Chapter Summaries

Li Weide met Dumbledore and Aurelius at the Hog’s Head, where Dumbledore was charged an unusually high price for Sherry. Aberforth brought Li Weide experimental equipment and Toby, and Dumbledore agreed to let Toby assist in Li Weide’s laboratory.

• Dumbledore confirmed that he had let Tom visit Aurelius in Hogsmeade, and Aurelius thanked Li Weide for removing the Obscurus that had tormented him.
• Aurelius charged Dumbledore one Galleon for a glass of Sherry at his father’s instruction, and Dumbledore bought it after Li Weide and Tom laughed at his predicament.
• Aberforth arrived with Toby and Tom Cat, while Toby carried a box of supplies for Li Weide.
• Li Weide asked Dumbledore to let Toby stay in his laboratory as an assistant, and Dumbledore readily agreed.
• Aberforth told Li Weide that the box held the experimental equipment he had requested, while making clear that he still resented Dumbledore.

Li Weide hosted Dumbledore and Aurelius at Aberforth’s pub, then continued his work on magical creature experiments. Nagini left her teacher’s chamber with a new wand, while Li Weide began preparing to clone weaker snakes from Basilisk DNA.

• Li Weide agreed to stay for lunch with Aberforth, Dumbledore, and Aurelius, while Toby watched the shop with Tom Cat.
• Li Weide told Aurelius that Nagini was traveling and studying magic with a powerful wizard, though Aurelius remained saddened by her distance.
• Nagini mastered the Weather Charm, received a Goblin-made wand from her teacher, and chose to leave for a while, agreeing to capture wicked Dark Wizards for her teacher.
• Li Weide and Toby set up a Culture Dish in Slytherin's Study as Tom watched, and Li Weide explained that he planned to clone weaker snakes using preserved Basilisk DNA.

Newt inspected Grindelwald’s checkpoints for Dumbledore and found that six of the seven failed because incompatible Dark Creatures and Magical Animals were housed together. He refused to make the corrections, leaving Grindelwald to reorganize the creatures before seeking another inspection.

• Grindelwald finished preparing seven checkpoints in the Forbidden Forest, and Newt arrived at Dumbledore’s request to inspect them.
• Li Weide tested Basilisk flesh and blood, then asked Tom to use Parseltongue to summon female snakes, preferably vipers.
• Newt told Grindelwald that six checkpoints had failed, explaining that incompatible creatures were affecting one another and becoming more dangerous to students.
• Grindelwald sent Wizarding Supremacists to verify Newt’s findings, and they returned confirming the creatures’ problems.
• Newt said Grindelwald would need to separate compatible creatures himself and refused to make adjustments, leaving to return for another inspection once the work was done.

Grindelwald ordered his followers to correct the unsafe creature checkpoints, while Dumbledore and Newt discussed using the trials to guide students and help them prepare. That night, Li Weide and Tom entered the Forbidden Forest to summon snakes, but they spotted Grindelwald leading a group with floating crates.

• Grindelwald ordered his followers to find a Magical Zoologist, dismantle the checkpoints, return the creatures to their cages, and feed them properly.
• Newt told Dumbledore that Grindelwald’s checkpoints had safety hazards, and Dumbledore explained that he was letting Grindelwald proceed while buying students time to prepare.
• Newt offered to write a guide to the creatures’ weaknesses, and Dumbledore agreed that the students would need it.
• Li Weide, Tom, and Tom Cat sneaked into the Forbidden Forest to summon snakes, avoiding Grindelwald’s patrols and the area Dumbledore could see on the Marauder’s Map.
• Tom prepared to summon the snakes, but Li Weide stopped him when Grindelwald and a group of cloaked followers approached with floating crates.

Li Weide and Tom watched Grindelwald use Dark Creatures to summon his Parallel World counterpart, hoping to seize the Elder Wand. Li Weide intervened at the last moment, took the wand, and stopped the vortex, leaving Grindelwald furious.

