Chapter Summaries

Tom confronted Snape about the Elixir of Life, but Snape's furious reaction left Tom uncertain about his suspicions. While Tom helped Murphy develop a Magic Vision Virus, Harry proposed investigating Snape by questioning Quirrell in disguise with Polyjuice Potion.

• Tom asked Snape whether he could make the Elixir of Life and whether he wanted to resurrect someone, prompting Snape to accuse Murphy of sending him and leave in a silent fury.
• Tom concluded that Snape possessed the Elixir of Life recipe, though Snape's reaction made him question whether he was the person they were investigating.
• Tom studied spells to protect himself from the notebook's control and helped Murphy train microorganisms for a project to create magical vision.
• Harry told Tom and the others that he had seen Snape threaten Quirrell and try to learn how to get past Quirrell's trap.
• Tom suggested using Polyjuice Potion to disguise themselves as a professor and question Quirrell, and Hermione said she might be able to borrow a bottle.

Cho Chang told Murphy that an accidental alteration had turned Polyjuice Potion into a seemingly permanent sex-change potion. Harry drank it and became a girl, and Madam Pomfrey began considering a cure with Murphy's suggestion to ask Severus Snape for help.

• Cho Chang explained that rainbow trout eggs had accidentally changed Polyjuice Potion so it could permanently change a drinker's sex.
• Hermione Granger reported that Harry had turned into a girl after drinking a potion Katie Bell had given her.
• Murphy, Cho Chang, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Tom, and Madam Pomfrey saw Harry's transformed appearance, and Madam Pomfrey noted that he resembled his mother as a child.
• Madam Pomfrey examined Harry and found no major physical problems, while Cho Chang apologized and said the effect might be permanent.
• Murphy suggested that Madam Pomfrey consult Severus Snape about using powerful antidotes to counter the transformation.

Harry reluctantly accepted Snape’s help after a potion transformed him into a girl, while Murphy arranged a new use for controlled anti-aging injections in the Soviet Union. The chapter ended with Ivan ordering an investigation into a wizard suspected of helping the Muggle government replace its guards.

• Harry agreed to let Snape try to cure him, and Snape recoiled after seeing Harry’s transformed appearance.
• Harry stayed in the hospital wing and avoided classes while his friends tutored him; he decided to write to Sirius about Snape’s history with his father.
• Murphy ordered Andrew to prepare three thousand Type C injections and told Barty Crouch Jr. to use anti-aging injections to win support for Valery and Qin Yeli in the Soviet Union.
• Barty reported that opposition forces were isolating Valery and Qin Yeli, and Murphy authorized arrests and killings against those determined to break away.
• A young wizard told Ivan that Vitaly Pizhegud was dead, Ninel Belinsky had disappeared, and several wizards guarding Chobagov had vanished.
• Ivan suspected Sophia or another wizard was helping the Muggle leader replace guards and ordered an investigation and the suspect’s return for questioning.

Snape gave Harry the antidote but left him too afraid to drink it, then broke down over how much Harry resembled Lily. Murphy tried to provoke Snape into a duel, but when Snape refused, Murphy bound him and dragged him to the Three Broomsticks, where he intended to settle things with him.

• Snape visited Harry in the hospital wing and gave him the antidote, telling him to drink it after Snape left.
• Harry worried Snape might have poisoned the antidote and did not drink it.
• Snape left the hospital wing overwhelmed by memories of Lily and rejected Murphy's invitation to join the professors at the Three Broomsticks.
• Murphy taunted Snape about Lily and challenged him to a duel in the Forbidden Forest, intending to capture and interrogate him for information about immortality.
• Snape refused to duel, so Murphy bound him with Incarcerous and carried him to Hogsmeade.
• Murphy brought the bound Snape into the Three Broomsticks and told Rosmerta that one of them would end up on the floor.

Harry prepared to drink Snape’s antidote but agreed to wait until another professor could check it, while Ron suggested sneaking to Hogsmeade. At the Three Broomsticks, Murphy challenged Snape to drink liquor laced with Veritaserum and proposed a new wager: if Murphy won, Snape would help him blow up Hogwarts.

• Harry took out Snape’s antidote, but Cho Chang stopped him and suggested asking Professor Murphy to check whether it was safe.
• Hermione said the professors were at the Three Broomsticks, and Ron suggested using a secret passage to reach Hogsmeade.
• Murphy forced Snape to sit in a private booth and challenged him to drink liquor mixed with Veritaserum.
• Snape accepted Murphy’s drinking challenge, and the two drank several large mouthfuls.
• Murphy offered to wipe out their previous wager if Snape won, then asked whether Snape would blow up Hogwarts with him if Murphy won.

