Chapter Summaries

Harry and his friends followed Ilune’s mark to the Ministry of Magic, believing Malfoy had brought Vitia Criona’s wand to the Dark Lord, who was holding Sirius below. They reached the Department of Mysteries without finding the Dark Lord, then came face to face with Malfoy alone in a display room.

• Ilune sensed Malfoy beneath the Ministry, and Harry concluded he was likely delivering Vitia Criona’s wand to the Dark Lord.
• Harry led the group through the telephone box entrance and down to the Department of Mysteries.
• Neville went back upstairs to seek reinforcements while the others entered the circular room from Harry’s dream.
• Ilune sensed that only Malfoy was behind the next door, and Harry pushed into the display room despite Hermione’s warning.
• Malfoy turned toward Harry and the others, his face draining of color.

Harry and his friends searched the Ministry’s Hall of Prophecy for Sirius, only to find a prophecy orb labeled with Harry and Voldemort’s names. When Harry touched it, Death Eaters appeared and demanded to know how the group had arrived, while one of them was shocked to see Draco.

• Harry and his friends reached Row Ninety-Seven but found no sign of Sirius.
• Ron spotted a prophecy orb labeled with Harry and Voldemort’s names, and Ilune identified the room as the Ministry’s Hall of Prophecy.
• Draco realized Harry’s group had come searching for Sirius and warned them that their arrival was a conspiracy.
• Harry touched the prophecy orb despite Draco’s warning.
• Death Eaters appeared around Harry and his friends, and one of them angrily asked how Draco had gotten there.

Harry and his friends faced Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix, and the Death Eaters in the Hall of Prophecy as Draco revealed how Voldemort had sent him to steal the Vine Staff. The chapter ended with Harry challenging Lucius to explain how Voldemort knew he would come to the Hall that night.

• Draco admitted that Voldemort had ordered him to steal the Vine Staff and threatened to kill Lucius if he failed.
• Lucius learned that Draco had stolen the staff from Breen’s office using Sirius’s dagger and Felix Felicis, then ordered Draco not to hand it over without Voldemort’s command.
• Hermione replaced Harry’s Prophecy Orb, and Harry’s friends revealed that they each held an orb, leaving Bellatrix unable to tell which one was real.
• Bellatrix summoned the orb from Harry, but Harry taunted the Death Eaters by revealing Voldemort’s real name and Muggle parentage.
• Lucius stopped the Death Eaters from attacking because they needed the orb, and Harry demanded to know how Voldemort had predicted his arrival.

Harry and his companions tried to escape the Death Eaters after learning Voldemort had discovered a link between Harry’s scar and their connection. Ilune’s scream shattered the Prophecy Orbs and wounded everyone, while Harry and Luna fled into a room containing a tank of Tremorslime as Lucius organized a search.

• Lucius explained that Voldemort had used Harry’s actions during the Battle of Diagon Alley to infer his attachment to Sirius and had begun suspecting a deeper connection through Harry’s scar.
• Harry questioned Lucius about the prophecy, and Ilune warned the others to cover their ears before unleashing a scream that shattered the glass spheres and injured those nearby.
• Harry mounted his broom, grabbed Luna, and flew through a doorway while the Death Eaters ordered one another to catch the fugitives and recover the real Prophecy Orb.
• Luna blasted open the next door with a silver musical note, then repaired and locked it after Harry landed in a room with a tank of Tremorslime.
• Lucius ordered the Death Eaters to search the rooms in groups and told Draco to come with him.

Harry and Luna were cornered by four Death Eaters in a Department of Mysteries room and used the room’s tanks and chandeliers to fight back. The chapter ended after their coordinated attacks left two Death Eaters sprawled in the wreckage, with their condition unclear.

• Harry and Luna tried to escape through the far door, but Death Eaters broke into the room and attacked them.
• Mulciber ignored Malfoy’s orders and fired killing curses at Harry and Luna, who took cover among the smaller tanks.
• Luna shielded them while Harry cut down the chandeliers, crushing Gibbon, and Luna shattered the enormous tank to unleash its flooding liquid.
• Harry mounted the Firebolt and disarmed Rowle, while the flood left Mulciber and Selwyn struggling to stand.
• Harry and Luna attacked the remaining Death Eaters with coordinated spells, leaving Mulciber and Selwyn on the turbulent floor, their condition unknown.

Harry and Luna joined Ron and Ilune in the Planet Room, where they fought the Death Eaters guarding the prophecy spheres. The battle became a war of attrition until Hermione and Ginny burst into the room, escaping purple flames.

