Chapter Summaries

Amosta discussed Neville's lost wand, Professor Trelawney's warning, and the Ministry's request to station Dementors near Hogwarts. After Snape warned him that Dumbledore was pushing him into dealings with the Ministry, Amosta learned Draco was being ostracized by Slytherins but was advised not to intervene.

• After Neville received a Howler from his grandmother over losing his father's wand, Amosta gave Professor McGonagall a spare wand for him.
• Professor Trelawney warned Amosta to stay away from a spell because she foresaw darkness and death, but Professor McGonagall dismissed her warning.
• After Ravenclaw defeated Hufflepuff, Professor McGonagall told Amosta that the Minister for Magic wanted him to return the Dementors stationed near Hogwarts.
• Snape advised Amosta to reduce the number of Dementors and warned that Dumbledore was making him the intermediary between Hogwarts and the Ministry.
• Snape told Amosta that Draco's grades had fallen because the Slytherins were shunning him, and said Draco had to resolve the situation himself.

Amosta joined Professors McGonagall and Flitwick in Hogsmeade to discuss the Ministry’s Dementors with Cornelius Fudge. Fudge revealed that he and Dumbledore were preparing a major event in Britain for the following year, but kept its details secret.

• Lupin invited Amosta to watch Harry practise the Patronus Charm, but Amosta said he was going to Hogsmeade to meet Fudge about the Dementors.
• Amosta walked to Hogsmeade with McGonagall and Flitwick, and invited Hagrid to join them.
• Hagrid told Fudge that life in the village had improved since Professor Breen detained the Dementors nearby.
• At The Three Broomsticks Inn, Amosta asked Fudge why he had waited to discuss the detained Dementors.
• Fudge said he had been occupied with a secret event planned for the next year, which he and Dumbledore had arranged to hold in Britain.

Amosta negotiated limits on the Dementors with Fudge while trying to learn why Dumbledore had left Hogwarts. Harry, Ron, and Hermione secretly entered the Three Broomsticks, where Harry overheard Fudge discussing the hunt for Black with Madam Rosmerta.

• Amosta pressed Fudge to limit the Dementors and make them work in shifts, and Fudge agreed.
• Fudge refused to explain Dumbledore’s whereabouts, saying only that Dumbledore had left Hogwarts for a while.
• Amosta sensed Harry approaching the Three Broomsticks and left the table to meet him.
• Harry, Ron, and Hermione hid beneath a bench when Ron spotted Fudge and several professors nearby.
• Hermione used her wand to make the Christmas tree block the view of Harry, who overheard Madam Rosmerta ask Fudge about the hunt for Black.

Amosta watched Harry learn that Black had betrayed his parents and later faced Harry’s direct accusation that he had known the truth. The chapter ended with Amosta inviting Harry to discuss it in his office.

• At The Three Broomsticks Inn, Amosta saw Harry react with hatred after hearing that Black had betrayed his parents, then left after handing Fudge the bottle containing the Dementor.
• Amosta returned to Hogwarts, checked on the school, and watched Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle enter the Slytherin Dungeon without intervening.
• As Christmas approached, Amosta took charge of decorating the Great Hall while Filch dealt with students causing trouble around the castle.
• Amosta found Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the library researching a defense for Hagrid, whose hearing over Lucius Malfoy's application was scheduled for April.
• Harry asked Amosta whether he had known that Black betrayed Harry's parents, and Amosta suggested they talk in his office.

Amosta confronted Harry about wanting to kill Sirius Black, then made Harry face an illusion of Black offering him a dagger. Harry recoiled in fear, and Amosta challenged him to find the courage behind his revenge.

• Amosta asked Harry whether he blamed him for withholding the truth about Black, and Harry accused the adults of keeping him ignorant.
• Harry admitted he wanted to kill Black, even after Amosta warned that he was no match for him and would make his parents' sacrifice meaningless.
• Amosta unleashed a frightening display of magic, making Hermione fear he was about to kill Harry.
• Amosta conjured an image of Black, who offered Harry a dagger and dared him to kill him.
• Harry recoiled from the dagger until the illusion vanished, and Amosta asked where his courage was.

