Chapter Summaries

Pomona reflected on Hermione’s treatment after Rita Skeeter’s reporting and on the sacrifices witches made for love and family. In Georgiana’s story, Napoleon used a sculpture and a tale of Hercules to rally the crowd, leaving Georgiana shaken by his growing power and the cheers around him.

• Pomona tended a student injured by a Bubotuber vine and learned that Hagrid had left a note requesting leave.
• Neville and Cedric arrived at Pomona’s greenhouse to deliver herbs, but stayed at the entrance talking.
• After the Yule Ball, Rita Skeeter wrote an unflattering report about Hermione, who received threatening letters and was misunderstood by Molly.
• Pomona advised Minerva that Hermione needed something other than sweets and reflected on Lily’s talent and the costs of devotion to family.
• Napoleon presented a sculpture and told the crowd that human will could tame fate, then asked whether Hercules could stop a flood.
• An Imperial Guard shouted “Vive Napoleon!” and the crowd joined in, while Georgiana and Chaptal stayed silent and Georgiana trembled.

Pomona discouraged Cedric from asking Fleur to the Yule Ball and taught Neville to dance instead. After a long dreamlike passage about Italian history and literature, an unnamed man led an unnamed woman away from the crowded hall.

• Cedric asked Pomona whether champions could invite one another to the dance, and she advised him to choose a Hogwarts girl instead of Fleur.
• Neville asked Pomona to teach him to dance, and she danced with him in the greenhouse.
• The narration recounted Beatrice’s and Nino’s histories, Savonarola’s rise and execution, and other historical anecdotes.
• An unnamed woman told an unnamed man what she had been thinking, but he hushed her and took her hand.
• The man led the woman out of the hall without attracting attention.

Pomona learned that Barty Crouch Sr. was dead while Snape pursued a private relationship with her, and she informed Cedric that Harry had found the body. Later, Georgiana and Li Ang discussed using a Vanishing Cabinet and the burden of life debts, then agreed to spend two more days together.

• Snape visited Pomona, kissed her, and agreed to meet her in the greenhouse that night after she insisted they talk about Barty Crouch Sr.'s death.
• Pomona told Cedric that Crouch was dead and that Harry had found the body, while warning him to keep the news secret.
• Cedric left without responding, and Pomona considered whether to stop the tournament or persuade him to withdraw before deciding he was safe.
• Li Ang examined the Vanishing Cabinet and proposed using it to return home during campaigns and bringing another cabinet to France.
• Pomona refused to move the other cabinet, explaining that her life debt to Brick made her wary of owing any more debts.
• Li Ang and Pomona left the cabinet room hand in hand after agreeing to treat the next two days as a holiday.

Bonaparte gave Georgiana a manuscript of the Digest, but their conversation turned into an argument when she insisted on traveling to Siberia to investigate permafrost and Star Magic. He ordered her to stay and keep Pauline company, and Georgiana left with the book, feeling that her home was already gone.

• Bonaparte gave Georgiana a manuscript of the Digest and tested her knowledge of ownership when a plant took root on another person's land.
• Bonaparte promised Georgiana a golden family tree, and she thought about his ambitions and the new map of the French Republic.
• Georgiana told Bonaparte she was angry and asked to travel to Siberia or Spain to investigate permafrost and find books about Star Magic.
• Bonaparte refused to let Georgiana travel and told her to keep Pauline company after Pauline returned with Leclerc's corpse.
• Georgiana asked Bonaparte whether he believed in hell, and he ordered her out; she left with the Digest manuscript.

Pomona and Severus shared an intimate moment after he told her he had encountered Gerard, and their Mind-Sharing Charm drew her into a vision of silver hair and pink roses. She awoke as Georgiana in the palace at Compiègne, where Talleyrand offered her a Christmas gift and sought to speak with her as they walked.

• Pomona read about the Basilica Cistern, European history, and the political conflicts surrounding Transylvania.
• Severus told Pomona he had run into her Gerard, and they discussed how much Severus had changed.
• Severus led Pomona to the bedroom, covered her with roses, and used the Mind-Sharing Charm to show her his daydream.
• Pomona awoke as Georgiana in the palace at Compiègne after hearing someone call her name.
• Talleyrand gave Georgiana a jewelry box for Christmas and suggested they talk while walking.

