But Sirius did not seem convinced.
"If you mean he used potions to earn some Muggle gold..." Sirius shook his head. "I think my ancestors did similar things. Of course, it's illegal and can bring some trouble, but I don't think it's terribly dangerous."
"Murphy isn't stupid. If he wants to keep making Muggle money this way, he can't expose our existence. That would give him countless competitors."
Dumbledore nodded. "That was why, at first, I did not consider Murphy Darkholme an enemy either. I merely thought he wanted to make a little money this way."
"But what if money is not his goal at all?"
"Not money?" Sirius did not quite understand. "Is there anything else Muggles can provide that wizards cannot?"
"Regrettably, there is," Dumbledore sighed. "Rationality."
"I only recently understood Murphy's thinking. Though I still do not know where these ideas came from, he is yearning for a kind of power... one greater than immortality, greater than the power Voldemort craved. He seems to want complete control over magic—deeper, more thorough control than any wizard in history has ever achieved."
"To that end, he chose the power of rationality. What Muggles call 'science.' Muggles are better than wizards at rational thought, and Murphy seems to want to borrow their minds to achieve his goals."
"And if that is the case, he will have to expose magic to the Muggles."
Sirius blinked, taking quite a while to understand the logic behind it.
He found it rather incredible, even impossible to comprehend.
To gain better control over magic, he sought help from Muggles?
Not by learning more spells, not by consulting a wizard as outstanding as Dumbledore, but by turning to Muggles who knew nothing whatsoever about magic?!
What kind of thought process was that?
Still, since Dumbledore had