Hogwarts: I Am an Exemplary Wizard

“What happened here.”

Seeing Dumbledore looking confused, Kael rubbed his forehead, momentarily unsure of where to start.

He came to save someone, but just as they met, before exchanging any words, they ended up having a fight.

Fortunately, although Dumbledore lost part of his memory, he remained relatively clear-minded. Upon realizing something was wrong, he temporarily gave up the idea of continuing to erase his memory.

It has to be said, Dumbledore’s temper at this time was indeed quite volatile. He would brandish his wand at the slightest disagreement. It was only because he was currently weakened and had scruples that the situation didn’t turn out worse.

Kael conjured a chair for himself and sat opposite Dumbledore, then asked:

“Professor, do you really not remember anything?”

“I don’t remember.” Dumbledore shook his head.

“Haven’t you ever doubted it?” Kael continued to ask, “You believe you are a Transfiguration Technique professor, but that should have been in your middle-age, or even earlier. Your current appearance clearly doesn’t align with that age group.”

“Because it’s not the first time I’ve been here.” Dumbledore explained, “I can’t recall the exact number of times, but I know I’ve returned many times, and all those times combined are quite lengthy.”

Kael sighed helplessly.

According to Dumbledore, he knew his appearance didn’t match his age in his memory, but he didn’t see anything wrong, assuming it was normal age progression from repeatedly returning to the past.

“But now it seems, things are entirely different from what I thought.” Dumbledore looked at Kael, “Can you tell me the truth?”

“No problem, but this matter is very complex to explain. Let me think about where to start…” Kael rubbed his forehead.

“No rush, we have plenty of time.” Dumbledore said, “Grindelwald will return at 10:23 tomorrow morning, we have over ten hours left.”

His tone was calm, as if he had instantly become the familiar Hogwarts Headmaster again.

“Let’s start from the very beginning.” Kael took out the golden Pocket Watch, “This is the Time Turner we used, made a thousand years ago, crafted by Salazar Slytherin.”

Dumbledore looked at the golden Pocket Watch, and a wave of familiar yet very blurry memories suddenly surged, like a forest hidden in mist, only faint shadows could be seen.

“Continue.” He asked, “How did we get something from a thousand years ago.”

“This dates back to my third year, or ninety-three years later, when you were the headmaster of Hogwarts… That year, during the Halloween feast, the school caretaker’s cat was suddenly petrified…”

Kael recounted the events of the Chamber of Secret meticulously, while Dumbledore sat quietly listening, occasionally frowning slightly, but did not interrupt Kael.

“…This Time Turner brought me back to three months earlier, connecting everything, and when I returned to the correct timeline, it remained intact.

“However, it was thoroughly broken at the time, and the one we are using now was repaired by you, Nicolas Flamel, and Professor Viktor from Beauxbatons.”

Some hazy memories resurfaced in Dumbledore’s mind, causing his forehead to swell with discomfort, prompting him to rub it.

“Professor, are you alright.” Kael asked with concern.

“It’s fine.” Dumbledore took a deep breath, “Please continue.”

“There’s not much after that.” Kael shrugged, “You used it to return to a hundred years ago, which is now.”

“Then why did you come.”

“Because you haven’t appeared since then.” Kael looked up, “Nicolas believes you must have done something and have been excluded from the correct timeline. I came here to bring you back.”

“So, you mean to say I vanished after using the Time Turner?”

“Exactly.” Kael nodded.

“If that’s the case, then it’s a bit of a problem.” Dumbledore pondered for a while, “I think I roughly understand why I lost part of my memory.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m disappearing,” Dumbledore said calmly.

“Disappearing?” Kael was taken aback.

“That’s right.” Dumbledore raised his head, looking at the window above the barn, “After this summer, I’ve tried many ways to save Arianna, including the Time Turner. I’ve spent five years scouring all available knowledge, and I know a bit about temporal exclusion.

“I’m disappearing, the missing memories are the most direct reflection.” He pointed to himself, “Two identical people can’t exist at this same time, so when my memories overlap with the me from this time, I won’t return.”

The barn fell into silence.

Kael tightly gripped the Time Turner, reaching out with another hand to hold Dumbledore, “Don’t worry, once we return, you should regain your memories, there’s still time.”

But Dumbledore retreated, avoiding Kael’s hand.

“Sorry, I can’t return yet.”

“But professor, you should know, you can’t change anything.” Kael earnestly looked at him, “Perhaps it’s because you tried to change something that caused time to reject you, keeping you trapped in the past.”