Harry Potter: From Muggle Cousin to Conceptual Wizard

Chapter 260 The Ghost Disappears! Slanderous Public Opinion! The Old Bat's Regret!

"Thank you for your explanation, Mr. Riddle."

I'll lock it up for you first, and you can stay in this dark and gloomy diary for a while. Once I've figured out the magic wand, I'll ask for your help with the experiments.

Dudley was in a good mood and politely said goodbye to the younger version of Voldemort's soul.

Upon hearing this, the youthful version of Voldemort's spirit panicked: "What wand? You still won't give up? You..."

"Return the chains to their original positions!"

Politeness is one thing, but Dali can't stay polite forever.

Seeing the teenage version of Voldemort persisting in questioning, he directly sent the orca Patronus forward, which extinguished the teenage version of Voldemort's soul avatar with a single pectoral fin.

Then, he activated the sealing magic that Dumbledore had set on the Horcrux, and the magical chains that shimmered with light reappeared, firmly sealing the Horcrux.

Next, Dudley took out the dragon skin package and put the sealed diary Horcrux inside. He then activated the sealing magic on the dragon skin package to properly seal the diary and Gaunt Ring Horcrux, which he then carried with him.

After tidying up, Dudley and Harry were left alone in the three-in-one room created by the Room of Requirement.

Keep practicing, keep learning!

Dudley said to Harry, then went over to the workbench and continued trying to make a special anti-enemy wand from the new wood.

The regret remains unresolved, and Dali still needs to work harder.

……

The river of time flows ceaselessly forward.

Dudley and Dumbledore's plans were being implemented one by one, and the impact of those plans was gradually spreading.

And some things that didn't happen to them were also happening.

In the magical world.

Dumbledore's press conference and the new curriculum reforms at Hogwarts were published in newspapers and spread far and wide.

This greatly boosted the sense of security and self-confidence of ordinary British wizards.

The Aurors from the Ministries of Magic of various Western countries and the anti-crime squads dispatched by China are active in various parts of the Western countries, and they occasionally discover traces of the ghost cultivator Mo Xuan, but they have never been able to completely surround and trap him.

Meanwhile, ghosts have recently begun to mysteriously disappear in the magical communities of Western countries.

As is well known, ghosts cannot stray too far from the place of death.

These frequent and mysterious disappearances of ghosts have alerted the Aurors from various countries and the Chinese anti-crime squad. They speculate that it is highly likely that the ghost cultivator Mo Xuan is using the broken Ten Thousand Soul Banner to commit crimes.

However, since ghosts are distributed in various countries and cannot be concentrated in one place, it is difficult for them to use this clue to carry out a plan to ambush and kill the ghost cultivator Mo Xuan.

We can only slightly divert our forces or send more people to deploy control over areas in various countries where ghosts are prevalent.

In mid-November 1991, renowned British wand maker Gario Ollivander wrote a groundbreaking book in the field of wands, "Inside the Wand," which explained how to communicate with the spiritual consciousness of the wand.

Upon its publication, the book immediately caused a sensation in the magical world, especially among wand makers in various countries.

It is worth mentioning that Master Ollivander clearly states on the title page of this book that the inspiration for communicating with the spiritual consciousness of the wand came from Mr. Dudley Dursley, the First Assistant Teacher of Hogwarts, co-creator of the Tranquility Charm, and recipient of the Order of Merlin First Class.

Therefore, the first author of this book is Dali Dursley, and Gallio Ollivander is only the second author.

At the same time, Rita Skeeter, a former columnist for the Daily Prophet, was cured and discharged from St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Arts.

At this time of major news, Rita, who hates Daddy to the core because of her bizarre logic, once again began to use her ability to fabricate and spread rumors.

The Daily Prophet dared not take her back, so she turned to the wizarding world's low-class tabloids and magical radio stations, publishing numerous news reports that slandered Dudley.

Dudley's reputation was merely a facade; he used the Potter family's fortune to bribe Master Ollivander, who then promoted him and enhanced his prestige.

Although these obscure magical media outlets had a narrow audience and could not influence many wizards, they did manage to stir up a slight, unhealthy trend of slandering Dudley within the British magical community.

When the Ministry of Magic's media oversight department took notice of the matter and forced these second-rate newspapers and radio stations to stop slandering Dudley and publish statements to clarify the situation, this unhealthy trend actually grew stronger.

Because Rita Skeeter spread rumors among journalists and media circles in the wizarding world that this was the result of Dudley bribing Ministry of Magic officials to put pressure on various newspapers and radio stations.

If rumors are repeated too often, they will become widely believed and escalate.

Dudley, who was far away at Hogwarts, was initially unaware of this.

It wasn't until Hermione, who loved reading books and newspapers and subscribed to most of the wizarding world's newspapers and magazines, discovered this situation and informed Dudley that he learned about it.

Dudley had neither the mood nor the time to leave Hogwarts to deal with Rita Skeeter, a clown, so he made a very simple but effective counterattack.

That is, to have the student leaders he appointed spread the word about this among the Hogwarts student body.

Dudley's reputation among Hogwarts students is now at its peak. When most students hear about this, they discuss it among themselves and write letters to their wizard parents and relatives to prove Dudley's innocence.

Compared to relying on hearsay and believing in obscure media, adult wizards in the magical world clearly trust their own children more.

Therefore, the negative public opinion against Dudley that Rita Skeeter had painstakingly created was quickly dismantled and eliminated.

This infuriated Rita, and she lost her job once again, with even low-class tabloids and radio stations refusing to hire her.

Coincidentally, the Hogwarts Quidditch tournament for the current school year was held in the latter half of November.

Since the problem was solved by the students of Hogwarts, Rita decided to take this opportunity to use her Animagus powers to transform into a small beetle, infiltrate Hogwarts, gather dirt on Dudley at the school, and launch another attack on Dudley's reputation.

At Hogwarts.

Many significant events also occurred from the fourth Friday of October until the middle to late November.

In chronological order, Sirius Black and Snape were the first to take over the Defense Against the Dark Arts professorship, restarting the class after it had been suspended for almost two months.

Dudley also received a reward from the system for resolving the regrettable incident, thanks to Snape's appointment.

【Congratulations to the host! 】

[Successfully resolved a Rank A regrettable incident - the coveted Defense Against the Dark Arts professorship!]

The host, through skillful, flattering, and seemingly reasonable arguments, influenced the thinking of Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, leading him to agree to appoint Severus Snape as the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts.

However, the host also proposed that six professors simultaneously hold the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor to share the burden of the curse Voldemort placed on that position. This made Snape's appointment as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor incomplete and highly flawed.

This unfortunate incident has been largely resolved.

[Special offer, fixed reward: 1 A-level fusion opportunity.]

[Bonus Reward: None.]

[Currently available magic item fusion opportunities: 1 A-grade, 2 C-grade.]