Chapter Summaries

Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Neville learned how Hogwarts’s Board of Governors formed and gained power through conflicts over tuition, Muggle-born students, and school funding. Ron wondered whether Malfoy and the Slytherins feared expulsion, but Neville reminded him that the Weasleys and Longbottoms were pure-blood families who could be expelled too.

• Hermione read aloud how Hogwarts’s founders waived tuition, then how later financial pressures led to the creation of the Board of Governors.
• Hermione continued reading about the Board’s changing membership, its restrictions on spending and Muggle-born admissions, and its eventual authority over staff and the headmaster.
• Harry left the library reflecting on the hardships Hogwarts had endured throughout its history.
• Ron guessed that Malfoy and the Slytherins were unhappy because they feared Hogwarts might expel pure-blood students again.
• Neville pointed out that Ron’s Weasley family and his own Longbottom family were ancient wizarding families and could face expulsion as well.

Hogwarts faced a financial crisis after the Board of Governors suspended its funding, and Harry offered to contribute his Gringotts gold. The chapter ended with Neville asking Harry to help teach the students he blamed for the crisis a lesson.

• Hagrid admitted to Madame Maxime that he had watered down the malt whisky he gave the carriage-pulling Pegasi.
• Students learned that Hogwarts was short of money, while Professors Dumbledore and Breen negotiated with the Board of Governors.
• Harry followed Professors McGonagall and Sprout and offered them all the gold in his vault to help Hogwarts.
• Professor McGonagall thanked Harry but said the school had enough gold to keep operating while the professors sought a solution.
• Neville asked Harry whether he wanted to find a chance to teach the students who had dragged Hogwarts into the crisis a lesson.

Snape took Draco Malfoy and three other students to a swamp to collect leeches, where he confronted Draco about his fear of the conflict between Professor Breen and the Dark Lord. Snape urged Draco to choose the side he wanted to win, leaving Draco questioning whether he could oppose Professor Breen.

• Snape led Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, Theodore, and Blaise to a swamp and told them to collect leeches from its edge.
• Snape asked Draco what he feared, and Draco admitted his father supported the Board of Governors' effort to pressure Hogwarts by cutting its funding.
• Draco asked Snape which side would win, and Snape recognized that Draco wanted to pledge loyalty to the victors.
• Snape told Draco to join the side he hoped would win and help it achieve victory.
• Draco considered his family's potential rewards under the Dark Lord against the consequences of Professor Breen winning, then wondered whether he could truly become Professor Breen's enemy.

Draco Malfoy struggled with whether to support Professor Breen or Voldemort as Harry, Ron, Neville, and Hermione secretly followed Snape into the Forbidden Forest. Snape caught the four Gryffindors and ordered them to collect leeches as punishment.

• Draco stood by the water, troubled by the choice between supporting Professor Breen and opposing his Death Eater father.
• Neville, Harry, and Ron wanted to punish Draco, but Hermione argued that Draco was not responsible for his father's actions.
• Snape noticed the hidden Gryffindors and cut down a tree to block their escape, knocking them over and exposing Harry, Ron, and Neville beneath the Invisibility Cloak.
• Hermione claimed the four had come to help collect leeches because Hogwarts had lost the Board of Governors' financial support.
• Snape rejected Hermione's excuse, said he would report them to Minerva, and ordered all four Gryffindors into the water to catch leeches.

Harry and his friends endured punishment in the Forbidden Forest while Hogwarts struggled with dwindling funds and teaching supplies. Rita Skeeter arrived to photograph a misleadingly meager Hogwarts dinner, then went to meet Professor Breen, whose return suggested the crisis might soon reach a turning point.

• Professor McGonagall punished Harry, Ron, Neville, and Hermione by taking Gryffindor points and ordering them to gather ingredients for Snape in the Forbidden Forest each night.
• Harry learned that Snape had made the N.E.W.T.s Potions students study on their own because the school lacked expensive ingredients, while Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout had only partly improved the food situation.
• Hermione said The Daily Prophet had not reported on Professor Dumbledore and Professor Breen's negotiations with the Board of Governors.
• Rita Skeeter and a photographer entered the Great Hall, rearranged the dinner to make it look meager, and photographed students beside the food.
• Rita told the photographer that Professor Breen was waiting for them in his office, and Hermione realized he had returned to Hogwarts.

