Chapter Summaries

Pomona and Severus explored the maze’s treasure chamber, where Severus claimed a magical bow and Xenophilius chose a stone while Pomona tried to figure out how to contain Sun Gold. Pomona admitted her jealousy and revealed that she had wished Sun Gold could erase Lily from Severus’s mind; as the chapter ended, she began to understand that her wish to save Severus had made her the key to the maze’s puzzle.

• Pomona watched Sun Gold move freely through the courtyard and wondered how to trap it, while Severus tested a dark-gold bow that fired a powerful magical shot.
• Xenophilius emerged from the treasure chamber carrying a stone, and Pomona defended his choice as potentially magical.
• Pomona apologized for what she had said about Lily, then admitted she hated Lily and felt jealous of Severus’s lasting devotion to her.
• Pomona confessed that she had wished Sun Gold would erase Lily from Severus’s mind, and Severus warned her not to let the demon take her words seriously.
• Severus suggested Sun Gold powered the maze and asked what Pomona had been thinking; he led her to recognize that her desire to save him had made her the key to the puzzle.

Pomona and Severus argued about Harry, Hermione, pity, and their past before putting aside their conflict to kiss. Sun Gold left without granting them wishes, while Pomona remained troubled by the thought of Harry, Ron, and Ginny becoming parents.

• Severus complained that Harry had distrusted Hagrid and resented Harry for watching him die.
• Pomona defended Harry as a child and argued that Hermione needed financial support to make fair judgments.
• Severus challenged Pomona about pity and compassion, comparing her to Albus and Bellatrix and bringing up Sirius and the Triwizard Tournament.
• Severus teased Pomona about chocolate and cookies, then pulled her beneath his cloak and kissed her.
• Sun Gold asked whether they had chosen their wishes, but Pomona sent it away, and she worried about Harry, Ron, and Ginny becoming parents.

Pomona confronted Severus over his treatment of Neville and tried to draw him out of his gloomy mood, while the chapter ended with Voldemort revealing a new power and warning her not to release the demon imprisoned in Sun Gold. The danger of the imprisoned god remained unresolved.

• Pomona learned that Severus had kept Neville in detention to dissect horned toads, then set off for the dungeons to confront him.
• Pomona passed Helena and reflected on the Grey Lady and Bloody Baron’s tragic history before Moody crossed her path.
• Pomona stopped Severus and urged him to eat with her, but he walked away before she could ask whom he would take to the Christmas ball.
• Flitwick joined Pomona to discuss arranging the ballroom and the live music for the Christmas ball.
• Voldemort warned Pomona that the demon Kull, imprisoned in Sun Gold, could bring bitter cold and must not be released.
• Voldemort revealed that he had gained the power of darkness and said he was not yet strong enough to face fallen gods.

Pomona considered the power Voldemort had gained from ghosts and the danger posed by Sun Gold’s imprisoned former god. After her kiss with Tom ended, she warned Sun Gold that the Dark Lord was about to destroy it, pointing to Tom himself.

• Pomona reasoned that Voldemort’s new power came from ghosts and that his growing arrogance could leave him vulnerable.
• Pomona suspected that Kull was imprisoned inside Sun Gold and devised a risky plan to deal with it.
• Pomona and Tom ended their kiss, and she urged him not to betray or abandon her.
• Sun Gold asked whether Pomona wanted Tom to remain loyal, but she instead told it that the Dark Lord wanted to destroy it.
• Pomona pointed to Tom and told Sun Gold that its time had come.

Pomona and Severus freed Kull, the God of Storms, from the maze by promising to help defeat Voldemort, but Voldemort seized the flask containing Kull during the ensuing battle. Pomona and Severus escaped the burning maze, leaving the fate of Kull and the stolen treasures unresolved.

• Pomona and Severus persuaded Kull to agree to their terms and reveal how to break the magic circle, while Severus questioned whether the supposed Sun Gold was actually fool’s gold.
• Kull released three treasures and told Severus which runes to strike, then escaped into Pomona’s flask as the maze began collapsing.
• Voldemort appeared, and Pomona and Severus faced him, the metal guards, and Lyall’s crew amid the spreading fire.
• Pomona threw the flask toward Voldemort, but he captured it and vanished with the raven after a bronze claw failed to strike him.
• Severus and Pomona escaped through the green flames, and Pomona said they needed to find a way to help Xenophilius.

