Chapter Summaries

Harry encouraged Anne to pursue Divination after Professor Trelawney recognized her supposed prophetic gift, then attended Professor Umbridge’s first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. Umbridge introduced a Ministry-approved, theory-focused course and enforced strict classroom rules, while Harry stayed alert to her motives.

• Harry sent Sirius a letter asking him to stop bullying Snape so Snape would not take his anger out on Harry.
• Professor Trelawney praised Anne Salu’s talent for Divination and invited her to attend Friday evening sessions, and Harry encouraged Anne to accept.
• Professor Trelawney assigned the class to record their dreams from the past month, prompting Ron and Seamus to consider making them up.
• Professor Umbridge required her students to greet her properly, put away their wands, and copy her Ministry-approved course objectives.
• Professor Umbridge reprimanded Blaise Zabini for not taking notes, and Harry copied the board while remaining wary of her Ministry ties.

Harry and the students challenged Professor Umbridge’s theory-only Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson, then disarmed and hung her upside down. Hermione joined in, leaving Umbridge silenced and the classroom stunned.

• Hermione questioned Umbridge’s course objectives because they excluded defensive spells, and Harry and Ron objected to her refusal to teach practical defense.
• Umbridge insisted that Voldemort’s return was fabricated and rebuked Harry, Ron, and Hermione for challenging her.
• Harry disarmed Umbridge with Expelliarmus, stopped her escape with Impedimenta, and levitated her upside down with Levicorpus.
• Draco and Pansy mocked the suspended Umbridge, while Neville argued with Draco and Anne quietly questioned Harry’s actions.
• Hermione cast Langlock on Umbridge, silencing her and surprising the other students.

Harry was appointed acting Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor for fifth year after students rejected Umbridge and Pabbie used her Board of Governors authority to suspend Umbridge’s teaching rights. That evening, Harry celebrated with the students and heard the Weasley twins’ plans to open a joke shop before offering them an idea.

• Harry suggested fifth years needed a capable Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and Draco nominated Harry for the position.
• Students from all four Houses admitted they had hung Umbridge upside down, while Dumbledore lowered her and proposed a vote on whether she should remain.
• Pabbie presented her Board of Governors authority, and Dumbledore appointed Harry acting Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor for fifth year after the students unanimously supported him.
• News of Harry’s appointment spread through Hogwarts, and Sir Nicholas helped publicize that Harry was the youngest Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor.
• Fred and George told Harry, Ron, and Hermione that they planned to research students’ tastes and open a joke shop in Diagon Alley after school.
• Harry stopped the twins as they were leaving to promote their products and offered to share an idea.

Harry discussed possible product ideas with the Weasley twins, endured heavy O.W.L. preparation, and attended Newt Scamander’s lesson on Bowtruckles. Newt learned that Harry and Pabbie were dating and urgently asked whether Miss Grindelwald knew.

• Harry suggested that the Weasley twins consider offensive magical products and expand their business abroad, but they said they lacked the staff and were not interested in making weapons.
• Colin Creevey asked Harry to teach Charms, while Harry learned that students across all years faced unusually heavy homework and heard Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall stress the importance of the O.W.Ls.
• Professor McGonagall taught the Vanishment Charm; Hermione vanished her snail on her third attempt, while Harry made the table vanish and sent Ron falling to the floor.
• Newt taught the students about Bowtruckles, and Hermione correctly identified their name and diet, earning Gryffindor ten points.
• Newt reassured Harry that the Ministry matter would not disrupt his life and asked him to support Pabbie’s planned Magical Creatures protection organization.
• Harry told Newt that Pabbie was his girlfriend, and Newt reacted with shock before asking whether Miss Grindelwald knew.

Harry learned that Fudge planned to appoint Umbridge to a new Hogwarts position, agreed to an interview with Luna’s father, and encouraged Ron ahead of Quidditch goalkeeper tryouts. He continued having Anne do his homework until Sebastian confronted him, then went to fetch Anne for a visit to Hagrid’s Hut before the tryouts.

• Newt told Harry that Fudge was trying to find a new Hogwarts appointment for Umbridge, and Harry questioned the Ministry’s authority over the school.
• Luna asked Harry to speak with her father about Voldemort’s return for an article in The Quibbler, and Harry agreed.
• Harry encouraged Ron about the upcoming Quidditch goalkeeper tryouts and showed him a bottle of Felix Felicis, while Hermione warned them against using outside help.
• Sebastian confronted Harry for making Anne do his homework, punched him after revealing he had learned to take physical form, and warned Harry not to pursue Anne.
• On Friday, Harry prepared his first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson, then went to the Slytherin table to take Anne to Hagrid’s Hut; Draco declined to join when he heard they would eat Rock Cakes.

