"Uh, where am I?" A beam of light entered Aiden's eyes in the darkness.
He struggled to open his eyes and found himself in Newt's case.
"You're awake?" Newt walked over.
"Is everything over?" Aiden asked.
"It ended the moment you shot the arrow. After the Deep Realm King disappeared, we were brought out of the Misty Illusion.
Grindelwald was also defeated by wizards from six nations and is now imprisoned in MACUSA.
I used Swooping Evil venom to erase the memories of all of New York, and the matter has been settled."
Newt straightened his clothes and handed Aiden a rolled-up newspaper.
'What about Jacob? Was he also subjected to a Memory Charm?' Aiden frowned.
"Yes. By the way, in four hours we'll be returning to Britain, and there's someone who's very much looking forward to meeting you." Newt narrowed his eyes.
Aiden: "..."
Four hours later, at New York Customs' ferry port, Newt and Tina were making their final goodbyes.
"Listen, Newt, I want to thank you." Tina's eyes held affection.
"Why thank me?" Newt shrugged.
"You know, if you hadn't spoken up for me in front of President Picquery, I wouldn't have been able to return to the investigation team." Tina smiled.
"Maybe I just didn't want anyone else investigating me."
"Not being investigated by others should be what you work toward, shouldn't it?" Tina teased.
"I will. From now on my days will be peaceful. I'll go back to write books and have the Ministry publish them." Newt nodded.
"Then you must send me a copy when the time comes."
"I think maybe I could deliver the book to you in person." Newt reached out and brushed a strand of hair from Tina's temple.
"I'd be very happy about that." Tina lowered her head shyly.
"Hey, Newt, the ship is about to leave." A certain dragon who couldn't read the mood shouted loudly.
"Kids are always so impatient. Well then, goodbye." Newt turned and boarded the ship.
...
After floating on the sea for several days, Aiden finally arrived in Britain.
"Hey, this place looks much the same as it will decades from now." Aiden stroked his chin.
"Go on, take this fireplace to Hogwarts. Someone is already waiting for you there." Newt said.
"Aren't you coming?" Aiden asked back.
"I need to hurry and publish my book. I don't have time to accompany you." Newt shook his head and Disapparated away.
Aiden walked into the fireplace, sprinkled Floo Powder on the ground, "Hogwarts."
The Floo Network transported Aiden to Hogwarts' only authorized fireplace. In the room, a bearded middle-aged man was already waiting for Aiden.
"Well, first meeting, or for you it's the second meeting, Mr. Prewett." The man spoke.
"Merlin's beard, so you've been growing your beard since you were young?" Aiden sighed.
"Does it look bad?" The man asked.
"I don't know, but I feel it looked better when you were older." Aiden shrugged.
"That's good news indeed." The man—no, he should be called Dumbledore—nodded.
"Alright, enough of this. What exactly do you want with me?" Aiden asked.
"Well, shall we take a walk?" Dumbledore said.
Knock knock, the door was knocked on.
"Quick, hide." Dumbledore urgently told Aiden.
Aiden immediately hid in a blind spot of consciousness, as if no one else had ever appeared in the room.
"That's remarkable." Dumbledore sighed.
"What's remarkable?" The young Professor McGonagall who entered asked.
"I'm talking about these children, they'll become our pillars in the future." Dumbledore said meaningfully.
"Isn't that inevitable?" Professor McGonagall also smiled.
Then, Professor McGonagall handed a large stack of student assignments to Dumbledore.
"Albus, I heard MACUSA had trouble. Do you need..." Professor McGonagall wanted to say something but was interrupted by Dumbledore.
"It's fine. Just leave the assignments here, I'll grade them first." Dumbledore stiffly refused McGonagall.
Professor McGonagall pressed her lips together and still left the office.
"Why wouldn't you let me see Professor McGonagall?" Aiden reappeared on the sofa.
"Minerva doesn't know about Deep Realm matters. If she saw you, it would drag her into this."
Dumbledore put on an expression that said, 'You should know how much trouble you're carrying.'
"That was indeed thoughtless of me." Aiden also nodded.
"So Professor, how can I get home?" Aiden asked.
"Go find the Department of Mysteries. Although I don't know how you managed to travel to this time period, they have the most profound research on time, so they must have a way to send you back." Dumbledore said.
"Yes, if we can't do it, no one else can." A voice interrupted their conversation.
Then, a man in platinum robes walked in. At this moment, he already had the beginnings of those future fox eyes.
"Were you hurt too badly in the Deep Realm? Even your eyes got deformed from the beating?" Aiden raised an eyebrow.
"Ha, yes, want to have a go?" The Director already had his wand in hand.
Aiden seemed to discover something novel and circled around the Director several times.
"I never thought you had this kind of temper when you were young." Aiden laughed.
"Alright, don't give him a hard time. The Department of Mysteries just underwent a change in directors not long ago. He's also an inexperienced newcomer who can only put on this facade to deal with others."
Dumbledore came out to mediate for the Director.
"Fine, I won't say much more. Come with us. The Department of Mysteries will send you to the corresponding time." The Director, after hearing Dumbledore's words, didn't argue back.
The two walked into the fireplace under Dumbledore's watchful gaze. Soon, Aiden followed the Director to the Department of Mysteries.
The Department of Mysteries from over sixty years ago was already that circular hall surrounded by twelve doors.
"The Time Room?" Aiden asked.
"Mm, though I don't know how you came to this era, we can freeze you using the Time Room, then unfreeze you at the corresponding time point."
The Director looked coldly indifferent, as if talking about freezing a frog on a surgical table.
"Hey, wait, isn't your method of time travel a bit too crude and brutal?" Aiden frowned.
"Sending people to the past is difficult, sending them to the future isn't easy either." The Director's face showed an expression of great revenge.
"Sigh, fine then." Life is hard, Aiden sighed.
Led by the Director to the Time Room, Aiden saw the true form of the temporal pendulum for the first time.
Under the enormous clock was a golden pendulum that released golden particles with each swing.
"There, that's it. Go in." The Director said.
"Just like that, straight up, directly walking in?" Aiden was shocked.
"What else? Do you want me to organize a ceremony for you or start some research project called 'Temporal Freezing Research for Dragon-men' or something?" The Director narrowed his eyes.
"No thanks, I respectfully decline." Aiden politely refused.
After speaking, he walked straight under the pendulum.
Passing through a strange membrane, temporal sand immediately attracted to Aiden, wrapping him tightly.
Aiden felt time becoming increasingly slow, finally entering stasis.