In the Malfoy family’s Loire Valley manor, Pomona reflected on the sacrifices made for love and knowledge while Severus studied a mysterious shirt and the objects recovered from the labyrinth. She wondered whether the shirt and the Potter family’s Invisibility Cloak were woven from the Golden Fleece, then decided it was time to return to Britain.

• Pomona read about France’s preparations for the 2006 Quidditch World Cup and reflected on the Paroldo battle that newspapers had concealed as a mountain fire.
• Pomona recalled how Iphigenia offered herself as a sacrifice and how the goddess replaced her with a red hind, then regretted giving Sun Gold to Voldemort.
• Severus studied the mysterious shirt while Pomona considered whether it, like the Invisibility Cloak, had been made from the Golden Fleece.
• Pomona spoke to an old wizard about death and letting go, but he vanished before she could continue.
• Pomona noted that ten years had passed since the Battle of the Ministry and wondered whether she should remind him to return to Britain.

Severus offered Felix a choice between attending school as a wizard and training as a warlock, and Felix chose the life of combat and danger. Severus welcomed him to Snow Wolf and assigned Pomona to teach him, leaving her protesting the responsibility.

• Pomona, Severus, Fiona, and Felix gathered for lunch, where Severus asked Felix whether he wanted to work with his Muggle relatives.
• Severus explained that becoming a warlock meant learning combat and war magic instead of attending Hogwarts full-time, while Fiona objected to exposing her son to danger.
• Felix chose to become a warlock and said he would fight back against anyone who insulted his Muggle-born background.
• Severus welcomed Felix to Snow Wolf and told Pomona that she would teach him.
• Pomona protested that she was a pacifist, while Severus warned Felix not to underestimate witches.

Pomona confronted Fiona about Felix’s future, arguing that Fiona should accept her son’s choices and consider the dangers of life without protection. Pomona then prepared to return to Britain, leaving Felix in charge of the manor and her Occamy.

• Fiona left the meal, and Pomona followed her to the kitchen, where Fiona accused Pomona of misleading her about the wizarding world.
• Pomona told Fiona that Felix had unusual power suited to war and urged her to accept his choices rather than decide his future for him.
• Fiona explained that she had kept Felix away from his father because he was often imprisoned, and Pomona argued that he was still a better father than Voldemort’s.
• Pomona warned Fiona that laws did not always protect the weak and urged her to talk with Felix before Pomona left them alone for a few days.
• Pomona returned to the dining room and announced that she and Severus would go back to Britain that afternoon, leaving Felix to look after the manor and care for the Occamy.

Pomona and Severus returned to their South Kensington apartment, and Pomona became uneasy over a feeling that she had forgotten something important. She insisted on returning to Hogwarts, where she glimpsed an old wizard who might have been Dumbledore.

• Pomona and Severus used the Portkey in the manor’s wine cellar to return to the apartment in South Kensington.
• Pomona thought about giving Lucius a gift for Father’s Day and wondered whether he had spent the day with a mistress.
• Pomona told Severus she needed to return to Hogwarts because she felt she had forgotten something important and wondered whether the International Confederation of Wizards’ investigators had arrived.
• Severus agreed to accompany Pomona, and they left the apartment by elevator because it was protected by an Anti-Apparition Jinx.
• Pomona saw an old wizard standing by a statue, then lost sight of him as the elevator descended and wondered why she kept seeing Dumbledore.

Pomona and Severus encountered Sybill Trelawney in the Three Broomsticks and gave her a talking astrolabe, which triggered a prophecy about the Dark Lord’s return. The prophecy left them considering time, the creation of a Time-Turner, and who might next make a Deathly Hallow.

• Pomona and Severus followed Sybill to the Three Broomsticks, where she lamented being dismissed as useless and overlooked as a Divination teacher.
• Severus offered Sybill the astrolabe, and she removed the resin sealing its mouth, allowing Medusa to speak with her about prophecy.
• Sybill touched the astrolabe and delivered a prophecy that the Dark Lord would return when an obstacle was eliminated, time was turned, and an unseen child murdered their father.
• Severus questioned the astrolabe, which claimed the prophecy revealed the power of Sybill’s Inner Eye, before Pomona sealed its mouth again.
• Severus released an improved Forgetfulness Potion in the tavern and left with Pomona, who thought about making a flawless Time-Turner and a new Deathly Hallow.

Pomona and Severus returned to Hogwarts by carriage, where Pomona questioned Dumbledore’s trust and grieved his death while discussing the maze’s tests and the Dark Lord’s possible return. Severus’s teasing left their conversation unresolved as a strange bell rang at the castle.

