Chapter Summaries

Georgiana reflected on mercy, power, and her plans for a maze before Septimus Malfoy confronted her over giving the castle to the French Ministry of Magic. Bonaparte later took her to lunch, where they discussed Rembrandt and the painting Girl with a Pearl Earring, leaving its return unresolved.

• Georgiana considered helping the Jiyin People and planned passages in her maze to channel dangerous magic into a powerful core.
• Septimus Malfoy angrily told Georgiana that the French Ministry planned to use the castle as a Border Management Bureau for illegal immigrants.
• Georgiana offered Carolan Lestrange a different castle for her uncle, but Carolan said he had already chosen his office in this one.
• Bonaparte surprised Georgiana by spinning her around and taking her to lunch in the ruined fortress.
• Georgiana tasted Bonaparte's bland Hungarian goulash and added salt after he forgot it.
• Georgiana asked Bonaparte to visit Rembrandt's grave and return Girl with a Pearl Earring, and he agreed not to take another painting but did not promise to return it.

Georgiana considered the political and commercial disputes surrounding the Wizarding summit, then dreamed of Albus Dumbledore questioning her about how to contain nonexistence. After waking, she developed a plan for a vast Deluminator beneath Paris and a labyrinth to trap it, and shared the design with Carolan.

• Georgiana accompanied Bonaparte to feed the winged horses, and he discussed Britain’s plans for South America and France’s colonial and naval position.
• Bonaparte left Georgiana in a castle sitting room after lighting the fireplace, saying he was going to find the “French Raven.”
• In a dream, Albus Dumbledore asked Georgiana how evil thoughts and nonexistence could be stopped, and she realized a Deluminator could serve as a container.
• Georgiana woke before the meeting and wrote down a plan to build an enormous Deluminator beneath Paris, strengthen its core, and surround it with a Möbius-strip labyrinth.
• Georgiana gave her design to Carolan and said the Department of Mysteries now had a counterpart.

Georgiana reflected on Harry Potter’s past, the nature of magic and nonexistence, and the dangers of wizarding policy before deciding to adjourn the summit. The meeting ended without a fight, while the question of Britain’s relationship with the International Confederation of Wizards remained unresolved.

• Georgiana considered how Ron had returned to Harry after hearing Hermione’s voice through the Deluminator and reflected on the events surrounding the Sword of Gryffindor.
• Georgiana questioned whether Harry had truly been a Horcrux and connected her memories of Lyall Meyer and Dementors to the nature of nonexistence and mental chaos.
• Georgiana judged that the summit had achieved its main goal of addressing joint action against Scourers who could summon Garudas, while Britain’s other political questions remained open.
• Georgiana paused the ongoing discussions and announced that the summit was adjourned, leaving the next meeting’s location undecided.
• Georgiana glanced at Malfoy as she left the conference room, relieved that no one had started fighting.

Georgiana returned to the hotel and confronted Bonaparte about his terms for restoring the castle, while their teasing conversation exposed their jealousy and unresolved feelings. After Georgiana said her business was settled, Bonaparte insisted they wait for the city hall paperwork and revealed that her guardian would be the person who gave her the earrings.

• Georgiana returned to the hotel and found Bonaparte reading, then asked what terms he had promised for the castle’s return.
• Bonaparte questioned Georgiana about remembering Vendémiaire, and she explained that she was grateful to him while refusing to forget his kindness.
• Georgiana and Bonaparte teased each other by the fire, and she asked whether he cared about her and whether she had acted for him.
• Bonaparte asked whether the madman planning to destroy Paris was Vendémiaire, then warned that he would not return spoils of war.
• Georgiana said they could leave the next day, but Bonaparte insisted they wait for the city hall paperwork and said the person who gave her the earrings would serve as her guardian.

Georgiana traveled through Belgium with her new guardian, Richard Lovell Edgeworth, while reflecting on public works, war, and the way heroes relied on villains to make themselves look righteous. At Calais, she realized Bonaparte had misunderstood her warning: she had meant Grindelwald, not Severus, as the one who might destroy Paris.

