Familiar yet strange whispers rang in Dudley's ears, and various crazy thoughts and bizarre sounds impacted his brain, causing his face to become somewhat distorted.
This situation had not appeared for a long time.
Since returning to this world, the risk of losing control had decreased significantly. Those maddening whispers, strange thoughts, and possible contamination had all departed with that bizarre world.
But this advancement to mid-sequence still made Dudley feel intense discomfort.
That feeling of potentially losing control and going mad at any moment seemed to have returned.
Fortunately, this situation did not last long. Those whispers and crazy thoughts began to gradually fade away, and at the same time, Dudley clearly felt he had completed his advancement, reaching Justiciar Sequence 6—Judge!
This marked his official transition from low sequence to mid-sequence. All his abilities had undergone huge improvement—even a qualitative transformation.
"Dursley... Dursley..."
A blurred voice came, gradually becoming clear, becoming stern.
Dudley felt someone bump his arm.
He groggily raised his head and saw Snape on the podium looking at him with a dark expression.
The surrounding classmates were all staring wide-eyed at Dudley.
Harry, sitting next to Dudley, had just bumped his arm. At this moment, he was also looking at Dudley with a shocked expression.
Dudley's facial expression had been very distorted just now, looking quite terrifying, and he had completely ignored Snape's roll call, which had truly frightened Harry.
"Look, our Mr Interrogator is daydreaming—daydreaming in my Potions classroom," Snape said slowly.
"Do you think discovering the basilisk in the Chamber makes you impressive? So much so that you do not need to listen in my class and even look at me with a twisted expression, wanting to tear me apart?"
Snape questioned coldly.
"Basilisk? What basilisk?"
"There is a basilisk in the Chamber?"
"What is going on?"
The students in the classroom, who had been waiting to see how Snape would deal with Dudley, were startled by Snape's mention of the basilisk.
"Yes, our Mr Interrogator deduced through some clues that the monster in the Chamber is a basilisk."
"Heh, truly great."
Snape continued with obvious mockery.
Suddenly, he turned his gaze to Harry beside Dudley.
"But is this really what you investigated? Or did your dear brother tell you?"
"A basilisk is also a snake, so it should be able to understand Parseltongue and be controlled by Parseltongue, right?"
"Tsk tsk tsk, the brother releases the basilisk, and the brother spreads the news to gain fame—what perfect cooperation, such brotherly love."
After Snape finished speaking, everyone had originally been shocked and grateful about Dudley discovering the basilisk, but suddenly, everyone's eyes fell on Harry.
Suspicion, shock, fear.
If Harry had really opened the Chamber and released the basilisk and then told his cousin Dudley this information and had Dudley claim he deduced it through reasoning, that would be terrifying.
They would have completely manipulated everyone, not only earning fame but also using this method to eliminate people they did not like, such as Crabbe.
If it continued, would it be Malfoy, Goyle, and others who had offended them?
For a moment, the Slytherins in the classroom looked at Harry and Dudley with eyes full of fear and anger.
Malfoy's pale face also looked toward Dudley and Harry, but his expression showed more seriousness and suspicion, without the usual gloating or mocking look.
"Professor Snape! This is slander!" Dudley suddenly stood up.
Snape narrowed his eyes slightly and sneered, "What? Angry, Mr Interrogator?"
"Now, it is Mr Judge!" Dudley said with slightly focused eyes.
"Oh?" Snape's lips curved into a mocking smile. He was just teasing—he had not expected Dudley to actually take himself so seriously.
"Professor Snape, you just accused Harry of opening the Chamber and releasing the basilisk, and accused me of deliberately spreading this news after learning about it to gain fame, correct?" Dudley questioned.
"Is that not the case? This is the answer everyone can see," Snape said coldly.
"Then, may I ask, where is the evidence?" Dudley asked coldly.
His gaze fixed on Snape, and indescribable authority emanated from his body.
This was no longer the authority of an Interrogator, but the authority of a Judge.
Ordinary people would have no possibility of resistance under such authority. Even a powerful wizard like Snape could only barely maintain rationality and thought under Dudley's current authority.
Snape was about to speak when he suddenly felt Dudley's voice become extremely oppressive. He did not even dare look directly into Dudley's eyes at this moment.
The feeling was as if Dudley were some terrifying important figure standing before him, and he could not even raise his head.
Only submission and compliance.
The Dudley before him was no longer his student, but a powerful person who could control his fate.
For that instant, Snape felt the shadow of the Dark Lord in Dudley—that oppressive feeling, that authority. Dudley even exceeded the pressure the Dark Lord had given him.
"If you cannot provide evidence, then everything you just said can be characterised as defamation!"
"Defaming others—the charge is established."
"Those who defame should be punished!"
Dudley's resonant voice echoed through the classroom, as if triggering some rule, causing the entire classroom to tremble slightly.
Snape suddenly stepped back half a step, fine beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.
Just then, he seemed to truly feel some terrible punishment about to fall upon him, punishing him for violating the law.
Fortunately, this situation did not actually occur.
But even so, Snape's expression had become extremely ugly.
"Professor Snape, please be careful with your words and actions! Do not speak carelessly about matters without evidence, or you will violate the law."
"As a professor, speculating about your students without any basis and speaking it out in class in front of everyone violates professional ethics."
"I do not want to see this happen a second time."
Dudley looked deeply at Snape, then withdrew his gaze and sat back in his seat.
The judgement he had just made was in English and could not achieve much effect. If he had used Hermes instead, he could have directly punished Snape with flogging or even more severe punishment.
This was the Judge.
The maker of rules, the judge of punishment!