Recaps

Tom woke up in 1991 with a diary that described his future death and realized that it could predict events. He refused the Bells, who were actually impostors, and the diary updated to say he would receive a Hogwarts admission letter.

• Tom read the diary’s prediction that he would be adopted by the Bells, attend Wharton Public School, and die in a truck accident.
• When Mary and Donald Bell arrived to adopt him, Tom recognized details from the diary and refused to go with them, drawn instead to the name Hogwarts.
• After leaving the orphanage, Donald transformed into Radwan Perry, and Mary reverted to her appearance as a female mercenary.
• Tom wrote “Who are you?” in the diary, and its old text disappeared as new entries predicted an owl would bring him a Hogwarts admission letter.

Murphy Darkholme became Hogwarts’s Practical Studies professor and educational inspector, while Dumbledore and McGonagall discussed his character and a newly discovered orphaned wizard. Murphy agreed to collect Lucas Tom Brightson and Hermione Granger on September 1, leaving Lucas’s notebook to record that he would meet the person who changed his fate.

• The Wizengamot approved the Board of Governors’ decision to appoint Murphy Darkholme as Hogwarts’s resident educational inspector and Practical Studies professor.
• McGonagall questioned Dumbledore about letting Murphy oversee Hogwarts, and Dumbledore said he supported proper oversight and wanted to understand Murphy better.
• McGonagall found Lucas Tom Brightson’s recently added name in the Book of Admittance after the Ministry reported discovering him.
• Dumbledore was called back to the Ministry, so McGonagall asked Murphy to collect Lucas and Hermione Granger before term began.
• Murphy agreed to meet them on September 1, and Lucas’s notebook recorded that he would meet the person who changed his fate.

Murphy picked up Hermione Granger and took her to an orphanage to collect Tom Brightson, whose diary predicted that Murphy would change his fate. Tom learned from the diary that he could avoid a disastrous first meeting by politely thanking Murphy, just as Murphy arrived to fetch him.

• Murphy asked Laura to watch over the lab while he searched for a cure and gave her two Lightning Ravens to contact him.
• Murphy collected Hermione from her parents, demonstrated his storage ring, and Apparated with her to an orphanage.
• Tom read his Hogwarts letter and wondered why he trusted its claims about magic and Murphy Darkholme.
• Tom's diary repeatedly predicted that Murphy would abandon him and that he would die as a hookah, regardless of how he acted.
• The diary showed that Tom survived in the revised account after politely thanking Murphy, and someone announced that Professor Murphy had arrived to pick him up.

Murphy took Tom and Hermione Granger from the orphanage, where Tom discovered that the children and Mrs. Cornan cared about him. As they left, Murphy taught Tom that love could bring sorrow and tears as well as warmth and joy.

• Tom panicked when Hermione Granger arrived at his door and vomited after Murphy Apparated her to the orphanage.
• Murphy told Tom they would go to Diagon Alley and asked him to say goodbye to the people at the orphanage.
• Mrs. Cornan and the other children embraced Tom and wished him well, revealing that he had friends who cared about him.
• Tom said goodbye to the children and began crying, while Hermione Granger cried beside him.
• Murphy held Tom and Hermione Granger and explained that their tears reflected love, giving Tom his first lesson about love.

Murphy took Hermione and Tom to Diagon Alley, where he helped Tom stretch his limited funds and prepare for school. At Ollivanders, Tom met Harry, whose presence seemed familiar to them both.

• Murphy brought Hermione and Tom to Diagon Alley, helped Tom arrange a student loan, and negotiated for secondhand school supplies.
• Murphy repaired Tom’s books, gloves, and cauldron, then advised him to have a properly fitted set of robes made.
• Tom read in his diary that he would meet the dearest friend of his life at Ollivanders, and went to the wand shop despite doubting its predictions.
• Murphy arrived at Ollivanders with Hermione and Tom, where he encountered Sirius and Harry.
• Harry’s scar tingled as he noticed Tom, and both boys wondered why the other seemed familiar.

Murphy brought Hermione Granger and Lucas Brightson to Ollivander’s shop, where Lucas and Harry discovered they were suited to nearly identical wands. Tom wondered whether their similar magic confirmed the diary’s claim that their souls resonated.

