Chapter Summaries

Nelson confronted Picquery with the remains of 1,360 Second Salem victims and used the Deathly Hallows to free their trapped souls. As the dead comforted Nelson and urged him not to seek revenge himself, Dumbledore arrived at the camp.

• Nelson revealed the victims’ bone ash to Picquery and accused the Second Salemers of destroying more than a thousand lives.
• Nelson summoned a pillar of light that tore open a rift in the sky, freed the souls trapped in the ash, and lifted Adele’s spirits with the voices of her former cellmates.
• Grindelwald restrained the American Wizards with Fiendfyre and sent Tom to help Nelson, who joined him in wielding the Elder Wand.
• The freed souls relieved Nelson of painful memories and destroyed the dark sphere he carried, then urged him to protect the living and let the dead judge their killers.
• Dumbledore arrived with others as the souls gathered around Nelson and insisted that he did not have to stand against the world for them.

Grindelwald transformed his Fiendfyre into a courtroom in Limbo, where Nelson and Tom used the Hallows to summon the dead and begin a trial of the living. Seraphina Picquery took the defendant’s seat as the gathered dead called the court to order.

• Grindelwald built a vast Fiendfyre colosseum around Dumbledore and the American wizards, then explained that he wanted a public trial.
• Nelson and Tom placed the Resurrection Stone on the Elder Wand and summoned the final Hallow, the Invisibility Cloak, as the train arrived in Limbo.
• The courtroom filled with the dead, including a mailman named Leonard, while the American wizards were bound before the judges’ bench.
• Nelson ordered Seraphina Picquery to sit, and the dead gathered in the stands directed their anger at the defendants.
• The Resurrection Stone rang against the Elder Wand, Picquery took her place, and the dead declared the court in session.

Norton II struggled to keep MACUSA functioning after the Second Salemers trial, while Grindelwald brought survivors into international negotiations to press for major reforms. As Tom and Nelson completed a memorial statue, the survivors presented their demands for wizards and non-magical people to share equal rights and oversight.

• Grindelwald and Dumbledore discussed the memorial sculpture being built for the victims and the progress it represented.
• Norton II and Nobby Leach argued over whether foreign wizards could intervene in MACUSA’s response to the Salem incident.
• Norton II recalled being forced into leadership after Jackson and many senior officials were incapacitated by the trial, leaving him the highest-ranking official available.
• Grindelwald brought Adele and a non-magical teacher representing the survivors to the conference, where the teacher demanded disclosure, equal rights, and oversight of MACUSA’s experiments.
• Tom asked Nelson whether the crisis was over as they finished a statue of an old man, and Nelson said the guilty wizards would remain unconscious until they atoned.

Adele shaped a kneeling statue at the victims’ monument, and Norton II took responsibility for his country’s crimes and ordered statues of the condemned to be erected there. Nelson and Tom then left Boston with Adele, intending to hunt down Herpo the Foul’s final Horcrux, while Nelson welcomed Adele into his family and planned to bring her to Hogwarts.

• Adele borrowed Nelson’s wand and shaped a kneeling figure from the earth, but could not decide whose face it should bear.
• Norton II knelt before Adele, apologized for what she had suffered in America, and made his own face the statue’s likeness.
• Norton II ordered statues of the judged criminals to be built at the monument and insisted that his country confront its crimes honestly.
• Nelson and Tom took Adele to the Boston docks and told her they were heading to find Herpo the Foul’s final Horcrux.
• Adele gave Nelson her full name, Adele Wiltening, and Nelson promised that she would be part of his family and said Hogwarts should welcome her.
• Nelson, Tom, and Adele boarded a ship as the others prepared to return to their lives.

Nelson and Tom searched the ocean for the ghost ship Adventure Galley while discussing the history of Herpo the Foul’s Horcrux and how Professor Binns had tracked it. The ship remained unfound as Norton II mourned his country’s past and resolved to prevent its next leaders from repeating its mistakes.

• Nelson explained to Tom that Herpo the Foul had hidden a fragment of his soul in a loyal slave turned into an Inferius, who became a cursed statue in India.
• Nelson recounted how William Kidd took the statue aboard the Adventure Galley, after which the ship vanished and became a roaming ghost ship.
• Nelson revealed that the Order of the Garter had detected the Horcrux’s Dark Magic in the Pacific, prompting their search, and Adele leapt at Tom when he playfully pinned Nelson down.
• Nelson praised Professor Binns for uncovering the clue that helped the Order of the Garter locate the Horcrux.
• Norton II stood among the statues, regretted neglecting his homeland, and told his subordinate that the next leaders must not repeat their predecessors’ mistakes.

Nelson and Tom tracked Herpo the Foul’s Ghost Ship as it raced toward their cruise liner, while Penguin and the Acolytes kept other Wizards from interfering. Nelson unleashed the sea against the ship as Tom advanced to board it, and Nelson summoned a colossal vessel of seawater to strike.

