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The profitable business of selling experimental equipment did not last long.
In less than a week, Dudley received some news through Malfoy:
"Dudley, someone reported you for misuse of Muggle artifacts."
It was a rather curious matter.
At the Ministry of Magic, there was a rather peculiar, or perhaps simply useless, department called the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office.
From the name alone, many people would assume it was a department that prohibited wizards from using Muggle objects. But that was not actually the case. That was only a mistaken interpretation.
The true purpose of that department was to deal with cases where wizards irresponsibly cast spells on Muggle objects. Some wizards, out of pure boredom, would enchant ordinary items and then sell them back to Muggles. That kind of practice often caused accidents. And it was a serious violation of the International Statute of Secrecy.
Ron's father, Arthur Weasley, worked in that very department. His job was to confiscate those altered objects. But in practice, that kind of wizard was rare. Most of the time, the department had almost nothing to do.
"What? And now? D's not going to be punished, is he?"
The moment he heard the news, Harry immediately stood up, full of concern.
When it came to Dudley, he worried even more than he did about himself.
Hermione calmly closed her book and said, "You don't need to worry, Harry. There's no problem at all."
In truth, the Ministry of Magic did not prohibit wizards from using Muggle objects. The real issue was that most wizards simply did not know how to use them, and did not want to learn either. That was why Muggle objects were rare in the wizarding world.
But instead of admitting that, many preferred to blame the Ministry and assume their use was forbidden. Over time, that became an unspoken custom. But in practice, using them was not illegal. At most, someone might stop you.
Exactly as Hermione had said.
There was no problem at all.
"That's right, Granger's right. D's not going to have any trouble."
Malfoy confirmed.
When Harry heard Malfoy call Dudley "D," he showed a trace of annoyance. But he was quickly distracted. Their fight had at least accomplished something. At the very least, their relationship had not gotten any worse. Even though they still traded jabs from time to time.
"But we might not be able to keep selling the equipment."
Malfoy continued.
Since there had been a report, the Ministry would probably conduct a check. Even if there was no punishment, there would still be some kind of intervention.
Besides, Dudley was still just a student. He probably would not even receive a formal warning.
"What? Why?!" Ron blurted out.
He was still completely caught up in the joy of finally making money. He was already thinking about what to buy for his family. Before this, he had barely had a single Sickle in his pocket. And now, all of a sudden, it was going to end?
"Who was the bastard who reported him?"
Ron said irritably.
He had barely even started enjoying the money.
"Who else could it be? Definitely some idiot from Gryffindor."
Malfoy replied disdainfully.
"Who else would have time for something so pointless?"
The way they were making money was practically pure profit. It was inevitable that someone would get jealous.
In Slytherin, no one would dare mess with Dudley. In Ravenclaw, no one would care about something like this. In Hufflepuff, they probably would not even think of it. That only left Gryffindor.
But right after saying it, Malfoy realized something.
There were three Gryffindors there.
Harry did not care about that. To him, it was not a House matter. Someone had messed with his cousin. And that alone was enough.
Hermione remained calm, as if it had nothing to do with her. She had never had a good relationship with the other Gryffindor students anyway.
Ron, on the other hand, looked visibly uncomfortable. He truly saw himself as part of Gryffindor.
"It's fine. If we can't keep going, then we stop."
Dudley said calmly.
"I never planned to do this for very long anyway."
In truth, he had already expected this.
This kind of business was, at best, only a short-term opportunity. Muggle equipment was not anything rare. Other Muggle-born wizards could get their hands on it too. He only wanted to make money quickly.
He could stop on his own.
But he would not accept stopping because of a report.
If someone tried to mess with him, he would not forget it.
There were still many years ahead.
And since Dudley had decided to stop, no one objected. After all, everything, from the idea to the execution, had come from him.
Ron and Malfoy had only helped with promotion and sales.
Malfoy did not need money. Ron did, but he was easy to satisfy. What he already had was more than enough for him.
Only Harry kept grumbling, determined to find out which "idiot" had reported Dudley.
...
As an indirect consequence, almost all the students began using that equipment. That made Snape speed up the coursework.
Before long, he had already finished the entire first-year curriculum. And had started covering second-year material.
It was easy to imagine the result.
That year's class would probably have the highest Potions pass rate in their O.W.L.s.
The competition had begun.
For Dudley and Snape, it was a mutually beneficial situation.
...
While selling the equipment, Dudley already had another plan in mind.
What he was best at... writing.
Compared to the Muggle world, entertainment in the wizarding world was extremely limited. Other than a few board games, like wizard chess, and Quidditch, there was not much to do. At most, people could read newspapers or books.
No radio or television, not even video games.
That was why Quidditch was so popular.
Because it was practically the only option.
Dudley decided to tap into that.
Everyone knew entertainment made money.
The first step was to enter that field. And then build a reputation.
Writing a novel was the simplest way.
As far as Dudley knew, there was a wizard named Gilderoy Lockhart. An extremely famous author. Famous to the point that practically every adult witch was a fan of his.
On top of that, he had received the Order of Merlin, Third Class. Even though that honor could be obtained in various ways, it was still something significant. For example, Newt Scamander had received the Order of Merlin, Second Class for his book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Dudley already even had a project in mind.
The Dragonlance Chronicles.
He had already started writing part of it. Now, he just needed to find a publisher in the wizarding world.
And then...
let those wizards experience the impact of a D&D-style world.
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