Chapter Summaries

Harry, Hermione, and Sirius crashed in a hollow, where Harry tried to protect the injured Sirius from the Dementors. A powerful Patronus drove them away, and Harry collapsed when Dumbledore arrived.

• Harry, Hermione, Ron, Malfoy, and Sirius were thrown from the crashing motorcycle; Harry found Hermione unconscious and Sirius pinned beneath the wreckage.
• Dozens of Dementors gathered around Sirius, and Harry tried to drive them off with a weak Patronus that briefly formed an unfinished stag.
• Harry crawled toward Sirius, but a Dementor seized him by the throat before a brilliant silver Patronus appeared and scattered the Dementors.
• Harry saw the Patronus and its caster vanish behind a crooked tree, then stayed conscious in the dark, trying to understand who had summoned it.
• Dumbledore called out to Harry from the direction of Hogwarts, and Harry collapsed, knowing he was safe.

Harry woke in the Hospital Wing and learned that Hagrid, Snape, Lupin, and others had been injured, while Sirius remained unconscious. Dumbledore warned Harry and Hermione that the Ministry could arrive before they had evidence to clear Sirius, then showed them a mysterious piece of parchment he had found.

• Dumbledore and the professors brought the injured Hagrid and Snape to the Hospital Wing, where Pomfrey said Snape was exhausted and Hagrid had suffered many bites.
• Dumbledore assigned care for the injured and sent McGonagall to watch over Sirius.
• Harry woke and told Dumbledore that Scabbers was Peter Pettigrew and that Sirius was innocent, urging him to save the injured Lupin.
• Hermione arrived, and Dumbledore explained that the Ministry had been alerted and Sirius could not defend himself while unconscious.
• Hermione said Professor Breen knew the truth, but Dumbledore said Amosta was missing and the Ministry might reject Sirius's innocence without Peter as evidence.
• Dumbledore showed Harry and Hermione a yellowed piece of parchment he had found in Harry's pocket and said it carried traces of special power.

Dumbledore sent Harry and Hermione back in time with Hermione’s Time-Turner, hoping they could uncover the mystery of the Marauder’s Map and save lives. As they retraced their steps, Hermione noticed that Peter’s name was missing from the map while he led them out of Gryffindor Tower.

• Dumbledore questioned Harry and Hermione about how the Marauder’s Map had ended up with Malfoy and what the second map in Lupin’s possession might have been.
• Dumbledore cast a safeguard to keep Harry and Hermione’s names off the map, then urged Hermione to retrace her steps.
• Hermione used her Time-Turner to take Harry back to 9:40 that evening and covered them both with the Invisibility Cloak.
• Hermione explained that Professor McGonagall had lent her the Time-Turner so she could attend several classes at once.
• Hermione and Harry checked Lupin’s empty office and saw on the map that Peter was leading them out of the common room, yet his name did not appear.

Harry and Hermione used the Time-Turner to retrace the night’s events, watching Malfoy flee into the Forbidden Forest and suspecting Peter had tried to kill Sirius there. After Lupin followed their earlier selves into the forest, Harry delayed Hermione because he expected someone else to appear.

• Hermione took Harry back in time and hid with him as they watched Lupin find the Marauder’s Map and Snape hurry after him.
• Hermione reasoned that Snape had learned something was wrong through magical cameras in Professor Breen’s office.
• Harry and Hermione hid in the pumpkin patch and watched Sirius attack Malfoy after Scabbers appeared on Malfoy’s head, sending Malfoy into the Forbidden Forest.
• Hermione suggested Peter had lured Sirius into the forest and cast Avada Kedavra as part of a plan to kill him.
• After their earlier selves and Lupin entered the Forbidden Forest, Harry insisted on waiting because he expected someone else to come.

Harry and Hermione entered the Forbidden Forest to find Peter and reached the battlefield where their earlier selves were fighting Greyback’s werewolves. They watched Sirius save Harry, then focused on tracking the green light while remaining hidden.

• Harry and Hermione followed Sirius's footprints into the cold, dark Forbidden Forest and teased each other about whom they liked.
• Hermione wondered what kind of wizard she would want as a partner, then pushed the thought aside as they continued toward the battlefield.
• Harry and Hermione hid beneath the Invisibility Cloak and watched Remus, Snape, and Sirius fight Greyback’s werewolves.
• Hermione guided Harry toward the source of the green light, and they watched Sirius rush to save Harry from the one-eared werewolf.
• Harry felt Sirius's love and turned toward the green light with renewed determination.

