Chapter Summaries

Pomona confronted Severus about his guilt over Lily and worried about the life Harry had been left to live. Their conversation ended with Severus drawing her into his arms and teasing her about becoming a pet, and Pomona hit him with the book.

• Pomona compared Elizabeth and Darcy’s loyalty to their siblings with Severus’s failure to protect Lily, then questioned whether he had begged for Lily’s life only because she was outside the prophecy.
• Pomona worried about Harry’s upbringing and imagined that he had been left at a Muggle fire station, but Severus said they would judge him after he came to school.
• Pomona challenged whether James’s love for Lily could be proven, and Severus inferred that Harry had been adopted by a Muggle family.
• Pomona called Lily a warrior who did not need Severus’s protection and silently wished that someone would protect her.
• Severus told Pomona that love was not boundless and that there was nothing wrong with selfishness, then pulled her into his arms.
• Severus asked whether Pomona wanted to be loved and cared for as a pet, and she struck him in the face with the book.

Pomona recalled the Roman-Gallic battlefield beneath the Champ de Mars before discussing with Dumbledore how she had kept Harry’s location from Severus. Dumbledore warned her to keep a clear mind as she prepared to leave for London, and Pomona departed still questioning what she knew about the past.

• Pomona searched Paris for two days and found the rendezvous point near the Eiffel Tower, where visions of the ancient battle at Letutia unfolded before her.
• Dumbledore accepted that Pomona had not told Severus where Harry was, and she explained that she had only mentioned the fire station to keep him from investigating further.
• Pomona and Dumbledore discussed Severus’s oath, her decoy role when Hagrid escorted Harry, and Dumbledore’s history with Grindelwald in Paris.
• Dumbledore warned Pomona not to get too deeply involved and urged her to keep a clear mind before leaving for London.
• Pomona left the headmaster’s office, reflected on Sirius, Wormtail, and the uncertain story of Nicolas Flamel, then joked to herself in French as she descended the stairs.

Pomona reflected on teaching, Roman history, and the consequences of impatience as she closed her book. Georgiana prepared to return to Paris, ordered the Muggles to leave first, and flew off on a Thestral toward an unspecified destination.

• Pomona considered how Vernon’s impatience with Dudley’s lessons and parents’ demands could undermine learning.
• The account described Crassus’s disastrous Parthian campaign, Caesar’s efforts to control Gaul, and the fate of Roman prisoners found in China.
• Caesar left Cicero guarding the baggage train, but soldiers from the Fourteenth Legion slipped out to harvest crops and caused trouble.
• Pomona closed her unfinished book when Severus called, while Carolan Lestrange urged Georgiana to return to Paris.
• Georgiana told Carolan to let the Muggles leave first so they could deal with a problem, then mounted a Thestral with Margarita’s help.
• Georgiana urged the Thestral onward, and it flew out of its cage toward the sky.

Pomona pressed Severus to explain his original plan while they stood in her empty apartment. At a forest marketplace, Georgiana stopped Rosier from harming innocents and planned a limited attack on the camp’s birds as she considered how to prevent a wider disaster.

• Pomona found her apartment empty, switched off the lights, and asked Severus to tell her his original plan.
• Georgiana landed near a forest marketplace and discovered that Saul of the Rosier family had followed her.
• Georgiana forbade Rosier from harming innocents and told him to deal only with their birds.
• Georgiana watched the storm clouds and considered how to prevent the conflict from harming innocent people or destroying Paris.

Pomona reflected on the moral costs of sacrificing innocent lives for public safety while Severus remained in London awaiting instructions amid fears of a Russian spy. She then encountered a funeral in the forest and briefly heard Dumbledore, who said the mourners were already dead, before vanishing.

• Pomona considered the cases of Credence, the Salem trials, and a hijacked plane while questioning whether public safety justified sacrificing individuals.
• Severus stayed in London and waited for instructions as suspicion grew around MI5 director Martin Jones and missing classified files.
• Pomona decided she would have supported neither Grindelwald nor Dumbledore and drew the curtains before changing clothes to go out.
• Pomona came upon a funeral in the forest and hesitated because the deceased might have been connected to the previous day's chaos.
• Dumbledore appeared behind Pomona and told her that the mourners had died long ago, then vanished when she turned around.

