Chapter Summaries

Baduchi explained the history of Valak and the Romanian convent, warning Joseph that his current abilities would not be enough for the dangers ahead. He left Joseph facing a choice between learning more and risking a disastrous trip to Albania.

• Baduchi examined Joseph’s Saint Benedict Cross and explained that it could repel minor demons but not powerful legion commanders.
• Baduchi told Joseph that Father Gordon, Sister Eileen, and a Frenchman investigated a nun’s suicide at the Romanian convent, and that Valak escaped with the Frenchman by possessing him.
• Baduchi explained that the convent’s spiritually sensitive nuns had guarded Valak for centuries, until wartime bombing destroyed the seal and the nuns sacrificed themselves to stop it.
• Baduchi warned Joseph that tortured villagers had become demonic servants and that powerful demons were far more dangerous than the minor spirits he had faced.
• Baduchi urged Joseph to study before going to Albania and warned that the Vatican could strip him of his clerical status if he tried to evade his obligations.

Joseph reflected on how science and water engineering made Israel’s restoration possible before the Pope summoned him for a walk and discussed the Church’s waning influence. The Pope sent Joseph to Montenegro to investigate a monastery murder, leaving the reason for the assignment unstated.

• Joseph read Baduchi’s notes and considered how drip irrigation and waterworks had overcome predictions that Israel could not support a large population.
• The Pope found Joseph reading, asked him to bring the book, and took him on a walk through the Apostolic Palace.
• The Pope recalled his visit to Jerusalem and spoke with Joseph about light, the Middle East, and the Church’s past and future.
• The Pope asked whether Joseph had enjoyed lunch with Harvey, then ordered him to investigate a murder at a monastery in Montenegro.
• The Pope quoted a prophecy about a river bringing life and fresh water, then fell mostly silent as they continued their walk.

After Italian Ministry officials forced Pomona and Severus to leave their Venice home because the city was under Church control, they prepared to travel to Padua. Severus reassured Pomona that the Muggles they had met would soon forget them, then teased her about the influence she had on Cedric.

• Pomona spotted two wizards leaving her house and summoned Severus before going inside.
• Severus explained that Venice was Church-controlled and wizards could not settle there, so they had to leave for Padua.
• Pomona learned that the Muggles they had befriended would have their memories erased and felt sad about leaving them.
• Severus said he wanted to remain the most special person in Pomona's life and criticized her for teaching Cedric to hide his intentions behind a smile.
• Severus led Pomona away from the house, and they decided to travel by train with the Cockroach Cluster.

Pomona and Severus traveled by Muggle train from Venice toward Turin, reflecting on their recent parting and arguing over responsibility, public opinion, and their meddling in others’ lives. Their banter turned playful, but Pomona accidentally provoked Severus by mentioning Dumbledore’s death, and she imagined Draco as a second-year student glaring at her.

• Pomona watched Venice fade as the train departed and wondered how lonely Rosa must have felt when her family dismissed her sketchbook as a fairy tale.
• Pomona and Severus discussed why the Church had taken the children, how they had been found, and whether they should stop involving themselves in other people’s affairs.
• Severus blamed human nature for problems they could not change, while Pomona reminded him that his Unbreakable Vow made Draco his lifelong responsibility.
• Pomona worried about Teddy being judged as a werewolf’s child and asked Severus whether Remus’s Order of Merlin medal could be protected.
• Pomona teased Severus about Harry Potter, offered him mousse cake, and suggested dressing as a witch for Italy’s Epiphany festival.
• Pomona joked about Dumbledore’s death glare, then imagined Draco as a second-year student telling her, “You’re dead.”

After the haunted cookie tin nearly drove David Mills to suicide, he sought help from Father Edward and met Isabella Taylor, who believed Qingxuan’s spirit was haunting him. She advised him to keep investigating and seek help from a temple, leaving Mills determined to get rid of the tin and find somewhere else to stay.

• Mills went to the church contact point with the cookie tin and met Isabella Taylor, who had come to investigate a case at a funeral home.
• Isabella examined the tin and asked Mills about its effects, and he told her the story of Qingxuan and White Chrysanthemum Maru.
• Isabella concluded that Qingxuan’s soul was possessing Mills and warned that taking the box away would not stop the haunting.
• Isabella advised Mills to continue investigating and take the box to a temple, then told him about a diviner possessed by a spirit.
• Mills watched Isabella leave and headed to find Father Edward, intent on getting rid of the tin and avoiding the Mandala Hotel.

