Chapter Summaries

Albert discussed Yanira’s new record and Katrina’s health routine before explaining how Dumbledore’s Elder Wand scheme was keeping Voldemort occupied abroad. He left the McDougal sisters with the news that the delay was giving the Defense Association time to train for the coming fight.

• Katrina told Albert that Yanira’s voice was on a new record sent with a Christmas letter, and teased him about his mistresses.
• Katrina shared her findings on diet and exercise, and Albert criticized her reliance on black bread while Isabelle praised her improved skin.
• Albert read news of Voldemort’s rampage across Europe and told Isabelle that Voldemort intended to use the Elder Wand against him.
• Albert explained that Dumbledore had set up the Elder Wand as a scheme to distract Voldemort, while a false Grigoriovich led him astray.
• Albert said Voldemort’s absence was buying time for the Defense Association to grow more confident and train as fighters.

Albert learned that the Death Eaters were mass-producing Infernals and decided the Defense Association could use them for combat training. He taught the members how to make the Fire-Making Spell deadly against Infernals and revealed that one hidden Infernal site would be their next target once they were ready.

• Albert learned that Yaxley and McNeil planned to let the Order of the Phoenix and Defense Association deal with the Infernals until Voldemort returned.
• The Defense Association agreed to prepare for fighting Infernals after the Order of the Phoenix offered no solution.
• Albert warned the eager members that Death Eaters and Dark Wizards could attack alongside the Infernals and explained the dangers of facing them.
• Albert demonstrated how to use the Fire-Making Spell to ignite Infernals from a distance and divide them with walls of fire.
• Albert told the members that the Death Eaters had hidden hundreds of Infernals at two secret locations and that one would become their target after they were ready.

Albert stayed behind at Defense Association headquarters as its members cleared a forest full of Inferi, treating the Death Eaters’ trap as a chance for training. The teams returned with injuries but no distress calls, while the operation bought the Death Eaters time and left the Association members excited by their first real combat experience.

• Shanna warned Albert that the Defense Association was nearly out of Galleons, and Albert promised to seek contributions and said he still planned a lavish Christmas dinner.
• Albert told Shanna the Association members were likely eliminating Inferi in the forest and reflected on the war and the coming final battle.
• The Association members used mannequins and noise to lure out hidden Inferi, then destroyed the creatures in teams while avoiding unnecessary risks.
• The members realized there were likely no Dark Wizards in the forest and that the Inferi operation was a trap designed to delay them, though it also served as a training exercise arranged through Alecto Carrow.
• Cedric’s team returned after killing thirty Inferi, and the Association members came back with a few treated injuries and spent the night excitedly discussing the operation.

The Defense Association grew stronger while clearing Inferi, but Albert urged its members to avoid escalating the conflict with the Death Eaters. Fred and George asked the Order of the Phoenix to join a mission against another Inferi site, leaving the group weighing the risks of provoking the enemy.

• Fred, George, Lee Jordan, and Cedric led the Defense Association in clearing Inferi, and the members became increasingly confident and skilled in coordinated combat.
• The association encountered investigating Dark Wizards, who fled after Lee Jordan set off a warning; the members later speculated that the Death Eaters were afraid to confront them.
• Albert told the leaders that their goal was to end the war with Harry and defeat Voldemort, not to launch a broad assault on the Death Eaters, so the members returned to training.
• Fred and George told Sirius Black and the Order of the Phoenix that Albert had found another Inferi site and asked them to join the mission to reduce the danger of an ambush.
• Sirius raised Kingsley's concern that destroying Inferi might prompt the Death Eaters to kill more Muggles, while George suspected Albert wanted the secret base destroyed based on intelligence.

Fred and George gave Harry notes on Fiendfyre and asked him to help persuade the Order of the Phoenix to join the next operation. The Order agreed to help raid Death Eater strongholds and eliminate their Inferi, as the story moved toward the coming battle at Hogwarts.

• Fred and George discussed the Order of the Phoenix’s slow reply and said their help would make future operations safer.
• Fred and George gave Harry Albert’s notes on Fiendfyre and gave Hermione notes on how to extinguish it.
• George asked Harry to persuade the Order to join the operation, warning that Inferi could become a major threat to Hogwarts.
• Harry considered how the Horcruxes and the information gap could draw Voldemort into the final battle.
• The Order of the Phoenix held an urgent meeting and agreed to help raid Death Eater strongholds and clear out their Inferi.

