Who Returned to the Past?!

In the deepest corner of the prison, a transparent cloak was blown up by the wind, revealing what lay beneath.

Invisibility Cloak ... Sean's pupils contracted slightly as he raised his wand.

"The Invisibility Cloak Accio." He aimed at the Invisibility Cloak on the ground.

However, there was no response.

There is only one Invisibility Cloak that Anti-Summoning Charm, and that is the one that was passed down in the Potter family and is one of the Deathly Hallows.

Sean finally confirmed a fact: Harry's Invisibility Cloak had probably been switched long ago, and the incident James had mentioned about the Potter family being burgled was likely due to someone switching the Invisibility Cloak.

But why is the Invisibility Cloak in the Nurmengard Basement?

Sean carefully inspected the area with his wand, and only after confirming that there was no danger did he walk over and pick up the Invisibility Cloak from the ground.

Feeling the texture in his hands, Sean silently compared it to his own Invisibility Cloak.

The materials are somewhat similar, but this one is lighter and silkier.

As soon as the Invisibility Cloak was picked up, he saw the ground that had been covered.

"This is..."

On the ground, which was exactly covered by the Invisibility Cloak, were densely engraved Ancient Runes.

These obscure and ancient characters were carved directly into the ground, and there were also some gold and red powder mixed in the indentations of the stone slabs.

Judging from these marks alone, this Ancient Runes Ancient Runes has lasted for a very long time.

Magic constructed primarily using Runes can be broadly divided into two types: one is Ancient Magic, where wizards use Runes to communicate with the magic power within their bodies, and then use the combination and connection rules of Ancient Runes to release spells. This is also the direction that Sean is currently studying.

Another method involves wizards using magical materials such Runes symbols, and then using magic to activate these magical symbols to produce a continuous magical effect. Dumbledore once demonstrated such profound magic.

The Ancient Runes engraved on the ground belong to the second type, but they are more difficult to achieve – this is almost like turning the medium used for engraving into a powerful Magical Item, a magic circle that can continuously exert its effects.

Sean's knowledge of Ancient Runes was far from sufficient, but he still managed to discern the meanings represented by some of the symbols.

"This... seems to be a whole composed of multiple Ancient Runes imprints..." Sean muttered under his breath, frowning.

The Ancient Runes branding before me is extremely complex; the wizard who carved the symbols must have had a very deep understanding of Ancient Runes.

Sean could only barely make out the meaning of a few Ancient Runes combined, one of which was a life-sustaining Ancient Runes mark—a mark that could maintain a person's life force, allowing them to survive even without food, though of course, it wouldn't feel very pleasant.

There is also a Ancient Runes brand for deep hypnosis, which has an exaggerated hypnotic effect—however, maintaining the Ancient Runes brand's effect requires a massive amount of magic power, so wizards now prefer a one-time Stunning Spell.

This is only the effect that Sean could confirm. There are at least fifteen different spells combined on this entire area of ground covered by the Invisibility Cloak, and all of them are very advanced. Sean was completely confused just by looking at them.

However... Sean's brows furrowed tightly.

The key points of the magic circle have been destroyed; otherwise, Sean would have been affected if he had stepped into it.

This sophisticated magic circle seems to function primarily in terms of "restriction," much like...

It's like someone is locked up here...

This guess sent a chill down Sean's spine.

Invisibility Cloak, coupled with extremely advanced Runes diagrams, led to the imprisonment of a person in the deepest dungeon beneath Newmontgard...

That person has now clearly broken free of their restraints.

Who is this person, and why is Grindelwald keeping him here...?

etc...

Sean noticed something was wrong.

He was able to find his way here because of Dumbledore's hint, or more precisely, the hint from the fifth person in 1899. Of course, Sean had already assumed that person was Dumbledore.

Although Grindelwald reminded himself to think carefully about what Dumbledore had said, this person was clearly imprisoned in Newmontgard — Grindelwald should, of course, know who was being held captive in the school he founded.

However, it was only after Grindelwald reminded himself to look for Dumbledore's clues that Sean found his way here.

