Harry Potter and the Obscurus

Chapter 54 Time Converter

The large black dog, which had peeked out from the edge of the Forbidden Forest a few seconds earlier, was now frantically running into the depths of the woods. The rustling of the branches in the breeze was completely drowned out by the howling black mist behind it. Sirius Black, who thought there was nothing more terrifying than Dementors in the world, was extremely panicked. He didn't remember having such a terrifying monster at Hogwarts at all!

"Isn't he my godfather? Why did he run away when he saw me?"

Harry, equally puzzled by Sirius's reaction, asked Moran in this way.

"It's probably because of the terrifying appearance of the Obscurial, right? Of course, even if he saw your face clearly, he would still think of you as a child seeking revenge for the murder of his father and mother. After all, he has never explained to anyone why he attacked Peter Pettigrew after his arrest."

"Should we transform back into human form and talk to him?"

"Let's catch up with him first. I don't know why, but I always feel that there's something strange about him."

Soon, Mo Ran understood where the strange feeling in his heart came from.

Led by the big black dog, he and Harry somehow flew all the way to the lake where over a hundred Dementors hovered in the movie. Worse still, before he could even figure out why, the two of them simultaneously saw a scene through the gaps in the tree trunks that broke Harry's heart.

Hermione?

Beneath her withered brown hair were the girl's empty eyes. Her eyes, which had lost their former brightness and clarity, seemed to be veiled in a gray mist, staring blankly at the broken time converter in her left hand.

Harry's body was numb; kneeling before Hermione's body, he could neither move nor speak.

On the other side, the usually calm Mo Ran was somewhat bewildered, but as Harry's friend, mentor, and pillar of support, he felt it necessary to cheer him up.

"Calm down, Harry. This could be fake. You're a wizard, don't be fooled by appearances."

Hearing Mo Ran's reminder, Harry nodded tremblingly. He pulled his wand from his waist, but couldn't utter a single spell.

"Let's try the Instant Appearance Spell first."

“Okay…Specialis…Specialis Revelio…” (His true form is revealed)

The body remained unchanged.

"Try Curse Stop again, this might be a smokescreen."

"Finite!" (The spell stops instantly)

"Finite Incantatem!" (All curses end)

"It's still no use!"

Harry's palms were so sweaty he almost flung his wand away. Having faced Voldemort twice and battled the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, this was the first time he had felt helpless and terrified.

"What should I do? Could this be a Boggart? It must be a Boggart, right? Yes! It's a Boggart! Help me think of a way to make it funny!"

As Harry spoke, he turned to Moran, deep within his soul, for help. But this time, he did not receive the answer he expected.

“Harry…”

Mo Ran tried to make his tone sound tactful as he said:

"Pick up that time converter first."

"No, I must save Hermione first!"

The atmosphere immediately quieted down.

A few seconds later, he took a deep breath and slowly tucked the wand back into his waistband.

"Figured out?"

Mo Ran asked.

"Ah."

Hali said in a still slightly trembling voice:

"Denying the facts is pointless, but if there were a time converter, perhaps there would still be a chance for things to turn around!"

"Yes! No matter what the cause and process of this happened, at least Hermione is still alive in the current timeline, so we still have a chance."

"But her time converter is broken, how are we going to fix it..."

Still somewhat dazed, Harry realized after uttering those words that Hermione, who was on the same timeline as him, was still alive and her Time-Turner was still intact.

"Ok."

He said:

"Then... what should we do with the body? We can't just leave it here, can we? There are so many magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest."

"Let's put all the parts away first."

Mo Ran gave Harry these instructions:

"After collecting all the parts, find a nearby place to bury the body."

Harry glanced at Hermione's cold, motionless body, closed his eyes, and whispered a plea:

"No, you should do it."

"it is good."

……

The lakeshore was covered with pebbles of all sizes, and with the help of magic, Moran quickly dug a grave for Hermione to rest in peace. (Harry originally wanted to dig the grave for Hermione by hand and erect a tombstone, but gave up after Moran firmly refused.)

"Salvio Hexia." (Peaceful Garrison)

"Protego totalum." (Protect all)

With Mo Ran having cast a protective spell at the burial site of Hermione, this unexpected tragedy that began with the pursuit of Sirius Black finally came to an end.

Exhausted both physically and mentally, Harry couldn't immediately regain control of his body. After such a huge shock, even with his experience of numerous dangerous battles, he couldn't maintain his original mental state. So, to avoid arousing suspicion from his friends and classmates, and also to give himself a chance to catch his breath, he entrusted the task of returning to Hogwarts to check on Hermione's safety to Moran.

Snapped!

A loud bang echoed from the third-year boys' dormitory in Gryffindor. Ron, who was playing with the fake Scabbers, immediately jumped out of bed.

"Harry!"

He said:

"Where did you go just now? We've been looking for you for ages!"

Mo Ran glanced at the pet mouse in Ron's arms and said evasively:

"I left something in the faculty lounge, so I went back to get it."

