Ethan hadn't fully figured out how he did it in that moment, but he finally understood why his research into the power of time had never progressed.
He had been wrong about one thing. Ethan had instinctively treated time as a long river that pushed objects forward.
But he had misunderstood something. Time was not singular.
He had only just realized this. Previously, he had always tried to "connect" to the so-called river of time, then find an object moving along that river and send it back to where it had been, or forward to where it would go.
Now he understood that, in fact, every object had its own river of time, completely unique. What he needed to do wasn't to connect to a large river and search through it, but to use his power to connect an item to its own experienced river of time, then operate on its specific timeline.
He had thought of this, but wasn't sure exactly how to put it into practice. The replaying of the chess pieces in front of him had actually happened due to some residual time fluctuations leaking from Hermione, acting spontaneously. It wasn't something he had fully controlled.
Moreover, such random "connections" to the river of time weren't without side effects. Ethan felt a bit dizzy, somewhat like seasickness.
"How ironic. I never got seasick on the rough ocean back then, but I get dizzy from a small river."
Although Ron, Harry, and Hermione were very curious about what Ethan had just done, they all noticed that he didn't look well. The kind-hearted Gryffindors immediately asked with concern about how he was feeling.
"Do you want me to go to the infirmary with you?"
"No need. I just need to rest for a bit."
Besides the dizziness, Ethan felt fine. He quickly checked his condition and confirmed that nothing else was wrong.
Since Ethan didn't look too good, Hermione didn't continue pressing about what had just happened. She just vaguely suspected it had something to do with the Time-Turner.
By the time the break ended and the students were having dinner, Ethan had basically recovered.
He had originally planned to eat quickly, then return to research the topic further. But just after he finished eating, Logan came to find him.
"This is rare. You actually came looking for me."
"What's rare about it? It's just that I didn't have anything to talk to you about before."
"Something's up now?"
Logan nodded and casually pulled out a small bottle.
"What's this?"
"A potion."
"What does it do?"
"It'll lift my current state."
Ethan nodded. The potion he had given Logan before wasn't hard to break down, and with Logan's physical constitution, he even had partial resistance to its effects. Now, after several years, the residual effects in his body had greatly faded. Even without the potion, Logan could eliminate the effects on his own through his magic training.
He just hadn't done it earlier because there hadn't been anything urgent pushing him to.
"Planning to go back?"
"I probably won't return after this semester ends."
The knowledge at Hogwarts was certainly valuable, but Logan felt that he had already learned everything he was interested in. Even if he didn't fully understand something right away, he had taken notes and could slowly research it on his own later. There was no need to continue staying in school.
He had been here for three years and had had enough. Though this world was peaceful, always appearing as a child made him uncomfortable.
"Will it be a hassle?"
"No. Dumbledore has long noticed something was off about us."
This was the advantage of Ethan not playing the "Guess who I am?" game with Dumbledore. Many things could be done more freely.
"Besides, there's no way I'm staying for the full seven years."
He had already learned and collected most of the knowledge at Hogwarts, and his research into the power of time had found a lead. He had rested for three years, and that was enough. There was no reason to continue staying.
Even Illya and Tohsaka Rin didn't need to stay forever. They needed to learn magic, yes, but their paths were different from the wizards of this world. Coming here was just to broaden their knowledge, not to pursue an endless horizontal expansion.
So in his original plan, he had only intended to stay at Hogwarts for about three to four years.
Of course, in exchange, Ethan would remain behind to help Dumbledore handle the Voldemort issue. It wasn't a difficult task for him anyway.
That way, he could leave without any burdens.
"You're only staying for one more year?"
"Next year is the Triwizard Tournament. Voldemort plans to use the tournament to resurrect, and Dumbledore is currently preparing for it."
Having lived here for three years, Logan naturally knew who Voldemort was.
"Do you need me to stay and help?"
"A guy at that level..." Ethan shook his head. "For me now, he's a side quest."
Logan spread his hands, his expression saying, "I know you're ridiculously strong now."
