Chapter Summaries

Lorian advised Nelson to refine his combat magic and introduced him to Alchemy as a way to coordinate with his Transfiguration and equipment. Meanwhile, Tom finished processing Gordigan for Slughorn and prepared to travel to France, carrying supplies and warnings from his professor.

• Lorian told Nelson that his magic relied too much on broad control effects and urged him to develop more precise, damaging attacks.
• Lorian proposed that Nelson use Alchemy with his Transfiguration, battlefield control, and pocketed coat, then began teaching him from his notebook.
• Tom asked Slughorn what Gordigan was used for, and Slughorn admitted that nobody had discovered its purpose.
• Tom told Slughorn he planned to travel to France, and Slughorn warned him about Grindelwald’s followers and gave him Felix Felicis and a Bezoar.

During Tom’s final Divination class before his trip to Paris, Mrs. Climance lectured about fate and the stars until a crimson meteor appeared overhead. Nelson and his companions saw the same phenomenon, while in Paris an elderly wizard confronted Armando Dippet at the entrance to the Hidden Place.

• Mrs. Climance told her students that fate shaped events but that individuals still held some control over their own destinies.
• Alphard gave Tom a tent and cooking equipment from Walburga, while Tom and Alphard whispered through Mrs. Climance’s lesson and lost Slytherin points.
• Mrs. Climance described how astrology had been used to interpret fate and froze when a crimson meteor streaked across the sky.
• Nelson jokingly prophesied that caterpillars would devastate Lorian’s vegetable garden, then saw a red meteor with Lorian, White, and Newt.
• An elderly white-haired wizard confronted Armando Dippet on a Paris street outside the Hidden Place.

Armando Dippet confronted Judge Shafiq in Paris and pursued revenge against the Acolytes he believed had killed his family. Dippet defeated Shafiq and entered the Hidden Place, while Shafiq suspected that Dippet’s grandson, Barry Dippet, had become an Obscurial.

• Armando Dippet accused Judge Shafiq of standing in his way and revealed that Albus Dumbledore had confessed to making a blood pact with Grindelwald.
• Judge Shafiq warned Dippet that his targets had legal identities and that attacking them would endanger civilians, but Dippet dismissed his grandson as a Squib.
• Dippet and Shafiq fought through the Paris streets, then paused as Shafiq questioned the suspicious account of a Muggle painter who had supposedly witnessed Dippet’s family’s deaths.
• Shafiq disarmed Dippet with an Apparition attack, but Dippet used his son’s wand to petrify Shafiq and took back his own wand.
• Dippet entered the Hidden Place, while Shafiq guessed that Barry Dippet might have become an Obscurial under Dippet’s harsh upbringing.

Tom left Hogwarts for France, taking Nelson’s forgotten backpack with him, while a separate account showed Dippet launching an assault on a Grindelwald-affiliated stronghold in the Hidden Place. The chapter ended with Dippet declaring that the war had begun.

• Tom packed his travel documents, told Question Mark to find food or seek help, and found Nelson’s dusty backpack by the dormitory door.
• Ogg escorted Tom across the Black Lake to Hogsmeade station, where Tom boarded the train and found Nelson’s backpack to be empty.
• Tom tried contacting Nelson through their mirrors but got no response, then dozed off on the train.
• Andre freed Judge Shafiq from a Full Body-Bind Curse and followed him into the Hidden Place after hearing a battle break out.
• Dippet defeated the wizards at an animal-products shop and revealed they served Grindelwald.
• Shafiq confronted Dippet, who declared that the war had begun.

Nelson learned that Dumbledore had clashed with Andre at Nurmengard, prompting White to evacuate him and Lorian to Ilvermorny in America. As they escaped by Portkey, Nurmengard’s defenders sealed the city and fighting broke out.

• Nelson studied Transfiguration and questioned whether a failed spell from Slytherin’s Chamber had broken Gamp’s Law before the Exclamation Mark struck him in the eye with a metal ball.
• White told Nelson that Dumbledore and Andre had begun fighting at Nurmengard and ordered him to evacuate while she planned to rescue Barry.
• White arranged for Nelson and Lorian to go to Ilvermorny, giving Nelson an entry permit signed by Norton II, Emperor of the United States.
• White, Nelson, and Lorian escaped by Portkey as wizards converged on Nurmengard.
• Nurmengard’s black-robed defenders raised a barrier around the city, trapped the invading squad inside, and began fighting them.

