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𝐀 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐄 𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐇𝐔𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐈𝐑 as the witches and wizards watched each other closely to see who would make the first move. But something beat them to it. The clattering of something small and metallic echoed in the vast space of the dining room as it slid across the floor. It came to a stop at Thomas's feet with a force so hard that his toes felt the impact through his shoe. Thomas was weary of taking his eyes off of his opponents, if only for a brief second, but the angered looks on their faces informed him that whatever lay at his feet was potentially life-saving.

Despite all known time-turners being irreversibly damaged at the battle of the Department of Mysteries several months prior, one miraculously sat at his feet in mint condition. Thomas stared at it in befuddlement, trying to piece together its existence when a loud "meow" reminded Thomas that he wasn't alone.

Thomas glanced up to see Jackson charging him, the garden shears pointed straight at his heart. He ducked to grab the time-turner just in time as Jackson went careening past him. On the way to the ground, he caught the glowing eyes of Mr. Boddy, who was watching the whole spectacle from the doorway to the foyer with curiosity and as much concern as a cat could muster.

Thomas side-stepped towards the kitchen, narrowly avoiding Penny's noose as it flew through the air and latched onto the door handle. With a flick of her wrist, the door slammed shut, cutting Thomas off from his escape. His only hope now was the time-turner. While it wouldn't exactly get him out of this predicament, it would give him more time to prepare for it.

The farthest magical folk were encouraged to travel back in time was five hours for their own physical and mental safety, as well as the security of the timeline, but Thomas needed to go back further. Turning the crank 42 times (while simultaneously avoiding lunges and blows from Willow, Jesse, and Madelynn), Thomas disappeared with the blink of an eye, leaving behind a very enraged group of witches and wizards and a smirking cat. 

❈ ❈ ✦ ❈ ❈

"Welcome, Miss Peacock."

Thomas was startled to hear his own voice echoing in the foyer until he remembered where he was, or more accurately, when he was.

"You are the last of the guests to arrive. Please convene with the others in the parlor and we shall begin shortly."

Thomas caught sight of Willow's bright red hair as she shuffled into the parlor and quickly ducked behind the table to avoid being seen. He counted his breaths as he waited for the sound of his other self's shoes to leave the foyer. Once he could hear his own voice echoing from the parlor, marking the official beginning of the weekend, he risked glancing over the table to check that the area was clear.

Thomas quickly crawled to the wall next to the dining room door, pressing his back firmly against it before taking another peek. Still clear. His next hurtle would be a little more difficult; he had to cross the foyer to get to the stairs without being seen. The first body was to be found on the second floor soon and he needed to get there first. If he was lucky, he'd catch the killer in the act.

He also needed to be quick; he had a small window of time to get up the stairs before Luc came barreling into the foyer. One more peek -- Still clear. It was time to go. Keeping his head low and his breath even, Thomas sped across the foyer and up the stairs as quietly as possible. In the nick of time too, as Thomas could just begin to hear voices shouting from down below as he stepped foot onto the second floor.

"You're a good liar, I'll give you that. But I'm not sticking around for your sadistic stay-cation," Luc's voice echoed around the foyer.

Thomas was still cautious to keep light steps as he worked his way down the hall towards the room where the first body was found. The old building was a minefield of creaky floorboards and he couldn't risk exposing himself to his companions below or to the killer, should they be waiting inside.

The closer Thomas got to the door, the faster his heart beat. He noticed that unlike the other doors in the hallway, this one was cracked open an inch. As a welcome or a warning, he didn't know. There was only one way to find out.

Bracing himself with a deep breath, Thomas fought through the fear that tempted him to slink to the floor and curl into a ball and pushed himself through the door...only to find the room empty. No body, no killer, nothing. Thomas studied the room in confusion, pulling out drawers and peeking under the bed. Still nothing.

