When the Trunsoest Brass Book appeared in Dudley's hands, his aura immediately changed.
Borgin, standing behind Dudley, felt the shift most acutely.
Dudley's presence became ethereal yet carried an irresistible weight, as if he were no longer a twelve-year-old child but something that demanded worship.
"Everyone step back a bit," Dudley said.
Hearing this, everyone retreated.
Dudley picked up two bones from the ground and cast Transfiguration on each, turning both into birds.
"Distortion!"
With the Trunsoest Brass Book's enhancement, Dudley activated his extraordinary ability.
He didn't directly use the sealed artifact itself, only borrowing it to elevate his position and maximize the Distortion ability.
After doing this, Dudley placed one bird in the passage.
"Go in," Dudley commanded.
The bird obediently hopped toward the inside of the passage.
At the same time, Dudley's gaze fell on the other bird in his palm.
He'd just used his extraordinary ability to distort the curse's target, transferring whatever curse the bird entering the passage would receive to the bird outside.
Soon, changes occurred.
The bird in Dudley's hand rapidly turned black. Its body began rotting, and before long, it exploded with a bang and disappeared from Dudley's hand.
The bird that entered the passage originally showed no changes, but it visibly turned black and rotted. After the outside bird suddenly exploded, the bird in the passage also dissipated.
No good! Dudley frowned.
He'd originally thought he could use his extraordinary ability to distort the curse's target and thereby avoid the curse's attack. But from the current situation, the transferred target could barely withstand this kind of curse.
Secondly, Dudley's Distortion couldn't fully transfer the curse. Whatever entered the passage would still be affected by the curse.
In this situation, Dudley didn't dare directly enter the passage himself.
While Dudley was deep in thought, Borgin, Harry, and the others watched his operation with wide eyes.
"Very impressive methods. Actually able to transfer the curse. Unfortunately, the transferred thing has difficulty withstanding this curse's power." Although Borgin didn't know what Dudley had done, he could guess from the results.
"Perhaps we could find some magical items that can withstand curses. That way, it should work," Borgin suggested. "I have some similar things in my shop. If you need them, I can go get them."
Dudley shook his head. "Forget it. Not worth the trouble."
Since the method of transferring the curse didn't work, other things would probably struggle to withstand that curse's erosion. The Hogwarts founder's curse really wasn't something ordinary people could break.
According to Dudley's understanding, Slytherin's strength, translated into that world's combat power, might be close to demigod-level. His curse indeed exceeded Dudley's current ability to break.
After a moment's thought, Dudley opened the Trunsoest Brass Book.
He extended his finger, spiritual power flowing out, slowly writing on the Trunsoest Brass Book: "Dudley Trunsoest, as the master of the Brass Book, is not affected by curses."
As Dudley's fingertip traced, silver letters began appearing on the Brass Book.
Hum!
When all the letters were fully formed, Dudley felt a powerful, mysterious force envelop him.
This force came from the rules themselves, directly making him immune to any curse's influence, unless the curse's source could exceed the Trunsoest Brass Book's position, reaching the level of a true god.
Thud!
Dudley stepped forward, standing in the passage.
"Dudley!"
"Be careful!"
Harry and the others never expected Dudley to suddenly step into the corridor.
After all, neither those two birds nor Borgin's magical item could withstand that terrible curse.
"I'm fine," Dudley responded softly.
Borgin, Harry, Ron, and Hermione all widened their eyes at this moment, fearing Dudley's body would suddenly turn black and then rot away.
However, as time passed, Dudley wasn't affected at all. He truly was, as he said, fine.
Rules really are true power, Dudley thought to himself.
He could feel a cold power descend upon him, but it couldn't affect him at all.
This was the Brass Book, directly making Dudley immune to all curses at the rule level.
"I'll go inside and look. Wait here for me," Dudley said to Harry and the others behind him. "Remember not to step into the passage."
"All right, be careful," Harry's group immediately nodded.
"Yes," Borgin said respectfully.
The abilities Dudley displayed now had already exceeded what Borgin could understand.
He had no idea what Dudley had done. The entire process took only a few seconds, yet Dudley became directly immune to the curse's effects.
Recalling everything that just happened, that book in Dudley's hands was probably extraordinary.
In Borgin's heart, Dudley's status rose again.
Harry's group was now discussing what exactly Dudley had just done, but no matter how they talked, they couldn't understand the situation.
Meanwhile, Dudley had already walked into the passage.
It was similar to what he had seen outside, except that after turning a corner, Dudley saw several sealed rooms on both sides of the passage.
This is the true Chamber of Secrets.
After a moment's thought, Dudley walked toward the first sealed room.
The lock on the door had already rotted, but traces of magic remained.
"Alohomora," Dudley recited in Hermes.
Hum.
The door opened, but the already decayed door directly shattered after opening.
Dudley's gaze looked inside. He didn't rush to enter but stood outside, checking first, preventing any unknown magic inside.
The room wasn't large, but it was filled with many ancient books.
Encyclopedia of Ancient Dark Magic, The Mystery of Magic, Decoding the Fundamental Principles of Spells...
Dudley's gaze swept past, seeing many thick books, many of which he hadn't seen in the Hogwarts library.
Slytherin's personal collection? Dudley's eyes brightened slightly.
After confirming there was no offensive magic inside the room, Dudley slowly walked in.
His gaze swept across the bookshelf, then fell on a notebook on the desk.
On the green cover was a lifelike snake, with a handwritten word in the lower right corner that could be recognized as 'Slytherin'.
This was Slytherin's notebook.