Chapter Summaries

Jon Hart and Harry Potter entered the Chamber of Secrets, where Jon discovered a record of Salazar Slytherin’s bitter dispute with Godric Gryffindor over admitting Muggle-born students. Harry realized the Basilisk’s corpse was missing from the chamber.

• Jon and Harry traveled through the foul, bone-strewn tunnel to the stone door, and Harry opened it by speaking Parseltongue.
• Jon and Harry entered the Chamber of Secrets and approached the enormous statue of Salazar Slytherin.
• Jon found writing on the back of the statue describing Slytherin’s argument with Godric over Muggle-born students and his fears that Hogwarts would be infiltrated.
• Harry noticed that the Basilisk’s corpse was missing from the floor.

Jon and Harry entered the Chamber of Secrets and discovered Salazar Slytherin’s hidden account of why he left Hogwarts and what he intended the Chamber to protect. After copying the runes, Jon questioned Harry’s memory that the Basilisk had been killed and raised his wand at him.

• Jon asked Harry whether he and Dumbledore had confirmed the Basilisk’s death, then sent Fawkes to watch for danger.
• Jon and Harry examined the writing behind Slytherin’s statue, where Slytherin described his conflict with Godric over Muggle-born students and his decision to leave Hogwarts.
• Slytherin’s account explained that he created the Chamber as Hogwarts’s last defense and left a powerful Patronus there for Parselmouths to wield.
• Harry reconsidered his view of Slytherin after reading the message, while Jon copied its runes onto parchment.
• Jon questioned Harry again about the Basilisk, then raised his wand at him.

Jon Hart brought Harry Potter back to his office after they visited the Chamber of Secrets, then asked Professor Galatea Merles to study ancient Runes that might explain Voldemort’s curse on her. Jon privately recalled the truth about the Basilisk and Dumbledore’s concealment of its history, leaving unexplained what had happened when he and Harry returned to the Chamber.

• Jon Hart thanked Harry Potter for helping him and told him to keep the night’s events secret from Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley.
• Jon gave Professor Galatea Merles a Parchment of Runes copied from the Chamber of Secrets and asked her to find a way to lift Voldemort’s curse on her.
• Professor Merles said she believed she could solve the curse but needed about two weeks to study the Runes.
• Jon privately recalled that Salazar Slytherin had left the Basilisk as Hogwarts’s guardian, but Tom Riddle had forced it to attack students.
• Jon remembered that Albus Dumbledore had communicated with the Basilisk, spared it, and concealed the truth by altering Harry Potter’s memories and claiming Harry had killed the monster.

Astoria Greengrass finished her final O.W.L. exam, worried that she had made several mistakes in A History of Magic, and went to see Jon Hart. Jon learned that Professor Merles had lifted the Defence Against the Dark Arts curse but was resigning, leaving him to seek a replacement.

• Professor Marchbanks ended the A History of Magic examination, and Astoria realized she had left questions unanswered and confused Demon Emeric with Ulysses the Odd.
• Jon learned from a portrait that Professor Merles had resolved the Defence Against the Dark Arts curse but was resigning because of her health.
• Jon wrote a recruitment notice for a new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor and prepared it for delivery to the Daily Prophet.
• Astoria visited Jon and told him that she had written the wrong wizard’s life story in her exam.
• Jon explained that Professor Binns had once confused Demon Emeric and Ulysses the Odd too, then reassured Astoria that she would probably still pass the exam.

Jon shared lunch with Astoria in the Headmaster's Office before telling her the truth about her mother's painful family history and Aunt Alice. Astoria learned why her mother had tried so desperately to lift the family curse, and Jon urged her to comfort her mother when she returned home.

• Jon conjured lunch for Astoria in the Headmaster's Office, and they ate together.
• Jon arranged for Professor McGonagall to see off Marchbanks and the other Wizarding Examinations Authority professors.
• Jon told Astoria that her grandparents had mistaken her mother for the Greengrass descendant carrying the curse and had dealt with Aunt Alice instead.
• Jon explained that Astoria's mother had grown up feeling guilty about her sister and had tried to lift Astoria's curse to protect her.
• Jon urged Astoria to stay by her mother's side and comfort her when she returned to the manor, and Astoria agreed.

Harry accepted Rita Skeeter’s interview to clear Sirius Black’s name, and her Daily Prophet feature stirred public outrage over Sirius’s wrongful imprisonment. The Ministry faced demands for punishment, leaving Rufus Scrimgeour to explain that the official responsible was already dead.

• Harry, Ron, and Ginny boarded the Hogwarts Express, where Harry noticed other students staring at him.
• Harry recalled agreeing to Rita Skeeter’s interview about Sirius after she promised to write about his godfather’s life and wrongful imprisonment.
• Ginny found Rita’s lengthy article in the Daily Prophet, titled “My Godfather Sirius?”
• Jon read the article in the headmaster’s office, where Phineas Black praised Sirius’s story and Chris Everard reported chaos at the Ministry.
• Readers demanded punishment for the person who had wrongfully sent Sirius to Azkaban, and Rufus Scrimgeour explained that Barty Crouch had been dead for nearly two years.

