Harry Potter: Dudley From LOTM - 357

Chapter 357: The Monocle

After Defence Against the Dark Arts, Dudley still did not seem himself. Harry, Ron, and Hermione barely dared to speak above a whisper, afraid of disturbing him.

It was not until they finished dinner in the Great Hall that Dudley seemed a little better and started talking to them of his own accord.

"Professor Lupin’s Defence Against the Dark Arts class is not bad."

"Yes, it really is interesting," Hermione said at once, shooting Harry and Ron a pointed look.

"Definitely. Miles better than the last two," Ron added quickly.

"A practical lesson like that teaches more than any textbook ever could," Harry said.

Dudley let out a soft chuckle. Their careful, tentative manner was almost funny.

He was not that fragile.

Still, he did not explain anything. Those things were not something he could tell them.

Seeing Dudley fall quiet again and focus on eating, the three of them exchanged a look and stopped pressing.

It was not until after dinner, once Dudley had done his usual patrol through the castle, that the three of them finally had a chance to talk about it properly.

"I cannot believe Dudley actually has someone he is afraid of," Ron said in amazement. "And the way he looked, he was really wary of that man. You might not have noticed, but when Dudley saw him, his face looked even more shocked than when he saw You-Know-Who."

"I just cannot imagine there being anyone more terrifying than You-Know-Who," Harry said, frowning. "I have never seen that man in my life. Why would Dudley be afraid of him?"

Harry and Dudley had grown up together. Even if their relationship had been awful, Harry still knew most of what there was to know about Dudley. It made no sense that Dudley could have a figure he feared so deeply, someone Harry knew absolutely nothing about.

Besides, before they turned eleven, they had both lived as "Muggles". Back then, how could they possibly have met someone who would still frighten Dudley now?

Unless the man was someone Dudley met after entering the wizarding world.

But there was no such figure in the wizarding world either.

"Maybe he is not from this world," Hermione said.

Harry and Ron both turned to stare at her.

Hermione gave an awkward laugh. "It is just a joke. Books have plots like that, do they not?"

"Hermione, honestly, read a bit less," Ron could not help saying. "You are going to read your brain mush."

Hermione shot him a vicious glare.

"Hermione, you read more than anyone. Have you ever seen that man described in any book?" Harry asked suddenly.

Hermione frowned and tried to think it through, but she could not recall any wizard who fit that image.

"To be honest, most of his features were not that distinctive," Ron said. "The one thing that really stood out was the monocle. Not many people wear glasses like that, do they?"

"Yes, I noticed the monocle too," Harry said with a sigh. "But a monocle alone is not enough to figure out who he is."

"There is one point you should not ignore," Hermione said quietly. "He is probably still alive. A Boggart becomes what you fear most from your own memory, which means Dudley must have actually seen that man."

"That narrows it down even less," Harry said. "It just makes it more impossible."

Their discussion hit a dead end.

Dudley was only thirteen. In such a short life, the number of people he could have truly met was limited. Someone in the Muggle world who could scare him made no sense, and someone in the wizarding world that no one had ever heard of was just as unlikely, unless that person had never shown his face to anyone else and had only revealed his terror to Dudley alone.

After that, the three of them stopped talking. Everything they knew, they had already said.

Over the next few days, everyone went to class as usual, and without saying it aloud, they avoided the subject entirely.

Then the weekend arrived, and with it, the time they had agreed on for their gathering.

It was the Kingdom of Order’s first meeting of the term, and it was also the moment Dudley intended to truly begin building the Kingdom of Order for real.

After dinner, Dudley said goodbye to Harry and the others and went ahead to the Room of Requirement.

Guided by his intent, the Room of Requirement transformed into a space suited perfectly for a meeting, complete with a large number of training tools for practising magic.

At eight o’clock sharp, people began filing in one after another.

Harry’s trio, along with Ginny, Colin, Neville, Luna, and several other first-years.

As soon as they entered, they started chatting excitedly.

"Dudley, what are we supposed to call you in here?" Luna asked with a smile. "Professor?"

"No. In the Kingdom of Order, address me as Baron," Dudley said with a faint smile.

"Very well, Baron Dursley," Luna said, dipping into a small curtsy.

Everyone else followed immediately, calling him Baron, even Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"From today onward, I will teach you how to perform wandless, nonverbal spellcasting," Dudley said, his expression turning serious. "But there is one thing you must remember. Until you have my permission, you are not to show this ability in front of anyone else. Understood?"

"Yes," they answered at once.

"Then what about us..." Harry asked.

They had already shown the skill in front of others before, but only sparingly. Most people did not realise they could use it with genuine proficiency.

"You three are the exception," Dudley said. "Come over here. I will teach you something else later."

"All right," the three of them said quickly, nodding.

They already knew wandless, nonverbal spellcasting. What they wanted now was something new.

Dudley then began teaching Luna and the others the pronunciation of the Hermes language.

This Spirituality language was the key to wandless, nonverbal spellcasting.

However, Dudley only taught them how to pronounce specific sounds and how to use the Spirituality language to stir the magic within their bodies. He did not teach them the full language itself.

As a result, they could at most understand simple vocabulary used for casting, but they could not learn the complete system of the language.

And under these conditions, the Hermes they learnt could not be passed on to others either, effectively preventing the language from spreading.

This would be Dudley’s most effective method for cultivating the Kingdom of Order, and it would also be his followers’ greatest advantage, the defining capability that separated them from other wizards.

With Dudley’s guidance, Ginny and the others slowly began to master the sounds of the Hermes language, and through the force of that Spirituality language, they learned to draw on their own magic.