Chapter Summaries

Andrew's quiet Hogwarts routine was interrupted when Dumbledore revealed that someone had stolen the Sorting Hat from his office. Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall began a discreet search, convinced that a Gryffindor student was responsible.

• Andrew practiced Area Transfiguration by the Black Lake, then returned to his usual schoolwork and duties.
• Andrew met Dumbledore in Professor McGonagall's office and learned that a student had entered Dumbledore's office and stolen something.
• Dumbledore explained that Fawkes and the former headmasters had failed to stop the intruder, and that the stolen item was the Sorting Hat.
• Professor McGonagall suspected a Gryffindor student, and Dumbledore agreed that they needed to search rather than wait for the Hat to be returned.
• Professor McGonagall told Andrew and Huffman to find Percy and other staff and quietly identify Gryffindor students who might have taken the Hat.

Fred and George stole the Sorting Hat from Dumbledore’s office with Sirius’s help, hoping to summon Gryffindor’s short sword for Nick. The Hat rejected Sirius and the twins because they lacked sufficient need or resolve, and Nick offered to try.

• Fred and George used the Marauder’s Map and a Disillusionment Charm to enter Dumbledore’s office and take the Sorting Hat, while the portraits and phoenix watched without stopping them.
• Andrew suspected the theft was part of a Gryffindor treasure hunt and sent the Prefects to search the castle for the Hat.
• The Sorting Hat told Sirius that he did not need Gryffindor’s short sword badly enough, then rejected George and Fred because they were worried about Minerva’s punishment.
• Nick apologized for being impatient and bashfully asked whether he could try wearing the Sorting Hat.

Fred and George used the Sorting Hat to summon the Sword of Gryffindor and help Nearly Headless Nick detach his head, while Percy and Andrew dealt with the fallout. The Sorting Hat defended the twins as exemplary Gryffindors, and they were spared expulsion as the group left their punishment to the professors.

• Nick asked Fred and George to use the Sword of Gryffindor to cut his head off, hoping to finally move on from being a ghost.
• Fred swung the sword and severed Nick's head, leaving Nick delighted despite the pain as Percy arrived and recognized the Sword of Gryffindor.
• Percy accused the twins of stealing the Sorting Hat, but the Hat insisted it had come along willingly and argued with Percy about his school days.
• Madam Pomfrey drove everyone away, and Percy summoned the nearby Prefects, including Andrew, to confront the twins.
• The Sorting Hat declared that drawing the Sword of Gryffindor made the twins exemplary Gryffindors, so Andrew and the Prefects agreed to spare them expulsion and leave their detention to the professors.
• The Sorting Hat accepted the compromise and celebrated its unusual outing.

After the Weasley twins summoned the Sword of Gryffindor and received detention, Andrew watched the school celebrate the relic and continued his Transfiguration practice. The twins’ antics inspired a ghost to ask Andrew for help splitting his head into pieces, and Andrew brought the bizarre donation offer to Professor McGonagall.

• Dumbledore let the prefects, including Andrew, handle the Sword of Gryffindor, while Professor McGonagall assigned the Weasley twins detention and Andrew homework to mark.
• Andrew impressed Professor Adams with his conjured herbs, then heard Adams discuss Hufflepuff’s Cup and hurried away with a basket of grapes.
• A Howler publicly scolded the Weasley twins for stealing the Sorting Hat, and Andrew resolved to keep track of their future offenses.
• Nick entertained students by tossing his detached head, prompting another ghost to ask Harry about getting similar help from the twins.
• A ghost offered Andrew gold to arrange for Professor McGonagall to help him split his head among his loved ones, and Andrew went to her office with the donation offer.

Andrew dealt with a nameless ghost’s request to be cut apart in exchange for a donation, prepared his manuscript, and attended Huffman’s farewell before helping arrange Nick’s Deathday Party. The chapter ended with Sirius, Harry, Hermione, and the Twins entering the ghost-filled party, while William was released from Azkaban.

• Professor McGonagall refused the nameless ghost’s offer of thirty thousand Galleons in exchange for cuts from the Sword of Gryffindor, and the ghost warned Andrew to stay away from Veela.
• Andrew finished a manuscript about Dumbledore’s first meeting and duel with Grindelwald, then gave Huffman a lucky compass at his farewell party before Huffman left for adventure training.
• Nick invited the Twins and Ron to his five-hundredth Deathday Party, and the Twins arranged for Sirius to join them.
• At Azkaban, Hit Wizards delivered supplies and released William from his cell.
• Sirius, Harry, Hermione, and the Twins arrived at Nick’s Deathday Party and were met by hundreds of ghosts, eerie candles, and the chilling sound of musical saws.