Harry visited Hagrid with Anne, Ron, and Hermione, where Anne learned to soften Rock Cakes in milk and Harry encouraged Ron to use Felix Felicis to win the Gryffindor Quidditch goalkeeper tryouts. At the pitch, Ron faced a boastful rival, Cormac McLaggen, as the tryouts were about to begin.

• Harry took Anne, Ron, and Hermione to Hagrid’s Hut, where Hagrid served tea and Rock Cakes.
• Anne hurt her teeth biting a Rock Cake, then tried Harry’s method of soaking it in milk and found it tasty.
• Harry told Ron he had put Felix Felicis in his milk, and Ron became confident about making the Quidditch team.
• At dinner, Harry and the others joked about girls from the different Houses before Cormac McLaggen claimed he would be Gryffindor’s goalkeeper instead of Ron.
• Harry received several letters but put them aside to watch the tryouts, where Angelina, Fred, and George arrived at the Quidditch pitch as the crowd gathered.

Ron competed with Cormac McLaggen for the Gryffindor Quidditch goalkeeper position, while a misunderstanding about McLaggen touching Ron’s butt enraged Hermione. Ron won the tryout after McLaggen was hit by a Bludger, and Harry proposed celebrating in the Gryffindor Common Room.

• McLagan told Ron he intended to take the goalkeeper position and asked him to introduce Hermione, then patted Ron’s butt, which Hermione misread as a provocation.
• Angelina began the goalkeeper tryout, and Harry revealed that Ron had only been made to think he drank Felix Felicis.
• Fred and George attacked Ron with a Bludger during the tryout, and Angelina warned them to treat both contestants equally.
• Hermione secretly cast a Confundus Charm on McLagan, who let in a goal before a Bludger struck him and the Twins caught his fall.
• Angelina announced Ron as the Gryffindor goalkeeper, and Ron explained McLagan’s behavior to Harry and Hermione.
• Harry suggested celebrating Ron’s victory in the Gryffindor Common Room, and Dean went to fetch food and Butterbeer.

Ron received a warning from Percy that Fudge planned to undermine Dumbledore and target Harry, while Sirius explained the Ministry’s fears about Hogwarts teaching combat magic. The next morning, the Daily Prophet announced that Dolores Umbridge had been appointed the first High Inquisitor.

• Ron received Percy’s letter, which warned that Fudge planned to remove Dumbledore’s authority and attack Harry’s reputation, and urged Harry to contact Miss Grindelwald.
• Harry told Sirius about Percy’s warning, and Sirius explained that Fudge feared Dumbledore was organizing a force against the Ministry.
• Sirius said Lupin was pleased that Harry had taught Umbridge a lesson and explained Umbridge’s history of persecuting werewolves and other non-human beings.
• Sirius told Harry, Ron, and Hermione that Fudge had forbidden combat training because he feared Dumbledore was preparing students to oppose the Ministry.
• Ron and Harry waited for the Daily Prophet, which announced that Dolores Umbridge had been appointed the first High Inquisitor.

The students read about the Ministry appointing Umbridge as Hogwarts High Inquisitor and speculated about whom she would inspect. Harry won a Sickle from Hermione after betting Umbridge would not visit Snape’s Potions class, where Snape caught them talking.

• Hermione read the newspaper’s report that the Ministry had granted Umbridge authority to inspect Hogwarts staff, while students mocked her appointment and the families quoted in support of it.
• Draco, Blaise, and Pansy reacted with embarrassment when they learned their families had publicly backed the Ministry’s actions.
• Ron suggested that Umbridge investigating Snape would be worth watching, and Harry joked that she might instead find fault with his teaching.
• During Binns’s History of Magic lesson, Harry and Hermione bet a Sickle on whether Umbridge would inspect Snape, with Harry betting she would not.
• Umbridge did not appear in Potions class, so Hermione paid Harry the Sickle, and Snape reprimanded them for talking.

Harry and his friends discussed Snape’s Potions lesson, Hogwarts exam grades, and Umbridge’s inspections while eating lunch. Cedric bought a prank gift to apologize to Cho Chang, and Fred and George charged Ron double when he wanted one too.