Amosta told Rita Skeeter that negotiations with the Board of Governors had broken down and accused the Ministry of Magic of interfering with Hogwarts. He formally declared that Hogwarts would no longer submit to the Board’s leadership after it cut off the school’s funding.

• Amosta reviewed reports of trouble at Hogwarts, including Harry and the others being punished for following Severus into the Forbidden Forest.
• Rita Skeeter arrived to interview Amosta about his negotiations with the Board of Governors, and he told her they had broken down.
• Amosta stopped Rita from inventing a claim that he would close Hogwarts and assured her he could get her article published.
• Amosta condemned the Ministry’s attempt to install Dolores Umbridge at Hogwarts and argued that her lack of magical skill showed the school’s standards had not declined.
• Amosta formally declared that Hogwarts would no longer submit to the Board of Governors because it had cut off the school’s funding.

Amosta arranged the publication of Rita Skeeter’s article announcing Hogwarts’s break with the Board of Governors while Remus led a covert shipment to Hogsmeade. Percy and Penelope reunited at the station, though Penelope still worried that Percy’s mother disapproved of her.

• Rita Skeeter questioned Amosta about his political plans, and he said he had no intention of becoming Minister for Magic but hinted that changes at Hogwarts would come soon.
• Madam Bones gathered the Ministry’s Aurors as Cacus Fley and Lucius Malfoy helped Rita’s article pass review at the Daily Prophet.
• Remus used magic to clear a Muggle inspection, then transferred the crates and freight workers onto the disguised Hogwarts Express with help from goblins.
• The train reached Hogsmeade, where Amosta welcomed Remus and learned that Percy and Penelope had reconciled.
• Penelope said Percy’s mother might not like her, and Percy insisted that his mother would eventually accept their relationship.

Amosta delivered gold to Hogwarts to fund the school and announced that it had severed ties with the Board of Governors, while preparing students for the Triwizard Tournament’s final task. The chapter left Harry and his friends worried that the Ministry of Magic would retaliate against Amosta.

• Amosta escorted a convoy of gold to Hogwarts and told Professor McGonagall that the funds came from the Learning Machine Workshop and could keep the school running for a year.
• Professor McGonagall and Hagrid arranged for the House-elves to store most of the gold and sent Hagrid to pay Hogsmeade’s villagers.
• Amosta told Professor McGonagall he would begin intensive training for students ahead of the Triwizard Tournament’s final task, and she approved as long as safety was considered.
• Harry, Ron, and Hermione learned that Amosta had brought Hogwarts at least two hundred thousand Galleons.
• Hermione told Harry that Hogwarts had officially severed ties with the Board of Governors and that Amosta had condemned the Ministry of Magic in the Daily Prophet, prompting her to fear the Ministry would retaliate.

Lucius Malfoy brought Voldemort news that Hogwarts had rejected the Board of Governors and that Amosta Breen had condemned the Ministry’s appointment of a commissioner. After Voldemort dismissed him, Lucius wondered whether the Dark Lord had just fought and lost to someone.

• Narcissa warned Lucius that Voldemort was in a bad mood as he climbed to the terrace.
• Voldemort’s furious outburst filled the terrace with darkness, but it vanished before Lucius entered.
• Lucius told Voldemort that Hogwarts had rejected the Board of Governors and suggested Breen had found other funding.
• Voldemort read The Daily Prophet report about Breen condemning the Ministry’s commissioner appointment and welcomed the distraction it would cause.
• Voldemort questioned Lucius about the darkness he had witnessed, then dismissed him.
• Lucius left relieved and confused, suspecting Voldemort had fought someone and been defeated.

Sirius visited the Ministry of Magic as Amosta’s newspaper remarks stirred unrest and discussed the brewing conflict with Fudge with Arthur, Kingsley, and Remus. He argued that Amosta was deliberately challenging the Ministry and left Kingsley hopeful that justice had time on its side.

• Sirius entered the Auror Office, where Scrimgeour ignored him and Delix angrily accused him of being late.
• Sirius joined Arthur, Kingsley, and Remus in the Office for the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts and heard Arthur worry that his children would go hungry at Hogwarts.
• Remus reassured Arthur that Amosta had a plan to keep Hogwarts running after the Board of Governors stopped funding it.
• Kingsley warned that Amosta’s public attack on Fudge would provoke the Minister, while Sirius said Amosta was declaring war on the Ministry.
• Sirius suggested Dumbledore was less concerned about dismantling Voldemort’s forces because Amosta was present, and Kingsley took hope from Amosta’s youth.

