The energy on the time-turner was used to resist the rules of time, protecting the person traveling through time from being erased by those rules.
Let's call this energy 'Time Energy.'
When compressed to its limit and then released, it temporarily blasts a rift into the otherwise intangible fabric of time.
And people like Hermione, who were erased by time, were hidden within this Time Rift.
Charlie raised his hand, intending to touch the rift.
A sense of danger instantly exploded in his mind.
Was this rift dangerous?
He stopped, thought for a moment, put all the time-turners on his person, and picked one up to hold in his hand.
The golden hourglass felt slightly warm in his palm.
Charlie reached out again.
This time, the sense of danger vanished.
His fingertip touched the rift.
The scene before him hadn't changed at all; the Room of Requirement looked the same, with the table, chair, and walls all in their original places.
But Charlie felt something was wrong; his body seemed to have lost all weight.
The time-turner in his hand began to release energy.
Golden light surged from the hourglass, covering Charlie.
Charlie could clearly feel that this energy was being consumed at a steady rate.
He looked down at the time-turner.
The golden sand inside the hourglass was slowly diminishing.
Charlie's heart sank.
If Hermione entered this place without a time-turner on her, what would happen?
Could she still be alive?
Charlie quickly ran out of the Room of Requirement.
The corridors of the Castle were empty, with a few younger students playing on the stairs.
Charlie ran past them, but no one looked up at him.
He stopped and reached out to touch the wall.
His fingers passed right through it.
Charlie tried to push open a nearby door; his palm went right through the wood.
He couldn't touch anything.
He turned and looked at the students, strode over, and walked straight through one of the boys.
Charlie understood.
He was like a ghost now, able to see the world but unable to make any contact with it.
He ran through two floors of the Castle, checking every classroom, but there was no sign of Hermione.
Randomly searching like this had too low a probability of finding her.
He calmed down and started thinking about where Hermione might be.
The Gryffindor common room?
Dormitory?
Classroom?
Charlie thought for a moment, then chuckled softly.
Where else would Hermione go besides the Library?
Given her personality, if she encountered such an unknown situation, she would definitely try to find a solution in books.
A thought flashed through Charlie's mind, and the scene instantly changed.
The next second, he appeared at the entrance of the Library.
A person banished to the Time Rift could appear anywhere in the world, simply by thinking of that location.
But they couldn't do anything.
They could see, but not touch.
They could hear, but not speak.
For someone who could only observe the outside world, this was nothing short of torture.
Perhaps this was the punishment for violating the laws of time.
Charlie walked into the Library.
Madam Pince was sitting at the front desk, flipping through a thick catalogue.
Several Ravenclaw students occupied the window seats, buried in their homework.
Charlie moved between the bookshelves, scanning them row by row.
He walked to the deepest part of the Library, the Restricted Section.
Then Charlie saw her.
Beneath a bookshelf against the wall, a faint, transparent figure was curled up on the floor.
Long brown hair was scattered on the floor, and her body was faintly trembling.
It was Hermione.
Charlie quickly stepped forward and knelt down.
Hermione's condition was worse than he had imagined.
Her body was as transparent as mist, and tiny specks of light continuously drifted away from her edges, dissolving into the air.
"Hermione!"
Charlie reached out to touch her shoulder.
Perhaps because they were both in the Time Rift, he successfully made contact.
But Hermione showed no reaction, her eyes tightly closed.
Charlie's heart tightened, and he immediately pulled a time-turner from his robes and placed it on Hermione.
Golden energy surged from the hourglass, completely enveloping Hermione.
Hermione's body stopped dissolving, but she still didn't wake up.
Charlie frowned, closing his eyes to sense her condition.
The magic within Hermione was pitifully weak, like a flame about to be extinguished.
"Her magic is exhausted?"
Charlie realized.
In this place, without the protection of a time-turner, magic would be continuously consumed.
Hermione had been here for several days; her magic couldn't sustain her any longer.
Charlie raised his hand, and a faint wisp of magic appeared in his palm.
He controlled the wisp of magic, slowly injecting it into Hermione.
Charlie's magic wasn't rejected even by the Whomping Willow, let alone a human.
As soon as the magic entered, the remaining faint magic within Hermione absorbed it frantically, recovering at a visible rate.
Charlie's magical power was extremely strong; just a single wisp was enough to restore her condition completely.
Hermione's body solidified completely, the transparency vanished, and the color returned somewhat to her face.
Her eyelashes fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes.
The moment her vision focused, Hermione saw Charlie kneeling in front of her.
Tears instantly welled up.
She abruptly sat up, threw her arms around Charlie, and her whole body was trembling.
Charlie was stunned for a moment, then gently patted her back.
"Don't be afraid.
I'm here to take you home."
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