Sixteen Thousand Three Hundred and Twenty-Five Times

A chubby little bird flapped its tiny wings until it finally reached the large piece of cloth. It picked open a gap with its beak and squeezed inside.

Inside the cloth, it transformed back into Andrei.

But he was clearly in bad shape. His face was pale, cold sweat streamed down it, and he was gasping for breath.

Anna hurried over to support him.

Just then, the Old Wizard floated up from underground.

"Go back immediately!" Andrei said urgently and firmly. "Don't delay!"

"Okay."

Anna nodded resolutely. Her little hand disappeared into thin air, grabbed the valve of the Time-Turner, and pulled hard.

Blue Smoke billowed and spread over them, then suddenly contracted.

Splash!

The torrential rain soaked the patch of dry ground that had been covered by the cloth, washing away every trace.

Andrei felt as if he were spinning madly through a kaleidoscopic passage, like clothes tumbling inside a washing machine.

At last, with a pop, they were squeezed out.

They all fell to the ground.

Anna looked delightedly at the Snake, who was scrambling in a panic toward the corner. "Did we do it?"

Goblin Pedro laughed heartily. "We did! I checked with a Secret Art! This is the first time I've changed history! I've wandered through the ages for hundreds of years, and this is the first time I've ever done it. It feels incredible!"

Andrei pursed his lips. "I noticed just now that countless wounds suddenly appeared on her. Clearly, time corrected itself automatically and treated her as Nagini after she'd lived through those thirty-eight years."

Anna got to her feet and smiled at Andrei. "Thank you."

The Old Wizard also stared in wonder at the ten-meter-tall Time-Turner in the factory. "Time and fate are truly wondrous."

After everything they'd been through, everyone was exhausted, yet no one wanted to rest.

Using Andrei's old Wand, Anna excitedly practiced the Levitation Charm she'd just learned. She went downstairs and brought back fruit wine and food.

"Clink."

Their glasses rang together.

"Cheers!"

They gathered around a small round table in the hall, their faces all strangely relaxed.

Pedro looked proud. "This whole plan was possible because I found Nagini first and brought her to you."

Andrei gave him a disdainful look. "Oh, come on. You barely did anything. You're so powerful, yet I had to risk my life."

The Old Wizard chimed in. "Exactly. My foolish teacher really has gotten old. He's slow in his movements and slow in his thinking. He's so dull he can't even react in time."

Pedro was clearly annoyed because they'd hit a nerve. He ignored the two of them and turned to Anna. "Don't ever go into time by yourself again. It's extremely dangerous."

Anna nodded earnestly and smiled at everyone. "Okay."

They partied all night.

Andrei was the first to give out. He'd expended too much energy and nearly collapsed beneath the table from the alcohol.

Pedro raised his glass and mocked him, but still carried him back to his room.

When he returned, he helped take Nagini to her room and reinforced the Charms on her door.

The Old Wizard also floated back to his own room.

At last, the streetlights outside the French windows went dark. Anna was the only one left, sitting with her knees hugged to her chest outside her mother's room, sleeping soundly with a sweet smile.

It seemed as if everything had returned to the way it was before they entered the Time-Turner.

And yet, everything had quietly changed.

The next day, Andrei summoned everyone again. They all still looked exhausted.

Lupin listened in amazement as the Old Wizard embellished the story, his expression changing with every detail.

"I was locked downstairs for just one night, but you went through an entire month?"

Everyone laughed, and Lupin joined in.

Andrei tapped his Wand against the table to get everyone's attention. "Pedro has confirmed it. Nagini's soul is now somewhere between human and snake. She can be saved!"

"So the most important thing now is to find the memory of the Blood Curse and cure Nagini and Anna of the Blood Curse."

"It'll take luck. Pedro has far too many memories."

Pedro held a Cigar in his mouth and snorted. "Stop stealing my Wisdom. It belongs to the Goblins!"

Andrei shrugged. "I really didn't mean to, but this is a problem we both have to solve. You have too many memories. I don't know how long it'll take me to find it."

Just then, a hearty laugh came from the doorway.

"I can solve that!"

