Chapter Summaries

Tom and Nelson fought the Inferi emerging from Borgin and Burkes, then tracked down and captured Caractacus, whose control over them made the horde collapse. The chapter left them surrounded by immobilized Inferi as they considered what to do with them.

• Twisted figures identifying themselves as Borgin Burke crawled from the shop ruins, and Tom blasted them while Nelson recognized that their blue eyeballs might be making them unusually agile and able to speak.
• Tom detonated stored spells to clear the first group, but more Inferi climbed from the pits and attacked, so Nelson raised Fiendfyre while Tom went to find Caractacus.
• Nelson spread a black-fire barrier around Knockturn Alley and endured the strain of maintaining it as the Inferi repeatedly attacked.
• Tom emerged from the black pythons and struck at the ground, drawing Caractacus out from underground as the old man charged Nelson.
• Nelson stopped Caractacus with a concealed second wand, and Tom stunned and bound him, causing the Inferi to collapse.
• Tom asked Nelson what they should do with the immobilized Inferi.

Nelson and Tom defeated Caractacus and destroyed the Inferi he had made from living Muggles. Lost Mist opened a rift to Limbo, through which the Inferi’s released souls departed, while Caractacus remained at Tom’s mercy in the ruins of Knockturn Alley.

• Caractacus pleaded for his life and offered his possessions, while Nelson decided to destroy the Inferi and Tom dragged him aside.
• Nelson gripped the wand with his burned hand and used Fiendfyre to burn the Inferi as Tom tortured Caractacus and forced him toward a spiked pit.
• As the Inferi turned to ash, Lost Mist opened a rift to Limbo, and their blue, smoke-like souls flew through it.
• Nelson contained the Fiendfyre in Grindelwald's Lighter before it could burn the bound Wizards.
• Tom told Nelson that Caractacus had abducted Muggles and transformed them into Inferi while they were still alive.
• Nelson and Tom watched the rift vanish into the clouds as rain fell over the ruined Knockturn Alley.

Nelson and Tom helped destroy an illegal shop in Knockturn Alley, where dark wizards had been making Inferi, and handed the captured criminals over to Dorian Weasley. After leaving the Ministry officials to handle the arrests, Nelson began explaining why his fire magic kept burning him.

• Dorian Weasley arrived in Knockturn Alley and found Borgin and Burkes destroyed, with captured dark wizards bound in rows.
• Nelson claimed that he and Tom had encountered the shop’s owners while shopping and had burned all the Inferi they created.
• Nelson freed Caractacus Burke from Tom’s trap, and Tom used his branding magic to make Burke confess to Dorian.
• Nelson and Tom discussed Tom’s control magic and Nelson’s belief that the wizards responsible for the Inferi deserved harsh treatment.
• Nelson explained that Grindelwald had linked his trouble controlling fire magic to his childhood memory of the great fire in Paris, prompting Dorian to react in shock.
• Nelson and Tom declined to help with the arrests and vanished, while Caractacus surrendered to Dorian.

Tom discovered through Caractacus's thoughts that the antique Caractacus believed was a key to Slytherin's treasure was Slytherin's Locket. A vision showed Merope Gaunt selling the locket to Caractacus, and Tom left with Nelson to investigate further.

• Dorian questioned Caractacus about the battle, while Caractacus urged him to issue a warrant for the two wizards and argued that the Ministry had no evidence against him.
• At Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, Tom and Nelson discussed Caractacus's plans and the likelihood that the Wizengamot would acquit the captured wizards.
• Tom sensed that Caractacus believed he had found Slytherin's Locket among the Gaunt family antiques.
• Tom saw a vision of Merope Gaunt selling the locket to Caractacus for ten Galleons on a stormy night.
• Tom took Nelson to the shopfront he had bought, saying he had discovered several things, while a slovenly man in an alley identified himself as Borgin Burke.

Tom and Nelson turned an abandoned pet shop into a safe house while discussing Tom’s discovery that his mother, Merope, had been sick and desperate when she sold Slytherin’s Locket to Caractacus. They planned to watch Caractacus and investigate a crystal eyeball that could help them contact Herpo the Foul, and Tom asked Nelson to accompany him to visit Merope’s grave when he felt ready.

• Tom cleaned the abandoned pet shop with a Vanishing Cabinet and used magic to furnish and fortify it as a safe house.
• Tom told Nelson that Caractacus’s memories showed Merope selling Slytherin’s Locket for ten Galleons while pregnant and near death.
• Tom grew angry at Caractacus for exploiting Merope, and Nelson suggested that Caractacus and Herpo the Foul might be connected or brought together.
• Nelson showed Tom a crystal-like blue eyeball that could transmit thoughts and said it might be useful for communicating with Herpo the Foul.
• Nelson and Tom decided to wait, study the eyeball, and watch Caractacus’s plans before taking further action.
• Tom asked Nelson to go with him to visit Merope’s grave once he was ready.

