When Dudley and Dumbledore returned to Harry and the others, more than an hour had passed.
"What did you discuss? Why were you gone for so long?" Harry asked with obvious curiosity.
"We talked about how to be an exemplary Hogwarts student!" Dudley replied with a cheerful smile.
"You're already an outstanding student. I'd wager that even in all of Hogwarts' history, you could rank in the top ten," Ron said with complete sincerity.
"Maybe top three. At least I haven't seen in 'Hogwarts: A History' any first-year student who defeated a troll and bested a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor," Hermione added thoughtfully.
Dudley replied with mock exasperation, "Isn't it possible that first-year students generally don't fight their Defense professors?"
"Excellent point!" Hermione considered this logic and nodded approvingly.
"Hahaha..." Everyone exchanged glances and burst into laughter.
Hogwarts' end-of-year feast arrived with great fanfare. For everyone, this represented a magnificent conclusion. After tonight, their semester would officially end.
Besides enjoying the elaborate banquet, the most significant event was the House Cup announcement. However, on this point, absolutely no suspense remained.
The five hundred points Dudley had earned completely demolished the competition, securing Gryffindor's victory well before the feast even began. Therefore, when they entered the Great Hall, they already saw crimson banners everywhere and the proud lion representing Gryffindor.
That evening, Professor McGonagall appeared genuinely delighted, even indulging in a rare drink that left her face flushed and looking years younger.
Some troublemakers, particularly Fred and George, shouted "Big D" when Dumbledore announced Gryffindor's House Cup victory, causing numerous others to respond enthusiastically. Soon echoes of "Big D" reverberated throughout the entire Great Hall.
Dudley felt he had never experienced such mortification in his entire life. He desperately wanted to escape but found himself trapped by circumstance.
However, observing Malfoy and Snape's expressions, which resembled people who had swallowed particularly unpleasant insects, still brought him considerable satisfaction.
A week later, their academic results were announced as scheduled. Unsurprisingly, Dudley claimed first place with grades that far exceeded everyone else's performance. He even received the highest possible rating in Potions class, clearly demonstrating that Snape couldn't identify any legitimate reason to reduce Dudley's scores.
Hermione secured second place with truly excellent results. She possessed genuine magical talent, not merely the ability to memorize textbooks, as she modestly claimed.
As for Harry and Ron, although both had worried intensely before examinations, with assistance from Dudley and Hermione, they passed smoothly and achieved quite respectable grades.
What proved somewhat disappointing was that Malfoy's results were also quite impressive. For some mysterious reason during the semester's latter half, he had suddenly begun studying seriously. Although he ultimately couldn't surpass Harry and Hermione, he claimed first place within Slytherin house.
Regarding Goyle and Crabbe, Harry and Ron had always assumed they lacked sufficient intelligence and would probably fail spectacularly, possibly facing expulsion. However, the actual result showed both had passed adequately.
Harry and Ron felt deeply disappointed by this outcome. However, as Ron philosophically observed, nothing proceeds perfectly smoothly. There are always some regrets.
The holiday period soon arrived. After packing their belongings and leaving luggage in their dormitories, they discovered upon finishing breakfast that their bags had mysteriously vanished.
This development meant they would soon board the Hogwarts Express and depart the school that had housed them for most of the year.
Before departure, all students received official notices warning against holiday magic use and requiring signed confirmation of understanding.
"I keep hoping they'll forget to send this notice to me," George said with genuine regret.
"Just once would be wonderful," Fred agreed wistfully.
"Stop dreaming," Ron said while signing his document, unable to suppress his amusement.
The others began adding their signatures to the official notices. Dudley carefully examined the parchment in his hands.
He recalled Dumbledore mentioning that the Trace represented a special magical monitoring charm. If that was accurate, then when this enchantment took effect on him, there must be a detectable process.
The notice before him clearly contained magical traces.
"Finite Incantatem!" Dudley quietly cast magic, attempting to erase the enchantment on the document.
However, he quickly discovered this spell couldn't take effect. The magic proved too deeply embedded or protected.
Seeing that others had already signed their names and returned their notices, Dudley had no choice but to write his own signature.
Perhaps, given sufficient time, he could discover a method to break the magic on the notice, but clearly the Ministry wouldn't provide such an opportunity.
The moment Dudley signed his name, he felt as though he had established some mysterious connection with a distant source. This connection felt faint and incredibly weak, like having a spider's thread attached to his body, almost imperceptible. Only because Dudley's spiritual intuition had grown so acute could he detect such a subtle phenomenon.
Dudley attempted to use his powerful intuition to sever this connection, utilizing his beyonder abilities to enhance his authority and strengthen his spiritual force.
He knew that as long as he could perceive that thread-like magical charm, affecting it wouldn't prove particularly difficult.
After a moment of concentrated effort, the corners of Dudley's mouth curved into a satisfied smile.
"Cutting the connection temporarily presents no problem. I can maintain the disruption for about a minute. Any longer might be detected as abnormal, but in a genuine emergency, I could completely sever this connection," Dudley thought with satisfaction.
Moreover, he could sense that this magic would continuously weaken over time, which explained why they needed to sign new notices every year before holidays.
"Also, Dumbledore hinted that wandless magic could avoid Trace detection to some extent and wouldn't leave incriminating evidence. This way, the Ministry's restrictions would be almost negligible for me," Dudley reflected.
He didn't necessarily plan to use magic during summer holidays, but he required the capability to cast spells without detection if circumstances demanded it.
Shortly after submitting their notices, Hagrid appeared in the Great Hall, leading the first-year students to once again cross the Black Lake by boat and arrive at the Hogwarts Express platform.
Dudley looked back toward Hogwarts Castle, which had become barely visible in the distance.
"I hope next year won't bring so many dramatic incidents," Dudley said thoughtfully.
"Definitely not. Surely we won't encounter Voldemort again next year," Harry said with casual confidence.