Chapter Summaries

After Snape defeated Sirius in the Dueling Club, Harry defended his godfather in class and lost Gryffindor points, then visited Sirius in the Hospital Wing. Sirius admitted that he and James had once wronged Snape, but refused to tell Harry what they had done.

• Loren, Hermione, and their classmates brewed Swelling Solution while discussing Snape’s duel with Sirius, and Harry argued with Draco about the outcome.
• Harry challenged Draco to a duel at the next Dueling Club, and Snape deducted fifty Gryffindor points after Harry insulted a teacher, then awarded Draco five points for answering questions about the potion.
• Loren gave Hermione advice on adjusting the potion ingredients, while Harry worried over his weak brew and felt guilty about the points he had lost.
• Harry visited Sirius in the Hospital Wing and learned that Sirius expected to be discharged the next day.
• Sirius told Harry that he and James had done something unforgivable to Snape, but would not explain what it was, and admitted that he and his friends had all behaved like idiots.

Sirius Black relived his painful past in the Hospital Wing and awoke terrified from a nightmare. The Easter holiday began, and Professor McGonagall opened the first Animagus class with Sirius Black in attendance.

• Sirius Black remembered his upbringing in the Black family, his friendship with James, and his guilt over James's death before waking from a nightmare in fear.
• Sirius Black taught Defense Against the Dark Arts, where Ron described Grindylows and earned ten points for Gryffindor despite not knowing how to deal with them.
• Professor Sprout held a light Herbology lesson, marking the start of the Easter holiday, while the Animagus class prepared to meet that afternoon.
• Ron argued with Fred and George over how to tell their parents about earning points, while Hermione hurried Loren to the Transfiguration Classroom.
• Professor McGonagall expanded the crowded classroom with a spell, and the first Animagus lesson began with Sirius Black seated beside her.

Professor McGonagall explained the risks and ritual of Animagus transformation to the Teaching Class and introduced Rita Skeeter, whose Beetle form served as a demonstration. Rita had been caught trespassing and coerced into helping after her dangerous reporting secrets were exposed.

• Professor McGonagall told students that Animagus classes would become a permanent part of the Transfiguration Club and warned them about the transformation's dangers.
• Professor McGonagall outlined the Animagus ritual and urged students not to attempt it without supervision from her and Professor Black.
• Professor McGonagall introduced an anonymous Beetle Animagus, prompting Loren and Hermione to recognize Rita Skeeter as the demonstration aid.
• Rita recalled how Umbridge had hired her to investigate Dumbledore, how she had infiltrated Hogwarts and been caught, and how Snape and McGonagall had compelled her cooperation.
• Professor McGonagall released Rita from a glass bottle, and Rita transformed from a Beetle into a veiled woman before the students.

Hermione joined Dumbledore on a Muggle underground journey to the Ministry of Magic, where they intended to investigate Loren and Sirius Black’s situation. There, they met Alastor Moody, who reported that the rat had escaped Azkaban and that the Ministry had failed to notice.

• Loren and Hermione heard Professor McGonagall’s lesson on becoming an Animagus, then read Luna’s Quibbler advertisement for Honeydukes’ Easter chocolates and planned a secret trip to Hogsmeade.
• Dumbledore summoned Hermione to investigate Loren and Sirius Black, so she told Loren she could not go to Hogsmeade with him.
• Dumbledore took Hermione by underground to the Ministry of Magic and discussed Loren’s views, Hermione’s interests, and the possibility of taking every elective course.
• Dumbledore and Hermione entered the Ministry through a telephone booth, where Dumbledore registered them as visitors providing clues about the Flying Car.
• Alastor Moody met Dumbledore and Hermione and angrily reported that Sirius Black had escaped Azkaban without the Ministry realizing it.

Dumbledore, Moody, Arthur Weasley, and Hermione visited the Ministry of Magic, where Dumbledore and Moody went to the Hall of Prophecy while Arthur showed Hermione the Time Room and its Time-Turners. Arthur then brought Hermione to observe Willy Widdershins’s trial, leaving her to wonder what other plans Dumbledore had for her.

