Chapter 26: Art is Explosive

"Gan!" "House-Elf!" "This thing can actually see through its own illusion spell?" Murphy didn't know if the house-elf in front of him was Dobby, but he didn't have time to think about it. "Petrificus Totalus!"

The house-elf's body instantly stiffened and fell backward. Murphy hurriedly went to assist, but the elf's head still hit the ground with a dull thud. "Merlin's beard!" Murphy cursed.

Next door, Lucius had heard the commotion and seemed to be getting ready to investigate. Murphy quickly picked up the house-elf and retreated deeper into the corridor.

A door was open, revealing a staircase leading downward. Without thinking too much, Murphy carried the house-elf down the stairs.

Lucius checked outside but didn't find anything unusual, so he returned to his room. Murphy breathed a sigh of relief, put the petrified house-elf down, and looked around.

They were in a cellar with several large wine barrels against the walls and some shelves stacked with red wine. It was clear that the Malfoy family was faring much better than the Dursleys.

Then he noticed the things that had been stolen from his factory, various materials and finished potions piled up in a heap. Murphy collected them all.

As he was about to leave, his eyes were drawn to some peculiar items on the nearby shelves: candleholders shaped like skeletons, hats covered in spikes, the claw of an unknown creature, and even an iron maiden in the corner. These were all clearly dark magical artifacts.

Murphy marveled at them but then noticed something inconspicuous in a glass box. It was a black leather-bound notebook, unlike the other items. But Murphy knew exactly what it was.

Tom Riddle's diary! Voldemort's first Horcrux! Almost instinctively, Murphy took it out of the glass case and placed it in his Undetectable Extension Bag.

It was time to leave. Although he was curious about the other dark magical items, he didn't know what kind of magic they might contain. It was too risky to mess with them.

He approached the house-elf, and with a cautious look, he asked, "Dobby?"

The house-elf's pupils constricted, confirming his identity.

"Listen, Dobby, I know you're a kind house-elf. Your master is torturing innocent Muggles, and I'm here to save them. If you can pretend you didn't see me, I would greatly appreciate it. Now, I'm going to release your magic, but please don't shout or make a scene, okay?"

With that, Murphy lifted the petrification curse on Dobby but kept his hand over the elf's mouth just in case.

Dobby, surprisingly obedient, didn't resist or make any noise.

"Good, Dobby. You stay here. I'm going to rescue those Muggles. If things get rough upstairs, you can escape."

Murphy released his grip and started to walk towards the stairs. However, before he could even step onto the first step, he heard a loud "thud" behind him. He turned around to see Dobby repeatedly banging his head against the wall.

"Bad Dobby! Naughty Dobby! You're disobeying your master's orders! You let an intruder go! Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby! Dobby will be punished!"

"Hey, easy..." But before Murphy could finish his sentence, Dobby rammed his head into a wine rack.

Murphy watched helplessly as the entire rack toppled over, followed by a series of crashes.

"Merlin's great beard!"

Murphy facepalmed. Did Dobby have a penchant for self-punishment from that time onwards?

Regrets aside, there was no time to hide anymore. The commotion was sure to have alerted those upstairs. He had to act immediately!

After casting an illusion spell on himself, Murphy used Apparition to teleport back upstairs. He encountered a short, stout wizard who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

The illusion spell was less stable during Apparition, so the stout wizard saw a shapeless blur suddenly appear in the corridor, leaving him momentarily stunned.

However, Murphy didn't give him time to react. "Petrificus Totalus!"

With a wave of his wand, Murphy turned the stout wizard into a frozen statue and then used Levicorpus to throw him at several other wizards in the living room.

One wizard had his back turned and was hit without any reaction, but the other two reacted quickly. One, with a red nose, realized that he couldn't see the enemy and immediately cast a revealing spell, "Revelio!"

The other wizard remained vigilant, ready to attack as soon as Murphy revealed himself. But Murphy was faster.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

As the second wizard was petrified, the red-nosed wizard's spell was finally completed, revealing Murphy's location. However, Murphy had already cast a Shield Charm to block the incoming spell.

Lucius had now come out of his room, his hair disheveled and looking quite demonic. "Who are you?! How dare you come here and cause chaos!"

"Boom!"

Murphy, who had been keeping an eye on the battle, was ready. He threw a Blasting Curse towards the living room, causing a deafening explosion.

"Expelliarmus!" Lucius shouted, disarming Murphy's wand.

But Murphy was well-prepared. He had another wand tucked in his belt and quickly drew it. "Stupefy!"

Lucius was hit and fell to the ground, temporarily stunned. He couldn't believe what had just happened.

"This is my home!" Lucius roared. "How dare you come here and cause trouble!"

"Boom!"

Murphy raised his hand and threw another Blasting Curse, this time into the living room, setting everything on fire.

However, Murphy still felt it wasn't enough. He threw an Undetectable Extension Bag into the flames. Inside the bag were twenty bottles of nitroglycerin.

"Feel the pain!" Murphy muttered to himself.

"Art is explosive!"

Boom!