A certain broken Hogwarts

The house was always warm and quiet, with the fireplace flames casting a soft, warm glow and flickering aimlessly.

Five hours later, the alarm clock rang on time, waking Owen from his sleep. He groggily got out of bed, squinted at his palms, and then touched the stiff stubble on his head.

"It hasn't been switched back yet..." Owen muttered, then groggily climbed off the bed, found the Time-Turner on Harry who was still asleep, put the chain around his neck, and spun it five times.

Time seemed to reverse rapidly, and the body floated up as if riding the wind, before gently landing a moment later.

Owen shook his head, dragged Harry, who was sleeping like a log, out of the Room of Requirement, then circled the wall three times before entering a new room that had appeared, so as not to run into his past self.

He tossed Harry onto a bed, then sat on the one next to it, the fireplace casting a long, slanted shadow on the wall. Harry mumbled something inaudible, turned over, and went back to sleep.

Irving lay on his back on the bed, his hands behind his head, staring blankly at the dark ceiling. He suddenly let out a soft sigh. It was really uncomfortable for him to be in this body; he always felt cramped and confined to a small space. Fortunately, the pain in his body was gradually subsiding.

His sleepiness had completely vanished, and he began to recall his experience in the screaming shack, raising his right hand and grasping it in front of his eyes.

"It seems this body swap was indeed a soul exchange..." He squinted, pondering. "The difference in bodies affects the strength of magic and interferes with the smoothness of spellcasting. Besides, flight spells and phoenix flames based on the body cannot be cast, but the Black Mage Guard is completely unaffected..."

"It seems that my modifications to it have made it a complete transformation into magic of the soul realm, creating an inseparable connection with my soul. This also means that the Black Magic Guardian's influence on me is far more profound than I imagined." Owen thought to himself without any expression, his mood completely calm.

"But this is also a good thing, at least the Black Demon Guard has more potential than I expected." He stretched and tried to sink into the wall-facing space.

Owen was not surprised to find himself entering the pure white space without any hindrance. He would have been extremely surprised if he couldn't enter because he had changed bodies.

He sat in the armchair at the table and began to ponder improvements to the Ironclad Charm. Every now and then, he would communicate with Tom Riddle in the diary and speed up the diary's time flow, thus obtaining an intelligent assistant with accelerated thinking.

Unfortunately, Owen discovered that Tom was lazy, and even with time acceleration, he wasn't very efficient. But this was normal; after all, he didn't have a salary to pay Tom, and a worker who's being taken advantage of will go on strike.

Owen is currently learning to be a proper, ruthless boss and is trying to motivate Tom.

Two or three hours passed in the blink of an eye. In a daze, Owen blinked and suddenly found himself lying on a soft, warm bed in a dimly lit room.

"They've switched." He suddenly realized.

"Huh?" Harry mumbled in surprise, sitting up abruptly in bed. He looked around blankly, seemingly still half asleep.

Irving stretched comfortably, a satisfied smile on his face. His own body was the most comfortable to use.

He got up, turned on the light, and slowly tidied himself up before sitting down at the table to boil water and make tea. Harry looked at him blankly, then reached up and ruffled his hair.

"How long have I been asleep?" Harry wondered, puzzled as to why he had woken up so suddenly.

"More than eight hours." Irving pulled a small packet of black tea from his pocket.

"Oh—" Harry, a beat slow to react, walked over, his eyes widening suddenly. "Oh no! We've been missing from the university hospital for so long, the professors are going to be worried sick!"

"It's alright, while you were asleep, I rewound five hours," Owen said lazily, covering his lips and letting out a big yawn. He had given Harry a bit too much sleeping potion earlier, and now he was feeling sleepy.

"Is that how the Time-Turner is used?" Harry was full of questions.

"Hmm," Owen replied perfunctorily, handing the other person a teacup as well.

The two sat at the table and drank some black tea for a while before they were fully sober.

Harry recovered from the pain of the Crucifixion Curse, regained his energy, and began to reflect on his previous experiences.

He told Owen about his experience, and at the end couldn't help but complain, "Who knew Voldemort was that kind of person? He didn't even know how to treat his loyal followers well? Why would anyone still follow him?"

Irving clutched his stomach, laughing so hard he was almost out of breath.

"I wonder how Blaise is doing, how long it will take for him to recover." Harry ignored Owen's wide smile and continued talking to himself, "And the owner of Honeydukes... I wonder how they are now."

