Chapter Summaries

Pomona and Severus discussed Dumbledore, Grindelwald, and the mystery surrounding Credence Barebone, while Severus suggested that Credence’s mother had been the real target. Pomona then found herself alone with a Shadow in a shattered mental landscape and realized Hathor had not cast the spell that brought her there.

• Pomona argued with Severus about Dumbledore’s teaching ideas and reflected on how Voldemort had learned to command respect through terror.
• Pomona told Severus that Dumbledore and Grindelwald had searched for three things and made a Blood Pact, which later broke in Sky City.
• Severus shared a Godric’s Hollow legend about Credence Barebone’s mother and wagered that she had been the real target.
• Severus placed a Galleon in Pomona’s hand, and she wondered what he saw when he looked at her.
• Pomona heard a plea for help and a claim that the speaker had pursued fame to protect innocents before the scenery shattered.
• Pomona confronted a Shadow in a white landscape, concluded that Hathor was not her caster, and struggled to determine whether the figure was a consciousness or a ghost.

Pomona confronted Shadow with painful memories of her teacher, her love for him, and the consequences of his choices, then rejected the illusory dream for the real world. Shadow revealed that Leon Sterndale was a projection rather than entirely fictional, and Georgiana returned to Brussels at dawn.

• Pomona recalled that Albus and Grindelwald might have entered the Mirror World through the reflective roof when Santos received the Qilin's bow.
• Pomona described her teacher's failed hopes for Credence and her own sense that she had disappointed him by being drawn to darkness.
• Pomona connected Tom Riddle's locket Horcrux to jealousy and fear, and argued that chastity mattered less than life and survival.
• Pomona accused her teacher of harming her student and causing a disaster, then told Shadow she would not remain in an illusory dream or wait for him.
• Shadow said Leon Sterndale was a projection who was not entirely fictional and denied being jealous.
• The puzzle reassembled, and Georgiana returned to Brussels as dawn broke.

Pomona reflected on Ron’s deepest desires and the Deluminator’s power to guide him, then considered whether the key she and Severus found in Venice could help her return to the real world. As she prepared to meet bankers from Genoa, Richard Edgeworth joined her for breakfast.

• Pomona recalled how the Deluminator had guided Ron back to Hermione and helped him save Harry Potter.
• Pomona wondered whether the key from Venice could guide her back to the real world despite Shadow having no body there.
• Richard Edgeworth arrived looking haggard, and Pomona exchanged greetings with him.
• Pomona thought about political unrest, famine, and how bankers had shifted the risks of financing France onto foreign buyers.
• Pomona asked Edgeworth whether he feared the Genoese bankers, and he said that he had already seen people hanged.
• Pomona invited Edgeworth to have breakfast with her, hoping he had a good appetite.

Pomona struggled to understand the Deluminator’s limits and considered how to navigate the social expectations of her new life as Georgiana. As she prepared to receive guests, a conversation about the discontinued Parisian Times hinted at scandalous reading among the French aristocrats.

• Pomona reasoned that the Deluminator might help reach the Mirror Realm, but she could not explain how it might bridge the distance separating Ron and Hermione.
• Charlotte brought Georgiana a dark red velvet gown and lavish jewels, saying they were a Christmas gift from the Genoese.
• Georgiana let the maids dress her and tried on the jewelry while the women praised her appearance.
• The Archbishop of Ghent’s niece lamented that the Parisian Times had ceased publication, and Matilda dismissed it as vulgar.
• A duchess offered Georgiana a copy of the Parisian Times, but Georgiana postponed reading it because guests were arriving.

Pomona prepared Georgiana for a meeting with the Genoese, questioning Charlotte about why she had tried to please them and reminding her that independence mattered. Georgiana entered the museum without jewelry, while Pomona reflected on survival, marriage, and how much France remained for her to sell.

• Pomona considered how luxury hotels used carefully chosen alarm clocks to protect guests' sleep, then heard Champagne being opened nearby and saw a woman resembling Josephine.
• Pomona asked Charlotte why she had kept her and challenged her for wearing jewelry from the Genoese to please them; Charlotte admitted she could not read, and Pomona reminded her that she could box and need not depend on a man.
• Georgiana left the lounge in a dark crimson velvet gown without jewelry and entered Belgium's history museum, where the Genoese were touring with Edgeworth and Saint-Hilaire.
• Georgiana greeted the Genoese as women in Ancient Greek attire scattered flower petals and musicians played nearby.
• Pomona reflected on Cleopatra, Marie Antoinette, and her own refusal to remain liked or obedient, then decided to see how much France she could still sell.

