Chapter Summaries

After Vincent and Hermione skipped Potions, Snape tried to punish them, then retaliated with surveillance and a humiliating wanted poster. In the Room of Requirement, Vincent and Hermione turned their attention to finding out where the Triwizard Tournament’s second task would take place before February 24.

• Snape ordered Vincent and Hermione to sort the ingredients in his cabinets, but Vincent provoked him by holding Hermione’s hand.
• Snape forcibly separated them, and Vincent faked an injury; he read the Hogwarts Employee Handbook aloud so Hermione could take him to the Hospital Wing.
• Snape spent several days appearing behind Vincent, then posted a wanted notice describing him as a troll-like danger and offering rewards for his capture.
• Hermione recognized Snape’s poster as a way to evade the Employee Handbook, while Vincent said they needed to locate the second task’s venue.
• Hermione predicted the Ministry would wait until the event morning to prepare the venue, and Vincent decided to use a final method to discover its location in advance.

Vincent took charge of the Resurrection Stone after Dumbledore confirmed that it showed its holder illusions of the dead rather than bringing them back to life. While they waited for Harry, Vincent considered how his Magical Automaton might interact with Voldemort’s curse and realized it could be useful for exploring dangerous ruins.

• Vincent found that the Resurrection Stone had no effect on him, but Dumbledore saw an illusion of Ariana when he held it.
• Harry asked to see his parents, and Dumbledore let him use the stone while Vincent and the Magical Automaton waited outside.
• Dumbledore entrusted the Resurrection Stone to Vincent and explained that the Deathly Hallows were likely made by the Peverell Brothers, not Death.
• Vincent prepared dinner while he and Dumbledore waited for Harry to leave the Gaunt Family Home.
• Vincent asked whether the curse on the stone could transfer from the Magical Automaton to a living person, and Dumbledore explained that the automaton was not truly alive.
• Vincent realized that Magical Automatons might safely scout dangerous ancient ruins because many curses targeted living beings.

Vincent used the Time-Turner to spend nearly four days testing a mechanical arm and searching for useful combinations of Magical Runes. After Dumbledore warned him about the effects of accelerated time, Vincent confirmed he had made up his mind, leaving Dumbledore concerned about what he intended to achieve.

• Vincent went back five hours at a time to test the mechanical arm, eventually extending its operation to more than four hours by optimizing its movement path.
• Vincent found that reducing the arm’s moving joints helped prevent wear and discovered a pair of Magical Runes that could be placed together.
• Vincent continued looping through time until September 4, then returned to the dormitory when Gu Gu’s snacks ran low and he had run out of safe places to work.
• Vincent went to Dumbledore’s office on the Seventh Floor, where Dumbledore praised his skill with the Time-Turner and warned him to restrain himself.
• Vincent told Dumbledore he had made up his mind, and Dumbledore urged him to get proper rest.

At the Quidditch match between Canada and Bulgaria, Hermione and Vincent joked about Viktor Krum’s adoring fans and reminisced about Hermione’s old crush on Lockhart. Russell teased them about showing affection in public, then learned they had gone from friends to lovers and warmly supported their relationship.

• The Canadian and Bulgarian teams made dramatic entrances, and the crowd cheered for Bulgaria’s Viktor Krum.
• Hermione and Vincent watched female fans argue over whether Krum was looking at them, reminding Hermione of her former admiration for Lockhart.
• Hermione asked Vincent if she had been childish as a Lockhart fan, and he reassured her while teasing her affectionately.
• Russell asked Vincent and Hermione to spare him their displays of affection, and Vincent jokingly agreed.
• Russell asked whether Vincent and Hermione had gone from friends to lovers, and they smiled and nodded together.
• Vincent recognized that Russell approved of their relationship as Russell smiled at them.

The four Champions drew their dragon opponents for the first task, leaving Draco pale after he selected the Hungarian Horntail. As the crowd watched the live feed, Vincent and Hermione mocked a Nobili advertisement before the task began.