Pomona reflected on mortality, justice, and the transfer of well-being before making Severus’s apartment into a home, but Severus reacted badly after being denied entry to the palace. Elsewhere, Georgiana and Saul entered a sinister mine-like cave to investigate people gathered outside.

• Pomona considered how vampires’ immortality depended on taking another person’s vitality and how people rationalized inequality and suffering.
• Pomona welcomed Severus to a newly furnished apartment, but he was stunned and retreated to his bedroom after the furniture began shaking and she asked whether he had been refused entry to the palace.
• Pomona prepared dinner and thought about creating a homely refuge for the Order of the Phoenix.
• Georgiana noticed people lining up outside a mine-like cave, cast the Disillusionment Charm, and prepared to investigate.
• Saul joined Georgiana, made himself invisible with his sapphire ring, and followed her into the cave.

Pomona discussed justice, rules, and the limits of law before Snape told her that someone had defected and apologized for snapping at her. Meanwhile, Georgiana entered a dark mine tunnel with Rosier and followed birdsong deeper inside.

• Pomona reflected on Batman, Arthur, and how laws could fail to protect vulnerable people or adapt to changing circumstances.
• Snape told Pomona that someone had defected and published a book in Russia, drawing the Times' attention and raising fears that another royal might publish one.
• Snape apologized to Pomona for yelling and calling her habeas corpus idea foolish.
• Pomona showed Snape the Police and Criminal Evidence Act documents and explained its rules on police powers and suspects' rights.
• Georgiana walked nervously through a dark mine tunnel with Rosier and followed birdsong coming from deeper within.

Pomona explained British privacy and arrest law to Severus, who planned to enjoy his summer holiday. Georgiana and Thor discovered a cult using a Garuda’s bead and oily liquid to induce visions, and Georgiana left the mine after telling Thor not to let anyone drink it.

• Pomona gathered materials showing that Habeas Corpus remained effective in Britain, and Severus asked when she had collected them.
• Severus said he would spend his summer holiday enjoying himself, while Pomona kept her apron on and stopped asking about his work.
• Georgiana and Thor followed a mine passage to a torchlit platform where a red-cloaked woman led a ritual with a Garuda.
• The Garuda retched a bead into a cup, an assistant added oil, and a middle-aged woman drank it and claimed she saw angels.
• Georgiana told Thor not to act inside the cave or let anyone drink the hallucinogenic mixture, then left the mine.

Pomona confronted Gellert Grindelwald in a vision about revenge, forgiveness, and Dumbledore, then realized she was actually in a mine tunnel. She escaped after using magic to trigger a collapse, hoping to keep her revenge from harming innocent people.

• Pomona heard Grindelwald challenge her beliefs about revenge and forgiveness, showing her images of two people dueling.
• Severus found Pomona asleep in the apartment, and she told him she hated Grindelwald and Dumbledore for preaching forgiveness after exploiting others.
• Severus reminded Pomona that Grindelwald and Albus had made a Blood Pact, and Memory flooded back to her.
• Pomona realized she was in a mine tunnel under a Disillusionment Charm and used Earth Rend on a load-bearing wall to start a collapse.
• Pomona escaped the mine, dispelled her Disillusionment Charm, and disappeared into the fleeing crowd.

Pomona confronted Joker in a surreal subway carriage and challenged his belief that she was trying to control him, before Severus called her back to reality. Georgiana then reunited with Saul, who had captured the fanatics despite disobeying her order, and told him to take her to them.

• Pomona found herself on a subway carriage with Joker, who questioned her about evil and whether Batman had done the right thing.
• Pomona argued that Arthur was still himself and that his choices, not his abilities, determined what he became.
• Joker accused Pomona of trying to control him and asked what she had become, but Severus urged her to look at him.
• Georgiana saw Saul in the muddy aftermath of an earthquake and asked how he had found her.
• Saul admitted he had captured the fanatics and discovered their hideout despite Georgiana's order; she told him to take her to them.

