Chapter Summaries

Nelson reunited with Tom, Tina, Newt, and Flitwick at the Three Broomsticks, where he gave Tina and Newt a gift and discussed his work and choices. Before leaving, Newt told Nelson he had found evidence of a plan to attack Hogwarts and other magical schools, drafted years before the Triwizard Tournament was announced.

• Nelson congratulated Tina and Newt on their marriage and gave Tina a storage device he and Tom had made.
• Flitwick praised the device, questioned Nelson about his time at Nurmengard, and mentioned that McGonagall wanted to discuss a personal matter with him.
• Nelson told Newt he had been unable to find Queenie Goldstein, but believed she was acting with Grindelwald.
• Newt told Nelson he had found clues about Credence Barebone and discovered a destroyed Second Salemers stronghold with plans to capture Obscurials and attack magical schools.
• Newt revealed that the plans named Hogwarts as the latest target and had been drafted five years earlier, before the Triwizard Tournament existed.

Nelson helped Tom prepare intelligence on the Triwizard Tournament guests while enduring intensive dance practice with Moaning Myrtle. After learning how much the dance mattered to Myrtle, he committed to practicing until they could perform it perfectly.

• Nelson and Walburga reviewed intelligence gathered by the Black family and Slytherin about the guests and possible tournament tasks.
• Tom refused to let Nelson reveal any questions, wanting to face him fairly if Nelson competed in the tournament.
• Tom and Walburga teased Nelson about Myrtle's repeated dance practices, which had left him exhausted.
• Nelson brought Tom's box of cherry tomatoes and Dwight's Butterbeer to practice with Myrtle.
• Myrtle said Nelson had nearly mastered their routine and suggested they pause, but Nelson insisted they keep practicing so they could perform it well.
• Nelson moved ahead of Myrtle and asked the Room of Requirement for a place where he could help her complete a perfect dance.

Nelson finished rehearsing a demanding dance with Myrtle as Hogwarts prepared for the Triwizard Tournament ball. Before the ball, he dressed for the opening dance and agreed to help McGonagall with a Muggle-related matter, then began checking the castle for suspicious activity with Newt’s Sneakoscope.

• Nelson and Myrtle completed their dance routine, ending with Myrtle spinning in midair before Nelson caught her.
• Nelson, McGonagall, and Hagrid discussed the busy preparations for the ball, and Hagrid said he had a Beauxbatons dance partner.
• McGonagall claimed an ankle injury to avoid dancing, while Dumbledore revealed that Miss Warren had chosen a red dress for Nelson.
• McGonagall asked Nelson to accompany her on a weekend to handle something requiring knowledge of Muggles, and he agreed.
• Tom helped Nelson finish his formal outfit by pinning an Order of the Garter Badge to his chest.
• Newt asked Nelson to use Tina’s Sneakoscope to check for suspicious people, so Nelson began searching from the Slytherin Common Room toward the Great Hall.

Nelson rushed to stop Malfoy from dangerously using Human Transfiguration on Belinda, then continued searching for the Second Salemers before the Triwizard Tournament ball. The ball began without him, but he arrived at the last moment in the form of a white cat and swept Moaning Myrtle onto the dance floor, where he transformed back and caught her.

• Nelson found Malfoy preparing to use a height-altering spell on Belinda, discovered he had combined Transfiguration with an Engorgement Charm, and sent him to the hospital wing in a wheelchair.
• Nelson asked Belinda to tell Myrtle that he might arrive late, then checked the hospital wing while Newt reported that they had rescued the Obscurial and guards from the Second Salemers' lair.
• Tom, Walburga, Margaret, and Ludwig entered the Great Hall as Champions and partners, and Bob Bowie opened the ball with a dramatic performance.
• Tom and Walburga led the opening dance, followed by Margaret and Ludwig, while Myrtle waited anxiously for Nelson to arrive.
• Nelson arrived as a white cat, pulled Myrtle onto the dance floor, transformed into a blond boy, and caught her as she stumbled.

Moaning Myrtle and Nelson captivated the Hogwarts ball with a dramatic dance, and Dumbledore transformed the Great Hall with myrtle flowers in her honor. Nelson then helped McGonagall face her unfinished past by using a photograph and wine to conjure the young man she had once loved, Wiltening.

• Moaning Myrtle and Nelson performed a showstopping dance that ended with Nelson catching her as she fell from a lift.
• Dumbledore conjured myrtle flowers throughout the Great Hall, and Myrtle smiled at the ordinary flowers before Nelson carried her to a seat.
• Tom praised Nelson, who insisted Myrtle deserved to be called the evening’s Champion, then left her with Christian and a glass of lemonade.
• Dumbledore and Flitwick encouraged McGonagall to dance, and Nelson urged her to finish the dance she had left unfinished with her former love.
• Nelson used McGonagall’s photograph and a bottle of wine to conjure a young man in a tailcoat, whom McGonagall recognized as Wiltening.

