Time flows every moment.
But what exactly is time? There's no definite answer. Muggle science has its own definition, and wizarding magic has its own understanding. Roger knows a little about both.
Though he doesn't fully grasp the principles, he does have some practical information on the subject.
Most of the books Professor McGonagall lent Roger were theoretical studies and data reports. Among them was an old internal research report from the Ministry of Magic.
With his perfect memory, Roger recalled its contents and used magic to recreate the book.
Transfiguration, once mastered, is truly useful.
"Summary of Time Travel Experiments, 1899."
The report, written by the Department of Mysteries, detailed past cases of long-term time travel—none of which had survivors.
Through repeated experiments, researchers determined that safe time travel was limited to just a few hours.
Of course, "safe" was only relative.
Shorter trips didn't mean zero risk. Rather, they simply reduced the chance of triggering chaotic, large-scale butterfly effects across time. As long as one didn't intentionally meddle, the chances of being devoured by the backlash of time decreased.
The Department of Mysteries also confirmed through experiments that directly casting temporal magic, like the Hour-Reversal Charm, wasn't the best method for time travel.
The problem was that spellcasting was influenced by the caster's distractions. Minor spells like the Levitation Charm could tolerate small fluctuations caused by stray thoughts.
But temporal spells were different—even the slightest deviation could lead to catastrophic consequences.
The best way to stabilize such volatile magic was to embed the spell into an enchanted object—an alchemical item designed specifically for time manipulation.
And that's how they created the Time-Turner.
At the end of the report, the author mentioned a disaster the Department of Mysteries caused 'this year.'
In 1899, Eloise Mintumble was trapped in the year 1402 for five days. By the time she returned to the present, her body had aged five centuries, suffering irreversible damage. She soon died at St. Mungo's.
That wasn't the worst part.
During those five days in the past, she severely disrupted the lives of everyone she met, drastically altering their futures. At least twenty-five of their descendants disappeared from existence—people who were 'never born.'
And that was just the part the Ministry could observe.
Who knew how many other consequences had gone unnoticed? Perhaps she moved a single wooden post, setting off a chain reaction that erased countless Muggles without anyone realizing it.
The report ended there.
Because after 1899, long-term time travel became an absolute taboo in wizarding society.
At least hundreds of legal prohibitions were established solely for time travel. The Department of Mysteries permanently halted all related experiments. Even in 1991, nearly a century later, this ban remained firmly in place.
They had no choice.
Even someone like Dumbledore couldn't withstand the consequences of altering the past. What if someone recklessly changed history and collapsed the entire world?
Time was too unpredictable. Sometimes, just moving a chair or breaking a horseshoe could completely rewrite history.
No one wanted to disappear.
And if anyone dared to mess with time, they'd better be ready to face the wrath of the strongest wizards on Earth—and the five most powerful Muggle nations.
The Ministry of Magic had long maintained contact with the British government, as had other magical authorities with their respective governments. The Statute of Secrecy only applied to the general public—Muggle elites had always known about wizards.
---
Reading the freshly printed report, Harry listened to Roger's explanation.
Unable to hold back, he turned to Roger.
"…So, according to what you're saying, reversing time to save my parents is completely impossible?!"
Seeing the expression on Harry's face—as if Roger was making fun of him—Roger smiled and shook his head.
"No. On the contrary, the key to salvation is right in this report."
"We know that time travel accelerates aging. But what if one could achieve immortality? Wouldn't that eliminate the side effect?"
"And we know that changing the past causes unpredictable consequences. So instead of changing it, what if we worked in the 'blind spots' of time?"
To illustrate, Roger gave an example.
"For instance, let's say your heart stops, and you die. This becomes a known, observed fact. If we alter this fact, it would destroy the timeline that continues from your death, forcing time into an unknown direction."
"But what if we take advantage of a 'blind spot' in time?"
"If, in the future, I develop the ability to restore a dead person's body and soul, I could return to this exact moment, trick my past self's perception, extract your soul, and revive you. At the same time, I'd preserve your body and mind—completely frozen—in a pocket dimension only I can access."
"Then, when I return to the future, I'd awaken your consciousness and bring you out of this 'Temporal Stasis Capsule.'"
"In the end, nothing in the past has changed. Nothing has been brought forward into the future. The risk of time backlash is minimized."
"Of course, in reality, this process would be much more complicated, difficult, and risky than this simple example."
"But—it's a valid approach."
Roger concluded.
---
Harry fell silent.
His parents' bodies had long since decayed. Their souls were gone.
Among all possible methods, time travel was the least difficult option.
For a brief moment, his eyes lit up.
But they quickly dimmed again.
His parents were killed by Voldemort.
If he wanted to use Roger's plan, he'd have to operate right under Voldemort's nose—without being detected.
…Was that even possible?
Not to mention the issue of achieving immortality.
Roger seemed to read his thoughts.
"Don't worry about immortality. If I succeed, I'll help you. …But it won't be for free."
"You only need to focus on how to manipulate time. It's not easy. You might have to work for hundreds of years."
"But—a sliver of hope is better than none. Right?"
Roger patted Harry's shoulder.
"In any case, you now understand the challenges. If you still want to go down this path, come find me tomorrow.
I'll give you a reading list."
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