Chapter Summaries

Harry and the other students returned to Hogwarts in a storm, where Amosta rescued Dennis from the Black Lake and helped the students reach the Great Hall. At the feast, Dumbledore asked Amosta to announce that the Triwizard Tournament would be held at Hogwarts, signaling his importance in the matter.

• Harry spotted someone flying through the storm toward the Black Lake and suspected it was Professor Breen.
• Hermione was hurt in the crush of students trying to enter the Great Hall as rain soaked them.
• Amosta conjured a canopy and warm air, then rescued Dennis from the Black Lake and carried him inside.
• Harry noticed the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor's seat remained empty after the Sorting Ceremony.
• Dumbledore asked Amosta to announce the return of the Triwizard Tournament at Hogwarts.

Amosta gave the Hogwarts opening feast announcements in Dumbledore’s place, including the cancellation of House Cup Quidditch matches because of a major event starting in October. His announcement was interrupted by Alastor Moody’s dramatic arrival, and Dumbledore asked Amosta to introduce the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor.

• Dumbledore asked Amosta to address the students, and Amosta agreed.
• Amosta reminded students of school rules and announced that the list of prohibited items had been shortened.
• Amosta announced that House Cup Quidditch matches would not be held because a major event would occupy the school year.
• A bolt of lightning and the opening doors interrupted Amosta as Alastor Moody entered the Great Hall.
• Dumbledore told Amosta that Moody was the new professor and asked him to introduce Moody to the students.

Amosta introduced Moody as Hogwarts’ new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, then announced that Hogwarts would host the Triwizard Tournament. The announcement left students debating the age restriction and looking for ways to enter despite the danger.

• Moody greeted Amosta, and Amosta introduced him to the students as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor.
• Amosta explained that the Triwizard Tournament would bring champions from Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang to compete in three tasks.
• Amosta warned that the dangerous tournament was restricted to competitors aged seventeen or older, prompting disappointed protests.
• Amosta announced that the winning champion would receive the Triwizard Cup and one thousand Gold Galleons.
• Hermione criticized students for wanting to enter, while Fred encouraged them to find a way around the age restriction and Neville admitted his grandmother expected him to compete.

Amosta managed Hogwarts business and rejected a Gringotts advertising proposal before meeting Sirius and Remus in Hogsmeade. He gave Sirius letters of introduction to help him enter the Auror Office, leaving Sirius and Remus reflecting on Amosta’s influence over the Ministry.

• Amosta arranged for Hagrid to buy equipment and materials for the Triwizard Tournament and rejected Bana’s request to advertise at the venue.
• Sirius and Remus met Amosta at The Three Broomsticks and discussed Sirius missing Harry at King’s Cross.
• Remus told Amosta that Dumbledore had encouraged him to pursue the work Amosta had proposed.
• Amosta gave Sirius letters of introduction for Amelia Bones and Fudge to support his entry into the Auror Office.
• Amosta advised Sirius to demonstrate his abilities as an Auror and to contact him if anything happened.

Harry and Ron faced Malfoy in the Entrance Hall after Malfoy read a damaging Daily Prophet story about Arnold Weasley and mocked Ron’s family. Harry accused Malfoy’s parents of arranging the attack at the Quidditch final, and the chapter ended with Moody firing at Malfoy before Amosta confronted him outside.

• Harry endured Hagrid’s dangerous Blast-Ended Skrewt lesson and a burdensome Divination assignment on his first day back.
• Malfoy read a Daily Prophet report about Arnold Weasley and the disappearance of a female Ministry employee, then mocked Ron and his family.
• Harry retorted by accusing Malfoy’s parents of arranging the attack at the Quidditch final and suggested they belonged in Azkaban.
• Hermione pulled Harry and Ron away as Malfoy shouted for an explanation, and a spell narrowly missed Harry.
• Moody pursued Malfoy with his wand and unleashed a blast of wind into the Entrance Hall.
• Amosta confronted Moody outside while Draco hid behind him.

Amosta stopped Moody from attacking Draco and forced him back with a spell, after which McGonagall punished Draco and Harry for the earlier fight. Amosta then challenged Moody’s conduct and warned that he might inspect his teaching or require him to leave Hogwarts.

