To be honest, once you gradually get used to the dizziness, the feeling of watching time go backwards like this is really amazing.
In this hazy vision that is not filled with fog, watching the things that happened in the past and the people who passed by in the past meandering back and forth like flowing clouds, there is really an illusion of transcending everything.
I remember that my "future self" once mentioned that under some kind of "thinking horizon", everyone squirmed like an ugly worm. A feeling like this can only be roughly experienced when using a time turner.
Of course, if possible, Maka actually didn't want to experience this feeling even once.
But there was no way, in order to restore the fact that he was determined not to compromise, he still turned the small hourglass again, even going back a little more time than the last time.
And if I had to name a specific point in time, it would naturally be the night before the tragedy happened.
"Huh..."
When the chaotic feeling of going back in time suddenly stopped, Maka felt that her eyes were clear, and even the ubiquitous gray fog seemed to suddenly become insignificant.
After briefly regaining his composure, he turned back and glanced at the window behind him.
This time, the place he chose to trace back was inside the St. Mungo's Building - you could see that even though the city outside was already filled with fog, the stars were still twinkling when looking out the window.
There is no doubt that the seemingly brilliant starry sky is naturally fake and is just a scene created by magic spells. But because of this, the fake night sky outside the window is easier to judge the time than the real starry sky.
At this glance, you don't need any astronomical knowledge or complicated calculations. You can tell what time it is at night just by looking at the position of the moon - it does not change every day like the real moon. There will be slight deviations at night.
"The time...well, there should be no mistake."
After a little confirmation, Maka looked around this "room". The lights here are relatively dim, and the humid air is slightly cold. It is obviously not used for people to live in.
In fact, this is just a bathroom... and it's a women's bathroom!
“…”
Looking at this place that she would definitely not come to under normal circumstances, Maka's expression seemed a little embarrassed.
But there was no other way, because he knew for sure that he would never come in here if he was fine, so he specifically chose such a place to use the time turner.
After all, at this point in time, my past self is also at St. Mungo's, and should be silently patrolling for Luna, Hermione and other friends outside at this moment!
After looking around subtly, Maka quickly took care of her eyes, then reached out and pulled open the compartment door closest to the window.
Then, he hid decisively and locked the door firmly.
"Well, it doesn't seem to be any different?"
Maka muttered secretly in her mind to eliminate the embarrassment, flipping down the toilet seat and covering it, then turned around and sat down.
So, after just a few actions that didn't make much noise, the bathroom returned to silence again. Except for a drop of water dripping from time to time from a faucet over the sink, there was no other movement.
As for Maka, she just sat on the toilet seat in this cubicle without saying a word for three hours. During this period, she didn't go anywhere and barely even moved.
"It's a bit cold..."
Since there was another version of himself not far outside, even though he was sure that it was impossible for him to enter the women's bathroom at this time, he still had to keep his magic power and perception in check at all times.
Therefore, at this time, Maka is no different from an ordinary person and cannot use any magic. These more than three hours of "bathroom time" really made him feel the discomfort he had not seen for a long time.
"Well, besides being cold, my feet are a little numb."
Just as Maka was about to stand up and relax her muscles, a burst of footsteps suddenly sounded outside, approaching from far away and seeming to be heading towards the bathroom.
Immediately, he sat back down again after standing up halfway, but his left hand had already taken out a dark potion bottle that had been prepared from his waist.
Needless to say, the reason why he was in a daze here was of course to wait for someone.
"Ah! No!"
Suddenly, Maka's expression changed slightly, and he put the potion bottle in his hand back into the pocket on his waist.
Immediately afterwards, his expression suddenly became more subtle.
The next moment, a faint conversation was heard in the corridor outside the door:
"Hermione?"
"Oh... Maka? It's so late, you... why aren't you sleeping yet?"
"Me? Well, I'll fall asleep soon."
"Uh, oh..."
Before he finished speaking, footsteps sounded again. Judging from the light steps, it must still be Hermione's. But before she could take a few more steps, Maka, who was in the corridor outside, spoke again.