Thomas snuck back into the hallway, listening down the stairs for any indication of how the events below were proceeding. He could hear the witches and wizards shuffling back towards the parlor in defeat after checking the basement to find a way out and realizing they were all locked inside. Next came the presents, then the darkness, and shortly after, the discovery of the first body. But as of yet, there was no body to discover.

Thomas ran his fingers through his hair as if the answer was hidden somewhere on his scalp. While he hadn't been keen on facing the killer head-on without a weapon, he had been hoping he'd have discovered the killer's identity by now so he could return to his time before any of the unsettling effects of time travel began to set in. But if there wasn't a body, there wasn't a killer. Not yet, anyhow. He'd have to wait.

Thomas returned to the room and crawled underneath the bed so that his head was facing the door. The body had to appear at some point and when it did, he'd be there.

The waiting felt like ages but Thomas refused to even blink in case he missed anything. His eyes burned as he studied every square inch of the doorway, anticipating the person that would step through. Luc, Penny, Jesse, Madelynn, Willow, Jackson, or a complete stranger...It could be anyone.

But Thomas didn't get to see because then the lights went out. And when they came back on, he was no longer underneath the bed. Instead, he was in a different room entirely: the attic.

"Dammit!" Thomas swore, his shout drowned out by Jesse's screaming coming from the room he had been in up until moments ago. Thomas fumbled for the time turner in his pocket, his fingers getting tangled in the chain as he struggled to pull it out. He needed to try again.

As he turned the crank once, he formulated his new plan. Clearly waiting in the room where the body was found hadn't worked and he wouldn't be able to try a second time anyways, since his past self would be waiting there from his first attempt. This time, he would wait in the room next door.

Back in the past, Thomas made his way down the ladder from the attic, stopping short at the bottom when a thought struck him. While it was still a little early, his past self had used the stairs so it was best to avoid them entirely. Thomas slipped into the billiards room on the third floor and exited the billiards room on the second floor.

Thomas was just about to enter the room between the billiards room and the room where the first body was found when he caught sight of something in the corner of his eye. A dark figure stood at the end of the hallway, their features blurred. It was difficult to make out their shape because Thomas couldn't see any discernible limbs, but they looked relatively human...or what once could have been human. Their presence also brought a buzzing sound that hummed in Thomas's head but when Thomas turned to see the figure more clearly they disappeared.

Thomas jammed his finger into his ear, trying to dig the buzzing sound out but unlike the figure, the sound remained. Shaking his head, Thomas returned to the mission at large. He entered the room and shut the door behind him, leaving it open just wide enough for one bright green eye to peer through.

Once again, the waiting took forever and it was only made worse by the addition of the incessant buzzing. His one moment of excitement came when he heard his past self coming up the stairs and quietly shut the door until he was confident that his past self had finally planted himself underneath the bed.

He watched...and watched...and watched...and still nothing. Until the darkness came again.

"FUCK!" Thomas's voice echoed around the cement walls of the basement. He grabbed the time turner. "Again."

And so Thomas repeated himself over and over, picking a new room each time in the desperate hope that one of them would put him in the right room after the lights went out. And each time, he was wrong. The figure continued to follow him, only ever appearing out of the corner of his eye. But with each crank of the time turner, it got closer and the buzzing in his head got louder.

When there were no rooms left where he wouldn't run into one of the other witches or wizards or a past version of himself, Thomas pulled out the time turner again. He was beyond desperation, he had reached obsession. He needed to find the killer, even if he didn't entirely understand or remember the exact reason why. It had become like breathing; his existence would cease if he didn't do it.

So Thomas turned the crank, but he didn't stop after one. He kept going until he lost track, until his hand cramped. And then he disappeared.

❈ ❈ ✦ ❈ ❈

"Where did he go?" Jackson growled, her garden shears grasped firmly in her hands.

"Don't you mean, when did he go?" Willow corrected her, eliciting a sharp glare from Jackson as she gripped the shears tighter.

"How did the cat get a time turner?" Jesse asked, the candlestick pointing towards the ceiling as he waved his arms around in disbelief.

