"Finally, you can't hold back anymore!" Dudley whispered, watching as Quirrell entered the fourth-floor corridor. He immediately stood up.
Meow!
The big orange cat that had been sleeping on Dudley's legs fell to the ground, looking confused and meowing at Dudley.
"Sorry, I'll bring you something delicious later," Dudley said, reaching out to pet the big orange cat's head before running straight to the dormitory.
After entering the dormitory, his gaze swept around, but he didn't see Harry and the others.
"Where did they go?" Dudley frowned. He had thought Ron and Harry were sleeping in the dormitory.
Not seeing the two of them, Dudley turned and left the dormitory, returning to the common room.
"Fred, have you seen Ron and Harry?" Dudley asked when he spotted Fred and George huddled together discussing something.
"Haven't seen them," Fred shook his head.
"What are you two doing?" Dudley looked at the two suspiciously, keenly sensing that they were probably brewing some scheme.
"Nothing, we're just discussing which toilet seats at Hogwarts look the best," George said with interest.
"And then send one to Ginny?" Dudley blurted out.
He still remembered that on the Hogwarts Express, Fred and George had said they wanted to send their sister a toilet seat.
Hearing Dudley's words, Fred and George were stunned.
"You can see that?" "Can you read minds?" Fred and George looked at Dudley in shock.
Dudley's mouth twitched slightly.
"Just a wild guess. I need to find Ron and Harry now. If you see them, tell them to find me at Hagrid's hut," Dudley said, walking toward the common room exit while speaking.
"Alright, but please don't tell Ron about the toilet seat," George hurriedly said.
"No problem." Dudley responded, opened the Fat Lady's portrait, and came to the corridor outside.
After thinking for a moment, he turned to look at the Fat Lady's portrait.
"Fat Lady, did you see Harry and Ron today? Oh, and Hermione too!" Dudley asked.
"So many people, how could I remember them all? I'm just a painting!" The Fat Lady glanced at Dudley and said impatiently.
"Alright." Dudley shrugged.
"Perhaps I can rely on spiritual intuition."
Dudley didn't search for them in the castle like a headless fly. Instead, he steadied his breathing, then silently thought about Harry, Ron, and Hermione in his mind, and began to walk slowly through the castle, following his feelings.
As an Interrogator, in this territory that belonged to him, his spiritual intuition had additional bonuses. Moreover, Harry and the others were closely connected to Dudley, so it wouldn't be difficult for him to find them.
About a quarter of an hour later, Dudley found himself at the library.
"The library? How unusual!" Dudley stood at the library's entrance, somewhat surprised. Harry and Ron weren't the type to come to the library.
He walked in and soon found Harry, Ron, and Hermione behind a row of bookshelves.
"What are you doing here?" Dudley asked.
"Dudley, we're researching some habits of fire dragons," Ron said.
"After all, if we're going to be in frequent contact with Norbert in the future, we need to understand a bit," Harry raised the book in his hand.
"I brought them here because I could only think of books," Hermione said from the side.
They couldn't exactly ask the professors about this, so they could only learn about Norwegian Ridgebacks through books.
"Sorry, I didn't think of this before. Perhaps I should have brought you along to understand Norbert together," Dudley said.
Since Harry, Ron, and Hermione had previously shown some reluctance toward Norbert, Dudley hadn't brought them along when visiting. He just hadn't thought that these three would come here to look through books to understand Norwegian Ridgebacks.
"It's okay, we're just getting a superficial understanding," Harry said.
Hearing this, Dudley's expression changed, and he immediately said, "If you're interested, I can take you to properly understand Norbert now. It'll definitely be much more detailed than what you'd learn from books."
"Also, Norbert has grown quite a bit now. He can control his emotions well and won't randomly spew out flames and burn your hair off like when he was little."
Ron pouted and said somewhat hesitantly, "If he spews flames now, it won't just burn my hair off, but my whole head."
"He won't. Trust me," Dudley said with a smile.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go," Harry put down the book in his hand.
Dudley didn't explain much more and led the three of them out of the castle, heading straight for Hagrid's hut.
"Staying away from trouble, that's nice," Dudley looked back at the castle behind him.
Based on the timing, Quirrell should now be at the wizard chess set up by Professor McGonagall. He wondered if Professor Dumbledore had repaired those chess pieces after Dudley had destroyed them.
But regardless, the obstacle Dumbledore had set up at the final level was definitely not something an ordinary wizard could easily pass through. In that place, the more powerful the wizard, the more trouble they would face.
Conversely, those who weren't very strong themselves could defeat themselves more quickly in such a place and obtain the Philosopher's Stone.
"I wonder what Quirrell's expression will be like when he goes through all those hardships only to find there's no Philosopher's Stone there at all. Too bad I can't see it," Dudley thought to himself.
"Good afternoon, Hagrid." Arriving at Hagrid's hut, everyone greeted Hagrid together.
"You're here. I was just about to take some food to Norbert," Hagrid had a large piece of meat from some unknown animal on his shoulder, giving off a strong bloody smell.
"His appetite is getting bigger and bigger," Hagrid couldn't help but say.
"His appetite will be even bigger in the future," Hermione said. "That's what the books say. An adult Norwegian Ridgeback can eat an entire cow in one meal."
Hearing this, Hagrid's brow furrowed. He could barely afford to feed this dragon anymore.
"In the future, let Norbert hunt for himself," Dudley suggested.
Continuing to feed him like this wasn't really a solution. Unless Dudley used the Philosopher's Stone's power to turn stone into gold, they simply couldn't afford to feed Norbert.
"Let's go together to see Norbert in the Forbidden Forest," Dudley said.
Hagrid didn't think much more about it and led them into the Forbidden Forest, heading toward the pond where Norbert lived.
At the same time, in Hogwarts Castle, Quirrell had already reached the final room, looking at the space filled with eerie mist. His gaze was fixed on the depths of the mist, where a figure was slowly walking toward him.