Chapter Summaries

Napoleon burned Georgiana’s blue fox fur, prompting her to consider the political stakes of the fur trade and the risks of American and British rivalry. He proposed that she establish a fur market and appoint its managers, leaving Georgiana with a practical way to benefit the girls while staying out of danger.

• Napoleoni burned the fur Georgiana had received and threw it from the Tuileries Palace balcony.
• Georgiana reflected on how the fur trade linked American, British, and Canadian interests and could heighten tensions on the frontier.
• Bonaparte told Georgiana a story about a knight choosing the sister whose fur-trimmed clothes kept her warm and her complexion rosy.
• Georgiana decided she needed more silk gowns with fur trim and let Matilda keep the rouge in her luggage.
• Bonaparte proposed that Georgiana establish a fur market, appoint its managers, and collect a management fee.

At Les Invalides, Severus explained his theories about Napoleon’s death and his own past before asking Gong Saiyi and Felix to help him reclaim his life. Felix agreed immediately, and Gong Saiyi agreed after negotiating for a raise and a visit to Nicolas Flamel’s home.

• Gong Saiyi and Felix met Severus at Les Invalides, where Severus argued that Napoleon’s body had been exchanged and described the political consequences of Napoleon’s supposed survival.
• Severus recounted how he gained the Dark Lord’s trust, his loyalty to his mission and Pomona, and Narcissa Malfoy’s insight into his true motives.
• Severus told Gong Saiyi about considering a deal to restore Lily’s spirit in Pomona’s body and explained that he wanted his life and family back, not power or revenge.
• Severus asked Gong Saiyi to help him, and Felix agreed; Gong Saiyi accepted after asking for a raise and securing a visit to Nicolas Flamel’s home.
• Severus asked whether they wanted immortality, then Apparated with Gong Saiyi and Felix from Les Invalides.

Georgiana prepared an extravagant but carefully chosen collection of jewelry for her journey north, while reflecting on status, marriage, industrial competition, and her own painful past. When Bailier began a ritual dance before their departure, Georgiana closed the jewelry safe and pulled Alice and Matilda downstairs to join her.

• Georgiana selected Renaissance-inspired jewelry from France's treasuries and commissioned Mailanrui to make improved versions, including a set with a black-enamel bracelet and a cameo bearing her profile.
• Georgiana arranged for Alice to safeguard the jewelry, while reflecting that Alice would have to choose a Bonapartist officer at a ball and that others often had little say in their arranged marriages.
• Georgiana considered Britain's industrial advantage, the spread of textile machinery, and the expense of maintaining France and developing weapons.
• Georgiana thought about her reputation, Josephine, Severus, and the unfairness of Lily and Petunia's lives.
• After hearing Bailier's ritual dance begin downstairs, Georgiana shut the jewelry safe and led Alice and Matilda down to dance before departing for Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

Severus and Kemilian debated intervening in the Paris crisis while the crystal ball showed riots and Pomona sleeping under a curse. Georgiana recalled her past with Remus and discussed European political tensions with Mr. Ribot, then turned to Egyptian dance as she prepared to entertain Bonaparte.

• The crystal ball showed Parisian demonstrators burning luxury shops as firefighters and military police struggled to control the streets.
• Kemilian explained that the crystal ball had appeared during Grindelwald’s earlier chaos, and Severus agreed to send Pomona’s idle former student to help while refusing to intervene himself.
• Gong Saiyi left Nicolas Flamel’s cottage with Felix and invited the skeptical Kemilian to join them for a meal.
• Georgiana watched the full moon at Saint-Germain-en-Laye Castle and remembered Remus’s transformations, her friendship with Lily, and a celebration at Malfoy Manor.
• Mr. Ribot warned Georgiana about French and British political and commercial interests surrounding Portugal, Napoleon’s troop inspection, and the Louisiana Purchase.
• Georgiana rejected Mr. Ribot’s theology books and summoned Bailier to teach her Egyptian dance so she could perform for Bonaparte.

Kemilian questioned Severus about Muggles, Napoleon, and the Sorcerer’s Stone while the group ate in Paris. Meanwhile, Napoleon reunited with Georgiana at Saint-Germain-en-Laye Castle, and they shared a quiet evening as he discussed Alexander I and plans for foreign nobles to study in France.

