Chapter 408

Chapter 408: Chapter 408

Gryffindor’s broom was impossibly fast.

Seated behind Godric with both hands gripping the broom handle, Lynn felt like a fallen leaf caught in a gale.

The wind howled in his ears and swept his hair straight back.

Tilting his head, he glanced down.

Mountains, rivers, towns, and villages raced beneath them, receding like images in a film played at several times its normal speed.

"Hold on tight!" Godric called from the front. "I’m going to speed up!"

You’re flying drunk! Do you even realize that?

Before Lynn could respond, the broom nearly doubled its speed.

Once he returned to his own time, he would have to use the materials he had collected to upgrade his broom until it was even faster than this one. He hadn’t expected the materials available in this era to be so durable.

After some time, the silhouette of Hogwarts Castle gradually emerged through the twilight.

Its soaring towers and imposing walls looked exactly as they had when Lynn left, yet somehow felt different.

He couldn’t quite explain why.

Perhaps it was because this time, he hadn’t returned for another temporary stay.

He had come to say goodbye.

Godric landed the broom in the clearing before the castle gates, and Lynn jumped off behind him.

"Let’s go," Godric said. "Rowena is waiting for us."

Lynn nodded and entered the castle.

He hurried through the entrance hall, raced along the corridors, and climbed one flight of stairs after another.

While traveling outside, he hadn’t been in any hurry at all. He had taken his time sightseeing, plucking mane hairs when he encountered a lion with a mane of flame, collecting feathers from a Thunderbird, and gathering antler powder from an Umbrabuck.

He had even spent an entire afternoon sleeping on a hillside covered in wildflowers.

Yet the moment he returned to Hogwarts, his desire to go home became almost overwhelming.

It was a strange feeling.

Several students recognized him and Godric along the way and tried to greet them, but Lynn rushed past before they could say a word.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

The door to Ravenclaw’s office endured a pounding far too violent for something of its age.

Lynn’s eyelids twitched as he watched Godric knock. As expected of a Hogwarts founder who specialized in close combat, the man wasn’t even afraid that Ravenclaw might scold him for nearly breaking down her door.

The door opened on its own, and Ravenclaw’s voice drifted out from within.

"Godric, if you knock that loudly again, I guarantee that certain ’unavoidable forces’ will cause every strand of your beautiful hair to disappear."

Godric’s smile froze.

He reached out and pushed the door open with remarkable gentleness.

It creaked softly as he stepped aside and gestured for Lynn to enter first.

Lynn looked at him, the corner of his mouth twitching, before walking into the office.

The room looked much the same as when he had left.

The bookshelves remained unchanged, as did the stars above.

There was only one difference.

Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff sat beside a long table, with an enormous canvas standing before them.

The vertically positioned canvas was a head taller than Lynn. The outline of a woman had already been sketched upon it.

Judging by its shape, the woman was clearly Ravenclaw.

Hufflepuff stood beside the canvas with a paintbrush in hand, its tip dipped in golden paint. Her brow was slightly furrowed, and every part of her radiated intense concentration.

The two women looked up at the smiling Lynn.

"It seems you successfully found a way to strengthen your Ancient Magic," Hufflepuff said.

Lynn chuckled.

"I was lucky."

Ravenclaw gave him a noncommittal look.

The clue she had provided was only a general location somewhere near the Goblin Kingdom. She hadn’t expected Lynn to find the place at all.

If that wasn’t luck, what was?

She withdrew her gaze and returned her attention to the canvas.

"Professor." Lynn stepped closer and examined the sketched outline. "Are you leaving a portrait of yourself at Hogwarts?"

Ravenclaw nodded slightly.

"I won’t live to see Hogwarts a thousand years from now, so my portrait will have to see it in my place."

Lynn fell silent as he recalled the countless portraits hanging on the walls of Hogwarts in his own era.

"That’s a good idea," he said.

After a brief pause, he added, "But I’ve never seen your portrait in the Headmaster’s office."

The corner of Ravenclaw’s mouth curved upward.

"That means I hid it."

Lynn stared at her in surprise.

Ravenclaw leaned back in her chair and folded her hands over her knees.

"I prefer peace and quiet."

Her tone was perfectly matter-of-fact.

It suited everything Lynn had learned about Ravenclaw during his time here.

He turned toward Hufflepuff.

"What about your portrait, Professor? I’ve never seen yours either."

"My portrait must remain with Rowena. I can’t allow her to become too lonely."

Lynn fell silent.

"Lynn," Hufflepuff continued, "are you certain you don’t want to stay a little longer?"

"I’m afraid that if I stay any longer, I won’t be able to bring myself to leave."

Lynn spoke with such sincerity that he nearly believed it himself.

Hufflepuff looked at him and sighed. Then she turned, opened one of Ravenclaw’s drawers, and removed the damaged Time-Turner.

Lynn drew a deep breath and raised his wand, aiming its tip at the Time-Turner.

Ancient Magic surged from his body.

It felt as though a great river were rushing through him while a mountain rested upon his shoulders. Yet the pressure wasn’t oppressive or painful.

