Chapter Summaries

Pomona reflected on Severus’s affection for her and confronted Felix about treating vampires and werewolves without prejudice. After Draco provoked her into a chase, Pomona discovered that Giovanni had been attacked over the Conqueror’s Diamond, drawing Severus into a dangerous new mystery.

• Pomona admired the enchanted music box and poem Severus had left for her, then urged Felix to reconsider his prejudice against vampires and werewolves.
• Draco arrived and argued with Pomona after revealing that he had told Severus she wanted a divorce; Pomona chased him through the manor.
• Pomona found Severus questioning the injured Giovanni, who revealed that treasure hunters had attacked him because they believed he had stolen the Conqueror’s Diamond.
• Severus put Giovanni under a Sleeping Charm and led Pomona and Draco out of the room, closing the door quietly behind them.

Severus explained the bloody history of the Conqueror's Diamond, whose trail of misfortune ended when it vanished after the Habsburg dynasty fled to Switzerland. Draco learned that his father had concealed the story, and Severus decided the recovering visitors would have to leave once they were well.

• The chapter traced the Conqueror's Diamond from Charles the Bold through the Duke of Milan, Jakob Fugger, Julius II, and the Lowell and Medici families, recounting the deaths and disasters linked to its owners.
• Franz Joseph I gave the diamond to Cissy, after which the Habsburg family suffered the deaths of its crown prince and Cissy, and World War I began following Archduke Ferdinand's assassination.
• Charlie, the last Habsburg emperor, fled to Switzerland with his family and royal jewels, but the diamond later disappeared and became the subject of competing rumors.
• Draco asked why his father had never told him about the diamond, and Severus explained that its known victims were Muggles and wizards would be safe if they did not interfere.
• Severus decided to send the recovering visitors away once they were well, while Pomona checked on the pale Fiona.

Pomona reflected on heirs, wealth, and Giovanni’s immortal life before Severus told her that Giovanni had sent them tickets to the Paris premiere of Pride and Prejudice. She and Severus planned a trip to France, and Pomona decided to use their contract concerning Hagrid’s descendants to persuade Lucius to withdraw his accusation against Hagrid.

• Pomona recalled Giovanni’s past with Ludwig II and worried that Simeon might eventually leave the vampire, leaving Giovanni alone and unstable.
• Severus told Pomona that Giovanni had sent them tickets to the premiere of Pride and Prejudice, and Pomona excitedly began planning their trip.
• Pomona learned that Draco had returned to Padua and understood that Pansy Parkinson had hurt his pride.
• Pomona and Severus discussed going to Paris, visiting the opera, and finding a gift for the Mermaid.
• Pomona proposed using their contract to look after Hagrid’s descendants as leverage to make Lucius withdraw his accusation against Hagrid.

Pomona and Severus argued over disguising her conspicuous silver-gray hair before their trip to France. Severus caught her with magic after she refused to apply his hair-dyeing potion, while Felix withdrew from the quarrel.

• Pomona looked at the black potion Severus had prepared and refused to put it on her hair.
• Severus explained that her silver-gray hair would attract attention in France, where Veela lived, and suggested she wear a wig or dye it black.
• Pomona transformed her witch's hat into a wide-brimmed hat but still refused to use the potion, calling it revolting.
• Severus bewitched the sofa blanket to restrain Pomona, caught her when she tried to escape, and ignored her protests.
• Felix peeked into the room, decided wizards were terrifying, and trotted away.

Pomona and Severus shopped in Paris, reflecting on the city’s history and Grindelwald’s and Dumbledore’s ideas about the greater good. They left the arcade street planning to visit Nicolas Flamel’s secluded residence, where Severus thought treasure might remain.

• Pomona and Severus walked through Paris, where Pomona’s floral dress drew rude stares until she changed into a more fashionable outfit.
• Pomona considered the city’s class divisions and the choices of Grindelwald and Dumbledore, including their differing ideas about who should be saved.
• Severus asked Pomona to choose summer clothes for him, and they joked about his black outfit, the Eiffel Tower, and a possible hair-smoothing potion business.
• Pomona chose Père Lachaise Cemetery over the Louvre, but then agreed to visit Nicolas Flamel’s secluded residence after Severus said he knew its location from Albus’s letters.