• Richard Lovell Edgeworth signed the documents making him Georgiana's guardian and joined her voyage aboard the Pomona.
• Georgiana and Richard traveled from Calais toward Ostend, with plans to visit Belgian cities and the Netherlands before returning to Paris.
• Richard discussed Dublin's Customs House and canal projects with Georgiana, and showed her carriage designs that helped her understand his interest in becoming her guardian.
• Georgiana considered the costs of infrastructure and the way nations justified wars by presenting themselves as heroes fighting villains.
• Georgiana looked at Calais's coastline and realized Bonaparte had misunderstood her warning about someone destroying Paris: she had meant Grindelwald, not Severus.

Georgiana accompanied Bonaparte to Ostend, where he attended a ceremony and she endured a crowded opera performance. Afterward, she learned that Napoleon had fallen ill, and she was left unable to visit him or use magic to help.

• Bonaparte, Georgiana, and Edgeworth arrived in Ostend and were escorted through the city to Nerva Palace.
• Bonaparte toured the old battlefield while Georgiana stayed behind and learned that Matilda had not arrived.
• Georgiana and Edgeworth attended a welcoming performance at Jupiter Palace, where Bonaparte left during intermission.
• Duroc told Georgiana that Napoleon had gone to see a doctor with a stomach ailment and was resting after taking medicine.
• The Imperial Guard stopped Georgiana from visiting Napoleon, and she wondered whether healing magic could be used on a Muggle.

Georgiana learned that Napoleon was tightening state control over the clergy, while Pope Pius’s response and Napoleon’s illness raised fears about the First Consul’s fate. On her way to meet Father Grégoire, she questioned Matilda about a troubling dream of Anbar and discovered that Stumm had been guarding her bedroom door at night.

• Ledrell told Georgiana that Napoleon planned to put the clergy under state control and that Father Grégoire had arrived at Medusa Hall.
• Georgiana dismissed the idea that Napoleon’s illness came from a curse and asked Ledrell where Grégoire was staying.
• Georgiana brought Matilda with her and learned that Matilda had dreamed of Anbar staring at her after their arrival in Calais.
• Matilda said Constant entered Georgiana’s bedroom first each morning and that Stumm slept outside her door with a knife each night.
• Georgiana sent Matilda to summon Stumm and continued toward Medusa Hall with a court attendant.

Georgiana met Father Grégoire at Medusa Hall, where they discussed the costs and purpose of the new industrial exhibition venue. Grégoire revealed that the design competition had attracted international architects and asked to join the judging.

• Georgiana entered Medusa Hall and greeted Grégoire, who compared her appearance to Marie Antoinette and then to a rose.
• Grégoire challenged Georgiana’s plans for a new industrial exhibition venue and asked why the exhibition could not use existing sites.
• Georgiana defended the project, insisting that the new venue would be built despite its expense.
• Grégoire explained that he had intended to create an exhibition hall at the Arts and Crafts Museum and had added the threshing machine to its collection.
• Grégoire told Georgiana that James Gandon and other foreign designers had entered the competition, then asked to take part in judging it.

Georgiana and Grégoire toured Bruges, discussing its history, waterways, and the challenges of dredging the canals. After naming her castle Stolas Castle and worrying about its future, Georgiana headed to the Hall of Victory to deal with a “Shadow.”

• Georgiana and Grégoire left the library and toured the Summer Palace, where he gave her a bird-call box.
• Georgiana considered Bruges’s trade history and the canal dredging needed to improve Ostend and Bruges’s waterways.
• Georgiana reflected on religious relics, doctrines of the afterlife, and the difficulties Napoleon faced in finding funds for canal work.
• Georgiana named her castle Stolas Castle and hoped it would not become a prison like Nurmengard.
• Georgiana parted from Grégoire and, carrying the bird-call box, went to the Hall of Victory to deal with a “Shadow.”

After questioning Stumm about Margarita’s scream, Georgiana returned to her quarters exhausted and slept. She dreamed Napoleon led her through a restored gallery in a waltz, then woke alone and resolved to remain independent.

• Georgiana questioned Stumm about why he had not guarded Margarita’s bedroom, and used Legilimency to discover that he had heard her reading aloud.
• Stumm said he had left the door because an aide-de-camp was already there, but he could not say where Anbar had been.
• Georgiana ordered the guard strengthened, asked for a Pensieve, and went to sleep after telling Carolan to wake her in two hours.
• Napoleon appeared in Georgiana’s dream, led her through the Venus Gallery, and danced with her in the Hall of Victory.
• Georgiana woke alone, declared that she would be like Elizabeth rather than Catherine the Great, and opened the birdsong box Grégoire had given her.

