I've recently become obsessed with the Chinese drama "The Untamed," based on the novel "Mo Dao Zu Shi." So, I started thinking, what could be better than the infamous Yiling Patriarch, master of demonic cultivation, raising Harry Potter? (And the answer is: having him raise a female Harry Potter).

Also, I decided to try my hand at magical worldbuilding for the HP universe.

Yiling Daughter

The first thing he realized was that the pain had stopped.

The physical pain, at least. The memory of his sister's body lying cold and bloody while their brother screamed at him that this was all Wei Wuxian's fault was still violently storming in his mind. He could hear Lan Wangji – Lan Zhan, pure and perfect and untainted Lan Zhan – crying out to him as Wei Wuxian let go of his hand to finally put an end to this nightmare he was living.

He'd already caused so much pain, he wasn't going to let anyone else be dragged down with him. His mistakes had already cost the last members of the Wen clan their lives.

Those poor people who hadn't had anything to do with Wen Ruohan's madness and cruelty. Wei Wuxian had just wanted to save them. Those aunts and uncles who just wanted to live out their waning years in peace, Grandma who was so hard-working and kind, Wen Qing tending to any injured or sick person who came her way regardless of what side they were on, Wen Ning who was the sweetest and gentlest young man in the world, and A-Yuan…

Little A-Yuan. He'd already lost his parents and now the child was all alone. Wei Wuxian couldn't be there to protect him now. The Jins had likely killed the boy as they had everyone else.

It wasn't fair! It wasn't fair!

"Life is seldom fair," a calm voice spoke.

Wei Wuxian blinked his eyes open and sat up.

It was bright. So bright. But it didn't hurt his eyes. He could see everything around him with an incomprehensible clarity. It was Gusu. Caiyi town, specifically. He'd recognize it anywhere with its familiar canals and shops. His eyes darted upwards to the hills. Up there was Cloud Recesses. This is where his journey began. This was where everything had changed. Maybe if he climbed up there, he could go back to those days where the only thing he worried about was the strict Lan rules. The days when he would sneak in at night with a bottle or two of Emperor's Smile, or help Wen Ning with his archery, or catch fish with Nie Huaisang. If he went up there, maybe he would find himself back in the library with Lan Zhan, still copying out those three-thousand rules.

In that moment, Wei Wuxian would have cherished every single line of those stupid rules.

"He's not up there, you know," that voice continued.

Wei Wuxian shot around and saw a figure beside him. A young man not much older than himself sat beside him. He looked familiar, somehow. Dressed in black robes, not a hair out of place, and a humble air about him.

"Who isn't up there?" Wei Wuxian said at long last.

The man just smiled at him.

"Who are you?" Wei Wuxian pressed.

"I should've thought that was obvious," the man said, his smile nearly becoming a grin. "Your mother always said you inherited my looks and her temperament."

If his heart could still beat, it would have hammered right out of Wei Wuxian's chest.

"Father?"

It was like one of those moments where one has tried for years to remember something very specific, yet they only have a vague inkling of what it was and grasp desperately at it, only for it to finally reveal itself in a moment of epiphany and it's almost embarrassing that it was even forgotten in the first place. Here was his father, a man whom Wei Wuxian had only remembered as a murky outline in his mind – a man whose title as 'father' had long ago been transferred to Jiang Fengmian.

After all this time, here was Wei Changze. Just as he looked the day he died.

A torrent of emotions was raging inside Wei Wuxian's mind. Here was his father. The man who helped give him life, but who had died alongside Wei Wuxian's mother and left Wei Wuxian to wander the streets until Jiang Fengmian rescued him. He wanted to cry, he wanted to laugh, he wanted to scream and rage, and he wanted to hear his father say that everything would be all right. Wei Changze just sat there, looking serene and calm, waiting for his son to continue speaking.

"How…how are you here?" Wei Wuxian finally said, his voice shaking.