Rufus Scrimgeour struggled to restore the Ministry of Magic’s reputation after Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix received public praise and the Daily Prophet published an interview about Sirius Black. Jon Hart invited him to meet in Hogsmeade, and Scrimgeour prepared to use Hart’s connection to the Greengrass family as leverage in their negotiations.

• Scrimgeour reflected on how Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix had eclipsed the Ministry of Magic’s efforts against the Dark Lord.
• After the Daily Prophet published the interview “My Godfather Sirius,” Scrimgeour faced a barrage of Howlers over the Ministry’s handling of Sirius Black’s case.
• Mr. Everard told Scrimgeour that Jon Hart wanted to speak with him.
• Scrimgeour agreed to meet Hart at a pub in Hogsmeade after refusing to go to Hogwarts.
• Scrimgeour recalled Hart’s connection to the Greengrass family and considered using it as a negotiating advantage.

Rufus Scrimgeour met Jon Hart at the Hog's Head and raised Diana Greengrass's impending return to Azkaban, while Jon tried to discover what Scrimgeour really wanted. Scrimgeour eventually brought up interviews by members of the Order of the Phoenix that had put the Ministry in a difficult position.

• Scrimgeour arrived at the Hog's Head and met Jon Hart upstairs.
• Jon and Scrimgeour exchanged pleasantries and began discussing why Scrimgeour had come.
• Scrimgeour brought up Diana Greengrass's bail period ending and her likely return to Azkaban.
• Jon chatted about unrelated topics while Scrimgeour grew impatient.
• Scrimgeour interrupted Jon and raised the Order of the Phoenix's recent interviews and their effect on the Ministry.

Jon Hart negotiated with Rufus Scrimgeour over the Daily Prophet interviews, persuading him to accept a column that would also highlight Ministry officials and Aurors. Scrimgeour left without explaining his earlier concern about Mrs. Diana Greengrass.

• Jon pretended not to hear Scrimgeour’s complaint about the interviews and argued that publicizing the sacrifices of people such as Albus Dumbledore and Edgar Bones was important.
• Scrimgeour explained that the interviews were harming the Ministry’s reputation, and Jon apologized while saying the prepared installments could not simply be canceled.
• Jon proposed adding stories about the Ministry’s contributions and brave Aurors, including Scrimgeour, and Scrimgeour accepted the idea.
• Scrimgeour insisted that Ministry members should appear at least as often as members of the Order of the Phoenix and Hogwarts personnel.
• Jon defended the Order of the Phoenix as a force devoted to fighting Dark Lords, and Scrimgeour agreed before leaving without discussing Mrs. Diana Greengrass.

Tom Riddle hid in Albania by possessing a Muggle forest ranger while he secretly sought help from loyal Death Eaters. After Severus Snape and other Death Eaters gathered in response to Voldemort’s summons, Jon Hart learned of their meeting and prepared to act.

• Tom Riddle continued posing as a forest ranger in Albania, keeping to a Muggle routine to avoid the Aurors hunting him.
• Tom considered ways to contact Death Eaters without using the Dark Mark and planned to make a comeback.
• Severus Snape arrived at Tirana International Airport and secretly met Aiden, who told him that loyal Death Eaters had gathered in response to the Dark Lord’s summons.
• Jon Hart learned from the Headmaster’s portrait that Voldemort had gathered loyal Death Eaters and said they needed to take action.

Harry learned that he could join the Weasleys and Sirius on a month-long trip to Greece, which would take him away from Privet Drive until his seventeenth birthday. At Greengrass Manor, Astoria received an invitation to go as well and offered to ask Jon whether Daphne could join her.

• Harry read Ron's letter and learned that Arthur had won a Daily Prophet award that included a month-long trip to Greece.
• Ron invited Harry to join the trip, and Harry learned that Sirius had reluctantly agreed to go with them after Jon Hart persuaded him.
• Harry celebrated the news that the trip would begin on July 2nd and end on his seventeenth birthday.
• Astoria received a letter about the Greece trip, and Daphne asked if she could go with her.
• Astoria told Daphne she could come and said she would write to Jon to ask what he thought.

Harry left Privet Drive with the Weasleys to begin a month-long journey through Greece, and met Sirius, Lupin, Tonks, and Moody at Stoatshead Hill. The nine travelers gathered around a Portkey as its departure time approached.

• Mrs. Weasley woke Harry and Ron before dawn for the trip to Greece.
• Mr. Weasley explained that they would travel by Portkey and led the group to Stoatshead Hill, where Ron Apparated Harry.
• Harry and the Weasleys found Sirius, Lupin, Tonks, and Moody waiting at the summit.
• Sirius showed them the old boot Portkey, and all nine gathered around it as Mr. Weasley counted down.

As Jon Hart and Astoria Greengrass waited to leave together, Astoria led him to a hidden garden atop Greengrass Manor. Under the full moon, Jon confessed how much he liked her, leaving Astoria flustered and smiling as she ran off to wash her face.