Pomona and Severus researched Parisian history at the National Library of France before visiting Nicolas Flamel’s former home. After Severus explained how Flamel had hidden his house and revealed his bitterness over being treated as a cripple, Pomona left him alone and continued exploring the library.

• Pomona and Severus visited the National Library of France, where she read newspaper accounts of the Franco-Prussian War and the Paris Commune.
• Pomona showed Severus a Paris Commune newspaper clipping while he read about the catacombs and their bone-filled tunnels.
• Severus told Pomona that Nicolas Flamel had lived on Montmorency Street but hidden his real house before Paris’s first house numbers were assigned.
• Severus said Flamel had left him an inheritance but not his treasure, and that Flamel still regarded him as a cripple.
• Pomona invited Severus to walk by the Seine, but when he stayed behind, she left him alone and continued browsing the library.

Pomona reflected on patience, history, and the consequences of rashness while touring the National Library of France. A young man named Kemilian approached her, claiming to be Nicolas Flamel’s disciple and saying he had been waiting for her.

• Pomona explored the National Library of France and thought about how patience could prevent Harry and his friends from falling into a trap.
• Pomona considered Paris’s catacombs, the French Revolution, and how people had fought for freedom and dignity.
• Pomona reflected on powerful women in history and the importance of women reading and learning.
• A green-eyed, red-haired young man recognized Pomona from their encounter near Westminster and said he had followed her into an alley.
• The young man introduced himself as Kemilian, Nicolas Flamel’s disciple, and told Pomona he had been waiting for her.

Pomona and Severus met Kemilian at Nicolas Flamel’s abandoned Paris home and learned that her crystal ball had shown riots spreading across Europe. They suspected the unrest was connected to Paroldo, while Pomona warned Kemilian that someone was seeking the Conqueror’s Diamond.

• Kemilian led Pomona and Severus to Nicolas Flamel’s safe house in Paris and explained that she had been Flamel’s last student.
• Kemilian showed Pomona and Severus a crystal ball that had predicted unrest in London and now depicted riots in Paris, Dijon, Lyon, Germany, and Belgium.
• Severus suggested the coming riots might be connected to Paroldo, and Kemilian said she had alerted the French Ministry of Magic using Flamel’s quill.
• Severus and Kemilian argued over the crystal ball, and Pomona urged them to leave and asked how they could contact each other.
• Pomona identified herself as a friend of Albus Dumbledore and warned Kemilian that someone was looking for the Conqueror’s Diamond.

After leaving Nicolas Flamel’s home, Pomona and Severus ate stolen food in Victor Hugo’s former residence and discussed the growing danger in Europe. Pomona resolved to investigate the coming crisis in Paris, beginning with the catacombs, while she and Severus ended the night dancing together.

• Pomona asked Severus about the water dragon beneath Paris, then Apparated with him to Place des Vosges to find food.
• Pomona stole dishes from L'Ambroisie’s kitchen and ate with Severus inside Victor Hugo’s former residence.
• Pomona said she wanted to identify the cause of the coming European crisis and hoped Dumbledore would return to protect them.
• Pomona and Severus discussed involving Justin in their investigation, with help from Madame Maxime or Fleur Delacour.
• Pomona proposed exploring the Paris catacombs, and Severus invited her to dance; they shared a silent slow dance in Hugo’s home.

Pomona and Severus walked along the Seine, discussed Albus Dumbledore’s love for Gellert Grindelwald, and considered how the past had shaped the present. Severus took Pomona to the Hotel Plaza Athénée for a luxurious evening, where she drank cocktails and drifted into an adult dream.

• Pomona and Severus walked beside the Seine and discussed the Pride Parade, Albus Dumbledore’s sexuality, and Gellert Grindelwald’s motives.
• Severus told Pomona that Albus had confided in him and suggested Albus’s choices and grief had helped shape the rise of later threats.
• Severus brought Pomona to the Hotel Plaza Athénée, where they checked into a suite and dressed for the evening.
• Pomona and Severus went to the hotel cocktail bar, where she drank cosmopolitans until she felt tipsy.
• Before dawn, Pomona imagined an adult dream and recalled Rita Skeeter’s transformed face and the labels of saint and villain.