McGonagall danced with Nelson’s water-made illusion of Dougal and broke down as she faced the loss of her first love. Afterward, Grindelwald, disguised as Bob Bowie, spoke with Nelson and gave him a Small Black Ball before wondering aloud whether Dumbledore would mourn Tom if he died in the Triwizard Tournament.

• McGonagall remembered dancing with Dougal as a girl and confessed her love to the illusion Nelson had made of him.
• McGonagall’s grief and uncontrolled magic shattered Dougal’s Transfigured body into rain, and Sprout and Moaning Myrtle went to comfort her.
• Nelson and Tom joked about joining the Wiltening family before Bob Bowie asked Tom to dance and Walburga led him away.
• Bob Bowie revealed himself to Nelson as Grindelwald and discussed McGonagall’s sorrow and prejudice between Wizards and Muggles.
• Grindelwald gave Nelson a Small Black Ball and asked whether Dumbledore would mourn Tom if he died in the Triwizard Tournament.

Nelson watched Grindelwald expose and confront a disguised attacker who was secretly weaponized as an Obscurial by the Second Salemers. Grindelwald suppressed the man’s explosion, restored his memories, and vanished with him, leaving Dumbledore staring at the spot where they had been.

• Nelson spotted Abraxas Malfoy at the ball and stopped him after learning he had abandoned his dance partner.
• Grindelwald restrained Malfoy with a simple curse, then revealed that the apparent Malfoy was a bald, heavily altered man using Polyjuice Potion.
• Grindelwald questioned the man and read his memories, discovering that the Second Salemers had turned him into an explosive Obscurial.
• The man’s body began to detonate, but Grindelwald forced the explosive magic back inside and restored the man’s memories.
• Grindelwald declared the man’s survival to be punishment, released the suppressed magic, and vanished with him as Dumbledore noticed Nelson beside the empty seat.

At Hogwarts’ ball, Nelson discovered the attack involved Obscurials while Dumbledore and Grindelwald dealt with the danger outside. The chapter ended with the two former friends negotiating over the Tournament, Nelson, and Grindelwald’s demands.

• Newt warned Nelson that every attacker was an Obscurial, and a tremor shook the Great Hall before Dumbledore dismissed it as fireworks and the professors left to respond.
• Nelson and Tom watched the fireworks, discussed Nelson’s upcoming duel with Durmstrang’s Champion, and Tom passed out after drinking whiskey by mistake.
• Nelson and Walburga carried Tom toward the hospital wing, where a shadow on the staircase paused an apparent attempt to sabotage the chandelier.
• Dumbledore confronted Grindelwald on the castle spire, and Grindelwald denied responsibility for the attack and asked for a grand event for the other students, information about Aurelius Dumbledore, distance between Constance Rousseau and Nelson, and two front-row tickets.

As the Triwizard Tournament’s first event approached, McGonagall investigated Margaret Sagan’s unusual Transfiguration and worried about her uncontrolled magic. The Champions had their Wands inspected by Ollivander and were left ready to face the coming challenge.

• Margaret used Transfiguration to create clay soldiers that moved and cast spells, prompting McGonagall to discover that her magic gave them intelligence and a connection to Margaret.
• McGonagall warned Margaret to seek help for her ability to affect others’ thoughts, learned Nicolas Flamel was treating her, and gave her Transfiguration a passing mark.
• Margaret met her younger brothers after class and went with them to the headmaster’s office, where Tom, Ludwig, tournament commissioners, and Ollivander had gathered.
• Ollivander inspected Ludwig’s, Margaret’s, and Tom’s Wands, praised their condition, and demonstrated their magic.
• Sigmund told the three Champions that the first challenge was approaching and asked if they were ready; Tom and Margaret nodded, and Ludwig stood straight.

As the Triwizard Tournament began, Tom, Ludwig, and Margaret chose different trials while Nelson prepared the Black Tower as the final challenge. The Champions set off toward their first stages, and Nelson waited atop the tower for whoever could reach him.

• Nelson received a parcel of magically processed silver, then traveled with Dumbledore to the Black Tower, where he was assigned the final challenge.
• Dumbledore explained that the Champions had to pass two stages before reaching Nelson's Black Tower, while the audience stand rose into position above the Black Lake.
• Tom, Ludwig, and Margaret began the competition: Tom chose Newt Scamander's fantastic beast trial, Ludwig chose Flitwick's dueling trial, and Margaret transformed into a fish and dived into the lake.
• Tom reached the cableway to Newt's platform as the commentator introduced the Champions' choices to the crowd.
• Nelson activated the Black Tower's mechanisms, sat in a high-backed chair on its roof, and declared that whoever climbed up could win.