Professor Breen taught Harry, Hermione, and Ron that their reluctance to kill came from kindness rather than cowardice, then warned them against sneaking out of Hogwarts. Hermione concealed the Marauder’s Map by claiming Harry had found a secret passage, leaving Amosta suspicious because Filch had supposedly sealed all four known passages.

• Amosta revealed that Harry had been unable to kill the dummy because he was kind, and warned him that seeking revenge on Black would endanger him and his loved ones.
• Harry promised to be careful, and Amosta ordered the three students not to use the Invisibility Cloak to sneak out past the Dementors again.
• Amosta noticed the students’ suspicious reactions and pressed them to reveal what they were hiding.
• Hermione claimed Harry had discovered a secret passage that led to Hogsmeade, concealing the Marauder’s Map to protect Fred and George.
• Amosta questioned how Harry could have found a passage when Argus had already sealed all four known secret passages, and Harry claimed Filch had missed one.

Harry revealed to Professor Breen that he knew of seven secret passages, prompting Breen to suspect Black had used an unknown route into Hogwarts. Back in Gryffindor Tower, Harry worried about warning Fred and George, until Lupin arrived and asked how Harry knew the passages so well.

• Amosta realized Hogwarts might have more secret passages than the four Filch had sealed and suspected Black had used an unknown passage to enter the castle.
• Harry told Professor Breen that he knew of seven passages: four sealed, one collapsed, one by the Whomping Willow, and one still usable.
• Ron accused Hermione of betraying them, while Hermione argued that Professor Breen would investigate the other passages for signs of Black.
• Harry said he should warn Fred and George that the passage by the Hunchbacked Witch was no longer safe, and Ron offered to go with him.
• Lupin arrived in the common room and asked Harry how he had learned the locations of the secret passages.

Harry struggled to explain how he knew about the secret passages, and Ron covered for him by claiming they had discovered the passage beneath the Whomping Willow after crashing their flying car there. Lupin then confronted Harry about sneaking to Hogsmeade for beer, while Sirius, hiding as a huge black dog in a cave, suffered after biting into one of Hagrid’s Rock Cakes.

• Lupin questioned Harry about how he had learned of the secret passage beneath the Whomping Willow, and Harry hesitated to reveal the Marauder's Map.
• Ron told Lupin that he and Harry had found the passage after their flying car crashed into the Whomping Willow in their second year.
• Lupin accepted Ron’s explanation, then scolded Harry for secretly going to Hogsmeade to drink beer.
• Harry said he felt that everything he had done had been stupid, and Ron tried to comfort him as they went to their dormitory.
• Crookshanks brought a frozen Rock Cake to the starving huge black dog in a cave, and the dog broke a tooth biting it.

Sirius Black planned to use the Christmas holiday to reach Harry, while Amosta Breen investigated Hogwarts’s secret passages for signs of Black. After finding cat and dog tracks beneath the Whomping Willow, Amosta followed the tunnel toward Hogsmeade and approached its exit under concealment spells.

• Sirius Black decided to wait until the Christmas holiday to act, wary of Amosta Breen and the precautions at Hogwarts.
• Crookshanks urged the freezing Black to seek shelter in the Shrieking Shack, and Black reluctantly agreed to consider the danger there.
• Amosta checked two secret passages in Hogwarts and then examined the entrance beneath the Whomping Willow.
• Amosta found only cat and dog tracks near the passage and flew through the tunnel toward Hogsmeade.
• Amosta concealed himself with several spells and cautiously advanced toward the tunnel’s exit.

Amosta discovered that the black dog sleeping with Crookshanks in the Shrieking Shack was an Animagus, while Sirius Black dreamed again of James and Lily's deaths. Amosta revealed himself to the grieving dog and taunted him about his failure.

• Amosta recognized the Shrieking Shack and found Crookshanks and a large black dog asleep together inside.
• Amosta studied the black dog and realized it was an Animagus with an unusually large amount of magic.
• Sirius, James, and Lily discussed making Peter the Secret Keeper to protect Harry from Voldemort.
• Sirius dreamed of James and Lily's deaths and woke in the Shrieking Shack, grieving.
• Amosta dispelled his Disillusionment Charm and asked Sirius whether he had dreamed of the old master he had failed.

