Chapter Summaries

After Harry and Veratia searched the Lestrange family vault for Voldemort’s Horcruxes, they found Hufflepuff’s Cup but not Marvolo Gaunt’s ring or Aurelius Gaunt’s portrait. Veratia revealed that she had triggered Gringotts’ alarm, and Aurors surrounded the bank as they prepared to leave.

• Harry defeated the Dementors during the Quidditch match, caught the Snitch, and helped Gryffindor win; Fudge later withdrew them from Hogwarts after parents complained.
• Dumbledore told Harry and the others that Voldemort’s summoning ritual had succeeded and that they needed to find his Horcruxes, so Veratia and Harry planned to investigate the Lestrange vault.
• Veratia transformed into Bellatrix Lestrange, while Harry disguised himself as Rodolphus; they entered Gringotts and passed through the Thief’s Downfall, which stripped away their disguises.
• Harry stunned the Fire Dragon guarding the vault and removed its protective curses, but the vault contained neither the ring nor the portrait they sought.
• Harry and Veratia found Hufflepuff’s Cup, suspected it was a Horcrux, and took it with them after searching the vault for other enchanted objects.
• Veratia disclosed that she had ordered Griphook to trigger the alarm, and a voice outside announced that Aurors had surrounded Gringotts.

Harry and Veratia escaped the Aurors after causing a disturbance at Gringotts, where they found a fake Gryffindor's Sword and a likely Horcrux in Hufflepuff's Cup. After Sirius Black tried to enter Gryffindor Tower and was driven off by the Sphinx, Harry learned that Sirius had been his father's closest friend and his Godfather, and vowed to catch him.

• Harry and Veratia fought their way past the Aurors at Gringotts and escaped without anyone being killed.
• Dumbledore examined the items from the Lestrange vault and identified Hufflepuff's Cup as a likely Horcrux; the Sorting Hat revealed the real Gryffindor's Sword.
• Mr. LeMay promised to remove the soul fragment from the cup, while Harry and the others discussed ways to destroy Horcruxes and preserve the Founders' relics.
• The Sphinx returned to Hogwarts after driving Sirius away from the Gryffindor Common Room entrance, and Dumbledore gathered the students in the Great Hall while professors searched the castle.
• Harry questioned Dumbledore about Sirius, and McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout revealed that Sirius had been James Potter's closest friend and Harry's Godfather.
• Harry declared that he would catch Sirius and make him atone for betraying his parents.

Harry learned how Sirius Black and his parents were betrayed, then used the Marauder’s Map to expose Peter Pettigrew as Ron’s pet rat, Scabbers. Minister Fudge agreed to help clear Sirius’s name after Harry persuaded him, leaving the Ministry poised to correct the wrongful conviction.

• Professor McGonagall explained that James and Lily Potter had been betrayed by their Secret Keeper, whom everyone believed was Sirius Black, and that Peter Pettigrew had supposedly died confronting him.
• Harry found Pettigrew’s name beside Ron on the Marauder’s Map, and Professor Lupin identified Pettigrew as Wormtail and said he had been an Animagus.
• Harry and the professors brought Ron and Scabbers to the Headmaster’s Office, where Professor McGonagall transformed the rat into Pettigrew.
• Under Truth Serum, Pettigrew admitted he had become the Potters’ Secret Keeper, betrayed them to Voldemort, and framed Sirius by staging his own death.
• Fudge resisted declaring Sirius innocent, but Harry persuaded him to present clearing Sirius as a chance to bolster his reputation, and Fudge agreed to redress the case.

Harry’s plan led the Ministry to arrest Pettigrew and prepare to clear Sirius Black’s name, while Harry helped Ron recover and earn a place as Gryffindor’s reserve Keeper. As Harry and Dumbledore headed to Pettigrew’s trial, Sirius was stunned in the Forbidden Forest by Veratia.

• Fudge accepted Harry’s suggestion, and Scrimgeour’s Aurors took Pettigrew from Hogwarts to face an emergency trial at the Ministry.
• Dumbledore told Harry that Sirius had not been found yet, and Harry apologized for teasing Fawkes before returning to the Great Hall.
• Ron apologized to Hermione, then trained with Fred and George and earned a place as Gryffindor’s reserve Keeper.
• Dumbledore brought Harry to the Ministry for Pettigrew’s trial, where Harry spoke with Mr. Weasley before they headed to the courtroom.
• Sirius ate food brought by Pabbie in the Forbidden Forest until Veratia stunned him and prepared to put him in a pouch.

Harry attended Peter Pettigrew’s retrial, where Pettigrew was sentenced to life in Azkaban and Sirius Black was declared innocent. After Harry learned that a prophecy placed Sirius at Hogwarts in two days, Veratia brought the captured Black Dog to Snape, who eagerly prepared to give it a potion.