• Astoria repeatedly asked Jon how long remained before they left and led him to a hidden garden in Greengrass Manor.
• Astoria showed Jon her secret hideout, where she often went to look at the moon when something troubled her.
• Astoria asked when Jon had started liking her, and Jon told her that every moment together had deepened his feelings.
• Astoria asked what Jon liked about her, and he listed the qualities and memories that made him love her.
• Astoria blushed and ran off to wash her face while Jon stayed behind, reclining beneath the moon.

Jon, Astoria, and Daphne left Greengrass Manor by Portkey for Greece, but their arrival left them in darkness beside a startled Harry Potter. Jon wondered where they had landed and why Harry was there alone.

• Jon returned from the garden and reassured Astoria that his earlier confession had been sincere.
• Astoria went to check on Daphne while Jon waited for them in the Great Hall.
• Jon, Astoria, and Daphne touched a battered alarm clock Portkey and departed for Greece.
• The Portkey dropped the three into a pitch-black place, where Daphne stumbled and Jon knocked someone over.
• Daphne cast Lumos and revealed Harry Potter, prompting Jon to ask where they were.

Jon, Astoria, and Daphne were diverted by a malfunctioning Portkey into a mysterious cave, where they found Harry Potter stranded without his Wand. Jon sent his Iron-Eating Beast Patronus to scout and led the group toward the route it found, though they still did not know where they were.

• Jon, Astoria, and Daphne arrived in a dark cave and suspected their Portkey had malfunctioned or been interfered with.
• Harry explained that his Portkey had left him behind, separating him from his traveling companions and his backpack.
• Daphne discovered an opening, but Jon stopped her from entering it alone.
• Jon summoned an Iron-Eating Beast Patronus to scout the cave for a way out.
• The Patronus returned, and Jon told the group to follow it out.

Jon led Harry, Daphne, and Astoria through a winding cave, where they fought off a swarm of bats and eventually found an exit at dawn. After Apparating across a river, the exhausted group waited for Jon to decide what to do next.

• Jon marked the cave walls as the group followed his Patronus past an underground spring and into a vast grotto.
• Astoria slipped and startled a huge colony of bats, which swarmed the group.
• Jon used the Elder Wand to surround the four with fire, driving the bats away, then returned Daphne's Wand.
• Jon led the exhausted group through the silent cave until he spotted daylight and found a narrow exit beside a broad river.
• Jon sent himself and Harry across the river by Apparition, while Astoria and Daphne traveled together; Harry then asked Jon what to do next.

Jon established a protected campsite in the unfamiliar forest so the exhausted group could rest, and they slept after eating breakfast. Astoria and Daphne were awakened by several men approaching the river and discussing a marker, leaving the group’s safety uncertain.

• Jon cast protective spells around a clearing and set up two tents for the group.
• Jon and Harry Potter arranged for water while Daphne and Astoria prepared tea, toast, and bacon.
• After breakfast, Jon sent everyone to rest until noon before deciding whether to seek a Muggle town or wait for rescue.
• Daphne woke Astoria when they heard several men walking toward the river outside the protective spells.
• One man asked whether they were near the location, and another said he had seen a marker.

Daphne and Astoria mistook an Order of the Phoenix search party for hostile wizards, and the group broke through Jon’s camp defenses. The searchers found the sisters but discovered that Jon and Harry were nowhere to be seen.

• Daphne and Astoria hid in their tent as unseen wizards searched the area and dispelled Jon’s protective magic.
• Daphne left the tent to confront the intruders, then recognized Alastor Moody and Remus Lupin.
• Astoria joined them and explained that she and Daphne had found Harry in a cave.
• The young woman with strange-colored hair asked whether Headmaster Hart and Harry were in the tent, but Astoria said they were in another tent.
• Moody told Astoria that there was only one tent at the campsite.

Moody and the others found that Jon Hart and Harry Potter had disappeared from their campsite, then deduced that they had followed the Dark wizards who had trapped Harry. The search party followed the clues, and Sirius Black arrived in his dog form as they prepared to pursue them.

• Moody discovered that Jon and Harry’s tent had vanished, while traces showed they had camped there before leaving.
• Moody sent Mrs. Weasley, Tonks, Daphne, and Astoria back to Athens while he, Lupin, and Arthur searched for Jon and Harry.
• Moody found traces of a concealed fire and an Order of the Phoenix mark, concluding that Dark wizards had been nearby and Jon and Harry had followed them under invisibility magic.
• Lupin agreed that they should follow the Dark wizards, but Sirius Black arrived as a large black dog before they could decide how to proceed.

Jon Hart and Harry Potter overheard two Death Eaters discussing Harry’s escape from a cave and their plans to find Severus Snape. Jon disguised Harry with a Disillusionment Charm, and the two left their camp to follow the Death Eaters.

• Sirius Black joined Moody, Lupin, and Weasley, then used his Animagus form to follow Harry’s scent.
• Jon woke Harry after hearing people outside their tent and used a spell to make their conversation clear.
• Harry and Jon learned that two Death Eaters had searched the cave where Harry had been and intended to find Snape.
• Jon gave Harry a wand and cast a Disillusionment Charm on him before they left the tent to follow the Death Eaters.
• Jon shrank the tent and put it in his pocket as he and Harry set out.