• Kemilian asked Severus how he viewed Muggles and whether he believed Napoleon might be resurrected, while Severus rejected the idea that he was aligned with the Order of the Phoenix.
• Felix called Kemilian an idiot, and Gong Saiyi struck the back of Felix’s head before Severus calmed the Obscurial and the group finished lunch.
• Napoleon arrived at Saint-Germain-en-Laye Castle and embraced Georgiana, who explained that she was praying for Hortense’s son because she feared magic might harm him.
• Georgiana cooked spaghetti with meat sauce for Napoleon, and he told her that he wanted a family with her and wished to rest in her lap.
• Napoleon spoke with Georgiana about Alexander I’s difficult upbringing and asked whether the dining hall at Fontainebleau Palace should serve lavish or simple meals to visiting foreign nobles.

Georgiana traveled with Napoleon’s convoy toward Rouen, preparing for possible attacks while questioning the purpose of the troop inspection. Meanwhile, Severus, Gong Saiyi, Klimian, and Felix investigated a scene from the prophecy orb and concluded that trouble might come by Halloween.

• Georgiana rode with Napoleon’s convoy through western France toward Rouen, where he planned to inspect troops and attend a Mass with them.
• Georgiana arranged a watch schedule with Fiegel and gave Sadi silver-tipped arrows prepared against Werewolves after hearing a wolf howl and spotting a black dog.
• Severus, Gong Saiyi, and Klimian revisited a street shown in the prophecy orb and noticed that the vision’s autumn setting might be only three months away.
• Felix recalled seeing jack-o'-lanterns in the crystal ball, and Severus connected them to Halloween and predicted the city would be lively.
• Paris prepared for Halloween with young people heading to bars and others offering soup to the homeless.

Severus taught Felix how to evaluate intelligence and evidence while the group searched for someone connected to a Pensieve found at the Louvre. After Felix located the contact in Saint-Germain, Severus chose to travel by metro and keep his urgent personal mission secret.

• Severus explained how intelligence officers should distinguish useful evidence from rumors and consider the wider forces behind events.
• Severus discussed the possibility that the Dark Lord had a child with Bella and asked Gong Saiyi for the printed list of people connected to the Louvre Pensieve.
• Severus warned Klimian not to tell Felix that Felix was an Obscurial with little time left to live.
• Severus asked the group to keep his search secret because he still wanted to live with the woman he loved.
• Felix found the contact's home in Saint-Germain, and Severus led him toward the metro instead of Apparating.

Severus explained to Felix how broad political and economic analysis shaped intelligence work, then spoke about his past, Lily, and James Potter. Meanwhile, Georgiana left Napoleon’s delayed convoy to relieve herself on the old battlefield of Ivry.

• Severus used France’s diesel policies and Niger’s oil prospects to teach Felix how intelligence officers connected facts across different fields.
• Severus told Felix that trusting the White Wizard’s judgment without questioning it had led to his death, and said he still wanted Lily to return.
• Severus identified Harry Potter’s father, James Potter, as the enemy who had taught him, while Felix said he preferred traveling with their group to attending school.
• Napoleon and the Imperial Guard rode ahead to visit the battlefield of Ivry while Georgiana rested weakly in the carriage.
• Georgiana left the carriage to walk into the grass, then bluntly told an Imperial Guard that she was going to pee.

Georgiana searched an ancient battlefield for Leon, then faced a group of armed vagrants and a Werewolf as Red Caps and Mamluks emerged. Leon arrived after the Mamluks shot the Werewolf with a poisoned arrow and led Georgiana away, leaving the wounded men and the battlefield behind.

• Felix and Severus rode the Paris Metro, where Severus used a Transfiguration Charm to scare off a pickpocket with a toy spider.
• Georgiana searched the dark battlefield for Leon and stunned a vagrant who approached her.
• Three more vagrants surrounded Georgiana, but she signaled for help and kept them at bay with a conjured whip.
• A Werewolf attacked one vagrant as Red Caps appeared, and the other vagrants fled while Georgiana stopped one with her whip.
• Mamluks shot the Werewolf with a wolf-poison-coated arrow, and Leon covered Georgiana's eyes and led her away.

Georgiana and Napoleoni argued over the Werewolf’s death and her relationship with him as the soldiers waited at the old battlefield. After the prisoners returned, Napoleon rallied the Imperial Guard and Mamluks to hunt the dangerous creatures, and Georgiana chose to follow him.

• Georgiana told Napoleoni that the Werewolf had saved her and explained that it may have been a good person burdened by its transformations.
• Napoleoni challenged Georgiana about not naming him as her husband, and she affirmed that she loved him because he remained Josephine’s husband.
• Napoleon spoke of wanting to leave a lasting mark on history, while Georgiana listened to his thoughts about duty and ambition.
• After the interrogators returned, Napoleon rallied the Imperial Guard and Mamluks to hunt the creatures threatening nearby villagers.
• Georgiana left Fiegel to protect Alice and Matilda and mounted an unattended warhorse to follow Napoleon.

