"Is that so?" Dudley asked, his voice deceptively calm. "Do I need to use Veritaserum?"
He grinned, and in the eyes of the five students, the sight was like a giant dragon opening its bloody maw, ready to swallow them at any moment.
"I just finished brewing a batch recently."
Dudley took out a bottle of transparent liquid from the small pouch at his waist and placed it on the table.
Veritaserum (Perfect)
Originally, it was just a casual glance; after all, he was just a first-year wizard, and even with strong talent, brewing this would be incredibly difficult. But the moment they saw the potion clearly, not only Professor McGonagall but even Dumbledore was shocked.
As well-known wizards, though their Potions skills were not as good as Snape's, they could still recognize the quality of a potion and knew its worth. The bottle of potion Dudley took out was undoubtedly the cream of the crop.
"You made this?"
"Yes." Dudley nodded. As a spellcaster, it was necessary to appropriately display one's abilities to gain more attention and influence.
Gently picking up the Veritaserum from the table, Dumbledore looked at it against the light for a while, then sincerely sighed, "Remarkable."
In his life, he had seen many powerful and talented wizards, but only one other besides Dudley had ever made him praise them like this. Potions of this level, like Veritaserum, let alone first years, even sixth years and the vast majority of adult wizards couldn't make them. Even if they could, the success rate would be terrifyingly low.
For Dudley to produce a potion of this quality, he could already be called a master. If he knew enough potions to independently develop new ones, he could be called a Potions Master. Making Veritaserum of this level in his first year was simply unbelievable. It could no longer be described simply as 'genius'. If Dudley hadn't said it, Dumbledore might have thought Snape had made it.
"It's all thanks to Professor Snape teaching me well," Dudley said rather modestly. His own extremely high talent in Potions, combined with his diligent and focused personality, and the Data Eye. In the eyes of others, potion making was incredibly complicated, with intricate procedures and an extremely low success rate. But for Dudley—wasn't it just a matter of having hands?
"It seems you have already completed this week's assignment ahead of time," Snape's lips curled slightly, forming a barely perceptible arc. Truly worthy of inheriting Lily's talent.
"Yes, Professor Snape."
"Then how about switching to other potions this weekend? For example, Thunderbrew Potion or Eldrus Potion? What do you think?"
Thunderbrew Potion, a defensive potion that creates a storm around the user, stunning and damaging nearby enemies. Eldrus Potion, also a defensive potion, which covers the skin with a protective layer similar to rock after consumption, making it very sturdy, thereby increasing one's defensive ability, similar in effect to the Shield Charm. The difficulty of either of these two potions was no less than that of Veritaserum.
Show-off, a blatant show-off.
"Okay, Professor." For Dudley, the difficulty difference between any potions was similar; as long as you were willing to teach him, he could easily pick it up. What even Snape didn't know was that Dudley had already begun attempting to improve and develop new potions.
Their back-and-forth conversation made Professor McGonagall quite envious; she also wanted a student who could inherit her legacy. Unfortunately, Dudley's Transfiguration grades were average; he could often only make objects look similar without changing their essence. That was natural; for Dudley to transform an apple into a wrench like a wizard, he would have to learn equivalent exchange.
"Let's get back to the point."
Just as the others were still marveling at Dudley's Potions talent, Dudley had already pulled out a second bottle of potion. He had never forgotten his purpose. He pulled out the cork, pinched it, and flicked it gently, hitting the first-year wizard's palm, making the other cry out in pain. Then he dripped a drop of the liquid onto his fingertip, flicked his finger again, and a drop of Veritaserum landed precisely into the boy's mouth.
By the time Professor McGonagall realized and tried to stop it, the boy had already swallowed it reflexively.
Then followed a series of questions and answers.
Five minutes later, the atmosphere in the Headmaster's office grew tense... In fact, the bullies certainly didn't only bully Hermione, and it was far from limited to the first years, but they could be more reckless towards her because she had a Slytherin friend. It gave them a convenient excuse.
"Minerva, please take them to Filch for now and ask him to keep an eye on these students." Dumbledore rubbed his temples, which had started throbbing again. "I will invite their families over tomorrow and proceed with expulsion." It wasn't as if there had never been expelled students in the history of Hogwarts; there had been quite a few.
In five minutes, they had heard about some very nasty incidents, both past and imminent.
"Furthermore, Gryffindor will have a total of 200 points deducted for this."
This time, as the Head of Gryffindor, Professor McGonagall said nothing more, her face ashen, and led the few young wizards towards Filch's location. They were sent straight to detention without even being returned to their common room, which showed how serious the matter was. Humans, this kind of creature, are often the cruelest when bullying their peers.
"Dumbledore, it seems Gryffindor also has quite a few talented individuals; while they may not practice Dark Magic, their hearts are not necessarily much better than Dark Wizards, and in some aspects, they are even worse," Snape said without reservation, mocking. Unlike Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall, he had witnessed the dark side of Gryffindor when he was young. Unprovoked malice, bullying the few by relying on the many, using every means possible in bullying, extreme verbal abuse, extreme humiliation, saying it was a joke, just a joke, but it almost cost him his life. Of course, he had resisted, but ultimately, two fists could not withstand four hands.
Dumbledore emphasized, "Severus, this is just an exception, an isolated case."
"An exception? Five exceptions? Patch's Cauldron Shop's promotion isn't even that good." The mocking smile on Snape's face grew more intense. "A massive number of isolated cases?"
School bullying, of course, wasn't just orchestrated by a few first-year wizards; it was often encouraged by older students, and of course, it wasn't just Gryffindor. The other houses were probably not much better off.
Had the problem become this serious?
Dumbledore directly ignored Snape's words and pulled out a jar of candy from somewhere. A constant 'buzzing' sound came from the candy jar, undoubtedly Fizzing Whizbees. He was very fond of sweets, and eating sweets helped relieve his inner depression. After eating a few candies, Dumbledore's mood clearly improved a lot.
This time, he didn't ask Snape but went directly to the main person, Dudley. "Mr. Dursley, are you satisfied with this outcome?"
Dudley's answer was very direct: "Of course not."
Upon hearing this, Dumbledore added a few more candies; it was truly depressing.
"They have already been expelled."
"They are only about to be." Dudley pouted, saying honestly that expulsion was too light. "Even if they are expelled from Hogwarts, they can still attend other magic schools; there are three schools in Europe alone."
"But Professor Dumbledore, have you ever thought about this? For those who have been victims of school violence, perhaps this will become a shadow that they can never shake off for their entire lives, requiring a lifetime to heal." Speaking here, Dudley took a deep breath and said in an incredibly serious and firm tone, "I believe we should solve it from the root."
"I believe..."
"Hogwarts should not have four houses."
[Chapter Complete]
***
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