Chapter Summaries

Harry and Ron survived the Whomping Willow, lost the battered Ford Anglia to the Forbidden Forest, and sneaked to the Great Hall to watch Ginny’s Sorting. Snape caught them outside and brought them to his office, where he reprimanded them and went to fetch Professor McGonagall.

• The Ford Anglia escaped the Whomping Willow’s attack, then ejected Harry, Ron, their luggage, and their pets before driving into the Forbidden Forest.
• Harry and Ron carried their belongings to the castle and watched Ginny’s Sorting Ceremony through a Great Hall window.
• Aaron noticed Snape searching for Harry and Ron, while Draco realized they were missing from the Gryffindor table.
• Snape spotted Harry and Ron outside the window, approached them, and led them to his office.
• Snape confronted Harry and Ron about flying the car, damaging the Whomping Willow, and risking exposure to Muggles, then left to fetch Professor McGonagall.

Harry and Ron enjoyed their brief fame after driving to Hogwarts, but Mrs. Weasley’s Howler publicly scolded them for stealing the car and revealed that Arthur was being investigated. As Hermione began reading Gilderoy Lockhart’s book, she revealed that it was their Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook and that Lockhart was their new teacher.

• Aaron told Draco that Harry and Ron’s fame would fade and reminded him that their difficult journey and Arthur’s Ministry investigation meant the matter was not over.
• Aaron examined Ron’s badly damaged Wand and advised him to buy a new one because even Ollivander could not repair it.
• Hermione asked Aaron about his holiday and challenged Harry and Ron’s belief that they had escaped all consequences.
• Errol crashed into Hermione’s breakfast with a Howler, and Mrs. Weasley shouted at Ron for stealing the car and causing Arthur to be investigated.
• Hermione began reading Voyage with a Vampire, and Aaron learned that the book was Lockhart’s autobiography and their Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook.

Aaron questioned whether Gilderoy Lockhart was qualified to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts after learning students needed seven of his autobiographies as textbooks. He learned Lockhart had applied for the job himself, then attended his first classes of the term, where Abei subdued a Mandrake Seedling.

• Hermione explained that Lockhart was famous and that students needed seven books about his deeds, while Aaron doubted his abilities and Harry and Ron joined their conversation.
• Professor McGonagall handed out the semester timetables, and Aaron asked what she knew about Lockhart; she said he had applied for the vacant position and that the school had hired him because of his reputation and books.
• Aaron attended History of Magic, then Herbology, where Professor Sprout demonstrated how to repot Mandrakes.
• Aaron warned Draco not to underestimate a subject before mastering it, then used Abei to frighten his Mandrake Seedling into stopping its struggles.

Aaron attended his first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson with Gilderoy Lockhart and quickly concluded that the new professor was narcissistic and unreliable. While Lockhart quizzed the class on personal details from his books, Aaron supplied answers for Crabbe and Goyle and began practicing a Magic Array.

• Aaron finished Herbology with his Mandrake Seedling and told Draco he was looking forward to Lockhart's class.
• Aaron skimmed Lockhart's seven books and found their accounts surprisingly realistic before heading to class.
• Aaron and Draco criticized Lockhart's extravagant classroom and self-introduction, while Hermione and Susan admired him.
• Lockhart gave the class a quiz about his personal preferences and achievements instead of Defense Against the Dark Arts.
• Aaron wrote answers on Crabbe and Goyle's papers, declined to help Draco, and started drawing a Magic Array as Draco questioned his own answers.

Aaron challenged Professor Lockhart to prove his reputation during the first Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Lockhart avoided demonstrating his magic directly and instead unveiled a cage of small iron-blue creatures, leaving the class waiting to see what he would do.

• Aaron told Draco he planned to test Lockhart by asking why he was qualified to teach.
• Lockhart awarded Hermione ten points for her answers and gave Crabbe and Goyle twenty Slytherin points after they received perfect scores with Aaron's help.
• Lockhart questioned Aaron about asking why he was qualified to be a teacher, and Aaron demanded a demonstration of how Lockhart had driven away the Ghouls of Ghouls.
• Lockhart refused to demonstrate the spell in the classroom or on the grounds, claiming it was too dangerous.
• Lockhart unveiled a cage full of small iron-blue creatures and warned the class not to scream or provoke them.

Aaron watched Lockhart’s failed attempt to control the Cornish Pixies and judged him unfit to teach, then returned Lockhart’s Wand to him that evening. The chapter ended as Aaron began to ask Lockhart for another favor.

