Chapter Summaries

Albert and his family introduced Luke and Sansa to Eastern food while discussing a future holiday in the Eastern colonies, and Isabelle spent the day with them. The chapter ended with Isabelle returning home with dumplings and telling Mrs. McDougal that the trip would probably happen in two years.

• Nia groomed the kitten while Albert put Tom in the hamster wheel, and Albert discussed the Ultimate Wizard Exam with Isabelle.
• Daisy served pan-fried dumplings, and Albert prepared dipping sauce and suggested boiled and deep-fried dumplings for the family feast.
• Luke and Sansa agreed to travel with everyone to the Eastern colonies in two years, and the group decided to hire a Chinese-speaking overseas student to teach them the language.
• Albert walked Isabelle to a nearby park, and Isabelle used Apparition to return home after he left.
• Isabelle gave Mrs. McDougal a box of dumplings and said the trip would probably take place in two years, then called Katrina down to eat.

Sirius Black asked Crookshanks to buy an owl and arrange a Firebolt for Harry Potter while he remained in hiding. Kreacher withdrew gold from the Black family vault, and Quality Quidditch Supplies prepared to deliver the broom to Harry for Christmas.

• Sirius Black told Crookshanks to seek the Gryffindor Common Room password and gave him a note to order an owl for Harry at the Hogsmeade post office.
• Crookshanks delivered the note, chose a small owl, and returned with it to the Shrieking Shack.
• Sirius Black sent a second note with the owl to Kreacher, his house-elf, asking him to withdraw gold from the Black family vault.
• Kreacher used Sirius's message and signature to withdraw enough gold for the owl and a Firebolt.
• Quality Quidditch Supplies received a confidential order to deliver a Firebolt to Harry Potter before Christmas Eve.

After returning to Hogwarts, Fred and George successfully summoned corporeal magpie Patronuses while Lee Jordan continued practicing. Albert considered whether Patronuses could be stored, then warned the twins that their spells still failed under Dementor pressure and suggested using a Boggart for practice.

• On the train, Albert guided Fred to focus on happy memories and the promise of Galleons, and Fred summoned a corporeal magpie Patronus.
• George revealed that he had already summoned his own magpie Patronus days earlier, while Lee Jordan remained unable to produce a corporeal one.
• Albert warned the twins that summoning a Patronus without facing a Dementor did not prove they had mastered the charm, and Lee Jordan renewed his practice.
• Albert wondered whether the magic of a Patronus could be stored and considered consulting Dumbledore about researching the idea.
• At Hogwarts, Fred and George found their Patronuses too fragile to withstand nearby Dementors, so Albert suggested using a Boggart for practice.

After the Christmas holiday, Albert learned that Hermione had figured out Professor Lupin was a werewolf and reassured her that Lupin was probably being kept safe with Wolfsbane Potion. He advised Hermione to keep Lupin’s secret and warned her that the Defense Against the Dark Arts position was dangerous.

• The students returned to Hogwarts, where Albert played Wizard Cards with Lee Jordan while Fred and George hurried to finish copying their holiday homework.
• Wood learned that Harry had received an unsigned Firebolt, then left to argue with Professor McGonagall, who had confiscated the broom for inspection.
• Hermione told Albert she suspected Professor Lupin was a werewolf because he was absent during full moons and his Boggart was a moon.
• Albert told Hermione he had guessed Lupin’s secret and said Dumbledore had likely arranged Wolfsbane Potion to keep Lupin rational after transforming.
• Albert urged Hermione to keep Lupin’s identity secret and suggested Lupin resign before the Defense Against the Dark Arts position brought him danger.
• Hermione said Harry and Ron were avoiding her over the Firebolt, and Albert comforted her and suggested she drop Divination and Muggle Studies to ease her workload.

Hermione persuaded Professor McGonagall to verify the Firebolt’s purchase, and the check confirmed the broom had no curses. Professor McGonagall returned it to the Gryffindor Common Room and entrusted Albert with giving it to Harry, who was away training with Professor Lupin.

• Hermione told Professor McGonagall about Albert’s suggestion to check Quality Quidditch Supplies’ records, and Professor McGonagall agreed to investigate the Firebolt’s purchase.
• A few days later, Professor McGonagall brought the Firebolt to the Gryffindor Common Room and confirmed that it had no curses attached.
• Professor McGonagall asked Albert to give the Firebolt to Harry, and Albert displayed it behind a glass-like barrier for the students to admire.
• Hermione thanked Albert for helping get the Firebolt cleared, while Ron argued with her about Crookshanks chasing Scabbers and stormed off.
• Hermione worried that Harry might not learn the Patronus Charm quickly, and Albert reassured her that Dumbledore would prevent Dementors from endangering him during Quidditch matches.

