After watching Madam Pomfrey hurry out of the office with Harry and return to the Hospital Wing, Professor McGonagall turned her gaze to Jerry and Hermione, who were seated nearby.
"Very well, you two. We now need to discuss your course schedules." As she spoke, Professor McGonagall took two identical course selection forms from her desk drawer. Every elective had been checked off, and some of the classes even overlapped. She continued, "I spent the entire summer writing letters of recommendation to the Ministry of Magic because of these two schedules!"
Hermione immediately sat up straight, turning her curious gaze toward Professor McGonagall. She, too, wanted to know how the school would resolve the scheduling conflicts. Surely they weren't really going to teach them a spell that could create duplicates of themselves, as Jerry had suggested!
Although Jerry already knew the answer, he still felt a little excited. Honestly, he thought the people at the Ministry of Magic were absurd. They would actually entrust a dangerous item like a Time-Turner, kept in the deepest recesses of the Department of Mysteries, to a teenage student merely to resolve a class scheduling problem.
Professor McGonagall also seemed hesitant, as though she were considering whether to hand the items over to them just yet.
"Professor McGonagall, whatever it is, you can tell us. We'll have to start following our schedules tomorrow anyway, won't we?" Jerry gently reminded her when he noticed her hesitation.
Professor McGonagall took a deep breath, slowly retrieved two small boxes made of silvery-white metal from the cabinet behind her, and handed them to Jerry and Hermione.
The two accepted the compact yet surprisingly heavy metal boxes and immediately opened them, unable to wait. Inside each box, resting on a soft silk lining, lay a tiny, gleaming golden timer and