• Fudge presided over Pettigrew’s retrial, and Harry challenged Pettigrew’s claim that fear of death had forced him to betray the Potters.
• Pettigrew offered no defense, and Fudge sentenced him to life in Azkaban, revoked his Order of Merlin, and declared Sirius not guilty.
• Harry praised Fudge before the reporters, then returned to Hogwarts with Dumbledore, who organized a search for Sirius.
• Snape argued with Lupin about Sirius while the professors discussed finding him, and Harry later told Cassandra he was satisfied with the verdict.
• During Divination, Trelawney predicted Harry would see Sirius at Hogwarts in two days; Hermione quit the class after Trelawney insulted her.
• Veratia brought a bound Black Dog into Snape’s office and asked for a calming potion, and Snape produced a collection of brightly colored potions.

Veratia brought Sirius Black to Snape for treatment after he poisoned himself by eating an Acromantula venom sac, and Sirius reunited with Lupin and Harry after Peter Pettigrew had already been captured. Sirius was cleared and appointed a temporary Defense Against the Dark Arts assistant; the chapter ended with him asking Harry, Ron, and Hermione to help prank Snape with the Marauder’s Map.

• Veratia took the ill black dog to Snape, where Snape treated Sirius’s stomach trouble and mocked him after he had diarrhea in the office.
• Pabbie rushed to rescue the dog, and Lupin arrived and untied Sirius’s paws so he could transform back into human form.
• Sirius learned that Harry had exposed Peter Pettigrew, then reunited with Harry and thanked Veratia for saving him.
• Dumbledore welcomed Sirius back, and Sirius agreed to serve temporarily as a Defense Against the Dark Arts assistant.
• Harry hugged Veratia, then Ron and Hermione advised him to learn about James from several people rather than relying only on Snape’s account.
• Hedwig delivered a Firebolt from Sirius, and Harry gave his Nimbus 2000 to Ron before Sirius invited the trio to use the Marauder’s Map to prank Snape.

Harry and his friends investigated Trelawney’s prophecy about Voldemort serving a Demon King, and they planned to summon the god of death for answers. As Sirius began teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, he opened his first class by impersonating Snape.

• Harry told Veratia and Cassandra about Trelawney’s prophecy, and they brought it to Dumbledore for advice.
• Dumbledore took Harry, Veratia, and Cassandra to Mr. LeMay, where they learned a ritual for summoning the god of death and agreed to gather its required materials.
• Harry obtained Dragon scales from Charlie and asked Hagrid for three-headed dog fur, while Hagrid reconciled with Sirius over the past.
• Hogwarts students caught influenza, Lupin went on leave, and Sirius became popular as he recovered and began teaching.
• Hedwig delivered Charlie’s package, and Sirius opened his first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson by dressing and speaking like Snape before quizzing Harry.

Harry joined Hogwarts’s Halloween costume ball, where Sirius impersonated Snape and the Weasley twins won the costume contest, while the planned summoning of the god of death was postponed. Harry then learned that Lupin was a werewolf, accepted him without judgment, and entered Lupin’s memories to see James as a student; the chapter ended as young Sirius hinted at Lupin’s secret.

• Harry and the professors decided to postpone summoning the god of death until after Halloween, despite having gathered the required materials.
• Harry and Veratia exchanged House outfits for the costume ball, and Sirius was dismayed to see Harry dressed as a Slytherin.
• The Weasley twins won the costume contest with their two-headed troll disguise, while Sirius placed second for impersonating Snape and further angered Snape.
• Harry asked Lupin about James, and Lupin revealed that he was a werewolf; Harry accepted him and entered his memories to learn about James.
• Harry watched young James in the Gryffindor dormitory, where young Sirius began telling him that Lupin had a secret.

Harry watched a memory in which Sirius revealed Remus’s lycanthropy to James, who accepted him and proposed that the friends become Animagi to keep him company. Lupin then explained more about Snape’s past, and Harry left to meet Mr. LeMay and summon the god of death.

• Sirius told James that Remus was a werewolf, and James reacted with excitement rather than rejection.
• Remus entered, and James reassured him that their friendship would not change because he was a werewolf.
• James proposed that he and Sirius learn to become Animagi so they could accompany Remus during his transformations, and he included Peter in the plan.
• Lupin told Harry that Snape had invented the curse James used against him and had allowed his spells to be used against Gryffindor students.
• Harry said goodbye to Lupin and prepared to visit Mr. LeMay to summon the god of death.

At San Diego High School’s Alumni Day Dance, Thomas revealed himself as a powerful wizard and massacred the students and Aurors in the Great Hall. He spared Tiffany and the Auror leader to perform a blood ritual, ending as he called out for the Dark Lord’s youngest child.

