The large clock on the wall ticked away, second by second.
The Ouroboros symbol on the back of Ian's hand, which appeared out of nowhere after coming out of the Hogwarts Underground Palace, was also flickering, matching the silent flow of time as if breathing.
November 30th.
This was the last day of the year leading into December, a date Ian should have experienced weeks ago; now it appeared before him as if time had reversed.
"This is some kind of Run Lola Run, Suddenly Seven Days, Groundhog Day, Happy Death Day, Triangle, Edge of Tomorrow, Source Code, Fifty First Dates horror scenario!"
Ian's heart suddenly stopped for a moment, then began to thump wildly in his chest. He was a bit disoriented, with a face full of the horror usually reserved for staying up late watching ghost movies.
It was as if he had really seen a ghost.
Once upon a time.
Ian had watched many movies about time travel. To be honest, he really liked movies and had thought about how cool it would be to encounter something similar himself.
However.
It was just like Lord Ye loving dragons, or college students loving gourds; these were things said just for fun. When things happened unexpectedly, Ian truly couldn't feel happy at all.
"Am I going to be stuck in this loop for centuries?" Ian was genuinely starting to panic. Anyone would find it hard to remain calm when waking up to something so bizarre.
His knowledge reserve wasn't lacking, but as previously mentioned, due to the constraints of the Mysterious Affairs Department on the Wizarding World, Hogwarts didn't have many in-depth books on time either, meaning his knowledge reserve certainly didn't cover much about time.
He asked Morgan frantically in the Misty Illusion Realm because he wasn't very knowledgeable about it. Who could have thought returning to the mundane world would bring such a significant issue?
"Maybe Teacher Morgan's 'Hourglass of Destiny' could help me, but I can't make it now!" The little wizard couldn't help but smack his forehead.
"Why must my Christmas be so mysterious and absurd?" The surroundings remained deathly silent, with only the flickering firelight in the dim hallway. Despite the Christmas temperature being a bit warmer, it only made the little wizard feel an icy chill.
"What nonsense are you talking about? Christmas hasn't even arrived yet." Silly Barnabas looked puzzled in the portrait frame, completely baffled by the little wizard's visible panic outside.
It's just cleaning a toilet.
Hogwarts toilets are much easier to clean now than those from the Middle Ages!
"Isn't it already Christmas?" Ian saw the correct date on the clock, but he still stubbornly hoped the school clock had been tampered with by the Weasley Twins.
Only.
The course of events never catered to the little wizard's wishes.
"Did you sleep too muddled in the Comings and Goings Room? I understand your eagerness to get Christmas gifts, but there's still a few weeks to go until Christmas."
Silly Barnabas gazed at Ian with growing confusion.
"I'm not muddled! Damn it! It's Salazar Slytherin who's caused me trouble!" Ian's face turned pale as he looked at the Ouroboros mark on his hand.
If Ian didn't believe now that all this was because of Salazar Slytherin, he wouldn't believe it a thousand times over. The mark had stayed visible on his hand since first appearing.
When the mark first appeared on the back of his hand, Ian felt a shiver of unease, unexpectedly confirming his sixth sense!
The Ouroboros, also known as the tail-biting snake, is an ancient symbol, generally depicted as a snake devouring its tail, forming a peculiar circular shape.
It signifies infinity, cycles.
This symbol has always had many different symbolic meanings and is a common symbol in religion and mythology, holding extremely important status in Alchemy.
"I should have expected this pitfall long ago!" Ian didn't know what Slytherin's selection meant; he just knew this millennium-old founder certainly loved to fluster people.
It didn't happen early.
It didn't happen late.
It chose to happen on Christmas Day.
What a twisted sense of humor!
"Though it's true Slytherin designed the restroom, your need to clean the toilet has nothing to do with him." Silly Barnabas still seemed to think Ian's actions were entirely related to Snape's punishment.
Cleaning toilets drove the little wizard crazy... Silly Barnabas may not be truly silly, but it clearly wasn't possible for him to guess the truth either.
Not to mention he's just a portrait.
Ian figured even if he went to Snape now, or Professor McGonagall, telling them he had traveled back from the future, Snape and Professor McGonagall would think he was talking nonsense.
"The use of the Time Converter is traceable, and my experience is clearly untraceable." Ian had read many books on the experience of using time converters.
He was very aware.
The reason for his time travel wasn't due to the power of a Time Converter, but rather another deeper magic, which is why Ian had those other speculations and wild guesses.