Chapter Summaries

Grindelwald mistook Tom’s frightened restraint for courage and offered to help him, while Li Weide kept his dealings with Grindelwald discreet. As the Sorting Ceremony continued, Li Weide focused on recruiting promising students, especially Alastor Moody.

• Grindelwald realized Li Weide wanted their conversations kept secret from Dumbledore and was pleased that Li Weide might still join his side.
• Grindelwald praised Tom for supposedly attempting to die alongside him with a Poison Gas Bomb, though Tom knew it had been a Sleeping Potion Bomb.
• Tom calmly accepted Grindelwald’s apology, and Grindelwald took his response as further proof of Tom’s bravery before offering to help him with studies or personal troubles.
• Tom sought Li Weide’s help while Grindelwald kept talking to him, but Li Weide watched Filius Flitwick get sorted into Ravenclaw and considered how to attract more Ravenclaw students to his club.
• Alastor Moody was called to the Sorting Hat, and Li Weide decided the future Auror would be worth recruiting.

After Grindelwald unsettled the Slytherin students at the feast, Li Weide explained that he had deliberately left Tom to face him so Tom could overcome his fear. As the students returned to their common room, Li Weide asked Tom to help pass messages to Grindelwald in the future, and Tom accepted.

• Dumbledore and Professor Slughorn worried about Grindelwald influencing the students, but Dumbledore said he trusted Li Weide and took Slughorn aside to tell him something.
• Grindelwald praised the Mutual Aid Society students before leaving the Great Hall with Professor McGonagall, while Tom slumped in his chair, pale and sweaty.
• Li Weide confirmed that Tom had once faced Grindelwald with a Poison Gas Bomb, and the students praised Tom for his courage.
• Li Weide admitted he had intentionally left Tom alone with Grindelwald to help him confront his fear, then asked Tom to serve as their messenger to Grindelwald.
• Li Weide gave Tom pies and pumpkin juice, and Tom agreed to help recruit people the next day.

After Annie’s troubles were settled, Tom recruited her to take over the Mutual Aid Society’s tedious daily management, freeing himself to study. Grindelwald learned that Li Weide had handed Annie the society’s authority and mistakenly concluded that Li Weide was secretly supporting his cause.

• Annie told Tom and Li Weide that Dumbledore had reassured her about her problem, and Li Weide told Tom to recruit people for the society after class.
• Tom asked whether Li Weide wanted a female secretary, then persuaded Annie to take over his paperwork and society duties before rushing off to recruit more students.
• Li Weide happily made Annie responsible for the society, but after reading Tom’s stack of daily tasks, she realized how tedious the job was and considered asking Li Weide for help.
• Grindelwald visited Annie and asked how she had gained authority over the society; Annie explained that Tom had simply handed the work to her.
• Grindelwald interpreted Li Weide’s decision to put Annie in charge as secret support for his cause.

Annie reported Grindelwald’s offer to Li Weide, while Tom accused Li Weide of secretly engineering the situation. A week later, Grindelwald began his investigation by sitting in on Dumbledore’s Defense Against the Dark Arts class, where he mocked the lesson and challenged Dumbledore’s teaching.

• Annie told Li Weide everything Grindelwald had said and asked whether to report it to Dumbledore, but Li Weide told her to wait for his instructions.
• Tom accused Li Weide of plotting to make Grindelwald believe the Mutual Aid Society was working for him, and Li Weide denied it.
• After a week without making a move, Grindelwald announced he would observe Hogwarts classes as part of his investigation.
• Dumbledore taught the second-years about Kappas while Grindelwald sat on the platform and laughed at the suggested method of making one bow.
• Grindelwald criticized Dumbledore for relying on the textbook, and Dumbledore told him to wait until the full lesson was over before judging it.

Tom watched Dumbledore and Grindelwald face off, while Li Weide reassured him that they would not fight and encouraged him to trust his future strength. After Dumbledore’s lesson, Grindelwald proposed reforming Defense Against the Dark Arts by funding practical lessons with real Dark Creatures, leaving Dumbledore wary of the plan.

