Art Is Explosion

Damn!

A House-elf!

This thing could actually see through his Disillusionment Charm?

Murphy had no idea whether this little elf was Dobby, but there was no time to worry about that. "Petrificus Totalus!"

The House-elf's body instantly stiffened and toppled backward. Murphy hurried to catch him, but the back of his head still struck the floor with a dull thud.

"Damn it!"

Murphy cursed.

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

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

One door stood open, with a staircase leading downward behind it. Without time to think, Murphy carried the House-elf down.

Lucius Malfoy stepped outside and looked around. Finding nothing unusual, he returned to his room.

Only after hearing Lucius Malfoy's footsteps recede did Murphy let out a breath. He set the petrified House-elf on the floor and surveyed his surroundings.

This was a cellar. Several enormous wine barrels stood against the far wall, while racks upon racks were piled high with red wine.

Clearly, the Malfoy family was far better off than the Darkholme family.

Then he saw the things stolen from his factory: all manner of materials and finished potions, piled into a heap.

Murphy put them all away.

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

The shelves held many strange objects: a skull-shaped candlestick, a hat covered in spikes, the claw of some unknown creature, and even an iron maiden in the corner.

They looked like the collection of some edgy goth fanatic, each one carefully displayed in an exquisitely decorated glass case.

There was no doubt that they were all Dark magic items.

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

It was a black-covered notebook, utterly inconspicuous compared to the other items.

But Murphy knew exactly what it was.

Tom Riddle's Diary!

Voldemort's first Horcrux!

Almost instinctively, Murphy took it from the glass case and stuffed it into his Bottomless Bag.

It was time to leave. Though he was curious about the other Dark magic items, there was no telling what kind of magic they carried. Carelessly touching them might get him killed.

He walked over to the House-elf and found those huge eyes staring fixedly at him.

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

The House-elf's pupils shrank.

So it was him.

"Listen, Dobby. I know you're a kind little elf. Your master is torturing some innocent Muggles, and I'm going to get them out. If you can pretend you never saw me, I'd be very grateful. Now, I'm going to remove your spell. Don't scream, all right?"

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

Yet Dobby seemed remarkably obedient. He let Murphy cover his mouth without showing the slightest intention of struggling.

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

Murphy released his hand. Seeing no reaction from Dobby, he headed for the stairs. But before he could step onto them, he heard a bang. Looking back, he saw the House-elf smashing his own head against the wall.

"Bang! Bang!"

"Bad Dobby! Nasty Dobby! You are disobeying your master's orders! You let an intruder escape! Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby must be punished!"

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

Before Murphy could finish, Dobby hurled himself headfirst into a wine rack.

Murphy watched helplessly as the rack tilted, then—crash, clatter, boom!

An entire row of red wine bottles shattered across the floor.

"Merlin's stinking arse!"

Murphy pressed a hand to his forehead. So this idiot's self-abuse habit had started this early?

But there was no point regretting it now. With such a huge commotion, the people upstairs had definitely noticed. He could no longer stay hidden. He had to act immediately!

After renewing his Disillusionment Charm, Murphy Apparated upstairs and found a short, fat wizard who had appeared from nowhere walking toward him.

The Disillusionment Charm became unstable during Apparition, so the short, fat wizard saw an indescribable patch of color suddenly twist into existence in the corridor. He froze for a moment.

But Murphy gave him no time to react. "Petrificus Totalus!"

Then he flicked his wand. "Waddiwasi!"

He actually used the short, fat wizard as a projectile, hurling him at the wizards in the living room.

One wizard with his back turned was knocked straight to the floor without reacting, but the other two responded quickly. A wizard with a large red nose realized he could not see the enemy and immediately cast the Revealing Charm. "Aparecium!"

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

"Petrificus Totalus!"

As that man was petrified, the red-nosed wizard's spell arrived as well. "Petrificus Totalus!"

Murphy quickly cast a Shield Charm and blocked it.

But Lucius Malfoy had already come out of his room. Taking advantage of the instant when Murphy's Shield Charm had neutralized the Petrification Spell, he fired a Disarming Charm. "Expelliarmus!"

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

"Bang!" The red-nosed wizard blasted a hole through the wall behind him. Murphy quickly dove aside for cover while tossing a Bombarda into the living room.

"Who are you?!" Lucius Malfoy was unharmed. It seemed he had blocked Murphy's spell with a Shield Charm, but the blast wave from the spell had left his hair in complete disarray, making him look like a demon.

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

"Bang!" The sofa Murphy had been hiding behind was blasted to pieces, but Murphy was nowhere to be seen.

"Come out, you coward! Aparecium!"

Murphy's figure appeared in the living room, but his wand was pointed at the red-nosed wizard. "Imperio!"

He stood behind the red-nosed wizard. "Malfoy is preparing to kill you to silence you. Go, take him down!"

The man's eyes went vacant for a moment, then he looked at Lucius Malfoy. "Lucius, you bastard! Stupefy!"

"Damn it! Idiot!" Lucius Malfoy had no choice but to cast a Shield Charm in defense.

Taking the opportunity, Murphy gathered the five hostages in front of him. He took out a rope and told all the Muggles, "If you don't want to die, grab this rope immediately!"

"Stop it, Hamis! You idiot!" Lucius Malfoy blocked several attacks from the red-nosed wizard in succession before finally losing patience. "Expelliarmus! Levicorpus!"

Seeing Murphy preparing to rescue the Muggles, Lucius Malfoy flew into a rage. "Reducto!"

Murphy had been watching their battle all along. The moment the red-nosed wizard was hoisted up, he was ready. He grabbed the short, fat wizard whom the man had petrified and thrown over earlier, using him as a shield.

"Bang!"

Blood and gore splattered everywhere. A huge hole was blasted directly through the wizard's chest. He woke from the pain only to die immediately.

"Ahhh!!" All the Muggles screamed in terror. Murphy waved his hand. "Throat-Sealing Tongue-Locking Curse! Grab the rope! Now!!!"

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

"Whoosh!" Terrifying flames instantly swept through the living room, setting everything in their path ablaze.

As though that still was not enough, Murphy threw a Bottomless Bag into the fire. Inside was the small box he had taken from the cellar, containing twenty full bottles of nitroglycerin.

"Feel the pain!"

"Art is explosion!"

Boom!