Chapter 82: The Punishment Cross! The Suffering Rat!

"Y-you... Who... Who the hell are you?"

Peter Pettigrew hung his eyelids and asked feebly.

"Peter Pettigrew, have you gone stupid being a rat? Have you even forgotten why you became a rat?"

"Y-you... You're... Harry... Potter!"

With Dudley's friendly reminder, Peter Pettigrew recognized Harry's emerald green eyes and the lightning-shaped scar on his forehead.

Dudley didn't say any more. He sneered and released a burst of magic power towards the cross and the chains respectively. Immediately, Peter was firmly tied to the bloodstained cross by the moving shackles and chains.

"Ah—"

As soon as he was tied to the cross, Peter Pettigrew let out a blood-curdling scream like a pig being slaughtered.

Caught off guard, Dudley was startled.

"What the hell are you doing? We haven't even laid a finger on you yet!"

Dudley raised his hand and struck Peter hard with a Smelting stick. A crisp sound of bone cracking rang out. Peter instantly broke three ribs, his internal organs were damaged, and blood oozed from the corner of his mouth.

Peter's scream immediately turned into a muffled groan. He was in great pain, and beads of sweat poured down his forehead.

"Something's wrong! This reaction is not right!"

Dudley handed the stick to his cousin and stepped forward to examine the cross in the Interrogation Room.

As he concentrated, the System's appraisal result immediately appeared in front of Dudley's eyes in the form of a semi-transparent panel.

[Pain Punishment Cross (B-rank)]

[Item description: A powerful tool for torture and interrogation made by wizards in the Middle Ages. Any living being tied to this cross will continuously suffer extremely intense pain and be deeply tormented. The executioner can adjust the pain level of the cross by infusing magic power.]

"Such a good thing?"

Dudley was stunned. The Room of Requirement was really something! It not only provided a room for free, but also gifted him an antique treasure.

Without a second word, Dudley directly infused magic power into the Punishment Cross and randomly adjusted the pain level.

Peter Pettigrew immediately let out a series of ear-splitting screams.

"Ahh—"

"Ahh—"

"Ahhhhhh—"

"Ahhh—"

"Sssss—"

"Grrr!"

Dudley was really getting into the screams when, all of a sudden, Peter went silent.

"Cousin, he fainted from the pain!"

Harry stepped forward to check Peter's breath and said.

"What a useless piece of trash! Do you think I'll let you off just because you fainted?"

Dudley said to Peter, whose head was hanging down on the cross and had fainted, "Episkey! Rennervate!"

As two powerful Healing Spell and Revival Spell took effect, Peter slowly regained consciousness.

By this time, Dudley had turned off the pain effect of the Punishment Cross.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Don't kill me! Don't kill me! Please don't kill me!"

Peter woke up with a panicked look on his face. Regardless of his injuries, the toxins, and the pain on his body, he used all his strength to beg for mercy frantically.

"Go to hell!"

Seeing Peter begging for mercy, Harry immediately picked up the Smelting stick that Dudley had given him before and frantically beat Peter's rat-like head and face.

While beating, he shed tears and made accusations:

"It's all because of you! It's all because of you! Voldemort entered my house and killed my parents! How dare you have the nerve to beg for mercy?"

So, you finally admit you were wrong?!

My cousin told me a long time ago that guys like you, when caught by the person you've wronged, beg for mercy not because you realize your mistakes, but because you know you're about to die!

I'm gonna beat you! Beat you! Beat you to death! Kill you!!!"

Dudley stood by, watching his cousin crying and going all out. He sighed inwardly, but his hands were busy casting the healing spell and Revival Spell to heal Peter Pettigrew's wounds and keep him alive.

It would be too easy for such a traitor to die after just a few blows.

Peter Pettigrew's rat face was beaten into a pig's head by Harry one moment, and then healed back to a rat face by Dudley's magic the next. This cycle repeated over fifty times before Harry stopped, gasping for breath.

All of Peter Pettigrew's rat teeth had been knocked out. His cheeks were swollen, festered, and bloody, beyond the reach of even the healing spell.

Harry had also broken Dudley's Smelting stick, which lay broken in two pieces on the ground.

"Don't... don't kill me! I know I was wrong! Voldemort... is so scary! I didn't want to either!"

Peter Pettigrew was extremely desperate to live. Even in this sorry state, he still managed to plead for mercy with his toothless mouth. Dudley couldn't help but admire his perseverance.

"A coward like you got sorted into Gryffindor? The Sorting Hat really dropped the ball this time!"

Dudley felt no pity for Peter Pettigrew at all.

He pointed at the broken Smelting stick on the ground and commanded, "Reparo!"

The broken stick immediately returned to its original state and flew into Dudley's hand.

"Harry, take a break over there first! We've got plenty of time. Mr. Peter Pettigrew is still begging for mercy. That means we haven't done a good enough job yet!"

A sinister smile appeared on Dudley's face. He gently waved his right hand holding the stick, and the Smelting stick instantly turned into a metal mace.

Peter Pettigrew immediately widened his almost deformed rat eyes. Looking at the sharp glints reflected from the mace in Dudley's hand, he let out a desperate scream:

"Don't... don't come over!"

An hour later.

The Punishment Cross was completely drenched in red, and there was a large pool of blood on the ground.

There was no intact flesh left on Peter Pettigrew's body, and he was barely breathing.

Dudley channeled his maximum magic power and cast ten consecutive healing spell on Peter Pettigrew, pulling this rat-like life back from the edge of the the world behind the Veil once again.

(Note: In the Harry Potter universe, the underworld is called the the world behind the Veil, ruled by the god of death.)

Watching Dudley's torture from start to finish, Harry released a lot of his hatred and pent-up anger. He felt extremely satisfied.

Dudley gave a timely reminder:

"Harry, revenge is one thing, but remember not to let the pleasure of torture take over your mind and erode your will. You need to cultivate a strong will that won't be easily disturbed. Do you understand?"

Hearing this, Harry cast a few Calm Mind Spell on himself to calm down.

Then he nodded seriously at Dudley and said, "I understand, cousin!"

 "That's good!"

Dudley shifted his gaze to Peter Pettigrew, whose breathing had become more stable.

"The warm - up is over! It's time to practice spells on you, you gray - haired rat!"

"Legilimency!"

Dudley extended his finger and traced a specific path in the air. Step by step, following the spell - casting technique he had learned from Dumbledore during the holidays, he began to pry into Peter Pettigrew's mind and memories.

Since Quirrell didn't know Legilimency and Occlumency, and Voldemort's main soul had never cast spells with Quirrell's wand, Dudley, who had undergone fusion with the Quirrell wand, didn't acquire the relevant spell - casting technique.

He still needed to practice more on his own to master the rather advanced Legilimency magic.