A/N: A random idea of mine, but a really fun one to work with. Cookies if anyone manages to guess Sherlock's true identity before Hermione does. :D
Written for the Becoming a Tamer King Challenge, Harry Potter Style, Meeting Azulongmon 1 challenge, and for the Hunger Games Competition, interview stage.
Heartstrings that Stay Black
The First Letter
Miss Granger,
Carve the Dark Lord's heart out of his chest and it will be black and hard like coal.
I kid you not. Try it; I dare you – if you can win the body off the Ministry, but I don't think they'll mind too much, if it's you and for research purposes. And that's what research is: sating the curiosity of the curious. I know you're that sort; that's why I'm telling you.
I'll also add: that heart has more magical power than a dragon's, harvested from its fresh corpse. You know the value of this: you've spent the last twelve years fighting to stop the relentless hunt for wealth, and you've succeeded in lowering the slaughter of dragons for the black market by over half. The dragon keepers are grateful; it kills them when their charges are snatched away from under their noses – or, both easier and worse, their eggs.
But I digress. I tell you the value of that heart, because I know you won't abuse it. You will do what needs to be done with it: discover its secret, the thing that has made and kept this heart a prisoner from regret. That's important, I think, not only for your friend Harry Potter, but for the Wizarding World as a whole. I wish to know it as well: how can a heart be so sealed from regret? Its advantage we've already seen.
I trust your insatiable curiosity to this little project, Miss Granger. I'm sure you'll find a way; even if you think this to be a hoax, I'm sure you'll check your facts. I ask that, in return for this information, you keep me updated on your findings by return owl. My own curiosity is sadly great, but I am without your ability.
Yours,
Sherlock