Tuesday 7 October 2020

In which the narrator is confronted with some unpleasantly probing questions about his work.

"Your Time-Turner," said Potter. "It really works."

Now that the kids had been found it seemed that I was once again a priority. After an absence of several weeks, Potter had pulled me into a fresh interrogation. Although it was a bore to be going through this again, at least I wasn't feeling quite so wretched this time. I never wanted to experience that kind of withdrawal again. The two other Aurors were also there, stone-faced, as well as a nattily-dressed older gent who I did not recognise. The dapper old chap shook his head slowly. I don't think he actually tutted, but that was definitely the vibe. I hated him at once.

"This is Professor Saul Croaker," said Potter. "From the Department of Mysteries. He has spent his entire career studying time magic, and he has kindly agreed to join us for this interview."

How kind, I thought. I can't wait.

Professor Croaker had taken a seat at the table next to Potter and opposite me. He was wearing a three-piece suit of midnight blue velvet, shined dragonhide shoes (probably Swedish Short-Snout from the colour), a tastefully striped shirt and a pocket square of golden silk. His tie had a repeating pattern of Time-Turners on it which, while kind of hilarious, did not bode well. I didn't like the way he was looking at me, like I was a Grindylow in a tank, or some other specimen brought to him for analysis.

"It can go back years, this Time-Turner," Potter said.

"Years?" Professor Croaker asked incredulously.

"Yes, indeed," said Potter. "Twenty-six years, to be precise."

Professor Croaker looked flabbergasted. "But the longest period that may be relived without the possibility of serious harm to the traveller or to time itself is around five hours."

"We call this Croaker's Law," Potter said to me and Ms Mbewe. "It's an essential part of the legal framework around time travel."

I should perhaps have known this, but I had not actually checked the legal restrictions on time magic before dabbling with it.

"I am familiar with Croaker's Law," said Ms Mbewe coldly. "My understanding is that your son and Scorpius Malfoy stole the Time-Turner that was allegedly recovered in the raid on my client's residence, and they used it to go back twenty-six years to alter events at the Triwizard Tournament. This represents the most serious breach of Croaker's Law since Eloise Mintumble's misadventure in 1899."

Professor Croaker jerked upwards on hearing this as though awaking from a trance. "Merlin's beard," he said, pulling a pair of spectacles from his coat pocket and placing them on the bridge of his nose. "Was any damage observed to the fabric of of time? Speeding up, slowing down, missing days or hours?"

"Not as far as we know," Potter replied sullenly. I could tell that this interrogation wasn't panning out the way he'd anticipated it.

"And the children, are they still children?"asked Croaker.

"Well, yes," said Potter. "They haven't aged a day, as far as I can tell."

I didn't say anything. If I'd been hoping that Croaker would look impressed at this statement, I'd have been disappointed. He steepled his fingertips together, elbows on the table, and rested his head pensively against his hand.

"How did you do this?" he asked me suddenly, his bright blue eyes flicking up, pinning me like a beetle on a board.

I froze, staring at him, unable to answer.

"I know you," said Croaker. "You applied to work in my department."

"I don't recall…" I said stiffly.

"You applied several times."

"I was qualified," I said.

"You think that passing a few exams makes you qualified? We look for a lot more than that. Perhaps it was cruel, not to tell you, only we never dreamed you'd be so persistent. Why did you want the job so much, anyway?"

I shrugged. This information did not look so good now, but it was all true. I only hoped that Croaker was not planning on pulling out a sheaf of old applications and reading out incriminating excerpts. I couldn't remember exactly what I'd written, but it had probably included phrases like "skills and experience relevant to a career in experimental magic" and "long-standing interest in the study of time".

"A silly question, perhaps," said Croaker. "Knowing what you've been up to since then. But in Merlin's name, how did you do it?"

"Mr Potter," came Ms Mbewe's voice from behind me. "My client will not be answering questions like this from third parties. It is most irregular."

"Professor Croaker is the subject matter expert on time magic."

"Well then, he should know how such a device would work. Has he examined the device in question?"

"That has not been possible at this time."

"No? When will it be possible for Professor Croaker to complete an examination?"

"Soon, we hope."

"Soon," repeated Ms Mbewe. "Soon. Well, if you manage to recover the Time-Turner I am sure that you will allow Professor Croaker to have a look at it. Better late than never, I suppose, although right now my money would be on never. You will understand therefore why I will not permit this line of questioning. My client will not co-operate."

"Al's told us everything," said Potter. "What you created, Nott… it was even more dangerous than we thought."

I waited, keen to hear more, but unwilling to volunteer even the blandest remark.

"I mean to say," said Croaker. "If it can go back twenty-six years… with no damage to the user… there's no telling what someone could use it to do. Or undo."

"Not quite without damage," said Potter. "Al's arm broke – shattered, actually – when the Time-Turner threw him back to the present."

"It threw him back to the present?"

"It can only go back for five minutes. Then it forces whoever's come to the past with it back to the present. Al's arm was quite badly hurt when this happened."

"Dear, dear," said Croaker, looking at me. "So you can correct for several decades of ageing, but you're too sloppy to ensure the integrity of your time reversal charm."

"That's not-" I said, but stopped myself.

"I think we should remove Professor Croaker from this interview," said Ms Mbewe loudly.

"I disagree," said Potter. "His questions and comments are relevant. Nott's Time-Turner is an extremely harmful object. Not only did the Time-Turner cause a physical injury to my son, but it caused two people to disappear from the past."

How did they know, I wondered.

"Rose and Hugo Granger-Weasley did not exist," announced Potter, after a dramatic pause.

"Good gracious," said Professor Croaker.

"That doesn't bother you, Nott?"

I stared insolently back at him. Potter had most of the power here, but I had the power to be an uncooperative piece of shit, and I was going to use it. Professor Croaker, though, was ruining the effect somewhat by bobbing around, peering at me through his pince nez and asking irritating questions.

"It bothers me," said Croaker. "Do they exist now?"

"Well, yes," Potter admitted. "Al and Scorpius undid the change they made."

I tapped impatiently on my chair leg with my foot. I'd listen and hopefully I would learn some new information, but I wasn't going to give them anything in return.

"But not before Scorpius found his way into and out of a terrible alternative reality," Potter continued gravely. "Many people dead. I was dead." Never in this reality, unfortunately for me. Interesting. So they had found divergent realities when a conflicting path was created. At what point were these realities themselves created, I wondered. I had never gone so far as to experiment with this.

"You said it wouldn't hurt them," Potter said quietly to me.

Ms Mbewe coughed. "My client did not speak to the safety or otherwise of the item recovered from his home. That was your inference, nothing more."

"We must validate that the lasting damage has not been more severe than a broken arm," said Croaker piously, looking over at me. "People unborn… alternate realities… it will be a miracle if the fabric of time escapes unscathed. Just as the human mind cannot comprehend time, so it cannot comprehend the damage that will ensue if we presume to tamper with its laws. You don't understand what you're dealing with, Nott."

I stared back at him, unmoved.