179: Chapter 179 Three Seconds, Two Shadows

"If you dare to touch the cracked pocket watch, I'll go call Snape."

Draco blocked the dormitory door. His arm was still in a sling, and he gripped the doorframe with his other hand. His expression was worse than when a cauldron exploded in Potion Class. Pansy stood beside him, Nott held his notebook, and Zabini leaned against the bedpost, having already pocketed the candy box.

Allen sat on the edge of the bed, a faint blue light emanating from his sleeve. He glanced at Draco. "If you call Snape, you'll first have to explain why the entire dormitory is surrounding me."

"I'll say you're dying."

"Madam Pomfrey will come."

"Perfect."

Allen placed his blackthorn wand on his lap. "I said, don't touch it."

Draco stared at him. "You said don't touch it directly."

Zabini nodded. "That statement has a loophole."

Nott turned to a new page. "I suggest a specific constraint: Do not make direct contact with the cracked pocket watch using fingers, wand, knut, or Portable Space gold threads."

Allen looked at him. "You're writing a contract for me?"

"Leaving evidence for myself." Nott's expression didn't change. "In case you pass out for three days, Draco will pin the responsibility on me."

Draco retorted immediately, "I'd pin it on Zabini."

Zabini took out the candy box and put it back. "Thanks."

Pansy tapped the bedpost impatiently. "The point. When will Hermione use the time-turner?"

Allen looked toward the window. Outside, the Castle had entered the dead of night, and the footsteps of Professors hurrying by could be heard from afar before fading away. The disturbance from the Dementors near the Black Lake had been suppressed by a powerful Patronus, and a chill still lingered in the air. Time was like a taut string, waiting for a finger to pluck it.

"The Hospital Wing," Allen said. "Dumbledore will give a hint. Hermione will take Harry back three hours."

Draco frowned. "The Principal allows it?"

"He excels at letting students complete dangerous tasks themselves, and besides, everything is very fortunate."

Pansy sneered. "Typical Hogwarts."

Nott wrote down, "Dumbledore may be aware. Trigger point for time-turner: Hospital Wing."

Allen closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into his Portable Space. Inside the space, the two hundred square meters were pinned down by seven layers of anchors. The gold patterns on the north side resembled dormant veins, with the ebony box in the center. The cracked pocket watch lay inside the box, the gold threads already having crawled over one-third of its surface. The Void hovered beside the box, its snake body pressing against the edge of the lid, silver eyes fixed on every ray of light.

Peter, in the cage, curled into a ball. He had been tormented by the name Black all night and had little strength left. Seeing the cracked pocket watch light up, he shoved himself into the corner again.

Allen spoke in his consciousness, "Don't be afraid. Time isn't looking for you."

Peter's mouth was sealed, but his eyes were filled with, "Don't talk nonsense."

Outside, Draco paced by the bed, his footsteps so erratic that they annoyed Pansy. She grabbed a book and threw it at him. "Sit down."

Draco caught the book. "You're throwing things at me?"

"Your walking gives me a headache."

Zabini sat on a trunk. "He needs to find something to do when he's scared."

"I'm not scared."

"You've said that same sentence three times."

Nott didn't participate. He stared at Allen's sleeve, his pen tip hovering over the paper, waiting for the first change in the blue light.

Time suddenly moved.

It was hard to describe this feeling in one sentence. Allen first heard the cracked pocket watch emit a crisp sound, followed by the boundaries of his Portable Space being pressed by some external rhythm. The temporal structure of Hogwarts folded at the Hospital Wing, like a piece of paper being lifted from the middle, bringing the moment three hours ago and the current moment into brief contact.

The cracked pocket watch in the ebony box erupted with blue light.

The Void pressed down on the lid, but its snake body was pushed back half an inch by the light. The gold patterns on the north side all lit up, and the seven layers of anchors emitted sounds of being under pressure simultaneously. Peter in the cage scrambled to the furthest corner, his mouth sealed, tears squeezing out.

Allen didn't reach out.

He simply released his perception.

The blue light poured back into his consciousness along the space's gold patterns. The Hospital Wing, the Black Lake, the Shrieking Shack, the Whomping Willow, the Third Floor corridor—all coordinates overlapped in the same instant. Hermione rotated the chain of the time-turner, Harry stood beside her, and they from three hours ago fell into Hogwarts simultaneously with them from three hours later.

Allen's breathing paused for a beat.

He saw two versions of himself.

One version of himself sat in the Slytherin dormitory, blood under his nose, Draco blocking the door, Pansy scolding, Nott recording, and Zabini touching the candy box.

The other version of himself stood at the end of the old restricted corridor on the Third Floor, the hem of his robe stained with mud, the blackthorn wand held in his hand, blue light leaking through the door crack. That image came from the future, yet it seemed to have been pried open by the present.

Two slices of time sandwiched him.

Three seconds.

The first second, Allen heard Draco call his name. The voice came from the present and also bounced back from the end of the future corridor.

The second second, he saw Harry by the Black Lake raising his wand against the Dementors, and he also saw another Harry and Hermione hiding behind a tree. The stag Patronus rushed across the water, the white light shielding Black behind it.

The third second, he saw that knut outside the Shrieking Shack gently flip over in the mud. The sound of clock hands came from the cracked pocket watch, as if someone was whispering in his ear, the door is open.

Blood gushed from Allen's nasal cavity, dripping onto the bedsheets.

"Allen!" Draco rushed up, only to be bounced back half a step by a Spatial Displacement, nearly hitting the bedpost.

Pansy immediately grabbed his shoulder. "Don't touch him!"

Nott's pen dropped to the floor. He didn't pick it up, shouting directly, "Void!"

