll take about the same amount of time for the Horcrux to fully adapt to your body… so all we need to do now is wait patiently a little longer."
"Mm!" Astoria nodded firmly.