Chapter Summaries

Pomona, Filius, and Severus tried to find a way to dissect the Basilisk, but its body resisted their spells and acid. Elsewhere, Georgiana wrote a letter refusing to return to a man and left her feelings unresolved.

• Pomona and the House-elves found tents in the Room of Requirement, and Honey told her Filius was waiting.
• Filius opened the Chamber of Secrets entrance, and Pomona and Severus joined him beside the Basilisk's corpse.
• Filius and Severus tried lifting, cutting, and dissolving the Basilisk, but none of their methods could penetrate its body.
• Pomona considered Harry's talent and Neville's difficulty with advanced magic as the group prepared to discuss the failed dissection.
• Georgiana wrote a letter explaining why she would not return to a man, let tears blur its final line, and placed it in the Trembling Flower.

Albus discussed the nature of Voldemort’s soul with Pomona and gave her a book to study, then asked her to bring Severus. Elsewhere, Georgiana reflected on giving a man power in place of love and on how little she could repair of the damage she had caused.

• Albus gave Pomona a French book about the soul and proposed that Voldemort’s diary and his presence in Quirrell might be separate manifestations of one soul.
• Pomona and Albus considered whether soul and body could be reunited through a mixture, and Albus asked her to help Mr. Longbottom with Transfiguration.
• Albus confronted Pomona about continuing to drink Polyjuice Potion, then told her to read the book and bring Severus.
• Albus spoke to Pomona about his past with Gellert Grindelwald and called love a poison, but Pomona left without asking about its antidote.
• Georgiana considered helping a man regain power despite the risks to herself and those around her, then repaired a broken teapot while remaining unable to mend her heart.

Pomona reflected on the Basilisk’s death and the value of its hide while preparing for the Triwizard Tournament and considering her students’ lives. The chapter ended with her writing a letter to try to contact Padma.

• Hermione studied law in the library in hopes of finding a way to save Buckbeak, while Pomona considered Lucius Malfoy’s influence at the Ministry.
• Flitwick and Snape’s examination of the Basilisk suggested that the Sword of Gryffindor had absorbed its lethal venom and that its missing brain matter had caused its death.
• Charlie Weasley wrote to Pomona that he would come to Hogwarts with dragons for the Triwizard Tournament, while Hagrid searched for a place to keep them near the Forbidden Forest.
• Fred and George gave Pomona a rare cactus from Bill and offered to run errands for her in exchange for gold; Pomona said she would consider it.
• Pomona worried that Parvati might become too much like George and began writing a letter to contact Padma.

Pomona and Minerva discussed whether Neville should be allowed to take a summer assignment that could put him in danger, while Snape pointed out that Cedric wanted the opportunity for himself. Later, Georgiana questioned Ledrell about a French child-disappearance scandal and learned that Madame de Vaudey was offended because she had been left off the list of women receiving Amethyst Lotus jewelry.

• Cedric told Pomona he was going to the Quidditch World Cup with his father and asked about the summer assignment she had given Longbottom.
• Snape told Pomona that Cedric wanted the assignment to meet Newt Scamander and argued that Cedric needed the opportunity more than Longbottom did.
• Pomona assured Minerva she would keep asking until Neville was given a chance, and Minerva thanked her for understanding.
• Georgiana finished a letter to Padma and asked Ledrell about Madame Estrade and the Paris Child Disappearance Case of 1750.
• Ledrell recounted the scandal and suggested British financiers were positioning themselves against the Mechelen Railway.
• Ledrell told Georgiana that Madame de Vaudey was offended because her name had been excluded from the list of ladies receiving Amethyst Lotus jewelry.

Pomona reflected on the Ministry’s neglect of goblin affairs, Severus’s Wolfsbane Potion application, and the futures of Cedric and Neville. Georgiana socialized under Edgeworth’s escort while considering alliances, political upheaval, and the possibility of Europe’s collapse, ending with Severus’s wine-filled bunker as a refuge.

• Fudge let Ministry staff attend the Quidditch World Cup, while Amos Diggory stayed on duty but obtained a ticket from Ludo Bagman after doing him a favor.
• Pomona considered Hufflepuff’s need for a new Seeker and wondered whether Cedric could build a career abroad through Scamander.
• Minerva told Pomona that Severus had submitted the Wolfsbane Potion to the Potions Association and applied for the Prince Prize, though the potion’s original creator might complicate his claim.
• Pomona watched Neville struggle to converse with Finnigan and Thomas and thought people would trust Harry Potter more as the chosen one.
• Georgiana greeted people at a social event under Edgeworth’s escort and reflected on history, politics, financial schemes, and how quickly allies could abandon someone who lost power.
• Georgiana recalled Severus’s bunker stocked with red wine as a refuge if Europe descended into chaos.