Yaxley convened an emergency Death Eater meeting after the Defense Association destroyed another Inferi stronghold, while Voldemort searched Europe for the Deathstick. Snape warned that the Association could turn to other targets, and the meeting ended without a solution as he suspected Yaxley had another matter to discuss privately.

• Yaxley learned that the Defense Association had destroyed another Inferi stronghold and overturned his office in anger.
• Yaxley decided to summon the Death Eaters for an emergency meeting and traveled by Floo Powder.
• Yaxley told the Death Eaters about the destroyed stronghold and asked Snape for advice on stopping the Defense Association.
• Snape warned that the Association could train against Dark Wizards or the Seeker Squad and exploit its tactic of summoning Voldemort by name.
• Snape offered no solution and suspected that Yaxley wanted to speak with him privately after the meeting.

Yaxley suspected a spy had leaked Death Eater plans to Albert Anderson and used Veritaserum to test the group, but the test failed to expose anyone. He and Snape discussed suspects and planned to spread Inferi and exploit the newly assembled werewolf army to draw their enemies’ attention.

• Yaxley told the veteran Death Eaters he suspected Albert Anderson had planted a spy among them, and Snape supplied Veritaserum.
• Yaxley drank wine laced with Veritaserum and denied being Albert Anderson’s spy, after which the Death Eaters reluctantly agreed to undergo the same test.
• After the others left, Yaxley told McNeil and Snape that a spy might have leaked the Inferi’s location and named Ludo Bagman and Alecto Carrow as suspects.
• Snape said Alecto Carrow might be compromised despite passing the test, and Yaxley said he would watch her while Snape investigated Ludo Bagman.
• Yaxley decided to scatter the Inferi, and McNeil suggested creating more by targeting isolated Muggle villages.
• McNeil reported that Lucien had gathered hundreds of werewolves, and the three considered leaking them information to attract their enemies during the full moon.

Albert entered a snowbound village filled with Inferi and discovered a black cocoon of Dementors hidden in a house. He destroyed it with repeated Patronus Charms, freeing the captured souls and causing the freezing mist to recede before he left the village.

• Albert flew into the freezing mist, suspected the Death Eaters had trapped the village, and decided to investigate alone.
• Albert lured the Inferi with a screaming doll, froze them, and shattered the ice sculptures until he had cleared the village.
• Albert followed the Detection Pocket Watch’s warning to a house and tore it apart, revealing a black cocoon he recognized as a Dementor nest.
• Albert sent repeated Patronus orbs into the cocoon until it exploded and released the village residents’ trapped souls.
• The freezing mist began to recede after the cocoon vanished, and Albert left the village once the quest was complete.

Albert showed the association evidence that Death Eaters had massacred a Muggle village, turned the victims into Inferi, and used Dementors to create the freezing mist. The group recognized the atrocity’s danger but agreed that ending the war had to come before a full attack on the Death Eaters.

• Albert showed Lee Jordan, Fred, Cedric, and the others his memories of the frozen village and explained that the mist made a raid too dangerous.
• The group watched Albert uncover a black cocoon that released many ghosts, and he suspected it had been used to hatch Dementors that fed on the villagers and created the mist.
• Shanna warned that the massacre could trigger a war between wizards and Muggles, while Albert urged everyone to keep watching and focus first on ending the war.
• Cedric urged action against the Death Eaters, and Albert said Lee Jordan would report their atrocities but that the group could not wipe them out before the war ended.
• The news prompted little reaction in the British wizarding world or the Order of the Phoenix, and Hermione said she understood why Scrimgeour had wanted to execute Death Eaters and Dark Wizards.

Albert celebrated Christmas with Isabelle, Katrina, and the McDougal family, sharing a festive breakfast and giving Katrina a bottle of his magical wine, Youth and Love. The family gathered around baby Alice, while Mrs. McDougal prepared a surprise meal that Albert helped finish.

• Isabelle woke Albert on Christmas morning, wished him a merry Christmas, and sent him to shower for a special gift.
• Katrina and the house-elves arranged Christmas breakfast while Albert noticed the gifts he had prepared for the association members.
• Albert teased Katrina and gave her a bottle of Youth and Love, an improved Mandrake wine that he said might delay aging.
• Isabelle and Katrina went to the kitchen to see Mrs. McDougal, while Albert introduced Tom to baby Alice.
• Albert ate a piece of cake to help finish Mrs. McDougal's Christmas meal and reassured Isabelle that the food was not so bad.

Albert joined the Association’s Christmas celebration, helped finish its ice-house ballroom, and gave out gifts before the Yule Ball began. He left the ball in Shanna’s care to go somewhere else.

