Chapter Summaries

Luan watched Chris, a hungry young witch, prepare to brew a potion aboard the Thorn. Her unusual equipment and unmagical method of lighting the charcoal left him uncertain what kind of potion-maker she was.

• Luan returned to the Thorn and worried about how Xilin’s people would live after the war.
• Chris arrived with Nanny Whitney, then ate Luan’s breakfast before beginning her potion work.
• Chris offered to teach Luan potion-making for five gold coins, and he declined.
• Chris unpacked her tools, including white charcoal and a chipped Gold Cauldron, and warned Luan not to interrupt her.
• Chris lit the charcoal blocks with flint, surprising Luan with how unmagical her method seemed.

Luan watched Chris brew a potion and secretly used magic to keep the fire going when she nearly let it die. After Chris left, he gathered the ingredients she had used, and Zalan identified the charcoal as human bone charcoal, though Luan recalled that it had smelled fragrant.

• Luan secretly lit an oil lamp with a Fire-making spell when Chris struggled to ignite her charcoal, but she insisted on using flint.
• Chris brewed a potion with five powders and Flame Snail Shells, while Luan carefully observed her process.
• When Chris forgot to add charcoal and the flames dwindled, Luan used another Fire-making spell to restore the fire without her noticing.
• Chris finished the potion, offered to teach Luan for two gold coins, and left after he declined.
• Luan canceled his Levitation Charm and revealed the powders and half a charcoal block he had collected.
• Zalan identified the charcoal as human bone charcoal, and Luan protested that its smoke had smelled fragrant.

Moon asked Mimir to identify five powders and learned that two matched ingredients for a cut-healing potion. Meanwhile, Chris’s ointment healed an injured man quickly, earning her ten gold coins and renewed confidence in her future.

• Moon set aside the white bone charcoal and asked Zalan about someone aboard who knew herbs and animals.
• Karen introduced Mimir, who identified the five powders as Armored Beast Scales, Selma Flower, Insect Ant Vegetable, Batfish Milt, and Flame Snail Shells.
• Moon connected the Armored Beast Scales and Selma Flower to ingredients for a cut-healing potion, while Karen explained that Selma Flower was a secret of the Tribal people.
• Lance made Chris and Nanny Whitney test the ointment before he applied it to the injured man, whose condition improved within an hour.
• Chris received ten gold coins for the ointment, and her successful brew gave her hope and confidence in her skills.

Luan confirmed the potion’s healing effect and realized that the wandering bard Mimir’s knowledge of herbs and decades of travel could be more valuable. He used the Duplication Charm to convince Mimir that his poems could be preserved, leaving Mimir wondering why Luan would help without payment.

• After a crewman reported that the injured young man’s wounds were recovering, Luan confirmed the potion’s effect and turned his attention to Mimir.
• Mimir identified several herbs from Luan’s handbook, including Blood Arrow Grass and Bell Flower, then returned to writing The Anvil Song.
• Luan learned that Mimir had spent fifty years collecting poems and feared that his work would be lost, but Mimir still refused to help identify materials.
• Luan cast the Duplication Charm to make an identical copy of The Anvil Song, and Mimir examined it and asked whether it could last.
• Luan said he wanted no money or favors and explained that preserving Mimir’s poetry simply seemed like something he should do.

Luan helped Mimir settle aboard the Thorn, arranged potion-making tools, and practiced his magic while monitoring his stalled Wizard Bar. Meanwhile, Chris sold more of her effective potion to Lance, who needed supplies for his injured men as they continued toward the Vena Islands.

• Luan persuaded Mimir to stay in Veteran Alley and arranged a quiet cabin where he could write and identify materials.
• Luan arranged for Holt to make potion-brewing tools and practiced the Levitation Charm with iron chain links aboard the Thorn.
• Luan noticed his Wizard Bar had stopped growing, though he learned to levitate three iron links for ten minutes with the Old Willow Wand.
• Lance asked Chris about the potion she had brewed, then bought two more bottles for his wounded men.

Luan brewed his first potion and discovered that it healed wounds far faster than ordinary medicine. After Gould bought the potion, he told Luan that wizards traded at the Black House on the Vena Islands, where Luan might find rare ingredients.