Amosta cornered Sirius Black in the Shrieking Shack, where Black repeatedly tried to escape and fought back despite being badly outmatched. After Black Apparated away, Amosta sensed his destination and vanished in pursuit.

• Amosta stopped Sirius Black from fleeing the Shrieking Shack, and his magic knocked Crookshanks unconscious when the cat tried to intervene.
• Black transformed back into human form, fired a spell at Amosta, and refused his demand to surrender.
• Black blocked Amosta's attack with Protego and escaped into the kitchen, where Amosta's spell blasted apart the walls.
• Amosta found Black crawling through the snow, but Black Apparated away before he could be captured.
• Amosta sensed where Black had gone and Apparated after him.

Amosta forced his way into the Black family residence by using Sirius as a magical coordinate, while Sirius returned there badly injured and began to consider how to continue his revenge. The house’s portrait of an old woman awakened and screamed at him.

• Amosta used the magical mark on Sirius to cross the defenses and enter the Black family residence.
• Sirius arrived at the house with broken ribs and severe blood loss, then used magic to treat his injuries.
• Sirius decided to recover at the residence and considered waiting until Harry took his pet rat home before attempting revenge.
• Sirius suspected Remus had told Amosta about the passage beneath the Whomping Willow and wondered whether Remus meant to kill him.
• Sirius collapsed beside the basement kitchen door, awakening a portrait that screamed at him.

Sirius returned to the Black family home and was confronted by his abusive mother’s portrait and the house-elf Kreacher. Amosta Breen broke into the magically protected house, silenced the portrait with his power, and left Sirius stunned by his ability to breach the ancestral defenses.

• Sirius faced his mother’s portrait, which cursed him and ordered Kreacher to drive him out.
• Kreacher appeared and insulted Sirius while claiming he had been waiting for the portrait’s command.
• Sirius threatened to have Kreacher throw the portrait and everything else out of the house, silencing his mother.
• Amosta Breen burst into the corridor and greeted Sirius after interrupting the reunion.
• Amosta unleashed his power when the portrait called him a Mudblood, knocking down the other portraits and making Sirius’s mother faint.
• Sirius realized Amosta had broken through the Black family home’s protections, which he had believed even Dumbledore could not breach.

Amosta captured Sirius Black in the Black house after stopping Kreacher from attacking him, and Sirius tried to buy his freedom with the Black family fortune. Amosta refused, saying Snape and Lupin wanted revenge, and Sirius ended by demanding to see Dumbledore.

• Kreacher tried to attack Amosta, but Sirius ordered it to stop; Amosta then blasted Kreacher through a door and down the stairs.
• Amosta bound Sirius with a magical snake and took his wand, saying Mr. Longbottom could finally go home for Christmas.
• Sirius realized Amosta intended to claim the Ministry's fifty-thousand-Galleon reward and offered him one hundred thousand Galleons to let him go.
• Amosta refused the bribe, explaining that he had promised Snape and Lupin he would bring Sirius to them.
• Sirius reacted angrily to the mention of Snape and begged Amosta to let him see Dumbledore.

Amosta captured Sirius Black, but Sirius claimed Peter Pettigrew had betrayed the Potters and explained why he had remained silent for twelve years. The revelation left Amosta questioning whether the Ministry would still pay Sirius’s bounty.

• Amosta prepared to take Sirius to Snape, but Sirius pleaded to see Dumbledore or Remus and insisted someone else had betrayed James and Lily.
• Amosta stopped to question Sirius, who revealed that Ron’s pet rat Scabbers was an Animagus and that Peter Pettigrew had informed Voldemort where the Potters were hiding.
• Sirius explained that he had urged James and Lily to make Peter their Secret-Keeper instead of himself, believing Voldemort would suspect Sirius and that the change would protect the family.
• Sirius said he had accepted twelve years in Azkaban as atonement for choosing Peter and had escaped to kill him himself because he no longer trusted Dumbledore or Remus.
• Amosta wondered whether the Ministry of Magic would still pay Sirius’s bounty if Sirius had been wrongly accused.

