─────⊰ ✧.*✦*.✧ ⊱─────

　　 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐎𝐅 Hogwarts reached far into the rosy sky. The forestry scattered around the school grounds were framed in gold as the sun strained out its last glimmers of light from the day. In the Scottish Highlands away from the busy city life, one could truly admire the beauty of nature. From the vast lake at the bottom of the cliffs where Hogwarts proudly stood upon to the miles of foliage and the mountains rising behind the thin layer of dusk mist.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was a magical school. It educated the young witches and wizards and had done so for centuries. Its four founders—Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin—had created Houses each named after themselves. Every House had its fine qualities and pitfalls, though they'd acquired a reputation over the years too.

The graduation of the Class of 1999 had finished a short while ago and it was one to never forget. It was the very first graduation after the horrifying Second Wizarding War and so the professors made sure that it would top every other graduation. The ceremony was dipped in the colours of each House, creating a magical spectacle of a rich mixture of colours. Headmistress McGonagall surely knew how to make something memorable.

The Second Wizarding War was a war that traumatised all. Many had fought and many had lost their lives. Even those so young they were still students at Hogwarts. Fred Weasley. Cedric Diggory. Lavender Brown. Colin Creevey. And too many more to name. The losses had been mourned, but they still lingered. Even today. Especially today.

Eight students had left the graduation party early, feeling as though this was not the goodbye that they needed from Hogwarts. Underneath the galaxy-coloured sky, the group was reminiscing about their times at their school while going for one last adventure before it was their time to grow up.

They'd laid out sapphire-blue with silver lacing blankets and honey-yellow blankets with black engravings knitted through the yellow fabric on the lush, freshly-cut grass. Most students' attire stood in stark contrast with the vibrant Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff colours of the blankets. The graduation gowns had a dark tone of the primary colour of the House the student was from as well as their ceremonial hats, which were spread on the blankets and the grass. Only Luna Lovegood's navy-tinted attire matched as the others were either from Gryffindor or Slytherin House.

In groups of four, they used a Time-Turner to go back in time and find an adventure before returning back to their own time. While the group that was on their adventure could be gone for hours or even days, the graduates that stayed on the Hogwarts grounds had to wait mere minutes for them to return depending on how well they timed it.

While one half had gone back in time only a minute ago, the other half was excitedly awaiting their return. Among them was none other than Harry Potter, the boy who lived. He'd been the face of the first and ultimate second downfall of the great Dark Lord. The thin face and knobbly knees that he used to have as a kid had grown sturdy and determined in his years of falling from one problem into another. Then again, he was the most sought-after person in the wizarding world, a person many just had to meet.

His round glasses were slightly fogged up as the temperature outside was slowly dropping. It hid his bright-green eyes which he'd inherited from his mother; as he was often told. He didn't know himself, the only vision of his parents that he had were from a few photographs made before their untimely death. Harry was only an infant when it happened.

A hand brushed through his messy, jet-black hair, startling him out of his thoughts. His head shifted to see whose hand it was and he connected it to Charlotte Warner. His girlfriend always liked to play with his hair, feeling the loose strands of fine hairs grace her fingertips all the way over the rest of her fingers and in-between them.

'It's taking them an awful lot of time to get back here,' Hermione Granger said as she was nervously fumbling with her bushy hair. 'It's way too dangerous what we're doing here. I should've never given the Time-Turner to Ron of all people. Ginny would've been a much better option.'

Charlotte scoffed out a chuckle, her hands still brushing through Harry's hair. 'Don't worry so much. We battled against Death Eaters a bit over a year ago, I certainly hope he knows how to use a Time-Turner by now,' she said.

Charlotte was seen as a perfect version of a Slytherin; clever, cunning, ambitious, bold, achievement-orientated, driven and strong. She'd been one of the few students of Slytherin House to participate in the Battle of Hogwarts since the other members were locked in the dungeons, afraid that they too would choose the Dark Lord's side like many Slytherin alumni had.

Before her last year at Hogwarts, she'd fled together with Harry, Hermione and Ronald Weasley for their own quest to end the war and since Harry was the number one most wanted by the ministry, they had to go into hiding. The months were miserable and slow and the group of four had their fair share of conflicts along the way, but their endeavour had not gone in vain.

'They'll be fine, Hermione. Have a bit of faith in them.' Aiden Bell's calming voice soothed Hermione's nerves ever so slightly. A stack of cards effortlessly slid through his hands as he shuffled them. His hair was slicked back with wax, the ends curling upwards. The muscles in his arms tensed with every move that his hands made and his uneven brows knitted into a focused frown.

A ruffle in-between the trees of the forest announced the return of the other half of the group as four students walked out of it, including Ronald Weasley, who was holding the Time-Turner. 'You cannot top the adventure that we just had,' he beamed and sat down on the blanket, giving the device to Hermione to whom it belonged. 'It was bloody brilliant if you ask me. We got to train dragons in Romania like my brother, only we were in 1962.'

'1962? Don't you think that's a little too far back in time?' Hermione asked.

Neville Longbottom alongside Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood sat on the thin cotton blankets, which barely shielded them against the chilly grass underneath it.

'This new model can take you back wherever you want and for as long as you want, so no,' Ron answered. 'Besides, we had no idea we went that far back, but it was brilliant.'

