Chapter 145: Wanted Notice

Murphy glanced at the other person.

He recalled the question Laura Kruger had once asked him.

She had asked then, if a way were found to turn ordinary people into wizards, would Murphy mind sharing such power.

Murphy's answer at the time was that he didn't know yet, and to ask him again when such a possibility existed.

Now, that moment had arrived.

"No," Murphy said, "there's no need to stop it."

"The authority of magic does not belong solely to me, nor do I have the power to refuse others access to magic. On this road toward the end of magic, we are all fellow travelers; I have merely walked a few steps ahead."

If his goal were merely to gain dominance, then the more people who possessed magic, the less his power would be.

But that was not his goal; what he wanted was to reach the end of magic.

This was never a zero-sum game of competition, but a path of cooperation where the more fellow travelers there were, the further one could go.

Andrew breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Director."

Murphy nodded. "Let's get back to the current matter."

"You mentioned earlier constructing potions with wizards as the target, but wizards possess magic and cannot be considered ordinary animals; they should also count as magical creatures, right? Has there been a breakthrough in Magical Animagus technology?"

"Actually, there hasn't been a true breakthrough," Andrew said, scratching his head. "The difficulty of Magical Animagus compared to Advanced Animagus lies in the fact that when adding magical creature tissue to the potion, because magical creatures possess magic, the magic within their tissue disrupts the magical balance in the potion, or even conflicts with the wizard's own magic, leading to more violent mutations."

"Compared to Advanced Animagus, the degree of this mutation is such that even a Patronus cannot suppress it, which causes the probability of the potion developing into a malignant mutation to skyrocket."

"But since this time we are only using the 'aura' of Muggles to guide the wizard's magic, and there is no magic in a Muggle's aura, there will be no conflict. The magic remains the same magic; it's just that the labels and attribute distribution have been changed, much like using a mold to shape clay into the form one desires."

Murphy understood. "Good, how long will you need to complete this magic potion?"

"Because the process is similar to the making of Animagus potion, by my estimate, it might take at least half a month."

"Half a month? Patrick doesn't have that much time..." Murphy thought for a moment. "By using the Petrification Curse, Freezing Curse, and methods like low temperature and anesthesia to lower his body's metabolic rate, can we slow down organ failure and inhibit viral replication?"

The medical experts consulted after hearing this and said: "Yes. But given Mr. Patrick's condition, we might be able to delay it by about two days at most."

Two days, still not enough.

After thinking, Murphy suddenly said: "What about true petrification?"

Like the petrification ability of a Basilisk; the wizarding world possesses means to truly petrify living beings.

At worst, once we have the means to treat Patrick, we can use something like Mandrake juice to restore him.

"It should be feasible."

Murphy immediately went to Siren's Song in Knockturn Alley, found Lisandro, and stated his needs.

The latter went out for a trip, returned shortly, and said: "Sorry, there is no more Basilisk venom. That creature is very rare, but its venom has little use, and we haven't received such material in two or three years."

"If we go to acquire it now, can we find it?"

"It's very difficult. This material is hard to store long-term. Usually, once a wizard obtains it, they either use it themselves or resell it quickly. The chance of acquiring it is not high."

Murphy felt a bit troubled. Should he go to Hogwarts and get the Basilisk?

"However, I did hear some news about a Basilisk a few months ago. If you need, I can help you ask."

"Oh? Go quickly!"

After another while, Lisandro returned. "I have a customer whose relative is an explorer. It is said that he saw a Basilisk last year."

"Where?"

"The United States, the Grand Canyon in Arizona."

"The United States?"

"I'm going on a long trip," Murphy said to Laura Kruger. "I will be back in two days at most. You take good care of the institute. Also, once there is news of Ares, have the Watchers mobilize; you must bring the child back."

Having arranged the subsequent work, Murphy took out an empty Coca-Cola bottle.

Apparition has a maximum distance limit and is difficult to use for intercontinental travel, while the international Floo Network between countries also requires many procedures and is quite cumbersome.

By comparison, Portkeys have become the most common way for wizards to travel intercontinentally.

Generally, Portkeys also need to be registered with the Ministry of Magic, but that is merely a legal procedure. Murphy was in a hurry and couldn't care about that; he directly had Lisandro find a wizard who had been to the United States and make him a Portkey that could reach San Francisco.

"Good luck, Director."

"I'm off."

Auror Command, Auror Office Director's office.

"Director Robards," Kingsley knocked on the door and walked in upon seeing it was open, "I request an immediate arrest warrant for Murphy Darkholm!"

"Ar-Arrest warrant?" Gawain Robards was fiddling with a small golden statue. This was a gift Murphy had someone bring him when he took office a few months ago, specifically carved into Gawain's own likeness. He liked it very much and would take it out to play with from time to time.

"Murphy broke into St. Mungo's and took away the witness we were monitoring! Openly interfering with Auror work! Director, this is the best opportunity! We won't catch more dirt on him! We must take this opportunity to launch a full-scale investigation into him!"

"St. Mungo's?" Gawain was stunned for a moment. "I thought it was Azkaban. Is taking away a few patients considered a crime?"

"Those are a group of Muggles bitten by werewolves!" Kingsley said. "I suspect some people are unhappy with Murphy, and they have started dog-eat-dog. But this is our opportunity, Director. Those Muggles are linked to the evidence of Murphy selling potions to Muggle society, which is why he had to take them away!"

"He is preparing to destroy the evidence!"

"This..." Gawain looked a bit troubled. "Sirius is still out there, and there are werewolves, there are so many things, why must you keep staring at Murphy?"

"Because he is our true enemy. Sirius and the werewolves only cause temporary trouble, but Murphy, as long as he remains at large for one day, we will be in danger for one more day."

"Director, don't forget, he is also an enemy of Mr. Barty Crouch." Kingsley said. "If you don't intend to deal with him, I will directly apply for an arrest warrant from Mr. Crouch."

"You..." Gawain was stunned for a moment, then his face turned red, but finally he said, "Alright, I will go report to Mr. Crouch."

United States, San Francisco port.

Murphy appeared beside a dock warehouse.

Looking left and right, Murphy took out a GPS locator, checked his position, and found that he hadn't deviated too far from his destination.

Then he took out a map, a simple map drawn by the explorer who had seen the Basilisk.

According to the other person, he discovered the Basilisk in a desert at the bottom of a valley on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Looking at the marked location, it seemed to be north of a place called "Cape Royal," 1,000 kilometers away.

1,000 kilometers, for the current Murphy, was a matter of a few minutes.

He first put on a titanium alloy helmet.

This thing was specifically built for high-speed flight. At his top speed of over Mach 3, if he were to hit a small bird or something, even with his current physical fitness, he couldn't guarantee he wouldn't be injured.

But with this helmet, he didn't have to worry. Moreover, the helmet would still cover the front of his head and beak when he transformed into a raven form, forming a conical structure to reduce wind resistance and further increase flight speed.

Having put on the helmet, he cast a Muggle-Repelling Charm on himself, followed by a Disillusionment Charm, and then transformed into a plume of black smoke and shot into the sky.

Halfway through, he suddenly transformed into a black raven, his speed doubled, and with a "bang," a white shockwave exploded behind him, breaking the sound barrier and disappearing in an instant like a flash of lightning.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 146 =====