Chapter Summaries

Pomona cared for the castle’s unusual creatures and discussed the Golden Cauldron Cup with Severus, who also questioned her plans for the Celestial Ball and Christmas. After he left in frustration, she found a pressed pink petal in her book and wondered about The Young King.

• Barnaby endured detention cleaning wounds and Graphorn dung, while Charlie kept him company and Bill joked that they should attend the Celestial Ball together.
• Helios Black told the investigators that he had found the map at a bloodied camp near North Ford Bog and followed it to the cave where he died; Pomona then took Leeds away.
• Pomona moved the Sorrow Worms from the Geometric Garden into a tower and gave the courtyard to the bees.
• Severus asked Pomona whether Bill Weasley could represent Hogwarts in the Golden Cauldron Cup and urged early planning.
• Severus asked whether Pomona would attend the Celestial Ball or the Ministry’s Christmas party, then left after she said she planned to spend Christmas sleeping at Hogwarts.
• Pomona found a faded pink petal pressed in her book and wondered how it got there, remembering The Young King.

Pomona spoke with Minerva about Bill’s future and the pressure surrounding him, then agreed to meet her for drinks to discuss Harry Potter. Meanwhile, Barnaby explained the cruelty of his family to Bill and Charlie before leaving them, and the chapter ended with the brothers walking away together.

• Pomona asked Minerva whether Bill had considered Herbology as a career, and Minerva said she would speak with him about the pressure he faced.
• Pomona corrected Minerva for calling Lily Evans “Miss Evans” and agreed to meet her on the wooden bridge for drinks and a private discussion about Harry Potter.
• Pomona arranged for Poppy Pomfrey to prepare a sobering potion and encountered a Ravenclaw boy whose invitation to a Gryffindor girl had been declined.
• Dumbledore cautioned Pomona and Minerva not to drink too much, then climbed the stairs looking old and worn.
• Barnaby told Bill and Charlie that his family had resented him and that his father had urged him to become as powerful as Voldemort.
• Barnaby thanked Bill and Charlie for their kindness and left for class, while Charlie regretted that no Ravenclaw would be joining them for Christmas.

Minerva and Pomona discussed Harry’s miserable upbringing with the Dursleys before Severus joined them in the Three Broomsticks on Dumbledore’s orders. After Barnaby revealed that his Death Eater parents had died, the group left the tavern with a drunken Minerva and headed back toward Hogwarts.

• Minerva told Pomona that Harry had been neglected and forced to live in a cupboard at the Dursleys’ home, and worried that he would grow up without kindness.
• Minerva and Pomona debated which Hogwarts House Harry would join before Severus arrived and said Dumbledore had sent him to watch over them.
• Minerva defended Severus when a tavern patron questioned his loyalty, and Severus explained that he was there on Dumbledore’s mission.
• Barnaby said his parents had died that day and celebrated because they had both been Death Eaters; Severus agreed that their deaths were worth celebrating.
• Minerva ordered several expensive bottles, and Pomona and Severus helped her onto a Thestral-drawn carriage bound for Hogwarts.

As Hogwarts prepared for the Celestial Ball, Pomona struggled with lingering dizziness and discussed ghostly relationships and the ball’s rules with Leeds and Barnaby. After they left Myrtle’s bathroom, Pomona heard a whisper say “Blood” and hurried away in fear.

• Leeds became caught up in the Celestial Ball preparations after Minerva found her, while a boy’s two girlfriends discovered each other and fought without wands.
• Ben Cooper’s difficult past and friendship with Barnaby were recounted, as Barnaby returned to school wearing red and Ben’s Gryffindor robes.
• Pomona visited the Hospital Wing, then went to Myrtle’s bathroom, where she found Leeds discussing a handsome ghost with Myrtle.
• Myrtle told Leeds that the Grey Lady had been abandoned after dating someone on a Ravenclaw Tower terrace and would not attend the ball.
• Pomona told Leeds that Peeves could not be invited into Ravenclaw’s common room, and Barnaby joined their conversation about Bloody Baron.
• After Leeds and Barnaby left, Pomona heard a whisper saying “Blood” and hurried out of the bathroom.

Pomona learned that the rotten food in the kitchen was meant for the ghosts’ deathday party, then reflected on the ghosts’ loneliness and grief. Before leaving with Snape, she saw a strange vision of a red-clad figure before a mirror and heard a woman warn her not to look.

• Pomona confronted the House-elves about wasted rotten food until Dumbledore explained that ghosts needed it for their deathday party.
• Nearly Headless Nick asked Dumbledore for permission to hold a choir performance at Halloween, and Dumbledore told him to consult Filius.
• Pomona later sent rotten apples to the Ravenclaw common room for the ghosts, while thinking about Myrtle, the Grey Lady, and the Bloody Baron.
• Pomona heard a woman cry, “Don’t look at that mirror!” and glimpsed a red-clad figure with a jeweled sword before a mirror.
• Snape came to lead Pomona away, and she left the kitchen still hearing the warning as the pear painting closed behind them.

