Chapter 9: Meow Meow Meow Meow

Rectangular and furry, the book had four large, round, bright yellow eyes and a row of sharp teeth revealing gum.

Rather than calling it a book, it seemed more like some kind of monster.

Nevertheless, Dudley recognized it as a book at first glance.

Because there were prominent, large, gold-embossed letters on its cover – The Monster Book of Monsters.'

Though Dudley had known about Harry Potter's magical abilities and was fascinated by the magical world, this was his first encounter with something magical since coming to this world. If you counted Shinji Matou's Magus trait, then it would be the second time.

While Dudley was still in a daze, the peculiar book seemed to notice him. It abandoned the pursuit of the cats, turned its head with sharp teeth bared, and rapidly fluttered towards Dudley.

Snowball, seeing this, had its fur standing on end, and its whole body fluffed up. While hissing at the strange book, it also emitted high-pitched screams, issuing a warning.

Unfortunately, Snowball's threat was useless. The strange book continued to flutter rapidly towards Dudley.

Despite being afraid of the strange book, Snowball stayed by Dudley's feet. Its claws extended from under the paw pads, ready to make a desperate stand.

"Hey, how do you deal with this? Cast a spell? But I don't know any," Dudley tried to find a solution, but in the corner of his eye, he noticed one cat lying on the ground motionless.

It was the fourth cat, Toots.

Is Toots injured or dead?

No matter what, it was undoubtedly the strange book's doing.

Dudley already liked cats, and after spending time with these four, his affection for them had grown immensely. Anger surged within him.

"Alright, I'll handle it my way." Saying this, Dudley rolled up his sleeves.

As the strange book approached, he took a sudden step forward and delivered a powerful punch with lightning speed, striking the strange book accurately.

A muffled thud echoed as if a burly man was vigorously slamming a hammer onto the ground, causing a slight tremor in the entire room.

Then, everything fell silent.

With a single punch, Dudley had once again defeated a guy who claimed to be the the strongest high school boxing champion in England.

Slowly retracting his fist from the strange book's cover, Dudley held the book in his hand, and it lay there quietly, showing no signs of movement.

"Wanna try another one?" Dudley pinched the spine of the strange book with one hand and shook it.

By now, the strange book had become very obedient, soft and limp, with two ribbon-like tongues hanging out of its mouth.

"If those are indeed tongues."

'What if I accidentally knocked it to death?'

Seeing the strange book motionless, Dudley couldn't help but think.

'I remember I used only thirty percent of my strength.'

'What if this thing is really dead? How would I compensate?'

While Dudley was lost in these random thoughts, a scream came from outside the door.

"Oh, my Merlin, what on earth happened here?"

Mrs. Figg, still holding a basket of vegetables, rushed in anxiously. Looking at the room that resembled a thief's intrusion, her expression changed slightly. She turned to Dudley and asked, her tone more skeptical than puzzled.

"Little Dudley, what exactly happened?"

To be honest, Mrs. Figg's attitude was already quite good.

Imagine agreeing to help your neighbor by looking after their child, trusting them enough to give them a key to your house. Then, one day, you come home to find them inside a room you specifically locked, and the room is a mess.

If it were you, how would you feel?

At least, Vernon would never be this calm.

"Mrs. Figg, I thought there was a thief in the house." Dudley shook the strange book in his hand. "This thing killed Toots."

Mrs. Figg, pointing at a 'coincidentally passing by' cat, said with confusion, "Wasn't Toots fine over there?"

In fact, when she saw Dudley holding the Monster Book of Monsters,' her pupils shrank, and her heart rate increased.

'Darn, Toots was just pretending to be dead.'

Just as Dudley was at a loss, not knowing how to explain, Snowball gracefully ran to Mrs. Figg's feet.

"Meow, meow, meow (first sound), meow, meow, meow (first sound), miao, miao, miao (second sound)."

This was a tone Dudley had never heard before, and he didn't even know that a cat could make such varied sounds.

Another magical scene unfolded.

"Oh, it turns out to be like this, Snowball." Accompanying Snowball's meows, Mrs. Figg occasionally nodded at Snowball, as if understanding what was being said.

Turning her head, she apologized to Dudley with a somewhat guilty expression, "I'm sorry, child. I wrongly accused you. Thank you for helping them."

Dudley didn't mind the apology; the focus was on

'Mrs. Figg understands what Snowball is saying?'

'Does she understand cat language?'

'Could Mrs. Figg be a wizard?'

Dudley's eyes sparkled, then he took a deep breath, trying to calm his excited emotions.

Countless thoughts flashed through his mind, and he revealed a somewhat hesitant yet curious expression, "Mrs. Figg, are you and Harry the same kind of people?"

"My parents always called Harry the 'Boy Who Lived,' sometimes he can do things that ordinary people can't."

"I've heard them secretly refer to these things as... magic."

Dudley's words surprised Mrs. Figg, but thinking about it made her understand. Growing up with a natural wizard from a young age, she must have seen magical phenomena that couldn't be explained more than once. Magical outbursts were something every young wizard would experience, especially a clever childlike Dudley.

After a brief contemplation, Mrs. Figg said, "You're very smart, child."

"Is magic really real?"

"Can you teach me? I... I want to learn magic too."

Dudley's demeanor was like that of a child who had just learned about magic in this world, full of curiosity and a thirst for knowledge about the unknown.

"I'm sorry, child. I can't do that."

Mrs. Figg regretfully shook her head, "Actually, telling you is not a big deal, you'll find out sooner or later. After all, you are the child's brother."

Mrs. Figg took a deep breath, her expression serious, "I am like Harry, but also not like him."

For the first time, someone told Dudley about the magical aspects of this world. With Mrs. Figg's narration, information about the magical world that was previously inaccessible gradually unfolded before Dudley.

A world of magic that was enchanting and fascinating.

In the 'Harry Potter' world, people could be roughly divided into three types: wizards, Muggles, and Squibs.

Wizards, the spellcasters, like the famous Harry Potter.

Muggles were those without magic, and the original Dudley Dursley fell into this category.

As for Squibs, they were born into wizard families but couldn't learn magic. Mrs. Figg was a Squib, a category different from wizards and Muggles.

However, unlike true Muggles, they couldn't perform magic, but they had some special qualities compared to ordinary Muggles.

Mrs. Figg's ability to communicate with cats was one such skill, something even some wizards didn't possess.

PS: Yes, Mrs. Figg is a Squib, but in this world, Squibs are not the same as Muggles. Compared to Muggles, they still have many magical abilities; they just can't cast spells. For example, Muggles can't see Dementors, but Mrs. Figg can. Also, in the original setting, Mrs. Figg is a member of the Order of the Phoenix, and she keeps cats as spies.

(End of this chapter)