Chapter Summaries

Slughorn gave Loren six bottles of the newly brewed Felix Felicis and warned him about its addictive effects. Later, Hermione left the Library and returned looking dazed with two glowing bottles.

• Slughorn divided the Felix Felicis with Loren, who accepted six bottles and refused the other two.
• Slughorn warned Loren that excessive use of Felix Felicis could cause serious side effects and addiction, and advised him to sell or store it safely.
• Loren went to the Library on Saturday and read records about Felix Felicis while Hermione worked on her Ancient Rune translation.
• Madam Pince whispered to Hermione, who left the Library and later returned looking dazed with two bottles of Felix Felicis.

Loren and Harry met Dumbledore for another journey into the past, while Harry told Loren about his recurring dreams of his young mother. They entered Dumbledore’s memory and arrived at Wool’s Orphanage, where the child who would become Voldemort was to be found.

• Hermione gave Loren a bottle of Felix Felicis from Professor Slughorn, and Loren warned her not to use it consecutively because of the risk of addiction.
• On the way to Dumbledore’s office, Harry told Loren that he had been dreaming nightly about his young mother and her relationship with Aunt Petunia.
• Dumbledore explained Merope Gaunt’s fate and invited Loren and Harry to enter a memory from sixty years earlier to meet the child who would become Voldemort.
• Loren and Harry entered the Pensieve and followed young Dumbledore through an old street to the entrance of Wool’s Orphanage.

Dumbledore visited the orphanage to invite Tom Riddle to Hogwarts, while Loren and Harry watched the memory. Mrs. Cole described Riddle’s birth and troubling behavior, including incidents involving other children.

• Mrs. Cole directed her assistants to care for children with chickenpox and hurried to meet Dumbledore.
• Dumbledore told Mrs. Cole he wanted to arrange Tom Riddle’s future and invite him to Hogwarts.
• Dumbledore used a Confundus Charm and gin to make Mrs. Cole more trusting, and she recounted how Tom’s mother died after giving birth at the orphanage.
• Mrs. Cole said Tom had no relatives and described him as a strange child who bullied others and was linked to Billy Stubbs’s rabbit being hung from the rafters.
• Mrs. Cole said Amy Benson and Dennis Bishop had changed after a seaside trip with Tom, though they only said they had gone into a cave with him.

Dumbledore’s memory showed Loren and the others how eleven-year-old Tom Riddle first learned of Hogwarts and revealed his ability to speak to snakes. Back in the Headmaster’s office, Dumbledore explained that Riddle excelled at school while building a circle of devoted accomplices who became the predecessors of the Death Eaters.

• Mrs. Cole brought the younger Dumbledore to meet Tom Riddle at Wool’s Orphanage, where Riddle questioned whether he was a doctor.
• Dumbledore demonstrated magic by making flames engulf Riddle’s wardrobe, exposing the stolen trinkets inside before the flames vanished without damage.
• Dumbledore told Riddle that Hogwarts was a school of magic and warned him that theft was not permitted there.
• Riddle declined Dumbledore’s offer to accompany him to Diagon Alley, then asked whether speaking to snakes was normal for a wizard.
• Loren and the others returned from the memory to Dumbledore’s office, where Dumbledore recalled Riddle’s talent and his devoted accomplices at Hogwarts.
• Dumbledore identified those accomplices as the predecessors of the Death Eaters.

Dumbledore explained Voldemort’s personality and his habit of collecting significant objects, then prepared to destroy the Gaunt family ring. The ring’s curse did not affect Dumbledore this time, and the chapter ended with the Resurrection Stone exposed in the Headmaster’s office.

• Dumbledore described Voldemort’s pride, indifference, arrogance, and rejection of friendship, while Harry identified his cruelty and Loren pointed out his collecting habit.
• Dumbledore listed Voldemort’s treasured objects and explained that they had been made into Horcruxes that needed to be destroyed.
• Dumbledore asked Loren to help destroy the Gaunt family ring, which Loren had kept encased in a black stone sphere.
• Dumbledore used his wand and an Alchemy Array to remove the sphere’s layers and reveal the cracked ring set with the Resurrection Stone.
• Dumbledore briefly lost focus while looking at the ring but quickly recovered, while Harry did not recognize the stone.

