Chapter Summaries

Murphy learned that Boris Pishkov had been ruined by Isaac Milburn and was searching for his missing sister, Marianne Hampton. Murphy offered Boris a chance to become a hero, leaving his response unresolved.

• Murphy used Legilimency on Boris Pishkov and learned that Isaac Milburn had framed him and broken his leg.
• Boris returned a kitten to Mrs. Hampton, helped her around the apartment, and exercised despite his injury.
• Boris examined clippings about Isaac Milburn and missing girls, including Marianne Hampton, when Murphy suddenly appeared in his room.
• Boris revealed that Marianne was his younger sister and that he suspected Isaac had trafficked her.
• Boris begged Murphy to help find Marianne, and Murphy asked whether he wanted to become a hero as he took out a test tube.

Murphy gave Boris True Blood, and Boris endured a painful transformation into a vampire before flying to Milburn’s mansion. There, Boris attacked the guards, and Milburn recognized him as the accountant.

• Murphy offered Boris True Blood and explained the powers and drawbacks of becoming a vampire.
• Boris injected the blood, transformed after a painful ordeal, and discovered he could turn into a giant bat.
• Boris flew to Milburn’s mansion, and Murphy followed him inside.
• Boris drank a guard’s blood and fought off several armed guards, shrugging off bullets and killing them.
• Milburn came out of his bedroom, saw Boris, and recognized him as the accountant.

Boris and Murphy rescued Marianne from Isaac Milburn’s underground prison, and Murphy offered Boris a place with Umbrella Corporation. Boris agreed to become a research subject and agent in Muggle society.

• Boris killed Isaac Milburn’s armed guards while keeping control of his bloodlust, then Murphy used Legilimency to learn where Marianne was held.
• Murphy and Boris found Marianne and more than twenty other captives in a three-level underground prison beneath Isaac’s villa.
• Murphy sent Boris and Marianne home, freed the other prisoners, took Isaac and the estate’s valuables, and burned the villa.
• Murphy offered Boris work at Umbrella Corporation, promised help for Marianne and financial support for Boris’s grandmother, and Boris accepted the research role.
• Murphy asked Boris to replace him as his agent in Muggle society.

Murphy recruited Boris to pose as Murphys Anon, the public founder of Umbrella Corporation, then brought Isaac Milburn to the Western Mansion’s laboratory for experiments. He authorized the researchers to reshape Isaac into Alex Wood and alter his memories while keeping him alive.

• Murphy asked Boris to become Murphys Anon, and Boris agreed to serve him after Mariana’s safe return.
• Murphy gathered Niklas Dubi, Funes Bachmann, and Omid Abbott and laid out his standards for human experimentation.
• Murphy identified the bound Isaac Milburn as a violent criminal and authorized experiments on him, insisting that the researchers keep him alive.
• Murphy tasked Niklas with changing Isaac’s appearance to match Alex Wood using potions and surgery.
• Murphy ordered Funes and Omid to erase and implant Isaac’s memories and investigate how mind magic affected the brain.
• Omid proposed opening Isaac’s skull to monitor his brain activity, and Murphy approved the idea and offered to cooperate.

Laura Kruger reported the Magic Research Institute’s papers and research groups to Murphy, who then heard Haldan Haber explain his hypothesis that magic manipulated matter by directing wave-function collapse. Haldan began outlining testable spell theories, including the Probability Payment Hypothesis, and was about to introduce another when the chapter ended.

• Laura Kruger reported the institute’s papers, point rewards, and research groups to Murphy, who approved forming special-topic groups under the proposed leadership model.
• Murphy asked to meet the author of The Essence of Magic, and Haldan Haber arrived to explain his hypothesis.
• Haldan argued that magic granted wizards authority to direct wave-function collapse and produce physical effects without ordinary intermediate processes.
• Murphy questioned how such magic could be studied, and Haldan proposed investigating differences in wizards’ power, affinities, and ability to learn spells.
• Haldan introduced the Probability Payment Hypothesis, proposing that magic required greater costs to make less probable events occur, then began introducing the Necessary Conditions for Spells Hypothesis.