• Li Weide and Tom hid in the Forbidden Forest as Grindelwald gathered crates filled with Dark Creatures and arranged his Wizarding Supremacists in a battle formation.
• Li Weide realized Grindelwald was trying to summon and defeat his Parallel World self to reclaim the Elder Wand, while Tom considered leaving.
• A fierce battle erupted between Grindelwald and his counterpart, and the summoned Grindelwald gained the upper hand before Grindelwald’s hidden trap injured him.
• The injured counterpart began to fade, but he defended himself until Li Weide fired a spell that shattered his Shield Charm and sent the Elder Wand flying to him.
• Li Weide caught the Elder Wand and scattered the crates, making the vortex disappear as Grindelwald angrily recognized his interference.

Li Weide seized the Elder Wand from Grindelwald and negotiated a contract to design the Hogwarts trials in exchange for access to Dark Creatures. He then explained to Tom that Grindelwald’s educational reforms aimed to strengthen wizards and gradually turn them against Muggles, while insisting Grindelwald would not succeed.

• Li Weide revealed himself after taking the Elder Wand, and Grindelwald gave up trying to reclaim it rather than risk a prolonged fight or exposure to Dumbledore.
• Li Weide revived the injured Wizarding Supremacists and argued that his intervention had made obtaining the wand possible.
• Grindelwald offered Li Weide access to Dark Creatures and help finding places to raise them in exchange for designing the trials, and they signed a Magical Contract giving Li Weide control over their contents.
• Li Weide told Tom he would explain the night’s events to Dumbledore, reasoning that Dumbledore would prefer him rather than Grindelwald to design the trials.
• Li Weide explained that Grindelwald wanted to use education to make wizards stronger and foster their belief in wizarding rule over Muggles, potentially threatening the Statute of Secrecy and leading to war.

Li Weide told Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall how he had interfered with Grindelwald’s dangerous attempt to summon another version of himself, showing them the Elder Wand he had seized and the contract he had made. Dumbledore agreed to bring Professor McGonagall into the secret plans, then wondered whether Grindelwald had gone sane after Li Weide took over designing the trial stages.

• Tom gathered vipers in the Forbidden Forest while Tom Cat helped him pack them into the Snake Skin Bag.
• Li Weide accidentally walked through Nearly Headless Nick while invisible and felt the ghost’s bone-chilling cold.
• Li Weide knocked on Dumbledore’s office door while under a Disillusionment Charm, and Professor McGonagall recognized him and called him inside.
• Professor McGonagall challenged Dumbledore for keeping her out of the secret plans against Grindelwald, and Dumbledore agreed to include her.
• Li Weide showed Dumbledore a second Elder Wand and explained that he had taken it from another Grindelwald in the Forbidden Forest.
• Li Weide revealed that he had made a deal with Grindelwald and taken over designing the trial stages, leaving Dumbledore to question Grindelwald’s sanity.

Li Weide learned that Grindelwald had used the Wizard Compulsory Education Act to prevent families from withdrawing students before his dangerous Educational Reform trials. With the course design now in Li Weide’s hands, he planned to discuss safer course features with Grindelwald, while Dumbledore remained at his side; Li Weide also confirmed that the Elder Wand from his world had accepted him as its master.

• Li Weide told Dumbledore he could not lower the trials’ difficulty but could improve their rescue functions, and Dumbledore welcomed the change.
• Dumbledore revealed that Grindelwald had arranged for the Wizard Compulsory Education Act to pass before proposing Educational Reform, making it illegal for families to keep school-age students from Hogwarts.
• Li Weide realized that Grindelwald’s influence over the Ministry meant public outrage over student casualties might not stop the trials, and he persuaded Dumbledore not to take desperate action yet.
• Li Weide proposed weakening or replacing dangerous creatures in the courses, and he and Dumbledore agreed to discuss the changes with Grindelwald while Professor McGonagall listened.
• Dumbledore returned Li Weide’s Elder Wand, which had acknowledged him, and Li Weide sensed that Dumbledore’s separate Elder Wand rejected him.

