"I…" Harry hesitated, unsure where to begin.
"Sit down, we can talk slowly," Dudley said with a smile.
Harry slowly sat on a nearby chair. After a moment of silence, he said, "I don't know why that glass disappeared. It's just… when I'm in danger or really angry, strange things often happen."
"Oh? Are there other strange things?" Dudley asked thoughtfully.
Harry took a breath and glanced at Dudley. "Like, Uncle Vernon used to hate my messy hair and would cut it short, but the next day, it'd grow back. You remember that, right?" Harry said slowly.
Dudley nodded. There was indeed such an incident. No matter how short they cut Harry's hair, it always grew back overnight.
"So, I'm curious about what's going on, too," Harry shrugged.
He was telling the truth. Though he often fantasized about having powerful abilities, he figured it was just his imagination.
Dudley said nothing. He could tell Harry wasn't lying, meaning he genuinely didn't understand these events.
"Alright," Dudley said, not pressing further. He stood up slowly.
Since he couldn't get answers, he didn't force it. His priority was adapting to his body and digesting the extraordinary characteristics within him. Of course, he also needed to lose all that fat.
As he passed Harry, Dudley patted his shoulder. Harry flinched instinctively, but Dudley's hand landed lightly.
"What I did before was wrong. I won't bully you anymore," Dudley said, then walked into the darkness, disappearing up the stairwell.
"Has he… lost his mind?" Harry muttered, snapping out of his daze.
Was this the same Dudley he knew? Today, Dudley seemed like a different person.
"Forget it. If he's really lost his mind, I hope he stays that way," Harry shook his head, poured a glass of water, drank it, and returned to his stairwell to sleep.
The weekend and Dudley's birthday passed. Next, they faced the short remaining school term and promotion to the next grade.
To Harry's surprise, Dudley kept his word. Over the next month, he didn't bully him once. Not only that, Dudley acknowledged his obesity and began losing weight.
This stunned Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, who somehow accepted it all. Under Dudley's persuasion, Harry's life improved significantly. For over a month, Vernon and Petunia weren't exactly kind to Harry, but they stopped berating him as before.
This life felt surreal to Harry.
Summer vacation arrived quickly.
"It's been over a month since I returned from that eerie world. How pleasant," Dudley said, rolling out of bed.
He pulled open the curtains, gazing at the sunny world outside, a bright smile curving his lips. After more than a month, he'd adapted to this life—the one that should've been his.
No eerie gods, no evil monsters, just minor classmate squabbles—this was childhood.
Dudley looked in the mirror. A month of dieting had worked; he'd shed much of his fat. Now, he looked energetic, with golden hair, blue eyes, and defined features—far better than his former pig-like image, even somewhat handsome.
"Hmm, next, I need to plan how to digest the extraordinary characteristics," Dudley thought.
Digesting extraordinary characteristics required acting—performing deeds aligned with the sequence's name. His current Sequence 9s were Lawyer and Arbitrator.
Acting out these sequences was challenging for a child his age. The Lawyer sequence was best fulfilled by becoming a real lawyer, embodying the role to rapidly digest the characteristics. But at eleven, Dudley couldn't do that.
The Arbitrator sequence was similar; a profession involving arbitration would accelerate digestion. However, Dudley lacked the means.
He could act as a Lawyer and Arbitrator at school, mediating among classmates, but such actions were superficial, so even after a month, he hadn't fully digested the characteristics.
This was slow for Dudley, who'd reached a high sequence in that eerie world. He planned to find part-time jobs during summer vacation to complete his acting and fully digest the characteristics.
Checking the time, Dudley headed downstairs, deep in thought.
In the kitchen, Aunt Petunia said, "Go fry the eggs, Harry."
"Okay, Aunt Petunia," Harry replied obediently. Recently, life at Dudley's house had been good, and he diligently followed Petunia's instructions.
"Oh, what a beautiful day. Our little Dudley's up so early," Petunia smiled as Dudley approached.
"Honey, are you going for a run first, or straight to breakfast?" she asked.
"Breakfast," Dudley said, nodding at Harry.
"Alright." Petunia kissed Dudley's forehead.
"Dad, Mom, I was thinking earlier—Harry's grown up, and that stairwell doesn't seem suitable for him anymore. Why not let him move into the small bedroom on the second floor?" Dudley said casually.
Vernon, reading the news, frowned immediately. Petunia's expression darkened.
Harry stared at Dudley in shock, so startled that a wisp of black smoke rose from the egg frying in the pan.
"Just in case he accidentally breaks the stairwell by leaning on it too much," Dudley added lightly, shrugging.
"Well… Hmm, let's see how he behaves," Vernon said hesitantly, finding Dudley's reasoning sound.
"Hmph, if he doesn't make any mistakes before summer vacation ends, I suppose he can move upstairs," Petunia said reluctantly.
"Very good," Dudley nodded.
A clatter came from the mailbox outside.
"Harry, go get the mail!" Dudley winked at Harry and called out loudly.
"Got it!" Harry set down the burnt eggs and ran to the door.
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