Chapter 817: Time Exclusion
Chapter 817: Time Exclusion
Albus Dumbledore, had he returned to a hundred years ago?
Kyle's heart skipped a beat.
He had thought Viktor wanted to continue their discussion on alchemy, but he never expected the topic to be this.
How could he have known?
Kyle was certain that on the day Dumbledore left Godric's Hollow, only the two of them were present, and even Bathilda Bagshot was upstairs, unaware of what transpired downstairs.
Not to mention that Professor Viktor was far away in France; how could he possibly know?
Kyle tightened his grip on his wand, but his expression remained calm and composed. "You should ask Professor McGonagall about this. How could I possibly know Professor Dumbledore's itinerary?"
"You don't know?" Viktor furrowed his brows.
"Of course I don't," Kyle replied. "I've only just graduated. And going back a hundred years, isn't that a bit exaggerated? The current Time Turner can't achieve that."
"Not the current one, but a Time Turner from a thousand years ago," Viktor rubbed his forehead. "It's strange, Nicolas clearly said he gave that thing to you... Did I remember it wrong?"
"Um, wait a moment..."
Kyle blinked, "Professor Viktor, do you know about that Time Turner?"
"Of course. Albus approached me much earlier to help him fix something... that was the Time Turner."
"The magical rune formula to get that thing working again was something Nicolas and I tried together," Viktor explained.
Kyle vaguely recalled that Dumbledore had indeed mentioned he would invite the most renowned alchemy master to repair the Time Turner.
It seemed that in addition to Nicoleme, Professor Viktor was also one of them.
Thinking of this, Kyle couldnproud of it.
Being invited and informed by Dumbledore himself, this professor should be trustworthy, but Kyle didn't completely let down his guard.
"I'm not aware of the situation you just mentioned."
"Didn't he come to you for the Time Turner?" Professor Viktor asked, taken aback.
"No," Kyle shook his head, choosing to continue concealing the truth.
The more people who knew that Dumbledore was absent, the higher the chances of exposure. In the current situation, Kyle dared not take any risks, even if the other party's identity seemed reliable.
He hadn't even told Professor McGonagall or Mrs. Weasley about it. In terms of trustworthiness, they should definitely be placed in a more prominent position.
Additionally, this professor also seemed a bit... well, how to put it, he didn't seem very adept in areas other than alchemy, making it highly likely for him to slip up.
"Oh," Professor Viktor nodded. "Well, I didn't expect him to hold out this long. I even bet with Nicolas, guessing when he would go to find Ariana."
"What did you bet?" Kyle asked with interest.
"I guessed less than six months, but Nicolas thought it would take longer, at least a year."
Professor Viktor rubbed his forehead, "I have to admit, he understands Dumbledore better."
"What was the bet?" Kyle asked curiously.
"It was for the entrance qualification to Paris Fashion Week."
"What?" Kyle rubbed his ears, thinking he had misheard.
"It's a Muggle event," Viktor explained, assuming Kyle didn't know. "The relationship between the French Ministry of Magic and the Muggle leaders is quite good, and there are many of my students in the Ministry. So, from time to time, I receive all sorts of strange things."
Viktor moved his fingers, and a drawer next to him opened automatically, filled with various small objects, flyers, souvenirs, and mostly tickets.
Kyle glanced at them—tickets for football, fashion week, lingerie shows, music festivals, car races... all kinds of tickets were there.
"I'm not interested in these, and I've never been to any of them," Viktor said. "But Nicolas loves them. He's always looking for excuses to get tickets from me.
"Of course, even without those excuses, if he wanted them, I would definitely give them to him."
Viktor picked out a few tickets and handed the rest to Kyle, "If you like them, feel free to take them."
"No, it's fine," Kyle waved his hands repeatedly.
If Conna saw some of these things, he might be sent back to Britain by owl.
Changing the subject, Kyle asked, "Professor Viktor, why did you think Professor Dumbledore had gone back to the past?"
"Because he hasn't appeared in a while, and there's been no news from him," Viktor replied. "Other than going back a hundred years, I can't think of any other reason for him to disappear for so long."
"But it seems I guessed wrong," he continued. "Maybe I've been too busy compiling the new textbook and didn't pay much attention to his situation. Don't worry about it; just consider it as if I hadn't said anything."
