Chapter Summaries

Pomona explored the Louvre’s Egyptian Gallery and reflected on how tomb robbers, collectors, and religious conflict had damaged Egypt’s ancient heritage. She wondered about Albus’s wish not to be forgotten, then continued through the exhibition without asking Severus where he had heard those words.

• Pomona examined a small Egyptian statue and considered its imagery, the rituals that invited spirits into statues, and the meaning of statues’ broken noses.
• Pomona thought about Champollion’s decipherment of hieroglyphs and Wilkinson’s challenge to his authority, as well as the destruction caused by Egyptology and artifact collecting.
• Pomona remembered Albus’s hope that future wizards would remember him and wondered when he had said that he would truly leave if everyone forgot him.
• Pomona saw Severus studying a scribe statue beside a baboon and continued touring the Egyptian exhibition without asking him about Albus’s words.

Pomona and Severus explored the Louvre’s Egyptian Gallery, but their inability to read hieroglyphs kept them from understanding its stelae or finding anything of interest beyond the Pensieve. After leaving empty-handed, Pomona vowed to learn hieroglyphs, and Severus reminded her that she had not even properly learned Greek.

• Pomona reflected on baboon social behavior and compared its restrained rivalries with human dueling and courtship.
• She considered French dueling customs and explained her dislike of the British Ministry of Magic’s Dueling Prohibition Act and Anti-Werewolf Law.
• Pomona and Severus found no recognizable treasure in the Egyptian Gallery apart from the Pensieve, and they found no Scorpion King’s bracelet.
• Pomona and Severus left the Sully Wing because neither could read the Egyptian inscriptions.
• Pomona vowed to learn hieroglyphs, and Severus coldly pointed out that she had not learned Greek properly.

Pomona and Severus discussed the Egyptian priest she had seen in the Louvre and the danger she sensed as Egypt's New Year approached. They decided to seek an Ancient Egypt expert in Britain, leaving the auction house and the mystery of the museum unexplored for now.

• Pomona saw an Egyptian priest in the Louvre and linked his appearance to the coming Nile flood and Egyptian New Year.
• Pomona recounted the histories of royal mistresses, focusing on Madame du Barry and her execution during the French Revolution.
• Pomona told Severus that her heart was pounding and urged them to find somewhere to hide because she feared something would happen that night.
• Severus proposed returning to Britain to consult Ancient Egypt experts at the British Museum, while Pomona worried about the French reaction.
• Pomona wondered whether the Louvre's Pensieve had gone unnoticed because few wizards visited the museum, then chose to trust her instincts.

Pomona and Severus returned to the auction house after visiting the Louvre, where Gong Saiyi offered to explain the crystal ball’s history if they recovered the Goblin’s topaz sphere and proved it was genuine. Severus recognized that Gong Saiyi wanted to join them, but the sphere remained to be recovered.

• Pomona bought a Roman-themed rubber duck at the Louvre and joked to Severus about building a duck museum and fleet.
• Severus Apparated with Pomona back to the auction house, where they found that the Goblin had already left and Gong Saiyi was still appraising items.
• Gong Saiyi said the crystal ball had once been an alchemical item but could not be fully repaired by an ordinary person.
• Severus questioned Gong Saiyi about the crystal ball’s functions, but Gong Saiyi refused to explain until they recovered the topaz sphere and proved it genuine.
• Gong Saiyi invited Severus to dinner at an oyster restaurant, and Severus realized he wanted to accompany them.

Pomona and Severus waited in a Rue Montorgueil restaurant for Gong Saiyi’s mysterious appraiser while discussing the Dendera Zodiac’s journey from Egypt to France and the coming National Day celebrations. Severus teased Pomona about whether she wanted to attend the Firemen’s Ball as he continued reading Napoleon’s biography.

• Pomona and Severus went to the restaurant Gong Saiyi had recommended after buying a shabby crystal ball from the Goblin, and waited for him in Paris.
• Pomona reflected on the Dendera Zodiac’s perilous transport from Egypt, the French ship’s standoff with an American agent, and the artifact’s eventual arrival in France.
• Pomona overheard the restaurant owner and waiter arguing about leave and overtime for the Firemen’s Ball and National Day.
• Severus asked Pomona whether she wanted to attend the Firemen’s Ball, and she claimed she would rather rest at home.
• Severus flicked Pomona’s forehead after she offered him some pudding, then returned to reading Napoleon’s biography.