Dumbledore destroyed the soul fragment in the ring with Fiendfyre, revealing the Resurrection Stone, while Harry and Loren declined to use it. Dumbledore warned that time was running out as Harry’s seventeenth birthday approached; elsewhere, Voldemort and Snape discussed targeting the Ministry of Magic.

• Dumbledore burned away the ring and its Horcrux with Fiendfyre, leaving the Black Gem intact.
• Dumbledore explained that the gem was the Resurrection Stone, and Harry and Loren refused to use it to meet the dead.
• Loren asked why Dumbledore had begun destroying Horcruxes, and Dumbledore said time was running out because Harry’s seventeenth birthday was approaching.
• Snape told Voldemort that the protection tied to Harry’s blood would end when Harry turned seventeen.
• Voldemort and Snape discussed attacking the Ministry of Magic, with Snape proposing that recruits from the border draw the Aurors’ spells.

Dumbledore touched the cracked Black Gem and saw a transparent figure of Ariana. Meanwhile, sixth-year students struggled with their demanding coursework, and Hermione shared a chiffon cake she had made with Loren.

• Dumbledore watched Harry and Loren leave, then reached out and touched the Black Gem.
• The moonlight and starlight gathered into a transparent figure, and Dumbledore murmured Ariana's name.
• As October brought colder weather, sixth-year students endured heavy workloads and practiced silent casting.
• Hermione returned from the underground Kitchen after getting along with the House-elves and learning to bake from Winky.
• Hermione brought Loren a chiffon cake she had made, and they shared it together.

Loren and Hermione spent Hogsmeade Weekend shopping before Professor Slughorn told them he had sold two bottles of Felix Felicis for a high price. He urged them to keep any remaining potion and hinted that he had received troubling news, leaving Loren and Hermione waiting for him to explain.

• Loren, Hermione, and their friends passed the stricter security checks and made their way through the snow to Hogsmeade.
• Harry and Ginny went to the tea house, Ron headed for The Three Broomsticks, and Loren and Hermione shopped at Honeydukes.
• Professor Slughorn found Loren and Hermione at Honeydukes and paid for their purchases before taking them to The Three Broomsticks.
• Slughorn told Loren that two bottles of Felix Felicis had sold for eight hundred Galleons each and said he planned to keep the rest for himself.
• Slughorn advised Loren and Hermione to keep their Felix Felicis because the world was growing dangerous, and Loren asked whether he had received news.

Slughorn warned Loren and Hermione that the stalemate between the Ministry and Voldemort’s forces was ending, with a possible Halloween Eve operation that could provoke open war. At The Three Broomsticks, Loren told Harry and Ron what he had learned, and Harry wondered whether Dumbledore’s sudden efforts to destroy Horcruxes were connected to the coming conflict.

• Slughorn told Loren and Hermione that dark wizards, Werewolves, and Dementors might act near Halloween Eve, while the Ministry could be preparing an ambush.
• Harry discussed Gryffindor’s Quidditch team with Ron at The Three Broomsticks, but Ron was distracted by Madam Rosmerta.
• Loren and Hermione joined Harry and Ron, and Loren teased Ron about his interest in Madam Rosmerta.
• Loren relayed Slughorn’s warning about a possible Halloween confrontation between Voldemort’s forces and the Ministry.
• Harry questioned whether Dumbledore’s sudden destruction of collected Horcruxes was connected to the coming conflict.

Loren and Hermione spoke with Dumbledore after he returned to Hogwarts, and learned that the Ministry had asked him to help fight Voldemort. Dumbledore explained that he had refused, and the chapter ended as he began to explain his reasons.

• Ron panicked before Gryffindor's first Quidditch match against Slytherin, and Harry agreed when Ron offered him the captaincy.
• Loren and Hermione spotted Dumbledore at breakfast, then left the crowd with him on the way to the pitch.
• Dumbledore told Hermione he had been doing security consulting for the Ministry, though he said other matters had left him looking tired.
• In his office, Dumbledore said Scrimgeour had asked him and Hogwarts's other professors to join an operation against Voldemort.
• Dumbledore said he had refused because the Ministry did not understand Voldemort clearly.

Dumbledore explained to Hermione and Loren that the Ministry’s Halloween operation was a trap aimed at both the Ministry and Voldemort’s forces, then asked Hermione to destroy Ravenclaw’s Diadem. Hermione drew the Sword of Gryffindor as the Horcrux began to tremble.