This doesn't make sense. If Grindelwald wanted Sean to know, there was no need for him to go to such lengths.

That means Grindelwald had no idea who was imprisoned there; in fact, he probably didn't even know there was anyone imprisoned there. He simply thought there was a deeper meaning in Dumbledore's words, which is why he reminded Sean.

Sean slowly stood up, still holding the real Invisibility Cloak in his hand, and glanced at the Ancient Runes.

Dumbledore was reminding himself that this person, no longer bound by constraints, was the key to the whole mystery...

Sean took a deep breath, took out a piece of paper and pen, and spent some time copying the entire Runes script.

He took one last look, put away his Invisibility Cloak, and left.

Before leaving, he hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided to repair the blown-up iron gate. He had already taken the Invisibility Cloak; it was better to hide the magic circle diagram inside to prevent any students wandering around at night from discovering anything amiss.

It was already evening when they returned to Hogwarts. Sean had been busy reviewing his memories and hadn't eaten anything since noon.

However, he really had no appetite.

He pulled several cushions together, Sean down, and stared at the dark ceiling, pondering the information he had gathered that day.

There are several key points about the truth that Sean still doesn't know.

Dumbledore definitely traveled back to 1899 using the Time-Turner, but Sean believed he must have had other things to do besides reminding himself, otherwise, he wouldn't have caused such a serious time travel accident.

Another point that Sean was very concerned about was the time travel accident that Newt mentioned that happened in 1899.

This puzzled Sean, because time travel accidents should logically occur in the "present"—meaning that someone also traveled a very long distance in time in 1899, and what was that person's purpose?

Furthermore... Sean touched the Invisibility Cloak in his hand; this Deathly Hallows didn't look much different from an ordinary Invisibility Cloak.

Why switch the Invisibility Cloak?

If the goal is simply to conceal the presence of that person in the underground prison, a regular Invisibility Cloak should be sufficient. Of course, this likely takes into account the limited lifespan of a regular Invisibility Cloak.

But if it was Dumbledore did it, Sean believed the old man had a whole host of ways to completely cover up that person's existence. The idea of deliberately swapping the Potter family ' Invisibility Cloak for that reason just didn't seem quite right.

Moreover, Grindelwald clearly didn't know this person...

Considering Grindelwald's recent performance, Sean felt that something was amiss.

Grindelwald was clearly unaware of the kind of cooperation between Dumbledore and the Returners, nor was he clear about Dumbledore's true purpose.

Moreover, he seemed to have many grievances against Dumbledore... Yet, Grindelwald was able to remind Sean to find Dumbledore's clues, as if he already knew.

Sean hadn't paid much attention to it before, because Grindelwald was an unpredictable person.

However, after today's trip, Sean instinctively felt that something was wrong, and Grindelwald's thoughts kept popping up... contradictory?

Although he couldn't quite put his finger on it, Sean now felt that Grindelwald seemed a bit odd in certain details...

Wait a minute... Sean suddenly frowned.

He almost forgot that Grindelwald was a Seer!

Could it be understood that Grindelwald didn't actually know the truth of the whole mystery, but he could see visions of the future through the Seer, which is why his actions and words gave Sean a slightly contradictory feeling?

He saw the future, so even though he had many grievances against Dumbledore, he would still try to cooperate with the other's actions.

So, back to the core question, why did Dumbledore want him to know that someone had been imprisoned in Newmontgard's underground?

Or perhaps this is only part of the whole mystery, and Dumbledore, bound by his Unbreakable Vow, can only reveal it to himself little by little, allowing himself to combine and understand it, and finally uncover the truth of the whole matter.

Sean looked down and fumbled around for a while, then pulled out a letter and a stone.

This is what Sean sent back to Sean after he received the letter in Godric's Hollow and told Dumbledore about it.

Perhaps a secret is hidden within...

Sean picked up the letter and read it carefully again.

Finally, he turned his attention back to the beginning of the letter.

Dear Sean:

"I understand what you've said. The reason I didn't reply to you immediately is because I needed to verify a certain hypothesis, and Owl Post isn't as safe as you might think."