Pomona and Remus used Snape’s potion to drive Chizpurfles into the Lost Wand Storage Room, while Remus showed how much his health had improved. In Brussels, Georgiana heard the police chief’s request to patrol with dogs and accepted the officers’ refusal to wear the proposed uniforms.

• Pomona visited Remus and brought Snape’s potion to remove the Chizpurfles as they prepared the examination room.
• Remus played music while Pomona threw the potion into a classroom, and the resulting explosion sent them racing to seal the Lost Wand Storage Room on the fourth floor.
• Remus recalled Sirius Black and James Potter when Pomona asked about his student days, then left the corridor closed to everyone for a week.
• The Brussels police chief asked Georgiana to let officers use dogs on night patrols, while the French gendarmes captain objected to the plan and criticized the dogs’ potential danger.
• Georgiana allowed the officers to refuse the new uniforms, and the police chief promised to strengthen the guard as long as Napoleon’s law remained in effect.

Tonks told Pomona that suspicious Death Eaters and their changing Dark Marks made Harry Potter a likely target, then asked to speak with Dumbledore. In a separate thread, Georgiana considered the gendarmerie’s investigations and ordered a secret inquiry into a Brussels convent suspected of Prussian infiltration.

• Tonks reunited with Pomona and revealed that she had become an Auror.
• Tonks told Pomona that escaped Death Eaters were acting suspiciously, their Dark Marks had changed, and she believed Harry Potter was important to the threat.
• Pomona took Tonks to see Dumbledore after Tonks offered to explain how she had learned the intelligence.
• Georgiana heard that the gendarmerie had placed a bounty on Pichegru and discussed the plight of a starving discharged soldier with Salieri.
• Georgiana told the gendarmerie commander that the Ji'an Convent might have been infiltrated by the Halle Sect and ordered him to investigate it secretly, suggesting that his men disguise themselves as women.

Pomona confronted Snape about sending Neville to deliver essays and medicine, while Snape left for the Potions Guild to challenge the rejection of his improved Wolfsbane Potion. In Metz, Georgiana watched Trevithick test his steam engine and, after Saint-Hilaire mentioned Alice’s family connections, reflected on listening to advice and Harry’s failed attempt to save Sirius.

• Pomona found Neville struggling to enter the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom with essays Snape had asked him to deliver to Lupin.
• Pomona challenged Snape for sending Neville on errands, but Snape left for the Potions Guild after explaining he knew why they would not let him compete.
• Georgiana watched Trevithick test his steam engine and bet that it would beat the horse in an upcoming race.
• Saint-Hilaire pointed out Alice and mentioned that her grandfather had been friends with Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.
• Georgiana thought about how Harry sought advice, Neville’s loyalty, and Harry’s failure to use Sirius’s Two-Way Mirror before going to the Ministry.

Pomona visited Sirius, discussed Remus’s improvement and her plan to train a new Hufflepuff Seeker, and left after Sirius asked about her love life. The chapter then shifted to Georgiana watching Jet Devil race and heading toward the finish line with Fiegel.

• Pomona told Sirius that Remus was doing better because of Severus’s potion, and Sirius explained that Severus supplied it for free while testing it.
• Pomona discussed Quidditch and revealed that Snape was training players from other Houses; she had volunteered to become Hufflepuff’s new Seeker after Cedric graduated.
• Sirius asked Pomona whether she was married or dating, invited her to dance, and asked who her first love was before she left the cave.
• Jet Devil raced against a horse ridden by a Mamluks rider, and Fiegel led Georgiana toward the finish line.

Pomona struggled to prepare Hufflepuff’s Quidditch players for exams and an upcoming match, asking Snape to train them with new tactics. Meanwhile, Georgiana watched a black-smoke-covered vehicle pass the train and hoped Remus’s presence would prevent trouble.

• Pomona failed to find Scabbers among the rats Hagrid had collected for Buckbeak and said Neville would help the next day.
• Pomona discussed Harry’s summer stay with Snape, who reminded her that Harry had to return to the Dursleys until he turned seventeen.
• Snape ordered Hufflepuff’s Quidditch players to gather, and Pomona sent them to hear his new tactics for defeating Gryffindor.
• The Hufflepuff players cheered when Pomona said the Quidditch Pitch would be used for something other than summer training.
• Georgiana told Matilda she had bet on the Jet Devil as a column of black smoke rose beside the train, and she was relieved Remus was aboard.