After taking the Elder Wand from Grindelwald, Li Weide negotiated changes to the level design with Dumbledore, using both Elder Wands to pressure Grindelwald into agreeing. Grindelwald accepted the changes and Li Weide claimed the creatures he no longer needed.

• Li Weide recalled that Dark Creatures gathered together produced mottled Ancient Magic Power and planned to experiment on refining it using Grindelwald’s creatures.
• Professor McGonagall offered to help Li Weide, and he asked to be excused from Transfiguration homework; Dumbledore granted him a general homework exemption, which he gleefully announced to a sleepy Tom.
• Grindelwald told Abernathy that Vinda’s vacation would end and Abernathy could return to his old work.
• Li Weide and Dumbledore entered Grindelwald’s office to negotiate changes to the level design, and Dumbledore and Li Weide placed their Elder Wands on the desk to pressure him.
• Grindelwald agreed to remove creatures capable of inflicting fatal curses, improve rescue measures, and replace some vicious creatures with Battle Puppets.
• Li Weide said he would take the unused Magical Animals and Dark Creatures, and Grindelwald angrily ordered him and Dumbledore out of the office.

Li Weide studied a newly purchased Ancient Runes book while Nagini captured two Dark Wizards and sent them to an address provided by her teacher. Slytherin headed toward a mysterious tomb, and Tom discovered that Li Weide had created animated Paper Figurines that could eat fruit to replenish their magic.

• Li Weide secretly studied the Ancient Runes book Words with Magic, which gave him new ideas about Battle Puppets.
• Nagini defeated the Held Brothers, bound them with Red Collars, and sent them to an address on a slip of paper.
• Nagini burned the Dark Wizards' Wooden House and checked her parchment for her next target.
• Slytherin searched Northern Europe for traces of the Ancient Sage, then changed course toward a mysterious tomb.
• Tom entered Li Weide's laboratory and found groups of rune-covered Paper Figurines running around and cutting potion ingredients.
• Li Weide told Tom that the Paper Figurines could replenish their magic by eating fruit.

Li Weide revealed that his living paper puppets used a modified Devil’s Snare for movement and began exploring Gubraithian Fire as an inexhaustible energy source. He then prepared creatures and materials for trial missions while the Senior female student sent Dark Wizards abroad to search for locations that might help secure her freedom.

• Li Weide explained to Tom that a modified Devil’s Snare parasitized the paper figures, responding to Ancient Runes and feeding on fruit to power their movements.
• Li Weide showed Tom Gubraithian Fire and proposed testing it as an endless energy source for puppets and other applications.
• In the Forbidden Forest, Li Weide ordered Abernathy to sort the Dark Creatures, obtain materials for Battle Puppets, and arrange creatures for student trials.
• Li Weide entered a tent to extract experimental materials from discarded Dark Creatures.
• The Senior female student gave Dark Wizards enchanted watches and ordered them to search outside the United Kingdom for locations that triggered the devices, saying she needed to obtain her freedom quickly.

Grindelwald entered Li Weide’s hidden tent to inspect the challenge course and was drawn into a maze of apparent dangers. Li Weide revealed that the course had been an experimental illusion created by Lost Mist, and Grindelwald left in embarrassment.

• Grindelwald went to Li Weide’s tent in the Forbidden Forest and dismissed its thief-alarm lantern before entering.
• Grindelwald explored an apparently endless corridor, discovered living creatures controlling suits of armor, and froze them.
• Grindelwald faced attacking poisonous flowers and a fire dragon before the illusion suddenly vanished.
• Li Weide explained that Lost Mist used magic extracted from a Boggart to create challenges shaped by each person’s expectations.
• Grindelwald realized Li Weide had watched him tackle the illusion and turned to leave.

