Chapter Summaries

Andy dueled his grandfather Norman, quickly knocking him down and injuring his back. After helping Norman recover at home, Andy learned that Helen would give him a real combat lesson once she finished brewing her potion.

• Norman challenged Andy to a wizard duel in a rectangle he drew on the ground.
• Andy hit Norman with a summoned wooden pile and a Petrificus Totalus, leaving him stiff on the ground with a hurt back.
• Andy called for Helen, who helped carry Norman into the house and applied Dittany to his back.
• Helen questioned Andy about the duel and offered to train him in real combat after she finished brewing her potion.
• Helen explained that her generation had trained harder because the Mysterious Man's forces were rampant when they were in school.

Andy asked Helen to test his magic, and she showed how much stronger and more experienced an adult wizard was in a duel. After explaining the value of surprise and practical combat, Helen told Andy to focus on his foundations and use the Killing Curse if he ever faced an enemy.

• Andy followed Helen outside to test his casting ability, but Helen immediately caught him with Levicorpus.
• Helen told Andy that Snape had invented Levicorpus while he was still at school.
• Andy attacked Helen with several spells, but she easily blocked them and dodged his Wood Pile Summoning.
• Helen ended the practice and demonstrated how misdirection could leave Andy vulnerable to Levicorpus.
• Helen explained that combat experience mattered alongside casting technique and advised Andy to keep practicing normally, using the Killing Curse against an enemy.

Andy practiced magic after Helen refused to teach him the Killing Curse, then celebrated Christmas with his family and opened gifts. He received an ugly sweater from a girl and met his enthusiastic Aunt as he joined Helen and Veronica in the kitchen.

• Andy reflected on the Collins family's history of underhanded behavior and asked Helen to teach him the Killing Curse, but she refused.
• Andy continued practicing magic and considered how little combat training he had received.
• Andy sent Christmas gifts to his friends and professors, including a collection of Wizarding World legends for Hermione and shampoo for Professor Snape.
• Isabel helped Andy open his gifts, pocketed his candy, and excitedly teased him about receiving a sweater from a girl.
• Andy and Isabel left the bedroom and found Helen and Veronica preparing breakfast with magic.
• Andy greeted his Aunt, who hugged him enthusiastically and teased him for sleeping in.

Andy learned from his Aunt Aisha that Minister Fudge had taken Lucius Malfoy’s money and led Aurors to Hogwarts after Draco Malfoy woke from a Dark Arts attack. The investigation found nothing, and Andy wondered why Quirrell had used official channels to look into the Fourth Floor Corridor.

• Aisha teased Andy about having a girlfriend, and Andy traded a day with Isabel for news from her.
• Aisha told Andy that Draco Malfoy had been attacked by Dark Arts and that Lucius had paid the Ministry to investigate.
• Kyle said Fudge had accepted money from pure-blood families and suggested that Fudge and Dumbledore would eventually fall out.
• Aisha revealed that Fudge had wanted Aurors to investigate Hogwarts, but Dumbledore refused him.
• Aisha said Fudge later led Aurors to Hogwarts after Draco woke and mentioned Dumbledore’s warning to Andy about the Fourth Floor Corridor, but they found nothing.
• Andy wondered whether Quirrell had used the investigation to provoke Dumbledore or make him move the Philosopher’s Stone.

Andy reconsidered Voldemort’s plan for the Philosopher’s Stone and worried that he had made Voldemort’s return to Hogwarts inevitable. After training with Helen over Christmas, Andy returned to school more prepared for danger, but Snape fixed him with a hostile look in the Great Hall.

• Andy concluded that Voldemort might be using his threat to force Dumbledore to bring him back to Hogwarts and worried that he had underestimated him.
• Andy spent Christmas learning practical combat techniques from Helen, including dodging spells, aiming at targets, and timing his attacks.
• On the Hogwarts Express, Hermione told Andy that Malfoy had spent nearly two months recovering from his injuries, and Andy asked whether Malfoy had changed.
• Andy kept his suspicions about Quirrell’s possible return from Hermione because he feared she might expose herself to danger.
• At Hogwarts, Andy noticed Snape staring at him as though he wanted to deduct points, despite Andy having given him a Christmas gift.