At Hogwarts’ Halloween feast, the Fat Friar suggested Sirius apply for the temporary Magical History teaching position, with Andrew supposedly handling introductions. Sirius considered trying for the job, but the Headless Hunt’s arrival interrupted the discussion.

• Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Sirius walked around the feast after the Ghosts rebuffed Sirius’s attempts to talk with them.
• The Fat Friar told Sirius that Professor Binns planned to take a holiday and Hogwarts was seeking a temporary assistant in Magical History.
• The Fat Friar said Andrew handled introductions and could be approached with a gift, prompting Harry and Ron to react with disbelief.
• Sirius considered applying for the position on his own merits, while Harry, Ron, and Hermione welcomed the possibility of a new teacher.
• The music stopped, and twelve headless riders on ghostly horses emerged through the wall; Patrick greeted Nick, whose head fell to the floor.

After the Weasley twins’ spectacle, Sirius Black asked about becoming the Magical History professor but lacked the qualifications. Professor McGonagall rejected the idea of giving him a teaching post and proposed making him a trainee teaching assistant, leaving the Board of Governors to decide.

• Harry, Ron, Fred, and George left the cold spectacle and went to the kitchen after hearing the feast begin.
• Sirius Black asked Andrew about the requirements for the Magical History professor position and learned he fell short of them.
• Sirius hinted at seeking special treatment, but Andrew refused and warned him that bribery would not work.
• Andrew reported Sirius’s visit to Professor McGonagall, who agreed he could not teach Magical History or Divination.
• Professor McGonagall suggested making Sirius a trainee teaching assistant and sending his application to the Board of Governors.

The school governors agreed to let Sirius try teaching Magical History, while Professor McGonagall arranged trial lessons and asked Andrew and Percy to assess the first-years’ response. Sirius doubted he could teach the subject and began revising Transfiguration as a fallback.

• The governors discussed Sirius’s decision to seek a teaching post and agreed to fund a trial appointment, with a new hire covering the other year groups.
• Professor McGonagall told Andrew that Sirius would give trial lessons, then possibly teach first-years, and assigned Andrew and Percy to report on the students’ response.
• Andrew delivered McGonagall’s instructions to Dumbledore and told Percy they had been asked to evaluate Sirius, leaving both worried about their reputations.
• Sirius studied current textbooks in the hospital wing and prepared to pursue a Transfiguration post if teaching Magical History did not work out.

Sirius prepared for and began his trial lesson for a Magical History teaching position, but his looks immediately captivated the students and drew a crowd to the classroom. Andrew watched in dismay as the lesson became difficult to assess, and Sirius anticipated trouble after class.

• Sirius rejected the idea of taking a job that would keep him from visiting Harry in the hospital.
• Andrew delivered Sirius the notice for a Friday trial lesson and assessment, assigning him sections of Chapter Four in Magical History.
• Andrew and Percy entered a first-year classroom to observe a lesson, and Percy admitted he was nervous about the pressure surrounding Sirius's assessment.
• Sirius entered the classroom, introduced himself as a candidate to teach Magical History, and spotted Andrew and Percy among the observers.
• The students were captivated by Sirius, girls gathered outside the back door, and a first-year student stumbled through her answer when he called on her.

Andrew and Percy reported on Sirius's trial lesson, and Professor McGonagall scheduled one more assessment with Gryffindor and Slytherin. To manage the witches' interest in Sirius and help him prepare, Andrew arranged for him to use a reserved Library table over the weekend.

• Andrew and Percy escaped the classroom and agreed to report the witches' demands to Professor McGonagall.
• Professor McGonagall reviewed Andrew's depiction of Sirius, ruled that he would not need to visit the Transfiguration Office, and scheduled another trial lesson.
• Andrew decided to give the older witches a chance to see Sirius so they would stop pressuring him to deliver their letters.
• Andrew and Percy visited Sirius and told him about the second assessment, then Andrew reserved him a Library table for the weekend and showed him the assessment material.

Andrew tried to avoid being caught in the plans surrounding Sirius Black’s Hogwarts job, but Ravenclaw upper-year students recruited him to deliver gifts and cards to the professor. He left the pile with Black and warned him to watch out for love potions.

