The situation in the Slytherin common room has taught us that sometimes, a crowd of people is completely useless.
Unfortunately, the Slytherins weren't about to share that little secret with the Gryffindors.
"Are you all right, Hermione?"
Dudley ignored everyone else, helping Hermione to her feet and dusting the dirt from her robes. He calmly picked up her scattered books one by one, acting as if the group of Gryffindors around them didn't exist.
emboldened by the numbers behind them, one of the five Gryffindors—a girl with short, brown hair—pointed at Dudley and laughed. "Oh, are you really a first-year? You look like an ape... that's it, a Slytherin ape and a Gryffindor beaver!"
"No wonder you're protecting Miss Beaver," she sneered. "You're both the same kind."
As she taunted them, the surrounding Gryffindors erupted in laughter.
Dudley didn't move, but the normally quiet Hermione suddenly lunged forward, grabbing the girl's hair, yanking it hard, and punching her right on the nose.
"Apologize to Dudley!" Hermione roared like a furious lioness, her eyes blazing as if she wanted to devour the girl.
When she was the one being bullied, Hermione would quietly endure it. But when Dudley was mocked, she was the first to leap to his defense. As a childhood friend, Dudley knew that Hermione's true temper was far more fiery than his own calm, placid demeanor. She was quick to act when provoked.
"You hit me?! You actually hit me! My own father has never hit me!" The girl clutched her bleeding nose. The punch had given her a nosebleed. It was a good thing her nose wasn't fake; it would have been flattened otherwise.
"I'm going to kill you!" she screamed, swinging her fist at Hermione, only to have it slam into Dudley's chest. She felt as though she had punched a brick wall.
"My hand! It's broken!" The girl cradled her hand, wailing in pain, and then lifted her arm, shouting for all to hear, "Look, a Slytherin hurt me!"
The surrounding Gryffindors immediately surged forward, surrounding Dudley and Hermione. They didn't know what had happened, but they knew one thing for sure: you can't go wrong by taking a stand against a Slytherin, for they are nothing but evil. As for Hermione, the annoying know-it-all had disgraced herself by consorting with a Slytherin, so she couldn't be a good person either.
The foolish and reckless Gryffindors weren't thinking much about the details. Right or wrong didn't matter; their only job was to confront the Slytherin. They tried to grab Hermione, but Dudley stood in front of her, and no one dared to move forward.
"Hermione is right; you should apologize... but to her," Dudley said, his gaze sweeping over the Gryffindors before settling on the group of five. He had pieced together what had happened. Is bullying this bad at Hogwarts? First himself, now Hermione.
Had it not been for the whole Malfoy ordeal and Hermione's close association with a Slytherin, none of this would have happened. Inter-house rivalry has always led to bullying at Hogwarts, no different than in a Muggle school. After all, Harry's own father, James, had been a key player in such acts.
"No, we Gryffindors will not bow to a Slytherin!" the girl who had been hit declared. She may have been a coward, but she wasn't completely stupid. She was trying to frame the incident as a conflict between the houses.
At her words, Dudley felt the surrounding Gryffindors tense, their faces united in outrage. They raised their wands, aiming them at him.
Dudley scoffed, his expression becoming even colder. How very Gryffindor. So brave. So united.
They don't ask questions. They don't care about what's right or wrong. They don't distinguish between good and evil. Calling them reckless would be a compliment. Calling them fools would be an honour. All their brains put together couldn't match a single mountain troll.
It was never about the house; it was about the people in it.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Harry's furious shout cut through the crowd.
"Mr. Potter, we know he's your cousin, but this doesn't concern you. Leave now if you don't want to get hurt!"
When it was useful, they'd boast about "getting Potter." When he wasn't, it was "leave now if you don't want to get hurt."
Dudley heard Harry's cries get farther and farther away. Stripped of his title as "the Boy Who Lived," he was just a first-year wizard. He was more talented than most, but he was lazy sometimes and hadn't even mastered the most basic spells. He couldn't do anything.
"Maybe we should... figure out what happened first?" Ron's voice piped up weakly.
He didn't dislike Dudley and even had a bit of a crush on him. Besides, Dudley was the older brother of his best friend, Harry. Ron felt he had to say something.
Unfortunately, he overestimated his influence and standing within Gryffindor.
