Ch. 285What Kind of Enemy Am I Really Facing?

Kariman questioned Dumbledore over the dangers of protecting the Philosopher's Stone at Hogwarts and accused him of knowingly endangering students. Unable to explain his motives without revealing the prophecy, Dumbledore suspected that Murphy had orchestrated events through Lucas Brightson and the diary, but remained unsure what kind of opponent he faced.

  • Kariman asked whether the Philosopher's Stone belonged to Hogwarts or its students, then challenged Dumbledore for placing dangerous traps in the school and exposing students to harm.
  • Murphy confirmed that he had warned McGonagall about the risks, and McGonagall admitted that she had passed his concerns to Dumbledore.
  • Kariman asked whether Dumbledore had known Voldemort was after the Stone and had brought it to Hogwarts anyway, leaving Dumbledore unable to answer without revealing the prophecy.
  • Dumbledore recalled that he had used the Mirror of Erised to monitor Harry and intervene if the situation became dangerous, but Lucas's appearance had signaled an unexpected problem.
  • Dumbledore connected Lucas Brightson to the diary Quirrell had mentioned and wondered whether Lucas was under Murphy Darkholme's control, concluding that Murphy might have planned the events before the school year began.

Ch. 286Utopia

After Dumbledore fled with the Philosopher’s Stone, Murphy helped remove him as Hogwarts headmaster and used a Ministry purge to consolidate power. At Nicolas Flamel’s funeral, Murphy and Dumbledore discussed the Stone, power, and Murphy’s willingness to risk exposing the wizarding world in pursuit of his goals.

  • Dumbledore refused to surrender the Philosopher’s Stone to Murphy and vanished after Murphy used Space Anchor.
  • The Board of Governors removed Dumbledore as headmaster and appointed Filius Flitwick to lead Hogwarts temporarily, while the Aurors and Watchmen closed the case concerning Tom’s death.
  • The Ministry announced expanded law-enforcement recruitment and an Inspection Squad, which Murphy used to purge dissenters and place loyalists in positions of power.
  • Murphy’s health improved after he took the Elixir of Life, and he left Hogwarts after ending his work as a teaching investigator.
  • At Flamel’s funeral, Murphy told Dumbledore he wanted to live and use the Philosopher’s Stone for experiments, strength, and exploration with like-minded people.
  • Dumbledore questioned the danger Murphy’s ambitions posed to the wizarding world, and Murphy replied that utopia was only a fairy tale.

Ch. 287The End of Childhood

Murphy and Dumbledore debated whether the wizarding world should preserve its sheltered, fairy-tale existence or face a changing world, including the growing Muggle population. They ended with their disagreement unresolved, recognizing that only one of their visions could shape the future.

  • Murphy told Dumbledore that he had outgrown the wizarding world's sheltered way of life and wanted to leave its cradle behind.
  • Dumbledore questioned whether Murphy was still himself and said he would stop him, arguing that the wizarding world could continue as it was.
  • Murphy explained that communication could break the chain of suspicion between wizards and Muggles as both groups changed.
  • Dumbledore admitted he could not understand or trust Murphy, while Murphy said Dumbledore sought control and doubted human nature.
  • Murphy and Dumbledore acknowledged that they could not persuade each other and that only the victor would decide the world's future.

Ch. 289Possessed by a Ghost

After Tom’s disappearance, Draco Malfoy tried to make peace with Harry, Ron, and Hermione and was welcomed into the Hero Group. At the Magic Research Institute, Murphy showed the newly resurrected Lucas around, where she asked why she had become a girl.

  • With Dumbledore absent and the school year delayed, Slytherin won the House Cup for the seventh time in a row, but Draco Malfoy felt unhappy about Tom’s disappearance.
  • Draco Malfoy approached Harry, Ron, and Hermione and offered to join their Hero Group, saying he wanted to become their friend.
  • Harry recognized that Draco was imitating Tom’s manner, and Draco admitted his desire for friendship before Hermione welcomed him into the group.
  • At the Magic Research Institute, Murphy advised Lucas to eat more and exercise because her new body was weak and easily tired.
  • Lucas asked Murphy why she had become a girl, while Murphy kept his reasons for changing her body to himself.

