In the second-to-last week of August, with the new school year approaching, Aiden had to shift his attention away from his research.
That morning, Aiden opened his eyes and turned over on his pillow, only to find a silver unicorn resting its head beside him.
Following me all the way to my house, really? Aiden thought.
The unicorn said nothing, but Aiden already knew why it had come.
After getting up, washing, and eating breakfast, one second Aiden was still at home—the next, he appeared in the familiar circular hall of the Department of Mysteries.
He walked through the corridors with practiced ease, young witches greeting him familiarly along the way.
Reaching the office door, he kicked it open without hesitation.
"So, what earth-shattering matter concerning wizard life and death has prompted you to specially stuff a Patronus by my bedside?" Aiden began with his usual mockery.
"Nothing so dramatic. I just remembered our dividend deadline has arrived, so I'm notifying our shareholder to come collect," the Director said with a smile.
"Ah, you're being too polite. How could such a small matter require your personal notification?" Aiden immediately changed his attitude, showing a mercenary grin—after all, who would have a problem with Galleons?
"Oh, by the way, there's another matter. We received Hogwarts' application for Time-Turner usage." The Director tossed a stack of reports to Aiden.
"If you received it, you received it. Why give it to me?" Aiden was puzzled.
"A certain unnamed headmaster instructed that this matter be handled by you. Before the handover, we also need an alchemy master to maintain the Time-Turners in our department." The Director looked at Aiden, his expectation obvious.
"Wait, doesn't the Department of Mysteries have its own alchemists?" Aiden asked.
"But they've all been assigned to handle Prewett's shops, haven't they?" The Director's intention to freeload was blatantly obvious.
"Devils, you're all devils," Aiden muttered. His protests were ineffective.
Passing through one of the doors in the circular hall and down a long corridor, the Director brought Aiden to the Time Room.
The walls were fitted with countless shelves. The left side displayed various clocks, while the right side showed animals continuously repeating the same actions in endless loops.
In the center stood a massive pendulum—one of the weapons the Director had previously revealed to Aiden: the Reversal Pendulum.
"Speak up. Since you want me to maintain them, shouldn't you reveal some specific details?" Aiden looked at the Director expectantly.
The Director took out a book and handed it to him. "This is the record of the Hour-Reversal Charm. The method for making Time-Turners is to add Time Sand produced when the Reversal Pendulum is on standby, and attach the Hour-Reversal Charm to each grain of Time Sand."
He'd simply and clearly revealed the secrets of the Time Room.
"Each grain? That's—" Aiden started, but the Director interrupted.
"Yes, an extremely massive workload that could drive any alchemy master bald. Otherwise, why do you think we publicly claim this is lost technology?" The Director shrugged.
"Can't the Hour-Reversal Charm directly bring wizards to the past?" Aiden asked.
"No, at least we can't manage it. The essence of this spell is to locate one's past self in the mind, then fold time and project the future wizard's consciousness back to the past. Combined with Time Sand, it can transfer the wizard's physical body as well. The combination of both creates the Time-Turner you see."
The Director's explanation was surprisingly thorough—he clearly had deep research into this magic.
"What about the Time Sand?" Aiden pressed.
"Hmm, Dragon, are you going to join us?" The Director's fox-like eyes swept over Aiden, making his hair stand on end.
"Forget it. If you won't say, you won't say. I'll research it myself," Aiden snorted, grabbing the book and walking out.
He sent a message to Mrs. Weasley using his Patronus, then began a new period of intensive study.
Time is undoubtedly the most precious thing. A week slipped away like fine sand through his fingers.
During this time, Aiden successfully learned the Hour-Reversal Charm and could inscribe it onto Time Sand. According to the Director's materials, creating a single Time-Turner required 3,000 grains of modified Time Sand.
Even with Aiden's ability to conjure alchemy laboratories from thin air, working in a fully equipped lab, it would take two weeks to complete one.
"That's why I gave you the maintenance work. Use spells to absorb failed Time Sand and reinscribe the Hour-Reversal Charm. The workload is much less than making a new one." The Director claimed he was completely thinking of Aiden's hairline.
"Come on, you just need someone to work for free who can guard Hogwarts twenty-four hours a day as an alchemist," Aiden rolled his eyes.
"Since you all know how precious this thing is, why lend it to young wizards?" Aiden asked curiously.
"Because young wizards are the future. No matter how precious something is, if it's not made to help wizards live better, wouldn't creating it be a waste?" The Director spread his hands.
Hearing this, Aiden didn't press further—he just gave the Director a mental thumbs-up.
The Weasley family had made it onto the Daily Prophet. After the newspaper was printed, it was sent throughout the British wizarding world.
Coincidentally, a prisoner in Azkaban had subscribed to this newspaper.
A Daily Prophet with a fat rat printed on the cover was delivered to Azkaban.
That night, an event caused a massive uproar in the magical world. The supposedly impregnable Azkaban had been breached from within.
The next morning, the Ministry of Magic's wanted notice spread throughout Britain via the Daily Prophet.
Sirius Black had escaped from prison.
Coinciding with late August, Britain entered the rainy season, and the climate became cold and damp.
Fudge, leaning on his walking stick, arrived at the joint office. Arthur sat inside, questioning someone from MI6.
Fudge walked in, smiled at the agent, then said, "Sir, we need to contact the Muggle Prime Minister."
The agent stood up, saluted, took out a satellite phone, and began reporting to his superiors.
Soon, the phone at the British Prime Minister's office rang. The famous Muggle Prime Minister was John Major.
John answered and learned that the Minister for Magic was about to visit.
Hanging up, John calmly picked up a cup of tea. Then, with a spatial flicker, Fudge appeared on Downing Street with two Aurors.
"Hello, Prime Minister," Fudge bowed slightly.
"Oh, this is really... I never imagined wizards actually exist. Why did my predecessor never tell me?" The Prime Minister was somewhat surprised.
"Perhaps because dealing with wizards isn't easy," Fudge explained with a smile.
He casually sat on the sofa, waved his wand, and tea sets danced over to prepare him a hot cup.
"Well, what do you wizards want with me?" John, being an old politician, cut straight to the point.
"We have a dangerous prisoner who escaped, and now he's fled to your world. I hope we can issue a joint warrant for him," Fudge said.
"Just an escaped prisoner—is it worth making such a big fuss?" John was somewhat reluctant.
"Because he's a wizard. He can easily blow up an entire street. You wouldn't want public safety disrupted, would you?" Fudge picked up his tea and took a sip, as if victory was assured.
"Oh, that's terrible. Isn't that just a living terrorist?" John's words carried a double meaning.
"Only these dangerous, mentally deranged wizards would do such things. After all, there are mentally unstable people among Muggles too, aren't there?" Fudge lightly brushed the issue aside.
"Hmm, alright, I'll cooperate with you wizards in issuing the warrant. Is there anything else?" John agreed and subtly indicated they should leave.
"Nothing else. Have a pleasant day, Prime Minister." Fudge nodded, space flickered, and he left the Prime Minister's office.
After leaving, Fudge and the Prime Minister, in their different locations, simultaneously showed expressions of disgust.
But this didn't prevent a fresh warrant from being scattered throughout Britain.
[Chapter Complete]
***
Want more? Check out my Patreon for:
✓ Advanced chapters of all my stories
✓ Exclusive novels & fanfics
✓ Early access content [email protected]/meowthtl
💪 Community Goal: 500 Power Stones unlocks a bonus chapter!
Thanks for reading and supporting the story!