Chapter Summaries

Pomona reflected on Hogwarts’ isolation, education, consumerism, and the need to protect one’s conscience, then discussed those ideas with Severus over dinner. When Severus confronted her about meeting Zhang, Pomona admitted what she had done over the past two days.

• Pomona considered how Umbridge’s ban on practical Defense lessons left students unable to protect themselves and how Hogwarts’ isolation kept parents unaware of the Ministry’s actions.
• Pomona reflected on consumerism, the value of knowledge, and the importance of resisting pressure without betraying one’s conscience.
• At a Chinese restaurant, Severus asked Pomona what she had been doing, and she said she had watched a movie and discussed ideas about self-sacrifice.
• Severus questioned Pomona about meeting Zhang and accused her of lying about her activities.
• Pomona apologized and told Severus what had happened yesterday and today.

Pomona and Severus discussed Han Chen’s criminal nature, Chinatown’s organization, and the history of Chinese antiquities while dining at the Dragon-Phoenix Teahouse. Their conversation turned to Chinese wizarding attitudes toward marriage before Mr. Wen sent them an unexpectedly lavish meal.

• Pomona reflected on Han Chen’s paranoia and impulsiveness, and on how his behavior pushed Ah Ming to kill to protect himself.
• Pomona considered how Han Chen’s criminal organization held together through profit and how Mr. Wen used Ma Youjiang to deal with traitors.
• Severus explained the histories of Zhang Jingjiang and Lu Qinzhai and the overseas dispersal of Chinese cultural relics, including the Six Steeds of Zhaoling.
• Pomona told Severus that she preferred Water Margin, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and Journey to the West to Dream of the Red Chamber.
• Pomona asked whether Cho Chang and Tao Zhang were related, and Severus said their families seemed ordinary and that Chinese wizards did not focus on bloodlines.
• A waitress told Pomona and Severus that Mr. Wen had ordered them a feast, though Severus had not requested the extra dishes.

Pomona and Severus met Mr. Wen in his fortified office above the Chinatown restaurant, where they revealed they were freelance wizards and discussed the magical painting he owned. Mr. Wen questioned their purpose, and the chapter left their meeting unresolved as Pomona reflected on power, class, and the history of Qin Shi Huang.

• Pomona and Severus followed the restaurant staff to Mr. Wen’s heavily guarded office on the third floor.
• Mr. Wen welcomed them, and Pomona shook his hand while Severus ignored it and inspected the office.
• Pomona sensed magic in a painting of a hornless ox, and Severus asked Mr. Wen how to summon the creature inside it.
• Mr. Wen said the painter, Little Ma, had told him the ox would emerge to save him in danger, then asked whether Severus planned to do something dangerous.
• Pomona admitted that she and Severus were wizards and said they were freelancers, not Aurors.
• Mr. Wen mocked the idea that wizards were forbidden from participating in Muggle wars, while Pomona considered class, corruption, and the harsh history of Zhao Zheng.

Pomona and Severus discussed Han Chen’s downfall with Hongmen Incense Master Mr. Wen, who revealed that he was worried Little Ma might belong to the Big Circle Gang. The dinner ended with Pomona realizing Severus had somehow made Mr. Wen call Westerners “foreign devils,” and Severus openly enjoying the conversation.

• Mr. Wen explained that Han Chen had been undone by his undercover agent Ah Ming, while Pomona recalled that Han Chen had forced Ah Ming to go undercover.
• Severus and Mr. Wen debated the danger of risking lives through undercover work, and Mr. Wen claimed his business avoided such risks by arranging deals with shop clerks.
• Severus asked why Mr. Wen had invited them to dinner, and Mr. Wen admitted he could not identify Little Ma’s background and suspected he was with the Big Circle Gang.
• Mr. Wen worried that the Big Circle Gang might use the turmoil to push Hongmen out of Chinatown, and Pomona questioned his suspicion.
• Mr. Wen referred to Westerners as “foreign devils,” prompting Pomona to accuse Severus of using a Confundus Charm on him; Severus laughed and said he liked Chinese people.

Pomona reflected on power, loyalty, betrayal, and the suffering that trapped people in violent worlds, connecting the lives of Chan Wing-yan, Leung Kam-wing, Ah Ren, and Severus to her own longing for a different life. She left the chapter watching the street below, resigned to her awkward fate.

