Chapter Summaries

Severus explained to Pomona how Wang Wei’s account of Emperor Wu of Han’s witchcraft purge warned him that Chinese wizards feared foreign interference and could frame their enemies. He concluded that Wang Wei’s visit had likely been intended to destroy their camp and cautioned that Dumbledore might have crossed China’s limits.

• Severus recounted how Emperor Wu of Han’s war against the Huns and fear of witchcraft led to Jiang Chong’s investigation and the deaths of tens of thousands, including the crown prince and empress.
• Pomona asked why Wang Wei had told Severus the story, and Severus said Wang Wei had warned him that wizards must not interfere in Muggle wars.
• Severus told Pomona that Wang Wei had given him Dream-Recall Grass to help him find closure with Lily after believing he should marry Pomona.
• Severus revealed that he had secretly entered Pomona’s room to investigate her background and said Wang Wei’s poem had been written by an ancient namesake.
• Severus suspected Wang Wei had meant to stage a Yeti attack that would eliminate the camp and deter future visitors, then hoped Dumbledore had not crossed China’s limits.

Pomona reunited with Severus in Osmanthus Street, where he confessed his jealousy and recounted his past choices. When Severus sensed danger through his Dark Mark, they rushed back to the Malfoy manor, where Draco was missing.

• Pomona recognized Severus in the teahouse and woke in the Gryffindor common room, where he welcomed her back.
• At the house on Osmanthus Street, Severus explained that Bill and Draco would meet at the Black ancestral home and complained about losing access to the Two-Way Mirror.
• Severus described his jealousy over Pomona and Sirius, his resentment toward Dumbledore, and his hatred of James and Harry Potter.
• Pomona redirected Severus by asking about Wang Wei and the XZ Demon-Sealing Diagram, then told him to protect Draco.
• Severus felt a warning through his Dark Mark, and he and Pomona returned to the Malfoy manor, where Pomona discovered Draco was not in the sitting room.

Pomona worried about Severus after his Dark Mark grew hot, then went with Draco to the Black family home, where Severus revealed a hidden truth about her nature to Bill and Fleur. The alarm had been lifted, and Severus left with Pomona and Draco, while Bill and Fleur were left to examine his memories.

• Pomona questioned Draco about the Dark Mark and the Black family’s Room of Requirement, then decided to take Draco to the Black family home so it could be prepared for Harry.
• Pomona successfully summoned her swan Patronus to send Severus a message and traveled by fireplace to the Black family home, where Bill and Fleur were waiting.
• Severus arrived and questioned Bill about his curse-breaking, then explained that Pomona was a half-blood Veela who would not age like Fleur.
• Severus gave Bill a memory in a Pensieve so he could understand what Pomona was, while Pomona rejected Severus’s request to transform in front of them.
• Severus said the alarm had been lifted, warned Pomona not to be mischievous again, and left the sitting room with her and Draco.

Pomona argued with Fleur about whether Fleur’s love for Bill could survive hardship, then admitted that she had married Severus for security despite doubting his loyalty. As Harry prepared to return to 12 Grimmauld Place, Pomona told Kreacher to let the mistress choose whether to leave.

• Fleur asked Pomona why she had invited her to the wedding, and Pomona blamed her for changing her friendship with Severus.
• Pomona challenged Fleur’s faith in Bill, but Fleur explained how he had supported her when she felt isolated and struggled to fit in.
• Fleur asked Pomona why she had married Severus, and Pomona said she wanted the security of having him at home with her.
• Kreacher told Pomona that Harry was coming back to live at 12 Grimmauld Place and asked what would happen to the mistress.
• Pomona told Kreacher to ask the mistress whether she wanted to leave and said she could choose to remain as guardian of the Black family library.

Pomona woke from a hypnotic vision in the old Black family house and realized Tom had tried to control her body. She chose Severus, kissed him in front of the others, and prepared to leave for lunch and shopping with him.

• Pomona woke after hearing the music box and recognized that it could cast hypnotic magic.
• Pomona resolved to pursue Severus and kissed him on the stairwell while the others watched.
• Pomona told Severus that Tom had tried to control her body and that Fleur had helped her resist.
• Pomona asked where Draco and George were, then told Severus to choose between eating with them and going shopping.

Pomona and the others discussed sword training and plans to deal with the Acromantulas over lunch in London. Astoria argued against using poison, while Draco and Severus arranged for Ron to join the women’s shopping trip and face his fear of spiders.