• Moody tried to drag Draco from behind Amosta with a conjured rope, but Amosta turned it to smoke.
• Amosta summoned a crimson orb that fired beams and drove Moody back into the Entrance Hall.
• McGonagall questioned the witnesses, then deducted twenty points from Slytherin and assigned Draco detention while also punishing Harry.
• McGonagall reprimanded Moody for attacking a student and advised Amosta to be gentler with his colleague.
• Amosta objected to Moody’s magical eye and threatened to inspect his teaching, prompting Moody to leave.

After defeating Professor Moody, Amosta spoke with Harry and Hermione about Sirius’s plans to become an Auror. Harry worried about the danger Sirius would face, and Amosta turned to Hermione to ask how the students’ training was progressing.

• Students discussed Professor Breen’s duel with Professor Moody, while Neville said Moody was patrolling the grounds.
• Harry questioned why the Ministry still treated Bertha Jorkins as missing, and Hermione urged him to stop when Amosta approached.
• Dumbledore tried to defend Moody’s behavior to Amosta, while Snape sarcastically described Moody’s suspicion of him.
• Amosta invited Harry and Hermione to his office and told Harry that Sirius had apologized for their summer argument.
• Amosta told Harry that Sirius planned to join the Ministry as an Auror, leaving Harry worried about the dangers of the job.
• Amosta asked Hermione how everyone’s training in class was going.

Harry and Hermione questioned Professor Breen about the Ministry’s silence over Bertha Jorkins’s death, and he explained that officials feared public panic over Voldemort’s return. Afterward, they encountered Moody, who warned them to stay vigilant, and Hermione noticed signs that he had been in the Forbidden Forest.

• Hermione told Amosta that Luna was closest to finishing the training, with Neville second, while Harry and she were among the top performers.
• Amosta said the training schedule would be delayed and promised new material for Wednesday night.
• Harry asked Amosta why the Ministry still treated Bertha Jorkins as missing, and Amosta explained that the Ministry concealed Voldemort’s strength to preserve stability and prevent panic.
• Hermione made Harry complete their daily run at the Quidditch Pitch before they returned to the castle.
• Harry and Hermione met Moody in the Entrance Hall, where he praised Harry for keeping secrets and shouted, “Constant vigilance!”
• Hermione noticed leaves from the Forbidden Forest on Moody’s shoes and deduced that he had been there.

Harry returned to the dormitory to write Sirius a letter after Professor Breen’s remarks had unsettled him and Hermione. At the experimental class, Professor Breen reduced physical training to twice a week and announced that the students would begin learning duelling magic.

• Harry declined to join Ron and his brothers, returning to the dormitory to write Sirius a letter.
• Hermione told Ginny and Neville that Professor Breen thought their training was progressing too slowly and planned to teach them something new.
• Neville arrived at class after Snape made him sort horned toads’ internal organs by hand during detention.
• Professor Breen announced that physical education training would take place twice a week, including a Friday session that replaced one of Snape’s Potions periods.
• Professor Breen praised the students’ improved reactions but said they needed to learn how to win duels, then introduced duelling magic as their next subject.

Professor Breen began teaching the students about duelling, explaining how magic could be classified and used in combat. He left them with examples of how flexible thinking and auxiliary spells could help overcome dangerous situations.

• Professor Breen corrected the term “Duelling Magic” and divided combat spells into offensive, defensive, and functional magic.
• Professor Breen demonstrated offensive spells by destroying suits of armour with a variety of attacks.
• Professor Breen explained that students needed effective offensive spells but also defensive magic, since dodging and attacking could not always protect them.
• Professor Breen asked Hermione how she would escape a magically created swamp, and she suggested using the Freezing Charm to harden it.
• Professor Breen explained how auxiliary spells could create obstacles or help a duellist escape, using a Dragon as an example.

Professor Breen began teaching offensive spells by drawing his students into a strange, boundless white place he called his mental world. The students gathered around him there, unsure what the unfamiliar place was.