"I don't know," Luc answered as he appeared from the kitchen. Axe dangling at his side, Luc took menacing steps towards Mr. Boddy, who still lingered in the doorway to the foyer. "Let's ask it."

Mr. Boddy hissed as Luc backed him into the foyer, his inky black fur sticking straight up on end and his tail a puff. Willow, Madelynn, Jesse, Jackson, and Penny followed close on Luc's heels, although there was a slight hesitation in their steps.

"₮ⱧɆ ₵₳₮ ĐØɆ₴₦'₮ ₭₦Ø₩," a voice said from behind them. But it wasn't a voice so much as it was voices coming from a singular source. Each word sounded like it belonged to someone else, a man, a woman, a child...all strung together between radio static. "฿Ʉ₮ ł ĐØ."

Weapons at the ready, the witches and wizards turned to meet the stranger that had joined them to find not a person, but an entity...or what could only be described as one. Their shape resembled a human but their outline was blurry and they had no discernible features. They were like a shadow who had escaped their caster.

"Who...what...are you?" Madelynn asked, her voice quavering as she took a step backwards and nearly stepped on Mr. Boddy's paw. Mr. Boddy hissed at her before slinking away into the nearest room.

"ł Ⱨ₳VɆ ₴ɆɆ₦ ₳ⱠⱠ," the entity answered.

"That's not what I asked you," Madelynn retorted.

"ł Ⱨ₳VɆ ₴ɆɆ₦ ₳ⱠⱠ," the entity repeated, refusing to elaborate.

"Alright, then tell us," Penny demanded, taking a step toward the entity while the others shrunk back. "Tell us what you've seen."

The entity glitched, their form rippling in the air like static before reforming. When they spoke, their voice changed from multiple voices into one; one that almost sounded familiar but they couldn't quite place. "I have watched from the Shrieking Shack for as long as I can remember. I have seen you all come and go. Hush money, illicit dealings, confidential meetings, spying. What secrets you all hide. What ₴Ɇ₵ⱤɆ₮₴."

"You know nothing," Luc spat, rushing the entity, but the entity didn't even flinch.

"ł Ⱨ₳VɆ ₴ɆɆ₦ ₳ⱠⱠ," they repeated again like a broken record, their voice reverting back to voices before shifting to a singular speaker again. "I have seen you, Luc Darcey, meeting with the Ravenclaw Keeper in the foyer, offering to pay him money to keep his mouth shut after he figured out that you had been the one to curse his broom."

Luc's face turned beat red, his mouth opening and closing like a fish on dry land. The entity continued.

"I have seen the one called Colonel Mustard, whose true name is Madelynn Lewin, arguing with Yvette in the parlour after Yvette threatened to cease supplying the dragon eggs that Madelynn illegally smuggled into Hogwarts. I have seen Jesse Miller, also known as Professor Plum, caught spying on a secret meeting of Death Eaters in the study and barely getting out with his life. I have seen Miss White, who goes by Penny Tanaka, swapping test answers with failing students in the dining room in exchange for money, only to accidentally sell to an undercover Ravenclaw prefect. I have seen Miss Scarlet, or Jackson Serdeys, purchasing the malevolent mixture that she would use to attempt to poison her mother's abusive boyfriend from a Gryffindor student in the kitchen. I have seen Willow Murphy, who you all know as Miss Peacock, meeting in the basement with the auror who had arrested her Death Eater uncle, only to learn that her family was also being investigated."

The witches and wizards stood shocked, unable to mutter a single word as their secrets were laid bare.

"But where have you been this whole time?" Madelynn asked when she finally found her voice.

"I have been here. Waiting. Watching. In the ₴Ⱨ₳ĐØ₩₴."

"So if you've been watching this whole time..." Jesse began. "Then you know who the killer is..."

"ł Ⱨ₳VɆ ₴ɆɆ₦ ₳ⱠⱠ."