• Snape docked Gryffindor ten points for Harry and Ron talking, criticized the class’s homework, and watched Ron make a passable Strengthening Solution with Hermione’s help.
• Harry, Ron, Hermione, Anne, and the others discussed exam grades and speculated about how Umbridge would rate their professors after inspecting Charms Class.
• Harry learned that Professor Trelawney had postponed meeting Anne about her prophetic gift until that evening.
• Cedric asked Fred and George for a gift to cheer up Cho Chang, rejected a Punching Telescope, and bought a Hangman's Noose figure for one Galleon.
• Ron asked to buy the same gift, but Fred and George demanded two Galleons from their younger brother.

During Umbridge’s inspection of Divination, Trelawney made a prophecy warning that a returning person and a disaster would bring Umbridge terrible danger. Trelawney later predicted that Ron would receive the best Christmas present of his life and called Harry the “brightest Savior Star,” while Harry hinted that he had plans to prank Umbridge.

• Umbridge inspected Trelawney’s class under Educational Decree Number Twenty-Three as Harry and Ron mocked her as a “Pink Toad.”
• Umbridge questioned Trelawney about her years at Hogwarts and her descent from Cassandra Trelawney, then demanded that she make a prediction.
• Trelawney prophesied that someone would return from the boundary between death and life and warned Umbridge of terrible danger.
• Harry and Ron discussed developing prank items with the Weasley twins and suggested using Neville’s Chinese chomping cabbage against their enemies.
• Trelawney read aloud Ron’s Dream Diary, then predicted Ron would receive the best Christmas present of his life and called Harry the “brightest Savior Star.”
• Harry warned Trelawney to be careful before leaving the classroom.

Harry began teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, focusing on practical spellwork and showing his classmates how to cast Protego. He expelled Umbridge from the classroom and ended the lesson as students practiced the shield charm.

• Umbridge arrived to inspect Harry’s teaching and challenged his claims about Voldemort’s return.
• Harry began class by reviewing disarming and shielding spells, awarding points to Ron, Draco, Hermione, and Anthony Goldstein for their answers.
• When Umbridge mocked Harry’s warning about Voldemort, Harry levitated her and her chair out of the classroom.
• Harry explained that Protego could not block the Unforgivable Curses and urged students to defend themselves against Dark Wizards.
• Harry demonstrated Protego and taught the students its wand movements, while Hermione and Ron successfully cast shields and other students practiced.

Harry assigned Protego essays to students who had not mastered the shield charm, while Draco vowed to train Slytherin. During Umbridge’s inspection of McGonagall’s Transfiguration class, Harry intimidated Umbridge and stayed behind to watch McGonagall confront her; Umbridge left promising inspection results within ten days.

• Harry praised Hannah Abbott for mastering Protego, assigned essays to students who had not learned it, and gave Draco a month to help Crabbe and Goyle master the spell.
• Draco decided to gather the Fifth years in the Slytherin Common Room to teach them Protego.
• Harry found Umbridge inspecting McGonagall’s Transfiguration class, where McGonagall repeatedly rebuked Umbridge for interrupting her lesson.
• Harry asked whether the Vanishment Charm had a counter-charm and frightened Umbridge by suggesting that he might try the spell on her.
• Harry, Ron, and Hermione stayed after class to hear Umbridge question McGonagall, who said she had taught at Hogwarts for nearly thirty-nine years.
• Umbridge left after promising to deliver her inspection results within ten days, and McGonagall challenged Harry about his supposedly sore leg.

Professor Umbridge questioned Newt Scamander during Care of Magical Creatures and left satisfied, prompting Ron to suspect she planned to twist her notes against Dumbledore or Harry. Unable to find Harry, Ron enlisted Fred and George to help him sneak into Umbridge’s office and inspect her clipboard.

• Umbridge questioned Newt about his teaching, Hagrid, Dumbledore, and Hogwarts, then watched his lesson and left looking satisfied.
• Hermione and Ron worried that Umbridge had found a way to use her notes against Dumbledore, Harry, or Newt.
• When Harry failed to return by dinner, Ron proposed sneaking into Umbridge’s office to read her clipboard.
• Fred and George agreed to help Ron lure Umbridge away while he used a Disillusionment Charm to enter her office.
• Hermione tried calling Harry and Vivi, but Vivi did not know where Harry was, so Ron and the others continued planning without him.

Ron used the Invisibility Cloak and the Weasley twins’ fireworks and Portable Swamp to sneak into Umbridge’s office and search her observation reports. He found Professor Scamander’s report, stunned Umbridge while escaping, and reunited with the twins, who urged him to keep the incident secret.

