The slimy tentacles scattered in all directions, while those appendages severely wounded by Dudley's mental assault dissolved into black, foul-smelling liquid that quickly evaporated into eerie mist and vanished completely.
"Incendio!" Immediately afterward, Dudley cast the spell, and roaring flames erupted, consuming the remaining tentacles.
Within moments, this grotesque multi-tentacled monster had completely disappeared.
"What exactly was that creature?" Dudley frowned as he watched the abomination gradually dissipate before his eyes.
He glanced around the corridor. The entire hotel had fallen eerily silent at this moment. He could barely detect any sounds whatsoever.
Dudley considered his options briefly, then walked toward the corridor's far end. That was where the monster had first materialized and also the initial location where a door had been forcibly opened. Perhaps he would find some clues there.
However, before Dudley could advance much further, the entire hotel shook violently. Cracks began appearing throughout the surrounding space, and soon, like shattered glass, everything began collapsing rapidly around him.
"The dream is dissolving?" Dudley's expression shifted as he remained motionless.
The next moment, his vision went completely black. When he opened his eyes again, Dudley found himself back on his own bed.
Everything that had transpired had occurred entirely within the dreamscape.
Of course, if you assumed that events happening in dreams weren't genuinely real, you would be gravely mistaken.
Dudley reached into his clothing and soon withdrew a palm-sized mirror: the Mirror of Erised.
Channeling spiritual power into the artifact, Dudley first checked the situation in the adjacent room. After confirming his parents were safe and unharmed, he immediately redirected the mirror to observe the room at the corridor's end.
The next moment, Dudley's gaze sharpened, his expression growing considerably grave.
Through the mirror, he witnessed a middle-aged man lying naked in the center of that room. His body was positioned spread-eagle, with dark crimson blood beneath him forming intricate patterns that created a bizarre occult symbol.
His corpse was a mangled mess, with exposed bone visible in multiple locations. His eyes remained wide open but contained no pupils or whites, just pitch-black voids.
"Killed within the dream!" Dudley realized with growing alarm.
The monster from before had possessed the ability to murder people within dreamscapes. If he hadn't been able to maintain consciousness during the dream, he probably would have faced mortal danger as well.
"Is this truly magic? Why do I feel it bears such striking resemblance to Darkness pathway extraordinary abilities?" Dudley frowned with confusion.
He thought carefully but discovered no useful insights. However, this incident had clearly demonstrated that the magical world beyond Hogwarts wasn't particularly safe either. It remained filled with hidden dangers.
"Ahhhhhhh!" Terrified screams erupted from the corridor.
Dudley used the Mirror of Erised to investigate. Hotel staff had discovered the corpse in that room.
"What's happening?" Harry opened his eyes and asked with obvious bewilderment.
He felt like he had experienced an extremely lengthy dream filled with bizarre imagery. He even recalled dreaming that someone had petrified him with a spell.
"Something serious probably occurred," Dudley replied without mentioning what had transpired in the dream.
Outside their door, numerous people were awakened by the screaming. Everyone appeared terrified, and they opened their doors to discover what had happened.
Soon, they learned that a murder had taken place in the hotel. Someone had been killed brutally.
This news terrified everyone present, with fear written clearly across their faces.
"My God! How could this happen?" Petunia rushed to Dudley's room and embraced him tightly.
"How could a murder occur? What's going on?" "I heard that person died horribly." "Yes, I glimpsed the scene. It was absolutely frightening." "I don't dare sleep anymore. I want to leave this place immediately!"
Voices continued echoing from the corridor, and police arrived with remarkable speed.
Everyone in the hotel was required to remain and cooperate with the official investigation.
"Damn it, we shouldn't have stayed here tonight. We should have returned home!" Vernon said with obvious anger.
With such a traumatic incident occurring, his mood had become extremely sour.
"Vernon, can we go home tomorrow?" Petunia still carried fear in her expression.
"Absolutely, without question," Vernon assured her, patting Petunia's shoulder consolingly.
"Dudley, what exactly is happening? How did we encounter a murder case?" Harry said with complete disbelief.
"When you were dreaming earlier, did you sense anything unusual?" Dudley didn't answer Harry's question but posed one that Harry found quite strange.
"When I was dreaming..." Harry frowned thoughtfully. "I didn't have any particular sensations. I just felt extremely exhausted. I seemed to have experienced a very long dream, but I can't recall the details clearly."
"I see..." Dudley nodded with obvious contemplation.
The police were questioning witnesses systematically. This case appeared quite complex; at least judging from the crime scene, it wasn't an ordinary investigation.
"Can you tell us what you were doing between 1 and 2 AM?" A police officer approached Dudley, asking questions while taking detailed notes.
"My cousin and I were sleeping in our room," Dudley replied, gesturing toward Harry beside him.
"Did you hear any strange sounds during that time?" the officer continued.
"No, we never woke up until we heard the screaming," Harry answered honestly.
"Very well." The officer was obviously just following standard procedure. He didn't expect to obtain anything valuable from two children.
"Wait, I'm curious. Do you encounter such murder cases frequently?" Dudley adopted an innocent expression, smiling as he asked while offering the officer a glass of water.
"This..." The officer initially didn't want to elaborate, but after accepting Dudley's water, he found the child remarkably polite, which created a sense of warmth. So he shared additional information.
"This marks the third occurrence in recent months. Honestly, their deaths were all horrific, completely beyond our normal capabilities. I expect someone will arrive soon to assume control of our investigation. It proceeded the same way during previous incidents."
The officer spoke in lowered tones.
"It's already happened multiple times?" Dudley's attention focused sharply.
Just as he was processing this information, several figures emerged from the stairwell.
"Look, they're already here. I told you this incident exceeded our jurisdiction. Thanks for the water. Goodbye."
The officer bid farewell and walked toward those newcomers.
Dudley's gaze followed the corridor and immediately spotted a familiar figure among the approaching group.