Tom Riddle bypassed Newt Scamander’s fantastic-beast trial by provoking an Occamy into swallowing him, then escaping beside the gem slab and completing the stage. He left for the next stage as the first champion to finish, while Ludwig arrived and chose his next challenge.

• Dumbledore, Constance, and Sigmund joked about the tournament as the audience watched Tom approach Newt’s platform, crowded with dangerous fantastic beasts.
• Tom assessed the Nundu and the other creatures, then chose to strike through the center rather than search for gems along the edges.
• Newt emerged on a Graphorn and began explaining his antidotes, but Tom put on a protective mask and used Parseltongue to make an Occamy swallow him.
• The Occamy rampaged through the creatures and charged the gem slab, while Newt tried to stop it with a rope net.
• Tom shot out of the Occamy’s mouth, placed three gems in the slab, and left for the next stage as the commentator announced his victory.
• Ludwig arrived at the arena after Tom had finished and chose his next stage, prompting Newt to hope Ludwig would select him.

Ludwig Kant challenged Filius Flitwick and appeared to defeat him by enduring his spell barrage and trapping him with a swarm of locusts. Flitwick revealed that the hourglass had run out and sent Ludwig to the next round, though Dumbledore questioned whether Ludwig had truly won.

• Flitwick explained the duel’s three victory conditions and introduced himself, while Ludwig named himself and said he wanted to defeat him.
• Ludwig attacked first, but Flitwick countered and forced him to defend under a relentless barrage of spells.
• Ludwig recognized Flitwick’s Thunderbolt Breakthrough, dropped his Shield Charm, and dodged the spell at the cost of a severe wound to his thigh.
• Ludwig used a swarm of locusts to engulf Flitwick and seize his Wand, prompting Sigmund to argue that Ludwig had won through Dark Magic.
• Flitwick appeared behind Ludwig, revealed that the hourglass had emptied, and told him to go to the next round.

Ludwig passed Flitwick’s dueling challenge by meeting one of the stated conditions, while Tom entered Gaston Raymond’s cauldron challenge and was poisoned by a supposedly harmless potion. Tom’s face turned purple as the liquid rose around him, and the chapter left him frozen in place, reflecting on his earlier preparations.

• Flitwick healed Ludwig and told him he had passed because he had fulfilled one of the challenge’s conditions.
• Hagrid sat beside Olympe among the Beauxbatons students, where Zoe criticized their missing Champion and Jean defended her.
• Tom jumped into Gaston Raymond’s cauldron, landed safely, and inhaled a calming agent that turned his face purple.
• Gaston explained to the guests that he had neutralized the potion’s active ingredients, creating a harmless “dead poison” for antidote research.
• The audience and commentator joked about Tom’s purple face as the poisonous mist thickened and the liquid rose past his knees.
• A flashback revealed that Nelson had advised Tom to choose Newt as his first opponent, reasoning that Newt’s Occamy might be vulnerable to Tom’s knowledge of its food.

Tom analyzed Gaston Raymond’s potion test and began brewing an antidote while Ludwig challenged Newt Scamander’s magical creatures. Margaret Sagan chose Nicole King Stein for her next stage, leaving Tom to continue his plan to choose his opponents quickly.

• Tom identified the ingredients beneath him as those for Hydrangea Potion and used Revelio to reveal them.
• Tom recalled studying Gaston Raymond’s work on applying Muggle vaccination principles to potion research.
• Gaston praised Tom’s knowledge of the Revelio Charm and Golpalott’s Law, while Slughorn credited Tom’s hard work.
• Ludwig challenged Newt Scamander, learned he needed three gemstones, and avoided facing the venomous Nundu directly.
• Margaret Sagan chose Nicole King Stein as her second opponent, and Tom paused his brewing after hearing the announcement.
• Tom remembered planning with Nelson, Walburga, and Dwight to bypass Newt and choose his later opponents before Margaret could interfere.

Ludwig endured Newt Scamander’s magical creatures and a brutal beating to collect all three gemstones. Newt acknowledged Ludwig’s victory and treated his venom-corroded hand, leaving Ludwig recovering after the trial.

• Newt had a Giant Strength Gorilla beat Ludwig while the audience watched, and Ludwig stayed conscious despite his injuries.
• As the gorilla struck him, Ludwig secretly used Accio to retrieve the gemstone tied to its fur.
• Ludwig took a venom-coated gemstone from the Nundu, using his knowledge of poisons to exploit its deteriorating venom.
• When Newt and the Zouwu checked on him, Ludwig quietly removed the gemstone hanging from the Zouwu and revealed all three gems.
• Newt supported Ludwig, treated his venom-damaged hand, and Ludwig thanked him for letting him win by the rules.