Pomona and Severus prepared to investigate a young Werewolf in Victoria Park. Meanwhile, Georgiana captured Scourers and proposed an agreement on the treatment of prisoners, then led the wizards away to find a place to hold them.

• Pomona prepared a picnic while Severus explained that witnesses had seen a young Werewolf at Victoria Park.
• Severus took Pomona’s hand, and they Apparated to the park to investigate.
• Georgiana confronted a young woman who had called her a demon after Saul captured the Scourers.
• Georgiana told the gathered wizards that victory required building a new order and proposed an agreement on how both sides would treat prisoners.
• Georgiana ordered the Scourers taken somewhere away from civilians and flew off with the other wizards.

Pomona and Severus visited a crowded music festival in Victoria Park while discussing their supposed investigation into Werewolves. Meanwhile, Georgiana and a group of wizards attacked a castle defended by Garudas and Scourers, and the battle continued as Mary confronted Georgiana.

• Pomona and Severus explored Victoria Park, where a music festival and food stalls had replaced the quiet setting they expected.
• Saul descended with Georgiana and the wizards near a castle, where Garudas attacked and Rabastan Lestrange raised a protective barrier.
• Georgiana used animated leaves to blind and ensnare the Garudas while Saul set the leaves alight to drive the castle's defenders out.
• A wizard broke from the shield and flew toward the Scourers as a howl sounded and animals fled the disturbed forest.
• Georgiana unleashed a storm of leaves, and Mary appeared among Garudas carrying Scourers aloft, calling herself an agent of God's glory.
• Mary attacked the shield with fire, but Rabastan sent wizards flying toward the bird-people as Georgiana sealed a Garuda's escape from the leaves.

Georgiana questioned the captured priestess, Celia, and learned about her people, their absent Garudas, and the danger facing Theo if he returned. After discussing a plan with Rabastan, Georgiana ended the night reflecting on the story of Odysseus and the Cyclops.

• Georgiana asked Celia about her family and learned that she wanted to escape an arranged marriage to Claude, who already had three wives.
• Celia explained that her people called those who left the tribe “No One” and warned that they viewed anyone friendly toward wizards as cursed.
• Georgiana asked whether Theo would be in danger if he returned, and Celia said he would go back because he was responsible for watching over them.
• Georgiana told Rabastan that the Garudas were ascetics who hid well, and he proposed borrowing Moldu’s power to cause them trouble.
• Georgiana recognized the name “No One” from the Odyssey and later considered stories about Polyphemus before going to bed.

Georgiana reflected on Odysseus’s defeat of Polyphemus, comparing the strength of collective courage and human suffering with the Giants’ power. She left her tent to pursue “No One,” but the snowy dream continued after daybreak.

• Georgiana recalled how Odysseus used wine and a red-hot stake to blind Polyphemus, whose neighbors misunderstood his cries for help.
• Georgiana remembered Napoleoni describing how courage united men to move cannons through the Alps, though she preferred to call that quality guts.
• Georgiana considered Appian’s history and the damaged manuscripts copied from memory, then reflected on learning Greek and the wordplay behind “No One.”
• Georgiana decided she could not follow the main force to Compiègne and needed to report where she was going.
• Georgiana left her tent into the misty snowfall and wondered why the dream had not ended, even though day had broken.

Georgiana walked through the camp and reflected on Hannibal’s campaigns, spiritedness, and the choices of Odysseus and Michelangelo before discovering Muggle captives imprisoned in the cold. She returned to her tent, troubled by the wizards’ cruelty and considering how to help, though she expected to be scolded if she asked someone for advice.