Pomona and Severus discussed Quidditch tactics, Beauxbatons, and Nicolas Flamel’s legacy before a frantic encounter with Crookshanks and Scabbers interrupted them. Georgiana returned to the castle, where she considered Albus’s reflections on death and wondered what to do with the roses covering the grounds.

• Zacharias abandoned his plan to become a Seeker and decided to train as a Chaser as the teams reconsidered their Quidditch tactics.
• Severus asked Pomona about her French and raised the possibility that Beauxbatons might seek the return of Nicolas Flamel’s notes and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
• Severus proposed that he and Pomona study Flamel’s notes together, but Pomona spotted Crookshanks chasing Scabbers and urged Severus to catch the rat.
• Pomona dismissed the Quidditch players to protect them from the heat and decided she needed to speak to Hagrid about caring for rats.
• Georgiana returned to the castle, noticed the snow-covered roses, and thought about Albus’s words on death while considering the book he had given her.

Pomona arranged for Neville to search Hagrid’s rat traps for Scabbers and encouraged him to take more responsibility for his studies and summer plans. After handling school preparations, she reflected on her changed appearance, desire, and memories before falling asleep.

• Pomona summoned Neville and asked him to check Hagrid’s rat traps for Scabbers, and he eagerly agreed to help Ron and Hermione.
• Pomona urged Neville to keep studying, choose a summer campsite, and prepare to enter the Gryffindor common room without waiting for someone else.
• Pomona arranged holiday luggage help, and Dobby volunteered to assist the students.
• Pomona looked at her reflection, then considered mirrors, imagination, the stars, and how longing for things she lacked shaped her thoughts.

Pomona examined a book about the soul and discussed its ideas with Severus before a memory shifted her into Georgiana in a Belgian castle. As Georgiana, she connected Harry’s scar and Voldemort’s Horcruxes to the book and summoned Saint-Hilaire and Feilier to investigate its translation.

• Pomona questioned the book’s translation of an ancient Arab scholar’s ideas about souls, bodies, and perception.
• Severus entered Pomona’s bedroom, and she described the book’s claims about Tom Riddle and the forms of the soul.
• Pomona’s surroundings and identity shifted, leaving Georgiana in a Belgian castle with memories of Severus saving her through a forbidden spell and their oath in the Shrieking Shack.
• Georgiana considered why Harry’s scar had not reacted to Voldemort’s Horcruxes and suspected the diary, locket, cup, diadem, and Nagini had not been involved in Lily’s murder.
• Georgiana summoned Saint-Hilaire and Feilier, then cast Muffliato to keep their discussion private.

Pomona went to meet Sirius after receiving a secret message, but Tonks intercepted her and tested her identity with a Patronus before asking whether she believed Sirius had betrayed the Order. Later, Pomona reflected on Albus’s methods, the failed effort to clear Sirius’s name, and her own past as she struggled to focus on a letter before Saint-Hilaire arrived.

• Pomona found a paper butterfly that revealed the message “Meet by the stream” and hurried to the outskirts of Hogsmeade, leaving the herbs for Snape undelivered.
• Kingsley Shacklebolt found Pomona at the stream, and Tonks claimed she had asked Pomona to meet her before taking her away.
• Tonks asked Pomona to cast a Patronus, then revealed that her parents had allied with the Order of the Phoenix and had never believed Sirius was a traitor.
• Pomona told Tonks she would ask Sirius about his past the next time she saw him, then left without meeting him.
• Pomona reflected on Albus’s influence, Sirius’s continued fugitive status, and events from her own life before forcing herself to focus on her letter.
• Pomona heard that Saint-Hilaire had arrived and went to greet him.

Pomona met Sirius at the Black Lake, where he asked her to recover the Two-Way Mirror and help him keep searching for the rat. Later, Georgiana pressed Saint-Hilaire to find a book about the soul and urged him to focus on more important work, only to learn he had wagered their funds on a match.

• Pomona delivered a potion to Snape, who questioned her about meeting someone before angrily sending her away.
• Cynthia summoned Pomona to the Black Lake, where Sirius asked for the Two-Way Mirror and worried that Harry feared him.
• Pomona told Sirius that Neville was helping search for the rat and rebuked Sirius for dismissing Neville's studies.
• Georgiana asked Saint-Hilaire to locate a tenth-century book about the soul, and he explained that finding it would be difficult.
• Saint-Hilaire told Georgiana that the First Consul had neglected a promise to send roses to a school and urged her to focus on more important work.
• Saint-Hilaire revealed that a match's wager involved research funding and military expenditure, and Georgiana suspected he had gambled away the one hundred thousand Francs.

