Chapter Summaries

Li Weide stalled Grindelwald until Grindelwald took Tom hostage, then vanished and left Tom to fend for himself. Tom used Li Weide’s Dung Bombs, which knocked him out and made Grindelwald believe he had sacrificed himself; Li Weide then reappeared, and Grindelwald again urged him to join his camp.

• Li Weide provoked Grindelwald while using Nightmare Magic and Felix Felicis to evade his spells and buy time for Dumbledore to return.
• Grindelwald seized Tom and threatened to kill him unless Li Weide lowered his wand.
• Li Weide promised Tom a grand funeral, cast an enhanced Disillusionment Charm, and vanished instead of surrendering.
• Tom detonated two Dung Bombs against Grindelwald, and the sedative knocked Tom unconscious while Grindelwald mistook his actions for a sacrifice.
• Li Weide reappeared and revealed that Tom’s apparent death had been faked, while Grindelwald praised him and invited him to join his camp.

Li Weide faced Grindelwald after Tom appeared to sacrifice himself, refusing to join him and keeping up the fight until Dumbledore returned. Tom turned out to be alive after faking his death, and Li Weide warned him to keep the sleeping-draught ruse secret.

• Annie watched Tom seemingly die and wondered why Li Weide had refused Grindelwald’s offer.
• Li Weide blamed Grindelwald for Tom’s apparent sacrifice and declared that neither he nor Tom would ever join him.
• Li Weide resumed fighting Grindelwald, and Dumbledore arrived with a Phoenix after receiving a message.
• Dumbledore blamed Grindelwald for Tom’s death and prepared to confront him while Li Weide went to Tom’s body.
• Li Weide secretly applied ointment to Tom, who woke up retching, and warned him through the Whispering Charm to claim he had taken sleeping draughts rather than poison.

Li Weide concealed that he had poisoned Tom by claiming the substance was a sleeping draught, while Dumbledore confronted Grindelwald in a fierce duel. Dumbledore gained the upper hand, and Grindelwald refused to surrender as Annie worried about Vinda and the Wizarding Supremacists.

• Li Weide told Dumbledore that Tom had used an unused sleeping draught, and Grindelwald kept quiet about suspecting it was poison.
• Dumbledore ordered Li Weide and Tom to wait aside, then resumed his confrontation with Grindelwald, who challenged him to a duel.
• Li Weide helped Tom and Annie shelter from the battle, gave Tom an antidote, and moved them away from the intense heat of the wizards’ spells.
• Annie glimpsed the magical power inside the metal sphere and worried that Vinda and the Wizarding Supremacists would be captured if Grindelwald lost.
• Grindelwald realized Dumbledore had grown stronger, but rejected his offer to surrender and declared that no one could judge him.

Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald and took the Elder Wand, but Grindelwald escaped after insisting his prophecy would still come true. In the aftermath, Li Weide looted and bound the defeated supremacists, then used obscure magic to wake Headmaster Dippet, who began restoring the other professors.

• Dumbledore overpowered Grindelwald, claimed the Elder Wand, and urged him to abandon his false vision, but Grindelwald refused to believe his prophecy had failed.
• Grindelwald used a burst of shadow and black gauze to escape Dumbledore, who immediately pursued him; Annie discovered that Vita Rosier had also vanished.
• Li Weide teased Tom about talking too much, then looted and tied up the defeated Wizarding Supremacists while Tom denied taking part.
• Li Weide and Tom found that ordinary counterspells could not wake the professors, so Li Weide used knowledge from the Somlunno Family's records to revive Headmaster Dippet.
• Headmaster Dippet learned that Dumbledore had defeated Grindelwald but that Grindelwald had escaped, then began treating the other unconscious professors.

Li Weide, Tom, and Annie explained how they helped capture Grindelwald’s followers and summon Dumbledore, then escaped expulsion despite breaking over a hundred school rules. Grindelwald fled with Vinda, while Dumbledore returned to Hogwarts and considered rewarding the students for their service.

• Li Weide, Tom, and Annie told Headmaster Dippet and the professors how they discovered the hidden magical power, captured the Wizarding Supremacists, and summoned Dumbledore to face Grindelwald.
• Headmaster Dippet spared the three students from expulsion, assigned Professor Slughorn to handle their punishment, and sent them to the Hospital Wing for examinations.
• The professors examined the Goblin Metal sphere in the Secret Chamber while the exhausted students went to the Hospital Wing and fell asleep.
• Grindelwald escaped with Vinda and one Wizarding Supremacist, admitted he had lost the Elder Wand, and planned to hide his remaining forces in the United States.
• Dumbledore returned to Hogwarts, where Theseus Scamander took the captured Wizarding Supremacists away and Headmaster Dippet said he might give the students a Special Contribution Award.

