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"I don't know, D. It was there with the rest of my presents."
"There was only a note saying it had been my father's, and now he was leaving it to me so I could make good use of it."
As he spoke, Harry handed the note to Dudley.
The handwriting on it had very clearly not been written by hand.
There were obvious signs of an automatic writing quill.
"Incredible."
Dudley ran his fingers over the Invisibility Cloak, feeling the material up close. Then he handed it back to Harry.
"In the future, we can use this to pick up some study materials from the Restricted Section."
As always, Dudley's suggestion still had something to do with studying.
Hogwarts' Restricted Section contained many books on Dark Magic, ancient magic, and extremely dangerous spells. Dudley had wanted to get his hands on some of those books for proper study for quite a long time already.
Unfortunately, taking books out of the Restricted Section required a signed permission note from a professor.
Snape had only agreed to let Dudley consult materials related to Potions.
But now that they had an Invisibility Cloak, they no longer had to go through so much trouble.
"The Restricted Section?"
Hearing that, Hermione pulled a piece of parchment out of her pocket and handed it to Harry.
"If you're really going in there, bring these for me too."
It was a long list, packed with one title after another.
Clearly, just like Dudley, Hermione had also had her eye on the Restricted Section.
"Want to go now?"
"If possible... we can make our move tonight."
"All right."
After dinner, Harry could barely contain his excitement and put on the Invisibility Cloak.
His body vanished in front of the others' eyes instantly.
As for the possibility of being caught by Filch for wandering around at night...
Please. Mrs. Norris was already one of their agents.
"That's incredible."
Ron commented enthusiastically. He had only ever heard of Invisibility Cloaks before. He had never seen a real one. After all, those things cost a fortune.
"What does it feel like, Harry?"
Hermione pulled out a small notebook and started jotting things down as she gathered data.
"Can you see the path ahead clearly?"
"It's smoother than I thought, and it barely weighs anything. I can hardly feel it on me at all."
Harry answered.
"I can see the path perfectly."
"And it seems to hide your body's scent too."
Dudley nodded and gave his honest assessment.
"On top of that, it dampens the sound of your footsteps, your breathing, and even your heartbeat to a certain extent."
"But even so, you should still be careful when using it. If you come within five meters of me, I can still sense you."
When Ron heard that, his eyelids twitched.
If it were him, then even if Harry stood right in front of him and punched him in the face, he probably would not notice a thing.
Some time after Harry left wearing the Invisibility Cloak, an unexpected visitor appeared in the Slytherin common room.
"Where did this giant red turkey come from?"
Ron pointed at a huge fire-red bird perched on the edge of the fireplace.
A moment later, the bird started pecking at him so fiercely that Ron went running all over the room.
"Big D, save me!"
Ron cried out to Dudley for help.
"That's... a phoenix?"
Hermione looked at the large scarlet bird and spoke with some hesitation.
She had only seen drawings of them in books, so she was not entirely sure.
Even among magical creatures, phoenixes were considered extraordinarily rare. Not only were they highly intelligent, but they also possessed exceptional magical power. They could be reborn from ashes, and their tears had incredibly powerful healing properties, making them essential ingredients in top-tier healing potions.
Although the wizarding world classified them as XXXX creatures, one level below dragons, that was only because they were less aggressive toward humans and extremely difficult to domesticate.
Generally speaking, they were relatively gentle.
Of course, that was assuming no one called them a giant red turkey.
"Fawkes, stop bothering Ron."
"This is for you."
As he spoke, Dudley pulled out a small bag from the pouch Hermione had made, then poured a few little pellets onto a plate.
Magical Creature Feed — Bird Formula.
Fawkes let out a cheerful cry, stopped chasing Ron, and landed on the table to begin enjoying the "feast."
"His name is Fawkes. He belongs to Professor Dumbledore."
Dudley gave Hermione a quick introduction. The moment he said belongs, Fawkes let out an offended cry.
Phoenix tears were a top-tier potion ingredient, something practically impossible to obtain on the wizarding market.
How could Dudley not be interested in something like that?
So he had already been trying to get on Fawkes's good side for a while.
At first, the bird had been extremely aloof and had not even looked at him.
But after Dudley created that special feed... its attitude changed completely.
Now, every single night, whenever Dudley began training, Fawkes would appear right on time.
He was more punctual than an alarm clock.
"It's not time yet. So you didn't come to play with me, right? Professor Dumbledore wants to see me?"
After finishing the feed, Fawkes let out a confirming cry and clearly gestured for Dudley to follow him.
"I'll be back soon."
Dudley said that to the three of them before leaving behind Fawkes.
...
This time, Dumbledore was not in the office where he usually stayed.
Guided by Fawkes, Dudley arrived at an abandoned room on the fourth floor.
After getting a little more feed out of Dudley, Fawkes flapped his wings in satisfaction and flew off.
'Eat all you want now. Later, you'll be paying all of this back with interest.'
Fawkes had no idea that Dudley had had his eye on his tears for a very long time.
When he pushed the door open, Dudley saw Dumbledore standing in front of a mirror right in the middle of the room.
It was a magnificent mirror, so tall it nearly touched the ceiling, with a luxurious golden frame and two claw-shaped feet.
At the top was an inscription:
Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.
"Professor, you wanted to see me?"
He walked closer and noticed that Dumbledore was still staring fixedly at the mirror. So he himself glanced at its surface and found that he could only see himself reflected inside.
It was just an ordinary mirror.
"Take a seat."
Dumbledore came out of his daze and, with a simple wave of his hand, made several stools appear.
Dudley did not waste any time and sat down with complete ease.
"Dudley, regarding your proposal to create a Disciplinary Group, after thinking it over again and again, I've come to think it may indeed be necessary."
Dudley's expression did not change in the slightest. He simply waited for the rest.
To be honest, Dumbledore was being more decisive than Dudley had expected.
He had thought the other man would at least delay it until second year.
"But there are two conditions I need to address."
"First, since the Disciplinary Group would be something entirely new, I still cannot be sure that it is truly the right path. So I cannot grant it too much authority. It will only have authority over the first years, unless it can be proven that the Disciplinary Group is truly valid."
"So first year will be used as a testing ground?"
Dudley kept the same calm expression.
To be honest, supervising only the first years made no real sense.
That would basically make it nothing more than an overpowered prefect for first-years.
It would be far more useful if the authorization already covered at least the second years as well.
"A testing ground. That term is very accurate."
Dumbledore nodded, and then his face grew more serious.
"Second, you will need to pass a test of mine. You must prove that you have the ability to properly manage such an organization."
"Professor Dumbledore, wait a moment."
Dudley cut him off.
"I think you've misunderstood something."
"I only made a few suggestions based on what I've seen, heard, thought, and analyzed."
"That doesn't mean I want to be the one doing it."
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