Chapter Summaries

On the first day of term, Harry and Ron discovered Hermione’s recruitment drive for the Intelligent Magical Creature Rights Protection Association and learned that Angelina had become Gryffindor Quidditch captain. After a sleepy History of Magic lesson, Harry headed to Professor Slughorn’s Potions class with unusual anticipation.

• Harry woke from a troubling dream but chose not to tell others how important it seemed to him.
• Harry and Ron found Hermione’s notice recruiting members for the Intelligent Magical Creature Rights Protection Association, and saw students crowding around her at breakfast.
• Angelina told Harry and Ron she was Gryffindor Quidditch captain and announced Keeper trials for Sunday.
• Harry, Ron, and Neville endured Professor Binns’ History of Magic lesson, with Ron and Neville playing Hangman while Hermione paid attention.
• Several Ravenclaw first-years asked Hermione to join the association, and she registered them despite Ron’s doubts about their motives.
• Harry urged Ron to hurry to Professor Slughorn’s Potions class.

Harry attended Professor Slughorn’s first Potions lesson, where Hermione identified several potions and earned Gryffindor points and a chance to win Felix Felicis. Meanwhile, Amosta built a cabin in the Forbidden Forest for Fromid, who asked him to save Miss Cliodna.

• Harry arrived at Potions with Ron and Hermione, and Slughorn seated him beside the demonstration cauldrons.
• Parvati asked about the cauldrons, and Slughorn offered Felix Felicis as a prize for brewing a satisfactory Calming Draught.
• Hermione identified Veritaserum, Amortentia, and Felix Felicis, earning twenty points for Gryffindor and the chance to win the potion.
• Harry began brewing the Calming Draught as Malfoy and the other students competed for the prize.
• Amosta built a two-story oak cabin in the Forbidden Forest while Fromid watched.
• Fromid asked Amosta to find a way to save Miss Cliodna.

Amosta confronted Fromid about Vitia’s crimes and the Druids’ proposed cooperation with wizardkind, while weighing the danger and mystery of the Twin Serpent Wand. He agreed to try to help, then brought Fromid into Hogwarts to meet his colleagues as the Triwizard year began.

• Amosta showed Fromid the cabin he had built and recounted how Vitia’s actions had led to deaths, Moody’s imprisonment, and Voldemort’s return.
• Fromid pleaded for Vitia to be allowed to atone and insisted the Twin Serpent Wand would never submit to Voldemort, but Amosta remained suspicious of its connection to a deeper conspiracy.
• Amosta abruptly told Fromid he would try, then led him from the Forbidden Forest toward Hogwarts.
• Amosta noticed Hermione, Ron, and Harry gathered around a small golden bottle at the Gryffindor table and reflected that this was the year.
• Amosta told Fromid to meet his colleagues and warned him to be especially careful around the smiling white-bearded man.

Harry suspected that Malfoy was hiding something on his left arm and asked Ginny to test him, while Professor Lahansen began a Divination lesson in the Forbidden Forest. After the students left, Amosta examined the Vine Staff and used magic on it.

• Harry noticed Malfoy shake off Pansy when she tried to hold his left arm and suspected Malfoy was hiding something there.
• Harry asked Hermione and Ginny to help investigate, and Ginny agreed to touch Malfoy's arm.
• Professor Lahansen arrived and announced that Divination class would take place in the Forbidden Forest.
• Amosta watched Lahansen lead the students into the forest, then opened the forbidden-item cabinet and took out the Vine Staff.
• Amosta enveloped the Vine Staff in a pale blue glow, which faded after about ten seconds.

Harry and Ginny provoked Malfoy to see how he would react, then Harry joined Professor Lahansen’s class in the Forbidden Forest. Lahansen explained that his Divination course taught ancient arts orally and divided students into apprentice and advanced courses, with advanced study reserved for those with natural talent.

• Ginny brushed Malfoy's elbow and confronted him when he insulted her, prompting Harry, Ron, Fred, George, and other students to gather around.
• Harry suspected Malfoy's reaction revealed something, but Hermione warned him to wait until they could talk privately.
• Professor Lahansen led the students into the Forbidden Forest to a newly built wooden house surrounded by saplings.
• Hermione asked how students would study without textbooks, and Professor Lahansen said he would teach the material orally.
• Professor Lahansen explained that everyone began with apprentice courses, while only naturally talented students could advance.

