When the group returned to Gryffindor Tower, it was already very late. The common room was almost empty, with everyone having gone to sleep.
Only a single lamp was still lit in a corner area. Hermione was reading a book while gently stroking Dudley's orange cat.
Hearing sounds from the entrance, Hermione stood up and looked in that direction with curiosity.
"What exactly was that yellow light?" Ron's voice came through the portrait hole.
"I don't know. I hadn't even seen clearly what it was before I was petrified," Harry replied with obvious frustration.
Meow.
The orange cat sensed Dudley's presence and nimbly leaped to Dudley's feet, rubbing against his ankle affectionately.
"Why are you all so late coming back?" Hermione asked with concern.
Dudley often patrolled the castle, so returning late was normal for him, but for Harry and Ron to return so late after what should have been simple detention was quite unusual.
Dudley bent down to pick up the orange cat and said to Hermione directly, "We were just attacked."
"Oh my!" Hermione exclaimed with shock.
In the following minutes, Harry and Ron recounted what they had encountered to her in vivid detail.
Hearing about their dangerous situation, Hermione's expression became grave as well.
"So you're saying there's some unknown danger hidden in Hogwarts right now?" she asked with growing worry.
Dudley nodded grimly. "That's how it appears currently."
"I'm just not clear what exactly it is or whether it will actively attack students."
Earlier, Dudley had actively used the Mirror of Erised to observe that yellow light and couldn't even determine its exact location.
"Regardless, we need to be much more careful from now on," Dudley said with serious emphasis.
"Also, I'm considering whether to teach you some life-saving methods."
The three looked at each other, somewhat confused about what Dudley meant by this.
"I can't always be by your side. Like today, if I hadn't been there, Harry would already have been petrified when he encountered danger. So I'm thinking it's time to improve your defensive abilities," Dudley said with complete seriousness.
"How do we improve our abilities?" Harry asked with great interest.
Hermione and Ron also showed curious expressions.
"Wandless magic and silent spells," Dudley said simply.
"These are advanced magical techniques. Can we really learn them now?" Harry said with obvious doubt.
They knew Dudley was remarkably skilled at wandless magic and could use silent spells. These two techniques combined allowed Dudley to respond most quickly to sudden dangerous situations, much faster than ordinary wizards drawing their wands and reciting incantations.
But they also knew these techniques were far too advanced for second-year students. Even Hermione wasn't confident she could learn them.
"You don't need to worry about that. I have my own methods to help you learn," Dudley said with quiet certainty.
"Excellent, I'm willing to learn," Hermione said without hesitation.
"I'm willing too," Harry and Ron quickly agreed.
The three of them couldn't keep dragging Dudley down. In an increasingly dangerous environment, they had to learn to protect themselves.
Especially Harry. He still had a powerful enemy hidden in the shadows. He had to improve his abilities as much as possible.
Dudley nodded approvingly. "Once I'm finished with these next few days, I'll teach you."
He planned to teach Harry and the others part of Hermes, allowing them to cast magic with this spiritual language, thus gaining the initiative in battle.
Moreover, Dudley didn't need them to completely master this spiritual language. He only needed them to understand the vocabulary of spells. As for other content, he didn't plan to teach them.
Some things were better known as little as possible.
Dudley had previously had the idea of teaching Harry Hermes, but he hadn't put it into practice, feeling it was too early. But now that the castle was no longer safe, and with Dumbledore often away from school, he had to advance this plan.
As a spiritual language, only through Dudley's instruction could Harry and the others master the method of casting spells with Hermes.
Ordinary people, even if they mimicked the pronunciation of Hermes, couldn't achieve this. That is to say, in this magical world, only Dudley had the ability to teach others Hermes. Even if Harry and the others learnt the pronunciation of those spells, they still couldn't teach others.
After settling this matter, Dudley and the others prepared to go to sleep.
"Oh right, Ron, you might need to pay attention to your sister," Hermione said, having already walked to the stairs of the girls' dormitory when she suddenly remembered something and turned back.
"Ginny? What's wrong with her?" Ron asked with obvious puzzlement.
"While I was waiting for you just now, I saw her come back looking extremely pale, with water stains on her face, as if she'd been crying. When I asked what was wrong, she didn't answer me."
"I think she might be homesick or hasn't adapted to school life yet. You brothers don't care about her at all?" Hermione said with obvious disapproval.
Ron's face reddened slightly as he said, "Thank you for the reminder. I'll ask her tomorrow."
"Don't be so direct, understand? Be gentler with her," Hermione couldn't help but remind him.
"Alright," Ron nodded with genuine understanding.
He really hadn't paid much attention to Ginny's matters recently. He was either in detention or training with Dudley's flying broom. It had been far too long since he'd had a proper chat with his sister.
Dudley and Harry exchanged glances, neither interrupting this conversation.
The next day, an official Hogwarts announcement appeared at the Great Hall entrance, warning everyone of potential dangers within the castle and advising students not to wander aimlessly, to stay in groups when possible, and to avoid being alone.
Especially to watch out for yellow light.
At the same time, this notice also informed everyone that Dudley Dursley, due to his natural ability to sense evil auras, would represent Professor Dumbledore in investigating the attack incident. Everyone must cooperate with his investigation and accept necessary interrogation.
This news caused tremendous discussion and controversy once published.
There were quite a few people supporting Dudley, mainly Gryffindor students who felt Dudley indeed had the ability to handle this responsibility.
In the other houses, most Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students felt indifferent. Although they thought Professor Dumbledore had given Dudley too much authority, since Dudley had ridden a Norwegian Ridgeback dragon to repel a dark wizard's invasion last semester, they felt it was acceptable. Moreover, the announcement explained that Dudley had special talent in this area, which they found reasonable.
The most intense reaction came from Slytherin House students, which met everyone's expectations. They could not accept this decision under any circumstances.
However, Professor Dumbledore's announcement wouldn't change because of their opposition. Some students wanted to pressure Dumbledore through the Board of Governors, but it wasn't very effective. According to their subsequent feedback, Professor Dumbledore's attitude was firm, and the Board of Governors seemed to be wary of something, not daring to pressure Professor Dumbledore too much, so the matter had to be dropped.
After this incident, Dudley actually possessed very high investigative authority at Hogwarts. With reasonable use, advancing to Sequence 6 Judge was just a matter of time.