Nelson Wiltening Williams received the Order of the Garter from Judge Shafiq, who hinted that he knew about Nelson’s ties to Nurmengard. After the ceremony, Nelson heard the medal warn him about Herpo the Foul and urge him to destroy him.

• Judge Shafiq recounted the Order of the Garter’s history and asked Nelson whether he would inherit its mission to protect people from despair.
• Nelson recited the oath and summoned his Silver Falcon Patronus as Judge Shafiq awarded him the badge and attached it to his wand.
• Judge Shafiq told Nelson that a person’s upbringing could not determine who he became, and Nelson recognized that the judge knew about his connection to Nurmengard.
• Nelson left the hall and met Tom, then noticed that the medal had triggered his Occlumency defenses.
• Nelson heard the badge warn him to beware Herpo the Foul and command him to destroy him, while Tom heard nothing.

Walburga asked Nelson to introduce the Black family to Grindelwald, carrying an Image Recorder and a pledge of allegiance to Nurmengard. Nelson agreed, leaving Walburga relieved and Tom mistakenly thinking he had rejected her confession.

• Nelson returned to a peaceful routine at Hogwarts, where some pure-blood students bowed to him and the Order of the Garter Badge remained silent.
• Walburga told Nelson that her family wanted to approach Grindelwald and that her grandfather had threatened to erase her from the family tree unless she secretly recorded Nelson’s answer.
• Walburga showed Nelson an Image Recorder and a pledge of allegiance for Nurmengard, then asked him to introduce her family to Lord Grindelwald.
• Nelson agreed, surprising Walburga, who was relieved that she would not be disowned and gave him the family’s package.
• Tom arrived, saw Walburga tearfully pressing the package into Nelson’s arms, and assumed Nelson had rejected her confession.

Nelson discussed pure-blood families defecting to Grindelwald with Tom, then visited Professor Binns to ask about the Order of the Garter Badge. Binns confirmed that he had deliberately become a ghost to study the soul, leaving Nelson with a new piece of Hogwarts history.

• Nelson told Tom that Walburga’s family and other pure-blood families were considering joining Grindelwald, and that he had given them a London contact address.
• Tom criticized Dumbledore’s influence and argued that Grindelwald’s rise might improve conditions for wizards.
• After History of Magic, Nelson followed Professor Binns to his office and showed him the Order of the Garter Badge.
• Binns reacted emotionally to the badge, examined Nelson’s Silver Falcon Patronus, and discussed the history of the Order.
• Nelson suspected Binns had chosen to become a ghost to study the soul, and Binns confirmed that he had.

Nelson visited Professor Binns, who explained how Herpo the Foul had unleashed Dementors on Britain a thousand years earlier. Nelson left the Guardian Medal with Binns to investigate its warning about Herpo and departed with wine for his friends.

• Professor Binns shared ancient wine with Nelson and recounted his memories of the Order of the Garter.
• Professor Binns explained that Herpo the Foul created Dementors, whose sudden invasion caused mass deaths and disappearances across Britain.
• Professor Binns described how a friend traced the Dementors’ origin to Herpo’s curse in the Balkan Peninsula.
• Nelson told Professor Binns that the Guardian Medal had warned him to beware, avoid, and kill Herpo.
• Professor Binns found no unusual traces on the medal, but Nelson left it with him for further study and took the remaining wine.
• Nelson saw Professor Sykes in the corridor, then met Tom and suggested they go eat.

Nelson and Tom watched Alphard commentate a fierce Gryffindor–Slytherin Quidditch match, while Walburga struggled with her family’s plans for her and Nelson. Slytherin led by 120 points, but Gryffindor’s Seeker spotted the Golden Snitch just as Nelson woke Tom.

• At lunch, Nelson agreed to attend the match after Alphard revealed he was commentating and invited them on his sister’s behalf.
• Alphard excitedly narrated the match as Malone’s Bludger strikes helped Slytherin build a lead, while Tom read and slept in the stands.
• After Brown returned from injury and hit a Bludger toward Bowen, Walburga stormed off to confront Alphard over his teasing remarks about her.
• Walburga told Nelson that her family wanted to meet him and discuss details, but Nelson refused and urged her to think for herself.
• With Slytherin ahead 140 to 20, Nelson woke Tom, and Alphard announced that Gryffindor’s Seeker had spotted the Golden Snitch.