Ch. 290You Really Are a Prophet

Lucas told Murphy about his past and the future where wizards faced a tragic fate, and Murphy explained that coexistence with Muggles was the only viable path. Murphy then ordered Winston Robinson to tighten his control over the Ministry of Magic and sideline Dumbledore’s supporters.

  • Lucas explained to Murphy that he had been Tom Riddle, become a diary, learned of the wizards’ future from someone in 2077, and eventually returned as Lucas before being resurrected in a female body.
  • Murphy said he had resurrected Lucas after learning of his condition from Quirrell and told him that wizards could not win an all-out war against Muggles.
  • Murphy argued that wizards had to pursue coexistence with Muggles through understanding and communication, and Lucas agreed that Murphy could prevent the future he had described.
  • Murphy told Lucas to study Muggle knowledge, ideas, and science at the Magic Research Institute.
  • Murphy met Winston Robinson, who reported on the Ministry’s personnel review, and Murphy ordered Dumbledore’s supporters kept away from confidential matters while imposing a new system of authority and employment agreements.

Ch. 291Ways for Muggles to Become Wizards

Murphy assessed his growing control over Britain’s wizarding government and the Soviet Union, then planned a Soviet magical research base and greater influence in British Muggle society. He met Patrick, learned that Patrick’s son Ares might have developed magic after becoming a werewolf, and asked Patrick if he wanted to enter politics.

  • Murphy concluded that he had gained substantial control over the British Ministry of Magic and helped stabilize the Soviet Union through Qin Yeli and Valery.
  • Murphy planned a Soviet national research base for magic, expanded magical research institutions under Umbrella, and considered training Muggle-born wizards to enter British government.
  • Murphy visited Patrick, who said that his son Ares had begun showing signs of accidental magic.
  • Murphy suspected that the werewolf virus and Magic Power Potion might have awakened Ares’s magical potential and asked Patrick to bring him to the institute for tests.
  • Murphy asked Patrick whether he wanted to enter politics.

Ch. 292Raven Pavilion

Murphy asked Patrick to enter politics so he could control the gradual introduction of magic into Muggle society, while he prepared to build a Soviet National Magic Laboratory. He established Raven Pavilion as a communication network for his core allies and ended by seeking help from the Empress in Arkaim to address the shortage of wizards.

  • Murphy told Patrick he wanted to bring the world into an age of magical technology and asked him to pursue a political career to help control the process.
  • Patrick considered the long path to political power as Murphy explained the obstacles to controlling the British government.
  • In July, Murphy renewed Ministry of Magic employees’ agreements with Seeds of the Mind and assessed the limits of the expanding network.
  • Patrick, Rasim, Winston, Barty Crouch, Lucius Malfoy, the Wood siblings, Barty Crouch Jr., Boris, Radwan, and other allies joined Murphy’s Raven Pavilion network.
  • In August, the Soviet military began planning the National Magic Laboratory and searching for a scientist to lead it.
  • Murphy wrote to the Empress in Arkaim for help with the shortage of wizards for magical experiments.

Ch. 293Letter

Sophia struggled with the dull duties of being Empress until Madame Yaga told her Murphy was building a magical research laboratory in the Soviet Union and urged her to learn more. Sophia decided to write to Murphy, but a letter from him arrived first.

  • Sophia fell asleep after a tiring day of ceremonies and woke when Madame Yaga came to admonish her for nearly dozing during a Quidditch match.
  • Madame Yaga explained that Sophia’s public appearances helped restore calm in Arkaim and that the country’s stability required her to maintain its established order.
  • Madame Yaga told Sophia that Murphy’s people had taken control of the Muggle government and were preparing a magical research laboratory, and she suggested Sophia discreetly offer assistance.
  • Madame Yaga raised the possibility of arranging a marriage between Sophia and Murphy, while Sophia remained silent about the proposal.
  • Sophia questioned an official about the laboratory, then decided to write to Murphy to ask about his plans.
  • A maid brought Sophia a letter from Sir Murphy Darkholme, Protector Shaman of the Nation.

