A Professor of Magic at Hogwarts

Chapter 472: Time and Hourglass

Towards the end of May, Professor McGonagall detained them after their Transfiguration class.

"Potter, Weasley, Granger, tonight at nine, go to the room next to the Great Hall," McGonagall said, "Mr. Bagman will reveal the third task for the champions."

Exiting the Transfiguration classroom, they stood in the corridor gazing towards the Forbidden Forest as a group of staff members crossed the grounds.

"What are they up to?" Harry asked puzzled, "Looks like they're heading towards the Quidditch pitch."

They lingered a few minutes, watching as the group turned away from the Quidditch pitch, walking along the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Harry sighed in relief; he didn't want the pitch damaged, especially with one nest of Acromantulas around. Realizing they had ten minutes until their History of Magic class, they hurried to the classroom.

When the bell chimed, Professor Binns, the ghost, floated through the wall, delivering his monotonous lecture as he had for decades.

"Even food in the Room of Requirement can't save him," Ron remarked.

Harry felt restless; he was eager to know about the third task and wrap up the tournament. After preparing for so long, he felt more confident than in the previous tasks, yet his focus had drifted elsewhere.

Should he ask Hermione where she got the information about Voldemort? The thought lingered as he imagined using the summer break to investigate with Sirius's help. Sirius would surely assist, providing cover for his magic use outside school grounds, making it harder for the Ministry to track.

Glancing at his watch, which had stopped, he turned to Ron to ask the time. Ron had a puzzled look, slowly nodding. Not wanting to disturb Ron's snooze, Harry removed the broken watch and slipped it into his pocket, brushing against something hard. He pulled out a hazy hourglass.

It was from Valen, hidden in the deepest corner of his pocket, forgotten until now.

Harry stared at the stagnant, dark golden sand inside the hourglass, lost in thought.

Suddenly, an idea struck him. Surprised by the notion, he looked around—no one was watching. Harry swiftly took out a piece of parchment and scribbled a line, passing it discreetly to Hermione, who was attentively listening in class.

That was something Harry admired about Hermione: despite finding History of Magic tedious, she managed to retain and utilize knowledge at the right moments. Hermione glanced at the parchment that had suddenly appeared on her History of Magic book, and with a disapproving pout, puffed her cheeks.

Harry gestured with his eyes for her to read the message. Hermione lowered her head, reading the small text: "Did you bring the broken Time-Turner?"

She nodded subtly, lowering her head further to pull out a slender gold chain from her collar. Harry widened his eyes, seeing her place a golden timer on the parchment, sliding it towards him.

"Thanks," Harry mumbled quietly, eagerly picking up the timer. According to Hermione, a functional Time-Turner would emit light, but this one looked worn out. It had a core of two spherical hourglasses within a metallic ring frame, with adjustable knobs at the edges.

Harry took a deep breath, holding it, placing the hazy hourglass and the Time-Turner together, astonished to find both hourglasses nearly identical in height. Identical... Could they be interchangeable? He tried to pry the hourglass from the Time-Turner, but it wouldn't budge.

He stopped, too anxious to continue. Harry nervously looked up, meeting Hermione's astonished gaze.

"How did you come up with this?" Hermione immediately asked as class ended. For the past half-hour, she had forgotten Professor Binns's droning about giants’ aggressive nature, throwing her notes aside, focusing solely on Harry's hourglass and the broken Time-Turner. Her eyes sparkled with curiosity.

"I don't know. Just... an idea?" Harry innocently replied, as Ron looked at them, puzzled.

They hurriedly finished dinner, passing through the common room's door. Fred and George were pitching a new product to Lee Jordan, but Harry didn't divert, usually intrigued by the Weasley twins' products—just not on himself.

Instead, they went straight past the crowd to a secluded corner. Following Hermione's cues, Harry brought out the hourglass and Time-Turner, intentionally aligning both hourglasses' heights.

"Whoa," Ron gasped. "Could it be—"

"Yeah, we thought so too," Hermione exclaimed excitedly. "I didn't notice earlier! Even though they're about the same size... who would have thought to combine them? One from a Greek Dark Wizard thousands of years ago, the other from the deceased alchemist Nicolas Flamel."

Ron shook the hazy hourglass vigorously, the dark golden substance inside solidified against the glass, immovable, "Except for a bit," he said, "they're both broken. Hermione, you're wasting your effort; you said Professor Snape checked."

"Oh, um..." Hermione said dismissively, "But Snape wouldn't know Valen stole the fairy's hourglass. In his mind, he made Valen return everything."

Harry's heart raced. If they fixed the gold timer, they'd possess an unrestricted Time-Turner, although Hermione had listed several usage restrictions earlier.

But in case of an emergency, like on the viaduct when Hermione had the Time-Turner and managed to summon Professor Snape in time, without which one or two might have died, or at least Peter Pettigrew would likely have escaped.

Harry was deeply invested in this, "Let's at least try! What if it works?"

"The problem is, how do we dismantle..." Hermione furrowed her brow.

"True, we don't have the tools. Does Hogsmeade have a shop selling pliers?" Harry asked.

"Don't be daft," Hermione said, "It's more intricate than anything you've seen. It's not something a pair of pliers or a screwdriver can fix... Let me think," she examined the broken gold timer repeatedly, murmuring to herself, "No... this is beyond our capability, unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Unless we can access the previous research," Hermione concluded firmly.

"Meaning—?" Ron gawked at her.

"This broken Time-Turner belonged to Nicolas Flamel. The professor mentioned Mr. Flamel left behind plenty of things. I think, um, if Professor allows Valen to give away the broken Time-Turner, he wouldn't mind us checking some of the research..."

"Why don't we just ask Professor Snape for help?" Ron asked, puzzled. He reminded them, "That's the quickest way."

"Of course, but we should present some evidence, right?"

...

At half-past eight in the evening, they emerged from the common room, heading downstairs towards the Great Hall. Along the way, Ron inquired about the appearance of screwdrivers. Initially explaining the purpose of screws, Harry then delved into different types of screwdrivers, "There's a toolbox with various tool sizes that can loosen nuts—"

"What's that?" Ron asked, amazed. "Dad would love that; he collects a drawer full of switches."

In the entrance hall, they encountered the Beauxbatons champions.

Fleur Delacour, smiling politely, greeted Harry, who nodded back. Cedric Diggory, on the other hand, stopped to chat with Harry briefly about their shared excitement for the final task.

The four of them entered the room adjacent to the Great Hall. Dumbledore was present, as was Ludo Bagman, who had several rolls of parchment in hand. The Headmaster looked up with his twinkling eyes, acknowledging their arrival.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore greeted, "You are right on time. Please, have a seat."

"Thank you, Professor," Hermione said, as they took their places.

Bagman cleared his throat, unrolling one of the parchments, "Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament shall take place on the grounds of Hogwarts. As for the details..."

Harry listened with half an ear, his mind fixated on the broken Time-Turner and Valen's hourglass. He wondered about the possibilities that lay in unlocking their combined potential.

The evening passed in a blur of excitement and anticipation for the final task. Amidst the discussions about the Tournament, the strategy, and the thrill of the unknown, Harry's thoughts kept drifting back to the potential solution lying within the hourglass and the broken Time-Turner.

>

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