After Slytherin lost a Quidditch match, Tom invited Nelson to his Mutual Aid Society and introduced him to its members as his dueling partner. Their first public duel began with rapid, nonverbal spells, and Nelson evaded Tom’s attacks with remarkable speed.

• Tom criticized Abraxas Malfoy for Slytherin’s Quidditch loss and worried about the House Cup standings.
• Tom told Nelson he would become a prefect next term and invited him to a Mutual Aid Society gathering.
• Tom introduced Nelson to the Society’s members and announced regular combat practice, pairing members according to their skill.
• Tom and Nelson prepared to duel with matching dragon-heartstring wands and agreed to avoid excessive magic and hidden tools.
• Tom and Nelson exchanged fast, nonverbal spells, with Tom shielding himself while Nelson dodged each attack without a barrier.

Tom and Nelson escalated their duel from fast spellwork to elaborate magical creations, with Tom ultimately taking to the air and attacking Nelson’s defenses with a venomous arrow swarm. As Tom destroyed the arena to uncover Nelson’s hidden spell, a huge winged figure appeared above him and struck.

• Tom damaged the dueling platform to limit Nelson’s movement, but Nelson stopped dodging and raised a ring of rubble around himself.
• Nelson used transformed stone armor, Hyenas, a lightning javelin, and an iron net to attack Tom, who countered with a black snake and revealed he could fly as black smoke.
• Tom shaped the black snake into a magical bow and unleashed a swarm of splitting, venomous arrows at Nelson’s hexagonal stone cocoon.
• Nelson’s spinning shields cut through the snakes as Tom destroyed the platform, leaving only the ground beneath Nelson and exposing a hollow below it.
• A huge winged figure appeared above Tom and clawed downward.

Nelson and Tom fought to a standstill with elaborate transformations, substitutions, and a clash between Nelson’s Silver Falcon and Tom’s smoke, leaving the duel’s winner unclear. Afterward, Tom helped the newly arrived Gryffindor Moody improve his Shield Charm.

• Nelson’s Silver Falcon destroyed Tom’s black snake form, but Tom re-formed from snakes while Nelson repaired the damaged arena.
• Nelson trapped a Tom double in a metal-sealed stone shackle, but the real Tom appeared behind him and escaped after revealing the double was a substitution.
• Nelson used the Stone Skin Spell to resist Tom’s wand, and they agreed to settle the duel with one move.
• Tom filled the air with smoke using Parseltongue, while Nelson revealed that the Silver Falcon housed his temporary Patronus; the spectators could not tell who won.
• Tom met the bruised third-year Moody, defended him from Jeffrey’s mockery, and began correcting his Shield Charm technique.

Nelson and Tom discussed the strange changes to Nelson’s magic after their duel and considered Professor Sykes’s possible connection to dangerous creatures and outside groups. Their conversation was interrupted when Professor Slughorn stormed into the activity room and accused Alphard of causing an explosion beneath the tower.

• Nelson told Tom that he could no longer summon his Patronus, though his other magic still worked and silver light now covered his fist.
• Tom and Nelson agreed that Tom had won their duel, then discussed Minerva possibly returning to Hogwarts as a teacher and Tom’s ambition to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts.
• Nelson revealed that Gioconda Sykes’s story about finding the Acolytes did not match the records, and he and Tom suspected Professor Sykes might be connected to dangerous magical creatures.
• Tom said he wanted to confront Professor Sykes over the Swooping Evil, while Nelson urged him to wait until they had proof.
• Professor Slughorn burst into the activity room, grabbed Alphard by the collar, and accused him of setting off explosions beneath the tower.

Professor Slughorn caught Tom and a group of students practicing the Iron Armor Charm at night, but accepted their explanation and turned the gathering into a lesson. As the students trained, Professor Sykes arrived and asked Nelson what he was doing there.

• Professor Slughorn confronted Alphard and the students after the damaged activity room alerted the teachers, and Tom took responsibility for gathering them.
• Avery and Moody explained that the students had asked Riddle to help them practice, and students from several houses stepped forward to defend him.
• Professor Slughorn assigned the students brief punishments, ordered the Duelling Club to meet during the day, and repaired the activity room.
• Professor Slughorn taught defensive spells while Tom assisted, and he praised Tom's potential as a teacher.
• Professor Sykes entered the activity room and asked Nelson why he was there.

Armando Dippet found his grandson Barry imprisoned in a guarded ship’s hold in Boston and learned that rescuing him could trigger a deadly magical explosion. Daguerre revealed that Barry had been captured as an Obscurial and suggested that Armando’s own upbringing had caused Barry’s condition.

