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Over the next few weeks, Madison would always "coincidentally" run into Dudley.
For example, she would run into him by chance in the library.
Or at night, when he was returning from training to the dormitory.
Each time, it was only a few words.
A few moments where their eyes met.
A few accidental touches between their bodies.
Madison was confident that she had already left an extremely deep impression on him.
Now, if she suddenly disappeared...
All she had to do was wait for him to come looking for her on his own.
Then one day passed.
Madison did not panic in the slightest.
Three days passed.
Madison remained steady, like someone sitting calmly by the lake waiting for a fish to bite.
A week passed.
Madison felt that Dudley's willpower was truly impressive, to endure for so long.
A month passed.
As for Dudley, there was still no reaction at all.
Madison began to doubt herself.
It was still that same old issue.
If her sequence of moves had been used on any other young wizard, probably no one in Hogwarts would have been able to withstand it.
Not even Saint Potter would have been an exception.
But, for some reason, she had used it on Dudley of all people.
"How is this possible? Something must have gone wrong somewhere."
She bit her lower lip hard and began recalling everything that had happened during that period.
There was no problem at all.
Not a single detail had gone wrong.
Everything had been absolutely perfect.
But...
What was going on?
Had her charm lost its effect?
Madison glanced at the roommates gathered in front of her, wearing fawning expressions.
Her charm was even more powerful than that of an original Veela.
Not only young wizards, even young witches could not control themselves.
It worked on both sides.
So the problem was not with her.
Could that Mr. Dursley not like girls?
It was at that moment that Dudley and Hermione appeared side by side, passing by her.
Throughout the entire process, Dudley's gaze remained fixed on Hermione.
That gentle look seemed like it could melt her.
It did not move away for even an instant.
Let alone land on Madison.
'He likes girls!'
That was Madison's first thought.
A nameless fury immediately rose in her heart.
'In what way am I inferior to that Granger? Those huge front teeth and that messy hair. She never knows how to make herself look presentable. Compared to me, she looks like a village girl.'
'Losing to someone like that... I won't accept it!'
With a crack, Madison snapped the quill in her hand.
When Veelas became agitated, their strength increased considerably.
Besides, their tempers were not good, and they were easily worked up.
While inheriting her mother's beauty and charm, Madison had also inherited these flaws.
She pushed her roommates aside and stormed back to the dormitory.
Then she took a gleaming crown inlaid with gems out of the trunk under her bed.
On the lower edge of the crown, a famous phrase was engraved.
'Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure.'
She had found it not long after entering the school, in a magical room on the eighth floor.
Ravenclaw's Diadem.
The relic of Rowena Ravenclaw, one of the four founders of Hogwarts.
After hesitating for a moment, Madison gently placed the diadem on her head.
Then she closed her eyes.
"Diadem, oh diadem, please tell me. How can I capture a wizard's heart?"
Madison's voice echoed through the dormitory.
The diadem emitted a faint light, as if it were communicating with her.
...
October arrived.
Damp cold filled the air, seeping into the castle.
Suddenly, a wave of colds spread among the students, leaving Madam Pomfrey, as the school nurse, extremely busy.
Fortunately, for wizards, a simple cold was nothing serious.
After a few doses of potion, they soon recovered their energy.
"Hey, Potter. If I were you, I wouldn't go to that ghost's deathday party."
Malfoy was playing with a gilded cane in his hand.
It was the birthday present Dudley had given him.
The previous year, he had given Dudley a cane.
This year, Dudley had returned the favor with one for him.
And it was no ordinary cane.
Dudley had added several elements of Magic Armor Modification to it.
It was easy to tell that Malfoy liked it very much.
"You need to remember your identity. We're alive."
Harry had received an invitation from Sir Nicholas, Nearly Headless Nick, to his four-hundredth deathday party.
Not knowing whether he should attend or not, Harry went looking for his companions.
Malfoy's line about remembering his own identity made Harry a little annoyed.
"I don't think going to a ghost's deathday party is something shameful."
Seeing that Harry had not understood what he meant, Malfoy simply spread his hands, indicating that he could do whatever he wanted.
Listen or don't.
Then he went to find Ron, saying he wanted a wonderful and exciting round of Wizard Cards.
"Harry... this time, Draco isn't wrong."
Dudley's voice sounded from behind them.
"A living person going to a ghost's deathday party definitely won't be a pleasant experience."
"Why?"
Hermione lowered the book in her hand and asked seriously.
If there was a question that even Miss Know-It-All did not know how to answer, there could only be one reason.
It was not written in the books.
"Maybe you're all too used to spending time with Hogwarts ghosts and think they aren't very different from ordinary people. But that view is undoubtedly wrong."
"They are deceased people from the other world. They don't like anything living, and their hearing and senses are also extremely different from ours."
Dudley began explaining what he knew about ghosts to the others.
"The most important point is that what ghosts 'eat' is very different from what we eat."
"If you want to listen to music as grating as wood being sawed in the middle of a biting cold wind, and also enjoy cakes covered in maggots and juice giving off a foul stench, then you can try experiencing it."
"I see."
Hermione nodded, opened her book again, and said with great decisiveness.
"I think I'll pass on that wonderful experience."
Harry was not very good at refusing others.
Even after hearing Dudley's explanation, he still could not bring himself to refuse Sir Nicholas.
So he turned his gaze to Ron.
"My friend, you wouldn't want me to starve and freeze, would you?"
Ron shook his head as fast as a rattle.
He refused.
Both inside and out.
If he had not known anything, maybe he could have accompanied Harry once.
But now that he knew what the situation was like, that really was something only ghosts would want to attend.
"I'd still rather enjoy delicious food in a warm hall."
Even Neville said that.
"Harry, I think you should learn how to refuse."
Dudley patted Harry on the shoulder.
"Do you still remember the first word I learned?"
Harry answered without thinking.
"Never?"
He knew Dudley's history all too well.
"That's right."
Dudley nodded.
"Sometimes, learning how to refuse isn't necessarily a bad thing."
Especially when facing things you simply could not do, or things you did not want to do at all.
As he spoke, Dudley turned his gaze to the other side of the castle corridor.
"Besides, I think we have work ahead of us."
Following Dudley's gaze, everyone spotted a young witch with silver eyes, dark golden-brown hair, and pale skin, walking barefoot through Hogwarts Castle.
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