Nelson and Lorian arrived in San Francisco, where White told them about her Squib great-uncle, Joshua Norton, and his campaign for equality as the self-proclaimed Emperor of the United States. They met Norton II, who welcomed them to America and prepared to take them to Ilvermorny.

• Nelson, Lorian, and White arrived on the Golden Gate Bridge, where White explained that Joshua Norton had proposed its construction.
• White told Nelson and Lorian how her Squib great-uncle had declared himself Emperor of the United States and advocated for greater rights for marginalized Muggles.
• Norton II appeared at two o'clock, greeted White, and accepted Nelson's letter of introduction.
• Norton II brought the visitors into his office and introduced himself as both Emperor of the United States and Director of the American Ministry of Magic's Department of International Magical Cooperation.
• Nelson chose to go straight to Ilvermorny, and Norton II prepared to lead him and Lorian there.

Nelson Wiltning and Lorian Konalo arrived at Ilvermorny, where Headmaster Professor Isolt Sayre welcomed them and arranged their lodging. Professor Sayre tested Nelson’s magical knowledge and watched him demonstrate Transfiguration as they traveled through the school.

• Nelson and Lorian used the Floo Network to reach Ilvermorny, where Norton II introduced them to Headmaster Professor Isolt Sayre.
• Professor Sayre arranged for Lorian and Nelson to share a vacant house near the greenhouse and sent caretaker Nidander to escort Lorian there with their luggage.
• Professor Sayre asked Nelson about his Hogwarts studies and Ilvermorny’s four houses, and Nelson explained his strengths and weaknesses in different subjects.
• Nelson demonstrated his magic by transforming a metal ball into a mine cart and using it to carry himself and Professor Sayre down the corridor.
• Professor Sayre praised Nelson’s Transfiguration and said he could award him a graduation certificate based on that skill alone.

Nelson Williams Wiltening arrived at Ilvermorny and was sorted into Horned Serpent after the house’s statue chose him for his traits. Professor Twelve Trees explained the school and the house’s advanced spellcasting lessons, but questioned whether Nelson’s fir wand was really his.

• Professor Twelve Trees showed Nelson the World Tree door and explained its connection to Ilvermorny’s founder, Isolt Sayre, and her aunt, Gormlaith Gaunt.
• Professor Twelve Trees opened the sorting hall, where the four house voices assessed Nelson and the Horned Serpent statue chose him.
• Nelson met Professor Twelve Trees after sorting and learned that Horned Serpent valued wisdom and offered lessons in silent, wandless, and delayed casting.
• Professor Twelve Trees took Nelson to the wand room, where he examined Nelson’s fir wand and said it did not seem to belong to him.

Nelson learned about wandmaking and American healing magic from Professor Twelve Trees while Tom Riddle waited to travel through the Floo Network amid news of fighting in France. Tom sent a note and left for France as Grindelwald’s forces surrounded the British Ministry of Magic.

• Professor Twelve Trees examined Nelson’s inherited Ollivander wand and explained its materials, history, and fit with Nelson’s strengths.
• Professor Twelve Trees urged Nelson to use his Black walnut wand, explaining that the Trace no longer needed to concern him.
• Professor Twelve Trees demonstrated a wand made from Kneazle whisker and Watermelon vine, then explained Ilvermorny’s wandmaking and the origins of Medicine Wizardry.
• Tom Riddle learned that Professor Armando Dippet’s forces had attacked Nurmengard and that fighting had spread through France.
• Tom sent a note by owl and departed for France through the Floo Network while black-robed Wizards surrounded the Ministry of Magic.
• A tall, bald Wizard announced that Lord Grindelwald never broke his word.

Tom traveled through the French Ministry of Magic to reach Muggle Paris, where he headed for the newspaper office’s contact address while Grindelwald’s forces attacked the city. Meanwhile, Zweig’s squad prepared to demolish the British Ministry of Magic, and Judge Shafiq arrived to tell Hector Fawley that he had been impeached.

• Tom persuaded the French Ministry receptionist to send him through a fireplace to the Paris outpost of the Memory Modification Office, then left for Le Parisien.
• Tom saw black gauze covering the sky over Paris, avoided a black-robed wizard, and continued toward the newspaper office in an Invisibility Cloak.
• Gioconda incapacitated the wizard on the rooftop, then searched the alley for the person he had spotted.
• Tom found Le Parisien closed and went toward a nearby luxury hotel listed as the contact address on the missing-person notice.
• Zweig’s squad prepared to use magic against the British Ministry building as Hector Fawley tried to negotiate with him.
• Judge Shafiq and Nobby Leach emerged from the Ministry, and Shafiq told Fawley that officials had impeached him at the instigation of his father-in-law.

