Chapter Summaries

Snape reported Hogwarts’s fall to Voldemort as the Death Eaters learned that the Order of the Phoenix was mobilizing against them. Albert Anderson attacked Voldemort’s headquarters to kill Snape, but Voldemort protected him and Snape escaped, leaving Albert and Voldemort to begin their duel.

• Snape told Voldemort that the Order of the Phoenix had taken Hogwarts, while Alecto reported that Hogsmeade had also fallen.
• Yaxley warned Voldemort that the Order was calling English wizards to rise up and that foreign Aurors might be preparing to intervene.
• Voldemort ordered Yaxley to track the Auror alliance and McNeil to gather Death Eaters and Dark Wizards for an attack.
• After the meeting, Voldemort kept Snape behind and spoke of an important task tied to their final victory.
• Albert Anderson attacked Voldemort’s headquarters and targeted Snape, but Voldemort shielded him and ordered him to escape.
• Snape Apparated away, and Albert and Voldemort faced each other among the ruins as their duel began.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron discussed how to steal and destroy Hufflepuff's Cup from Gringotts, debating the goblins, backup plans, and the risks of using Fiendfyre. They left the details to confirm with Albert and planned to scout Gringotts, while Harry remained willing to accept any consequences to destroy Voldemort's Horcrux.

• Ron warned Harry and Hermione that the goblins might betray them and suggested Albert use the Imperius Curse to control them.
• Hermione and Harry reassured Ron that Albert would ensure their plan succeeded, and Harry said someone would need to hold Voldemort off during the break-in.
• Harry and Hermione planned to consult Albert, take Gryffindor's Sword to meet the goblins, and scout Gringotts before the heist.
• Harry and Hermione discussed using house-elves or Fiendfyre as backup ways to reach Hufflepuff's Cup if the goblins could not help them.
• Ron warned Harry that burning the Lestrange vault would bring serious consequences, but Harry said he would take responsibility if it became necessary.
• Hermione urged Harry to trust Albert and said they would defeat Voldemort and survive the war together.

Yaxley gathered the Death Eaters to analyze Wizard Watchtower’s repeated hints of an impending announcement, and Snape suspected the broadcast was meant to distract them from a more important plan. The meeting ended with the Death Eaters considering a possible international threat, while Snape suspected Yaxley and Voldemort were being led into a trap.

• Yaxley summoned the Death Eaters to listen to a Wizard Watchtower broadcast that repeatedly promised an important announcement.
• McNeil asked whether Albert was preparing a major conspiracy, and Yaxley ordered heightened surveillance and reserve forces.
• Snape argued that the broadcast might be a distraction concealing another operation and warned that Albert rarely acted without purpose.
• The Death Eaters speculated that Albert might persuade European Ministries to send Aurors against them, possibly through the Imperius Curse.
• Snape suspected that someone intended to lead Yaxley and Voldemort into a prepared trap.

The Death Eaters grew alarmed as Kingsley secured the European Ministries’ cooperation in a plan designed to pressure them, while Albert explained how their fear would make them fall into the trap. Albert planned to act on Friday night, leaving open whether Harry Potter would defeat Voldemort or Albert would finish the task himself.

• The Death Eaters, led by Yaxley, used Legilimency and Veritaserum to seek information as they feared a European Auror intervention.
• Kingsley secured the International Confederation of Wizards’ cooperation by promising limited aid and a false story about a joint Auror force.
• Albert told Kingsley that the arrangement only needed to pressure the Death Eaters and buy the Alliance time.
• Albert explained to Katrina and Isabelle that the Death Eaters would monitor the supposed Auror force even if they suspected a trap, because they could not afford to gamble.
• Albert said he would make his move on Friday night and would let Harry Potter face Voldemort if Harry succeeded, otherwise using Dumbledore’s ultimate weapon himself.

Harry said goodbye to Ginny and set out with Hermione and Ron to retrieve Hufflepuff’s Goblet from Gringotts, while Albert organized the larger operation against Voldemort. The plan was set to begin in half an hour, with Harry’s mission and the allies’ assault on Hogwarts intended to bring the war to a decisive end.