Pomona and Severus visited a luxurious London hotel, where Severus arranged to meet Cody. Elsewhere, Georgiana hosted Genoese bankers for an elaborate breakfast and used a pearl-shaped foie gras dish to lead into a discussion of famine and food.

• Pomona and Severus arrived at the hotel, where the waiter recognized Severus and seated them at a table for two.
• Pomona questioned Severus about being a regular, and he ordered Champagne to celebrate their victory and asked the waiter to summon Cody.
• Georgiana welcomed the Genoese bankers to breakfast and revealed that the apparent pearls were foie gras served in fondant shells.
• Georgiana told the guests the dish was worth twenty-six million Francs, then raised the decline in Baltic grain production and famine.
• The Genoese guests toasted Montesquieu and clinked their Champagne glasses.

Georgiana reflected on revolutionary violence, political alliances, and the way power and opportunity shaped people’s lives while observing the aftermath of a battle in Genoa. A Genoese man asked her about the First Consul’s novel, and she teased him about its youthful heroine.

• Georgiana considered how hunger, rumors, and rival authorities had fueled violence during the French Revolution, including the bloodshed at the Tuileries.
• She recalled Napoleon’s use of military power to control Italy and discussed how marriage alliances and shifting loyalties served political interests.
• Georgiana thought about the costly grain reserve plan, Genoese trading history, and the ambitions that shaped foreign alliances in Italy.
• She reflected on the lives changed by the French Revolution and on historical women who had risked bold political choices.
• A Genoese man asked Georgiana whether she had read the First Consul’s novel, then summarized its hero’s retreat from ambition for simple happiness.
• Georgiana questioned the heroine’s youthful age and joked that neither she nor the man was young anymore.

Georgiana reflected on Bonaparte’s story of Clisson and Eugenie and the hardship of a soldier’s widow, then confronted the American Scourer in the museum. She challenged the crowd to handle a two-handed sword, and Figor stepped forward to demonstrate.

• Georgiana recalled Bonaparte’s letter about a soldier’s widow who chose to raise her child despite being left to beg.
• Georgiana considered Bonaparte’s love for Josephine and her own unreturned love for another man.
• The American Scourer accused Georgiana of causing trouble, and she answered that a swindler could change the world by inciting the masses.
• Georgiana entered the medieval weapons room, took a two-handed sword, and asked who could use it.
• Figor accepted Georgiana’s challenge and advanced with the sword as the crowd watched.

At the museum, Georgiana watched Figor demonstrate her two-handed swordsmanship before Brick and Augereau challenged each other to a duel. Georgiana let them continue, and the fight was still underway when the chapter ended.

• Figor performed an Italian swordsmanship practice form with her two-handed sword as Georgiana watched.
• Dominic Dragusi joined Gaston Martin and Georgiana, and Augereau mocked Brick for claiming to be skilled with magic and carrying a sword.
• Georgiana called Figor over and made room for Brick and Augereau to spar in the museum.
• Brick and Augereau exchanged sword strikes, and Georgiana told them there must be no bloodshed.
• Aston asked Georgiana to stop the fight, but she said the boys needed a chance to prove themselves as Augereau urged Brick to show his ability.

Georgiana watched Augereau overwhelm Brick in a sword match while reflecting on power, politics, and her relationship with Napoleon. She ended the bout by announcing a walk through the museum, then asked Augereau whether Brick had proved worthy of being her knight.

• Antonio offered Georgiana a new dessert and began explaining its connection to Catherine de' Medici, but the crowd interrupted when Augereau attacked Brick.
• Augereau forced Brick into a desperate defense as Georgiana reflected on Catherine the Great, Napoleon, and the political consequences of her influence over him.
• Jim White urged Georgiana to stop the fight after Augereau slashed Brick's clothes into rags.
• Georgiana announced that she wanted to tour the museum, prompting Matilda to call out that she was leaving.
• Augereau and Brick separated, and Georgiana asked Augereau whether Brick had proved himself worthy of being her knight before she left with the crowd.

