The Time-Turner Division

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

As Hermione entered the enormous, vast and breathtakingly beautiful room, she was yet again awestruck by its design and contents. The room was known as the Time Room, and it was located on Level Nine of the Ministry of Magic, in the Department of Ministries. From the outside of the room there was just a gold door at the end of a black corridor, with the engraving of Time Room at the front. Upon opening the door however, one quickly realises how unexpectedly large the interior is. The walls and floor were all flat, white surfaces like marble, whilst the ceiling was non-existent. Similarly to Hogwarts, the ceiling was enchanted to display the open universe above them. Hermione always enjoyed gazing at the vast, black openness above, with the bright array of stars and galaxies that shined down upon the Time Room, illuminating it. Along the back wall were shelves of Time-Turners, collected and stored by the Ministry over the years. Scattered around the room were work desks, notice boards with plans pinned all over them, tables with parchments, newspapers and Time-Turners.

This was where the Time-Turner Division worked, and where they went back in time when necessary. Their purpose for going back in time was simple: crime prevention. They had a team of highly trained Aurors, specialists in their unique fields, who worked for the Ministry of Magic. They responded to all kinds of crimes, however their focus was usually on preventing violent crime. While this all sounds simple in theory, in practice altering time and past events can become incomprehensibly complicated and dangerous, and can have unforeseen consequences.

Hermione approached her own desk, and ran her hand across her Time-Turner. A brief smile played across her lips. She was simultaneously nervous and excited, as always: preparing oneself to go back in time to prevent a crime from occurring, whilst risking being stuck back in time or worse, tends to have that affect. Generally speaking, Time-Turners enabled one to go back in time up to five hours, and anything beyond this point could lead to drastic health risks of the traveller and consequences for time itself. A recently invented potion known as the Time Brew could safeguard travellers for longer than five hours, however it was still quite unstable. For this reason, their division were authorised to go back in time for up to forty-eight hours in extreme circumstances, so long as Time Brews are consumed and St. Mungo's is on alert for their return to the present. Luckily for Hermione, they'd never had to go back longer than seven hours, and they'd all remained unscathed by travelling time. All of this meant that if a crime was committed, their division only had a short time-frame to respond.

She heard the door open behind her and turned around to see Malfoy approaching. Her smile faltered. Even though five years had passed since Hogwarts, she still didn't quite trust or like the man, and he made it plainly obvious that he didn't quite give a damn what anyone thought of him. Draco Malfoy was an Auror. More than that, he was a specialist Manipulator. This involved highly advanced skills and knowledge in: Legilimency, Occlumency, Potions, Disillusionment, all of the Unforgiveable Curses, the Dark Arts and more. Certain Aurors with specialist training were authorised to use the Unforgiveable Curses and other dark magic in extreme circumstances, and under strict conditions. The fact that the Ministry was desperate enough to hire an ex-Death Eater like Malfoy irked Hermione. Yet she couldn't deny his usefulness. Draco was often the first to go back in time to the scene of the crime, and he would observe the scene and observe the criminal for hours, to learn everything that they needed to know to stop the criminal. His skills with Legilimency and the Imperius curse enabled him to easily navigate the minds and manipulate the actions of those involved in each crime.

"Granger," Draco greeted her with a curt nod.

"Malfoy," Hermione responded with strained courtesy as she took a seat at her desk.