• Pomona noted that Neville needed a swordsmanship teacher and that the rusty sword in the Black family display case might need Borgin and Burkes for repairs.
• Severus used a Confundus Charm to clear a table for six, and Pomona rebuked him for abusing magic.
• Astoria challenged Draco’s opinions about Hogwarts and then warned that poison could harm other animals and contaminate water if they used it against the Acromantulas.
• Pomona acknowledged Astoria’s concerns but noted that burning the spiders would upset the centaurs.
• Severus proposed that Ron accompany the women shopping, and Draco suggested they tell Ron about the spider-elimination plan to help him overcome his fear.

Pomona shopped with Narcissa for clothes and discussed Severus’s transformation, the Malfoys’ interest in the Room of Requirement’s plants, and Astoria’s suitability for Draco. She planned to attend a cultural exchange at City Hall with Severus and was waiting to learn whether Justin could secure an invitation.

• Pomona admired Severus’s London accent and bought him deep-blue silk pajamas while shopping at Harrods with Narcissa.
• Narcissa asked whether Astoria was suitable for Draco, and Pomona said Astoria was a good girl who was not troubled by gossip.
• Narcissa asked what Severus had been doing on the eighth floor, and Pomona said he had tried to steal the Time-Turner so Lockwood would not get it.
• Narcissa asked which magical plants Pomona had placed in the Room of Requirement, but Pomona refused to tell her.
• Pomona planned to buy a formal dress with Eastern elements for a cultural exchange at City Hall and invited Narcissa and Lucius to attend.
• Pomona hoped Justin would obtain an invitation for her and Severus, and considered using the Imperius Curse if he failed.

Pomona shopped with Narcissa Malfoy while the two discussed the tsunami, Lucius, and the Black family portraits. After returning to her private thoughts, Pomona reflected on her bond with Severus and the choices she had made for him.

• Pomona and Narcissa watched news of the tsunami while shopping for Pomona’s cultural exchange dress.
• Narcissa told Pomona that Lucius had inherited Abraxas’s wand and had once imprisoned Ollivander at Malfoy Manor.
• Pomona said she wanted to return home, and Narcissa agreed to find a British castle where the Black family portraits could live.
• Pomona told Narcissa that Severus had removed her sister from the Black family, and Narcissa accepted that her sister had long stopped being a Black.
• Pomona privately recalled how she had protected teenage Severus by faking Tobias Snape’s disappearance and admitted that her maternal love had been spent on him.

Severus pieced together that Regulus had been taken to a seaside cave on Hemetra Island, where the Dark Lord hid a Horcrux, and demanded that Pomona stay away from the Black family house in exchange for attempting a rescue. He Apparated with her to a desolate coast, leaving them facing the dangerous search for the cave.

• Pomona and Narcissa returned to the Black family house with sweets and cleaning supplies, while Narcissa went upstairs and Severus pulled Pomona aside.
• Severus told Pomona Kreacher’s memories of the cave, the potion, and the boat, then connected them to Zygmunt Budge’s story of Third Brother and Farewell Water on Hemetra Island.
• Severus concluded that the cave on Hemetra Island was where the Dark Lord hid Slytherin’s Locket and suggested Regulus had also done something involving the Elder Wand.
• Pomona asked Severus to help bring Regulus back, and he demanded that she never enter the Black family house again.
• Pomona hesitated to leave with Severus, but he Apparated them to a freezing, barren coast and pointed out the sunset.

Pomona and Severus explored Hemetra Island while Severus explained how Tom Riddle had used it as a refuge and discussed the lives of Tom and Zygmunt Budge. Severus recalled his history with Neville and the cruelty he had inflicted on Hogwarts students, leaving Pomona frightened as they walked into the sunset.

• The chapter described Zygmunt Budge’s departure from Hogwarts, potion research, and experiments with a beauty potion.
• Pomona and Severus circled Hemetra Island, and Severus explained that Dumbledore had found it through memories of Muggle children Tom Riddle brought there.
• Severus revealed that Tom had once kept a giant sea serpent and had relied on Muggle servants during a period of weakness.
• Severus recalled Dumbledore’s attempt to save him and praised Neville’s decisive actions, while denying that he liked Neville.
• Severus described how he had retaliated against students who mocked him, and Pomona begged him to stop as they continued walking.