• Harry and Luna left the room where they had defeated Selwyn and Mulciber, and slipped into the Planet Room under a Disillusionment Charm.
• Harry and Luna helped Ron and Ilune ambush the Death Eaters, bringing the fight to an even four against four.
• Harry, Ron, and Luna fought the Death Eaters with Ilune’s support, using the moving planets for cover as both sides began to tire.
• Hermione and Ginny burst through an exploding door and dodged the purple flames surging after them.

Harry and his friends escaped the Death Eaters’ pincer in the planetary room and flew into a chamber containing a mysterious stone archway. Lucius pursued them and offered to let them go if Harry handed over the Prophecy Orb, but Harry refused.

• Hermione, Ginny, and Ilune rejoined Harry and Ron, and Ilune sensed Fred and George beyond the Death Eaters as well as Mr. Weasley and Neville’s parents nearby.
• Harry planned to split up and reach Neville’s group, then used drifting planets to create a distraction while his friends flew over the Death Eaters.
• Hermione smashed a crystal ball to mislead the Death Eaters, and Harry blasted apart the room’s dim central sun, blinding everyone and bringing several attackers down.
• Harry and Hermione escaped into a vast chamber with an old stone archway, where Harry heard a voice behind its hanging veil and started toward it before Hermione stopped him.
• Lucius followed them and offered to let Harry and his friends go if Harry surrendered the Prophecy Orb, but Harry refused.

Harry and Hermione negotiated with Lucius Malfoy to trade a fake Prophecy Orb for the Death Eaters’ departure, with Draco left behind as a hostage. Harry handed over the orb, but Lickwood then blasted the ceiling and brought the room down.

• Lucius offered to leave Draco behind as a hostage if Harry and Hermione gave him the Prophecy Orb, and Hermione agreed to make the exchange outside after the Death Eaters stopped attacking their friends.
• Harry and Hermione emerged into the circular chamber, where Arthur Weasley and the others were fighting Bellatrix and the Death Eaters.
• Harry explained the proposed trade, and Arthur ordered Frank and Alice Longbottom to stop pursuing Bellatrix so the injured young wizards could be protected.
• Lucius shoved Draco toward Ron, and Harry tossed the Prophecy Orb to Lucius.
• Lickwood raised his wand and blasted the damaged ceiling, causing the room to collapse.

Harry and the others regrouped with Kingsley’s Aurors after the Death Eaters’ attack, but Voldemort arrived and took control of the Ministry hall. As Voldemort prepared to return the Vine Staff to Vitia, golden Fiendfyre bound her and reached Draco, while the staff unleashed a burst of crimson stars.

• Harry, Draco, and the others climbed from the damaged underground passage and joined Kingsley, Scrimgeour, and the Aurors, who had nearly defeated Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix, and the remaining Death Eaters.
• Voldemort appeared in a tornado of black snowflakes, subdued the Aurors with his presence, and berated his Death Eaters for nearly being defeated by young wizards.
• Voldemort dismissed the shattered Prophecy Orb Lucius presented and announced that he had retrieved the Vine Staff for Vitia.
• Vitia arrived with Sirius’s body and reported that Vogel and his men had been wiped out, then Voldemort offered her the Vine Staff.
• Golden Fiendfyre erupted from the scepter, bound Vitia, and reached Draco as the air distorted and Voldemort screamed.
• Crimson stars burst from the staff in Vitia’s hand despite the Fiendfyre chains.

Vitia's crimson domain trapped Voldemort, but his magic began to break free as Sirius revealed he was alive and tried to attack him. Just as Fiendfyre engulfed Voldemort, the Twin Serpent Wand appeared and erased both the domain and the flames, leaving an aged hand reaching to seize it.

• Vitia vanished with Draco as her crimson stars trapped Voldemort inside a silent, glowing domain.
• Voldemort battered the domain with black foul wind, opening a hole in its defenses.
• Sirius sprang up alive, cast the Killing Curse at Voldemort, and then urged Harry and the others to escape.
• Voldemort's magic destabilized the domain as Fiendfyre erupted around him, leaving the hall collapsing and the onlookers fearing for their lives.
• The Twin Serpent Wand appeared and released gray mist that extinguished the crimson stars and Fiendfyre.
• An aged hand reached from the flames and grasped toward the Twin Serpent Wand.