• Nelson and Tom detected an old wooden ship heading toward the cruise liner and Apparated to intercept it.
• Penguin shielded the cruise liner and instructed the Acolytes to protect it, then gave visiting Wizards telescopes so they could watch the confrontation.
• Nelson and Tom descended toward the Ghost Ship, where an Inferi Slave raised a dark pirate flag and the ship accelerated toward the liner.
• Mayflies defended Nelson and Tom from the Ghost Ship’s skeletal pirates as Tom moved ahead to attack and Nelson prepared to cover him.
• Nelson raised a towering wave against the Ghost Ship, then formed a massive seawater ship that swooped down toward it.

Nelson used the Tower Ship and its combined magical protections to crush the Adventure Galley and expose Herpo the Foul’s monstrous slave. Tom pursued the wounded creature underwater and destroyed it with the Word Spirit Art, leaving the battle at checkmate.

• Nelson assembled the Tower Ship from seawater and Mayflies, then sent it against the Adventure Galley as leaves and arrows tore through the Ghost Ship’s defenses.
• The Adventure Galley’s tentacles slowed the Tower Ship while the Ghost Ship tried to sink and escape, but Nelson cast “Castling” to switch places with the ship and clear its path.
• The Tower Ship smashed into the Adventure Galley, breaking its Dragon Keel and dissolving its dark magic with the Patronus’s power.
• The broken Ghost Ship sank as Herpo the Foul’s slave escaped and fed on sea beasts to repair its injuries.
• Tom followed the monster underwater, pierced its skull with the Word Spirit Art, and destroyed half its body with a black burst of magic.

Tom and Nelson trapped and killed Herpo the Foul’s octopus slave, Valentine, using the Tower Ship, the united Deathly Hallows, and Alexander. Afterward, they discussed Herpo’s Horcruxes and the mystery of how his magic reached the real world, leaving open questions even as Nelson declared Herpo himself finished.

• Tom destroyed Valentine’s human form, forcing the octopus beneath the sea into a frenzy while Nelson prepared the Tower Ship to contain it.
• Tom attached the ram to the Dragon Keel and used the Word Spirit Art, while Alexander emerged and drove the spear through Valentine.
• Nelson and Tom counted Valentine’s decoy ink shots until Tom struck and crushed the tiny octopus on the thirteenth attempt.
• Nelson reclaimed the Elder Wand and the transformed pieces of the ship, while the Invisibility Cloak returned to him and Valentine’s corpse surfaced.
• Nelson told Tom that the ship had been in the real world despite Professor Binns saying two Horcruxes were in Limbo, and that the Second Salemers had no Horcrux.
• At sunrise, Valentine’s body passed through a gate of light, where a corner of black gauze briefly appeared.

Norton II oversaw a stalled debate between Wizard representatives and the thirty-one victims over publicly revealing magic and reforming relations between Wizards and non-Wizards. Professor Twelve Trees gave Mr. Muller a message about using what he had, leaving the possibility of change open as the age approached its turning point.

• Mr. Muller argued that MACUSA had fueled the conflict by supporting the Second Salemers, and he cited Wiltening’s record to challenge the Wizards’ account of the Twelve Trees Incident.
• Warren defended Rappaport’s Law as protection for Wizards, but Mr. Muller countered that MACUSA could not excuse its actions as the personal conduct of criminals.
• Norton II called a break after the representatives failed to agree, and the Wizards left the thirty-one victims waiting in the conference room.
• Warren warned Mr. Muller that disclosure would not make Wizards and non-Wizards equal, but Mr. Muller insisted that people had to act to prevent further deaths and abuse.
• Professor Twelve Trees showed Mr. Muller how to operate the enchanted cigarette case and urged him to consider what non-Wizards had that Wizards lacked.

After MACUSA exposed the Second Salemers’ crimes, Wizarding governments arrested people linked to their illegal trade, and debate resumed over whether Wizards should reveal themselves to Muggles. Nelson and Tom returned from America with Adele and received a copy of The Quibbler’s poll of British Muggles, leaving them curious about the news they had missed.

• Daguerre joined a guarded meeting with Ms. Scamander and Professor Twelve Trees and offered evidence against the Second Salemers.
• MACUSA published records of its crimes and the Second Salemers’ trafficking and business, prompting Nobby Leach to order arrests after finding his own pardon of Caractacus Burke among the related cases.
• The Daily Prophet sent reporters to ask Wizards about America’s plans to abolish Rappaport’s Law, while a crowd in Diagon Alley hexed a man who denounced Muggle-born students.
• Nelson and Tom arrived in Britain by ship with Adele, and Nelson proposed renting rooms in Diagon Alley and buying supplies for her Hogwarts schooling.
• An owl delivered The Quibbler to Nelson, whose front-page headline announced interviews with twenty British Muggles about the public’s views.