Hordan explained his theories about how magical power, will, and knowledge shape spellcasting, then proposed that a “Magic Web” fills in details a wizard has not imagined. Murphy suspected it might function like the large language models he had used before transmigrating.

• Hordan outlined hypotheses that magical power and will were necessary for spells and that wizards had different magical affinities across six dimensions.
• Hordan argued that spells grew stronger when their effects followed natural laws, magical power increased, or a wizard’s knowledge and practice sharpened their imagination.
• Hordan proposed that the Magic Web decided the unimagined details of spells and treated spellcasting as making a wish to it.
• Murphy connected Hordan’s Magic Web theory to the large models he had used before transmigrating and considered whether repeated spellcasting had taught it spells.

Murphy discussed how wizards might bypass the Magic Web by developing precise perception, magical control, knowledge, and computing ability, and named this approach the Spellcasting Path. Later, he learned that a warehouse he owned had exploded after his team planted Claymore mines, despite describing the traps as nonlethal.

• Murphy asked Hordan whether a wizard could cast spells directly without relying on the Magic Web, and Hordan explained the abilities and knowledge that would be required.
• Murphy asked Hordan to establish a research group to improve those abilities and named the approach the Spellcasting Path.
• Patrick told Murphy that authorities might soon investigate their business and demand its accounting records, so Murphy advised preparing to transfer its core operations.
• Murphy saw a report about an explosion at a chemicals warehouse rented by Pansibo Company and confirmed that it was his warehouse.
• Murphy called the risk mitigation team and learned they had planted Claymore mines among the supposed nonlethal traps.

Kingsley led an Auror raid to arrest Alex Wood, whom he believed was Murphy Darkholme’s assistant, while Murphy met Rita Skeeter for an interview and destroyed her enchanted notebook. The chapter left Kingsley believing he had captured Alex as Murphy confronted Skeeter’s fabrications.

• At St Mungo’s, Kingsley learned that Basque had been gravely injured and resolved to arrest Alex Wood, whom he suspected of working for Murphy.
• Papede identified Alex as the man who had processed materials for Murphy, and Kingsley organized an Auror ambush at an owl shed.
• Kingsley’s team stunned a hooded figure sending a money bag by owl, and Papede identified him as Alex Wood.
• Rita Skeeter questioned Murphy at the Daily Prophet headquarters and began inventing claims about him in her enchanted notebook.
• Murphy drew his wand and set Skeeter’s notebook and quill ablaze without using fire.

Murphy threatened Rita Skeeter into stopping her attacks on him and recruited her to write a story under his direction. Meanwhile, Kingsley’s interrogation of Alex Wood failed to produce evidence, and he ordered Aurors to stop Murphy and use Veritaserum on Alex.

• Murphy trapped Rita Skeeter, revealed that he knew she was an Animagus, and warned her not to publish anything slandering him.
• Murphy told Rita that he had bought shares in the Daily Prophet, made her his employee, and took her to get a big story.
• Kingsley and the Aurors questioned Alex Wood, but Alex admitted little and resisted Legilimency with apparent Occlumency.
• An Auror reported that Murphy was bringing reporters to the Ministry, increasing the pressure on the interrogation.
• Kingsley accused Alex of helping Murphy sell potions to Muggles, then ordered the Aurors to stop Murphy and give Alex Veritaserum.

Kingsley weighed whether to publicize Alex Wood’s Veritaserum confession against Murphy Darkholme, then let Rita Skeeter witness it as pressure mounted. Barty Crouch backed the Aurors’ arrest, but Murphy challenged their methods and Crouch’s authority before any trial had taken place.

• Alex Wood confessed under Veritaserum that he worked for Murphy Darkholme and helped make and sell potions to Muggles.
• Kingsley considered waiting for stronger evidence but, reminded of injured Aurors, allowed Rita Skeeter into the interrogation room.
• Rita Skeeter entered with a photographer, followed by Murphy and Barty Crouch.
• Kingsley told Barty Crouch that Alex had confessed to helping Murphy violate the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy.
• Barty Crouch declared that the Aurors should lock Alex and Murphy in Azkaban, and Murphy criticized him for suggesting imprisonment without a Wizengamot trial.
• Murphy challenged the Aurors’ use of Veritaserum, asking whether Crouch considered it a trial.