"Planning to go see Atlanna once you're back?"
That question made Logan speechless. In the end, he just waved dismissively and slipped away. Ethan still didn't know whether Logan would go see Atlanna or not.
"Could it be that Aquaman is just... gone?"
Whether Aquaman existed or not didn't really concern him. Besides, if Atlanna did end up clinging to Logan and refused to let him go, Orm might never even appear. In that case, Atlantis would continue its familiar underwater routine for another thousand years. Those kings weren't the type to suddenly develop ambition and wage war on land...
Even if they did start a war, Superman would beat them down easily. From that perspective, Aquaman trying to prevent his people from going to war with surface dwellers was really just to stop his family from getting smacked around by Superman.
While lost in thought, Ethan didn't even notice when Logan left. Hermione appeared suddenly, winking and gesturing for him to step aside for a private talk.
"What is it?"
"How did you know about that thing?"
"What thing?"
"Don't pretend. You mentioned Professor McGonagall earlier and said all that. How did you know I had it?"
Hermione reached into her collar and gently pulled out a part of something like a necklace. That was enough for Ethan to see what it was.
"You mean the Time-Turner?"
"Exactly. The Time-Turner."
"You mean this kind of Time-Turner?"
Ethan flipped his hand over, and an identical Time-Turner appeared in his palm.
Hermione's first reaction was to think the one around her neck had been stolen by Ethan using some unknown method. But when she quickly reached up to feel it, she found it was still hanging securely around her neck.
"How do you have one too?"
"This thing isn't a one-of-a-kind relic. If you could get one from Professor McGonagall, why couldn't I have one?"
"Professor Snape? That's not surprising at all."
Everyone at Hogwarts knew how much Snape liked Ethan. Well, more accurately, how much he respected him. Giving Ethan a Time-Turner really wasn't anything unusual.
"Did you use a Time-Turner just now?"
Hermione frowned. She understood how the Time-Turner worked and had used it herself for half a year. It definitely shouldn't have behaved that way. The Time-Turner sent people back to a specific point in time. It didn't rewind objects to a previous state.
Ethan thought for a moment. There really was no good way to explain this. What was he supposed to say? That he had been researching time magic, and just happened to encounter Hermione on the day she used the Time-Turner? That her leaked energy fluctuations had triggered the timeline embedded in the chessboard, resulting in that display?
"That day was just a coincidence. Maybe it was caused by an energy overflow between the Time-Turners."
That was mostly true. Without Ethan giving it a slight nudge, that scene wouldn't have happened.
Hermione's eyes were full of doubt. Ethan's explanation sounded plausible, but she still felt something was off. She just didn't have any proof to back up her suspicion. Unless...
"Don't misuse the Time-Turner. Be careful not to create trouble."
Although the Time-Turner was useful, using it carelessly could lead to unpredictable consequences.
Time was a very mysterious field. Even though wizards had created tools like the Time-Turner, they hadn't truly grasped the full power of time.
Theoretically, the Time-Turner could produce countless versions of oneself. The most important rule when using one was to avoid encountering another version of yourself.
If she wasn't careful, she might run into a crowd of herself without even knowing it.
Thinking about that, Ethan couldn't help but admire The Flash. That guy had returned again and again to the night his mother was killed. For a moment, Ethan couldn't even remember how many Flashes were crouched in that room.
"I know. Professor McGonagall has reminded me many times."
Hermione watched as Ethan flipped his hand and made the Time-Turner disappear into storage. She suddenly grew curious.
"By the way, what do you use it for?"
She needed the Time-Turner to attend all her elective courses. Because elective schedules often conflicted, it was theoretically impossible to take them all.
Hermione relied on the Time-Turner to avoid missing any classes.
But Ethan hadn't signed up for that many electives. Aside from that, what else could he be using the Time-Turner for?
She thought about it for a long time but couldn't come up with an answer she expected from Ethan.
"To research it. I want to understand how it controls the power of time."
(To be continued.)
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