Chapter 409

Chapter 409: Chapter 409

Behind him, Agnis remained in the doorway, watching until his figure disappeared around the end of the corridor.

After saying goodbye to Agnis, Lynn went to visit his only male friend in this era—Andrew Ollivander.

Andrew’s dormitory was on the third floor of the castle’s western tower, not far from Agnis’s room.

Lynn knocked on the door.

"Come in," Andrew called from inside.

Lynn pushed the door open.

Andrew was sitting at his desk, its surface covered with an assortment of tools and materials.

Several partially shaved lengths of wood lay beside a small tuft of silver-white wand-core material as soft as hair. Carving knives of various sizes were scattered around them, and an old book lay open to a heavily worn page.

Their conversation was far more straightforward.

"I’m leaving."

Andrew looked up.

"Leaving?"

Lynn nodded.

"Leaving."

Andrew remained silent for a moment.

"Will we ever meet again?"

Lynn considered the question.

"Barring an accident, probably not."

Andrew gave a quiet hum, lowered his head, and resumed shaving the piece of wood in his hand.

"I originally planned to give you a wand after you graduated," he said from behind the desk, his voice muffled. "But since you’re leaving..."

Lynn looked at him.

"You could leave it at the bottom of the Black Lake," Lynn suggested. "Perhaps I’ll have a chance to retrieve it someday."

Andrew raised his head.

"Wouldn’t the fish steal it?"

"Then invent a fish-repelling spell and cast it on the box containing the wand."

Lynn smiled, speaking as casually as though it were merely a joke.

Andrew paused.

"You know, that might actually work."

They smiled at each other, but as Lynn continued smiling, a troubling thought occurred to him.

Andrew wouldn’t actually do that in the future, would he?

If he did, then all those wands Lynn had retrieved from the Black Lake had technically been gifts meant for him.

Wouldn’t that mean Lynn had only been robbing himself?

"You’re not seriously planning to do it, are you?" Lynn hurriedly warned him. "Absolutely not!"

Andrew waved dismissively.

"Of course not. I don’t have that much time to waste. I’m busy researching wands."

Despite Andrew’s assurance, Lynn decided that once he returned to his own time, he would check beneath his usual fishing spot for any suspicious, trap-like boxes.

...

A few minutes later, Lynn stood in the clearing before the castle gates with the Four Founders of Hogwarts.

The cold wind swept across the grounds, making his robes rustle.

He held the Time-Turner in one hand.

The runes on its casing shifted slowly beneath the moonlight, emitting a gentle glow. Within its golden hourglass, sand flowed steadily from top to bottom, one grain at a time.

Lynn drew a deep breath and looked around.

Hogwarts Castle stood behind him. Its soaring towers, imposing walls, and glass windows gleaming silver beneath the moonlight looked exactly as they had when he first arrived.

Yet somehow, they felt different.

He couldn’t explain what had changed.

Perhaps it was because this time, he truly was leaving.

As Lynn prepared to activate the Time-Turner, Ravenclaw couldn’t help offering one final warning.

"Lynn."

Everyone turned toward her.

"Although you’ve made your decision, I must remind you that this Time-Turner has been modified. No one knows how much strain it can endure."

Ravenclaw’s gaze settled upon the device in Lynn’s hand.

"It is the most precise magical artifact I have ever encountered—far more complex and fragile than any form of time magic I have previously studied."

She lifted her gaze and looked directly into his eyes.

"You must remain prepared for danger throughout the journey."

Lynn nodded solemnly.

"Don’t worry, Professor. I’ll be careful."

Ravenclaw studied the determination written across his face and said nothing more.

Lynn took another deep breath and lowered his gaze to the Time-Turner.

He placed his fingers against its casing and closed his eyes.

Ancient Magic surged from his body.

He carefully guided the power along his arm and through his wrist, channeling it into the Time-Turner.

The device began spinning at astonishing speed.

If used in the conventional manner, it would have needed to rotate at least 8.76 million times to carry him forward a thousand years.

The modified Time-Turner completed only a hundred rotations before it began to glow.

Light emerged from the runes engraved upon its casing and spread outward, growing brighter with every passing moment.

Hum—

A low vibration came from within the Time-Turner.

It wasn’t loud, but it possessed a deep, resonant quality, like muffled thunder rolling beneath the earth.

Lynn’s body abruptly became weightless, as though the slightest breeze could carry him away. His feet left the ground, and he slowly rose into the air.

When he opened his eyes, everything before him had begun to blur.

