Hogwarts Legacy: The Dark Veins In Time

... And Then A Step to The Right

SEBASTIAN

Time is an indefinite, never ceasing thing that quantifies everything in our lives - distances from here to there and how fast or slow you come to it, the difference between beginning and end, the march from past to present to future. Time is one of the natural powers of the universe that every human in the world must contend with, but only us wizards and witches can even fathom controlling. However, time magic is not a spell you can just cast with a swish and a flick of your wand. It is something that must be precisely calculated, harnessed, then unleashed in small careful doses lest you cause catastrophic changes to the timeline.

But what is catastrophic about fixing the broken life of two innocent children who suffered a miserable childhood because of their parent's unfair deaths?

I know now it can be done, it's the matter of how; I wasn't given the exact means during my dream-like encounter. 

While Y/N had retreated to the downstairs of the inn, I allowed myself to settle, to think. I already figured out the means of taking us forward to our Hogwarts and had stalled doing so in hopes I could pique her interest in spending more time alone together, or better yet, in the thought of a happier future. Of course she shrank away from me in her usual denial mid-intimacy when those feelings of hers begin their internal battle with each other, claims she wants no part of me and her everything is now for Ominis.

She can continue to lie to herself for now, all of our fates are going to change soon. I only needed to conduct a few risky experiments before setting out on the main quest - the salvation of Oliver and Moira Sallow. 

What had to be done to prevent their deaths? The lamp was the cause, but what to do with it? Fix it? Remove it? Do I warn them instead? My father had already seen me with the Time-Turner, so whatever small damage there could be is already done - I could simply tell him about it, couldn't I?

But when to do something about it? The day before it happens? A week, a month, a year before? When did they even come into possession of the lamp? Could I just prevent its purchase? 

Everything had to be perfectly planned - would I even have a second chance if I mucked it up? The questions formed  a perpetual list in my head that went on and on and that burn for answers scorched through my chest. 

Research, hypothesize, experiment, answers - all the things I did best. 

But first, I needed to return Y/N to where she belonged - our strife ridden present. A perfect opportunity for the first test of what this Time-Turner could do...

***

**present-time**

Going forward in time is much more brutal experience than going backwards, like being shred into ribbons and tied back together when you arrive at your destination. The image of my father's pained expression burned into mind as I kept eye contact with him as long as I could before being ripped away from that moment in time and catapulted into the next. 

The troll cave shattered around us and I focused harder than I ever have on anything before, manifesting the most detailed image of Hogwarts in the front of my mind - the span of grassy green field where we took our flying classes, dotted with yellow and white wildflowers, Mr. Moon's hut off along the small hill, then the magical beasts classroom beyond that.. 

In the brief timeslip with Gregory we went from London to Hogwarts and back - if I'm correct, it's just another form of Apparition. Visualize and concentrate.. 

When the world materialized around us again, it no longer as frigidly cold from the winter storm but now cool and autumnal, damp from recent rain. We were, however, standing just a few yards away from the fountain within the main courtyard of the school grounds. Two young Hufflepuff girls sat on the edge of it, clutching each other. Their startled and confused looks made me smile at them with a wink, sending the cute brunette one into a small swoon.