"But this way, I'm relieved."
"Relieved?" Kyle asked, puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"Oh, it's not a big deal.
"Viktor spoke slowly, 'It was just a week ago that Nicolas noticed that the magic rune formula we used to drive the time converter wasn't perfect and might cause time confusion for the user.'
'In other words, he came back, but he didn't come back,' Kyle said gravely.
'Can you be more specific?' Kyle asked with a serious expression.
'It's time exclusion,' Viktor explained. 'Normally, if a time converter user doesn't make a mistake, they can always return to the correct timeline, which is the time they decided to go back to.
'When a person disappears, the person who returns to the past also comes back, allowing for a perfect connection and ensuring that the person remains in the current time.'
'What do you mean by time exclusion?'
'It means he can't come back,' Viktor explained, seeming a bit awkward at explaining this. 'For example, if a person uses a time converter at 8 a.m. to go back to 5 a.m., then after three hours, they will return to 8 a.m. and complete the handover with themselves.
'But if they are time excluded, then their world will no longer have 8 a.m., and the latest they can get to is 7:59 a.m., or even earlier.'
'What would happen to that person?' Kyle asked anxiously.
'I don't know,' Viktor shook his head. 'Maybe they'll be stuck at 7:59 a.m., or maybe they'll return to 5 a.m. again...'
'Of course, you don't have to worry about these things,' Viktor waved his hand. 'Fortunately, Nicolas found out early, and Albus hasn't taken action yet. As long as you find him and slightly repair the magic runes in the time converter, and with the assistance of the Philosopher's Stone, there won't be any problems.'
'He's already gone,' Kyle sighed.
'That's good... wait, who did you say went back?'
'Professor Dumbledore,' Kyle said with a bitter smile. 'He's already used the time converter.'
'But you just said he...'
'Sorry,' Kyle said. 'The reason we can remain calm now is mostly because the Death Eaters are afraid of Professor Dumbledore, and the less people know, the less chance of exposure.'
The classroom fell into a depressing silence.
'I can understand your thoughts,' Viktor's voice was a bit hoarse. 'It's a pity, I was just relieved that Albus didn't use the time converter too early, but I didn't expect...'
'Sorry,' Kyle said again.
'It's okay, you actually did very well,' Viktor shook his head. 'Hiding Albus's whereabouts is indeed the best choice for you.'
'So, Professor Dumbledore, he really can't come back now?' Kyle asked.
'When did he leave?'
'More than a month ago,' Kyle said. 'Have you heard about what happened in Godric's Hollow? He used the time converter then.'
'I haven't heard,' Viktor shook his head. 'If it's been a month, I'm afraid he's really been time excluded.'
'Is Professor Dumbledore in danger?'
'It's just a time loop, he might suffer a bit, but it won't be dangerous,' Viktor said. 'With Albus's current strength, no one can harm him in this century.'
'That's good,' Kyle felt a little relieved, but only a little.
Professor Dumbledore was fine, but they might not be.
He couldn't always use Polyjuice Potion to disguise himself as Professor Dumbledore, and Voldemort didn't have that much patience. One day, when he felt the time was right, he would make a move on Hogwarts.
When that time really came, what would they do...
Polyjuice Potion could transform him to look like Professor Dumbledore, but it couldn't give him Professor Dumbledore's strength.
Kyle felt a sense of frustration.
'Is there any way to bring him back?' he asked tentatively.
'There is, and it's very simple.'
Kyle looked up, Viktor's answer was something he didn't expect.
'How?'
'It's like a person running,' Viktor explained. 'If they suddenly deviate from their original route, all you need is for someone to remind them or bring them back. It's that simple, right?'
Kyle didn't respond.
Was Viktor right? In a sense, he was right. Bringing Professor Dumbledore back wasn't that difficult, but how would the person who guides him get there?
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'We don't have a second time converter that can go back a hundred years,' Kyle sat there dejectedly.
The time converter Professor Dumbledore used took a long time to make, and if they were to make a new one, it would take even longer. By the time it's done, Voldemort and the Death Eaters might have already attacked and conquered Hogwarts.
The classroom fell silent again.