Georgiana reflected on royal jewelry, diplomacy, dynastic marriage, and the laws governing inheritance as she considered the political dangers surrounding her. After arriving at the room she had damaged, she began imagining covering its walls with mosaics.

• The chapter explained how Gerard and Severus concealed a damaged emerald earring and invented Yaroslav as a jewel thief, while Severus suspected Yaroslav would target an Imperial Easter egg.
• Talleyrand gave Georgiana black pearl earrings and expected her to exchange them for a painting from the Louvre, as Georgiana considered his shifting loyalties and the political meaning of neutrality.
• Georgiana worried that her Veela nature could prevent her from producing a male heir, and she reflected on the consequences of divorce, legitimacy, and Justinian's laws on marriage.
• Georgiana and her companions reached the room she had damaged, where she picked up a shard of glass and imagined covering the walls with mosaic tiles.

Georgiana discussed power, art, and the value of reproductions with Talleyrand while he considered renovating her damaged residence. Their conversation ended when Bougainville announced that the auction of paintings brought from the Louvre was about to begin.

• Georgiana reflected on unchecked political authority and contrasted Voldemort's rule with Napoleon's constitutional constraints.
• Georgiana and Talleyrand discussed renovating her residence in a Byzantine style using mosaics.
• Georgiana questioned whether reproductions could be works of art and explored how belief shaped people's judgments of authenticity.
• Talleyrand suggested placing Georgiana's sculpture in Versailles's Hall of Hercules, but she had not decided where it belonged.
• Bougainville announced that the auction was about to begin, and Georgiana left with Talleyrand.

Georgiana watched Talleyrand’s auction of Renaissance paintings and reflected on Titian’s portrayals of youth, love, and aging. After Titian’s portrait sold for twenty thousand Francs, Talleyrand redirected a widow’s hostility by suggesting she sponsor artists, and Georgiana left the hall to inspect the paintings backstage.

• A Louvre Museum staff member introduced Titian’s portrait of Isabella d'Este, explaining that he had painted her as a young woman at her request.
• Georgiana noticed the restored widow glaring at her, then asked Talleyrand to intervene; he sent a young man to encourage the widow to sponsor artists.
• Titian’s portrait sold for twenty thousand Francs, and Talleyrand asked Georgiana why she had not bid if she thought the price was too low.
• The auctioneer presented Rubens’s Three Graces, and Talleyrand asked Georgiana what price it should fetch.
• Georgiana disliked the painting and went backstage to see what other works Denon had brought.

Georgiana continued overseeing the auction of paintings taken during Napoleon’s campaigns, defending the sale and choosing a Flemish painting to present as an example of fair exchange and merchant prosperity. Chateaubriand offered to polish her explanation and began writing as she moved on to choose another painting.

• Father Grégoire confronted Georgiana about the auction, but she declined his offer to talk and went backstage.
• Georgiana found actors gathered around Giulio Romano’s painting of Zeus and Alcmene, where Miss Georgina stepped aside after Denon arrived.
• Georgiana told Denon to continue the auction because it had recovered only twenty thousand Francs, and she selected “The Money Changer and His Wife.”
• Georgiana explained that the painting illustrated Kant’s idea of free will and praised Antwerp merchants for fair, equivalent exchange.
• Chateaubriand offered to refine Georgiana’s presentation, but she postponed his offer and continued searching among the paintings while he began writing.

Georgiana arranged for actors to recreate paintings to entertain the French court, while she remained apart from Miss Georgina. Bougainville then brought Georgiana to meet a Milanese astronomer who had discovered Ceres.

• Georgiana had actors perform scenes from Dutch painter Ostade’s works, including “The Tooth Puller,” and the painting sold for 2,000 Francs.
• Georgiana reflected on freedom, resentment, and her decision to stay and prove the dictator wrong, while she and Miss Georgina remained distant.
• Chateaubriand finished his manuscript and handed it to Denon.
• Bougainville found Georgiana backstage and invited her to meet a star-watching hermit from Milan who had discovered Ceres.

At the Louvre auction, Georgiana watched Chateaubriand’s introduction help Romano’s painting sell for a high price, then heard Father Piazzi warn of a coming famine and learned that the Inquisition had disappeared in Italy. Napoleon and Edgeworth competed over a Lorrain landscape until Edgeworth bought it, and Georgiana led Napoleon out of the auction hall.