After Harry’s Firebolt became public, the Quidditch teams adjusted their plans, and Ravenclaw narrowly lost to Slytherin. Albert received Hagrid’s news that Buckbeak would face a hearing, leaving Buckbeak’s defense in Albert’s hands.

• Harry’s Firebolt was exposed, stunning the Slytherins, while Cedric congratulated Harry and Roger Davies exchanged information with Wood.
• Slytherin narrowly defeated Ravenclaw after Cho Chang caught the Golden Snitch, leaving Gryffindor a chance to win the Quidditch Cup.
• Albert revised with Isabelle, who had him help her prepare for her exams.
• Albert received Hagrid’s letters stating that Buckbeak would face a hearing on April 20 and would have to remain tethered and isolated until then.
• Albert and Isabelle discussed Hagrid’s predicament, and Albert noticed Cedric walking with Cho Chang.

Albert sought Professor McGonagall’s advice on creating a lifelike magical model of Buckbeak and learned how to make one with Transfiguration. He demonstrated the spell to Lee Jordan while the Gryffindors discussed Slytherin’s possible tricks before their Quidditch match.

• Albert failed to transfigure wood into a convincing, life-sized Buckbeak and asked Professor McGonagall for guidance.
• Professor McGonagall explained how to create a magical model and warned Albert to prioritize his O.W.L. exams.
• Albert turned Lee Jordan’s book into a lifelike Norwegian Ridgeback model that spat sparks, then changed it back.
• Fred and George told Albert and Lee that the Slytherin team had spied on Gryffindor’s practice and discussed plans to visit Hogsmeade.
• Albert reassured the others that Slytherin could not easily sabotage Harry’s Firebolt, and dismissed Lee’s idea that they might disguise themselves as Dementors.

Scabbers revealed himself as Peter Pettigrew and recalled how fear for his life led him to betray the Order of the Phoenix and the Potters. Knowing Sirius Black was hunting him, Peter faked his death again and escaped Hogwarts in rat form.

• Peter remembered that Sirius Black had escaped Azkaban after discovering he was alive and feared Black would expose or kill him.
• Peter recalled joining the Order of the Phoenix unwillingly, then submitting to Voldemort when the Dark Lord threatened him and his mother.
• Peter described spying for Voldemort and agreeing to become the Potters' Secret Keeper after Voldemort promised him a Ministry position.
• Peter transformed into human form and lamented that he could not undo his betrayal.
• Peter planted cat hairs, smeared blood on Ron's bedsheet, changed back into a rat, and slipped away to fake his death.

Hermione asked Albert for reassurance about the O.W.L.s, and he offered study advice while helping Neville with Sir Cadogan’s passwords. After Ron and Hermione fell out over Scabbers, Albert explained why pets could matter like family, leaving Fred, George, and Lee to understand Filch’s attachment to Mrs. Norris.

• Hermione worried about the O.W.L.s, and Albert reassured her that mastering class material would make the exams manageable.
• Albert advised Neville to keep a notebook after Neville lost Sir Cadogan’s frequently changing passwords and could not enter the Gryffindor Common Room.
• Albert heard that Hermione’s cat had eaten Scabbers and explained to Fred, George, and Lee Jordan that pets could be like family.
• Lee Jordan realized that Mrs. Norris was family to Filch and recalled how Filch had reacted when she was petrified.

Harry’s Firebolt drew a crowd in the Great Hall, where Malfoy taunted him about Buckbeak and tried to unsettle him before the Gryffindor–Ravenclaw match. Albert predicted Gryffindor had the advantage, while Percy worried about losing a bet with Penelope.

• Harry ignored Malfoy’s claim that Buckbeak would probably be sentenced to death, and Ron stepped in to defend him.
• Malfoy mocked Harry’s broom and his performance against Dementors, but Harry and the Gryffindors reminded him that his carelessness had let Cho Chang catch the Snitch in their previous match.
• Malfoy shoved through the crowd and left the Great Hall as the Gryffindors laughed at him.
• Wood encouraged Harry to focus on beating Ravenclaw and then Slytherin, while Harry remained troubled by Buckbeak’s possible death sentence.
• Albert told Isabelle, Penelope, and Percy that Gryffindor had the better chance because Harry had the Firebolt, and he advised Percy to rethink betting money against Penelope.