• Pomona and Severus rode a Thestral-drawn carriage back to Hogwarts and discussed why Dumbledore had kept his plan from her and Minerva.
• Pomona began crying over Dumbledore’s death, and Severus comforted her as they talked about their shared contract to look after Rubeus Hagrid.
• Severus said the Dark Lord would return if the unseen child killed their father, and Pomona suggested the maze’s seventh level had tested whether they could resist temptation and help others.
• Pomona and Severus argued about Grindelwald, Bella’s dagger, and their own hypocrisy before Severus gave her a wicked smile.
• A strange, broken-sounding bell rang from the castle.

Pomona and Severus spoke with the Fat Friar about Hogwarts classes, examinations, and ghostly affairs as they made their way to find Minerva. Pomona headed for the grounds while Severus stayed behind, tasked with asking Horace Slughorn about the greatest living alchemist.

• Pomona and Severus learned from the Fat Friar that Minerva was accompanying a special envoy on the grounds and was reconsidering Firenze's teaching because students had become careless about injuries.
• The Fat Friar explained that Minerva and Sybill had discussed Astronomy and Divination examinations, while the Minister for Magic had suggested replacing Divination with Muggle Studies.
• Pomona and the Fat Friar discussed the crowded library, the Wit-Sharpening Potion black market, and whether Peeves would be allowed at the next welcome feast.
• Pomona joked with the Fat Friar about his life and regrets, then wondered whether she had become annoying after he floated away.
• Pomona told Severus she would find Minerva and asked him to consult Horace Slughorn about the greatest living alchemist; she left for the grounds, and Severus did not follow.

Pomona warned Minerva that Voldemort might return and urged her to hide the Goblet of Fire, but Minerva postponed the matter until after exams. Minerva also asked Pomona to address conflicts with the Mermaids, leaving Pomona overwhelmed by her duties.

• Pomona watched Neville help students prepare for the Potions exam and spoke with Lily and Severus about the seasons.
• Pomona pulled Minerva aside and warned that Voldemort would return, pointing to the Goblet of Fire and the Centaurs’ possible interest in the Forbidden Forest.
• Minerva said Firenze would leave Hogwarts now that his herd had accepted him again and described the Mermaids’ Grindylows attacking nearby Muggles.
• Minerva ordered Pomona to speak with the Mermaids about controlling their pets and reminded her to return to teaching and find an Astronomy professor.
• Minerva put off investigating Pomona’s warning until exam week ended, and Pomona protested that Minerva was a terrible witch.

During the 2005 Ordinary Wizarding Levels, Pomona and Severus discussed Hogwarts’s problems, Horace Slughorn’s questions about Nicolas Flamel and Albus Dumbledore’s estates, and the burdens Minerva had given Pomona. After a walk and an intimate moment by the lake, they used a Portkey to return to France.

• Pomona and Severus discussed the international team assessing Hogwarts and Pomona’s task of dealing with the Mermaids and their Grindylows.
• Severus said Horace Slughorn had asked about Nicolas Flamel’s estate and whether Albus Dumbledore had secret vaults.
• Pomona and Severus considered who might have inherited Flamel’s estate and whether he had taken an apprentice.
• Severus invited Pomona for a walk by the lake, where they kissed while looking toward Albus Dumbledore’s tomb.
• Severus said they could not return through the closed castle gates, so he used a scepter-made Portkey to take them back to France.

Pomona tried to draw Severus out of his grief by taking him to a Quidditch World Cup match, and his interest in the game returned. As they planned for the match in France, Pomona reflected on rulers, family ties, and the fragility of kingdoms, while struggling to recall something important she had forgotten.

• Pomona offered Severus a choice between staying at the manor and going out, then revealed she had bought tickets for France versus Germany in the Quidditch World Cup round of sixteen.
• Severus explained the tournament’s single-elimination format and became cheerful at the prospect of watching the match, while Pomona realized he had hoped she would praise his place in a first-class box.
• Pomona compared James’s popularity as a Quidditch player with the ruin Charles the Bold brought to Burgundy through violent rule and reckless wars.
• Pomona reflected on rulers who tried to solve every problem at once, and compared the attachment of children to Hogwarts with animals’ attachment to home.
• Pomona thought about Narcissa’s fierce protectiveness of Draco, Harry’s understanding of death, and the violent deaths of Charles the Bold and Emperor Yang of Sui.
• Pomona considered how cooling weather and failing grain production could help bring down a feudal system, then wondered what important thing she had forgotten.

