"Easy there, Hermione. Slow down. Nobody's going to steal your food…"
Watching Hermione devour her meal like a starving wolf, Lewis couldn't help but offer a gentle warning.
Before he could finish speaking, Hermione swallowed a huge mouthful of cake, immediately clutched her chest, and started making choking noises.
Lewis quickly patted her back.
Only after quite a while did she finally recover.
It was Lewis's first time interacting closely with someone using a Time-Turner.
The experience was strangely fascinating.
Just a few minutes ago, Hermione had barely seemed hungry at all.
This version of Hermione, however, was eating with more enthusiasm than Ron.
"...Lewis, how did you know I was here?" Hermione asked after gulping down a large glass of water.
Lewis smiled.
"I may never have used a Time-Turner, but when it comes to time management, you're still no match for me."
Then he added curiously,
"By the way, didn't I tell you earlier to prepare extra food?"
"How did you still end up this hungry?"
Hermione immediately looked aggrieved.
"It's all your fault!"
"After we argued in the kitchen, I got so angry that I stormed off without taking any food."
"Now I'm using the Time-Turner to come back and get something to eat."
Lewis nodded.
"Only after coming back did you remember that your earlier self was already in the kitchen."
Hermione nodded pitifully.
For a girl famous throughout Hogwarts for her intelligence, this rare display of helplessness nearly made Lewis laugh.
As expected, even someone as brilliant as Hermione could get hopelessly tangled up when Time-Turners became involved.
The situation was actually simple.
That morning, Hermione had arrived in the Great Hall and discovered complete chaos.
Realizing there was no chance of getting breakfast, she went straight to class.
After Divination ended, she used the Time-Turner for the first time, traveling back to before breakfast.
She rushed to the Great Hall before the owls arrived, salvaged a batch of food, and ended up sharing it with Harry and Ron when she happened to run into Lewis.
Afterward, following Lewis's advice, she went to prepare extra food before attending Arithmancy.
Once Arithmancy ended, she had to use the Time-Turner again to return and attend Muggle Studies.
After Muggle Studies came Transfiguration.
Only then would it finally reach lunchtime.
In other words, she was effectively attending four full classes back-to-back.
That was practically an entire school day.
And she'd only eaten once.
Nobody could survive that comfortably.
So during her second use of the Time-Turner, Hermione decided to travel back again and grab another breakfast before heading to Muggle Studies.
Unfortunately, after arriving, she discovered a problem.
Her earlier self was already occupying the Great Hall.
Hermione didn't dare enter.
One of the fundamental rules of Time-Turner use was simple:
Never let your different selves encounter one another.
It wasn't that meeting yourself was automatically impossible.
Even if a Time-Turner user was rational enough to hold a conversation with themselves, they still weren't supposed to do it.
Because such actions could create dangerous disruptions in the flow of time.
There had been enough disastrous incidents in the past that the Ministry had heavily restricted Time-Turner use.
Hermione didn't fully understand the consequences.
But being Hermione, she followed the rules faithfully.
In fact, this was precisely why Lewis had never been particularly interested in using a Time-Turner himself.
He knew himself too well.
With his perception abilities, if two versions of himself occupied the same area, he'd notice immediately.
Returning to Hermione's predicament—
When she realized she could simply visit the kitchens instead, she discovered that another version of herself had already gone there too.
Once again, her path was blocked.
So she had no choice but to wait outside until her other self left.
The problem was that preparing food took time.
At this rate, she would end up late for Muggle Studies.
Thankfully, Lewis had appeared carrying food at exactly the right moment.
"Hermione, Hermione…"
"I've always considered you the smartest witch at Hogwarts."
"How did you end up making such a silly mistake?"
Hermione immediately shot him a glare.
"It's all because of you!"
"You're the one going around hugging girls in public!"
Lewis blinked.
Completely confused.
Accusing him of charming younger girls?
Fine.
He could reluctantly accept that.
But hugging girls in public?
When had that happened?
Had a future version of himself started using a Time-Turner too?
Lewis immediately focused on the Transportation Rune embedded in Hermione's protective amulet.
A moment later, everything became clear.
Back during her first trip through the loop, Hermione hadn't needed to stay in the Great Hall so long.
She could have grabbed food and left immediately.
That would have left enough time for her future self to eat breakfast as well.
Instead, she had remained there specifically to catch Lewis and identify the mysterious girl he was supposedly being affectionate with.
In the end, she learned nothing, got angry, and stormed off.
Which directly caused her current hunger crisis.