Pomona and Severus examined a topaz sphere with Gonseil Charles de Leroy, who identified it as bearing Edward Kelley's mark and said it might contain clues to an ancient Egyptian labyrinth. Severus invited Gonseil to join them that night, leaving their next move tied to the sphere’s possible secrets.

• Pomona reflected on Napoleon’s poverty and the way hunger and restrictive laws could drive people toward violence, comparing France’s bread riots with the British Ministry’s werewolf problem.
• Pomona considered how Severus’s return would mean war and how the werewolves’ new leader used humans to eliminate rivals.
• Gonseil aligned an optical instrument with the topaz sphere and illuminated it, revealing an image of a winged glass orb like a Golden Snitch.
• Gonseil identified the sphere’s mark as Edward Kelley’s and suggested it might contain research materials pointing to the true Nun Labyrinth in Egypt.
• Gonseil explained that the labyrinth might be connected to ancient Egyptian creation myths, but admitted he did not know what the sphere contained.
• Severus asked whether Gonseil could read hieroglyphs and invited him to join them that night.

Pomona and Severus explored the Louvre after discovering that the pool around its glass pyramid reflected Egypt in daylight rather than Paris at night. As Muggles failed to notice the anomaly, Pomona chose to investigate despite Severus’s warning.

• The narration described Egypt’s Nile-fed landscape, its tourism and antiquities trade, and the damage caused by profiteers and modernization.
• The narration recounted Napoleon’s Egyptian campaign and his rivalry with Le Picard de Phélippeaux, who later blocked his advance at Saint-Jean-d’Acre.
• Pomona was shocked to learn that Grindelwald had been Albus Dumbledore’s irreplaceable kindred spirit, and she shouted at the Louvre Museum when she saw the strange scene there.
• At night, Severus and Pomona saw Egypt in broad daylight reflected in the pool around the Louvre’s glass pyramid, while nearby Muggles appeared not to notice it.
• Severus asked Gong Saiyi whether he had seen anything like it, and the count said he had not; Pomona refused to turn back and suggested they explore.

Pomona explored the Louvre’s Egyptian collection at night with Severus and Gong Saiyi, growing frightened by the sculptures and the museum’s ominous atmosphere. Gong Saiyi gave her a grass-dog amulet, which helped her feel safer as they continued their tour.

• Pomona felt increasingly uneasy in the dim Sully Wing while Severus and Gong Saiyi examined the Pensieve and a stone stele.
• Pomona clung to Severus and demanded that they return, but he refused to indulge her fear.
• Gong Saiyi offered Pomona a grass-dog amulet woven from Miwu herb to ward off ghosts and misfortune.
• Pomona accepted the amulet despite Severus’s disapproval and felt calmer as she continued through the museum.

Pomona, Severus, and Gong Saiyi discovered that Senet pieces had escaped their display case and learned about the ancient game’s underworld associations. They began playing against an unseen presence in the Louvre, and the first pieces moved as the game started.

• A crisp sound and a rolling Senet piece frightened Pomona, while Gong Saiyi explained the possible causes and identified the piece.
• Gong Saiyi recounted the history of tomb robbing in Thebes and described Senet’s rules and its connection to the journey into the underworld.
• Severus asked the unseen presence how it wanted to play, and the group found the Senet board and its remaining pieces inside a display case.
• Severus froze the exhibition hall’s sensors, broke the glass, and levitated the pieces onto the board as a fierce wind swept through the Louvre.
• Gong Saiyi explained the board’s safe squares and the danger of square twenty-seven, then Severus rolled the sticks and moved a lion three squares.

Pomona, Severus, and Gong Saiyi searched the Louvre’s Egyptian artifacts and discovered that the Pensieve had filled with a memory tied to a dangerous game. Severus saw an ancient Nile ritual and identified its divine artifact as the likely stake, and the group continued toward the chess pieces.

• Pomona considered asking Bill Weasley for help but then noticed that the previously empty Pensieve had filled with silvery substance.
• Gong Saiyi recognized the basin as a rare Pensieve, and Severus entered its memory despite Pomona’s concern.
• While Severus explored the Pensieve, Gong Saiyi told Pomona about his family and how his Egyptian artifacts had led him to become an appraiser.
• Severus saw Egyptians offer a hawk’s blood during a Nile-worship ceremony and concluded that the ritual’s divine artifact was their stake in the game.
• Severus said the players could lose anything the others wanted, and Gong Saiyi eagerly ran toward the chess pieces as Pomona and Severus followed.