Pomona considered Hogwarts’s need for allies and gifts as she prepared to negotiate with the Mermaids, while Severus took her to Burgundy. Their teasing argument about clothes and a Pride and Prejudice premiere ended with Severus Apparating them away.

• Pomona examined Felix’s drawing of a Dragon and invited Fiona to join her trip to Burgundy, but Severus said Fiona could come another time.
• Pomona reflected on Transylvania’s mercenaries and Hogwarts’s alliances with the Giants, then considered what gift might please the Mermaids.
• Severus criticized Pomona’s floral dress, and they argued playfully as he led her out of the plantation.
• Pomona told Severus she would return to Britain on September 16th for the Pride and Prejudice premiere and asked him to find tickets.
• Severus struggled to explain why he would wait for her to dress up but would not spend two hours watching the film, then Apparated them away.

Pomona and Severus toured Burgundy during its year-round wine and food festivities, sampling local food and wine as they followed a vineyard festival route. They ended the day playfully together in a vineyard, surrounded by families enjoying the peaceful scenery.

• Pomona described Burgundy’s seasonal wine festivals and its lively crowds, while she and Severus watched people dressed in a mix of medieval and modern styles.
• Severus bought breakfast at a roadside supply station, and Pomona eagerly ate and drank her way along the festival route.
• Pomona and Severus rested in a vineyard, where they discussed clothes, films, Quidditch, and Viktor Krum.
• Pomona teased Severus about lying down after eating and called herself a keeper who fed him too, prompting him to pounce on her as nearby adults shielded their children’s eyes.

Pomona and Severus took a hot-air balloon ride over Burgundy, where the scenery prompted reflections on warfare, history, and the region’s past. The outing turned tense when Pomona confronted Severus about his feelings toward Harry, and they remained at odds as they waited to land.

• Pomona spotted a Quidditch pitch and heard the pilot warn them about a nearby lake said to cause memory loss.
• Severus surveyed the landscape with a telescope while Pomona reflected on Zeppelins, Burgundy’s history, and the failed Feast of the Pheasant.
• Pomona asked the pilot whether Joan of Arc had been coarse, then enjoyed Champagne and snacks he had brought along.
• After hearing about a groom whose ex-girlfriend appeared at his wedding with a child, Pomona pinched Severus and asked why he had avoided holding their wedding in the Great Hall.
• Pomona asked Severus what he had felt when he first saw Harry Potter, and Severus asked to discuss it after they landed.
• Pomona stayed angry and endured the rest of the balloon ride, hoping it would end soon.

Pomona and Severus found Giovanni injured in an abandoned Quidditch stadium after a group of attackers forced him and Simeon to flee Italy. Severus treated Giovanni, and they prepared to take him by hot-air balloon to the Loire Valley.

• Pomona and Severus followed fresh footprints from the abandoned stadium to a ruined restaurant, where they found Simeon asking for help.
• Pomona recognized Giovanni, who had been cursed with Dark magic that left him unable to hear and covered in blackened blood.
• Severus treated Giovanni's ears with prohibited Spiral Turtle powder and warned that the curse would last unless its caster died.
• Simeon told Pomona that attackers had stormed Giovanni's home and that Giovanni had sent him away through a Portkey hidden in a trophy.
• Pomona and Severus covered Giovanni with an Invisibility Cloak and arranged to fly him to the Loire Valley in a hot-air balloon.
• Severus helped Pomona climb the balloon's rope ladder as she prepared to levitate Giovanni aboard.

After Severus investigated the attack on Giovanni's residence, he told Pomona about Ali Bashir, a dealer in prohibited goods, and she recalled Severus's own past dealings with him. Their conversation turned to a kiss and Pomona's jealousy over Lily and Severus's history, before she angrily raised his treatment of Harry and went back to her room.

• Severus returned from Giovanni's residence and reported that the attackers had ransacked the house.
• Severus showed Pomona Ali Bashir's card and explained that the former flying-carpet smuggler now supplied other goods, including Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder.
• Pomona remembered Severus returning with a spice-scented carpet and wondered why he had visited Ali.
• Severus teased Pomona about her supplier and kissed her, but she grew upset thinking about Lily and her own place in Severus's life.
• Pomona demanded to know whether she or Severus would sleep in the guest room and reproached him for making things difficult for Harry Potter.
• Pomona left Severus behind and returned to her room to wash up.