• Tiffany welcomed Thomas to the dance, and he entered the Great Hall with her as his date.
• More than a dozen Aurors confronted Thomas, who blocked their spells and attacked them with his wand.
• Thomas killed the Aurors and the students trapped in the Great Hall, sparing only Tiffany and the Auror leader.
• Thomas carved an inverted pentagram into Tiffany’s back, collected the Auror leader’s blood, and began a ritual calling for the Dark Lord’s youngest child.

Tom received the final ritual instructions from the six-winged phantom, while Hogwarts’s attempt to summon the god of death appeared to fail. After the ritual shook the castle and blasted the Forbidden Forest bare, Harry and Dumbledore went to investigate the summoning room.

• Tom met the six-winged phantom, which told him to draw a ritual array to open the gates of hell in the New World and gather items to break Father's Seal.
• Mr. LeMay led a summoning ritual at Hogwarts, but the array appeared empty afterward, and he concluded that something had been summoned but had not stayed.
• Mr. LeMay demonstrated that his Crystal Balls could provide instant communication, and he gave Newt six devices while telling Harry, Veratia, and Miss Malfoy they could have theirs for free.
• A powerful magical fluctuation shook Mr. LeMay's Alchemy Room and stripped the Forbidden Forest of its leaves.
• Harry suspected the god of death had arrived, and he and Dumbledore went to the summoning room to investigate.

Harry and the others summoned Lady Death and offered her food in exchange for answers. She explained how to complete the circle, but left them uncertain whether Tom Riddle had successfully summoned her in the New World.

• Lady Death pointed out that the summoning circle was incomplete and demanded a proper offering, so Dumbledore arranged a meal.
• Lady Death rejected several cuisines until Veratia brought McDonald's, which satisfied her enough to answer one question.
• Veratia told Lady Death about Tom Riddle and Gellert Grindelwald, and Lady Death said she had no interest in harvesting souls.
• Lady Death told Mr. LeMay that a virgin with love in her heart could complete the circle using her blood, and Cassandra and Veratia both fit the requirement.
• Dumbledore asked whether Tom Riddle had summoned Lady Death in the New World, but she refused to answer without another sacrifice.

Lady Death agreed to answer a question in exchange for an ancient Egyptian emerald necklace, but first warned that Pabbie Sweeting’s condition required attention. Mr. LeMay revealed that Pabbie was a half-ghost who needed the Philosopher’s Stone to regain a physical body, and the chapter ended with Harry asking what methods would be needed.

• Harry, Veratia, Cassandra, and Newt failed to decide on a sacrifice, so Harry proposed waiting until morning to offer Lady Death another meal.
• Dumbledore invited Lady Death to stay at Hogwarts and learned that her summoning was permanent and that the Resurrection Stone recreated people from memories rather than summoning true souls.
• Veratia brought Gellert to Lady Death, then offered an ancient Egyptian emerald necklace, which Lady Death accepted as a sacrifice.
• Lady Death warned Harry that Pabbie was struggling to control her magical Margus form, and Newt brought Pabbie to the Alchemy Room.
• Mr. LeMay revealed that Pabbie was trapped between a ghost and a Unicorn after a failed transformation and that the Philosopher’s Stone could restore her physical body.
• Harry asked Mr. LeMay to explain the special methods needed to reshape Pabbie’s body.

Mr. LeMay revealed that a spell requiring a father's bone, a servant's flesh, and an enemy's blood could restore Pabbie's body. Lady Death explained that Voldemort had opened the gates of Hell and was helping Azazel seek a way to break Lucifer's Seal, leaving the group to prioritize reviving Pabbie while preparing to stop the threat to Earth.

• Mr. LeMay found a body-restoration spell, and Harry realized that Pabbie's enemies were likely Veratia and Cassandra; Cassandra blushed when Harry teased her about donating blood.
• Lady Death confirmed that Voldemort had summoned Satan, or Lucifer, and explained the Fallen Angels' rebellion and Lucifer's defeat by God.
• Lady Death revealed that Voldemort had opened the gates of Hell and was searching with Azazel for a way to break Lucifer's Seal, which could bring about Apocalypse.
• Dumbledore and the others learned that their immediate priority was to revive Pabbie, who could not hold on much longer, rather than focus on the Seal.
• Cassandra offered enemy blood for the spell, and Mr. LeMay proposed using his nephew Newt as the servant whose flesh was required.

Harry learned that wizards had adopted Christmas to accommodate Muggle-born students, while Sirius invited him to spend the holiday at Grimmauld Place. Harry accepted and suggested inviting Ron and Hermione, unaware that Voldemort's lingering soul had been living there for nearly a year.