• Hermione examined the Fountain of Magical Brethren as Dumbledore explained the history of how magical creatures were classified as beings.
• Arthur Weasley met the group and led them to the Department of Mysteries, where Moody and Dumbledore entered the Hall of Prophecy without Hermione.
• Hermione watched a Hummingbird repeatedly hatch and reverse its life cycle inside a crystal case in the Time Room, then saw the cabinet of Time-Turners.
• Arthur told Hermione about the trial of Willy Widdershins, who had turned a toilet into a biting monster, and led her toward the courtroom.
• Hermione realized Dumbledore had arranged more for her visit than investigating Loren’s matter and entered the Seventh Courtroom with Arthur.

Hermione watched Umbridge preside over Willy Widdershins’s trial and saw how the Ministry’s handling of the case could produce an unjustly light sentence. Dumbledore and Arthur then brought her to examine records of Peter Pettigrew’s escape, where a victim list revealed the names Amelia Morgan and Orlando Morgan.

• Arthur explained that Willy Widdershins had repeatedly committed anti-Muggle pranks before Umbridge sentenced him to restrictions and a fine without sending him to Azkaban.
• Arthur blamed Umbridge for ignoring the Muggle Protection Act, and Dumbledore asked Hermione what she had learned from watching the trial.
• Arthur noticed that the Ministry was quickly adjusting Willy’s Floo Network access, then led Hermione and Dumbledore to seek records about Peter Pettigrew.
• Arthur recounted how Pettigrew caused an explosion that killed twelve Muggles while escaping, and how the Ministry covered up the disaster as traffic accidents and a gas leak.
• Dumbledore asked Arthur to retrieve the records, and Hermione followed him and Dumbledore to Arthur’s office to examine them.
• Hermione read the victim list and saw the names Amelia Morgan and Orlando Morgan.

Hermione learned that Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew were responsible for Loren's parents' deaths, and refused Dumbledore's request to mediate between Loren and Sirius. After viewing Sirius's memory of the explosion, Loren rejected Sirius's apology and declared that he forgave neither Sirius nor Peter.

• Dumbledore told Hermione that Sirius had been suffering from nightmares and asked her to help ease Loren's hatred, but Hermione refused to make decisions for Loren.
• Dumbledore brought Sirius and Hermione into the Pensieve to view Sirius's memory of Peter Pettigrew's attack, where they saw Loren's parents die in the explosion.
• Loren arrived at Dumbledore's office, where Hermione embraced him and Sirius apologized for the deaths of his parents.
• Loren accused Sirius of caring only about his own guilt, not the twelve Muggles killed in the explosion, and said he forgave neither Sirius nor Peter Pettigrew.

Loren confronted Sirius about the Muggle victims killed in the explosion caused by Sirius’s pursuit of Peter Pettigrew, and nearly killed him before Dumbledore intervened. After Sirius agreed to seek the victims’ families and their forgiveness, Loren left with Hermione, who stayed with him until he fell asleep in the Clock Tower attic.

• Loren challenged Sirius’s excuses and condemned him for forgetting the Muggle victims and their families.
• Sirius demanded that Loren kill him, and Loren struck him with Sectumsempra before Dumbledore stopped the spell and Fawkes healed the wound.
• Loren questioned Sirius’s right to seek forgiveness, and Dumbledore promised Sirius would find the victims’ relatives, make amends without magic, and seek their forgiveness under an Unbreakable Vow.
• Loren used magic from his mirror to make Sirius stay away until the red veins in his eyes faded, then left the office with Hermione.
• Hermione led Loren to the Clock Tower attic, where they reminisced until Loren fell asleep holding her hand.
• Loren woke after dark and accused Hermione of letting him hold her hand, but she said he had squeezed too tightly for her to pull free.