Leeds and Barnaby attended the ball together, while Pomona prepared the Clock Tower room and learned about the Mirror of Erised from Dumbledore. At the Ravenclaw gathering, Pomona watched guests celebrate the party and grew furious when two girls explained that the flowers had been conjured to teach them to cherish living things.

• Leeds freed Myrtle from two boys by destroying the clock holding her under an Impediment Jinx, then told Pomona and Snape how they met.
• Barnaby fastened a ruby necklace around Leeds's neck before they joined the ball.
• Pomona brought Barnaby, Ben Cooper, Leeds, Bill, and Charlie to the Clock Tower room, where Bill uncovered the Mirror of Erised.
• Dumbledore told Pomona about Myrtle's file, his memories of the mirror, and its power to reveal a person's deepest desire.
• Pomona saw a blurred figure in the mirror and followed the others to Ravenclaw Tower, where two girls explained that their Head of House had conjured flowers to teach them to cherish living things.
• Pomona drank a glass of punch and wandered the gathering, trying to calm her anger.

Pomona dealt with students’ holiday plans and the Mirror of Erised while puzzling over Ben Cooper and memories of Henry. The chapter ended with Severus inviting her to Diagon Alley, which she agreed to visit after explaining the Hogsmeade rules to the first-years.

• After Ben told Leeds and Pomona about the Li family, Pomona dismissed the last lesson early, and Leeds and Ben stayed to help clean the greenhouse.
• Pomona inspected the Mirror of Erised, saw herself growing Puffapods, and left Greenhouse Three after the Venomous Tentacula attacked her.
• Pomona allowed Tonks to visit Hogsmeade with supervision, but Snape and Minerva rejected the plan because first-years needed parental permission and had to be at least third-years.
• Pomona met Rudy and Flitwick examining a golden Troll-controlling helmet, and Professor Carter offered to let them move it to his place.
• Pomona remembered Henry and wondered what he had wanted to change in the past, then asked Severus whether Ben had a long-lost wizard grandfather.
• Severus invited Pomona to Diagon Alley, and she agreed to go after explaining to the first-years why they could not visit Hogsmeade.

Leeds and the others took Vera out for a walk as she recovered from her spinal injury, while Pomona and the Fat Friar discussed history, loyalty, and the defense of the powerless. Pomona also worried about the Li family's inheritance and Rita Skeeter's influence over Émilie, and considered speaking with Leeds about the risks facing the children.

• Leeds and the others took Vera out of the dungeons for a walk, though her painful recovery kept her from running.
• The Fat Friar recounted the hardships of medieval farmers, his failed efforts to advocate for them, and the changing rulers of Britain.
• The Fat Friar told Pomona that the Peverell family had Norman ancestry and urged her to remember the value of defending those who could not speak for themselves.
• Pomona worried that the Li family's fortune could attract predators if Barnaby and his uncle Cecil were both lost.
• Pomona recalled that Rita Skeeter had recruited Émilie with an internship and decided she needed to speak with Leeds about the temptations facing the children.

Barnaby, Vera, and the others discovered a hidden Troll Barracks beneath the ruins at Aindale, where the Trolls wore full suits of magical armor. Flitwick and Pomona decided to keep the discovery secret while they investigated further, and Rudy sought an Invisibility Cloak.

• The chapter described how waterlogged land could become marsh and farmland, and how conflicts over land and authority could drive peasants to rebellion.
• Barnaby, Vera, and the other two found artificial underground passages beneath the Aindale castle ruins and discovered armored Trolls in a hidden barracks.
• The group escaped unnoticed and reported their discovery to Pomona, who brought them to Flitwick.
• Flitwick said the helmet copied itself after being subjected to Geminio, and he and Pomona agreed to investigate secretly without telling Dumbledore yet.
• Leeds planned to return to the marsh in spring, and Carter said he would go with her on brooms.
• Pomona agreed not to tell Severus about the investigation, while Rudy asked where he could borrow an Invisibility Cloak and Barnaby told him to borrow one from Death.

Pomona watched Professor Carter teach Ben Cooper to fly while Severus told her Carter wanted to buy Borgin and Burkes and was searching for something in the Restricted Section. She then comforted Tonks about the Hogsmeade restrictions and took her to make sweets, ending with Pomona deciding what gift to send Andromeda.