The front door opened quietly by itself. A handsome, weathered middle-aged man stood in the doorway, Wand in hand, smiling at them.

It was Rosier, who'd disappeared for ages, no one knew where.

"Father." Anna jumped down from her chair and rushed over, throwing her arms around him.

Rosier chuckled and rubbed Anna's head. "My darling, I'm sorry for the wait."

Anna wasn't the only one startled. The Old Wizard and Pedro were too—especially Pedro. Seeing his old friend reminded him of the memory where Rosier had nearly blasted him to smithereens, leaving him with mixed feelings.

Most astonishing of all, this friend of his was actually his son-in-law?

This Andrei Rosier wouldn't even call him Dad?

Andrei, however, had caught the important part. He looked at Rosier in confusion. "What can you solve?"

Rosier took his daughter's hand and brought her over to the others. Then he pulled a necklace from his pocket. "The Lucky Pendant of the Goblin Explorer of Time and Memory. It can guide you deep into a memory."

Pedro stared at the necklace in shock. "Damn it, that's mine!"

He touched his neck, where there was nothing. "When did you get my necklace?"

Rosier smiled faintly and placed the Pendant on the table. "That's a long story."

"I've been waiting for this day for thirty-eight years." Rosier sighed, then looked earnestly at Andrei. "Young Wizard, thank you for all your efforts. The Rosier family owes you a favor."

Andrei frowned at him. "You know what happened? Did you hear us at the door? You don't seem surprised."

"What sharp insight." Rosier chuckled. "I've known for decades!"

"What!" Everyone stared at him in shock.

Anna fetched a chair for her father. Then she took a high stool and sat beside him, looking delighted.

"You've all been on a time-traveling journey, so you probably know what happened back then."

Rosier tenderly rubbed Anna's head.

"After that, I took Anna back to the family estate and put her in suspended animation. Then I went everywhere looking for Pedro." He raised his eyebrows. "It took me three whole years, but I caught him."

Pedro looked exasperated. "I'm right here. What do you mean, you caught him?"

No one paid him any attention. Everyone waited expectantly for Rosier to continue.

The Old Goblin could only sulk and fall silent.

"Pedro isn't an ordinary Goblin. He's an 'Collector and Traveler of Time and Memory' among the Ancient Goblins, a sage who understands time inside and out."

Pedro's eyes widened. "How do you know I'm a sage? That—"

The Old Wizard pounced on him, making him shudder with surprise. "Damn it, foolish teacher, be quiet!"

He propped his head up with one hand and gestured with the other. "Please continue. Ignore him."

Rosier smiled and nodded. "Pedro really had forgotten the memory of the Blood Curse. I forced him to take me back to the time when it was cast, but unfortunately, he'd buried the memory and set a powerful Charm on it. Unless he himself had a strong, instinctive desire to go there, it was impossible to get through."

Pedro stared at him, stunned. "I buried that memory?"

Rosier sighed and nodded.

"Since there was no way to change the fact that the Blood Curse had been cast, and we didn't know how to undo it, I had no choice but to keep going back to the time when I killed Nagini, trying to change everything."

"Wait!" Pedro could no longer sit still. "You kept going back?"

Rosier nodded with a smile. "Over the next thirty-odd years, I forced you to take me through time sixteen thousand three hundred and twenty-five times!"

"You're insane!" Pedro jumped to his feet in a fury. "No wonder my memories are such a mess. I even feel like I'm constantly getting older, and my past self keeps cursing the future me for coming back!"

A giant Purple Goblin Golem appeared behind him. "I'm going to fight you!"

"Haha, don't be like that, Pedro." Rosier quietly stepped back. "Over all those years, we became very good friends."

Pedro was furious. "Who wants to be friends with you—"

Rosier picked up where he left off, and they spoke in unison: "You damn foolish human Wizard."

Pedro froze.

Rosier shrugged. "See? We know each other so well we can finish each other's sentences."

The Old Wizard cackled beside them. "My poor teacher, forced to go on more than ten thousand time-travel trips. What a wretched fate! Absolutely wretched! Hahahaha."