Chapter Summaries

Voldemort survived Dumbledore’s attack by escaping through a Portkey, while the Ministry dealt with the battle’s aftermath and Rufus Scrimgeour became Minister for Magic. Loren returned to the Department of Mysteries, absorbed the Time Room’s mist and the Planet Room’s darkness into the Snake Scale, and the chapter ended with Betty asking Sirius to have a child.

• A Death Eater used a Portkey to rescue Voldemort from Dumbledore’s flames, and Voldemort returned to the graveyard beneath Tom Riddle’s tombstone.
• Rufus Scrimgeour organized the Ministry’s response as Harry woke and Hermione explained that everyone was safe and Loren had gone back for his pendant.
• Loren entered the Time Room and drew its luminous mist into the Snake Scale, turning it into a golden gemstone speckled with silver.
• Loren entered the Planet Room and absorbed its darkness into the Snake Scale, transforming it into light-devouring Obsidian.
• Percy read that Cornelius Fudge had been removed as Minister and Rufus Scrimgeour would take his place, while the Weasleys and Harry discussed the battle.
• Betty asked Sirius to have a child, and Kreacher celebrated until Sirius shouted at him.

Loren spent the holidays with Hermione before studying the stolen gemstones with Flamel, while Voldemort recovered in the ruins of the Gaunt home and sought the identity of the person who had stolen the Elder Wand. The chapter ended with Voldemort using Legilimency on Bathilda Bagshot and demanding the name of the blond boy on a card.

• Loren and Hermione watched films together, and Loren warmed and caressed Hermione’s feet as they watched Pulp Fiction.
• Loren examined his imitation Sorcerer’s Stone powder and asked Flamel about the gemstones from the Department of Mysteries.
• Voldemort healed his burns with Morfin Gaunt’s wand and vowed to find a suitable wand and make the wizarding world recognize him as victor.
• Voldemort traveled to Godric’s Hollow and questioned Bathilda Bagshot about the person who had stolen the Elder Wand.
• Voldemort used his magic to probe Bathilda’s mind and demanded that she identify the blond boy shown on a card.

Loren, Hermione, and Harry joined Dumbledore on a nighttime mission to persuade his retired colleague Horace Slughorn to return to Hogwarts. They found Slughorn hiding as an armchair in a wrecked house, and Loren identified him by the smell of potions.

• Loren read newspaper reports about the attack on the Ministry and the Hall of Prophecy, while Hermione waited for Dumbledore to arrive.
• Dumbledore arrived with Harry, and he took Loren, Hermione, and Harry by Side-Along Apparition to Budleigh Babberton.
• During the walk, Dumbledore told Harry that Voldemort might be using Occlumency to block their mental connection and explained that the group was seeking a retired Hogwarts teacher.
• At a wrecked house, Dumbledore revealed that an armchair was Horace Slughorn in disguise.
• Slughorn changed back into a man and asked how Loren had found him, and Loren said he had smelled the potions on him.

Dumbledore visited Horace Slughorn with Loren, Hermione, and Harry to persuade him to return as Hogwarts’ Potions Master. After discussing Slughorn’s former students and Voldemort’s growing need for recruits, the group left with Slughorn agreeing to take the position.

• Loren introduced himself, Hermione, and Harry to Slughorn, and Dumbledore praised the students’ Potions skills.
• Slughorn and Dumbledore repaired the damaged house, shared a drink, and discussed Slughorn’s refusal to return to Hogwarts.
• Slughorn explained how he had avoided the Death Eaters and recalled his former students, including Lily Evans.
• Loren and Harry questioned Slughorn about his influential students and whether Voldemort might target him.
• Loren warned Slughorn that Voldemort needed capable recruits, and Slughorn agreed to return to Hogwarts as the group prepared to leave.

Dumbledore brought Harry, Hermione, and Loren to Nurmengard to visit Gellert Grindelwald, after explaining Slughorn’s connection to Voldemort and the attack on Bathilda Bagshot. Grindelwald welcomed them, and Dumbledore ended the chapter by offering him a job as Hogwarts’ Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

• Dumbledore explained that Slughorn had taught Voldemort about Horcruxes and asked Harry to obtain the memory Slughorn had concealed.
• Dumbledore revealed that Voldemort had killed Mrs. Bashir and stolen a photograph of her nephew, Grindelwald.
• Loren urged Dumbledore to warn Nurmengard, and Dumbledore disclosed that they were already headed there.
• Dumbledore described Grindelwald’s past and his pursuit of the Deathly Hallows as the group climbed through Nurmengard.
• Grindelwald greeted Dumbledore and the students in his prison cell, and Dumbledore offered him the Defense Against the Dark Arts position at Hogwarts.