"Then tell us," Jackson demanded. "Tell us who the killer is."

"ł ₳₥ ₮ⱧɆ ₳₦₴₩ɆⱤ ₴ɆɆ₭ɆⱤ," the entity answered. "₳₦Đ ł Ⱨ₳VɆ ₣ØɄ₦Đ ₮ⱧɆ ₳₦₴₩ɆⱤ."

"Wait, Answer Seeker?" Willow repeated, pausing as the realization dawned on her. "The initials, A.S....You're the host, aren't you?"

"ł ₳₥ ₮ⱧɆ ₳₦₴₩ɆⱤ," the entity continued. "ł ₳₥ ₮ⱧɆ ₭łⱠⱠɆⱤ."

The witches and wizards stumbled backwards, nearly tripping over each other in an attempt to distance themselves from the entity. The entity remained where they were, their form once more flickering.

"None of this is making any sense!" Madelynn shouted, emboldened by her frustration. "Stop talking in riddles! Why did you kill them? Why invite us here? What do you want?"

"ł ₳₥ ₮ⱧɆ ₳₦₴₩ɆⱤ ₴ɆɆ₭ɆⱤ," the entity repeated like a machine with a set number of automated responses. They glitched, their responses replaying in a frantic loop. "₳₦Đ ł Ⱨ₳VɆ ₣ØɄ₦Đ ₮ⱧɆ ₳₦₴₩ɆⱤ. ł ₳₥ ₮ⱧɆ ₳₦₴₩ɆⱤ. ł Ⱨ₳VɆ ₴ɆɆ₦ ₳ⱠⱠ. ł ₳₥ ₮ⱧɆ ₳₦₴₩ɆⱤ ₴ɆɆ₭ɆⱤ. ł ₳₥ ₮ⱧɆ ₳₦₴₩ɆⱤ. ł ₳₥ ₮ⱧɆ ₭łⱠⱠɆⱤ. ₳₦Đ ł Ⱨ₳VɆ ₣ØɄ₦Đ ₮ⱧɆ ₳₦₴₩ɆⱤ.  ł ₳₥ ₮ⱧɆ ₭łⱠⱠɆⱤ. ł ₳₥ ₮ⱧɆ ₳₦₴₩ɆⱤ ₴ɆɆ₭ɆⱤ. ł ₳₥ ₮ⱧɆ ₳₦₴₩ɆⱤ. ł Ⱨ₳VɆ ₴ɆɆ₦ ₳ⱠⱠ. ł ₳₥ ₮ⱧɆ ₭łⱠⱠɆⱤ. ₳₦Đ ł Ⱨ₳VɆ ₣ØɄ₦Đ ₮ⱧɆ ₳₦₴₩ɆⱤ. ł ₳₥ ₮ⱧɆ ₳₦₴₩ɆⱤ. ł Ⱨ₳VɆ ₴ɆɆ₦ ₳ⱠⱠ. ł ₳₥ ₮ⱧɆ ₳₦₴₩ɆⱤ ₴ɆɆ₭ɆⱤ. ł ₳₥ ₮ⱧɆ ₳₦₴₩ɆⱤ. ł ₳₥ ₮ⱧɆ ₭łⱠⱠɆⱤ. ₳₦Đ ł Ⱨ₳VɆ ₣ØɄ₦Đ ₮ⱧɆ ₳₦₴₩ɆⱤ. ł ₳₥ ₮ⱧɆ ₭łⱠⱠɆⱤ. ł ₳₥ ₮ⱧɆ ₳₦₴₩ɆⱤ ₴ɆɆ₭ɆⱤ. ł ₳₥ ₮ⱧɆ ₳₦₴₩ɆⱤ. ł Ⱨ₳VɆ ₴ɆɆ₦ ₳ⱠⱠ. ł ₳₥ ₮ⱧɆ ₭łⱠⱠɆⱤ. ₳₦Đ ł Ⱨ₳VɆ ₣ØɄ₦Đ ₮ⱧɆ ₳₦₴₩ɆⱤ. ł ₳₥ ₮ⱧɆ ₳₦₴₩ɆⱤ. ł Ⱨ₳VɆ ₴ɆɆ₦ ₳ⱠⱠ. ł ₳₥ ₮ⱧɆ ₳₦₴₩ɆⱤ ₴ɆɆ₭ɆⱤ. ł ₳₥ ₮ⱧɆ ₳₦₴₩ɆⱤ. ł ₳₥ ₮ⱧɆ ₭łⱠⱠɆⱤ. ₳₦Đ ł Ⱨ₳VɆ ₣ØɄ₦Đ ₮ⱧɆ ₳₦₴₩ɆⱤ. ł ₳₥ ₮ⱧɆ ₭łⱠⱠɆⱤ. ł ₳₥ ₮ⱧɆ ₳₦₴₩ɆⱤ ₴ɆɆ₭ɆⱤ. ł ₳₥ ₮ⱧɆ ₳₦₴₩ɆⱤ. ł Ⱨ₳VɆ ₴ɆɆ₦ ₳ⱠⱠ. ł ₳₥ ₮ⱧɆ ₭łⱠⱠɆⱤ. ł ₳₥--"