Professor Lahansen explained that his Divination class taught an ancient tradition that could strengthen students, then began their first exercise: calming their minds and magic. The lesson left Harry distracted by his thoughts while Crabbe and Goyle fell asleep.

• Professor Lahansen said Professor Breen had invited him to teach the course and argued that even partial progress could increase students’ strength.
• Professor Lahansen explained that oak saplings had active souls and thoughts, and that students would eventually learn to sense them by treating all life equally.
• Professor Lahansen distributed cushions and instructed the students to empty their minds and settle the magic within their bodies.
• Harry struggled to clear his thoughts and became distracted by worries, Voldemort, and Ginny.
• Crabbe and Goyle fell asleep during the exercise, and Professor Lahansen pointed them out to the class.

Harry attended Professor Lahansen’s lesson on meditation and learned how a tranquil mind could improve perception and magical growth, though reaching stillness proved difficult. After class, he, Hermione, and Ron went to investigate the strange noises and smoke coming from Hagrid’s Hut.

• Professor Lahansen explained that meditation could help students notice changes around them and might let them consciously influence their magical growth.
• Hermione asked why wizards had abandoned meditation, and Professor Lahansen said seeking its benefits could itself prevent a tranquil mind.
• Professor Lahansen described an advanced practice of listening to living things, while remaining vague about the special power it could grant.
• After class, Harry noticed smoke still rising from Hagrid’s Hut and hurried there with Hermione and Ron.
• Hagrid told them to leave, then shouted at someone named Dom not to open the door and warned that a creature might eat him.

Harry suspected Draco Malfoy had joined the Death Eaters and was acting as Voldemort’s spy at Hogwarts, but Hermione cautioned him not to trust dreams as evidence. After following Malfoy from the Great Hall, Harry found the first-floor corridor empty and wondered if it concealed a passage like the one in his dreams.

• Hermione and Ron argued over what Hagrid might be keeping locked in his hut, and Harry warned Ron not to provoke Hermione during their first week of homework.
• Harry told Ron and Hermione he suspected Malfoy bore the Dark Mark and had been sent by Voldemort to find a way through a magical barrier at Hogwarts.
• Hermione reminded Harry that Professor Breen had warned him not to rely too heavily on his dreams for information about Voldemort.
• Harry saw Malfoy leave the Slytherin table without his schoolbag and decided he was sneaking off to do something underhanded.
• Harry put on his Invisibility Cloak and followed Malfoy to the first-floor corridor, but found no sign of him and began searching for a hidden passage.

Harry failed to discover Malfoy’s plans, while a deadly Death Eater attack on a London bridge showed that Voldemort’s followers were still spreading terror despite their defeat at Diagon Alley. Amosta said the Ministry could not prevent every atrocity, but could offer limited prevention and swift aid.

• Harry watched Malfoy for two days but saw nothing suspicious, while Hermione urged him to focus on his O.W.L.s.
• Harry and Ron noticed a fifth table in the Great Hall, prepared for the academic exchange delegation’s arrival.
• Hermione showed Harry a Daily Prophet report that said a bridge in London had collapsed, killing 276 Muggles, including 40 students on a school bus.
• Harry and Ron blamed the Death Eaters for the attack, and the tragedy dispelled hopes that Voldemort’s power had been broken.
• Professor McGonagall asked Amosta and Albus how the Death Eaters’ attacks on Muggles could be stopped, and Amosta said total prevention was impossible but limited prevention and swift aid were achievable.

Amosta considered how Monitoring Mirrors might help protect Muggles and sent the Ministry his warnings and suggestions. He then began his N.E.W.T.s physical education course by announcing that students would study spell structures and create their own magic.

• Amosta explained that covering London with Monitoring Mirrors would cost too much, though he suggested placing some at important locations and around Hogwarts.
• Amosta sent an owl carrying his warnings and proposals about protecting Muggles.
• Amosta greeted the N.E.W.T.s physical education students and discussed Professor Lahansen's Divination class with them.
• Amosta handed out his unpublished book, “Analysis of Common Spell Structures,” and said the students had already gained strong defensive skills.
• Amosta told the students to analyse the spells they knew and invent their own magic, warning that he would not let them graduate easily if their innovations failed to satisfy him.