At that moment, Lewis finally pieced together the meaning behind Hermione's earlier complaint.
When she accused him of "being friends with three or four girls while charming younger girls," the important part wasn't the younger girls.
It was the "three or four girls."
Naturally, Lewis chose not to expose her jealousy.
Instead, he simply smiled.
"You'll understand everything by lunchtime."
"When that happens, you'll be barking like a puppy exactly as promised."
"Why does everything depend on lunchtime?"
Hermione wrinkled her nose.
"What exactly are you talking about?"
"Heavenly secrets must not be revealed."
Lewis casually reached out and wiped a bit of frosting from the corner of her mouth.
Hermione didn't dodge.
She obediently let him clean her face while glaring at him like a disgruntled child.
After checking the positions of the runes again, Lewis changed the subject.
"So, how was Arithmancy?"
"It was wonderful!"
Hermione instantly brightened.
"You were right."
"It's fascinating."
"The trigonometry you taught me actually applies there."
"Because of that, Professor Vector likes me a lot."
"She said it's rare to find a student with such strong mathematical skills."
Then Hermione immediately switched targets.
"Unlike Divination."
"That class was ridiculous."
"I spent the whole lesson guessing."
"Professor Trelawney feels less like a Seer and more like a fortune-teller."
Careful there.
Comparing one professor while insulting another wasn't exactly fair.
Still, Lewis nodded anyway.
"Which is why I told you not to take it seriously."
"Just make up a prophecy during the final exam."
Hermione crossed her arms.
"She even said my aura was tiny and that I had almost no talent for receiving messages from the future!"
As Hogwarts' most famous academic overachiever, Hermione was used to receiving praise from professors.
This was the first time a teacher had essentially declared her untalented.
Naturally, she was upset.
"You definitely argued with her in class," Lewis concluded.
"I did not!"
Hermione protested.
"Well... not really."
"She interpreted Harry's tea leaves as a sign of doom."
"And I disagreed."
"Oh."
Lewis nearly laughed.
"A prediction of doom."
"So who's she predicting will die this year?"
Predicting a student's death was Trelawney's favorite hobby.
Every year she picked someone.
"Harry."
"Of course it's Harry."
Lewis nodded knowingly.
The more famous the target, the more dramatic the prediction.
And dramatic predictions attracted attention.
Trelawney's annual death prophecy was essentially free advertising.
Besides, what kind of death prophecy didn't include a date?
Everyone dies eventually.
Without specifics, it meant nothing.
"I'm seriously considering dropping Divination entirely," Hermione said.
Then her mood brightened again.
"Fortunately, my next class is Muggle Studies."
"I'm curious to see how wizards view Muggles."
Lewis immediately deadpanned:
"So you're conducting research into how wizards conduct research about Muggles?"
Hermione froze.
As a Muggle-born witch taking Muggle Studies, she really was studying how wizards studied Muggles.
"That... actually sounds accurate."
She found the wording strange.
Yet she couldn't find any flaw in the logic.
The two chatted for a while longer.
Eventually, Hermione prepared to leave.
But before she did, she returned to her original question.
"Lewis."
"Who exactly was that girl you were hugging?"
"Just tell me."
"I swear I won't get angry."
She smiled sweetly.
Far too sweetly.
"Hasn't that brilliant brain of yours figured it out yet?"
Lewis laughed.
"But don't worry."
"You're about to understand."
Suddenly, he pulled Hermione into his arms and turned around, placing his back toward the corridor.
At that exact moment, an annoyed voice echoed from the hallway.
"Lewis, what are you doing over there?"
Hermione instantly froze.
That voice was painfully familiar.
Because it was her own.
Only then did she realize—
This was her earliest self.
The version that had just left Gryffindor Tower and was heading toward breakfast.
Had Lewis not blocked her view at the last second, the two Hermiones would have seen one another directly.
"Now do you understand why Time-Turners are dangerous?"
Lewis said with a grin.
"Remember to bark like a puppy at lunchtime."
With a silent gesture, he cast a Greater Invisibility Spell.
Hermione's body vanished instantly.
The invisible Hermione immediately hurried away.
Meanwhile, the earlier Hermione arrived moments later.
She looked around suspiciously.
"Lewis?"
"Who were you talking to?"
Lewis obviously couldn't disrupt the timeline.
So he simply shrugged.
"Sorry."
"That's a secret between the two of us."
"I can't tell you yet."
Hermione stared at him for about two seconds.
Then—
She abruptly pulled out her wand and pointed it directly at him.
"Locomotor Ropes!"
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