• Murphy introduced Hermione Granger and Lucas Brightson to Sirius and Harry as he brought Lucas to buy a wand.
• Lucas introduced himself as Tom and shook Harry’s hand, and both boys felt a strange tingling sensation.
• Ollivander gave Tom a holly wand with a phoenix feather core, and it produced brilliant magic as Tom restored the wand boxes to their shelves.
• After Harry struggled to find a suitable wand, Murphy suggested trying wands with the same wood and core as Tom’s.
• Harry’s similar holly wand produced a burst of red light, and Murphy said their magic seemed alike.
• Tom connected their matching wands and similar magic to the diary’s claim that their souls resonated.

Murphy struggled to find a replacement wand, then returned to the Magic Research Institute after Laura reported a researcher’s breakdown. He discovered that Anthos Emmerich was a Soviet spy carrying stolen research materials, and the chapter left Murphy aware of the threat and the materials hidden inside him.

• Murphy failed to find a wand that suited him, and Ollivander lent him books on wandmaking in exchange for Murphy’s theory about magic and wand combinations.
• Murphy took Tom and Hermione Granger to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, saw the young wizards board the train, and returned to the institute after Laura’s urgent message.
• Laura told Murphy that Anthos Emmerich had tried to escape, taken a staff member hostage, and attempted suicide, while a sample of deadly bacteria was missing.
• Murphy read Anthos’s memories and learned that he was really Valery Lermontov, a KGB agent who had entered the institute to steal advanced technology and magical research.
• Murphy learned that Valery had swallowed hollow magnetic plastic balls containing stolen materials, including lithography blueprints, potion formulas, and a bacterial sample, because he planned to return to the Soviet Union.

Murphy interrogated Valery Lermontov about his loyalty and argued that his faith in the Soviet people and ideals did not require loyalty to corrupt officials. Valery remained unconvinced, but Murphy urged him to distinguish true comrades from those who had betrayed the party and the motherland.

• Murphy removed Valery’s gag and questioned what he was loyal to, discovering that Valery’s loyalty came from his faith.
• Murphy told Valery that the stolen Yersinia pestis sample could infect human thought and that magic could alter a person’s mind.
• Valery feared that Murphy could change his faith, while Murphy argued that the laboratory’s magical research should belong to all humanity.
• Valery accused Murphy of serving Western interests when Murphy questioned whether Soviet officials truly represented the Soviet people.
• Murphy urged Valery to separate his ideals and loyalty to the motherland from corrupt officials who had become enemies of the party and the people.

Murphy showed Valery Lermontov the future dissolution of the Soviet Union and the suffering that followed, then urged him to help his motherland survive. Valery asked how he could save it, and Murphy said the immediate goal was to give the country a few shots of adrenaline.

• Valery Lermontov realized that his conflict came from corrupt enemies within his motherland’s institutions, not from his faith or the country itself.
• Murphy explained that he wanted magical research to move into the public sphere and sought the backing of a powerful nation.
• Murphy used Memory Duplication to show Valery the Soviet Union’s future dissolution and its consequences for the people.
• Valery wept over the visions and asked Murphy how he could save his motherland.
• Murphy said the country’s deep problems required long-term reform, but it first needed a few shots of adrenaline to keep it alive.

Murphy recruited Valery for a plan to help him gain access to Gorbachev and prepare to seize control of the Soviet Union, while assigning Barty Crouch Jr. to support the mission. The story left Valery and Barty preparing to head to the isolated Soviet wizarding world with Murphy’s agents.

• Murphy told Valery that the August Coup had failed because its leaders lacked resolve, then asked what Valery would sacrifice to save his country.
• Valery agreed to give everything, and Murphy instructed him to gather intelligence, get close to Gorbachev, and prepare the Body Double Plan with help from wizards.
• Doctors surgically removed the documents from Valery’s stomach, and Murphy visited Barty Crouch Jr. in the Magic Research Institute prison.
• Barty Crouch Jr. described how he had reconsidered his former devotion to Voldemort, and Murphy tasked him with accompanying Valery to the Soviet Union alongside werewolf mercenaries.
• Murphy told Barty to coordinate with Valery, report developments by raven, and proceed carefully because they knew little about the Soviet wizarding world.

