I Am Lucius Malfoy

I Am Lucius Malfoy

Serika ran off.

Murphy rubbed the right side of his face.

Damn it, if you can't take it, why act so tough!

Depressed, he flipped through the huge pile of research materials she had left behind. He had to admit, those people had put in a fair amount of effort. The reference charms they had found alone numbered seventy or eighty, and countless drafts were stacked into a small mountain. It seemed she might not have been lying when she said they had already worked very hard.

But he had run out of patience. On one hand, the dittany research had gotten on track, with more and more Muggles joining the institute. On the other, the new R&D base would more or less be completed in another month or two, and when the time came, he wanted to move a series of potion research projects, including the Beauty Potion, over there first.

The pressure of secrecy was growing heavier and heavier. Relying solely on those Muggle agreements never left Murphy feeling at ease.

However, in the end, he still did not disband the secrecy charm R&D team.

He would let them keep researching for now, while deciding to look for another path.

"Alex, that similar charm you said you saw last time—it was in a book at Hogwarts?"

Alex nodded. "After graduation, I rarely read books related to charms anymore. I should have seen it while I was still at school."

But this guy had also forgotten the title of the book. Otherwise, as a Ravenclaw graduate, writing a letter to his own head of house, Professor Filius Flitwick, to discuss a charm in some book should not have been a big problem.

But either way, he would send a letter first and ask.

"Dear Professor Filius Flitwick:

It has been a long time since I last wrote. I hope everything is well with you. First of all, I should thank you for the many ways you cared for and encouraged me while I was at school, providing tremendous support during a bleak period of my life. You are a great educator. Whether in imparting knowledge or guiding life itself, you benefited me greatly.

Professor, you are the most formidable Charms master I know, and as it happens, I have now encountered a difficulty in the field of charms. In order to deal with a certain situation, I need to find a charm that can ensure the subject is unable to reveal a certain secret.

But with my current knowledge, I am still unable to create such a charm. I wonder whether you know of such a spell, Professor, or whether you could provide a direction or line of thought for creating this kind of charm?

I look forward to your reply.

Once again, I offer my sincere respect and gratitude.

Your student: Murphy Darkholme."

Within two days, Professor Filius Flitwick's reply arrived.

"Dear Mr. Murphy:

I am very glad to receive your letter. Your praise for me truly makes me feel unworthy of it, though to be honest, I am still very happy.

I am certainly not the most formidable Charms master, but I have always been very willing to discuss any questions related to spells with my students.

As for spells that keep secrets, I know quite a few, but I have not yet seen one that fully matches what you described. At the same time, based on my speculation and understanding, achieving the effect you mentioned would often require touching upon certain areas of Dark Magic.

Regarding this, the school's Restricted Section does have some books that could provide some ideas, such as Natasha's Evil Spells, The Thorn Witch, Bailes's Deadly Journey, and so on. However, these books are strictly forbidden from being borrowed. If you wish to consult them, you may submit an application after school starts.

Perhaps we could also arrange for you to give the younger students a Dueling lesson then. You have always been extremely gifted in that regard.

Filius Flitwick."

Murphy looked at the reply and fell silent. After school started?

It was July now. The school had just gone on holiday.

School would not start until September.

And besides, it was only submitting an application.

Ever since he had run into Dumbledore at the Wizengamot last time, the latter had most likely become somewhat wary of him. If he went to mess with things related to Dark Magic again, it would be strange if he were not suspected of being a dark wizard. As if he could get approval!

Professor Filius Flitwick said it might involve the field of Dark Magic...

Could this be the reason Serika and the others were making such slow progress?

After all, ordinary wizards truly knew very little about Dark Magic.

Even Murphy himself, a transmigrator, did not know much about Dark Magic aside from spells like Sectumsempra, which had already been verified by the original work.

Should he recruit a dark wizard?

But most of the dark wizards he knew were Death Eaters from the original work. Basically, they were all a bunch of oddballs, and extremely arrogant and conceited to boot. Wanting them to help him conduct research was pure fantasy.

In the entire Harry Potter series, the dark wizards who actually produced results seemed to amount to just two or three big cats and little kittens.

And even all of them added together could not compare to half of one of Voldemort's toes.

Thinking of Voldemort, something suddenly stirred in Murphy's heart.

I seem to have a Voldemort in my hands. Ah, no, that's not right—it's Tom Riddle's... diary.

That guy should know quite a lot of Dark Magic, and... as for the books Professor Filius Flitwick mentioned, he might have read them.

Maybe... he could wheedle some information out of it?

Murphy took out the notebook, hesitated for a moment, and finally called Alex over.

When the latter saw Murphy, his expression was a little strange. "Mr. Parker, did my sister make you angry?"

"Hm? Why do you say that?"

Murphy inexplicably felt a little guilty.

"She was always full of energy before, but today she kept making excuses and didn't want to come to work. Did she do something wrong? My sister's personality is a little difficult. If she offended you, I'll apologize to you on her behalf."

"Uh..."

Thinking back over what had happened earlier, it really was hard to say who had offended whom.

"Mm... It's just that the spell research was progressing a little slowly, so I said a few words to her," Murphy said hastily, brushing it off. "By the way, I called you here today because I want you to help me with something."

As he spoke, Murphy pointed at the diary. "This is a dark magic object, a diary with thoughts of its own. If you write words in it, the diary will answer. But if it's used for too long, it will drain the user's life force. It's extremely dangerous. Still, I want you to help me test its abilities."

"This..." Alex was a little nervous. "It sounds very dangerous..."

"Don't worry. Based on what I know, unless you use it continuously for more than half a year, there shouldn't be too much danger. At the same time, I'll observe your condition. If anything seems wrong, we'll stop the test immediately. As for compensation, for every sentence you write in the diary, I'll give you ten Galleons."

"..."

Alex was speechless for a moment.

He wanted to say this was far too inhumane, that it showed far too little regard for his safety...

But Murphy was offering far too much.

Ten Galleons for one sentence. As long as he wrote a few sentences in the diary each day, it would be the equivalent of a month's salary.

The refusal was already on the tip of Alex's tongue, but what came out was, "All right... When do we start?"

"Now!"

Murphy took out a fountain pen and handed it to Alex. "Write, 'Hello, diary. I'm Lucius Malfoy.'"