• Harry and Cassandra discussed Christmas at Hogwarts and how Headmaster Black had wanted to cancel the holiday.
• Sirius watched Harry with Cassandra and told Lupin he felt sorry that Harry was involved with two Slytherin girls.
• Lupin encouraged Sirius to invite Harry to spend Christmas with him, and Sirius approached Harry after lunch.
• Sirius invited Harry to Grimmauld Place for Christmas, and Harry happily accepted.
• Harry suggested inviting Ron and Hermione, and Sirius agreed.
• Voldemort's lingering soul remained at Grimmauld Place, unknown to Harry and Sirius.

Harry invited Ron, Hermione, Pabbie, and Cassandra to spend Christmas at Sirius's home, then called Veratia to invite her as well. Veratia agreed to the idea but teased Harry about gathering the women around him, ending the conversation by wishing he were there to bathe with her.

• Sirius invited Ron and Hermione to spend Christmas at Grimmauld Place, Number 12, and they accepted.
• Harry invited Pabbie, who agreed eagerly, then asked Draco to bring Cassandra to him.
• Cassandra accepted Harry's invitation after teasing him and made him promise to practice spells with her until the holiday ended.
• Harry called Veratia through the Crystal Ball while she was bathing and invited her to spend Christmas with him.
• Veratia teased Harry about inviting Cassandra and Pabbie, then said she wished he were there to bathe with her and scrub her back.

Harry and his friends prepared for the Christmas holiday, while Hermione and Ron fumed over a Wizard Chess championship ruling. Harry left Hogwarts with Cassandra, Sirius, and Pabbie, and Sirius privately enjoyed imagining Veratia’s reaction to Harry and Cassandra’s closeness.

• Harry invited Neville and Seamus to spend the holiday with him, but they planned to return home to their families.
• Ron complained that Korea had declared Hamilton the loser of the Wizard Chess World Championship over a disputed rule, and Hermione criticized Korea’s flag.
• Cassandra reflected on Britain’s declining wizarding world and decided to discuss it with her family.
• Sirius told Harry that the full moon would fall after Christmas, then waited with him for Professor Lupin before their departure.
• Harry offered Cassandra his hand, and she linked her arm through his as they left together.
• Pabbie joined them in ghost form, and Cassandra teased her by calling her a donkey.

Sirius brought Harry and his friends to Grimmauld Place, where they learned more about Pabbie’s ghostly condition and her hopes of returning to life. The group entered the Black family home and was greeted by Kritcher and the furious portrait of Sirius’s mother, which Phineas Black suddenly joined.

• Pabbie explained that practicing magical Margus had turned her into a ghost and that Nicolas Flamel hoped to revive her around February next year.
• Sirius teased Harry about the girls who liked him and learned that Cassandra was Septimus Malfoy’s daughter.
• Sirius led the group to Number 12, Grimmauld Place, where Kritcher insulted him and welcomed Harry and Cassandra.
• Mrs. Black’s portrait began shouting abuse at Sirius and his friends after they entered the house.
• Phineas Black suddenly appeared in Mrs. Black’s portrait.

Sirius returned to the Black family home, where Phineas revealed Harry’s identity as the legendary wizard from a century earlier and convinced Walburga to welcome Sirius back into the family. The group then discovered Sirius’s untouched room and its embarrassing posters, and the chapter ended with Cassandra making Harry float after he complimented her figure.

• Phineas praised Sirius as the Black family’s glory, then told Walburga that Harry was the legendary wizard her father had idolized and had traveled through time.
• Walburga realized Harry was Sirius’s godson, declared Sirius her favorite son, and ordered Kritcher to restore his name to the Black family tree.
• Sirius showed Harry and the others his room, where they found posters of bikini-clad women that he had left up with a Permanent Sticking Charm.
• Pabbie teased Cassandra about being jealous, and Cassandra followed her out of Sirius’s room.
• Harry took Cassandra’s hand and complimented her figure, so Cassandra called him shameless and made him float.

Harry and his friends explored Sirius's sealed childhood bedroom at the Black family home, where Sirius recalled his past and invited everyone to dinner. Veratia arrived and was warmly greeted by Walburga, while the Slytherin Locket released black mist that briefly affected Kritcher.

• Harry reassured Sirius about Peter's betrayal after Sirius found his old motorcycle jacket and the Marauders' vow written on the wall.
• Sirius dragged a spider from beneath the bed, and the group discussed eating spiders and Acromantulas.
• Sirius summoned Kritcher to prepare dinner and was surprised when Kritcher respectfully called him his honored young master.
• Harry answered Veratia's call and went downstairs to greet her at the door.
• Walburga recognized Veratia as a Grindelwald and welcomed her, while the Slytherin Locket released black mist that made Kritcher pause before he continued preparing dinner.