Murphy arrived at Hogwarts to take up teaching and governor duties, then reflected on slowing down and exploring magic beyond combat. On the Hogwarts Express, Tom discovered that his Future Diary had become the Book of Guidance and received its first reward: basic knowledge of Hogwarts.

• Murphy arrived at Hogwarts, reunited with Professor Flitwick, and discussed his new role with Professor McGonagall.
• Murphy arranged to teach all four houses together on Friday afternoons, though he still needed to decide what the students would practice.
• Murphy wandered around Hogwarts and reflected on how his need to prove himself had eased and how he wanted to broaden his pursuits.
• On the Hogwarts Express, Tom opened his diary and saw that the Future Diary had upgraded into the Book of Guidance, which would issue missions and rewards.
• Tom completed the prerequisite mission of boarding the train and received a direct infusion of basic Hogwarts knowledge.

Tom wondered about his lost memories and learned about Voldemort while traveling to Hogwarts. After Draco Malfoy tried to recruit Harry, Tom befriended him and decided he wanted to join Slytherin, leaving Hermione reconsidering her own choice of House.

• Tom’s notebook assigned him a quest to make two friends and offered an Amortentia recipe as the reward.
• Ron explained that Voldemort had been a Dark Lord who killed Harry’s parents, and Harry said Voldemort’s attempt to kill him had somehow failed.
• Hermione entered the compartment and said Voldemort’s name, which stirred a strange sense of familiarity in Tom.
• Draco Malfoy offered to introduce Harry to his companions, but Harry rejected him, so Tom shook Draco’s hand, hugged him, and sent him away with advice to stay calm.
• Tom told the others he intended to join Slytherin, and Harry said he would not dislike him for it.
• Hermione reconsidered her House choice and decided to read Famous Modern Wizards.

Hermione Granger was sorted into Ravenclaw instead of Gryffindor, leaving Murphy worried that Harry and Ron Weasley might not become friends or reach the Philosopher’s Stone without her. At the feast, Murphy introduced himself as Hogwarts’ new practical magic professor and began teasing every house in his speech.

• Tom was sorted into Slytherin, and Hermione Granger was unexpectedly sorted into Ravenclaw.
• Harry and Ron Weasley were both sorted into Gryffindor, while Murphy wondered how to reunite the trio without involving Tom too soon.
• Dumbledore announced that the forest and the Third Floor Corridor were off-limits and introduced Murphy Darkholme as the new practical magic professor.
• Murphy welcomed the first-years and joked about Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Gryffindor, provoking reactions from students and professors.
• Murphy called Ravenclaws “bookworms,” leaving the students confused about what he was trying to say.

Murphy challenged Hogwarts’ tradition of Sorting students into houses, arguing that its original purpose had disappeared and that house competition could hinder individual growth. He ended by asking the Great Hall to recognize how judging students by their house created prejudice.

• Murphy recited how each house viewed itself and the others, then explained that he had come as a school governor to help improve Hogwarts.
• Murphy questioned why students were Sorted, and Hermione Granger explained that the founders had created houses to teach students suited to their different strengths.
• Murphy argued that the houses no longer taught fundamentally different subjects and that competition between groups did little to motivate individual students.
• Murphy said house-based assumptions caused people to judge students by their house rather than their actions, calling that prejudice.

Murphy argued that Hogwarts’s house system fostered prejudice and urged students to cooperate across houses, then discussed reform with Dumbledore. Dumbledore acknowledged the system’s flaws but warned that changes could create new problems, leaving Murphy to argue that fear of mistakes should not prevent progress.

• Murphy criticized the house system for reinforcing prejudice and said he would encourage cross-house cooperation through his classes and school role.
• After the banquet, Murphy visited Dumbledore’s office, where he examined Fawkes and considered the phoenix’s rebirth as a subject for research.
• Murphy apologized for criticizing the school system without Dumbledore’s consent, and Dumbledore said he agreed that students should interact more across houses.
• Dumbledore explained that the house system had benefits and that reforms might make Hogwarts more vulnerable to future problems.
• Murphy countered that refusing change out of fear could prevent progress, saying that they lived in the present.

