Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Harry Potter or Hellraiser. This is fanfiction.

Lucius was decidedly unimpressed with the shabby, dirty little shop. He had just come from a surreptitious meeting with an unsavory associate in a Knockturn Alley pub when he spied a door that had not been there at his last visit. The simple wooden sign hanging at the top of the door read 'Dark Delights' prompting a disdainful snort from Lucius at the unoriginality of the name. Dark delights indeed! He doubted that any of the pitiful shops in Knockturn Alley had much of anything that would interest the serious collector, like himself. Only incompetent witches and wizards seeking to cast petulant curses or to impress other incompetents would be lured in by the banal offerings of poison candles and second rate potions that filled the shop windows of Knockturn Alley. Still, this new shop may provide other opportunities to unload inconvenient items from his personal inventory; items that most likely would bring him to the attention of the Wizengamot. Lucius disliked dealing with Borgin at Borgin and Burkes. Although the man was properly deferential and solicitous, Lucius suspected that he had cheated him on past transactions although he could not prove it.

Like all Knockturn Alley shops, this one was also dimly light with windows charmed to keep out what little light filtered through the alley. Candles floated above tables and off of walls to better illuminate the shop's paltry offerings: boxes of empty soul gems here, a cursed brooch there, stacks of spell books, and dusty bottles of common potions. To Lucius, it almost seemed that the shop's inventory was contrived, so purposely commonplace as to not attract attention. Dropping a piece of amber with an ancient spider preserved inside back down on its table, he decided to leave. There was nothing of interest here. However just as he turned towards the door, his eyes fell upon a small display case sitting on the till's countertop. From where he stood, it housed what appeared to be a gold and black box, shining from the reflected light of a grouping of candles behind it. Lucius approached the till, feeling compelled to investigate the unusual little object. As he got closer, he saw that the box featured an ornate gold patterned inlay over shiny, black lacquer. It hung suspended inside the display case and slowly rotated on an invisible axis. Lucius bent down closer to examine the intricate pattern of the gold inlay until his nose was nearly pressed up against the glass of the case.

"What is your pleasure, sir?"

Lucius startled upright. He had not noticed the man sitting in the shadows behind the till. His eyes now focused on the unkempt shopkeeper who stared back at him. The man looked like a vagrant with shabby clothes, a sooty face, and scraggly beard. Lucius suppressed his urge to sneer at the man's obvious lower class.

"What is that?" Lucius asked, pointing at the object.

"Ah! Sir has a most discerning eye. It's a puzzle box." The man answered, not taking his eyes off of Lucius.

"That's it? A common puzzle box? My son has a dozen puzzle boxes." Lucius felt almost incredulous that such a simple thing would be given such prominence in the shop. Obviously it was the most valuable thing in this junk collection and the grubby shopkeeper was going to try to bilk some gullible fool for as many galleons as he possibly could for it. As the box continued its slow rotation in the glass display, the shopkeeper stood and stepped into the light. He ran his fingers over the case.

"Not so common a puzzle box. Its history is quite fascinating and terrible. Would sir like to hear?"

Lucius nodded as his attention was drawn once again to the intriguing box as it rotated.

"It is called the Lament Configuration. It was crafted by Philip Lemarchand, an eighteenth century French toymaker renowned for his mechanical singing birds. Lemarchand himself was a man of modest means but was a favorite among wealthy aristocrats. Their patronage kept food on Lemarchand's table and a roof over his wife and son's heads. One night, Lemarchand was given a commission for what would be his greatest and most dreadful creation. An aristocrat by the name of Duc de L'Isle tasked Lemarchand to craft a puzzle box. His instructions were very precise and Lemarchand was told to take as much time as he needed. No less than perfection would be accepted. He dropped nearly an entire year's earnings into Lemarchand's palm, promising an equal payment upon delivery.

Lemarchand toiled night and day, crafting de L'Isle's puzzle box. He barely ate and rarely slept. His young wife begged and pleaded with him to rest but Lemarchand was a man obsessed. When he finally finished the box, he wrapped it in a cloth and ran out into a storm to deliver it to his wealthy client and to collect his final payment. He returned home, pale and shaken, but refused to tell his frightened wife what he had seen at de L'Isle's chateau. He muttered about demons and gateways and how he was the cause for unleashing hell on earth. Resolving to set matters right, he once again disappeared into the night, vowing to take back the box and destroy it. He was never seen again nor was Duc de L'Isle."

The silence after the man finished his tale caused Lucius to startle again. He realized that he had spent the entire time entranced by the slowing spinning box while listening to the shopkeeper. His mouth had gone dry and his fingers ached. He felt a nearly overwhelming desire to hold the box in his hands.

"Why did Duc de L'Isle commission the box?" Lucius asked as he grasped his hands behind his back.

"It was rumored that de L'Isle was obsessed with the dark arts and was the premier authority of the time on all things occult. He was tolerated by polite society because decadent aristocrats enjoyed gathering at his chateau for orgies and other hedonistic indulgences. Pleasure, de L'Isle said, was the ultimate truth and the pursuit of it justified any means to obtain it. Having exhausted all manner of earthly pleasure, de L'Isle turned his attention to more infernal pleasures, so he commissioned the box to use as a gateway between earth and hell."

Lucius once again turned his full attention to the box. "Hell? Why would a wizard concern himself with such fiction?" he muttered to himself.

"Duc de L'Isle was no wizard, nor was Lemarchand."

"Muggles?" Lucius asked, becoming incredulous once again.

"Yes. This box, however unwittingly created by Lemarchand and deviously used by de L'Isle, is Muggle magic."

Lucius bristled. "Muggle magic? Impossible! Those creatures are incapable of our gift." He grimaced while the shopkeeper chuckled.

"Perhaps. Then again, who knows what the heart's deepest desire can conjure, eh?"

Lucius licked his dry lips as he felt his hands aching to hold the oddly seductive cube. He must have it, he decided. He was somewhat dubious of the shopkeeper's story, especially at the mention of Muggles performing magic, but whatever this box was, whatever it held, Lucius wanted. It seemed to call to him.

"Its price?" he asked.

"Difficult to say. Whatever sir thinks it is worth." The shopkeeper answered.

"What kind of game are you playing? Set a price, man!"

The shopkeeper smiled as he lifted the glass from off the display. "Whatever you are willing to pay for such a treasure is its price. It is not for me to decide."

Lucius thought hard. If he offered too low of a price, the man may cut off negotiation and Lucius wanted the box too badly to allow that. However if he offered too high a price, the man would take advantage of him in future transactions. He quickly assessed the amount of gold inlay and craftsmanship, brought out his coin purse, and shook out its entire contents which he then dropped on the till.

"That is what I'm willing to pay." Lucius declared although he was willing to pay two times that amount if the man refused his offer. The shopkeeper glanced at the pile of gold galleons on his till and gestured to the box.

"Take it. It's yours."

Lucius suppressed a sigh of relief and reached out to pluck the box from its invisible axis. He wanted to laugh with delight that this enigmatic object was now his. Lucius quickly regained control of his faculties and slipped the box into an inner pocket of his robe and made a hasty retreat out of the store so he could return home and examine his newest acquisition.

"It always was." The shopkeeper said to the empty shop.

A/N: The characters and universe of Hellraiser are taken from both 'The Hellbound Heart' novella, as well as the Hellraiser movies.