Chapter Summaries

Murphy learned of a permanent mind-altering spell called Hell's Seed of the Mind and sought clues to the wizarding family that had preserved it. He also gave Serika a secrecy spell to test and asked her to investigate Joachim Hell's past, leaving the search underway.

• Murphy read that the Hell family had passed down a spell that permanently implanted a belief, sentence, or emotion in another person's mind.
• Alex identified Katal's Biographies of Dark Wizards as the source of the account and recalled that his sister had the book.
• Murphy photographed the book's rough drawing of a village in Caerphilly, Wales, where Joachim Hell had lived.
• Murphy summoned Serika Wood when she tried to run from him and learned that the other researchers had left while she continued working.
• Murphy gave Serika a secrecy spell to test and asked her to search the book for clues about Joachim Hell and Hell's Seed of the Mind.

Murphy tested the Thorn Oath on Serika and discovered that his orders could prevent her from breaking the oath, though maintaining control cost him magic. He defended using the spell on Muggles as protection for wizards, and Serika agreed to search for Hell's Seed of the Mind before realizing Murphy might have manipulated her.

• Serika asked Murphy to test the Thorn Oath on her, and Murphy made her swear never to disobey his orders.
• Murphy ordered Serika not to remove the oath, and she collapsed in pain when she tried to cast a counter-curse.
• Murphy realized the oath could enforce orders within its scope and that maintaining control consumed some of his magic.
• Serika warned Murphy that using the spell on Muggles violated the Muggle Protection Act, but Murphy argued that wizards needed protection from Muggles.
• Murphy told Serika to find Hell's Seed of the Mind as a way to avoid hurting anyone, and she promised to search for it before suspecting he had misled her.

Murphy tested Tom Riddle's Diary to assess its senses, perception, reasoning, and computing ability, then tried writing to it under a fabricated identity from the year 2077. The diary grew confused by Murphy's increasingly bizarre entries, ending with an account of a girl being shot for being a wizard.

• Murphy used Alex to test the diary with water, fire, blows, scrubbing, and other stimuli, concluding that it had none of the five senses.
• Murphy tested the diary's sense of time, logic, and arithmetic, finding that it lacked a clock, struggled with reasoning, and could answer some calculations.
• Murphy concluded that the diary was useful as an information lookup tool, sent Alex away, and began writing in it himself with an oil-based pen.
• Murphy claimed to be living in 2077, described radioactive dust and expensive paper, and gave the diary a series of contradictory dates and events.
• Murphy wrote that a girl had been shot because she was a wizard, leaving the diary faintly panicked about Muggles killing wizards.

The diary read Murphy’s account of a future where wizards were persecuted and learned that Voldemort had led a failed uprising against Arasaka Corporation. Murphy reported that Voldemort was killed by a gamma-ray cannon and that his Horcrux was found.

• Murphy wrote that accidental magic revealed he was a wizard, and he feared being killed after the mandatory test.
• Murphy described his mother transforming into a black monster before the Anti-Wizard Unit killed her.
• Murphy recorded that Voldemort attacked Night City, destroyed Arasaka Tower, and promised to free imprisoned wizards.
• Murphy wrote that Arasaka Corporation’s forces killed Voldemort with a gamma-ray cannon.
• Murphy reported that Voldemort’s Horcrux had been found.

Murphy convinced the diary that Arasaka Corporation had destroyed five Horcruxes and would destroy the last one, which he suspected was the notebook, if he turned it in. Believing the story and fearing for its survival, the diary offered to teach Murphy dark magic, and he asked what it could teach him.

• Murphy described Arasaka Corporation’s research footage showing a Horcrux destroyed by advanced technology and announced a bounty for the last one.
• Murphy suggested that the diary was the final Horcrux and considered handing it to Arasaka Corporation to end the war.
• Murphy’s account blamed Voldemort for starting a disastrous war against Muggles, and the diary realized that its future self had caused it.
• The diary urged Murphy not to betray wizardkind, then offered to teach him dark magic so they could escape.
• Murphy finally replied, asking the diary what it could teach him.

