Chapter Summaries

Albert helped Buckbeak escape the Ministry’s execution, then used Divination to tell Phineas Nigellus Black that Regulus was dead and Sirius appeared innocent. The chapter ended with Albert agreeing to help catch Peter Pettigrew and clear Sirius’s name for five thousand Galleons.

• Hermione urged Harry and Ron to leave after Buckbeak vanished, while Lucius Malfoy accused Harry of hiding the Hippogriff.
• Dumbledore refused to let the Dementors search Hogwarts, and Hagrid later told Albert that Buckbeak was free.
• Phineas Nigellus Black paid Albert to divine Regulus Black’s fate, and Albert saw that Regulus was dead and that his death was connected to a Slytherin-linked necklace.
• Albert’s Divination showed Harry walking and talking with Sirius, leading him to conclude that Sirius was likely innocent and to suggest catching Peter Pettigrew.
• Phineas agreed to pay Albert five thousand Galleons if he helped catch Pettigrew and clear Sirius, and Albert recorded their agreement.

Albert reflected on completing the quest to save Buckbeak and discussed the rescue with his friends before Harry, Hermione, and Ron came to ask him about it. He warned Harry that secrets needed to be kept, then exposed Fred, George, and Lee listening at the door.

• Albert checked his quests and planned how to settle the conflict between Black and Peter.
• Fred, George, and Lee returned, joked about Malfoy’s humiliating bathroom mishap, and asked Albert about his paid Divination and Buckbeak’s disappearance.
• Albert said Lucius Malfoy had wanted to spite Dumbledore and confirmed that he had saved Buckbeak with a trick.
• Harry, Hermione, and Ron arrived and asked to speak with Albert alone.
• Harry asked whether Albert had taken Buckbeak, and Albert told him that some things were better left known and secrets had to be kept.
• Albert opened the dormitory door with magic, revealing Fred, George, and Lee piled up after listening in.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione attended Albert’s Defense Association gathering, where a crowded meeting turned into a fight after students tried to disrupt it. Albert and the Weasley twins drove out the troublemakers, and the gathering resumed with the Boggart practice.

• Harry told Ron and Hermione that the Ministry suspected Hagrid of secretly freeing Buckbeak, while Hermione complained that the paper ignored officials’ bribery.
• Hermione, Harry, and Ron headed to the seventh-floor gathering and found more than a hundred students waiting, including Malfoy and many Slytherins.
• Albert explained that the meeting focused on helping fifth years prepare for their O.W.L. Defense Against the Dark Arts exam and warned attendees not to cause trouble.
• When a student challenged the rules, Fred and George stunned him, and Albert warned that anyone disrupting the gathering would be thrown out.
• Several students secretly jinxed Albert, but their spells were deflected, and students knocked down the instigators, most of them Slytherins.
• Fred, George, and others threw the troublemakers into the corridor, and Albert returned to the Boggart box to continue the gathering.

Fifth years practiced banishing Boggarts at Albert’s Defense Against the Dark Arts gathering, where Slytherin students who came to cause trouble were thrown into the corridor. The next day, Professor McGonagall dismissed the incident and moved on to career consultations, with Fred, George, and Lee Jordan volunteering Albert to go first.

• Albert had the fifth years take turns repelling the Boggart, then announced that the next gathering would cover counter-curses and defensive spells.
• After the gathering, Harry and Ron confronted the immobilized Slytherin students in the corridor, and Harry punched Malfoy while Ron smeared a U-No-Poo on his trousers.
• Fred and George encouraged Ron and Harry to humiliate Malfoy further, while Hermione tried to stop them.
• Professor McGonagall summoned Albert, Fred, George, and Lee Jordan, heard Albert explain that the Slytherins had attacked first, and warned them not to let the incident happen again.
• Professor McGonagall began career consultations, and Fred, George, and Lee Jordan all pointed to Albert as the first to go.

Albert told Professor McGonagall he planned to write a practical Defense Against the Dark Arts book after graduating and hinted at a prophecy about Professor Snape becoming headmaster. Fred, George, and Lee Jordan each described plans to open a joke shop or Wizard Cards shop with Albert's support.

• Professor McGonagall asked Albert about his future, and he showed her drafts of a practical Defense Against the Dark Arts book he was writing.
• Albert declined to join the Ministry of Magic, mentioned possibly opening a shop or becoming a Divination practitioner, and predicted Professor Snape would become Hogwarts headmaster.
• Professor McGonagall offered Albert a possible future as a Potions professor, then called Fred in for his consultation.
• Fred told Professor McGonagall that he and George planned to open a joke shop, using startup capital they had raised and knowledge Albert would provide.
• George gave Professor McGonagall the same plans as Fred, and Lee Jordan said he intended to open a Wizard Cards specialty shop and spread the game throughout the wizarding world.