• Tom feared that Dumbledore and Grindelwald would fight, but Li Weide told him Grindelwald would not challenge Dumbledore and urged him to think rationally.
• Li Weide praised Tom’s talent and predicted that he would grow powerful, briefly inspiring Tom before Dumbledore and Grindelwald’s gaze made him nervous again.
• Dumbledore resumed teaching and delivered an engaging lesson on handling dangerous creatures, then assigned an essay about dealing with Kappa.
• After class, Grindelwald apologized for criticizing Dumbledore’s lesson and suggested that Defense Against the Dark Arts needed more practical experience with real Dark Creatures.
• Grindelwald proposed securing funding and hiring specialists to maintain Dark Creatures for classroom practice, while Dumbledore objected that the plan was dangerous and short on staff.

Dumbledore and Dippet discussed Grindelwald’s growing influence at Hogwarts, and Dumbledore decided to ask Li Weide to help counter it through his Mutual Aid Society. Li Weide agreed with apparent resolve, while Tom realized Li Weide intended to use the opportunity to indoctrinate the members with his own ideas and gain both Dumbledore’s and Grindelwald’s support.

• Dumbledore told Dippet that Grindelwald planned to keep creatures in the Forbidden Forest, but Dippet argued they should observe him rather than reject his actions outright.
• Grindelwald attended classes, met students, and advised graduating students about Ministry jobs, gradually earning their trust.
• After hearing students praise Grindelwald in mid-October, Li Weide told Tom that the time had come and took him to see Dumbledore.
• Li Weide warned Dumbledore that Grindelwald was winning students’ trust so he could later indoctrinate them, and Dumbledore admitted the school had been watching him.
• Dumbledore revealed that he wanted Li Weide to use the Mutual Aid Society to resist Grindelwald’s influence, but regretted putting Li Weide in danger and tried to withdraw the request.
• Li Weide insisted he would act regardless, while Tom realized Li Weide planned to indoctrinate the society’s members with his own ideas and use both Dumbledore and Grindelwald.

Li Weide sent Tom to deliver a message to Grindelwald, and Tom chose to face his fear and go to Grindelwald's office. Back in his dormitory, Li Weide found a note and blueprints describing an improved converter that produced purer magic at a much lower yield.

• After leaving Dumbledore's office, Li Weide told Tom he wanted him to speak with Grindelwald because Grindelwald admired him.
• Tom feared Grindelwald might use Legilimency, but Li Weide argued Grindelwald would not risk provoking Dumbledore by harming a Hogwarts student.
• Li Weide offered to send Annie instead, then told Tom his earlier pressure had been meant to help him develop, leaving Tom's pride wounded.
• Tom decided he could not give the mission to Annie and headed for Grindelwald's office.
• Li Weide returned to his dormitory and found a note explaining that an improved converter removed emotional side effects but produced far less pure magic and operated more slowly.

Li Weide absorbed the converter’s pure magical residue and received an improved creature-control collar blueprint and directions to Slytherin’s Study. Meanwhile, Tom delivered Li Weide’s proposal to Grindelwald and returned having overcome his fear, while Li Weide revealed that the visit had been a test of Tom’s resolve.

• Li Weide absorbed the converter’s pure magical power, chose it over the old residue, and received a blueprint for an improved collar along with a route to Slytherin’s Study.
• Li Weide considered using the collar to tame more creatures and bringing Tom along to explore Slytherin’s Study in search of information about the Maledictus.
• Tom told Grindelwald that Li Weide proposed an Ideological and Moral Education Class at Hogwarts, and Grindelwald saw a chance to influence students without appearing to challenge Dumbledore directly.
• Tom returned to the dormitory proud that he had faced Grindelwald, then told Li Weide about their conversation using the Whispering Charm.
• Li Weide told Tom that Grindelwald’s belief in the plan did not matter and that sending Tom had been a test of his courage, which Tom had passed.