"All you do is laugh." He looked at Owen with annoyance, his face suddenly hardening into a serious expression. "What's wrong with your body? I really felt something was off before, I was feeling really gloomy..."

Irving stopped laughing and blinked his bright eyes innocently: "It's probably a side effect of the body swap."

"You think I've never experienced body swapping before?" Harry's face turned red at this point, clearly feeling extremely embarrassed just thinking about it. "I didn't feel that way back then."

"Perhaps my body has a stronger rejection response." Owen sipped his black tea with an elegant and serene demeanor, and earnestly explained the rejection reaction during Muggle surgery to Harry.

Harry listened with his arms crossed, his eyebrows rising higher and higher. He looked exactly like Hermione when she discovered her friends had done something wrong and were still denying it.

"You didn't do anything to yourself, did you?" Harry suddenly asked after Owen stopped talking, his emerald green eyes appearing a deep, dark green in the dim light. "Dark magic or something?"

"Oh? What do you mean?" Owen slowly put down his teacup and looked at him with a smile.

“I’m not stupid, Owen. You don’t think I’ve learned nothing after studying with Mr. Dumbledore for so long, do you?” Harry raised a hand to his hair, looking troubled and uneasy. “I can tell the difference, Owen.”

Irving slowly blinked, placed his hands on the table with his fingers interlaced, and looked at him with interest.

Harry pulled his wand from his pocket, stared intently into Owen's eyes, and slowly said, "I think if I use the Flashback Charm on it, I should be able to see a lot of things, right?"

Owen sized him up for a moment, then suddenly smiled, his eyes narrowing. "Actually, the Flashback Spell isn't that reliable. For example, I can teach you a method..."

He flicked his right hand swiftly, and his wand appeared in his palm. He touched the tip of his wand directly to Harry's wand tip, and said softly with a hint of amusement, "Erase Charm."

A glimmer of white light flashed at the point where the wands met, disappearing in an instant. Owen smiled and withdrew his wand, saying in a playful tone, "With another wand, erasing the record of past spells from a wand isn't difficult at all. So, did you learn it?"

Harry stared, mouth agape, utterly bewildered by this guy's outrageous actions. Who destroys evidence in front of others?

"You admit it!" he said.

"There's nothing wrong with admitting it," Owen said casually, picking up his teacup again. "Didn't you already know that?"

Seeing Owen's nonchalant attitude, Harry suddenly deflated and said sullenly, "I just... I just don't want you to get too involved, that's not a good thing..."

"I know what I'm doing," Irving smiled at him, his expression gentle yet resolute.

Harry stared at him silently for a long time without saying a word. In his eyes, Owen always seemed so confident, never losing his composure, and always giving people a sense of security at crucial moments.

He had always admired that, but now he realized that Irving was only his age. Perhaps Irving simply hid his emotions well; he also felt nervous and flustered, confused and made mistakes, and even gave up on himself…

Harry couldn't help but reflect on his own actions. He realized he had been misled by Owen's facade of strength, failing to perceive Owen's true feelings and neglecting the fact that Owen also needed the help and comfort of his friends...

A sudden surge of strength welled up within him, as if he had found a sense of mission. He felt he needed to spend more time with Owen, to keep an eye on him and prevent him from becoming too obsessed with dark magic. He didn't want to drift apart from his best friend.

Thinking of this, Harry looked at Owen with a mixture of guilt and concern. He tried to soften his tone as he asked, "Owen, can I practice spells with you from now on?"

"Huh?" Owen looked at Harry's extremely complicated expression, somewhat bewildered by the chaotic thoughts in the other's eyes. For the first time, he couldn't understand this guy's thoughts, and didn't understand what suspicious things Harry was imagining.

Harry's expression softened further, radiating a warm, chocolate-like gentleness: "I want to learn about Dark Magic from you. What you told me before was right, and Mr. Dumbledore also told me that to deal with Dark Magic, one must first understand it..."

"You can read the book yourself," Owen said, a chill running down his spine and a headache creeping over him. He found it too much trouble.

"But just reading isn't enough, right? It's dangerous if I try to figure it out on my own." Harry looked at him pitifully, trying to gain sympathy. He was willing to throw away his pride and keep a close eye on Owen.

Owen tilted his head and stared at him for a moment, his lips twitching slightly. "You wouldn't happen to be after my time-tamper, would you?"

Harry paused, realizing he had just thought of that. But considering the effects of the Time-Turner, he admitted he was indeed...envious.

Thinking of this, his face flushed red. He really hadn't made this request just to use the time-twister.