Murphy pressured the diary into teaching him Voldemort’s Flight Spell, which he hoped to master quickly to escape Arasaka Corporation. Meanwhile, Umbrella completed its Dittany research base and Murphy’s heavily fortified Western Mansion, where he welcomed guests.

• Murphy forced the diary to reveal a long list of spells, potions, and magical knowledge, then chose to learn the Flight Spell.
• The diary explained that the Flight Spell could lift a wizard using shadowy material, and Murphy pushed it to teach him the spell in two days.
• Umbrella completed Zone One of its biotechnology research base and relocated the research institutions it had acquired from Wellcome and Zeneca.
• Umbrella researchers isolated Dittany Promoter, filed more than twenty related patents, and published papers that drew major attention in biology.
• Murphy completed Western Mansion, a Staffordshire estate with a nineteen-level underground fortress that housed his No. 1 Spell Research Institute.
• Murphy welcomed guests in Western Mansion’s first-floor hall.

Murphys Anon gathered 108 scholars at Umbrella Corporation’s Western Mansion, hired them under strict confidentiality, and promised them an untouched field of research. He ended by preparing to demonstrate a trick with magic.

• Murphys Anon sealed the hall’s exits, silenced the crowd, and announced that the scholars had been hired by Umbrella Corporation.
• Murphys Anon explained the scholars’ closed working arrangements and confidentiality requirements, then gave them a chance to leave before revealing company secrets.
• Murphys Anon introduced himself as Umbrella Corporation’s founder and identified several scholars’ fields of expertise.
• Murphys Anon described the limits of modern research and invited the scholars to enter an unknown field of discovery.
• Murphys Anon announced that he would open the door to that field and cast “Leviosa.”

Murphy demonstrated magic to a crowd of scientists, turning their guesses into experiments and showing how little they understood the phenomena. He invited them to research magic, leaving them with the task of exploring its unknown principles.

• Murphy floated a lectern and its contents, then had Rollins Bogg test whether wires were holding them up.
• Murphy transformed a flowerpot into a stick and shrank it into a rod, while Rollins and William Boyle investigated the objects’ unexplained levitation.
• William Boyle tested his antigravity-field theory and considered other explanations, but admitted he needed more experiments.
• Murphy transformed the rod into a bird, used Wingardium Leviosa on Stefan Welch, and demonstrated further spells to the crowd.
• Murphy explained that calling something magic did not explain how it worked, and invited the gathered scientists to research magic.

Murphy showed the researchers around the institute and explained its training, work, and confidentiality rules. After the researchers challenged the threat of memory erasure and the ownership of their work, he addressed their concerns and began to explain the reward system.

• Murphy gave the researchers a tour of the institute and outlined its laboratories, residential floors, and support staff.
• Murphy explained that the researchers would study wizarding theory for two months, take exams, and work at the institute for over a year under strict restrictions on leaving and outside contact.
• Murphy told the researchers that signing the agreement would bind them to a magical oath, and that anyone who left would have their memories of the research erased.
• Several researchers objected to the memory erasure and questioned how their safety and research contributions would be protected.
• Murphy said Umbrella Corporation would own the institute's research, promised co-first authorship when results could be published, and described ways to protect rewards and research records.
• After answering questions about confidentiality and ownership, Murphy began to explain the reward system.

Murphy explained his goals for magical research to the Muggle researchers and organized their agreements and oaths, while Scrimgeour ordered an Auror to infiltrate Murphy’s potion shop for evidence. Murphy then sought Alex’s help with a new job.

• Murphy told the researchers he sought immortality, greater knowledge, and expanded capabilities, and Laura Kruger asked whether he would share a way to make others wizards or gods.
• Murphy had the researchers sign agreements and swear the Thorn Oath, which consumed nearly half his magical power.
• Dawlish told Scrimgeour that Murphy might be selling Beauty Potions to Muggles, and Scrimgeour ordered an Auror to infiltrate the potion shop with a camera.
• Murphy decided he needed a teacher for the Muggle researchers and approached the overworked Alex with a new job.

Murphy reassigned Alex Wood and Serika Wood to tutor Muggle researchers at the Magic Research Institute, then used a historian’s knowledge to locate the vanished village near Caerphilly that might hold clues to Joachim’s spell. Serika set out to investigate the site and promised to contact Murphy before exploring further.