Judge Shafiq removed Minister Fawley from office and appointed Nobby Leach Acting Minister while Zweig’s Acolytes occupied the Ministry. After the Acolytes vanished, Nobby began organizing the Ministry and planned to rebuild it underground.

• Fawley threatened Judge Shafiq with his wand, but Ministry staff ignored his orders as Shafiq confronted him over his misconduct.
• Shafiq gave Nobby Leach evidence of Fawley’s bribes and announced that Nobby was now Acting Minister; Aurors arrested Fawley.
• Zweig warned that his Acolytes planned to demolish the Ministry, then they made the building vanish and departed.
• Nobby divided the Aurors to respond to other threats, while Shafiq left for the Wizengamot to conceal his injuries.
• Dorian Weasley explained why the Wizengamot had selected Nobby, who resolved to build the new Ministry underground and enlist Dorian’s help.

Tom traveled to Paris under the name Gellert Grindelwald to meet Tom Riddle, who had requested him. He finally entered Riddle’s suite, where the elderly man woke and met his gaze.

• Tom located the inconspicuous hotel entrance and learned that a Muggle-Repelling Charm kept Muggles away from the surrounding streets.
• Tom checked into a room and let a trainee doorman lead him upstairs to meet Tom Riddle.
• Riddle’s butler recognized Tom and exclaimed that he looked remarkably like someone, then ushered him into the sitting room.
• Tom sat opposite the elderly Tom Riddle, who opened his eyes and met his gaze.

Tom met his dying father, Tom Riddle Sr., who told him about his mother and offered him the Riddle family fortune. The chapter ended with Tom Riddle Sr. asking him to find his missing younger sister, Laura Riddle.

• Tom and Tom Riddle Sr. recognized their resemblance and awkwardly introduced themselves as father and son.
• Tom Riddle Sr. explained that Merope had controlled him with a love potion, and the old butler recounted how she died after bringing Tom to West City Orphanage.
• Tom rejected inheriting the family business and demanded to know what Tom Riddle Sr. wanted in return.
• Tom Riddle Sr. gave Tom a photograph and revealed that his younger sister, Laura Riddle, had gone missing in London in 1932.
• Tom Riddle Sr. insisted that Tom find Laura, whose birthday was December 30, 1927.

Tom investigated the disappearance of Laura Riddle, while Nelson settled into Lorian’s cottage and proposed researching time travel with her. The chapter ended with Nelson setting a three-year deadline to make progress toward their goals.

• Tom learned that Laura Riddle had disappeared in London and promised Tom Riddle Sr. he would look for her and bring her to Little Hangleton.
• Tom Riddle Sr. concluded that Tom was like Laura, became distressed, and had to take medicine before falling asleep.
• Tom retrieved his room key at the hotel and learned that its Golden Key Badge connected members of a hotel management alliance.
• Nelson arrived at Lorian’s cottage, read a newspaper about the war, and learned they would not be able to return home soon.
• Nelson told Lorian he believed she came from another world and proposed that they research a Time-Turner, setting a three-year deadline.

Tom confronted Gioconda Sakes, who had broken into his room to retrieve Nelson Williams's backpack and a magical creature inside it that caused memory loss. After Gioconda escaped, Tom contacted Nelson to explain what had happened and warn him that she was looking for him.

• Tom found Gioconda in his room with Nelson's backpack and subdued her with a venomous snake after she tried to draw her wand.
• Tom searched the backpack and deduced that a creature inside it caused people who encountered it to forget things, including Nelson's habit of carrying the bag.
• Gioconda admitted she wanted to remove the creature and repair Nelson's memory, but Tom refused to let her take the bag.
• Tom gave Gioconda the venom antidote, but she transformed into a bird and escaped through the window with a third wand.
• Tom used the Two-Way Mirror to tell Nelson that Gioconda was looking for him because of the memory-affecting creature in his backpack.

After Tom warned Nelson that a magical creature might be affecting his memory, Nelson identified it as a Swooping Evil feeding on memories in Limbo and captured it. He then brought Tom into Limbo to visit Herpo the Foul, who served Nelson while Nelson questioned him about anything he had remembered.