Pomona read about Paris’s walls, tax gates, and military history before discussing the Paris Commune with Severus in a library. After their awkward conversation about dinner, she proposed visiting the French wizarding world, and Severus agreed indifferently.

• Pomona read how Paris’s walls and boulevards developed, how Louis XVI’s costly tax gates helped spark the French Revolution, and how the Arc de Triomphe became a monument and parade route.
• Pomona reflected on the Paris Commune’s treatment of refugees, and Severus asked where the men had gone.
• Severus suggested the Prussians besieged Paris rather than enter it so the French would fight among themselves and spare Prussian troops from urban warfare.
• Pomona apologized for the previous night’s dinner, and Severus said he understood and had enjoyed their dancing.
• Pomona suggested visiting The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, but Severus refused because of the tourists.
• Pomona proposed visiting the French wizarding world, and Severus agreed while she returned to reading the old clippings.

Pomona learned from the Paris Commune’s pawnshop policies that the poor valued their dignity and might reject help, a lesson that explained why Scamander’s Werewolf management proposal had failed. She and Severus then entered a hidden Parisian black market, where a Goblin led them toward a pawnshop’s treasure room.

• The Paris Commune cleared out pawnshops, returned necessities to poor people, and tracked down pawn tickets for widows and martyrs’ families.
• Pomona connected the poor people’s reluctance to accept charity with Werewolves’ refusal to register with the Werewolf Office, and reconsidered Scamander’s proposal.
• Severus brought Pomona to a concealed black-market district in Paris, where she covered herself with the Invisibility Cloak’s black side.
• Pomona and Severus entered Aunt Kelly, a pawnshop run by an old Goblin, and asked to see unusual antiques suitable as gifts for a houseful of women.
• Severus displayed a pouch of Galleons, persuading the Goblin to take them through a hidden door and onto a rail cart bound for the treasure room.

Severus and Pomona investigated a Paris underground pawnshop, where Severus suspected Yusuf Kama had been infected while searching for the Lestrange family tree. They traveled past a glittering treasure vault and an underground waterway to a guarded vault whose entrance resembled the one used to store the Sorcerer's Stone.

• Severus reasoned that Yusuf Kama had searched the pawnshop's books for the Lestrange family tree and may have been infected by a water-dragon parasite there.
• Severus and Pomona followed Candlestick through the pawnshop tunnels and discovered a vault full of antique French jewelry.
• Severus offered the old goblin Phoenix tears, then secretly kept the genuine vial while carrying an identical artificial one.
• Steelyard took Severus and Pomona by mine cart through an underground river, where Pomona spotted a golden Tiao swimming in the water.
• The old goblin led them to a dry vault corridor and made a small door disappear, revealing an entrance like the one used to store the Sorcerer's Stone.

Pomona and Severus searched a Paris pawnshop and found a broken singing glass sphere once owned by Rudolf II. Severus negotiated to have it appraised in exchange for Phoenix tears and other goods, but Pomona remained fixated on the damaged object as they prepared to leave.

• Pomona asked the old Goblin about hats made by Mrs. Bonabelle and searched through the pawnshop's dusty wares.
• Pomona discovered a cracked glass sphere, and the old Goblin said it had once sung and belonged to Rudolf II.
• The old Goblin explained that Edward Kelley had made the sphere and claimed it could produce the songs of angels.
• Pomona wondered whether the sphere could rival mermaids' songs if it could be repaired.
• Severus negotiated an appraisal, offering a bottle of Phoenix tears and requesting water dragon blood and another item; the Goblin offered blood from the magical eel outside instead.

Candlestick led Pomona and Severus through a hidden passage to an elite auction house, where they had the shattered glass orb appraised. The appraiser identified it as a topaz object associated with Edward Kelley and Rudolf II, and Severus and Pomona left to return after lunch while the appraisal continued.

• Candlestick tapped the floor tiles in the theater garden and opened a concealed passage to the auction house.
• The Goblin told Pomona to wear a mask because Veela could be sold as merchandise.
• Candlestick brought the glass orb to the appraiser Gong Saiyi and asked him to examine it.
• Gong Saiyi identified the orb as champagne-colored topaz and said its base was crafted in a sixteenth-century style.
• Severus asked whether the orb was the one Edward Kelley had used to deceive Rudolf II and agreed to return with Pomona after lunch.

