Ten minutes later, the inside of the rock crevice had returned to its original state: a stone cave.
Will used Apparition to reach the mountaintop and fiddled with his watch. He intended to go back. Experimenting with these wrong dates kept getting him into trouble. If not for his Phoenix Form, he might have been dead long ago.
What annoyed Will, though, was that the latest date he could travel to was 1900. He still couldn't go back.
"Tch—" A breeze swept across the mountaintop, and Will clicked his tongue in frustration.
Nothing particularly good seemed to happen in 1900, either. Will counted on his fingers. Even saving Corvus Lestrange would have to wait until 1901.
Before 1901, then...
Will remembered something: during Phineas Nigellus Black's time as Headmaster, there should have been incidents involving Emotion Magic and Ancient Magic.
He had forgotten the exact years the man held the post. All he remembered was that it was sometime in the 1890s... Well, he might as well go straight to 1890.
Will finished adjusting his watch. His figure twisted, and a silver Phoenix appeared in his place.
The scenery around him raced past like a film on fast-forward. Before long, everything returned to normal. Will lifted a wing and glanced at his watch. He had arrived in 1890.
He stayed still for a while. Nothing felt wrong with his body. For the first time in ages, time hadn't played a dirty trick on him during a jump.
It almost felt strange. Will changed back into human form and remained on guard a little longer before gradually accepting that time really hadn't messed with him this time.
Will didn't linger. He used Apparition to reach the outskirts of Hogwarts, ready to sneak in. It sounded difficult, but it wasn't. Sirius