• The Champions gathered in the tent as Bagman explained that they had to take a Golden Egg guarded by a dragon.
• Pheobe drew the Number Two Welsh Green Dragon, Viktor Krum drew the Number Three Chinese Fireball Dragon, and Harry drew the Number One Swedish Short-Snout Dragon.
• Draco drew the remaining Hungarian Horntail and tried to hide his fear as the twins laughed at him from the stands.
• Vincent watched the live broadcast with Hermione and reassured her that Harry could still retrieve the Golden Egg from the Swedish Short-Snout Dragon.
• Vincent silenced their conversation while Hermione complained about Nobili's misleading advertisement, then joked about warnings for anyone lacking pure-blood ancestry.

Lupin taught the students the Tracking Spell in the school storage room, where Red Caps lurked among the junk. After every student successfully marked one, the class looked ahead to practicing how to defeat the creatures.

• Lupin introduced the storage room and explained that Red Caps hid among its clutter, then demonstrated the Tracking Spell on one of them.
• Vincent, Harry, and Hermione each used the spell to find another Red Cap.
• Lupin guided the rest of the class through practice, and every student eventually marked a Red Cap.
• Lupin awarded the students points and assigned them to think about how to defeat Red Caps, without giving homework.
• Seamus and Dean planned to practice Stunning Spells, and students from several houses gathered around Vincent to arrange weekend practice.

Snape was mistaken for Batman after accusing Wayne and other students, while Dumbledore and the Ministry weighed how to respond. Fudge decided to send more personnel to Hogwarts, despite Scrimgeour's objections and the lack of evidence.

• Snape told Kingsley that Wayne was Batman, Granger was Catwoman, and Scamander or Diggory was Red Hood, but he could provide no evidence.
• Kingsley reported that Hogwarts students suspected Snape was Batman, and rumors spread that Snape would be sent to Azkaban.
• Dumbledore urged Snape to put the greater good first and suggested the situation might draw out Sirius Black; Snape demanded the chance to deal with Black himself.
• Scrimgeour reported the Hogwarts attack and the Batman, Catwoman, and Red Hood rumors to Fudge.
• Fudge rejected Scrimgeour's advice to wait and ordered a thorough investigation and more personnel sent to Hogwarts.

Scrimgeour struggled to make progress investigating the attack while the Ministry prioritized keeping the World Cup safe. Dumbledore recruited Moody to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts, leaving Moody prepared to help children face the returning threat.

• Scrimgeour told the Ministry’s senior officials that the Auror Office had found no connection between five disappearances and the Death Eaters, and that it lacked the manpower to pursue the investigation effectively.
• Fudge and the other officials agreed to slow the investigation and redirect the Aurors toward preventing further incidents at the World Cup.
• Scrimgeour proposed hiring Moody as a special consultant, and Fudge approved the plan.
• Dumbledore visited Moody at his heavily trapped home and invited him to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts.
• Moody accepted because he wanted the children to learn how to protect themselves.

Sirius learned the cost of making Horcruxes and prepared a quiet funeral for Regulus. Meanwhile, Harry and Vincent explored Sirius’s old room, where Kreacher insulted Vincent before Sirius defended him.

• Sirius read about the damage Horcruxes caused and identified Voldemort’s known Horcruxes, including Harry.
• Sirius told Regulus that he would arrange a simple funeral after daybreak, then straightened his clothes as Kreacher tidied the room.
• Harry, Dumbledore, and Vincent examined Sirius’s room and found a photograph of James, Sirius, Lupin, and Peter.
• Vincent and Harry discovered a drawer full of unopened love letters addressed to Sirius.
• Kreacher snatched the letters away and insulted Vincent, but Sirius struck Kreacher with his wand and ordered it to leave.
• Sirius apologized to Vincent for his family’s prejudice, and Vincent said he was used to such hostility.

Vincent began making a Serpent Staff from Snakewood and Basilisk Horn, using his magic and Mithril to fuse and shape the materials. After completing the staff’s intertwined serpent form, he prepared to finish its remaining enchantments and restrictions.

• Vincent reviewed the seven-step instructions for making the Serpent Staff and gathered a Basilisk Horn and Snakewood branch.
• Vincent synchronized the materials’ magical auras and engraved Ancient Runes onto them.
• Vincent used the Alder Wand and potions to fuse the Basilisk Horn and Snakewood, then rested to recover.
• Vincent compressed and split the fused material into two serpents, then coated them in liquid Mithril.
• Vincent shaped the silver-scaled serpents into a 36.9-inch staff as the Snakewood began absorbing the Mithril.