Harry and Hermione pursued Peter through the Forbidden Forest after Snape blocked Peter's Killing Curse, then captured him and forced him to transform back into a wizard. Peter begged them to spare him and claimed he was willing to accept punishment.

• Snape blocked Peter's Killing Curse, and Peter fled the battlefield by transforming into a rat.
• Harry and Hermione followed Peter through the Forbidden Forest while Amosta trailed behind them.
• Harry and Hermione cornered Peter with spells, and Harry caught him in his hand.
• Harry forced Peter to transform back into his human form and accused him of betraying his parents and trying to kill everyone.
• Peter pleaded with Harry and Hermione, blamed his fear of the Dark Lord, and offered to go to Azkaban.

Harry and Hermione chased Peter into a vast crater in the Forbidden Forest, where a colony of Acromantulas captured them. They found Peter being cocooned beside the blind giant spider Aragog, leaving all three at the spiders’ mercy.

• A blast destroyed the ground around Harry and Hermione, and Peter vanished after Dumbledore’s protective magic dissolved.
• Harry and Hermione heard Peter cry out and followed him deeper into the Forbidden Forest.
• They discovered a crater filled with hundreds of giant spiders and found their retreat blocked by Acromantulas.
• The spiders seized Harry and Hermione and carried them to the blind, enormous spider at the heart of the colony.
• Harry and Hermione saw Peter trapped upside down in a web, with his lower body already enclosed in a bloodstained cocoon.

Harry and Hermione were captured by Aragog and his Acromantulas while trying to rescue Peter, but they broke free and threatened Aragog with magic. They remained surrounded in the colony, with Aragog refusing to let them leave and Harry unwilling to kill Hagrid’s friend.

• Aragog revealed that he hated Hagrid’s friends because a wizard Hagrid brought to visit had nearly killed him.
• Harry petrified the Acromantula holding him and Hermione, and Aragog recognized them as Amosta Breen’s students.
• Hermione freed Peter from his webbing and petrified the Acromantula guarding him.
• Harry held a sharp branch against Aragog and demanded that he order the Acromantulas to let them pass.
• Aragog refused to release them, and Harry hesitated to harm Hagrid’s friend as the colony surrounded them.

Harry and Hermione escaped the Acromantulas with Peter in Mr. Weasley's car, then returned under the Invisibility Cloak to watch Harry's earlier encounter with the Dementors. As the younger Harry faced death, Harry searched for the mysterious Patronus he believed had been cast by his father and finally spotted the tree where it had appeared.

• Harry hesitated to kill Aragog until Mr. Weasley's car burst through the Acromantulas and gave him and Hermione a chance to escape with Peter.
• Harry learned that Dementors had appeared where Sirius's motorcycle had fallen and persuaded Hermione to return and investigate.
• Harry told Hermione that he believed his father had cast the powerful Patronus that saved Sirius and him earlier.
• Harry and Hermione hid beneath the Invisibility Cloak and watched the Dementors attack Sirius and the younger Harry.
• As the younger Harry was seized by a Dementor, Harry noticed the crooked tree where the Patronus had stopped.

Greyback led the surviving werewolves out of the Forbidden Forest, but an unknown wizard’s magic blocked their escape and returned those who Apparated. The Centaurs recognized that a powerful wizard had intervened, and Remus identified the figure in the sky as the end of the werewolves.

• Greyback escaped the Centaurs’ pursuit with captured Centaurs and the wounded Remus, then ordered his werewolves to Apparate or flee toward Hogsmeade.
• A transparent barrier stopped the werewolves running toward Hogsmeade, and Bane’s arrow brought one down against it.
• The werewolves who had Apparated away reappeared near Greyback, leaving them trapped with the Centaurs and their captured kin.
• Firenze stopped Bane from attacking, saying that a powerful wizard was judging the werewolves.
• A werewolf spotted a figure beneath the blood moon, and Remus recognized the figure and told Greyback the werewolves’ end had come.

Amosta Breen confronted Greyback and the werewolves outside Hogsmeade, then engulfed them in Fiendfyre despite Remus Lupin’s presence. Ministry officials arrived as Fudge protested that Amosta had broken the law.

