"So… Carlyle… Carlyle, he's already…?"
Hermione stroked the Time-Turner she had retrieved, unable to bring herself to say the word "dead."
Wade nodded.
They leaned against the corridor wall, watching students stroll and sunbathe on the lawn, remaining silent for a long time.
Regardless of how close they were, a classmate's sudden departure from this world still felt abrupt and sad. What's more, Carlyle had always gotten along well with Hermione and her friends; his easygoing nature made him popular in Gryffindor.
So, even though Hermione felt like her world had crashed down when she woke up in the Hospital Wing to find her Time-Turner missing, she couldn't muster even a hint of blame now. She only felt sorrow for him.
But they couldn't confide these feelings in anyone else, because the existence of the Time-Turner had to remain a secret.
"I don't know what to say, but I… I know he made a mistake, but I understand him, you know, Wade?"
Hermione's voice was low as she said, "If it were me… if I were in his shoes… I might have made the same choice as him…"
Wade didn't reply. He gazed at the distant forest, the image of the cold body in the morgue flashing through his mind.
At that moment, Wade felt a profound reverence for the power of time and for the Time-Turner itself.
The Time-Turner could allow them to rewind time, but it couldn't reverse cause and effect; it seemed to be a part of causality itself.
Just like the past Carlyle longed to change was, in fact, his own future. To save his mother, he had to walk towards that very end.
Wade rubbed his arm, then turned to Hermione. "Want to go play in the maze for a bit?"
"Play?" Hermione frowned. "I still have an essay on Animagus to write, and Professor Flitwick told me to come up with a counter-curse for a hex…"
She felt anxious whenever she thought about homework and would usually rush back to flip through books, but today she couldn't summon the energy.
Hermione pursed her lips and looked at Wade. She saw him turn his head to look at her, then raise an eyebrow, his gaze seeming to say, "—So what?"
Hermione let out a long sigh, dropping her shoulders. "To hell with homework! Let's go!"
Wade chuckled.
They walked to the maze. Today, Professor Trocar was on duty, sitting in Hagrid's tall chair, looking like a child who had secretly climbed onto an adult's seat.
Professor Trocar had been staring blankly at a few Bowtruckles on a bush when he heard footsteps. He looked down and said, "The last group won't be out for another five minutes. You'll have to wait a bit… Oh, it's you two."
Professor Trocar recognized Wade and Hermione and chuckled. "Didn't go to Hogsmeade?"
"No," Hermione sighed. "I'm too busy."
"Professor, we'd like to go to a more difficult area," Wade said.
"Just the two of you?" Professor Trocar asked.
"Yes," Hermione asked, "Is that allowed?"
"It is, but you must signal if you encounter any danger. You both know spark magic, right…?" Professor Trocar tapped his head mid-sentence and sighed. "Look at me, of course you do."
"Is something on your mind, Professor Trocar?" Hermione asked.
"No… of course not…"
Trocar said with a sigh.
—Aside from his nephew being a wanted criminal who had vanished, and constantly worrying about his Vampire identity being exposed, and wondering if the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's curse had somehow transferred to his unlucky nephew, he certainly had no other troubles.
"Oh, those children left early. You can go in now."
Professor Trocar tapped the shrubbery wall with his Wand, and an arched entrance suddenly appeared. Wade and Hermione each took a Bowtruckle and hung it on themselves, then drew their Wands and entered the maze.
The walls on both sides slowly moved, and after a moment, an entrance appeared in the previously sealed section to their left—a passage to a higher-difficulty area.
While called higher-difficulty, it simply meant more traps, more puzzles, and more magical creatures that could cause harm. The school had also recently placed some enlarged, aggressive Magic Golems in the maze.
For bulk orders, Aslan's Magic Workshop even offered special discounts.
Of course, oversized insects were essential; they had become a signature feature of the Hogwarts maze game.
They dodged hidden traps on the ground, solved puzzles, pushed aside rocks, and entered hidden paths.
A Kappa lying in a pool suddenly reached out a hand, trying to grab Wade's ankle. It was instantly struck by a flash of Spell light, shrieked, and dove into the murky water.
A giant praying mantis leaped down from above. Hermione shrieked, flicked her Wand, and blasted the creature in half at the waist.
Rustling sounds suddenly came from all directions. A large swarm of ants crawled in from both ends of the maze, while others climbed over the walls, approaching along the bushes from above and the sides.
The Bowtruckle on Wade's shoulder covered its eyes with its tiny paws, as if unable to bear the cruel scene that was about to unfold.