"Weasley, this isn't your business."
Poor Ron was treated just like Harry. He was dragged away.
"My name's Ron! Not Weasley!" His struggles faded into the distance.
By now, most of the Slytherins had left, but a few remained, silently giving a thumbs-up to the "brave" Gryffindors in their hearts. Not only had they offended Miss Granger and Mr. Dursley, but they had also offended Mr. Potter.
The Slytherins weren't helping because they were afraid of ruining their leader's plan. They were a unified bunch. They fought amongst themselves, but when it mattered, they stood together. They wouldn't have been afraid of one Gryffindor, or even the whole group, plus the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. But they were afraid of ruining their leader's plan.
'If Mr. Potter wasn't trying to keep a low profile, there would be blood everywhere.'
'Look at his helpless expression! He's clenching his teeth and looking so furious. The acting is so good. I would have believed it if I didn't know the truth.'
All the Slytherins were thinking the same thing. Carrot's theory about Dudley had spread through Slytherin house, and most of them had accepted it. Almost all of them. Draco Malfoy was the only one who didn't believe it; he was convinced that Dudley was the true dark wizard behind Harry, and he was the only one who had figured it out.
"Stay behind me, Hermione," Dudley said, shielding her. "We're in the right here." His words were heavy, almost as if they had a deeper meaning.
The atmosphere was now ice cold. The air seemed to have solidified. The Slytherins on the outside didn't dare breathe, afraid of missing what might be a once-in-a-lifetime sight. The Gryffindors in the middle were sweating, their hands slick on their wands. They had the numbers, so why did they feel a shiver of fear running down their spines?
"Apologize." Dudley's eyes turned icy.
He wasn't a man of words. He preferred to win people over with virtue and logic. But if you didn't listen to reason, he'd be more than happy to show you some physics.
Golden, electrical arcs crackled around Dudley. His muscles swelled visibly, and his body seemed to grow bigger. The aura around him intensified. In that moment, everything changed. Dudley no longer seemed to be Dudley. The students looked at him, and they saw a monstrous beast.
Just like when Malfoy faced him, their breathing stopped.
"Quickly, get back!"
"Densaugeo!"
The Gryffindors had no self-control. Unable to bear the pressure, several of them attacked Dudley. After some time at Hogwarts, the students were able to cast more than just the spells they had been taught. A few simple jinxes were mixed in with the spells flying at Dudley.
Countless red and green lights shot toward him.
But the students had no idea who they were dealing with. He had a strong resistance to magic. When the spells hit his chest, his magnificent pecs only twitched slightly. The magical lights simply vanished, and nothing happened to him at all.
He was completely unharmed. The attackers were only a few students casting simple spells.
"You cast the first spell."
Dudley's lips stretched into a wide smile, revealing a row of pure white teeth that reflected the sunlight with a cold glint.
"Hermione, close your eyes."
His huge, shovel-like hand gently covered Hermione's eyes, and he pulled out his wand for the first time with his other hand. The Gryffindor students could only stare, frozen in place by Dudley's imposing aura. They didn't dare to move.
It's finally happening! The Slytherin students were buzzing with excitement. They had grown up listening to stories about the three Unforgivable Curses. Now they would finally see what Dudley was truly capable of. Will it be the Imperius Curse? Or the Cruciatus Curse? Or maybe Avada Kedavra?
But the spell that came out of Dudley's mouth was completely unexpected.
"Lumos!"
The Slytherins' minds went blank, but Dudley didn't give them time to think. A searing, blinding light exploded from him. The students saw nothing but white. It was as if thousands of needles were stabbing their eyes, blurring everything and making them dizzy.
It was the sun...
It was as if they were staring directly at the sun.
Every student who was looking at Dudley felt a sharp pain in their eyes and instantly lost their vision. They couldn't help but cover their faces.
I can't see!
My eyes!
You call that 'Lumos'?!
---
Note:
1. In the movie version of the Battle of Hogwarts, Slytherins stood in clear opposition to the other three houses. In the book, all the Slytherins left, most of the younger Ravenclaws were gone, some of the Hufflepuffs stayed, and only half of the Gryffindors remained. Gryffindors weren't as united or brave as the movies portrayed.
2. The part about Ron's name being mistaken is from the original novels. His family's name was often called wrong, famously as "Weasley."