• In Hogwarts’s Slytherin common room, Nelson casually discussed Ilvermorny and Boston with Professor Sakes.
• Armando Dippet appeared aboard a Boston ship and tried to free Barry Beckman, but his spell failed against the iron cage.
• A prisoner revealed Barry’s Dippet surname and accused him of being both an Acolyte and an Obscurial.
• Daguerre explained that the cages were part of a Second Salemers’ magical trap that would explode if disrupted, endangering Barry.
• Daguerre admitted that he had captured Barry and said Barry’s upbringing under Armando’s methods could have caused him to become an Obscurial.

Armando Dippet discovered the tortured state of his grandson Barry Beckman and heard Barry’s Obscurial, Barry Dippet, recount the pain Armando had inflicted on him. As Andre arrived to rescue Barry, Armando attacked him, and Andre confronted Dippet over his abuse of his grandson.

• Armando refused Daguerre’s suggestion to Apparate him away and learned that Barry’s cage was tied to a magical mechanism that could soon explode.
• Armando pulled the cloth from Barry’s cage and saw his injured grandson pinned beneath an Obscurial that called itself Barry Dippet.
• Barry Dippet described the abuse and neglect Barry had endured, while Armando silenced the Obscurial and covered the cage again.
• Armando blamed Grindelwald for Barry’s condition, lost control of his magic, and then sat beside Barry’s cage as Barry weakly spoke to him.
• Andre and a group of Wizards arrived after explosions drew them to the ship, and Andre rushed below deck to find Barry.
• Armando attacked Andre while trying to reach Barry, and Andre accused him of torturing his grandson and reminded him that Barry was engaged to Grindelwald’s adopted daughter.

Armando attacked Andre while trying to keep Barry imprisoned, but Grindelwald arrived and rescued Barry. A week later, Professor Binns began telling Nelson about Pythia, the Patronus Charm, and an ancient kind of being that may have been connected to Dementors and Patronuses.

• Armando attacked Andre with dark magic, while Andre refused to flee and tried to protect Barry.
• Barry confronted Armando about his expectations and said he could not choose his own life as long as Armando controlled him.
• As the ship began breaking apart, Grindelwald and his followers arrived, then Grindelwald freed Barry from the cage and took him in his arms.
• A week later, Professor Binns summoned Nelson to his office and began discussing the history of Dementors and the Patronus Charm.
• Binns described Pythia’s role in defeating Herpo the Foul and introduced a special kind of being that may have been the prototype for Dementors and Patronuses.

Nelson heard a Northern Bard’s song about Pythia and Herpo the Foul, which led Professor Binns to connect the Patronus Charm, Dementors, and Obscurials. Nelson recognized Kraków as the battle’s location and identified the song’s “another world belonging to the soul” as Limbo, while Grindelwald redirected Barry from chasing the Deathly Hallows to more urgent work.

• Professor Binns recited a Northern Bard’s wandering song, and Nelson’s magic formed a misty battlefield around him.
• Professor Binns explained that the song’s “great weapon” referred to the Patronus Charm and proposed that it shared a prototype with Dementors and Obscurials.
• Professor Binns asked Nelson to investigate the connection between Obscurials, Dementors, and the Patronus Charm, possibly following clues left by Salazar Slytherin.
• Professor Binns revealed that Pythia defeated Herpo the Foul at the geographical center of Europe, and Nelson recognized the location as Kraków.
• Nelson identified the mist as Lost Mist and said he had been to Limbo, while Professor Binns warned him to be careful.
• In the hospital, Barry said he had found clues to the Invisibility Cloak, but Grindelwald ordered him to handle normal work because his Obscurial was close to going berserk.

Nelson met Christian, who feared Tom was becoming a dark wizard because he practiced the Imperius Curse, and tried to reassure her that magic alone did not make someone evil. Christian remained determined to stop Nelson and Tom from using dark magic, while Nelson left her a Thunderbird newsboy cap and learned that Professor Sykes wanted to see him.

• Christian secretly asked Nelson to talk and led him to the Room of Requirement after failing to make its door appear herself.
• Christian told Nelson she had seen Tom use the Imperius Curse on a mouse and feared he would become a dark wizard.
• Nelson argued that a wizard's actions, not the magic they knew, determined whether they were evil, but Christian remained unconvinced.
• Christian said she would not tell the professors but would personally stop Nelson from using dark magic and would pursue work in magical law enforcement.
• Nelson gave Christian a Thunderbird newsboy cap and returned to the Great Hall, where Tom passed him a note saying Professor Sykes wanted to meet him.