Hogwarts: From Selling White Peppers to Becoming a God

Chapter 131 New Neighbors

"I'm your new neighbor," Murphy said gently. "My name is Murphy Darkholm, you can call me Murphy."

"Murphy!" Fred and George exclaimed. "I knew it was him!"

"Ron, go call Mom!"

A short while later, a plump middle-aged woman wearing an apron came out of the humble dwelling, carrying a spatula in her hand.

She looked at Murphy with a somewhat blank expression. "Sir? Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Oh, I'm your new neighbor, Murphy, Murphy Darkholm." Murphy stepped forward and handed over the flowers she was holding. "My friend told me that the Weasleys live around here, so I came to visit."

"Oh my goodness!" Molly accepted the flowers, somewhat flattered. "You're so kind, sir. I haven't received flowers in years."

"Especially the flowers from the handsome wizard," one of the twins chuckled.

Molly blushed and glared at him. "Keep an eye on your ass, George. I'll make sure you rip it open later."

"But I am Fred, Mom."

"Sorry, George, I didn't mean to hit you..."

"But I am Fred, Mom, George lied to you..."

"Oh! You two little devils!"

Molly was quite embarrassed by the two little devils, and Murphy also found it a bit funny; the twins really did have a knack for humor.

"If it's inconvenient for me, I can come again next time?"

"No, no, no," Molly said, feeling embarrassed. "My house is too messy, but if you don't mind, please come in and have a cup of tea."

Once inside, Murphy realized that Molly's description of the mess was not an understatement.

The Weasleys' house is a real mess.

The living and dining room on the first floor is filled with furniture, shelves and small boards everywhere, filled with all sorts of small items. A large dining table occupies a lot of space, with nine chairs next to it, and several stools stacked in the corner.

The open kitchen on one side was even more of a mess, with all sorts of pots and pans, stacks of bowls, and pots of all sizes piled up like a small mountain.

Fortunately, wizards don't need extra open flames or stoves to cook, otherwise this house would probably have been burned down very easily.

But considering that seven children of all ages live here, it's already a testament to Molly's diligence and tidiness that the house hasn't turned into a garbage dump.

"Sorry, Arthur isn't home. He took Bill and Charlie to Romania. Charlie wants to manage the Dragon after graduation. Arthur, see if you can find someone you know to introduce him."

As Molly spoke, she brought Murphy a cup of tea.

Although the Weasley family is looked down upon by various self-proclaimed aristocratic wizarding families, their long history and extensive network are undeniable. Not only are there Weasley relatives all over the British wizarding world, but even abroad, the Weasley family has many old relatives they can contact.

"Ah, actually I also run a business related to magical creatures, but dragons are too dangerous, so we haven't gotten involved yet."

Murphy took a sip of tea.

Then, I carefully put it down.

"Who says otherwise!" Molly said with some worry, "If you ask me, it would be so much better to get a stable job at the Ministry of Magic, but neither Bill nor Charlie are like Arthur at all; they both insist on doing those dangerous jobs! They make me worry every day!"

Bill works at Gringotts as a curse breaker.

Their work mainly involves tomb raiding, and they often face various magical traps, which is indeed very dangerous.

However, when it comes to adventurousness, your husband isn't exactly innocent either.

The two chatted casually for a while, during which Ginny even brought Murphy a small cake.

Ron and the twins eavesdropped for a while, and only left disappointed when they realized it was all very ordinary talk. "Didn't someone say he was a dark wizard? He doesn't look scary at all!"

Ron was wondering if he could try out the spells the twins taught him with his mother's wand when Scabbers seemed to get bored and ran out of his arms.

Murphy, who had been paying close attention to the commotion, suddenly frowned. "Excuse me, Mrs. Weasley, may I use your restroom?"

"Oh, oh, of course, Mr. Murphy." Molly quickly gave Murphy directions, "Turn left ahead, it's the second room. Shall I take you there?"

"No, no, no need." Murphy declined the offer, went into the bathroom, locked the door, and then cast an illusion spell on himself, before Apparating to the outside of the Burrow.

He walked to a corner and, sure enough, saw a fat gray rat there. It seemed to be asleep, its two front paws still holding a piece of cheese.

"A piece of cheese with something added can catch you... You really have turned into a mouse, Peter."

Murphy picked up the mouse and put it into the seamless stretch bag. He then grabbed a similar-looking gray mouse from the bag, carried it in one hand, and Apparated back to the bathroom.

He then pressed the flush button, pretending to have used the toilet, and then yelled, "Ah! What's that! A rat! There's a rat!"

Then a series of clanging and banging noises were heard.

The Weasleys, hearing the commotion, all came out to see what was happening. Molly rushed to the bathroom, "Mr. Murphy? Mr. Murphy? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, there's a mouse, oh! I've caught you, little thing!"

"Mom, it's Banban! Don't let him hurt Banban!" Ron cried.

Molly immediately understood and quickly pounded on the door, "Mr. Murphy, that's our pet, please don't..."

But before he could finish speaking, the bathroom door opened, and Murphy appeared, carrying the rather old rat. "I found this little guy in the bathroom. Is it your pet?"

"Spotty!" Ron snatched the mouse from his arms, hugged it tightly, and stroked it vigorously.

The mouse struggled to run away, but Ron held it tightly. "It must be terrified."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know it was a pet..." Murphy said apologetically.

"Oh, it's okay, don't worry about it," Molly said. "Sometimes I just treat him like a normal mouse. This is Scabbers, Percy's pet, but he's going into fourth grade and didn't want to bring his pet to school, so he gave it to Ron."

"Thank you for helping us find it; this little guy often runs off."

As if to confirm Molly's words, the mouse suddenly jumped out of Ron's arms and disappeared into a corner.

"Blemish!"

Ron shouted anxiously, unaware that it was no longer his pet.

After all, who would look closely at a gray mouse?

"Thank you for the tea, Mrs. Weasley. It was a pleasure to meet you. I have some business to attend to, so I must take my leave."

Having obtained the smudges, Murphy took his leave.

Molly also warmly invited him to come again next time so he could have a good chat with Arthur.

Murphy agreed, "I've always admired Mr. Weasley's work, and I'm quite knowledgeable about Muggles. I look forward to seeing you again."

Back in Diagon Alley, Murphy found Rita Skeeter, who was interviewing Watchmen Security, and handed Scabbers to Blanco Lloyd, who was also interviewing, so that the retired Auror could take a few pictures holding the mouse.

Although neither the latter nor Rita quite understood what was going on, neither raised any objections to the boss's actions.

Several reports featuring blemished, frontal photos appeared in the Daily Prophet.

Murphy then went to the Minister of Magic, Millison, and asked to personally visit his parents' graves and bring their remains back to the old house for burial.

Since the Darkholm couple died in Azkaban and were buried on the island, Murphy naturally had to go to the island to visit their graves. Although Millison found it a bit troublesome, he didn't want to offend the Ministry of Magic's big spender, so he found an excuse to take him on a tour of the magic prison.

Murphy happened to have brought a few newspapers with him when he arrived on the island.

Three days later, news came from Azkaban.

Sirius Black escaped from prison.

(End of this chapter)