Murphy Darkholme challenged the Aurors’ testimony against him as the supposed Alex Wood died during interrogation, turning the accusation back on Kingsley Shacklebolt. The Minister’s secretary then revealed that the real Alex Wood had traveled to Germany, leaving the Aurors facing the death of a mistaken captive and Rita Skeeter poised to report the scandal.

• Murphy questioned the supposed Alex Wood about the alleged potion sales, and the man failed to provide details before screaming in pain.
• The captive died when Murphy activated the Thorn Oath, while Murphy accused the Aurors of having cursed and killed him.
• Kingsley demanded Murphy’s arrest, but Barty Crouch ordered an examination of the captive’s death and barred everyone from leaving Auror Headquarters.
• Davis Pruitt told the room that the real Alex Wood had taken an International Floo Network fireplace to Germany.
• Murphy asked who the dead man was if Alex Wood was in Germany, and Rita Skeeter urged her photographer to capture the revelation.

Murphy exposed that the dead man had been disguised as Alex Wood, using fingerprints to prove that the real Alex had left the country. He accused the Aurors of framing him and turned the failed arrest into a scandal, while Kingsley realized Murphy had orchestrated the trap.

• Kingsley questioned Davis about when Alex had passed through the fireplace, and Murphy proposed checking fingerprints on the Floo application.
• Davis retrieved Alex's Ministry documents, and the Aurors confirmed that the dead man's fingerprints did not match Alex's.
• Murphy challenged Kingsley to explain where the impostor came from and accused the Aurors of framing him.
• Kingsley accused Murphy of destroying Lucius's mind and using him as a sacrifice to set the trap, but Murphy denied the allegations.
• Murphy told Rita Skeeter to report that the Aurors had tortured and murdered an innocent man, and Rita prepared to turn the events into a sensational story.

Rita Skeeter’s articles exposed Auror Headquarters’ unchecked powers and fueled public outrage, forcing Rufus Scrimgeour to resign while the Wizengamot scheduled a retrial for Sirius Black. As Scrimgeour left office, Kingsley Shacklebolt vowed to uncover the truth and clear his name.

• Rita Skeeter published sensational reports about Aurors torturing suspects and imprisoning people without trial, citing Sirius Black’s case and a man’s death in interrogation.
• Public outrage prompted demands for punishment, Sirius Black’s retrial, and the resignations of Scrimgeour and Barty Crouch.
• A month after the scandal began, Scrimgeour resigned, and the Wizengamot announced it would set a date to retry Sirius Black.
• Scrimgeour met Kingsley Shacklebolt at Auror Headquarters and accepted responsibility for the scandal, telling Kingsley not to underestimate their opponent.
• Kingsley vowed to reveal the truth and restore justice to Scrimgeour as Scrimgeour left the Auror office.

Murphy secured Lucius Malfoy’s cooperation in backing an Auror candidate and protecting their influence over the Muggle Prime Minister’s secretary. He then took the near-death Dobby from Lucius and brought him under his ownership.

• Murphy and Lucius Malfoy discussed the candidates to replace Scrimgeour and Lucius proposed backing his friend Rasim Selwyn.
• Murphy agreed to meet Rasim, gave Lucius access to Vault 9654, and demanded that one of their own become the next Auror assigned as the Muggle Prime Minister’s secretary.
• Lucius considered using the Prime Minister’s secretary to threaten Murphy’s power, but Murphy’s watchful gaze made him wary.
• Murphy asked Lucius for Dobby, and Lucius dismissed the battered House-elf from the Malfoy family and transferred him to Murphy.
• Murphy lifted the barely conscious Dobby by his pillowcase and took him away.

Murphy returned to Siren's Song, where the patrons treated him with new respect, and met with Locke to discuss opening a wizarding security business. After settling on the name Wizard Security Store, Murphy asked Locke about the search for House-elves.

