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Before they knew it, Halloween was upon them. With the blockbuster success of Dudley's book, Dragonlance Chronicles, he no longer had to worry about money.
He was still making regular trips to the Forbidden Forest, however. He'd been there at least twenty times by now, and he'd managed to map out most of the habitats of the magical plants and creatures. The forest was full of rare ingredients that you simply couldn't buy anywhere else.
For instance, Acromantula venom. Not only was it ridiculously expensive—one pint was worth a hundred Galleons—but outside of the Forbidden Forest, it was practically nonexistent. It was a trade commodity with no trade, simply because Acromantulas are far too dangerous. One on its own is manageable for a decent wizard, but where you find one, you find a whole colony. They're carnivorous, highly intelligent, aggressive, and reproduce at an astonishing rate. Their eggs are even classified as Class A non-trade goods. To this day, the wizarding world has no way of domesticating them. They are, in a word, extremely dangerous.
But the Forbidden Forest was positively overrun with them. In their territory, they were practically everywhere.
As Dudley's training group returned to the castle, they were met with the sweet, inviting scent of roasted pumpkin wafting through the corridors. The smell was divine, especially since the pumpkins were grown by Hagrid. They were not only massive but also far sweeter than any you could buy in a normal market. They were truly a sight to behold.
Witches and wizards celebrated Halloween, too, just not in the same way as Muggles. There was no "trick-or-treating" here. Dudley heard from other students that Dumbledore had hired a skeleton band, so it seemed the festivities were going to be lively.
This would be Dudley's first festival at Hogwarts. And it would have been perfect if it weren't for Charms class.
Ever since Dudley used a Lumos spell to mimic a Lumos Solem, Professor Flitwick had taken a special interest in him, believing he had a high aptitude for Charms. The professor had expressed his desire to move Dudley to Ravenclaw more than once, but his requests were always politely rejected. As a result, Flitwick watched Dudley's progress in every class like a hawk.
"Today, we'll be learning to make things fly," Professor Flitwick said, giving his wand a gentle flick. "The Levitation Charm! This is a very useful spell that can save you a great deal of effort."
The lectern, a textbook, a quill—everything on the professor's desk began to rise into the air. Flitwick demonstrated the spell once and then asked the students to try it themselves. Without exception, they all failed.
Dudley didn't try. He just stared at the feather, as if a thought had just occurred to him.
"Swish and flick, remember. Swish and flick. Pronouncing the spell correctly is also very important," Flitwick reminded them. "Don't forget the story of Wizard Baruffio, who said 'f' instead of 's' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."
Pronunciation was vital, especially for young wizards just starting out.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
Professor Flitwick cast the spell again, and the feather hovered up into the air. For first-years, the Levitation Charm was one of the most difficult spells. Many students failed, and most had no effect on the feather at all. Some even managed to set their hats on fire.
As you may know, Hermione has a bit of a bad habit of being overly direct. She wasted no time scolding the wizard paired with her—who, as it happened, was the very one who nearly set fire to Harry's hat.
Seamus.
"Your pronunciation, your hand movements, everything is completely wrong!" she said. "You'll never cast the spell properly like that."
"If you're so good at it, why don't you show us?!" Seamus shot back, likely a bit annoyed after spending so much time with Neville.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
Unsurprisingly, Hermione was the first to cast the spell correctly. She gave a little wave of her wand, and the feather on her desk gently floated into the air.
"Perfect! One point to Gryffindor!" Professor Flitwick squeaked, pointing at the hovering feather.
Just then, while the professor was distracted by Hermione's success, Dudley took off his scarf, grabbed the feather on his desk, and began to rub it furiously with the scarf until it stuck to the desk. Then he rubbed his wand with the scarf in the same manner until he heard a faint crackle in the air. His scarf was made of wool.
Then he cast his spell.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
His voice and actions were a perfect, flawless replica of Hermione's. You had to ignore his mountain-like physique, of course.
The feather actually flew into the air.
"Oh, my word!" Professor Flitwick shrieked, pointing in Dudley's direction. "Look! Dursley did even better! I think he has a firm grasp of the essence of the Levitation Charm! Just a little bit higher and he will have completely mastered it! It's incredible to think a student could master it so perfectly on their very first try!"
Looking at the professor's excitement, Dudley half-expected him to faint.
"Two points to Slytherin."
Just like that, he had earned two points. Dudley shrugged, as if it was all nothing.
The younger Slytherins nodded to themselves in admiration. As expected of Mr. Dursley, they thought. He subdued Malfoy, chats with Lord Carrow, and now he's mastered the Levitation Charm with such ease.
So, the question is: could Dudley actually perform the Levitation Charm?
The answer is...
Absolutely not.
He had no idea how to cast the Levitation Charm. But he could still make the feather "fly."
It was easy. You didn't need a single ounce of magic to do it.
Because it was science.
The secret was his wool scarf. Dudley used the wool to rub the feather, causing the scarf to lose electrons and become positively charged, while the feather gained electrons and became negatively charged. The negatively charged feather stuck to the desk. Then he rubbed his wand with the scarf, making the wand negatively charged while the scarf became positively charged. The crackling sound was the positive and negative charges neutralizing.
The feather and the wand now had the same charge, so they repelled each other, creating an upward force on the feather that made it levitate.
It looked exactly like the Levitation Charm was working. In reality, it was just a simple law of physics, also known as the "static octopus" phenomenon.
Dudley couldn't help but feel for the other students who were looking at him with such admiration. They were so tragically ignorant of Muggle knowledge.
He might not understand magic, but he understood science.
"You're brilliant, Dudley!" Hermione said with a knowing look. She clearly saw through his little trick but didn't expose him. After all, Hermione had been a top student in her Muggle elementary school back in Oxford, and a simple physics trick was child's play for her.
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A single feather flies to the sky; up there, a fairy-tale figure lies. He lets out a puff of wind from his behind; the feather falls, a trace of dust to find.
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