I am Harry Potter's Cousin, Big D

That greasy voice, paired with the striking platinum blonde hair that caught his eye—who else could it be but Malfoy?

"Robert, who do you think I am? I'm a Malfoy, a Malfoy who keeps his word."

"Don't compare me to others."

Malfoy looked down his nose at Ron, rising slightly on his toes in an attempt to appear taller. Unfortunately, he was still a bit shorter than Ron, so even on his tiptoes, they were eye to eye.

"But you're late."

Ron's voice rose as he yelled, "And my name is Ron, Ron Weasley, not Robert or whatever."

"Alright, Robert."

Malfoy waved his hand dismissively, clearly uninterested in continuing the conversation, which only infuriated Ron more. His gaze then shifted to Harry.

"Potter, where's your assistant? Is it this Robert, or… uh…"

Malfoy had intended to mock Harry but hesitated when he saw Hermione. Everyone in Slytherin knew Dudley and this Gryffindor girl were close.

"It's Ron, it's Ron," Harry quickly corrected. "Hermione just came along out of curiosity; she won't interfere."

He didn't want to involve Hermione either.

Ron glared at Malfoy, itching for a fight. "Well then, Malfoy, where's your assistant? What about those two little fat ones by your side? Or are you going to go it alone?"

"Hmph, if you want to make it a two-on-one fight, go ahead."

Malfoy wasn't the least bit intimidated by Ron's threat. Potter was somewhat worthy of a fight, but a mere little Roonil Wazlib? Besides, he had found a very reliable assistant.

"Draco, you didn't mean me by 'assistant,' did you?"

Another voice came from outside the door, a massive figure blocking the entrance's light.

"Dudley (D-bro)?!"

Hearing that familiar voice, two surprised ones inside the room echoed.

"Hmph hmph, this is my assistant."

Malfoy said proudly, raising his eyebrows provocatively at Harry.

Initially, Malfoy had intended to break the appointment, but that thought was quickly extinguished. After a period of guidance from Dudley, he had changed a lot. Of course, this had nothing to do with Malfoy liking to cause trouble for Harry—he simply found Harry annoying. If before it was just because Harry wouldn't be his friend, now it had become, "Why does Potter get to have a brother like that?"

"I don't recall agreeing," Dudley said, shaking his head with a helpless look. Make me fight my own brother?

Malfoy had changed a lot during this time; at least he wasn't as annoying as before, or Dudley wouldn't have continued teaching him.

"What are you guys doing meeting here in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?"

Dudley had just finished his evening workout and was returning to the Slytherin common room when he bumped into Malfoy sneaking out. Hearing that he had arranged to meet Harry, he decided to tag along.

Harry glared at Malfoy and began to explain. This is my brother!

"Wizarding duel?"

After hearing Harry's explanation, Dudley's expression became even more peculiar. He glanced around the cramped room, which barely had enough space for a few people to stand.

"Here?"

How could these two even think of dueling in a place where it was difficult to move? Were they going to decide the winner by playing poker? Hey, don't say it—there are exactly three people here.

Of course, "difficult to move" was based on Dudley's own size.

"Hermione, they're going to duel, why are you here?"

Dudley walked over to Hermione, took off his jacket, and draped it over her. The castle was still a bit cold at night.

"I couldn't sleep and was worried they'd get caught and lose points, so I came over."

Hermione stammered a few sentences, omitting what had happened in the Gryffindor common room. Seeing that Dudley didn't press the matter, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

She had thought it was just a childish make-believe duel, but after seeing Harry and Malfoy staring at each other as if sparks were flying in the air, Dudley instantly became interested.

So he asked, "You really want to fight?"

"Yeah!" the two said in unison.

"Then go ahead and fight."

Dudley had no intention of stopping them.

"Dudley?" Hermione looked at him in surprise. Harry was his brother, after all.

Dudley shrugged. While he didn't know why these two disliked each other, well… just get it done. Actually, win or lose, it wouldn't do either of them any harm at this stage, so why stop them?

With their current knowledge of magic, it would be quite impressive if they could even produce a few sparks from their wands. Most of the time, it would still be hand-to-hand combat, at most leaving a black eye. The potions Dudley was making now could easily heal such superficial injuries. Not everyone was like Hermione, who had almost finished reviewing the second year's curriculum in her first year.

Moreover, the friendship between boys is often forged through fights.

"Tomorrow morning at six, same place."

If they really wanted to duel, Dudley would definitely recommend changing the location to outside Hogwarts Castle. Not only was it spacious, but there would be no one around early in the morning, so they could fight however they wanted.

"Now! Go back to bed!"

Dudley was against staying up late because it was bad for the body, liver, and skin, but he supported getting up early.

With Dudley speaking, even if the two wanted to fight, they couldn't—for the time being.

They obediently followed behind Dudley.

The group headed back the way they came. Dudley would definitely see Hermione and the others back to Gryffindor first before returning to Slytherin with Malfoy.

Frankly, Hogwarts Castle's interior was vast—much larger than it appeared from the outside. It was clear that Hogwarts had been subjected to an Undetectable Extension Charm. The castle contained a total of 142 staircases. The sheer number was enough to make one's scalp tingle.

However, just remembering the 142 staircases was useless because they constantly moved and shifted. With so many staircases that could combine and rearrange, how many possible routes were there? It was as complex as a giant maze, and simply trying not to get lost was no easy task.

There was even a saying at Hogwarts: if you haven't gotten lost here, you haven't truly attended classes.

Fortunately, most of the time, the staircases behaved normally. Otherwise, young wizards would spend all day just trying to find their way.

The magic of the Hogwarts staircases was far from over. Every Friday, they connected to strange places, rooms would appear that no one recognized, or they would lead to inexplicable locations. Many young wizards loved exploring Hogwarts because you never knew what surprise awaited next.

Dudley looked thoughtfully at a corridor that definitely had not appeared in his memory.

Clearly, he was experiencing one of those surprises.

But he wasn't happy about it at all.

"This looks like the forbidden corridor on the fourth floor?! How did we get here?"

Ron looked around, eyes wide with surprise.

[Chapter Complete]

***

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