Li Weide persuaded Tom to join him on a midnight trip, claiming they were seeking information about Maledictuses in the Restricted Section, but instead led him to a hidden Slytherin passage. Tom opened the entrance with Parselmouth, and Li Weide hurried inside ahead of him, leaving Tom worried about losing his ancestor’s inheritance.

• Li Weide rejected becoming a professor, and Tom said he planned to set aside studying the Dark Arts for a few years.
• Li Weide decided to explore Hogwarts’s Restricted Section for information about Maledictuses and persuaded Tom to come along.
• Li Weide used a spell to put Tom to sleep, then woke him for their midnight expedition.
• Li Weide secretly led Tom toward Slytherin’s Secret Study and asked him to speak Parselmouth to a snake-patterned wall.
• Tom opened the hidden passage with Parselmouth, and Li Weide rushed inside while Tom pleaded for a share of any inheritance.

Li Weide and Tom entered Slytherin’s hidden passage, where Li Weide promised to safeguard the legacy Tom hoped to inherit. As they explored the maze, they found a note from Nokuto Gaunt questioning her family’s beliefs, and Tom reacted angrily to its hope that the truth could change pure-blood attitudes.

• The passage door vanished behind Tom and Li Weide, and Li Weide reassured Tom that Slytherin had likely not trapped his own descendants.
• Li Weide used Nightmare Magic to scout ahead, declined to teach it to Tom, and argued that he should safeguard any Dark Arts-related legacy while Tom avoided studying Dark Arts.
• Tom accused Li Weide of intending to keep Slytherin’s legacy for himself, but accepted that he was powerless to challenge him and continued through the passage.
• Li Weide and Tom passed opened doors and gates without encountering traps, then found a parchment left by Nokuto Gaunt.
• Tom dismissed Nokuto’s hope that Slytherin’s true beliefs could correct her family’s pure-blood ideology, and Li Weide recognized that Tom was thinking of Morfin Gaunt.

Li Weide and Tom explored a maze of magically protected iron gates and uncovered clues left by a Gaunt descendant. After Tom nearly got bitten by a stone snake, Li Weide solved the gate puzzle, and the pair continued onward with Tom embarrassed by his mistake.

• Li Weide and Tom found a locked iron gate and followed traces of magic down a side passage to a snake-shaped stone carving.
• Tom turned the carving's dials without checking for a trap, and Li Weide yanked him clear as the stone snake lunged and bit the floor.
• Li Weide recognized the symbols carved on the gate and aligned the dials with them, opening the iron gate.
• Li Weide and Tom continued through the maze and found the Gaunt descendant's second letter, which described getting lost until she lit a brazier.
• They found the third letter, which revealed that the Gaunt had also nearly been bitten by the stone snake, though Li Weide teased Tom for not noticing the clue on the gate.

Li Weide forced Tom to face two enchanted Knight Statues alone, and Tom defeated them by fighting like Dumbledore and using Transfiguration. After Tom accidentally attacked Li Weide, Li Weide let him off for now, leaving Tom worried about a future reckoning.

• Li Weide pushed Tom into battle against two Knight Statues and prevented him from flying away as they attacked.
• Tom struggled to survive the statues’ enhanced weapons and called to Li Weide for help.
• Tom used Transfiguration to turn lanterns and rubble into vines that bound the statues, then blasted their heads apart.
• Tom realized he had cast a Blasting Curse at Li Weide, who returned his wand and said he would not hold the sneak attack against him for now.
• Tom celebrated his victory, then grew anxious when he understood Li Weide might settle the score later.

After defeating two Combat Puppets, Li Weide and Tom discovered that their cores contained the souls of living Muggle knights, suggesting Slytherin had used them for Dark Arts. They searched the wreckage for valuable intact cores and turned toward the weapons and the inheritance ahead.