Severus, Gong Saiyi, and Klimian discussed Grindelwald’s prophecies, Dumbledore’s order, and the Elder Wand before heading into the Latin Quarter. On the battlefield, Georgiana identified a cipher disk and asked Napoleon to let her serve as his Merlin, but he rejected her appeal to mysticism and turned away.

• At Saint-Michel Square, Klimian compared the fountain’s dragon to one Grindelwald had summoned, and Severus discussed Grindelwald’s beliefs and Dumbledore’s influence.
• Severus questioned why the Elder Wand had chosen Draco Malfoy, and Klimian said Draco had first disarmed Dumbledore.
• Severus showed Kamose I’s dagger, mentioned a prophecy about Yusuf Kama and Rita Lestrange, and led the group into the Latin Quarter.
• Napoleon gave Georgiana a disk recovered from a vagrant, and she identified it as a cipher disk that might relate to Burgundy Residence.
• Georgiana told Napoleon she wanted to be his Merlin and explained that work and power gave women security, but Napoleon rejected the idea and cautioned her against superstition.

Georgiana and Napoleon investigated the haunted Ivry battlefield, where villagers reported a red-eyed hellhound and possible vagrants. The soldiers brought Colonel Fournier before Napoleon, who insisted that Fournier keep his weapon.

• Bailier and Sadi returned with the villager Nayem, whom they brought before Napoleon.
• Nayem told Napoleon that villagers saw a huge dog with glowing red eyes on full-moon nights and hated the vagrants near the battlefield.
• Georgiana said that the Werewolf breeds she knew did not have eyes that glowed in the dark.
• A soldier brought the fleeing vagrant and Colonel Fournier to the group as the Imperial Guard jeered at Fournier.
• Napoleon stopped a guard from taking Fournier's weapon, saying a soldier only laid it down when he surrendered.

Georgiana apologized to Anlaha for the Werewolf’s death and discussed Napoleon’s rule, the Church, and the danger of political succession with Rapp. A gunshot and a firework signaled a discovery near the battlefield, and Georgiana rode to investigate.

• Georgiana apologized to Anlaha, and Rapp gave him a purse of coins that the Mamluk accepted.
• Rapp showed Georgiana gold crosses and amulets found on the refugees Fournier had captured, while Georgiana questioned Fournier’s presence in the west.
• Rapp discussed Napoleon’s authority, his plans to reconcile with the Church, and his fear that France would fall into chaos if he died without an heir.
• Georgiana challenged Rapp’s comparison of Napoleon to Attila and questioned whether she might be considered a threat to the future heir.
• A gunshot rang out and a firework exploded southeast of the battlefield, so Georgiana went to find her horse and investigate.

Georgiana and the others discovered the hidden home of the deceased werewolf, Kanake Gray, and learned how he had used a Divine-Horned Beast to keep villagers away. She argued with Napoleoni over the Ministry of Magic’s authority and laws against witchcraft persecution, then left to protect Gray’s body from being taken to Paris for dissection.

• Georgiana found Mooncalves, fertilizer, and a doghouse outside the treehouse, then blasted open its magically protected door.
• Georgiana identified the silver powder as Divine-Horned Beast horn and explained that Kanake Gray had lived in isolation to avoid harming anyone.
• Rapp found Gray’s Ilvermorny graduation ring and documents, while Napoleoni discovered a magical planetarium pocket watch.
• Georgiana demanded that Napoleoni return Attila’s ring and argued that the Ministry of Magic should handle magical matters and that witchcraft accusations should not lead to persecution.
• Napoleoni said he would consider her proposal, and Georgiana left after telling Leon Sterndale to put back the evidence he had taken.
• Georgiana planned to prevent Gray’s body from being taken to Paris for dissection and considered cremation a fitting resting place.

Georgiana traveled with Bonaparte through Brittany after the army suppressed hellhounds and bandits, reflecting on Mont Saint-Michel’s religious history and imagining prisoners laboring there. She warned Bonaparte against abandoning his military goals for a pilgrimage, but the two reconciled and joined the villagers’ bonfire dance.