• Ron left the Gryffindor Common Room under Harry’s Invisibility Cloak after Harry failed to return by eight, while Fred and George prepared their distraction.
• Fred and George’s fireworks drew Umbridge out of her office, and a Portable Swamp trapped her as Ron slipped inside.
• Ron searched Umbridge’s belongings and found observation reports criticizing several Hogwarts professors, including Professor Scamander.
• Ron encountered Umbridge on the narrow stairs and hit her with a Stunning Spell before escaping under the Invisibility Cloak.
• Ron met Fred and George in an abandoned classroom, told them he had stunned Umbridge, and agreed to keep the night’s events secret.

Ron told Hermione and the Weasley twins that he had stunned Umbridge while investigating her reports on Hogwarts professors. Hermione suspected Umbridge was trying to drive a wedge between Dumbledore and Newt, while Harry stayed with Veratia and Cassandra in Vienna before returning to Hogwarts and waiting in the Great Hall for class.

• Ron told Fred and George that James had once hung Snape upside down, and the twins were intrigued by the story.
• Ron told Hermione that he had stunned Umbridge and described her reports criticizing Snape, Flitwick, Trelawney, and Scamander.
• Hermione suspected Umbridge was trying to turn Dumbledore against Professor Scamander, then called Veratia to share what had happened.
• Veratia told Harry that Ron had stunned Umbridge, and Harry said he would wait to see what Umbridge did while discussing the lack of news about Voldemort.
• Harry left Vienna the next day and returned to Hogwarts, where he sat in the Great Hall to attend class.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione went to the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade, where Hermione planned a gathering and practical assessment for the fifth-years. After the students arrived, Draco Malfoy criticized the filthy pub, leaving the gathering poised for a confrontation.

• Harry reassured Ron that Umbridge was unlikely to pursue the attack on her and that Ron was safe.
• Hermione suggested meeting at the Hog's Head to check the fifth-years' progress, and Harry agreed to assess them.
• Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered the Hog's Head, where Aberforth served them Butterbeer and surprisingly tasty food.
• The fifth-years arrived in groups, and the other pub patrons left as the students filled the room.
• Draco Malfoy called the Hog's Head filthy and mocked Harry for gathering them there.

Harry gathered Hogwarts students at The Hog's Head Inn to assess their practical Defense Against the Dark Arts skills and explained why practice mattered. After students from other years joined, he told them Voldemort had returned and urged them to prepare despite the Ministry’s denials.

• Harry asked the Prefects to confirm that every student in their house was present, then gave the students half an hour before their Protego assessment.
• Harry advised Neville to distract opponents before using Chinese chomping cabbage and suggested disguising magical plants like Muggle landmines.
• Fred, Lee Jordan, and other students arrived to watch and joined the gathering behind their house groups.
• Harry criticized Umbridge’s theory-only lessons and explained that students needed practical training to defend themselves.
• Hermione said Voldemort had returned, startling the students, and Harry told them he had no reason to deceive them and that time was limited.

Harry explained why students needed to learn practical Defense Against the Dark Arts and tested the fifth years’ Shield Charms in duels. Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger demonstrated their skills, and Harry called Seamus Finnigan and Neville Longbottom up next.

• Harry warned the students that Voldemort was not the only Dark Wizard and offered to help them learn practical defense.
• Susan Bones revealed that Amelia Bones had told her Umbridge feared Dumbledore would use students as a secret army, while Luna Lovegood claimed Fudge had an army of Heliopaths.
• Harry instructed the fifth years to pair up and practice defending against spells with the Shield Charm.
• Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger dueled, with Hermione attacking first and Ron learning to block her spells after dodging several attacks.
• Ron attacked Hermione in turn, and she used Shield Charms to stop his spells before Harry ended the duel and praised both of them.
• Harry called Seamus Finnigan and Neville Longbottom to demonstrate next.

Harry completed a Defense Against the Dark Arts Shield Charm assessment, rewarded successful students with mobile phones, and saw Umbridge issue an order disbanding unauthorized student groups. Ron suspected the order targeted Harry’s classes, leaving Harry facing Umbridge’s next move.

• Neville blocked Seamus’s spells during the assessment, but Seamus’s unusually powerful Protego exploded and threw Neville backward before Harry rescued him.
• Harry ended the assessment and rewarded every student who successfully cast Protego with a new 1995 model mobile phone.
• Harry returned to Gryffindor Tower and found a notice signed by High Inquisitor Dolores Jane Umbridge ordering all student organizations disbanded unless approved.
• Ron warned Harry that Umbridge’s order was likely aimed at his Defense Against the Dark Arts classes.