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Hogwarts, inside the library.
"I was originally going to take that corridor that day, but I changed routes at the last moment."
"So it is obvious. Whoever did this was aiming at you from the beginning."
Dudley and Hermione were quietly discussing the attack on the student.
This time, Dudley had not contributed a Mandrake. Instead, he chose to let the Petrified student wait until the Mandrakes Professor Sprout was growing had matured. He believed the culprit's target was Hermione, and the student who had been Petrified was only an accident. If the student were cured now, he would definitely tell everyone what he had seen, and that would alert the enemy.
If they wanted to catch the mastermind once and for all, this was the best method.
As long as that student remained Petrified, the culprit would feel safe for another day. They would attack again. After all, once there was a first time, there would be a second.
"Hermione, try to stay in Gryffindor Tower recently. I will handle this."
"Are you confident?" Hermione asked. In truth, she was more worried about Dudley than herself.
A monster with the ability to Petrify was definitely not something simple to deal with.
"Of course," Dudley said confidently.
In fact, Dudley had already guessed the rough outline of the situation.
If the culprit had not mentioned the Chamber of Secrets, Dudley might have been completely confused. But a basilisk and the Chamber of Secrets were destined to be related to Slytherin's heir.
And as far as Dudley knew, there was currently only one person who called himself Slytherin's heir.
Senior Tom.
An upperclassman almost fifty school years ahead of him.
The diary had indeed been destroyed by him. Only a pile of blackened residue remained. Its magic had been drained and turned into a magic crystal, and its soul had been made into a Philosopher's Stone. It was as dead as dead could be.
But that did not mean Senior Tom had disappeared.
Besides the diary, were there not other things?
To confirm this guess, Dudley went alone to the eighth floor of Hogwarts. This place was at the top of Hogwarts and was the closest area to the Ravenclaw common room.
Soon, he arrived before a tapestry showing Barnabas the Barmy teaching trolls to dance ballet.
Dudley slowly closed his eyes and concentrated, repeating one thought in his mind: he needed a place where hidden things were kept.
Before long, a very smooth door slowly emerged on the originally empty wall.
Dudley lightly touched the door, then slowly pushed it open.
This was one of the secret places in Hogwarts: the Room of Requirement.
It could be called one of the most magical places in Hogwarts. It appeared and disappeared unpredictably, coming and going without a trace. It would only appear when a person truly needed it.
Of course, if you knew about it beforehand, you could find the entrance by concentrating.
Behind the door was a vast space. It was an enormous room, even larger than the Great Hall of Hogwarts. Clearly, an Undetectable Extension Charm had been applied to it. Inside, countless things were piled densely together. They were all objects left behind by students who had discovered this room since the founding of the school.
It looked more like a giant storage room.
The magical nature of the Room of Requirement was not limited to hiding. If what you wanted was a training ground, then behind the door would not be a storage room, but a room used for training.
This was the wonder of the Room of Requirement.
However, there was one thing Dudley was quite curious about.
If the first person who opened the Room of Requirement wanted Room A, entered it, and stayed inside, then the place he occupied should be Room of Requirement A. But if, by coincidence, another student soon arrived and wanted to enter Room B, when that student opened the door, would he enter A or B?
Before the later student opened the door, was the previous student in state A or state B?
This was the famous theory: Schrodinger's Room of Requirement.
"Business first."
Dudley shook his head and drove the strange idea from his mind, then activated his Data Eyes.
He had come here to look for something.
Senior Tom's other Horcrux: Ravenclaw's Diadem.
A thousand years of accumulation had caused this room to gather all kinds of strange things. Fortunately, the room's space was large enough. Otherwise, it truly would not have been able to hold everything.
There were torn skirts, tables missing a leg, love letters stained with unknown liquid, and Dudley even saw a half-eaten breakfast.
Of course, the largest number of objects were Dark Magic items. Under the display of the Data Eyes, these items appeared one by one. Judging only by the variety of Dark Magic objects, this Room of Requirement might contain the most complete collection in the modern wizarding world.
He truly did not know where these seniors had gotten all these things. If the objects were organized and sorted, opening a shop in Knockturn Alley would not be a problem. The stock would absolutely be more complete than Borgin and Burkes.
Unfortunately, Dudley ultimately did not find what he wanted.
While disappointed, he also felt somewhat relieved.
Every matter had two sides. The item not being here meant someone had taken it away. At the same time, Dudley now knew what it was.
"I should have come earlier."
Dudley sighed, but he did not regret it.
Even if he had to choose again, he would make the same choice. The lawn outside Hogwarts Castle was more suitable for training than this place.
It would be best to investigate Ravenclaw first.
After all, it was the closest house to the Room of Requirement, so its probability was naturally the highest.
Just then, the door to the Room of Requirement was pushed open.
"You really are here."
A lazy, sweet voice sounded. What entered Dudley's vision was a head of striking golden hair.
Madison.
At this moment, she was wearing only a pink nightgown printed with little strawberries. She leaned against the doorframe, and the neckline hung slightly loose, revealing the pale skin at her neck.
Calling it crystal-clear skin and ice-carved beauty would not be an exaggeration.
"It's you," Dudley said, seeming unsurprised by her arrival.
The girl named Madison had always been on his list of suspects.
"I have been waiting for you for a long time," Madison said softly. She slowly closed the door and walked toward Dudley.
A faint fragrance reached him.
It was completely different from the inferior love potion from before. It was a scent naturally emitted by her body.
Strictly speaking, it smelled quite good.
But Dudley preferred the scent of soap on Hermione. After all, he had smelled it for several years.
Madison came before Dudley, gently biting her lower lip with her upper teeth. She raised her head to look at Dudley and lifted an eyebrow slightly. Her eyes were alluring, and her entire body carried an aura completely different from the last time they met. She looked innocent and fresh-faced, yet full of desire, a blend of charm and softness.
She was like a succubus flooding the air with pheromones, missing only a pair of wings, horns, and a tail.
The air seemed to be filled with a faint pink haze.
Madison stretched out both arms as if she wanted to hold Dudley's right arm.
"But I am not interested in flat chests," Dudley said calmly, stepping sideways and avoiding her.
In an instant, the atmosphere she had created was destroyed completely.
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