Murphy negotiated a light, flexible structure for his practical course, then organized students into mixed-house groups. At the first lesson, he asked the first- and second-years why they wanted to learn magic.

• Murphy convinced Professor McGonagall to let seventh-years pursue internships, fifth- and sixth-years study in peer-led remedial groups, and first- through fourth-years attend two combined practical classes.
• Murphy announced that students in the same year had to form groups of three to five with members from at least three houses.
• Murphy spent his free days running, studying wandmaking, and pursuing other interests until his first practical lesson arrived.
• Murphy gathered the first- and second-years beside the Forbidden Forest and told them to sit with their groups.
• Murphy conjured a giant question mark and asked the students what they wanted to do with magic and why they wanted to learn it.

Murphy introduced his students to a research-based approach to magic, asking them to turn their wishes into precise questions. He assigned each group to refine a magical wish into a research proposal, including a proposal about reviving the dead, which he allowed.

• Murphy asked his students what they wanted to use magic for, and they shared wishes such as flying, gaining wealth, and bringing back a loved one.
• Dean Thomas said he wanted to fly, and Murphy helped him specify the form, height, and speed he wanted.
• Murphy explained that refining a wish into a precise problem helped identify the challenges and possible solutions.
• Murphy told the students to choose and refine a wish in groups, then submit a research proposal for his review before the next class.
• A boy with round glasses asked whether reviving the dead could be a topic, and Murphy said it was allowed.

Harry, Tom, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley discussed their wishes and possible research topics after class, while Murphy considered making a wand suited to his unusual magic. The chapter left Murphy wondering whether he could use his own hair or feathers as a wand core.

• Ron Weasley doubted that first- and second-year students could develop spells, while Hermione Granger defended Professor Murphy and Harry and Tom praised his power.
• Harry told Tom he wanted to see his dead parents again, and Tom said he wanted to recover his lost memories.
• Hermione Granger wished for more time to read, while Ron Weasley said he wanted a new wand.
• Murphy reviewed wandmaking and concluded that his unusual magic might make ordinary wand cores poorly compatible with him.
• Murphy considered using his own hair or feathers as the core for a wand.

Tom, Harry, Ron, and Hermione formed the Hero Group and considered researching the soul, while Murphy found a way to join the Ministry's investigation into the Gringotts robbery. The chapter ended with Hermione overhearing that Hagrid was connected to the robbery.

• Hermione named the group the Hero Group, and the four students discussed choosing the soul as their research topic and asking for access to the Restricted Section.
• Hermione read Daily Prophet stories about Mercy Wizarding Hospital and the Gringotts robbery, then remembered she still needed to ask Murphy how to write a proposal.
• Murphy collected wandmaking branches from Hagrid, then received a Ministry letter saying Hagrid had visited Vault 713 before the robbery and would be questioned.
• Murphy brought the letter to McGonagall and asked why Hagrid was linked to the robbery and what his serious record involved.
• Hermione overheard Murphy questioning McGonagall and hid under the stairs, shocked that Hagrid was connected to the Gringotts robbery.

Murphy learned that the Philosopher’s Stone was hidden behind the Third Floor Corridor’s traps and challenged the decision to protect it at Hogwarts, prompting McGonagall to reconsider Dumbledore’s priorities. During flying class, Harry caught Draco Malfoy’s Remembrall, and Tom received a quest to investigate the corridor’s secret.

• McGonagall explained to Murphy that Hagrid had retrieved the Philosopher’s Stone from Gringotts for Dumbledore and that the corridor’s traps were meant to protect it.
• Murphy questioned whether guarding the Stone at a school put students at risk and wondered whether Dumbledore intended the corridor as a test for Harry.
• Neville broke his arm during flying class, and Draco Malfoy displayed a Remembrall while Harry, Tom, and Hermione discussed the forbidden corridor.
• Harry caught the Remembrall in a sudden stop, and McGonagall decided he should become a Seeker despite the usual restriction on first-years.
• Tom sensed something and discovered a quest in his notebook to uncover what was hidden in the Third Floor Corridor.

Harry, Ron, and Neville followed a wizard they thought was Malfoy and stumbled into a room guarded by a three-headed dog, where Tom recognized his own name on a school award medal. The next day, the students discussed the encounter while Tom wondered why the name Tom Riddle felt familiar.

