My Hogwarts has a serious problem.

Chapter 223, Section 220: Time Travel (Thanks to Helmsman Buyi_Ou for the donation)

Lynn's eyebrows furrowed as he pondered Dumbledore's words.

"What if a professor or other wizard sees two identical wizards taking different classes when they are in Muggle Studies and Magical Creatures Protection classes together?"

Dumbledore looked at him with a serious expression.

"This is exactly what you need to avoid. The time converter can take you to the past you want to go to, but it can't bring you back. If you want to return to the point in time when you turned on the converter, you have to avoid all the dangers yourself and hide from the history you went back to until you reappear in this time."

"What if someone discovers that there are two versions of me in the same timeline?" Lynn looked at Dumbledore with a heavy heart.

"That means known history will be altered, and something terrible will happen to you," Dumbledore said calmly.

Lynn didn't detect any threat in his tone; he was stating a straightforward fact.

"What terrible thing?"

"No one knows what it is except those who have experienced it. I can only warn you, Lynn, that time cannot be toyed with, because you can't tell whether you are toying with time or time is toying with you."

Lynn remained silent for a long time. He wasn't frightened by Dumbledore's words, but rather he was pondering things from known history.

"If I go back in time, I can only see who opened the secret chamber and released the basilisk, but I can't stop him, right?"

"This is also what I've been emphasizing to you: the secret chamber was opened and the basilisk was released. This is a fact of history that you, I, and the person who released the basilisk all know. So this known history cannot be changed. If you see who released the basilisk, you can remember their face, but you absolutely cannot stop them."

Lynn gazed at the leaping fire in the fireplace and pondered.

"What if, Professor, I mean what if... the basilisk that disappeared in the Chamber of Secrets was killed by me who went back in time? And right now, in Hogwarts, there is actually another me hiding in a secret place, that me who came back from the future, waiting for the moment when I use the Time-Turner, he will appear and complete this time succession."

The warm, orange glow of the fire filled the principal's office, and Lynn's words added an eerie atmosphere to the space.

Dumbledore paused for a few seconds before slowly speaking: "Why isn't that possible? If you've been guarding the Chamber of Secrets the whole time, and no one has come in to do this in the hours leading up to when you first discovered the basilisk was missing, then the only person who could have opened the Chamber and taken the basilisk away could be yourself."

Lynn clasped his hands together, staring blankly ahead. He wondered if he himself was the one who opened the secret chamber and took the basilisk away. If it was him, why would he do it? Had the basilisk been taken away again?

He couldn't figure out the answer; the only answer he could find was through personal experience.

The silence in the headmaster's office lasted for a while, then Dumbledore sighed and spoke.

"Regardless of the truth, we won't get anywhere by guessing. I'll know the results tonight, while you'll be going through a three-week time travel experience. Until then, let's lighten things up. Do you know where you went when I wasn't in your office before?"

Lynn met Dumbledore's smiling gaze with a puzzled look, then shook his head blankly.

"What I'm going to do has to do with you." He took a piece of parchment out of his desk drawer. "You're in third grade this year, Lynn. Third-grade students are allowed to go to Hogsmeade on weekends to relax, but we need your parents' consent before that."

Lynn looked at Dumbledore in confusion. He didn't have any parents anymore; who could he get to sign this consent form?

No! He does indeed have one parent still alive, and that's the only one!

He took the consent form from Dumbledore, and as he looked at the name of the last signatory, his hand holding the parchment trembled slightly.

Gellert Grindelwald

"You went to see my great-uncle?" Lynn said in disbelief.

Dumbledore's eyes held a hint of nostalgia as he smiled and nodded. "That's right. I went to Austria a while ago. Besides visiting him, I also took the opportunity to ask for his opinion and have him sign your consent form."

Lynn looked at the signature, which was not exactly beautiful, and even a little ugly, and a wave of emotion surged within her.

He had only ever heard this name from others: saints, Dumbledore, wizards from Sue—all had extremely high opinions of his only relative, some praising him, some criticizing him. Although he heard the name every day and knew that he and Dumbledore were related by blood, this was the closest they had ever been to each other.

Dumbledore actually made a special trip to Nurmengard to have him sign the consent form!

"Does he know I'm at Hogwarts?" Lynn asked, his voice a little hoarse.

"Even if he never came out of there, there are few things in this world he doesn't know. He's a born prophet," Dumbledore said softly. "I've talked to him about you quite a bit. He's just been listening, and although he hasn't said anything about you, I can tell he's quite pleased with you."

Lynn silently looked at the consent form in his hand, then thanked Dumbledore, saying, "Thank you, Professor."

"No need to thank me. I was just thinking of going to catch up with him. Also, he asked me to pass on a message to you."

Lynn looked up at Dumbledore, who met his gaze directly, conveying the words of the old man now imprisoned in Austria.

"The most deadly dangers are often the ones you overlook before they are revealed."

Lynn was stunned after hearing this. He pondered what his great-uncle had said to him and wondered what he meant.

Dumbledore didn't interrupt Lynn's thoughts. He waited quietly for about ten minutes before Lynn shook his head. Perhaps it wasn't the right time; he couldn't guess the implied meaning in those words.

"Professor, may we begin now?"

Dumbledore placed the Time-Turner on his desk: "Are you ready?"

Lynn held the converter in his hand, the cool touch easing the slight tension in his heart.

"certainly."

"When do you plan to go back to?"

"Three weeks ago, on the day of the opening banquet."

"Turn the hands on the time converter backward. Each rotation will rewind time by one hour. It is currently 10:15 PM on September 21st. You need to go back to 7:00 PM on September 1st. To rewind time by 483 hours and 15 minutes, you need to turn the hands back 483 times plus a quarter of a rotation."

Lynn, holding the converter, looked at Dumbledore: "Shall I begin right here?"

"Yes, you will begin in the Headmaster's office. I will leave. When time rewinds, there must be no one else with you." Dumbledore stood up from his chair and solemnly instructed Lynn, "Remember the time: 10:16 AM on September 21st. I will be waiting for you outside the Headmaster's office. No matter what you have experienced in these three weeks, you must return to the Headmaster's office at this time."

Lynn took a deep breath and nodded calmly.

"I will be back, Professor."

Before leaving the headmaster's office, Dumbledore left his final words of blessing: "Good luck, Lynn."

Lynn stood in the principal's office, holding the converter with his left hand, and gently wiggling the pointer back with his right index finger.

Just as the pointer was spinning, a deafening roar, like a thunderclap, suddenly rang in his ears!

Happy Lantern Festival to everyone!

(End of this chapter)