Harry Potter: From Muggle Cousin to Conceptual Wizard

Chapter 57 Opinion Leader! First Encounter with Weasley!

Then, at Dudley's signal, Harry took the lead, pushing his cart and rushing into the brick wall.

Dudley followed closely behind, in case any ignorant, useless wizards retaliated.

However, no, the scumbags haven't gotten up yet.

The two brothers passed through the brick wall without any trouble and saw the sign for Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, as well as a clean old-fashioned steam train in the distance.

"This Hogwarts Express doesn't seem like it can be fast at all!"

Dudley sighed, then he and Harry pushed the cart, had their tickets checked by the conductor, and randomly chose an empty carriage to board the train.

It was still early, and most of the carriages were empty. We would have to wait a while before the train could depart.

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

The impact of the minor incident before entering the station is clearly not going to subside so quickly.

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

Those victims who were blown about by Dudley's whirlwind quickly spread even more malicious rumors throughout the entire Hogwarts student community.

This made the rumored images of Harry and Dudley even more demonized.

Several groups of young wizards, while searching for empty compartments in the various carriages, inadvertently opened the door to the compartment where Dudley and Harry were. Upon recognizing Harry, they screamed, slammed the door shut, and ran away, not daring to linger for even a moment.

This situation inevitably affected Harry and Dudley's mood.

Harry was unhappy because of other people's negative opinions, while Dudley was unhappy because Harry was upset by others.

Without hesitation, Dudley waved his hand, keeping the cubicle door open, and used magic to write his and Harry's names in mid-air, forming floating crimson characters, which he then pushed onto the corridor directly opposite the cubicle door as a warning.

Now no ignorant little wizards will bother us.

“Cousin, are we in big trouble?” Harry asked his cousin in the cubicle.

Dudley ruffled Harry's hair, and instead of answering directly, patiently explained:

"Whether it's a Muggle or a wizard, once a group is formed, the individuals within that group will be unconsciously regulated and restricted by the group's cognition during the process of information dissemination. As a result, they will abandon their own thoughts, remain silent in order to appear as part of the group, or express opinions that follow the crowd."

I believe there are some clear-headed people among these wizards, but since everyone rejects us, very few people will stand up for us and oppose the group's perception.

Over time, group cognition will thoroughly influence everyone in the group, forming a kind of cognitive iron law.

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

For example, you can't mention Voldemort's name, and also, a baby can kill Voldemort.

Harry listened to Dudley's words with only a vague understanding, and his little face fell:

"Cousin, so we're really in big trouble! Maybe in a while, the wizarding world will recognize us as a pair of demon brothers."

Dudley was amused and burst into laughter:

"If we rely solely on our current capabilities, solving this problem would indeed be extremely difficult."

We need to demonstrate our strength, make deals with opinion leaders who can influence public opinion, slowly build up our reputation, and change the public's perception of us as wizards.

If that's the case, we might as well ignore it and let these wizards say what they want.

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

But now, with the biggest opinion leader in the wizarding world as our teammate, things are much simpler.

“Cousin, you mean Dumbledore?” Harry realized.

"That's right, Dumbledore has probably been too busy lately and hasn't paid attention to the unfavorable public opinion that has emerged in the wizarding world."

"Once the train arrives at Hogwarts, let him know about this and have him publicly support us in the Daily Prophet. Public opinion will quickly shift, and the matter will be resolved."

Harry fell into deep thought after hearing Dudley's solution.

Dudley, seeing this, did not disturb him; he wanted to cultivate Harry's ability to think independently.

After a while, Harry seemed to have thought of something and asked Dudley again, "Cousin, what is an opinion leader?"

"In layman's terms, it refers to those who are famous, have personal charisma, whose words can convince many people, and who can influence public opinion," Dali explained.

"Then can I also become this opinion leader? After all, the wizarding world has made me their savior for so many years, and many people know me and recognize me."

Harry's eyes suddenly lit up as he pressed for an answer, as if he had just come up with something.

Dudley glanced at his cousin with some surprise, guessing some of Harry's thoughts, but considering the current situation, he still had to pour some cold water on it:

“Harry, you’re not wrong. But don’t forget, you’re now hated and despised by those who once supported you.”

“I know, cousin.”

Harry's eyes hardened. "That's because they don't know the truth, and I can prove it to them! Just like Dumbledore did when he cleared Hagrid's name!"

"You and I……"

Dali wanted to say something, but he choked back his words.

In his view, proving oneself is the weakest form of retaliation.

Who in the world is never cursed? Who in the world doesn't curse others?

The opinions of a bunch of mediocre people are best ignored.

As long as he displays sufficient strength, even if these mediocre people point fingers and whisper, they won't dare to do so in front of him and Harry; they can only whisper behind their backs.

If he hadn't been afraid that Harry's normal social life would be affected by these mediocre people, thus putting psychological pressure on himself, he wouldn't have even considered asking Dumbledore to step in and resolve the matter.

But now, Harry has his own ideas, his own action plan, and the direction he's taking in dealing with things isn't exactly wrong.

This is a good thing, and Dali, as the older cousin, should give it his full support.

"Do what you want, Harry! I'll support you unconditionally!"

After a pause, Dali said this.

"Oh! That's great, cousin!"

Harry shouted with joy. He had almost given up on his idea when his cousin hesitated, but thankfully, his cousin supported him.

"Dong dong!"

Just as Harry was getting excited, someone politely knocked on the doorframe of their cubicle and said shyly, "Excuse me for disturbing you, may I sit here?"

Dudley and Harry turned to look and saw a red-haired, freckled little boy carrying a large suitcase.

Ron Weasley – A Poor Pure-Blood Family (Grade C)

[Details of the unfortunate incident: As the sixth son of the enlightened, upright, loving, and bloodless but very poor Weasley pure-blood family, Ron Weasley rarely used first-hand items growing up.]

Robes, formal wear, textbooks... even wands and pets were all secondhand... no, multiple-handed items left over from his brothers.

This somewhat affected Ron's self-esteem; he longed for firsthand personal items, at least to make him look less embarrassed.