• Li Weide examined a damaged Combat Puppet core and found that its precious alchemical materials contained a fading soul.
• Tom searched the rubble and found an intact core, but Li Weide explained that its soul had dissipated and revealed that Slytherin had ripped souls from living Muggle knights to make the puppets.
• Tom accepted that Slytherin had practiced the Dark Arts and joked that Li Weide was no better, prompting Li Weide to deny being a bad person.
• Li Weide tried and failed to lift a Two-Handed Greatsword, then shrank it with Transfiguration and carried it, leaving Tom astonished that the magic worked on a weapon that deflected spells.

Li Weide and Tom reached the final stages of Slytherin’s trial, discovering that its last door required the Cruciatus Curse to be cast on someone. Tom endured Li Weide’s curse to open it, then questioned whether he ever wanted to use Dark Arts again.

• Li Weide mishandled a shrunken greatsword, nearly striking Tom, and later restored Tom’s hair after Tom struggled to think clearly.
• Tom opened the corridor door with Parseltongue, and he and Li Weide found Nokuto Gaunt’s skeleton and a letter explaining that the next door required an Unforgivable Curse.
• Li Weide offered to let Tom cast the Cruciatus Curse on him, but Tom insisted that Li Weide use the curse on him instead.
• Li Weide cast Crucio on Tom without counting to three, drawing red lightning from Tom that opened the black door.
• After recovering from the curse, Tom asked Li Weide whether he would believe that Tom never wanted to use Dark Arts again.

Tom rejected Slytherin’s legacy after reconsidering the use of Dark Arts and the value of Dumbledore’s example, while Li Weide explained the purpose of Slytherin’s trials. In the study, they discovered Slytherin had planned to release a dangerous creature to kill Hogwarts students he considered unworthy, and Li Weide stayed behind to examine the manuscripts.

• Tom told Li Weide he felt disgusted by Slytherin’s legacy and would give it up, saying he had begun to appreciate Dumbledore’s approach and the magic of love.
• Li Weide urged Tom to study Dark Arts for protection, and Tom noticed his magic had grown stronger as his state of mind changed.
• Tom gathered Nokuto Gaunt’s skeleton and five letters into a bag before entering Slytherin’s Study, where Li Weide explained that the trials were intended to temper descendants who entered in pairs.
• Li Weide gave Tom a page from Slytherin’s manuscript, which revealed Slytherin had planned for a descendant to awaken a creature and purge Hogwarts of students he deemed unworthy.
• Tom feared the creature might still be hidden in Hogwarts, but Li Weide said he would tell Dumbledore about it after examining the manuscripts and asked Tom for an hour to search for information about Maledictuses.

Tom and Li Weide searched Slytherin’s study for a way to help Nagini, uncovering clues about a Blood Moon Curse and a dangerous ancient tomb in Eastern Europe. They planned to tell Dumbledore some of what they found, while Li Weide also considered creating a new body for Nagini if the curse could not be lifted.

• Tom found Slytherin’s notes on the Blood Moon Curse, which could inflict a hereditary bloodline curse, and showed them to Li Weide.
• Li Weide and Tom suspected the curse might be related to Nagini’s Maledictus condition but decided not to risk exploring the tomb themselves or send Dumbledore without caution.
• Tom suggested tricking Grindelwald into exploring the tomb, but Li Weide said Grindelwald was too wary to be used as a pawn.
• Li Weide and Tom found Slytherin’s travel journal revealing that the tomb was in Eastern Europe and that all Four Founders had helped free Slytherin from its curse, though his handsome appearance was permanently lost.
• Li Weide decided to share some clues with Dumbledore and showed Tom research on rebuilding a body as a possible last resort for Nagini.

Li Weide and Tom escaped Slytherin’s Study with Nokuto Gaunt’s bones and reported their discoveries to Dumbledore, who planned to take them to Headmaster Dippet. Grindelwald overheard them and demanded to know what they were hiding, prompting Dumbledore to confront him.

