Chapter Summaries

Tom told Nelson about Christian Jewell’s traumatic past, explaining how it shaped her distrust of dark magic and her view of Tom. The two reached Hogsmeade and planned to visit Aberforth after shopping.

• Nelson told Tom that Christian had come to find him, and Tom said he had sent her to Professor Binns’s office.
• Tom explained that Christian still saw him as a Dark Wizard and refused to change her beliefs, partly because she judged people by what she had witnessed.
• Tom revealed that Christian had been abducted by human traffickers, whose abuse of children he had investigated through Legilimency.
• Tom said Christian’s adoptive father, Richard Jewell, had taught her to hide her magical abilities and protect herself before gangsters beat him to death.
• Tom explained that Christian blamed Jewell’s death on his criminal past and believed his advice to be good, which helped fuel her resistance to dark magic.
• Tom and Nelson reached the clothing shop in Hogsmeade, and Tom suggested visiting Aberforth afterward.

Nelson and Tom visited Daguerre’s tailor shop, then Nelson confronted Professor Sykes about the Swooping Evil antidote she had offered him. He learned she already knew he had taken it, accepted her corrected compensation, and discovered the suit of armor had secretly warned him about how she found out.

• Nelson and Tom visited Daguerre’s tailor shop, where Nelson recognized the shopkeeper from the Hidden Place and questioned why his Hogsmeade shop had disappeared.
• Nelson spoke with the suit of armor outside Dumbledore’s office, then went inside to meet Professor Sykes.
• Professor Sykes praised Nelson’s studies, asked about Miranda Goshawk’s Charms book, and offered him a pale-purple potion as a reward.
• Nelson recognized the potion as similar to the antidote for Swooping Evil venom and confronted Professor Sykes about its ingredients.
• Professor Sykes admitted her negligence had allowed her sister to hide an XXXXX-class magical creature on Nelson and removed the venom from the potion before giving it to him.
• The suit of armor secretly told Nelson that the Hippogriff boy’s Patronus had informed Albus about the Swooping Evil, then asked Nelson to replace its painful missing scale with a gold one.

Tom told Nelson that Professor Sykes had secretly dealt with a group of black-robed wizards who wanted the Swooping Evil Nelson once carried, and warned that they were now after his creature. The next day, Alphard accidentally made an explosive potion in Slughorn’s class, and Nelson obtained its formula.

• Tom told Nelson that Professor Sykes had once been interested in Dumbledore and that she had let black-robed wizards into Hogwarts to collect a Swooping Evil.
• Tom explained that Gioconda Sykes had hidden the creature in a student’s bag after fighting the wizards, then forgotten where it was after being bitten.
• Tom said Professor Sykes’s buyers had threatened to expose her and were likely seeking the Swooping Evil Nelson had once possessed.
• Alphard’s cauldron turned red and began banging after he accidentally added a firework ingredient during Potions class.
• Slughorn evacuated the classroom and contained the explosion, while Nelson helped clear the students from the area.
• Nelson asked Alphard for the explosive potion’s formula, and Slughorn dismissed the class before assigning Alphard detention and a longer essay.

Nelson agreed to help Alphard with his Potions homework after Alphard offered family secrets and books, then began writing in the library while joking with Tom. Meanwhile, Newt Scamander and Tina Goldstein brought a Sphinx to Britain, where Newt prepared to hand it over to the Ministry of Magic.

• Alphard asked Nelson to write his Potions homework, and Nelson agreed after hearing what Alphard offered in return.
• Nelson started writing Alphard's assignment in the library while Tom teased him and read a wizard adventure novel.
• Tom described a story in which a wizard used a cat teaser to approach a Sphinx, and Nelson joked that the Sphinx would kill him painlessly.
• Newt and Tina traveled underwater toward London with a Sphinx enclosed in a wooden crate.
• Tina reminded Newt that British Ministry of Magic officials would soon meet them, and Newt prepared to hand over the Sphinx.

Newt Scamander returned to Britain with a Sphinx and reunited with his brother Theseus, who had arranged for the Ministry to invite him to advise on magical creatures. Theseus told Newt the Sphinx was for the Triwizard Tournament, leaving Newt concerned about the tournament’s dangers and considering what to tell his Hogwarts friend.

• Theseus revealed himself as the Auror leading the team that received Newt’s sunken cruise ship, and the brothers embraced after a long separation.
• Theseus told Newt that the Ministry had invited him back as an expert on magical creatures and urged him to return after dealing with Tina Goldstein.
• Newt told Theseus that Tina was aboard the ship, and Theseus awkwardly suggested bringing her home for a meal and holding a wedding.
• Theseus explained that the Sphinx was for the Triwizard Tournament, and Newt asked about sharing details with a friend studying at Hogwarts.
• Theseus described the tournament’s dangers, including a past contestant who had suffered a brain injury, and he and Newt reminisced about their childhood and the Knight Bus.