• Murphy found the patrons at Siren's Song deferential and paid for everyone's drinks.
• Lisandro told Murphy that his master had made him and his friends honored guests with exclusive use of the back room.
• Locke told Murphy that he had been promoted to manager of Gringotts Bank UK's Capital Operations Department.
• Murphy explained that he wanted to open a security company to protect wizards and their property, and Locke wondered if he was building his own Auror force.
• Murphy rejected Locke's suggestions and chose the name Wizard Security Store.
• Murphy asked Locke how the House-elf search was going.

Murphy collected forty-three House-elves and brought them to the Charms Research Institute to replace its Muggle staff and receive care. After checking on the recovering Dobby, he returned to the Western Mansion to meet Boris.

• Locke showed Murphy the forty-three House-elves he had gathered and told him about the nearby Weasley and Lovegood homes.
• Murphy took the House-elves to the Charms Research Institute and instructed Laura Kruger to arrange their work and dismiss the Muggle employees.
• Laura told Murphy that Boris had come seeking him at the Western Mansion.
• Murphy learned that Dobby was severely malnourished but had a chance to recover, and he asked the doctors to examine and treat the other House-elves.
• Murphy returned to the Western Mansion and asked where Boris was.

Murphy met Boris at the Western Mansion and discussed Boris's new role with Umbrella Corporation. He discovered Serika's paper cranes and learned she had entered Joachim's village, where she was trapped among a deadly curse and plague, then took Boris to the laboratory.

• Murphy told Boris that Mariana could stay at the Western Mansion and explained his laboratory examinations and future work helping run Umbrella Corporation.
• Boris gave Murphy five paper cranes he had found around the mansion grounds, which the guards had not noticed.
• Murphy read Serika's letters and learned she had found the hidden village and castle ruins after waiting several days for him.
• Serika's latest letters warned that the village trapped visitors with a possible Seed of the Mind curse and a plague, and begged Murphy not to come.
• Murphy put away the letters and took Boris to the laboratory.

Murphy arranged Boris's work at the institute, heard Alex's complaints about teaching Muggle researchers, and told him that Serika was trapped in Joachim's village with a dangerous illness. Alex offered to rescue her himself, but Murphy insisted he would save her.

• Murphy introduced Boris to Andrew Tuke so they could work together on examinations and experiments.
• Murphy gave Serika's paper cranes to Harada Minyou to test for traces of the village's plague.
• Alex begged Murphy to stop making him teach Muggle researchers, describing their endless strange questions and spell demonstrations.
• Murphy explained that Serika was trapped in Joachim's village and had contracted a dangerous illness.
• Alex offered to leave the institute and rescue Serika himself, but Murphy angrily declared that he would save her.

Murphy prepared to enter the village to save Serika and sought a way to protect himself from the plague. After learning that the letters carried mutated Yersinia pestis, he brought samples to Umbrella’s White Medicine R&D Center to seek faster immunity.

• Murphy identified the plague, the village’s dead inhabitants, and the Seed of the Mind curse as dangers, and planned to leave Alex outside as support.
• Harada Minyou confirmed that the letters carried mutated Yersinia pestis and advised vaccination, protective equipment, and clean food and water.
• Harada Minyou suggested using Dittany Promoter to cultivate specific immune T cells faster than a conventional vaccine could provide immunity.
• Murphy contacted Patrick and took the bacterial samples to Umbrella’s White Medicine R&D Center in disguise.
• Murphy asked the supervisor how quickly Dittany Promoter could give him immunity to the mutated bacteria.

Murphy prepared equipment for a T-cell treatment that might save Serika, then followed clues from her paper crane to a hidden village. He discovered that its inhabitants and a dog appeared to be dead yet still moving, and asked the village registrars whether they had seen Serika.

• Murphy arranged for equipment and had blood drawn to prepare antigen-specific T cells for Serika.
• Two days later, Murphy followed Serika’s clues with Alex to a hidden path in the woods and told Alex to wait outside.
• Murphy entered the village in a hazmat suit armed with weapons and found a dog with a dried-out eye hanging from its socket.
• Murphy struck the apparently dead dog with the Killing Curse, but it got back up with a glowing blue substance visible in its chest.
• An old woman and a young man demanded that Murphy register and remove his protective suit, while Murphy noticed their exposed bones and wounds.
• Murphy refused their demands and asked whether they had seen Serika.