The Plaything of Time

"Can you tell me about your second casting?" Anton stared at Pedro. "The one concerning your daughter Nagini."

Pedro fell silent for a while, then nodded.

"You wouldn't understand anything too complicated. Simply put, I made it possible for Rosier to save Nagini from what had been impossible."

Pedro gestured, set down the bottle, and extended both hands. His thumbs and index fingers formed a circle, then he pulled his index fingers apart. "Tear open a gap, let the River of Time develop an error, and it will create an opportunity."

"That kind of opportunity is profoundly mysterious. I have no way to explain exactly how it works."

"But I can tell you what happened in the real world."

"When Rosier and I traveled through time and space in search of a cure for Blood Curse Orcs, he lost a book. My apprentice Fiennes found it."

"Then you appeared."

"Then you led everyone to rescue Nagini."

"You know all that, but..."

"Time's corrections are terrifying. They create a whole series of consequences."

"And those consequences are chaotic across time. It's hard to find any logic in them. They're full of paradoxes, sometimes good and sometimes bad."

Pedro picked up the bottle and took a drink. He let out a long breath, stared at Anton, and revealed a strange smile.

"Your previous life was that of a Muggle. No, not even a Muggle—you came from a place without magic."

Pedro cackled. "Didn't you ever wonder why you could use magic? You weren't a magical creature, you weren't a wizard, and you weren't the descendant of any wizard!"

Anton frowned thoughtfully. "Because of time's correction?"

Pedro shook his head. "No, not correction. This was my Time Magic! Understand? My Time Magic turned you into this. And not just you—everyone was affected. I