Pomona borrowed a fierce owl from Professor Grubbly-Plank to send a letter to the Dragon Reserve in Romania, then encountered Fred and George on her way back to the castle. Elsewhere, Georgiana watched the Mamluks rider win a race while the Jet Devil team lost, and Pomona remained willing to fund their research.

• Pomona visited Professor Grubbly-Plank’s birdcage and borrowed a black screech owl, which she named Spike.
• Fred and George stopped Pomona at the castle gates, teased her about visiting Tonks in Hogsmeade, and gave her a business card before running off.
• Pomona reflected on Lily’s hopes of staying in the Wizarding World and on how she herself had remained at Hogwarts after graduation.
• The Mamluks rider won the race and its million-Franc prize, while the Jet Devil lost because it lacked enough fuel for the final sprint.
• Georgiana considered the race’s consequences, and Pomona remained willing to sponsor the Jet Devil team’s research.

Pomona learned that Buckbeak’s appeal had failed and was asked by Dumbledore to recruit Tonks for a test, while he urged her to reconcile with Sybill. Georgiana’s account revealed how Dumbledore’s foresight shaped events around Harry, Sirius, and the Dementors, and the chapter ended with Matilda pleading for help.

• Pomona received the Ministry’s notice that Buckbeak would be executed that evening and Dumbledore’s card instructing her to tell a potential recruit that a test would begin that night.
• Dumbledore urged Pomona to reconcile with Sybill and warned her that Triwizard Tournament champions had to face danger on their own.
• Georgiana explained that Dumbledore had used hints from a crystal ball to direct Tonks and the Order of the Phoenix during the events at the Forbidden Forest lake.
• Pomona learned from Neville that he had found Scabbers, sent an owl to Sirius, and later saw Harry’s Patronus from the Astronomy Tower as events unfolded.
• Georgiana connected the comet, Jupiter, lightning, and Harry’s scar to an omen before Matilda approached her in tears and asked for help.

Pomona reconciled with Sybill, learned that Scabbers had been found, and set Tonks’s trial in motion. Elsewhere, Georgiana confronted Matilda over her gambling losses and agreed to help, though Matilda misunderstood her warning as a threat of marriage.

• Pomona heard from Neville that Hermione had been thrown out of Trelawney’s class and that Scabbers had been found in Hagrid’s rat cage.
• Pomona visited Sybill, gave her Dragon Tooth Geranium petals, and borrowed her crystal ball.
• Pomona found Tonks comforting Ginny at the Quidditch Pitch and told Tonks that her trial would begin that night.
• Pomona sent Sirius word that Scabbers had been found, then planned to take the crystal ball to the Astronomy Tower.
• Georgiana refused to cancel Matilda’s wager, warned her against future mistakes, and offered to help her despite Matilda’s misunderstanding.

Pomona treated her injuries, learned more about Sirius and Ginny, and experienced an uncontrolled transformation near the Chamber of Secrets before Severus asked her to help prove the effects of his Wolfsbane Potion. The chapter leaves her considering Severus’s request while the narration shifts to Georgiana planning gifts for Madame de Vaudey and Bonaparte.

• Poppy Pomfrey healed Pomona’s forehead and told her werewolf scratches could leave scars.
• Pomona asked Poppy Pomfrey about Sirius Black’s treatment, while Fudge tried to question Ron and Tonks told Pomona that Ginny felt ostracized and wanted her own broom.
• Pomona considered a birthday present for Harry, then experienced an uncontrolled Veela transformation in Myrtle’s bathroom near the Chamber of Secrets.
• Severus asked Pomona to persuade Lupin to testify about the Wolfsbane Potion and said Lupin needed a safe place and a proper dose.
• Georgiana planned Christmas gifts, ordered amethyst lamps for Madame de Vaudey, and considered what to give Bonaparte for his birthday.

Pomona learned that the hot golden cup carried a goblin curse and that the curse had disrupted her transformation and the Polyjuice Potion. She discussed Severus's Wolfsbane Potion and Remus's possible testimony with Albus, then left unsettled by his questions and searched for the Mirror of Erised.

• Albus explained that the goblins had cursed the golden cup with Geminio, and Pomona realized its heat had affected her transformation and the Polyjuice Potion.
• Pomona told Albus that Severus wanted Remus to testify about Wolfsbane Potion in exchange for providing it to him free of charge.
• Albus argued that Severus's success could open a new path for others and asked Pomona what she wanted and why she tolerated Severus's obsession with the Dark Arts.
• Albus asked whether Pomona had too little contact with young people, and she fled the conversation, wondering if he knew her secret.
• Pomona searched Hogwarts for the Mirror of Erised and reflected on transformation, Animagi, and Severus's stubbornness.