• Pomona compared historical rulers and fallen dynasties while reflecting on the costs of power and failed judgment.
• She considered how Chan Wing-yan’s death, Leung Kam-wing’s fate, and Ah Ren’s choices revealed the burdens of loyalty and conscience.
• Pomona thought about organized crime, the drug trade, and how people such as Draco Malfoy could be driven into darkness when they had no way out.
• She reflected on Severus’s devotion to Albus and the lasting misunderstandings faced by undercover agents.
• Pomona stayed away from Severus’s conversation with Mr. Wen and watched the busy street, wishing she had been born an ordinary woman or man.

Pomona and Severus discussed consumerism, private property, and the costs of war while observing Chinatown. Severus explained that Mr. Wen was preparing for a possible Werewolf attack, then led Pomona into a Chinese supermarket.

• Pomona reflected on consumerism and compared the prices of sneakers in London and China.
• Pomona considered Christian teachings on private property and the history of state confiscations, including Emperor Wu of Han's campaign against the Huns.
• Pomona asked Severus whether Mr. Wen resembled Quirrell, and Severus said Mr. Wen favored warnings and threats over patient persuasion.
• Severus said the Werewolves would regret attacking Chinatown, and Pomona praised his strategy as killing with a borrowed knife.
• Severus corrected Pomona, took her hand, and led her into a Chinese supermarket.

Pomona reflected on cultural identity, practical education, and family while shopping for the Lantern Festival, then confronted Severus over their relationship and the loss of the child she had nearly had. The chapter ended with Pomona grieving and questioning why she had not been born a man.

• Pomona considered how manipulation and impractical values could make people vulnerable, and compared Miaoyu’s sheltered life with the Weasley family’s warmth.
• Pomona lost Severus in the crowded supermarket and advised a lonely shopper on choosing garlic sauce and appreciating proper meals.
• Severus found Pomona and introduced himself to the shopper as her husband, prompting the man to leave his cart and walk away.
• Severus asked whether the anniversary she had mentioned was the day of the Black Lake competition, and Pomona wished him a cold happy tenth anniversary.
• Pomona challenged Severus for acting as though nothing had happened, then cried as she spoke of losing the girl she had nearly become a mother to.
• Pomona reflected on Severus’s love for Lily and on the sacrifices women made for family, ending by wondering why she had not been born a man.

Pomona reflected on desire, love, and the coming judgment as she stopped restraining herself and sought comfort with Ma Youjiang. The chapter ended with her imagining an angel’s horn settling every grievance and bringing all accounts to a close.

• Pomona considered how external rewards and excessive restraint could undermine genuine motivation and love, and wondered whether Severus would cease loving anyone if she displaced Lily.
• After returning to the apartment, Pomona pushed Ma Youjiang onto the sofa and indulged her desires with him, while he went along with her despite asking to rest.
• A woman downstairs sang “Angel,” and Pomona connected its words about escape and comfort to death, memory, and a Slytherin boy who had once looked like an angel.
• Pomona imagined an angel descending to judge everyone equally and settle all bonds, injustices, loves, and grudges.

Pomona reflected on how public opinion silenced dissent while she stayed isolated under Severus’s protection. After she woke to find him watching the dawn, their conversation about his past and Ma Youjiang ended with Severus taking control of another intimate encounter.

• Pomona considered how fear of social isolation created a spiral in which unpopular opinions fell silent, and recalled that Harry and Ron stood against the prevailing belief that Voldemort had not returned.
• Pomona realized she had been pushed out of the accepted social camp and would face hostility if she returned to teaching, while Severus now protected her in isolation.
• Pomona woke and saw the resurrected Severus smoking by the window, with a scar around his neck resembling a collar.
• Severus asked Pomona what he tasted like, spoke about understanding why Bloody Baron killed Helena, and told her not to suggest he find another woman.
• Severus asked what she thought of Ma Youjiang; after Pomona answered that she felt nothing, he finished his cigarette and returned to bed beside her.
• Severus began kissing Pomona again, taking control of their encounter.

Pomona read Zhang Tao’s account of how volcanic eruptions and climate shaped Chinese history, then discussed it with Severus over breakfast. She reflected on the gaps in medieval wizarding history and wondered whether Dark wizards had truly worsened the conflict with Muggles.

• Zhang Tao’s article connected the 934 Eldgjá eruption and the resulting cold, droughts, and famine with the Later Jin’s decline and the Khitan invasion.
• The article examined how climate, political interests, and historical narratives shaped events from the Qin and Han dynasties through the Tang and Song dynasties.
• Zhang Tao warned that a Yellowstone eruption could trigger global cooling, drought, famine, and mass displacement, making civilization vulnerable to collapse.
• Severus came into the kitchen for breakfast and asked Pomona what she was reading.
• Pomona told Severus that Zhang Tao studied how volcanoes and climate affected history, and she compared the continuity of Chinese history with the lost records of their own Middle Ages.
• Pomona wondered whether Dark wizards had really worsened the conflict between wizards and Muggles, then resumed exchanging flirtatious glances with Severus.

