Yvonne was lost in her thoughts as she made her way up the corridors and stairs to the top floor of the North Tower when Hermione interrupted her thoughts.
"Ivan!"
"What's wrong?" Yvonne turned to look at her, surprised to see Hermione taking the Time-Turner off her neck.
The chain gleamed in the sunlight. She hesitated, then handed it over.
Ivan reached for it, surprised. "Didn't Professor Dumbledore tell you to keep it? Why are you giving it to me?"
"But you can be flexible sometimes, can't you? I think the Professor just doesn't want us to abuse its power," Hermione added, sticking her tongue out.
"So we can swap, you keep it, and I'll supervise you!"
Hermione had seen Ivan's reaction in the Headmaster's office, and she knew that he was desperate to get his hands on it.
"But promise me you'll take me with you every time you use the Time-Turner!" Hermione said earnestly.
Professor McGonagall vouched for them and gave them the Time-Turner, which Hermione did not want to betray.
More crucially, Dumbledore stated that the power of Time Misuse poses unpredictable risks.
Hermione did not know how Ivan intended to use the Time-Turner, but she felt that since she had promised Professor Dumbledore to supervise Ivan, she had to do it…
Yvonne shook her head at the witch's earnestness. 'Even if I used it in secret, you wouldn't have noticed.'
With that in mind, Yvonne opened the system's wizarding inventory and checked.
[Magical Item: Time-Turner
Magic: Powerful
Effect: For every turn of the needle, the time will be rewound by an hour, and the risk will increase…
Description: This is an exquisite magical artefact with the power to affect time, and you will need to use it with caution.
Remarks: time does not increase or decrease! You cannot change the past, you are merely making up for the past!"
Can't change the past, but can history be fixed?
Ivan looked at the Time-Turner in his hand in silence. It seemed that the power of time was far more wonderful or… terrifying than he had imagined!
The other entry, however, confused Ivan for a moment.
Why is it said that time does not increase or decrease?
Using the Time-Turner, one could gain a few extra hours of study time per day, or even use one day as two.
Could time here refer to the total length of time… life?
Yvonne had a sudden realization. What if a dying old man used a time-changer to travel back in time?
It is feared that an old man will still die of old age soon after returning to the past, so the Time-Turner does not so much increase one's time as move the future to the present.
Despite this, the magical object was still immensely powerful, as what he lacked now was time, even if it cost him his future.
After a moment's thought, Ivan quickly recovered,
While Yvonne was deep in thought, Hermione grew apprehensive, thinking that Yvonne was hesitating over her earlier suggestion, and did not want to have an extra supervisor.
Perhaps it would be better to let me know when I use the Time-Turner… Hermione silently lowered her guard, but then quickly decided that she had let Professor Dumbledore down.
Thinking of this, the little witch's cheeks turned red and she immediately made up her mind to stick to her guns. She puffed up her cheeks and fiercely tried to argue with Ivan.
Ivan caught sight of Hermione's troubled expression, and guessed what she was thinking. Before she could say anything, he placed the gold chain of the Time-Turner back around her neck.
Hermione's words were stuck in her throat, and she was stunned, as if she had been petrified. She looked at Ivan in surprise and stammered, "You're not going to take the Time-Turner?"
Yvonne shook her head. "It's the same with you. You can't refuse me when I need it, can you?"
Hermione looked down at the golden chronometer and, clasping it in both hands, smiled and nodded solemnly.
"Of course not. You can use it whenever you want!"
This time Hermione said no more about proper usage.
Trust is always mutual,
Hermione, however, knew that Ivan was desperate to get his hands on the Time-Turner, and therefore trusted him enough to give it back…
Unbeknownst to Hermione, Ivan was reliving the scene in the Headmaster's office.
What exactly do you mean, Albus Dumbledore?
Hermione would never have been able to stop her if she had been prepared to do something…
He was very different from Hermione in strength, and she trusted him. If necessary, Ivan had a way of putting Hermione to sleep without her realising it, and Dumbledore's supposed mutual supervision was useless.
Ivan believes that Dumbledore knows this as well as he does, but why Dumbledore still made such arrangements?
Or was the white wizard simply waiting to see what choice he would make?
Unable to guess what Dumbledore was thinking, Ivan decided to pass on the opportunity to gain Hermione's trust.
After all, his most important goal in the near future was to improve the potion, and there was no reason to hide that fact from Hermione.
"Yah! It's been so long. I hope we're not late…" Hermione said anxiously, suddenly realising this.
"Don't we have a time-changer?" Ivan asked, shaking his head.
"It's not meant to be used for trivial things like this. We've got to go back in time a couple of times today!" Hermione protested, pulling Ivan towards the Divination classroom.
…
A dozen minutes later, the breathless pair arrived at the front of the Divination classroom, which was already packed with people.
The trapdoor leading to the classroom was open, and wizards were lining up to climb the ladder.
"Looks like we got here just in time!" Ivan laughed.
Hermione gave him a reproachful look; she would have been late if she had not run all the way here.
"Where have you been?" Ron asked, looking at the two of them, who were exhausted from their hurried journey.
"We got lost…" Hermione replied casually. Naturally, she would not talk about the Time-Turner, as they had promised not to tell anyone.