Rising hostility between Gryffindor and Slytherin led to increasingly vicious fights, and Harry and his friends were repeatedly attacked by Malfoy and his companions. After Albert supplied an ointment to treat their injuries, Lee announced that Slytherin was taking bets on the championship match, and Albert warned that they might not pay out.

• Slytherin and Gryffindor students’ growing hostility escalated into a serious fight that left several students, including a Hufflepuff girl, in the Hospital Wing.
• Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle cornered and beat Harry, then unknown attackers ambushed them in retaliation.
• Harry, Ron, Fred, and George returned to the common room bruised and disheveled after another fistfight with Malfoy’s group.
• Albert told Fred and George where to find his ointment, and Hermione watched it reduce their swelling and bruises.
• Lee announced that Slytherin was opening bets on the championship, and Albert doubted they would honor their debts.

As Gryffindor prepared for the decisive Quidditch final against Slytherin, Albert helped ease the team’s anxiety and quietly made plans involving Hagrid’s mice and Peter the rat. The team discovered that Kenneth had been using Albert’s name to encourage bets, leaving Ron worried about his wager.

• With one month until exams and the Quidditch final approaching, Gryffindor’s players discussed how to beat Slytherin and win by more than fifty points before catching the Snitch.
• Hermione admitted she was nervous about Harry facing Malfoy, and Albert reassured her that Gryffindor would win.
• Albert suggested that Hermione take Crookshanks to Hagrid’s Hut to catch mice, while privately planning to use the arrangement to deal with Peter the rat.
• Fred and George told the others they had bet on Gryffindor and learned that Kenneth had been using Albert’s name to bluff people into betting.
• Ron realized he had wagered every Sickle he had and worried that the winnings might not be paid.

Albert joined Isabelle and Penelope in the Great Hall as Gryffindor and Slytherin prepared for their Quidditch match. Betting spread through the school in Gryffindor’s favor, and the chapter ended as the match was about to begin.

• Albert sat with Isabelle and Penelope and discussed their summer plans to attend the Quidditch World Cup and develop the Beautification Potion with Catherine and Valeria.
• Penelope told Albert that Ravenclaw students had bet on Gryffindor winning the match and the championship because they believed he had predicted their victory.
• Truman explained that Kenneth had drawn Hufflepuff students into the betting pool, making it harder for Slytherin to refuse payment if they lost.
• Percy gave Albert a scarlet rose, while Gryffindor supporters waved flags and Slytherin supporters gathered under Snape’s leadership.
• Isabelle pointed Albert toward the pitch as the Quidditch match was about to begin.

Gryffindor and Slytherin turned their Quidditch final into a brawl, forcing Dumbledore to suspend the match while the teams and spectators were calmed. After play resumed, Harry caught the Golden Snitch and secured Gryffindor’s victory over Malfoy.

• Angelina scored first for Gryffindor, and Marcus nearly knocked her from her broom, prompting fouls and retaliation from both teams.
• Slytherin players attacked Wood, and Albert used a spell to catch him when he fell; Madam Pomfrey treated him before he returned to the match.
• The fight spread into the stands, so Dumbledore suspended the match and the professors separated and reprimanded the players and spectators.
• After the match resumed, Malfoy interfered with Harry’s Firebolt, and a Bludger knocked Harry from his broom; a later Bludger sent Malfoy crashing into the Gryffindor stands.
• Marcus caught the Golden Snitch but was penalized because he was not a Seeker, and the match continued with Gryffindor ahead.
• Harry outflew Malfoy and caught the Golden Snitch, winning the final for Gryffindor.

Gryffindor celebrated winning the Quidditch Cup and collected their winnings from the Slytherin bookies, though the remaining debt was due before the summer holiday. Albert returned and asked Hermione to bring Crookshanks to Hagrid’s place next Wednesday, leaving his plan to deal with a cat, dog, wolf, and rat implied.

• Kenneth told the Gryffindors that Slytherin had repaid their stakes but needed until before the summer holiday to pay the rest under their magical contract.
• Kenneth distributed the winnings, including twenty Galleons for Albert, while George and Fred mocked Ron for giving up his bet.
• Harry said he had bet ten Galleons, and Ron admitted through his reactions that he had backed out of his wager.
• Albert returned from Hagrid’s place and asked Hermione to bring Crookshanks there next Wednesday to help clear out Hagrid’s mice.

Albert arranged to draw Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black out while offering Lupin a chance to test a reconstructed spell that could restore werewolves to human form. After Albert told Lupin he had seen Peter’s name on the Marauder’s Map, Lupin resolved to seek the truth and tell Dumbledore what he knew.