• Imperial Guards chased Red Cap with baguettes, and grateful villagers welcomed the army with a feast after it defeated the hellhounds and vagrants.
• Georgiana considered Mont Saint-Michel’s history as a pilgrimage site and prison, then imagined prisoners pushing its giant winch.
• Georgiana told Bonaparte he should not take a pilgrimage detour or abandon his established goal, and he reassured her about obtaining Valais.
• Georgiana and Bonaparte discussed religious tolerance, judgment, and indulgences before he invited her to enjoy themselves together.
• Bonaparte pulled Georgiana into the villagers’ dance, and she tried to teach the musicians to play Irish music before he brought her back to dancing.

Georgiana considered Napoleon’s conflict with the Church and the political forces that could divide nations as Napoleon’s party paused at a junction near Évreux. As the carriage set off in the direction Napoleon chose, Georgiana worried over a bronze token and the possibility that her predictions were madness.

• The villagers of Ivry Battlefield spared three refugees from death after Clisson insisted they must face a court, and the Imperial Guard carried them away.
• Georgiana reflected on Napoleon’s resistance to religious authority and the Inquisition, and on how religious policies had reshaped France and Britain’s prospects for division.
• Napoleoni stopped at a three-way junction after Évreux, where the northern road led to Rouen and the western road toward Mont Saint-Michel.
• Georgiana wondered whether Britain could avoid splitting apart and whether the Prince of Wales might inherit King George III’s madness.
• Matilda warned Georgiana not to carry the bronze token, but the carriage began moving as Napoleon’s party set off in his chosen direction.

Severus and his companions visited Michelle Warkalson Stanwood’s rare-book shop, where they discussed historical manuscripts, equality, and political power. Severus Confunded Stanwood, copied the documents, and left with the original papers as the group moved on.

• Michelle Warkalson Stanwood showed Severus and his companions letters by Jerome Bonaparte and an unpublished draft of the Declaration of Independence.
• Stanwood described Jerome’s separation from Elizabeth and discussed the deleted passage accusing King George III of supporting slavery.
• Stanwood and Severus debated equality, despair, political power, and why people sought safety or better lives.
• Severus Confunded Stanwood and used Geminio to copy the documents, leaving Stanwood with duplicates.
• Severus took the original Declaration draft and other papers, put the draft in his Mokeskin pouch, and prepared to leave with his companions.

Felix questioned Severus about power, Harry Potter, and the choices people made, while Severus taught him to filter distractions and consider other perspectives. Gong Saiyi arrived with a destination in mind, and the three set off to visit the current descendants of the Bonaparte family.

• Felix asked Severus why he did not condemn Felix’s use of strange powers, and Severus warned him to consider the consequences of acting while powerful.
• Felix and Severus discussed Harry Potter’s treatment of the Dursleys, James Potter’s bullying, and Dumbledore’s plans for Harry.
• Severus used Gandalf’s fight with the Balrog to teach Felix to guard his attention and explained mirror thinking through Lily’s choice of James.
• Felix and Severus debated privilege, military service, and whether Harry Potter had been lucky or unlucky.
• Gong Saiyi arrived and proposed visiting the current descendants of the Bonaparte family, and Severus and Felix departed by Apparition.

Georgiana read a dossier about the medieval Inquisition case in Montaillou during the carriage ride to Rouen. Leon interrupted her reading so she could change clothes, while the chapter ended with an author’s aside about godfathers and Catharism.

• Georgiana read case files about the Montaillou Inquisition and its investigation of Cathar beliefs and village life.
• She read that the inquiry began after Jim Maury denounced the parish priest, Pierre Clergue, for paying grain to Cathar clergy.
• Georgiana imagined the scandal that would follow revelations about shepherds’ affairs and the priest’s influence over the village.
• Leon snatched Georgiana’s dossier, called her a bookworm, and told her it was time to change.
• Georgiana had Fiegel and Matilda draw the curtains and changed clothes behind a hill outside Rouen.

Napoleon and Georgiana arrived in Rouen to a grand public welcome, then shared a private moment in the old palace. Georgiana wondered whether their apparent happiness could last and why Lucien had stayed away.

• Napoleon entered Rouen amid ringing bells, cheering crowds, and showers of flower petals, then met the city’s officials at the old palace.
• Georgiana arrived with Lord Henry Petty’s assistance and followed Napoleon into the castle, where she reflected on her precarious position and his rise to power.
• After the hosts departed, Napoleon drew Georgiana close and asked her to give him a child, but they tripped over her long cloak and fell together.
• Napoleon lamented that Lucien had not come, and Georgiana wondered whether his absence was because of her.
• Napoleon told Georgiana to enjoy the moment, and she rested beside him beneath the chandelier.