David resumed investigating the actress’s suicide and went to confront Dr. Antony, while Mills’s inquiry into Angela and Scott revealed the family pressures behind their relationship. The chapter ended with Mills asking Dr. Antony’s assistant, Ann, if the doctor was available.

• O'Sullivan learned that Angela’s mother, Caroline, had forbidden her daughter from seeing Scott, while Scott’s mother had supported his trip to Detroit.
• David reflected on the actress’s suicide, concluding that she had taken pills after losing the beauty and status that had sustained her wealthy lifestyle.
• David returned to the investigation and prepared to deal with Dr. Antony.
• Mills arrived at Dr. Antony’s office and asked his assistant, Ann, whether the doctor was free.

Dr. Antony told Mills about Blood Beastfolk, the wizarding world, and a group that hunted wizards, connecting these stories to Angela Warren’s strange eyes and the deaths surrounding the Shaw family. The chapter ended with Antony warning that New Salem’s charitable image might conceal human trafficking as Mills continued investigating Angela’s case.

• Dr. Antony showed Mills a circus poster of Nagini and explained that Blood Beastfolk eventually transformed into animals.
• Dr. Antony showed Mills a Wampus cat illustration whose eyes resembled Angela Warren’s and linked it to the driver’s report of seeing a cat.
• Dr. Antony connected Henry Shaw Jr.’s death to Second Salem, an organization seeking evidence of wizards, and warned Mills that its members were still hunting them.
• Dr. Antony explained that wizard hunters had become corrupt and trafficked both wizards and innocent Muggles.
• Dr. Antony suggested that New Salem’s charity work could hide human trafficking, and Mills said he had come to investigate Angela’s case.

Pomona and Severus traveled to Turin and searched the mountains for the wizarding village of Paroldo. They reached its entrance by carriage, where Pomona wondered whether her dream of smiling wolves was an omen.

• Pomona woke on the train beside Severus and learned they were still living in Kensington after a fire displaced Muggle residents.
• They arrived in Turin, bought food, and Apparated to the city's northwestern outskirts to look for Paroldo.
• Severus summoned a carriage, and he and Pomona bargained with its driver for a ride to the village.
• The driver brought them to Paroldo, where Pomona and Severus found a welcome sign at the entrance.

Severus and Pomona visited the remote wizarding village of Paroldo and questioned a tavern keeper about its residents and rules. Severus invited Pomona to explore a sinkhole said to lead to hell, and she agreed to go with him.

• Draco Malfoy recalled his childhood fear of ghosts and the Shrieking Shack, along with his later discovery that Harry Potter's Invisibility Cloak was a Deathly Hallow.
• Severus and Pomona entered Paroldo's shabby tavern, where the bartender told them the villagers kept to themselves and warned them not to knock on doors or fly above two meters.
• The bartender said a nearby sinkhole was rumored to be an entrance to hell and advised the pair to stay in their own tent.
• Severus decided to visit the sinkhole, joked about walking into hell, and asked Pomona to come with him.
• Pomona took Severus's hand and agreed, remembering their night together on XZ Snow Mountain as Voldemort called her a stupid woman.

Joseph flew to Montenegro to investigate mysterious deaths at a relocated Benedictine monastery, while Mills visited Dr. Antony and discussed Angela’s death, human remains, and faith. Mills left still uneasy about Catholicism and the idea of making rosary beads from teeth.

• Joseph boarded a helicopter, and the Pope’s personal assistant warned him not to abuse his authority during the investigation or expect the Church to protect him.
• Joseph received a dossier about a former exorcist and the monastery where mysterious deaths in 1592 had led to a witchcraft trial and executions.
• Mills woke hungry and joined Antony in preparing a meal, during which they discussed Bavarian food and the legend of Tantalus.
• Mills asked Antony why someone would make rosary beads from human teeth, and Antony described possible religious and supernatural reasons for using human remains.
• Mills told Antony that Angela’s mother had refused an autopsy and believed the devil had harmed her daughter.
• Mills and Antony toasted great science, though Mills said he did not want to devote himself to Catholicism or make rosary beads from teeth.