• Cedric asked whether Professor Breen’s lessons could help students win the Triwizard Tournament, and Professor Breen explained that it tested more than dueling skill.
• Professor Breen assigned an essay on dueling and forbade students from drawing their wands against one another at school.
• Professor Breen said he would teach spells without textbooks and instructed the students to look into his eyes.
• Professor Breen’s eyes blazed, and a strange ripple engulfed the students, plunging them into darkness before they appeared in a white world.
• Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and the other students tried to understand where they were, until Professor Breen appeared and welcomed them to his mental world.

Professor Breen explained how his mental world accelerated thought and made spell practice easier by revealing magical configurations. He set the students the task of mastering four basic spells nonverbally, and they began practicing.

• Harry, Hermione, and Cedric were confused when Professor Breen told them their bodies remained in the classroom while their thoughts inhabited his created mental world.
• Professor Breen explained that time passed faster in the mental world, while warning that accelerated thought burdened their bodies.
• Professor Breen showed the students magical configurations and explained how flaws in them could reveal mistakes in spellcasting.
• Professor Breen presented configurations for the Disarming Charm, Stunning Spell, Petrification Curse, and Obstruction Curse and required the students to cast them nonverbally.
• Professor Breen told the students to begin practicing the spells in the mental world.

Professor Breen taught the students to practise spells in a mental world, where magical constructs assessed their casting and demonstrated corrections. The students returned to the classroom after only six minutes had passed, exhausted, and Professor Breen announced their next hour would involve dodging Dungbombs.

• Professor Breen asked Cedric Diggory to cast the Stunning Spell at a construct, which assessed his spell as 81% complete and demonstrated the correct casting movements.
• Hermione, Harry, and the other students eagerly lined up to test spells, while Professor Breen established rules to manage the crowd.
• Hermione’s Stunning Spell received a 92% assessment, while Neville’s attempt was judged invalid at 17%, prompting Draco Malfoy to laugh at him.
• The mental world shattered, and the students awoke in the classroom to find that only about six minutes had passed despite their hours of practice.
• Professor Breen warned the dizzy students to rest for ten minutes and said they would then practise dodging Dungbombs for an hour.

Harry and Neville told Ron, Seamus, and Dean that Professor Breen had begun teaching Duelling Magic, leaving Ron and the others regretful that they had missed the class. Harry went to sleep worried about the tension in the dormitory and about Professor Breen potentially dismissing Professor Moody.

• Harry spotted Professor Moody patrolling the grounds and heard Fred and George praise his skill as a Defence Against the Dark Arts professor.
• Ginny told Harry and the others that Professor Breen had said he would assess Professor Moody's teaching and might dismiss him if it failed to meet his standards.
• Harry returned to the Gryffindor dormitory, where Neville told Ron, Seamus, and Dean that Professor Breen had taught Duelling Magic in class.
• Ron, Seamus, and Dean regretted missing Professor Breen's lesson and wondered whether he would let them rejoin the class.
• The dormitory fell silent, and Harry lay awake, knowing Ron was pretending to sleep.

Harry noticed Ron regretted dropping Professor Breen’s physical education class and tried to discuss helping him, upsetting Hermione. In Defence Against the Dark Arts, Professor Moody began class with Professor Breen observing, leaving the assessment about to start.

• Harry saw Ron acting as though he had forgotten his regret about leaving Professor Breen’s class, and Hermione said Ron was avoiding the matter.
• Harry suggested they help Ron, but Hermione grew angry and warned that Professor Breen would not let him rejoin the class.
• Ron asked why Hermione was angry, and Harry falsely blamed their disagreement on Professor Moody’s assessment.
• Harry and Ron arrived at Professor Moody’s Defence Against the Dark Arts class and found Professor Breen waiting silently by the window.
• Professor Moody arrived, called the register, and introduced Professor Breen as a guest as Professor Breen opened his eyes.

Professor Moody demonstrated the Unforgivable Curses and warned the students to stay vigilant against them. Amosta Breen challenged Moody’s portrayal of the curses as irresistible, leaving Harry wondering whether even Avada Kedavra could be resisted.