• Greyback recognized Amosta Breen and tried to bargain, insisting that the werewolves had not harmed Hogwarts students.
• Amosta revealed that Greyback had been looking for him, and Greyback tried to flee to the Forbidden Forest with Remus Lupin.
• Amosta used immense magic to restrain Greyback and the others, then unleashed Fiendfyre that consumed the werewolves.
• Remus said the werewolves deserved their fate, while the Centaurs lowered their heads at the edge of the forest.
• Cornelius Fudge, Amelia Bones, Dolores Umbridge, Rufus Scrimgeour, and Aurors arrived, but Scrimgeour’s water spell could not extinguish the Fiendfyre.
• Fudge confronted Amosta and shouted that what he had done was against the law.

Amosta destroyed Fenrir Greyback and the werewolves with Fiendfyre, then faced the Ministry officials as they questioned his actions. He led them toward Hogwarts, claiming Peter Pettigrew was there, while Remus was taken to St Mungo’s.

• Scrimgeour tried to stop Amosta, but Kingsley and Amelia Bones recognized the people trapped in the Fiendfyre as Fenrir Greyback and his werewolves.
• Amosta extinguished the flames, thanked the Centaurs for protecting Hogwarts students and staff, and let them return to the Forbidden Forest with their rescued tribesmen.
• Amosta identified the badly injured man as Remus Lupin and urged the Ministry to get him medical care; Tonks took Remus to St Mungo’s.
• Fudge demanded an explanation and asked Amosta to surrender his wand, but Amosta refused and headed toward Hogwarts with the Ministry officials.
• Amosta announced that Peter Pettigrew was at Hogwarts, leaving Fudge and the officials stunned; Kingsley warned Umbridge that only Dumbledore could match Amosta’s power.

Harry and Hermione returned to Hogwarts with Peter Pettigrew while Amosta stalled the Ministry officials at the castle entrance. Dumbledore took Peter away, and Hermione discovered that her Time-Turner had cracked and its sand had vanished.

• Harry and Hermione carried Peter beneath the Invisibility Cloak toward the Hospital Wing as the Ministry officials arrived at the castle.
• Amosta confronted Cornelius Fudge about the promised rewards and defended his use of Fiendfyre against Greyback and his werewolves.
• Harry and Hermione reached Dumbledore and told him they had captured Peter, and Dumbledore levitated the cocoon onto a stretcher.
• Dumbledore left with Peter after Hermione warned him that Ministry officials, including Amosta, were downstairs.
• Hermione found a crack in her Time-Turner and watched its golden sand disappear.

Fudge negotiated with Dumbledore and Madam Bones over how to handle proof that Sirius Black was innocent, fearing the Ministry’s reputation would collapse if the truth became public. The talks stalled, and Amosta pointed out that the official who had sent Sirius to Azkaban also bore responsibility.

• Fudge complained that the Ministry would be ruined if the public learned it had imprisoned Sirius and honored Peter Pettigrew as a hero.
• Madam Bones warned that mishandling the case would damage the credibility of the Ministry and the Wizengamot.
• Fudge proposed keeping the truth secret, imprisoning Peter for life, delaying the cancellation of Sirius’s arrest warrant, and compensating him.
• Dumbledore rejected Fudge’s proposal as unfair and disputed the claim that Sirius had attacked Grimmauld Place.
• Amosta asked who had presided over Sirius’s trial and ordered him sent to Azkaban.

Amosta guided Fudge toward a way to reveal Sirius’s innocence without making the Ministry appear incompetent. He left Fudge with a plan to claim the Ministry had uncovered the truth while pursuing Greyback’s gang and had captured Peter Pettigrew, though someone would still have to answer for Sirius’s wrongful imprisonment.

• Amosta questioned which Ministry official had presided over Sirius’s trial, unsettling Fudge and drawing Dumbledore’s attention.
• Fudge warned Amosta that challenging Barty Crouch could cause conflict within the Ministry, while Madam Bones admired Amosta’s judgment and power.
• Amosta suggested presenting the destruction of Greyback’s gang as a planned Ministry operation that had raised its standing among ordinary people.
• Amosta proposed that the Ministry announce it had discovered Sirius was innocent while tracking Greyback, then found Peter Pettigrew hiding in the Forbidden Forest.
• Amosta said the Ministry could explain that it had concealed Sirius’s innocence while trying to capture Peter, but someone would have to take responsibility for Sirius’s wrongful imprisonment.