• Andrew told Percy to enjoy his date, recruit helpers to keep order the next day, and stay out of sight himself.
• A reporter brought news of Black’s Hogwarts job to the Magical Legends editorial office, where the editor sought a photograph and interview to secure a cover story.
• Andrew practiced Transfiguration near the Black Lake, easily creating area spells but remaining unsure what his professors expected him to master.
• Ravenclaw upper-year students and a prefect pressed Andrew to deliver their gifts and cards to Black, and he agreed on the condition that they approach him themselves after he started work.
• Andrew delivered the gifts and cards to Black and warned him to watch out for love potions.

Andrew handled Hogwarts requests while Percy revealed Sirius's location in the Library, where students gathered to study. Lockhart struggled with jealousy over Sirius's popularity, then tried to reassure his fan club, only to learn that Naluka had followed Hermione to the Library and call her a traitor.

• Andrew sorted school correspondence, rejecting Hagrid's request for a Dragon Egg and a student's Sirius Fan Club application while flagging other requests as urgent.
• Percy spread the word about Sirius's location, and students crowded around him in the Library; Harry explained they had come to study Dumbledore's hidden books.
• Lockhart trashed his office in frustration because Sirius's looks and adventures made him a rival for fame, then steadied himself and went to meet his fan club.
• Lockhart hosted a question-and-answer session that restored the club's mood and attracted new members.
• Naluka arrived late and told Lockhart she had followed Hermione to the Library, prompting Lockhart to hear his heart break.

Lockhart watched Sirius Black’s popularity surge after Sirius passed his teaching assessment, became a Daily Prophet cover star, and was linked to Grindelwald in Magical Legends. Andrew was pleased with the magazine’s promotion and planned the next part of his story, while Lockhart could only complain as his rival gained more attention.

• Lockhart resented Hermione Granger and Harry Potter for helping Sirius Black prepare lesson materials.
• Sirius passed his second trial lesson, was hired to teach First Year classes temporarily, and gave a popular interview to the Daily Prophet.
• Sirius’s classes and public image won him attention, while Lockhart heard that someone planned to nominate him for the Most Charming Smile Award.
• Magical Legends put Sirius on its cover and compared his looks to Grindelwald, leading readers to use Sirius’s photo to imagine the young wizard.
• Lockhart blamed Andrew for exploiting the situation but feared confronting Grindelwald and the Saints.
• Andrew admired the magazine’s promotion, lent it to his roommate, and planned the next installment of his story.

Andrew reassured Percy that Sirius Black’s appointment as Magical History professor had been fair, while Snape’s harsh treatment of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw made the rivalry between the professors a hot topic. As Christmas break approached, Andrew sent off another manuscript and continued his usual routine.

• Andrew told Percy that Sirius’s teaching was effective and that the assessment had been fair.
• Snape deducted points from Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, gave Harry Potter detention, and Sirius awarded Gryffindor points while encouraging nervous students.
• Hal and Andrew’s roommates traded gossip about Sirius and Snape, and Andrew explained that he had also attended trial lessons for other candidates.
• The students speculated about grades and Christmas break, concluding that Miss Granger would probably come first overall.
• Andrew sent a manuscript about Grindelwald and Dumbledore’s split, fed Rose a mouse treat, and sent him off before heading to the Greenhouse.

Andrew joined Professor Adams, Hagrid, and a team of House-elves to gather wood in the Forbidden Forest after a Divination predicted a severe winter. Harry and Sirius stumbled into the operation, and Andrew watched Adams replant the trees while trying to understand how the Herbology magic might relate to Area Spellcasting.

• Andrew received Professor McGonagall's approval to join the wood-gathering team with Professor Adams.
• Andrew and Adams met Hagrid and Fang, then traveled to the forest's edge, where House-elves quickly cut down and transported marked trees.
• Andrew trapped two approaching figures in ice, but the House-elves attacked them before Harry and Sirius revealed themselves.
• Sirius explained that he had come to investigate a disturbance, and Andrew warned him not to bring a Second-Year Student into the Forbidden Forest again.
• Adams replanted the trees with primed seeds and explained how magic helped them assimilate old roots, leaving Andrew puzzled about how the technique connected to Area Spellcasting.

