"Be careful... Dudley?"
Harry was a bit confused. Why would the giant python warn him to be careful of Dudley? Did it also see that his cousin often bullied him?
Harry couldn't quite figure it out, but he felt the giant python's warning was fine; he really did need to be careful of his cousin.
Dudley watched as the giant python quickly fled the reptile house, startling countless people with screams, then turned his gaze to Harry and extended his right hand.
"Are you okay?"
"Ah... No... I'm fine."
Harry looked at Dudley's outstretched hand, so surprised he was incoherent.
Dudley was actually going to be kind enough to help him up? Was this still the cousin who bullied him every day?
This made Harry feel so unreal.
"Is he trying to prank me again?"
This thought involuntarily flashed through Harry's mind.
It made him hesitant to take Dudley's hand, but when he thought that refusing would make his situation even more difficult, Harry still took Dudley's outstretched hand.
"Will he lift his hand and throw me away?"
Before the thought could even fully form in Harry's mind, he felt a force from the hand, directly pulling him up from the ground.
"Help, help! Ahhh..."
Terrified screams came from nearby.
Harry and Dudley both looked in the direction of the sound.
Piers was frantically banging on the display window glass. The glass, which had mysteriously disappeared earlier, had reappeared at some unknown time, directly sealing Piers inside.
"Ahhh... Son, what's going on? How did you get in there...?"
"Is there a python? Where's the python? Oh my God..."
Piers's mother heard the commotion at this moment and hurried over. Seeing her son sealed inside the python house, she was so scared she almost fainted.
At the same time, Petunia and Vernon, hearing the commotion, also ran over. Seeing that Dudley was fine, both of them breathed a sigh of relief, but they were also very puzzled as to how Piers had gotten inside the python house.
An hour later, everyone finally left the zoo.
Piers was quite shaken. He couldn't explain how he got into the python house, and his entire demeanor was a bit dazed.
Dudley, on the other hand, insisted that neither he nor Harry knew what had happened.
Vernon and the others didn't delve deeper into the matter, as it was good that Dudley was unharmed.
As for Piers's mention of the disappearing glass, both of them suspected it was related to Harry, but they couldn't openly say such a thing. They planned to give Harry a good talking-to once they returned home.
Upon returning home, Harry behaved very obediently. Coupled with the fact that it was Dudley's birthday today, Vernon didn't want to waste time on Harry. Without finding a suitable reason to punish Harry, he temporarily abandoned that plan, intending to wait a couple of days.
Anyway, there would be plenty of opportunities to punish Harry.
The day quickly ended, and night fell. Vernon's family had all gone to sleep.
In the stairwell, Harry tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
He was still thinking about what happened during the day.
On the other side, in Dudley's bedroom, he was also still awake.
"Today's fortune-telling by the Gypsy girl, and the glass that suddenly disappeared at the zoo... Is this really a normal world?"
Dudley thought to himself.
So many things happened today that he couldn't help but doubt the reality of this world.
He was afraid it was a prank by some mysterious entity, and when he woke up, he would return to that eerie and terrifying world.
He took out Trensorst's Brass Book.
This powerful sealed artifact looked like an ancient antique passed down from classical times. Its exterior was nothing special; in fact, Dudley had flipped through it without anything strange happening.
But he knew that this was just the surface of Trensorst's Brass Book; once this book of rules was truly awakened, the disaster it would cause would be extremely terrifying.
"I wonder why this sealed artifact traveled back with me."
Dudley's hand lightly brushed over the surface of the bronze book, his fingertips feeling the uneven, intricate patterns on the cover.
He had some ideas, most likely he could use this bronze book's control over rules to do some things, but the uncertainty was very high, and Dudley dared not try it for now.
But if he encountered some danger in this world, perhaps this bronze book could save him.
After all, this world didn't seem so normal after all.
"I hope I won't have to use this book."
As Dudley finished speaking, he carefully put away Trensorst's Brass Book.
Unable to sleep, he quietly got up and opened his door, preparing to go downstairs for some water.
Tiptoeing downstairs, Dudley glanced into the stairwell as he passed.
He could sense Harry's presence inside, but he wasn't sure if the boy was asleep.
Without turning on the lights, Dudley, relying on his strong intuition, poured himself a glass of water in the dark and sat on the nearby sofa, drinking it sip by sip.
Click.
A crisp sound came, and the stairwell door opened. Harry walked out, looking annoyed.
So much time had passed, and he still couldn't sleep, so he decided to get up and drink some water.
He didn't have a watch and didn't even know what time it was exactly.
In the darkness, Harry walked towards the kettle's location, relying on his memory.
Suddenly.
His expression changed. He felt as if there was a dark shadow on the sofa not far away, looking in his direction.
Harry broke out in a cold sweat, his face turning pale.
Had a thief broken into the house?
Or was it a ghost?
"Good evening, Harry."
Dudley's familiar voice came, making Harry's heart leap into his throat.
"You... you... why are you here?"
Harry stammered incoherently.
"A glass of water."
Dudley said calmly.
"Oh... I... I'll have some water too."
Harry said.
"What the hell are you doing in the kitchen, not sleeping in the middle of the night and not turning on the lights?" Harry couldn't help but complain internally.
He had been truly frightened by Dudley.
"Since you're also awake, how about we have a chat?"
Dudley said.
Although his voice was calm, it seemed to contain an undeniable authority that made Harry unable to refuse his request.
"Alright, what do you want to talk about?"
Harry didn't know what Dudley was up to, so he could only follow Dudley's lead.
"The disappearing glass at the zoo today, that was your doing, wasn't it?" Dudley said directly.
"Me... How could it be? I don't know what happened either." Harry quickly said.
"Heh heh." Dudley chuckled and continued, "How about a deal? You tell me the truth, and I'll stop bullying you from now on, how about it?"
"It's a good deal, isn't it?"
Dudley's words were full of temptation, making Harry involuntarily want to express his true thoughts.