Nelson learned that Professor Sykes had given him a rare Clear-Mind Potion, and Slughorn explained its effects and the two-year brewing process. Slughorn revealed that Nelson and Tom might be selected for the Triwizard Tournament, while the friends prepared for exams and their trip to Albania.

• Slughorn examined Nelson’s potion and identified it as a Clear-Mind Potion that could treat certain kinds of magically caused memory decline.
• Slughorn explained that the potion took two years to brew and returned it to Nelson, then went to ask Melissa where she had obtained it.
• Slughorn told Nelson to get custom dress robes because he and Tom had a strong chance of being chosen for the Triwizard Tournament.
• Nelson told Tom about the Tournament, and Tom explained that every student’s name would go into the Goblet of Fire.
• Tom warned Alphard that Dumbledore would bar him from the final exam if he did not submit his Transfiguration homework.
• Tom reminded Nelson that they would travel to Albania after exams and said Albanians nodded for no and shook their heads for yes.

Dumbledore met Grindelwald on Norway’s coast, where Grindelwald explained that he wanted to restart the Triwizard Tournament to give young wizards an opportunity. He also revealed that Armando Dippet had gone mad and that Barry, Dippet’s Obscurial grandson, had been captured by the Second Salemers, leaving Dumbledore to question what had happened to Dippet and Durmstrang’s headmaster.

• Dumbledore confronted Grindelwald about why he had summoned him, and the two discussed the Resurrection Stone, Newt Scamander’s marriage, and their students.
• Grindelwald compared giving octopuses a chance to enter the sea with his desire to give young wizards a stage by restarting the Triwizard Tournament.
• Dumbledore challenged Grindelwald about how he had persuaded the Ministry of Magic to organize the tournament, but Grindelwald gave him an unconvincing explanation.
• Grindelwald told Dumbledore that Barry had been captured by the Second Salemers and that Barry’s Obscurus was close to erupting.
• Grindelwald said Armando Dippet had gone mad and had grown unexpectedly powerful, while Dumbledore drew his wand on Grindelwald and demanded to know where Dippet was.
• Dumbledore asked whether Grindelwald had imprisoned Durmstrang’s headmaster, and Grindelwald claimed the man trusted him and wanted him as deputy headmaster.

Nelson finished his Divination exam after Mrs. Climance guided him through interpreting a crystal-ball vision and asked what a true seer needed to receive revelations. Afterward, he and Tom discussed Alphard’s predicted exam failure, while Walburga relayed that Grindelwald’s people had thanked Nelson and Tom wondered whether Aberforth had invigilated the morning exam in Dumbledore’s place.

• Mrs. Climance helped Nelson interpret a cat knocking down a tiny kitten as a sign of a professor achieving new research results, then asked how a gifted seer obtained revelations of the future.
• Nelson answered that unconscious fragments from scattered or delirious consciousness might be prophecies, and he left Mrs. Climance pondering his response.
• Alphard worried that he would fail Divination, while Professor Slughorn praised Nelson for earning full marks in History of Magic and encouraged the students to head to dinner.
• Tom and Nelson pointed out that Alphard’s prediction of failing one exam that day could refer to his morning Transfiguration exam, leaving Alphard distressed.
• Walburga told Nelson that Grindelwald’s associate had reported Nelson’s actions to Lord Grindelwald and wanted to thank him in person.
• Tom asked whether Aberforth had invigilated the morning exam instead of Dumbledore and said he would investigate.

Nelson and Tom celebrated the end of the school year at Hogwarts, where Slytherin won the House Cup, and accepted Walburga and Alphard’s invitation to visit the Black family home in London. After the feast, the group boarded the train to King’s Cross Station for the holidays.

• Nelson attended Tom’s Duelling Club practice beside the Black Lake, then arrived at the Great Hall and showed Tom the scratches Question Mark had left on his wrist.
• Nelson and Tom learned that Alphard and Walburga lived near King’s Cross Station, and agreed to visit their home after leaving school.
• Professor Slughorn gave the end-of-term speech in Headmaster Armando Dippet’s absence, transformed the Great Hall into Slytherin colors, and announced Slytherin as the House Cup winner.
• Professor Slughorn told the students about holiday travel and safety rules, while Aberforth impersonated Dumbledore beside him.
• Nelson, Tom, Alphard, and Walburga boarded the train to King’s Cross Station at seven that evening.

Nelson, Tom, Walburga, and Alphard arrived at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, where they met Walburga and Alphard’s father, Pollux Black. As they explored the Black family home and prepared for dinner, Alphard revealed an unusual family heirloom and mentioned the Black Wizards.

