Harry Potter: From Muggle Cousin to Conceptual Archmage

Subsequently, upon Dudley's silent signal with his eyes, Harry took the lead, pushing the trolley and dashing into the brick wall first.

Dudley followed closely behind, just in case any stupid waste wizards launched a counter - attack.

However, there was no such thing. Those useless wizards hadn't even gotten up yet.

The brothers smoothly passed through the brick wall and saw the sign for Platform 9 3/4, as well as an old - fashioned steam train that was scrubbed very clean not far away.

"This Hogwarts Express doesn't seem to be able to go very fast!"

Dudley sighed with emotion, then he and Harry pushed their trolleys, had their tickets checked by the conductor, and randomly chose an empty compartment to get on the train.

It was still early, and most of the compartments were empty. They had to wait for some time before the train could depart.

Dudley and Harry sat side by side in a compartment, sharing the snacks they bought in the Muggle world, chatting as they waited.

The impact caused by the incident before entering the station obviously wouldn't subside so quickly.

As the departure time approached, more and more wizards boarded the train.

Those 'victims' who were blown about by Dudley's cyclone soon spread even worse rumors, which quickly flew across the entire student population of Hogwarts.

This made the images of Harry and Dudley in the rumors become even more demonized.

Several groups of wizards, while looking for empty compartments in each carriage, accidentally opened the door of the compartment where Dudley and Harry were. After recognizing Harry, they screamed, closed the door, and ran away without daring to stay for a moment.

The occurrence of this situation inevitably affected Harry and Dudley's moods.

Harry was unhappy because of others' bad opinions, while Dudley was unhappy because Harry was made unhappy by others.

So, without hesitation, Dudley simply waved his hand, keeping the compartment door open all the time. Then, with his magic power, he wrote his and Harry's names in mid - air, forming floating crimson characters, and pushed them to the corridor right in front of the compartment door as a warning.

Now, no unaware wizards would come to disturb them.

"Cousin, are we in deep trouble?" Inside the compartment, Harry asked his cousin.

Dudley ruffled Harry's hair, didn't answer straight away, and patiently explained:

"Whether it's Muggles or wizards, once they form a group. During the information - spreading process, the individuals within the group will be unconsciously regulated and restricted by the group's perception. As a result, they'll abandon their own thoughts, stay silent to seem to fit in, or voice the same opinions as the majority.

I believe that there are some clear - headed wizards in this group. It's just that since everyone is against us, few people will stand up to speak for us and go against the group's perception.

As time goes by, the group's perception will completely influence everyone in the group, forming a certain cognitive rule.

Even if this group's perception is wrong, it's still the same.

For example, not being able to mention Voldemort's name, or the idea that a baby could defeat Voldemort."

Harry half - understood what Dudley said, pulled a long face:

"Cousin, so, we're really in big trouble! Maybe after some more time, a cognitive rule will form in the wizarding world that we're the Demon Brothers."

Dudley was amused and burst out laughing:

"If it were just us right now, it'd be really troublesome to solve this problem.

We'd need to show our strength, make deals with the Opinion Leaders who can influence public opinion, slowly build up our reputation, and change the wizards' impression of us.

If that's the case, we might as well just ignore them and let these wizards do as they please.

The crowd is blind and forgetful. Once something more exciting happens in the wizarding world, they'll forget about us.

But now, we have the biggest Opinion Leader in the wizarding world on our side, so things are much simpler."

"Cousin, are you talking about Dumbledore?" Harry finally caught on.

"Right. Dumbledore might be too busy these days and hasn't noticed the unfavorable public opinion towards you in the wizarding world.

Once the train reaches Hogwarts, let him know about this. If he publicly supports us in the newspapers, the public opinion will soon turn around, and the problem will be solved."

After hearing Dudley's solution, Harry fell into deep thought.

Seeing this, Dudley didn't interrupt. He wanted to cultivate Harry's ability to think independently.

After a while, Harry seemed to have thought of something and asked Dudley once more, "Cousin, what is an Opinion Leader?"

"Generally speaking, they're those who have fame, charisma, and whose words can convince many people and influence public opinion." Dudley explained.

"Then can I be an Opinion Leader too? After all, the wizarding world has regarded me as the Savior for so many years. A lot of people know me and recognize me."

Suddenly, Harry's eyes lit up as he eagerly asked, as if he had come up with an idea.

Dudley looked at his cousin in surprise, guessing what Harry was thinking. But considering the current situation, he still had to pour some cold water on him:

"Harry, you're right in a way. But don't forget that you're now hated and spurned by those who once supported you."

"I know, cousin."

Harry's eyes became firm. "It's because they don't know the truth. I can prove it to them, just like Dumbledore did when he cleared Hagrid of the false charges!"

"You... I..."

Dudley wanted to say something but held back his words.

In his opinion, self - justification was the weakest form of counter - attack.

In this world, who hasn't been criticized? And who hasn't criticized others?

Just ignore the opinions of these ordinary people.

As long as they showed enough strength, these ordinary people wouldn't dare to point fingers at them to their faces. They can only whisper about us behind our backs.

If it weren't for the fear that Harry might be affected by these ordinary people in his normal social life and put psychological pressure on himself, he wouldn't even have the idea of asking Dumbledore to step in and settle the matter.

But now, Harry had his own thoughts, his own action plan, and the direction of handling the matter wasn't wrong either.

This was a good thing, and as Harry's cousin, Dudley should fully support him.

"Do as you think, Harry! I'll support you unconditionally!"

After a short pause, Dudley said this.

"Great! Cousin!"

Harry shouted with joy. Just now, when his cousin hesitated, he was about to give up his idea. Fortunately, his cousin supported him.

"Knock! Knock!"

Just as Harry was getting excited, someone politely knocked on the doorframe of their compartment and shyly said, "Sorry to interrupt. May I sit here with you?"

Dudley and Harry turned their heads and saw a red - haired, freckled - faced boy carrying a large suitcase.

[Ron Weasley - A Pure - blood Family in Straitened Circumstances (C - rank)]

[Details of the Regret Event: As the sixth son of the open - minded, upright, loving, and bloodline - discrimination - free yet extremely poor Weasleys pure - blood family, Ron Weasley has rarely used first - hand items from childhood to adulthood.

Robes, dresses, textbooks... even his wand and pet are second - hand, or rather, multi - hand items passed down from his elder brothers.

To some degree, this has had an impact on Ron's self - esteem. He is eager to get first - hand personal items, at least to make himself look less embarrassed.]