Pomona and Severus explored a fogbound island tied to Zygmunt Budge, whose experiments and potion inventions may explain the abandoned village. As they discussed the island’s dangers and prepared to investigate a cave, Severus warned Pomona that her shouting could attract whatever was nearby.

• Pomona clung to Severus as they wondered where the island’s villagers had gone and whether they had become Inferi.
• Severus teased Pomona about Sybill Trelawney overhearing them in the Room of Requirement, and Pomona recalled the encounter with embarrassment.
• Severus explained that Pomona’s fire-resistant, corrosive magical plant was guarding the Time-Turner after Lucius called Draco for help.
• Severus connected Budge’s experiments and the island’s barren landscape to a Pixie-Repelling Potion accident and recounted an altered version of The Wizard and the Hopping Pot.
• Severus warned that the sea cave could only be entered when the tide was low, and he ordered Pomona to be quiet so she would not draw anything toward them.

Pomona and Severus discovered that Voldemort had used shipwrecked passengers to create Inferi and located the sea cave where Regulus had died. Pomona pleaded for Regulus to be given a chance, while she and Severus argued about the Time-Turner and their past choices, before leaving the island together.

• Severus found wrecked ships and concluded that their passengers had become the Inferi.
• Pomona and Severus encountered a dangerous female ghost, and Severus Apparated them to safety.
• Severus identified a sea cave matching Kreacher’s description of the place where Regulus had gone.
• Pomona argued that Regulus deserved a chance to make amends, while Severus said his death could not be undone.
• Pomona and Severus discussed the Time-Turner, Voldemort, and the possibility of researching potions together.
• Pomona asked Severus to take her home, and they Apparated away from the island.

Pomona and Severus recovered from their ordeal on Hemetra Island with sweets and intimacy, then discussed their plans and their complicated past with Sirius. Severus’s laughter and questions about Pomona’s summer at the Scamander house left her wondering what he knew about Sirius’s feelings.

• Pomona reflected on freedom, desire, and the differences between Dumbledore’s restraint and Dark wizards’ indulgence while she and Severus recovered in the city.
• Severus said he had no interest in the Potions Championship and dismissed Theodore Nott’s decision to compete as his own choice.
• Pomona asked Severus about his plans for Saturday, and he said he would tear down the Black family house and speak with Kingsley.
• Severus told Pomona he had married her because she made him happy and threatened to expose every detail of their courtship if she married Sirius.
• Severus questioned Pomona about her summer at the Scamander house, and after she called it her worst holiday, he went downstairs to rummage through Sirius’s room.

Pomona studied the dangers and limits of time travel, then asked Kreacher to use a Time-Turner to rescue Regulus from the cave. Kreacher agreed, and Pomona arranged to receive Slytherin's Locket after Regulus was brought back.

• Pomona received an invitation from Justin and drafted a letter containing information about centaurs and the dangers of using a Time-Turner.
• Pomona reconsidered the wording of Sybill's prophecy and decided to return to Hogwarts to find the prophecy orb.
• Kreacher arrived with Slytherin's Locket and asked whether Regulus might still be alive.
• Pomona explained that Regulus had sent Kreacher away to destroy the locket and proposed using a Time-Turner to retrieve him from the cave.
• Kreacher agreed to find a Time-Turner and bring Regulus back within five minutes, and Pomona made a deal to receive the locket afterward.

Pomona prepared to use House-elf magic and time travel to save Regulus and Severus, then disguised herself and returned to a memory of meeting Severus in Scotland. The memory ended with her grieving over her cruel last words to Dumbledore and wishing she could speak to him again.

• Pomona compared the enchanted pocket watches and decided to carry Severus's crystal bottle so she could block his eavesdropping.
• Pomona sent Honey to place a ribbon-wrapped invitation in the Godric's Hollow villa and recognized that summoning Kreacher from afar could help her rescue Regulus.
• Pomona considered the limits and dangers of time travel as she planned to save Severus, even if it meant using Kreacher's desire to save Regulus as an experiment.
• Pomona drank Polyjuice Potion to disguise herself as a short, fat woman and Apparated to snowy Scotland.
• Pomona recalled telling Severus to meet her on the eighth floor to avoid Harry's map and Dumbledore's notice.
• Pomona fell to her knees in the snow, wept over her last unkind words to Dumbledore, and wished she could speak to him differently.

