A Whim

In a dilapidated cottage in Godric's Hollow, Bathilda Bagshot was still upstairs searching for her manuscript.

Downstairs, Kyle and Dumbledore sat facing each other, but their demeanor seemed completely reversed.

Kyle looked calm.

Dumbledore, on the other hand, appeared nervous... He found it difficult to describe how he felt at that moment.

Nicolas Flamel had actually repaired that Time-Turner long ago. Though he had been hoping for this outcome all along, when the day truly arrived, Dumbledore faltered.

For some unknown reason—perhaps guilt over Ariana, or perhaps something else—he had begun deliberately avoiding the matter, subconsciously ignoring the Time-Turner by keeping himself busy.

But when he finally made up his mind and went to Devon to find Nicolas, he was told that the Time-Turner had already been given away—to Kyle, no less.

With no other choice, he could only make another trip back.

"So Bathilda mistaking me for her nephew from the beginning was part of your plan too?" Kyle asked.

"No, of course not." Dumbledore shook his head. "As I said before, I have always been lucky.

"In truth, I arrived quite some time ago, but I could never decide on a reason convincing enough to make you lend me the Time-Turner, so I did not show myself. Yet at that exact moment, I noticed that Bathilda had become confused again.

"I guessed it must have been the Transfiguration Charm you used earlier that made her mistake you for someone else. At the same time, it gave me the idea of using Bathilda to tell you about Ariana."

"A Transfiguration Charm?" Kyle thought for a moment. "The one at the wedding?"

"That's right." Dumbledore nodded. "Her nephew was exceptionally skilled at Transfiguration when he was young, especially animal transfiguration. Bathilda, growing more muddled by the day, must have seen