Chapter Summaries

Georgiana confronted playwright Emmanuel Dupaty over his insulting portrayal of soldiers and left his punishment to the police. Afterward, she refused Napoleon’s aide-de-camp’s offer of a carriage ride and walked through the unsafe streets toward Burgundy Residence.

• Georgiana summoned Emmanuel Dupaty and other theater figures to the opera house after his play passed censorship without changes.
• Georgiana told Dupaty that his farce had mocked retired soldiers and distressed those who had served, and Dupaty asked what he should do.
• Plainclothes officers took Dupaty away, and Georgiana warned Monsieur Dubu to remove anything incriminating before the police searched the theater.
• Napoleon’s aide-de-camp offered to take Georgiana back to Burgundy Residence, but she refused and drew her wand when he tried to force her into the carriage.
• Georgiana insisted on walking through the wealthy district while the aide-de-camp followed in the carriage.

Georgiana reflected on France’s veterans, political appointments, and Napoleon’s military ambitions while considering the pressures driving soldiers to endure hardship. She wrote to Dipaty with a question about their courage, then shut her door to study and worried about the consequences of the contract to protect Hagrid’s descendants.

• Georgiana considered how veterans and deserters were treated and how Napoleon’s choices, including his military policies, affected France.
• Georgiana planned to move the guards into the former theater residence to avoid suspicion and make it easier for Severus to rescue her.
• Dipaty was placed under house arrest and ordered to write a confession, while Chaptal was reprimanded and Campenon was suspended without pay.
• Georgiana wrote to Dipaty asking what drove soldiers to haul cannon sleds through the snow in the Alps after Napoleon had named fear and interest as forces that motivated people.
• Georgiana warded her door against an unwanted visitor, studied Latin contracts, and wondered whether everyone who witnessed the maze contract was bound to protect Hagrid’s descendants.

Georgiana accompanied Fawkes as he searched secret archives for information on the Stuart kings and found a report about the 1750 Paris child kidnappings and the riot that ended with police chief Labe’s murder. She copied the old report and left the original in the archive, carrying away a clue whose significance was still unknown.

• Georgiana accompanied Fawkes as he secretly researched the Stuart kings and their heirs.
• Georgiana found a report describing how child disappearances in Paris fueled rumors, public unrest, and Louis XV’s suppression of the rebellion.
• Georgiana read that women first organized the unrest in the suburbs and that Labe was killed after failing to calm the crowds.
• Georgiana noticed testimony about four finely dressed young men who appeared near the crowd, though the report did not identify them or establish a conspiracy.
• Georgiana used Geminio to copy the fifty-year-old report, left the original on the shelf, and took the duplicate away.

Georgiana discussed laughing gas and Joseph Priestley with Fawkes over lunch, then returned to the Tuileries and confronted Napoleon about his relationship with Georgina. She insisted they remain friends but warned that their argument was not over, and left distrustful of his excuses.

• Fawkes explained the discovery and uses of laughing gas while Georgiana and Ribot lunched with him.
• Georgiana reflected on famine, child abductions, Napoleon’s spending, and the frustration of dignitaries who wanted to use the palace’s main entrance.
• After reviewing accounts, Georgiana was summoned to a private suite, where Napoleon asked what he could do to earn her forgiveness.
• Georgiana rebuked Napoleon for sleeping with underage Georgina and challenged his claim that he needed intelligence from her.
• Napoleon called Georgiana a cold-blooded snake and left after warning that they were not finished; she left the suite determined not to trust his explanations.

Georgiana reflected on Napoleon, politics, and the dangers hidden in gifts before workers uncovered a mysterious altar at Burgundy Residence. The Mamluks asked her for power to protect her, and she ordered the altar sealed while accepting that Sadi was willing to risk a curse.

• Georgiana considered how political and magical loopholes could be exploited and how love could cloud judgment.
• A maid summoned Georgiana after workers discovered a magic circle carved into the floor of an old dressing room.
• The Mamluks gathered around the altar, and one of them, Sadi, knelt and asked Georgiana to grant them power to protect her.
• Georgiana ordered the Mamluks to seal off the room and warned Sadi that the power he sought might be a curse.
• Sadi compared the altar's power to a gift that could also be poison, then calmly rose when Georgiana granted his request.

Georgiana worried that she might have nowhere to go if France became unsafe, while Severus and Gong Saiyi debated the treaty’s consequences and Severus’s plan to find Marie Antoinette. The chapter ended with Severus setting out that night to search for her, while Gong Saiyi questioned whether Napoleon had been a hero and whether Felix would kill him.

