Few wizards in the Wizarding World knew about Time-Turners, let alone schoolchildren.
Lavender and Parvati probably found it familiar because Vincent had accidentally exposed it while practicing with them before, and they happened to see it.
After this, Hermione became even more cautious when using the Time-Turner.
She found an empty place, secretly turned the hourglass once to go back in time, then cast the Disillusionment Charm to return after class.
She kept the margin of error within three seconds, but she still felt it was not enough.
The last class on Friday was Defense Against the Dark Arts. As soon as class ended, she found Vincent and took him into an empty classroom on the second floor.
"What did you say!?"
"Shh—" Hermione quickly rose onto her toes and covered his mouth.
Her eyes warily darted toward the window, and she only dared to let go after making sure no one was there.
"Don't be so loud. Someone might find out."
Every rule concerning time magic was exceptionally strict.
Once others learned that the Time-Turner existed, the time loop would no longer remain stable.
Dumbledore and McGonagall were adults. They understood perfectly well how serious the consequences could be.
As for students, who knew how intense their curiosity might be?
So even the very, very, very best of friends absolutely could not be told a single word.
Vincent did not think she was making a mountain out of a molehill. Instead, he greatly admired her caution.
"Rita Skeeter was right. The title 'Miss Perfect' suits you very well."
Hermione's little mouth twitched fiercely. "Yes, and the title 'Mr. Popular' suits you very well too."
Vincent suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
Mentioning Mr. Popular made him think of Lockhart, which in turn reminded him of Tom's Horcrux.
He hurriedly sucked in a breath and uneasily scanned outside the window.
Could this have been part of Dumbledore's calculations too?
"What's wrong?"
"I just feel like this place isn't safe."
Seeing how jumpy he was, Hermione found it inexplicably amusing.
The Vincent in her memory had always been brimming with confidence, capable of resolving any difficulty perfectly.
"Pfft—" She could not help but snicker.
Vincent coughed awkwardly. "All right, I'll be more careful with the Time-Turner from now on."
He rolled up his sleeve and took off the bracelet he wore.
He pulled the Time-Turner out from his collar and raised his wand, sketching out a vague shape.
The bracelet, mixed with Mithril, immediately flowed over the tiny hourglass like liquid, wrapping it up tightly.
A three-dimensional "?4?0" pendant appeared.
It looked rather large, but it fit Vincent perfectly when he wore it.
Hermione stood on tiptoe, barely able to reach his shoulder.
She pursed her lips and looked toward his wristwatch.
No wonder he'd grown so much. It was already December 5th.
"Where have you been for the past two and a half months?"
Vincent tucked the pendant back beneath his collar. "The Forbidden Forest."
"Don't worry. I kept at least three hundred feet between every version of myself, and none of us interfered with each other."
There was probably no one else in the entire school bold enough to do something like that.
Hermione opened her little mouth as if she wanted to say something, but hesitated.
If she could be like him, never mind five electives—even fifty more would not be a problem.
Vincent felt a little guilty under her stare.
It was not as though he had done anything shameful. He had strictly followed the rules of time magic.
"Um..."
"Can I ask..."
They spoke at the same time.
"Ladies first."
Hermione suddenly lowered her head, looking rather embarrassed.
"I—I want to be like you and have more time."
"Sure." Vincent agreed without hesitation.
With her personality, even if he refused, she would probably act on her own.
"Really?" Hermione's little face flushed with excitement. "Then what do I need to prepare?"
"A tent, food, and a change of clothes."
The tent needed a washroom, the food had to be plentiful, and the clothes could be anything.
Hermione did a quick calculation and realized it would cost quite a few Gold Galleons.
Fortunately, she had saved the Gold Galleons from the Acromantula Venom profits. Otherwise, she could only have stared helplessly.
After finishing their nighttime excursion, the two met at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
Before they had even found a spot, the two Dementors guarding the area came over.
"Expecto Patronum—"
The Suanni Patronus drove them deeper into the Forbidden Forest.
Vincent put away his wand. "As long as we create a time loop where we drive them away, we can relax after that."
Hermione nodded and quietly followed behind him.
She looked especially nervous, even keeping her footsteps very soft.
The first safe spot was a clearing, surrounded by several thick tree stumps left behind after logging.
Vincent opened his suitcase and spread a blanket on the ground. "Hagrid cut down the big trees here. They were probably used to make fences for the paddock."
Hermione took off her shoes and sat on the blanket with her knees drawn together.
"Are you sure nothing will go wrong? I remember the Acromantulas' nest is nearby."
"It'll be fine." Vincent pointed behind him. "I reached an agreement with them. At night, this place belongs to me."
A big fist was the ultimate truth, no matter where one went.
Hermione silently took a stack of books from a small semicircular white cloth bag.
"Are the remaining safe spots all like this?"
"More or less."
She smiled and opened Intermediate Guide to Transfiguration along with Percy's notes.
It was time to get down to business, so Vincent set up the Alchemy Mechanical Arms as well.
The Magical Runes with automatic repair functions were drawn perfectly. One could not tell at all that they were composed of tiny individual runes.
The new characters had been arranged, but they still needed further optimization.
The more precise a machine was, the more likely it was to malfunction. Magic was the same.
After two and a half hours, the wear on the mechanical arms' joints began to exceed their rate of repair.
Metal fatigue was difficult to solve, but the current repair-type Magical Runes were not yet the optimal solution. He could balance the wear by speeding up the repairs.
He had already crossed the stage from nothing to something. No matter how difficult it became, it would not be harder than before.
Having finished reviewing the next Transfiguration lesson according to the notes, Hermione closed her book. Her wandering gaze happened to settle on Vincent's face.
His expression was exceptionally focused, making her unconsciously look at him a few more times.
She opened Standard Spells, Level Three and reviewed the next lesson again using Percy's notes.
The Dragon Transformation Spell, Rabbit Transformation Spell, and Rat Transformation Spell were actually all the same. They used magic to shape an extremely realistic illusion.
Unlike Transfiguration, these spells were merely empty shells with superficial appearances. They did not even possess physical forms.
Yet in certain emergencies, they could still help the caster escape danger.
For example, one could conjure a giant dragon, then combine it with other spells to defeat an enemy.
Hermione was startled by the thought that had suddenly occurred to her.
She secretly glanced at Vincent, who was still optimizing the arrangement of Magical Runes, then hurriedly turned to the next page of her textbook.
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