Ch. 294Magic's Dawn

Sophia read Murphy’s proposal to establish a Soviet magical research laboratory and considered lending him wizards from Arkaim. After Murphy received a reply offering one thousand wizards in exchange for agreeing to one condition, the condition remained unknown.

  • Murphy outlined plans for a Soviet magical research laboratory and described its potential benefits, including better food production and an Arctic shipping route.
  • Murphy asked Sophia to lend him one thousand Arkaim wizards for the research project, promising wages and a share of its results.
  • Sophia decided to ask Madame Yaga for advice before agreeing to Murphy’s request.
  • Murphy discussed Lucas’s diary, which could absorb and search tens of thousands of books, with Lucas.
  • A letter arrived offering Murphy one thousand wizards if he agreed to one condition.

Ch. 295Order of the Phoenix

After leaving Hogwarts, Lucas revisited memories of the past year and wondered how Harry and his friends were doing. At Sirius’s home, Dumbledore asked Sirius to rejoin the Order of the Phoenix to help counter Murphy Darkholme’s plan to expose wizards to Muggles.

  • Murphy assigned Lucas to research whether a Horcrux could be transferred from a diary to another vessel, such as a server.
  • Lucas revisited memories of Hogwarts and grew melancholy as he wondered how Harry and his friends were doing.
  • Harry received letters at Sirius’s cottage, including one from the Dursleys, but decided not to reply; he blamed himself for Tom’s death and resolved to become stronger.
  • Dumbledore visited Sirius and discussed his resignation as Headmaster and Murphy’s role in the events that led to it.
  • Dumbledore asked Sirius to return to the Order of the Phoenix, warning that Murphy’s plan to destroy the Statute of Secrecy could expose wizardkind to Muggle society.

Ch. 296Huanggang High School's Hogwarts Branch

Dumbledore tried to recruit Sirius to help stop Murphy Darkholme, warning that Murphy sought scientific rationality to gain control over magic and might expose the wizarding world, but Sirius refused. In September, Murphy overhauled Hogwarts under Snape’s new headship as Muggle scientific programs expanded, until news from Gringotts halted the gold exchange.

  • Dumbledore told Sirius that Murphy wanted to use Muggle science to achieve deeper control over magic and might expose magic to Muggles.
  • Dumbledore warned that breaking the Statute of Secrecy threatened every wizard and asked Sirius for help against Murphy, but Sirius refused because he wanted to protect Harry and did not believe Murphy was an enemy.
  • Dumbledore left Sirius a feather as a means of contacting him, then learned that Lupin might be working for Murphy; Harry watched him leave looking old and frail.
  • Hogwarts began its new term with connected common rooms, shared classes, mandatory cross-house study groups, and Snape as headmaster.
  • Murphy reshaped Hogwarts’ courses and exams, hired Slughorn and Lupin, and brought in four werewolf scientists to teach the foundational sciences.
  • The Soviet Union’s National Laboratory Plan entered planning and British laboratories began construction, before Gringotts announced that gold exchange had been prohibited.

Ch. 297Why Didn't He Have Eyes?

Murphy learned that Gringotts had slashed his gold exchange rate and suspected Guleus Brin was targeting him over the Philosopher’s Stone. He went to confront Guleus, who seemed to sense Murphy’s arrival before Murphy kicked open the office door.

  • Locke told Murphy that Gringotts had lowered the exchange rate and taken control of his accounts from him.
  • After Locke tried to negotiate with Guleus Brin, Guleus fired him, lowered Murphy’s rate further, and Locke overheard Mundungus Fletcher discussing a plan to freeze Murphy’s vault in exchange for the Philosopher’s Stone.
  • Murphy decided to confront Guleus at Gringotts.
  • Padelo warned Guleus against provoking Murphy, but Guleus claimed he heard drums and footsteps approaching.
  • Murphy kicked open Guleus’s office door and asked how he could hear but still be blind.