In the Portable Space, the Black snake lunged at Allen's consciousness projection. The Void pressed down on him with its entire body, dragging him hard out from between the two slices of time. The ebony box lid snapped shut with a "pop," the blue light was forced back into the cracks, and the gold patterns on the north side dimmed layer by layer.

Allen collapsed on the bed, his fingers gripping the edge, blood flowing from under his nose to his chin. He opened his eyes, but his pupils were out of focus for a moment.

Draco knelt by the bed, his voice trembling. "Did you hear me?"

Allen's throat moved. "Noisy."

"You're still complaining that I'm noisy?" Draco almost pressed a handkerchief into his face. "You were glowing blue all over just now!"

Zabini quickly locked the door and pulled the curtains shut. "Don't shout too loudly. The night patrol will hear."

Pansy rummaged through a box for a clean towel. "Nott, what are you recording?"

Nott picked up his pen, ink staining the back of his hand. "time-turner activated. cracked pocket watch fully responsive. Allen's consciousness pulled into three seconds. External symptoms: nosebleed, uncontrolled Spatial Displacement, blue light covering cuffs."

Draco said angrily, "You're still recording?"

"Need it after he wakes up." Nott looked at Allen. "He said so."

Allen pressed the towel to his nose, his voice hoarse. "Continue."

Draco glared at him. "Shut up."

Allen looked at him. "Help me get paper."

"You're crazy."

"Get the paper."

Draco gritted his teeth, finally pulling parchment from the table and slapping it by Allen's hand. "Sleep once you're done. Don't let anyone stop me, I'm really going to find Madam Pomfrey later."

Allen raised his hand, his fingers still trembling. He gripped the quill, the tip pausing on the paper twice before pressing out the first ink mark.

Temporal-Spatial Dual Cultivation, initiated.

After writing these six words, the cracked pocket watch in the Portable Space rang softly again. Gold threads spread from the cracks, crossing half the surface directly. The Void pressed against the ebony box, its silver eyes never leaving the lid, but its tail tip reached over, pressing on the wrist of Allen's consciousness projection.

Like a warning.

Allen said in his consciousness: "Only this once."

The Void flicked its tongue, clearly not believing him.

Peter curled up in the cage, looking as if his bones had been removed. He had just seen the blue light of time surge from the cracked pocket watch, and also seen Allen's consciousness being pulled by two directions at once. He finally understood that the young Wizard who had imprisoned him wasn't just hiding evidence.

This person dared to tear even time itself.

Draco saw the words on the paper, his expression worsening. "What does Temporal-Spatial Dual Cultivation mean?"

"Space is already there." Allen wiped the blood from his chin. "Time opens the door."

"You make it sound like opening a locker." Pansy threw the blood-stained towel into the basin. "What if there's a monster behind the door?"

"Record the location of the door first."

Zabini sat back on the trunk, saying in a low voice: "Madman's logic."

Nott stared at the line of text. "Ability manifestation?"

Allen leaned against the headboard, closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them quickly. "Three-second dual existence. Overlap between current slice and future slice. Coordinates: Third Floor old restricted corridor, robe hem muddy, blue light in door crack. Black Lake Patronus comes from Harry after he returned. Hermione's time-turner is the trigger source."

Nott wrote quickly.

Draco heard about the future slice, his voice lower. "You're going to the Third Floor?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"Not yet."

"That sentence again." Draco tossed the blood-stained handkerchief into the basin. "Sooner or later, you'll be killed by that sentence of yours."

Allen didn't refute. His chest still felt tight, and his temples throbbed. The three-second dual existence was already dangerous enough; if the Void had been a step slower, he might have been stuck between two slices of time, and it wouldn't just be blood he lost after waking up.

Pansy checked the bedsheets. "What about the bloodstains?"

Zabini opened the candy box. "Say it's a nosebleed. The Dungeon is too dry."

Draco looked at the damp stone wall. "Your ability to tell lies with your eyes open is almost catching up to Allen's."

"Learning from the strong."

Nott blew the recording paper dry. "External circumstances need to be written too. Harry and Hermione have already returned to three hours ago. They will save Buckbeak, then save Black. The Principal is highly likely aware. The Ministry of Magic will think Black escaped."

Allen nodded. "Peter is still with me."

Draco asked in a low voice: "After Black escapes, will he continue to look for Peter?"

"Yes."

"Then what do we do?"

Allen looked into the Portable Space. Peter in the cage was looking up at him, his eyes full of despair. The Void's tail tip pressed on the words "Black is free," as if it had already written the conclusion for him.

Allen picked up another piece of paper and wrote slowly: Black survives, old case not closed. Peter continues to hide. Laws of Time have been triggered. The finale of the third year is entering convergence.

Draco sat by the bed, finally not scolding him anymore. He looked at Allen's pale face, then at the two sheets of paper on the table, and it was a long time before he squeezed out a sentence: "From now on, if you want to touch time, tell me first."

Allen looked at him. "Can you stop me?"

"No." Draco grabbed the candy box, shoved a candy into his own mouth. "But I can scold you in advance."

Pansy couldn't help but laugh, then quickly suppressed it.

Zabini nodded. "Useful. At least it makes the scene look more like a normal student dormitory."

Nott closed the notebook. "Seal all tonight's records into the Portable Space?"

"Yes."

Allen handed the parchment to the Void. The Black snake's tail tip rolled over the paper and sent it into the thin-walled archive layer beside the ebony box. The cracked pocket watch quieted down, the gold threads stopping on the surface like a road that had just crossed a boundary.

A burst of chaotic footsteps came from the distance outside.

Professor McGonagall's voice came from the end of the corridor, urgent and suppressed. Then came Snape's voice, filled with rage. The Castle was waking up from the accident by the lake, and everyone would think the focus of tonight was Black's escape.

Allen closed his eyes.

The true focus had already been written by his hand.