Chapter Summaries

Pomona dealt with the students’ chaotic ball-night aftermath before facing Severus, who arrived to claim the favor she had promised him. She left him in her office and went to answer the Fat Friar’s summons to the headmaster’s office.

• The students formed groups around their ball invitations, and Peeves and Paul disrupted the evening gathering until Pomona sent everyone back to their common rooms.
• Pomona visited Wilhelmina’s Birdcage to ask Grubbly-Plank to help arrange Centaur training for Random, then returned to clean the castle with the House-elves.
• Severus confronted Pomona in her office about their agreement, and Pomona teased him with a passage from a confiscated book while he kept his eyes closed.
• The Fat Friar told Pomona that students had complained to the headmaster about Peeves, and Pomona left her office to go to the headmaster’s office.

Pomona went to Dumbledore after midnight to explain why she had asked Peeves to stop the Celestial Ball, arguing that students should spend their time pursuing knowledge instead. Dumbledore heard her out, and she left after asking why Grindelwald had been imprisoned rather than executed.

• Pomona recalled Jia Zhen’s hypocrisy over his father’s funeral and compared him to old Paul as she climbed to Dumbledore’s office.
• Pomona told Dumbledore she had asked Peeves to stop the Celestial Ball because she considered Lockhart a dangerous flatterer and wanted students to pursue the truth instead.
• Pomona used circles to explain how learning revealed more unknowns, and Dumbledore questioned her approach and how she would explain it to students.
• Pomona promised that if the Celestial Ball was not held the following year, there would be no dangerous ball that year either.
• Before leaving, Pomona asked why Grindelwald had been imprisoned instead of sentenced to death, and Dumbledore said he would not answer cruelty with cruelty.

Pomona comforted Myrtle over being excluded from the Celestial Ball, then reflected on true nature, desire, and the danger of abandoning one’s principles. She returned to her office and confronted Snape, who explained how the book had been hidden, before leaving after a brief, affectionate exchange.

• Pomona found Myrtle crying because no one had invited her to the Celestial Ball, and Myrtle stopped crying after Pomona said she had asked the headmaster to cancel it.
• Pomona reflected on Lockhart, worldly ambition, and the importance of protecting one’s true nature and principles.
• Pomona noticed the Daedalian Key was gone and compared a Lumos ring to a child’s toy before returning to her office.
• Snape told Pomona that the book had been hidden above the bed and that one person had been alone in the room from beginning to end.
• Pomona attacked Snape with a floating wastebasket and her fists, then calmed down as he kissed her cheek and said good night.

Pomona reflected on Ananda’s encounter with Matangi as the illusion of a giant python and a lonely monk unfolded before her. After a peaceful day at Hogwarts, she began translating Plato’s Phaedo in her office, where Severus asked when Random would start training.

• Pomona watched a glowing figure slay the giant python, then felt unable to part from it and recognized the monk’s loneliness as like her own.
• Minerva asked Pomona whether Severus feared the curse on the Defense Against the Dark Arts position as he joined the staff table beside the new professor.
• Pomona’s classes and meals passed peacefully, and the Fat Friar assigned her daily French lessons using Plato’s Phaedo.
• Severus entered Pomona’s office while she translated and asked when Random would begin training.
• Pomona said Wilhelmina would notify her and explained that Wilhelmina knew Centaurs better; Severus smiled and said students must learn to command themselves.

Pomona watched Gryffindor defeat Slytherin in a rough Quidditch match and worried about hidden threats and Voldemort’s eventual return. After arranging to meet Severus at their usual cursed place, she discussed the match with Minerva as they left the stands.

• Pomona reflected on the help Miss Aiken had received and watched the Slytherin players’ substitute, suspecting someone might be plotting against the ball.
• Charlie spotted and caught the Golden Snitch despite Slytherin players targeting him with dangerous collisions and Quaffles, giving Gryffindor a 210–85 victory.
• Severus asked Pomona to meet him later at the same cursed place, and Pomona noticed Slytherin students glaring at Charlie and wearing dark-magic jewelry.
• Pomona considered how destructive forces could clear the way for gentler civilizations and worried that Voldemort’s return might turn Slytherin toward its past.
• Minerva questioned Pomona about Severus and condemned Slytherin’s dangerous play as she walked away from the stands.