• Scrimgeour met privately with Dumbledore, but the two parted on bad terms after Dumbledore warned that the Halloween operation was a trap.
• Scrimgeour kept forces behind to guard the Ministry and secretly moved the imprisoned Death Eaters.
• Dumbledore told Hermione and Loren that the Ministry’s Aurors would likely win unless Voldemort appeared, and that Voldemort aimed to rescue his old servants.
• Dumbledore revealed Ravenclaw’s Diadem and asked Hermione to destroy the Horcrux attached to it.
• Hermione named the Basilisk Fang and the Sword of Gryffindor as possible weapons, then drew the sword from the Sorting Hat as the diadem began to tremble.

Hermione destroyed the Diadem with the sword, then she and Loren joined Gryffindor’s celebration after the team won its Quidditch match. As the party continued, Lavender confessed her feelings to Ron and kissed him, leaving him stunned but intrigued.

• Hermione pierced the Diadem with the sword, destroying it as its dark mist and voice disappeared.
• Dumbledore sent Hermione and Loren to the Gryffindor celebration, and they learned that Gryffindor had won the Quidditch match.
• Loren and Hermione watched the celebration from their usual table as the crowd cheered the team.
• Harry and Ginny escaped the crush and joined Loren and Hermione, then Ginny asked where Ron was.
• Lavender Brown confessed her feelings to Ron and kissed him, and Ron eventually decided that he liked it.

Hermione brought Winky to meet Professor Burbage, where he asked her questions about Muggle civilization and received encouragement. Later, Hermione told Loren that someone planned to put Love Potion in the Halloween feast, and they hurried to alert the prefects.

• Hermione visited Professor Burbage with Winky, who brought her a pumpkin gift and asked questions about Muggle civilization.
• Professor Burbage praised Winky for what he had learned and agreed to answer his questions.
• Hermione left the office and later found Loren watching bats in the corridor.
• Hermione told Loren that someone planned to add Love Potion to the Halloween feast and said they should find Parvati and alert the prefects.
• Loren explained that George and Fred had smuggled Love Potion into Hogwarts in disguised bottles, and Hermione resolved to have those responsible punished.

Loren and Harry left the Gryffindor Common Room to attend the Halloween feast, while Gale, Mill, and Orr prepared to ration food for the Giant tribe through winter. The chapter left Gale privately considering abandoning the old and weak Giants to conserve supplies.

• Loren found Ron and Lavender kissing in the Common Room and asked Harry how long they had been at it.
• Loren told Harry about the Halloween ghost play, and Harry chose to go to the Great Hall rather than keep watching Ron and Lavender.
• Gale calculated the tribe’s food stores and agreed with Mill and Orr to gather and ration supplies through winter.
• Mill recalled that last winter’s food had run out early and hunger had led Giants to attack one another.
• Gale considered saving food by abandoning the old and weak Giants, but stayed silent when he saw Mill’s distress.
• Orr called the Giants to the bonfire, where they gathered for food and water, calling their three leaders Ymir.

As Hogwarts celebrated Halloween, the Ministry of Magic mobilized for a dangerous operation in Hastings while Tonks and Kingsley blended into the Muggle festivities. At the feast, Loren sensed the Book of Abraham responding to the changes in the stars as the chapter ended.

• Loren and Hermione watched the Halloween feast and Moaning Myrtle’s play, while Hermione worried that Professor Bashat’s fire magic could set the Castle ablaze.
• Amelia Bones coordinated Ministry defenses and surveillance as Minister Scrimgeour led nearly all the Aurors through a hidden Floo connection to Hastings to ambush Death Eaters.
• Tonks and Kingsley took up positions among the Muggles in Hastings, where Tonks entertained a costumed girl by teaching her magical tricks.
• The Prime Minister suspected that the absent wizards were conducting an operation and studied figures in a report from his office at Downing Street.
• At the Great Hall feast, Ginny said the Centaurs had summoned Firenze to interpret major changes in the stars.
• Loren sensed something heating inside his pendant and saw The Book of Abraham trembling in its hidden space.

Amelia Bones discovered that Voldemort was attacking the Ministry of Magic, while Tonks and Kingsley responded to a disturbance at Holiday Park. Voldemort reached Bones in her office and tortured her for information, but Snape proposed keeping the Ministry officials alive for a trade.

