Hogwarts: From Selling White Peppers to Becoming a God

Chapter 338 Two Questions

In the forest, the Order of the Phoenix had drawn their wands, ready to launch an attack at any moment, but Kingsley, as their commander, had yet to give the order to attack.

"Shakel, what are we waiting for?!" Moody asked irritably.

"Wait for a signal," Kingsley said, his eyes fixed on the opposite hilltop.

Suddenly, a flash of light appeared on the hilltop. Moody was startled. "Are there our people on the other side?"

“Those aren’t ours,” Kingsley said, gripping his wand tightly. “It’s time! Attack!”

After saying that, he immediately Apparated and disappeared, and the Phoenix Order members behind him also Apparated to the opposite mountain.

As soon as Moody regained his footing, he saw a strange priest dressed in black robes and wearing a crown of thorns. He held a cross-shaped wand in his hand and chanted incantations while splashing flames and lightning with the wand, repelling several Aurors.

Moody was certain these guys weren't members of the Order of the Phoenix, but they seemed like accomplices.

"Defense! Defense! Don't let them get close to the radar!" Captain Auror shouted. He had expected to encounter the Order of the Phoenix, but instead, a group of people dressed as missionaries appeared.

He was preparing to call for reinforcements through the mental network, but the mental network, which had been working smoothly until just moments before, was now filled only with a kind of hissing white noise. He shouted a few words into the network, but only unchanging silence answered him.

He looked around and then spotted a priest kneeling on the ground, seemingly praying.

The other party was holding up a portrait, and the force blocking the mental network seemed to originate from there.

He raised his wand. "Faint!"

This is the spell he is most proficient in.

Suddenly, a knight completely clad in black armor darted out in front of him. The spell struck the knight, but it seemed to have no effect.

What the hell?! Who are these people?!

……

Murphy’s mind network was silent, but he seemed oblivious as he watched Dumbledore slowly pick out a Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Bean.

Dumbledore broke the Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean in half and placed them in two upside-down cups. He pushed one toward Murphy and placed the other in front of himself, then said, "Guess what it is, Murphy."

Murphy's sense of smell was strong enough to detect very subtle odors, but Dumbledore had clearly placed some kind of magic on the cup that blocked smells and other senses, making it difficult for him to perceive any information about what was inside.

"Mango flavor," he guessed casually, having just noticed that the beans Dumbledore had picked were yellow.

"I'm afraid you're mistaken," said Dumbledore. "I guess it's buttery."

The two lifted the cups and each put half a Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean into their mouths.

"Oh..." Murphy rolled his eyes. "It tastes like fried fish. You may ask your questions now, Professor."

Dumbledore clearly didn't like the taste either, but he had tried beans that were even worse, and he ate the beans without any expression.

"Tell me, Murphy, what do you really want? Why do you have to do these things?" Dumbledore asked. "You once said you longed for immortality. Is this your wish?"

"Immortality," Murphy nodded. "Yes, that is indeed one of my wishes."

"If that's all there is to it, I can give you the Philosopher's Stone," Dumbledore said.

"Aren't you afraid I'll cause damage by using the power of the Philosopher's Stone?" Murphy asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"Compared to the power you possess now, even the Philosopher's Stone pales in comparison. I underestimated you in the past."

"I do desire immortality. Why don't you give me the magic stone first?"

"If that's all you wish for, then of course. But it seems you want more. What are those things?"

"You see, I've given you an answer, but you still don't trust me," Murphy said slyly.

"I thought the rule of this game was honesty."

"Alright, alright," Murphy smiled. "The other thing I want is a bit complicated, but we both seem to have a lot of free time today. In short, I'm just curious—curious about truth, curious about magic. Of course, you could also see it as me craving power, craving omnipotence. In fact, omniscience and omnipotence are essentially the same thing."

"Omniscient, omnipotent... I understand. So, that's why you want to study magic through Muggle methods. You want to become a god?"

"Some people do describe it that way," Murphy said.

Dumbledore frowned. The answer didn't surprise him too much; it just confirmed his guess.

But this also raises another question: "Murphy, who exactly are you?"

Murphy looked at him and smiled. "This is the second question, Professor."

……

"Bang!"

Just as a black-armored knight was about to behead the Auror in front of him, he felt as if he had been hit hard on the head by something, and then a long gunshot echoed through the valley.

The next moment, another gunshot rang out, and the priest who was kneeling on the ground praying had his leg broken. At the same time, Captain Auror discovered that the mind network communication had been restored.

Immediately afterwards, several lightning crows flew into the crowd, accompanied by a blinding flash of lightning, and more than a dozen Aurors suddenly appeared to provide reinforcements.

The Phoenix Order's attack was immediately suppressed.

……

"Watermelon flavor," Dumbledore said.

The two of them put the multi-flavored beans that Murphy had chosen into their mouths again.

"Ah...chili peppers." Murphy frowned. "You actually like to eat this kind of thing?"

"It always has something to surprise you," Dumbledore said. "So, what questions do you have for me, Murphy?"

"I do have a question I really want to know, but I guess you won't tell me easily. How about this: if I can guess right just once, you'll tell me the answer, okay?"

Bibi Max claims to have over 700 flavors, and the probability of guessing them correctly by blind guessing is extremely low.

Dumbledore thought for a moment, "Let me ask you your first question first."

“Okay,” Murphy looked at the other person, “I want to know everything about the Virgin Mary.”

"I don't know much more than you do," Dumbledore said. "Are you sure you want to hear it?"

Murphy nodded.

"First of all, it may be very ancient," Dumbledore said. "I checked the documents, and there have been many instances in history of knights in black armor who dealt a significant blow to wizarding society."

"Secondly, it is not a wizard, or any person. Its form of existence... is very peculiar, and killing it should be extremely difficult."

"Ultimately, it exists to guard a secret. It sees you as its greatest enemy. But you are not its only enemy."

"Who is the other enemy?"

“Miriam the Oathbreaker, I’ve seen that name before. She seems to be a prophet. And… Tom Riddle.” Dumbledore’s blue eyes searched Murphy. “It believes that you caused some of the changes between them, that you are the root of everything.”

Miriam and Tom Riddle?

Miriam's situation is relatively straightforward, but as a long-lived vampire, her entanglement with the Holy Mother likely dates back to more than just a day or two.

But Tom Riddle?

Which Tom is it referring to?

(End of this chapter)