Chapter Summaries

Pomona remembered how Dumbledore had asked her to recover James and Lily’s Invisibility Cloak from Godric’s Hollow, while Georgiana reflected on the cloak’s magic and on the people entangled in Bonaparte’s world. Fredley warned her that a rival was trying to replace her, then suggested they would keep working together as a new performance began.

• Dumbledore asked Pomona to retrieve the Invisibility Cloak from the ruins of Godric’s Hollow, which she had found with Sirius and James.
• Georgiana considered whether the Invisibility Cloak confused its wearer’s perception and reflected on James, Lily, Sirius, and Snape.
• Fredley told Georgiana that Bonaparte had taken a new lover and that the woman was trying to replace her.
• Georgiana said she accepted being useful to Bonaparte and insisted that Mr. Smith should not be drawn into her revenge.
• Fredley said they would be working together often in the future as stagehands brought out new backdrops.

Pomona discovered that Hagrid was hiding a young Cerberus while asking about the Potter family's Invisibility Cloak. At an opera performance, Georgiana reflected on hunters, honor, and love before receiving a third letter from Paris urging her to reply.

• Pomona visited Hagrid to ask about the Potter family's Invisibility Cloak and found him hiding a puppy that he identified as a young Cerberus entrusted to him by the Greeks.
• Georgiana recognized the aria Hagrid had hummed as Handel's Caesar in Egypt while watching the opera with Fredley and Countess Fagnari.
• The opera's set shifted openly from the Egyptian court to a harbor, where Cleopatra welcomed Caesar, and Countess Fagnari explained that Fagel had learned panorama painting in Paris.
• Georgiana reflected on uniforms, knighthood, Yusuf Kama's pursuit of Corvus Lestrange, and the destructive power of love.
• Fredley told Georgiana that the king had a gift for her, but a Messenger arrived with a letter from Paris; Georgiana said it was the third letter that day and went to read it.

Pomona treated Severus’s old Fluffy bite while he flirted with her and asked whether she believed in hell. In another thread, Georgiana received a Copper Liver from the Prince of Wales and prepared to visit Brera Observatory, leaving a lament for Josephine’s dead dog in her reply.

• Pomona examined Severus’s lingering leg wound and applied Dittany while he teased her and offered to patrol for her the next day.
• Severus asked Pomona whether she believed hell existed, and she answered that Azkaban was a kind of hell.
• Julian Ouvrard brought Georgiana a gift and a note from the Prince of Wales, and she identified the gift as a Copper Liver divination tool.
• Georgiana asked whether Rome’s Lynx Eye Academy still existed and announced that she would go to Brera Observatory that night.
• Georgiana wrote a lament for Josephine’s dead dog in her reply to the Prince of Wales.

Pomona asked Dumbledore how to treat Snape's Cerberus bite and learned that Fluffy was a replica and that Snape had been hurt protecting the Philosopher's Stone. The narrative then shifted to Georgiana reflecting on friendship, loss, and the rules of paradise before she and Fredley left together for Brera.

• Pomona brought the students serving detention back to the castle and asked Dumbledore whether Phoenix tears could cure Snape's painful Cerberus bite.
• Dumbledore explained that Fluffy was a replica, that the Dark Lord had mistaken it for a real Cerberus, and that bread—not poisoned meat—had distracted it.
• Dumbledore told Pomona to try burn ointment after she admitted treating Snape's bite with Dittany and massaging it.
• Doctors at St Mungo's later treated Snape with an ointment, while his pain eased when Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were gone.
• Georgiana recalled her past and considered the Eye of the Lynx, the rules of paradise, and her lost sense of where her bottom line had been.
• Georgiana asked Fredley to go to Brera, and the two left the scene together.

Pomona and Remus discussed the Basilisk and the history of copied Cerberus, while Georgiana traveled with Fredley to Milan’s Brera Palace and the observatory. Their conversation turned to inherited authority, family, and the ideas Galileo challenged, leaving Georgiana to consider what truly keeps the world moving.