Charlotte cracked her knuckles and took the Time-Turner from Hermione. 'Let's go, I want to have an adventure too,' she said. Her pale complexion and dark-brown hair made for a gorgeous contrast. 'Who's going with me?' Harry didn't hesitate to raise his hand and reluctantly, Hermione did the same.

'I'll go too,' Aiden volunteered to be the final member of their group. He stuffed the stack of cards in his pocket and rose from the Ravenclaw blanket that he was laying on. His figure had left a dent in the blanket, marking exactly where he'd been laying.

His emerald-tinted graduation gown morphed together with Charlotte's whereas Harry and Hermione's gowns were identical too; theirs had a Merlot glow.

Harry's hand wrapped around Charlotte's, covering every inch of her hand. His thumb was the only part of his hand that touched the Time-Turner. The new model was still small like its predecessor—it was only a matter of mere quarters of an inch in difference—and was made out of the same golden material. The hourglass in the middle of the device was slightly bigger, though the sand within wasn't as finely ground as before. Every grain contained more power, the electricity soaring from one grain to another to boost the Time-Turner to new limits.

Aiden's fingers clutched around the necklace-part of the Time-Turner and Hermione followed his lead on the other side. The new model made sure to include everyone who was holding the device to go back in time. Hermione took back the Time-Turner from Charlotte's grip as she calculated how many spins would be necessary to go to the early sixties where Ron had gone. Charlotte, however, got impatient and fidgeted with the device while Hermione was pushing her hands away.

'Just let me do it.'

'No, you don't know how Time-Turners work.'

'Yes I do, you turn and turn and you go back in time.'

Before the girls could continue their bickering, Charlotte had twisted the Time-Turner numerous times. The four remained in the same spot as their surroundings changed. It kept changing and changing. They saw people walk backwards, the sun going into the wrong direction and slowly they were transported to a completely different place. From the beautiful scenery of nature around Hogwarts to a busy street in a large city. They ducked away from an oncoming car that looked like it belonged in the far past.

'Where are we?' Harry questioned as he frantically looked around. He never liked it when he didn't know where he was. It made him feel uneasy.

'Better question would be in what year are we?' Aiden retorted, his eyes scanning his surroundings.

Charlotte buzzed over the pavement until she saw an all too familiar russet-bricked clock tower. 'That's St Pancras Railway Station,' she beamed and spun around to see the glass domes of King's Cross; the station where the famous Hogwarts Express made way from Platform 9¾ towards Hogwarts. 'I'm so curious to see what adventure lies ahead of us.' She took Harry's hand in hers and continued to look around the empty square. Her mind couldn't stop wondering as to why the Time-Turner had brought them here.

The road beside which they were walking was fairly empty to them, considering how many cars would drive there in their time. It was odd to see King's Cross and its square compared to how they vividly remember how it was. They definitely stood out in their graduation attire compared to the old-fashioned clothing that the others around them were wearing. They walked further onto the square to get away from the crowded streets.

Hermione was anxiously walking behind the couple with Aiden next to her. She was fumbling with her fingers, careful not to hit the Time-Turner that hung around her neck. 'We don't even know what time period we're in. I have a bad feeling about this, I don't like it at all. What will happen if one of us dies he—'

'—Hermione, you have to calm down a bit,' Aiden reassured her. 'Ron said that they trained dragons in Romania and we're walking in front of King's Cross.'

'Let's go with the tube and see where we'll end up,' Charlotte said determinedly as she walked over to the underground located on the square before the train station, with Harry trailing after her. Nobody protested against her, seeing how excited Charlotte was about the idea.

The grey staircase darkened the more they descended, the stone ground muting most of their steps. With a flick of her magical wand, Hermione got them four tickets for free to slip past the security and hurried the other three through the circle-shaped corridors.

The grey pavement felt darker than any of them could remember it being. The lights in these undergrounds were dim at most. There were no TLC pipes to give clear lighting, but instead a few small bulbs were responsible for that. The tiling on the walls was still as impressive. The builders had made gorgeous patterns coloured in different tones of yellow, blue and black and even precisely spelled out ST PANCRAS every so often across a wall.

It was a noticeable difference that while a few adverts on posters were spread around, it didn't even come close to the amount that they were used to. The vast, bright adverts that clattered the underground walls were nowhere to be seen here.

'Hurry or we'll be too late,' Hermione ushered them towards the tube which was about to leave.

Aiden jumped in, mindful of the gap, and pulled Hermione along with him. Charlotte pushed Harry in and at the last second, she managed to slip in as well, right as the doors closed behind her and the tube took off. . .

─────⊰ ✧.*✦*.✧ ⊱─────

Hello, hello,

Welcome to Bellicose 2.0 lol. I gave myself time to introduce some characters in this chapter so I hope you liked these new introductions! This is the type of introduction you can expect your OC to get and remember folks; the more you spam, the more your OC will be featured!

As I said, I pretty much have chapter 2 ready to go, but I don't know when the next update will come. I'll try to get out 1 update every week, but I'm not promising anything in case I can't keep that promise, but now you know that my plan is one chapter every week.

Thank you so much for reading and supporting this book, I wholeheartedly appreciate it! <33

xx Theresa

─────⊰ ✧.*✦*.✧ ⊱─────