Albert and Isabelle watched Gryffindor defeat Ravenclaw in a Quidditch match, while Albert explained the teams’ performances and spotted Malfoy’s group preparing a prank. The prank ended when Harry summoned a corporeal Patronus, and the chapter closed after Gryffindor won.

• Albert and Isabelle went to the Quidditch Pitch and watched Gryffindor take an early lead over Ravenclaw.
• Katrina asked Albert for past O.W.L. exam papers, and he agreed to bring them to their next class.
• Albert explained that Gryffindor’s intense training and Ravenclaw’s faltering strategy had caused the lopsided score, and Ravenclaw soon began to recover.
• Albert noticed Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Marcus Flint disguising themselves as Dementors to frighten Harry.
• Harry summoned a silver stag Patronus that scared Malfoy’s group into falling over, and Gryffindor won the match.

After Gryffindor won the match, Albert watched Professor McGonagall punish Malfoy’s group and discussed post-graduation work with Truman. Truman accepted Albert’s offer to recommend him for Ministry positions, while Albert warned him to run if circumstances turned bad.

• Professor McGonagall blamed Malfoy’s group for conspiring against Gryffindor’s Seeker and took fifty points from Slytherin Academy.
• Albert and Truman discussed Truman’s plans after graduation and the difficulties Muggle Wizards faced at the Ministry of Magic.
• Albert offered to recommend Truman to the Committee for the Regulation of Magical Creatures or the Office for the Communication with Muggles, and Truman accepted.
• Albert warned Truman to run if things started looking bad, though Truman did not understand the warning.
• Truman saw Percy heading toward the castle with Penelope and said he thought Percy would be better suited to becoming an Auror.

Gryffindor celebrated Harry’s victory over Ravenclaw with a party supplied by Fred and George, while Albert advised Hermione to reconcile with Ron. The chapter ended with Hermione leaving the party after Ron pointedly reminded her that Scabbers had been eaten.

• Lee Jordan shared that the Slytherin students who had tried to frame Harry had been punished, and the enchanted Daily Prophet article sparked laughter in the Common Room.
• Wood worried that Fred and George had disappeared with the party money, while he and Lee Jordan brought food back from the kitchen.
• Fred and George returned with Butterbeer, sweets, and their homemade fireworks, and the Gryffindor party continued into the night.
• Albert found Hermione studying alone, offered her Butterbeer and a biscuit, and urged her to apologize to Ron and consider writing a book about Muggle life.
• Hermione praised Harry for winning the match, but Ron’s remark about Scabbers upset her, and she hurried off to the girls’ dormitory.

Albert and his friends debated why Sirius Black had entered Gryffindor Tower but left without harming anyone, and recorded possible explanations for his escape and access to the castle. They concluded Black likely had an accomplice at Hogwarts and a target in Harry’s dormitory, but they could not identify either one.

• Albert questioned how Sirius Black had entered the Gryffindor Common Room and why he had not killed anyone in Harry’s dormitory.
• George, Shanna, and the others proposed that Black’s target might not be Harry and considered whether someone at Hogwarts had helped him obtain the password.
• Shanna suggested Black might have disguised himself as a professor, while the group also considered secret passages, animals, and other ways he could enter the castle and evade Dementors.
• Albert recorded the group’s ideas and concluded that Black had a Hogwarts accomplice, knew secret passages, and could use a disguise.
• Aaliyah rejected Shanna’s suggestion that Black might be good, arguing that an innocent man would have tried to clear his name after escaping Azkaban.

After Sirius Black escaped again, Hogwarts tightened security while Albert questioned whether Black had truly tried to kill Harry and warned Professor Flitwick that the Ministry might refuse to pay his reward. Dumbledore understood Albert’s warning as a hint that Black could be innocent and began reconsidering the case.

• Professor McGonagall told the Gryffindors that Black had escaped, and Shanna reported their suspicions to her without persuading her to believe Black had an accomplice inside the school.
• Shanna told Albert and the others that McGonagall accepted Black might have entered through a Secret Passage, while Albert cautioned that the professors would not accept speculation without evidence.
• Dumbledore kept the Dementors outside Hogwarts, Sir Cadogan was dismissed, and dwarfs hired by the Board of Governors guarded the Gryffindor corridor.
• Albert told Professor Flitwick that he suspected Black had not targeted Harry and prophesied that he would catch Black, but the Ministry might withhold the reward.
• Professor Flitwick relayed Albert’s prophecy to Dumbledore, who inferred that Albert was warning them Black could be innocent and that the Ministry might revoke the reward.