Dumbledore brought Harry, Hermione, and Loren to Nurmengard to ask Grindelwald to teach at Hogwarts and told him about Voldemort’s return and attack on Mrs. Bashir. After Dumbledore left, Grindelwald asked the students about the future of wizards and Muggles, and Loren answered that they could not coexist peacefully.

• Grindelwald asked Harry, Hermione, and Loren to tell him about Voldemort, and Harry recounted the Gaunt family’s history and Voldemort’s rise and defeat.
• Dumbledore told Grindelwald that Voldemort had attacked Mrs. Bashir and was searching for the Elder Wand, then urged Grindelwald to attend her funeral.
• Dumbledore and Grindelwald tested each other’s memories with Legilimency and reached an understanding about Grindelwald teaching at Hogwarts.
• Dumbledore left to handle documents at the Austrian Ministry of Magic, leaving the students with Grindelwald.
• Grindelwald asked the students about Muggle society and the International Statute of Secrecy; Hermione argued that wizards and Muggles could develop together, and Loren said they could not coexist peacefully.

Loren and Hermione returned to Hogwarts after discussing the danger of a wizarding war with Grindelwald and Dumbledore, while Dumbledore warned Harry to stay cautious and arranged for Snape’s belongings to be kept safe. The students reunited for the new term amid rumors about the Ministry battle, and Loren dodged Rolf’s questions about the Basilisk.

• Loren argued that growing cultural, economic, and technological differences between Muggles and wizards made war inevitable, and Grindelwald acknowledged that either side could devastate the other.
• Dumbledore praised Harry, advised him to keep his Invisibility Cloak close, and escorted him, Loren, and Hermione back toward London with Grindelwald.
• Dumbledore gave Loren two storage Snake Scales: one containing Snape’s belongings for safekeeping and another as payment, and he said he would prevent Snape from being blamed by the Ministry.
• On January 14, Loren and Hermione said goodbye to their parents at King’s Cross and boarded the Hogwarts Express for the new term.
• At Hogwarts, students discussed the Department of Mysteries battle and the Ministry attacks, while Harry was crowded with questions and Rolf asked Loren about the Basilisk’s appearance at the Ministry.

At the start of term, Dumbledore welcomed the students back, warned them about the continuing danger from Voldemort, and introduced Slughorn and Grindelwald as the new Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts professors. Later, Loren learned Neville could not discuss the Ministry trials, while Astoria comforted Draco and offered money to help his imprisoned parents.

• At dinner, Slughorn discussed how the Ministry trials and imprisoned Slytherin parents had disrupted his plans to restart the Slug Club.
• Dumbledore warned the students that Voldemort remained at large, announced Snape had left Hogwarts, and introduced Slughorn and Beowulf Bashart as professors.
• Loren and Hermione said good night before Loren returned to his dormitory and teased Neville about what he knew of the trials.
• Draco sat alone in the Slytherin Common Room, and Astoria brought him a beef pie and offered her savings to help his parents.
• Astoria told Draco that his mother might be bailed out and that his father could need a large sum of money because many people had identified him.

Loren and Hermione met their new Potions Master, Slughorn, and Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Grindelwald, as classes began for the term. Slughorn impressed the class with his lectures while Aurors confiscated items outside his office, and Grindelwald began setting rules for his classroom.

• Loren and Hermione attended Binns’s History of Magic lesson before meeting Slughorn in Potions Master class.
• Slughorn invited selected students, including Loren and Hermione, to a weekend seminar and reviewed Potions Master material with the class.
• Hermione noticed that Slughorn’s teaching differed from Snape’s, and Loren spotted two Aurors conducting a confiscation outside Slughorn’s office.
• Loren, Hermione, Ron, and Harry attended Trelawney’s Divination Class and then headed to Defense Against the Dark Arts.
• Grindelwald demonstrated wand-twirling with precise magic before greeting the students and beginning to lay down classroom rules.

Grindelwald began teaching the fifth-years with a revision plan and lessons on Dark Arts creatures. Later, Loren, Hermione, Harry, Neville, and Ron attended Slughorn’s gathering, where Slughorn welcomed Ron after Loren described the Weasley family’s connections.

• Grindelwald explained his classroom rules and announced that the class would revise for their O.W.L.s instead of studying new material.
• Grindelwald taught about Reanimated Zombies, Banshees, and Inferi, using stories from his past to explain how to defend against them.
• Hagrid invited Loren and the others to visit Grawp, but Harry declined because they were attending Slughorn’s gathering.
• Loren gave Hermione Strawberry Wands, and Ron worried that Slughorn might turn him away because he had not been invited.
• Loren introduced Ron to Slughorn and listed the Weasley family’s connections, prompting Slughorn to welcome him into the gathering.
• Slughorn introduced the other guests, including Rolf Scamander, Marcus Belby, Cormac, Blaise Zabini, Neville, Susan Bones, and Marietta Edgecombe.

