Dudley, with a casual swoop, grabbed handfuls of wands, easily snatching them from the young witches and wizards. Without their wands, the students were no different from Muggles, unless they'd mastered the advanced art of wandless magic.
Unfortunately for them, that's a trick not even seasoned Aurors manage to pull off, let alone a bunch of school-aged wizards.
One punch to the head and they went down, one by one. Easy as that.
"The Data Eye, a proper lifesaver," Dudley muttered to himself.
This ability, earned from completing his sorting task, didn't just let him map out the room in his mind's eye. It also showed him some very handy information. For instance, when he was in the thick of it, it would tell him exactly where to hit for maximum pain, where to hit to knock someone out cold, and where to hit to make it hurt without leaving a single mark.
It was, in a word, a fighting charm.
And this was just the basic level! He figured if he could get it to a higher level, he'd be able to see even more useful details. Maybe he could even see a full stat sheet for every wizard he met.
Like, "Hmm, only 5 in Magic Power? A total magic dud?"
He paused. "Wait, that's not very polite to myself, is it?"
The Slytherin students clearly didn't expect Dudley to fight back, especially against so many of them. They were completely caught off guard. They had only planned to bully him with their numbers, not actually get into a real wizard's duel.
In just a few short seconds, Dudley had already flattened a good number of them. Their wands, of course, ended up in his pockets.
"What's everyone running for? He's just one person! There are loads of us!" someone yelled in a panic, only to have their wand yanked away and be knocked out with a single punch from Dudley.
One punch, one kid. He didn't hold back, not even for the girls. When they started whimpering and crying, he'd just deliver a single, swift blow. Once they chose to stand against him, their gender became utterly irrelevant.
Their sheer numbers were supposed to be their advantage, but they were also their biggest downfall. A bunch of young wizards with no training are just a disorganised mob.
Dudley was like a rogue bludger in a flock of pigeons, completely unstoppable. It was a proper one-man army situation.
"Spells! Hit him with spells!"
Not every Slytherin was a dunderhead, thankfully. There were a few bright sparks, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to put up a fight against Gryffindor for so many years. In fact, Slytherin had won the House Cup seven years running. This would have been their eighth, if they could have held onto it.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
After the initial chaos, someone finally managed to cast a spell that could actually harm Dudley. Facing the incoming spell, Dudley didn't even flinch. He just grabbed a student, using them as a human shield to block the curse.
With the exception of a few very specific hexes, most curses have a pretty clear path. As long as you can see the magical flow, it's easy to dodge.
A straightforward, point-and-shoot spell was no match for Dudley's reflexes. As for the curses that could turn corners, well, those were for grown-up wizards, not for a bunch of first-years.
The unfortunate student who was used as a shield went pale instantly, their body and limbs stiffening up like a board.
This poor bloke, now a victim of his own side's curse, was none other than Goyle, one of Malfoy's two lackeys.
Having studied the Standard Book of Spells, Dudley knew exactly how to counter their curses. He knew their spells better than they did themselves. Take the Full Body-Bind Curse, for instance; he just had to grab someone and hold them in front of him. And with so many students around, he had plenty to choose from.
So, even with the students outnumbering him, Dudley was weaving through the crowd, finding it easier to handle them than to deal with a big bloke like Hagrid.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
Another curse came flying, as a third-year student tried to sneak up on Dudley.
Dudley, again, simply grabbed another person to block it.
He held the student with one hand while snatching the wand from the caster with the other. The whole thing was so smooth it was like it had been rehearsed.
Having a large group wasn't always an advantage.
Another round of shouts and cries, and another wand was added to Dudley's collection.
Without any proper training, calling these kids a mob was a bit too generous.
This time, the one who took the Full Body-Bind Curse was Crabbe, Malfoy's other goon.
Next, Dudley reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of vials, which he then tossed into the crowd. The vials shattered, and a yellowish gas enveloped the students.
It was a batch of Stun Potion. These kids weren't like Hagrid, a half-giant with a high resistance to magic. The potion's effect was more than enough to slow them down by over 50%.
They were already too slow to keep up with Dudley's reflexes and speed, and now they were hit with a debilitating curse.
The Slytherin students posed no real threat to Dudley now.
Dudley took the opportunity to stroll over to the petrified Goyle. As the remaining students watched in pure horror, he grabbed both Goyle and the petrified Crabbe, one in each hand.
"What in the name of Merlin's beard is this bloke?" they must have been thinking. "How can he lift someone who's been hit with a Full Body-Bind Curse with just one hand?"
"What kind of monster did that git Malfoy get us into trouble with?"
"He said he was just a strong Muggle-born! He said he would be easy to handle!"
"This is 'a little bit strong'?"
The smarter Slytherin students had already lost their will to fight and wanted to run, but the Stun Potion kept them from moving very fast.
Meanwhile, Dudley was holding both of Malfoy's stooges by the ankles, giving them a little test lift. The weight felt just right. They were the perfect size for what he had in mind.
"Hey!" Dudley turned to the rest of the Slytherin students, a 'friendly' grin spreading across his face. But to the kids, the grin was anything but friendly.
With every muscle in his face tensed, the smile looked forced and unnatural. He looked like a badly carved wooden puppet.
With Crabbe in his left hand and Goyle in his right, Dudley started swinging his new human weapons, charging into the Slytherin crowd. He swept them back and forth, knocking students over and sending them flying, crying and screaming for their mummies.
Savage!
Dudley's viciousness left the Slytherin students completely stunned.
Even more unsettling was that he kept that creepy, strained smile the whole time, giving the kids a lifetime's worth of psychological trauma.
It added a touch of madness to his brutality.
Just as the third-year Slytherins and older students were about to join in and give their housemates a hand, they saw Dudley's savage display and immediately closed their dorm doors, not daring to cast a single spell.
It was as if they hadn't seen a thing.
They had no interest in getting themselves into trouble, especially not with this dangerous madman.
In no time at all, the entire Slytherin common room was silent. Except for Dudley, there wasn't a single person standing. The students who had been flattened lay on the floor, moaning, their wands confiscated and in Dudley's possession.
After confirming that everyone was disarmed and unable to get up, save for Malfoy himself, Dudley did something no one saw coming. He grabbed a student, laid him over a table, and with a hand the size of a dinner plate, began to deliver a merciless spanking.