"Hey, you're asking the right guy!" Hagrid said, his beetle-black eyes gleaming with excitement. When it came to magical creatures, there wasn't a thing he didn't know.
"I've been experimenting with something like that myself," Hagrid added, lowering his voice—though for him, even a whisper boomed like a megaphone.
"Between you and me, I found a Manticore in the northern part of the Forbidden Forest," he said with a mysterious grin.
A Manticore was a fearsome creature with a human head, a lion's body, and a scorpion's tail, armed with deadly venomous stingers that could shoot in any direction. One sting, and you were done for. Its hide repelled nearly all known spells, and while it wasn't as massive as a thousand-year-old Basilisk, it was still a top-tier dangerous beast in the wizarding world, ranked alongside Chimeras. Naturally, it was also incredibly rare.
Oh, and like Acromantulas, Manticores had a taste for human flesh.
"The poor little guy got separated from its parents, all alone in that forest. Lucky it ran into me—we're mates now. Shame there's no other Manticore in the Forbidden Forest, but I've already picked out a partner for it," Hagrid said.
He didn't elaborate on how he met the Manticore, but it probably wasn't a pleasant encounter—for the Manticore, at least.
"Little guy?" Dudley echoed, raising an eyebrow.
His mind conjured an image of a Manticore: towering, ferocious, and anything but little.
"What'd you pick out for it?" Dudley asked, his expression skeptical.
"A bunch of female Fire Crabs!" Hagrid said enthusiastically. "I reckon they're a perfect match."
Hagrid's choice was definitely made without consulting the Manticore. Unlike simple beasts, Manticores—like Aragog or the Sphinx—had intelligence rivaling humans. Fire Crabs, on the other hand, were about as brainless as magical creatures got, and they were aquatic to boot.
To a Manticore, a Fire Crab was like a king crab to a human. Good luck finding any compatibility there.
Yet, in the original timeline, Hagrid somehow got a Manticore and Fire Crabs to produce a new species: the Blast-Ended Skrewt. Useless but dangerous, it was a brand-new magical creature.
Reproductive barriers were a basic fact of life, especially between magical creatures. For Hagrid to cross two wildly incompatible species and create something new? The man was a breeding genius.
Maybe he could pull it off.
So Dudley shared his request. "I want to breed a batch of shelled carnivorous slugs."
The wizarding world didn't have magical snails or anything close. The closest thing to a snail-like magical creature was the carnivorous slug.
In Dudley's mind, the only snail tied to magic was the Power Snail from Gridman. Sadly, that wasn't an option here.
Dudley was skilled at taming creatures, but breeding? That was beyond him. If Hagrid could manage it, that'd be perfect.
"Shelled carnivorous slugs?" Hagrid mused, then thumped his chest confidently. "No clue why you'd want something like that, but leave it to me!"
He already seemed to have a plan.
"How long will it take?" Dudley asked, getting to the heart of the matter.
Six months? Fine. A year? Manageable. But three years or more? That'd be a problem.
"Carnivorous slugs are basically always ready to breed—way easier than a Manticore," Hagrid said. "Give me a month or two, tops."
A month or two? That was faster than Dudley expected—definitely doable.
"Then I'm counting on you, Hagrid," Dudley said.
"Heh heh heh," Hagrid chuckled, clearly pleased to be of help.
With the magical snail project in Hagrid's hands, Dudley headed to the deeper levels of the Slytherin Chamber.
Casting a Lumos spell to create a miniature sun in the center of the Chamber, he began searching.
According to the Basilisk, Salazar Slytherin had left not only his knowledge in the Chamber but also access to Hogwarts' magical permissions. The catch? You had to pass a trial first.
Dudley was very interested in gaining those permissions.
Unfortunately, even with his Data Magic Eye, he came up empty.
This wasn't his first visit. Since the Basilisk crisis ended, he'd been coming here almost daily.
After triple-checking with no results, Dudley visited the library, hung out with Hermione for a bit, completed his nightly training routine, and returned to his dormitory.
A flash of light from an alchemical circle glowed on his door as he entered. Sitting at his desk, Dudley laid out two blue gemstones of different sizes.
Magic crystals.
One was smaller due to being used to craft a Poké Ball.
There were supposed to be three, but Dudley had turned one into a ring for Hermione.
Next, he pulled out a lump of silver metal and an emerald—materials from dismantling Ravenclaw's Diadem.
Mithril and a gem imbued with magical energy.
But he wasn't done. Dudley retrieved another item.
His wand, rarely used since he got it from Ollivander, mostly just for show: iron birch with a Thestral tail feather core, nine inches.
He still remembered the thrill of getting it.
Too bad he hadn't managed to cast a single spell with it.
The wand was pristine, gleaming as if brand-new, clearly well-maintained.
Dudley placed it alongside the materials.
He wanted to try upgrading his wand.
With his magical crafting ability, he might be able to create an auto-casting magical item, like the Poké Ball.
While he was at it, Dudley pulled out the third Philosopher's Stone.
Unprocessed, it still looked like a raw ruby.
As he set it down, his ring accidentally brushed against it.
In an instant, all three Philosopher's Stones emitted a faint red glow.
Before Dudley could react, a wave of dizziness hit him, and a faint voice whispered in his ears.
Gradually, gradually…
A massive, ancient door began to materialize before his eyes.