• Lockhart released the Cornish Pixies in class, and they wreaked havoc while he failed to stop them.
• Aaron protected the students, rescued Neville, and immobilized the remaining pixies after Lockhart fled the classroom.
• Aaron mocked Lockhart’s abilities and left with Lockhart’s Wand, intending to return it.
• Aaron visited Lockhart’s office that evening and returned the Wand.
• Aaron told Lockhart he had one more thing to ask, making the wary professor tremble.

Aaron confronted Gilderoy Lockhart to gain control over how he used Defense Against the Dark Arts class time, and Lockhart conceded rather than duel him. Aaron then used Lockhart’s fear of vampires and werewolves to secure full marks without taking the final exam.

• Aaron asked Lockhart to let him decide how to use Defense Against the Dark Arts class time and proposed a duel to prove himself.
• Aaron mentioned that he had helped defeat a Troll and could now take on eight at once, frightening Lockhart into granting his request without a fight.
• Lockhart agreed that Aaron could choose how to use class time, provided he attended class and kept their arrangement confidential.
• Aaron asked Lockhart for a slightly above-average final exam score, but Lockhart refused and planned to retaliate through grading.
• Aaron offered to arrange a vampire interview to promote Lockhart’s book, then mentioned his connections to werewolf tribes.
• Lockhart agreed to give Aaron full marks without an exam and asked him to forget the vampire interview.

Aaron went to watch Slytherin’s first Quidditch practice and found Gryffindor training on the same pitch. When the teams confronted each other, Hermione persuaded Aaron to help mediate, and he reluctantly went with her.

• Aaron practiced drawing Magic Arrays and went to the pitch with Abei to support Draco at Slytherin’s first training session.
• Aaron found Ron and Hermione waiting for Harry, while Gryffindor’s team practiced under Oliver Wood and Colin photographed Harry.
• The Slytherin team arrived, and Wood confronted Flint, demanding that Slytherin leave Gryffindor’s training time.
• Ron and Hermione went to check on the teams, and Hermione dragged Aaron into the dispute after arguing that both sides respected him.
• Hermione threatened to tell Slytherin that Aaron was there, so Aaron agreed to go help prevent a fight.

Gryffindor and Slytherin disputed the Quidditch pitch after Slytherin arrived with new Nimbus 2001 brooms and Snape’s authorization. Aaron agreed that Slytherin was in the wrong, but ended by telling Wood that Gryffindor still could not have the pitch that day.

• Flint presented Snape’s note authorizing Slytherin to train its new Seeker, Draco, and the teams argued over the pitch and Slytherin’s new brooms.
• Draco mocked Ron, and Ron’s damaged Wand caused his Eat Slugs spell to rebound before Aaron shattered it and warned Ron about using the Wand.
• Wood explained that the captains had agreed Gryffindor would use the pitch, while Flint insisted Snape’s authorization gave Slytherin priority.
• Aaron said Slytherin was in the wrong and that Snape’s note did not override Gryffindor’s reservation, then challenged Flint to duel if he objected.
• Aaron apologized to Wood but insisted that Gryffindor still could not have the pitch that day.

Aaron mediated a dispute between the Gryffindor and Slytherin Quidditch teams over the training pitch, settling it by offering Gryffindor a valuable collector's Quaffle. He then warned Slytherin that showing off its new Nimbus 2001s too early could make a future loss far more humiliating, leaving the team uneasy about its equipment advantage.

• Aaron argued that Slytherin should use the pitch under Professor Snape's special authorization, and both teams refused to back down.
• When Slytherin players and the Weasley twins reached for their Wands, Aaron stopped them and proposed exchanging the teams' pitch slots.
• Wood accepted the proposal only after Aaron offered Gryffindor a limited-edition Quaffle as compensation.
• Wood took the Quaffle and led the Gryffindor players away, while Draco and Ron argued over its value.
• Aaron criticized Marcus for revealing Slytherin's Nimbus 2001s too soon and warned that losing despite the new brooms would damage the team's reputation.
• Marcus and the other Slytherin players reconsidered their confidence as Aaron's warning made the Nimbus 2001s feel like a burden.

Aaron declined Marcus’s offer to rejoin the Slytherin team but agreed to advise Draco, while Harry worried that Draco could become a serious Quidditch rival. After Slytherin practice, Aaron told Draco that dragging out the match could raise their chances of winning.