After Christmas, Snape harshly deducted points during Potions and confronted Andy about the greeting card he had sent. Snape feared Andy knew about his humiliation involving Helen, and Andy left after implying he would keep the secret.

• Harry thanked Andy for the photographs and asked him to take him to Godric’s Hollow someday to pay his respects to his parents.
• Snape deducted points from Andy, Hermione, and other students during two Potions Classes, then ordered Andy to stay behind.
• Snape asked Andy what he knew about “that matter,” and Andy initially answered that Quirrell seemed suspicious.
• Snape showed Andy the Christmas greeting card and asked what it meant, while recalling that Helen had witnessed his past humiliation involving Levicorpus.
• Andy said he would keep Snape’s secret and offered to introduce Snape to his aunt, prompting Snape to order him out and warn him not to tell anyone.

After Snape warned Andy that Quirrell might retaliate, Andy and Hermione kept the danger quiet and checked on Malfoy. Andy then asked Hermione how an outsider could enter Hogwarts, and she suggested asking Dumbledore.

• Andy left Snape's classroom and speculated about Snape's past, while recognizing that Snape had only warned him not to reveal a secret.
• Hermione worried about Andy, and Andy told her that Snape believed Quirrell might retaliate because of Malfoy's attack.
• Andy and Hermione agreed not to discuss Quirrell in the Great Hall, where Andy reassured his roommates that Snape had not summoned them.
• During History of Magic, Andy and Hermione observed that Malfoy seemed to have recovered and was boasting about being attacked.
• Andy asked Hermione how an outsider could enter Hogwarts without using Polyjuice Potion or an enchanted box, and Hermione said she would apply to Dumbledore.

Andy and Hermione considered ways Quirrell could sneak back into Hogwarts, while Harry and Ron told Andy that Snape was trying to steal the Philosopher’s Stone. Andy suspected Dumbledore had planted clues to lure Harry—and possibly Andy—into confronting Quirrell.

• Andy and Hermione listed several ways Quirrell might infiltrate Hogwarts, including secret passages, the Forbidden Forest, Animagus transformation, and a magically expanded bag.
• After class, Hermione hurried to the library to search for a way to protect Andy from Quirrell’s revenge.
• Harry and Ron asked Andy about Nicolas Flamel, and Andy explained that Flamel had created the Philosopher’s Stone and was centuries old.
• Harry and Ron told Andy that they believed the Stone was at Hogwarts and that Snape planned to steal it, citing Snape’s visit to the Fourth Floor Corridor and Hagrid’s slip about Flamel.
• Andy reasoned that Dumbledore had deliberately arranged for Harry to discover the clues and wondered whether Dumbledore was also maneuvering him into joining Harry against Quirrell.

Andy persuaded Harry and Ron to tell Dumbledore about the Philosopher’s Stone and wrote a letter urging him to remove it from Hogwarts. He also strengthened Harry and Ron’s suspicion that Snape had attacked Malfoy, then waited to see how Dumbledore would respond.

• Andy agreed that Harry and Ron should write to Dumbledore about the Philosopher’s Stone and their suspicions about Snape.
• Andy wrote Dumbledore a letter blaming the Stone’s presence at Hogwarts for endangering students and proposed returning it to Nicolas Flamel, hiding it, launching it into space, or destroying it.
• Andy suggested that Snape might have attacked Malfoy in the Potions classroom because Malfoy had witnessed something, and warned Harry, Ron, and himself they might be targeted next.
• Harry and Ron finished their letters, and the three boys sent them to Dumbledore from the Owl Shed.

Andy suspected Dumbledore had subtly maneuvered him into helping Harry and decided to keep his distance by going to the library. Meanwhile, Dumbledore and Snape discussed Voldemort’s return and the danger around Hogwarts, until letters from Harry, Ron, and Andy left Dumbledore uneasy.

• Andy reasoned that Dumbledore had exploited his caution to draw him into the fight against Quirrell and Voldemort, then invited Harry and Ron to the library so he could separate from them.
• Snape told Dumbledore that he had searched Malfoy’s belongings and found no sign that Quirrell had used him to return to Hogwarts.
• Dumbledore explained that Voldemort would hide more carefully after his previous failure but would take revenge if he failed again.
• Snape challenged Dumbledore for sending Hagrid to investigate the unsettled Forbidden Forest, while Dumbledore privately weighed the dangers of his choices and the prophecy.
• Owls delivered letters from Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Andy Collins, and Dumbledore suddenly felt uneasy.

