Hogwarts: From Selling White Peppers to Becoming a God

Chapter 292 The Phoenix Society

Murphy raised an eyebrow.

Tsk, looks like I couldn't fool him after all; he's already making demands.

And it doesn't even specify what the conditions are. Does this girl need to start using her brain?

It doesn't matter, whatever the conditions are, I'll agree first and see if I keep them. I've never said I'm a man of my word, have I?

After putting the letter away, Murphy continued discussing Lucas's "special ability" for a while, eventually assigning Lucas the task of "researching whether Horcruxes can be transferred."

He wondered if Lucas's Horcruxes could be transferred from the diary to something else, like a server, and if that could greatly improve his memory storage and retrieval capabilities.

Of course, this will definitely involve many technical steps, but it is still possible to conduct some preliminary research first.

After Murphy left, Lucas searched through his memories, preparing to find the part about Horcruxes and study it carefully.

But as he searched, he stumbled upon scenes from the past year in his memory and found himself looking at them involuntarily.

He didn't feel much at the time, but now, having left Hogwarts, seeing those scenes from his memories again, which seemed like video recordings, he felt a sense of loss.

I wonder how Harry and the others are doing now?

……

White Weasel Mountain.

It's summer vacation now, and Sirius knew Harry wasn't in a good mood, so he took him out for a walk. They just got back a short while ago.

Upon returning home, Harry received a pile of letters, some from Ron and Hermione, and even some from Cho Chang and Malfoy, but the one that surprised him the most was the letter from the Dursleys.

Although Uncle Vernon's tone remained harsh, he actually knew to ask if he was still alive and if he had been turned into a frog by some wizard.

Harry didn't know if he had some serious illness, but he actually felt a little bit of concern from this?

He had intended to write back to thank his Uncle Vernon, but as soon as he picked up his pen, an idea popped into his head.

Forget it, we'll never cross paths again anyway. They're Muggles, and I'm a wizard. We probably won't see each other again, so why maintain this fake relationship?

Instead of wasting time and energy on this kind of thing, you'd be better off reading a couple more books and practicing a few more spells.

With that thought in mind, he returned to his room.

Harry's room is on the second floor of Sirius's cottage.

A desk was placed near the window, and on the wall next to the desk hung a cut-out copy of the Daily Prophet.

The newspaper's main image was of a melancholy blond boy, and its headline read: "Student Dies Suddenly, Dumbledore Resigns as Headmaster."

"Tom..." A look of pain flashed in Harry's eyes.

Tom died protecting himself, just as his mother died protecting him—he had already heard from Sirius Black why he was able to defeat Voldemort.

Although he knew that Quirrell and Voldemort were the ones who killed Tom, Harry still harbored the thought that he was partly responsible for Tom's death.

"If I were stronger, if I didn't need anyone's protection, perhaps this tragedy wouldn't have happened, perhaps..."

He looked at his reflection in the windowpane, a melancholy boy wearing glasses, looking weak and helpless. He suddenly felt a little disgusted with himself.

"I should become stronger, I should acquire more power, only in this way can I prevent this from happening again..."

A faint crimson light flickered in the shadow's eyes, but Harry was completely unaware of it.

But then, suddenly, in an open space outside the cabin, a tall, white-haired figure appeared as space twisted.

The crimson in Harry's eyes vanished instantly, and he saw the person. "Dumbledore? What's he doing here?"

The old man seemed to notice Harry's gaze, raised his face, nodded to Harry, and then knocked on the downstairs door.

Sirius heard the knocking and went to open the door.

"Professor, what brings you here... Please come in." Sirius Black ushered Dumbledore into the room and poured him a cup of honey grapefruit tea.

"This is a very cozy place," Dumbledore said, looking around Sirius's house. "I wanted to come and see it when you wrote to say you wanted to adopt Harry, but I never had the chance. I think you'd be happier living here than in the old house?"

“Yes, Professor, that old house disgusted me,” Sirius said. “I found a long-lost peace here.”

"I'm sure Harry will be more comfortable with you," Dumbledore said. "Although I'm a little worried about the magic, I'm confident you can take good care of him."

"I'm willing to give my life for him," Sirius said without hesitation.

This was also the reason why he persuaded Dumbledore at the time.

Even the most powerful magic is dead; once Voldemort realizes it, he has a way to break it. But Sirius Black, who was willing to sacrifice himself for Harry, is a living shield and barrier for Harry, more reliable and safer than magic.

After a moment of silence, Sirius spoke up, "Professor, how have you been lately? I heard you resigned from your position as principal."

Dumbledore nodded. "To be honest, it's not good. I underestimated them, but ultimately it was my oversight, and this is the price I have to pay."

"They say Murphy Darkholm framed you, is that true?" Sirius finally couldn't help but ask.

Dumbledore shook his head. "It wasn't exactly a setup. He just selectively told some truths and selectively concealed some facts. As I just said, it was my oversight."

At this point, Dumbledore sighed. "I'll cut to the chase; it's always been a flaw of mine, but I think I should learn something from this experience. Sirius, I need your help. I need the Order of the Phoenix. I've come here to ask you if you can come back and help me."

"Help you...deal with Murphy Darkholme? Is he an enemy? Or is he really, as others say, a dark lord?"

However, Dumbledore shook his head. "Not quite, Murphy... He's not a completely bad person. He's not like Voldemort. Yes, he's just as ambitious and ruthless, but he's not cruel. On the contrary, sometimes I can sense that he's using the most merciful methods possible."

"But he's dangerous. More dangerous than Voldemort."

"I... I don't quite understand, Professor..." Sirius said. "To be honest, I've met Murphy a few times before, and he even brought Lupin to see me. He also has a house around here, so we're practically neighbors... He gave me a very good impression, and I find it hard to believe he's a dangerous person."

"Murphy's danger lies not in his character or his personality," Dumbledore said. "As I said, he's not entirely a bad person. In fact, many professors and students at the university like him quite a bit."

"His danger lies in what he wants to do."

"He's going to break the International Wizarding Secrecy Act. What he's doing will expose our existence to Muggle society," Dumbledore said. "And that's worse than Voldemort's reign of terror, far worse!"

(End of this chapter)