Chapter 842: The Lost Memories
Chapter 842: The Lost Memories
"What a mess this has become."
Seeing Dumbledore's confused state, Kyle rubbed his forehead, unsure where to begin. He had come to rescue the man, but before they could even exchange greetings, they had ended up in a magical duel.
Fortunately, despite losing some of his memories, Dumbledore retained a sense of clarity. Upon realizing something was amiss, he temporarily set aside his intention to erase Kyle's memories.
It must be said that Dumbledore's temper at this moment was truly volatile. He was quick to brandish his wand at the slightest provocation, and it was only due to his current weakened state and lingering wariness that the situation hadn't escalated further.
Kyle conjured a chair for himself and sat down across from Dumbledore. "Professor, you truly remember nothing?"
"Nothing," Dumbledore shook his head.
"And you've never doubted this?" Kyle continued, "You believe yourself to be a Transfiguration professor, but that was decades ago, perhaps even longer. Your current appearance clearly doesn't match that age."
"Because this isn't the first time I've come here," Dumbledore explained, "I can't recall the exact number of times, but I know I've returned many times, and those periods add up."
Kyle sighed helplessly.
According to Dumbledore, he was aware that his appearance and memories didn't align with his age, but he didn't find it problematic. He attributed it to the normal aging process each time he traveled back.
"However, it seems the truth is quite different from what I imagined," Dumbledore said, looking at Kyle. "Can you please tell me what's really going on?"
"Of course," Kyle said, rubbing his forehead. "But explaining this is complicated; let me think about where to start..."
"Take your time, we have plenty of time," Dumbledore said calmly, sounding like the familiar Hogwarts headmaster once again. "Let's begin from the source of it all."
Kyle took out the golden pocket watch. "This is the time turner we used, a creation of Salazar Slytherin from a thousand years ago."
Dumbledore's gaze fell on the golden pocket watch, and a surge of familiar memories suddenly flooded his mind, though they were hazy, like a forest hidden in mist, revealing only faint shadows.
"Continue," he said. "How did we come to possess something from a thousand years ago?"
"That brings us to my third year, ninety-three years from now," Kyle began, "when you were the headmaster of Hogwarts... During the Halloween feast that year, the school caretaker's cat was petrified..."
Kyle meticulously recounted the events of the Chamber of Secrets incident. Dumbledore listened quietly, his brow furrowing occasionally but never interrupting.
"...This time turner took me back three months, connecting everything," Kyle continued. "Once I returned to the correct timeline, it was preserved. However, it was completely damaged at the time, and the one we're using now has been repaired by you, Professor, as well as Nicolas Flamel and Professor Vitkowitz from Beauxbatons."
More vague memories surfaced in Dumbledore's mind, and he felt a throbbing sensation in his forehead, prompting him to rub it subconsciously.
"Are you alright, Professor?" Kyle asked with concern.
"I'm fine," Dumbledore took a deep breath. "Please continue."
"There's not much more to tell," Kyle shrugged. "You used this to travel back a hundred years, to the present time."
"Then why are you here?"
"Because you never returned after that," Kyle said, lifting his head. "Nicolas believed you must have done something that caused you to be excluded from the correct timeline. My purpose here is to bring you back."
"So, you're saying that after I used the time turner, I disappeared?"
"Yes," Kyle nodded.
"In that case, we have a problem," Dumbledore mused. "I think I understand why I've lost a part of my memory."
"Why?"
"Because I'm fading away," Dumbledore said calmly.
"Fading away?" Kyle was taken aback.
"Yes," Dumbledore lifted his head to look at the window above the barn. "After this summer, I tried many ways to save Ariana, including the time turner. I spent five years searching through all the knowledge I could find, and I learned a bit about time exclusion.
"I'm fading away, and the missing memories are the most obvious sign of that," he said, pointing to himself. "The same person cannot exist twice in the same time, so when my memories overlap with this version of myself, I won't come back."
Silence fell in the barn.
Kyle clutched the time turner tightly, reaching out to grab Dumbledore with his other hand. "It's alright, once we get back, you should be able to regain your memories. We still have time."