Dumbledore confronted Voldemort in the shattered Ministry hall, but the Twin Serpent Wand killed Dumbledore’s left hand and then fell silent. As Dumbledore moved to subdue Voldemort, Voldemort suddenly turned his attention to Harry.

• Fawkes carried Dumbledore into the hall, where he reached for the Twin Serpent Wand.
• The wand shattered the gray mist and hurled Dumbledore backward, leaving his left hand withered and dead.
• Dumbledore identified the wand as the Twin Serpent Wand and warned Voldemort to abandon it, but Voldemort claimed it had chosen him.
• Voldemort tried to use the wand again, but it ignored him and its serpent eyes dimmed.
• Dumbledore incapacitated the remaining conscious Death Eaters and advanced on Voldemort, who suddenly shouted and fixed his gaze on Harry.

Harry resisted Voldemort’s attempt to possess him at the Ministry, and Dumbledore said Voldemort’s forces had been undone as the captured Death Eaters were brought back to Hogwarts. The group arrived in Dumbledore’s office and found five professors pointing their wands at Vitia Criona.

• Voldemort possessed Harry and used his body to threaten Dumbledore, but Harry fought back and regained control.
• Sirius and Harry’s friends rushed to Harry, and Dumbledore reassured him that he had defeated Voldemort’s attempt to control him.
• Harry urged Dumbledore to deal with the remaining Death Eaters, and Scrimgeour and Kingsley went to retrieve those in the Department of Mysteries.
• Dumbledore arranged for the captured Death Eaters to be taken to Hogwarts, where Amosta would send them to Avalon Prison.
• Dumbledore used a Portkey to bring Harry, Sirius, the Weasleys, the Longbottoms, and others to his office, where McGonagall, Sprout, Flitwick, Snape, and Slughorn had their wands pointed at Vitia Criona.

Harry and the others returned to Hogwarts after a fierce battle, where they learned Kreacher had died saving Sirius and Dumbledore had been gravely injured by the Twin Serpent Wand. Amosta gathered the survivors and captured Death Eaters in the Headmaster’s office, then asked Sirius to explain what had happened.

• McGonagall confronted Harry and the others, while Slughorn explained that Dumbledore had summoned the staff to the Headmaster’s office.
• Harry and the others discovered Kreacher’s body on a table, and Sirius told them the House-elf had died saving him.
• Dumbledore arrived with Kingsley, the Aurors, and captured Death Eaters, including Lucius Malfoy, whose son Draco silently watched him.
• Fawkes brought Amosta to the office, where Dumbledore revealed that touching the Twin Serpent Wand had withered his hand and that they had failed to obtain the wand.
• Amosta ordered the Death Eaters held in his office, summoned Fromid to meet Vitia, and asked Madam Pomfrey to examine the students.
• Madam Pomfrey urged the injured students to rest, and Amosta asked Sirius to explain his side of the night’s events.

Sirius recounted the deadly battle in Paris, while Fromid reunited with Vitia and Amosta said the Wizengamot would judge her for helping Voldemort return. Harry then described the Ministry battle, and Amosta sent the exhausted group to the Hospital Wing before asking Draco to speak with him.

• Sirius told the gathered wizards that the battle in Paris had caused extensive damage and Muggle casualties, and that Mad-Eye and Amelia had stayed behind to help.
• Fromid reunited with Vitia and thanked Amosta for protecting their people and bringing her back from Voldemort.
• Amosta said Vitia’s fate belonged to the Wizengamot, and Harry recounted the events leading to the Ministry battle and Voldemort’s arrival.
• Dumbledore explained that Voldemort had controlled Harry and that Harry had broken free through his own strength.
• Madam Pomfrey insisted that Harry, Ron, and Sirius needed medical care, and Amosta sent the group to the Hospital Wing before calling Draco aside.

Draco asked Professor Breen why he had allowed Draco to steal his wand, and Breen admitted he had used him to reach Cliodna. Breen then explained that Draco’s father had pushed him toward Harry to keep him from following Voldemort into a life as a Death Eater, leaving Draco to seek the truth from his father.

• Draco asked Professor Breen whether he would be sent to Avalon Prison, and Breen said he would tell the Ministry Draco had acted on his orders.
• Draco accused Breen of using him to carry the wand to Cliodna, and Breen admitted he had let Draco take it to draw Cliodna away from Voldemort.
• Breen apologized for using Draco and recalled how he had rejected Draco and the other Slytherins when they had offered him their loyalty.
• Draco grieved that his father had used him as a bargaining chip for the Prophecy Orb, but Breen told him his father loved him and wanted to keep him from repeating his mistakes.
• Breen explained that Draco’s father had sent him toward Harry so Draco could return to Hogwarts instead of becoming a Death Eater, then urged Draco to speak with his father.