Vincent and Pheobe attended the Yule Ball as Champions and dates, drawing attention when they entered together. As the opening dance approached, Pansy grew jealous of Draco’s interest in a girl dressed in black and decided she must be horribly ugly.

• Daphne noticed lipstick at the corner of Vincent’s mouth and hurried the group toward the Great Hall.
• McGonagall led the Champions and their dates into the decorated Great Hall, with Vincent and Pheobe entering last.
• Vincent pulled out Pheobe’s chair, and she nervously reminded him that Hermione would blame her if anything happened to him.
• Dumbledore teased Vincent about defeating challengers, and Vincent joked that he was faithfully carrying out a knight’s task.
• Pansy noticed Draco watching a girl dressed in black and imagined that the girl was astonishingly ugly.

Vincent visited injured Aurors at St. Mungo’s, checked on the Order of the Phoenix, and learned Jorkins’s condition suggested Voldemort might have regained a physical body. He then urged Rita to prepare a wizarding news program, setting plans in motion to challenge the Ministry of Magic’s control of public opinion.

• Snape harshly punished distracted students, while Filch confiscated the twins’ Auto-Writing Quills as prohibited items.
• Vincent visited St. Mungo’s and gave Wales a fruit basket, noticing that Dark Magic still lingered in his injured leg.
• Vincent found Tonks training with Lupin and learned from Sirius Black that the Order had cleared Ministry employees of Death Eater connections and was testing replacement magic for a new map.
• Vincent visited the injured Aurors and saw that Jorkins remained gravely affected by the Imperius Curse and depleted life force, leading him to suspect Voldemort had regained a physical body.
• Vincent sent Rita material from Muggle news programs and told her to prepare a wizarding news program to challenge the Ministry’s control of public opinion.

After a week of unrest over Voldemort’s return and Dumbledore’s removal, Vincent went out with Auror Wales to see a confrontation in Diagon Alley. He arrived as Sirius Black and Lucius Malfoy argued over an attack, with Fudge caught between them.

• Vincent learned from Wales that Malfoy and his allies had fought Sirius Black in Diagon Alley, and Wales admitted he believed Voldemort had returned.
• Vincent criticized Ministry officials for denying Voldemort’s return to protect their positions, while Wales reflected on his disillusionment with the Ministry.
• Vincent left home with Wales, used wandless magic to land unnoticed, and drove his Bugatti Veyron to the Leaky Cauldron.
• Vincent entered Diagon Alley and saw Aurors carrying Old Parkinson away after Sirius had attacked him.
• Vincent pushed through the crowd and found Sirius and Lucius confronting each other outside Prongs Magical Appliances as Fudge tried to calm them.

Fudge faced mounting public and international pressure after The Truth exposed the Ministry’s actions, while Vincent prepared a plan to clear Snape’s name and strike at the Temporary Headquarters. The chapter ended with Rita’s explosive new report reaching the public and challenging the Ministry’s case against Snape ahead of his trial.

• The Daily Prophet published Rita’s criticism of the Hogwarts search, prompting angry letters from parents and concern from the International Confederation of Wizards.
• Vincent told Tonks that he would act that night to destroy the Temporary Headquarters and clear Snape’s name before the trial.
• The Batman Family mobilized at two in the morning, while Cheshire sent out owls equipped with magical metal backpacks that made them invisible.
• The owls delivered The Daily Prophet by dropping it onto doorsteps, evading the Aurors’ attempts to reveal them.
• Rita’s report exposed the Ministry’s concealment of the owl theft and its confiscation operation, questioned the evidence against Snape, and demanded details of the Batman Family’s operation.

Sirius Black drank with Vincent and the children at Hog's Head Pub, then spoke about Azkaban and his innocence. He left the gathering facing the upcoming trial of the traitor and the unwanted attention of his female fan club.

• Sirius Black invited Harry, Ron, Fred, George, and Vincent to drink Firewhisky, while the other children declined.
• Vincent stopped Sirius Black from drinking more and told him that alcohol deepened sorrow rather than easing it.
• Sirius Black described Azkaban’s harsh conditions and revealed that Quirrell and Lockhart were imprisoned near the Death Eaters.
• Sirius Black recalled being tortured while remembering his innocence and the traitor who betrayed James Potter and Lily, then toasted catching the traitor with the others.
• Sirius Black admitted that he wanted to tell his female fan club to leave him alone, but that he was cooperating with the Ministry of Magic to maintain his image as a victim.