"Someone needed to meet you," Wei Changze replied, his voice quiet. He'd always been a quiet man. "Someone who hasn't yet moved on. I…wanted to be the one. Only one person could be here…your mother understood why I needed to…" He gave Wei Wuxian a meaningful look. "Heh, I did have to argue with a lot of other people for this chance, though. My son, I don't know if you realize just how many people on the other side care about you."

Wei Wuxian looked away, hanging his head in shame.

"I don't know why anyone would," he said. "All I have ever done is bring shame and suffering to everyone around me."

Wei Changze rested a hand on his shoulder.

"A-Ying, my son," he said firmly. "Listen to me. This was not your fault."

"How can you say that?! So many have died because I wasn't strong enough or I was too reckless…even people who just happened to be connected to me died for that reason alone!"

Wei Changze moved to stand before his son.

"A-Ying," he said again. "It was not your fault. You were not responsible for Wen Ruohan's greed or Wen Chao's cruelty. You didn't order Wen Ning to kill Jin Zixuan. You didn't order those demons to hurt all those people at Nightless City or make that man stab Jiang Yanli."

Wei Wuxian's eyes filled with tears at the mention of his adopted sister. She'd been injured because he couldn't control the demons. She'd pushed him out of the way when that man tried to kill him – she died because of me, he thought.

"Son, look at me!" Wei Changze said insistently. "They do not blame you. Before you arrived, Yanli said that she would give her life for yours all over, if she had to."

"It's still my fault! Because of me, her son is an orphan. It's because of me that she was orphaned."

"Now that is certainly not true, son. It was Wen Chao and that whore of his that carry the blame for the slaughter at Lotus Pier. They were rotten people long before they encountered you and they would have found some other reason to cause suffering. Not even Madam Yu blames you for it anymore, not after what you did for her son."

Wei Wuxian felt a twinge inside as he remembered the agony of that day. When he had instructed Wen Qing to remove his Golden Core and give it to Jiang Cheng so his adopted brother could have his powers back. There hadn't been any choice. Not having access to a Golden Core would have destroyed Jiang Cheng.

"What do you want from me, Father?" Wei Wuxian said, his tone pleading. "I am so tired. I just want it all to be over."

"That's why I am here, son," Wei Changze said. "I have been tasked with giving you your options."

"O-options?"

"Yes. There are several paths you can choose. Option One: You can go up that mountain." He pointed in the direction that Wei Wuxian knew would lead to Cloud Recesses. "That way lies eternity. No going back. Your soul will forever be beyond reach of the mortal world."

"That sounds fine to me."

"Let me give you the other options before you choose. Option Two: It has been foreseen that someone intends to call you back to the land of the living in sixteen years. He will give up his soul so that you can have his body and exact revenge."

"That…sounds less appealing."

"It's not as bad as all that. I will wait here with you until it is time for you to leave. You won't remember until you die again, but you will still have another chance."

"Father, I appreciate the thought, but the first option still sounds like the one I want. I cannot let someone else give up their life…their soul…just so I can go back and make things worse."

"There is a third option, though. But I'm not sure if I should tell you, seeing as your mind is made up."

"What is it?"

"You know what? Never mind." He shrugged dismissively, though there was a glint in his eyes. "You've already decided to move on. You've earned your eternal rest. I doubt you'd want to go on another adventure."

"Just tell me!"

"Well, since you are so curious…this offer comes from Death, himself."

Wei Wuxian felt a slight chill. Death had always been more of a concept, a phenomenon, a force of nature…which Wei Wuxian, as the Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, had routinely undermined by his unorthodox use of his powers for the purposes of resurrecting the dead and controlling angry spirits. To hear Death referred to as a person was deeply worrying.

"You see, son, Death is not entirely certain what to make of you. He recognizes the goodness in your heart, but he is also…a little irritated by your unusual experiments. Death has almost as many rules as the Lans and he's about as strict with enforcing them as Lan Qiren."

Wei Wuxian winced. That was the last thing he needed.

"What does he want me for, then?" said Wei Wuxian.

"Death is actually strangely fond of you, son. For all that you have flouted many of his rules, he is not without a strange sense of understanding."

