Chapter 286

"Fairy tales are beautiful, but people always have to grow up," Murphy said. "People will always walk out of childhood to truly grow up, to be able to take on their own responsibilities, and to move toward a better future based on more mature and clear cognition."

"Even if the growth process is accompanied by growing pains, that is the price that must be paid."

"Fairy tale, so that's how you view our world." Dumbledore said. "Then do you think we are all stupid?"

"Sometimes, yes." Murphy smiled. "Most of the time, I also feel cute, simple. Most wizards are clumsy but interesting. But unfortunately, I have gradually become tired of this optimistic and simple way of living."

"I have grown up, Professor. This cradle makes me feel restrained."

Restrained, so I want to break it.

But why feel restrained, or rather, why "grow up"?

The vast majority of people in the wizarding world have chosen to live under this set of "fairy tale" rules you speak of. Why are you so different from them?

Dumbledore's deep blue eyes gazed at him. "All along, I have had a question, are you still Murphy Darkholm?"

Murphy looked back flatly. "No matter who you are referring to, the one standing in front of you now is me, Professor."

For a long time, Dumbledore sighed. "Maybe you are right, but you know, I will still stop you. The wizarding world doesn't need to be too sober and rational to exist well. If a person can stay in childhood forever, what's wrong with that?"

"There is no forever, Professor." Murphy said.

"Closing eyes and ears, burying the head in the soil, not listening, not looking, not thinking, and thinking that the world will not change, that is just deceiving oneself."

"The forever you want only has one way to be realized: flatten everything outside this utopia, and let this world have nothing at all except our small world."

"Otherwise, your so-called forever is just handing fate into the hands of others, facing the risk of breaking at any time."

Dumbledore frowned. "Your words remind me of a friend."

Murphy smiled, knowing who he was talking about.

"Then that friend of yours might be the one who saw the truth."

"But you, won't choose the same path as him, right?" Dumbledore asked.

"Seeing things different from oneself, some people will feel fear, so in order to eliminate this fear, they will choose to destroy them." Murphy said. "But, I see different things, and what I think of is another way of survival and possibility."

"The existence of different things and different people provides us with more exploration, more models. I prefer to absorb them and turn other people's experiences into my own nourishment."

"Then how can you guarantee that we, as the 'different existence' in the eyes of the other party, will not be feared and destroyed by the other party?" Dumbledore asked.

"Ha," Murphy smiled. "This is the suspicion chain and dark forest theory."

"Suspicion chain, dark forest?" Dumbledore didn't understand these two words, but could feel the confrontation in them.

"The so-called suspicion chain is that I don't know if you are a good person, so I default to you being a bad person, which is most beneficial to me. And the so-called dark forest is that every hunter in a forest will shoot at any target that exposes its existence due to the existence of the suspicion chain."

Murphy explained a little.

Dumbledore realized. "Very wise description. Then, how do you break the existence of this suspicion chain?"

"Obviously, communication and interaction are the only ways." Murphy said. "The generation of the suspicion chain has a premise: the two cannot communicate. Once a communication channel is established, one can always seek common ground while reserving differences."

"At the same time, refusing to communicate and refusing to interact will also lead to the generation of the suspicion chain. The reason why we want to destroy things different from us is because we lack understanding of the other party."

"Not just us, Professor." Murphy said. "They—the Muggles, are also walking out of childhood. They are growing rapidly, and when they finally grow to a certain extent, walk out of their cradle, and discover that they are not the only kind of people living on this planet. I sincerely hope that we will not be regarded as enemies."

Dumbledore frowned. "Your tone is like a prophet, Murphy."

"Prophet?"

Murphy couldn't help but think of the prophecy he made up.

He shook his head. "I don't have the ability to predict the future, but this matter doesn't need magic, it needs a longer-term vision."

Dumbledore was silent again for a while. "Who exactly are your compatriots, Murphy? Sometimes, I want to understand you, but I find that I can't understand you at all."

"Your past is clear at a glance, but I can't find the context of how you became who you are today." Dumbledore sighed. "Perhaps, it is precisely because of this that I can't trust you."

"I, can even trust Tom to a certain extent, but you are completely strange. I can't predict what you will do. I don't even know which side you are standing on when you say these words."

"That's not called trust, Professor." Murphy smiled. "That's just a desire for control. In the bottom of your heart, you are probably the same as me, a control freak who wants everything to develop according to your expectations."

Murphy probably understood Dumbledore's train of thought.

Just like he would first study Tom Riddle's life to understand Voldemort, and then decide how to defeat him, Dumbledore wanted to understand him.

This kind of understanding would let him figure out whether he was an enemy or a friend.

But Murphy's personality didn't originate from this world, so Dumbledore couldn't find how the real Murphy grew and changed. No matter what, he couldn't trust Murphy.

"In the end, we are both skeptics." Murphy said.

"We are always full of suspicion about things, and we won't easily believe in something before getting confirmation. For me, what I suspect is the laws of all things in the world, while what you suspect is the human heart and human nature."

He had discussed this question with Dumbledore before. Half a year had passed, and their attitudes hadn't changed at all.

It was just that now, he didn't have to follow the other party's routine anymore.

"We are destined to be different." Murphy said. "Although it's a pity, it seems there is no way."

"We have our own understanding of this world, and we both want it to develop in the way we want. This is the fundamental contradiction between you and me, Professor. We cannot persuade each other. There is only one world, and it will only have one kind of future. And only the winner can decide that future."

"What you want is to let this fairy tale continue forever..."

"And I, want to bring an end to this childhood."

(End of Volume Five)

(End of chapter)