Murphy carefully observed the person in front of him. It was indeed Alexis, only looking much thinner.
Since the opening of the Supreme Potion shop, Alexis no longer needed to brew Beautification Potions himself. However, he was still responsible for inspecting the potions brewed by the thirty-plus potion masters to ensure quality, along with handling the raw materials for the White Potion.
At this moment, Alexis was emotionlessly processing a mountain of White Potion materials, his face expressing a profound sense of resignation - the look of an office drone pushed to the brink.
"Poor kid, seems like I should hire more help. Always shearing the same sheep, it will eventually die," Murphy thought.
"So, to ease your burden, I plan to delegate these mundane tasks to others and give you a more relaxed position."
The raw materials for the White Potion could now be directly obtained from the plantation, eliminating the need for wizarding world involvement in their processing. Machines could handle this task in the future.
As for the inspection of Beautification Potions, Murphy planned to find another potion master to replace Alexis.
Having been with Murphy for quite some time and knowing him well, Murphy trusted Alexis enough to start involving him in his real secrets.
Alexis, now skeptical of Murphy's words, looked at him with lifeless eyes, waiting for what was next.
"Ahem, I need you to tutor some people in their magic studies. Their knowledge is roughly at the level of Hogwarts students, and you just need to answer some basic questions for them and occasionally demonstrate some spells and potions."
Alexis seemed puzzled, but the job indeed sounded much less strenuous than processing materials all day.
"Your salary will be three hundred Galleons a month," Murphy added.
Alexis's dim eyes instantly brightened.
"Ah, Galleons, always useful."
"If you have no objections, let's go meet your students."
As they were about to leave, Serica arrived, looking equally exhausted. "Sorry, Mr. Murphy, I couldn't find Joachim's village."
"I've searched through a lot of records, but Calphilly is so remote that wizards hardly have any records of it. I've been searching there for days without finding a similar place."
Murphy considered for a moment and then asked, "There's someone who might be able to find a clue. Do you want to meet them?"
Thinking it was just as well to get both siblings involved, Murphy decided to drag them both into this.
Serica, still unaware of what was happening, replied, "Sure!"
Murphy then took them to the magical research institute underneath the manor.
He introduced the non-magical researchers to the siblings, "These two are Alexis Wood and Serica Wood, your magic tutors."
Alexis was shocked, "Non-magical, non-magical people!!!"
Seeing the poor kid almost in tears, Murphy couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt.
Alexis, clinging to Murphy's sleeve, whispered, "Mr. Murphy, this is illegal, right?!"
Murphy responded, "What do you think? You're already breaking the law. The Aurors have a cell reserved for you in Azkaban."
Alexis was horrified, while Serica hid behind Murphy.
If Murphy used Legilimency on her now, he'd probably find thoughts like, "You can't see me, I'm not here..."
Murphy pulled her out, "Have a good look at them. Alexis is proficient in potions, and Serica is better at spells. If you have corresponding questions, feel free to ask them."
Serica was nearly in tears, "Mr. Murphy, why do we have to teach magic to non-magical people?"
Murphy replied, "Because you're not useful enough. With you researching magic, I might never surpass Snape in this lifetime."
After settling them in the institute, Murphy left Alexis with the non-magical researchers. As he departed, Alexis's despairing gaze followed him, like a rabbit thrown into a den of wolves.
Pretending not to notice, Murphy thought, "Sometimes, it's necessary to experience pain to grow up. Kill the boy and let the man be born!"
Taking Serica with him, Murphy approached a historian in the institute, showing him the century-old sketch of the village near Calphilly. "Can you locate this village?"
The historian, an elegant gentleman named Hunter Werner, examined the sketch and nodded confidently, "Shouldn't be difficult."
"Really? What can you tell from it?"
Murphy was curious, as the sketch was just trees, mountains, houses, and a crumbling stone wall to him.
Hunter pointed to the mountain path in the sketch, "Not many mountains near Calphilly, this looks like the Cambrian Mountains. But the most prominent feature is this stone wall, clearly from before the 18th century, part of a town wall. The only fit near Calphilly is Calphilly Castle. So the village must be close to the castle. Just a moment."
Hunter studied a map for a while and circled a small area, "Should be right here."
Serica was astonished. She had spent days searching books and the town of Calphilly without success, yet this historian pinpointed the location just by glancing at the sketch.
"Is this the non-magical's magic?"
"This is called knowledge. Now do you see why I want non-magicals researching magic?"
Serica, still not fully understanding but genuinely impressed, looked at the map, "But there's no village here."
Indeed, the circled area on the map appeared to be a desolate valley with nothing in it.
"After all, the sketch is a century old. The village might no longer exist," Murphy said. "Still want to try?"
"I'll go now!" Serica was determined, not giving up despite her "magic archaeology" being outshone by a non-magical.
Though she couldn't locate a village from a sketch, she had an advantage over non-magicals – she was a witch, capable of sensing and tracking magical traces.
"I'll write to you with my magic paper crane if I find something."
"Magic paper crane?"
Serica produced a paper, cast a spell, and it transformed into a little flying paper crane.
"Alright, stay in touch."