• After leaving King's Cross Station, Nelson explained to Alphard why some Muggle children remained homeless and described his and Tom's childhood in an orphanage.
• Walburga revealed Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, and Pollux Black welcomed the group into the Black family home.
• Pollux showed Nelson the Black family tree tapestry and explained the family's pure-blood history before leaving to arrange dinner.
• Alphard showed Tom and Nelson a small tunneling drill and said it had once helped the Black Wizards carry intelligence.
• Walburga dressed for dinner with help from Kreacher, and Tom praised her appearance before she led the group toward the dining room.

Nelson and Tom attended a formal dinner at the Black family home, where Pollux revealed information about Nelson’s Wiltening ancestry and the family’s work for Grindelwald. The chapter ended with Nelson asking Pollux why the Blacks had risked contacting Grindelwald despite his limited influence in Britain.

• Nelson and Tom learned from Kreacher that the Black family traditionally mounted the heads of elderly House-elves on a corridor wall, and Walburga rejected the practice.
• Pollux welcomed Nelson and Tom to dinner, introduced his family’s hospitality, and guided the conversation toward school life.
• Pollux drew Nelson’s family crest and explained that the Wiltening family was associated with Norway and a distinctive talent for Transfiguration.
• Pollux told Nelson that Grindelwald had tasked the Blacks with uniting forces to revive the Triwizard Tournament.
• Nelson asked Pollux why the Black family had risked contacting Grindelwald when he had little influence in Britain and Dumbledore was said to be able to defeat him.

Nelson and Tom discussed the Black family’s decline and Pollux’s admiration for Grindelwald’s vision of Wizard rule over Muggles. The dinner ended with Nelson inviting Pollux to visit Nurmengard, and Tom agreed they would leave the next day.

• Pollux questioned Nelson about whether the Black family was truly one of Britain’s foremost families, then described how Muggle urban growth had swallowed the family estate.
• Pollux argued that Wizards had become afraid of Muggles despite the Statute of Secrecy, and said Grindelwald’s proposal to rule and manage Muggles had won his support.
• Pollux praised Tom and Nelson as exceptional students, and Tom clarified that his surname was Riddle when Pollux called him Gaunt.
• Over dinner, Pollux discussed the Sacred Twenty-Eight and recalled fighting Morfin Gaunt, while Tom said he had little connection to the Gaunt family.
• Nelson asked Pollux whether he wanted to visit Grindelwald at Nurmengard, and Tom told him they would leave the next day.

Nelson transported Pollux and the British wizards from Grimmauld Place to Nurmengard’s Hub in Kraków, where Pollux saw the scale of its magical logistics network and grew more committed to joining Grindelwald. Nelson left the group in the Hub’s care and departed with Tom for Albania.

• Nelson used Pythia to transport Pollux, Tom, the other wizards, and their luggage from Grimmauld Place to Nurmengard.
• A registration wizard recognized Nelson and tried to detain him on Zweig’s orders, but Nelson persuaded him to let the group proceed and to keep his return quiet.
• Pollux studied the Hub’s rapid transport of goods and realized how far its network surpassed the Black family’s methods.
• Pollux told Nelson that his family would not run away and that he believed Grindelwald was a powerful wizard worth following.
• Nelson woke Tom, left Pollux with the Hub’s staff, and Apparated with Tom toward Albania.

Tom and Nelson reached Albania and followed the Eagle Door Knocker’s direction by flying carpet into a remote forest. They arrived near the mountain where Rowena Ravenclaw’s Diadem was hidden, and Nelson began building a place to stay before they searched for it.

• Tom woke on a tiny sea-surrounded teleportation platform, and Nelson arrived carrying a book about Albania.
• Nelson broke the teleportation pattern to stop Zweig from following them, then led Tom down to the beach and released Nagini.
• Tom used the Eagle Door Knocker to determine the direction of the Diadem, and he and Nelson discovered they could travel by flying carpet.
• The flying carpet carried Tom, Nelson, and Nagini into a primeval forest near an axe-shaped mountain.
• Tom identified the mountain as the place where the Diadem was hidden, while Nelson scattered small balls into the forest and began transfiguring a rock into a house.

Tom and Nelson settled into their fortified cottage in Albania, but Nagini and several Alchemy Gnomes went missing in a strange part of the forest. They followed the trail and encountered a forest that seemed alive, where a woman accused them of coming to steal its wisdom.

• Nelson and Tom built a heavily defended cottage and discussed Albania’s vampires and local Wizards.
• Tom woke from a dream when Nelson told him Nagini had disappeared and that only half of the searching Alchemy Gnomes had returned.
• Tom and Nelson followed an Alchemy Gnome into a silent forest, with Nelson deploying his flying Mayfly turrets.
• The leading Alchemy Gnome vanished, and Tom’s spell barely affected the trees blocking their way.
• The trees opened a path through the forest, and Nelson spotted broken Alchemical Automatons and bloodstained vines before a woman asked whether they had come to steal wisdom.