• Murphy offered Alex a less exhausting tutoring job for three hundred Galleons a month, and Alex accepted.
• Serika told Murphy she could not locate Joachim’s village, so he brought her and Alex to the institute to serve as guiding wizards for Muggle researchers.
• Alex panicked when he learned he would teach Muggles, while Murphy warned him that the Aurors could send him to Azkaban for breaking the law.
• Murphy asked historian Hunter Werner to study the old village picture, and Hunter placed the village near Caerphilly Castle on a map.
• Serika decided to investigate the now-desolate valley herself and agreed to send Murphy a message before exploring any discoveries.

Lucius Malfoy was released from prison and reunited with Narcissa and Draco, only to find Murphy Darkholme waiting for him. Murphy explained that Lucius had lost their legal battle because Murphy had outspent him, leaving Lucius to recognize that he could not compete financially.

• Lucius Malfoy was released from imprisonment and received his wand from an Auror.
• Lucius reunited with Narcissa and Draco, then was shocked to see Murphy Darkholme waiting with them.
• Narcissa urged Lucius to hear Murphy out, and Murphy led him to a hillside by an abandoned lighthouse.
• Murphy admitted selling potions to Muggles and explained that Lucius had become his enemy by attacking his factory.
• Murphy revealed that he had spent one hundred thousand Galleons to win the lawsuit, and Lucius realized he had lost because he could not match Murphy's wealth.

Murphy humiliated Lucius Malfoy and offered him a paid role in building support for his business, warning him against becoming an enemy. After flying away, Murphy received word that the warehouse he had ordered watched had been infiltrated.

• Murphy confronted Lucius Malfoy over their failed business partnership and challenged him to kill him.
• Lucius Malfoy considered casting the Cruciatus Curse, but Murphy knocked his wand away and declared himself stronger.
• Murphy offered Lucius Malfoy money to recruit allies and promote cooperation, warning that real evidence would be submitted if Lucius opposed him.
• Murphy flew away using a spell from the diary, then stopped when his phone rang.
• Murphy's subordinate told him that the watched warehouse had just been infiltrated.

Murphy investigated an invisible intruder who had photographed potions in his warehouse and traced the fingerprints to Hamoud Abra, a potion maker he suspected was an Auror spy. After confronting Hamoud and wiping his recent memories, Murphy escaped before the Aurors arrived.

• Murphy and Schmidt Gibson reviewed ordinary, infrared, and thermal footage of a disguised wizard breaking into the warehouse and photographing potions.
• Murphy had a fingerprint expert compare the prints with files on his potion makers, and the expert identified Hamoud Abra.
• Murphy confronted Hamoud at Supreme Potion Store, but Legilimency failed because Hamoud used Occlumency.
• Hamoud revealed that he was an Auror and warned Murphy that colleagues were coming, so Murphy cast Obliviate on him and left.
• The Aurors found Hamoud beside a sewer in Knockturn Alley with no memory of the past month, while his residence had been burned down.

Scrimgeour and Kingsley shifted their investigation of Murphy to the Muggle world after Frank was attacked and their leads disappeared. Murphy secured Thief’s Downfall defenses and prepared to hear the Magic Research Institute’s first research presentation, a paper titled “Some Thoughts on the Path for Wizards to Become Gods.”

• An Auror reported that Frank had lost his wand and valuables and suffered a powerful Memory Charm, while Kingsley urged Scrimgeour to seek revenge.
• Scrimgeour and Kingsley decided to investigate Umbrella through Gawain Robards and secretly enlist Muggle resources.
• Murphy asked Locke to find a bulk seller of house-elves and said he needed at least fifty for the Magic Research Institute.
• Murphy installed Thief’s Downfall access gates at Supreme Potion Store, Western Mansion, and key areas of the institute.
• Laura Kruger invited Murphy to a research presentation, and he learned the institute’s first paper was titled “Some Thoughts on the Path for Wizards to Become Gods.”

Genetic engineer Andrew Tuke presented the Transfiguration Pathway, proposing that Transfiguration and Animagus magic could let wizards gain the abilities of many living things and move toward omnipotence. He suggested combining Animagus research with studies of potions, magical creatures, and transformative spells, while leaving the pathway as a conjecture for future investigation.