Pomona reflected on freedom, love, and spiritual devotion while discussing Slytherin and Voldemort with the Fat Friar. She remained uncertain whether she would leave Hogwarts with Snape for Christmas, and the Fat Friar’s concerned sigh brought her back from her thoughts.

• Pomona considered Amrapali’s refusal to surrender her freedom and the Buddha’s teachings while studying an art book with the Fat Friar.
• Pomona argued that Slytherins and Voldemort’s followers should be allowed to remain together openly, and the Fat Friar warned her against letting a snake into Eden.
• Pomona recalled the story of Micah and the girl with lotus flowers, who vowed to support his spiritual path and became his wife through future lives.
• Pomona thought about Snape’s wish for her to leave Hogwarts for Christmas and her fear that leaving would tear her from the school.
• Pomona imagined ways Zhineng might reunite with Qin Zhong after death, then noticed the Fat Friar watching her with concern.

Pomona confronted Snape after finding him uprooting her Mandrakes to improve a Broad-Spectrum Antidote, then learned that students were spying on them and that girls in her house were investigating Amortentia. Snape warned her about Aiken’s invisibility potion and mentioned he might take her to Durmstrang, while the two shared a quiet, affectionate moment in the greenhouse.

• Pomona went to the greenhouse after a Hufflepuff student reported that Snape was pulling up her Mandrakes.
• Snape explained that he needed dancing Mandrakes to improve the potency of the Broad-Spectrum Antidote, and Pomona warned him to ask permission next time.
• Snape told Pomona that students were spying on them and advised her to lock the greenhouse doors.
• Snape said he wanted to introduce Pomona to Draco and warned her that girls in her house had asked about Pearls for making Amortentia.
• Snape cautioned Pomona that Aiken had made an invisibility potion and said he might take her to Durmstrang.
• Pomona hugged Snape in the warm greenhouse as they listened to the water and moved together as if dancing.

Pomona settled the Mandrakes in the cellar, where Severus reflected on whales and the Bone-Eating Snot Flowers they sustained. After Elena Aiken reminded her of the Potions Tournament, Pomona discovered that Nancy Schaeffer had brewed Amortentia and took the cauldron away, leaving the girls to discuss the danger after the break.

• Pomona placed the treated Mandrakes in the fungus-growing cellar and found Severus looking through the glass pool as he spoke about whales and his childhood aquarium visit.
• Pomona saw Elena Aiken, who asked if she could withdraw from the Potions Tournament, and hurried back to the common room.
• Pomona and Ast searched the girls' dormitory, where Pomona found Nancy Schaeffer hiding under an invisibility potion.
• Nancy told Pomona she had brewed Amortentia to discover what scent she liked, and Pomona found the potion beneath Nancy's bed.
• Pomona warned Nancy about the risk of poisoning, took the cauldron, and postponed discussing the matter until after the break.

Pomona brought a cauldron of Amortentia to Snape, then agreed to help him study a mushroom for a potion based on Protego Diabolica. After inhaling the mushroom’s scent, she was overwhelmed by its effects and was forced out of the Potions classroom.

• Pomona showed Snape the smoking Amortentia, and he told her he would examine it for a couple of days.
• Pomona challenged Snape about testing his Veritaserum, but he distracted her with a vial containing a dried mushroom and revealed he had used Occlumency against her Veela gift.
• Snape explained that the mushroom was for a new potion, Protego Diabolica, whose selective effect he wanted to research.
• Pomona agreed to help Snape after learning he would continue the research without her, and he said the mushroom’s scent could attract spirits.
• Pomona smelled the mushroom, became blissfully dazed, and understood that it was dangerous before a force shoved her out of the classroom.

Pomona reflected on desire, grief, and the dangers of trying to bring the dead back before speaking with Dumbledore about Miss Scheffler and Severus. She hoped Severus would move on from Lily at the Yule Ball, but remained unsure how to discuss his feelings with the girls.

• Pomona studied the mushroom Severus had given her and considered its associations with resurrection, desire, and maternal love.
• Pomona recalled Tobias’s fleeting interest in horse racing and his resentment that Eileen had not given him Felix Felicis.
• Dumbledore questioned Pomona about searching the girls’ dormitory and asked why Miss Scheffler had brewed Potions there; Pomona said she would respect the girl’s privacy.
• Pomona told Dumbledore that Miss Scheffler wanted Amortentia to discover what she desired most, then discussed desire and self-knowledge with him.
• Pomona considered Voldemort’s concealed past and the danger of using the Resurrection Stone to bring Lily back.
• Pomona hoped Severus would meet a suitable girl at the Yule Ball and wondered how to raise the subject with the girls.

