Chapter 304: Dudley's Method
"Yes. You are free now, Dobby."
A smile appeared on Lucius's face, but when he spoke, the voice that came out was not Lucius's. It was Dudley's.
"What... what is going on?" Harry asked in shock.
"Polyjuice Potion," Hermione blurted, instantly grasping the key.
She had given Dudley a large Phial earlier, but she had not expected him to use it like this.
"But... that is impossible. Polyjuice Potion only changes appearance. It does not alter a person's essence. Master–servant magic is not affected by Polyjuice Potion," Hermione said quickly.
She had brewed the potion herself and knew it better than anyone. It had a powerful disguise effect and was hard for many spells to pierce, but by its nature, it did not change a wizard's inner being. It was only a very strong form of disguise. Such a disguise could deceive human eyes, but it could not deceive magic. Otherwise, Polyjuice would be a miracle cure. The identity wards on Gringotts vaults, for example, could not be tricked by a dose of Polyjuice. That was obviously impossible.
And the master–servant bond between a master and a house-elf was rooted in their very bloodlines. Polyjuice Potion could not possibly deceive that kind of magic.
"You... you are not Master..." Dobby stared at the Lucius before him, so shocked he even forgot to change how he addressed him. In every visible way, this was the master he served day and night. But the voice just now had told him the person before him was not truly Lucius.
He was completely muddled.
"Merlin's beard, what is happening?" Ron yanked out his wand on instinct. The situation made no sense, and he clutched his head, overwhelmed.
"A few extra steps, that is all," said the man wearing Lucius's face with a light chuckle.
"In truth, I am Dudley, not Lucius."
At that, everyone finally accepted that the person standing in front of them was Dudley, not Lucius.
Harry still had a question and asked at once, "What is the name of the organization we founded?"
"Kingdom of Order," Dudley answered without hesitation.
The three exchanged looks and let their doubts go.
"How did you do it?" Hermione demanded. Had she brewed a Polyjuice with new effects by accident?
"Polyjuice Potion was only one step. I found a way to make the master–servant magic temporarily regard me as Dobby's master. Fortunately, it worked very well," Dudley said with a small smile.
"What method can accomplish that?" Hermione pressed.
By her understanding of magic, even a very powerful Confundus could not do this. Dobby, wide-eyed, also wanted to know. When he had received the garment, the master–servant magic in his body had dissolved at once, with almost no delay. That meant the bond had indeed confirmed the man before him as Lucius Malfoy. Yet in fact, he was not.
"I call this ability Distortion," Dudley said lightly.
Yes, he had used Distortion, a Sequence Six ability of the Baron of Corruption from the Black Emperor Pathway. It could distort targets, actions, and even concepts.
Dudley's approach was simple. After using Polyjuice to assume Lucius's appearance, he used Distortion to temporarily shift the target of the master–servant magic. In that state, handing Dobby a piece of clothing would dissolve the true, original bond.
At first, Dudley had thought this might fail. The master–servant magic was extremely powerful, and it would be hard to alter its target like that. But it went surprisingly smoothly. Perhaps the Beyonder abilities from that world exerted a qualitative, crushing advantage when applied in the magical world.
He had even prepared a fallback: if Distortion alone was not enough, he would empower himself with the Trunsoest Brass Book and unleash a stronger Distortion. In the end, the first attempt succeeded. There was no need for anything extra.
"So it is an ability we cannot learn," Hermione said with a hint of regret. From the name alone, it was not a spell but an innate power Dudley possessed. She still did not know where his abilities came from.
"Not for now. Perhaps later," Dudley said with a smile.
Since magical power and spiritual force could be bridged, once he fully understood magical principles, he could create spells. Even if such spells could only reproduce a fraction of a Beyonder's ability effect, that would be more than enough for him. That was the direction of his future work.
"Mr. Dudley Dursley, you are truly magnificent. You actually invented a way to dissolve master–servant magic," Dobby said, his orange-yellow eyes shining with worship and gratitude.
"I promised you, and I will find a way to make it happen," Dudley said lightly.
"But, as I mentioned before, would you be willing to do something for me?"
He was still using Lucius's appearance. The Polyjuice would wear off on its own in about an hour.
"I am willing to do anything for you, Mr. Dursley," Dobby said solemnly.
Dudley had given him freedom. It was the dream he had longed for. Now that he had what he wanted, he could choose what to do. Choosing to help Dudley was only natural.
"I may need you to go undercover at the Malfoys' for a while. During the summer, help me find an opportunity to infiltrate Malfoy Manor and search. Can you do that?" Dudley asked.
It was somewhat cruel to Dobby. He had won his freedom, yet would still need to suffer at Malfoy Manor for a time.
Harry and the others looked at Dobby, thinking he might refuse.
"Of course, Mr. Dursley. I am willing to take the risk. This is a choice made of my free will, not coercion," Dobby said seriously.
Before, as a slave, he had worked endlessly in the Malfoy home. Now, he chose to become Dudley's helper and go undercover in Malfoy Manor. It sounded as if nothing had changed, but in essence, everything had. As for betraying his former master, that was no obstacle for Dobby. In truth, the moment he first warned Harry Potter, he had already betrayed the Malfoys. Now that he was a free elf, there was no such thing as betrayal anymore.