• Chris rented Luan's room again, and Luan helped keep her brewing fire steady in exchange for potion powder.
• After Chris left, Luan brewed a potion using his Hogwarts knowledge and produced a brighter, more fragrant batch than hers.
• Gould brought in an injured crewman, and Luan applied the potion to test its effects.
• The crewman's wound healed completely within thirty minutes, astonishing Luan, Gould, and Zalan.
• Gould offered Luan two hundred gold coins for the potion and said wizards traded at the Black House on the Vena Islands.

Luan learned that the Black House belonged to the hostile Unbelievers and that the Vena Islands' Tribal people restricted Selma Flowers, complicating his plan to brew Wound-Cutting Potion. As the Thorn sailed toward the islands, a pirate ship ignored Gould's signals and fired a cannon at the fleet.

• Mimir told Luan that the Black House was a gathering place for the Unbelievers, who were hostile to outsiders, and that the Tribal people rejected wizards and guarded Selma Flowers.
• Luan considered buying Selma Flower powder from Chris, then used ten Duplication Charms to make copies of Mimir's The Anvil Song for the children of Veteran Alley.
• Luan told Mimir that he would soon see ordinary people spread knowledge through methods like his magic.
• On the seventh day of the Thorn's voyage, a lookout aboard the Goddess spotted an unknown ship approaching the fleet from the southwest.
• The approaching ship raised a pirate flag and continued toward the fleet despite Gould's attempts to signal it.
• Gould demanded to know why the pirate ship was ignoring their agreement, and the ship fired a cannon.

The pirate ship attacked Gould’s three merchant ships, and Luan convinced Gould to turn the Thorn toward the enemy so he could use magic at closer range. As the ships approached, Luan ignited a flame beside the pirates’ powder barrels and began making it grow.

• The pirate ship fired on the Thorn, Seagull, and Goddess, damaging the Goddess’s mast and threatening to catch the slower merchant ships.
• Zalan gathered Holt and the other veterans around Luan while Gould’s crew returned fire with the Thorn’s cannons.
• Luan asked Gould to steer closer to the pirate ship so his magic could reach it, and Gould agreed after a cannonball struck the Thorn.
• Gould ordered the Thorn to turn and sail toward the pirates, and Luan encouraged the crew to carry out the dangerous maneuver.
• Luan used his improved Fire-making spell to create a flame beside the pirate ship’s powder barrels and started enlarging it.

Luan and the Thorn’s crew attacked Miles’s pirate ship with spells, explosives, and firearms before the ships could meet. The Sea Serpent lost its sails and suffered heavy casualties as Luan began a second spell-assisted assault.

• Miles led the Sea Serpent toward its targets, promising his pirates a share of the loot and first choice of the women.
• Luan used Fire-making spells to ignite the pirates’ powder barrels, killing and injuring dozens and burning the Sea Serpent’s sails.
• Miles ordered the remaining powder barrels thrown overboard, then armed himself with a Percussion Flintlock and urged the pirates to row toward the Thorn.
• Gould’s crew brought out long-barreled Flintlock Guns, and Zalan suggested recruiting gun users from the lower cabin.
• Luan cast Locomotor Mortis to immobilize twelve pirates at a time, while Zalan and veteran soldiers shot arrows at them.

Luan and the Thorn’s crew overwhelmed the pirates aboard the Sea Serpent with spells, arrows, and musket fire, then pursued and boarded their ship. Luan reached the cabin entrance after the crew cleared the deck, while the pirates remained barricaded inside.

• Miles ordered the pirates to take cover, but Luan’s Fire-making spell forced them upright and exposed them to another volley of arrows and bullets.
• Miles retreated into the cabin and ordered the oarsmen whipped to make the Sea Serpent flee, while Gould reported that thirty-two pirates remained on deck.
• Luan used Box Moving to wedge a large crate against the cabin Trapdoor, sealing the pirates inside as the Thorn chased the Sea Serpent.
• Gould and the crew secured the ships with hooked ropes, and Karen led men in laying planks between them.
• The Thorn’s crew crossed over and eliminated the pirates on deck, while five veterans escorted Luan to the Sea Serpent’s cabin entrance.