• Harry proposed to Ginny, gave her a key for safekeeping, and told her to stay away from Hogwarts during the mission.
• Albert gave Harry, Hermione, and Ron Liquid Luck and explained that Ravenclaw’s Diadem had already been destroyed, leaving Hufflepuff’s Goblet as the final Horcrux.
• Dobby Apparated Harry, Hermione, and Ron away to infiltrate Gringotts and seize or destroy the Goblet.
• Albert told Fred and the others to prepare the allies’ operation, which would begin half an hour after the trio’s departure.
• Kingsley reported that about a third of the Aurors would not join them, and Albert assigned Fred and George to lead a group after Harry completed his mission.
• Albert said he would meet someone before going to keep an eye on Voldemort.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione made an Unbreakable Vow with Gringotts goblins to trade Gryffindor's Sword for Hufflepuff's Goblet, then infiltrated Gringotts with Griphook. They reached the dragon guarding the Lestrange Vault, where Harry prepared to deal with it.

• Harry offered Gryffindor's Sword to two goblins and agreed to make an Unbreakable Vow in exchange for their help retrieving Hufflepuff's Goblet from the Lestrange Vault.
• Harry, Hermione, and Ron disguised themselves with Polyjuice Potion and entered Gringotts with Griphook, using the Imperius Curse to bypass guards and control the cart driver.
• Hermione told Griphook they had prepared broomsticks, while he warned them that a dragon guarded the Lestrange Vault and that only Bogrod could open its door by touching it.
• The group passed underground checkpoints and followed Griphook through the tunnels toward the Lestrange Vault, aiming to act before the goblins discovered their intrusion.
• A chained dragon breathed fire at the group from around a passage bend, and Harry declared that it was only a living target.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron killed the dragon guarding the Lestrange vault and destroyed the vault’s contents to eliminate Hufflepuff’s Cup, a Horcrux. Voldemort sensed the Horcrux’s destruction, and the trio escaped as Gringotts’ guards arrived.

• Harry used Devil’s Fire to kill the chained dragon while Hermione and Ron helped control the flames.
• Griphook identified the Lestrange vault, and Harry burned through its door after Griphook warned them about its enchantments.
• Harry abandoned the search for Hufflepuff’s Cup and destroyed the vault’s treasures with Devil’s Fire after giving Gryffindor’s Sword to Griphook.
• Harry sensed Voldemort’s rage and fear as the destroyed Horcrux revealed itself in the flames.
• Ron warned that Gringotts’ guards had arrived, and Harry drank a Vitality Tonic before summoning Dobby to take them away.

The Defense Association and Order of the Phoenix seized Hogsmeade through a series of ambushes, killing the Dark Wizards who resisted. After securing the village, they prepared for reinforcements and coordinated the wider resistance, while Kingsley’s effort to recruit the Aurors remained unresolved.

• The Defense Association lured Dark Wizards into successive ambushes, killed more than twenty in minutes, and drove off the Dementors with Patronuses.
• Fred and Bill discussed the group’s tactics as George ordered the captured Dark Wizards finished off, with Nelson Tobin carrying out the executions to avenge his murdered family.
• Abforth signaled that Hogsmeade had been taken, and the survivors searched the bodies and buried them in a mass grave outside the village.
• George reported that Lee Jordan was gathering allies and that Hogwarts students had been evacuated while Hagrid, Firenze, and the centaurs prepared to help defend the area.
• Abforth took responsibility for receiving incoming allies, while Fred and George said Kingsley would soon persuade the hesitant Aurors to join.

Kingsley gathered the Aurors at a safe house after Lee Jordan’s broadcast exposed Scrimgeour’s final words and the Aurors’ supposed allegiance to Voldemort. He warned them that joining the final battle was their last chance to escape being branded traitors, then explained that their role was to give Harry an opening to defeat Voldemort at Hogwarts.

• Aurors rushed to Scrimgeour’s safe house after Lee Jordan’s broadcast revealed Scrimgeour’s final words and claimed the Aurors had been pretending to serve Voldemort.
• Kingsley arrived alone and told the gathered Aurors that the broadcast was true and that the final battle against Voldemort would begin that night.
• Kingsley warned the Aurors that refusing to join the battle would leave them branded as traitors after Voldemort was defeated.
• When the Aurors doubted that Harry could defeat Voldemort, Kingsley said their task was to create a fair chance for Harry to duel him.
• Kingsley revealed that Dumbledore had found a way to kill Voldemort for good and that Harry was carrying out the task Dumbledore had left behind.

Harry revealed to the Aurors that Voldemort’s immortality depended on Horcruxes and that the final one was hidden at Hogwarts. He left them with little choice but to help buy time for its destruction and the final battle.