• Georgiana objected to Greuze’s painting being auctioned, and Denon had it removed.
• Chateaubriand’s introduction helped Romano’s painting sell for fifty-two thousand Francs, and Georgiana’s remarks drew Lucien and Chateaubriand’s attention.
• Father Piazzi told Georgiana that Oriani’s letter predicted another famine and said there was no longer an Inquisition in Italy.
• Georgiana agreed to continue preparing Grégoire’s Christmas dinner for the poor and proposed using wine residue for the renovations.
• Napoleon bid against a banker for a Claude Lorrain landscape, but Edgeworth won it for three hundred and thirty thousand Francs.
• Georgiana took Napoleon by the hand and led him out of the auction hall.

Georgiana and Bonaparte reconciled after their intimate moment, discussed returning a Raphael painting, and went back to the auction, where Georgiana saw Genevieve among the dead. The sound of Hogwarts’s bell reached Georgiana in Compiègne, leaving her wondering how she could hear it from so far away.

• Georgiana calmed herself after Bonaparte sat up, then agreed to return the Raphael painting and explained she no longer wanted a Byzantine-style house.
• Bonaparte told Georgiana to choose a room in his residence for the night, and she teased him about dressing like Caesar.
• Georgiana reflected on Justinian, mortality, and the fate of those who tried to defy death as she and Bonaparte returned to the auction venue.
• At the auction, Genevieve told Georgiana to follow the paths of the stars before disappearing.
• Georgiana heard the familiar Hogwarts bell ring in Compiègne and wondered how its sound had reached her from Scotland.

At a Paris art auction, Bonaparte acquired three paintings while Georgiana reflected on Theodora, the risks of Bonaparte’s growing power, and a comet expected in 1812. After Bonaparte left, Captain Nightingale asked Georgiana to help him sell a painting by Turner, and she was left talking with Count Koblenz.

• Georgiana considered how Theodora’s reputation had changed over time and how Byzantine records about her had been overlooked in Europe.
• Bonaparte attended an art auction, where he bought paintings by Georges de La Tour, Antonio da Correggio, and Lorrain.
• Georgiana worried that Bonaparte was becoming less human and thought about Genevieve’s warning concerning the comet expected in 1812.
• Captain Nightingale asked Georgiana to help him sell a painting by Turner.
• Count Koblenz introduced himself to Georgiana, who searched the room for Talleyrand.

Georgiana considered hunting, desire, and her own past while admiring Turner's wine-harvest watercolor at the Louvre. She asked David to develop a purple pigment for new clothes for Napoleoni, then confronted Fargeon about the letter he had rescued and left to find a place to sleep in the palace.

• Georgiana reflected on bloodlust and hunting, Ron's lack of money for snacks, and the damage Napoleon had caused in the lives of women around him.
• Georgiana told David that Turner's painting made her feel safe and asked him to mix purple from wine sediment and soot, intending to use the color for Napoleoni's clothes.
• Georgiana found Fargeon viewing a hunting scene with the Minister of the Navy and demanded to know why he had rescued the letter.
• Fargeon said he had once reconciled the king and queen and explained that he was protecting the alliance between France and Austria from scandal.
• Georgiana told Fargeon she had no scandals left to expose, then left to find somewhere to stay before nightfall.

Georgiana toured the Queen’s Apartments at Compiègne Palace with Talleyrand and Francis, while reflecting on history, power, marriage, and the artworks around her. She left the antechamber without asking for its bas-relief to be removed and followed the men toward the next room.

• Georgiana entered Compiègne Palace and saw the Apollo statue and the Golden Bees decorating its staircase.
• Talleyrand and Francis met Georgiana on the second floor and offered to show her the Queen’s Apartments.
• Georgiana refused to stay in the apartments but agreed to visit them with Talleyrand and Francis.
• Francis identified the antechamber’s bas-relief as Anacreon, and Georgiana connected its lovers to Euripides’ Medea and the dangers women faced in marriage.
• Francis offered to have the bas-relief removed, but Georgiana told him to leave it alone and continued to the next room.