Pomona learned how Senet reflected the Egyptian journey through the underworld while watching Severus play. She wondered whether her own desire to win—and her attraction to Severus—had led her astray.

• Pomona reviewed the Senet houses and learned how they represented rebirth, mummification, the underworld, and judgment.
• Pomona learned that pieces reaching the protected Houses of Truth could not be replaced and that the dead had to pass judgment before reaching paradise.
• Pomona watched Severus play Senet while Gong Saiyi taught her Egyptian lore and the game’s rules.
• Pomona reflected that greed and excessive competitiveness could bring misfortune, then recalled her feelings for Filius and the spellbinding effect Severus had on her.

Pomona, Severus, and Gong Saiyi won a round of the Egyptian game and found a scarab amulet that could hide a dead person’s sins from judgment. Severus negotiated with Gong Saiyi to keep the amulet and work together to pursue the dagger, and Gong Saiyi accepted.

• Pomona celebrated as Severus won the game, and Gong Saiyi found a black scarab amulet in the Pensieve instead of the dagger.
• Gong Saiyi explained that the amulet could conceal a mummy’s sins before Osiris, and Severus wondered whether it could hide someone from Death.
• Severus and Gong Saiyi argued over the amulet, the dagger, and their past mistrust, while Pomona tried to keep their exchange from escalating.
• Severus offered Gong Saiyi the amulet on the condition that they focus on their task and stop competing against each other for the dagger.
• Gong Saiyi accepted Severus’s terms and agreed to continue the game as part of their team.

Pomona and Severus argued about his dangerous plan and her fear of losing him, while Severus revealed why he was willing to risk entering the underworld. They reconciled through a tender exchange and playful teasing in the empty Louvre exhibition hall.

• Pomona gave Severus chocolate and protested when he spoke as though he were leaving her his last words.
• Severus confessed that he had acted against Sirius Black because he feared losing Pomona, and he urged her to be more confident.
• Severus explained that his risk was driven by the possibility of bringing someone back from the underworld, and he warned Pomona not to fixate on the prophecy.
• Pomona told Severus she did not want to leave him and reminded him that he needed power to protect her.
• Severus called Pomona the mother of his children and blamed himself for failing to protect them, and Pomona kissed his forehead.
• Pomona jumped onto Severus's back and laughed as her voice echoed through the empty exhibition hall.

After returning from the Pensieve, Gong Saiyi described memories of Egyptian royalty and explained how ancient power struggles might connect to the artifacts they were seeking. Severus and Pomona left to question a Louvre employee about Kamose’s dagger, while Gong Saiyi hinted at another clue involving Muhammad Ali’s family and the Suez Canal.

• Gong Saiyi emerged from the Pensieve and told Severus and Pomona he had witnessed memories of Egyptian priestesses and rulers, including their longing to return to the days when they held power.
• Gong Saiyi explained that Princess Ahhotep had continued fighting the Hyksos after Kamose’s death and helped restore Egypt under Ahmose I.
• Gong Saiyi suggested that an Egyptian royal family, rather than the scheming figures they suspected, might have controlled the power they sought, and mentioned Kamose’s dagger at the Louvre.
• Severus and Pomona discussed the daggers associated with Kamose and Ahmose I, then decided to question a Louvre employee using Veritaserum.
• After Severus left the exhibition hall, Gong Saiyi told Pomona that he had also seen a story about Pasha Muhammad Ali’s family and its connection to the Suez Canal.

Gong Saiyi told Pomona about Egypt’s history, from the ancient queens to British occupation, then said he had seen Napoleon in the Pensieve. The chapter ended with the account of antiquities dealer Belzoni turning to tomb robbery after his irrigation machinery failed.

• The chapter recounted how Ahmose-Nefertari became regent and how Hatshepsut ruled Egypt before Thutmose III reclaimed the throne and erased her traces.
• It traced Napoleon’s Egyptian expedition and the later rulers’ efforts to industrialize Egypt, build the Suez Canal, and manage the resulting debt and foreign intervention.
• Britain defeated Egypt’s forces, and Gong Saiyi told Pomona a comic story about Egyptians mistaking Scottish soldiers in kilts for women.
• Gong Saiyi offered to protect Pomona and asked about her husband, while Pomona warned that her husband would kill him.
• Gong Saiyi said he had seen Napoleon in the Pensieve and found it strange.
• The chapter described Giovanni Battista Belzoni losing his irrigation-machinery income and turning to tomb robbery.