Pomona reflected on how plague, war, and desperation exposed humanity’s capacity for cruelty before a kitchen encounter with a man overwhelmed her ability to think. Tom Riddle appeared to her as an apparent illusion and questioned whether she found what she was doing interesting, then her consciousness returned to the suspended flour and the magic surrounding her.

• The chapter recounted how plague and famine devastated societies, undermined the Church, and drove people to desperation and violence.
• The chapter described Emperor Xuanzong of Tang’s flight from Chang’an, the soldiers’ mutiny at Mawei Relay Station, and Zhang Xun’s desperate defense of Suiyang.
• The narration compared warmongers such as Justinian and Palmerston with Tom Riddle’s influence on Helena and her obsession with wisdom and power.
• Pomona struggled against a man kissing and touching her in the kitchen, while she reflected on men’s responsibility for war and destruction.
• Tom Riddle appeared before Pomona without leaving footprints and asked whether she found what she was doing interesting.
• Pomona asked Tom about Bella and his descendant before her consciousness returned to the kitchen, where flour hung suspended in the air.

Pomona reflected on Zhang Xun’s defense of Suiyang, arguing that loyalty and military skill mattered more than romanticized histories, while warning that leaders’ choices could determine a state’s survival. As Severus read Zhang Tao’s article and discussed Lantern Festival preparations, Pomona considered how weather, resource scarcity, and practical infrastructure could shape humanity’s future.

• Pomona argued that Zhang Xun’s resistance at Suiyang helped preserve the Tang Empire and condemned historians who distorted accounts of loyalty and surrender.
• Pomona criticized Emperor Xuanzong for indulging Yang Yuhuan and mistreating his heir, which she said contributed to the rebellion’s prolonged aftermath.
• Pomona asked Severus about Lantern Festival preparations as he read Zhang Tao’s article and said he had secured permission for Aurors to enter Chinatown.
• Pomona reflected that cold weather, poor planning, and mistreatment of conquered people had undermined military campaigns in Russia.
• Pomona discussed volcanic eruptions, famine, and the dangers of resource scarcity, then praised enduring waterworks such as the Zhengguo Canal, Lingqu Canal, and Dujiangyan.

Pomona read Zhang Tao’s account of how volcanic eruptions, famine, taxation, and class conflict contributed to the French Revolution, along with comparisons to upheavals in China. She concluded that volcanoes could change history, while Severus warned her to be cautious about Zhang Tao’s motives.

• Pomona studied Zhang Tao’s report linking the 1783 Laki eruption and the Dust Summer to crop failures, famine, and the French Revolution.
• The account traced France’s unrest to noble privilege, heavy peasant taxes, royal spending, and Louis XVI’s unsuccessful attempts at reform.
• The report compared the French crisis with the collapse of the Sui and Tang dynasties and discussed grain reserves, land ownership, and peasant revolts.
• Pomona put down the book and told Severus that volcanoes could change human history.
• Severus warned Pomona that Zhang Tao had not shown her his research materials without a reason, and Pomona joked that she was not a gossip before going to make tea.

Pomona reflected on how upheaval and desire shaped people before trying to draw Severus’s attention and discussing the Mirror of Erised and Foe-Glass. The chapter ended with Severus kissing her and leading her to the dressing room, while she pondered the dangers of indulging human desires.

• Pomona considered the French Revolution, the vulnerability of wizards, and the political failures that had doomed Louis XVI and Mary.
• Pomona dressed in her Hufflepuff uniform and told Severus that Lucius’s obsession with business had cost him the Dark Lord’s favor.
• Pomona asked what Severus had seen her doing in the Mirror of Erised, and Severus explained how Albus had borrowed the mirror and how Barty Crouch Jr.’s Foe-Glass revealed enemies.
• Pomona reasoned that Albus had wanted attention and challenged Severus about his own desire for admiration; Severus admitted he liked awe and said she was more capable than Gilderoy Lockhart.
• Pomona said she no longer wanted to hide, and Severus kissed her and led her toward the dressing room.

Pomona recounted how the Great Irish Famine exposed British exploitation and failed relief, while the discussion connected that history to wizarding politics and Severus’s indifference to Muggles. The chapter ended with a child rejecting the belief that his dead mother had been a witch and questioning a world without repentance.

