What happened in the Slytherin common room proved a crucial point: having more people is sometimes completely useless. Unfortunately, Slytherin would never share this valuable lesson with Gryffindor.
"Hermione, are you alright?" Dudley ignored everyone else, helping Hermione up, then gently patting the dust off her clothes. He unhurriedly picked up her scattered books one by one, his movements calm and deliberate. He didn't put this group of Gryffindors in his eyes at all.
Emboldened by the crowd behind them, the group of two girls and three boys grew bolder. One short-haired, brown-haired girl pointed at Dudley and sneered, "Oh, are you really a first-year? You look like a gorilla... Yes, a Slytherin gorilla. And a Gryffindor beaver."
"I was wondering why you were defending Miss Beaver," she continued, her voice dripping with malice. "Turns out you're the same kind."
They laughed unrestrainedly, and the surrounding Gryffindors echoed with laughter.
Before Dudley could act, the silent Hermione suddenly rushed forward, grabbed the other girl's hair, yanked hard, and punched her right in the nose.
"Apologize to Dudley!" she roared like an enraged lioness, her eyes looking as if she wanted to devour the other girl. When she was bullied, she could choose to silently endure, but when Dudley was ridiculed, Hermione would absolutely be the first to stand up. Don't assume Hermione is quiet just because she likes reading. As her childhood friend, Dudley knew very well that her true personality was much more fiery than his own gentle and easygoing one. She was the type to resort to action if words failed.
"You dare hit me?! You dare hit me!!! Even my dad has never hit me!" The girl covered her nose, blood seeping through her fingers. Hermione's punch had given her a nosebleed.
"I'm going to kill you!" she shrieked, swinging her fist at Hermione like a madwoman, but it landed on Dudley, who was now blocking Hermione. At that moment, she felt as if she had hit a steel plate. "My hand is going to break," she cried out in pain, clutching her hand. Then she raised her arm and shouted to the crowd, "Look, the Slytherin hurt me!"
The surrounding Gryffindors immediately surged forward, trapping Dudley and Hermione in the middle. Although they didn't know exactly what had happened, confronting Slytherins was definitely the right thing to do, because they were the evil Slytherins. As for Hermione, the annoying know-it-all had fallen so low as to associate with a Slytherin, so she wasn't a good person either. Stupid, reckless Gryffindors wouldn't think that much. Right and wrong didn't matter. Just confronting Slytherin was enough.
They wanted to go forward and grab Hermione, but Dudley stood like a mountain in front of her, and no one dared to step forward.
"Hermione is right," Dudley said, his voice calm but with an undercurrent of steel. "You should apologize. But... apologize to her." His gaze swept over the surrounding Gryffindors, finally landing on the group of five. From their conversation, Dudley could roughly piece things together. This was bullying, wasn't it? Just like when he was first in Slytherin. The only difference was that he was bullied because he had offended the "powerful" Malfoy, while Hermione was isolated and bullied because her personality didn't fit in and she associated with him, a Slytherin. In essence, there was no difference between the two. It was all school bullying.
"No, we Gryffindors will not bow to Slytherin," the girl who had been punched retorted, trying to escalate the matter to the level of Gryffindor versus Slytherin. As soon as she said this, Dudley clearly felt the surrounding Gryffindors showing expressions of shared hatred. They even pointed their wands at him in unison.
Dudley let out a cold snort, the expression on his face becoming increasingly indifferent. What a Gryffindor, he thought with contempt. What a brave Gryffindor, what a united Gryffindor. Regardless of the reason, without distinguishing right from wrong, unable to tell black from white. Calling them reckless was a compliment; calling them stupid was a commendation.
"What are you doing?" Dudley heard Harry's angry roar from outside the crowd.
"Mr. Potter, we know he's your brother, but this has nothing to do with you. Please leave if you don't want to get hurt!" When it was useful, it was 'We've got Potter'; when it wasn't, it was 'Leave if you don't want to get hurt'. Dudley heard Harry's roaring fade away. Setting aside the Savior's halo, he was just a first-year little wizard.
"I think maybe we should... figure out what's going on first," Ron's weak voice also sounded. Unfortunately, he overestimated his right to speak and his position in Gryffindor.
"This is none of your business," someone snapped, and Ron, like Harry, was dragged away. "My name is Ron!" his voice faded into the distance.
By this time, most of the Slytherins had already left, only a small number remained, silently giving a thumbs-up to the Gryffindor 'warriors' in their hearts. Not only had they offended Miss Granger and Mr. Dursley, but they had even offended Mr. Potter. It wasn't that they didn't want to help; Slytherin was essentially a very united house. But they were afraid of ruining what they believed was Harry's grand plan. If Mr. Potter weren't pretending, they thought, I'm afraid it would have been a bloodbath already. Look, that expression of gritting his teeth in hatred for his powerlessness is acted so well. If I didn't know beforehand, I would have almost believed it.
"Hermione, stay behind me," Dudley said, shielding her. "We are in the right!"
The atmosphere had reached a freezing point. The Slytherin students on the periphery didn't even dare to breathe. The Gryffindors in the middle had their hands gripping their wands covered in sweat. Although they had the numerical advantage, why did they feel a chill from the bottom of their hearts?
"Apologize," Dudley's eyes gradually turned cold. He was not a person who was good with words. He preferred to subdue people with virtue and reason. Of course, if you didn't reason with him, he would just have to reason with you physically.
Golden sparks of electricity began to flash around Dudley's body. His muscles bulged at a speed visible to the naked eye, and even his body seemed to grow several sizes. His aura was fully unleashed. At that moment, everything before their eyes changed. Dudley seemed to be no longer Dudley. The young wizards felt as if they were seeing a peerless, fierce beast. Just like when Malfoy faced him directly, even their breathing seemed to stop.
"Retreat quickly!"
"Densaugeo!"
Unable to bear the pressure, several young wizards attacked. Innumerable beams of red or green light shot towards Dudley. However, while they had learned these simple jinxes, Dudley was also no longer the same as before. Facing the incoming spells, he simply raised his head and chest, pushing forward. The beams of light hit his chest. His impressive pectorals merely twitched slightly, and the light of the spells instantly dissipated. Nothing happened. The power of his magic resistance was demonstrated. Completely unharmed.
"You were the ones who started it." Dudley revealed his two rows of white teeth, which reflected a cold gleam in the sunlight. "Hermione, close your eyes." His large, fan-like hand slowly and gently covered Hermione's eyes. For the first time, he actively pulled out his wand with his other hand.
The other first-year Gryffindor students could only watch, unable to move under the influence of Dudley's aura. They didn't even dare to act.
Is it finally going to appear? Mr. Dursley's spell! Will it be the Imperius Curse? Or the Cruciatus Curse? Or Avada Kedavra? The Slytherin students were excited. They had practically grown up hearing about the three Unforgivable Curses. At this moment, they wanted to know Dudley's true strength.
However, from Dudley's mouth came a spell they never expected.
"Lumos!"
The Slytherin students' brains collectively crashed. Unfortunately, Dudley didn't give them time to think at all.
Centered on him, a scorching, dazzling light erupted. The young wizards only saw a vast expanse of white before their eyes, as if countless tiny needles were violently stabbing their eyes, making everything around them appear blurry, and even causing waves of dizziness.
It was the sun... it was as if they had seen the sun.
All the young wizards present who were looking at Dudley felt a sharp pain in their eyes and instantly lost their sight. They involuntarily covered their eyes.
'I can't see!'
'My eyes!'
'You call this Lumos?!'
[Chapter Complete]
***
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