• Andrew Tuke introduced his paper on how wizards might become gods and argued that magic offered a way to overcome the limits of biological enhancement.
• Andrew explained that Transfiguration could give wizards other creatures' abilities, while Animagi could permanently assume animal forms.
• Andrew identified Animagus limitations: most could take only one animal form, could not become magical creatures, and faced a difficult transformation process.
• Andrew proposed studying Polyjuice Potion, Boggarts, werewolves, vampires, Metamorphmagi, and other transformative magic to address those limitations.
• Andrew named his proposed route to transforming into all things the Transfiguration Pathway.

Andrew Tuke proposed a four-stage Transfiguration Pathway, and Murphy approved creating a research group to test it. Murphy later met Patrick, who said he had good news of his own.

• Andrew Tuke described the benefits of Transfiguration and outlined its biological, non-biological, elemental, and void stages.
• Murphy asked Andrew to establish a Transfiguration Pathway Research Group and offered to provide researchers, equipment, and materials.
• Andrew proposed studying Animagus transformation alongside werewolf and vampire transformations, and Murphy praised his focus and promised Laura would help form the team.
• Murphy met Patrick while still excited about Andrew’s proposal, and Patrick said he had good news to share.

Murphy toured Umbrella’s research facilities and told Patrick to acquire promising electronics and software companies, then investigated Jennifer’s sudden memory loss and discovered an Auror had used a spell at the front desk. He suspected the Auror was tracing Venus Series suppliers back to his Beauty Potion warehouse and ordered Umbrella’s security team to prepare traps.

• Patrick explained how Dittany Promoter enabled an immune-enhancement therapy and described the laboratory’s patents and ongoing research into mutated dittany.
• Murphy told Patrick to look for electronics and software companies for Umbrella to acquire so Murphy could advance computer technology.
• Jennifer collapsed at the office, and Patrick found her breathing, heartbeat, and pupil response normal while her supervisor described her recent confusion and forgetfulness.
• Murphy reviewed lobby footage and saw an outdatedly dressed man cast spells on Jennifer before taking a supplier contact form.
• Murphy realized the Auror might be tracing Venus Series suppliers to his Beauty Potion warehouse and asked Umbrella’s security team to set traps at a potentially infiltrated facility.

Murphy learned that MI5 was investigating Umbrella Corporation at the Aurors’ prompting and planned to deal with those pulling the strings. He then visited Lucius Malfoy to recruit his help in making Supreme Potion the wizarding world’s only apothecary, leaving Lucius asking what Murphy wanted him to do.

• Patrick told Murphy that MI5 had ordered Umbrella Corporation to attend a national-security hearing, with the order coming from 10 Downing Street.
• Murphy realized the Aurors were using the hearing to expose his identity and told Patrick to delay the investigation while he handled the people behind it.
• Patrick mistook Murphy’s plan to bring down “him” as a threat against the Iron Lady, and Murphy clarified nothing before leaving.
• Murphy visited the Malfoys’ temporary manor and asked Lucius Malfoy whether he had decided to help after more than a month.
• Murphy offered Lucius gold and demanded that he shut down Slug & Jiggers Apothecary so Supreme Potion could become the wizarding world’s only apothecary.
• Lucius asked Murphy what exactly he wanted him to do.

Murphy sought help countering Scrimgeour, obtained True Blood from Lisandro with the bartender’s approval, and went to London’s East End to find a vicious person for his plan. He ended the chapter confronting a gang of thugs and asking who the district’s worst bastard was.

• Murphy asked Lucius to help deal with Scrimgeour and told him to have Kingsley target Alex Wood.
• Murphy asked Lisandro for blood to study how vampires and werewolves transformed others, and the bartender ordered Lisandro to give him True Blood.
• Lisandro gave Murphy two test tubes of True Blood, while the bartender said some people did not consider eternal life worthwhile.
• Murphy flew to the East End seeking a vicious person to use as a scapegoat and found several punks beating a man.
• Murphy grabbed one of the thugs and asked who the worst bastard in the district was.