Opening the door to the large bedroom on the second floor, Dudley stepped into his private sanctuary.
The first thing that caught the eye was a tall, densely packed bookshelf pressed against one wall.
The shelves were filled with Muggle books on psychology, mysticism, genetic biology, ancient Latin linguistics, sociology, and boxing, as well as wizard books like Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Magical Theory, Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century, Standard Book of Spells, Advanced Potion-Making, and Speculations on the Origins of Wizardkind, all disguised with plain covers.
Beyond the books, Dudley's room also housed a refrigerator, a computer, a video camera, a music box, and other Muggle gadgets.
A large, comfortable bed, a desk, and numerous cabinets and storage boxes filled with various ordinary and peculiar items completed the space.
Inside the refrigerator were three vials of Harry's blood, and next to it, a large wooden box contained a full stash of Harry's hair.
Hidden in a drawer beneath the bed were a withered limb of a Bowtruckle, a feather from a Augurey, several Galleons, and a raw ruby the size of a pigeon's egg.
These were the valuable items Dudley had collected over the eleven years and fourteen days since his reincarnation into this world.
All obtained through legitimate means, everything aboveboard... well, mostly.
The three vials of Harry's blood had been collected during routine medical checkups at Muggle hospitals over the past decade. Dudley had also drawn his own blood.
The box of Harry's hair had been gathered over years of haircuts, spurred by Harry's frequent bouts of magical outbursts that caused his hair to grow uncontrollably. By the time Harry was seven or eight, his hair would often grow waist-length overnight.
The wizard books and Galleons had been acquired through fair trades with Harry's fan, Mr. Diggle.
The withered Bowtruckle limb and Augurey feather were rewards Dudley had received through his gang's good deeds.
This world wasn't just home to wizards and Muggles; it was also teeming with magical creatures. While most Muggles were unaware of this, the fact remained that they all shared the same planet.
Over the centuries, some magical items had inevitably found their way into Muggle hands.
While the Ministry of Magic confiscated anything overtly magical, less conspicuous items often slipped through the cracks.
Bowtruckles and Augureys were native to England, so it wasn't far-fetched that parts of them had ended up in the hands of unsuspecting Muggles.
If Dudley's gang hadn't been limited to a small group of schoolchildren in Little Whinging, his collection of magical materials might have been far more extensive and impressive.
As for the valuable raw ruby, it had been a birthday gift from Vernon, purchased at great expense from Africa.
This non-magical but stunning gem, resembling a piece of candy, would play a crucial role in Dudley's plans three weeks from now.
"System, open my personal panel!"
After a quick glance around his room, Dudley sat on the bed and silently issued the command in his mind.
A semi-transparent panel appeared before his eyes, visible only to him.
[Host: Dudley Dursley]
[Identity: Muggle (Magical Medium, Magical Enhancement)]
[Traits: Bloodline medium for the ancient protective magic - Sacrificial Love (modified version).
Living together with the protected subject, Harry Potter, and blood-related family members in a household setting, this trait allows the host to recharge the protective magic on the subject, ensuring immunity and reflection of fatal attacks until the subject comes of age.
While the protective magic is active, anyone with murderous intent who touches the protected subject will be counterattacked by the magic, with the severity of the counterattack proportional to the intensity of their malice.]
[Abilities: Enhanced Strength (derived from long-term exposure to Harry Potter's Strength-Boosting charm, granting the host three times the physical strength of a healthy adult male and corresponding control over that strength.)]
[Unlocked Regret Events:
Petunia Dursley - Rejection from the Magical World (D-rank), The Tragedy of the Freak Sister (B-rank), The Unspoken, Tangled Love (D-rank);
Harry Potter - The Dark Childhood of the Boy Who Lived (S-rank), The Missing Love of Parents (S-rank);]
[Regret Event Details:
Rejection from the Magical World (D-rank): As a Muggle, Petunia had a sister with magical talent. Jealous of her parents' favoritism, young Petunia dreamed of learning magic.
She wrote to Dumbledore, hoping to attend Hogwarts, but was gently refused. From then on, the door to the magical world was firmly closed to her—if it had ever been open at all.
The Tragedy of the Freak Sister (B-rank): On the night of October 31, 1981, Harry lost his mother, and Petunia lost her sister.
The Unspoken, Tangled Love (D-rank): (Details omitted.)
The Dark Childhood of the Boy Who Lived (S-rank): The savior of the wizarding world grew up in a household filled with repression and denial. In the original timeline, Vernon's confinement, Petunia's mockery, and Dudley's bullying made Harry's childhood unbearably bleak.
The Missing Love of Parents (S-rank): Orphaned at a young age, Harry Potter longed to experience the love of parents he never knew.]
[Current Magical Item Fusion Opportunities: None.]
After reviewing the system panel he had seen countless times over the years, Dudley fell into deep thought and reflection.
He had once been a middle-aged man from Earth, well-acquainted with the harsh realities of life. Though he lacked neither courage nor determination, a stroke of bad luck had cut his life short.
Expecting his story to end there, he was surprised to find himself reborn without undergoing the proper reincarnation process. Instead, his consciousness traversed a dark passage and reincarnated into this unfamiliar yet strangely familiar world as Dudley Dursley.
Unfamiliar because he had become a little foreigner in a land and time far removed from his own, yet familiar because he had read and loved the Harry Potter books and movies in his past life, their details still fresh in his mind.
As a bona fide transmigrator from Earth, he naturally came equipped with a golden finger—a system that allowed him to resolve regret events from the original story, earn corresponding opportunities to fuse magical items, and ascend to the status of a God Of Magic.
In short: a cheat!
Dudley's system wasn't overwhelmingly powerful, but it wasn't weak either.
Its functions were clearly outlined in its name.
The Harry Potter series, though often seen as a children's tale, was rife with tragedy and countless regrets, both big and small.
Whenever Dudley encountered a character from the original story, he could unlock regret events that had either already occurred or were destined to occur in the timeline.
Under normal circumstances, these events would unlock according to the original story's timeline.
However, if Dudley's presence as an otherworldly "butterfly" altered the course of events, he could unlock corresponding regret events ahead of schedule when encountering the relevant characters.