Vincent created Pandora, a Mithril briefcase that could rapidly transform into a wide range of conventional weapons, and showed its capabilities to Eric. They recognized its potential to become a devastating weapon if it were copied or used carelessly.

• Vincent rejected a design with fixed weapon forms and began making a briefcase that could change shape.
• Vincent discovered he could speed up transformations by prebuilding weapon interiors inside the Mithril briefcase.
• Vincent used the Serpent Staff to replicate the internal structures of numerous weapons, including combinations of firearms and explosives.
• Vincent showed Eric that the briefcase could transform into weapons such as an anti-materiel rifle and man-portable artillery.
• Eric warned that Pandora could threaten the Wizarding World and make Vincent a target if the Ministry learned of it.

Vincent, Sirius, and Moody watched the Quidditch match between Scotland and Luxembourg, where Scotland suffered a humiliating defeat and Luxembourg advanced to the semifinals. Afterward, the three went to a beach bar, where Vincent and Sirius tried to coax Moody into drinking and eating with them.

• Vincent handled the Wizarding World bigwigs in the VIP box before sitting between Fudge and Dumbledore, while Sirius and Moody watched the match from the sidelines.
• The Luxembourg Team overwhelmed the Scottish Team, winning 460–20 and sending Scotland out of the tournament.
• The twins lamented missing out on betting against Scotland, then Molly scolded them as the team continued to concede goals.
• Vincent left the stadium midway through the match, and Sirius followed; they watched the rest from a stairwell and criticized Scotland's listless players.
• Vincent, Sirius, and Moody left the stadium and went to an open-air bar in Devon, where Moody refused whisky and food while the other two tried to tempt him.

Sirius Black reunited with Dumbledore and returned to Hogwarts with Lupin, while McGonagall brought Harry, Ron, and Vincent back to the castle. Vincent faced an affectionate interrogation from his friends and left them dreading that he would make them see his memories of Dolores Umbridge.

• Dumbledore hugged Sirius Black and took him and Lupin away with Fawkes after promising to talk with Sirius later.
• McGonagall brought Harry, Ron, and Vincent back to Hogwarts by Apparition.
• Fred, George, Cedric, and Rolf surrounded Vincent in the Great Hall, but he easily overpowered Fred and George before sitting down to eat.
• Daphne teased Hermione about her connection to Vincent, and the two witches went to eat together.
• Vincent described Dolores Umbridge to his friends and offered to project his memories of her, but Cedric restrained him and Rolf took his wand.

On Valentine's Day, Vincent fled Hogwarts after girls surrounded his dormitory, then escaped to his parents' home in London. Hermione kept the girls at bay while Vincent settled in for a day at home before returning to school.

• Vincent's roommates wore stolen armor to avoid the girls waiting outside, but Vincent found a crowd at the dormitory door and escaped through the window with James's Alder Wand.
• Hermione arrived after the roommates called for help, sent them out safely, then sat on Vincent's bed and turned away the girls who came looking for him.
• Vincent wandered through London to his parents' home, where Eric and Evelyn were surprised to see him in pajamas.
• Vincent explained why he had fled Hogwarts, and Eric laughed while Evelyn offered him breakfast and told him to rest before returning to school the next day.

Vincent and Hermione found the missing Magical Projection Maintenance Manual in Goblins Hall, suggesting a Ministry of Magic mole had been bought off by the goblins. They left the unanswered mystery of the goblins’ plans to Sirius Black and Lupin and returned to school without joining the Order of the Phoenix.

• Hermione found the goblin hall master’s drawers, and Vincent opened them with his Serpent Staff to reveal promissory notes, letters, and the missing maintenance manual.
• Vincent and Hermione suspected a Ministry mole had given the manual to Goblins Hall and investigated the Magical Projections, finding they came from the first batch supplied to the British Ministry of Magic.
• Vincent ruled out the goblins copying the Magical Projections and wondered what they intended to use them for, but he and Hermione could not determine their plan.
• Sirius Black and Lupin returned, and Vincent told Sirius that a Ministry mole had been bought off by Goblins Hall.
• Vincent and Hermione chose to return to school rather than join the Order of the Phoenix operation.