• Ben Cooper slowly flew a broom around the first-year practice grounds while Professor Carter coached him.
• Severus told Pomona that Carter had visited the Restricted Section and wanted to buy a stake in Borgin and Burkes.
• Pomona explained to Tonks that some rules existed because no one could control everything, then offered to make sweets with her.
• Pomona took Tonks to the kitchen and suggested they make a gift for her parents to send by owl.
• Pomona realized what gift she wanted to give Andromeda.

Pomona and Severus discussed a possible early Time-Turner experiment hidden in the history of the 1752 calendar change, while Severus suspected Barnaby and Leeds were concealing something. Pomona then considered the coming full moon, famine, and bloodshed, and hoped the night would pass safely.

• Pomona and Severus examined records of the eleven missing days in September 1752 and speculated that they might have involved an early Time-Turner experiment.
• Pomona wondered whether Barnaby and Leeds were dating, but Severus said he believed they were hiding something and would investigate.
• Leeds gave Ben and Barnaby matching scarves for Christmas, while Pomona recalled that Severus had gone to Malfoy Manor to become Draco Malfoy's godfather.
• Pomona checked the calendar, noted that the next day was the full moon, and considered how magic could cause disasters such as villages being submerged.
• As dark clouds covered the sky, Pomona reflected on famine, cannibalism, and bloodshed, then hoped everything would remain safe.

Van Helsing and the narrator waited aboard a storm-tossed ship while Doctor Self secretly signaled them from the sea. At Hogwarts, Pomona tried to persuade Cecil Lee to spend Christmas with Barnaby and asked about Barnaby’s interest in an antidote to the Unforgivable Curses.

• Van Helsing and the narrator joined the ship’s crew under the identities of a doctor and his assistant, and the crew accepted them.
• After a sailor blamed Bly’s ghost for knocking on the cabin, Van Helsing used a secret code to stop the sounds and told the narrator that Doctor Self was signaling them.
• Pomona met Cecil Lee at the Hog’s Head and asked him to spend Christmas at Hogwarts with Barnaby, his nephew and ward.
• Pomona told Cecil that Barnaby was caring for a Graphorn with Liz Turt and had asked Poppy Pomfrey about an antidote to the Unforgivable Curses.
• Cecil agreed to ask Barnaby about the curses, then left with Pomona; she noticed a photograph of Credence Barebone beside the bar mirror.

Van Helsing, Doctor Self, and their companion survived an eerie encounter with a ghostly ship and settled in for the night. At Hogwarts, Pomona learned that Barnaby and Ben had repaired a haunted doll connected to a hidden passage, and she warned Snape that the Annabelle-like doll was at the school.

• Van Helsing covered a mirror at the abandoned villa, and he and Doctor Self discussed the spirits they had encountered aboard the ship.
• Pomona found Chavez by the Black Lake, called him back to the castle, and let him return to his common room.
• Cecil told Pomona that Barnaby and Ben had repaired an antique doll, which had revealed a hidden passage beneath the abandoned castle in Aindale.
• Pomona used the Two-Way Mirror to warn Snape that the doll was at Hogwarts, and Snape promised to return soon.

Pomona recalled Lily and Petunia’s childhood and learned how Ben came to repair the speaking doll Paul, while she and Severus discussed it and exchanged a Christmas gift. The chapter ended with Pomona warning Tonks away from dangerous passages as Leeds, Barnaby, and Ben waited to talk with her and Severus.

• Pomona remembered Lily’s prank on Petunia and how Lily later won back her sister’s attention by teaching a lesson to a vicious dog.
• The chapter recounted Ben’s hidden workshop at Hogwarts, where he repaired Barnaby’s blackened antique doll, which later began speaking and called itself Paul.
• Pomona worried that Paul might be a demon, but Severus reassured her and gave her a blue pocket watch that could detect adventurous little Trolls.
• Leeds, Barnaby, and Ben arrived at Pomona’s office and said they needed to talk with her and Severus.
• Pomona found Peeves inviting Tonks into secret passages, warned him not to take the first-year anywhere dangerous, and went to fetch eggnog.

Van Helsing read the Adonis’s captain’s account of a cursed voyage and explained the vessel’s connection to the villa before setting out with a shovel to seek proof. Later, Snape explained spirit wandering to the students, and Ben began recounting the story to Pomona.

• Van Helsing read the captain’s journal, which described crew members vanishing, a ghostly figure, and the captain’s final journey with an immovable crate of soil.
• Van Helsing explained that the vessel was a spirit boat and said he needed conclusive evidence, then borrowed a shovel from Mrs. Harker.
• Snape explained spirit wandering to Ben, Leeds, and Pomona while they shared eggnog.
• Snape asked Ben to tell Pomona the story, but Barnaby volunteered before Snape teased him about being a Parseltongue.
• Pomona sat down and listened as Ben began telling the story.