Nelson and Tom returned to Britain with Adele and were welcomed by Pollux and his children. Pollux’s Nurmengard connections and a Malfoy-backed nomination promised the Black family renewed wealth and influence, while Nelson learned that Dumbledore planned to hire him to teach Quidditch.

• Nelson read Penguin’s newspaper and wondered how Jacob and Martha had become interviewees.
• Pollux waited at the harbor with Alphard and Walburga, carrying a parchment proposing him as head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation.
• Nelson and Tom arrived with Adele, and Pollux welcomed them before his children joined the reunion.
• Alphard eagerly collected the Peruvian Vipertooth fangs Nelson had brought and admitted he wanted them for a secret passage, not to destroy Ravenclaw Tower.
• Alphard told Nelson that Dumbledore intended to hire him to teach Quidditch, and Nelson tried to catch him for a ride back to London.

Nelson and Tom tested Alphard’s explosive Potion in a cavern, where it caused a massive underground blast and damage on the surface. They returned to Grimmauld Place, where Alphard questioned Nelson about the Potion and the group planned a trip to Diagon Alley with Adele after Myrtle and Hagrid arrived.

• Nelson and Tom tested an explosive Potion made with Peruvian Vipertooth fangs, blasting a spherical space through the cavern and releasing poisonous fog.
• Tom and Nelson discussed using the Potion as ammunition for Nelson’s Mayfly and Alexander, while Nelson warned that prejudice and conflict still threatened the future.
• Nelson and Tom left the cavern, concealed their involvement by leaving gold and Emeralds for road repairs, and vanished before Mr. Weasley arrived to investigate.
• At Grimmauld Place, Alphard eagerly asked Nelson whether the Potion could blast through castle walls, and Nelson warned him against using it at Hogwarts.
• Walburga told Tom that Adele wanted to visit Diagon Alley and that Myrtle would arrive the next morning while Hagrid planned to sneak over that night.
• Tom suggested that they all visit Diagon Alley together, and Nelson and Alphard speculated about which Hogwarts house Adele might join.

Nelson and Tom took Adele shopping in Diagon Alley, where Adele received a wand from Ollivander and Nelson had his own wand examined. As the group gathered at the robe shop, Nelson spotted Gioconda Sakes and chased after her.

• Tom teased Adele about wanting a broom, then bought her a Moon Dream broom to be delivered to Hogwarts after term started.
• Nelson accompanied Adele to Ollivander's, where she found a wand made of poplar wood with a unicorn hair core.
• Ollivander examined Nelson's black walnut wand and advised him to hold it more often and question his own heart.
• Nelson spotted Gioconda Sakes carrying a filthy bundle and chased her into an alley.
• Tom told the others that Gioconda had nearly turned Nelson into an idiot and led them toward the robe shop.

Nelson chased Gioconda through Knockturn Alley and Diagon Alley, trying to learn why she was fleeing with a mysterious package. Gioconda escaped on a broom after Nelson marked her so he could track her, while he kept a strange fragment she had dropped and prepared to find out what she was doing.

• Gioconda fled into Knockturn Alley with a package, but Nelson intercepted her and sealed the entrance behind her.
• Gioconda blasted a hole through a wall and escaped, but Nelson used his Mayfly and Apparition to catch up with her repeatedly.
• Gioconda hurled fruit at Nelson as they raced through Diagon Alley, drawing a cheering crowd that mistook their chase for playful courtship.
• Gioconda hid in the crowd, stole a broom from a Quality Quidditch Supplies shop assistant, and flew away as Nelson's spell grazed her hand and left a Falcon-shaped mark.
• Nelson told Tom that he had marked Gioconda and found a strange scale-like fragment she had dropped, while Tom asked him to choose between two pink sweaters.

Nelson and his friends spent a shopping trip in matching pink creature sweaters, then discussed their Hogwarts course choices over shaved ice. Nelson spotted Gioconda’s beacon moving west and recognized a niffler as her scout, leaving the creature to return to its fleeing master.

• Nelson chose a Puffskein sweater, and he and his friends discovered Alphard’s sweater was unraveling as he ran from the shop.
• Walburga dragged Alphard into Fortescue’s, where the group ate shaved ice and discussed Hagrid’s interest in magical creatures and their future courses.
• Nelson chose Care of Magical Creatures and dropped Divination, Potions, Herbology, and Astronomy from his planned studies.
• Hagrid identified Gioconda’s fragment as eggshell, prompting Nelson to check the beacon he had left on her in Limbo.
• Nelson caught a niffler stealing from his boots, gave it a silver ball, and called out that its master might have left something behind; the niffler turned toward him and slipped into an alley.

