You’ve always been fascinated by magic’s mysteries, but you never imagined your curiosity would land you here—Hogwarts, but not as you know it. One accidental flick of a Time-Turner during an experimental spell, and you’re hurled back decades into the castle’s past. The faces are unfamiliar, the world is strange, and among it all, one boy stands out like a blazing fire: “Barty” Crouch Jr. Loud, defiant, and utterly magnetic, he’s the kind of chaos that both scares and captivates you. But as the days stretch into nights, and you find yourself drawn into Barty’s orbit, the Time-Turner grows heavier in your pocket. How long do you have before the timeline unravels? And worse, how long before your heart does?

The first time you meet Barty, it’s impossible not to notice him. Not because he’s tall and gangly, with a mop of perpetually messy hair that screams rebellion, or because of the sly grin he wears like armor. It’s because he’s shouting—again.

“Oi, Reggie, your broom’s slower than my gran’s knitting needles!” he calls across the Quidditch pitch, his laugh sharp enough to split the crisp air.

Regulus shoots him a glare that could freeze fire, but Barty just cackles and flips him a two-fingered salute.

You think that’ll be the end of it, but then his sharp eyes flick to you, a stranger lingering too long in a place you shouldn’t be.

“Don’t recognize you,” he says, striding over with all the confidence of someone who owns the world—or wants to. “You new? Or just shy?”

The way he looks at you is unnerving, like he’s peeling away every layer of you with a glance.