Chapter 217: Time Magic and the Time-Turner

"Lady, you can mess with your meals, but you can't mess with your words. I don't know any Sirius Black, nor do I have any familial ties to him, so why should I help him?

If you had asked Mr. Scrimgeour about my background, you wouldn't have come up with such foolish assumptions."

George looked the middle-aged, chubby witch, clad entirely in pink, up and down and had a rough idea of her identity. He spoke in a decidedly impolite tone:

"Besides, what's so challenging about developing new magic? I created flying magic in my first year, so it's not so far-fetched to create a spell capable of defeating a Dementor.

I'd appreciate it if you didn't underestimate my abilities by analyzing them with your rather lacking analytic abilities."

With a flap of his wings, pure white and surrounded by golden light emanating from his Light Magic domain, George looked like a celestial being.

Not just the students who had gathered around him, even the Aurors couldn't help but feel a bit dazed.

At this moment, George was no longer the same as the first-year student he used to be. His power didn't require any more pretenses.

He wasn't afraid to be arrogant when necessary, and there was no need to tolerate anyone's temper.

Forget about Umbridge—he didn't even have to be cautious around Dumbledore anymore.

The key was that he claimed the magic was his own creation, and no one could refute that, because these spells weren't from this world. No one else could perform them except him.

"You... you..."

Umbridge was furious at how this second-year student dared to speak to her, the Deputy Minister of Magic, like that. Her face turned red with anger, and she seemed on the verge of exploding.

Meanwhile, Scrimgeour found great pleasure in seeing Umbridge humbled.

He had always looked down on Umbridge, who had no real abilities of her own and only climbed the ranks by ingratiating herself with others, collecting favors, and scheming to earn more gold.

"Since it was an accident, let's drop it. You all should rest. The train will be departing soon, and we'll be at Hogsmeade Station in less than an hour."

"No, this boy killed a Dementor."

Umbridge wasn't going to let it go that easily, but her words were cut off by Scrimgeour.

"Deputy Minister, you must understand that we haven't found Sirius Black.

Stopping the Hogwarts Express without authorization and having Dementors search the train was something the Minister himself will need to apologize to Dumbledore for.

If you continue to make trouble for this student, the Minister will have an even more difficult time."

Without Dumbledore's permission, sending Dementors to search the Hogwarts Express was a delicate matter. If they had found Sirius Black, then fine. But since they found nothing, it was awkward.

Not only Dumbledore, but the parents of the students would certainly be upset if they found out.

Challenging Dumbledore's authority any further would be something the Minister certainly wouldn't want.

Dumbledore's influence in the magical world wasn't something to take lightly.

And since Sirius Black wasn't found on the train, the next step in the plan was to station Dementors at the entrances of the school to prevent him from entering.

Angering Dumbledore would make it difficult for them to carry out the plan if he didn't approve.

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Umbridge stopped talking, snorted coldly, and Disapparated away.

They hadn't yet reached the area where Hogwarts Castle's wards took effect, so they could still Disapparate.

"George, well done. Keep up your studies at Hogwarts. You will definitely become a great wizard like Dumbledore," Scrimgeour said, patting George on the shoulder.

He hadn't expected that the child who had been abused and adopted by Dark wizards would possess such terrifying magical talent, and in just one year, he had grown to this level.

"I'll do my best!" George nodded, retracting his wings and Light Magic.

Scrimgeour and the Aurors retreated, and the train set off again, with George quickly becoming the focus of attention for all the young witches and wizards in the vicinity.

In the next hour, many students passed by his room and stopped, pretending to casually peer inside.

This included students from other carriages who had heard the news.

Meanwhile, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the rest of his friends came to his room to check on him. That's when he learned that Harry hadn't actually been attacked by the Dementors.

He figured the Dementors hadn't yet reached the carriage where Harry was hiding and had been drawn over to his side instead, only to be scared away in the end.

Of course, this small twist didn't matter much to him.

The Hogwarts Express soon reached its destination. The first-year students continued the tradition of taking boats to the castle, while the others, including George, traveled by carriage drawn by Thestrals.

Upon arriving at the castle, they went straight to the Great Hall, where the sorting ceremony was held as usual. However, before the meal, Dumbledore addressed a few important matters.

The most important announcement was that Dementors would be stationed at all the entrances to the school until Sirius Black was caught, and students were advised not to provoke them.

He also introduced the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Remus John Lupin, and the new Care of Magical Creatures professor, Rubeus Hagrid.

After the feast, George was about to return to the Slytherin common room when he noticed Professor McGonagall calling Hermione over. He was then stopped by Snape.

"Professor, is there something wrong?" George followed Snape up the stairs to the office, having an inkling of what might be happening.

Snape didn't try to hide it and spoke directly.

"It's Dumbledore who wants to speak with you. He wants to learn more about what happened on the train."

"Oh, and what about Hermione?" George asked, looking at Hermione being led away by Professor McGonagall, a puzzled expression on his face.

If it was about the train, Hermione shouldn't have been involved. It would make more sense to bring Ginny, Colin, or Luna, but Hermione wasn't in his carriage.

Snape glanced at Hermione and responded.

"She isn't going to the Headmaster's office. McGonagall has something else to discuss with her. It's a good thing, so don't worry."

Upon hearing Snape's words, George immediately realized that McGonagall was probably giving Hermione the Time-Turner.

The Time-Turner, the most overpowered magical artifact in this world, could reverse time by up to five hours, and it was crafted using Time Magic and the Hour-Reversal Charm.

In the original story, Hermione and Harry used the Time-Turner to go back five hours and save Sirius Black and Buckbeak.

George had read many related books on Time Magic, but every single one emphasized how dangerous and unstable Time Magic was.

One wrong move, and it could erase both the past and future selves, leaving nothing behind. It could even affect future generations and other wizards.