Dumbledore read letters from Andy and Ron accusing him and Snape of putting Hogwarts students at risk by keeping the Philosopher’s Stone at the school. He decided to speak with Andy, while Snape wondered why Dumbledore paid the first-year so much attention.

• Dumbledore read the letters and realized Andy had disrupted his plans again by involving Harry and Ron in the matter of the Philosopher’s Stone.
• Snape read Andy’s and Ron’s letters, mocked Dumbledore, and grew angry at Ron’s accusations against him.
• Dumbledore acknowledged that keeping the Stone at Hogwarts had endangered the students, though he believed stopping Voldemort justified the risk.
• Snape asked why Dumbledore cared so much about Andy, and Dumbledore said they needed to have a proper talk with him.

Snape questioned Dumbledore’s attention to Andy, and Dumbledore said Andy might reach the heights of Voldemort and himself because of his unique understanding of magic. Four days later, Dumbledore caught Andy in the Restricted Section, where Andy asked about emotions merging with magic and whether Hogwarts was cursed to keep people single.

• Snape asked why Dumbledore paid special attention to Andy, and Dumbledore said Andy had exceptional potential.
• Andy returned to the Restricted Section at night and began reading a book on human transfiguration.
• Dumbledore caught Andy and advised him to wait until third year before studying human transfiguration.
• Andy asked Dumbledore whether positive emotions could merge with magical power, and Dumbledore said it might be possible but was very difficult.
• Andy asked whether the Defense Against the Dark Arts position was cursed, and Dumbledore linked the curse to his refusal to hire Voldemort.
• Andy asked whether Hogwarts also had a curse that kept people single.

Andy questioned Dumbledore about Hogwarts professors’ unhappy romantic lives and the curse on Defense Against the Dark Arts, then pressed him about the Philosopher’s Stone and Voldemort. Dumbledore confirmed Voldemort was still alive and recognized Andy’s formidable ambition, hoping he would avoid being corrupted by the Dark Arts.

• Andy pointed out to Dumbledore that Hogwarts professors were either single or widowed and asked whether the school was cursed.
• Dumbledore denied a general Hogwarts curse, admitted he did not know how Voldemort had cursed Defense Against the Dark Arts, and speculated that bloodline magic might be involved.
• Andy questioned why Dumbledore had brought the Philosopher’s Stone to Hogwarts and whether he expected Harry to act, then asked whether Quirrell was special.
• Dumbledore confirmed that Voldemort had survived the attack ten years earlier, and Andy quickly accepted the revelation.
• Andy declared that he had never thought himself inferior to Voldemort, and Dumbledore recognized his hidden ambition while cautioning against the Dark Arts.

Andy decided to focus on studying magic rather than getting involved in the Philosopher’s Stone affair, then practiced Transfiguration until he missed dinner. Hermione brought him food and shared a legend about someone reading every book in Ravenclaw in a single night.

• Andy resolved to concentrate on magic and leave the danger surrounding Quirrell and Voldemort to the professors and Harry.
• Andy finished his homework, planned to improve his Transfiguration talent, and invited Hermione to practice with him.
• Andy met Hagrid outside the library and wondered what he had been researching there, but chose not to investigate.
• Andy practiced Transfiguration alone in an abandoned classroom until Hermione arrived with dinner.
• Hermione showed Andy a book claiming that someone had once read every book in Ravenclaw in a single night.

Andy and Hermione investigated the Ravenclaw library after reading claims that Rowena Ravenclaw had left a secret there. Their visit brought them into conflict with the Grey Lady, who vanished after Andy speculated that Ravenclaw would have traded her wisdom to see her daughter again.

• Hermione showed Andy a book claiming the Hogwarts founders had left secrets behind, including Rowena Ravenclaw’s library and Slytherin’s Chamber of Secrets.
• Andy and Hermione agreed to search the Ravenclaw library that night, and Hermione dressed in disguise while Andy waited in pajamas.
• Andy tried a spell in the library, while Hermione argued that reading was the key to discovering Ravenclaw’s secret.
• The Grey Lady confronted Andy when he questioned Ravenclaw’s belief in wit and wisdom as the greatest treasure.
• Andy suggested that Ravenclaw would have traded her wisdom to see her daughter again, upsetting the Grey Lady, who left in distress.