• Bones noticed the Ministry's alchemical array breaking and warned that someone was attacking the Ministry of Magic.
• Tonks sensed danger among the costumed crowd at Holiday Park and transported a little girl safely home.
• Voldemort fought his way through the Ministry, while Snape wounded Bertha Jokins with Sectumsempra.
• Voldemort confronted Amelia Bones and taunted her about her dead family as he demanded to know where his servants were hidden.
• Bones resisted Voldemort's Legilimency and lost consciousness under his Cruciatus Curse.
• Snape urged Voldemort to spare Bones and Jokins so they could be used in a trade.

At Hastings Holiday Park, Kingsley and the Aurors confronted Dementors attacking everyone without Patronus protection, while Scrimgeour realized the Ministry had been lured into a trap. As the park’s aftermath came to light, the Prime Minister ordered a launch after hearing a military report about the incident.

• Kingsley cast protective spells that drove Muggles away from the holiday park before Black wizards summoned the Dark Mark and gathered for a feast.
• Dementors arrived in the fog and drained the emotions of Muggles and Black wizards throughout the park.
• An Auror team used a rabbit Patronus to rescue Muggles and attack Black wizards, but found the Dementors surrounding everyone without Patronus protection.
• Kingsley told Scrimgeour that the Dementors had lost control, and Scrimgeour concluded that the Black wizards were bait and the Ministry had taken Voldemort’s hook.
• Scrimgeour ordered the Ministry contacted as the fog thinned, and he and Kingsley saw a blazing object hurtling toward them.
• At 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister heard a military report about the supernatural incident and ordered, "Launch."

Loren studied The Book of Abraham while Ron confided his doubts about dating Lavender. In Dumbledore’s office, Scrimgeour reported the deadly missile attack and the Ministry’s loss of contact before a brilliant streak of light crossed the sky.

• Ron asked Loren and Harry whether his public displays of affection with Lavender were strange and admitted he was unsure he truly liked her.
• Loren read The Book of Abraham, but the book offered no new information.
• Scrimgeour told Dumbledore that Kingsley had identified and detonated a missile before it reached them, though the blast killed nearly all the captured dark wizards and two Muggles.
• Scrimgeour reported that the Ministry building was sealed and its staff could not be reached by Floo or telephone.
• A brilliant streak of light swept past Dumbledore’s office, tore through the clouds, and revealed the stars and moon.

Loren dreamed of traveling through the stars with The Book of Abraham as Dumbledore waited for dawn. At the Ministry’s confrontation with the Prime Minister, Scrimgeour learned of the missile launch and imposed magical oversight, before a portrait delivered Voldemort’s urgent request for a meeting.

• Loren awoke inside a vivid dream, where The Book of Abraham carried him through space toward a strange planet before he began to fall.
• Dumbledore watched a streak of light break through the clouds and then went to sleep with Fawkes.
• Kingsley Shacklebolt and Tonks confronted the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street, while Herbert Jowle and Emeline Vance erased evidence of magic and wizard-related records.
• Scrimgeour arrived and heard Kingsley’s account of the Prime Minister’s actions, including the missile launch.
• Scrimgeour said the Aurors would erase traces of magic and that Herbert Jowle and Emeline Vance would monitor the Prime Minister until the war ended.
• A portrait announced that Voldemort urgently requested a meeting with the Minister for Magic.

After awakening from a vivid journey among the stars, Loren learned that Harry had seen his bed empty during the night. News then reached Hogwarts that Voldemort had attacked the Ministry and captured Susan Bones's aunt, while Snape pressed Scrimgeour to trade imprisoned Death Eaters for Ministry staff.

• Loren woke with The Book of Abraham beside him and noticed that his Magic Power had increased.
• In the Common Room, Hermione left with Parvati, and Loren wondered whether he should find a way to separate them.
• At breakfast, Harry told Loren that his bed had been empty when Harry got up during the night.
• Susan Bones received a letter saying that Voldemort had attacked the Ministry of Magic and captured her aunt, prompting her to sob as the Great Hall fell silent.
• At a hidden London location, Snape offered Scrimgeour a deal: the Death Eaters' location in exchange for Ministry staff.