Chapter 231: Is a Believing Heart Magic?

Unexpectedly to Murphy, Qinyeli arrived in Bryansk smoothly, as if the Soviet wizarding world hadn't discovered anything at all.

Soon, the official Soviet media released reports of an earthquake and forest fire in the Bryansk Forest, stating that the railway to Bryansk needed repairs, but they didn't mention Qinyeli's special train at all.

Immediately, these reports were covered up by other things, and the "accident" in the Bryansk Forest was immediately forgotten.

Murphy instinctively sensed that there must be some hidden reason for this, but the Soviet wizarding world was extremely restrained, and he couldn't figure it out for a while.

However, it was a good thing in the end. He handed the Soviet affairs over to Barty Crouch Jr. and the others again, and went to the Magic Research Institute first.

He first gave himself a physical examination. The results were as expected: the transformation during the battle had indeed worsened his physical condition. Several small primary cysts were found in his abdomen, arms, and chest cavity, but the doctor only suggested conservative radiotherapy, which would cause less damage to the body.

"CART therapy is no longer applicable to you. Most of the lymphocytes extracted from your blood have reached their division limit, and it is difficult to find enough T cells for cloning. If you force it, it will be equivalent to exhausting the only remaining viable parts of your immune system in advance... Once most immune cells reach their lifespan limit, your immune system will collapse directly, and the consequences will be even more serious."

Murphy was mentally prepared for this and finally accepted the suggestion.

A *Avada Kedavra* that can blow up the ancestral grave?

Exchanged for life.

The huge negative effect brought about by the huge improvement in strength in a short period of time, although he didn't choose it actively, could also be said to be due to his personality.

He had nothing to regret. If it happened again, he would likely still do it.

After a simple treatment, Murphy met with the current Director of the Auror Office, Rasim Selwyn.

"How is the Gringotts robbery case being handled?" Murphy asked.

"This... we are still looking for clues." Rasim didn't quite understand why the master was so concerned about this case, but in order to cooperate with Murphy, he had put some effort into it. However, apart from knowing that the vault belonged to Dumbledore, he had no other leads.

With Dumbledore unwilling to disclose the contents of his vault, they really had no way to ask.

"In that case, I will provide you with a clue." Murphy said. "The thing that was almost lost in that vault belongs to Nicolas Flamel. He should have gone into hiding for some reason. I need you to find him. Do this as covertly as possible, but don't be afraid of exposure. Just investigate in the name of the case."

Placing all hope on the *Philosopher's Stone* was too dangerous. Anyway, what he needed was the *Elixir of Life*. If he could find Nicolas Flamel and get the *Elixir of Life* from him, it would be the same.

Besides that, perhaps the routes of turning into a vampire or making a *Horcrux* also had to be seriously considered. Although these two routes had great side effects, it was better than dying.

As for the *Philosopher's Stone*, Murphy suddenly had a thought.

Why couldn't he just ask Dumbledore to borrow it?

As soon as this thought popped up, Murphy realized that he was getting a bit carried away.

Perhaps it was because of the battle with Alexei that Murphy had a more comprehensive understanding of his own strength. He suddenly discovered that he was no longer afraid of Dumbledore.

No matter how strong Dumbledore was, in the original work, a single ordinary *Avada Kedavra* could take him away.

Is my star-destroying cannon not good enough?

Even if his condition worsens again after transformation, as long as he kills Dumbledore and snatches the *Philosopher's Stone*, wouldn't there be as much *Elixir of Life* as he wanted?

Although just after completing the transformation, Murphy had a rough feeling that he should be very strong and might be able to fight Dumbledore.

But at this moment, after truly verifying his own strength, he finally had a bit of confidence.

At worst, he could just flip the table.

Before, he would worry that if he spoke directly, it would expose his purpose, arouse more suspicion, and cause unnecessary trouble in obtaining the *Philosopher's Stone*.

But thinking about it now, from the moment he entered the school, Dumbledore couldn't have failed to suspect his purpose.

He had long been suspicious of him.

So whether he opened his mouth or not made no difference.

Anyway, now that he could bear the worst consequences, why be so cautious that he didn't even dare to ask?

After resting for a few days, Murphy returned to Hogwarts.

He had actually only been away for less than a week and hadn't missed any classes, so no one questioned where he had gone.

After returning, he first completed the paper titled "Some Arguments on the Directionality of Magic in the Mental World" and submitted it to the wizarding world's academic journal: *Magic Weekly*.

But unlike the huge response he expected, the paper was rejected directly.

Editor's comment: "Gibberish, nonsensical, lacks the most basic understanding of the basic principles of magic, worthless, don't let me see such garbage again."

Murphy was so angry that he almost called Barty Crouch Sr. on the spot to send someone to burn down the *Magic Weekly* magazine office.

In the end, he suppressed his anger, found some back issues of the weekly to study, and found that most of the articles were things like: "Several Uses of the *Tooth-Growing Charm* for Treating Dental Caries," "Feasibility Analysis of the *Dancing Charm* for Solving the Problem of Single Wizards," etc. After reading several magazines, the only one that could be called academic spirit was actually a study on the habits of the *Golden Snitch*.

What is all this?

Is there no one in the wizarding world curious about the essence of magic?

"I heard that taking a walk after a meal helps digestion, and I happen to have some questions about magic that I would like to ask you."

One day at lunch, Murphy met the rare Headmaster and invited him to take a walk by the lake.

Dumbledore was really busy. He also held the position of "Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards," seemingly dealing with many international wizarding affairs, often flying around in various places.

He was somewhat surprised by Murphy's sudden invitation. Since their last conversation about the sorting system, the two hadn't had any private conversations.

But he readily agreed.

It was already December, and the air was very cold. Fortunately, the weather was clear, and the sunlight shining on their faces was still warm.

The two walked for a long time by the Black Lake, which had begun to freeze, chatting about recent teaching situations, changes in students, etc.

"Professor, what are the so-called basic principles of magic?" Murphy asked his question.

"Hmm, that's really a profound question..." Dumbledore thought for a while. "I don't know if magic has any so-called basic principles, and I haven't seen any research indicating the existence of such principles. In fact, our magic really looks like it's omnipotent, doesn't it?"

"But if I had to say, perhaps, it's believing."

"As long as you believe in it, sincerely, without reservation, magic will always give you miracles."

"Believing?" Murphy was stunned.

Isn't this his own "Mental Path"?

He handed over his paper. "This is some of my recent thinking about the essence of magic. I would like you to take a look."

"Oh?" Dumbledore was somewhat surprised but still took the paper and read it seriously.

After a long while, he raised his head. "Amazing, brilliant! This paper is very creative. Even many of our spells can become a system because of this, instead of being scattered in a mess without rules."

"Amazing! I should recommend it to *Magic Weekly*! They should award you a Merlin Order."

Murphy looked at Dumbledore. "In fact, I have already submitted it, and they replied that this paper is worthless and is garbage."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 232 =====