Li Weide completed the challenges he had prepared for Grindelwald and gave the documents to Dumbledore to review and negotiate over. After Li Weide left to return to his research, Grindelwald arrived at Dumbledore’s office and was confronted by the armor and Little Lantern.

• Li Weide considered the Lost Mist’s power and limitations, then sent Senior female student a message asking about her progress on the converter research.
• Li Weide returned to Hogwarts with the armor and Little Lantern, and Dumbledore welcomed him and assigned the armor to guard his office.
• Li Weide gave Dumbledore the challenge materials and explained that the Battle Puppets’ real guns fired harmless bullets filled with Pain Potion.
• Li Weide handed Dumbledore a private guidebook listing the weaknesses of the creatures and puppets, and Dumbledore agreed to handle negotiations with Grindelwald.
• Li Weide left for Slytherin's Study, while Dumbledore began reading his question about a Gubraithian Fire Energy Core.
• Grindelwald arrived at Dumbledore’s office, where Little Lantern called him a thief and ordered the armor to draw its sword before Dumbledore let him enter.

Li Weide’s Practical Exam plan drove students to train for new challenges, while Tom prepared to attempt the seventh-year trial. In the laboratory, Dumbledore visited with possible solutions to Li Weide’s Gubraithian Fire Energy Core problem from his friend Nicolas Flamel.

• Li Weide told Tom that he wanted him to take the seventh-year challenge trial, and Tom reluctantly agreed.
• A school notice announced an additional Practical Exam whose scores could improve grades, earn House points, and aid seventh-year students’ future prospects, prompting students to train harder.
• Li Weide guided the Mutual Aid Club’s growing training effort, while Grindelwald allowed him to use humanoid puppets as opponents.
• After exam week, Tom went to attempt the seventh-year trial as Li Weide returned to his laboratory and cared for the Basilisk Clone named Snik.
• Dumbledore visited Li Weide, confirmed that Snik’s gaze could not petrify him, and shared possible solutions to the Gubraithian Fire Energy Core problem from his friend Nicolas Flamel.

Li Weide read Nicolas Flamel’s advice on researching Gubraithian Fire and prepared to watch Tom’s challenge in the Forbidden Forest. Grindelwald mocked Li Weide for making his second-year friend face a seventh-year checkpoint, while Dumbledore took the remark as praise.

• Li Weide read Flamel’s notebook, which offered research suggestions about Gubraithian Fire, alchemy, and an address for corresponding with him.
• Dumbledore explained that Flamel welcomed letters from students, and Li Weide resolved to seek his advice.
• Li Weide and Dumbledore left Slytherin’s Study for the Forbidden Forest, where students gathered for the trials and healers treated those who had been eliminated or injured.
• Li Weide worried that Slytherin had not returned as agreed, but Dumbledore reassured him that the old wizard was capable of looking after himself.
• Grindelwald sarcastically called Tom fortunate to have Li Weide as a friend because Tom was about to face a seventh-year checkpoint, and Dumbledore sincerely agreed.

Tom entered the seventh-year trial course, where he overcame several traps and enemies before becoming locked in battle with an armored troll. As Li Weide and Grindelwald watched through a magical mirror, Li Weide identified a way Tom could exploit the troll’s armor, but Tom had not yet acted on the advice.

• A challenger failed the course after stepping on one of Li Weide’s Exploding Snails, and Li Weide told the Healer to treat him with Essence of Dittany.
• Tom drank Li Weide’s Potion of Acuteness and entered the trial course as Grindelwald discussed buying the potion for the Aurors.
• Li Weide enlarged a Two-way Mirror and used it to show Tom’s progress through the course.
• Tom destroyed five Knight Puppets, crossed the Exploding Snails on frozen ground, evaded Red Caps and Mutated Venomous Tentacula, and passed a Devil’s Snare passage.
• Tom’s spells failed against an armored troll’s Goblin Metal armor, and Li Weide explained that Incendio could heat the armor until the troll could not endure it.