After Dumbledore rescued the students and Grindelwald escaped, Li Weide, Tom, and Annie received school honors and agreed to keep their role in Grindelwald’s defeat secret for safety. At Nurmengard, Grindelwald learned Dumbledore was protecting them and wondered why Dumbledore had become so powerful.

• Dumbledore told Li Weide and Tom that Grindelwald had escaped, thanked them for helping stop him, and announced that their punishments were revoked and they would receive Special Contribution Awards.
• Dumbledore explained that the magical power Grindelwald sought could strengthen wizards but might twist their minds, and said Headmaster Dippet had destroyed it.
• Dumbledore warned Li Weide, Tom, and Annie that Grindelwald’s supporters might target them, and all three agreed to keep their actions secret.
• At Nurmengard, Vinda reported Dumbledore’s movements and the decision to conceal the students’ achievements.
• Grindelwald refused Vinda’s suggestion to leak the students’ role and questioned why Dumbledore had become so strong despite not pursuing the Deathly Hallows.

After Grindelwald’s defeat, his forces dwindled while Li Weide, Tom, and Annie finished the Marauder’s Map at Hogwarts. Li Weide argued that Grindelwald could never win because his movement lacked a coherent ideological program.

• Grindelwald admitted to Vinda that he believed his side could no longer win and asked to be left alone.
• The wizarding world learned of Grindelwald’s defeat, and his captured supporters and failed retaliatory attacks weakened his forces.
• As Hogwarts students prepared for exams, Annie blamed herself for Grindelwald’s losses while Li Weide and Tom gained prestige for capturing Wizarding Supremacists.
• Li Weide and Tom completed the Marauder’s Map, and Li Weide reassured Annie that her family would not be blamed for Vinda’s actions.
• Annie asked whether Grindelwald could rise again, and Li Weide said he lacked the unity and ideological program needed to succeed.

Li Weide explained to Annie why Grindelwald’s movement lacked public support and how publishing ideas and delivering practical benefits could build it. After Annie left, Tom realized Li Weide had deliberately let her gather information, but Li Weide insisted he only wanted peace and happiness.

• Li Weide told Annie that publishing books could spread Grindelwald’s ideas more reliably than speeches and examined why ordinary wizards had little reason to support a movement offering them no immediate benefits.
• Annie realized her aunt Vinda Rosier had joined the Wizarding Supremacists for the Rosier Family’s advancement, and her faith in Grindelwald’s ideals collapsed.
• Tom considered how Grindelwald might have gained support by helping ordinary wizards instead of relying on destruction and terrorist methods.
• Li Weide told Annie that Grindelwald could recover by casting out scapegoats, entering politics, and winning public support with beneficial policies.
• After Annie left, Tom accused Li Weide of deliberately letting her fish for information, and Li Weide claimed he only wanted peace and happiness.

Li Weide waited to see whether Grindelwald would heed his advice while the students left Hogwarts for the holidays. Grindelwald let twenty-five Wizarding Supremacists face trial and severe sentences, and Li Weide discovered that the outcome had earned him fifty thousand Merit Points.

• Li Weide told Tom that Grindelwald was likely to emerge from hiding and said he had already passed advice to him through Annie.
• At the end-of-term feast, Li Weide and Tom noticed Annie was absent until late, then the students boarded the Hogwarts Express the next morning.
• On the train, Li Weide explained that the Ministry's holiday magic restrictions were easier to evade in wizarding settlements, while Henry and Alphard joked anxiously about a possible arranged marriage.
• At Nurmengard, Vinda told Grindelwald that Olive and the others faced trial, but Grindelwald refused to attempt a rescue and said people would remember them.
• The next morning, Li Weide read that twenty-five Wizarding Supremacists had been sentenced, including twenty to the Dementor's Kiss, and saw his Merit Point balance rise by fifty thousand.

Li Weide upgraded his system shop with Merit Points earned from killing Grindelwald’s Wizarding Supremacists. Grindelwald revealed his plan to turn himself in and blame his crimes on dead or discredited followers, while Li Weide saw the upgraded shop’s first selection of new items.

• Tom worried that Toby’s household work would otherwise fall to him, then praised the house-elf’s cooking after tasting breakfast.
• Li Weide spent twenty thousand Merit Points to upgrade his system, adding two shop slots and another item-lock option.
• Grindelwald told Vinda that the trial evidence pinned past crimes on his captured followers, and explained that he had arranged for them to take the blame.
• Grindelwald announced that he would turn himself in for a trial, while keeping Vinda in Nurmengard and assigning Abernathy to take over her duties.
• At midnight, Li Weide checked the upgraded shop and found Phoenix Tears, a Unicorn Horn, Flying Spell, and Magical Animal Affinity among its new items.