'Wait, hold on,' Viktor suddenly seemed to have thought of something. He quickly stood up, rummaged on the table for a moment, then walked to a mirror and said:
'Gafal, you have three minutes, come to my office immediately.
...
Three minutes later, hurried footsteps approached from outside the door.
"Professor Viktor," the boy who had mocked Kyle earlier opened the door nervously. He glanced at Professor Viktor and then at Kyle, feeling uneasy.
"I'm sorry, Professor. I... I haven't finished copying yet. Please give me a little more time..."
"Set that aside for now," Professor Viktor said sternly, looking at him. "I'm asking you, did you take the items from the classroom this morning?"
"Yes, it was me." The boy looked even more scared, "Professor, I just wanted to... see where everyone went wrong... Others were really doing it..."
"Was there an envelope among those items?" Professor Viktor asked again.
"An envelope?" Gafal stammered, "I... I don't know, I've been busy copying the textbook... I haven't had time to look at it yet."
"Then go and find it!" Professor Viktor said sternly.
Gafal ran off like he was fleeing.
"Professor... what's in that envelope?"
"We'll talk about that later. Stay quiet for now," Professor Viktor said as he sat down and quickly wrote something on a piece of parchment.
Kyle was curious, but he didn't dare disturb the professor at that moment.
After about five minutes, Gafal returned, out of breath, holding a common envelope from the Owl Post.
"Professor... is this what you meant?" He placed the item on the desk, panting heavily after running back and forth three times.
"Yes, this is it." Professor Viktor glanced up, "Copying the textbook a hundred times for taking a professor's belongings without permission."
Gafal's face turned pale.
"Professor... I, I didn't mean to..."
"If you did it on purpose, it's not just about copying the book."
Gafal rushed over and then left with heavy steps. If given another chance, he would definitely not provoke that British student again in the afternoon... no, he wouldn't even go near the Alchemy Classroom.
After he left, Professor Viktor sealed the classroom once more.
He opened the envelope and spoke to himself, "I haven't paid attention to the outside world for a long time because I've been working on new textbooks.
"But do you know why I suddenly noticed that Albus hasn't been around for a long time?"
"Because you have a good relationship?" Kyle whispered.
"No, our relationship is limited to professional matters, it's not that good." Professor Viktor shook his head, "The reason I noticed him is because I received this."
He opened the envelope and took out a... golden pocket watch.
"Clang..."
Kyle stood up abruptly, knocking over the chair behind him.
"A Time Turner!"
He knew exactly what it was; it had been in his possession for a long time until he gave it to Dumbledore a month ago.
This was the Time Turner that Nicoleme had repaired.
But now it was broken again, with cracks all over its surface, and its once brilliant golden color had faded.
"But how did it end up here?" Kyle asked.
"That's what I don't understand either," Professor Viktor said, "When I received this, I thought it was from Nico, and I contacted him immediately.
"But he told me that he had already given the Time Turner to you, and in my memory, it was already repaired.
"So I assumed it was a joke Nico was playing on me..."
"Don't look at me like that." Professor Viktor explained, "He often does this, taking apart completed items and reassembling them with completely different Magic Runes formulas. It's a little game we play."
"A game?" Kyle pulled at the corner of his mouth.
While Magic Runes formulas could be infinitely varied, it was almost impossible to achieve the same effect with two completely different formulas.
"Don't interrupt, let me finish," Professor Viktor said coldly, and Kyle immediately closed his mouth.
"But I've been busy with the textbooks lately and haven't had time to look into it. So, I just tossed it aside.
"I didn't pay attention at the time, but now I think I must have thrown it into the pile of students' failed assignments."
"And then it was picked up by a student?"
"That's right," Professor Viktor said, "Since Alchemy materials are expensive, they all study the failed products to minimize waste."
"I had forgotten about this until I saw you and remembered. During dinner, I asked Helene about Albus."
"That's when I felt something was wrong, so I called you over."
Kyle felt a bit uneasy under his gaze.
"Luckily, I asked that extra question. This should be the original Time Turner."
"Yes," Kyle nodded.
Luckily, he had asked that extra question. Otherwise, if Professor Viktor had continued to misunderstand and thought that Dumbledore hadn't returned, who knows where this item would have ended up.
If they wanted to find it later, it might not be so easy.
...
(End of Chapter)
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