After the Death Eaters were captured, Amosta arranged for Draco to speak privately with Lucius and isolated Bellatrix in an abandoned classroom. He freed Bellatrix from her binding and offered her a chance to work for him.

• Bellatrix threatened Amosta and the Ministry, while Kingsley agreed to escort the captured Death Eaters to Avalon at dawn.
• Amosta let Draco speak alone with Lucius and reassured Kingsley that the conflict would soon be over.
• Bellatrix urged Draco to kill Amosta, and Lucius angrily rebuked her for endangering his son.
• Amosta floated Bellatrix to an abandoned classroom and released her from the Full Body-Bind Curse.
• Amosta asked Bellatrix whether she would be interested in working for him.

Amosta offered Bellatrix a chance to return to Voldemort by pretending she had resisted his torture, hoping she would report on Voldemort’s condition and obtain his wand. Bellatrix accepted while secretly planning to turn the offer to her advantage, and Amosta left her to escape Hogwarts later.

• Amosta asked Bellatrix to work for him as a spy, and she refused to betray Voldemort.
• Amosta told Bellatrix that Voldemort’s forces had suffered a near-total defeat and offered to let her return with a fabricated story of torture and escape.
• Bellatrix agreed to report on Voldemort’s injuries and promised to steal his wand, while intending to tell Voldemort about Amosta’s approach.
• Amosta placed protective magic on Bellatrix, gave her a potion she planned not to drink, and said she could leave Hogwarts later through a secret passage.

After the victory over Voldemort’s forces, Amosta spoke privately with Vitia about helping protect Hogwarts, and she agreed to take part. The chapter ended with Amosta leaving the ward to find Sirius gripping Severus by the collar.

• Amosta reassured the students that the captured Death Eaters had caused no trouble and that Bellatrix was locked in a classroom.
• Ron raised a rumor about Amosta and Vitia, prompting Hermione to defend Amosta and Alice and Frank to reflect on what the rumor could mean for him.
• Amosta asked to speak with Vitia alone, and Fromid and Severus left the ward.
• Amosta told Vitia that Fromid had agreed to help protect Hogwarts and that her greater magical skill could strengthen the protection.
• Vitia agreed to help and called it atonement, while Amosta said he would seek her temporary detention at Hogwarts through the Wizengamot.
• Amosta left the ward and found Sirius clutching Severus by the collar in grief and anger.

Sirius blamed Severus for the Potters’ deaths after learning Severus had revealed part of the prophecy to Voldemort, but Amosta offered hope that the dead could help settle the past. The argument was interrupted when Hagrid reported that Bellatrix had escaped, leaving the Longbottoms alert and the group facing a new crisis.

• Sirius seized Severus by the collar and accused him of causing James and Lily’s deaths, while Harry said Severus deserved blame.
• Amosta offered to let them hear what James and Lily thought, and Dumbledore reluctantly accepted that the dead might need to say farewell.
• Severus asked Amosta if he could contact the dead, and Amosta promised he could do so once the necessary conditions were met.
• Hagrid burst into the Hospital Wing and reported that Bellatrix had escaped after appearing at the Shrieking Shack and Apparating away.

After Bellatrix escaped, Amosta promised Sirius that he could bring back the real James and Lily, then met with Dumbledore and Slughorn in the Headmaster’s office. As Dumbledore’s damaged hand revealed his failing health, Amosta understood that the old Headmaster was nearing death and might soon leave him in charge of Hogwarts.

• Frank rushed to pursue Bellatrix, but Dumbledore said she had likely returned to Voldemort, and Hermione and Sirius wondered how she had learned of the secret passage.
• Amosta told Sirius that he meant he could restore the real James and Lily, not merely show their images through Priori Incantatem, and promised he would not deceive him.
• Madam Pomfrey ordered everyone to sleep or leave, while Dumbledore invited Slughorn to talk with him and Amosta in the Headmaster’s office.
• Dumbledore offered Slughorn and Amosta drinks as the three sat together, and Slughorn recognized that Dumbledore’s damaged hand was probably beyond healing.
• Dumbledore joked that Amosta should consider how to decorate the office when he moved in, and Amosta realized Dumbledore’s life was nearing its end.