Chapter 17 – The Reptile House "Mysterious Disappearance of the Glass"
Close to noon, Dudley returned again to Number 4, Privet Drive.
"Heavens, my darling, why are you only back now? We must hurry." Petunia, upon seeing Dudley, immediately urged him to change his clothes.
In a rush, the family of four set out in Vernon's newly bought car, heading quickly toward the zoo.
The Dursleys lived quite far from the zoo. Even by car, the trip would take at least an hour and a half.
On the way, Harry was very excited. He truly looked forward to the visit, since the last time he had gone out for fun had been the same time last year.
Because it was a sunny weekend, the zoo was unexpectedly crowded, filled everywhere with families on outings.
The entrance was practically jam-packed with people. Before seeing the animals, they first saw crowds of two-legged creatures.
Once inside, Vernon bought ice creams for the two boys. Dudley got the most expensive chocolate flavor, while Harry received the cheapest lemon flavor.
Dudley swapped his ice cream with Harry's, using the excuse that he did not want chocolate.
In truth, chocolate was his favorite.
Petunia opened her mouth but did not stop him, even holding back her husband, and finally shook her head helplessly as she watched the two boys with their arms around each other.
They looked so alike, just like she and Lily had as children.
Only in the end, the closest of sisters still grew into familiar strangers.
Their paths had always been different.
In the aviary, they had heard there might be peacocks that day. Yet after waiting half a day, they did not see so much as a feather. Instead, they saw a white owl asleep among the leaves, dozing in a daze.
"Look at it, how silly. It seems so foolish," Harry said, pointing at the owl.
Owls were nocturnal carnivores, a type of small raptor, usually active at night and resting in the day. Normal owls naturally slept during daylight. Who knew why wizard owls were the opposite, sleeping at night?
Suddenly Dudley asked, "Harry, would you like to keep an owl one day?"
"You must be joking." Harry shook his head like a rattle drum. "I would rather keep a carrier pigeon."
In the mammal area, the lions and tigers were nothing special. Fat and lazy, they lay yawning, too unwilling even to move. Dudley thought that if he slid in with a tackle, he might kick them like balls.
No pandas. No pandas. No pandas—an important fact worth repeating three times. The park had no giant pandas, which left Dudley a bit disappointed.
That disappointment eased when he saw a gorilla scratching its head behind the glass. The creature mistook Dudley for one of its own, gesturing repeatedly as though asking, "How did you get out? Come help me."
In build, Dudley looked even sturdier than most gorillas. With his solid muscles, he did resemble one somewhat.
Seeing Dudley mimic the gestures back made Harry laugh so hard he nearly fell over.
Every year on Dudley's birthday was Harry's happiest day, happier even than his own. After all, only Dudley remembered his birthday and only Dudley gave him gifts.
Later, with no lunch eaten yet, Vernon grew unbearably hungry. The family grabbed food inside the park—Vernon had a hot dog and soda, Petunia ate fries, while Dudley and Harry both had hamburgers.
Next came the reptile house. Inside it was cold and dim, home to crawling creatures.
There were giant spiders and centipedes among the insects, and lizards and snakes among the cold-blooded animals.
Dudley disliked it. Compared with the cold, slippery reptiles, he preferred furry creatures. Even that gorilla outside was better.
Harry, however, was fascinated, staring at the venomous wolf spider baring its fangs, then pressing against the glass to watch a chameleon duller than an owl.
But the reptile house had more snakes than anything else, poisonous and non-poisonous, all neatly displayed before Harry.
Dudley could clearly see Harry's interest in snakes was greater than in lizards. He leaned close to the glass of the largest enclosure, whispering to the huge brown python inside, "Hey, mate…"
To outsiders, the scene looked like a child talking to himself, but Dudley knew they were truly conversing.
Young Harry did not yet realize his own uniqueness, still thinking many people shared this ability.
In reality, this was a power only Harry possessed.
[Witnessed Serpent Speech: Acquired LV0 Magical Beast Tongue.]
The system's pleasant notification rang in Dudley's ears.
"A fine reward." He whistled, a satisfied smile appearing on his face.
This was why Dudley made sure to visit the zoo. It was not only because of Harry, but also because there were tasks to complete.
What's more, such rare witness rewards were not easy to encounter. Counting this, Dudley had only obtained two in total. The last one had been the LV5 ability called "Iron Mountain Lean."
Now he had gained LV0 Magical Beast Tongue.
As the name suggested, Dudley believed this referred to the language of magical creatures, meaning he would henceforth be able to communicate with them.
Whether LV0 or not did not matter. Every ability began at this level. At the very least, its appearance in the ability panel meant it could now be upgraded with experience.
Still, if only it had been a magical skill. Hmm… Magical Beast Tongue… barely acceptable?
At that moment, a shrill cry rang out in the hall. The glass in front of the python had vanished. The serpent stretched out its coiled body and slid from the case onto the floor.
Screams and curses erupted instantly. People scrambled to flee, terrified of being caught, turning the reptile house into chaos.
When the python passed Harry, it clearly paused, turning its head to nod at him in a strangely human gesture. Its forked tongue flicked out with a soft hiss.
It seemed to bid him farewell, no longer like a snake, but like a person.
Before the staff could rush over, it quickly slithered through the crowd and vanished within the hall, utterly unlike the sluggish creature that had lain motionless before.
Whether or not the zoo staff later recaptured the python remained unknown. Before long, however, a man claiming to be the park manager came forward to apologize to everyone.
Thus, Dudley's birthday passed in an eventful yet harmless fashion.
(End of Chapter)
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