"But Professor, you should know that you can't change anything." Kyle looked at him earnestly. "Perhaps it's because you wanted to change something that you were excluded by time and trapped in the past."
"No, you're wrong." Dumbledore shook his head. "I didn't change nothing, and I have a feeling that I've succeeded."
"Succeeded? Then what did you change?"
Kyle was annoyed, especially after seeing Dumbledore's face pale to the point of being bloodless, a result of his excessive mental exertion.
Kyle had experienced something similar himself, though he hadn't lost his memories. Still, the feeling of having a jumbled-up brain every day was no fun.
But he had only gone back three months.
How long had Dumbledore been here... According to his previous description, the cumulative periods of his repeated loops must amount to at least a few decades, if not more.
Kyle pushed open the barn door with a shove. "Look, you're back in this time again, and you've lost all your previous memories. No matter how many times you come back, it will be the same."
"Even if you save Ariana, one day you will return here again, and everything will start all over, an endless cycle. What's the point of that?"
"Because of you." Dumbledore suddenly smiled. "In the previous timeline, you weren't there, but now you're here."
"I'm here to save you," said Kyle.
"That's the change." Dumbledore spoke calmly. "According to what you said, you don't belong in this era. Your presence here is proof enough."
He laughed softly, "I guessed it. 'I' planned this, and I succeeded."
"You're using me?" Kyle raised an eyebrow.
"Not using, but helping." Dumbledore staggered to his feet. "This matter requires the involvement of someone outside of time, so I ask of you, help me..."
Kyle remained silent.
Now was the best opportunity. If he took Dumbledore with him, they could smoothly return to a hundred years later, and everything would be back on track, solving all the problems.
But if he chose to stay and help Dumbledore... then everything that followed would become an unknown variable.
Whether or not they could save Ariana was one thing, but the current problem was that, regardless of success or failure, there was a possibility that Dumbledore would once again be excluded by time.
In that case, he would definitely lose a portion of his memory again, and no one knew how many years it would be this time. Perhaps, as he had said, he might even disappear completely.
And there was also the possibility that Dumbledore himself would be excluded by time... if that happened, they might never be able to return.
Kyle was torn and hesitated to speak.
Dumbledore didn't rush him; he quietly sat there, waiting.
The sky gradually brightened, and the sun hung slanted in the sky. Someone pushed open the door of the house and stepped out, beginning their day's work.
The valley of Godric's Hollow gradually came to life.
Kyle finally lifted his head.
He looked at Dumbledore and took a deep breath. "Professor, are you determined not to leave here?"
"Yes." Dumbledore affirmed. "This is the closest I've ever been to success, and I won't give up no matter what."
"What if I insist on taking you with me?" Kyle asked, his wand in hand, as crimson flames began to gather at its tip.
"You've lost most of your memories, and your body is extremely weak. Defeating you doesn't seem like it would be that difficult."
As Kyle finished speaking, the flames transformed into a small fire dragon, coiling around his wand.
"Even at my age, I couldn't cast the Fire Spell with such skill." Dumbledore smiled. "I believe you must be my most outstanding student."
"That doesn't matter, Professor." Kyle raised his arm. "I just want to take you back... You once promised me that you would only take a look at Ariana and do nothing else, but you broke your word."
"I'm sorry." Dumbledore said, "If you want to kill me, I won't resist, or you can leave by yourself, this has nothing to do with you.
"But if you try to force me to leave with you... I will resist!"
Dumbledore's voice was soft but resolute.
Just as he had said earlier, this was the only chance to possibly save Ariana, and he would not give up, no matter the cost.
As for whether Kyle would leave or not, that was fine too. His appearance here already represented the beginning of change, and that was enough.
Dumbledore also raised his wand, and his extremely weak body once again gathered immense magical power.
The standoff between the two caused the dilapidated barn to begin shaking, threatening to collapse at any moment.
"Forget it, I give up." Kyle suddenly laughed helplessly and waved his hand to dispel the fire dragon on his wand.