• Harry arrived at the safe house and learned Kingsley had not persuaded the Aurors to join the fight.
• Harry sent the Defense Association members outside before explaining Voldemort’s Horcruxes to the Aurors.
• Harry said he and Dumbledore had destroyed five Horcruxes, while the last one remained at Hogwarts.
• Harry explained that the final Horcrux had been kept as bait to draw Voldemort to Hogwarts and asked the Aurors to buy time.
• Kingsley warned the Aurors that Voldemort would target anyone who knew his secret, and Harry cautioned them against trying to make Horcruxes.

The Death Eaters learned that the European Auror force was a deception and that the Ministry Aurors had joined the Order of the Phoenix. Voldemort summoned his followers and ordered an attack on Hogwarts, then killed Cinkness when he questioned the plan.

• Snape, Yaxley, and Alecto discussed Voldemort’s disappearance and the danger posed by the foreign Auror coalition.
• Walton McNeil reported that the joint Auror force was a trap meant to hold the Death Eaters back while helping the Order of the Phoenix.
• Cinkness announced that the Ministry of Magic’s Aurors had likely joined the Order, following Scrimgeour’s plan.
• Voldemort summoned the Death Eaters and ordered them to gather their forces and attack Hogwarts.
• Voldemort killed Cinkness with the Killing Curse when Cinkness asked what they should do about the European Auror force.

As Voldemort’s forces prepared to attack Hogwarts, Albert strengthened the school’s defenses and explained that Voldemort had to come because his final treasure was hidden there. The students and defenders were told to rest before Albert’s final mobilization speech, while Professor McGonagall was urged to use the Founders’ spell against invaders.

• Families rushed to Hogsmeade seeking their children, but Robards ordered them to leave and had several troublemakers stunned and taken to The Three Broomsticks.
• Williamson reported that only thirteen people were willing to join the Aurors, most of them Order of the Phoenix supporters or parents of Dumbledore’s Army members.
• Albert helped reinforce Hogwarts with a powerful barrier, and an Inferius sent by the Death Eaters was vaporized while testing it.
• Professor McGonagall asked whether Voldemort would attack Hogwarts, and Albert explained that Voldemort’s final treasure there left him no choice.
• Albert said the defenders should rest in the Great Hall before his final speech and reminded McGonagall to use the Founders’ spell against outside enemies.

Professor McGonagall awakened Hogwarts’ statues and suits of armor to defend the castle while Albert met Harry and delivered Snape’s memories. Harry remained resolved to die taking Voldemort with him, and Dumbledore could not promise that he would survive.

• Albert reminded Professor McGonagall that the founders had left a spell to awaken Hogwarts’ statues and armor, and she used it to send them marching toward the castle gates.
• Professor McGonagall explained to Sirius and Professor Flitwick that the statues and armor followed their original instructions and could not be controlled directly.
• Albert Apparated to the Headmaster’s office, where Harry had spoken with Dumbledore’s portrait and taken the Resurrection Stone from the Golden Snitch.
• Albert gave Harry the vial of Snape’s memories and said Snape might die while trying to take Voldemort with him.
• Harry said he accepted that he had to die, while Albert and Dumbledore acknowledged that no one could guarantee whether he would survive Voldemort’s killing curse.

Albert and Dumbledore tried to prepare Harry for his planned confrontation with Voldemort, while Albert argued that defeating Voldemort and the Death Eaters was necessary for lasting peace. Harry learned that Voldemort's use of his blood and the Horcrux connection might keep him alive as long as Voldemort lived, leaving him with renewed hope before the battle.

• Harry asked Albert why he could not duel Voldemort early and avoid a full-scale battle.
• Albert argued that Voldemort and the Death Eaters had to be defeated to protect Harry's family and friends and secure lasting peace.
• Albert reminded Harry that his child with Ginny was about to be born and urged him not to assume he would die.
• Harry asked whether he could survive, and Dumbledore explained that Voldemort's blood and the Horcrux tied their lives together.
• Dumbledore admitted he had withheld his theory because he feared giving Harry false hope, and Harry felt relieved.

Robards learned from Abforth that the International Confederation of Wizards would not send its joint Auror force to fight Voldemort, leaving the defenders to carry out Albert’s plan without outside reinforcements. As the Aurors prepared for an attack in Hogsmeade, nearly one hundred Dementors swept toward the village as the enemy’s vanguard.

• Robards asked Abforth whether the International Confederation of Wizards’ joint Auror force would come to help defend Hogsmeade.
• Abforth told Robards and the Aurors that the joint force had only been a pretext to buy time and would arrive, if at all, after Voldemort’s defeat.
• Abforth warned the Aurors that Voldemort would likely send his followers to storm Hogwarts, where his precious treasure was hidden, while they bought Harry Potter time.
• A spell burst into red sparks at the edge of Hogsmeade, alerting the defenders to an enemy attack.
• Nearly one hundred Dementors surged toward Hogsmeade as the attackers’ vanguard.

