"It seems Mr. Dursley hasn't reached that step yet," Ollivander said.
"What do you mean?" Dudley pressed.
He rarely used this wand now, but when he was in first year, he'd used it quite often and hadn't noticed anything special about it.
Dudley had also compared Harry's wand with his own. Besides the spells being slightly less powerful when cast, there was no other difference.
"When I gave you this wand, I didn't tell you because I felt that was still very far away from you."
"But just now, after seeing the wand you repaired with the restoration charm, I feel you're probably not far from reaching that level."
Ollivander looked at Dudley with profound eyes.
"Besides casting spells, wands can also be used to sense spells and create spells."
"Sooner or later you'll reach that step. When that time comes, perhaps you'll discover the wondrous aspects of this wand."
Dudley looked at Ollivander with some surprise, completely not expecting his wand had such abilities.
"You mean it can help me create new spells, right?" Dudley asked.
"You could say that. This requires you to explore it yourself. I believe with your talent, you'll reach that step sooner or later," Ollivander said.
"Throughout history, many excellent wizards have created spells unique to themselves. Some spells have been passed down, while others have been buried."
"But regardless, these people all made great contributions to the development of magic."
"Sensing the rules of magic, utilizing the rules of magic, distorting the rules of magic, creating your own magical rules..."
Ollivander said with a light laugh.
"Uh... that, I've finished measuring," Ron, having been left to the side for a while, finally couldn't help but speak up.
"Oh! I'm sorry, Mr. Weasley. I've kept you waiting," Ollivander immediately walked over, looked at Ron's measured body data, and selected suitable wands for him.
Dudley watched Ollivander's retreating figure, frowning slightly.
That conversation just now gave him a very peculiar feeling.
Dudley activated spirit vision and looked for a long time without any discoveries.
Perhaps it's just a coincidence, Dudley thought, shaking his head and looking down at the wand in his hand.
Ollivander quickly selected several wands for Ron to try. After testing them, Ron finally found a wand suitable for him.
"Fourteen inches, willow, unicorn hair," Ollivander introduced to Ron.
"Seven Galleons even."
Ron paid the money and happily stroked his wand.
This was truly the first wand that belonged to him alone.
"Goodbye, Mr. Ollivander," Dudley nodded at Ollivander and put on his hood.
"Goodbye, Mr. Dursley and Mr. Weasley," Ollivander said farewell with a smile.
"What were you talking about with Mr. Ollivander?" Ron asked curiously.
"Some questions about wands," Dudley said.
He glanced at the wand in his hand. Originally, he'd already decided not to study wandcasting anymore, but after Ollivander's reminder just now, he felt wands weren't completely useless after all.
Perhaps through magic, Dudley could achieve many things that couldn't be realized in the extraordinary world.
"Can you wander around Diagon Alley alone for a while? No problem?" Dudley asked. "I still have some things to do."
"No problem," Ron immediately said.
He couldn't wait to explore outside a bit longer. Having finally left Hogwarts, he didn't want to return so early.
Besides, he also planned to buy a new Hogwarts robe.
"All right, see you later."
After saying goodbye to Ron, Dudley first went to Knockturn Alley and found Borgin.
Borgin was very surprised by Dudley's sudden visit but didn't ask too many questions, directly leading Dudley into the inner room.
"Mr. Dursley's meaning is that you want to invite me to deal with a basilisk together?" Borgin asked in surprise.
"Yes. You can take part of the basilisk's corpse as compensation," Dudley said.
Borgin didn't immediately answer but fell into contemplation.
Dudley waited patiently.
He'd decided to call on Borgin because this person had quite a few dark magical items in his hands that might play a significant role when dealing with the basilisk.
Besides, if they wanted to sell the basilisk's corpse afterward, they'd still need to go through Borgin's channels, so he might as well bring him in directly.
"All right," after careful consideration, Borgin nodded in agreement.
"Then tomorrow night at nine o'clock, meet at the Shrieking Shack!" Dudley said.
"No problem."
After Borgin sent Dudley off, he returned to the shop and began rummaging through everything.
The basilisk's corpse was valuable—he didn't want to miss this opportunity.
However, he also knew the dangers involved and had to prepare some usable magical items in advance just in case.
In fact, what Dudley didn't know was that the reason Borgin agreed was because Dudley himself would participate in this operation.
Having witnessed Dudley's abilities when dealing with Gins's group before, he was quite certain Dudley's strength had exceeded the category of ordinary wizards. Acting together with Dudley made him feel much more secure. After all, a basilisk wasn't a giant spider—dealing with it would be extremely difficult, and if things went wrong, death was possible. Borgin wasn't someone who liked taking risks.
After saying goodbye to Borgin, Dudley carefully sensed Cole's location and Apparated over.
He simply and clearly told Cole to meet at the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade the next evening to deal with the basilisk together, then Dudley left.
Unlike his treatment of Borgin, he wasn't so polite with Cole.
Additionally, Dudley didn't have Gins's trio come because these three didn't know Dudley's true identity. Once he brought them into Hogwarts, his identity would be hard to conceal.
So this time, the only two adult wizards participating in hunting the basilisk were Cole and Borgin.
After making proper preparations, Dudley returned to Diagon Alley, found Ron, and performed Apparition back to the secret passage.
Emerging from the passage and seeing the familiar Hogwarts castle around them, Ron had a feeling of being in another world.
"I feel like I've been outside for several days," Ron said.
"Actually, it's only been a few hours," Dudley shrugged.
"Dudley, can we often go to Diagon Alley to play in the future? It's much more interesting than doing nothing at Hogwarts," Ron said excitedly. "We could bring Harry and Hermione, and we could even help other students buy things from Diagon Alley..."
"Ron, if you want to be expelled from school, you can do that!" Dudley reminded him.
"Uh..." Ron felt like a bucket of cold water had been poured over him, extinguishing all his enthusiasm.
"Rest well. Tomorrow night we hunt the basilisk!" Dudley said.