Orange flames churned violently, scorching a patch of clear ground before new gray fog quickly rushed in to fill the void.
Snape cast spells with an expressionless face, his pale skin illuminated by the firelight.
He understood now. There was no way out of this lost space within the gap of time. In reality, this was the Astronomy Tower's terrace, but here, it seemed to have undergone an infinite Extension Charm. Its actual area might be larger than all of Scotland.
The Dementors and Boggarts trapped here were like starving demons in a hell of hunger. After wandering and searching through endless ages, they had finally found a group of prey that had walked right into their trap.
They couldn't just sit and wait for death. They had to make a choice.
If they waited until the three adult wizards were exhausted and could no longer cast Fiendfyre or Patronuses, nothing would stop the monsters.
"Everyone, gather around..." Hermione took off the Time-Turner and began to turn the hourglass.
The thick gray fog rolled with the sound of thunder. Snape glanced back, then threw a cluster of scorching flames with a wave of his hand. He delayed retracting the spell longer than ever before, waiting until the Fiendfyre was on the brink of losing control before pulling it back.
This aggressive casting instantly burned out a clearing, buying Hermione a brief window to initiate the time travel.
Harry and Ron were the first to grab an inch of the chain. Peter shamelessly squeezed in. Lupin and Sirius unleashed one last Patronus strike before quickly reaching out to grab the gold chain. Snape was a split second behind.
Hermione activated the device quickly, closing her eyes and letting the ticking sound fill her ears.
Would Lady Luck smile upon them? would fate take them to the past, or to an unknowable future?
Suddenly, Harry poked Hermione's arm. She opened her eyes to see him staring at the Time-Turner. The two hands—one long, one short—had returned to their original positions. Ron and Peter looked terrified. Sirius and the two professors had already let go.
Hermione looked around. The terrace was still the terrace. The thick fog was still the fog.
Nothing had happened. The Time-Turner didn't work.
They were still in this lost land. The monsters formed by Dementors and Boggarts waited eagerly. The gray Obscurus fog pressed down again, overwhelming and heavy, as if the sky itself were collapsing.
There was no escape.
[Fiendfyre Unleashed]
Snape roared the incantation, and flames erupted.
As the gray fog closed in, he had hoped the fire would burn it back enough to buy Lupin and Sirius time to regain their footing. Unfortunately, his body was completely spent.
The erupting Fiendfyre seemed to carry his frustration, spreading rapidly with extreme heat. When Snape tried to pull it back, he realized he could no longer command the flames. The waves of orange fire spiraled out of control, spreading in the blink of an eye.
The unbridled fire ignited the gray fog upon contact. The flames churned ceaselessly, the light blindingly bright. Beasts were born from the fire—roaring lions and tigers, screeching eagles...
The temperature difference created convective winds that whipped their robes around.
"It's out of control?" Sirius stared, dumbfounded.
"It's out of control," Snape said quietly.
"..."
Lupin dragged his exhausted body over to join the circle, still gripping his wand. Harry and the others stood beside them, looking up at the rampaging fire beasts, their eyes reflecting the blaze.
All the wizards present could see the situation was dire, yet they still held a shred of hope.
If the Fiendfyre could burn those monsters to ash, maybe there was a chance of survival.
But that hope was quickly snuffed out. They witnessed an unbelievable scene. The mass of gray fog wasn't frantic at all. Like a clever Muggle firefighter, it smartly separated itself, splitting in two.
One part actively threw itself into the Fiendfyre, while the other rose higher into the sky, leaving a buffer zone to let the fire burn itself out.
In this boundless lost land, the fire grew more intense, keeping the fog at bay. But outside the range of the Fiendfyre, the Dementors and Boggart-monsters waited with anticipation.
Snape was spent. The gray fog was like a patient hunter. It wasn't in a hurry. It let the stag, wolf, and dog struggle. It would wait until the Fiendfyre consumed everything and ran out of fuel before leisurely descending to enjoy its meal.
The campfire had gone out, but the terrace was getting hotter. The Fiendfyre was giving off its final heat.
Before the afterglow faded, the Fiendfyre began to show signs of fatigue, unable to maintain a continuous wall. The fire beasts were separated into different areas, howling, while the gray fog pressed in through the gaps.
"Expecto Patronum!"
