Professor Secundus Minutus Hora

Professor Secundus Minutus Hora is a powerful but initially unseen presence in Momo’s story: she reaches the door bearing his name, while the Men in Gray identify him as a possible source of help against them. The contrast between the strange, inviting sounds inside his quarters and the boardroom’s fear of his influence establishes him as a figure whose importance precedes his direct introduction.

Identity and Presence

The evidence identifies him by the inscription on a small door at the end of a long passage in Nowhere House. Momo kneels to read the name, “PROFESSOR SECUNDUS MINUTUS HORA,” then lifts the latch and follows the tortoise inside. The inscription gives the unseen occupant a full name and professorial title, but the scene does not yet describe his appearance or explain his work.

His presence is also signaled by the room’s sounds. As Momo enters, she hears a melodious chorus of tinkling, chiming, ticking, humming, and whirring. The passage outside is lined with marble statues, but the little door marks a threshold into a space defined by those intricate sounds. The scene associates Professor Secundus Minutus Hora’s quarters with an atmosphere of activity and mystery without disclosing their source.

Momo’s Arrival at His Door

Momo reaches the door by following the tortoise through Nowhere House. The tortoise waddles ahead down the lofty corridor and stops at a small door sized for Momo to duck through; a message on its shell confirms that they have arrived. Momo’s careful reading of the sign and bold lifting of the latch make the encounter a deliberate crossing into the professor’s domain, rather than a chance discovery.

The entry offers no direct exchange between Momo and Professor Secundus Minutus Hora. Instead, it ends this part of her approach with the door closing behind her and the chorus of sounds greeting her inside. His introduction is therefore structured around arrival and anticipation: Momo has reached him, but the reader has not yet seen him or learned what he will do.

Reputation Among the Men in Gray

At a board meeting, one of the Men in Gray says that someone must have helped Momo elude them and names Professor Secundus Minutus Hora as the person they suspect. The name itself provokes a visible reaction: most of the men flinch, while others leap up, shouting and gesticulating. Their response establishes that he is not an ordinary or comfortable subject for them to discuss.

The speaker calls the name improper to utter and presents the professor’s possible involvement as a serious danger. The board’s reasoning remains speculation rather than confirmation: they fear that he may return Momo and arm her against them. Yet their alarm is substantial enough that they contemplate sacrificing one or more human lifetimes and, in the worst case, staking everything they possess. Their own speech thus measures the threat they attribute to him, even as the evidence leaves his intentions and actual assistance unconfirmed.

Narrative Role

Professor Secundus Minutus Hora is introduced through two contrasting thresholds: the small door Momo enters and the taboo his name seems to represent among the Men in Gray. For Momo, his marked doorway is the destination of a journey with the tortoise; for the board, he is a feared possible opponent whose intervention could upset their plans. This indirect introduction makes his influence legible before his character is directly shown, while leaving the nature and extent of that influence unresolved in these scenes.