Severus and Pomona discussed Parisian history, Napoleon, and the decline of the Church over dinner beside the Seine. Their conversation turned into teasing and flirtation, and they kissed in Paris.

• Severus recounted the Bavarian bishops' conflict, the Pope's loss of Rome, and Rudolf II's life and crown while Pomona listened.
• Severus told Pomona that Napoleon had devoted so much energy to public affairs that he had little time for Josephine, and said he wanted a peaceful place to rest.
• Pomona questioned Severus about his remark that she should not involve herself in matters beyond her concern, and he said he hated saints.
• Pomona asked Severus whether he had watched her swim in the Black Lake, and he admitted that he had peeked.
• Pomona teased Severus about wearing a bikini and asked whether he wanted to see her in one.
• Pomona and Severus kissed beside the Seine.

Pomona tested Severus’s reactions as they walked through Tuileries Garden, then discussed the Paris Commune, Freemasonry, and her own attraction to danger. The chapter ended with Severus embracing her and Pomona reflecting on Albus’s wisdom and the hopes he had placed in her.

• Pomona brought Severus through Tuileries Garden and wondered whether he would look at the women sunbathing in bikinis, but he mostly kept his eyes on her.
• Pomona recounted Napoleon’s relationships and the fall of Tuileries Palace, then explained how Freemasons had publicly supported the Paris Commune before its defeat.
• Severus asked whether Pomona wanted to join the Freemasons, and she denied wanting violence while admitting that her idea of romance differed from other women’s.
• Pomona asked Severus to protect her and reminded him of their oath to live or die together, and he embraced her while calling her foolish.
• Pomona reflected that Albus had used power for good and worried that she was too ordinary to fulfill his hopes.

The chapter described Napoleon’s routines at the Tuileries and his role in expanding the Louvre Museum, then followed Pomona’s visit to the museum. Pomona remembered her appointment with an appraiser but decided to make him wait rather than appear eager to buy the Goblin’s junk.

• Napoleon followed a tightly scheduled routine of bathing, dressing, eating, resting, and reviewing ministers’ memorials while living under constant threat.
• Napoleon expanded the Louvre and filled it with art and books, though many artworks were later returned or taken during wars.
• The chapter recounted the fates of Louvre artworks during World War II, including the Nazis’ removal of treasures and Germany’s postwar returns.
• Pomona entered the Louvre’s Great Gallery and recognized Leonardo da Vinci’s Virgin of the Rocks and Rudolf II’s unusual portrait.
• Pomona remembered her appointment with the appraiser but chose not to hurry, reasoning that waiting would keep the Goblin from raising the price.

Pomona and Severus toured the Louvre, where their conversation about art and Napoleon revealed Severus’s worry that she was denying herself happiness and turning away from life. Their exchange was interrupted by a Muggle posing as a sculpture, and Severus charmed him unconscious and left with Pomona.

• Pomona admired the Louvre pyramid and visited the Sully Wing, where she viewed several sculptures while Severus looked at Artemis.
• Severus urged Pomona to be less severe with herself and more innocent, then compared her and their relationship to Napoleon and Josephine.
• Severus warned Pomona that she was haunted by Hogwarts’s ghosts and said he would help free her from the lessons an old fool had drilled into her.
• A Muggle posing as a sculpture interrupted them and asked whether vampires were real.
• Severus put the Muggle to sleep, gave him an improved Forgetfulness Potion, and took Pomona away before anyone else arrived.

Pomona and Severus argued over his fears about the future and her political involvement while touring the Louvre. They discovered a Pensieve in an exhibit and decided to steal it, then continued through the gallery as commotion broke out nearby.

• Severus explained his guilt over Lily, Harry, the werewolves, and Draco, then urged Pomona to stay out of politics and threatened to spend her assets if she persisted.
• Pomona remembered the Nazi bunker as Severus suggested they could hide there if events went wrong.
• Severus identified an empty stone basin as a Pensieve and, despite Pomona's objections, decided they would take it from the Louvre.
• A stone sculpture ran through the gallery pursued by museum guards, and Pomona called Severus “Niffler” before they continued searching the exhibits.