"No! I promised Professor McGonagall that the Time-Turner must not be given to anyone else." Owen refused righteously, swinging his legs slightly as he relaxed a little.

"Okay." Harry rolled his eyes, a new idea popping into his head.

Irving finished his tea, took out his pocket watch, glanced at it, and said, "I have to go out for a bit. You can stay here. See you at the school clinic later."

With that, he hurried out of the room, ignoring Harry's calls behind him. He couldn't stand Harry's strange, unsettling gaze, the way he seemed to be imagining all sorts of things.

After skillfully casting the Disillusionment Charm on himself, Owen returned to the Slytherin common room in no time. He sat there for a while, watching the ticking of his pocket watch, and when the time was almost up, he went straight to his bedroom.

The dorm room was empty, not even Nyx was there. Owen quickly put on a large black robe, then rummaged through his suitcase and pulled out a bottle of Compound Elixir, taking a strand of hair from a small paper bag and tossing it in.

He obtained the hair during the summer vacation; it belonged to a member of the Exterminator, who is currently imprisoned in Azkaban.

Owen frowned as he downed the grass-green polysaccharide in one gulp, transforming into a grown-up wizard with labored gasps. He covered his face with his hood, sat at the table, and waited for a moment. With a soft "whoosh," Nyx flew out of the flames and landed on a nearby branch, tilting her beautiful head and staring at him with a puzzled look.

"Thank you for your hard work, Nyx." Owen smiled and stroked its feathers, then extended his left hand. Nyx raised a shiny black paw and placed a small, crystal-clear vial filled with blood in his palm.

This is the blood he collected from Bellatrix; it's still slightly warm.

For skilled wizards, blood is a crucial medium. Fresh blood, in particular, can be used not only to cast curses but also for tracking!

"The previous duel, which was too restrained, ended inconclusively. Now it's time to meet Bellatrix again. Hopefully, she'll like this surprise." Owen smiled expectantly, his deep voice tinged with a hint of mockery. "Of course, this time it's for peace."

He raised his arm, and Nyx, as if by telepathy, flew up, grabbed his arm, and disappeared into a ball of black flames.

They set fire to the woods outside Hogsmeade. Owen told Nyx to leave first, then waved his wand, causing the blood in the bottle to clump together and float up, turning into a crimson mist before his eyes, pointing in a certain direction.

"Huh? She didn't go too far?" Owen raised his left eyebrow and disappeared with a "snap".

After several apparitions to adjust his position, he stood on the roof of a house made of gray-black bricks, looking down into the narrow, dark alley below.

This is a remote area of ​​a Muggle town, not too far from Hogsmeade Village. Many of the surrounding houses are abandoned, the alleys are piled with garbage, and smoke billows from the chimneys of a few houses. Occasionally, the sounds of cats and dogs can be heard in the dark alleyways.

Owen stared at the low house across the street and immediately recognized it as the home of a wizard who lived in seclusion among Muggles. The doors, windows, and yard decorations were commonplace to wizards, but they were quite unusual to Muggles. As a result, most of the neighbors had already moved away, leaving only the dark, dilapidated house standing forlornly in the same place.

This house has probably been taken over by others by now. Judging from Bellatrix's current state, she's clearly doing quite well since her escape. It turns out that as long as a wizard's moral standards are low, even if they're wanted nationwide, they're unlikely to end up in the same pathetic state as Sirius Black in the original stories.

Owen thought for a moment, then simply sat on the edge of the roof, dangling his legs over the eaves. He pulled a piece of parchment from his pocket, scribbled a few lines on it, and slowly folded it into a paper airplane.

After cleaning up the marks he had left on it, he waved his wand, making the paper airplane turn in mid-air and gracefully slip into the slightly open window of the house across the street.

As a friendly visitor, it is essential to send a well-chosen visiting card.

Less than ten seconds later, the door of the house across the street suddenly swung open, and three figures rushed out, pointing their wands at Owen, who was sitting high up.

Bellatrix was still wearing her tattered black robes, scorched by flames, and bandages were still wrapped around the wounds Owen had inflicted. After all, wounds caused by dark magic weren't so easily healed. In her left hand, she held the parchment Owen had given her, and in her right hand, she held her wand high, baring her teeth like a vicious, aggressive dog.

Standing beside her were two sorcerers, a man and a woman, who were probably the original owners of the house and were likely under a Soul-Stealing Curse.