• Georgiana considered the danger of being unwelcome in Britain or America and summoned Miss de Chassembi and her troupe with a Patronus.
• Georgiana saw the swan Patronus and silently wept as she recalled its happy memory.
• Gong Saiyi showed Severus a supplementary treaty to the Treaty of Lunéville and explained that displaced German residents were suffering from the confiscation of church property.
• Severus rejected the idea of destroying a soul with dark magic and said he wanted Georgiana back, not Napoleon’s empire.
• Severus decided to search for Marie Antoinette that night, while Gong Saiyi suggested Hogwarts as an alternative and Felix remained silent when asked whether he would kill Napoleon.

Georgiana investigated a marble altar at the former Burgundy Residence theater and worried it might be linked to secret societies and an old child-kidnapping case. After spotting a scholar watching her, she left with Miss Chamoro, convinced Freemasonry was entangled in the city’s intrigues.

• Georgiana learned the history of the Grand Châtelet and Petit Châtelet, including their defenses against Viking attacks and the Petit Châtelet’s destruction.
• Georgiana considered the Grand Châtelet’s later use as a prison and the grim history of the surrounding district.
• Georgiana recalled how the Burgundy Residence theater had once hosted a secret society and examined the altar’s golden lines with Miss Chamoro.
• Academicians including Laplace and Monge arrived and reacted with amazement to the altar on the ground.
• Georgiana feared the altar was connected to death worshippers and a child-kidnapping case from fifty years earlier.
• Georgiana recognized a scholar staring at her, gave him a mysterious smile, and left the crowded room with Miss Chamoro.

Georgiana reflected on Josephine’s trip to Plombières, Napoleon’s affairs, and the dangers of power while longing for the safety of Hogwarts and the comfort of Albus. The chapter ended with her imagining a wedding in Venice and wondering who would stand beside her.

• Georgiana considered brewing potions for the Mamluks and recalled the bloody history behind the royal women’s wine-bath ritual, the Glory of Saint Luke.
• Georgiana regretted bringing railways to France and reflected on how Napoleon had changed from a sincere lover into a king.
• Georgiana thought about Napoleon’s affair with Georgina and imagined Josephine’s anger when she learned about it.
• Georgiana longed to return to Hogwarts and imagined Albus holding her, while remembering his role in Harry’s planned death.
• Georgiana spoke of dying and being buried in Venice, and imagined holding a wedding at the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute without a groom.

Georgiana learned that the altar’s golden markings were a compass rose and reflected on navigation, science, religion, and Napoleon’s complicated feelings toward her. As political and vaccination concerns continued, she heard an unseen dog bark and recalled that the Death priest had been searching for a map.

• Georgiana learned that the altar’s golden lines formed a compass rose rather than a magic circle.
• She considered how churches, patrons, and secularization had shaped scientific work, and how Venetian self-isolation had helped limit the plague.
• Goebel’s intelligence reported that Napoleon had offered the former king of Piedmont-Sardinia his throne, but he refused and remained in Sardinia.
• Georgiana reflected on her feelings for Napoleon and remembered that she had once trapped the wind god Kull in a bottle.
• Cowpox vaccination faced opposition from people who considered mixing cow and human lymph unethical.
• Georgiana heard an unseen dog bark and remembered that the Death priest at Saint Luke Palace had seemed to be searching for a map.

Georgiana considered Napoleon’s military and political maneuvers, his need for better maps, and the ordinary demands of life around his campaign, while he left after failing to persuade her to return with him. Meanwhile, Severus, Gong Saiyi, and Felix visited a historic site in Paris as Severus prepared to make a luck-blessed young man suffer bad luck.

• Georgiana reflected on Napoleon’s efforts to weaken Britain, secure navigation plans, and improve the French Army’s maps, while recounting the difficult Isonzo crossing led by Bernadotte’s forces.
• Napoleon visited Georgiana on a full-moon night hoping to take her back to the tower, but the theater’s backstage had become a barracks, so he listened to his troubles in the room with the altar and left displeased.
• Georgiana entertained Fawkes’s three female relatives with help from Laplace’s daughter and Monge’s daughters, then imagined Napoleon commemorating his Alpine crossing with an elephant statue.
• Severus Apparated to Île de la Cité with Gong Saiyi and Felix and asked what they sensed near the remnants of the Temple complex.
• Severus explained that Felix Felicis could cause dizziness, recklessness, and overconfidence, and said its drinker needed a cure that would bring bad luck.
• After Gong Saiyi warned him not to act foolishly, Severus said he had come to consider what had caused their predicament and led Felix toward Marie Antoinette’s chapel.

