Hogwarts: From Selling White Peppers to Becoming a God

Chapter 335: The Final Puzzle

"Everyone here wants to devour Umbrella Corporation, but we all know that's impossible," the American wizard said. "However, Umbrella Corporation is a multinational corporation, enormous in size. Even if it were divided into a hundred parts, each part would be enough to feed all of us here."

"The reason Murphy got into trouble was because he ate all the food himself, but I'm not greedy. Everyone, after we take down Murphy together, I only want my one percent."

The wizards were tempted. In fact, they had no grudge against Murphy and didn't care much about the so-called violation of the secrecy law. The reason they gathered here was simply because they saw the huge benefits left behind after Murphy's downfall.

"But now the entire British Ministry of Magic listens to him, what are you planning to do?" someone asked.

"How many people are in the British Ministry of Magic?" the American wizard asked. "We come from various countries. If we were to persuade the various national ministries of magic to organize a campaign against them, how many people would we have?"

"Are you really planning to start a war?"

"We don't need to get involved in the war ourselves," said the American wizard. "However, war isn't the only option. We can also contact some rebels within Britain. There must be quite a few of them. I heard Murphy has almost filled Azkaban to capacity. Perhaps we can even plan a prison break. In short, we can cause him trouble and distract him from his Muggle businesses."

"At this point, we can take the opportunity to make some business arrangements."

"Just like what Mr. Gaston is doing," said the American wizard, "I imagine that many of you here also have your own little businesses or channels."

"Perhaps each of us is far smaller than Umbrella, but we can unite. He's just selling potions, right? Can't we do that? It's just that he's hoarding it, which makes people jealous, but we have the numbers and the power. As long as we are united enough, we can do this more discreetly."

After Dumbledore exposed Murphy's relationship with Umbrella Corporation, these wizards from various countries realized just how much money Murphy had made, and also realized how huge the Muggle society was today.

Moreover, in their view, what Murphy did was really not technically sophisticated; it was just repackaging potions that Muggles had never seen before and selling them to those bumpkins.

If Murphy can do it, so can they.

Therefore, since last year, many wizards from various countries have started to engage in some underhanded activities.

However, the protection umbrella had already occupied the market, and they were not very familiar with the various rules of Muggle society, so the current benefits were not particularly good. But even so, the high profits still made them invest all their wealth without regard for anything else.

Murphy certainly set a bad precedent, as his extreme wealth reignited the wizards' greed.

……

Meanwhile, after leaving the meeting, Dumbledore went to Grindelwald's hiding place.

The latter was drinking.

"The French may not be good at much else, but they're quite skilled at winemaking." Grindelwald pushed a glass across the table. "That time-wasting meeting is over? I bet you didn't come to any useful conclusions."

Dumbledore sat down. "You seem to be gloating."

"It's certainly amusing to see you get your comeuppance," Grindelwald chuckled. "Destroying Murphy's businesses in the Muggle world wouldn't make much sense; it might even force them to break up and exist in a more covert way. But if you want to take action against Murphy's influence in the wizarding world, you'll inevitably have to confront the British Ministry of Magic. I suppose you don't want to start a war, do you?"

"Everything I've done is to prevent the worst outcome of war from happening, whether it's a war between wizards and Muggles, or between wizards themselves," Dumbledore said.

"You're too naive, Albus." Grindelwald took a sip of his drink. "Necessary sacrifices are necessary, and those who are unwilling to give anything will gain nothing."

"However, Murphy's methods are truly admirable. In comparison, I was far too radical when I was younger."

"His power is legitimate in both Muggle society and the wizarding world, so if we want to deal with him, we must use legal means, otherwise we will become the bad guys."

"Only when both worlds are considered together can we see that he was engaging in illegal activities due to the existence of the Wizarding Secrecy Act."

"But unfortunately, due to the Wizarding Secrecy Act, we can't cooperate on a large scale with Muggle society. So in the 'area of ​​wizard-Muggle cooperation,' his power is far greater than ours. It's truly a brilliant design."

"No, rather, he's exploiting this huge loophole in the rules."

"It sounds like you admire him?" Dumbledore asked.

"Indeed, if I were still twenty years old, I might even follow in his footsteps, because his ideals are more convincing and feasible than mine."

"But unfortunately, I'm old now," Grindelwald said. "So, he and I became enemies."

"You can leave, Gellert. You are free," Dumbledore said. "It was my responsibility, not yours. In fact, lately I've even begun to feel that everything I've done has been in vain."

Grindelwald was silent for a moment, then said, "In that case, let's give up."

"Albus, if I've made any progress in these fifty years, it's that I've learned to let go. I've learned to accept some things. When faced with an unstoppable fate, resistance is admirable, but running away isn't necessarily shameful. We're not saints. What's wrong with being kind to ourselves and being a little selfish?"

Dumbledore was taken aback. "You actually said that?"

"Fifty years have passed, Albus. We've all changed a lot."

"But some things haven't changed," Dumbledore sighed. "Let's get back to Murphy. As it stands, killing him is still the only way to truly stop him..."

Perhaps a war between the wizarding world and the British Ministry of Magic would be acceptable, but that's not the kind of development he wants to see. Killing Murphy is the option that causes the least damage to the wizarding world.

Perhaps this is what Grindelwald meant by "necessary sacrifice"?

But killing Murphy is easier said than done. They failed last time, and they may never have the chance again.

"If you still want to stop Murphy, you'd better hurry." Suddenly, a priest in black walked in from outside the door.

"Murphy Darkholm is building an 'antenna'," the black-robed priest said in a kind and gentle voice, ignoring the two men's wary expressions as he approached the table. "This is the last chance to stop him. Once his 'antenna' is complete, he will be able to find the materials to make the Philosopher's Stone, and from then on, he will complete the final piece of the puzzle that will unleash a magical explosion."

"By then, the destruction of the wizarding secrecy law will be a foregone conclusion."

"The secret will be revealed, the oath will be broken, and the world's destruction will begin its countdown."

"That's something neither you nor I want to see."

"This is your last chance to stop him from building that antenna."

(End of this chapter)