Tom and Nelson fought a Dryad whose forest attacked them while they searched for Nagini. After Tom destroyed one enormous vine creature, they escaped into the air and spotted a towering tree that might be the Dryad’s main body.

• Tom demanded that the unseen enemy release Nagini, but a wind of leaves shattered Nelson’s barrier and triggered the forest’s hidden defenses.
• Nelson sent Mayflies to scout and identified their attacker as a Dryad whose consciousness extended throughout the forest.
• The Dryad refused to release Nagini and attacked them with a massive vine, which Tom pierced with a destructive spell and then blasted back underground.
• Several enormous vines erupted around them, so Nelson Apparated with Tom into the sky as the creatures devoured the fallen vine.
• Nelson rode a steel Silver Falcon and directed the Mayflies to cut through the vines with high-temperature rays.
• Nelson spotted a towering tree in the distance and wondered whether it was the Dryad’s main body.

Tom and Nelson battled the forest’s hidden speaker, which claimed to be Rowena Ravenclaw and wore her diadem. The diadem trapped them in a vision of the past, where Ravenclaw confronted them and Tom challenged her claim.

• Tom used his serpentine rune to locate Nagini, and Nelson cleared a two-mile path with the Iron Falcon’s metal feathers.
• Nelson detonated the Iron Falcon and used metal threads to cut down the trees, exposing a hollow, dead yew stump bearing Rowena Ravenclaw’s Diadem.
• The forest’s voice declared that it was Rowena Ravenclaw, and Tom and Nelson found Nagini still trapped underground among the roots.
• The diadem immobilized Tom and Nelson and showed them the past, where Ravenclaw approached them beneath the yew tree.
• Ravenclaw accused the dark wizards of pursuing knowledge with misguided magic, and Tom asked what the penalty was for impersonating a Hogwarts founder.

Tom and Nelson confronted a woman claiming to be Rowena Ravenclaw, who trapped them in an illusion and restrained them. Tom broke free and learned Nelson had to defeat his own illusory projection to awaken, while Nelson challenged the woman and entered the fog that engulfed her.

• The woman claiming to be Rowena Ravenclaw dismissed Tom and Nelson, and Tom's spell passed through her before the Yew tree began falling toward them.
• Tom broke through the woman's restraints, stopped the falling trunk, and summoned an Azure Python from the tree to attack her.
• The woman revealed that Tom was in her illusion and could wake after breaking free, but Nelson had to kill his illusory projection to awaken his soul.
• Nelson recognized the woman was a tree stump burdened with Rowena Ravenclaw's memories and threatened to unleash Fiendfyre if she did not wake.
• Nelson released white fog that swallowed the woman, froze everything around him, and then stepped into the fog.

Nelson uncovered that the Dryad was a memory vessel containing Rowena Ravenclaw’s memories, and learned that Nagini carried a dormant soul fragment belonging to Herpo the Foul. Rowena refused to release Nagini but offered to help confront Herpo, leaving Nelson faced with an unexpected ally and a dangerous threat to his friend.

• The Lost Mist stripped away the Dryad’s human appearance, and a wooden wall and door appeared around Nelson.
• Nelson entered the door and met the Dryad again in a room where she revealed her intelligence and tested his understanding of knowledge.
• The woman identified herself as the memories of Rowena Ravenclaw and admitted that her influence had caused the Dryad to capture Nagini and separate the friends.
• Rowena refused to release Nagini and revealed that a dormant fragment of Herpo the Foul’s soul was hidden inside her.
• Rowena recognized Herpo as connected to the ancient Dementor uprising and offered to help confront him, warning Nelson that he and his companions were not enough.

Nelson reunited with Rowena Ravenclaw in Limbo, and she helped him and Tom prepare to save Nagini from her Maledictus transformation and the Herpo soul fragment within her. Nelson confronted Herpo in Limbo, while Tom stood ready to help.

• Nelson told Rowena that Herpo the Foul had become a recurring nuisance in Limbo, then brought her back to the present.
• Rowena showed Nelson that Tom was fighting the Dryad, and Nelson returned to Tom’s silver sphere and shielded him from a root strike.
• Rowena brought Nelson and Tom to Nagini, explained that Nagini’s transformation was advancing and the Herpo soul fragment was growing unstable, and asked for Basilisk fangs.
• Tom Apparated to Hogwarts and returned with Basilisk fangs, while Rowena explained that Nagini’s trust in Nelson and Tom gave their transformation plan a chance despite the danger.
• Nelson entered Limbo with Tom and confronted the weakened Nagini, calling Herpo the Foul out of her body.