"Heh, so he's actually more lenient than Lan Qiren."

Wei Changze clearly wanted to smile at that, but kept his face serious.

"Son, I am sure you realize that ours is not the only world?"

"I've heard a lot of theories about other realities and planes of existence."

"Well, there exists a world containing a child with a destiny much like yours. This child is very important to Death, because she is meant to become his master."

"A master over Death? I know I've done many things in direct violation of the natural order, but is it possible for someone to truly be master over Death?"

"Death was very clear with me that this child is meant for this future. She is the rightful heir to three sacred objects crafted by Death for his master. She has been touched by a curse that is meant to sever souls from their bodies and lived. And Death has seen a future in which this girl is willing to give up her life for others."

"And what does this have to do with me?"

"Death needs this girl to survive her coming trials. More than that, he needs her to become far stronger than she would be if she is left alone in her world. As strong as she will become, she will never reach her true potential without someone there to guide her. Someone who has seen the true power Death holds."

Wei Wuxian's eyes widened as the realization struck.

"No. No, you cannot ask me to do this. Do you have any idea of how terribly wrong this could go? More than likely, it will end in me ruining any chance that child has for happiness."

"If you don't go, it will definitely end in her chances at happiness being ruined. I do not know everything, but Death showed me a few moments of what will likely happen to the child if she never realizes her true power. The world she lives in will slowly suffocate her and crush her spirit until nothing but a husk remains. She will see many people she loves die and many people she trusted will turn on her for their own gain. People who should have protected and guided her will use her as a pawn in their twisted games. Exalting her for a time and then pinning the blame for all their problems on her.

"I would have thought you, more than anyone, would understand how that feels."

That simply wasn't fair. Of course Wei Wuxian knew what it was like to be loved and revered one moment and then ruthlessly exploited by the ones in power the next. Could he condemn an innocent little girl to the same fate he, himself, had experienced?

"What can I do?" he said.

"Save her," said Wei Changze. "Raise her. Teach her. Give her the childhood she deserves. The love and kindness of a father. The training and discipline of a cultivator." He smiled. "And the craftiness and cunning of the Yiling Patriarch."

Wei Wuxian took a deep steadying breath and gave his father a determined look.

"How will I find the child?" he said.

"You will recognize her by a thin cut on her forehead," Wei Changze said. "It is shaped like a lightning bolt. And she will also be able to understand your words."

"Why wouldn't she understand me?"

"In the land she currently lives in, their common language is different than ours. But you, having died, now speak the language of the dead. And she, being Death's future master, will know this language by her nature."

Wei Wuxian nodded – even though he still had no idea what was going on – and got to his feet.

"I am ready," he said. "I will do everything I can to protect and teach this child."

"I am proud of you, son," Wei Changze said with a soft smile. "We all are."

Wei Wuxian gave his father a respectful bow and turned before realizing he had no idea how he was supposed to get to this other world.

"Um, Father, I don't suppose you could tell me…"

"Just walk out the way you came in," Wei Changze replied, his tone holding a hint of mirth. "Death will do the rest. But, son, one last thing before you leave."

"Yes, Father?"

"You might wish to put some clothes on first."

Wei Wuxian looked down at his exposed skin and felt his face flush red.

Little Harriet Potter folded her arms around her and cried softly as she huddled by the bushes.

Her cousin Dudley and his friends had smacked her around and left her there in the park. She was terrified of going back to the house, as Aunt Petunia would be furious with her for coming back late. It didn't matter that Harriet was only four years old and covered in bruises, she would be locked in the cupboard again.

She just wanted it to stop. The pain, the anger, the cruel words. She wanted so desperately for someone to come and take her away from this. Was she really that unlovable that her own relatives treated her as they did? Why didn't anyone care?

"Do you need some help, little one?" a gentle voice said.

Harriet looked up, her eyes still streaming, and saw a young man standing there. He had a sweet face and pretty, dark eyes. He offered her a hand to help her up, which she nervously accepted.

"Can you understand me?" he said.

