Hogwarts: From Selling White Peppers to Becoming a God

Chapter 75 Loyalty

Wiltshire, outside Chippenham.

Murphy and Lucius stood by a lake, looking at the nearly completed new Malfoy estate in the distance.

On the other side, Narcissa and Becky the house-elf were carefully helping Draco onto his flying broom.

"Poor old Rufus, he should really learn your talent for winning people's hearts," Lucius said. "When Draco saw that six-star sweeping weapon, I dare say he forgot all about the grudge you burned down his house."

"I've always been good at fulfilling other people's wishes," Murphy said.

"The ministry is looking into who will replace Scrimgeour. Who do you think it will be?" Malfoy asked.

"How am I supposed to guess? I don't have as many friends in the department as you do, so you should tell me."

"Normally, it should be Gadwin Robards. Candidates for the position of Auror Chief of Staff usually serve as secretaries to the Muggle Prime Minister for a period of time. This is partly to learn about Muggle-related matters and partly to establish contact with the Muggle Prime Minister to facilitate the handling of cases involving the Muggle world."

Murphy nodded. In fact, he knew about it. After the Umbrella Corporation was summoned, Murphy had been keeping an eye on the Prime Minister's secretary's movements.

Mr. Gadwin was clearly also a careerist. After hearing that Scrimgeour might resign, he immediately applied to be transferred back to the Auror Command and was now eyeing the position of Chief of Staff of the Auror Office.

Thanks to his hasty departure, MI5 did not continue to put pressure on Umbrella Corporation. After Patrick made various arrangements, the so-called "threat to national security" investigation was quickly dropped.

"From what you're saying, it might not be him this time?"

Malfoy nodded. "Gardwin Robards isn't much of a figure; he's just senior enough. Kingsley Shackleton was originally a better contender. But now that Kingsley's reputation has plummeted, he's naturally out of the running."

Murphy thought for a moment and asked, "Do you have someone in mind?"

Malfoy hesitated for a moment, then said, "I have a friend, Rahim Selwyn, also an Auror captain, who has achieved quite a bit. However, he's a bit careless about some things, so he's not liked by Scrimgeour and Crouch. But if we have his support..."

"Okay, bring him over later, and we'll meet."

Malfoy paused, then said, "Rahim is a bit of a loner; he doesn't really like meeting outsiders..."

"Oh?" Murphy looked at Malfoy. "Are you sure it's because he doesn't like meeting outsiders, or because you don't want him to see me?"

Malfoy was speechless.

Murphy snorted, but he wasn't surprised. Lucius Malfoy was never a loyal guy and had no respect for him whatsoever. It was only natural that he wanted to use Murphy's money to develop his own power, which was exactly what Murphy had expected.

"Besides, am I an outsider?" Murphy chuckled, looking at Lucius. "Trying to climb the social ladder with my money without even meeting your sugar daddy—isn't that a bit rude?"

Lucius, slightly embarrassed that his thoughts had been seen through, said, "Yes, okay, I'll bring him over tomorrow so we can meet."

Murphy nodded and took out a small gold key from his pocket. "This is the key to Vault 9654. From now on, all our operating funds will be stored directly in this vault. You can go and get them yourself."

Lucius reached out to take it, but Murphy pulled his finger back. "However, only my friends deserve my support. Don't forget that."

After saying that, he placed the key on the table and pushed it to Lucius.

"We can try our best to secure the position of Chief of Staff of the Auror Office for Rassim, but Crouch is unlikely to relinquish it to anyone else; he definitely has his own candidate," Murphy said. "However, the next Auror to become the secretary to the Muggle Prime Minister must be one of our own, no matter the cost, you understand?"

An Auror office manager might cause Murphy some trouble, but overall it's manageable.

However, a prime minister's secretary who can mobilize national power is beyond the capacity of the current protection system, and the person in this position must be ensured to be reliable.

"Understood."

Lucius also knew that Murphy's gold coins all came from the Muggle community, which was crucial to him and could not be lost.

If Scrimgeour hadn't used the Muggle prime minister's secretary as a tactic last time, Murphy's reaction might not have been so strong.

But conversely, if we can grasp this point, we might be able to hold Murphy's lifeline.

Thinking of this, Lucius subconsciously looked at Murphy's face, but the latter was also staring at him, her eyes calm as a lake and deep as the sea, which made Lucius feel a chill down his spine.

Capturing the mind and seizing thoughts?

Is he reading my thoughts?

Has he even learned how to use Legilimency without a staff?

He subconsciously guarded his inner self.

"Heh." Murphy chuckled. Even without using Legilimency, he knew what Lucius was up to, just by looking at him.

He stood up, no longer willing to waste his energy on this guy.

We still need to build a force that is completely loyal to us. These former Death Eaters are all traitors and can't be relied on.

I wonder if Celica found that village or discovered the Seed of the Soul.

"Oh, by the way, is your house-elf still alive?" Thinking of loyalty, Murphy remembered a creature that was being punished because of him.

Lucius paused, then said, "Huh? Dobby? He's still alive..."

"Give him to me."

Dobby was just an unfaithful house-elf. Although Lucius was a little annoyed that he hadn't been able to get Dobby to carry out his orders to punish him until his death, he didn't go against Murphy's wishes.

He dragged the nearly dead house-elf out with an iron chain and brought it to Murphy.

Dobby, already skin and bones, now looked even more like a skeleton. Perhaps due to long-term self-punishment, there was a large, bloody, and filthy wound on its forehead, which had even begun to rot.

At this moment, it was being dragged along by Lucius like a dead dog, and it didn't even have the strength to stand up.

"This guy's about to die, are you sure you want him?"

Murphy frowned slightly.

This is truly tragic.

"It's okay. I'm actually quite curious about the structure of Pokémon. If they die, I can dissect them and take a look."

Lucius was speechless. Sure enough, anyone who could become the Dark Lord was mentally unstable.

"Dobby, you have betrayed the Malfoy family. From this day forward, you are no longer a Malfoy elf. You are expelled. This man, Murphy Darkholm, is your new master. Go with him."

Lucius announced the transfer of ownership in front of Dobby, then handed the other end of the chain to Murphy, saying, "It's yours now, do with it as you please."

Dobby's large, glassy eyes were now completely glazed over, and Murphy doubted whether the guy had heard what Lucius had just said.

But he didn't care. He picked up the house-elf by the dirty, tattered pillowcase in one hand, weighed it in his hand, and felt it was easier than picking up a dog.

Goodbye to this place, Dobby.

I'll take you home.

(End of this chapter)