Chapter 233: I, Murphy, Robbery

"Then did you promise him?"

In the Headmaster's office, Professor McGonagall asked.

"No." Dumbledore was standing in front of a stone basin, using his wand to extract strands of silver filaments from his mind and dropping them into the basin.

That strand of silver memory dissolved in the Pensieve, flashing the face of a young and handsome male wizard.

"I cannot take this risk."

Professor McGonagall nodded in agreement. "Murphy's reputation is bad. He has dealings with the Muggle world, and the news about him selling magic potions to Muggles is spreading vividly; it shouldn't all be groundless. If he gets the *Philosopher's Stone*, perhaps he will prepare to open a Gringotts of his own."

"If he can lower the handling fee a bit, maybe that wouldn't be a bad thing." Dumbledore said.

"..."

"What scares me is not his ambition." Dumbledore said. "He is still very young. Wizards of this age always want to change the world, but mostly out of ignorance."

"But, Murphy is a bit different."

"He is different from us." Dumbledore said. "He is very smart, even full of wisdom. This intelligence is not just about being quick-witted and thinking fast, but as if he has experienced many thoughts, experienced a review of time that exceeds his age. He is even more 'mature' than wizards much older than him."

"He should have been born into a wizarding family, right, Minerva?"

"Of course, he is the child of Sanders Darkholm and Natalie Darkholm. I taught both of them too."

"Did they show any curiosity about Muggle things?"

"As far as I know, no."

"But Murphy is very good at using Muggle knowledge. His understanding of Muggle 'science' might be stronger than all of us." Dumbledore recalled the paper he had read. "And, he seems to have received very strict Muggle scientific training... his logic and even his wording are so... unusual."

"Even those little wizards who are truly Muggle-born don't have such attainments."

"He entered school at eleven and left at eighteen. During the most important period of his becoming who he is, he spent it all at Hogwarts. He should have been like an ordinary little wizard."

"But he seems to have lived in the Muggle world for many years. His knowledge is by no means superficial. Where did those thoughts that have already penetrated his mind come from?"

"What do you mean?" Professor McGonagall was stunned. "Are you saying he is an impostor?"

"No. I don't know." Dumbledore said, frowning deeply. "I can't see his appearance clearly. Murphy makes me even more suspicious than Tom."

Saying this, the old man sighed, seemingly somewhat regretful: "He was right; I really can't trust him."

"Trust is something you can only have after spending a long time together and walking a long road, isn't it? Dumbledore?" Professor McGonagall said. "You have already suffered a loss with Riddle, so how can you unconditionally trust someone whose background you don't know?"

Dumbledore nodded slightly, but then said, "But, Murphy is very frank."

"At least, he didn't hide his desires."

Dumbledore recalled Murphy's appearance at that time, those dark eyes fixed, clear, without schemes and deception; he directly stated what he wanted.

That upright momentum made him almost somewhat moved.

"He is different from Tom." Dumbledore said. "Very different."

"Minerva, tell me, if I could unconditionally trust Tom, or give him more guidance instead of monitoring and watching from the sidelines, would he not have become what he is today?"

"I didn't teach Tom Riddle." Professor McGonagall said. "But we can't change a wizard's personality. You shouldn't blame yourself too much."

However, Dumbledore remained silent, his mind still echoing with Murphy's words.

"You don't even trust yourself. Let alone others?"

Yes.

Perhaps, my suspicion of others is just because I know myself too well.

Thinking of this, Dumbledore sighed.

Once again, he felt deep exhaustion.

Dumbledore's refusal was not unexpected.

But Murphy still asked.

Taking without asking is stealing, but I said it and you didn't give it. In order to save my life, I had to rob, which can also be counted as emergency avoidance.

This logic is of course wrong, but at least for Murphy, it was enough to make him feel at ease with the next plan.

Now the *Philosopher's Stone* doesn't know where it's hidden, and there is still time, so just continue according to the original plan.

But there is another problem that must be solved as soon as possible.

That is the formula for the *Elixir of Life*.

If he could get the method to reshape his body through the *Elixir of Life*, that would be best.

He had been looking for the formula in the library for a long time and had no definite clues.

Voldemort must know, and also know the method to reshape his body through the *Elixir of Life*, otherwise his wanting the *Philosopher's Stone* would be useless. But there are too many uncertainties in contacting him, so it's better to consider it as a last resort.

Then, Snape?

Perhaps it's possible.

Doesn't this guy claim he can teach students how to "stop death"?

With his attainments in magic potions and his experience following Voldemort, he might be involved in research in this area.

The day after his conversation with Dumbledore, the task on the *Book of Guidance* suddenly updated.

"Main Quest: Explore the secret of the fourth-floor corridor."

"Quest Goal: Figure out what is hidden in the fourth-floor corridor."

"Quest Description: You now know that the secret hidden in the fourth-floor corridor is related to Nicolas Flamel. Perhaps finding clues about this person will reveal the answer. Go find clues about Nicolas Flamel."

"Quest Reward: Magic power increase. *Flight Spell*. *Legilimency*."

He was eating dinner with Harry and the others, and Hermione was complaining about how many books she had flipped through without finding any clues about Nicolas Flamel, and then this quest updated.

"*Legilimency*?!" Seeing the extra content in the rewards, Tom was pleasantly surprised.

Recently, he often spent time in the library, on one hand helping Harry and the others find clues about Nicolas Flamel, and on the other hand, searching for more legends about Salazar Slytherin.

He was very curious about what Hagrid said about the "Heir of Slytherin" and the so-called "Chamber of Secrets."

In a place deep in his heart that he didn't even realize, he desperately wanted to prove that he was the Heir of Slytherin.

And besides that, he also learned a lot of knowledge about "Legilimency," and even, sometimes he would secretly practice this spell on some small animals.

His desire to restore his own memory had never stopped for a moment.

It's just that *Legilimency* is an extremely profound spell, and he had only just started practicing it and didn't dare to use it on himself yet.

But the spells obtained through the *Book of Guidance* are very proficient, perhaps he could use them on himself immediately. In that case, perhaps he wouldn't be far from finding his memories.

This made him full of motivation to complete this "Main Quest."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 234 =====