Slughorn questioned Harry and the others about the Ministry incident at his gathering, then gave Loren a sickly hamster Snape had left behind. On a Hogsmeade outing, Loren and Hermione encountered Snape in the form of a fawn, and he warned them that Voldemort had discovered the Blond Man’s identity and ordered Dumbledore to prepare.

• Slughorn pressed Harry, Loren, and Hermione for details about the Ministry incident and the Prophecy Orb, but they dismissed the reports as false.
• Slughorn advised Draco and Theodore to trust their families amid the coming Wizengamot trial, then kept the gathering talking until curfew.
• Slughorn gave Loren a weak hamster that Snape had left in his office, and Loren kept Crookshanks from attacking it.
• Loren and Hermione spent Hogsmeade weekend together before Loren sensed a strange blue-black glow near the Shrieking Shack.
• Snape appeared as a fawn, told Loren and Hermione that Voldemort had learned the Blond Man’s identity and that the Austrian Ministry said Snape had taken him, then asked them to warn Dumbledore to prepare.

Loren received Snape’s guidance on Potions and learned that Macnair had been prepared as part of Snape’s resurrection plans, then followed Hogwarts through spring Quidditch matches and exam preparations. Draco traveled to the Ministry of Magic to attend a trial concerning a relative, arriving at the Tenth Courtroom and opening its door.

• Snape told Loren to watch for Voldemort’s attempts to contact werewolves, pursue advanced Potions research, and improve his potion-making; he also revealed that Macnair had been intended as material for his resurrection and asked Loren to collect a debt.
• Harry caught the Snitch for Gryffindor against Hufflepuff, and Cho Chang caught it for Ravenclaw against Slytherin after Harper’s mistakes.
• Loren and Hermione discussed their scheduled Career Guidance interview and Hermione listed employment requirements while they studied during the Easter holiday.
• Draco dressed for his relative’s Ministry trial, took the trial notice and a Storage Scale, and used the Floo Network from the Slytherin Common Room to reach the Ministry.
• Draco followed a Ministry employee to the Tenth Courtroom and opened its door.

Draco watched Narcissa's hearing, where she refused to reveal information about Voldemort, and later visited both parents in the Ministry's temporary prison. There, Loren revealed that he had come to discuss a deal concerning a debt from last Christmas.

• Draco watched Narcissa appear before the Wizengamot, where Scrimgeour offered leniency in exchange for information about Voldemort and his followers.
• Narcissa refused to cooperate, warning that Voldemort remained free and that too many people knowing a secret would make it unsafe.
• Scrimgeour adjourned the hearing without a confession, while the Ministry remained unable to discover Voldemort's whereabouts or the answers to other key questions.
• Draco and the disguised Loren visited Narcissa and Lucius in the Ministry's temporary prison after the Ministry employee monitoring them lost consciousness.
• Loren told Lucius that he had come on behalf of an old friend to discuss a deal concerning a debt from last Christmas, and Lucius reacted with alarm.

At Malfoy Manor, Lucius learned that the Dark Lord intended Draco to take part in a dangerous Knockturn Alley plan, so Snape offered to protect him in exchange for a price. After the Ministry attack and the Malfoys’ arrest, Loren revealed that Lucius’s bargain had been the removal of a finger, which he magically repaired.

• At his Christmas ball, Lucius secretly sought a potion from Snape to lower Fudge’s guard and asked Snape to help keep Draco safe from the Dark Lord’s plan.
• Snape took Draco to Borgin’s shop in Knockturn Alley and stunned him, then arranged to store him using Felix Felicis.
• After Death Eaters attacked the Ministry, the Daily Prophet reported that Lucius and Narcissa had been captured while Dumbledore defeated the Dark Lord again.
• In a temporary prison cell, Lucius told Narcissa that he had traded his freedom and body to protect Draco, prompting Draco to shield his parents from Loren.
• Loren clarified that he had only wanted a piece of Lucius’s flesh, removed Lucius’s left little finger, and used potions and spells to help it regrow.

Loren demonstrated his unusual Fiendfyre to Dumbledore and Grindelwald, then reported the Ministry review’s postponement to Hermione. After the Easter holiday, he and Hermione met with Professor McGonagall for Career Guidance, where Loren asked which Ministry department offered the quickest path to becoming Minister for Magic.

• Loren showed Dumbledore and Grindelwald his gentle, concentrated Fiendfyre, and they advised him on controlling and casting it.
• Loren told Dumbledore he had taken Lucius Malfoy's little finger and that the Ministry review had been postponed while Voldemort remained at large.
• Loren returned to Hermione and discussed the review, the missing ritual steps for reviving Snape, and the uncertainty of bringing Harry's mother back to life.
• After Easter, Loren and Hermione met Professor McGonagall for Career Guidance and said they wanted to work at the Ministry of Magic.
• Professor McGonagall described Ministry careers and recent ministers' backgrounds after Loren asked which department led to the ministerial post fastest.