Tom Riddle used a Flashbang to evade the Armored Giant, solved the Sphinx’s riddle, and forced his way through the final stage despite a barrage of gunfire and grenades. He cleared the course but suffered severe injuries and was rushed to St. Mungo’s for treatment.

• Tom Riddle blinded the Armored Giant with a Flashbang and slipped past it while Li Weide and Grindelwald debated whether he should have defeated it outright.
• Tom accepted the Sphinx’s riddle, answered “death,” and passed through the door after the Sphinx let him by.
• Tom used flames to drive back a horde of zombies, then hesitated at a final stage guarded by ten Battle Puppets armed like Muggle soldiers.
• Tom drank a Pain Relief Potion, charged into the final stage, and Transfigured the puppets’ guns into venomous snakes while enduring their attacks.
• Tom cleared the stage with his left arm and right leg badly twisted, and healers from St. Mungo’s rushed to treat him as Li Weide and Grindelwald watched.

Tom woke in the Hospital Wing to learn that the Pain Relief Potion prevented healing magic from working, leaving him to recover slowly until Li Weide and Professor Slughorn developed an antidote. After Tom was celebrated for passing Grindelwald’s Practical Exam, he began to enjoy the admiration and power it brought him.

• Li Weide told Tom that the Pain Relief Potion had blocked healing magic, so he would have to recover slowly until an antidote was available.
• Grindelwald gave Tom a spellbook as a reward and told Li Weide that he planned to hold monthly Practical Exams using Battle Puppets.
• Grindelwald asked Li Weide to improve Lost Mist, but Li Weide said the research would be difficult and noted that Grindelwald had not named a price.
• After seven days, Tom left the Hospital Wing with a crutch and a cast, and Li Weide gave him an antidote developed with Professor Slughorn.
• Students cheered Tom at the end-of-term feast for clearing a seventh-year challenge, and Tom realized he enjoyed being admired.

Li Weide returned to the Safe House and decided to find a new hidden laboratory, then disguised himself and went to Knockturn Alley to shop at Borgin and Burkes. He tried to bargain for a Vanishing Cabinet, leaving Mr. Borgin outraged at his offer of five Galleons.

• Li Weide returned to the Safe House, reunited with Toby and Tom Cat, and learned that Snik had gone with Tom.
• Li Weide decided to buy a property in Knockturn Alley for a laboratory and collected his available Galleons from Toby.
• Li Weide used a second-hand wand to disguise himself as a middle-aged European man and traveled to Diagon Alley.
• Li Weide entered Borgin and Burkes, inspected its Dark Magic goods, and spotted a Vanishing Cabinet.
• Li Weide asked Mr. Borgin for the cabinet's price and argued that it was worth less without its missing partner.
• Li Weide offered five Galleons for the Vanishing Cabinet, prompting Mr. Borgin to exclaim, "Merlin's underpants! You're robbing me!"

Li Weide, calling himself John Wick, bought a broken Vanishing Cabinet from Mr. Borgin and purchased a derelict house in Knockturn Alley. After learning that anything taken by force belonged to the taker, he immediately went to rob a neighboring house.

• Li Weide bargained Mr. Borgin down to sixty Galleons for the Vanishing Cabinet and asked him to find a spacious place to live.
• Mr. Borgin showed Li Weide a dilapidated house at the end of Knockturn Alley, where Doxies flew out and two old bloodstains remained on the floor.
• Mr. Borgin explained that Knockturn Alley had no deeds and that anything taken by force belonged to the taker; Li Weide eagerly asked whether the rule applied to people too.
• Li Weide bought the house from Mr. Borgin for two hundred Galleons after Mr. Borgin sensed a threat and lowered his asking price.
• After Mr. Borgin left, Li Weide kicked open a neighbor's door and announced that he was robbing the place.