"Y-yes," Harriet said shakily. Why wouldn't she understand him?

"What is your name, child?"

"H-Harry."

"Ha li?" he sounded out with a confused look.

Harriet gave him a small smile. It was close enough, she supposed.

"My name is 'Wei Wuxian,'" he continued. "I have been sent here to find someone, Hali. Do you have a mark on your forehead shaped like lightning?"

Harriet, her heart beating hopefully, lifted a hand to brush the fringe of black hair from her forehead. The man, Wei Wuxian, beamed and, without warning, picked her up and spun around excitedly.

"You're the one I was sent here to find, little Hali," he said. "I was told to rescue you and teach you everything I know."

"But…" She was about to tell him that her aunt and uncle would not be happy that a strange man came and took her away, but then she remembered that her aunt and uncle hated her and she had been wishing for a chance to get away mere minutes ago. This could be her only opportunity. "Where are we going to go?"

"I'm not entirely sure, yet," Wei Wuxian said, pausing in thought. "But, wherever it is, it has to be better than this place. Just look at how boring and plain this street is!"

Harriet had to concede that that was true.

Within two days, magical Britain was in an uproar. Harriet Potter, the Girl-Who-Lived, had vanished without a trace.

Her relatives had been taken into custody when a neighbor, who just happened to keep a regular observation of the comings and goings of the residents of Number Four, reported that Harriet hadn't returned home and that the Dursleys had failed to report the disappearance to the police. Investigation of the family led to some very unpleasant aspects of Harriet's life being made known and when the Dursleys failed to provide evidence that they even had legal custody of the child, it brought on suspicions of kidnapping.

Arabella Figg, a certain elderly squib tasked by Dumbledore with reporting anything unusual, not only told Dumbledore what had happened but sent in information to the Daily Prophet in a fit of desperation to find the lost child, believing that it might help.

It resulted in absolute chaos. An enraged magical public inundated the Ministry with demands to find their lost savior. Dubious reports of sightings and petitions to oust the administration for failing to protect the Girl-Who-Lived poured in.

No one knew where Harriet Potter had gone, who had taken her, or if she was even still alive.

"This food is really spicy," Harriet said to her new guardian.

"That means it's really good, then," Wei Wuxian said happily as the two sat in a restaurant in Kaifeng.

How they got to China when Wei Wuxian had no clue about this new world and Harriet was only four was a mystery that would likely never be solved. Mostly it involved the two of them ending up on a cargo ship to Hong Kong through a series of misadventures and miscommunications and then hopping over to mainland China and running into agents of the Chinese magical government. On hearing that his surname was "Wei," Wei Wuxian and his young ward were relocated to Kaifeng for 'reintroduction' to their 'homeland.'

Apparently, the magical government of China delegated the placement of magical families according to the lands of the ancient kingdoms. They did not recognize the modern land divisions of their nation. Magical China was even further behind in the times than magical Britain. One of the agents even said that many of the older families still thought there was an emperor.

Hearing the name "Wei" immediately earned the two travelers respect from the agents who had apprehended them. The ancient state of Wei (now made up of the modern states of Henan, Hebei, Shanxi, and Shandong) was still governed by the magically powerful Wei clan and the current sitting Minister for Magic in China was, himself, a Wei.

It was almost laughably easy for Wei Wuxian to establish a place for himself and Harriet in the Chinese magical community. Quite possibly the easiest thing that had ever happened to him. Naturally, it made him suspicious, too, as nothing good in his life ever happened without there being some horrible consequence.

But, for now, things seemed fine. Harriet was happy, well-fed, and eager to learn everything Wei Wuxian had to teach her. For the first time in what seemed an eternity, Wei Wuxian was able to feel something like peace.

Six years later…

"What's with all these letters, Big Sister?" Wei Song said as he waded through the flood of envelopes that filled the house.

"I don't know, A-Song. But they seem to be from somewhere in Britain."

Her little brother picked up one of the letters and examined it. He squinted at the words scrawled on the front, trying to read them. Hali shook her head fondly at the boy. He had difficulties with reading normal characters, as it was, let alone reading English.