Murphy criticized Hogwarts and Dumbledore’s opposition to change, then tried to recruit Severus Snape as headmaster. While drinking with Snape, Murphy drew out his lingering love for Lily and asked whether he had ever considered creating a future where she existed.

• Murphy condemned Hogwarts as a stagnant institution and concluded that his reforming ideals conflicted with Dumbledore’s defense of tradition.
• Murphy offered to help Severus Snape become headmaster and praised the talent he had shown as a student.
• Severus Snape credited Lily Evans with having more ideas than he did, and Murphy noted that she had died years ago.
• Murphy secretly avoided the spiked liquor while Snape became intoxicated and, under Veritaserum, admitted that Lily’s death had left him trapped in the past.
• Murphy asked Severus Snape whether he had ever considered creating a future where Lily existed.

Murphy learned the Elixir of Life recipe from a drunken Severus Snape while Harry and the others eavesdropped and were caught. Professor Trelawney then delivered a prophecy about Tom that repeated words Murphy had invented.

• Murphy questioned Severus Snape about reviving the dead, and Snape recited the Elixir of Life recipe while admitting Voldemort alone knew the potion that restored a body.
• Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Tom, and Cho Chang listened beneath the Invisibility Cloak, and Harry reacted angrily to learning Snape had loved Lily.
• Hagrid noticed the hidden group, and the five students fell over and were exposed when they tried to leave.
• Professor McGonagall caught the students outside school, ordered Hagrid to take them back, and gave each of them detention and a ten-point deduction.
• Professor Trelawney gave Tom and Murphy a startling prophecy about the Chosen One, the Chamber of Secrets, and a return from death, leaving Murphy shocked because he recognized his own invented words.

Tom discovered that the Book of Guidance had awarded him the Disillusionment Charm after judging him to have obtained the Elixir of Life formula, and he resolved to gather its ingredients despite fearing the book was monitoring him. Meanwhile, Dumbledore investigated Lucas's arrival at Hogwarts, and Harry concluded that someone planned to steal the Philosopher's Stone to revive Voldemort, unaware that Tom was the culprit.

• Tom saw that the Book of Guidance had marked the Elixir of Life quest complete and given him knowledge of the Disillusionment Charm, then worried it was watching or controlling him.
• Tom decided to seek ingredients for the Elixir of Life formula rather than give up.
• Dumbledore reviewed Sybill's prophecy and Lucas's enrollment, traced the notification to Serika Wood, and connected her and Alex Wood to Murphy and Tom.
• Harry told his friends he suspected Snape wanted the Philosopher's Stone to revive Voldemort, citing Sirius's account of Snape's past.
• Harry reasoned that someone had to be pursuing the Philosopher's Stone to revive Voldemort, while Tom recognized that he himself was that person.

Harry and his friends planned to reach the Philosopher’s Stone while Murphy strengthened his Soviet operation and prepared for a confrontation with local wizards. Barty Crouch Jr. was captured, and an old woman told him to send Murphy alone to Priozersk.

• Harry rejected using Polyjuice Potion again and decided that he and his friends had to get the Philosopher’s Stone before Quirrell, so they planned to keep visiting Hagrid under the pretext of caring for his baby dragon.
• Murphy trained Tom and Hermione with math problems and continued gathering evidence against Dumbledore while waiting to secure the Philosopher’s Stone.
• Valery and Qin Yeli stabilized the Soviet Union and used anti-aging potions and Umbrella investments to gain officials’ support, while Murphy retained control over the potion recipients through the Seed of the Mind.
• Barty Crouch Jr. warned Murphy that Soviet wizards had targeted their people, and Murphy ordered his agents to withdraw, investigate their objective, and seek contact.
• A wizard wearing antlers confronted Barty Crouch Jr. and demanded he surrender, but an old woman killed the wizard and instructed Barty to tell Murphy to come alone to Priozersk.

Murphy met Empress Sophia by Lake Ladoga to open negotiations, but their exchange became a contest of authority and nerve. He reminded her that he could strike before her guards could react, then invited her to walk with him.

• Murphy arrived in Priozersk and followed Azir to meet Empress Sophia.
• Sophia expected Murphy to kneel, but he refused and used their greeting to unsettle her.
• Sophia accused Murphy of conspiring against the Soviet government, causing the Great Shaman's death, and capturing Soviet wizards as her guards prepared to attack.
• Murphy described how quickly his lightning could kill and warned Sophia that they were only one step apart.
• Murphy denied threatening Sophia and invited her to walk beside Lake Ladoga.