Pomona and Severus explored the mountain near Turin and discovered the ruins of a large, scorched structure bearing the French words “The devil is dead.” Unsure what the inscription meant, Pomona abandoned the campsite and began preparing lunch while they considered the site’s history.

• Pomona stopped in a clearing and insisted they make camp rather than rush blindly toward the sinkhole, so Severus agreed to set up defensive charms while she pitched the tent.
• Pomona found brick seams and rotten doorframes beneath the weeds, and she and Severus uncovered the remains of a huge structure that may have been a castle.
• Pomona restored part of a wall and read the French inscription “Le diable est mort,” which meant “The devil is dead.”
• Pomona noticed scorch marks and concluded that someone had destroyed and burned the structure, then refused to camp there and made Severus dismantle his defensive charms.
• Pomona prepared pulled pork and seafood salad while wondering who built the mountain castle and what the inscription meant, as Severus sat in the sun reading the newspaper.

Pomona searched the truffle field near Paroldo Village and found a strange cabin containing a map of a possible underground lair. Voldemort recognized the place from a book about a wizard who bred dangerous magical creatures, leaving Pomona with a copied map and new fears about what lay beneath the village.

• Pomona used the Supersensory Charm to find a small black truffle beneath an oak tree.
• Pomona heard a child laughing and glimpsed a red-haired girl in white before discovering a locked, decaying cabin in the woods.
• Pomona explored the cabin and found a diagram that appeared to show tunnels and an altar-like structure.
• Voldemort explained that the place had once been a Giant dwelling and later belonged to a wizard who bred dangerous creatures, including a Quintaped-Nundu hybrid.
• Pomona copied the diagram with the Geminio Charm and left the cabin, eager to get away from the village.

Pomona warned Severus that the sinkhole might conceal dangerous creatures, but he remained determined to investigate, leaving their disagreement unresolved. Meanwhile, Joseph arrived at a remote monastery in Montenegro as the Vatican’s envoy and asked to be taken to a person there.

• Pomona described her fears about the sinkhole and urged Severus not to enter it, while he argued that the monster had already been killed.
• Pomona suspected an alchemist had used Muggles as prey and designed the sinkhole as a hunting ground, then stepped outside to check the roast.
• Joseph flew by helicopter to a remote monastery in Montenegro and met its abbot, Sean, and a former exorcist.
• Joseph introduced himself as the Vatican’s representative and ordered Sean to take him to see the person he had come for.

Joseph investigated Alex Brown’s violent behavior at the monastery while the former exorcist argued that illness or human motives should be considered before possession. The former exorcist arranged to take Alex to a hospital, while Joseph went with Abbot Sean to see Father Howard’s body.

• Joseph saw Alex pacing and roaring in his locked room, then questioned Abbot Sean and the former exorcist about his condition.
• The former exorcist suggested Alex might have epilepsy and urged taking him to a hospital, but Joseph argued that Alex’s attack on Father Howard went beyond ordinary illness.
• Joseph and the former exorcist argued over whether the monastery or its history was responsible, and over whether fear of a predicted future was guiding their actions.
• Abbot Sean offered to accompany Alex to the hospital, and the former exorcist said he could arrange for a Serbian special forces soldier to fly the helicopter.
• Joseph asked Abbot Sean to take him to Father Howard’s body as the clock struck twelve.

Pomona dreamed of Voldemort warning her that the world might change while she slept, then woke to find Severus gone and discovered he had been interrogating the tavern drunkard. Severus returned with news that the monster was dead but its parents and a maze filled with human-face specimens remained threats.

• Pomona dreamed that Voldemort discussed the cave's dark aura, death, and how fate could change while she slept.
• Pomona woke in the tent after dark, found Severus missing, and followed sounds into the forest, where he was using Legilimency on the drunkard.
• Pomona returned to the tent and ate Cauldron Cakes with raspberry jam while waiting for Severus.
• Severus returned and explained that the dead monster's mother was a Venom-Pouched Leopard in Geneva and its father, a Quintaped, remained inside.
• Severus told Pomona that the maze below contained at least a hundred human faces displayed as specimens and that the current village had become a village of healers.

Joseph questioned the monastery’s isolation and its history of strange miracles while Abbot Sean’s answers deepened his suspicions about the place. Meanwhile, Antony revealed that he planned to replace Angela’s body for burial and use the original to test his theory, leaving Mills horrified but involved.