The castle, the clearing, the moon, and the stars were gradually swallowed by silver-white light.

Lynn looked toward the four professors one final time.

Then, as though suddenly remembering something, he shouted at Slytherin.

"Slytherin! Some of your descendants are half-bloods!"

Silence fell over the clearing.

Slytherin stared at him, his face filled with confusion.

"You bastard! What half-bloods? Explain yourself!"

Lynn could no longer hear him.

The silver-white light erupted, swallowing everything.

...

When Lynn opened his eyes again, he was traveling through the familiar tunnel of time.

Walls of multicolored light streamed rapidly past him, forming a vast, radiant river. The lights surged from ahead, swept around his body, and vanished endlessly into the distance behind him.

Lynn pulled his wand from his sleeve and aimed it toward the front of the tunnel.

A translucent barrier unfolded before him. It was only large enough to cover his body, and its surface glimmered with a faint silver-white sheen that was barely noticeable amid the surrounding colors.

He waved his wand again.

A second barrier appeared.

Then a third.

A fourth.

A fifth...

Lynn couldn’t tell how much time passed.

It might have been minutes or hours. Eventually, he could no longer remember.

His sense of time had become completely distorted.

There was no sunrise or sunset within the tunnel, no ticking clock, and nothing else by which he could measure its passage.

There were only the endless streams of light and the occasional temporal storm.

Lynn waved his wand again and blasted apart a cloud of gray mist surging toward him.

The mist shattered into countless fragments and swept harmlessly past his body.

Crack.

A faint sound came from within the Time-Turner.

Lynn’s pupils contracted.

He stiffly lowered his head and stared at the device hanging from his neck.

After taking a deep breath, he reached out to remove it so he could inspect it more carefully.

The moment his fingers touched its casing—

Crack!

Another sharp sound rang out.

This one was louder, clearer, and far more ominous.

Lynn’s hand froze.

He studied the Time-Turner’s casing, its runes, and the sand flowing within the golden hourglass.

Everything appeared normal.

But those cracking sounds certainly weren’t.

His unease proved justified a second later.

"BOOM!"

The Time-Turner exploded against his chest.

Fragments of its casing flew in every direction, several grazing his cheeks. The golden hourglass shattered, scattering its sand throughout the tunnel.

Lynn desperately reached out to catch it.

His fingers passed straight through the golden grains.

The sand slipped through his hands and scattered into the tunnel, drifting farther and farther away until it disappeared among the endless streams of light.

Just as Ravenclaw had warned, the Time-Turner had been completely destroyed.

The realization struck Lynn more violently than the explosion itself.

He stared down at the shattered remains hanging from his neck, his mind going blank.

A tremendous force suddenly seized him from below, like an invisible hand gripping the soles of his feet and dragging him downward.

Lynn looked beneath him.

A vast crack had opened in the tunnel.

His body plunged into it.

In an instant, he lost all control.

...

Lynn materialized on a grassy field.

Before he could rise, excruciating pain tore through his entire body.

His organs began failing at an alarming rate.

Within two seconds, he lost his sight, hearing, and ability to speak.

Was this the backlash from traveling through time?

Fortunately, Levi was with him.

A golden-red light appeared within the darkness.

Levi emerged from the radiance and gently caught Lynn’s collar in its claws. It pressed its body against his chest and rested its head beside his collarbone.

Then it closed its eyes.

[Heartflame Covenant]

An invisible power surged from Levi’s body and entered Lynn through its claws, feathers, and skin.

The energy spread through his liver, kidneys, spleen, stomach, and every other damaged organ, gradually restoring them to their proper state.

Whatever had slowed began accelerating.

Whatever had accelerated began slowing.

Whatever had stopped began functioning again.

Lynn’s senses gradually returned.

First came touch.

Then hearing.

Finally, sight.

He opened his eyes and found himself surrounded by golden-red light.

Lynn raised a hand and gently stroked Levi’s feathers.

"Thank you," he whispered.

He remained on the ground, staring up at the sky.

"Levi," Lynn asked, his voice still slightly hoarse, "where are we?"

Levi tilted its head and closed its eyes to sense their surroundings.

A moment later, it looked at him.

"Hogwarts."

Lynn froze.

"Outside the castle," Levi added.

A cold wind swept across his face, carrying the scents of damp earth, fresh grass, and the faint sulfurous odor of a dragon.

Lynn sat up and looked into the distance.

Hogwarts Castle stood beneath the moonlight.

---

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