• Pomona searched the library for information about Cerberus and the Basilisk, and Remus appeared while looking up a way to visit Hogsmeade without a guardian’s signature.
• Georgiana and Fredley arrived at Brera Palace and headed toward the observatory, where Galileo had once made a microscope for the Eye of the Lynx.
• Georgiana asked Fredley about his relationship with his father and discussed her godson’s conflict with his father over marrying for love.
• Georgiana explained that Galileo challenged unquestioned ancient theories and said she worked for Napoleon partly because of Salem and sugar.
• Georgiana reflected on Galileo’s insistence that the Earth moved, then rejected the idea that the Earth could not keep turning without anyone in particular.

Georgiana discussed telescope designs and astronomical ideas with Fredeli while considering how to fund a large instrument. Fredeli then warned her that she and Josephine faced accusations over bad purchases, and their conversation turned to taxes, military costs, and political intrigues before an arrival interrupted them.

• Georgiana considered using electroplating to create a reflective telescope surface and reviewed Herschel's telescope plans.
• Georgiana and Fredeli discussed shooting stars, hell, and whether light offered hope or made suffering clearer.
• Fredeli told Georgiana that Bodan had supplied rotten meat and that Josephine had bought unfit horses, leaving both accused.
• Fredeli asked Georgiana about the cost of the war, her gains from it, and her proposed tax on wheels; she said it would pay for road repairs.
• Fredeli discussed Malta, Gibraltar, and a past diplomatic plan that the king had handled despite being considered mad.
• A carriage arrived, and Fredeli asked Georgiana whether they should wait while she looked toward the telescope.

Georgiana reflected on Malta, magical security, and the rivalry over inventions and art before Cicognara and François Zabini arrived. The chapter left her watching the sky through an astronomical telescope in search of a revelation.

• Georgiana considered how Malta’s history, harbor, and raids had sustained the Knights of Malta despite the island’s poor farmland.
• Georgiana thought about Gringotts’ magical silver vaults, Sneakoscopes, and the Thief-Proof Waterfall’s ability to expose disguises and forgeries.
• Cicognara and François Zabini arrived instead of the Messenger Georgiana expected, and Zabini explained that he had applied to become her squire knight.
• Cicognara and Fredley argued over gas lighting, stolen spinning machines, and the excavation of Italian statues while Zabini watched.
• Georgiana left them arguing and looked through the astronomical telescope for a possible revelation.

Georgiana and her companions discussed gas lighting, patents, and the approaching threat of war before Bougainville arrived with a Venetian chart revealing an island in the Adriatic. The island of Palagruža appeared to be the operation’s true target and a possible refuge.

• Georgiana considered the origins of gas lighting and the patent dispute between Philippe Lebon and Windsor.
• Georgiana reflected on invention, patent rights, and her desire to avoid political drama and focus on more important work.
• Cicognara and Fredley discussed a possible meteor shower while Georgiana watched through a telescope.
• Zabini noticed someone approaching, and Bougainville arrived with a nautical chart from the Venetian library.
• Bougainville identified Palagruža as the island on the chart, and Cicognara said it could provide safety from the danger ahead.

Georgiana and the others discussed Palagruža Island’s currents, history, and possible uses as they considered occupying it. Their conversation turned to the Cold Water Battle and whether the ancient Roman emperors’ losses had allowed Attila to rise, leaving Georgiana asking Cicognara to tell the story.

• The chapter described how currents around Palagruža Island shaped Adriatic navigation and made it a strategic place for ancient sailors and pirates.
• It recounted the Uskoks’ origins as Habsburg-supported irregulars and their conflict with Venice after they began raiding Venetian ships.
• Georgiana recalled Josephine’s serious injuries after a spa balcony collapsed and considered how Palagruža Island’s ridge might allow its limited space to be expanded.
• Cicognara said he did not think occupying the island required a major naval mobilization, and Bougainville asked whether the region had sea monsters.
• Cicognara brought up the Cold Water Battle and asked whether the Roman emperors’ losses there had helped Attila become the Scourge of God.
• Georgiana asked Cicognara to explain the battle, and Bougainville noted that the stars guided sailors at sea.

Georgiana listened as Cicognara connected historical invasions and sea currents to the danger facing the coast, then agreed to write General Murat seeking protection. The chapter ended with Pomona resting by the Saint-Martin Canal after Dumbledore reflected on the courage of a girl skipping stones.