Georgiana took over organizing the Sèvres reception and met Swiss negotiator Philippe Stapfer, who sought her advice on education while hoping she could sway Napoleon against annexing Valais. She left the meeting torn between her attraction to Napoleon and her awareness of his violence, and decided to ward the villa doors against him.

• Julie took responsibility for organizing the Sèvres receptions because Hortense was close to giving birth.
• Georgiana arranged for two boys in Sèvres to keep Dermide company, and Dermide and Achille repeatedly fought over winning.
• Georgiana reflected on her dreams of changing her surname and on her attraction to Napoleon, then reminded herself that he was a bloody-handed devil.
• Philippe Stapfer visited Georgiana to discuss education and revealed that he was a Swiss minister and negotiator who supported Napoleon but hoped to prevent the annexation of Valais.
• Georgiana considered the strategic value of Valais and the Simplon Pass, then decided to use spells to keep Napoleon out of every villa door.

Georgiana agreed to oversee agricultural loans meant to bring precious-metal coins back into circulation, while Talon discussed her public role and proposed using funds for a cannery. After reflecting on myths, Napoleon, and whether anyone could love a monster, she copied a song’s lyrics and left with Matilda in human form.

• Talon explained the First Consul’s plan for agricultural loans and asked Georgiana to oversee them, and she agreed despite fearing losses and corruption.
• Talon asked whether his daughter Lia could join Georgiana’s companions, and Georgiana said she was not the Queen.
• Talon asked what to do with the remaining ten million in condolence payments, and Georgiana requested two million to open a cannery employing women.
• Matilda asked whether she would become Georgiana’s chief lady-in-waiting if Georgiana became Queen, and Georgiana replied that France’s future remained in Josephine’s hands.
• Georgiana reflected on the prophecy, the myth of Polyphonte, and whether Napoleon could accept her as a monster, then copied song lyrics and left with Matilda without transforming.

Georgiana weighed the limits of Napoleon’s financial plans against France’s fragile credit, rural poverty, and the difficulty of modernizing agriculture. The chapter left her overwhelmed by domestic crises and hoping Toussaint Louverture was still alive.

• Georgiana reasoned that banks would retain control over their loans and might rely on banknotes rather than transport coins, while France’s history of financial collapse made hard currency seem safest.
• She concluded that high interest rates would attract speculators, while the lending program for Paris bakeries relied on pressure from guilds and police and on liberal nobles seeking protection.
• After the harvest, inspectors returned from the countryside and reported that farmers needed agricultural knowledge and technology more than money, while rural customs and disputes over common land hindered new crops.
• Georgiana recognized that transporting coin would require costly security and remittance fees, making banks more likely to keep funds in local bank currency.
• She considered France’s many pressing problems, including constitutional changes, returning exiles, the industrial exposition, and Hortense’s pregnancy, and hoped Toussaint Louverture had not died in obscurity.

Georgiana discussed the risks of Napoleon’s financial plans and tried to persuade him to reconsider annexing Valais, proposing a secret Swiss bank as leverage. Napoleon dismissed her political limits and carried her away, leaving their future plans unresolved.

• Georgiana warned Napoleon that coins meant for farmers could end up funding the Anti-French Coalition, and proposed redeemable banknotes instead.
• Napoleon asked Georgiana about Philippe Stapfer’s visit and urged her to try to stop the annexation of Valais.
• Georgiana admitted she could not betray Severus, while Napoleon spoke of Portugal’s liberals and industrialists supporting French-led reforms against British influence.
• Georgiana proposed a confidential Swiss bank with a secret Alpine vault, and Napoleon entertained the idea while insisting he wanted Milan and her.
• Georgiana asked Napoleon to take her to Venice and wondered whether gold or a snow-capped mountain better represented glory; he carried her into the bedroom.

Georgiana reflected on Brazil’s political and economic tensions before ending her encounter with Napoleon and confronting her grief over love, loss, and the impossibility of replacing Lily. She tried to extract her memories but had no Pensieve.