Li Weide bought Flying Spell and Magical Animal Affinity, then tested his new talent on Tom Cat and discovered the cat could communicate and write. He told Tom that he had invented a spell for tool-free flight and proposed using Tom as its first test subject.

• Li Weide bought Flying Spell and Magical Animal Affinity, and the system altered the spell manuscript so he remembered inventing it himself.
• Li Weide tested his new affinity on Tom Cat, understood its meows, and learned that Tom Cat could write a message saying he smelled good.
• Li Weide told Tom Cat it would have to help with Toby's duties after revealing its magical writing, and Tom witnessed the cat writing on paper.
• Li Weide explained to Tom that Tom Cat could use magic and said he had invented a spell that allowed flight without tools.
• Tom suspected Li Weide wanted to use him as the spell's test subject, and Li Weide admitted he was afraid to test it himself.

Li Weide tested and successfully developed a high-speed flying spell, then agreed to teach it to Tom. When Tom recited the takeoff incantation, Li Weide sent him soaring and began running along the lakeshore with the rope tied around him.

• Li Weide took Toby and Tom to a secluded lake to test his new spell, while Tom insisted he had only come to watch.
• Li Weide used an old wand and a long incantation to fly through the treetops as black mist, even casting spells mid-flight.
• Tom regretted turning down the chance to learn the spell, and Li Weide offered to teach it to him and Toby.
• Li Weide tied a rope around Tom, gave him the takeoff incantation, and watched him shoot into the air.
• Tom panicked because he did not know how to land, while Li Weide jogged along the lakeshore holding the rope like a kite string.

Tom practiced Li Weide's Flying Spell and received a warning from the Ministry of Magic, then appeared to be expelled after a second letter arrived. Dumbledore discovered the spell on Li Weide's old wand and suggested that Tom's expulsion could be revoked while Li Weide might receive an award for inventing the magic.

• Li Weide kept Tom floating in the air to test his control and measure his flying limit, and Tom eventually descended too quickly into a lake.
• An owl delivered Tom a Ministry warning for using magic outside school, and a second letter appeared to expel him after Li Weide used magic again.
• Toby offered to take the blame, but Dumbledore examined Tom and Li Weide's wands to investigate the magic.
• Dumbledore found the Flying Spell recorded on Li Weide's old wand and praised the magic as Li Weide's invention.
• Dumbledore said Tom's expulsion might be revoked and Li Weide might receive an award, leaving Tom to realize Li Weide had used him to promote his invention.

Li Weide demonstrated the Flying Spell to Dumbledore, who took the research to the Ministry of Magic while warning him and Tom to stay cautious. After Li Weide taught Tom how to block the Trace, Tom decided the Flying Spell was part of Li Weide’s plan to supplant Grindelwald, and Li Weide unexpectedly agreed.

• Li Weide explained the Flying Spell to Dumbledore, who took his research and practice wands to negotiate with the Ministry of Magic on Tom’s behalf.
• After Dumbledore left, Tom confronted Li Weide about being left exposed to the Trace during the experiment and refused to practice magic without learning to block it.
• Li Weide taught Tom how to shield the Trace, and Tom quickly learned the method and selected separate wands for legitimate practice and Dark Magic.
• Tom questioned why Li Weide had revealed the Flying Spell to Dumbledore, and Li Weide invited him to guess his true purpose.
• Tom concluded that Li Weide wanted to reshape the Wizarding Supremacists and ultimately replace Grindelwald, and Li Weide praised Tom and claimed that was exactly his plan.

Li Weide explained to Tom why lasting power depended on building allies, while Tom wondered what role he played in Li Weide’s plans. After the Ministry rescinded Tom’s expulsion and Li Weide’s Flying Spell drew public attention, Grindelwald’s supposed surrender became a global controversy, ending with him claiming he had accepted a trial to clear his name.

• Li Weide told Tom that making friends and building a durable order mattered more than relying on brute force, and Tom questioned why Li Weide had kept him around.
• The Ministry of Magic rescinded Tom’s expulsion, while The Daily Prophet reported Li Weide’s Flying Spell and the Ministry debated regulating it.
• Grindelwald’s reported surrender sparked public celebration, but Dumbledore suspected his old friend was pursuing another scheme.
• Grindelwald arranged a press conference while held by the Austrian Ministry of Magic and said he had come to clear up misunderstandings, not surrender.
• Grindelwald declared that he would use a public trial to reclaim his innocence and threatened legal action against those who slandered him.