"You also taught me another spell, a Runic one." Kyle shrugged. "It's quite useful, although it's a bit loud. It might not just destroy this dilapidated barn, but perhaps the whole street as well."
"Then I truly have picked up a life-saving bargain." Dumbledore smiled calmly, "When do you plan to leave... by the way, after you get back, quickly get Hogwarts to select a new headmaster. You mentioned before that Minerva is a Transfiguration professor, right? I think she's quite outstanding and responsible."
"No, I don't plan to leave yet." Kyle sat back down in the chair. "I plan to stay and help you."
"Aren't you afraid?" Dumbledore hesitated, "Just now, I was being selfish and wanted to ask for your help, but if you stay, there's a high chance that you'll be excluded by time, just like me."
"That is indeed a possibility." Kyle said, "To be honest, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared. But I carefully sorted through my memories just now and found some interesting things that I hadn't noticed before, so I've decided to take a gamble and stay."
"What memories?" Dumbledore asked curiously.
"For example, this..." Kyle picked up the Time-Turner and examined it. "It was clearly taken away by you, so why did it reappear and end up in my hands?"
"Oh?" Dumbledore blinked, "What did you realize?"
"It's hard to say." Kyle shook his head. "Under normal circumstances, you should have returned to the correct timeline and then sent it back, which was also my initial thought. But now it seems that I was the one who sent it back."
Dumbledore's eyes lit up, but he didn't say anything, merely gazing calmly at Kyle and asking, "What do you think this represents?"
"I can't quite explain it..." Kyle frowned. "I don't understand time, but perhaps... this is the correct timeline, and what remains is the preserved past."
Dumbledore's eyes shone even brighter.
"In addition, there's another interesting thing." Kyle continued.
"Go on."
"It's about someone I met, but I can't talk about it now." Kyle put away the Time-Turner. "In any case, because of this discovery, I've decided to take a risk and stay."
"What time is it now?"
"Eight o'clock." Dumbledore answered without hesitation.
"How do you know?" Kyle asked. "Is there a clock here?"
He looked up and saw nothing but a few protruding pieces of wood on the barn.
"It's the rooster from the Cods' house." Dumbledore explained, "They always crow punctually at eight o'clock. That's also when Grindelwald and I meet every day."
Now that he mentioned it, Kyle did hear the faint sound of a rooster crowing.
"Also, young me and Grindelwald will return at 10:23."
"I noticed that earlier." Kyle asked, "Is that time so accurate?"
"Because that's when Ariana's accident happened." Dumbledore's voice grew heavy.
"You mean, when you two returned, she..."
"Yes." Dumbledore closed his eyes. "After we came back this time, Aberforth will be furious because of my sudden disappearance, and we will have the most intense argument in our history.
"Grindelwald went to look for the Invisibility Cloak on this trip, but came back empty-handed. Already angry, Aberforth's scolding pushed him over the edge, and the two of them started a vicious fight, mercilessly casting the most malicious spells at each other."
"Could Aberforth even beat Grindelwald?" Kyle was skeptical. Rather than calling it a vicious fight, he believed it was more likely that Grindelwald was unilaterally beating up Aberforth, the cruel kind.
"He is still my younger brother." Dumbledore bitterly smiled. "I subconsciously chose to help him, which made Grindelwald even angrier. So the fight between the two of them turned into a three-way brawl.
"Ariana saw everything from the attic and ran out to stop us..."
At this point, Dumbledore's voice became choked with emotion, and his eyes filled with tears.
However, Kyle could understand.
Aberforth and Grindelwald were already fighting with their lives on the line, and Dumbledore, in an attempt to stop them, would inevitably go all out as well.
Ariana, despite being a Mute, was still an ordinary girl who didn't even know how to cast a simple Lumos spell. Rushing into a wizard's duel, the outcome was all too predictable.
Any spell could have killed her, and the stimulation of magic might even have triggered an explosion of the magic within her.
Thinking of that little girl who longed for friends and could be delighted by a single piece of candy, Kyle sighed.
Now, even though he knew that staying would be dangerous, he wanted to help even more.
He couldn't help it; he was just too soft-hearted.
...
(End of Chapter)
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