Loren and Hermione gathered Mandrake leaves for the Animagus class, and Hermione told him about Dumbledore’s visit to the Hall of Prophecy. Their conversation ended in a chase after Hermione remembered Loren had kept the Basilisk secret; meanwhile, Harry and Ron discussed Sirius Black’s departure and his unexplained debts.

• Loren, Hermione, Neville, and Rolf transplanted mature Mandrakes in the Greenhouse, then Loren and Hermione collected leaves for the Animagus class.
• Hermione stayed close to Loren as they worked, and she later carried the Mandrake leaves and Greenhouse key back toward the Castle with him.
• Hermione told Loren that Dumbledore and Mad-Eye Moody had entered the Hall of Prophecy, where Dumbledore seemed concerned about something connected to Voldemort.
• Loren suggested he might know what Dumbledore was seeking, but Hermione recalled that he had known the truth about the Basilisk and confronted him about keeping it secret.
• Hermione chased Loren along the path while Ron watched from the Quidditch stands and politely looked away.
• Harry and Ron discussed the Flying Car’s removal and Sirius Black’s departure, including Sirius’s vague explanation that he had debts to repay and questions to answer.

As Hogwarts resumed after Easter Holiday, Professor McGonagall began formal Animagus lessons and gave students a booklet documenting transformations and their dangers. She started the Mandrake-leaf ritual, while Loren explained that the freedom to begin on their own would let students learn from failure and discourage the merely curious.

• Harry and Ron hurriedly finished their holiday homework while Seamus and Neville teased them for neglecting it.
• Professor McGonagall resumed Transfiguration lessons and announced that the afternoon Defense Against the Dark Arts class would become an Animagus class.
• Rita Skeeter assisted Professor McGonagall as students examined a protected booklet showing thirteen human-to-animal transformations and heard the risks of losing their human reason.
• Professor McGonagall warned students not to copy or remove the booklet, thanked Rita for producing it, and had Hermione distribute Mandrake leaves.
• Professor McGonagall explained that students had to keep one leaf in their mouths from one Full Moon to the next, with no shortcuts or exceptions.
• Rita questioned why Professor McGonagall let students choose when to begin the ritual, and Loren told Hermione that the arrangement would let them learn from failure and deter those unwilling to persevere.

Hermione, Loren, and the other students began the month-long Mandrake Leaf stage of the Animagus ritual, while the Weasley Twins sabotaged classmates and Hermione struggled to resist Loren’s food pranks. The chapter ended with the Gryffindor–Hufflepuff Quidditch match about to begin and Professor Kettleburn unsuccessfully asking Snape for Basilisk materials.

• Hermione memorized the Mandrake Leaf instructions while Loren teased her, and they waited in the courtyard for moonlight to begin the ritual.
• Loren and Hermione placed their leaves in their mouths, while George and Fred hid theirs away and tickled Percy until his ritual failed.
• Loren noticed the Mandrake Leaf’s Magic Power gradually falling into harmony with his own as the moon waned, and Harry discussed Gryffindor’s confident preparations for the match against Hufflepuff.
• Harry and Ron explained that George and Fred had ruined Percy’s leaf and sabotaged other students, causing more than half the Animagus class to fail within a week.
• Loren tricked Hermione into eating a piece of steak, and she carefully chewed it without damaging her leaf before refusing his offer of another piece.
• At the Quidditch Pitch, Professor Kettleburn asked Snape for Basilisk materials, but Snape said they were needed for trade and the old professor turned his attention to the match.

Loren watched Gryffindor defeat Hufflepuff before helping Snape consider ways to improve the Wolfsbane Potion. Snape assigned Loren a weekly potion-formula challenge and summoned the Potions Club, whose members gathered in the classroom unsure what he would teach.

• Hermione counted Gryffindor's House points while Loren discussed Dumbledore with Padma, who moved away from their conversation.
• Wood led Gryffindor to a commanding Quidditch victory over Hufflepuff, while Harry struggled to outmaneuver the more experienced Cedric.
• George and Fred approached Cedric after the match, and he guardedly bargained with them about their request.
• Loren recognized the Wolfsbane Potion Snape was brewing and identified the added Giant Arum Lily in its revised formula.
• Snape explained his theory about the potion's pain and effectiveness, then asked Loren to propose an improved formula each week.
• Snape called the Potions Club to meet, and the members gathered in the Dungeon Classroom without knowing what he planned to teach.