Dumbledore discovered that Grindelwald’s five imprisoned Wizarding Supremacists had all gone mad, leaving him without witnesses to prove Grindelwald’s crimes. At the Safe House, Li Weide predicted Grindelwald could clear his name and joked about using a Memory Charm on Tom for crediting him with the idea.

• Dumbledore visited Azkaban and found that all five Wizarding Supremacists who could testify against Grindelwald had gone mad.
• Dumbledore warned Minister Fawley that Grindelwald might clear himself at a public trial, and Fawley feared the public would blame him for sentencing the witnesses.
• Tom told Li Weide that Grindelwald had followed the strategy Li Weide had described, but Li Weide denied giving him the idea.
• Li Weide said Grindelwald would likely escape serious charges and explained that Dumbledore’s commitment to proper legal methods left him with few ways to interfere.
• When Tom called Li Weide the greater schemer, Li Weide drew his wand and threatened to correct Tom’s thinking with a Large Memory Repair Charm.

Grindelwald was escorted to the Magical Congress of the United States of America for a Public Trial, where he denied murdering Graves and appeared poised to clear himself of most charges. After Dumbledore warned Li Weide and Tom to stay home, Li Weide invited Tom to go to the United States, but Tom fled instead.

• President Picquery confronted Grindelwald during his transfer, and he admitted impersonating Graves but denied murdering him.
• President Picquery realized that the available evidence made it difficult to convict Grindelwald of the most serious charges.
• At the Safe House, Li Weide told Tom that Grindelwald could turn any exposed plot against him into proof that he was a victim.
• Fawkes delivered Dumbledore's warning that Li Weide and Tom should not leave the house because Grindelwald might escape.
• Li Weide suggested going to the United States to watch the Public Trial, and Tom ran off rather than go with him.

Li Weide persuaded Dumbledore to bring him and Tom to the United States for Grindelwald’s Public Trial, keeping the boys under his supervision. At the Magical Congress, President Picquery revealed a plan to Dumbledore, who warned that Grindelwald might have anticipated it but was asked not to interfere.

• Li Weide convinced Tom to go to the United States after Dumbledore agreed to take them.
• Dumbledore arrived at the Safe House, warned the boys to stay by his side, and led them through connected fireplaces to the Magical Congress of the United States of America.
• Dumbledore explained that Grindelwald would face a Public Trial in the Great Court and took Li Weide and Tom to meet President Picquery.
• President Picquery showed Dumbledore her plan to secure Grindelwald’s conviction despite the lack of evidence.
• Dumbledore warned President Picquery that Grindelwald might have anticipated her plan, but she asked him to leave and not tip Grindelwald off.

Dumbledore refused President Picquery’s scheme against Grindelwald, then realized her distrust had left him unable to help openly and went to the prison in disguise. Grindelwald recognized him and offered to help protect Picquery, while challenging Dumbledore to embrace power as his worthy enemy.

• Tom and Li Weide warned Dumbledore that President Picquery’s suspicion and inexperienced Aurors could undermine her plan and leave Dumbledore blamed for its failure.
• Dumbledore left their lodging despite the risk, and Li Weide told Tom that Dumbledore could change his identity to work around the Magical Congress’s distrust.
• Grindelwald endured interrogation without revealing anything because he had removed incriminating memories and stored them in a Pensieve.
• Dumbledore disguised himself to visit Grindelwald, who deduced that Picquery had proposed a scheme and Dumbledore had refused it.
• Dumbledore said he wanted to stop Picquery’s plan to protect her position, and Grindelwald offered to help while mocking Dumbledore’s reluctance to wield power.

Dumbledore refused Grindelwald’s demand that they reunite, while President Picquery prepared to use Dumbledore as a scapegoat if her plan failed. After Abernathy infiltrated her office and took a document, Dumbledore brought Li Weide and Tom to Grindelwald’s public trial, where they found the Great Court packed with tiered seating.

• Dumbledore told Grindelwald he would never stand with him again, and Grindelwald vowed to prove their old ideal was right.
• President Picquery arranged to bring prepared witnesses from the Safe House and planned to blame Dumbledore if her scheme failed.
• Abernathy disguised himself as Picquery’s subordinate, stole the document, and was followed by several figures.
• Li Weide explained to Tom that Dumbledore was staying out of Picquery’s plan and accepting the risk of being made a scapegoat.
• Three days later, Dumbledore took Li Weide and Tom to the Great Court for Grindelwald’s public trial.