• Hermione invited Harry and Ron to visit Hagrid, while Albert asked Lee Jordan whether he had mastered the Patronus Charm and told the twins and Lee to prepare for a plan.
• Albert gave Fred, George, and Lee badges that blocked the Marauder’s Map, then went to Lupin’s office and explained that he had reconstructed the Human Transformation Spell.
• Albert offered to pay Lupin to help test the spell over the summer, and Lupin agreed after Albert revealed that he had once seen Peter’s name on the Marauder’s Map.
• After Albert left, Lupin searched the map but could not find Peter, then saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione heading to Hagrid’s cabin.
• Lupin urged himself to stop running away and decided to speak with Albert after recovering, confirm whether Peter was alive, and confess everything to Dumbledore.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione visited Hagrid’s Hut with Crookshanks, who hunted rats while they asked Hagrid about Buckbeak’s disappearance. Crookshanks uncovered Peter hiding as a rat, but Peter escaped and Ron, Harry, and Hermione chased after him.

• Harry, Ron, and Hermione arrived at Hagrid’s Hut under the Invisibility Cloak, bringing Crookshanks to catch rats.
• Harry asked Hagrid how Buckbeak had vanished before the execution, but Hagrid refused to explain.
• Crookshanks caught several rats and sniffed out Peter hiding in a milk canister.
• Hermione opened the canister, and Peter escaped; Ron recognized him as Scabbers and caught him, but Scabbers bit Ron and fled outside.
• Crookshanks chased Scabbers, and Ron, Harry, and Hermione ran after them as Hagrid fetched an oil lamp to follow.

Albert and George captured Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew at the Whomping Willow, while Albert restrained Professor Lupin before he could transform. The group learned that Black might be innocent, but Albert intended to claim the Ministry’s bounty and leave Black’s fate to Dumbledore and the Ministry.

• Peter fled Crookshanks but ran into Sirius Black, who transformed from a dog and dragged Ron toward the Whomping Willow.
• Black threatened Hagrid with Ron, but Albert stunned Black and trapped Peter when he tried to escape.
• George immobilized Ron, and Albert identified Peter by his missing toe, caged him, and bound Black.
• Albert restrained Professor Lupin after he appeared and warned that the full moon could make him transform; Hermione told Harry that Lupin was a werewolf.
• Lupin explained that Peter was alive and that Black was innocent, while Snape arrived eager to see Black sent to Azkaban.
• Albert refused to release Black before the Ministry paid his ten-thousand-Galleon bounty and sent Hagrid to fetch Dumbledore.

Albert kept Lupin restrained while Lupin explained that Peter Pettigrew was alive and that Sirius Black had been framed. After Dementors attacked and Harry collapsed, Albert knocked out four supposed Ministry Aurors who arrived to claim Black without paying the promised reward.

• Albert sent Hagrid to find Dumbledore and questioned Lupin, who revealed that he had seen Pettigrew on the Marauder’s Map and identified him as the rat in Albert’s cage.
• Lupin transformed into a Werewolf, and Albert trapped him inside an iron cage and an earthen enclosure.
• More than a hundred Dementors approached, and Albert used his Hippogriff Patronus to drive them back while Harry tried and failed to produce more than a wisp of light before fainting.
• Four men claiming to be Ministry Aurors arrived to take Black, but Albert demanded his reward and suspected them when they refused to pay immediately.
• Albert ordered an attack as the men crossed his wall of fire, and he and George knocked all four supposed Aurors unconscious.

Albert captured Sirius Black and confronted the Ministry over the Dementor attack, demanding an apology and safeguards for his reward. He revealed a spell that restored Remus Lupin from werewolf form and presented a caged rat as evidence that Peter Pettigrew might be alive.

• Albert bound four men who claimed to be Aurors, accused them of causing the Dementor attack, and showed Dumbledore a Crystal Ball recording that proved the attack had happened.
• Albert demanded an apology from Fudge and refused to let the Ministry take Black without paying the reward or providing a guarantor.
• Albert transformed the werewolf Remus Lupin back into human form with the Human Transformation Spell and agreed to share the spell with others.
• Albert told Dumbledore that Lupin had suspected Peter Pettigrew was alive and handed him a caged rat to test whether it was an Animagus.

Dumbledore exposed Peter Pettigrew as Scabbers, and Veritaserum confirmed that Peter had betrayed the Potters and plotted against Harry. Sirius Black’s innocence was established, while Albert collected on his bargain and forced Fudge to accept a new deal.