Abforth led the Aurors in Hogsmeade as they repelled the Dementors and raised a Protective Barrier that trapped the Dark Wizards who had breached the village. After the Aurors subdued the trapped attackers, Nelson Tobin and Abforth finished them off, while the larger battle remained unresolved.

• Abforth ordered the Aurors who could cast Patronuses to summon them, driving the Dementors away from Hogsmeade.
• Dark Wizards bombarded the village with fireballs and explosions, but Abforth’s Aurors raised a Protective Barrier that cut off most of the attackers outside.
• The barrier trapped the Dark Wizards inside Hogsmeade, and the Aurors subdued them with their superior numbers.
• Abforth reminded the Aurors that they should not leave captured enemies alive, and Nelson Tobin appeared and killed the incapacitated Dark Wizards.
• Abforth joined Nelson Tobin in finishing off the remaining attackers.

Abforth and Nielsen Tobin prepared the Aurors to face Dark Wizards in Hogsmeade while Voldemort’s forces battered the Protective Barrier. After the barrier fell and the Dark Wizards charged through the ruined village, Abforth’s group sprang their trap and bombarded them without a shield to protect them.

• Nielsen Tobin told Abforth that he planned to become an Auror and hunt surviving Death Eaters after the war.
• Abforth urged the Aurors to attack the Dark Wizards in Hogsmeade, while Nielsen Tobin mocked their reluctance and explained Albert had considered them unreliable.
• Dark spells battered Hogsmeade’s Protective Barrier until it cracked and collapsed.
• The Dark Wizards bombarded Hogsmeade Village, reducing it to rubble, then charged in with Dementors leading the way.
• Abforth’s group attacked the Dark Wizards among the ruins with spells, catching them in a trap without a Protective Barrier to shield them.

Abforth and the Aurors used Albert's plan to defeat successive Death Eater attacks on Hogsmeade, while Voldemort sent Walton McNeil to deal with the defenders. McNeil arrived to find the village protected by a formidable barrier and recognized that another costly trap might await his forces.

• The Aurors and Abforth wiped out the Dark Wizards and drove off the Dementors, then prepared to ambush another attacking force.
• Abforth dismissed Robards's warning and used his Detection Pocket Watch to locate the next group of enemies.
• After nearly a hundred Dark Wizards died, Alecto Carrow reported to Voldemort that Hogsmeade was bait set by Albert.
• Voldemort punished Alecto but sent Walton McNeil to lead an assault, while keeping Snape behind to help organize the attack on Hogwarts.
• Alecto warned McNeil about the previous defeat, and he arrived to find the Aurors sheltered behind a sturdy Protective Barrier.

Alecto Carrow’s force was wiped out in Albert Anderson’s trap at Hogsmeade, and Albert withdrew the Aurors to Hogwarts before Voldemort arrived. Voldemort prepared to assault Hogwarts and sent Severus on a solitary mission to help him master the Deathstick.

• McNeil tried to flee with news for Voldemort, but Alecto used the Imperius Curse to force him to lead the reserves into a final attack.
• Robards and several Aurors killed McNeil, while Nelson Tobin ambushed and killed Alecto during the battle.
• Albert and the Defense Association defeated the attackers, then ushered the Aurors into a suitcase and returned toward Hogwarts.
• Voldemort arrived at the ruined Hogsmeade battlefield, ordered Yaxley to begin a full-scale assault on Hogwarts in ten minutes, and sent Severus on a task at the Shrieking Shack.

Voldemort confronted Snape over the Deathstick as the dark wizards attacked Hogwarts with Inferi and spells. Snape killed Albert after foiling his escape, leaving the castle under assault and the wand’s mastery unresolved.

• Voldemort told Snape that the Deathstick would not serve him properly until he became its true master.
• The dark wizards sent Inferi into Hogwarts and bombarded the Protective Barrier while Albert warned the defenders and released the Order of the Phoenix's mark.
• Albert attacked Snape and tried to Apparate, but Snape stopped him and overpowered his spell.
• Albert accepted the killing curse, and Snape destroyed his body with Fiendfyre to conceal what had happened.
• The Protective Barrier collapsed as spells struck Hogwarts, and Professor Slughorn drank Liquid Luck while Professor Flitwick said Snape had arrived.