Ch. 298I Saw You

Murphy confronted Guleous over Gringotts’ claim to goblin property, but a vision in Guleous’s mind triggered a mysterious attack that killed him. With Padelo also dead and the goblins alerted, Murphy moved to seize control of Gringotts.

  • Guleous told Murphy that goblins owned Gringotts-issued coins and demanded the return of the Sword of Gryffindor in exchange for letting him keep using them.
  • Murphy used Legilimency on Guleous and saw a blood-soaked army, a throne of bones, and amber eyes before cutting off the connection.
  • Guleous’s head exploded, and an unknown voice told Murphy, “I saw you,” leaving him with a brief stabbing pain in his mind.
  • Padelo tried to flee and scream for help, but Murphy caught him and snapped his neck; Locke then offered to testify that the dead goblins had plotted rebellion.
  • Murphy ordered Locke to gather the goblins in the first-floor hall, sealed Gringotts’s exits with lightning birds, and summoned Rasim and Winston Robinson’s forces to take over the bank.

Ch. 299Goblin Rebellion?

Murphy executed Guleous and Padelo after discovering that another enemy had manipulated Guleous, then sent Winston and the Watchmen to raid the stronghold of Guleous's family. The raid turned into a bloody battle, and the chapter ended with the Watchmen attacking in earnest after one of their number was badly wounded.

  • Murphy ordered Rasim to interrogate the Goblins at Gringotts for Guleous and Padelo's accomplices, while Winston gave him information about the Brin Family's strongholds.
  • Murphy traveled to Oak Mountain in Xiliding and brought Winston and the Watchmen to the hidden castle of Willer Longhand.
  • Winston ordered the Watchmen to raid the castle and kill everyone except Willer Longhand, warning them that the Goblins were dangerous and prepared to fight.
  • The Watchmen stormed the castle, where an armored Goblin guard resisted a Stunning Spell and wounded a wizard with an axe.
  • Winston killed the guard, treated the wounded wizard with Dittany Medical Tape, and ordered him taken to Jishi Hospital.
  • Winston urged the shaken Watchmen to fight for their lives, and they began attacking the Goblins with Killing Curses.

Ch. 300Striking Through the Network Cable

Murphy purged the Goblins tied to Guleous and confronted Willer Longhand, who revealed himself as a vessel for a power connected to the Brin bloodline and the Sword of Gryffindor. When that force threatened him, Murphy activated a remote mind attack through his network of crows.

  • Rasim interrogated the Gringotts Goblins with Veritaserum and uncovered widespread rebellion plans linked to the Brin Family.
  • The Watchmen discovered armed Goblins at the castle, slaughtered them, and captured Willer Longhand.
  • Murphy confronted Willer, whose possession attempt was blocked by Murphy's silver crow Patronus.
  • Willer claimed the Goblin Council would wage war and that he would be reborn in it, while Murphy inferred he was connected to Ragnuk and the Brin royal bloodline.
  • Murphy activated the Seed of the Mind virus in thousands of Soviet officials and used a crow antenna array to cast Legilimency at Willer from afar.

Ch. 301Magic Counterforce

Murphy entered Ragnuk’s mindscape through Legilimency and discovered that the ancient goblin king had been controlling Weiler and other Brin Family descendants. Murphy attacked Ragnuk’s will with opposing-phase magic, and the clash left both of them weakening as Murphy drew on the minds of three thousand Soviet officials through the Seed of the Mind network.

  • Murphy connected to Ragnuk’s consciousness through Legilimency and recognized the goblin king hiding in Weiler’s head.
  • Ragnuk transformed the mindscape into a wasteland filled with goblin soldiers and claimed he would swallow Murphy’s soul.
  • Murphy bypassed the illusions and struck Ragnuk’s will directly by canceling his psychic power with opposing-phase magic.
  • Ragnuk realized their magic was draining at the same rate and warned Murphy that they would both lose.
  • Murphy accelerated the clash, relying on the psychic power of three thousand minds connected through the Seed of the Mind network.