Luan joined Zalan and the veterans in clearing the Sea Serpent, then descended into its lower compartments to confront the pirates hiding near the powder room. When Captain Miles shot at him, Luan instinctively cast the Levitation Charm without speaking, deflecting the bullet and leaving him with a strange new sensation.

• Zalan and the veterans smoked the pirates out of the cabin, captured them, and learned that the captain and his men were hiding in the powder room with the slaves.
• Luan insisted on joining Zalan's group as they searched the ship, where they found chained slaves and then encountered three pirates carrying tinderboxes and gunpowder.
• Luan used the Clean Water Spring Charm to extinguish the pirates' tinderboxes, and Zalan, Lance, and Holt struck the pirates down with arrows.
• Miles emerged and shot at Luan, who entered a strange state and instinctively cast the Levitation Charm without speaking, bending the bullet away from his head.

After defeating the pirates, Luan learned he had used Silent Spellcasting and ordered the captured pirates turned in for bounties. He proposed repairing the Sea Serpent and keeping it as a ship.

• Luan realized he had cast the Levitation Charm without speaking and resolved to learn the Shield Charm at Hogwarts.
• Gould reported that 279 pirates had been captured or left intact and explained the bounties offered by the Vena Islands authorities.
• Luan ordered Gould to claim the bounty for the dead pirate captain and distribute the money among everyone who had contributed.
• Luan told Holt and Luke that they should keep the damaged pirate ship, then cast Reparo on its shattered deck.

Luan restored the captured pirate ship with magic, named it the Crimson Moon, and discovered a wizard's Alchemy Notebook and the key it described. As the group prepared to sail for the Vena Islands, Luan decided to free the slaves upon arrival, provided the pirates stayed confined during the voyage.

• Luan repaired and cleaned the pirate ship with Reparo and Scourgify, mastered both spells nonverbally, and helped the Veteran Alley families move aboard.
• Luan named the restored ship the Crimson Moon, and Zalan found an Alchemy Notebook belonging to Faust Holmes, who had sought to forge a Magic Key.
• Gould gave Luan the brass key from the pirate leader, and Luan recognized it as the key mentioned in the notebook.
• Luan planned to duplicate the Thorn's sails for the Crimson Moon, while Gould confirmed that its large sail could be used on the ship.
• After Zalan questioned the slaves, Luan decided to free them at the Vena Islands if the pirates remained obediently in the rowing room for the final three days of the voyage.

Luan repaired the Thorn and prepared sails to get the damaged ships moving again, astonishing the passengers and crew with his magic. Chris recognized him as a mage far beyond her own teacher and chased after him, hoping to learn from him.

• Luan followed Gould to the Thorn and repaired the breach in its flooded lower hold with one spell.
• The crew hailed Luan as an esteemed mage, while the passengers reacted with nervousness and awe.
• Luan praised Chris's potions, and the passengers learned she was a witch and moved away from her.
• Lance thanked Chris for her potion and reminded her of Luan's power, prompting her to chase after him.
• Chris watched Luan duplicate a sail with the Duplication Charm as the veterans carried it to the Crimson Moon.

Luan agreed to teach Chris some magic after learning that Byron Chelsea had cheated her family, and arranged for Chris and Nanny Whitney to stay aboard the Crimson Moon. After the ship set sail, Luan studied the Alchemy Notebook and wondered what the brass key could unlock.

• Chris asked Luan to take her as his student, explaining that Byron Chelsea had taught her basic magic before vanishing after taking the Calvin family's money and supplies.
• Chris offered her Hemostatic Potion recipe and then herself as a servant, but Luan demonstrated several spells and eventually agreed to teach her some magic.
• Luan arranged for Chris and Nanny Whitney to stay aboard the Crimson Moon without making them work.
• Gould sent sailors to help the Crimson Moon prepare to sail, while Karen and Zalan helped the crew with sailing.
• Once the Crimson Moon set sail, Luan studied the Alchemy Notebook and found references to the Unbelievers organization, a Magic Prison, a rescue, and a key.
• Luan suspected the brass key might open the Magic Prison, but worried that alchemy was beyond his current abilities.

After reaching Nitz Port in the Vena Islands, Luan continued investigating a new sensation that might mean his ability to carry objects between worlds had changed. Meanwhile, General Layton Gavin arrived in Xilin and ordered an investigation into what had brought the Menila Empire's Chief Court Mage to the town.