The entity began to shake at a frequency that created a high-pitch buzzing in everyone's ears. As they vibrated, their blurry edges began to sharpen and the darkness of their form developed features; ears, hair, a mouth, a nose, eyes...Their solidity pulsed, becoming stronger and more stable until eventually they were whole. And familiar.

"WADSWORTH?" Willow, Jackson, Penny, Jesse, Madelynn, and Luc exclaimed in unison as Thomas materialized before them.

Thomas stared at them with hollow, unblinking eyes, his skin sallow and his form rigid. He looked more like a ghost of himself than the living, breathing being they had seen before he disappeared with the time turner. It was at this point that Mr. Boddy reappeared, taking tentative steps towards his owner but remaining careful not to get too close. A sad, small meow escaped his sleek form as he circled Thomas, his glowing eyes surveying him for anything that remained of his old friend.

"I knew it!" Luc shouted, though no one was listening. They were all still too shocked.

"The time turner..." Penny mumbled to herself as the realization struck. "You went back too far."

"What do you mean?" Jackson asked, turning to look at Penny in confusion.

"You're only supposed to travel back five hours," Willow answered for Penny, her eyes glancing down at the golden contraption gripped so firmly in Thomas's hand that it looked to have become part of him. "Any further and there are severe side effects. Physical alteration...obsession...madness..."

"So Wadsworth killed all those people...because he went crazy?" Madelynn asked for clarification.

"More or less," Willow continued. "He was so driven by his obsession to find the killer that he became the killer himself. He needed an answer, so he became the answer."

"I have a question," Jesse announced, raising his arm in the air until all eyes were on him. "That's cool and all but why do I not have the irresistible urge to kill him anymore?"

Mumbles echoed around the foyer as the others realized that the compulsion to kill had left them as well. Those mumbles rose to shouts when they realized that the desire had never been theirs to begin with, accompanied by the clatter of their weapons falling to the ground.

"You used the Imperius Curse on us to get us to try to kill you," Luc said, his glare pointed at Thomas. "Why?"

"Everything had to happen as it had happened," Thomas answered. His voice was his again but his mouth didn't move at the same time that the words came out. It was like he was out of sync.

"What?" Jesse exclaimed.

"If we didn't try to kill him, he never would have gone to the past and therefore he never would have found the answer he sought," Penny clarified. "This whole weekend...the invites, the enchanted Shack, the bodies, the sleeping potion, the inferi, the giant squid...it had to happen because it had happened before. It's what led to where we're standing now. I'll bet that Wadsworth was the one to lock down the Shack, to turn off the lights, to steal our wands and weapons, and to let himself out of the closet too. It was him the whole time. Or at least, some version of him."