"Hermione, you...well, I don't have to ask you where you are going. However, if you want to go downstairs, I don't recommend it."
"Ah, no... no, I'm not going downstairs." Hermione's voice seemed a little less straightforward, "I just... um..."
"Oh, I told you, I don't have to ask you where you are going."
"… Um."
At this point, this brief conversation ended. However, it could be heard that Maka at that time still guessed what Hermione wanted to do when she got up at night, so although she still said a few words uneasily, it still did not embarrass Hermione too much.
As Hermione's footsteps sounded again, Maka, who was sitting on the toilet seat, finally shook her head silently - how could she have forgotten that this happened before
Just as he was thinking about it, Hermione in the corridor outside gradually walked to the door of the bathroom. After the door opened with a "squeak" sound, Hermione... came in.
In the cubicle, Maka pursed her lips, and then consciously stretched out her fingers to block her ears.
He couldn't help but feel a little lucky now. Fortunately, he thought carefully enough and chose this compartment located at the deepest part of the bathroom. If she chooses the front one, although Hermione probably won't ask any more questions even if she can't open it, who knows if she might have a sudden idea
However, she didn't know if she was afraid of something coming, but Maka suddenly heard that the footsteps did not stop in the outer compartment, but were getting closer and closer to her...
what happened? Did Hermione have the habit of choosing the innermost compartment to use
"It seems that blocking your ears is of no use? You will still hear what you should hear—"
Maka thought so and put down her hands helplessly, then stared at the door panel of the cubicle that was so close and continued to stare blankly.
At the same time, he already had another magic potion in his hand.
As long as Hermione didn't speak, then he didn't have to speak; and if Hermione did speak, then he seemed to have no choice but to take a small sip of the voice-changing potion that he originally planned to use later to improvise.
Fortunately, for some reason, Hermione's steps suddenly stopped outside the door of this cubicle... She neither reached out to pull the door nor moved again. For a while, the bathroom became silent again.
"Are you looking at the moon from the window?"
Although the scene outside the window is fake, it is still a product of magic, and the effect is even better than the Muggle display screen. If you just look at the moon and look at the night without fog to relieve your mood, it's totally fine.
After a while, the sound of footsteps sounded again for an unknown number of times. Maka thought she was going back, but she and she naturally chose the compartment closest to the window.
"Click."
"Oh, I'm sorry—I didn't know there was anyone in there."
Just saying this, Hermione outside hurriedly walked away. When Maka heard this, she knew there was no need to take the magic potion, so she just pinched her throat and said "Yeah".
Hermione obviously didn't suspect him, so she chose the middle seat across a cubicle and used it. She quickly washed her hands and left from the door.
At this moment, Maka, who was in the deepest compartment, couldn't help but apologize secretly for hearing something she shouldn't have heard.
"Well, this is a bad thing. We must not let it slip in the future... To be on the safe side, let's erase this memory when we have time..."
I don’t know if Dumbledore’s habit of extracting memories and storing them was developed slowly because he listened too much when he was young, or simply watched too many eye-catching things.
After thinking about it, Maka suddenly curled her lips and put aside these messy thoughts.
After Hermione left, nearly two hours had passed. Maka, who had already begun to ponder certain principles of magic, finally heard the sound of slight footsteps coming from outside the door.
This immediately shocked him again. He brought back his thoughts that had been scattered, and quickly repeated the action plan he had thought of in advance in his mind.
At the same time, after hearing clearly that the steps outside were messy and irregular, Maka became even more sure that this time she was right.
Luna's swaying way of walking made her look like she was sleepwalking even during the day, let alone at night when she was half asleep. Anyone who is familiar with her will usually hear her correctly.
In addition, Maka still remembered that Luna had an apple and a cup of tea after dinner today, so the possibility of Luna coming to the bathroom at night is naturally very high.
"Well… "
But while he was concentrating, Hermione, who had just arrived, suddenly reminded him of something.
"By the way, um... let's wait until she is done with it before taking action! Otherwise... it doesn't seem good?"