Hali opened a letter and read as best she could. She had very little memory of the English language, having left Britain at so young an age, but she had studied it in her spare time. She had some difficulty with English cursive, though, so she couldn't make out everything that the person had written. She was able to discern that it was some kind of invitation to a school, so she immediately tossed it. She was already learning cultivation from her father and more modern magics at the Wei state's magical academy.

She was happy with the arrangement she currently had.

If only the foreign school had taken her silence for the lack of interest that it was. Instead, Hali and her family kept getting bombarded with letters. Finally, Wei Wuxian sent a complaint to the state's magical authorities who carried it all the way up the bureaucratic chain to the minister who, on seeing who the complainant was, lodged a formal international complaint of his own against magical Britain trying to poach Chinese magical students.

British minister, Cornelius Fudge, would arrive at work to an office filled with citations and letters of outrage from the ICW about Hogwarts illegally harassing a young Chinese witch and her family with letters. Fudge grumbled to himself that the ignorant foreign girl should have felt honored that Hogwarts sent her an invitation, even if it was clearly a mistake, and contacted Dumbledore about the error.

Dumbledore, himself, had already received complaints of his own about the incident, and was not particularly pleased about getting chewed-out by Fudge on top of it all. However, he bore it all with his grandfatherly demeanor unshaken and approached Professor McGonagall about the mix-up. Upon examining the student register, they discovered the shocking truth that this Wei Hali was, in fact, the missing Harriet Potter.

"Do not mistake me, Dumbledore," Minister Wei said in an even tone as he sat across from the elderly headmaster. "I have no intention of inciting enmity between our two countries…well, no more than what already exists since you decided to shield war criminals."

"The Chang and Li families are respected members of the magical community of Great Britain," Dumbledore said.

"It does not change the fact that Sect Leader Chang and Sect Leader Li collaborated with the Japanese during their invasion and sold out other magical families to secure their own power. Whether their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren had any part in the atrocities is irrelevant; those men have untold quantities of blood on their hands and should never have been granted asylum in your country."

"They have demonstrated remorse for their misdeeds and have become better men."

"So you say. But look into the eyes of my aunt and tell her the men who sentenced her to a Japanese science unit have become model citizens. She will tell you that she would sooner trust a jiangshi not to drain the qi from a magically powerful child than believe Chang and Li could ever become good men."

"Regardless, that is not what we are here to discuss. I am here to retrieve Harriet Potter and return her to her home."

"It seems you have me at a loss, then, Dumbledore. I already informed you that I know of no Harriet Potter in this country."

"She has been renamed as 'Wei Hali.'"

"Hali? Oh, yes, I know that child. She is Wei Wuxian's daughter. Very talented. Top of her class at the Wei state school. Star of the junior dueling club. What is this about her being your Harriet Potter?"

"The reason why those letters were sent to her is because the magic which recognized young Harriet in the school register was able to trace her new identity. Now, I am sure we can have this misunderstanding cleared up without it becoming an international incident. If you will just bring young Harriet here, I will take her back to Britain where she belongs."

"I am afraid that is quite impossible."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Hali is the daughter of Wei Wuxian, and he is not a wizard to be trifled with. As some have had to learn the hard way."

Minister Wei shuddered slightly.

"We are not sure which branch of the family he is from, but the Wei family magics recognized him as kindred. And, by extension, it recognized young Hali as his daughter, despite a lack of blood relation."

"But you know she is not his daughter by blood?"

"Yes. But try explaining that to the family magics. Wei Wuxian, for all that he is a mystery to us, is a son of the Wei. And, since he claimed Hali as his daughter, that is how she is regarded by the magics. As is her little brother since his adoption."

"But Harriet Potter must be returned to Great Britain!"

"Dumbledore, I cannot simply hand over a recognized daughter of a major magical clan. Let alone one from my own clan. Do you even realize the backlash I would face from such an action? It would be a second Great Disciple Rebellion!"

