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"Oh, really? Do you need me to use Veritaserum?"
Dudley smiled.
To the five of them, that smile looked like a dragon baring its bloodstained jaws, ready to devour them at any moment.
"By coincidence, I just finished brewing a batch recently."
Dudley pulled a vial filled with a transparent liquid from the small pouch at his waist and set it on the table.
Veritaserum (Perfect)
At first, it was only a casual glance.
After all, he was just a first-year wizard. Even if he was talented, successfully brewing something like that should have been nearly impossible.
But the instant they recognized the potion, it was not only Professor McGonagall who was shocked.
Even Dumbledore was surprised.
As renowned figures in the wizarding world, neither of them was as skilled in Potions as Snape, but both could still recognize a truly exceptional brew.
They knew quality when they saw it.
And the one Dudley had just taken out was a masterpiece even among masterpieces.
"You made this yourself?"
"Yes."
Dudley nodded.
As a spellcaster, it was necessary to display part of one's ability at the right time, draw more attention, and gain more influence.
Dumbledore carefully picked up the vial and held it against the light for a moment.
Then he let out a sincere sigh.
"Extraordinary."
Over the course of his life, he had seen many remarkable wizards, as well as countless prodigies.
But before Dudley, there had only ever been one other person he had praised like that.
A potion on the level of Veritaserum was difficult enough for a first-year to brew that even for sixth-years, or the vast majority of adult wizards, it would have been no simple feat.
Even those who knew how to make it had an alarmingly low success rate.
And the quality of the one Dudley had brewed could, without exaggeration, be called masterful work.
If he knew enough potions and could even develop new formulas on his own, then he could truly be called a Potions Master.
A first-year student making Veritaserum at this level...
It was simply unbelievable.
There was no longer any way to describe him with the word "genius" alone.
If Dudley himself had not said he made it, Dumbledore probably would have assumed it was Snape's work.
"That's because Professor Snape teaches very well."
Dudley answered with relative humility.
With his absurdly high talent for Potions, combined with obsessive dedication, and further enhanced by his Magic Data Eyes...
Potion-making, which looked impossibly complicated to everyone else, full of complex steps and an extremely low success rate...
was, to Dudley, something remarkably simple.
"It seems you've already finished this week's assignment ahead of schedule."
The corners of Snape's mouth lifted slightly, forming a curve so faint it was almost impossible to notice.
He really was worthy of being Snape's personal pupil.
"Yes, Professor Snape."
"In that case, we'll change your weekend potions to something else. How about Thunderbrew and the Edurus Potion?"
Thunderbrew was a defensive potion capable of creating a storm around the user, stunning and injuring nearby enemies.
The Edurus Potion was also defensive. After being consumed, it caused a stone-like protective layer to form over the skin, making it extremely durable and greatly increasing the body's defense, with an effect similar to the Shield Charm.
The difficulty of either of those two potions was no less than that of Veritaserum.
He was very obviously showing off his student.
Blatantly showing Dudley off.
"All right, Professor."
To Dudley, the gap in difficulty between any two potions was practically meaningless.
As long as someone was willing to teach him, he learned with frightening ease.
What even Snape did not know was that Dudley had already begun trying to improve existing potions and even develop new ones.
As the two exchanged those few words, Professor McGonagall watched with obvious envy.
She also wanted a student capable of inheriting her legacy.
Unfortunately, Dudley's performance in Transfiguration was only average. Most of the time, he could only make an object resemble something else without truly changing its essence.
Which was perfectly natural.
If anyone wanted Dudley to turn an apple into a wrench the way a real wizard could, then he would first need to learn equivalent exchange.
"Back to the matter at hand."
While the others were still marveling at Dudley's talent for Potions, he had already taken out a second vial.
He had never forgotten what his real purpose there was.
He pulled out the cork, held it between his fingers, and flicked it lightly, striking the hand of the young wizard from earlier and making him cry out in pain.
Then he let a drop of the potion fall onto his fingertip and flicked again.
The drop of Veritaserum flew with absolute precision straight into the boy's mouth.
By the time Professor McGonagall noticed and tried to stop him, he had already swallowed it on reflex.
Then the questioning began.
Five minutes later, the atmosphere inside the Headmaster's office seemed to drop several degrees.
In truth, those bullies clearly did not target Hermione alone, and it was by no means limited to first-years.
The only difference was that, with her, they felt they could act even more brazenly.
Because she had a Slytherin friend.
That gave them the perfect excuse.
"Minerva, please take them to Filch first. Ask him to keep those students under watch."
Dumbledore rubbed his temples, which had already begun throbbing again.
"Tomorrow, I'll call in their families and deal with their expulsions."
In Hogwarts' history, expelled students had never been rare.
In fact, there had been many.
Five minutes had been enough to expose extremely serious incidents, both the things they had already done and the things they had still intended to do.
"Also, Gryffindor will lose two hundred points."
This time, even Professor McGonagall, as Head of Gryffindor House, said nothing further.
With her face pale and rigid, she led the children away to Filch.
They were not even being sent back to their common room before detention.
That alone showed just how serious the matter was.
When human beings choose to oppress their own kind, they are often crueler than anything else.
"Albus, it seems Gryffindor also has quite a few talented people. They may not know Dark Magic, but their hearts may be no better than those of dark wizards. In some respects, perhaps they are even worse."
Not long after McGonagall left, Snape spoke without the slightest mercy.
Unlike Dumbledore and McGonagall, he had already seen Gryffindor's cruel side when he was young.
Malice for no reason at first.
Using numbers to crush someone who stood alone.
Humiliation taken to the extreme.
Always claiming it was just a joke or harmless fun, yet coming dangerously close to taking someone's life.
Of course, he had also struck back, and struck back even harder more than once...
But in the end, two fists could never beat four hands.
Dumbledore replied firmly,
"Severus, this is only an exception. A minority among many children."
"An exception? Five exceptions? What is this, a clearance sale on isolated incidents?"
The mocking smile on Snape's face deepened.
Things like this, of course, were never caused by just a few first-year children alone.
More often than not, there were older students quietly encouraging it from behind.
And naturally, the problem was not limited to Gryffindor either...
The other three Houses were probably not in much better shape.
Had things really become this serious already?
Dumbledore simply did not answer Snape.
No one knew where he pulled it from, but suddenly a jar of sweets was already in his hands.
From inside came the constant sound of buzzing.
Without question, they were Acid Pops.
He loved sweets.
Eating them helped ease the frustration inside him.
After putting several into his mouth, Dumbledore's mood visibly improved.
This time, instead of asking Snape, he went straight to the person most directly involved.
"Young Mr. Dursley, are you satisfied with this outcome?"
Dudley's answer was extremely direct.
"Of course not."
The moment he heard that, Dumbledore popped a few more sweets into his mouth.
It really was depressing.
"You see, they've already been expelled..."
"They're only going to be."
Dudley curled his lips.
To be honest, even expulsion still felt too light.
"Even if they are expelled from Hogwarts, they can still study at other magical schools. There are three in Europe alone."
"But have you really thought about this, Professor Dumbledore? For the people who suffered at their hands, this may become a shadow that never disappears for the rest of their lives. Something that might take a lifetime to heal..."
As he said that, Dudley took a deep breath and spoke with absolute seriousness.
"In my opinion, this has to be dealt with at the root."
"I believe..."
"That Hogwarts should not be divided into Houses."
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