Chapter 472: Time and the Hourglass
Chapter 472: Time and the Hourglass
In the last week of May, Professor Mcgonagall held Potter, Weasley, and Granger back after Transfiguration class.
"Potter, Weasley, Granger, you are to go to the room next to the Great Hall at nine o'clock tonight", Professor Mcgonagall told them. "Mr. Bagman will be there to inform the champions about the third task."
After leaving Transfiguration class, they stood in the corridor, looking toward the Forbidden Forest. A group of staff members were crossing the grounds.
"What are they planning to do?" Harry asked, puzzled. "They seem to be heading toward the Quidditch pitch."
They paused for a few minutes, watching as the group turned in front of the Quidditch pitch and walked along the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Harry breathed a sigh of relief; he didn't want the pitch to be damaged. One Ilvermorny encampment was enough. With only ten minutes left before History of Magic class, they hurried to the classroom.
When the bell rang, the ghost Professor Binns floated through the wall and began lecturing in the same monotonous voice he had used for decades.
"Even the treats in Classroom Seven can't save him", Ron remarked.
Harry was visibly agitated. He was eager to find out what the third task would be and to finish the competition. After preparing for so long, he felt more confident than he had for the previous two tasks, but his focus had undoubtedly shifted elsewhere.
Should he ask Hermione where she got the information about Voldemort? He couldn't stop thinking about it. If he knew the source, he could investigate during the summer. Sirius would surely agree to help, providing cover so the Ministry of Magic couldn't determine if he was using magic outside school...
Harry glanced at his watch, which had stopped. He turned to Ron to ask the time, but Ron had a blank expression and was nodding off. Harry didn't want to disturb Ron's nap. He took off his broken watch and put it in his pocket, his fingers brushing against a hard object. He pulled it out and saw a dusty hourglass.
Valen had exchanged it with him, and it had somehow ended up at the bottom of his pocket, forgotten.
Harry stared at the dark golden sand inside the hourglass, lost in thought.
Suddenly, an idea struck him. Harry was surprised by his own thought and looked around—no one was paying attention. He quickly took out a piece of parchment and wrote a line on it, then passed it to Hermione, who was diligently taking notes.
This was what Harry admired about Hermione. Even though she found History of Magic boring, she always managed to pay attention and use the knowledge appropriately. Hermione looked at the parchment that had suddenly appeared on her notes and puffed out her cheeks in annoyance.
Harry gestured with his eyes for her to read it. Hermione lowered her head and read the small writing: "Do you have that old Time-Turner?"
Hermione nodded slightly, lowering her head even more and pulling out a thin golden chain from under her collar. Harry's eyes widened as she placed a golden timer on the parchment and gently pushed it toward him.
"Thanks", Harry muttered, picking up the Time-Turner eagerly. According to Hermione, a functioning Time-Turner would glow, but this one looked very old. Its core was an hourglass with spherical ends, encased in several metal rings, and it had adjustable knobs on the edges.
Harry took a deep breath, held his breath, and placed the dusty hourglass next to the Time-Turner. He was surprised to find that the two hourglasses were almost exactly the same height. Exactly the same... Could they be swapped? He tried to pry the hourglass off the Time-Turner, but it wouldn't budge.
He stopped, afraid to apply more force. Harry looked up guiltily and met Hermione's shocked gaze.
"How did you think of that?"
As soon as class was over, Hermione couldn't wait to ask. They had just left the History of Magic class, where Hermione, for the first time, had forgotten about Professor Binns droning on about giants—"Giants are inherently brutal, the number of giants who die from fighting each other exceeds all other causes combined..."—and had instead been engrossed in examining the hourglass and the broken Time-Turner in Harry's hand, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"I don't know. It was just... a flash of inspiration?" Harry said innocently, while Ron looked at them in confusion.
They quickly finished their lunch and passed through the common room door. Fred and George Weasley were promoting a new product to their friend Lee Jordan, a hat-shaped item. Usually, Harry would have gone over to take a look, as the twins' products were usually quite interesting—provided they weren't used on him.
But today, they walked straight through the crowd, ignoring the amazed exclamations, and headed to a secluded corner. At Hermione's nod, Harry took out the hourglass and the Golden Timer, deliberately placing them together, especially aligning the heights of the two different hourglasses.
"Whoa!" Ron hissed, drawing in a sharp breath. "You don't mean—"
"Yes, that's what we think too", Hermione said excitedly. "I completely overlooked it before! Despite their similar sizes... who would have thought to combine them? One from an ancient Greek Dark Wizard, and the other from the late alchemist Nicolas Flamel."
Ron picked up the dusty hourglass and shook it vigorously, but the dark golden substance inside clumped together and stuck stubbornly to the glass walls. "Except for one thing", he said, "they're both broken. Hermione, you're wasting your time. You said it yourself, Professor Hup inspected them."
"Oh, oh..." Hermione said dismissively, "but Professor Hup doesn't know that Valen secretly kept the goblin's hourglass. In his memory, Valen had returned everything."
Harry's heart raced. He suddenly realized that if they could fix the Golden Timer, they would have an unrestricted Time-Turner, one not monitored by the Ministry of Magic. Although he didn't know what they would use it for, Hermione had mentioned a lot of limitations.
But if something unexpected happened, like the incident on the bridge, they might have died or at least Peter Pettigrew would have escaped if Hermione hadn't used the Time-Turner to find Professor Hup in time.