"Heh..." Owen calmly crossed his right leg over his left, looking down at the three people below, and chuckled, arms crossed. "Pointing your wand at a visitor is not very polite, my dear lady."

"Who are you?" Bellatrix clearly had no interest in wasting time on pleasantries, asking directly and aggressively. Her wand remained firmly pointed at Owen, while her eyes darted around warily, wary of any potential ambush from lurking enemies.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself, I'm so sorry." Owen slapped his forehead, looking ashamed as if he had just remembered. "My name is Benny Smith, from the Etheric Society."

At this point, a playful smile crept onto Owen's lips, hidden beneath his hood. Since Owen Shafik's negotiations with Bellatrix had failed, he would try negotiating under a different guise. If they could reach an agreement, he could create a foolproof opportunity to eliminate his opponent.

Faced with such a madwoman who could escape at lightning speed and act recklessly when she went berserk, Owen had come to a profound understanding of how troublesome she was. To deal with her, he had to strike a fatal blow, leaving her with nowhere to run, while also being wary of being dragged down with her to their deaths.

The reason for using the Aetheric Society's identity is that the other party must have something on their mind about this organization. If they have something on their mind, they can be used.

Sure enough, upon hearing the name "Etheric Society," Bellatrix's eyes lit up instantly, as if ignited by a fanatical flame. Her back hunched slightly, and her expression carried a malicious eagerness.

She had certainly heard about this organization from Peter Pettigrew, and she knew that the Dark Lord wanted the Philosopher's Stone in their possession.

"It seems you've heard of us," Owen chuckled, resting his chin on his hand. "Indeed, over a year ago, we seem to have inadvertently sabotaged your master's resurrection plan, for which I am deeply sorry..."

"Actually, that wasn't our intention either." He shrugged, seemingly helpless. "We don't care whether the Dark Lord can be resurrected; we just need the Philosopher's Stone."

"You want to resurrect your master, don't you?" Owen toyed with his wand, his smile deepening beneath his hood. "Then, how about we make a deal?"

"What deal?" Bellatrix licked her lips, her feet slowly shifting position, seemingly searching for the best angle to launch an attack.

"We can offer you a portion of the elixir of immortality," Owen said, his voice deep and husky, pressing his wand against his cheek. "But you'll have to trade Harry Potter for it, well, alive."

"Oh?" Bellatrix raised an eyebrow.

"This deal is fair, isn't it? You want to resurrect the Dark Lord with the elixir of immortality, and we want Harry Potter. I'll pay you, you provide the labor—it's a fair deal," Owen said shrewdly.

"Do you want to see the Dark Lord resurrected?"

"I've already said, the Dark Lord's resurrection is irrelevant to us," Owen said lazily. "The elixir of immortality is a renewable resource for us. What we need is a living Harry Potter as a research subject; he's far more important to us."

Bellatrix's lips twitched slightly, a flash of annoyance in her eyes.

"Sigh, you have to understand me a little," Owen sighed, launching into a long rant. "I've been unlucky enough to get this thankless task. The reward is good, but it's dangerous. Last year, even the three of them couldn't take down Harry Potter, and this year Hogwarts is so heavily guarded..."

"It must be that she-dragon Lilith giving me a hard time," Owen muttered dramatically, then coughed lightly. "I'm more concerned about my own life. Since you managed to get Harry Potter out of Hogwarts once, it shouldn't be too difficult a second time, right? It's perfectly reasonable for me to hire you, isn't it?"

“Of course…” Bellatrix began, then suddenly flicked her wand at him without warning, “Crunch in the Heart!”

The two people beside her also launched an attack on Owen at the same time. Three spells of different colors streaked across the dark sky and struck Owen on the roof like lightning.

With a soft "pop," the figure on the rooftop vanished like a bubble. Hidden in the darkness, the three people on the ground remained completely unaware that the figure on the rooftop was merely an illusion.

Irving's figure emerged beside the shattered illusion, saying in a helpless tone, "So, we still have to make a move?"

As he spoke, he suddenly waved his wand, and darkness enveloped a large area below. He then leaped onto a nearby platform, using the height to conceal himself, and continued casting spells down upon the area below.

When the inky blackness dissipated, the ground below was covered by rampant black thorns and bone-chilling frost. The sorcerer was bound tightly by the thorns, his skin covered in countless cuts, and the cursed thorns made his struggles increasingly futile.

Bellatrix swung her wand wildly, and crimson flames surged toward Owen. They transformed into man-eating monsters, unleashing a torrent of scorching heat and malevolent curses.