"What?" Jesse repeated himself, still befuddled. Penny decided to ignore him.

"So can we leave now...?" Luc asked, glancing around at the others. His gaze ultimately fell on Thomas but he struggled to keep it there. While he was angry at Thomas for what he had put them through, they had developed a sort of friendship that made it difficult not to pity his current state. "It's the 31st, we've met the host...What is there left to do?"

"After all of that...you want to just leave?" Madelynn asked in disbelief, her arms crossing over her chest.

"Yes," Luc stated simply. "Very much so."

"But what about Wadsworth and the bodies and our wands and...and we still don't know where the time turner came from!" Madelynn stammered, ticking the list off her fingers.

"Out of everything, that's what you're most worried about? Where the time turner came from?" Jackson asked, her feet inching towards the door on their own accord. Luc was already halfway there.

"Everything makes sense except for that."

"Everything?" Jesse scoffed, still lost.

"Wadsworth probably brought it," Jackson offered with a shrug. "Now can we get out of here?"

"No," Madelynn retorted, standing her ground and refusing to budge. "Because if Wadsworth had had it at any point before he first used it he would have used it sooner. He's the one who convinced us to investigate the host, why would he wait to use the time turner until it was well past the five-hour mark to find answers and risk the side effects? Somebody else had to have brought it."

"Who knows!" Luc exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. "None of this has exactly been logical."

"Hold on, she has a point..." Penny countered, drawing all eyes towards her.

"Maybe the time turner was here the whole time," Jesse suggested to which Penny immediately shook her head.

"Time turners aren't exactly easy to come by, especially nowadays. You'd need some sort of Ministry contact, possibly a foreign Ministry contact or a Ministry contact with foreign ties."

"But wait..." Willow piped up. "I thought all time turners were damaged at the Battle of the Department of Mysteries?"

"Supposedly they were," Penny answered. "But that's only the British Ministry's inventory, foreign Magical Ministries likely have their own."

"Back to the point..." Jackson said. "Why does it matter how the time turner got here?"

"Because the same logic stands for whoever brought it," Madelynn replied. "If they had the time turner...why didn't they use it?"

Luc was already to the door, his hand resting on the knob, ready to try it, when he paused and turned back to face the other witches, wizard, and whatever Thomas was considered. While the others debated, Thomas remained where he had appeared, his face emotionless and his body stock still like some sort of prop. In the entire time he had been there, Luc didn't recall seeing him blink once. "What are you suggesting...?"

"That maybe Wadsworth was the killer but he wasn't the host." A chill filled the foyer, igniting goosebumps on the back of everyone's necks. "He may have done all the legwork, but I think there was another brain behind this entire operation; another catalyst that started this whole thing and kept it going."

"So whoever had the time turner...knew how this weekend would go...and organized this weekend...to use Wadsworth as a weapon?" Jesse asked, finally stringing the theory together. His eyes lit up as everything clicked but the sudden realization of a missing piece caused his confusion to return. "But there's no connection between the victims other than that they were all here at some point. Who would want them all dead?"

"Maybe they didn't want them all dead," Jackson shared her realization. "Maybe they just wanted one of them dead and the rest were a cover."

The witches and wizards stewed in silence as they contemplated this revelation. Unspoken words hung in the air between them, everybody too scared to put a voice to them. They were once more back to square one: it could be any of them.

"I have an idea," Luc piped up, finally breaking the silence. "Let's leave."

The witches and wizards looked to Madelynn for her objection but she remained quiet. Like everyone else, she was tired and she just wanted to go home.

"So just leave and let whoever did it get away with it?" Willow asked. The question was simply that, a question, not a judgment.

"We've been through enough, don't you think?" Luc asked, once more turning towards the door. He took a deep breath before turning the knob. Everybody braced themselves for the click that would signify the door was still locked but it never came. The door swung open on its hinges, revealing to them the outside world that they had nearly forgotten. Everybody braced themselves a second time when Luc lifted his foot to step out the door, still weary that it could be another trap or trick, but Luc's foot landed on the other side and he continued on without any issue.

