Art Is Explosion

Damn it!

A house-elf!

This thing could actually see through his Disillusionment Charm?

Murphy didn't know whether the elf in front of him was Dobby or not, but he had no time to care. "Petrificus Totalus!"

The elf's body instantly went rigid and toppled backward. Murphy hurried to catch him, but still let the back of his head hit the floor with a dull thud.

"Son of a—!"

Murphy cursed.

Lucius next door had already heard the commotion and seemed to be about to come out and check.

Murphy quickly picked up the elf and swiftly retreated deeper down the corridor.

A door stood open, with a staircase leading down behind it. Murphy had no time to think and carried the elf down.

Lucius came out and glanced around. Finding nothing unusual, he returned to the room.

Only after hearing Lucius's footsteps leave did Murphy let out a breath. He set the petrified house-elf on the floor and looked around at his surroundings.

This was a cellar. Several huge wine barrels stood against the far wall, and several racks were piled full of red wine.

Clearly, the Malfoy family had it much better than the Darkholme family.

Then he saw the things that had been stolen from his own factory. All kinds of materials and finished potions were piled in a great heap.

Murphy put them all away.

He was just about to leave when his eyes caught sight of several nearby shelves.

Many strange things had been placed on them: skull-shaped candlesticks, hats covered in spikes, the claw of some unknown creature, and in the corner, there was even an iron maiden.

They looked like the collection of some gothic edgelord, all carefully placed in exquisitely decorated glass cases.

Without a doubt, these were all Dark Arts objects.

Murphy clicked his tongue in wonder, but immediately, his gaze was drawn to something inside one of the glass cases.

It was a notebook with a black cover, utterly inconspicuous compared with the other items.

But Murphy knew what it was.

Tom Riddle's Diary!

Voldemort's first Horcrux!

Almost subconsciously, Murphy took it out of the glass case and stuffed it into his undetectable extension bag.

It was time to leave. Though he was a little curious about the other Dark Arts objects, there was no telling what sort of magic might be on those things. If he touched them carelessly, he might very well get himself killed.

He came to the house-elf's side and found the latter's large eyes staring straight at him.

Murphy thought for a moment, then looked at the elf and asked, "Dobby?"

The elf's pupils shrank.

So it was him.

"Listen, Dobby. I know you're a kind elf. Your master is torturing some innocent Muggles. I'm going to get them out. If you can pretend you didn't see me, I'd be very grateful. Now, I'm going to undo your magic. Don't shout or scream afterward, all right?"

After saying that, Murphy lifted Dobby's Petrification Spell, though to be safe, he still kept a hand over his mouth.

However, Dobby seemed extremely obedient. He let Murphy cover his mouth and showed no intention of struggling at all.

"Good Dobby. Stay here. I'm going to rescue those Muggles. If a fight breaks out upstairs later, you can run first."

After Murphy finished speaking, he let go. Seeing that Dobby had no reaction, he walked toward the stairs. But before he had even stepped onto them, he heard a "bang." He looked back and saw the house-elf ramming his own head into the wall.

"Bang! Bang!"

"Bad Dobby! Rotten Dobby! You is disobeying Master's orders! You let an intruder go! Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby must be punished!"

"Hey, hey, take it easy..."

But before Murphy could finish, Dobby slammed his head into a wine rack.

And so Murphy watched helplessly as the rack tilted over, followed by a crackling crash, then boom!

An entire row of red wine smashed onto the floor.

"Merlin's stinking fart!"

Murphy held his forehead. So this little idiot's habit of self-abuse had started all the way back then?

But it was too late for regrets now. With such a huge commotion, the people upstairs must have already reacted. There was no way to keep hiding. He had to act immediately!

After renewing the Disillusionment Charm on himself, Murphy used Apparition to go upstairs, only to see a short, fat wizard, who had appeared from who knew where, walking straight toward him.

The Disillusionment Charm became unstable during Apparition, so the short, fat wizard saw an indescribable mass of color suddenly twist into existence in the corridor, and he froze on the spot.

Murphy did not give him any time to react. "Petrificus Totalus!"

Then he flicked his wand. "Waddiwasi!"

He actually used the short, fat wizard directly as a projectile, hurling him out to smash into several wizards in the living room.

A wizard with his back to him was knocked flat before he could react, but the other two responded quickly. A wizard with a big red nose realized he could not see the enemy and immediately cast the revealing spell: "Aparecium!"

The other man watched his surroundings warily, ready to attack the moment Murphy appeared, but Murphy was faster.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

Just as the man was petrified, the big-red-nosed wizard's spell arrived too. "Petrificus Totalus!"

Murphy hurriedly cast a Shield Charm and blocked it.

But Lucius had already stepped out of the room. Seizing the gap as Murphy's Shield Charm was neutralized by the Petrification Spell, he threw a Disarming Charm at him. "Expelliarmus!"

The timing of the spell was perfect. Murphy's wand flew from his hand at the sound of it, but fortunately he had been prepared. As he crouched down, he drew an old wand from his waist and aimed it at Lucius. "Stupefy!"

Bang! The wall behind him was blasted open by the big-red-nosed wizard. Murphy quickly threw himself aside to find cover, while tossing a Bombarda into the hall.

"Who are you?!" Lucius was actually unharmed. It seemed he had used a Shield Charm to block Murphy's spell, but now the blast wave had left his hair a wild mess, making him look like a demon.

"This is my home!" Lucius roared. "How dare you come here and make trouble!"

Bang! The sofa Murphy was hiding behind was blown to pieces, but Murphy was nowhere to be seen behind it.

"Come out, you coward! Aparecium!"

Murphy's figure appeared in the hall, but at that moment, his wand was pointed at the big-red-nosed wizard. "Imperio!"

He stood behind the big-red-nosed wizard. "Draco Malfoy is going to kill you to keep you quiet. Go. Take him down!"

The latter's eyes went blank for an instant, then he looked at Lucius. "Lucius, you bastard! Stupefy!"

"Damn it! You idiot!" Lucius had no choice but to cast a Shield Charm to defend himself.

Murphy took the opportunity to gather the five hostages in front of him. He took out a rope and said to all the Muggles, "If you don't want to die, grab this rope right now!"

"Stop, Hamis! You idiot!" Lucius blocked several consecutive attacks from the big-red-nosed wizard and finally lost patience. "Expelliarmus! Levicorpus!"

Seeing that Murphy was preparing to rescue those Muggles, Lucius flew into a rage. "Reducto!"

Murphy had been keeping an eye on their fight the whole time. After the big-red-nosed wizard was hoisted up, he had already been ready. Now he grabbed the short, fat wizard who had fallen beside him after being petrified and thrown over, using him as a shield in front of himself.

Bang!

Blood splattered everywhere. A huge hole blew straight through the wizard's chest, and he died the same moment the pain woke him.

"Ah!!" The Muggles all screamed in terror. Murphy waved his hand directly. "Throat-Sealing Tongue-Locking Curse! Grab the rope! Hurry!!!"

At the same time, he waved his wand again and used the Fiendfyre Curse for the second time that day. "This is payback! Blaze Like Plague!"

Whoosh! The terrifying flames instantly swept through the living room, setting everything in their path alight.

And as if Murphy still felt it was not enough, he threw an undetectable-extension bag into the fire. Inside it was the small case he had taken from the basement, containing a full twenty bottles of nitroglycerin.

"Feel the pain!"

"Art is an explosion!"

Boom!