• Tom told Nelson that Gioconda Sakes had admitted hiding a magical creature in Nelson's forgotten backpack, and Nelson realized it might be a Swooping Evil.
• Nelson reasoned that the creature had been feeding on memories in Limbo, entered Limbo with the Gaunt Ring, and captured a spiny blue-green Swooping Evil from the mist.
• Nelson secured the injured creature in a reinforced, protected case and showed Tom the memory-filled mist it had been eating.
• Nelson took Tom through the Two-Way Mirror to Limbo and explained that Herpo the Foul was trapped there because of his Horcrux.
• Herpo welcomed Nelson as his master, and Nelson sat on his throne and asked whether Herpo had remembered anything new.

Nelson tested the Swooping Evil’s venom on Herpo the Foul in Limbo, learned a spell to heal the resulting soul damage, and suspected the creature had been poisoning him over time. After discussing his schemes and recklessness with Tom, Nelson recognized the girl in Tom’s family photograph as Christian.

• Nelson exposed Herpo the Foul to the Swooping Evil’s venom and observed how it attacked souls and memories in Limbo.
• Herpo the Foul taught Nelson the Spirit Snake Soul Shedding spell, which Nelson used to heal the venom damage on the ground and on Herpo.
• Back in his room, Nelson told Tom he had pretended to seek a cure to mislead Herpo and suspected the Swooping Evil had been chronically poisoning him.
• Nelson and Tom discussed Nelson’s past reckless choices and Tom’s disappointing meeting with his father in France.
• Tom showed Nelson a photograph of his younger sister, and Nelson recognized her as Christian.

Tom and Nelson discussed Tom's return to Britain, Nelson's concern for Aunt Bella, and Nelson's plans at Ilvermorny. After their call, Nelson discovered his forearm contained a golden bone while testing Human Transfiguration, leaving him uncertain about what he was.

• Nelson told Tom he had seen a missing-person notice for a girl named Lola in Hangleton, and Tom hoped she might be his sister.
• Tom explained that the British Floo Network was cut off and planned to visit Aunt Bella, while Nelson urged him to stay safe and gave him advice about the Hidden Place.
• Nelson admitted he had considered using a Memory Charm to protect Aunt Bella, but Tom argued against making her forget him.
• Nelson showed Tom that he was studying in Ilvermorny's Horned Serpent House and said he would return to Hogwarts in three years.
• Nelson's alchemical puppet, Exclamation Mark, brought him hot water and accidentally scalded his arm.
• Nelson used Human Transfiguration on his forearm and discovered that the bone beneath his skin was gold.

Dumbledore confronted Grindelwald atop the Eiffel Tower as Grindelwald’s Lethifold covered Paris, and the two argued over sacrifice, Ariana’s death, and Nelson Wiltning. Dumbledore stopped Grindelwald’s attack on Tom Marvolo Riddle, and Grindelwald vanished with the Lethifold, leaving Paris in sunlight.

• Dumbledore met Grindelwald atop the Eiffel Tower and condemned the Lethifold’s growth and Grindelwald’s destruction of Paris.
• Grindelwald defended sacrificing Muggles for the greater good and accused Dumbledore of manipulating students, including Nelson Wiltning.
• Dumbledore admitted he blamed himself for Ariana’s death, then said Nelson had taught him to recognize his own responsibility.
• Grindelwald revealed that he had told Nelson about his origins and arranged shelter, lessons, and support for him in Nurmengard.
• Dumbledore embraced Grindelwald and dragged him into a fall, but Grindelwald set a building containing Tom Marvolo Riddle on fire.
• Dumbledore extinguished the fire, and Grindelwald and the Lethifold vanished, restoring sunlight over Paris.

After Grindelwald’s Acolytes withdrew from the Hidden Place, the wizarding world began weighing peace and cooperation while the conflict faded into uneasy calm. In Boston, Andre recruited Nelson to oversee a Kraków transfer station and revealed that Swooping Evils were raised on human brains by old dark magic families.

• Grindelwald escaped with the Lethifold, and his Acolytes withdrew after the attack on the Hidden Place.
• The French Aurors counted their losses, while some wizards considered making peace or cooperating with Grindelwald; Armando Dippet disappeared and local clashes continued.
• In Boston, Andre met Nelson on a beach, admitted he had rescued Barry, and explained that Barry was studying history at Grindelwald’s great-aunt’s home.
• Nelson found a waterlogged box marked 1773, learned it held old tea, and sent it flying away after recognizing its connection to Boston’s past.
• Andre asked Nelson to serve as administrator of the repaired Wizard Highway transfer station in Kraków, and Nelson agreed to start after a trip to New York.
• Andre told Nelson that Armando Dippet had chased him for five months before Dumbledore persuaded Dippet to return to Hogwarts, then explained that Swooping Evils were raised on human brains by ancient dark magic families.