Pomona learned that Olivera and the other girls had planned to give Amortentia-laced gifts to the Weird Sisters, and urged Olivera to take responsibility for the scheme. After the girls left, Pomona went to report the discovery to Dumbledore.

• Pomona worried that the missing Amortentia bottles might be given away as Christmas presents and spread the danger beyond Hogwarts.
• Ast brought Olivera to Pomona, and Olivera confessed that the girls had planned since summer to put Amortentia in gifts for the Weird Sisters.
• Pomona refused to reveal how she had learned about the plan and urged Olivera to have the courage to tell the truth and accept responsibility.
• Ast led Olivera out, and Pomona left her office to report the scheme to Dumbledore.
• Pomona saw Hagrid dragging Hogwarts' Christmas tree into the Great Hall as she went upstairs to find Dumbledore.

Pomona spoke with Dumbledore about students secretly brewing Amortentia and reflected on how passion could lead people into dangerous choices. She returned to her office still troubled by love, grief, and the consequences of the students’ actions.

• Dumbledore told Pomona that protecting students from lasting harm was the staff’s responsibility, while declining to discuss whether he would visit Aberforth.
• Pomona left the Astronomy Tower and saw Mrs Norris chase a rat that resembled Percy’s pet Scabbers.
• Pomona reflected on the students’ Amortentia gifts, the danger of romantic rivalries, and Asha’s fight with Gryffindor’s “Amata.”
• Pomona recalled nearly strangling Severus and wondered whether painful memories should be taken away.
• Pomona returned to her office, sighed, and questioned whether Nietzsche was right about experiences people lacked shaping their character.

Pomona accompanied Dumbledore on Christmas visits that showed her Harry’s unhappy home and prompted her to question how childhood shaped Voldemort. After declining to view a memory of Voldemort as a child, she returned to Hogwarts and spent Christmas night with Severus, giving him a bookmark.

• Pomona and Dumbledore visited the Longbottoms at St Mungo’s and Pomona’s comatose Muggle counterpart at Saint Paul’s Hospital.
• Dumbledore took Pomona to see Harry at the Dursleys’ home, where Petunia shut him in a cupboard, and Pomona worried about his treatment.
• Dumbledore invited Pomona to view a memory of Voldemort’s childhood, but she refused to learn where he had lived.
• Dumbledore urged Pomona to make Hogwarts a warm home for Harry, then asked whether Sirius had told her why he ran away from home.
• Pomona returned to Hogwarts, read Oscar Wilde’s tale with Severus, and gave him a bookmark for Christmas.

Pomona and Severus discussed Voldemort’s ambitions, resurrection research, and the hidden politics behind the Salem trials. After Severus left, Pomona noticed firelight threatening her bookshelf and called him a dangerous follower.

• Pomona and Severus discussed Voldemort’s independence, his goals, and his search for a way to achieve lasting immortality.
• Severus explained that the John Alden tried in Salem could not have been the Mayflower settler and suggested the trials involved the new charter’s powerful signatories.
• Pomona asked Severus whether he liked his life, but he left without answering.
• After Severus departed, Pomona saw firelight appear before her bookshelf and called him a dangerous follower.

Georgiana and her companions inspected Leal Castle, the new orphanage, and imagined ways to make it a welcoming place where children could learn practical skills. The visit ended with plans for improvements while the group left a pointed question about the security of Hope Bank’s warehouse unaddressed.

• Georgiana, Richard, Mary Edgeworth, and Alex Hunter toured the dilapidated Leal Castle and considered what life in an orphanage meant for abandoned children.
• Georgiana reflected on Tom’s choices and said that an orphan had destroyed himself despite once having a promising future.
• Geoffrey St. Hilaire introduced his younger brother Etienne, who gave Georgiana a botanical art album of flowers and fruit.
• Georgiana proposed painting botanical illustrations on the orphanage walls and building a greenhouse, while Richard suggested adding a workshop.
• Miss Lamont mentioned Mr. Colquhoun’s work protecting the docks, and Geoffrey pointed out that Hope Bank’s warehouse had burned down.
• Georgiana changed the subject to gas lighting, and the group moved on without discussing the warehouse further.