Sophia strolled with Murphy while questioning his business and probing his intentions, but grew angry at his evasiveness and lack of consideration. After she twisted her ankle, Murphy treated it and admitted he sold potions to Muggles, then asked for more time to explain his plans for the Soviet Union.

• Sophia and Murphy exchanged questions about her Romanov ancestry, Arkaim’s succession, his potion business, and Grand Duke Ivan’s influence.
• Sophia stopped the walk because Murphy’s long strides had exhausted her, then accused him of deception and tried to leave.
• Sophia twisted her ankle on the gravel path, and Murphy conjured a bench and examined her injury.
• Murphy reset Sophia’s slightly displaced ankle, sprayed it with Cloud White Medicine, and admitted that he sold potions to Muggles.
• Murphy asked Sophia to rest and give him more time to explain what he intended to do in the Soviet Union.

Murphy explained to Sophia that understanding magic required scientific methods, which he hoped to develop through Muggle research. He warned that rapidly advancing Muggle technology would eventually make the International Statute of Secrecy impossible to maintain.

• Murphy healed Sophia’s foot and explained that understanding magic was the principle behind his work.
• He argued that scientific methods could help Muggles study magic and improve its use.
• Sophia questioned whether involving Muggles would violate the International Statute of Secrecy, and Murphy said he did not intend to oppose it deliberately.
• Murphy warned that Muggles would inevitably break the secrecy imposed by the Statute as technology advanced.
• He contrasted centuries of stagnant magical progress with the explosive growth of Muggle technology and described how increasingly precise surveillance would make concealment harder.

Murphy explained to Empress Sophia why wizarding society had to adapt to Muggle technological progress and secured her permission to work in the Soviet Union. Sophia agreed to help him kill Ivan Frederick and gave him an invitation to enter Arkaim as part of a marriage-proposal delegation.

• Murphy warned Sophia that Muggles would discover wizards within fifty years and argued that the Soviet Union offered the best base for developing scientific magic.
• Sophia questioned Murphy’s motives, then granted him permission to pursue his work in the Soviet Union on the condition that he kill Ivan Frederick.
• Murphy asked how he could reach Ivan, and Sophia explained that Madame Yaga would distract Felipe Carlos while Murphy had to get past Sophie Christian.
• Sophia said Murphy could enter sealed Arkaim with a delegation bearing a marriage proposal and handed him an invitation sent to ancient wizarding families.
• Murphy clarified that he was not expected to marry Sophia, and she told him someone would discuss the remaining arrangements before dismissing him.

Murphy arrived at Arkaim to court the Soviet Union’s empress, but an ambush at the city gate led him to attack a group of wizards and capture Ivan Frederick’s sons. He left them alive and demanded to know why they had attacked him.

• Azir explained that Arkaim was protected by powerful enchantments and left to make preparations in the city.
• Murphy and two British Aurors reached the city gate and were directed to a customs office by a narrow, dilapidated road.
• Wizards attacked Murphy’s party from nearby houses, injuring one Auror, and Murphy retaliated by damaging the attackers’ buildings and fighting them.
• Murphy recognized the two young wizards as George Frederick and Alexander Frederick, Ivan Frederick’s sons, and captured them.
• After learning the Auror had survived and noticing the attackers were not all dead, Murphy ordered the Frederick brothers to explain why they had attacked him.

Murphy was attacked by two young wizards who believed he threatened Ivan, but he spared them and ordered them to obey him. He met Sophia at a formal gathering, where his outlandish introduction and fantastical gift drew attention; after receiving her note that the plan would begin that night, he was invited to a banquet at Ivan’s residence.

• George Frederick and Alexander Frederick told Murphy that the Empress had personally added his name to the marriage candidates, and Murphy made them agree to obey him in exchange for their lives.
• Madame Yaga met Murphy and confirmed that they would proceed with their plan to meet the Empress, advising him to put more thought into winning her heart.
• Murphy introduced himself to Sophia with an extravagant list of titles and presented her with a gold nugget he claimed was wish-granting Rhinegold.
• Court Shaman Azir performed an ancestor-consulting ritual on the marriage candidates, and the maids led the envoys to their guest residences.
• A maid delivered Sophia’s note to Murphy, saying the plan would begin that night and wishing for both of them to get what they wanted.
• A messenger invited Murphy and the other envoys to a banquet at Grand Duke Ivan’s residence.

