"What?" Dudley was stunned and quickly stood up.
Everyone's gaze turned toward Dudley, with a hint of inquiry in their eyes. They had noticed earlier that Dudley was sitting on a chair not far away, but they hadn't had a chance to ask. They all thought Dudley might just not have had time to return to his dormitory and had been brought over by Dumbledore or another professor.
But now it seemed the situation was somewhat different from what they had imagined.
Under everyone's gaze, Dudley slowly walked to stand before Dumbledore.
"No need to be nervous," Dumbledore said with a smile.
"In today's events, Mr. Dudley Dursley has shown strong magical talent, as well as the courage to fight a troll to protect his friends. Moreover, he has performed well in carrying out the task I assigned him, protecting Hogwarts' safety."
"One hundred points to Gryffindor!" Dumbledore announced loudly.
"What happened?"
"My goodness, a first-year student fighting a troll—how did he do it?"
"Are this year's lions really that impressive?"
Several Professors couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.
"Professor Dumbledore, this isn't appropriate..." The first to stand up in opposition wasn't Professor Snape, but Professor McGonagall.
"This would set a bad example for other students, after all..." Professor McGonagall frowned.
Dudley's situation was too special. If they gave Gryffindor a hundred points because of this, as head of Gryffindor House, she would naturally be happy, but she was afraid that students would try to imitate Dudley. Not everyone had Dudley's magical talent and courage to remain calm when facing an adult troll, cast spells effectively, and dodge attacks with agile movements. If it were other students—not even first-years, but even fifth-year students—they might not be able to handle it successfully.
"Let me finish," Professor Dumbledore said to Professor McGonagall.
"Dudley Dursley not only possesses magical talent, but also has gifts far exceeding others in other areas. In fact, I assigned him a task not long ago, and Dudley completed his task very well. This is his reward."
Dumbledore said simply, without mentioning the specific task content.
"Additionally, I want to take this opportunity to announce my appointment of Dudley. From today on, he will be Hogwarts' Sheriff, with privileges that ordinary students don't have, and can violate school rules to a certain extent."
Dumbledore said this while smiling at Dudley.
"Do you have anything you'd like to say about this, Sheriff?"
Dudley hadn't expected Dumbledore to give him such an appointment, and his expression showed some surprise. But soon he reacted—this was a reward for reporting Professor Quirrell, and he certainly wouldn't pass up this opportunity.
"Professor Dumbledore, if possible, I would like to have certain interrogation privileges. Just a little bit of authority would be good. This way I wouldn't have to report everything to you and could conduct some simple interrogations myself to eliminate unnecessary misunderstandings."
Dudley said seriously after thinking it over.
"If it's just some interrogation privileges, that shouldn't be a problem. However, you must know your limits. Do you understand what I mean? If you abuse the power in your hands, I will revoke your appointment," Dumbledore said after thinking.
"No problem!" Dudley immediately promised.
"Professor Dumbledore, isn't this going too far? He's just an eleven-year-old child—what can he interrogate?" Snape said with a dark expression, glancing at Dudley.
"I trust Dudley's judgment. And as I said, if Dudley cannot handle the responsibilities I've given him, I will revoke his privileges at any time," Dumbledore said.
"Also, since I've given him interrogation privileges, his other rights should be equivalent to a prefect's. That's decided then."
The other Professors had no objections, since they weren't very clear about what exactly had happened. But they could see that Dudley seemed to have helped Professor Dumbledore greatly. In such circumstances, it was understandable for Dumbledore to give Dudley certain conveniences.
Moreover, Dudley had shown excellent talent in all his courses. Good students were welcomed by Professors wherever they went. With such talent, if he continued studying well, Dudley becoming a prefect or even Head Boy was just a matter of time. This could be considered Dumbledore's early training for Dudley.
McGonagall looked at Dudley with some concern. She wasn't worried about Dudley being unable to handle it, but rather worried that this young man would cause trouble. Since the start of school—no, since the Hogwarts Express—Dudley had been causing incidents and had hardly ever stopped. And every time something big happened, Dudley's figure was always present. She couldn't help but want to ask Dudley why it was always him.
However, in the end, Professor McGonagall didn't object further. This was Professor Dumbledore's decision, and as headmaster, he had that right. Moreover, if Dudley made mistakes, the privileges could be revoked at any time. Overall, there wasn't any major problem. Perhaps after giving Dudley prefect privileges, he would set a better example for himself. They could observe for a while first.
Snape glared at Dudley with a somewhat dark expression but said nothing more. After all, regarding Quirrell's problem, Dudley had indeed played a significant role. He had also helped the school handle the troll crisis, which, under the circumstances of strange prohibitions suddenly appearing in the castle, had indeed protected Hogwarts' safety. Otherwise, Miss Granger might now be...
"Alright, everyone can go back and rest. Heads of houses, remember to explain what happened to the students in your houses. For any injured students, please send them to the hospital wing for treatment immediately."
Professor Dumbledore waved his hand and said to everyone.
Everyone said their goodbyes and left, and the Great Hall was soon nearly empty.
Dudley didn't leave immediately. The Beyonder characteristics within his body were rapidly digesting. The recognition from Hogwarts headmaster Dumbledore made Dudley's role-playing extremely successful. His Sheriff Beyonder characteristics were already nearly depleted, and now he had almost immediately completed the Sheriff role-playing, fully digesting the Beyonder characteristics.
In just a few breaths, Dudley slowly smiled. He had successfully completed the digestion of the Sheriff potion and could prepare to advance to Sequence 7, Interrogator of the Arbiter pathway.
[Chapter Complete]
***
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