• Albert repaired the Association’s strange Transfigured Christmas tree and placed gifts for the members beneath it, while George prepared joke-filled gift boxes to hand out.
• George gave Albert records as a Christmas present, and Shanna, Cho Chang, and Angelina discussed the ball and the risks of inviting underage shelter residents.
• Albert reinforced and decorated the ice-house ballroom with thick ice, icicles, and blue flames, then helped the Association complete its preparations.
• Albert welcomed the guests, gave a Christmas toast, and began the feast as members danced to music.
• Shanna told Albert that Cedric and Cho Chang planned to marry after the war, and Albert warned her that making such plans could be a bad omen.
• Shanna discussed relationships in the Association with Albert, then Albert said he was leaving and entrusted the celebration to her.

Albert encouraged the shelter residents to organize their own Yule Ball, then arranged a Christmas gathering that brought together the shelter, the Order of the Phoenix, and students hiding at Hogwarts. After delivering food and gifts to the students in the Room of Requirement, he left to check on the shelter.

• Albert told the resentful shelter residents to organize their own party, and Mr. Tonks agreed to oversee it.
• Albert went to the Order of the Phoenix headquarters and persuaded Kingsley to hold a joint Christmas party at the shelter.
• Albert, Kingsley, and Hermione bought food from Muggle shops, while Kingsley refused to let Ron join them.
• Albert brought food, a radio, and Christmas gifts to the students in the Room of Requirement, where they celebrated together.
• Albert left the Room of Requirement to check whether Mr. Tonks was managing the shelter party properly.

Albert warned Harry to prepare carefully before using Liquid Luck to confront The Dark Lord, then revealed to Hermione that Harry was a Horcrux and was prepared to die. Hermione learned that Dumbledore’s plan might allow Harry to survive if The Dark Lord killed him, but left with Ron keeping the secret.

• Harry told Albert that Liquid Luck had helped him control Fiendfyre, and Albert warned him to rehearse his plan before attempting anything dangerous.
• Ron told Harry that Sirius Black was looking for him, and Harry left with Ron.
• Hermione asked Albert why Harry seemed intent on getting himself killed, and Albert revealed that Harry was a Horcrux.
• Albert told Hermione that Harry had likely found the Resurrection Stone and was prepared to die, and he urged her not to tell anyone or try to stop him.
• Hermione asked whether Harry could survive, and Albert said that The Dark Lord killing him might give him a chance.
• Hermione hid the truth from Ron, saying her family might never return to England, and left with him.

At the shelter’s Christmas feast, Albert advised Nelson Tobin about seeking revenge and spoke with Order members about Harry and Dumbledore’s death. The feast brought the groups together, while Albert left to return home and his companions praised his leadership.

• Nelson Tobin told Albert he wanted to fight the Death Eaters for revenge, and Albert warned him of the danger and advised him to practice and master silent spells.
• Mr. Tonks and Sirius spoke with Albert about Nelson’s hatred and Harry’s worries, and Albert suggested giving Harry and his friends more defense training.
• Moody questioned Albert about Dumbledore’s death and Mundungus, and Albert said Snape had killed Dumbledore but directed Moody to Dumbledore’s portrait for further answers.
• At the Christmas feast, Ron shared food with Hermione, Harry danced with Ginny, and Albert told Harry the celebration would help unite everyone.
• Albert left the feast, and Sirius, Lupin, Tonks, and Kingsley praised his leadership and discussed the possibility of him becoming Minister for Magic.

Albert set a trap for Voldemort by leading him to a fake trail for Grigoriovich and arranging an ambush and Auror attack. Voldemort saw through the deception, killed the Aurors who surrounded him, and remained free.

• Isabelle persuaded Albert to leave his work and go to bed, after which he returned to the study and watched Tom Riddle’s location on the map.
• Voldemort broke into Grigoriovich’s house and chased his footprints through repeated Apparition jumps.
• Voldemort returned to the house, entered a hidden Chamber of Secrets, and killed the fake Grigoriovich when the ambush failed.
• Albert’s recorded message wished Tom a Merry Christmas and revealed the gift as Aurors surrounding the house.
• Voldemort fought the Aurors and slaughtered them, dismissing Albert’s plan.

Voldemort returned to England after Albert’s scheme made him a target of European Aurors, then captured Mundungus Fletcher to use against the Order of the Phoenix and Albert. Snape secretly reported Voldemort’s plans to Dumbledore, while Albert learned of the developments and accepted the risks of provoking his enemy.