Tom, Margaret, and Ludwig reached the Black Tower for the final stage of the Triwizard Tournament after Margaret emerged from Queenie Goldstein’s castle and Ludwig was blasted back from the mist. Tom entered the tower’s strange machinery-filled grounds, where a new note identified the Black Crystal pillar that stopped Ludwig as mere decoration.

• Queenie Goldstein revealed herself to Margaret, used Legilimency to draw her into conversation, and showed her that the tournament audience saw Margaret fighting through the castle’s challenges.
• Margaret left the castle, and the commentator announced that she had reached its fourth floor without being harmed.
• Tom, Ludwig, and Margaret crossed the cableway to the Black Tower, where Ludwig entered the mist first and was quickly driven back by a blast of fire.
• Tom counted Ludwig’s defeat, then entered the mist and found enormous interlocking gears surrounding the Black Tower.
• Ludwig pointed out the Black Crystal pillar that had stopped him, but a note declared it unrelated to the event, so Tom led the group onward.

The Champions reached the Black Tower, where Nelson’s magical mechanisms and a Metal Puppet tested their teamwork. After defeating the puppet, Tom, Margaret, and Ludwig entered the tower, leaving the next challenge ahead.

• Dumbledore showed the audience Nelson seated atop the Black Tower as its gears turned and his Magic Matrix took effect.
• Ludwig shielded the Champions from the shattered Black Crystal cube, revealing the statue of Pythia, who invited them toward the tower.
• Tom, Margaret, and Ludwig advanced through the mist while Ludwig nervously expected an ambush.
• A Metal Puppet attacked with a cannon blast, and the Champions defeated it by reflecting its shot, binding its legs, and cutting away its chest panels.
• The puppet collapsed, its gears repaired the hole in the tower wall, and the Black Tower’s door opened for the three Champions.

The Champions entered Nelson’s Black Tower, where its shrinking, shifting interior unleashed swarms of Mayflies and the Lost Mist. Ludwig transformed with his Zubat and fought back with ultrasonic attacks, while Tom and Margaret advanced separately; Nelson watched from the tower’s summit and prepared a spear of light.

• Ludwig, Margaret, and Tom entered the tower and discovered that its space was shrinking as Margaret’s conjured glass shattered against the walls.
• Margaret denied ever agreeing to compete fairly and continued up the stairs, while Tom flew upward and Ludwig was left behind as the lights went out.
• Ludwig found himself surrounded by Mayflies emerging from the walls, and the Lost Mist made the machines appear to him as terrifying ghosts.
• Ludwig summoned his Dragon-kin Zubat into himself, transformed, and destroyed many Mayflies with ultrasonic waves.
• Tom dodged Mayflies as he flew toward the top, while Margaret used Confunded Mayflies to fight their fellows.
• The Mayflies formed a cage around Ludwig, who broke it apart with his wings as Nelson prepared a spear of light at the tower’s summit.

Nelson struck Ludwig with a lightning-charged spear, but Tom and Margaret helped him survive and free himself. The three joined forces against Nelson as Ludwig unleashed a locust swarm that began devouring the Black Tower, while the gears above continued turning.

• Nelson hurled a spiraling, lightning-charged spear at Ludwig, and Ludwig transformed further as he fought off the Mayflies.
• Tom redirected the spear at the last moment, and its blast left Ludwig badly injured and pinned by one wing.
• Tom cut Ludwig free, and he, Margaret, and Ludwig agreed to cooperate until they reached the top of the tower.
• Ludwig summoned multiplying locusts that devoured the tower’s floor and foundation, prompting the three Champions to escape outside.
• Flitwick warned McGonagall that Ludwig’s locust spell carried Dark magic, while the tower’s gears continued to grind.

Nelson revealed Alexander, a colossal magical machine built from the remains of the Black Tower, and awakened it to fight the Champions. The chapter ended as Alexander began to move after Nelson fed Lost Mist into its pipes.

• The Black Tower transformed into a gear-driven torrent and attacked Tom, Ludwig, and Margaret.
• Tom summoned a Giant Python that grappled with the Black Tower, while Ludwig repaired his wings and Margaret formed a defensive army formation.
• Nelson reshaped the tower’s debris into Alexander, a one-armed mechanical giant that seized the Giant Python.
• Margaret and Ludwig attacked Alexander’s exposed furnace, but Mayflies and silver spheres intercepted their strikes.
• Nelson connected his golden gear to Alexander and poured Lost Mist into its pipes, causing the machine’s fingers to bend.