"I told you, if you keep abusing it like this, trouble is bound to happen—"
As William spoke, he raised his hand and waved to the girl behind him, while Hermione was apparently still a bit caught off guard. She turned her head and looked behind—
"Harry?!"
A look of surprise appeared on her face, yet she didn't seem to quite grasp the main issue, merely shocked that Mr. Harry Potter showed up in the library.
Although Harry has been making rapid progress with charms and dueling in the club, that doesn't mean he's interested in other coursework. After all, there's a saying: it's easy to change rivers and mountains, but hard to alter one's nature. Harry was never a particularly diligent student. His grades were decent, but most of it was due to his natural talent, with practical exams easily boosting scores—
If the deadline wasn't approaching, how could he possibly appear in such a place?
And if she wasn't mistaken... no, she basically couldn't remember correctly now. For Hermione, who was squeezing one day into three or four, she seemed to struggle even remembering what date it is today. Sometimes William suspected that if it weren't for the limitations of the Time Turner, where the safest travel time was five hours, Hermione might twist herself back to her birth day to start all over again.
Of course, this method is not rebirth but allowing two Hermiones to simultaneously exist on this timeline—
It's just that it only theoretically exists. In fact, the last wizard to do this traveled to the year 1402, stayed for about five days, and instantly died of aging upon returning to the original timeline. The day she returned (Tuesday) lasted two and a half days, while Thursday afterwards was merely a brief four hours.
The Ministry of Magic spent considerable effort to resolve the impact this had on the world.
And William? He arrived a hundred years later because of this thing, yet what happened to his body?
It seems he used a damaged Time Turner to travel into the future, resulting in only a three-year reduction in age, otherwise appearing unchanged?
Perhaps, but William clearly hasn't fully grasped this yet. So, before confirming he can truly control the effects of the Time Turner, William plans to avoid this thing, as Time Magic remains too profound for him—
Moreover, traveling to this era is actually better; in a few years, he'd be able to use electric vehicles.
He could also buy some Bitcoin, bet on soccer; he saw a "Guide to Rebirth for the 00 Generation" on a forum in his past life. Originally thought he had traveled too early to ever utilize it, as the guide was meant for post-2000, by which he'd be over 120 years old.
To live that long... if by then he still lacks money, he should give up.
Although magic seemed absent in his past world, he found this space's Muggle World developed almost entirely the same, lest he wouldn't have toyed with the idea of using a "Secret Vault" to craft a magical Big Ivan and deliver a blast to some little island.
Actually, after such a severe temporal disturbance incident in the late 19th century, it's a wonder the Ministry of Magic dared to hand Time Turners over to students...
It's hard to say if the folks were crazy or just incredibly daring.
Anyway, William couldn't comprehend these people's minds at all.
Meanwhile, Hermione's brain didn't stop turning either—she furrowed her brows, suddenly seeming to remember something, turned to William, "What's today's date?"
"Hogsmeade Day, haven't been there yet? If I guessed right, you probably just said goodbye."
William spoke calmly.
"!!!"
Hiss—a sharp intake of breath came from Hermione.
Done for, totally exposed!
"Hey, listen, whatever happens, don't stop Harry from coming to the library today—"
William grabbed the quickest thing at hand and pressed it onto Hermione's mouth, signaling her to stay quiet. He lowered his voice as quickly as possible, but Madam Pince from not far away still irritably shook the Prophet Daily in her hand, seemingly hinting—one more disturbance and you'd be tossed out.
Tsk, her ears are as sharp as a Spidey sense.
"...Okay."
Subconsciously, Hermione took a bite out of Kabuda's rear, nodded blankly, then finally realized, stepped back and spat out the fur from her mouth, while a "bashful" Niffler plonked onto the table, waving its tiny paws in protest.
"...Hey, what are you two up to here?"
Harry approached with a slightly awkward expression, pondering for a moment before deciding to hold off saying anything and see Hermione's reaction.
"Tutoring, want to join?"
Though it sounded like a question, William opened the chair beside him as he spoke, clearly not giving Harry a choice to refuse. The boy obediently sat down.
Simultaneously, Harry looked down at the table, which was covered in textbooks, arithmancy charts, Rune Language dictionaries, Muggle heavy equipment diagrams, the definition of atom, along with densely written notes, all of which made his eyelids twitch wildly.
Feeling dizzy.
Yes, today William and Hermione weren't particularly aiming at Seik Stone research; instead, dedicated to tutoring Hermione—he couldn't help it; despite Hermione indeed having considerable time at hand, it still seemed insufficient comparing with her coursework, let alone William limiting her to repeat any time slot only three times.
Originally it was twice, but Hermione forcibly added a time—she seemed slightly addicted to cramming.
And William, having just wrapped up his exams as a "freshman," was in the perfect moment for private lessons, of course, aside from Magic History.
"So, you just met Hermione outside?"
Seeing the atmosphere grow quiet, William glanced at the two silent individuals, hesitated a bit before directly asking.
"!!"x2
Exposed just like that?
A bit unwilling, Hermione puffed her cheeks yet ultimately didn't interject to interrupt. Professor McGonagall merely made her swear not to tell anyone, but she had never mentioned it to William the whole time; everything was "deduced" by him. Now Harry knows, and it's not something she disclosed, thus not disclosing to others.
Hmm, clear and reasonable logic.
"Uh, yes, she just went to Hogsmeade..."
Harry nodded and hesitated for a while, but eventually couldn't resist asking, "Can you teach me this Clone Magic?"
Senior, I want to learn magic!
Clone Magic?
William couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, exchanging a glance with Hermione—what had the kid imagined?
Originally intending to directly reveal the truth, William quickly changed his mind, shaking his head. "No way, this... charm is very advanced, you can't grasp it now—" This was better; with the complexity inside Harry's skull currently, it'd be wise not to involve him in these trivial matters.
This would be ideal.
"Mhm mhm."
Hermione eagerly nodded in agreement beside him.
"I can try—"
"Can your Patronus Charm materialize?"
"Uh..."
"Has there been progress with Occlumency? Can you block Lupin's Legilimency?"
"Uh..."
"Finished Professor Snape's assignments?"
"I admit defeat, not learning, not learning—"
Under William's relentless questioning, Harry decisively surrendered, proclaiming he'd stay silent.
"Okay, this has to remain a secret; the charm is something I just researched, it's not stable enough, and once the time is right, I'll naturally teach you."
Seeing Harry's performance, William nodded and began bluffing seriously, starting to lay groundwork for this affair, as for when the time would be... hehe.
"Since you're here too, let's write papers together; I'll guide you."
One tutoring session is tutoring; two together is tutoring too. With a great sweep of his hand, after finishing yesterday's Silent Meditation, his desire to talk was strong. Last night, he even annoyed Lupin in werewolf form to the point of brawling with him…
The result being, Lupin is still lying in the Hospital Wing.