Albert and his friends investigated a secret passage and found evidence that Sirius Black had entered Hogwarts as a dog. They suspected Black was pursuing Peter Pettigrew, who might be hiding as Ron’s rat Scabbers, and decided to capture them and uncover the truth.

• Albert handed Katrina the papers she had requested, then joined Fred, George, and Lee Jordan to investigate a secret passage.
• The group found dog tracks in the passage, and Albert photographed them as evidence that Black had entered the castle as an Animagus.
• Albert explained that Padfoot was likely Black and that Black might be a black dog; the friends connected the Marauders’ nicknames to Animagus forms.
• The friends realized that Peter Pettigrew might be alive as Scabbers, Ron’s unusually long-lived rat, and that Black might be hunting him rather than Harry.
• Albert decided they should capture Black and Pettigrew, determine the truth, and seek a reward or payment for their efforts.

Albert and Isabelle visited Hogsmeade, where Draco Malfoy fell while fleeing after seeing what he thought was Harry’s floating head. They then visited Albert’s rebuilt house, where he was working on a hidden inner section protected by the Fidelius Charm.

• Fred, George, and Lee Jordan told Albert they had searched Hogsmeade for Sirius Black in his black dog form.
• Draco Malfoy and Crabbe and Goyle fell in the street, and Malfoy said he had seen Harry’s head floating in midair.
• Fred, George, and Ron mocked Malfoy and offered to escort the injured boys back to Hogwarts, but Malfoy rejected their help and limped away.
• Albert told Isabelle that Malfoy and his companions would become Death Eaters, and said Malfoy was responsible for Hagrid’s Hippogriff being sentenced to death.
• Albert and Isabelle visited Albert’s rebuilt Hogsmeade house, where Albert worked on concealing an inner layer of rooms with the Fidelius Charm.

After Malfoy reported seeing Harry in Hogsmeade, he plotted to prolong Buckbeak’s execution and use the situation to ruin Hagrid. Meanwhile, Snape confronted Lupin over the Marauder’s Map but failed to prove who had given it to Harry, leaving him furious and determined to expose James Potter.

• Malfoy told Snape that Harry’s floating head had appeared in Hogsmeade, and Snape set off to find Harry.
• Malfoy received treatment for his cheek and explained to Crabbe and Goyle his plan to delay Buckbeak’s execution and possibly frame Hagrid.
• Snape confronted Lupin over the old parchment, accusing him of giving it to Harry and believing it was filled with Dark magic.
• Ron admitted that he had bought the parchment from Zoko as a gift for Harry, but Snape could not prove the others were lying.
• Lupin took Harry, Ron, and the parchment away, leaving Snape enraged and determined to make Harry learn about his father.

Albert discussed Buckbeak’s impending execution with Hermione and warned her that Hagrid’s letter could endanger Hagrid and expose Albert’s plans. He told Hermione to keep their conversation secret while he handled the matter himself.

• Albert found Hermione asleep in the Gryffindor Common Room and learned that Hagrid had lost Buckbeak’s case.
• Albert refused Hermione’s offer of help but told her to have Hagrid continue appealing while making it appear that he would never give up.
• Albert burned Hagrid’s letter and warned Hermione that it could be used to incriminate Hagrid if Buckbeak disappeared.
• Albert told Hermione that Pure-blood wizards might target him and described the conflict between them and Muggle Wizards.
• Albert asked Hermione to keep their conversation secret, and she thanked him before returning to her dormitory.

After Hagrid lost Buckbeak’s hearing, Albert advised him to keep appealing while Malfoy spent more money bribing the Committee. Hagrid recounted how the Committee ignored his arguments and sentenced Buckbeak to death, leaving Albert’s plan to resolve the case still underway.

• Harry and Ron worried about Buckbeak, but Hermione urged them not to interfere, and they agreed to trust Albert.
• Hermione explained that Albert wanted Hagrid to keep appealing so the Malfoys would spend more Galleons and appear to have exhausted every option.
• Hagrid described how he took Buckbeak to the Ministry hearing and blamed Draco Malfoy for deliberately provoking the Hippogriff.
• Lucius Malfoy presented injury photos and witnesses, and the Committee sided with him and sentenced Buckbeak to death.
• Hagrid said the Ministry targeted Buckbeak because Hagrid feared breaking the law, while Albert continued with his longer plan to solve the problem.