what Dudley unleashed wasn't a standard Lumos charm, but rather a burst of light like a man-made sun. His magical power might not have been particularly high, but after six sessions of advanced meditation, his magical strength was at an unbelievable level. It was enough to make a simple Lumos feel like staring into the sun itself.
"You scoundrel!"
Swish, swish, swish...
The stunned Gryffindors, their eyes temporarily blinded, instinctively raised their wands and cast spells. But with their vision gone, they couldn't see where Dudley was and just unleashed a flurry of random curses.
Dudley, however, had already grabbed Hermione and leapt clear of the chaos. He now watched the scene with detached interest. The Gryffindors had formed a circle, so most of their spells were hitting their own friends. Shouts, curses, and wails of pain filled the air, and the scene descended into utter madness.
Luckily, none of these students knew any powerful or evil curses. At most, they knew a few jinxes taught in class. A few unlucky Slytherins who were too close also got hit.
Dudley strode casually through the chaos, deftly flicking his wrist to disarm the students and then, with a single tap of his finger on their heads, sent them flying backward. He had controlled the force, so they wouldn't be seriously injured—a mild concussion at most.
In no time, Dudley had collected a handful of wands, and the students had received their "gift bags." The five who had originally cornered him were given special attention, and their heads were quickly covered in bumps. He also secretly infused them with a bit of his malicious Ripple energy; the sensation was awful and would flare up every so often.
Dudley collected all the wands, held them in both hands, and with a grunt, snapped them in half. They were now just a useless pile of sticks.
People always have to pay for their choices.
"What in the world is going on here?"
Professor McGonagall arrived, out of breath and led by Neville. She looked around at the students lying all over the floor in utter shock.
"Someone tell me! What happened here?"
Only Dudley's towering figure stood in the middle of the mess, as obvious as a lighthouse. McGonagall's gaze immediately landed on him.
"Mr. Dursley, can you tell me what happened?"
As the blinding effect of the Lumos charm wore off, the Gryffindors slowly regained their vision. One of the five who had been a part of the original ambush saw the sorry state of his classmates and the perfectly fine Dudley, and the throbbing bumps on his head ignited a furious rage.
Courage is something very few people possess. Most of the time, what seems like courage is really just recklessness. Fear doesn't just make people afraid; it also leads to anger, and anger makes people lose their minds.
The reckless Gryffindor ignored the fact that Professor McGonagall was standing right next to Dudley.
"Levicorpus!"
Not all of the students were like Harry and Draco, only knowing the spells they were taught. There were a few first-year Gryffindors who, like Hermione, had taught themselves. This student, Hansel, was one of them. It was precisely because he was so good that he couldn't stand the sight of the most talented student, Hermione. After all, the person in second place always hates the one in first.
But the spell had no effect on Dudley. Not only was he not hung upside down in the air, but his feet didn't even leave the ground.
Dudley had deliberately left him his wand and given him the opportunity to cast the spell. The only thing that was an accident was Professor McGonagall showing up.
But that didn't matter. What Dudley was really waiting for was his next line...
"Gryffindor, how dare you!"
"Gryffindor, how dare you!"
A calm but piercing voice rang out. With Draco in tow, Professor Snape rushed in from the other side of the corridor and witnessed the student casting the spell on Dudley. Snape instinctively raised his wand to counter, but someone was faster.
A red jet of light struck Hansel's wrist, and his wand clattered to the floor.
"Hansel!" Professor McGonagall roared. "Attacking a fellow student! Fifty points from Gryffindor!"
She was shaking with fury. Dudley had never seen her like this before, and it was clear from his expression that Snape hadn't either. While she often came across as serious, rigid, and unapproachable, she was in reality a very gentle person. Any student with questions about Transfiguration could go to her at any time, and she would patiently answer every one. If a student was particularly gifted, she might even stay after class.
"Those who are injured, get yourselves to Madam Pomfrey," McGonagall said, first arranging for the uninjured students to help the wounded away. Luckily, these were just first-year spells. Even the unluckiest student, who might have been hit by several curses at once, hadn't suffered as much as Dudley's "bumping."
McGonagall then turned to the remaining students and said gravely, "What exactly happened?" The cold authority in her voice made even Snape fall silent. "Someone tell me."
She couldn't stand it when students attacked each other, especially when the attacker was from her own house and the incident happened right under her nose. Her gaze finally fell on Dudley.
"Mr. Dursley..."
Before Dudley could speak, one of the five students in the group, a young witch, shrieked, "Professor McGonagall, he started it! Dudley started it! He used a terrible curse on us! It must have been horrible Dark magic! Look, our wands are broken and we're hurt!" she said, pointing to the large bumps on her head.
It was a classic case of the villain making the first accusation and only stating the outcome without mentioning the cause.
But a number of the Gryffindors around her agreed.
"Mr. Dursley..."
McGonagall's gaze returned to Dudley, and Snape's was there, too.
"Professor, it's true that I broke their wands..."
When Dudley admitted it, the Gryffindor students' faces lit up. The evil Slytherin was about to face justice!
"See, Professor? He admitted it! Punish him now!" one of the three boys, a freckled-faced student named Osto, shouted, pointing at Dudley.
"It is a very bad habit to interrupt someone while they are speaking," Snape said icily, glaring at the boy.
"I think I know what to do, Mr. Osto. I am the professor!" McGonagall said, shooting him a look before returning her gaze to Dudley.
Dudley calmly continued. "I believe I am the victim here. A Prior Incantato will prove it."
Prior Incantato is a revealing spell that can show the last few spells cast by a wand.
"You can examine their wands and my wand," Dudley said, his voice a perfect mix of victimized innocence and quiet frustration. He looked like someone who had been wronged but was powerless to speak up.
Professor McGonagall examined Dudley's wand, and then she picked up a few of the broken ones from the ground.
As the Gryffindors watched nervously, she came to a conclusion.
"Mr. Dursley has not cast a single spell..." McGonagall said, her gaze sweeping over the Gryffindors. "But you... why did you cast spells on a fellow student?"
Dudley knew how to play the wizarding world's game better than these kids. They wanted to cry foul first? Well, he had a simple question: "Do you have evidence?"
---
In the final battle of the original novels, not all Gryffindors fought. Only about half of them stayed, along with a few younger students who snuck in. A little more than half of the Hufflepuffs stayed, while Ravenclaw's older students stayed. The Slytherins all left.
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