Snape warned the Potions Club about the hardships of potion-making and offered students summer internships as Hogwarts expanded its potion business. At dinner, the professors discussed using the profits to improve the school, while Loren discovered Hermione had already broken her Mandrake Leaf and had secretly let him continue the ritual.

• Snape explained Damocles Belby's work on the Wolfsbane Potion and warned students that most potion-makers never gained fame or wealth.
• Snape told interested students to register with Professor McGonagall for summer internships in potion-related work.
• Professor McGonagall and the other professors discussed using the school's growing business to fund staff, student aid, and new equipment.
• Dumbledore said he had found a candidate for the Defense Against the Dark Arts post, and Professor McGonagall hoped he would last until Christmas.
• Loren accidentally bit through his Mandrake Leaf while eating a veal shank and swallowed it.
• Hermione revealed that she had broken her own leaf earlier and had kept quiet so Loren would continue the ritual until he failed on his own.

Loren and Hermione spent a spring afternoon cooking with friends at Hagrid’s hut before hurrying to Professor McGonagall’s Animagus class. The class discovered that Neville alone had held a Mandrake Leaf in his mouth for a month, leaving everyone stunned.

• Hagrid welcomed Harry, Ron, Loren, Hermione, Ginny, and Luna to his hut, where Loren and Hermione prepared grilled mutton, vegetables, and sea bass soup.
• Luna asked Harry about the coming Quidditch match, and Harry’s interest in Cho Chang made Ginny jealous.
• The group ate Loren’s cooking, while Luna made a flower wreath and hoped a baby Unicorn would wear it.
• Loren and Hermione arrived at the Transfiguration classroom, where George and Fred were blamed for ruining the other students’ Mandrake Leaf task.
• Professor McGonagall asked who had succeeded, and Neville cautiously raised his hand as the only student to have kept the leaf in his mouth for a month.

Neville completed the next stage of the Animagus Ritual after preserving a Mandrake leaf for a month, while the other students prepared for exams and summer. Harry then caught the Golden Snitch to secure Gryffindor the Quidditch championship and the House Cup.

• Neville succeeded in keeping the Mandrake leaf intact, and Professor McGonagall guided him through preparing and hiding the Secret Potion.
• Professor McGonagall advised students nearing graduation to keep studying and explained that they could return to attempt the Animagus Ritual once they had enough theoretical knowledge.
• Neville told his roommates how he completed the ritual and wondered whether his parents at St Mungo's would be proud of him.
• Harry realized Draco was stalling while Slytherin widened its lead, then spotted and caught the Golden Snitch before Gryffindor's score deficit reached 150.
• Gryffindor won the Quidditch championship and secured the House Cup, while the professors discussed whether teams should standardize their brooms.

As final exams approached, Harry told Loren, Hermione, and Ron about a dream in which Voldemort tried to recruit American Werewolves and planned to send Wormtail back to Hogwarts. Dumbledore said he would handle the threat, urged Harry to master Occlumency, and asked Loren to accompany him to St Mungo's after the holidays because there had been progress on their matter.

• Professor Sprout told the students to transplant Umbrella Mushrooms and warned them to stop stealing Mandrake leaves; Loren persuaded Hermione to leave the leaves alone over the holidays.
• Harry dreamed that Voldemort tried to recruit Werewolves by offering to fight anti-Werewolf laws, then told Wormtail he would need new servants when Wormtail returned to Hogwarts.
• After Professor McGonagall announced that final exams would begin on June first, Harry told Loren, Hermione, and Ron about his dream and Voldemort's plans.
• Dumbledore said he would investigate the Werewolves, urged Harry to learn Occlumency, and reassured the students that he would handle Voldemort.
• Dumbledore told Hermione he would oppose any international anti-Werewolf law and asked Loren to accompany him to St Mungo's after the holidays.