"Don't worry," Wade said, picking it up and putting it in his pocket. "A single Fire Charm will take care of it."
He shook his Wand, about to unleash a new Fire Charm he'd been researching, when Hermione stepped in front of him.
"Wait, Wade," Hermione said. "Let me try first!"
Wade was taken aback, then said, "Oh, okay."
Hermione pointed her Wand: "*Petrificus Totalus! Incendio! Diffindo! Expelliarmus! Reducio! Reducio!*"
Ants flew off one after another. Wade was initially worried that Hermione's quick thinking wouldn't be enough, but then he saw the girl's determined, gritted-teeth intensity. She seemed to have completely forgotten fear, focusing only on relentless attack.
Wade blocked the ants from other directions, liberally casting Spells. Watching the "enemy army" in front of them being blasted away in rows, his suppressed mood seemed to lighten.
After the ants, they encountered beetles as large as hounds, ambushing Red Caps, groups of three or five rats, and a Devil's Snare that suddenly sprang from a bush.
As they emerged from the maze, their clothes were noticeably dirtier, but their expressions were clearly much more relaxed.
The Bowtruckles hopped off their shoulders, their tiny claws gripping parchment as they busily scribbled down the points the two had earned for "clearing" the challenge.
"It seems the game really does lift your spirits, doesn't it?" Professor Trocar said with a laugh, while logging their scores. "You're both excellent students, but balancing work and rest is important too."
"It's fine, rest time is like water in a sponge—you can always squeeze some out," Hermione insisted, trying to sound strong.
"Listen, child, you should put those endless books down and get some good sleep," Professor Trocar said with a frown. "Look at your dark circles; exhausting yourself like this isn't good."
"I know… actually, after this term ends, I was planning to drop two classes…"
Before Hermione could finish, she heard someone nearby say, "It's wonderful that you're thinking that way… but since you've already made a decision, why not change your schedule starting now?"
Wade turned his head and saw a tall man in black robes speaking. His face was pale, as if he rarely saw sunlight, and his expression was serious. His blue eyes had a somewhat dazed, unfocused look.
He glanced at the top of the man's head and frowned slightly.
Professor Trocar got down from his tall chair and asked, "Excuse me, who are you?"
"This is Mr. Broderick Bode from the Ministry of Magic," Professor McGonagall appeared shortly after, introducing him stiffly. She then added, "Miss Granger, Mr. Bode wishes to speak with you."
"Oh… okay," Hermione said, sounding a little uneasy.
"What is it?" Wade asked. "If it's about Carlyle… Mr. Bode, perhaps you should be talking to me."
Bode's gaze shifted to Wade. He saw the young man pull a section of a gold chain from inside his clothes, and his eyes glinted.
"Wade Gray?" He nodded and said, "I've heard about you. You're also involved, so you can participate."
The group went to a small lounge next to the maze. Bode got straight to the point: "Miss Granger, this morning, your Time-Turner was lost once, is that correct?"
"Yes," Hermione said, gritting her teeth. "Carlyle knocked me out and stole my Time-Turner."
"But he didn't cause any major impact on history," Wade added.
"Yes, thank Merlin, thank Chronos," Bode said expressionlessly. "He didn't arbitrarily alter known history, which is why I came to the school to find you, instead of sending you all to trial."
"Watch your tone, Bode," Professor McGonagall said with displeasure. "Miss Granger is a very diligent and hardworking student; there's nothing wrong with her having kindness and trust for her classmate! As for Carlyle, who made the mistake… he died in the past, a year ago, and he also carefully avoided causing any temporal disturbances."
The witch struggled to suppress her sadness as she defended her student, and Hermione looked at her gratefully.
"Actually, the impact has already occurred; most people just haven't noticed it."
Bode said coldly, "The Ministry of Magic has detected that today will be about thirteen minutes shorter than normal, tomorrow seven minutes shorter, the day after two minutes and thirty-seven seconds shorter… This will continue until two weeks from now, when the time will be shortened by 1.8 nanoseconds. Only then will the temporal disturbance gradually subside."
"Considering the severe consequences this action could have, Miss Granger, I'm afraid you can no longer keep the Time-Turner you possess. This is a decision that the vast majority of Unspeakables in the Department of Mysteries agree with."
-----------
Machine Translation by: https:// randomtranslator.com/
Read ***+ original & fanfic translations in English, Español, Português, Deutsch, Français, or Русский
Or Translate for free at : https:// randomtranslator.com/translate
Join our Discord: https:// discord.com/invite/XXUR9nkjwa
-----------