• Marcus urged the Slytherin team to train and asked Aaron to rejoin as captain, but Aaron declined and offered only advice.
• Aaron joked with Ron about his damaged Wand, then watched Harry, Ron, and Hermione leave to ask Hagrid for help finding the car.
• Aaron reassured Hermione that the Quaffle he gave Gryffindor was no great loss, then returned to practicing Magic Arrays until Colin’s camera flash ruined his work.
• Aaron told Colin that Harry and Ron would serve detention that night and made him promise not to photograph him again.
• After Slytherin practice, Draco said he hoped to win the championship, and Aaron explained that Harry’s talent and experience gave him an edge.
• Aaron told Draco that one way to raise Slytherin’s odds of victory above eighty percent was to drag out the match.

Aaron advised Draco to prioritize a Slytherin Quidditch victory by stalling Harry while the team built a lead, and Draco agreed. Later, Aaron tested a powerful magic array and considered rare materials before Abei warned him about a brief, terrifying sound from something nonhuman.

• Aaron explained to Draco that Slytherin’s other players could build a lead of more than 150 points while Draco held Harry back, and Draco chose the safer tactic to avoid disappointing Lucius.
• Aaron drew a green magic array in midair, summoning a hurricane that knocked his desk across the room.
• Aaron considered using Abei’s blood or tears as magic-array materials, but Abei refused and Aaron relented.
• Abei woke Aaron and said it had heard a disgusting, terrifying, cold sound from something nonhuman, but Aaron heard nothing and went back to sleep.

Aaron learned that Abei had heard a murderous voice roaming Hogwarts, then encountered the voice’s trail on Halloween Eve. He found Harry, Ron, and Hermione beside a blood-written message on a corridor wall.

• Abei told Aaron that it had heard a dangerous voice in the castle, and Aaron advised it to pretend not to know while reporting any further sightings.
• After the voice stayed away for more than a month, Aaron discussed Slytherin’s Quidditch training with Draco at the Halloween feast.
• Draco pointed out that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were missing from the feast, and Aaron agreed they might be up to something.
• Abei heard the voice again and sensed that it had been in a corridor before moving far away.
• Aaron followed Abei to a third-floor corridor, where he found Harry, Ron, and Hermione facing a wall marked with dark red writing in blood.

Aaron encountered Harry, Ron, and Hermione beside bloody writing and the petrified Mrs. Norris, then tried to distance himself from the incident as students and professors arrived. Dumbledore kept Aaron and the three students behind to explain what they had seen, while Snape said Aaron was not suspected.

• Aaron found Harry, Ron, and Hermione at the scene and pretended he had not heard the raspy voice Harry mentioned.
• Hermione spotted Mrs. Norris hanging from a torch bracket, and Aaron found that she was not breathing and might be dead or petrified.
• Aaron advised the others to leave, but students gathered in the corridor before they could get away.
• Draco warned Hermione that she might be targeted because she was Muggle-born, and Aaron heard the system speak to him.
• Filch accused Harry of killing Mrs. Norris and grabbed him before Dumbledore arrived and ordered Aaron, Harry, Ron, and Hermione to stay.
• Snape told Aaron that Dumbledore only wanted to ask what he had witnessed and did not suspect him.

After Mrs. Norris was found petrified, Aaron helped Harry, Ron, and Hermione avoid suspicion while Dumbledore arranged for a Mandrake potion to cure her. Back in his dormitory, Aaron accepted a System mission to find the Secret Chamber, hoping to earn enough Magic Points to learn Thoughtform magic.

• Dumbledore determined that Mrs. Norris was petrified, and Filch accused Harry after seeing the message on the wall.
• Snape questioned Harry, Ron, and Hermione about missing the feast, while Aaron supported their account and helped clear them of suspicion.
• Dumbledore said Mandrakes could be used to brew a cure for Mrs. Norris and dismissed the students.
• Aaron speculated that the strange voice Harry heard might have led him to the corridor, and Hermione warned Harry against telling Dumbledore about it.
• Aaron accepted the System mission to find the Secret Chamber for a reward of 800 Magic Points.
• The System told Aaron that missions depended on circumstances, were limited to three per year, and could not be exploited by stirring up trouble.

Aaron searched for information about the Secret Chamber, learned its legend from Professor McGonagall, and began organizing the clues to find it. He accepted a system mission to kill the monster inside the Chamber, despite recognizing the danger.

