Two Things to Fear

Whatever. What did this have to do with him, a third year student?

Yvonne thought about it for a while, then shook her head. There was a solution, but that was something Dumbledore and Minister for Magic Fudge should consider.

And the Ministry's close ties with the Muggle Prime Minister suggest that things are more complicated than he thought…

Ivan soon forgot about this system mission, as he had no intention of taking on such a dangerous mission…

"Ivan, what did you just say?" Hermione asked curiously. Wasn't the Ministry all right? Why was it suddenly over?

"No…you must have misheard me. I didn't say anything," Ivan said, shaking his head at Hermione.

Hermione gave Ivan an odd look, but didn't seem to mind.

A Muggle Studies class was soon taught by Professor Charity Burbage.

In order to gain more GPA, Ivan used the same spirit as he did during the first two years of school. Whenever Professor Burbage asked a question in class, Ivan would stand up and answer.

Professor Burbage was also extremely pleased with Ivan, as this was the first time she had seen a young wizard who was so knowledgeable about the conflict between the wizarding and Muggle worlds that he did not hesitate to give Ivan an extra thirty points per class.

After class, Ivan left the Muggle Studies classroom feeling very satisfied.

If only every class were like this, Ivan believed he could earn over two hundred GPA a day.

Hermione looked at him gloomily. As long as Ivan was in class, there was no room for anyone else.

Hermione was about to say something when she heard a noise behind her.

"This is the most boring lesson I've ever had! Why do we need to know about Muggle-made cars and planes when we can just wave our wands and get anywhere we want?"

Ivan and Hermione turned to see a haughty-looking girl in Slytherin robes, and several young wizards nodded in agreement.

Hermione listened for a while, then asked, "If you're not interested in Muggle Studies, why did you choose it?"

The haughty Slytherin girl looked at Hermione in surprise, then said dismissively, "I take this class to find out why Muggles are so stupid as to be unable to learn magic!"

These words immediately caused some young wizards to laugh.

In the corridor, many Muggle-born students glared at them…

"If not for the Muggle Protection Act, we would have been able to fool the Muggles with only a little magic." The Slytherin girl did not stop talking. She was not impressed by Professor Bubbaghi's theories, which were nonsense in the wizarding world…

"And why are you so protective of Muggles? Or are you actually a Mudblood? I think you should be more careful when recruiting students at Hogwarts. It would be best if you only took in pure-blood, gifted wizards like us," scoffed the Slytherin girl.

Yvonne frowned, but Hermione rebuked her first.

"Enough!"

"It's true that my parents were Muggles, but the vast majority of my exams were Outstanding, and you? Did you?"

"And it is my understanding that many well-known wizards are half-bloods, or Muggle-borns. Blood does not determine one's talents! Pure-bloods are no smarter than Muggles!"

Hermione spoke sharply, and the haughty Slytherin girl stammered, not knowing what to say.

"So what? My father is the head of the Department of Magical Transportation. No matter what, I'm going to be better than a Mudblood like you!"

"Keep relying on your father, then…" Hermione snorted.

Infuriated, the Slytherin girl drew her wand and tried to cast a spell.

Hermione was faster, however, and pointed her wand at him first.

A brilliant red light flew from the tip of the wand and hit the Slytherin girl, who screamed and was knocked to the ground, the wand in her hand falling out of her hand…

"Let's go!" Hermione grabbed the wand and threw it in front of Ivan, then dragged Ivan away.

Hermione grabbed Ivan's wrist and walked aimlessly for a while before she stopped, then began to regret her actions.

"Professor Dumbledore told me not to get too involved with anyone using the Time-Turner. If I had known, I wouldn't have attacked her. Many people would have guessed that we were in two places at the same time!"

They were due to take three classes at once this morning, and one of the lesser wizards was bound to find out.

"Never mind that rule. We've been doing this all school year. Unless everyone's an idiot, someone's bound to guess or something."

Ivan had always felt that Dumbledore's taboos were unreliable, and were most likely used to fool them into not abusing the power of the Time-Turner.

There were only two things Ivan feared.

The first was to deliberately change the past, such as appearing to one's past self.

The second was that a single backtracking took too long.

Ivan did not forget that the system's magical props column clearly stated that every time the Time-Turner turned, the risk would increase with every hour that passed…

What exactly does this risk refer to?

Ivan felt that he had better find an opportunity to confirm this. He was expected to travel back in time for dozens of days, and any mishaps along the way would undoubtedly affect his plans.

Ivan's face clouded at the thought, but he quickly composed himself, as he did not want Hermione to notice anything amiss.

"By the way, Hermione, you're better at magic than I thought you were!" Yvonne said, teasing her. He could see that Hermione's Disarming Charm was quite good. It was close to level three… the average for a graduate.

This was much better than her in the original dimension…

"It's nothing compared to you, Yvonne…" Hermione shook her head, looking at Yvonne with an inexplicable sense of defeat.

She had been practising charms diligently for the past few years, but each time she could feel the gap between her and Ivan widening.