Harry was extremely concerned about this. "We should at least try! What if we succeed?"
"The problem is, how do we take them apart..." Hermione frowned.
"Well, we don't have any tools. Is there a shop in Hogsmeade that sells pliers?" Harry asked.
"Don't be silly", Hermione said, "it's far more intricate than anything you've ever seen. A pair of pliers or a screwdriver won't do the job... let me think", she examined the broken Golden Timer, muttering to herself, "no... this is beyond our capabilities, unless..."
"Unless what?"
"Unless we can get access to the research materials of the past." Hermione said decisively.
"You mean—" Ron stared at her.
"The broken Time-Turner once belonged to Nicolas Flamel. The professor mentioned that Nicolas Flamel left behind a lot of things. I think, well, if the professor allowed Valen to give away the broken Time-Turner, he probably wouldn't mind us looking through some of the materials..."
"Why don't we just ask Professor Hup for help?" Ron asked, puzzled. "It's the fastest way."
"Of course we can", Hermione said matter-of-factly, "but we need to have some evidence, don't we?"
...
At half past eight in the evening, they left the common room and headed down to the Great Hall. On the way, Ron asked Harry about screwdrivers, and Harry first explained the purpose of screws, then the different types of screwdrivers. "There's a tool kit that contains various sizes of tools, and they can also unscrew nuts—"
"What's that?" Ron asked, amazed. "Dad would love it. He has a drawer full of switches."
In the entrance hall, they met the champion from Beauxbatons, Fleur, who greeted Harry enthusiastically, leaning down to kiss each of his cheeks. Ron’s face lit up with anticipation, while Hermione huffed in annoyance. Both boys were left dazed and dreamy.
When Harry came to his senses, he found himself sitting on a sofa in a room adjacent to the Great Hall. The large figure from Vajadu was grinning at him, looking rather simple-minded. It was strange; how did he end up sitting there? He had no recollection of crossing the Great Hall.
“... my sister Gabrielle will be coming next month, with Dad and Mum. A few days before the third task...” Fleur said cheerfully. Harry looked around; Ron was sitting next to him, equally mesmerized by Fleur. Where was Hermione? The next second, he saw Hermione sitting with Collin.
They waited until nearly ten o'clock, just before the lights were due to be turned off, when Mr. Bagman hurried in.
He was wearing a pair of yellow suspenders that looked like an oversized baby onesie. His face was quite tired, and his short, golden hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat. He forced a smile and extended his hands, looking at the champions in the room.
“Hello, everyone!” he said.
“First of all, I want to congratulate you all. Yes, indeed, the tournament has finally reached its final stage, and I think it’s something to celebrate for both you and me.” Mr. Bagman wiped the sweat from his forehead. “To be honest, I’ve been exhausted lately. I just finished discussing the tournament grounds with the staff. There were too many issues, but fortunately, Hagrid helped with some ideas...” Harry and Ron exchanged a look of alarm.
“After the tournament, I definitely need to request a vacation... cough, cough. Let’s get back to the topic, the third task—” He blinked. “It’s a maze. The third task is straightforward. The Triwizard Cup is placed at the top of the maze, and the team that touches it first will receive full marks.”
“At the top?” Krum asked in a low voice.
“Yes,” Mr. Bagman adjusted his suspenders. “I never said the maze only had one level, did I?”
“So, we just need to navigate through the maze?” Fleur asked, confirming. “Find the right path?”
“Of course not, Miss Delacour,” Mr. Bagman shook his head, his voice becoming more cheerful. “Hagrid has provided a bunch of creatures... and there are some charms that need to be dispelled... and so on. This is a race against time. The leading team, based on the scores from the previous tasks, will enter the maze first. We’ll post the scores and the order of entry in the entrance hall tomorrow...”
“Additionally, there’s one more thing I need to remind you of. You’re not allowed to attack each other inside the maze—we’ll be monitoring the entire process—but you can snatch the cup, of course, only if your team hasn’t gathered in full.” Mr. Bagman looked at the champions staring at him blankly and smiled, his round face beaming. “You’ll find that the cup is a Portkey. When all three members of a team touch it simultaneously, it will activate and transport you out of the maze.”
The room suddenly fell silent. Mr. Bagman waited a few seconds, fidgeting on his feet. “That’s all, champions!”
...
“I can’t believe it! They’re actually allowing the champions to fight!” Ron exclaimed in disbelief as soon as they stepped out of the Great Hall.
“It’s not fighting, it’s snatching the cup,” Harry corrected him without hesitation. He found it normal, and a small voice inside him was eager to try.
“But—how are we supposed to get the cup from them without attacking?” Ron asked.
Harry hesitated. “I guess there will be some restrictions, like not using dark spells... Mr. Bagman said the details will be posted tomorrow.”
“I still think we need to be careful,” Ron said.
At that moment, Harry noticed Hermione had been unusually quiet. He looked at her curiously. “Hermione, what’s wrong?”
“Oh, um,” Hermione nervously ran her fingers through her hair. “Remember what Mr. Bagman said about the parents of the champions being invited to watch the tournament? I haven’t told my family... in fact, well,” she glanced cautiously at Harry and Ron, “I’ve told a few lies. In my letter to them, I said... each school has only one champion, and Hogwarts has two by accident... the other one, of course, isn’t me... oh, heavens, I told them the second champion is Harry!”
Harry and Ron’s mouths dropped open in shock.
(End of Chapter)
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