Andy and Hermione investigated the secret Ravenclaw had hidden in her library and concluded it might concern the origin of magic. The Lady Grey confirmed Ravenclaw had researched that subject while alive.

• Andy and Hermione searched Ravenclaw's library and speculated that its time magic had been left to help future readers uncover a hidden secret.
• Andy theorized that the books might contain clues to an ancient legend, and Hermione suggested Ravenclaw had left a test requiring readers to separate truth from fiction.
• Andy copied every book title and studied the collection, noting that most books concerned the ancient Wizarding World.
• Andy guessed that Ravenclaw's greatest question had been the origin of magic, and the Lady Grey confirmed Ravenclaw had researched it.

Andy and Hermione questioned Lady Grey about Ravenclaw’s legacy, and she revealed that the Four Founders had searched for the origin of magic. Lady Grey left without revealing Ravenclaw’s secret, saying Ravenclaw valued knowledge and wisdom more.

• Lady Grey challenged Andy to say whether Ravenclaw would have sacrificed her wisdom for her daughter, and Andy answered that she would have, pointing out that Ravenclaw never recovered her lost diadem.
• Lady Grey revealed that all Four Founders had sought the origin of magic, and that Slytherin built the Chamber of Secrets for magical research and gatherings.
• Lady Grey explained that Slytherin’s opposition to teaching Muggle-born children stemmed from fears about a conflict between wizards and Muggles, and that later generations distorted his motives.
• Andy asked what the Founders had discovered, and Lady Grey said their search for the origin of magic had no possible result.
• Hermione asked whether Lady Grey knew Ravenclaw’s secret, but Lady Grey only said Ravenclaw valued knowledge and wisdom before disappearing.

Andy and Hermione discussed Ravenclaw’s hidden secrets, and Hermione revealed what she learned while reading in the library overnight. Her books pointed to Ancient Egypt as the birthplace of magical knowledge, leaving Andy interested in exploring it after they learned Ancient Runes.

• Andy returned to the dormitory thinking about the secrets the Four Founders had left at Hogwarts.
• Hermione claimed she had read every book in Ravenclaw’s library overnight, then admitted she had made up the story to prank Andy.
• Hermione explained that she had actually read six or seven books and stayed up past ten in the morning.
• Over lunch, Hermione told Andy that one book described Ancient Egypt as the birthplace of magical knowledge and linked magic to the god Heka.
• Andy said they would need to learn Ancient Runes before they could explore Ancient Egypt and understand its records.

Andy settled back into peaceful Hogwarts routines after raising his Transfiguration talent, while Harry and Ron grew convinced they needed to protect the Philosopher's Stone. Their questioning of Hagrid led them to hear that something unusual was happening in the Forbidden Forest.

• Andy raised his Transfiguration talent to Level 5, and Professor McGonagall gave him notes on Biological Transformation to study.
• Harry and Ron received Dumbledore's reply confirming that someone was trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone, but that it was not Snape.
• Harry decided that the thief would need to learn how to get past Fluffy, so he took Ron to question Hagrid.
• Hagrid insisted that the Stone was safe and that no one could get past Fluffy, but he mentioned that the Forbidden Forest had been acting strangely.
• Harry and Ron exchanged glances, believing Hagrid's remark might reveal a clue.

Harry and Ron learned from Hagrid that a dangerous creature had entered the Forbidden Forest and concluded that the person after the Philosopher's Stone was hiding there. They planned to sneak into the forest using Harry's Invisibility Cloak, while Andy stayed out of it and Hermione warned him to avoid their troublemaking.

• Hagrid warned Harry and Ron that a dangerous creature had slipped into the Forbidden Forest, and they decided the Stone's would-be thief was hiding there.
• Harry and Ron asked Andy how to enter the Forbidden Forest unseen, and Andy demonstrated the Disillusionment Charm and pointed them toward books about it.
• Harry remembered his Invisibility Cloak, and he and Ron decided to use it for their nighttime expedition.
• Andy avoided telling Hermione about the plan and said Harry and Ron had only asked how to avoid Filch.
• Hermione warned Andy to spend less time with Harry and Ron because Hogwarts could expel them if they were caught sneaking out.