"Excellent!" Owen exclaimed excitedly, his eyes reflecting a dazzling and eerie light. He waved his wand, and vibrant purple flames transformed into a graceful phoenix and a fire dragon, tearing at the dark red fire monster.

Fiery fire against fiery fire!

The two flames, of opposing colors, clashed fiercely, seemingly painting the sky in shades of red and purple. The scorching heat shot straight up to the heavens, making people's hair curl up in the heat.

Owen hid behind the eaves and raised his wand high. The surrounding abandoned houses rumbled with his movement, as if they had come alive, their doors and windows opening and closing, and several dark stone arms stretched out from the walls, slamming down on everything in their path.

Taking advantage of the moment when the two on the ground were dodging around like flies being swatted, Owen seized the opportunity and fired a tricky Cruciatus Curse, which struck Bellatrix, who was in an awkward position.

Seeing that she couldn't dodge in time, Bellatrix viciously grabbed the witch next to her and shielded her in front of her. With a hysterical scream, Bellatrix swiftly leaped behind a wall, and a spell bounced between the giant arms, shattering them into dust.

"This is tough to kill..." Owen gritted his teeth. He licked his lips, a thick, ominous black mist covering his eyes, and said in a raised voice, "Want to continue, my dear lady? Now you should understand whether I'm worthy to trade with you?"

"Give me the elixir of immortality first," Bellatrix's rough voice came from the smoke and dust.

In an instant, peace returned. The raging flames in the sky were extinguished into sparks, and the thorns and frost on the ground vanished.

"That's not fair, you cunning lady," Owen said with a grin. "I don't do business at a loss."

"Then I'll kill Harry Potter," Bellatrix threatened.

"As if you could kill him so easily," Owen scoffed. "Don't play these childish tricks, ma'am. If I turn around and get in your way, you'll be in a difficult position too, won't you?"

"I just wanted to make the mission a little easier, so I proposed this win-win deal. Pushing my luck won't do," he said softly. "Think about it, Harry Potter would be practically dead in our hands anyway, so why be so fixated on killing him?"

Bellatrix remained silent for a long time before rudely saying, "Fine, I promise! But I need some time."

Owen chuckled to himself, took a specially made Etheric Society badge from his pocket, and tossed it at the other person: "If you're ready, you can contact me through this."

"Oh, and one more thing, you should keep an eye on that little wizard named Owen Shafik who's with Harry Potter," he added casually.

"I was just about to settle accounts with him," Bellatrix said hoarsely, her voice filled with gritted teeth and hatred.

“Owen Shafik… he’s no ordinary man.” Owen raised his eyebrows and said with a sigh, “You may not know, but he was Dumbledore’s protector placed by Harry Potter’s side, and one of Harry Potter’s most trusted people.”

"He possesses strength beyond his years, no less than yours or mine, his family's influence is not to be underestimated, and he also has some kind of protection from Dumbledore. He's a very troublesome fellow," Owen said in a deep voice. "For some reason, Dumbledore values ​​him highly, almost to the same extent as Harry Potter."

"To be honest, he ruined a lot of our plans, seriously interfered with our plans for Harry Potter, and was a target we had to eliminate."

Bellatrix frowned upon hearing the words "Dumbledore's protection".

"Actually, we've already planned to get rid of him this year, but if you're willing to do it for us, we'd love to." Irving continued in a lighthearted tone, looking lazy and relieved that he'd saved himself the trouble.

"We can cooperate on this," Bellatrix said with a forced smile.

"Tsk, then I'll have to carefully consider whether to accept your involvement," Owen said with a forced smile. "If you get any information about him, you can contact me through the badge."

Bellatrix gave a cold laugh, directed the witch beside her to pick up the badge with the cross-shaped eye pattern on the ground, and then decisively Apparated away, leaving the wizard who had fainted under the curse of thorns behind.

Owen watched silently as the other person disappeared, thinking expressionlessly, "Next time, I absolutely have to learn the Apparition Tracking Charm..."

In this negotiation, both sides seemed to have reached a consensus, but in reality, they were just going through the motions and making excuses. Neither side intended to fulfill the terms of the deal, which ultimately resulted in a superficial and extremely fragile relationship that could turn into a falling out at any moment.

But for Irving, that's enough.

He glanced up at the storm-streaked sky, then vanished with a "pop" before the surrounding Muggles and Ministry of Magic employees dealing with the emergency could arrive. (End of Chapter)