Ron hurried to catch up with Dudley, and the two walked toward the Great Hall together.
Harry and Hermione were eating dinner. Seeing Dudley and Ron, they waved them over.
"How did it go?" Harry asked immediately.
"Look, my new wand!" Ron pulled out his new wand and waved it around in a show-off manner, his face bearing an irrepressible smile.
"Looks great," Harry praised.
"More than great—I feel like with this new wand, my abilities have improved considerably," Ron said in an exaggerated tone.
He'd previously used Charlie's wand, which didn't suit him well. But this current wand was very suitable, which would be of great help to Ron when casting spells.
Watching Ron wave his wand, Hermione said, "Everything should be ready now. When do we move?"
"Tomorrow night," Dudley said.
"So soon?" A trace of nervousness appeared on Hermione's face. "I still have several spells I want to practice. I'm afraid there won't be enough time."
"Hermione, you're already excellent," Harry said.
"No, no. You all eat first. I'm going to practice some spells."
Hermione grabbed a piece of bread and hurried toward the classroom.
After thinking for a moment, Ron also took some food and followed her.
He also needed to practice magic spells, and having just bought a new wand, he couldn't wait to try it out.
Seeing this, Harry hesitated briefly, then followed as well.
"Uh... they've become so diligent?" Seeing this scene, Dudley chuckled and shook his head.
"What are they doing?" Seeing the three leave, Neville came over curiously and asked.
"They went to practice spells. They probably feel they need to improve themselves," Dudley said casually, picking up a glass of juice to drink.
"All right." Neville glanced at the group running off, then pulled out a bottle from his pocket and handed it to Dudley.
Inside was a black, murky liquid.
"What's this?" Dudley asked in surprise.
"A potion. Harry and Ron said you have kidney problems and asked me to mix you some medicine, so I made this for you."
"Try it. It works really well."
Neville said, looking at Dudley earnestly.
Dudley: "..."
At this moment, Dudley understood what it meant to feel dead inside.
What exactly had Harry and Ron said about him behind his back?
"What's wrong? Don't you like it?" Seeing Dudley's somewhat stiff expression, Neville asked cautiously.
"Uh... thank you, Neville. I really like it," Dudley forced a smile.
He knew Neville wasn't good at other subjects, but he was excellent at Herbology. He didn't want to discourage Neville's enthusiasm.
"That's good, that's good," Neville said quickly with a smile.
"Drink this first. I'll make you more later."
While smiling happily, Neville backed away and was tripped by a chair, nearly falling.
After steadying himself, Neville continued smiling and waving at Dudley.
"This..." Looking at the black potion in his hand, Dudley didn't know what to say.
Tonight, I'll give it to Ron and Harry to drink! Let them have a good taste, Dudley thought viciously.
That evening, when Harry's trio returned, Dudley divided Neville's potion into two portions and handed them to Harry and Ron, respectively.
"What is this stuff?" Harry wrinkled his nose at the smell emanating from the potion.
"Good stuff. It can increase your magical power," Dudley said to Harry in a low voice.
"Really?" Harry was overjoyed. His cousin was so good to him.
Without thinking much, he immediately drank it down.
Although the taste was very bitter, after drinking it, he indeed felt his whole body heating up, filled with strength.
Seeing this, Ron also immediately drank it down and gave Dudley a thumbs up.
"What did they drink?" Hermione looked at them strangely.
"Nothing. Go rest quickly. There's a lot to do tomorrow," Dudley pushed Hermione toward the girls dormitory.
The night passed uneventfully.
During the day, they attended classes as usual, but their minds had already flown to the Chamber, fantasizing about the scene of battling the basilisk.
Nervous, anxious, with a little anticipation.
After barely making it through to evening and finishing dinner, Dudley had the three return to Gryffindor Tower to wait for news whilst he began patrolling the castle himself.
Close to nine o'clock, Dudley left the castle and headed straight for the Whomping Willow's location.
"Imprison!"
Dudley stood at a distance and used his extraordinary ability.
Instantly, the space around the Whomping Willow seemed to freeze—everything became still.
Dudley quickly walked over, entered the passage below, and headed toward the Shrieking Shack.
When Dudley reached the Shrieking Shack, Borgin was already waiting for him.
"Very pleased to see you again, Mr. Justiciar," Borgin said with a smile.
"Good evening, Mr. Borgin."
Dudley noticed that Borgin was bulging all over, as if stuffed with many things.
"Some magical items that might be useful. Better safe than sorry," Borgin explained.
Crack!
While the two were talking, a light sound came, and Cole's figure appeared in the room.
He first glanced at Dudley, then noticed Borgin beside Dudley and immediately frowned.
"Mr. Auror, long time no see," Borgin said with a smile.
He wasn't at all surprised that Cole appeared here.
"I'm no longer an Auror," Cole said, then looked at Dudley and bowed respectfully.
"Are you all ready?" Dudley inquired.
"Ready," both said simultaneously.
"Then follow me."
Dudley waved his hand and led the two into the secret passage.
In the narrow passage echoed the footsteps and breathing of three people.
"Honestly, Dudley, if you weren't leading me, I wouldn't dare enter Hogwarts casually," Borgin broke the silence.
"Oh? Why?" Dudley asked, somewhat surprised.
From what he understood about Borgin, his mother should be the daughter of a Hogwarts headmaster.
"Because of Professor Dumbledore," Cole answered for Borgin.
"Professor Dumbledore really hates dark wizards. On Hogwarts grounds, no dark wizard dares set foot."
"Exactly. Although I don't consider myself a dark wizard, Professor Dumbledore apparently doesn't think so. If he discovered I entered Hogwarts, I'd probably quickly be sent to the Ministry—oh wait, probably to Azkaban," Borgin said with a light laugh.
"You don't need to worry about that. Professor Dumbledore isn't at school right now. In fact, I haven't seen him for a long time," Dudley said directly.
"Yes, I happen to know some news. Something seems to have happened at Nurmengard," Borgin said with a light laugh.