Amosta persuaded Fudge to announce Greyback’s capture before revealing Sirius’s case, while Dumbledore quietly worried about Amosta’s power. In the Hospital Wing, Hermione feared punishment after her Time-Turner broke, and Harry decided to ask Professor Breen to repair it.

• Amosta proposed that the Ministry announce Greyback’s capture first and keep Sirius’s case confidential for a few days, and Fudge enthusiastically agreed.
• Fudge thanked Amosta for his help, then asked Dumbledore whether Amosta might follow Voldemort’s path; Dumbledore dismissed the need for excessive concern.
• Madam Bones suggested that Amosta might be invited to join the Ministry, but Amosta said he preferred freedom while remaining willing to help when needed.
• Hermione panicked when she discovered her Time-Turner had broken and feared the Ministry might send her to Azkaban.
• Harry resolved to find Professor Breen, hoping he could repair the Time-Turner.

After Sirius was taken into Ministry custody and the truth was kept secret temporarily, Amosta and Dumbledore discussed the night’s events and the danger to Hogwarts. Dumbledore revealed two more of Voldemort’s Horcruxes, but Amosta revealed that he already possessed Slytherin’s locket.

• Fudge took Peter Pettigrew and the injured Sirius away, while Dumbledore asked the others to keep Sirius’s innocence secret until the Ministry could act.
• Dumbledore visited Amosta, discussed Remus’s injuries and the Defence Against the Dark Arts post, and reassured Amosta that he trusted him to remain at Hogwarts.
• Amosta explained how he had followed the passage from the Whomping Willow to the Shrieking Shack and found Sirius, and offered to speak with Lucius about Draco.
• Dumbledore told Amosta that a house-elf’s memories had revealed Hufflepuff’s Cup and Slytherin’s Locket as Voldemort’s Horcruxes.
• Amosta pulled out a gold chain bearing the locket, leaving Dumbledore astonished, and asked whether they would pay the same price as before.

Amosta showed Dumbledore Salazar Slytherin’s locket and explained how Regulus had stolen the real Horcrux from Voldemort. After discussing the Horcruxes, Amosta pointed out a rune shared by the locket and Ravenclaw’s Diadem, and Dumbledore began considering its meaning.

• Amosta showed Dumbledore the locket, and Dumbledore recognized the Slytherin family crest and the dark magic inside it.
• Amosta recounted how he, Remus, and others destroyed Voldemort’s cave and brought Regulus back, then read Regulus’s note about stealing the real Horcrux.
• Dumbledore praised Regulus and reviewed what they knew about Voldemort’s Horcruxes and how many might remain.
• Amosta explained that he had not tried to destroy the locket because a matching rune on it and Ravenclaw’s Diadem had caught his attention.
• Amosta and Dumbledore discussed the mysterious category of Ancient Runes and considered whether a book might explain the symbol’s meaning.

Dumbledore examined Slytherin's Locket and then showed Amosta the restored Diadem of Ravenclaw, wondering whether hidden magic had protected it from Fiendfyre. The chapter left Amosta considering how the diadem had survived destruction.

• Dumbledore took Amosta to his office after reflecting on the locket and the Founders' knowledge of future events.
• Amosta joked with Phineas Black, who offered to recommend him as Hogwarts Headmaster and learned that Sirius had mortgaged the Black family home to him.
• Dumbledore gave Amosta the repaired Diadem of Ravenclaw, which Amosta examined for its runes and legendary power.
• Dumbledore asked how the diadem had survived Fiendfyre, suggesting that unseen magic had protected it.

Amosta and Dumbledore examined the magic script on the Hogwarts founders’ relics and wondered what might happen if all four were gathered. They decided to destroy the soul fragment in Slytherin’s locket with a Basilisk fang, leaving Amosta intrigued by the supposedly gentler method.

• Amosta noticed magic script on the Sword of Gryffindor, and Dumbledore explained that the sword’s inscriptions had long been known to him.
• Dumbledore showed Amosta records of the Hufflepuff Cup, whose base bore inscriptions resembling those on the diadem, locket, and sword.
• Amosta wondered whether assembling all four founders’ relics would cause something interesting, but Dumbledore said there was no evidence for the idea.
• Amosta and Dumbledore agreed not to preserve the locket’s soul fragment and prepared to destroy it while protecting Dumbledore’s office.
• Dumbledore produced a Basilisk fang obtained through Newt Scamander as a safer means of destroying the Horcrux.