Georgiana examined Matilda’s memory for clues about Anbar’s dream, then read Nick’s travelogue about injustice in Qing China and searched for information on Jiyin. She found a claim about blue blood in dreams and noticed that her tea had turned blue from butterfly pea flowers.

• Georgiana reflected on Bonaparte’s illness and the danger that fear of monsters posed to those around him.
• Georgiana extracted a memory from Matilda and asked her to store it in her suitcase for later examination.
• Georgiana read Nick’s account of corruption, unjust punishments, and violent disputes in Qing China.
• Georgiana searched the travelogue for Jiyin and found a claim that blood shed in dreams was blue.
• Georgiana discovered that butterfly pea flowers had turned her black tea blue.

Georgiana considered the clues surrounding the curse and asked Rose Bertin about Monsieur Carabas, learning of his charm, debts, and past. Bertin and Matilda urged Georgiana to visit the ill First Consul, and Georgiana finally left to see him.

• Georgiana studied the map of Bruges and reflected on Holy Blood, blue blood, and the danger posed by the curse.
• Rose Bertin told Georgiana that Monsieur Carabas had bewitched girls, owned a vineyard, kept scorpions, and once fled to Spain after townspeople besieged his estate.
• Bertin recalled the Regent’s public devotion to Maria and challenged Georgiana to visit the First Consul if she cared about him.
• Matilda echoed Bertin’s challenge, and Georgiana changed clothes and left under cover of darkness to visit the First Consul.

Georgiana hurried through the Summer Palace while a procession of red-robed shadows followed her, reflecting on the nature of inspiration, murder, and the danger of becoming like what one feared. She realized she could not escape by running faster and had to keep moving as the shadows closed in.

• Georgiana recalled Harry Potter's Invisibility Cloak and Albus's decision to let Harry use it during his first year.
• Georgiana walked through the freezing corridors of the Summer Palace and repeatedly heard something heavy being dragged behind her.
• Georgiana considered death, suffering, religious sacrifice, and the difference between murderous hatred and instinctive killing.
• Georgiana reconsidered her belief that the shadow's new existence fed on evil thoughts, deciding that inspiration might be its food.
• Georgiana saw red-robed figures emerge from the darkness and follow her, and she feared that fighting them might make her a monster.
• Georgiana kept striding around the connected palace courtyards, wary that running too fast would bring her back to her own shadow.

Georgiana investigated the red figures haunting the palace and realized they were connected to a lost feather associated with Marie Antoinette. After checking on Bonaparte, she decided to contact Josephine’s former seer for help.

• Georgiana set a magical trap for the red figures, but they passed through a mirror and one of them took a decorative axe before she disarmed him.
• Georgiana used Lumos to make the figures vanish and connected them to the missing egret feather once praised by Marie Antoinette.
• Georgiana hurried toward Napoleon’s quarters and encountered her new guardian, Richard Edgeworth, who warned her to go back inside.
• Georgiana forced her way into Bonaparte’s room, found him alone and sweating in bed, and kissed his forehead before leaving.
• Georgiana remembered Josephine’s female seer and decided to seek her out, hoping to use magical long-distance communication.

Georgiana adjusted her clothes, studied French and Belgium’s linguistic divisions, and considered how Richard Edgeworth’s tracked carriage might serve Napoleon’s plans. She reflected on Edgeworth’s troubled past and on the difficulty of bringing change to people who did not want it.

• Georgiana had Layla and one of Bertin’s seamstresses take over the palace registration office, then worked with Bertin to alter her clothes.
• Georgiana visited Napoleoni, who still had a stomachache, and later practiced French with Grégoire, who explained Belgium’s linguistic divisions and his goal of promoting French.
• Georgiana considered Marie Antoinette’s ghost, Napoleon’s relationship with Josephine, and the possibility that Fiendfyre might drive the spirit away.
• Georgiana visited Richard Edgeworth and examined how his tracked carriage could cross rough ground and move cargo, while worrying that its use might cost dockworkers their jobs.
• Georgiana recalled Edgeworth’s inventions, his life in Ireland, and the warning that had forced him to flee amid political unrest.
• Georgiana reflected on religious authority, social change, and whether her plans to promote sugar beet cultivation in Belgium were naive.