Murphy attended Grand Duke Ivan’s banquet, delaying his arrival until Granny Yaga could act and helping draw the great shaman Felipe away. Ivan then announced that his son Lars and Empress Sophia were childhood sweethearts and urged the visiting marriage candidates to withdraw, while Murphy applauded his bluntness.

• Murphy stalled on the way to Ivan’s mansion, then arrived and introduced himself with an extravagant list of titles.
• Murphy saw Grand Duke Ivan, Lars Frederick, Sophie Christian, and the great shaman Felipe Carlos at the banquet.
• A maid told Felipe there was trouble at the Ancestral Mausoleum, and he left to investigate.
• Ivan welcomed the envoys and announced that Lars and Sophia had privately pledged themselves to each other.
• Ivan asked the guests to withdraw from the husband selection in exchange for compensation, and Murphy applauded his speech.

Murphy refused to drink the wine Sophie offered and fought the invisible knights in the courtyard. His lightning attack was stopped by the Wall of Saint Peter, and Sophie revealed that she had arranged to keep Madame Yaga occupied so the group could kill him.

• A German envoy refused to drink, but an unseen armored knight killed him, prompting the other envoys to drink and leave.
• Murphy refused Sophie's wine and tore the head off an armored knight that appeared behind him, discovering it was a living person.
• Sophie questioned Murphy about his unusual abilities, then invisible knights attacked him from multiple directions.
• Murphy summoned a thunderstorm, but the Wall of Saint Peter blocked the lightning from reaching the courtyard.
• Sophie told Murphy that Madame Yaga had been kept occupied and that the group had planned to kill him.

Murphy fought Sophie’s invisible forces in the courtyard, where a hidden poison weakened him and magic vision gradually let him see his attackers. He killed the remaining enemies, but Sophie’s whereabouts remained unknown.

• Sophie resumed the attack, and Murphy used a Revealing Charm to discover more than twenty invisible enemies surrounding him.
• Murphy used magic-detection potion and Muggle explosives to destroy much of the courtyard and kill over half the knights.
• Poison gas weakened Murphy, and Sophie revealed that the wine given to departing envoys had been the antidote.
• Murphy used a knight’s blood in an attempt to counter the poison, then sharpened his magic vision enough to fight the invisible attackers.
• Murphy killed the seven remaining enemies with a greatsword, but still did not know which of them had been Sophie.

Murphy defeated Sophie Christian’s plot at Duke Ivan’s estate, where George and Alexander killed their father and brother under Murphy’s control. After killing Azir for betraying the empress’s plans, Murphy entered the Palace of Spring to claim his payment.

• Sophie Christian used a cursed doll to freeze himself and Murphy, but Murphy forced his arm to move and cut Sophie’s throat.
• George and Alexander arrived carrying the heads of Ivan and Ras, revealing that they had killed their father and brother for Murphy.
• Murphy killed Sophie, explained how he had arranged the assassination, and ordered George and Alexander to manage the estate and conceal what happened.
• Murphy left the estate, fought at the Ancestral Mausoleum, and then headed toward the Palace of Spring.
• Azir tried to evade Murphy’s attack, but Murphy killed him with wind blades and accused him of leaking the empress’s plan and providing Sophie with Murphy’s blood.
• Murphy put Azir’s head in a box and entered the Palace of Spring to demand his payment.

After Murphy helped Sophia defeat her rivals, he asked Arkaim to ally with Britain and support his plans in the Soviet Union, arguing that the collapse of wizarding secrecy would draw Arkaim into international conflict. Madame Yaga offered Arkaim’s cooperation on one condition: Murphy had to marry the empress.

• Sophia saw the bloodied heads of Ivan, Ras, Sophie, Felipe, and Azir, and agreed that Murphy could continue his plans with the Muggle government.
• Murphy presented the British Ministry of Magic’s request for diplomatic relations and cooperation with Arkaim, explaining that the Soviet Union’s magical research would make an alliance necessary.
• Sophia objected that Arkaim and the Soviet Muggle government were separate, but Murphy warned that other wizards would hold Arkaim responsible for events on Soviet soil.
• Madame Yaga accused Murphy of trying to draw Arkaim into his conflict with the wizarding world, and Murphy admitted he needed Arkaim’s support against the International Confederation of Wizards.
• Madame Yaga said Arkaim would consider an alliance if Murphy married Empress Sophia.