• Li Weide and Tom left Slytherin’s Study with Nokuto Gaunt’s bones and found the hidden exit to the Slytherin Common Room.
• Li Weide and Tom went to Dumbledore, who questioned them about the trial, Slytherin’s legacy, and the dangerous creature they had discovered.
• Dumbledore decided to take Li Weide and Tom to Headmaster Dippet to report the discovery and discuss their punishment.
• Grindelwald overheard Dumbledore say he hoped to keep the matter from him and challenged him for information.
• Tom claimed they had merely been caught wandering the corridors, and Li Weide blamed Grindelwald’s influence for Dumbledore’s suspicions.
• Dumbledore confronted Grindelwald, accusing him of potentially influencing the students and saying he planned to keep them away from him.

Li Weide and Tom told Headmaster Dippet about Slytherin’s trial and the creature hidden in Hogwarts, prompting the headmasters to plan a search while keeping the matter from Grindelwald. Afterward, Li Weide and Tom buried Nokuto Gaunt in the Forbidden Forest, leaving her a headstone.

• Dumbledore reassured Tom that Grindelwald could not take Slytherin’s legacy while the school’s rules held, and stopped Li Weide from using Fiendfyre to keep warm.
• Li Weide and Tom told Headmaster Dippet about Slytherin’s trial, study, and the creature that was meant to purge Hogwarts; Dippet and Dumbledore agreed to keep Grindelwald from learning about it and investigate.
• Headmaster Dippet opened Slytherin’s Study without the Cruciatus Curse, and Li Weide collected the four Knight Puppet cores after the trial.
• Back in the dormitory, Tom learned Li Weide could have undone the door’s magic and accused him of letting Tom suffer the Cruciatus Curse; Li Weide gave him the scroll about Gubraithian Fire.
• With Dippet’s permission, Li Weide and Tom buried Nokuto Gaunt in the Forbidden Forest and carved an epitaph calling her the most innocent and kindest Gaunt in the world.

Li Weide completed an alchemical converter and sought a Dementor from Grindelwald to test it. Grindelwald agreed only after Li Weide promised to prove he could control the creature, while repeatedly warning him not to attempt the Patronus Charm.

• Dumbledore and Headmaster Dippet kept Slytherin's Study secret while Grindelwald failed to become a guidance professor and helped establish an Ideological and Moral Education Class taught by Slughorn.
• Li Weide continued studying alchemy with Dumbledore's guidance and used a manuscript from Dumbledore's old friend to improve his knowledge.
• On Christmas Eve, Li Weide completed the converter and decided he needed intense emotions to test it.
• Li Weide visited Grindelwald under a Disillusionment Charm and asked him for a living Dementor for an experiment.
• Grindelwald warned Li Weide not to try learning the Patronus Charm, then agreed to provide a Dementor if Li Weide could prove he could control it.

Li Weide visited the Mutual Aid Society, welcomed Filius Flitwick, and shared his dream of fighting oppression throughout the Wizarding World. After Flitwick offered advice on protecting Alphard, Li Weide dueled him and encouraged him to keep training.

• Li Weide left Grindelwald’s office without intending to honor Tom Riddle’s promise, while Grindelwald secretly wrote to Annie to keep watch on him.
• Li Weide visited the society and met Filius Flitwick after Flitwick defeated a second-year member in a duel.
• Li Weide told Flitwick he hoped to extend the Mutual Aid Society’s work beyond Hogwarts and create a fairer world, winning Flitwick’s enthusiastic support.
• Tom told Li Weide that Alphard’s family had sent him money and encouragement after misunderstanding his ties to Grindelwald, while Walburga had been humiliated by a Howler from the Black family head.
• Flitwick suggested getting Professor Slughorn to arrange legal help for Alphard in case the family’s misunderstanding ended, and Li Weide praised his advice.
• Li Weide dueled Flitwick, demonstrated varied attacks, and left him hanging upside down from the ceiling while promising to help him develop his dueling skills.