• The chapter described the tensions among Brazil’s Portuguese rulers, local elites, enslaved people, and British merchants, including competing industries and trade schemes.
• Georgiana considered how she could use the same method to draw Switzerland toward France, then felt troubled by the plan.
• Napoleon left without naming General Wellington or pressing Georgiana further.
• Georgiana wept as she thought of Lily, Leon Sterndale, and the people who could never be replaced.
• Georgiana slammed the door Napoleon had left open and tried to extract her memories with her wand, but she had no Pensieve.

Georgiana read Napoleon’s letter and, stung by his views on women and their relationship, removed his hair bracelet and secretly left Sèvres. She headed for the Alps, intending to rescue a Welsh Dragon and imagining that she might die in the snow.

• Talleyrand told Georgiana that Napoleon had traded Tuscany to Spain for Louisiana and gave her a letter from Napoleon.
• Georgiana read Napoleon’s letter, including his views on women’s education, religion, and their daughter.
• Georgiana took off the bracelet containing Napoleon’s hair and left it on a table.
• Georgiana cast a Disillusionment Charm, wrote “Goodbye, my dear” on a chair, and slipped out of Sèvres unnoticed.
• Georgiana ran toward the fields and vineyards, planning to go to Italy and the Alps after rescuing a Welsh Dragon.

Severus searched for Marie Antoinette’s ghost while discussing Napoleon, Marie Louise, and Harry Potter with Gong Saiyi and Felix, then learned Georgiana had been crying in a dream. Georgiana hid in an abandoned barn outside Paris after freeing a dragon and, reflecting on Napoleon and his past, decided to write him a letter before wandering into a wheat field.

• Gong Saiyi suggested Severus search for Marie Antoinette’s ghost in Venice, and Severus said she had left clues for him to follow.
• Severus and Gong Saiyi argued about Napoleon, Marie Louise, and Harry Potter while Felix interjected.
• Draco told Severus through a crystal ball that Georgiana had been crying all day, and Severus told him to give her water.
• Georgiana recalled freeing a Welsh Dragon from an abandoned castle, then settling in a concealed barn outside Paris.
• Georgiana decided to write Napoleon a letter to explain herself, but left the barn to look for paper and a pen.
• Georgiana walked through an unharvested wheat field and found peace in the sound of the wheat brushing her hand.

Severus connected the attack on a vampire and the Conqueror Yellow Diamond to a possible plot involving Napoleon and Georgiana, while Georgiana tried to travel through the woods. The chapter ended with her stopping a carriage and recognizing the actress Miss Desert Luo inside.

• Severus told Gong Saiyi and Felix that a vampire connected to the Habsburg dynasty had been attacked and suggested the Conqueror Yellow Diamond might be involved.
• Severus proposed that Napoleon might be alive and explained why someone wanted Georgiana’s soul and body; Gong Saiyi realized the Fidelius-protected winery would keep her hidden.
• Georgiana heard a wolf howl in the woods and avoided using Lumos as she rested.
• Georgiana saw a man rig a rope across a forest path to overturn a passing carriage, then left rather than interfere.
• Georgiana returned to the roadside, waved down a carriage, and recognized Miss Desert Luo when she leaned from its window.

Josephine traveled to Italy while Napoleon reflected on war, politics, and the people he feared most. In the suburbs, Georgiana withdrew from Napoleon and accepted that their separation marked the end of a relationship that had never been a real marriage.

• Josephine went to Italy after receiving Napoleon's letter and donated part of the living expenses he had given her.
• Napoleon considered Josephine's place in his life, the instability of his family and empire, and the scars soldiers carried after war.
• Georgiana stayed at Miss Desert Luo's suburban villa without telling her about the bandits ahead.
• Georgiana rested alone, read Jane Austen, and decided there was no need to write a declaration of divorce because she and Napoleon had never truly married.
• Georgiana hoped to wake from her dream and forget everything that had happened.

Georgiana reflected on Portugal’s history, its political and economic troubles, and the compromises people made to survive while considering her own choices and Napoleon’s kindness. She put away the newspaper and rose, determined to return, still wondering why humans had lost animals’ ability to sense disasters.

• The narrator described how the Lisbon earthquake and its aftermath weakened Portugal and exposed corruption and social divisions.
• Georgiana considered Napoleon’s willingness to use schemes to survive and questioned whether she could protect herself and others without compromising her kindness.
• Georgiana contrasted Portugal’s religious and economic stagnation with proposals for industrial reform and infrastructure supported by France.
• Georgiana remembered that Napoleon appreciated her and decided she had to go back.
• Georgiana put away the newspaper, rose from the armchair, and wondered why humans could no longer sense disasters as animals did.