• Dumbledore transformed Scabbers into Peter Pettigrew, revealing that Sirius Black had not been responsible for Peter’s supposed death.
• Albert bound Lupin, and the group returned to Hogwarts, where Snape supplied Veritaserum and Albert used a potion to wake Peter.
• Under Veritaserum, Peter admitted that he had given the Dark Lord information about the Potters, faked his death, and planned to hand Harry over if the Dark Lord returned.
• Hagrid struck Peter after hearing his confession, and Fudge ordered the Aurors to take him away while acknowledging that Black’s case would need further investigation.
• Albert told Phineas to arrange payment of his five-thousand-Galleon fee and gave Dumbledore a letter proposing a deal with Fudge.
• Fudge read Albert’s prepared offer in his office and agreed to it, unable to refuse despite feeling humiliated.

Sirius woke in Hogwarts’s Hospital Wing to learn that Albert had caught Peter Pettigrew and cleared his name, while Peter had been sent to Azkaban. Harry learned the truth and agreed to leave the Dursleys to live with Sirius, as Sirius prepared to leave Hogwarts with Lupin after Snape exposed Lupin as a Werewolf.

• Sirius woke beside Lupin and learned from Phineas Nigellus Black that Albert had caught Peter Pettigrew, cleared Sirius’s name, and expected five thousand Galleons for his help.
• Ron woke, panicked at seeing Sirius, and learned that Peter was alive, had been Scabbers, and was now imprisoned in Azkaban.
• Harry woke and read the Daily Prophet, then confirmed with Sirius that Peter had betrayed his parents and Albert had helped restore Sirius’s reputation.
• Sirius offered Harry a home with him, and Harry eagerly agreed to leave the Dursley family.
• Sirius explained that Lupin had resigned after Snape revealed he was a Werewolf, and said he would leave Hogwarts with Lupin.

Albert traded the reward for capturing Peter Pettigrew for a Time-Turner and accepted five thousand Galleons from Sirius Black, while keeping his role in the affair secret. Harry sought the truth from Albert and then Hagrid, who revealed that Buckbeak was hidden in Hagrid's enchanted suitcase.

• Albert showed Isabelle the Time-Turner he had received from Fudge in place of the ten-thousand-Galleon reward and explained their confidential agreement.
• Albert told Isabelle that Sirius Black had paid him five thousand Galleons, half of which he shared with the other participants.
• Albert refused to explain the events to Harry and Ron after they interrupted his date, and directed Harry to ask Hermione and Hagrid.
• Harry, Ron, and Hermione found Hagrid's enchanted suitcase and learned from Hagrid that Buckbeak was hidden inside until the summer holidays.
• Hagrid told Harry that he believed Albert had arranged the events surrounding Black's case.

After Lupin resigned, Albert and Isabelle helped students review Defence Against the Dark Arts exam topics while Albert urged his friends to prepare for their O.W.Ls instead of rushing to open a joke shop. As exams approached, Albert gave Fred, George, and Lee Jordan study materials and promised a trip to the Quidditch World Cup if they did well.

• Hogwarts cancelled Defence Against the Dark Arts after Lupin resigned, so Albert and Isabelle offered to review key exam topics with students.
• Fred, George, and Lee Jordan discussed using their share of Albert’s earnings to open a joke shop, but Albert advised them to study and gain experience first.
• Albert motivated Fred, George, and Lee Jordan to prepare for their O.W.Ls by promising them Quidditch World Cup tickets and a chance to profit from his prediction of the final.
• As exams neared, Katrina repeatedly asked Albert to review key topics, and Patrizia Stinson broke down during Transfiguration class.
• Fred, George, and Lee Jordan asked Albert for more of his IQ Candy, but he refused and gave them Katrina’s exam notes, including last year’s papers.

As the O.W.L.s approached, Albert enjoyed a romantic picnic with Isabelle before returning to exam preparation and learning the schedule. While chatting with the visiting examiners, he also heard that Fudge was seeking an Order of Merlin for Albert after his werewolf research, even as Fudge pursued an honor for himself.

• Albert and Isabelle shared a picnic by the lake, where they discussed their exam preparation and the boat Albert had arranged as a safeguard.
• Professor McGonagall announced the two-week O.W.L.s schedule, warned students against cheating, and told them their results would arrive by owl in July.
• George reviewed likely Charms and Transfiguration practicals with his friends, while Lee Jordan guessed that Albert had gone to chat with the examiners.
• Marchbanks told Albert that Fudge had waived the review process for an Order of Merlin, Third Class nomination based on Albert's Human Transformation Spell on a transformed Werewolf.
• The examiners discussed Fudge's separate bid for an Order of Merlin, First Class, and Greengrass recognized the political bias behind the honors.