Ch. 302Mind Coordinate

Murphy killed Ragnuk by locating his true body and striking it with the raven array, but learned that Ragnuk had been acting on orders from someone called Maria. Murphy identified the remains as a Horcrux and realized the Mind Coordinate might still be tracking him, leaving him searching for help to remove it.

  • Ragnuk pleaded for mercy as Murphy's magic consumed him, while Murphy used a second raven array to scan for Ragnuk's true body.
  • Murphy located Ragnuk and fired an amplified Avada Kedavra, killing him before he could finish explaining Maria's connection to the Mind Coordinate.
  • Murphy returned to his body in the Goblin castle and sent Winston to investigate the attack site at Oak Pit Mine.
  • The Watchmen found Goblin corpses, a ruined ritual site, and half a battle flag that Murphy recognized as Ragnuk's Horcrux.
  • Murphy realized Maria might have planted the Mind Coordinate in him and decided to ask the Soviet shamans for help removing it.

Ch. 303Magic Web User Permissions

Murphy contacted Sophia through a new telepathic network, but Madame Yaga joined instead and offered to examine the Mind Coordinate planted in his head. Her explanation that the attacker’s will held greater magical authority led Murphy to wonder whether a wizard existed with permissions beyond those of Dumbledore.

  • Murphy sent Sophia a letter inviting her to Britain, asking about her requirements, and offering a telepathic communication ritual.
  • Madame Yaga joined Murphy’s telepathic network, declined the ritual on Sophia’s behalf, and agreed to relay urgent messages.
  • Murphy traveled to Arkaim and met Sophia and Madame Yaga at the Palace of Spring to discuss the Mind Coordinate and Ragnuk’s attack.
  • Madame Yaga explained that the mysterious Maria’s will might be stronger than Murphy’s and described will as authority that determined whose magic took effect first.
  • Murphy compared magical authority to user permissions on the Magic Web and wondered whether someone with higher permissions than his could surpass Dumbledore.

Ch. 304Wizard Ceiling

Murphy learned from Madame Yaga that even the strongest wizards faced a ceiling on magical growth, but she could not find the mental coordinate in his mind. After the Ministry exposed and suppressed the goblin rebellion, Murphy focused on the goblins’ metalworking secrets as a possible way to advance his work combining science and magic.

  • Madame Yaga told Murphy that he had reached the same magical tier as the great shamans and Dumbledore, and that wizards eventually hit a ceiling where greater magic came at the cost of life or reason.
  • Madame Yaga examined Murphy but could not find the mental coordinate, leaving its existence and origin unresolved.
  • Rita Skeeter’s Daily Prophet reports announced the goblin rebellion plot, the Brin Family’s blood sacrifices, and the Aurors’ and Watchmen’s crackdown.
  • The Wizengamot convicted the goblin rebels, sent them to Azkaban, and the Ministry confiscated their assets and took control of Gringotts.
  • Murphy found the goblins’ method for refining metal with magical affinity and saw it as a possible lead toward combining science and magic.

Ch. 305Magic Power Metals

Murphy and the Magic Research Institute studied how Goblin Metal could help technology function in magic-rich environments and potentially enable magic-powered chips. After learning that stable magic power remained the main obstacle to producing the metal, Murphy considered the Philosopher’s Stone as a power source and thought about visiting Severus Snape to discuss his research.

  • Murphy gave the Magic Research Institute the Goblin Metal smelting techniques, and its scientists presented competing approaches to dealing with magic power’s disruption of technology.
  • Hordan explained that magic-forged metals such as Orichalcum, Mithril, and Adamantine could form magic-power circuits with specific effects.
  • Murphy asked whether researchers could design magic-power chips, and Hordan said suitable materials would require extensive experimentation.
  • Hordan told Murphy that unstable, manually supplied magic power was the main obstacle to consistent metal smelting and large-scale production.
  • Murphy considered using the Philosopher’s Stone as a stable magic-power source and remembered that Severus Snape was researching how to make one.
  • Murphy decided it might be time to visit Severus Snape at Hogwarts.
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