Georgiana discussed Egypt’s looted antiquities and the mixed legacy of Ibn Tulun, then faced Genoese banker Leon Cavallo’s demand that Napoleon honor his promise to help a Genoese become master of Rome. She recognized that helping fulfill the promise would make her complicit in Napoleon’s deception, but the chapter left her weighing that choice against the greater struggle against Voldemort.

• Georgiana toured the museum with Saint-Hilaire and learned that many Egyptian artifacts had reached Europe through centuries of tomb robbing and conquest.
• Saint-Hilaire recounted how Ibn Tulun used Egypt’s wealth to build hospitals, naval bases, and irrigation works before his dynasty collapsed.
• Georgiana questioned whether tomb robbing was shameful, reflecting on how the wealth of the dead could fund prosperity while still seeming to invite a curse.
• Georgiana discussed Renaissance artists and the fortunes of the Medici with the Genoese visitors.
• Leon Cavallo asked when Napoleon would fulfill his promise to help a Genoese become master of Rome.
• Georgiana considered that helping Napoleon keep his promise would make her no more honest than he was, and recalled that Pomona had chosen Neville even when Harry lied to defeat Voldemort.

Georgiana weighed the value of spreading news about the Hope family's warehouse fire while Genoese men pressed her over the proposed terms and Bonaparte’s intentions. As she faced the possibility that her efforts to change the world had changed her instead, the Genoese confrontation remained unresolved.

• Georgiana expected news of the Hope family's warehouse fire to spread because Hope Bank and Baring Bank had financed the Louisiana Purchase.
• Georgiana judged that the Genoese men were pressuring her for profit, while Augereau, Figor, the knights, and the Imperial Guard stood around her; Brick returned after changing clothes.
• Georgiana recalled that Leon and the Genoese valued contracts, although she alone knew Bonaparte intended to break their agreement.
• Georgiana reflected on how she had hoped to change the world and recognized that it had changed her instead.
• Georgiana hoped she had not understood too late that the struggle itself could be enough to fill a person's heart.

A male sphinx awakened at the exhibition and sensed traces of a magical taboo on Georgiana, which she connected to Tom Riddle and his Horcruxes. As the sphinx questioned her, Georgiana learned that Feilier had been taken toward Genoa, and turned her anger on the people responsible.

• A giant male sphinx broke free of its stone covering and awakened at the exhibition.
• The sphinx approached Georgiana, accused her of carrying traces of a violation of magical law, and asked about Tom Riddle.
• Georgiana told the sphinx that Tom had made Horcruxes and possessed her, and explained that Basilisk venom had destroyed most of them.
• Georgiana discovered that Feilier was being taken to Genoa because she had refused to surrender a contract.
• Georgiana asked the sphinx what it would take for it to eat the humans around them.

Georgiana learned why mental connections with magical creatures were dangerous and realized the Genoese had taken Feilier to retaliate for the loss of face they had suffered. She demanded Feilier’s return so the dispute could be settled, and the chapter ended with everyone waiting in tense silence.

• Flitwick attended Adalbert Waffling’s deathday celebration while Severus went to the Wolfsbane Potion review conference, and the chapter explored how emotion affected magical control and mental connections.
• Pomona and Severus recalled their dangerous experiment sharing thoughts, while Georgiana considered the risks of linking minds with the Sphinx and the nature of the Basilisk.
• Georgiana realized the Genoese had taken Feilier to teach her a lesson after she had offended Miss Campini.
• Georgiana offered to consider the earlier conflict settled if the Genoese returned Feilier without seriously harming her.
• The group waited in silence, hoping Feilier was nearby and would be brought back soon.

Georgiana questioned the nature and dangers of magic before asking Feilier to speak with a revived Sphinx, who named himself Carter and warned that something had been defiled. As Georgiana prepared to deal with the Muggle witnesses, Cavallo offered Queen Maeve’s Crown in exchange, leaving her startled by the crown’s possible existence.

• Georgiana reflected on the dangers of interfering with magic and on the Crusader states, Italian feuds, and the limits of joking about violence.
• Feilier rushed to Georgiana, who comforted her and asked her to translate for the Sphinx.
• The Sphinx told Georgiana that she could call him Carter, that he was not hungry, and that he had sensed evil and something defiled.
• Georgiana allowed the guests to leave, but Carolan Lestrange and concealed French wizards prepared to alter the Muggles’ memories.
• Cavallo offered to trade Queen Maeve’s Crown, and Georgiana reacted with surprise.