Georgiana discussed plans for Freyja Courtyard and teased Feilier over an anonymous love poem before Bonaparte summoned her. She rejected his offer to buy her art as compensation, and their conversation ended with Bonaparte recovering and their plans for Christmas still unsettled.

• Georgiana planned to turn Freyja Courtyard into a hotel with sports facilities and a nearby racetrack and casino.
• Feilier kept an anonymous love poem despite Georgiana’s order to burn it and threatened to show it to Bonaparte.
• Anbar summoned Georgiana to Medusa Hall, where Bonaparte asked how her talks with Grégoire had gone and discussed Christmas plans.
• Bonaparte said Pauline had returned with Leclerc’s body and that he wanted to give Dermide a happier Christmas; Georgiana agreed to postpone their visit to Rembrandt’s grave.
• Bonaparte offered to buy Rembrandt’s works for Georgiana, but she said she would use the money to pay the plant hunter’s commission.

In Ostend, Georgiana broke down over her unhappy position, but Richard Edgeworth encouraged her to write down her thoughts. She regained some composure and invited him to explore Belgian food, while reflecting that staying away from Britain might spare her from restrictive fashions.

• Georgiana remembered her past with Severus and Draco and Astoria, then grew angry over her present life as a princess and smashed objects around the room.
• Richard Edgeworth found Georgiana distressed, and she told him that his daughters should never become someone else's mistress.
• Edgeworth urged Georgiana to write honestly and offered her a fountain pen, but she chose a quill and wrote privately.
• Georgiana refused to show Edgeworth what she had written, then compared herself to The Little Mermaid and said she might choose the same fate.
• Georgiana invited Edgeworth to walk with her and find Belgian food, joking about her loose Ionian dress and Britain's corsets.

Georgiana and Richard discussed politics, gossip, and her feelings about Mr. Smith while traveling by sea toward England. Richard urged her to trust that Mr. Smith cared for her, then joked about the danger of Napoleon crossing the Channel.

• Richard gave Georgiana Belgian fries and mussels and questioned whether beer merchants supported her orphan-funding tax for charitable reasons.
• Richard told Georgiana she would lead the rest of the journey while the First Consul played a supporting role, and she realized Napoleon had said he would mourn Leclerc.
• Georgiana refused to explain why she had left her husband until Richard pressed her, then admitted she had left because she could not bear the thought of his former love.
• Georgiana explained that another woman had judged Mr. Smith's feelings by his allowing Wormtail to remain alive, and Richard advised her to believe the woman.
• Richard said Pete called Georgiana the Earl of Aberdeen's wife and warned her not to break Mr. Smith's heart, then joked about the Archbishop of Dublin being named Troy.

The chapter examined Belgium’s beer trade and infrastructure, Dublin’s decline after the Act of Union, and Ireland’s uneasy security before returning to the woman sewing clothes for Julien’s statue. It ended with Bonaparte finding her at work and gently leading her away.

• Belgian residents were urged to support local beer and canal dredging, while British brewers sought access to Belgium’s market.
• The Act of Union took effect on January 1, 1801, but George III’s opposition to Catholic emancipation prompted Pete and Cornwallis to resign, while Archbishop Troy remained in Dublin.
• Richard Edgeworth received a deadly warning after supporting the union, and British authorities built twenty-six small coastal forts around Dublin.
• She and Bertin settled on a hunting outfit for Julien’s statue, though they struggled to devise shoes for its welded feet.
• Bonaparte arrived as she worked, mistook the clothes for Dermide, and led her out after telling her to stop sewing by lamplight.

Georgiana reflected on the political and economic forces shaping France and Belgium, then connected Hector’s farewell to his son with the peaceful gift she had chosen for Little William. The chapter ended as Bertin presented Georgiana with the finished gown she had commissioned as a gift for a goddess.

• Georgiana considered Belgium’s dependence on military strength, the limits of political promises, and the economic consequences of trade, industry, and colonial agriculture.
• She reflected on Napoleon’s difficulties with steel imports and the possible unrest among workers and miners.
• Hector rebuked Paris for avoiding battle, and Paris promised to join him while Helen lamented her role in their misfortune.
• Georgiana placed Little William’s clothes in her sewing box and thought about Hector’s blessing and the bracelet matching Napoleon’s.
• Bertin and the seamstresses brought Georgiana her finished gown, which she said had been made as a gift for a goddess.