• Albus teased Severus at Christmas by conjuring a pointed witch’s hat, while Trelawney’s prediction about thirteen diners was recalled alongside Harry and Ron’s later brushes with death.
• Pomona described how potato blight, British policy, financial crisis, and inadequate relief led to mass starvation and emigration during the Great Irish Famine.
• Pomona explained that Queen Victoria rejected the Ottoman Sultan’s aid, but Turkish ships secretly brought food to Ireland, while famine survivors fled to America and other colonies.
• The discussion turned to wizarding politics, including Milliphutt’s laws, Severus’s motives for opposing werewolf attacks, and Hermione Granger’s possible path to becoming Minister for Magic.
• Severus’s past and Voldemort’s pursuit of Borgin and Burkes were linked to the death of a pregnant woman, whose child refused to believe she had been a witch.
• The child reflected on Christian repentance and questioned what remained when people no longer formally repented.

Pomona and Severus shared an intimate moment while she reflected on love, the Mirror of Erised, and the hardships of Muggle history. She held him close in Cokeworth, determined that their daughter Lily would never have to grow up in such a place.

• Pomona and Severus lay entwined in a wardrobe, eating and kissing as they escaped the painful reality around them.
• Severus told Pomona she was his, and she said she could only care for her own family, reminding him of his curse.
• Pomona reflected on Lily Evans’s choice to remain in the wizarding world and marry James Potter, who could offer her a comfortable life and was willing to change.
• Pomona recalled the famine in Ireland and the Muggle workers who built the railway later used by Hogwarts students.
• Pomona considered how Ottaline Gambol had imposed the train on resistant pure-blood wizards, then set aside her thoughts and held Severus close.

Pomona reviewed Hermione’s proposed House-elf protections and discussed her future with Severus, including their grief over losing a child. The chapter ended with Severus leaving after they argued about his temper and werewolves.

• Pomona reviewed Severus’s company and sanatorium responsibilities, then read Hermione’s proposal to prohibit House-elf abuse and unjustified dismissal.
• Pomona and Severus discussed Hermione’s political prospects and her relationship with Ron while sharing a cocktail.
• Severus apologized to Pomona for their lost child and said he wanted a life with just the two of them.
• Pomona told Severus she was happier than before, and they argued about Dumbledore, fake smiles, and Severus’s temper.
• Severus complained that he was tired of defending against werewolves and left after Pomona teased him about women’s monthly moods.

Pomona drew lessons from the Great Depression and wartime speeches as she revised Hermione’s speech against abuse and unjustified dismissal. She wanted Hermione to become a forceful political leader, even as she blamed Severus for her frustration.

• The chapter contrasted the Great Depression’s suffering and social collapse with the rise of leaders who inspired people to resist despair.
• Pomona considered how Dumbledore had turned Harry into a symbol of resistance and how Potterwatch had given people hope.
• Pomona rejected using Dumbledore’s approach for Hermione and judged Hermione’s draft too dependent on tragedy and sympathy.
• Pomona cursed Severus and revised Hermione’s speech, aiming to make her an Iron Lady rather than a popular, ineffective Minister.

Pomona considered how fear, political chaos, and mistreatment could be redirected to persuade people to treat House-elves well, while reflecting on Hermione’s political ambitions. She and Severus exchanged Macbeth lines and spoke of fate, music, and their lasting bond.

• Pomona reflected on Credence’s abuse and how the Obscurial could deter Muggles from targeting wizards.
• Pomona considered Hermione’s chances of becoming a party whip and planned to use warnings about House-elves’ potential for violence to encourage kinder treatment.
• Pomona thought of hags as possible caregivers and recalled that House-elves could seriously injure humans despite magical contracts.
• Pomona recited Macbeth and compared its lines to Dumbledore’s life before Severus joined her in the study.
• Pomona and Severus discussed whether music would endure after its external motivations disappeared, then promised they would not be separated even by death.
• Pomona suggested steak for dinner and praised Kreacher’s cooking.

Pomona asked Severus to review her speech for Hermione’s political rise, but he warned that her confrontational approach would endanger Hermione and urged patience. Their discussion turned into another argument over justice, loyalty, and whether people should put their own interests first.

• Pomona asked Severus how he thought of her speech, and he said Hermione lacked the presence to move people like a leader.
• Pomona declared that she would make Hermione the first Muggle-born Minister for Magic, but Severus warned that the speech was too aggressive and Hermione had too little support.
• Severus urged Pomona to wait until Hermione knew the people she would be dealing with and suggested she seek Kingsley’s help.
• Pomona accused Severus of putting interests above all else, and he argued with her about justice, loyalty, and Slytherin.