Amosta confirmed Sirius Black’s story that Peter Pettigrew had betrayed the Potters, but insisted that Sirius return to Hogwarts and tell Dumbledore rather than pursue revenge alone. Sirius refused to discuss the truth with anyone else before killing Peter.

• Amosta explained that he had searched Sirius’s mind to verify his claims, and Sirius angrily demanded to know what Amosta would do next.
• Amosta said he wanted to find Peter, who had supposedly faked his death after Scabbers was reported dead at Hogwarts.
• Sirius insisted Peter was probably still at Hogwarts, while Amosta pointed out that they had no way to search the entire school for him.
• Amosta said he would help for Harry and Remus’s sake but would not help Sirius break into Gryffindor Tower, and urged him to speak with Dumbledore and Remus.
• Sirius refused to tell anyone else the truth before killing Peter, and Amosta ordered him to come back to Hogwarts anyway.

Amosta refused to let Sirius roam Hogwarts freely, despite Sirius offering money in exchange for help finding Peter. When Sirius revealed he could not access most of the Black family fortune, Amosta proposed taking temporary use of the house as collateral for the Ministry bounty.

• Sirius offered Amosta money to keep him from telling Dumbledore and Remus about him and to help him search Hogwarts for Peter, but Amosta refused to let him roam unsupervised.
• Kreacher emerged from hiding and revealed that Sirius's mother had left the Black family vault to Bellatrix and Narcissa, not Sirius.
• Sirius showed Amosta a Gringotts receipt proving he had more than thirty thousand Galleons in his own vault, but Amosta still insisted he could not let Sirius search Hogwarts.
• Sirius offered Amosta the valuable objects in the house, and Amosta proposed taking the right to use the house for one year as collateral, with the term increasing if Sirius failed to repay him.

Amosta repaired the Shrieking Shack, saved Crookshanks, and learned that Remus knew about the secret passage and Sirius's Animagus form. He warned Sirius that he could not safely disguise himself as an Animagus at Hogwarts, then gave him a new identity as a stray cat named Lenny.

• Amosta ordered Kreacher not to tell anyone what he had heard, then took Sirius back to the Shrieking Shack and repaired it.
• Amosta revived Crookshanks, and Sirius explained that the cat had helped him gather information and search for food.
• Sirius's mention of using the secret passage at school led Amosta to realize that Remus already knew about the passage and Sirius's Animagus form.
• Amosta told Sirius that Dumbledore could recognize him on the level of the soul, making his Animagus disguise unsafe at Hogwarts.
• Amosta decided to disguise Sirius as a stray cat Crookshanks had found and named him Lenny.

Amosta returned to Hogwarts with Sirius and Lenny disguised as cats and discussed how to draw Peter out of hiding. When Remus entered Amosta’s office, Sirius recognized his old friend but remained in cat form, while Remus sensed something familiar about him.

• Amosta returned to Hogwarts with the two cats and had Percy pack food for them to take to his office.
• Amosta and Sirius discussed Peter’s caution and why he would stay near Harry at Hogwarts.
• Amosta turned Sirius into a black cat when he learned Remus was coming to the office.
• Remus entered and felt an inexplicable familiarity with the black cat, while Sirius was overcome by sorrow at Remus’s aged appearance.
• Amosta told Remus that Crookshanks had found an old flame in the wild.

Amosta confronted Sirius over his responsibility for the Potters’ deaths and Harry’s unhappy childhood, leaving Sirius sunk in guilt. McGonagall discussed the students staying at Hogwarts for Christmas, and Amosta found Neville’s lost wand and planned to return it.

• Amosta told Sirius that Remus had struggled as a werewolf and defended Snape against Sirius’s mockery.
• Amosta blamed Sirius for failing to raise Harry and revealed that Harry had told him he once lived in a cupboard under the stairs, leaving Sirius silent and devastated.
• McGonagall told Amosta which students would remain at Hogwarts over Christmas, including Harry, Hermione, and Ron.
• Amosta showed McGonagall Neville’s lost wand, allowing Neville to go home for Christmas.
• Amosta left his office to return Neville’s wand and retrieve his spare wand, leaving Lenny and Crookshanks behind.