• Luan found that his Wizard Bar had advanced and suspected his ability to carry items between worlds had changed, but decided to wait until he returned to Hogwarts to test it.
• The Crimson Moon reached Nitz Port, where First Mate Karen told Luan the ship would have to wait to enter the harbor.
• Luan told Karen to coordinate the voyage with Zalan and make sure the slaves were put ashore rather than sold.
• General Layton Gavin arrived in Xilin with seven Spellcasters and fourteen Guardians and questioned Mikhail Rich about his encounter with a High Court Mage.
• Mikhail told Layton that the Court Mages had taken Xilin's sheriff and the monastery head, leading Layton to suspect they planned to have Gabriel Water read their memories.
• Layton ordered his squad to discover what the Menila Empire's Court Mages had been seeking in Xilin.

Luan confirmed that his connection to the two worlds had given him a new ability to carry items, and he planned to test its limits aboard the Crimson Moon. At Hogwarts, he and Hermione studied the difficult Shield Charm, while Luan also asked about papermaking and printing to help his family and the people of Veteran Alley.

• Luan told Bouncing he might take it to visit his home, the Crimson Moon, the following week.
• Hermione explained that she had pieced together the Shield Charm’s instructions from three books and had asked Percy to check her research.
• Luan read about the Shield Charm’s demands for forming, controlling, and sustaining a magical shield, and Harry and Ron joined him and Hermione in the common room.
• Ron said his father had mentioned that many Ministry employees could not cast the Shield Charm, but Luan resolved to learn it and memorized its incantation and wand movements.
• Luan asked Hermione about papermaking and printing, explaining that he wanted his family to try making them, and Ron redirected the conversation to Wagadu.

Luan considered finding a Muggle helper and learned from Hermione about alchemy, which prompted him to plan research in the library. During detention, Snape presented his analysis of the mysterious potion’s ingredients, revealing that its concealed toxicity might make it dangerous.

• Luan thought of asking Uncle Gaia to help him handle matters in the Muggle World during the holidays.
• Ron and Hermione explained that alchemy focused on creation and transformation, unlike wandmaking, and Hermione said it covered subjects such as Color Change Charm magic.
• Luan decided to study alchemy in the library because he had obtained an Alchemy Key aboard the pirate ship.
• Snape arrived while Luan was cleaning the Potions Classroom and showed him a scroll identifying eight potion ingredients, including Swamp Lily, which could conceal toxicity.
• Luan wondered if the potion was poison, and Snape told him to read the ingredient analysis before judging it.

Luan asked Professor Snape to analyze an unknown potion, and Snape identified several rare ingredients while raging over the potion’s waste and toxicity. Snape kept the potion for further research, refused to treat Harry more fairly, and gave Luan a copy of the ingredient scroll.

• Luan read Snape’s notes about the potion’s rare ingredients and asked what the three question marks meant.
• Snape explained that the explosive agent was unknown, then questioned Luan about where he had found the potion.
• Snape condemned the brewer for wasting Snowberry, Swamp Lily, Roar Moss, and half-beast blood, and warned Luan that the potion was highly toxic.
• Snape kept the potion for further research, despite Luan asking him to return it.
• Luan asked Snape to make Potions class less difficult, especially for Harry, but Snape defended his treatment of Harry.
• Snape refused to return the potion but conjured an identical copy of the scroll for Luan.

Luan helped Cedric address the rapidly growing, toxic Sleepyface Fungus and offered him a cheap substitute ingredient for his potion. The chapter left Professor Sprout considering whether the fungus could help a plant that needed Growth Potion.

• Luan practiced the spells he knew to improve his casting speed and work toward silent, wandless spellcasting.
• Cedric told Luan that the Sleepyface Fungus had grown dangerously fast after being fed Dragon Dung Fertilizer.
• Luan offered Cedric Batfish Milt Powder as a cheaper replacement for Calming Grass powder in the Little Hell-Raising Decoction.
• Cedric agreed to help Luan practice the Shield Charm in exchange for the powder, and teased him about having a top-student friend.
• Luan and Cedric showed the Sleepyface Fungus to Professor Sprout, and Luan suggested it might help a plant that needed Growth Potion.