"Based on your description, I can roughly guess what happened to poor Old Bathilda. It was probably a powerful Obliviation Charm, and the caster may have designed a switch to awaken memories. Regarding the switch, I have a few guesses. First, time. The effect of a spell isn't permanent, and Old Bathilda was a skilled wizard in her youth; not many people can cast such a spell and maintain it for so many years. My second guess is that the switch is you; the person who left the letter wanted you to see all of this—"

Verifying the hypothesis... verifying the hypothesis...

In retrospect, the person who supposedly left the letter was Dumbledore himself!

He traveled back in time during a previous long-distance time travel and then tampered with the letter to remind himself...

But why go through all this trouble? Or is it that the binding force of Unbreakable Vow is beyond Sean's imagination, Dumbledore can only remind himself of it through this roundabout way?

Judging from the information available, Dumbledore traveled back in time, did something, tampered with the letter, and even removed the Potter family ' Invisibility Cloak...

However, Sean felt that something was not right.

The timing of these events doesn't seem to match up?

Putting everything else aside, that letter was originally sent by Grindelwald to Dumbledore, but was tampered with by Dumbledore traveled back in time.

However, the memories in the letters were still from when the two had just met. After Ariana's accident, their falling out, and then Grindelwald sending the letters, there must have been quite a long time between them.

More importantly, if Dumbledore switched the Invisibility Cloak and then imprisoned someone in Newmontgard's underground dungeon, the timing would be even more off.

Grindelwald founded Newmontgard many years after 1899.

Dumbledore traveled back to such a distant past, and he actually stayed there for more than ten years.

Although Sean didn't know much about time travel, he did know that if a wizard had traveled nearly a hundred years and stayed there for more than a decade, the world would probably have changed drastically.

This situation could lead to an extremely serious Time Incident!

In reality, apart from a few time discrepancies, there were no other more serious incidents.

This is similar to the case of Eloise Mintab, the Unspeakables who traveled back five centuries, hundreds of years ago, even though Unspeakables had only stayed in the past for five days.

Sean believed Dumbledore more powerful, so he wouldn't lose his life like the Unspeakables. But if it had been a decade or more, the world wouldn't be so "peaceful" now.

Thinking about it that way, the timing doesn't match up... Sean frowned deeply.

He unconsciously twirled the dark red gem in his hand. It was a replica of the Philosopher's Stone that Dumbledore had given him, which could help Sean practice Transfiguration because the Philosopher's Stone had the effect of solidifying magic.

Since receiving it, Sean has indeed used it quite a few times and received some help from it.

After playing with it for a while, he lowered his head and examined the replica in his hand carefully, but no matter how closely he looked at it, he couldn't find anything special about it.

It seemed Dumbledore hadn't left any information on it, Sean put the replica back with some disappointment.

The dark red gem made a crisp clinking sound. Sean looked down and realized he had accidentally bumped into a snowflake-shaped Landscape Orb.

This thing was obtained from Aiken's family. It can detect the age of the person closest to it, and the number of snowflakes falling corresponds to their age.

However, it can only be used as a toy for fun... Sean picked up the Landscape Orb and tossed it up and down listlessly.

Just as he was grappling with this mystery, the door to the Vanishing Cabinet suddenly opened.

"Teacher..." Sean was surprised to see Grindelwald come out.

The other person looked relaxed and casually said, "What, you're not welcoming me?"

"No, not at all... Perfect, I have something I'd like to discuss with you."

"Hmm? Looks like I've arrived just in time. So, have you solved Albus's riddle?"

As he spoke, Grindelwald walked over and sat down next to Sean.

"It's not unlocked yet... By the way, do you know who's locked up in your underground prison?" Sean asked impatiently.

Grindelwald frowned upon hearing this. "Imprison people? This doesn't match the future I see... and..."

Sean, however, was not in the mood to listen to what Grindelwald was saying.

This is... this is...

The other person sat down next to the Landscape Orb, and inside the transparent sphere, snowflakes were falling rapidly!

Ten pieces, twenty pieces, thirty pieces... one hundred and fifty pieces, one hundred and sixty pieces...

Sean's chest heaved violently!