Georgiana toured the palace rooms prepared for her and met Count Nicolas de Saint-Breuchin, who would soon oversee the National Archives. In the former Queen’s waiting room, she sat on the Queen’s sofa and asked Francis to introduce the assembled women.

• Francis introduced Count Nicolas de Saint-Breuchin to Georgiana as the future head of the National Archives.
• Talleyrand showed Georgiana the Queen’s small reception room and explained that she could decorate it and the adjoining room without destroying anything.
• Georgiana entered the blue room, recognized its connection to Josephine and Hortense, and asked who would stay there.
• Talleyrand led Georgiana to the waiting room and pointed out the Queen’s large sofa.
• Georgiana sat on the sofa without taking its central seat, asked the women to sit, and told Francis to introduce them.

Georgiana attended a banquet at Compiègne, where aristocrats discussed noble status and asked where she would live in Paris. She reflected on power, revolution, and her uncertain future, then spoke with Talleyrand about restoring the corridor’s murals.

• The ladies gave Georgiana a diamond-set platinum locket, while Josephine hosted émigré aristocrats seeking to distinguish legitimate nobles from others.
• Talleyrand expressed sympathy for the aristocrats, and Francis spoke only when they asked where Georgiana would live after returning to Paris.
• Georgiana recalled Bonaparte’s suggestion that she live at the botanical garden and reflected on the upheavals that could follow a regime’s return.
• A countess asked Georgiana what she liked, and Georgiana answered that she liked creation rather than flowers or famous paintings.
• Talleyrand asked whom Georgiana wanted to paint murals in the François I Corridor, and she suggested waiting before choosing an artist.
• Georgiana finished the banquet and then had lunch with the ladies.

Georgiana reflected on Napoleon’s fear of poison, the political struggle over Britain, Russia, and France, and the risks of her own plans as she watched David paint at Compiègne. The chapter ended with her leaving the gathering to open Pandora’s Box, hoping it might contain hope despite expecting an illusion.

• Georgiana recalled Napoleon’s poison pouch and his growing fear of eating food prepared by others.
• Napoleon demanded that Hamburg surrender the assassin who had tried to kill him, leaving Britain to choose between handing over Hamburg, its protected exile, or Malta.
• Georgiana considered the danger of being watched and the diplomatic contest between Napoleon, Britain, and Tsar Alexander.
• Georgiana questioned whether her agricultural loan and grain reserve plans could work amid famine, market manipulation, and the British blockade.
• After lunch, Georgiana watched David paint removable wooden panels while the gathered women remained silent.
• Georgiana left the crowd, driven by an impulse to open Pandora’s Box in search of hope.

Pomona reflected on the Crimean War while Georgiana wrestled with a painful letter and doubts about Bonaparte’s love for her. Chateaubriand offered to obtain Bonaparte’s letters to Josephine so Georgiana could learn the truth, and she left to rejoin the ladies without deciding whether to accept his offer.

• Pomona discussed the crowded city with Severus and went to the library, where she read about the British victory at the Battle of the Alma in the Crimean War.
• Georgiana returned to the blue room, reread a partly burned letter, and feared that Bonaparte would one day leave her for another woman as he had left Josephine.
• Georgiana imagined dying like Cleopatra and wondered how she could prove her love for James was genuine.
• Chateaubriand entered the girls’ bedroom, argued with Georgiana about love, and offered to get Bonaparte’s letters to Josephine.
• Georgiana questioned Chateaubriand’s motives, then composed herself and returned to the room where the ladies were staying.

Georgiana reflected on survival, magic, and her isolation before Bougainville interrupted her dangerous underwater meditation and shared a strange story from his travels. He then revealed that the Legion of Honour ceremony would take place in Hercules Hall because of her, leaving Georgiana puzzled by his description of her as dreamlike.

• Georgiana submerged her face in the bathtub to meditate, but Bougainville pulled her up and drained the water.
• Bougainville told Georgiana about a storm, monkeys, and bronze statues on an island in Turan Bay, and she warned him not to touch them.
• Georgiana told Bougainville that she did not discuss official business with the First Consul because they each had forbidden ground.
• Bougainville told Georgiana that the Legion of Honour ceremony would be held in Hercules Hall because of her.
• Georgiana denied being dreamlike, and Bougainville laughed at her response.