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"Did you see that just now? The way Lockhart had his wand stolen was absolutely ridiculous."
Not long after they left the classroom, Ron began imitating Lockhart in an exaggerated tone.
But he only managed to make Harry laugh.
Hermione thought it was childish.
Malfoy thought Ron had failed to capture the essence of it and that his own imitation was far more accurate.
"Oh, Big D, what do you need that whole cage of things for?"
Ron pointed at the cage in Dudley's hands.
Even after being locked back inside the cage, those Cornish pixies kept chattering nonstop.
When they saw Ron talking about them, a few of them even made faces at him.
It was obvious they could understand human language, unlike Doxies.
Those things were basically the cockroaches of magical creatures, completely incapable of communication.
"I'm going to use them for a few experiments. Oh, Ron, they're insulting you."
"Insulting me? What are they calling me?"
Ron froze when he heard that.
Then his eyes widened.
"D, you understand what they're saying?"
"I understand a little bit of pixie language."
Dudley explained as he walked.
"They said you're as noisy as a duck. Hm, now they're calling you a red-haired duck."
"Brilliant!"
Ron praised him sincerely.
Of course, he was not referring to the fact that he had been called a red-haired duck.
No one was going to argue with a bunch of pixies.
"Just a little. Just a little."
Dudley said, pretending to be modest.
'He even understands pixie language. As expected of Big D.'
Malfoy and Harry thought at the same time.
'How does Dudley know how to do everything? No, I need to ask him to teach me this.'
Hermione thought.
...
At midnight, the moon had already climbed above the branches.
The students had entered dreamland early, and all of Hogwarts was gradually growing quiet as well.
After finishing his training, Dudley returned to the dormitory.
It was still the same room from first year.
Still occupied by him alone.
Malfoy had wanted to move in and share the room with him, but Dudley had rejected him without hesitation.
If he could enjoy a room all to himself, why share it with someone else?
And with another boy, no less?
Unfortunately, at the moment, Hogwarts still did not allow mixed dormitories for boys and girls.
Dudley found a table and placed the cage full of Cornish pixies on it.
That group of little destroyers, despite being locked up for the entire day, was still extremely active.
He curled his finger.
The alchemy array gave off a faint glow.
From inside the cage, a hand stretched out, grabbed one of the Cornish pixies, and pulled it out.
Cornish pixies were not cute creatures.
But that blue skin made Dudley think of the creatures from a certain fairy tale.
The Smurfs.
Now that he thought about it, it seemed he had once been called Gargamel.
Of course, the Smurfs were much cuter than these things.
Dudley wanted to test the Magical Creature Taming Technique.
It was a very special ability.
Like Magical Creature Language, it only worked on magical creatures.
The Cornish pixie that had been pulled out looked a little frightened.
It also seemed to have sensed something and began struggling desperately to break free from that wooden palm.
Unfortunately, it was useless.
Dudley looked at the faint word "tamable" appearing above its head and activated the Magical Creature Taming Technique.
The instant he activated it, the Cornish pixie froze in place as if it had been struck by the Full Body-Bind Curse.
A short while later, a thin layer of blue light began to emanate from its head.
Dudley had the impression that something had been pulled out from inside his body.
But looking at the panel display, everything remained normal.
Even his magic showed no change whatsoever.
It was as if that had only been an illusion.
Before he could think too much about it, he felt as if something extra had appeared in his mind.
There seemed to be a new connection between him and that Cornish pixie.
To confirm it, Dudley moved his hand slightly.
The large wooden hand immediately released the Cornish pixie.
It did not run away, attack, or even try to play a prank.
On the contrary, it abandoned its usual mischief and looked at Dudley timidly.
With a thought, Dudley took out his homemade magical creature feed, specially made for pixies like this one.
Then he picked up one piece and offered it over.
The Cornish pixie immediately hugged the feed and began devouring it eagerly.
So that was it.
It was hungry.
The first piece was quickly eaten.
So Dudley gave it a second one.
He felt that he could understand what the creature was thinking.
It was just that the feeling was still unfamiliar.
He would need plenty of practice.
Likewise, the Cornish pixie could also understand what Dudley was thinking.
With just a single thought from Dudley, the Cornish pixie took flight and brought a book over from the table.
It was like a familiar from some other magical world.
Perhaps even more useful than a familiar.
Soon after, Dudley discovered something else.
On the system display, the words that had previously been "tamable" had changed.
Now they read, "Can evolve if properly cultivated."
Can evolve? Evolution?
'Hm... Why does this feel strange?'
A strange thought appeared in Dudley's mind.
'This... I'm not raising a Pokémon, am I?'
Or was he a Digimon Tamer?
Dudley touched his smooth chin.
Then the question was... where was his Digivice?
Maybe he could cosplay as a druid.
Dudley also wanted to know what this evolution actually was.
Whether it was the same kind of evolution he was imagining.
So he chose to evolve it.
In the next instant, a bright yet gentle light enveloped the Cornish pixie's entire body.
Its body began transforming before Dudley's eyes.
One moment, it grew larger, then smaller.
The next, taller, then shorter.
Ten seconds passed.
Finally, the light faded.
A new Cornish pixie appeared before Dudley's eyes.
At the instant the transformation ended, it even seemed as if tiny stars were sparkling around it.
Its overall appearance was still that of a Cornish pixie.
Only, its body had grown more than twice as large.
Its previously dry, scrawny body had also swelled somewhat.
The two antennae on top of its head had gradually transformed into a pair of pointed horns.
This...
And you're still going to tell me this isn't a Pokémon?
Dudley looked at the Cornish pixie, whose appearance had changed so much, and could not stop a thought from surfacing in his mind.
Would he receive a copyright cease-and-desist letter?
Cornish Pixie LV2.
Those were the words displayed above the Cornish pixie's head after the evolution was complete.
"From now on, your name is Pixie."
Without caring whether the pixie agreed or not, Dudley forcefully decided its name.
A pixie is a fairy from European folklore.
Cornish pixies were pixies, but they were also fairies.
Well, it made sense.
Of course, the name was Pixie, not Clefable.
As for cease-and-desist letters or anything like that, Dudley declared that he would refuse to accept them.
If they insisted on sending one, then he would just have to buy GF in advance.
After all, it was still 1992.
After the evolution, the Cornish pixie had not only become larger.
Its strength had clearly increased as well.
Its speed had become even greater.
And it seemed to have gained a special ability.
"Snap."
Pixie snapped its fingers.
Blue powder scattered from its fingertips.
Then a book floated up out of nowhere.
"Is that your ability?"
Pixie nodded in response.
Well, well.
Dudley became interested at once.
Then he looked at the cage full of Cornish pixies.
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