Barnaby and Ben’s conversations with Paul revealed that Paul had taught Barnaby how to make a safener and claimed an Unforgivable Curse was needed to open hidden passages. Pomona and Severus learned Barnaby had considered following Paul’s instructions, then told his uncle, and they decided to have him keep pretending to obey Paul while they investigated the map and the bog fortress.

• Barnaby heard Paul speaking from a puppet on a shelf, and Ben explained that he could hear Paul because he understood Parseltongue.
• Pomona learned Paul had taught Barnaby how to make a safener, which she explained was poisonous but harmless to a specific plant.
• Ben told Pomona and Severus that Paul had said an Unforgivable Curse could open the passage beneath Aindale Castle, and Pomona questioned Barnaby about using one on a classmate.
• Ben revealed another hidden passage at North Ford Bog, and Pomona realized he had kept Leeds from exploring it during Herbology.
• Barnaby said he had been hesitating until his uncle visited and he told him everything, while Leeds explained she wanted to investigate the map’s endpoint.
• Severus ordered Barnaby and Ben to keep following Paul’s instructions and pretend they had told no one, while Pomona assigned Leeds to search eyewitness memories for clues about the old camp.

Van Helsing, the narrator, Dr. Self, and Arthur opened the captain’s coffin and found it empty, but Father John refused to speak with them. At Hogwarts, Severus brought Pomona and the others to a hidden library, challenged Ben about facing Dark magic, and hinted that he had a lead he would trade for something.

• Van Helsing and the narrator dug up the captain’s grave with Arthur and Dr. Self watching, then found the coffin empty.
• Van Helsing asked Dr. Self who had buried the captain, and Dr. Self said they would need to question the priest.
• The narrator claimed to be a special envoy from the capital, but Father John shut the church door on the group.
• Severus led Pomona, Barnaby, Leeds, and Ben into a secret library beneath the Slytherin dungeons and asked Ben whether he could endure contact with Dark magic.
• Pomona heard a mysterious voice and sent the students away, then asked Severus if he had anything to tell her.
• Severus said he might have a lead, but demanded that Pomona offer him something in return.

At Draco Malfoy’s fifth-birthday gathering, Snape recounted the story of Paul de Lamerie and the mysterious puppet linked to the Goblin Rebellion. Pomona agreed to pay Snape for the information by collecting golden powder from Vera the Graphorn, leaving Snape’s anger simmering as she returned Vera to sleep.

• Snape explained how he redirected an Auror director’s questions about his sudden return from XZ toward the Goblin Rebellion.
• Snape told Pomona about Paul de Lamerie’s disputed silverware, the gem-ring case, and the origins of the Finders Keepers Law.
• Snape connected the Muggle Paul’s disappearance in 1751 to a puppet claiming to be Paul that appeared in the Wizarding World in 1752 and knew about Troll armor.
• Pomona asked Vera the Graphorn for help, removed golden powder from Vera’s horn, and placed it in a test tube Snape provided.
• Snape left the dungeon in anger, while Pomona soothed Vera and left her to sleep.

After learning that the captain’s body had been burned and that children were disappearing, Van Helsing told the narrator to wait while he investigated further. Pomona went with Severus to a ballet at Royal Albert Hall, where the Princess of Wales performed, and sensed someone watching her from another box.

• Van Helsing learned from Father John that the captain’s body had been burned and his ashes returned to his former home.
• Van Helsing told the narrator that two children had vanished and warned him to alert their parents and watch for children and men in naval uniforms.
• Pomona met Severus in London, and he took her to Royal Albert Hall to see a ballet and the Prince of Wales.
• The Princess of Wales appeared as a dancer, surprising the audience and prompting gossip about her performance.
• Pomona noticed a guest in another box watching her through opera glasses, then left the performance early with Severus.

Mina and the narrator investigated the ground bees and stray dogs while learning that Lucy had vanished, then attended a garden concert. Afterward, Severus had Salazar Slytherin’s genuine message appraised at Gringotts and extracted a Memory about the human goldsmith Blackstone, leaving the parchment in the goblins’ care.

• The soil samples contained no human remains, and Van Helsing found ground bees in dissected stray dogs.
• The Coast Guard reported that Lucy was not an aristocrat, had disappeared, and that her companions remembered nothing about their exploration.
• The narrator accepted an invitation to a Dutch couple’s garden concert while Van Helsing continued investigating the dogs and bees.
• Severus brought a parchment attributed to Salazar Slytherin to Gringotts, where the goblins confirmed it was genuine.
• Severus asked about the goldsmith Paul, learned he had used the name Blackstone, and extracted a Memory from the goblin manager.
• Severus left Slytherin’s parchment at Gringotts and departed with Pomona.