Lupin and Sirius cast their spells. The silver Patronuses slammed into the fog with reckless abandon, making it tremble slightly before scattering into wisps of silver light.
"Riddikulus!"
Hermione waved her wand defiantly, trying to deal with the Boggart targeting her. she had already visualized the fog turning into something funny, hoping to make it drift away like harmless smoke.
But the young witch's insignificant magic was simply swallowed by the thick fog. Not even a crack could be heard.
The heavy dark clouds descended slowly. It felt like half the sky was crushing down on their heads.
The group stood still, silently watching the gray fog cover them. There were many things they wanted to say, yet nothing seemed worth saying. Physically and mentally exhausted, facing death wasn't as terrifying as they had imagined.
Only Peter was distraught, his bones shifting as he involuntarily tried to kneel, finally covering his face and weeping bitterly.
"No... I don't want to die..." Peter moaned, his voice pleading.
Just then, a blurred outline appeared not far away, hidden behind the impenetrable mist. About a few seconds later, as the figure approached, they finally saw the newcomer clearly.
It was undoubtedly the person they had been hoping for—Professor Levent. The crisp suit, the youthful face, the dark eyes—every detail was familiar.
"Peter! Pull yourself together, your fear is leaking out again!" Sirius spat weakly, kicking him twice.
With death imminent, they had no energy left to wonder why Peter's fear took the form of Professor Levent.
Melvin looked at them and gave a gentle smile. "Merry Christmas, everyone."
"You... you're real?" Ron was stunned.
Not just Ron—everyone stared at him blankly. Hermione looked ready to cry. Even the perpetually stony-faced Snape showed a hint of emotion. Peter, lying on the ground, was overjoyed; he scrambled to get closer but stopped halfway, afraid of dirtying Melvin's trousers.
"We can catch up later. Let's solve the problem at hand first."
Melvin looked up at the sky full of gray fog. In the middle, a few weak remnants of Fiendfyre still lingered, snapping viciously left and right. Unfortunately, the fog had cunningly separated, keeping out of reach until the fire burned itself out.
"Fiendfyre..." Melvin called out softly.
In that instant, a whirlwind descended from the sky, wrapping around the remaining flames and igniting all the gray fog in mid-air with devastating force.
Harry and the others looked up, feeling an unimaginable magic generate out of thin air and pour into the uncontrolled Fiendfyre. The formed fire beasts died instantly, their flame-condensed bones and flesh falling apart, making the sound of cracking wood, as if sacrificing themselves to ignite a fiercer fire.
They saw the most magnificent burning clouds of their lives. The scattered, out-of-control Fiendfyre was absorbed by another flame—a more massive, brilliant power. The remnants were sucked in by the new Fiendfyre, becoming fresh fuel.
It looked like lava rolling in the clouds, light condensing into solid form.
It was a Basilisk, incubating and hatching from the rolling orange-black flames.
At first, it was small. It took a deep breath, as if inhaling all the air in the space into its lungs, drawing on the fire to grow rapidly and solidify.
Its body expanded and transformed. Sharp bone spikes protruded from its skin. Black scales clicked together. A massive snake mouth opened, revealing blindingly sharp teeth as it roared at the sky.
With a thunderous boom, the fragments of rats and spiders hidden behind the gray fog were swept across half the sky. The remains of Acromantulas burned fiercely. The air was filled with a pungent stench—the smell of burning Boggarts.
Hermione sniffed, finding the smell familiar. The courtyard of the Paris museum had smelled just like this.
"Expecto Patronum!"
A silver Horned Serpent appeared silently, its size matching the Fiendfyre Basilisk. It looked like the World Serpent standing beneath Yggdrasil, its body coiled, head lowered slightly as it gazed at the tiny wizards.
One black, one silver. Two giant serpents.
One roared at the sky, the other flicked its tongue downward.
Melvin stood between the two giant serpents. The intense fire tornado ruffled his suit, and the silver light shone on his composed face. It looked as if the two serpents were merely his pets.
Peter, who had been sobbing, froze. He unconsciously touched the Ouroboros mark on the inside of his arm, unsure whether to feel terror or relief.
Ron watched with his mouth agape, starting to regret not signing up for extra tutoring.
The persistent gray-white fog began to fade, like snow melting under the sun. Soon it dissipated completely, leaving only the boundless terrace.