Georgiana questioned Leon Cavallo about Queen Maeve’s Crown and considered his offer to spare a Muggle’s memory in exchange for its location. Cavallo revealed that the First Consul had taken the crown, leaving Georgiana to wonder whether finding him would show her the way out.

• The chapter recounted Queen Maeve’s Crown, which let students absorb its creator’s knowledge and memories, and the risks of altering memories.
• Georgiana reflected on Hermione’s erased memories, Occlumency, and the possibility that Harry was Voldemort’s seventh Horcrux.
• Georgiana asked Leon Cavallo how he had obtained Queen Maeve’s Crown, while Carolan Lestrange questioned whether Cavallo’s story was true.
• Cavallo offered to trade the crown’s location for Georgiana’s promise not to erase a Muggle’s memory.
• Georgiana accepted the possibility of the deal and asked where the crown was, but Cavallo said the First Consul had taken it.
• Georgiana recalled that finding out how she had entered might reveal a way out and wondered whether the First Consul was the key.

Georgiana confronted the difficult choices wizards made when dealing with Muggles, while the Sorting Hat’s song and reflections on The Matrix and Dorian Gray shaped her thoughts. After the Muggles were knocked unconscious and the scene was cleaned up, Georgiana left with the Sphinx, telling Carolan they would discuss the shocked Imperial Guards back in Paris.

• The chapter recounted the Sorting Hat’s song about Hogwarts’ founders and their eventual division.
• Georgiana reflected on Neo’s training, Harry’s choices, and the temptation to betray one’s principles.
• Cavallo asked Georgiana whether she would make a bargain like the young man in Oscar Wilde’s story, and Georgiana refused.
• The wizards knocked the Muggles unconscious and began cleaning up the scene to uphold the International Statute of Secrecy.
• Georgiana noticed the Imperial Guard sentries watching in shock and said they would discuss it in Paris before leaving with the Sphinx.

Georgiana confronted Saint-Hilaire and Carolan over a conspiracy to abduct her maid and explained why witches needed to protect one another and remember the dangers of Muggle persecution. After ordering the conspirators awakened, she reflected on Albus and waited for the guests to return.

• Georgiana questioned Saint-Hilaire about the treasures and the conspiracy to abduct her maid, while recounting the story of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III.
• Carolan told Georgiana that everyone involved had been dealt with except those she had reserved for Paris, and said the abducted translator would expose their plot.
• Georgiana explained to Carolan that the Hogwarts song urged witches to remember past persecution, protect one another, and identify the right enemies rather than seek revenge.
• Georgiana told Carolan to wake the conspirators and left to attend to other matters.
• Georgiana reflected on Albus and waited by the window for the guests to visit again.

Georgiana considered how trade, war, talent, and innovation shaped Europe’s fortunes while the Genoese courted her with lavish praise. She doubted their apparent unity and wondered whether Feilier’s presence meant someone had leaked the conspiracy.

• Georgiana reflected on how grain trade, war, inflation, and the expulsion of skilled people had affected European powers and Genoa.
• She noted that wise rulers should value talent and recalled Napoleon’s survey of the Suez Canal as a project that could transform world trade.
• The Genoese praised Georgiana’s beauty, generosity, and support for the arts while Feilier stood beside them in silence.
• Georgiana considered Genoa’s willingness to recruit outsiders and pursue trade, intelligence, and patents across land and sea.
• Georgiana questioned whether the Genoese conspirators could truly keep their plans secret and wondered why Feilier was present.

Georgiana reflected on European banking, Napoleon’s promises, and whether he would keep his word without magical restraints. After hearing that Hamburg would expel banks financing Britain’s war effort, she defended the move as part of Napoleon’s plan, while Richard Edgeworth warned her that she was playing a dangerous game.

• Georgiana recalled how European bankers financed wars and how Napoleon had dissolved Genoa’s Bank of Saint George and seized its assets.
• At a gathering, Georgiana discussed her travels in Italy and the local belief that sitting on Venice’s Attila’s Throne brought a good marriage.
• Bertin arrived and whispered news to Georgiana, and Aston Martin escorted the other guests next door while Richard Edgeworth stayed behind.
• Georgiana told Edgeworth that Hamburg had agreed to expel banks paying Britain’s military expenses and said Napoleon intended to control Baltic grain prices.
• Edgeworth warned Georgiana that the plan was dangerous and admitted he was worried about her, then left after she asked whether he was a spy.