"Oh, I see."

Ron, being somewhat naive, didn't think much of it. After getting a plausible answer, he simply treated Harry's strange behavior as history and moved on.

"Want to play a game of Wizard's Chess? Or would you like to try Gobblestone? Or maybe we could go for a couple of laps around the Quidditch pitch. I'm actually thinking of signing up for the Gryffindor team this year."

"No, Ron."

Mo Ran replied:

"I have some important things to do right now. Do you know where Hermione is?"

Hermione?

Ron raised an eyebrow at Harry and asked:

"You didn't contact her about studying, did you?"

Mo Ran rolled her eyes at Ron and walked straight toward Harry's bed.

Normally, he wouldn't mind gossiping about Harry and Hermione with Ron. But given the current situation, he couldn't afford to waste his time.

"I solemnly swear that I will not do good deeds."

"My God! What is this?"

Ron, who had never seen a Marauder's Map before, exclaimed it aloud as he looked at the parchment.

“This is the Marauder’s Map, which I borrowed from Fred and George last year. Didn’t they ever show it to you?”

"What? This belongs to both of them? Those two bastards never mentioned it to me! By Merlin's name, I'm their brother. You just handed over something I'd never even looked at?"

Seeing that Ron's nose was practically crooked with anger, Mo Ran quickly and solemnly assured Harry:

"It's not a gift, it's a loan. Although they haven't asked me to return it yet, if they do, I will definitely return it to its rightful owner."

“That’s not what I meant, Harry.”

Ron corrected:

"What I'm trying to say is, could you please stop hiding things from me in the future? I can help you. Even if it's mysterious... even if Voldemort comes looking for trouble, I will never back down."

Hearing other people's friends express friendships that weren't theirs, Mo Ran couldn't help but feel a mix of emotions. He patted Ron on the shoulder and nodded slightly, saying:

“I understand, Ron. You can rest assured. Friendship isn’t about who helps whom or who owes whom. Besides, you helped me get through Professor McGonagall’s giant chessboard back in freshman year. I doubt anyone else in this school has that ability.”

Ron, whose face turned red after being praised a couple of times, kept rubbing his nose with his fingers and asked:

"Ahem, so what are you going to do next? Go find Hermione? I remember our school's dorms are separate for boys and girls... Wait! You just Apparated back!"

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

"Then can't you go anywhere in Hogwarts?"

Mo Ran replied with a dark expression:

"You're only just realizing it now? That's the trick I used to leave after Defense Against the Dark Arts get out of class."

Ron reacted as if he'd missed out on a fortune; the slight shyness he'd felt after being encouraged by Mo Ran vanished completely. He turned back, and after confirming that Neville and the other roommates hadn't returned to the dorm yet, he whispered to Mo Ran:

"Can you teach me Apparate? You mean the kind you can use inside Hogwarts Castle. I know I'm too young to do it right now, but in a few years... I promise I won't use it recklessly!"

Mo Ran didn't even consider using Mind Control to probe Ron's true thoughts, and directly refused:

"The Apparition I use is not something an ordinary wizard can master. It requires not only talent but also a bit of luck. However, I can teach you the regular Apparition and Apparition if you still want to learn."

Slightly disappointed, Ron pursed his lips, shook his head, and said:

"Then I'll wait until fifth grade to learn from my teacher. It's too dangerous to practice this level of magic now."

Mo Ran, who neither confirmed nor denied this, didn't say anything more. He quickly expanded the Marauder's Map to its maximum size and began searching for Hermione's location on the map.

"Classroom, what subjects are being taught this afternoon?"

Lost in his own thoughts, Mo Ran didn't notice that Ron, who was helping him search for Hermione, had already turned a rosy red. Unlike him, who had been comfortably "spying" on the entire school for over a year, Ron, just entering puberty, possessed an exceptionally sharp mind. Even just seeing a girl's name appear in the dormitory or bathroom would involuntarily set his mind on fantasies. But among all the "girls," the one he was particularly interested in was an older woman—Mrs. Rosmerta.

Doesn't this map include Hogsmeade Village?

Ron asked with some regret. (Mrs. Rosmerta is the owner of the Broomsticks pub in Hogsmeade.)

Mo Ran shook his head and said:

"It only includes Hogwarts Castle and a portion of the lawn before entering the Forbidden Forest. Other places that the map authors did not visit, such as the Chamber of Secrets and the Room of Requirement, will not be shown."

Upon hearing Mo Ran's words, Ron's interest waned considerably. However, just as he reluctantly shifted his gaze from the edge of Hogwarts back into the castle, a strange name caught his attention.

"Newt Scamander?"

Ron scratched his head and asked:

"I seem to remember you mentioning this person to me before. Isn't he the author of that book, something like that?"

Startled, Mo Ran quickly looked in the direction Ron was pointing. Just as he had said, the guy loitering near the castle was the tutor Dumbledore had hired for Harry in his first year.