• Aaron searched the library for Hogwarts history books, but Madam Pince told him they had all been borrowed and that they would not reveal the answers he sought.
• During Transfiguration, Aaron turned an owl into a silver goblet, and Hermione asked Professor McGonagall to explain the Secret Chamber.
• Professor McGonagall explained that Salazar Slytherin had sealed a hidden room containing a monster that would target those he considered unworthy of magic.
• Aaron wrote the known clues on the blackboard and concluded that they could help him locate the Secret Chamber, while Draco warned him about the danger.
• Aaron accepted the system mission to kill the monster in the Secret Chamber for a reward of 1000 Magic Points.

Aaron investigated the Halloween attack with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, finding fleeing spiders and tracing the water at the crime scene to Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom. Myrtle offered no useful clues, and Aaron left after she took an interest in him.

• Aaron reviewed his notes on the monster, Slytherin’s heir, and the Secret Chamber, then went to inspect the crime scene.
• Aaron found Harry, Ron, and Hermione investigating and learned that students also suspected him of being the heir.
• Aaron noticed spiders fleeing the corridor and joined the others in entering the girls’ bathroom, where Hermione summoned Moaning Myrtle.
• Myrtle flirted with Aaron, but Hermione intervened, and Harry and Ron tried to persuade Myrtle to answer their questions.
• Aaron asked Myrtle about the Halloween attack, and she said she had seen nothing because Peeves had scared her away.
• Aaron left with Abei, and Myrtle sobbed before diving into a toilet tank and splashing water everywhere.

Harry and Ron suspected Malfoy and Aaron of being Slytherin’s heir, though Hermione refused to believe Aaron was involved. Aaron investigated the Chamber’s monster with Hagrid, whose panicked reaction revealed that he had been expelled fifty years earlier, leaving Aaron to ask whether Hagrid recognized the creature.

• Harry and Ron listed coincidences that made Aaron seem suspicious, while Hermione defended him and Harry proposed investigating other angles.
• Aaron organized his clues and decided to ask Hagrid about a long-lived creature that could petrify victims and might prey on spiders.
• Hagrid panicked when Aaron mentioned the Secret Chamber and insisted that he had been framed after his expulsion fifty years earlier.
• Aaron realized Hagrid might be the expelled student from that time, but dismissed him as a plausible heir and said he believed Hagrid.
• Aaron asked Hagrid about the monster and described the clues he had gathered, but Hagrid said he did not know its identity.

Aaron questioned Hagrid about the monster in the Secret Chamber, then searched the library and identified it as a Basilisk. He realized its direct gaze could kill and its reflected gaze could petrify, and the chapter left him planning cautiously while the Chamber and Slytherin's heir remained undiscovered.

• Aaron persuaded Hagrid to share what he knew, and Hagrid revealed that the monster was a spider's natural enemy and that Moaning Myrtle had died in a bathroom fifty years earlier.
• Hagrid told Aaron that Aragog, the Acromantula he raised in the Forbidden Forest, feared the monster and refused to name it.
• Aaron went to the library and asked Madam Pince for books about magical creatures.
• After searching the books, Aaron confirmed that the monster was a Basilisk, whose gaze could kill and whose indirect gaze could petrify.
• Aaron rejected the idea of using a mirror after reasoning that Mrs. Norris had seen the Basilisk indirectly, and he decided he needed a careful plan before confronting it.
• Madam Pince lent Aaron a book for a month while he continued investigating.

Aaron joined Slytherin’s Quidditch team before the match and promised them a hundred Gold Galleons if they won, while still hoping to steal roosters from Hagrid to protect himself from the Basilisk. During the match, Harry realized Draco was distracting him so Slytherin’s faster players could build a decisive lead, and he tried to warn Wood.

• Aaron was called to Slytherin’s changing room and offered the team a hundred Gold Galleons if they won, then reminded Draco to keep his personal feelings out of the match.
• The Gryffindor and Slytherin teams took to the pitch, and Slytherin quickly scored while Draco shadowed Harry instead of openly chasing the Golden Snitch.
• Harry spotted the Golden Snitch, but Draco blocked his approach, and Slytherin continued scoring until the score reached seventy to ten.
• Harry figured out that Draco was tying up the opposing Seeker while Slytherin’s speed advantage built a large lead.
• Harry went to warn Wood about Slytherin’s strategy, but a Bludger forced him to dodge before he could finish.