Sirius, Arthur, and Kingsley worried about what Amosta intended after he publicly attacked Fudge, then confronted the Minister as he ordered the Aurors to arrest Amosta. Fudge struggled to find a legal justification, and Scrimgeour reminded him that the Ministry had already vouched for Amosta’s magic and blamed the Quidditch World Cup casualties on Vitia Criona.

• Sirius reassured Arthur and Kingsley that Amosta’s youth and abilities gave the wizarding world hope beyond Dumbledore’s lifetime.
• Fudge stormed into the Auror Office and ordered Delix to gather the Hit Wizards so he could arrest Amosta at Hogwarts.
• Arthur claimed he needed to investigate a sewage incident in Besna Green and left after Kingsley signaled him.
• Sirius challenged Fudge to name a law Amosta had broken and argued that his remarks in The Daily Prophet were not grounds for arrest.
• Fudge accused Amosta of causing casualties with Fiendfyre, but Scrimgeour corrected him, citing the Ministry’s label of Spirit Fire Charm and its blame of Vitia Criona for the Quidditch World Cup deaths.

Fudge abandoned his immediate plan to arrest Amosta after Madam Bones and Scrimgeour challenged him, but Scrimgeour warned that Fudge was only buying time to find a pretext to imprison Amosta. Amosta received letters from Scrimgeour and Sirius and realized Fudge and Umbridge would act after the Triwizard Tournament.

• Scrimgeour’s remarks eased the pressure on Sirius and Kingsley, while Delix questioned whether arresting Amosta was appropriate.
• Madam Bones confronted Fudge, arguing that he had no legal grounds to arrest Amosta and warning that the arrest would further damage the Ministry’s reputation before the third Triwizard Tournament task.
• Fudge agreed to postpone the confrontation with Amosta until after the tournament and left the Auror Office with Delix.
• Scrimgeour told Madam Bones that Fudge was using the proposed meeting to buy time and intended to find a pretext to send Amosta to Azkaban.
• Madam Bones asked Scrimgeour to inform Amosta about the meeting, and he agreed.
• Amosta received letters from Scrimgeour and Sirius, understood what had happened, and anticipated that Fudge and Umbridge would act after the tournament.

Amosta told his Physical Education Class students that the Triwizard Tournament’s final task would allow each champion two teammates. Hermione chose Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, leaving Harry thrilled and the rest of the class eager to learn Cedric’s choices.

• Amosta announced that each champion could choose two students from Hogwarts as teammates for the third task.
• Hermione asked whether teammates had to be members of Physical Education Class, and Amosta said any Hogwarts student could qualify.
• Harry eagerly refused Fred and George’s offers to buy his chance to compete, hoping Hermione would choose him.
• Hermione considered her Gryffindor friends and decided that fighting beside her closest friends mattered more than winning.
• Hermione named Harry Potter and Ron Weasley as her teammates.

Hermione and Cedric chose teammates for the upcoming competition, with Cedric struggling over the danger his choice could bring to Cho. The chapter ended with Cedric selecting Neville and Luna, and Professor Breen sending both champion teams out to discuss final exams.

• Hermione chose Harry and Ron as her teammates for the competition.
• Cedric asked Cho to speak privately and struggled with the risks of bringing her into the arena.
• Cho recognized Cedric’s conflict and helped him decide how to choose his teammates.
• Cedric chose Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood, surprising the students in the classroom.
• Professor Breen confirmed both teams’ choices and dismissed the champions and their teammates.

Amosta excluded the Triwizard champions and their teammates from the physical education final exam, then told the remaining students they would test the champions in the Forbidden Forest. Harry and Hermione returned to find Ron in the Gryffindor Common Room and began telling him what had happened.

• Amosta told Hermione, Harry, Cedric, Neville, and Luna that they could not take the physical education final exam because they needed to prepare for the Triwizard Tournament.
• Amosta had the remaining students sign safety and confidentiality agreements before revealing that their exam would take place in the Forbidden Forest and involve testing the champions and their teammates.
• Harry was surprised that Cedric had chosen Neville and Luna as teammates, and Cedric said Cho Chang had suggested them.
• Cedric, Neville, and Luna went to train together, while Harry and Hermione searched for Ron and found him playing Wizard Chess in the Gryffindor Common Room with Seamus and Dean.
• Ron asked Harry and Hermione to explain why they had returned from physical education class so soon.