Pomona found the Mandrakes infected with Dancing Acid dying and tried to save them with Snape’s help. After discussing love and regret with Snape, she noticed Professor Ruse approaching through the storm, while Georgiana and her companions chose a former chapel as the site of a library.

• Pomona and Snape inspected the diseased Mandrakes, and Pomona found that the first one was dead.
• Pomona asked Snape for Reviving Potion and Regeneration Potion so she could try to save the remaining Mandrakes.
• Snape embraced Pomona in the greenhouse, where she asked whether couples could part beautifully and spoke about the Unlucky Knight and Amata.
• Snape spotted Professor Ruse outside in polar gear, and Pomona prepared hot tea for their guest.
• Georgiana, Maria Edgeworth, St. Hilaire, Richard, Hunt, and Étienne discussed converting a former chapel into a library.

Ruse visited Hagrid to check on Spark, his reindeer-disguised vampire, while Pomona and Severus joined them in the Forbidden Forest. The group set off to see Spark, and Pomona and Severus ended the visit exchanging snowballs and teasing each other.

• Ruse explained that he worried Spark would struggle through its first winter away from him at the North Pole, where it helped him find food beneath the sea.
• After the snowfall eased, Ruse went to Hagrid’s hut, and Pomona and Severus followed him through the Forbidden Forest.
• Pomona and Severus found Charlie helping Hagrid care for a wild Hippogriff, and Hagrid led the group toward Spark and Fluffy in the orchard.
• Hagrid asked Severus for Sadness Potion because Alihotsy Fudge was selling well, while Pomona asked for Cheering Potion and Severus refused.
• Pomona threw snow at Severus, Charlie joined in and lost points from Gryffindor, and Severus retaliated by making snow fall on Pomona from the treetops.

Ruse discussed wolves and their social behavior with Pomona and Snape while Charlie approached Spark. In Paris, Georgiana planned Christmas gifts for the aristocrats and reconsidered how wizards should stay protected from Muggle unrest.

• Ruse asked Pomona when Harry Potter would return, and Pomona guessed that he would come back when he turned eleven.
• Ruse explained that wolves were intelligent, cooperative predators, and he said he understood wilderness calls better than the noise of social gatherings.
• Pomona watched Charlie approach Spark and recalled Lupin running with James and Sirius as Animagi.
• Saint-Hilaire teased Georgiana about her discomfort at balls, and Georgiana proposed giving everyone a shell mirror showing Venus.
• Miss Lamont suggested that Georgiana offer exiled French aristocrats a comfortable Christmas, but Georgiana dismissed the idea that they would be grateful.
• Georgiana realized that wizards needed to remain insulated from Muggle turmoil through the International Statute of Secrecy, rather than interfere in others' affairs.

Random continued training with the Centaur youths in the winter forest while Pomona reflected on prejudice, power, and the danger of trying to change others’ fates. The chapter ended with Georgiana seeing someone who resembled Albus Dumbledore in a distant corridor and choosing to ignore him.

• Random ran through the Forbidden Forest with the Centaur youths, building his endurance despite the cold.
• Pomona watched Random train with Charlie and discussed his determination with Snape, who doubted how long it would last.
• Pomona reflected on Muggle and wizarding prejudice, the consequences of interference, and her own past decisions.
• Georgiana saw a figure resembling Albus Dumbledore in a distant corridor and pretended not to notice him.

Pomona watched Charlie train with Hagrid’s Hippogriff, Gold Necklace, and reflected on Severus’s absence. The story then shifted to Georgiana’s thoughts about Bonaparte, ancient philosophy, and the uncertainty of her place in a competitive world, leaving her longing for Hogwarts but unsure whether she could return.

• Charlie approached Gold Necklace, bowed according to Hagrid’s instructions, and earned the Hippogriff’s acceptance.
• Charlie rode Gold Necklace through the Forbidden Forest while Hagrid explained that the Hippogriff was still learning to fly with a rider.
• Pomona realized Severus had avoided the training because Sirius’s flight on Buckbeak had once drawn attention away from him.
• Georgiana recalled Bonaparte’s nickname, Puss in Boots, and considered his reading habits and resentment of the childhood mockery.
• Georgiana examined The Vedas and reflected on teachings from Xunzi, Laozi, Zhuangzi, and Confucius alongside Bonaparte’s rise to power.
• Georgiana wished she could return to Hogwarts but worried that Albus was gone and no one would defend her amid fierce competition.