Penny, Willow, Jackson, Jesse, and Madelynn exchanged glances with each other, waiting for one another to follow along. It was Jackson who took the first step, followed by Jesse, Penny, Madelynn, and finally Willow. They each passed a still-frozen Thomas on their way to the door, averting their gaze from his sorry state. It was a sad truth that there was nothing that could be done for him. He was no longer Thomas or Wadsworth, he was the Answer Seeker, and they speculated that he wouldn't leave the Shrieking Shack even if he wanted to. Mr. Boddy laid at his feet, resigning himself to the same fate.

Willow was the last to the door but before she could pass through she paused. She waited and watched until her fellow witches and wizards were specks on the horizon before turning back to face Thomas. A sly smile crept up the corner of her lips as she approached him, her eyes fixed on one thing: the time turner.

Penny had been halfway right, Willow had needed a foreign Ministry contact to secure the time turner, just not a living one. The auror who had been investigating her family worked for the Irish Ministry of Magic. She thought she had been doing her a favor by warning Willow about the investigation, by trusting her. But she had been wrong. Had she dug a little deeper, she would have discovered that Willow hid some nasty secrets of her own; secrets dripping in blood.

Boiling with rage, Willow stormed out of the Shrieking Shack after her meeting with the auror when she realized that there was only one solution. She turned back with the intention of putting an end to the auror before the auror could do the same to her but when she descended the dark basement stairs, she found that somebody had already beaten her to it: a boy with dark hair and bright green eyes wearing a Slytherin uniform.

Willow froze but Thomas, or the Answer Seeker as he had already become at that point, looked right through her as he passed her up the stairs and disappeared, a bright red axe made even redder with the auror's blood, dangling from his grasp. Willow rushed to search the body for any evidence that could convict her when she found the time turner. But she didn't stop her search there. In the corner of the basement she found a wooden chest with an intricate lock, along with a sheet of paper containing a list of the names of six witches and wizards, including her own.

Willow raced up the stairs and through the decrepit Shack in search of the boy. He had solved one problem but had also created more. She needed to know what that paper was about and why her name was on it. She found the boy in the attic surrounded by carnage. Five mangled bodies lay at his feet, some sort or preservation spell keeping them from spoiling. She demanded answers and he gave them, helping to formulate a plan in Willow's mind. Her problems had disappeared but if she wanted to keep them that way, all it would take was a couple invites, an enchantment, and one well-placed time turner.

Willow wrestled the time turner from Thomas's tight grip, smiling in satisfaction when she finally ripped it away. Thomas didn't even seem to notice, his wide eyes glued forward in perpetuity. Now that he had found the answer and fulfilled the loop, he no longer had a purpose to drive him.

"Goodbye, Mr. Wadsworth," Willow bid him farewell as she exited the Shrieking Shack out into the unexpecting world. The door slammed shut behind her, ending the enchantment on the Shrieking Shack and leaving Thomas and Mr. Boddy in the dark.

Mr. Boddy's glowing golden eyes cut through the inky blackness that had enveloped them as he trod towards the window beside the door. Resting his paws on the sill, he watched Willow gleefully trod away with only one thing on his little cat brain: revenge.

──────────────── ❈ ❈ ✦ ❈ ❈ ────────────────

A/N: It's finally here! The last chapter! It took a while to come up with these alternate endings because there were a lot of moving pieces but I'm pretty happy with the three I came up with and had a lot of fun reimagining the story. Which ending was your guys' favorite?

Before we go, I just want to say thank you to those of you who created these amazing characters. I've had a lot of fun writing them, their chemistry worked so well together! Secondly, I want to thank you all for your patience. I know updates were very (very) sporadic but I was determined to finish this story and I hope you guys enjoyed it!

Over and out, Clara ♥