Loren considered Ministry career paths while Professor McGonagall advised Hermione to keep him focused on revision. As June and the O.W.L. examinations approached, Ron’s hopes for a triumphant final Quidditch match were cut short by Harry catching the Snitch, while student black-market schemes flourished until McGonagall cracked down on them.

• Loren chose the Wizengamot Administration as a possible Ministry career path, and Professor McGonagall explained that it offered no direct administrative authority and urged Hermione to supervise his History of Magic revision.
• On May 26, Ron prepared to lead Gryffindor against Ravenclaw, but Harry caught the Golden Snitch within ten minutes and won the match, leaving Ron frustrated.
• As June arrived, Hogwarts students focused on revision for the approaching O.W.L. examinations and studied beneath the beech tree by the lake.
• Harry told Ron that Harold Dingel had been beaten after selling counterfeit dragon claw powder made from dried Doxy droppings, and Loren refused Ron’s request to brew Wit-Sharpening Potion for him.
• Deputy Headmaster Minerva McGonagall punished the student black-market sellers with detention, while George and Fred avoided detection because they had secretly supplied the merchants.

Hogwarts students began their O.W.L. examinations after two weeks of written and practical assessments were announced, with Professor Marchbanks arriving as chief examiner. Loren stayed relaxed through the first written Charms paper and was called for his practical examination at the end of the chapter.

• Professor McGonagall announced the O.W.L. schedule and warned students that cheating would lead to disqualification and expulsion.
• Loren teased anxious Ernie Macmillan by claiming he revised sixteen hours a day, then urged Hermione to rest before the examinations.
• Professor Marchbanks arrived at Hogwarts with the other examiners, and the fifth-years sat their written Charms examination the next morning.
• Hermione worried over her answers after the written paper, while Harry and Ron moved away from her examination talk.
• Hermione was called for her Charms practical, followed later by Harry, Ron, and Loren; Professor Flitwick directed Loren to Professor Marchbanks.

Loren completed a week of O.W.L. examinations, impressing the examiners with his Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts performances. After examinations in several other subjects, he and the other students faced Potions and Care of Magical Creatures tests, with more exams still ahead.

• Loren performed an elaborate goblet dance for Professor Marchbanks during his Charms practical and completed the remaining tasks.
• Harry and Ron described their examination mistakes, while Hannah Abbott became overwhelmed during Transfiguration and accidentally turned an Ermine into flamingos.
• Loren completed the Transfiguration practical by turning a lop-eared rabbit into a crow, using its ears as wings.
• Loren demonstrated a large Orca Patronus for Professor Marchbanks during his Defense Against the Dark Arts examination.
• Hermione worried over a mistake in her Ancient Rune exam, and Loren tried to reassure her during the exam weekend.
• The students completed Potions and Care of Magical Creatures examinations, where Neville successfully brewed his potion.

The fifth-year students completed their O.W.L.s, while Lupin investigated reports of an unknown Werewolf group recruiting young Werewolves. After exams ended, Loren and Hermione set off for Hogsmeade together.

• Loren and his classmates completed the Astronomy, Divination, and A History of Magic exams, celebrating the end of their fifth year.
• Lupin received a report of unfamiliar Werewolves recruiting recent graduates and suspected they might be connected to Greyback.
• Lupin told Sirius Black and Molly that he would investigate the Werewolves while posing as John Moon.
• Loren and Hermione went to Hogsmeade to buy quills, parchment, sweets, and other supplies for the summer.
• Loren planned to tease Harry and Ginny at Madam Puddifoot's tea shop, and Hermione took his hand as they walked.

During the End-of-Year Feast, Loren and Hermione learned that Voldemort had gathered Dementors, Werewolves, and Dark wizards and defeated the Ministry’s Aurors at the border. In London, Fudge arrived to tell the Muggle Prime Minister he had been dismissed, then introduced his successor, Rufus Scrimgeour.

• Hermione tried to compare her Ancient Rune exam answers with Loren, then fell asleep beside him while he wrote in her notebook.
• Rolf told Loren and Hermione that Voldemort had reunited with Dementors and Werewolves, recruited Dark wizards, and driven back the Aurors led by Scrimgeour and Amelia.
• Loren and Hermione noticed Dumbledore speaking gravely with Grindelwald while students at the feast whispered and watched Harry.
• The Prime Minister recalled his past dealings with the wizarding world and agreed to meet Fudge after receiving an urgent request.
• Fudge told the Prime Minister he had been dismissed months earlier and had come to hand over the office of Minister for Magic.
• Rufus Scrimgeour arrived at 10 Downing Street and introduced himself to the Prime Minister.