• Cicognara explained how Attila, the Uskoks, and conflicts around Palagruža shaped the region's history and fears of the sea.
• Cicognara asked Georgiana to seek protection, and Fredley encouraged her to write to General Murat.
• Cicognara said messages from Savona washed up at Vazel and explained that swimmers crossing the sea were found on the beach.
• Georgiana asked whether Cicognara had gone to Paris after seeing a message in a bottle, and he said he had also fled the atmosphere there.
• Pomona watched a short-haired girl skip stones by the Saint-Martin Canal, and Dumbledore spoke of courage before Pomona rested in the shade.

Pomona challenged Dumbledore’s comparison of Harry to animals and questioned whether Dumbledore had raised him to sacrifice him, before the scene shifted to Georgiana discussing danger, money, and military decisions with Bougainville. The chapter ended with Georgiana dreaming that she was an eagle watching a king’s hunters pursue wild boars and deer, unsure where to fly next.

• Dumbledore compared Harry’s situation to the survival strategies of wild boars and deer, and Pomona insisted Harry was a person with friends.
• Pomona asked whether Dumbledore had raised Severus like a piglet to sacrifice him, and Dumbledore teased her about becoming less obedient.
• Georgiana woke in an observatory as Bougainville told her the ambassador and count had departed, and she urged him to send more men to protect the count.
• Georgiana and Bougainville discussed the Adriatic’s mermaids, Roman urine taxes, despair, and the Egyptian expeditionary forces still aboard ships in the Mediterranean.
• Georgiana dreamed she was an eagle watching hunters pursue wild boars and deer, then wondered where she should fly next.

After waking in the observatory, Georgiana discussed desire, conscience, and the cave’s hidden treasures with Zabini. He took her to meet the Lombardy goblins, warning that the growing interest in the cave could spark a wider conflict.

• Georgiana woke in the observatory after dreaming of Helen, Menelaus, and the consequences of desire.
• Zabini suggested that Georgiana go with him to the countryside and asked her to get dressed.
• Georgiana learned that French wizards might fight the Lombardy goblins over the cave’s treasures.
• Zabini said the cave’s discovery had disrupted a thousand years of peace and that the treasures had to be divided before more parties became involved.
• Georgiana and Zabini left the observatory together, with Zabini giving her a shawl for the cold mountains.

Zabini took Georgiana from Milan’s old town to the Italian Ministry of Magic, using a hidden fountain for magical travel. They arrived at a Goblin palace beneath the Alps, where Georgiana remained wary of Zabini as they approached their destination.

• Zabini showed Georgiana Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper and then took her to the Little Star orphanage.
• Zabini and Georgiana entered a hidden passage in the orphanage’s fountain, which transported them to the shore of Lake Como.
• Zabini introduced Georgiana to Angiri, a Lombard Goblin from one of the five great families.
• Angiri drove them through mountain tunnels to a vast underground world and a glowing palace beneath the Alps.
• Georgiana wished Severus could see the place but grew cautious about being alone with Zabini.

Georgiana explored Goblin transportation magic as a possible way to bring Fiendfyre to Metatron’s Cube, then traveled with Zabini to an abandoned fountain. She explained that she wanted to disprove those who had judged her and choose a life beyond revenge, while wondering whether she could have found an exit from this world.

• Georgiana considered using transportation magic to move a fountain near Metatron’s Cube and test whether it would absorb matter.
• Georgiana found Rabastan Lestrange, then left before noon and traveled by carriage with Zabini.
• Zabini asked why Georgiana helped humans, and Georgiana said she wanted to prove her abuser and Sir Bacon wrong rather than live for revenge.
• Georgiana and Zabini reached an abandoned fountain, then continued their journey by carriage as she wondered whether she could have escaped this world from the opera house.
• Georgiana sang the theme song from The Sound of Music as the carriage passed through the sunlit scenery.

After returning to Milan, Georgiana reflected on injustice, revenge, and her isolation before experimenting with an idea inspired by a magical dragon-bone dagger. The chapter left her sketching when someone knocked at her door, expecting another demand for an explanation.

• Georgiana returned to Milan after dark and placed a dragon-bone dagger on her desk, where it caused tender shoots to sprout.
• Georgiana reflected on past bullying, the Marauders, Severus, Lily, and whether justice had ever been served.
• Georgiana put the dagger back in its stone case and sketched an idea for turning a needle into a vine.
• Georgiana touched the shoots and watched them wither before someone knocked at her door.

