After Dudley finished speaking, he performed Apparition and vanished, leaving only Gins and his two companions with the frowning Cole.
"Him?" Cole thought to himself, mentally replaying the honorific name Dudley had just transmitted directly into his mind.
"Is this the person above Dudley?" Cole wondered with uncertainty.
In his understanding, this should be some powerful wizard's special communication method—by reciting those words, he could contact that wizard. As for "Him", though he knew this form of address was typically reserved for deities, Cole refused to believe that honorific name truly pointed to some god. It was merely a respectful form of address, surely.
"When did you start following Mr Justiciar?" Gins asked, breaking the silence.
"Summer," Cole replied, glancing at Gins and noting that Justiciar was clearly the codename Dudley had adopted for himself.
Without further explanation, Cole returned to his room.
Gins remained motionless, as did the other two black-robed men. They exchanged uncertain glances, each contemplating the same dangerous possibility—escape.
This was a rare opportunity. Dudley had already departed, leaving only Cole to guard them. If they wanted to flee, Cole alone would struggle to stop all three of them simultaneously.
"If you want to escape, then go ahead," Cole's voice drifted from the room, flat and unconcerned. "But trust me, Mr Justiciar will always find you."
The three hesitated, then reluctantly entered the room.
"From your tone, it sounds like you tried to escape before?" Gins enquired carefully, hungry for any information about their new master.
"Yes. His methods are not something we can understand," Cole said with dark amusement. "Did he leave a magical mark on you?"
"That is right," Gins immediately rolled up his sleeve, revealing a mysterious symbol of intertwined patterns etched into his forearm like a brand.
Cole glanced at it without surprise and continued, "He left a magical mark on me as well. I later found a way to completely remove it."
"And then what?" Gins pressed eagerly.
"Then he found me without any warning," Cole said, raising his eyebrows meaningfully.
The three exchanged knowing glances—this was exactly the method they had been considering. Remove the magical mark, flee far away, and perhaps even leave England entirely. Distance would mean freedom.
"When he came looking for me just now, I had no warning whatsoever. He simply appeared here with all of you in tow," Cole explained. "Believe me, if you escape, he only needs a minute or two to lock onto your location."
"What happens after that, I cannot say. Perhaps he will warn you. Or perhaps he will kill you directly."
The three men's faces turned deathly pale. What had transpired at the Shrieking Shack remained vivid in their minds—those strange, terrifying abilities that defied comprehension. Even now, recalling them made their skin crawl.
Worse still, even given all this time to think, they could not devise any method to counter those powers. They had no idea how Dudley had performed those feats.
"Earlier, he just closed his eyes and concentrated for about a minute, then brought us straight to this place," one of Gins's companions added quietly.
"See? I told you it is easy for him to find you," Cole said casually from where he lay on the bed, hands behind his head.
"Is there really no other way?" Gins asked, desperation creeping into his voice.
"Perhaps you can try some experiments yourself. In any case, I have no desire to escape anymore," Cole replied with finality.
"By the way, how did you fall into his hands? After all..." Cole trailed off meaningfully.
By his calculations, Dudley should be attending classes at Hogwarts at this very moment, with virtually no opportunity to leave the school grounds. How had Gins and the others encountered Dudley and been captured? Three grown wizards, no less.
"Ah, about that..." Gins sighed heavily and recounted the entire disastrous ambush at the Shrieking Shack.
Cole, who had been lying casually on the bed, sat bolt upright after hearing the tale. His expression shifted between surprise and unease.
"What is wrong?" Gins asked, alarmed by Cole's reaction.
Cole said nothing, but his expression had become decidedly uncomfortable, almost haunted.
"What is going on! It has only been this long, and his strength has grown again?" Cole felt a chill crawl down his spine.
When Dudley had dealt with him previously, he had not used that imprisoning ability, nor had he conjured a whip from thin air to flay his enemies, much less possessed the ability to seal off Apparition entirely. Yet how long had passed? In less than half a year, Dudley had grown powerful enough to take down four adult wizards simultaneously. What kind of secrets did he possess?
"What is really going on?" Gins pressed, seeing Cole's disturbed expression.
"Do not ask. If you knew, you would only feel more despair," Cole shook his head, refusing to elaborate.
The room fell into oppressive silence. Even without knowing what Cole had realised, they could guess this despair was intimately connected to their new master.
"So what is our mission?" Gins finally asked. If the assignment was not overly difficult, working for Dudley might not be entirely unacceptable.
"Find Voldemort."
Crack!
One of Gins's companions went weak in the knees and collapsed to the floor. Gins himself turned deathly pale, staring at Cole in absolute disbelief.
Their mission was to find that Dark Lord?
"There is also another organisation, but you do not need to know about that for now," Cole added without further explanation.
"Finding You-Know-Who—but is he not already dead? Why would we need to find him?" Gins asked, his voice trembling.
"If we need to find him, naturally it means he is not dead yet. Understand?" Cole said lazily, as if discussing the weather rather than the most dangerous wizard in living memory.
At this moment, the three felt thoroughly trapped. They had truly boarded a ship with no return voyage.
Meanwhile, at the Shrieking Shack, Dudley reappeared with a soft crack of Apparition.
"Mr Borgin, I am confident leaving the giant spider corpses with you. After selling them, remember to send me the money," Dudley instructed.
"I will head back first. Contact me if anything comes up."
"All right, take care," Borgin replied, watching carefully as Dudley entered the Shrieking Shack's secret passage. Only when the young wizard disappeared from view did Borgin finally breathe a sigh of relief.
He turned his attention to the task at hand, beginning to transport the giant spider corpses one by one back to Knockturn Alley for sale.
The secret passage from the Whomping Willow to the Shrieking Shack was remarkably well preserved. Although not as wide as the passage Dudley had used to arrive, there were no signs of collapse threatening this route.
Before long, Dudley felt the familiar pressure of Anti-Apparition charms settling around him like an invisible net. He had entered Hogwarts' boundaries.
The passage began ascending sharply. Within minutes, he emerged into the cool night air.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Dudley's sudden appearance immediately agitated the Whomping Willow. Its massive branches whipped through the air toward him with violent intent, leaves rustling like a warning hiss.
"Imprison!"
Dudley whispered in Hermes, his voice carrying undeniable authority. Instantly, the violently thrashing Whomping Willow froze mid-swing, confined by invisible barriers stronger than steel. No matter how much force the ancient tree exerted, it could not break free from those terrible supernatural bonds.