Unconsciously, the time had arrived at the eve of Halloween.
With the explosive sales of Dragonlance Chronicles, Dudley no longer had to worry about money for a while.
However, he still had to go to the Forbidden Forest. During this period, Dudley had been there no less than twenty times, drawing detailed maps of the distribution of various magical plants and creatures. Many rare materials grew there that could not be bought anywhere else.
For example, Acromantula venom. This substance was not only expensive—one pint costing a hundred Galleons—but more importantly, it was mostly found in the Forbidden Forest, making it a valuable yet almost unobtainable commodity elsewhere.
The main reason was that Acromantulas were too dangerous. A single ordinary wizard could deal with one, but finding one meant finding a whole colony. They were carnivorous, highly intelligent, extremely aggressive, and reproduced quickly. Their eggs were classified as Class A non-trade goods, and currently, the wizarding world had no means to tame this species.
They were considered very dangerous.
But there were simply too many of them in the Forbidden Forest, so many that they were almost everywhere within their territory.
When Dudley and the other training group members returned to the castle, they were greeted by the sweet, tempting aroma of roasted pumpkin wafting through the corridors.
The taste of roasted pumpkin was indeed delightful, especially those grown by Hagrid, which were not only enormous but also sweeter than any sold in markets outside.
To describe them, only the phrase perfect in color and taste would suffice.
Wizards also celebrated Halloween, but their way of celebrating differed from Muggles; there was no 'trick or treat' tradition here.
Dudley heard young wizards passing by say that Dumbledore had invited a skeleton band, so it seemed preparations were underway for a lively celebration.
Counting it all, this was Dudley's first holiday spent at Hogwarts.
It would have been even better without Charms class.
Ever since Dudley faked Lumos with a lighting spell, Professor Flitwick had paid extra attention to him, believing Dudley possessed a very high talent for Charms.
He had expressed his desire to have Dudley transfer to Ravenclaw more than once in class.
But he was always refused.
So, in every class, he closely monitored Dudley's progress in Charms.
"Today's Charms class is about making objects fly," Professor Flitwick said, gently waving his wand. "The Levitation Charm! This is a very useful spell; it can save you a lot of effort."
The podium, textbooks, quills—almost everything on the podium floated up one by one under Professor Flitwick's charm.
He first demonstrated it himself, then began letting the young wizards try, but without exception, they all failed.
Dudley did not try; he just stared at the feather as if he had thought of something.
"Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. Pronouncing the spell correctly is also very important—never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 'f' instead of 's' and found himself lying on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."
Pronunciation was very important, especially for young wizards just starting to learn magic.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
Professor Flitwick pronounced the spell again, and the feather slowly rose into the air with his incantation.
In fact, for young wizards, the Levitation Charm was quite difficult; it was one of the most challenging charms for first years.
Many young wizards failed, most with no reaction at all, and some even set their hats on fire.
As you know, Hermione had a bad habit: she was very direct when she spoke.
Without a word, she scolded the young wizard who was grouped with her. Yes, it was the big guy who almost set Harry's hat on fire.
Seamus.
"Your pronunciation, your hand gestures, and your movements are all wrong!"
"You can't cast a spell properly like that."
"You talk so tough, why don't you do it yourself?!"
Perhaps accustomed to being grouped with Neville, Seamus retorted unhappily.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
The first to correctly pronounce the spell was, without exception, Hermione.
With a gentle flick of her wand, the feather on the desk swayed and floated up.
"Perfect! Gryffindor gets one point!"
Professor Flitwick shrieked, pointing at the feather in the air.
Just then, Dudley, taking advantage of Professor Flitwick's attention being on Hermione, slowly took off his scarf, grabbed the feather on the table, and rubbed it frantically until the feather stuck to the table. Then he grabbed his wand and rubbed it with the scarf in the same way until he heard a faint crackling sound in the air.
The scarf around his neck was woven from wool.
Then...
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
The same tone as Hermione, the same standard action, a perfectly identical and standard replication.
Of course, one had to ignore Dudley's mountain-like physique.
That feather actually 'flew' up.
"Oh, my goodness!"
Professor Flitwick shrieked loudly, pointing in Dudley's direction.
"Look, Dursley did even better! I think he has grasped the essence of the Levitation Charm. He just needs to raise it a little higher to fully master this charm."
"It's hard to imagine a young wizard mastering it so perfectly on the first try."
Seeing Professor Flitwick's excited expression made Dudley suspect he might faint from over-excitement.
"Slytherin gets two points."
He easily got two points.
Dudley shrugged; everything seemed so casual.
The young Slytherins secretly nodded.
As expected of Mr. Dursley, subduing Malfoy, chatting and laughing with Lord Carrow, and now mastering the Levitation Charm so easily.
So, the question is, could Dudley cast the Levitation Charm?
The answer is...
Like hell he could.
He couldn't cast any Levitation Charm at all.
But he could still make the feather 'fly'.
This was very easy, even without any magic.
Because this was science.
The secret lay in that wool scarf. Dudley rubbed the feather with the wool scarf, causing the scarf to lose electrons and become positively charged, and the feather to gain electrons and become negatively charged, making the feather stick to the tabletop due to electrostatic attraction.
When the wool scarf rubbed the wand, the wand also became negatively charged, and the scarf became positively charged. That 'crackling' sound was precisely the sound of positive and negative charges neutralizing.
The feather and the wand, having the same type of charge, repelled each other, creating an upward repulsive force on the feather, causing it to float in the air.
It looked as if the Levitation Charm had taken effect.
In reality, it was just a simple physical phenomenon.
Or what is called the electrostatic effect.
Dudley looked speechlessly at the young wizards around him who were casting admiring glances his way. Poor kids, they suffered from a lack of education.
He couldn't do magic, but he understood science.
"Dudley, you're amazing!"
Only Hermione looked at Dudley with a hint of amusement and said this.
Clearly, she recognized Dudley's little trick, but she didn't report him.
Don't forget, Hermione was also a top-tier academic in Oxford Bridge Elementary School; a simple physical phenomenon was no match for her.
[Chapter Complete]
***
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