Pomona, Severus, and Gong Saiyi discussed the Egyptian amulets and the dagger Severus had borrowed from the Louvre laboratory before starting a chess-like challenge. The challenge stripped Pomona and Severus of their magic but left Gong Saiyi able to cast spells, apparently because of the scarab amulet he had retrieved from the Pensieve.

• The chapter described the Louvre's hidden Carrousel Laboratory and revealed that Severus had borrowed Pharaoh Kamose I's dagger from it.
• Pomona considered the dagger and the lion amulet, reflecting on their danger and rarity before joking that she now had both a cat and a dog.
• Gong Saiyi and Pomona discussed their protective amulets, including his Eye of Horus and her lion amulet, as Severus prepared to begin.
• Severus moved a chess piece, and Pomona found that her wand no longer worked when she tried Lumos.
• Gong Saiyi cast Wingardium Leviosa successfully and showed the scarab amulet he had retrieved from the Pensieve, prompting Severus to suggest it had given him an advantage.

Pomona, Severus, and Gong Saiyi found that magic was restricted around the Egyptian exhibition, then followed mysterious music to a cabinet that opened onto a palace. They entered the strange passage, with Pomona tying a thread to mark their way back.

• Pomona left the Egyptian exhibition hall when she feared she had lost her magic, and her magic returned after she moved away.
• Severus refused to let Gong Saiyi take his place at the chessboard and remained determined to obtain the Nile god’s sacrificial dagger.
• Near the Louvre and Tuileries Garden, Pomona, Severus, and Gong Saiyi saw tents in the fog and heard Beethoven’s Moonlight coming from the museum wing.
• Severus followed the music to a carved wardrobe that opened onto a palace, and Gong Saiyi followed him inside.
• Pomona tied yarn from her wrist to a table leg so they could retrace their route if they became lost.

Pomona and her companions watched Napoleon return from Egypt to the Tuileries, where he rallied supporters and hinted at a move against the Directory. After the guests left, Pomona kissed Severus in celebration, and the chapter ended with them sharing a long-awaited moment together.

• Pomona, Severus, and Gong Saiyi entered the Tuileries and saw Josephine playing piano among officers and nobles.
• Napoleon arrived from Egypt, greeted Josephine, and spoke to his gathered supporters about the Directory's crisis and the need for a powerful leader.
• Napoleon's mother arrived, embraced him, and struck him after he announced plans to welcome her home with a banquet.
• Napoleon revealed that supporters had provided five hundred thousand francs for their actions against the Directory.
• Josephine led the women and the page-like youth out of the room, and Pomona kissed Severus to celebrate his return and their survival.

Pomona, Severus, and Gong Saiyi remained trapped in a place of memories as they discussed Napoleon’s rise and the choices behind his actions. Napoleon emerged from the reception room and stopped to ask Severus who he was.

• Pomona watched Pauline Bonaparte play tennis and considered her unhappy marriage to Charles Leclerc.
• Pomona reflected on Napoleon’s conflicts with Joseph and his restoration of hereditary rule after the French Revolution.
• Severus questioned Gong Saiyi about whether he would have ordered cannons fired on Parisian rioters, and Pomona warned Severus not to confuse imagination with reality.
• Napoleon emerged from the reception room with his attendants and asked Severus who he was.
• Severus introduced himself through Gong Saiyi as an English traveler and greeted General Bonaparte.

Pomona confronted Albus about the attempt on his life and learned he wanted to contain the scandal rather than punish the culprit, while insisting Severus would handle the matter. Pomona and Severus then appeared before Napoleon Bonaparte in a vision of his past, where Gong Saiyi revealed Napoleon’s future assassination and asked to borrow soldiers to fight Egyptian undead.

• Pomona urged Albus to find the person who had poisoned Ron Weasley, but Albus said he would not risk destabilizing the school and asked her to suppress rumors.
• Albus explained that severe punishment could ruin an underage student and said Severus would handle the rest; Pomona agreed to keep the rumors contained before leaving his office.
• Pomona recalled that she was happy with her relationship with the man Albus had asked about, and Albus warned her that love could bring pain.
• Severus spoke with Napoleon Bonaparte in a study, while Gong Saiyi explained to Pomona that they were inside Napoleon’s dream rather than a Memory.
• Gong Saiyi told Napoleon that he would be assassinated the following Christmas, and Napoleon took the prediction as a sign that he would first become ruler of France.
• Gong Saiyi asked Napoleon to lend soldiers to help fight an army of Egyptian undead.