The Admiral of Hogwarts

However, after only a few seconds of running, Peter realized that not being recognized wasn't entirely a good thing. Many of the spells hitting near him now were incredibly lethal.

Obviously, if his pursuers recognized him as Peter, they might try to capture him alive. But if they were just attracted to the gold chain, killing a rat for a gold chain would be perfectly normal for most people.

Realizing this, Peter ran even faster, but just a few meters from a thicket, he suddenly tripped. The rat tumbled forward, ensnared in a net of thorny branches.

"Finally caught it!" Hermione, seeing the rat trapped, placed her hands on her knees, panting, and walked forward to grab the tightly bound rodent.

But just as Hermione's hand touched the gold chain around the rat, a burst of light erupted where they made contact.

Sensing danger, Hugo immediately grabbed his sister's hand. The moment he did, a powerful suction pulled from Hermione's hand. He watched as he was completely enveloped in a ball of light.

Accompanied by a sound like an airplane taking off, the light gradually faded, and darkness surrounded them. Hugo felt a weightless sensation, as if he were floating in the clouds.

But this peaceful feeling lasted only a few seconds before he felt himself spinning uncontrollably, a force violently tugging at him.

At that moment, a strange power surged from Hugo's heart, flowing through his muscles and veins, enveloping both him and Hermione.

Clearly, after numerous enhancements, Hugo had become partially infused with the power of an ancient god, enabling him to unleash enough strength to protect himself and his sister in this situation.

Even with this protection, Hugo felt like he had been thrown into a washing machine. Waves of force crashed over him. Despite the ancient god's power, he felt as if his body was being sliced with razor blades.

Strangely, when Hugo used the light emanating from the ancient god's shield to look at his body, he was surprised to find that he was unharmed.

Hermione beside him looked the same. Through their joined hands, Hugo could feel her trembling violently from the pain, but she didn't have a single scratch, and even her clothes were mostly intact.

Fortunately, the process wasn't long. Protected by the ancient god's power, Hugo and Hermione safely ended their journey and once again stood on solid ground.

However, the pain was so intense that Hugo stumbled and fell to the ground. An overwhelming sense of fatigue rose from his soul.

Even stranger, he found that his clothes were tattered, but not from fire or sharp objects. Instead, they resembled damage caused by long exposure to the elements.

Hermione lay on the grass a few meters away, equally still, with no visible injuries. But her soft moans suggested she was in a similar state to Hugo.

"What just happened?" After catching his breath, Hugo asked his sister. "Did you touch a Portkey or something?"

"I'm not sure," Hermione said, gasping for air. "I just grabbed the rat, and then a ball of light suddenly burst out of it."

"Admiral, what happened?" At that moment, a cluster of light particles coalesced near Hugo, forming a luminous figure. Victory, dressed in a black military uniform, stepped out, looking anxious.

"I don't know," Hugo said, his expression grave as he surveyed the surroundings. "Hide me and my sister somewhere. It would be troublesome if someone saw us lying by the roadside like this."

"No problem. The bushes across the road look good. We can hide there for now." Hearing Hugo's command, Victory nodded and carried Hugo and Hermione towards the hill.

"Who exactly is this Miss Victory?" Hermione asked curiously as she was carried up the hill. From their conversation, she gathered that her brother knew this young woman with long silver hair and purple eyes.

"Please wait a moment, my sister," Hugo replied, still observing their surroundings. "I'll explain everything once we've settled down."

Hugo's tension, preventing him from even answering Hermione, stemmed from the fact that the Admiral Network was empty. He couldn't contact any ship girls except Victory.

"I can confirm that everyone is still connected to the Admiral Network, but it seems like everyone else is being blocked by a special force," Victory said through the Admiral Network.

"Besides that, we can send messages to the other ship girls, but we can't receive their messages. In other words, we're being unilaterally blocked."

"If that's the case, that's good." Hugo nodded and quickly sent a message to all the ship girls through the Admiral Network, telling them that he was fine and with Victory. Therefore, they should continue as planned.

After sending the message, Victory brought him and Hermione to the bushes at the top of the hill. It was then that Hugo saw the town in the distance.

"My god, where are we?" After connecting to Victory's vision through the Admiral Network, Hugo exclaimed softly.

He saw a town filled with Victorian architecture, people in old-fashioned clothing walking around, and a railway passing not far from the town. A train was pulling black smoke as it headed into the distance.

Even more surprisingly, the surrounding temperature was much higher than before, and the vegetation was lush and green. It didn't look like early spring, but rather late summer or early autumn.

"Bad news, dear Admiral," Victory said, setting Hugo and Hermione down and closing her eyes. Soon, she opened them again and said to Hugo, "We're in the wrong time."

"The wrong time? What do you mean?" Because she was facing away from the town and it was far from the hill, Hermione asked curiously as soon as Victory finished speaking.

"Exactly what it sounds like," Victory said, leaning against a rock with a wry smile. "If my senses are correct, we are now in the year 1899."

"1899!" The Granger siblings exclaimed in shock. Hermione immediately reached for her neck and pulled out the Time-Turner hanging from her chain.