Hogwarts students and staff awaited the exchange delegation, nervous about welcoming giants to the castle. Hagrid arrived with Grawp, whose immense strength and fear of the crowd left Harry, Ron, and Hermione alarmed.

• Hermione overheard two Slytherin first-years objecting to dining with giants and chased them back to their common room.
• Ron admitted that giants’ destructive power worried him, and Hermione argued that Professor Breen would keep them under control.
• Amosta reassured Professor McGonagall and the other staff that the delegation’s arrival would remain within controllable limits.
• Hagrid arrived from the edge of the Forbidden Forest with Grawp, who resisted walking toward the castle.
• Amosta welcomed Grawp as a guest, and Hagrid said Grawp understood what being a guest meant.
• Hermione explained that giants could magically make themselves smaller, while Harry and Ron reacted with horror.

Hagrid brought his giant brother Grawp to Hogwarts, where Harry and Hermione welcomed him despite the students’ fear. Amosta and Dumbledore then received Fromid’s group of children and a Centaur foal as exchange guests.

• Hagrid introduced Grawp to Amosta and Dumbledore, while Grawp reluctantly promised not to hit anyone.
• Harry greeted Grawp, and Hermione followed, helping Grawp recognize them as friends.
• Pansy criticized the guests, while Amosta explained to Dumbledore that Horn had agreed to the exchange and that the Centaurs could not simply enjoy Hogwarts’ protection without taking a position.
• Fromid arrived with children from his people, including Loya, and Dumbledore and Amosta welcomed them.
• Magri brought a Centaur foal named Poppy to Hogwarts as the Centaurs’ exchange guest.

Poppy, Bana, and the other guests arrived at Hogwarts for the exchange, bringing gifts and drawing the students’ attention. Amosta welcomed two children from the final carriage, and the chapter ended as he summoned three house-elves to lead everyone to dinner.

• Magri left Hogwarts after entrusting Poppy to Hagrid, who promised to take her back for visits.
• Bana arrived with the Goblin delegation and gave Hogwarts students enchanted quills and the professors copies of a Goblin history book.
• Amosta opened the final carriage and found a boy and a girl waiting inside until sunset.
• The girl stepped out after the sun set, and the students reacted to her striking appearance as Ron called her a Veela.
• Amosta summoned Kreacher, Dom, and Dobby and invited everyone to eat.

Hogwarts welcomed the exchange group with a feast, and Amosta Breen assigned Hermione Granger to oversee the guests. He showed them their new forest-like quarters and left Hermione in charge while he went to the Ministry to discuss a Monitoring Mirror workshop.

• Professor Breen welcomed the exchange guests at the feast, where students watched the Goblins, Lahansen's children, Poppy, Grawp, the House-elves, and two young newcomers.
• Professor Breen asked Hermione to stay behind and help take the guests to their lodgings; Ron asked her to find out whether the girl was a Veela, and Harry asked her to give Dobby and Kreacher his regards.
• Filch delivered a letter from the Ministry of Magic, which Amosta read before leading Hermione and the guests to a magically expanded forest on the third floor.
• Amosta assigned cottages to the children, Poppy, and the Goblins, prepared a banyan-tree hollow for Grawp, and ordered the House-elves to rest unless Hermione needed help.
• Amosta gave Hermione the bronze key and told her to ensure the guests returned to the forest after lights-out, then invited old Bana to accompany him to the Ministry to discuss a Monitoring Mirror workshop.

Hermione welcomed the exchange students and arranged solutions for their individual needs, while Hagrid explained that Grawp mainly needed friends. A newly arrived vampire girl demanded dragon blood and, after hearing about Bloody Lollipops, set off for Hogsmeade despite the school being closed.

• Hagrid told Hermione that Grawp had eaten well and fallen asleep, and Hermione demanded to know how Hagrid had acquired a younger brother.
• Hermione met the exchange students, explained that the goblins could use their wands only during Sunday meetings, and agreed to help with their other requests.
• Hagrid offered to escort the students back from the Forbidden Forest, Hermione arranged Astronomy Tower access for Poppy, and she reassured Burnell about a safe place to stay.
• Hagrid asked the exchange students to befriend Grawp, and Loya volunteered to help him feel less alone.
• A hungry vampire girl said she only drank dragon blood, then decided to go to Hogsmeade for Bloody Lollipops after Hagrid mentioned them.