• Joseph learned that few believers visited the remote monastery and asked Sean when he could return, but Sean reacted strangely to the question.
• Mills and Antony visited a funeral home, where its owner presented a young woman’s corpse that resembled Angela.
• Antony told Mills he planned to bury the stranger in Angela’s place so Angela’s body would not be wasted before he examined it.
• Antony explained that he wanted to verify his deduction about the magic remaining in Angela’s body and believed a head swap might be necessary.
• Mills condemned Antony’s plan, but Antony appealed to their friendship and admitted he wanted to avoid being fooled.

Pomona walked through Diagon Alley to buy supplies for exploring the sinkhole and retrieving the greenhouse Severus had given her. She planned to use Paroldo’s map of the terrain to track Severus’s footprints, while wondering whether to tell the “old bat” about the Marauder’s Map.

• Pomona burned a Chocolate Frog card of Carlotta Pinkstone and continued through Diagon Alley, where wizards paid no notice.
• Pomona planned to prepare for the sinkhole expedition, retrieve Severus’s greenhouse from the Malfoy family, and buy seeds and magical supplies before returning home.
• Pomona reflected on Muggle disbelief in magic, unequal access to education, and how Severus’s Hogwarts resources had helped him develop as a Potions Master.
• Pomona realized Paroldo’s map of the sinkhole could help her make a simpler map that tracked Severus’s footprints.
• Pomona wondered whether to reveal the Marauder’s Map’s secret to the “old bat,” then hurried away after Cockroach Cluster swallowed a vendor’s rat.

Pomona warned Narcissa about the Werewolves’ planned attacks on Muggle football stadiums and offered to help Draco escape abroad, then went to move the greenhouse while reflecting on Severus’s death and the people around her. Voldemort confronted her about whether she intended to take Lucius or Draco to Paroldo.

• At Malfoy Manor, Narcissa told Pomona that the Werewolves planned to attack Muggle football stadiums and that Lucius was handling the threat.
• Pomona refused Narcissa’s request to delay her journey and suggested Draco could take refuge at a manor in Italy, prompting thoughts of moving his wedding to Astoria forward.
• Pomona gave Narcissa green Venetian glass goblets, then went to move the greenhouse.
• While crossing the garden, Pomona reflected on Severus’s death, Albus’s plan, Narcissa’s deception of Voldemort, and Draco’s need for an heir.
• Voldemort asked Pomona whether she was considering taking Lucius or Draco to Paroldo, and Pomona denied it.

Minerva and Pomona discussed Harry’s upbringing and encountered Severus Snape at the Three Broomsticks, where Pomona struggled with her feelings about him. Pomona then recruited Neville and Hannah to spread a rumor about Voldemort’s return and gather supplies, leaving them to watch the Werewolves and consider whether to tell Minerva about Albus.

• Minerva worried that Harry would suffer living with the Dursleys, while Pomona predicted he would be sorted into Gryffindor.
• Severus arrived at the Three Broomsticks on a mission from Albus, and Minerva defended him when a patron questioned his loyalties.
• Pomona became flustered around Severus, then met Neville and Hannah and explained that Voldemort had made another Horcrux using Cedric’s murder.
• Pomona told Neville and Hannah to spread a rumor that Voldemort would return, gave them a list of supplies to collect, and warned them that the Werewolves planned to expose the wizarding world.
• Neville questioned Pomona’s account of Dumbledore’s motives and asked whether he should tell Minerva that Albus had been leaving school; Pomona left invisibly after telling them to stay alert.

Pomona went to Grimmauld Place to leave Teddy a gift while reflecting on the burdens Harry and Teddy faced after the war. Voldemort then revealed his plan to use the Resurrection Stone to revive his original body, leaving Pomona trapped between his threats and her desire to protect Severus.

• Pomona stood outside the hidden 12 Grimmauld Place and considered Teddy's future, Harry's responsibilities, and the discrimination faced by werewolves and people marked by the Dark Mark.
• Voldemort told Pomona to return to the past, follow Harry Potter, and hide the Resurrection Stone after Harry discarded it.
• Pomona realized Voldemort had used Silencio to prevent her from speaking during their past secret meeting.
• Voldemort argued that Pomona had changed Severus's life and threatened to make him watch her die if she refused to help.
• Pomona worried that refusing Voldemort could lead to Severus wasting away or being forced to witness her death.