A silver-white light poured from the tip of his wand and enveloped the Time-Turner.

The cracks across its casing gradually faded until they were nearly invisible.

The runes grew brighter, glowing as though they had caught fire.

Within the golden hourglass, the sand began flowing faster and faster until it seemed to fly.

Lynn could feel the Time-Turner coming back to life.

Its broken structure reconnected. Its burned-out runes reignited, and its exhausted magic awakened once more.

It was like pouring oil into a machine on the verge of collapse and setting its gears into motion again—or adding one final spoonful of oil to a dying lamp and restoring its flame.

Click.

A faint sound came from within the Time-Turner, like two gears locking perfectly into place.

The cracks across its casing disappeared completely.

The runes stopped shifting and settled into position, emitting a gentle glow.

The sand within the golden hourglass slowed, flowing steadily from top to bottom at a natural pace.

Everything had returned to normal.

Lynn lowered his wand and released a long breath.

Unable to contain himself, he picked up the Time-Turner and examined it from every angle.

The runes on its casing shifted faintly beneath the light, radiating a soft glow. Within the golden hourglass, each grain of sand fell at an unhurried pace.

He held it to his ear and listened.

Tick... tock... tick... tock...

The sound was quiet but unmistakably clear, like someone in the distance gently tapping a thin piece of metal with a tiny hammer.

Lynn lowered the Time-Turner and looked at Ravenclaw.

"Thank you, Professor."

His voice carried a trace of excitement.

Ravenclaw shook her head.

"You accomplished this yourself," she said. "I did nothing."

Lynn turned from her to Hufflepuff, then finally to Godric.

"Professors, please wait here. There’s something I need to take care of first. I’ll be right back."

Before any of them could respond, he turned and dashed out of the office.

Silence lingered briefly after his departure.

Godric turned toward Ravenclaw.

"What’s wrong with him?"

Ravenclaw continued staring at the canvas without acknowledging him.

Godric fell silent.

Was she giving him the cold shoulder?

That was an expression he had learned from Lynn.

...

Lynn’s pockets were now filled with treasures that needed to be stored somewhere safe.

The first place he ruled out was Agnis’s home.

It wasn’t that he distrusted the girl. He distrusted her descendants.

If one of them happened to be as desperately short of money as Professor Trelawney, Lynn could only imagine how much of his collection might disappear.

He also ruled out leaving everything with Andrew. He seriously suspected that the Ollivanders would eventually turn the entire collection into wands.

After careful consideration, Lynn decided to hide his treasures in the Room of Requirement.

Of course, he wouldn’t use the room where the Socket Spirit had hidden the Horcrux. That place was filled with junk and clearly wasn’t secure.

Instead, he asked the Room of Requirement to create "a room that can only be entered by Lynn of Hufflepuff House, born in 1980, enrolled at Hogwarts in 1991, recipient of the Order of Merlin, First Class, master of White..."

Once his treasures were safely stored, Lynn went to bid farewell to Agnis and Andrew.

He visited Agnis first.

Fortunately, Hogwarts didn’t yet have a strict rule forbidding boys from entering the girls’ dormitories. As long as the girl living there agreed, a boy could enter.

Agnis lived in a small dormitory in the castle’s western tower.

The room wasn’t large, but it was exceptionally clean. It contained a wooden bed, a table with several chairs, a wardrobe, and an oil lamp.

An unfamiliar green plant sat on the windowsill, its thick leaves gleaming beneath the light.

Agnis was sitting at her desk with a heavy book spread open before her.

Its pages were yellowed and its corners badly worn, revealing its considerable age. She held a quill above a sheet of parchment, seemingly lost in thought.

Hearing the door open, she raised her head.

The moment she saw Lynn, her eyes brightened.

"Lynn!"

She jumped down from her chair and hurried toward him, looking up with a smile.

However, Lynn noticed that her eyes were slightly red.

"You’re leaving, aren’t you?" she asked softly. "You’re going back to your own time."

Lynn nodded in surprise.

"How did you know?"

Agnis rubbed her eyes and lowered her head bashfully. Her fingers twisted the hem of her clothes as she considered how to explain.

"My Inner Eye has awakened, but I can’t see any prophecies about you in the crystal ball."

Lynn’s eyebrows rose.

Agnis looked up at him.

"The Divination professor told me there are two possibilities. Either the future I’m trying to see is too distant to appear clearly, or the person whose future I’m searching for simply doesn’t exist."

Lynn fell silent.

Was Agnis unable to see his future because of Absolute Evasion, or because of the vast span of time separating them?

Perhaps it was both.

"Lynn," Agnis said, interrupting his thoughts, "will we ever see each other again?"

Lynn met her bright gaze and remained silent for a moment.

"Of course we will. Just because two people follow different paths doesn’t mean they can’t eventually arrive at the same place."

Agnis gave a quiet hum of acknowledgment.

She wasn’t a three-year-old. She knew Lynn was only trying to comfort her.

But she didn’t expose him.

"Then I wish you a safe journey."

"And I hope you study hard."

They shared a brief hug.

Then Lynn turned to leave, raising one hand in a final wave.

---

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