Chapter 25: Malfoy Manor (Edited)

Murphy returned to the Darkholm Estate and found Alexander.

"It's no longer safe here. Pack up quickly, gather all the prepared potions and remaining materials, and take them with you," Murphy said.

After speaking, Murphy went to the basement, opened a cabinet, carefully placed about a dozen bottles of potions in a small box, and put them into his Undetectable Extension Bag.

Alexander had already finished packing and was feeling uneasy. "Will those people come here?" he asked.

"Yes. Is everything packed?" Murphy inquired.

"Everything is packed," Alexander replied.

"Nothing left behind?" Murphy questioned.

"Nothing," Alexander assured him.

"Good."

Murphy then drew his wand and pointed it at the Darkholm Estate. "Pestis Incendium!" he incanted.

Mighty flames spewed from Murphy's wand and, as he traced a circle above his head with the wand, formed into a raging fire tornado over the estate.

The tornado grew faster, and the temperature of the flames increased. The scorching heat forced Alexander to step back repeatedly.

"Is that... Fiendfyre?" he exclaimed in astonishment. This was dark magic, and it was terrifying!

Who was Mr. Peter Parker, the man he served? How could he wield such advanced dark magic? And what was his purpose here? This should be his own home, right?

Alexander had seen a few portraits in the corridor on the second floor, even though they had been damaged and immobile. The people in those portraits bore a striking resemblance to Mr. Peter Parker.

But before he could fully comprehend this, Murphy pressed down with his wand.

"Boom!"

The Darkholm Estate was crushed by the tornado and instantly ignited. The ferocious flames clung to it like hungry beasts, turning the estate into a massive torch.

Since Lucius knew Murphy's true identity, it would be easy for him to find this place. Murphy had conducted numerous experiments with potions here, leaving too many traces. To avoid leaving any clues that could be used against him, it was best to burn everything down.

There was nothing worth clinging to in this place.

"Let's go," Murphy said. Without further explanation, he grabbed Alexander and Apparated them away.

They appeared in a warehouse. "Stay here; I need to take care of something," Murphy told Alexander.

He then equipped himself with a few old wands and drank a vial of Polyjuice Potion, transforming into a middle-aged African American man.

Just as he was about to leave, he gave Alexander an Undetectable Extension Bag. "If I don't come back within two hours, take this bag with the Galleons inside and go to Scotland or France. Hide there for a few years."

Murphy's words made Alexander nervous once again. "Mr. Parker, what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to rescue someone," Murphy casually replied, "and if possible, eliminate a few as well."

With that, he disappeared from Alexander's sight.

Murphy rode a broomstick, stealthily patrolling the countryside. Despite its numerous flaws, a broomstick was still quite useful as a private flying vehicle.

At this point, he had a rough idea of Lucius's intentions. Finding the factory meant that Lucius had connected him to the Umbrella Corporation, discovering his dealings with Muggles. This was why Patrick believed that the attack on the factory was orchestrated by the corporation.

However, for wizards, the formula for White Jasmine Essence was openly available in textbooks. They had no reason to kidnap workers to obtain the formula.

Thinking from Lucius's perspective, once he learned that Murphy was selling potions to Muggles, he would understand that the last thing Murphy wanted was for the wizarding world to find out. To solidify the case of Murphy violating wizarding secrecy laws, he needed evidence.

Having evidence of Murphy selling potions to Muggles would make it easy to blackmail him into cooperation or simply send him to Azkaban. To obtain irrefutable evidence, they needed to interrogate the workers and understand the sample potions.

Lucius probably hadn't handed over the workers and samples to the Malfoy's in fear of Narcissa discovering. Most likely, they were still at Malfoy Manor.

Murphy had obtained a rough location of the Malfoy residence from the bald wizard, Papede, he had extracted information from earlier, in a place called Chippenham in Wiltshire. However, it wasn't connected to Muggle roads or streets, so he would have to search for it himself.

After searching for half an hour and almost giving up, Murphy suddenly saw a wooded area. However, the next moment, that area disappeared from his sight.

He furrowed his brow and flew back a few meters. The wooded area reappeared at the edge of his vision.

He tested it for a while and realized there were two invisible barriers converging in front of him, creating a corner. He had stumbled upon the hidden woodland by passing through this corner.

"Finally found you," Murphy muttered to himself.

He cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself and quietly approached the woodland.

As expected, he soon spotted a manor surrounded by the woods. He quietly landed behind the manor and silenced his own footsteps. Then, using an Alohomora spell, he opened a window and sneaked inside.

He didn't need to search for long. As soon as he entered, he heard a woman's voice from another room, sounding displeased. "Lucius, you shouldn't have brought your 'friends' to the house! And you let them torture those Muggles right in front of Draco! He's terrified!"

"Mom, I'm not scared!" a young boy's voice protested.

"It's normal to be scared, Draco. You're still a child," the woman comforted him before addressing Lucius again, "You should be more cautious, Lucius. This isn't the past anymore..."

With five adult wizards present, not counting Narcissa, there were four enemies. Lucius had been a Death Eater, so his combat abilities might not match his cowardly nature, and the other three were ruthless Dark Wizards. It would be too risky to take them on in a one-on-four battle.

Murphy needed to be cautious, perhaps by taking young Malfoy hostage?

As he was contemplating his next move, he heard a voice from behind. "Sir, who are you? You're not a guest invited by the master."

Murphy turned around in surprise and found a wide-eyed young house-elf staring at him.