Lupin let out a long breath and slowly sat down, leaning against Sirius. Even Snape relaxed, letting out a weary sigh.
Hermione stared blankly for a few seconds, then looked down at the small hourglass on the Time-Turner. She was surprised to find the dull golden sand regaining its luster.
---
Steaming Butterbeer foamed in clear glass mugs. Inside printed kraft paper bags were snacks and pastries from Honeydukes.
On the terrace of the lost land, the campfire was lit once more. Gathered around the bright, warm fire, the survivors sat down to soothe their tired stomachs.
Half an hour ago, they were thinking of their last words. Now, they were sitting by a fire, drinking and snacking. Harry and Ron leaned against each other, the Chocolate Frogs helping to relax the tight strings in their minds. They felt their bones turning to jelly.
Peter also found the atmosphere heartwarming. He hid in a corner nibbling on bread, afraid to touch the crunchy snacks like biscuits for fear of making noise and attracting Sirius's fists.
"...It was Severus at the Christmas feast who gave me the hint to look for your traces."
Melvin explained how he found them, keeping the details concise. He also got the full story of how the group ended up there.
Snape was a man of action. He had disguised himself as Harry to leave the school, used the Firebolt as bait, successfully caught Sirius, and used both Veritaserum and Legilimency to interrogate him, uncovering the true culprit behind the betrayal years ago.
He then brought Sirius back to the castle and baited Wormtail out as well.
Harry and his friends had left the Christmas feast early and bumped into Lupin, who was revisiting old haunts. The two groups clicked, activated the Time-Turner to travel back to the afternoon—right when Snape was catching two fish with one hook.
Then they accidentally messed things up. Peter touched the Time-Turner, dragging the whole group into the turbulent gap of spacetime.
Sirius took a sip from his glass and grimaced. Picnicking in a place like this felt weird.
Hermione touched the gold chain around her neck. The Time-Turner had returned to normal, but she still had many questions about this terrace and the gray-white fog that wouldn't disperse.
"Curious why Boggarts and Dementors would appear here?" Melvin asked with a gentle smile.
"Yes," Hermione nodded.
"Because these two types of monsters are very peculiar. Their life forms are different from other creatures. They don't age, don't need to eat, are immune to conventional spells, are nearly immortal, and are unaffected by time. Their reproduction is closely linked to wizards' emotions and souls."
Melvin reached out and summoned a wisp of fog. In the space scorched by Fiendfyre, the mist was thin, but it still existed.
Hermione looked confused, understanding only half of it.
Lupin volunteered an explanation. "Melvin means that wizards have been here before, leaving behind fear and joy, traces of souls and magic. These creatures, which time cannot block, perhaps followed those traces here."
"Time cannot bind them, but they are still affected by space. So they were trapped here, and over a long period, they multiplied to this scale," Snape added.
"But why does this place exist?"
"Who knows? For thousands of years, countless wizards have studied magic and explored the world. Who can claim to have discovered all of magic's secrets or walked every inch of space? There might be countless hidden places in this world waiting for us to discover."
"Making it sound so mysterious..." Ron scratched his head and muttered.
"You can tell you're a poor student who hates studying," Sirius said with disdain.
The adult wizards couldn't help but chuckle. Snape looked down and took a sip of Butterbeer. To be able to sit here and laugh, enjoying snacks and beer after surviving such an ordeal... his closed-off heart relaxed a little.
"..."
Melvin pursed his lips in a smile. He wasn't just spinning tales for the students. The wizarding world still held many unsolved mysteries—what lay beneath the island of Azkaban, the limbo between life and death, where souls go after death...
Not to mention the doors in the Department of Mysteries, each hiding a secret behind it.
"If you have any more questions, ask them all now. Once we're back at school, Dumbledore won't let us talk about this." Melvin turned slightly to look at the young witch who had been watching him.
Hermione thought for a moment, then looked up. "Professor... at the start of term, you asked Harry to investigate the truth of that night. Did you know about these things a long time ago?"
As soon as she spoke, the group, who had been chatting and laughing, suddenly went quiet. They didn't stare at Melvin, but their ears perked up, waiting for the answer.
Melvin paused for a moment. "I take back what I said earlier. In a way, we are still on the school's Astronomy Tower, so I can't say."
Hermione gritted her teeth.
---