• Georgiana recalled how Hannibal escaped Roman forces by exploiting the terrain and tricking the Romans with fire-bearing cattle.
• Georgiana considered spiritedness, Michelangelo’s David, and Odysseus’ defiance of the Cyclops.
• Georgiana reflected on how Hannibal used the east wind to his advantage at Cannae as the Roman cavalry charged.
• Georgiana found a wooden cage filled with Muggle elders, women, and children who had been trapped by the marsh and mocked by wizards.
• Georgiana returned to her tent and considered asking someone how to resolve the situation, despite expecting a scolding.

Georgiana reflected on power, justice, and the suffering of ordinary people while standing outside the tent in the snow. She ordered hot soup for the prisoners and warned that children should be kept away from their cage, while Rabastan questioned whether she would do more for them.

• Georgiana considered how ideals of order and justice could excuse cruelty, from ancient myths and Roman spectacles to oppression of common people.
• Georgiana asked Carolan to bring her a chair and sat outside the tent in the snow rather than go inside.
• Georgiana told Carolan to give the prisoners hot soup, and Rabastan backed her order.
• Georgiana warned Rabastan to keep children away from the prisoners' cage unless the other side did not want its prisoners returned.
• Georgiana noticed a Christmas rose blooming in the snow.

Georgiana reflected on the lasting consequences of unforgivable acts and the manipulation of mortals by the gods in the Trojan War. After prisoners refused their aid, she told Rabastan to wait before deciding their fate, then noticed a raven flying away from the camp.

• Georgiana connected the prisoners’ refusal of hot soup with the impossibility of undoing unforgivable harm, and considered why Voldemort had to be opposed.
• Georgiana recalled how Hera and other gods manipulated the Trojan War, leading to the Trojans’ defeat and Achilles’ destruction of their forces.
• Rabastan asked what they should do about the prisoners, and Georgiana said they could kill them if they continued to refuse help.
• Rabastan urged Georgiana to wait, and she postponed the decision until after a nap.
• Georgiana and Rabastan watched a raven fly from a tree, and Georgiana returned to the tent.

Georgiana dreamed of the Underworld, where reflections on justice, honor, and love led her to question what Snape was owed by magical society. She woke to a letter from Napoleon and asked whether the Messenger was still there.

• Georgiana dreamed of flying on a Thestral through a snowy forest and encountering a raven and a large wolf.
• Three women she identified as the Three Graces appeared, prompting Georgiana to reflect on generosity, envy, and justice for Snape.
• Georgiana concluded that Snape should seek justice from the city-state rather than from her, then heard someone ask if she was washing her hands of the matter.
• Georgiana woke when Carolan brought her a letter bearing Napoleon’s initial and tried to return to sleep.
• Georgiana read that Napoleon had read Cicero, the Christmas gift she had given him, and asked Carolan whether the Messenger was still there.

Georgiana read a letter criticizing her for waiting to be asked before helping and ordering her to manage the exiles according to strict rules. She reconsidered her earlier orders and chose not to reply before leaving to handle matters outside.

• Georgiana read the letter, which urged her to act eagerly for friends and laid out restrictions for the exiles.
• Carolan asked what the letter meant, and Georgiana cut away the orders before sending him to his uncle with the rest.
• Georgiana reflected on virtue, friendship, charity, and the possibility of allowing the exiles to build a new community rather than killing Muggles.
• Georgiana decided she should not have issued her earlier order, but set aside her unfinished reply because she would depart the next day.
• Georgiana left the tent to attend to matters outside.

Pomona dreamed of memory, obedience, and the choices that bound people to home, then spoke with Dumbledore in a library about loneliness and why he had spared Grindelwald. She woke in the dark beside a bookshelf, still searching for a book about the soul and uncertain whether she wanted to return.

• Pomona reflected on Harry leaving the Dursleys, Hermione erasing her parents’ memories, and the way people followed Napoleon’s orders.
• Dumbledore appeared in the library and asked Pomona how she felt and where they were.
• Pomona questioned why Dumbledore had not killed Grindelwald, and Dumbledore said it was difficult to find someone who truly understood him.
• Dumbledore told Pomona it was time to go, and the library vanished before she could find the book she wanted.
• Pomona woke in a dark tent, wondered whether returning was worthwhile, and went to the bookshelf to look for guidance.