At a Malfoy Manor party, Pomona accompanied Snape, while Septimus Malfoy visited Georgiana in Italy to propose trade that could profit from war. Georgiana rejected his suggestion of using people as pawns and ended the meeting, then prepared for bed with a guard outside her door.

• Pomona praised Snape’s appearance and brushed ash from his shoulder before Lucius Malfoy led them into the party.
• Septimus Malfoy visited Georgiana at two in the morning and explained how tariffs and French nobles’ absence from their estates affected trade.
• Septimus proposed trading pig iron and discussed using peace with France to profit from war elsewhere, but Georgiana refused.
• Luigi ordered Septimus to leave and said he had told him to return the next day, leaving Georgiana concerned about his confusion.
• Georgiana asked Margarita to summon Zabini to guard her door, then went to bed hoping to avoid dreams of fire and blood.

Georgiana practiced archery outside Milan, where Fredley brought her a falcon and questioned her about planting sugar beets on former church land. Their argument over the land’s use and ownership ended with Georgiana leaving in a carriage, while Fredley warned that someone might exploit General Murat’s absence to act improperly.

• Georgiana practiced archery at dawn and saw a vision of a determined man in a tricorne hat before an eagle’s cry startled her.
• Fredley arrived with a falcon as a gift for Georgiana and urged her not to describe herself as a weak woman.
• Fredley asked why Georgiana planned to grow sugar beets on land left behind by the archbishop, and she objected to sugar production amid fears of famine and slavery.
• Fredley said Italian people wanted to grow grain and asked whether sugar grown on church land would be tax-exempt, while Georgiana insisted the land was not church property.
• Fredley warned that General Murat had taken many men away and someone might exploit the opportunity, but Georgiana questioned him and boarded the carriage with her sword.

Fredley showed Georgiana and Luigi maps revealing how Austria had redrawn Croatia-Slovenia, annexed territory, and altered postal routes after the Treaty of Campo Formio. Left alone with the maps and the Dragon Bone Dagger, Georgiana wondered what Leon was planning as the region’s political tensions threatened to ignite.

• Fredley explained how Austria divided Hungary and showed Georgiana and Luigi maps of the Lombard and Myrien Kingdoms.
• Georgiana discovered that Austria had annexed Argam and divided Croatia-Slovenia, leaving Croatia with a small area that included Rijeka.
• Fredley suggested that Galicia could become a buffer zone, while Georgiana warned that the region was a powder keg and learned that Ljubljana was Croatia’s administrative center, also called Dragon City.
• Fredley and Luigi left to have tea, and Georgiana examined the maps and took out the Dragon Bone Dagger.
• Georgiana wondered what Leon was planning and questioned whether he alone could see clearly amid the changing political landscape.

Georgiana discussed maps, meridians, and Egypt with Luigi while reflecting on her strained feelings for the British man. She left determined to adapt to her changed world without losing herself.

• Georgiana used a pink sword to hold down maps and noticed that British and Viennese maps placed the Prime Meridian in different locations.
• She explained to Luigi how changing the Prime Meridian could affect maps and instruments, and Luigi tried to lift her mood by asking about camels and Egypt.
• Georgiana told Luigi she had once thought of Napoleon as someone to remarry and said she was beginning to forget what it felt like to love.
• Luigi asked whether she still loved the British man and why she was not jealous, while Georgiana said she wanted to avoid the pain of loving too deeply.
• Georgiana left, deciding to adapt to the New World without becoming unrecognizable.

Georgiana visited the Little Stars orphanage, reflected on Tom’s childhood and the forces that shaped him, and discussed her ideas about love, guilt, and strength with Fredley. After giving a little girl a laurel wreath to wear as a crown, Georgiana went to meet Magenta and his companion.

• Georgiana watched the orphanage children blow soap bubbles and told Fredley that Tom might have become different if he had received a mother’s affection.
• Georgiana explained that Tom’s roots reached toward evil and discussed his guilt over Myrtle’s death with Fredley.
• When a girl asked to see her crown, Georgiana clarified that there was no queen in the Cisalpine Republic and made her a laurel wreath.
• Georgiana told Fredley that appearances did not define a person, then noticed Magenta had arrived with a friend and went to meet them.