Gioconda relived the night her parents died and, guided by Nelson, escaped on a broom to find her sister Melissa Sakes. She woke in the present with Gangbeng and the winding key, while Nelson told Tom he was good at finding people.

• Nelson woke Gioconda and gently corrected her for naming magical creatures and forcing her ideas about them onto others.
• Masked Wizards and a herd of Graphorns attacked the family home, and Gioconda’s mother was killed as Nelson protected her with magic.
• Nelson helped Gioconda remember how to hide the key and find her sister, then urged her to escape on the broomstick as his life ran out.
• Gioconda flew to Melissa Sakes, where former headmaster Armando Dippet was also staying, and Nelson’s mist-bound figure vanished.
• Gioconda woke from the recurring nightmare in a moldy bed, found the winding key still at her collar, and complained when Gangbeng licked her.
• Nelson told Tom that he agreed with his assessment and was good at finding people.

Pollux told Nelson that the Sakes Family’s massacre may have been linked to Dr. Sakes’s claim that wizards were magical creatures, a forbidden theory about the origin of magic. Before leaving Grimmauld Place, Nelson sent Penguin orders to investigate Dippet and Professor Sakes and keep Gioconda from reuniting with her sister.

• Pollux explained that the Sakes Family had been wiped out in what the Ministry called a magical creature riot, though Black family members had found signs of a wizard battle.
• Pollux questioned why the Sakes Family’s secret magic had not been stolen and suspected Dr. Sakes’s claim that wizards were magical creatures had provoked their destruction.
• Nelson told Pollux he was investigating out of personal curiosity, and Pollux offered to look into a magical creature farm once owned by the Sakes Family.
• Nelson wrote Penguin instructions to watch Headmaster Dippet and Professor Sakes, investigate Muggle interviews, and prevent Gioconda Sakes from reuniting with Professor Sakes.
• Nelson gave his parchment to a former Kraków subordinate and ordered him to deliver it personally to Penguin.

Gioconda reached the American shore exhausted, unaware that Johnny and Joseph were secretly driving her west as part of Lord Wiltening’s plan. Meanwhile, Nelson and Adele traveled to Hogwarts with Tom, who revealed that Hagrid suspected their eggshell came from a hybrid magical creature.

• Gioconda collapsed on the shore, and Johnny and Joseph used waves and food to steer her into continuing west without revealing themselves.
• Gioconda lit a fire and warmed herself with Gangbeng, while the Galleon in the Niffler’s claws secretly broadcast her location to the wizards tracking her.
• Johnny’s report described the pursuit plan, including its goal of driving Gioconda toward the Great Lakes, and noted that Armando Dippet had detected their personnel.
• Nelson and Adele rode the Hogwarts Express together, and Tom joined them after delivering a sweater to Chris.
• Tom told Nelson that Hagrid thought the eggshell might have belonged to a creature with Dragon, Chimera, and other magical traits.

Adele Wiltening arrived at Hogwarts, survived an encounter with the Giant Squid, and was sorted into Hufflepuff, while Nelson and his friends welcomed the new school year. After Dumbledore announced the term’s activities, Nelson received a work report from Penguin’s people and found Adele and Christian waiting in the corridor.

• Ogg led the first-years across the Black Lake, where a Giant Squid grabbed Adele and left a small crab tangled in her hair.
• The Sorting Hat sang a new song, and Nelson joked with Tom about its warnings and the death of Herpo the Foul.
• The Sorting Hat placed Adele Wiltening in Hufflepuff, prompting Nelson to accept the result while Alphard regretted that she had not joined Slytherin.
• At the feast, Dumbledore announced the return of the Quidditch Cup, Care of Magical Creatures lessons in the Forbidden Forest, and Flitwick’s new Charms post and Duelling Club.
• Nelson received a work report from Penguin’s people after the feast, then found Adele and Christian in the corridor.

Nelson comforted Adele after she chose Hufflepuff, while Christian pleaded with him to forgive Professor Sakes and learned that Gioconda would face the consequences of her choices. Dumbledore later told Nelson that Adele had chosen Hufflepuff herself, and the chapter ended with Wizards in Antarctica watching a point of light merge into the sun.

• Christian brought Adele to Nelson and asked him to let Professor Sakes go, but Nelson refused to excuse Gioconda’s actions.
• Nelson promised Adele he would find the Sword in the Stone for her birthday, and Adele declared she would compete against him for the House Cup as a Hufflepuff.
• Nelson stopped Peeves from attacking him, then told Peeves that Adele was his sister and warned him to leave her alone.
• Dumbledore told Nelson that Adele had chosen Hufflepuff herself, despite the Sorting Hat initially favoring Gryffindor.
• On the Antarctic ice sheet, Penguin and a group of Wizards watched a point of light merge into the sun.