Pomona returned to Hogwarts and used Sybill's prophecy to argue that Harry Potter was not a Horcrux and that Voldemort's remaining soul fragments still needed to be found. She also warned Minerva about the Ministry's missing artifacts and explained how she had secured the Time-Turner.

• Pomona visited Minerva in the headmaster's office and asked to see Sybill's prophecy orb.
• Pomona heard the prophecy and concluded that its singular reference to a servant meant Harry was not Voldemort's Horcrux.
• Pomona told Minerva that Voldemort might have created additional Horcruxes after killing Cedric and that they needed to investigate the missing soul fragments.
• Pomona traced the Room of Requirement's history and warned that several artifacts, including the Vanishing Cabinets and Time-Turner, had been mishandled or removed from the Ministry.
• Pomona revealed that she had planted a Nettlethorn Tree to guard the Time-Turner, which could be destroyed if anyone tried to burn the tree with dark magic.

Pomona discussed Hogwarts’s defenses and a damaged Time-Turner with Minerva, then encountered Harry, who had applied to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. She learned he wanted to protect the school and left him to prepare for the dangers ahead.

• Pomona and Minerva discussed the spider-eradication budget and possible defenses, including gargoyles, a maze, and an anti-herbicide potion.
• Minerva explained that Hermione had given her the Time-Turner and that a thief’s attempt to steal it had damaged it.
• Pomona urged Minerva not to approve all of Phineas Black’s budget requests, then left the Headmistress’s office and found Harry waiting outside.
• Harry told Pomona that he had applied to be the substitute Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and wanted to protect Hogwarts.
• Pomona told Harry that she had taught his mother Herbology, wished him luck, and watched him leave.

Pomona reflected on dependence, Dumbledore’s hidden past, and the danger of the returning Dark Lord before urging Neville to find healthy Mandrakes and involving Lavender in a spider-clearing operation. She left Neville’s romantic future unresolved while trying to keep him from being claimed by another house.

• Pomona considered how the Dark Lord’s return could be confirmed and recalled Eileen’s dependence on Tobias, along with the stigma surrounding Squibs.
• Pomona remembered that Dumbledore had secretly loved Gellert Grindelwald, a truth Severus had discovered only after Dumbledore’s death.
• Pomona met Neville and Lavender in a Hogwarts corridor and learned that Neville had found no Mandrakes for the school greenhouse.
• Pomona told Neville to contact Castelobruxo for Mandrakes and advised him to use Muggle methods when they were faster.
• Pomona assigned Lavender a role in the spider-clearing operation and said that former Dumbledore’s Army members would join them.
• Pomona resolved not to let Neville be taken from Hufflepuff as Harry had been taken by Gryffindor.

Pomona confronted Lavender about the dangers of her werewolf nature and her relationship with Neville, then argued with Severus over whether Harry was a Horcrux. The chapter ended with Pomona proposing that Sirius was the master named in Sybill’s prophecy and Filch the servant, though Severus questioned her reasoning.

• Pomona sat with Neville and Lavender at the Great Hall, discussing Neville’s sorting and Quidditch while Lavender challenged her about her wedding and her relationship with Severus.
• Pomona warned Lavender that her werewolf condition made her vulnerable and urged her to control her emotions and learn to hide.
• Lavender accused Pomona of meddling in her life, and the argument ended when Severus contacted Pomona through her crystal.
• Pomona told Severus that Harry was not a Horcrux, citing Sybill’s prophecy and the timing of Wormtail’s appearance.
• Pomona suggested that Sirius was the master and Filch the servant in the prophecy, but Severus questioned who Filch had betrayed.

Pomona and Severus debated whether Filch was the murderer and explored how the Black family, Slytherin, and Hogwarts might be connected through old master-servant ties. The discussion ended when Severus revealed that Longbottom had asked him for help, then asked Pomona about his birthday present.

• Pomona defended Filch’s conscientiousness while Phineas Black condemned Dumbledore for admitting Squibs and a suspected murderer into Hogwarts.
• Pomona and Severus speculated that the Dark Lord might be Slytherin’s descendant and discussed whether the Black family had once owned Hogwarts Castle.
• Severus rejected the idea that he or Filch would serve Sirius, while Pomona compared the situation to Kreacher’s forced loyalty.
• Pomona said she planned to go shopping, and Severus declined before revealing that the next day was his birthday.
• Severus said Longbottom had asked him for help, and the figure in the crystal ball vanished.