In the oppressive darkness, a coin glowing red as it floated out of Ron's pocket drove back the surrounding shadows.
Harry suddenly jolted, only then realizing something.
Professor Breen had left him the Time-Turner, left Hermione a book stating that they should travel back through time, and left Ron a commemorative coin.
The Time-Turner and the time written in the book had both served their purpose, but Ron's coin had yet to do anything.
Could it simply mean that Ron was supposed to return to the past with them?
That was probably not the truth.
As if sensing the three of them watching it, the red-glowing coin trembled and buzzed in midair before floating upward of its own accord.
"Don't go!"
Ron cried out, instinctively reaching for the coin.
But something even more surprising happened.
Ron's hand lunged at the coin, yet it floated straight through his clenched fist, like a ghost passing through a wall without obstruction.
"Follow it!"
After hesitating for a moment, realization flashed through Hermione's eyes. "It's taking us to Professor Breen!"
"Blimey!"
Ron withdrew his hand, his voice trembling. "He really thought of everything, didn't he? I mean Professor Breen."
"He and Professor Dumbledore are the same kind of person."
Harry said this as he scrambled up the stairs on all fours, while Hermione called after him from below, "The Invisibility Cloak—"
"We won't be able to keep up with the coin while wearing the Invisibility Cloak, Hermione. Use the Disillusionment Charm!"
Their hands and feet stiff with cold, the three of them struggled to push open the witch's hunchback and jumped out of the passageway into a Hogwarts corridor.
Clear moonlight streamed through the windows, spilling across the untouched corridor. The ordinary sight left Harry and the others strangely moved.
In these years before