• Albert’s false Grigoriovich baited Voldemort into killing German Aurors, prompting European Ministries to send Aurors to track him and driving him back to England.
• Voldemort punished Snape and Yaxley for their failures but agreed to their plan to create Inferi and lure out their enemies.
• Death Eaters captured Mundungus Fletcher, and Voldemort searched his mind before controlling him with the Imperius Curse to exploit his contacts.
• Voldemort concealed his true plans for Mundungus because he suspected another spy among the Death Eaters, while Snape and Yaxley believed he meant to attack the Order of the Phoenix.
• Snape told Dumbledore’s portrait about Voldemort’s plans, and Albert learned of them that night without regretting his Christmas scheme.

After Mundungus Fletcher was captured by Voldemort, Albert divined ominous images and warned the Order of the Phoenix and the Defense Association. The Order learned that Voldemort had returned to England and moved Mrs. Figg to safety, while Mundungus remained in the Death Eaters’ hands.

• Albert divined Mundungus’s capture and saw Dark Marks above a familiar snow-covered village.
• Albert sent emergency warnings about Mundungus to the Order of the Phoenix and the Defense Association.
• Bill and Fleur woke the Order to report that Mundungus had been captured by the Death Eaters.
• Harry explained that Voldemort had targeted Mundungus to gather intelligence on the Order.
• The Order decided to move Mrs. Figg to headquarters and mobilized to escort her safely.

After Mundungus revealed the Order of the Phoenix’s secrets, Harry and several members went to move Mrs. Figg to safety, but Voldemort ambushed them. Harry dueled Voldemort and triggered a strange connection between their wands before Voldemort fled, leaving his wand behind.

• Hestia told Mrs. Figg that Mundungus had been captured and the Order planned to move her somewhere safe, and Harry urged her to leave with them.
• The Detection Pocket Watch warned the Order that a dark wizard was approaching, and Moody identified the figure as Voldemort.
• Voldemort revealed that Mundungus had given up Mrs. Figg’s location, then Harry challenged him to a duel despite Sirius Black’s protests.
• Harry blocked Voldemort’s Avada Kedavra with the Disarming Charm, and their wands connected with a golden light until an Order member fired another Killing Curse at Voldemort.
• Voldemort vanished, leaving his yew wand behind; Harry snapped it and ordered the Order to return to headquarters.

After Voldemort ambushed the Order of the Phoenix, Albert warned the Defense Association that Mundungus might lead the Death Eaters to their safe house and proposed using the threat to prepare a trap. Harry and the others learned that his wand and Voldemort’s were Brother Wands whose connection had triggered Priori Incantatem, while Albert questioned whether the phenomenon was truly explained by their shared Phoenix feathers.

• Albert told Fred, George, and Lee Jordan that Voldemort had captured Mundungus and might use him to locate the Defense Association’s safe house.
• Albert proposed sending supplies through Fidelius-protected shelters and said he might use Voldemort’s attempt to track them to spring a surprise.
• Fred told Albert that Harry and the others planned to ask Ollivander about the previous night’s wand connection.
• Ollivander explained that Harry’s wand and Voldemort’s shared feathers from Fawkes, making them Brother Wands capable of triggering Priori Incantatem.
• Harry called Voldemort his mortal enemy and hinted that he wanted to speak privately with Albert.
• Albert questioned Ollivander’s explanation, and Ollivander said he believed the two tail feathers were special; Albert suspected the connection was an accidental coincidence.

Albert told Harry that his connection to Voldemort might let him survive if Voldemort killed him, creating a chance to defeat the Dark Lord. Ginny overheard Harry accept the possibility of dying, and the chapter ended with Albert leaving the shelter after Hermione defended Ginny's right to know.

• Albert refused to rescue Mundungus and told Sirius Black and the others to train the students and help Harry master the Fiendfyre Curse.
• Harry asked Albert about the connection between his wand and Voldemort's, and Albert explained that Harry's scar, his mother's protection, and Voldemort's use of Harry's blood could help him survive Voldemort's killing curse.
• Albert told Harry that Voldemort might destroy the soul fragment inside Harry by killing him, leaving Voldemort vulnerable after the other Horcruxes were destroyed.
• Harry said he would accept dying if it meant taking Voldemort down, and Ginny revealed she had overheard him.
• Harry apologized to Ginny, who said she did not regret their relationship, while Hermione told Albert that Ginny deserved to know the truth.
• Albert left the shelter after warning Hermione that good intentions could lead to bad results.