As Hogwarts prepared to end the year, Loren learned how Snape brewed the Mandrake potion that would revive the Petrified students, while Harry visited Colin and Justin as they woke. After the final exams, Loren and Hermione relaxed by the lake, where they noticed rain clouds gathering.

• Hermione learned that Loren would stay at Hogwarts over the holidays to complete his Apparition assessment and help treat Neville's parents.
• Professor McGonagall announced that the Mandrakes were ready, and Snape invited Loren to watch him prepare the restorative potion.
• Harry visited the Hospital Wing as Colin and Justin woke, while Dumbledore accepted responsibility for the attacks and promised to speak with their parents.
• Loren took his exams, then teased Hermione by claiming she had missed hidden questions on Professor Flitwick's paper.
• Loren and Hermione rested beside the Black Lake and agreed that the thick clouds meant rain was coming.

During a stormy night at Hogwarts, Loren and Hermione played together while Neville returned from a failed Animagus attempt. The next day, Loren proposed a way to reach the Lumbard couple through their minds with Neville’s help, and the chapter ended with the Year-End Feast celebrating Gryffindor’s second consecutive House Cup win.

• Loren and Hermione played a hand-slapping game in the Gryffindor common room until Neville returned soaked and said his Animagus attempt had failed.
• Neville went to his dormitory, changed, and began packing for home, accepting the setback as another familiar failure.
• Loren and Percy discussed Percy’s summer plans before Loren joined Hermione for breakfast and a planned trip to the Forbidden Forest.
• Dumbledore told Loren that the Lumbard couple’s minds were disordered after the Unforgivable Curses, and Loren suggested using Bloody Mary's Hand Mirror to let Neville reach them through their memories.
• A week later, Hogwarts held the Year-End Feast, where Gryffindor celebrated winning the House Cup for the second year in a row.

After Hogwarts celebrated the end of the school year, Dumbledore summoned Neville and Loren to St Mungo's to visit Neville's parents. Neville learned that Loren believed they might discover what was wrong with Frank Longbottom and Alice Longbottom, and the group entered their ward with Augusta.

• Dumbledore announced that the Mandrake juice had cured the petrified victims and that Gryffindor had won the House Cup.
• Percy handed out the Grade Reports, and Hermione found that Loren was tied for first while Neville celebrated his Outstanding in Herbology.
• Neville returned from Dumbledore's office unsettled, and Loren told him that the holidays would soon bring an answer about his parents.
• Harry and Ron departed on the Hogwarts Express while Loren and Hermione stayed behind; Hermione went to take her Apparition assessment, and Loren set off to meet Dumbledore and Neville.
• Dumbledore brought Loren and Neville through the hidden entrance to St Mungo's, where Augusta met them and led them toward Frank Longbottom and Alice Longbottom.

Loren began a mind-linking ritual to reach Frank and Alice Longbottom through their consciousness, sending Neville alone into the unknown third layer to find them. Elsewhere, Rita Skeeter was sent to the United States, Hermione mastered Apparition, and Mrs. Longbottom waited anxiously for the ritual to succeed.

• Loren explained the three-layer illusion to Neville, then used Bloody Mary's Hand Mirror to connect Neville and himself to Frank and Alice Longbottom.
• Loren guided Neville through the first layer, a reflection of St Mungo's, and into the empty Diagon Alley of the second layer.
• Loren led Neville to the entrance of Knockturn Alley and told him to enter the third layer alone, find his parents, and bring them out; Neville went in.
• Professor McGonagall and Snape watched Rita Skeeter fly away after she agreed to gather intelligence for Dumbledore in the United States for a year in exchange for keeping her Animagus identity secret.
• Hermione successfully Apparated into the Wooden Ring under Professor Flitwick's supervision and agreed not to use the magic publicly before getting her licence.
• Back in the closed ward, Mrs. Longbottom asked Dumbledore whether Neville and his parents could succeed.