"That rebellion was the fault of your nation's twisted and inhumane treatment of muggleborns," Dumbledore said, his voice unusually cold.

"I hardly think adopting magical children into magical families is inhumane, Dumbledore."

"You steal them from their families the moment you find they have magic!"

"Oh, and I suppose your system is better? Leaving magical children to be raised by outsiders who cannot understand them, even abuse them in some cases, and then force them to adapt to a world they aren't prepared for to face institutionalized bigotry and ruthless exploitation. If we left magical children in the non-magical world, how long do you think it would be before the non-magical government of this nation realizes what's happening? They have eyes and ears everywhere, Dumbledore. They control basically every aspect of the non-magical sphere, right down to the number of children that Chinese citizens are allowed to have.

"How many magical children have been forcibly cut from their mothers' bodies or left to die in garbage cans because the non-magical government forbids more than one child per couple? No, Dumbledore, I would say that my society's methods of protecting our magical population from extermination is far from the grim portrait you like to paint for the ICW."

Minister Wei stood up sharply and gave Dumbledore a dark look.

"I allowed you in here as a courtesy," he said. "But you are determined to act as if being an 'enlightened' representative from the west grants you leave to act superior to me and my people. I really had expected better of a man vaunted as the 'Leader of the Light' by the world at-large. But your every breath since entering this room has been one insult after another. Good day, Mr. Dumbledore."

"But Harriet Potter-"

Minister Wei scoffed at him in annoyance.

"Seeing as the ICW gave you leave to investigate your little expatriate witch, I cannot stop you from meeting with Wei Hali and her father," he said. "But do not say you weren't warned should you make an enemy of Wei Wuxian."

Author's Note: An idea in the works, at least. I just really liked the idea of a Harry Potter x The Untamed/MDZS crossover because of how much Harry Potter and Wei Wuxian have in common. Orphans, extremely self-sacrificing and brave, a bit impulsive but sincerely kind-hearted, ruthlessly taken advantage of by power-hungry assholes, held up as heroes one moment and then called budding dark lords the next, and they even both died and come back to life in their respective canons.

So, anyway, basic premise: Wei Wuxian gets a chance to help little fem!Harry Potter and takes it. The two of them end up in China and are recognized as members of the powerful Wei family (which was very powerful in China at one point). Wei Wuxian teaches Harry about demonic cultivation and sneaky tricks. They also take in an orphaned muggleborn child (I'm sure fellow fans of The Untamed/MDZS have already figured out who the kid is, as the name is kind of a giveaway – yes, this is him reincarnated after he was murdered in Wei Wuxian's universe).

This would probably have a couple of story arcs. Somehow Harry is going to end up going to Hogwarts, because of course she is. China's magical government will probably give her a mission to bring the escaped war criminals back to China for overdue trial (yes, I went with Cho Chang's and Sue Li's great-grandparents being WWII war criminals/Japanese collaborators because I wanted another element of drama and a chance to flex my history buff muscles). Harry will likely inflict all kinds of chaos on Hogwarts because, come on, she was raised by Wei Wuxian – instead of getting dragged into mysteries, she's going to actively seek them out; and Voldemort won't stand a chance against someone whose adoptive dad raises the dead for a hobby.

Second major arc will involve Wei Wuxian and his family (possibly with Sirius along for the ride – though that will be awkward, what with Wei Wuxian's fear of dogs) going back to his universe because Death secretly gives Mo Xuanyu a different ritual to perform so he won't have to lose his soul. Instead, he'll lose his voice ("It's not like anyone listens to what I have to say, anyway," Mo Xuanyu says morosely as he reads the conditions for the summoning ritual) so he can't just blurt out all the secrets he knows. And, for added fluff points, Mo Xuanyu gets adopted into the rag-tag family and finally gets shown the love and kindness he deserves after a life of abuse, betrayal, and mental illness. And, of course, no matter what happens, Lan Wangji will always find his way back to Wei Wuxian; and if Wei Wuxian says these crazy kids and immature man-child are his family, then Lan Wangji will just nod, say "Mn," and buy them nice things.