Chapter 143: Wanted

Murphy looked at him.

He remembered the question Laura Kruger had asked him before.

She had asked if there was a way to make ordinary people into wizards, would Murphy mind sharing such power.

At the time, Murphy's answer was that he didn't know, ask him again when such a possibility arises.

Now, that moment had come.

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

"The scepter of magic does not belong to me alone, nor do I have the right to deny others access to magic. On this path to the end of magic, we are all fellow travelers; I'm just a few steps ahead."

If his goal was merely to gain power, then the more people who had magic, the less power he would have.

But that wasn't his goal. What he wanted was to reach the end of magic.

This isn't a zero-sum game of competition, but a cooperative path where more fellow travelers can go further.

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

Murphy nodded, "Back to the current matter."

"You just said, targeting wizards to construct a potion, but wizards possess magic, they can't be considered ordinary animals, they should be considered magical creatures, right? Has there been a breakthrough in Magus tech as well?"

"Actually, there hasn't been a real breakthrough," Andrew scratched his head, "Magus compared to higher Magus, the difficulty lies in adding magical creature tissues to the potion. Since magical creatures have magic, their tissue's magic disrupts the potion's magical balance, even conflicting with the wizard's own magic, leading to more severe mutations."

"Compared to higher Magus, this level of mutation, even a Patronus can't suppress, leading to a higher probability of malignant mutations."

"But since this time it's just guiding a wizard's magic with a Muggle's 'scent', and there's no magic in a Muggle's scent, there won't be a conflict. The magic remains the same, only the label and property distribution change, like shaping playdough into the desired form with a mold."

Murphy understood, "Good, how long will it take to complete this magic potion?"

"Since the process is similar to making an Animagus potion, in my estimation, at least half a month."

"Half a month? Patrick doesn't have that much time..." Murphy thought for a moment, "Using Petrificus Totalus and Freezing Charms along with low temperature and anesthesia to reduce their body's metabolism rate, can it slow down organ failure, inhibit virus replication?"

Medical experts discussed for a moment and said, "It can. But with Mr. Patrick's condition, it might only delay for about two days at most."

Two days, still not enough.

Thinking, Murphy suddenly said, "What about real petrification?"

Like the Basilisk's petrification ability, there are means in the wizarding world to truly petrify a creature.

Worst case, after having a way to treat Patrick, use Mandrake Restorative Draught or something to restore him.

"It should work."

...

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

The latter went out for a while, and came back, saying, "Sorry, the venom of the petrifying lizard is gone. That creature is very rare, but its venom isn't widely used, we haven't received that material for two or three years."

"Could we find it if we started buying now?"

"It's difficult. That material can't be stored for long, usually wizards use it themselves or quickly sell it, chances of acquiring it are not great."

Murphy was somewhat worried, was he supposed to go to Hogwarts and bring the Basilisk?

"However, a few months ago I did hear about a petrifying lizard. If needed, I can inquire for you."

"Oh? Go ahead!"

After a while, Lisandro came back, "I have a customer, his relative is an explorer, and he said he saw a petrifying lizard last year."

"Where?"

"America, Arizona, the Grand Canyon."

"America?"

...

"I'm going on a trip." Murphy told Laura Kruger, "I'll be back in no more than two days. Take care of the Institute, and if there's any news about Ares, send out the Watchers immediately, we must rescue the child."

After arranging the next steps, Murphy took out an empty Coca-Cola bottle.

Apparition has a maximum distance limit, making it difficult to use for cross-continental travel, and although international flight networks can be used for interstate travel, they require a lot of procedures, quite cumbersome.

Compared to that, Portkeys became the most common method for wizards to travel across continents.

Generally, Portkeys also need to be registered with the Ministry of Magic, but that's just a legal procedure. Murphy was in a hurry now, not caring about that, and directly had Lisandro find a wizard who had been to America to make him a Portkey that could reach San Francisco.

"Good luck, Chief."

"Off I go."

...

Auror Headquarters, the Director's office.

"Director Robards," Kingsley knocked on the door, stepping in as he saw the door was open, "I request to issue a warrant for Murphy Darkholme immediately!"

"A warrant?" Gawain Robards was fiddling with a golden figurine, a gift from Murphy a few months ago when he took office, specifically carved in Gawain's likeness, which he greatly cherished, often taking it out to play with.

"Murphy broke into St. Mungo's, taking away our monitored witnesses! Openly interfering with Auror investigations! Director, this is the best opportunity! We won't get more evidence against him! We must seize this moment to launch a comprehensive investigation!"

"St. Mungo's?" Gawain was taken aback, "I thought it was Azkaban. Taking away a few patients is a crime?"

"Those were Muggles bitten by werewolves!" Kingsley said, "I suspect some people are displeased with Murphy, they're starting to bite each other. But this is our chance, Director, those Muggles are connected to the evidence of Murphy selling potions to Muggle society, that's why he took them!"

"He's preparing to destroy the evidence!"

"This..." Gawain looked troubled, "With Sirius Black still out there, plus werewolves, there's so much going on, why are you so focused on Murphy?"

"Because he's our real enemy, Sirius Black, werewolves, they only cause temporary trouble, but Murphy, as long as he roams free, we face danger every day."

"Director, don't forget, he was also Bartemius Crouch Sr.'s enemy." Kingsley said, "If you're not planning to deal with him, I'll directly request a warrant from Mr. Crouch."

"You..." Gawain was taken aback, his face turning red, but eventually said, "Alright, I'll report to Mr. Crouch."

...

USA, San Francisco Port.

Murphy appeared next to a warehouse at the dock.

Looking around, Murphy took out a GPS locator, checked his position, and found he wasn't too far from his destination.

Then he took out a map, drawn by the explorer who had seen the petrifying lizard. According to him, he found the lizard in a desert at the bottom of a valley on the northern edge of the Grand Canyon, near a place called "Cape Royal," about a thousand kilometers from here.

A thousand kilometers, for Murphy now, was a matter of minutes.

He first put on a titanium helmet.

This was specially made for high-speed flight, with his top speed of over Mach 3, even with his current physical condition, a collision with a small bird could cause injury.

But with this helmet, he wasn't worried, and it would still cover the front of his head and beak when he transformed into a crow, forming a conical structure to reduce air resistance, further speeding up flight.

After putting on the helmet, he cast a Muggle-Repelling Charm on himself, followed by a Disillusionment Charm, then turned into a puff of black smoke shooting up into the sky.

Mid-flight, he suddenly transformed into a black crow, doubling his speed, breaking the sound barrier with a "bang," leaving a white air wave behind, vanishing in an instant like lightning.

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