Shocking statement.
The youthful-looking Arthur King tossed out a teasing remark, then vanished around the corner ahead. Ian's expression changed, and he immediately chased after him, only to fail to find the professor on the other side of the corner.
"Where did he go?!"
Before his eyes—
Ian saw only an empty, long corridor stretching toward the library. The Alchemy Professor, who had still been within his sight just seconds ago, had silently vanished. It was as if he had disappeared into thin air the moment he rounded the corner. Ian had not even caught a glimpse of Arthur King's robes.
"Apparition? That shouldn't be possible! You can't Apparate inside Hogwarts!" Ian stared blankly at the silent corridor, the uncertainty in his eyes deepening.
It was not merely the Alchemy Professor's sudden disappearance that was unbelievable. What Ian found hardest to understand was what Arthur King had said before vanishing.
"Still, you might not be so happy... Remember when I said I could offer you help? Haha, thinking back now, do you regret refusing me?"
Someone offering help to a young wizard only to be refused had indeed happened before. However, it should have happened during the proper timeline before Ian entered the loop—several hours after the current moment, on the night when Ian had gone to the library to search for information because he was studying the Resurrection Stone.
The two of them would meet by chance.
Then, because Ian had worried that the Alchemy Professor might covet the Deathly Hallows, he had rejected the professor's goodwill. That should have been something that had not yet happened.
In fact—
At the time, Ian had thought the Alchemy Professor's so-called alchemy problem referred to the information on the Resurrection Stone he had been seeking. But now, it was obvious that