Hermione, Harry, and Ron took Ilune Gangro to Honeydukes after she insisted she was hungry and needed blood-flavored sweets. They ran into Ambrose Flume, whose past testimony against Harry resurfaced, and Ron jokingly introduced Ilune as a Vampire hired to kill him.

• Ilune Gangro threatened Hermione and Hagrid before admitting she was hungry and asking for help finding food.
• Hermione brought Ilune, Harry, and Ron through the secret passage to Honeydukes in the middle of the night.
• Ron found Blood Lollipops in the cellar, and Hermione offered to pay for them.
• Ambrose Flume discovered the group in his cellar and explained that Aurors had pressured him to testify against Harry.
• Ilune admired Honeydukes' sweets, and Ron told Flume that the group had hired her to take his life.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione bought sweets in Hogsmeade with Ilune, then struggled to return to Hogwarts without exposing the Honeydukes passage. They reached the castle under concealment, where a sudden explosion interrupted their attempt to sneak inside.

• Ilune filled the air with sweets at Honeydukes, and Hermione paid for them after Flume offered a discount.
• Harry, Ron, and Hermione realized they could not return through the cellar passage without revealing it to Flume, so they left with Ilune and the crates.
• The group trudged through the Shrieking Shack passage to the Whomping Willow, where Ilune revealed she could Apparate them back to Honeydukes but not into Hogwarts.
• Harry and Ron hid beneath the Invisibility Cloak while Hermione concealed herself and the crates with a Disillusionment Charm; Ilune entered the castle without hiding.
• As the group hurried up the stairs, a sudden explosion shattered the night’s silence.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione rushed toward an explosion on the third floor and found that someone had tried to break into Professor Breen’s Student Safety Office. Professor McGonagall and Snape arrived, and Snape suggested the suspicious intruders were already standing before them.

• Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ilune heard an explosion on the third floor, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione ran upstairs to investigate.
• Harry found a shattered stone doorway, bloodstains, and the locked entrance to Professor Breen’s Student Safety Office.
• Ilune joined them, and Professor McGonagall and Snape arrived at the damaged office.
• Ilune claimed she had taken Harry, Ron, and Hermione out to find food, and Hermione confirmed her story to Professor McGonagall.
• Professor McGonagall checked the office door and concluded that someone had tried to enter while Professor Breen was away but had failed.
• Snape implied that Harry and the others were suspicious, while Harry held back from arguing with him.

After someone tried to break into Amosta's office, Dumbledore ordered a search of Hogwarts while Harry and Hermione suspected Malfoy might be involved. Harry planned to ask Sirius to investigate Borgin, but he ended the night brooding over his feelings for another girl and his friendship with Ron.

• Dumbledore examined the failed attempt to open Amosta's office and ordered McGonagall to wake the staff and search Hogwarts with Filch's help.
• Harry accused Malfoy of targeting Professor Breen's office, but Hermione pointed out that the break-in did not match the door from Harry's dream and that they lacked evidence.
• Hermione suggested asking Sirius to investigate Borgin and Burkes, and Harry decided to write to him about Malfoy's purchase.
• Ron stayed behind with Hermione to talk, while Harry went to the dormitory and began a letter to Sirius.
• Harry abandoned the letter as he thought about the girl who attracted him and his sense that Ron had surpassed him in love.

Death Eaters led by Adam Vogel breached Oxta prison and freed their imprisoned allies, but the German Ministry of Magic trapped them inside and a battle tore through the mountain prison. Jasna became separated from her father amid the destruction, while Amosta and Amelia received a stern letter of censure from Germany.

• Bellatrix used Fiendfyre to kill Oxta’s adult Scorpion-tailed Beast and slaughter thousands of its young.
• When the German Ministry of Magic reactivated the prison’s protections, Adam Vogel declared that the Death Eaters would fight Minister Adenauer’s forces rather than surrender.
• Bellatrix charged the German forces, and Adam and Jasna joined the battle despite Greengrass urging them to escape.
• The Death Eaters and German officials fought through Oxta’s narrow corridors, wrecking the prison and becoming scattered as the mountain collapsed around them.
• Jasna searched for an escape route in the collapsing prison after losing track of her father.
• Amosta and Amelia read a stern letter of censure from the German Ministry of Magic.