• Moody told the class he would teach them to resist dark wizard magic, then demonstrated the three Unforgivable Curses.
• Moody cast Avada Kedavra on a spider and pointed out that Harry was the only known person to have survived the curse.
• Moody told the students to take notes and remain vigilant, then asked Amosta what he thought of the lesson.
• Amosta praised Moody’s engaging teaching but said the Unforgivable Curses were not impossible to resist.
• Harry dropped his quill and wondered whether Amosta meant that Avada Kedavra could be resisted.

Professor Breen challenged Professor Moody’s account of the Unforgivable Curses and explained that they were mental magic targeting thought, mind, or soul. He described how the Cruciatus Curse worked and revealed that an ancient magical art could resist mental control, leaving the students eager to learn more.

• Professor Moody invited Professor Breen to share his views on the Unforgivable Curses after Breen said they could be resisted.
• Professor Breen explained that the three curses targeted a living being’s mind or soul rather than the body.
• Professor Breen said the Cruciatus Curse used magical power to overwrite a victim’s thoughts and could fail against someone with greater power or firmer thoughts.
• Professor Breen explained that skilled wizards could detect someone under the Cruciatus Curse by sensing the caster’s thoughts and magic inside them.
• Hannah Abbott asked whether magic could resist mental control, and Professor Breen confirmed that an ancient magical art could resist it.

Professor Breen explained how the Unforgivable Curses affected their victims, prompting Neville to ask whether people tortured by the Cruciatus Curse could recover. The class ended with Harry asking about Avada Kedavra, and Professor Breen clarified that it severed the connection between the body and soul.

• Neville answered that the Cruciatus Curse attacked the mind, earning five points for Gryffindor.
• Hannah Abbott questioned whether the Unforgivable Curses could be resisted, and Professor Breen compared them to a knife wound to explain that other attacks could be just as decisive.
• Professor Moody guessed that Neville wanted to know whether victims of the Cruciatus Curse could be cured, and Professor Breen said recovery depended on the damage and might be possible in some cases.
• Professor Breen explained that an exceptionally powerful Cruciatus Curse could shatter a victim's inner world and leave them insane, though he could not offer a specific treatment.
• Harry asked whether Avada Kedavra attacked the soul, and Professor Breen explained that it severed the connection between a living body and its soul, causing death.

Professor Breen explained how Avada Kedavra severed the connection between body and soul, then demonstrated a makeshift defense against it. He warned the class that the trick would only help briefly before asking why the Ministry forbade the three Unforgivable Curses.

• Professor Breen explained that Avada Kedavra killed by severing the link between a person's soul and body, leaving Harry disappointed that it could not be cured or resisted.
• Professor Breen asked Professor Moody for earthworms to demonstrate a few tricks for dealing with the curse.
• Professor Breen multiplied the earthworms and arranged them into a garment, explaining that densely packed small creatures could block one Avada Kedavra.
• Lavender recoiled in disgust, while Hermione and Professor Moody understood Professor Breen's idea and the class excitedly discussed it.
• Professor Breen warned that an opponent could quickly defeat the makeshift defense, then asked why the Ministry forbade the three Unforgivable Curses.

Professor Breen explained that the Unforgivable Curses drew power from malice and could corrupt their casters, while Hermione, Harry, and Ron worried about Neville’s fear of the Cruciatus Curse. At lunch, Harry noticed many professors were missing, and Amosta asked the gathered staff what major incident had occurred.

• Professor Breen explained that powerful emotion fueled spells and that the Unforgivable Curses could draw their casters into cruelty.
• Hermione said she would research defenses against the Cruciatus Curse, while Ron asked about her objection to Moody punishing Malfoy.
• Moody took Neville to his office for tea and books, and Hermione warned Harry and Ron not to pry into Neville’s family.
• Neville later read a book about Mediterranean aquatic plants that Moody had lent him, appearing calmer but still red-eyed.
• Harry noticed Dumbledore, McGonagall, Flitwick, Breen, and several other professors were absent from lunch.
• Amosta opened his office door to find Dumbledore and other professors gathered there, and asked what major incident had happened.