"Follow me. Remember, don't let both feet leave the ground at the same time. If you're judged to be running, we'll be punished," Dudley said to Harry and the others.
"Okay."
At this point, the three of them had stopped thinking for themselves—whatever Dudley said, they just did.
Dudley immediately set off, slowly heading in the direction of Malfoy and his group, where the stairs to the upper floor were located.
"Don't come over here," Malfoy shouted, his face full of terror as he saw Dudley approaching.
"I don't have time to bother with you. If you don't want to die out here, you'd better return to your Slytherin common room immediately. Remember, don't run, or you'll die in a very unpleasant way," Dudley said coldly, looking at Malfoy, who was writhing and retreating on the ground.
"Or, you can just crawl back like this," he added.
Malfoy's face was pale, and the severe pain in his back made his thoughts muddled, but after hearing Dudley's words, he regained some composure. At the very least, Dudley and the others had proven that as long as you didn't run in the corridor, you wouldn't be punished.
Without hesitation, Malfoy tried to stand up. Goyle and Crabbe also struggled to their feet. They had no idea what had happened, but they knew that at this moment, it was best to do as Dudley said.
Malfoy glanced at Crabbe, signaling with his eyes for Crabbe to try first. Crabbe was reluctant, but when he saw Malfoy's fierce look, he had no choice but to take the first step.
After waiting a breath or two and confirming there was no punishment, Malfoy quickly walked toward the stairs. He didn't want to stay in this place a second longer.
So, in Dudley and the others' view, they saw Malfoy and his friends twisting their hips, wincing in pain, and entering a speed-walking mode straight for the stairs.
"Remember, if you experience any unexplained punishment, don't force yourself to return to the common room—just find a nearby classroom and hide," Dudley called after Malfoy.
Malfoy didn't respond, but he remembered it.
"Dudley, why warn them? Let them suffer—they deserve it," Ron couldn't help but say.
"If I don't warn them, they might die," Dudley said gravely.
"What?"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione's faces immediately turned pale.
They had thought this was just another extremely unreasonable new school rule at Hogwarts, but even so, it shouldn't be fatal, right? They had always thought Dudley was just trying to scare Malfoy. After all, this was a school, not a prison. Even if you broke school rules, you shouldn't be punished so severely—could you really die?
"It's hard to say. Let's go check out the Great Hall first," Dudley said, not explaining further.
He wasn't sure how much power the Trunsoest Brass Book had exerted, but he knew that if this rulebook kept issuing new rules, the punishments would only get harsher and harsher.
Right now, flogging was already the lightest punishment. Next, it could be broken limbs, and then eventually, death sentences.
And once the book delivered a death sentence, there would be no chance of rescue—it would be death in the sense of the rules, your life snuffed out in an instant, absolutely final.
Suddenly, a word flashed through Dudley's mind.
"Uniqueness."
In an instant, his face turned pale, and countless dense whispers echoed in his mind, making him feel as if his brain was about to explode.
The Trunsoest Brass Book… a Sealed Artifact of the Arbiter pathway…
Dudley leaned against the wall, his face ashen.
"Dudley, what's wrong?"
Harry exclaimed, quickly grabbing Dudley.
Bright red blood dripped from Dudley's nose, falling to the floor and blooming into crimson flowers. His face was extremely pale, twisted, and frightening, like a monster ready to devour someone.
"I'm fine," Dudley said, shaking his head and wiping away the blood.
He knew the Trunsoest Brass Book was a legendary Sealed Artifact of the Arbiter pathway, a key item of immense power. But there seemed to be something wrong with it now. Dudley didn't dare think further. He was afraid that if he touched on things he shouldn't know, it would bring even more unpredictable anomalies.
Especially since Dudley was now on a dual path, something almost impossible at low sequences in that world—anyone who tried would lose control. Dudley was only able to do this because the world he was in now was not the same as that bizarre world, which lessened the risk of losing control, allowing him to digest two Beyonder characteristics at once. But this was still extremely dangerous—one misstep and Dudley would be dead.
After recovering a little, and with Harry supporting him, the four of them quickly returned to the entrance of the Great Hall.
It was already empty—no one was there.
But the yellow notice at the entrance to the Great Hall now had new content that wasn't there before.
No running in the corridors. Violators will be flogged.
"It really appeared. There wasn't a punishment before," Harry said immediately upon seeing the rule.
"That's right. I remember it just said not to run in the corridors, but didn't say what the punishment was," Ron added.
"So, the punishment was added later? Who did this?" Hermione frowned.
"I don't know, but I don't think an ordinary person could do something like this—it would require extremely powerful magic," Harry said.
As he said this, the first person he thought of was Dumbledore. He couldn't help it—Dumbledore, as headmaster of Hogwarts and one of the greatest wizards alive, certainly had the power to do such things. But this was obviously against Dumbledore's philosophy, and Harry didn't want to believe Dumbledore would make such a rule.
"You guys go back to the dormitory first. I'm going to investigate this," Dudley said solemnly.
"It's too dangerous. Let's go back together—this isn't something we should be handling," Harry said immediately.
Dudley shook his head.
If this was really a magical event, he could ignore it. But now, it was clearly a problem caused by the Trunsoest Brass Book he brought, so he couldn't just stand by. Besides, he was probably the only one who could seal this thing.
"Look, there's a new rule appearing!" Ron suddenly exclaimed.
Everyone's eyes immediately fell on the yellow notice, where new words were slowly appearing, as if being written by an invisible hand.
Curfew: After nine o'clock, all movement in the corridors is forbidden. Violators will be flogged.
Dudley's eyes narrowed slightly—the rules were getting stricter.
But at the same time, he noticed some problems with the rules.
[Chapter Complete]
***
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