Hermione chose Ron to join her and Harry as a helper in the third Triwizard Tournament event, which would take place in the Forbidden Forest. Amosta explained the helper rules to the visiting champions, and Fleur asked to speak with him alone.

• Hermione told Ron she had chosen him to join her and Harry in the third event, and Ron accepted despite worrying he would hold them back.
• Harry and Ron proposed asking Hagrid about dangerous creatures in the Forbidden Forest, while Hermione worried that doing so would be cheating.
• Harry, Hermione, and Ron learned that Ginny, Fred, and George could not reveal details of their physical education final because they had signed confidentiality and safety agreements.
• Amosta refused Madame Maxime's request for three helpers for the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons champions, explaining that each champion could choose two students from their own school.
• Amosta told Viktor Krum that Headmaster Draegen would visit Hogwarts that weekend, and Fleur asked to speak with Amosta alone.

Fleur told Amosta she had decided to stay in Britain after graduating, despite his warning that the wizarding world was unsafe. Later, Amosta revealed that he was counting on Voldemort succeeding in rescuing his Death Eaters, then offered to approach Slughorn after Dumbledore failed again to learn the truth from him.

• Fleur told Amosta she was considering work at the Ministry of Magic or his Learning Machine Workshop, then declared she had decided to stay in Britain.
• Amosta discussed Voldemort’s plans with Severus and said he expected Voldemort to succeed in rescuing his Death Eaters because that would enable Amosta’s own plan.
• Dumbledore summoned Amosta and told him Slughorn had again refused to reveal the truth.
• Amosta offered to try approaching Slughorn himself.

Amosta and Dumbledore discussed contacting Slughorn and secretly confirming whether Voldemort had hidden a Horcrux in a Gringotts vault, while Amosta warned that war would begin after the Triwizard Tournament. As the preparations for the third task continued, Hermione woke at dawn to find the tournament final had begun.

• Amosta proposed using Dirk Creswell’s connection to Slughorn to speak with the professor, and Dumbledore agreed as long as Amosta did not use magic to probe his mind.
• Amosta told Dumbledore he had another way to investigate Gringotts vaults and warned that the war would begin when the competition ended.
• An old man in a distant castle woke, studied a photograph of a girl in his pocket watch, and revealed a flash of silver in his eyes before going back to bed.
• Harry, Hermione, and Ron found the Forbidden Forest cordoned off and fled from a painful warning sound that affected people near the boundary.
• Hogwarts prepared spectator stands and broadcasting equipment for the third task, and Hermione woke at dawn as the tournament final began.

Voldemort sent Lucius Malfoy and the other Death Eaters to begin their attack while Lucius and Broderick Bode infiltrated the Ministry of Magic's Department of Mysteries. They opened a hidden doorway, and Lucius prepared to summon the others inside.

• Voldemort rallied his Death Eaters at Malfoy Manor and ordered them to bring him good news.
• Lucius arrived at the Ministry, where Bode had arranged to be alone on duty, and stunned a sleeping young wizard.
• Lucius and Bode descended to the Department of Mysteries and entered its circular room of black doors.
• Bode used a pattern of stars to reveal a glowing doorway and warned Lucius that Portkeys would not work beyond it.
• Lucius rolled up his sleeve and pressed the Dark Mark on his arm to summon the Death Eaters.

Lucius led the Death Eaters through a concealed Portkey to Azkaban, where Bode revealed their destination. As hundreds of Dementors descended on them, the frightened Death Eaters demanded that Bode produce the object that could restrain them.

• Lucius led the hooded Death Eaters through the Department of Mysteries and gathered them around the Hogwarts School Emblem Portkey.
• Bode told the group to touch the Portkey together, and they arrived in a room that appeared to be the one they had left.
• Bode opened a hidden doorway and led the Death Eaters out onto the surface of Azkaban.
• Lucius and the others saw the prison tower, the bones scattered outside, and hundreds of approaching Dementors.
• Bocks fled down the stairs, other Death Eaters panicked, and Nott demanded that Bode reveal the object meant to restrain the Dementors.