In the blink of an eye, another half month passed.
Norbert had already grown taller than Hagrid by a head, but under Dudley's training, his temperament was relatively gentle, and he was quite obedient to Dudley, showing no excessive aggression.
For now, everything was going well.
One weekend morning, Dudley didn't go to Norbert's place. The fire dragon's condition had stabilized relatively, so he didn't need to run over to watch him every day.
"I haven't patrolled my territory for a while. I'll wander around Hogwarts Castle today."
After breakfast, Dudley began to stroll around the castle.
After reaching Sequence 7, Dudley's advancement speed had obviously slowed down quite a bit. On one hand, after the sequence improved, the time needed to digest the beyonder characteristics had increased considerably. On the other hand, it was because these two sequences were no longer so easy to role-play at this stage.
Although Dudley had obtained the title of Interrogator from Dumbledore, in a place like school, he really had nothing that needed interrogation. Moreover, Dumbledore had limited his authority. He couldn't randomly interrogate others, or else he wouldn't be able to keep even this title.
Therefore, his Interrogator title was more like a nominal position without actual authority.
As for the other Black Emperor sequence's Briber, he had used it quite a bit, but many times it was just utilizing beyonder abilities rather than role-playing.
Dudley's digestion of these two sequences' beyonder characteristics was currently rather mediocre. Based on time calculations, if Dudley could complete digestion by this year, that would already be considered quite fast.
And this would require Dudley to work extra hard, actively seeking opportunities to role-play.
After wandering around for two circles, Dudley came to the eighth floor, opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy.
"This wall definitely has some problem."
Dudley looked at that blank wall. He could sense there was something unusual here, yet he couldn't find any trace of it, which made him very uncomfortable.
Every time he passed by here, he wanted to figure out what was going on, but each time he returned empty-handed.
This time, Dudley activated his spiritual vision and carefully examined every inch of the wall bit by bit, almost pressing himself against the wall, trying to find the problem.
"Mr. Dursley, what are you doing?"
A sudden voice came, startling Dudley. Because he was too absorbed, Dudley hadn't noticed Professor McGonagall walking over from the other side of the corridor.
"I... I'm looking for Professor Dumbledore," Dudley immediately said.
This place wasn't far from Dumbledore's office.
Professor McGonagall frowned and glanced at that blank wall.
"Professor Dumbledore isn't at school. He received a letter from the Ministry of Magic this morning and should be in London now."
"Professor Dumbledore isn't here?" Dudley was stunned. He had just randomly made up an excuse, and Dumbledore actually wasn't here.
Seeing Dudley's surprised expression, Professor McGonagall adjusted her glasses and continued, "Professor Dumbledore has many things to handle, not just school matters. He also holds positions in many organizations and departments."
"I see. Then I'll come find him tomorrow," Dudley smiled.
Professor McGonagall looked at Dudley seriously and said, "Mr. Dursley, I know you're very talented, but when it comes to magic, you still need a serious attitude. I heard from several other professors that you've been taking quite a few leaves recently. This isn't something a good student should do."
"Professor, I..."
Dudley had just started speaking when Professor McGonagall interrupted him.
"I don't want to hear those excuses again. I thought you had turned over a new leaf and focused on your studies, that you wouldn't cause any more trouble, but it seems that's not the case."
McGonagall said seriously.
"The final exams are coming up, and I don't want to deduct points from Gryffindor before then. Do you understand what I mean?"
"I understand, Professor," Dudley nodded.
"Go on, study your lessons properly," Professor McGonagall said finally.
Dudley quickly slunk away.
"I almost thought Professor McGonagall knew about me raising a dragon just now. Good thing she didn't find out," Dudley thought to himself.
If this matter got out, Professor McGonagall would probably go completely mad.
Dudley walked toward Gryffindor Tower. The sunlight was nice today, so he planned to find a spot by the window in the Gryffindor common room to read books and pet cats, spending a pleasant weekend.
"It seems like I've overlooked something important."
As he was about to reach Gryffindor Tower, Dudley's brow furrowed. He always felt like he had overlooked something important. This was a kind of spiritual intuition.
He slowed his pace and began to recall what had happened before, bit by bit.
Before long, his gaze slightly focused.
"Dumbledore isn't at school!"
This was a very important piece of information.
Thinking of this, Dudley immediately looked around, and after confirming no one was there, he took out the Mirror of Erised.
Spiritual power was injected, and the mirror surface rippled, soon showing the situation in the corridor on the right side of the third floor.
It was empty.
"Am I overthinking this?" Dudley wondered.
Dudley returned to the Gryffindor common room and found a secluded spot by the window. He moved the chair a bit to ensure his position wouldn't be seen by others, then lay down.
He casually picked up a book and spread it on his legs, then placed the Mirror of Erised in the middle, pretending to read while actually monitoring the third-floor corridor.
"If only this magic mirror could have living characteristics and automatically help me monitor the corridor," Dudley said somewhat helplessly.
Having used truly good mirrors before, he felt somewhat disdainful of the Mirror of Erised, which wasn't smart at all.
Meow.
A cat's cry came, and then a fat orange cat jumped onto Dudley's legs, found a comfortable position, and lay down.
"Oh, it's rare that I have time to keep you company today," Dudley said with a smile while petting the cat.
The big orange cat huffed twice, showing an indifferent attitude toward Dudley, this person who had cats elsewhere.
Harry and Ron didn't know where they had gone, and Dudley didn't go looking for them.
He petted the cat while watching the real-time images from the Mirror of Erised.
At noon, the mirror surface suddenly flickered, and something appeared.
"Hmm?" Dudley's expression focused, and he immediately looked carefully.
It was a harp, floating in mid-air, quickly flying toward the room at the end of the corridor where the three-headed dog Fluffy was kept.
Soon, the mirror surface flickered again. This time it was a human figure.
With a purple turban wrapped around his head, he looked nervously around, then quickly entered the room at the end of the corridor.
"Finally, you can't hold back anymore!" Dudley whispered to himself, watching Quirrell enter the room.