Chapter 218: The Showdown, No More Pretenses

There was once a witch named Eloise Mintumble, who, as a silent member of the Department of Mysteries, used a time-turner in an experiment to travel back in time. However, because she stayed too long, beyond a few hours, she passed away.

During her experiment, Eloise was trapped in the year 1402 for five days.

When she finally returned to the present, her body had mysteriously aged five centuries, causing irreversible damage, and she eventually died from old age at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

Her journey caused a disturbance in the lives of everyone she met in the past, with at least twenty-five of her descendants disappearing from the present, becoming "never born."

Moreover, some troubling signs indicated that time itself had been disrupted. After her return, Tuesday lasted two and a half days, while Thursday was reduced to only four hours.

Even when using a time-turner normally, time still passes.

Just like Hermione, who used the time-turner to extend her study hours so she could take all subjects, this nearly caused her to collapse.

On the surface, she studied for eight hours, but with the time-turner, she had actually studied for over ten hours. Her body went through ten hours of studying, accumulating fatigue.

With prolonged use, while others may experience one year, you could experience two years, causing your age to increase accordingly.

So, although using a time-turner to boost learning efficiency is effective, it only means you're borrowing from future time.

Because of its dangers, the Ministry of Magic sealed the time-turner and its associated spells, such as the Hour Reversal Charm, which cannot be learned through regular means.

All completed time-turners are stored in the Ministry's Department of Mysteries, in the Time Hall.

The Ministry has implemented hundreds of laws regulating the use of time-turners, and unless there's a special reason, they are rarely approved for use.

As for time magic and the time-turner, George was, of course, very intrigued. Time magic was a necessary field for him to study.

Time magic is one of the most advanced forms of magic in any world.

Even though the laws of time may vary across worlds, and even if learning time magic cannot change established events, it is still incredibly useful for increasing learning efficiency.

After all, he was immortal now and didn't care about depleting his future time in advance. His future was limitless.

Of course, applying for a time-turner is easy, but learning the sealed Hour Reversal Charm is no simple task.

"It seems it's time to show some real strength."

After parting ways with Professor McGonagall and Hermione on the eighth floor, George followed Snape to the Headmaster's office.

In the office, Dumbledore was reading a Muggle-published book about knitting techniques.

"Please, sit down," Dumbledore said, putting the book aside as he gestured for them to take a seat.

"Headmaster, the Ministry of Magic acted without authorization, sending Dementors to search the train. George acted to protect his classmates and killed one by mistake; he did nothing wrong," Snape spoke up first.

It was his duty to defend his students, especially George, who was his close disciple.

Whether Dumbledore was blaming George or not, it was better to make a defense first.

'It seems entering Slytherin was a wise choice,' George thought to himself as he saw Snape immediately stand by his side.

Among the four House Heads, Snape might not be the most ethical or the most fair, but he was definitely the most protective of his students.

This was one of the reasons George hadn't exposed the truth about Sirius being innocent.

Sirius was innocent, he was just, but George had no personal connection with him.

On the other hand, it was a fact that Sirius and Harry's father had bullied Snape during school.

Snape probably had his faults too, and surely said many things he shouldn't have said.

But Snape was the Head of Slytherin, and he had always been supportive of George. He had cared for him, so George naturally sided with Snape.

He hadn't intended to clear Sirius' name anytime soon. Let Sirius suffer a little more—it would make Snape happy.

As for Sirius' innocence, as long as he wasn't released and didn't help Voldemort return, everything would be fine.

"Severus, I don't intend to blame George. He killed the Dementor while protecting his classmates, and he did well."

Dumbledore smiled and explained.

When he had heard from Fudge that George had killed a Dementor, he had been quite surprised.

Even he couldn't directly kill a Dementor, which was a dark creature.

At present, no one in the wizarding world had the means to kill a Dementor. The Killing Curse didn't work either.

Dementors had a cooperative relationship with the Ministry of Magic. They helped guard Azkaban, while the Ministry allowed them to feed on the happiness of the prisoners.

Why don't Dementors just go around sucking happiness freely?

Because although wizards can't kill Dementors, they can use the Patronus Charm to drive them to a specific place and imprison them.

For example, a box made with the Vanishing Stretch Charm, combined with some sealing spells, would trap Dementors inside. They would remain there until they eventually faded away due to starvation.

"I heard it was a new spell of yours?" Snape turned to George, equally curious.

Among all the students at Hogwarts, George was undoubtedly a genius. At the end of his first year, he already had knowledge comparable to that of a seventh-year student.

He was also extremely skilled in dueling and had created a special flying spell.

Even Snape himself, back in his day, didn't create his own magic until he was in his fifth year.

To be honest, Snape was surprised that George could create new magic at his level. He thought George wasn't yet at the level to create new spells.

But creating magic always involved an element of luck—it wasn't just about skill.

"Well… it's not entirely like that," George replied slowly after a brief pause, looking at Snape and Dumbledore.

He had decided to stop pretending.

Initially, he planned to say that he had created the spell to kill Dementors based on the Patronus Charm. After all, he had learned the Patronus Charm from Amy and could demonstrate it at any time.

But after thinking carefully on the train, he realized there were too many holes in that explanation.

Given Dumbledore and Snape's intellect and knowledge of magic, they probably wouldn't buy that story.

...

T/N: I thought he was gonna throw hands with Dumbledore lol!