Andrew struggled to understand Professor McGonagall’s expectations until inspecting Hogwarts’s vast Firewood Room let him recognize that a permanent Transfiguration had changed the rules of space. Meanwhile, Harry, Sirius, and Hagrid visited the Forbidden Forest, and Andrew left with a breakthrough about rules-based Transfiguration.

• Andrew reviewed his unstable understanding of the Area Spell and experimented with transfiguring a flame into a scarf, but he still could not work out what Professor McGonagall wanted.
• Harry accompanied Sirius and Hagrid on a visit to the Forbidden Forest, where Hagrid led them toward the unicorns’ territory.
• A house-elf summoned Andrew to inspect the firewood stored in a vast underground room expanded by magic.
• Andrew sensed the power of the room’s permanent Transfiguration and realized it had changed the rules of space.
• Andrew connected his discovery to Professor McGonagall’s chessboard formation and Voldemort’s enchanted lake, concluding that rules could be altered through Transfiguration.

Andrew discovered how to connect Transfiguration with the rules of nature, allowing his conjured ground to merge with real grassland and begin showing signs of life. Professor McGonagall confirmed his success and assigned him a new exercise to deepen his grasp of grassland.

• Andrew realized that magic could influence rules, then tested Area Transfiguration at the Black Lake.
• Andrew transformed the ground so it blended into the surrounding grassland and began repairing the patches he had altered earlier.
• Andrew noticed signs of life around the transfigured grass and concluded that he could approach the boundary between the inanimate and living.
• Andrew told Professor McGonagall he had succeeded, and she took him to inspect the restored grassland.
• Professor McGonagall demonstrated how one patch of grassland could merge with another and told Andrew to practice merging conjured grass into real grassland.

Andrew began relearning Transfiguration after touching upon its rules, discovering that his spells could resist being undone and could be improved with little effort. Sirius told Harry he would not have to return to the Dursleys that summer and urged him to study Transfiguration because of troubling prophecies and the dangers surrounding him.

• Andrew tested his Transfiguration and realized that only superior mastery, overwhelming magical force, or time could undo his spells.
• Sirius brought Harry to the Forbidden Forest, explained that Harry would stay away from the Dursleys over the summer, and urged him to practice Transfiguration.
• Sirius worried about the strange events at Hogwarts, including Quirrell's death, Wormtail's return, and the Chamber of Secrets, after hearing a centaur's prophecy about Harry.
• Andrew refined spells by treating a flame and its fuel as one whole, then experimented with making an object into an umbrella.
• Andrew wondered how touching upon rules might apply to Human Transfiguration and Animagi, then resolved to study what made grassland grassland the next day.

After being fired, Remus Lupin searched Knockturn Alley for work and was hired by an ex-Azkaban Potion-maker. Lupin began the job that day, with the Potion-maker planning to brew Wolfsbane Potion for him while privately considering how to grow his business.

• Remus Lupin worried about his old friend Sirius and looked for work before the approaching full moon left him too exhausted to do so.
• A broker told Lupin that an ex-Azkaban Potion-maker in Knockturn Alley needed an errand runner, and Lupin accepted the offer.
• The Potion-maker recognized that Lupin was a werewolf and offered to brew Wolfsbane Potion while hiring him to work at the shop.
• The Potion-maker ordered Lupin to get work clothes and a mask, then planned to pay him daily with meals included.
• After Lupin left, the Potion-maker considered brewing potions for sale, studying Dark Magic, and keeping his distance from Lupin during the full moon.

At the Weasley family dinner, Mrs. Weasley learned that Percy had helped choose Sirius as a Magical History professor and pressed him to invite Andrew home. Meanwhile, Andrew experimented with Transfiguration on the Black Lake and prepared to skate, unsure whether the attempt would end badly.

• Mrs. Weasley questioned Ron about Harry missing dinner, and Ron explained that Harry was spending Christmas with Sirius, his godfather.
• Ginny told Mrs. Weasley that Percy had evaluated the Magical History professors and helped choose Sirius, while Percy credited Andrew's opinion.
• Fred and George tried to discourage Percy from inviting Andrew over, but Ginny and Ron called Andrew strict yet decent, and Mrs. Weasley told Percy to invite him.
• Andrew repaired the lawn, studied how to transform water into ice, and used an Area Spell to thicken a section of the Black Lake.
• Andrew conjured ice skates and put them on, wondering if he would injure himself because he had not learned Human Transfiguration.