Hogwarts Study Panel

Chapter 433, Section 431: Time Magic

No one can change time, but wizards can use time to change themselves.

Remember, your act of changing history is itself a part of history.

Sheen took out the Time Converter and a book explaining the rules of the Time Converter.

On the book's cover, a yellowed paper backing reveals this wise saying.

He looked at it thoughtfully, then went through all the rules again.

For example: You must never be seen by anyone.

This is also something that Professor Dumbledore warned Hermione and the other two about.

For example: You can only use it for a maximum of five hours.

This point is highlighted in red and bold, and several examples are given to illustrate it.

These cases particularly caught Sheen's attention—he always understood that the deeper one's understanding of magic, the stronger the magical power one could wield.

Knowledge and wisdom are the most precious treasures of a wizard.

What bothered him even more was that these cases were provided by the Department of Mysterious Affairs.

It holds the deepest secrets of magic: including the brain, death, prophecy, time, love...

As a junior wizard at Hogwarts, Sheehan had almost never had access to information about the Department of Mysteries, as their work was strictly confidential.

Those who work for the Department of Mysteries are known as the Silent Ones; no one knows where they work or what they do.

In addition, the Department of Mysteries has a great deal of autonomy and is the only department in the Ministry of Magic that does not have to obey the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

They can even ignore the Minister of Magic's intervention; for example, Radolfs Lestrange once tried to shut down the Department of Mysteries, but failed.

Despite the many fantasies people have about it, time travel can only be achieved to a limited extent, even in the magical world.

This topic is shrouded in great secrecy—the Bureau of Mysteries is investigating—but magic seems to only take you so far.

To a certain extent? Sheen wondered, is this the origin of the five hours?
The following content is from Thor Crocker, who spent his life researching time magic in the Department of Mysteries.

Sheen continued reading:
According to our current investigation, the longest replay time is approximately five hours, and it does not cause serious harm to travelers or time itself.

We have been able to encapsulate individual Hour Versal Charms within small enchanted hourglasses, which can be worn around the neck of a wizard or witch and rotate according to the number of hours the user wishes to relive.

The yellowed handwriting introduced a spell that Sheen had never heard of before: the Time Reversal Spell.

This is how a time converter works.

As for who invented this curse, the Bureau of Mysteries did not provide much explanation.

The following text then shifted to the five-hour rule:

All attempts to rewind more than a few hours resulted in catastrophic harm to the wizards or witches involved.

All such experiments have been abandoned since Eloise Mintenberg was trapped for five days in 1402 in 1899.

We now understand that her body was 500 years older when it returned to the modern world, and due to irreparable damage, she died at the St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Diseases and Injuries shortly after we successfully rescued her.

More importantly, in the five days of the distant past, she brought tremendous upheaval to the lives of everyone she met, drastically altering their life trajectories, to the point that no fewer than twenty-five descendants disappeared before they were even born.

Finally, in the days following Mrs. Minthambull's recovery, worrying signs emerged that time itself had been disrupted by such a serious breach of the law.

Her reappearance lasted two and a half days on Tuesday, while Thursday passed swiftly in four hours. The Ministry of Magic went to great lengths to cover it up, and since then, those who research time travel have been subject to the harshest laws and punishments.

Killing the user, causing unpredictable and terrifying effects on other wizards, even altering time itself...

These are historical cases cited by the Department of Mysteries, demonstrating the terrifying nature of time magic to every user of the Time Converter.

Sheen silently memorized these examples and repeated the Department of Mysteries' final warning to himself:

"Most people in the magical world would be surprised to learn that the Time-Turner is usually only used to solve the most trivial problems in time management and has never been used for more important or significant purposes."

As Saul Krock said, "Just as the human mind cannot comprehend time, it also cannot comprehend the harm that would result if we presumptuously interfered with its laws."

He then quickly moved the hourglass three marks.

The bright Hope Hut disappeared, and Sheen felt himself flying backward at high speed.

Blurry colors and shapes flashed by, his eardrums throbbed, and he couldn't hear anything—then he felt his feet touch solid ground, and everything became clear again—

He stood in the Hope Hut, at an empty table, with a thin layer of morning mist drifting in through the open door.

He returned to five in the morning.

At this time, Hogwarts was still fast asleep.

Success!

Sheen carefully examined the time converter.

Of course, wizards cannot understand time magic, but if that's really the case, then where does the time reversal spell come from?

With these questions in mind and a cautious attitude, Sheen made full use of his time.

……

For four consecutive weeks, Sheen's whereabouts became even more unpredictable.

Another Quidditch match took place during this period, namely Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff.

Early in the morning, the weather was clear and sunny, with a pleasant breeze blowing gently.

"It's the perfect weather for a Quidditch match!"

At the Gryffindor table, Wood spoke enthusiastically while adding plenty of scrambled eggs to each teammate's plate. He even went over to the Ravenclaw table to bring some for Harry.
"Harry, pull yourself together. You need to eat a proper breakfast."

Harry has been struggling to balance his Hope Cottage training with his Quidditch training lately, and he subconsciously looks for the dark-haired little wizard.

But in that one glance, his pupils dilated.

Sheen was sitting at the long table reading a book, but how come that person who flashed by outside the auditorium window was also Sheen?

He rubbed his eyes hard, dropped his plate, and ran to the door, but the figure had already disappeared.

in the afternoon.

Harry walked toward the Gryffindor Tower, picked up his Nimbus 2000, and joined the bustling crowd crossing the grounds, but his thoughts were still in the castle, searching for that figure.

When he changed into his bright red robe in the locker room, his only consolation was that he had absolute confidence in winning.

(End of this chapter)