• Harry and Ron left Gryffindor Tower to meet Draco Malfoy for a duel, and Neville joined them after forgetting the password.
• The three followed a wizard to a locked door, where they encountered Tom and used Alohomora to hide from Filch.
• Harry, Ron, Neville, and Tom opened the door and found a huge three-headed dog standing over a trapdoor, then fled to the Trophy Room.
• Tom noticed a medal bearing the words “Special Award for Services to the School” and the name “Tom Riddle.”
• The next day, Hermione identified the creature as a Cerberus, and Harry and Tom said it had been guarding a trapdoor.
• Tom asked about the school award and wondered why Tom Riddle’s name felt familiar, while Hermione guessed Hagrid might know what the dog guarded.

Murphy advised the students on research proposals and assigned reading, then led Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Tom to his wandmaking workshop after they asked about assistant positions. Harry and Ron went to speak with Hagrid while Murphy asked Hermione and Tom about their mathematics skills.

• Hermione suggested asking Hagrid about Murphy after she recalled that his wandmaking workshop stood beside Hagrid's hut, and she pointed out that Ron might get a new wand.
• Murphy reviewed the groups' research proposals and recommended methods and books, including statistical analysis for Draco Malfoy's group and sources on souls and Legilimency for Hermione's Hero Group.
• Harry asked Murphy about his wandmaking assistants, and Murphy explained that his experiments had stalled because Ollivander's craft book lacked precise technical guidance.
• Murphy took the young wizards to his workshop near Hagrid's hut, where Harry and Ron went to chat with Hagrid while Hermione and Tom stayed behind.
• Murphy asked Hermione and Tom how they were at mathematics.

Murphy taught Hermione Granger and Tom to approach magic through mathematical analysis and scientific research, then introduced an experiment to investigate how wands worked. Hermione guessed that a wand acted like an antenna, and Murphy praised her reasoning before explaining that science was a method for understanding the world.

• Murphy tested Hermione Granger's and Tom's mathematics and told them to improve their skills for research.
• Murphy showed the children a setup of portable Magic Power Testers and explained how he planned to study wands.
• Murphy asked what wands reminded them of, and Hermione suggested they were like antennas.
• Murphy praised Hermione's association and explained how researchers used guesses, observation, and revision to identify patterns.
• Hermione asked whether scientific methods could study magic, and Murphy explained that science was a methodology for understanding the world.

Murphy taught Hermione and Tom how scientific methods could be used to study magic, then guided them in designing an experiment to test whether wands amplified magical power. The chapter ended with Hermione and Tom casting spells for the experiment while Tom eagerly tried an assortment of magic.

• Murphy argued that magic had to follow understandable rules, even if its origins were idealist.
• Murphy asked Hermione to propose how they could test whether a wand amplified magical power, and Tom suggested comparing spells cast with and without a wand.
• Murphy explained controlled experiments and showed Hermione and Tom the Magic Power Testers and how to record their results.
• Tom grasped the value of experimental verification and told Murphy he understood.
• Hermione cast several spells with a wand while Tom photographed her, then prepared to repeat them without it.
• Tom joined the experiment and cast a series of spells, including Diffindo, Incarcerous, Incendio, and Expelliarmus.

Murphy guided Tom and Hermione through experiments comparing magical power with and without wands, while Harry and Hermione investigated Hagrid’s trip to Gringotts. After Slytherin students plotted to confront Tom, his notebook gave him a quest to defeat them.

• Murphy had Tom and Hermione record and compare magical power readings, and they found that readings were higher when casting with wands and in the arms.
• Tom suggested measuring magical power at rest and during spellcasting to test how it was distributed through the body.
• Harry told the group that Hagrid had visited Gringotts on Dumbledore’s orders, and Hermione guessed he had retrieved the item now hidden beneath the Third Floor Corridor’s trapdoor.
• Hermione and Tom praised Murphy’s lessons, while Ron teased Hermione about her admiration for the professor.
• Lucius Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, and other Slytherins plotted to teach Tom a lesson, unaware that a crow had witnessed them.
• Tom’s notebook gave him a quest to defeat the students who provoked him, with the Shield Charm as its reward.