Chapter Summaries

Andrew’s ice-skating outing led to students falling into the Black Lake and a rumor that they had discovered a hidden treasure by summoning the Giant Squid. As the school grew eager to hunt for the supposed treasure, a Slytherin student worried that the rumor would ruin his family’s plans to profit from gold near the lake.

• Andrew transfigured ice skates for students at the Black Lake, and several students fell into the water when the Giant Squid broke through the ice.
• Madam Pomfrey treated the students for colds, while Andrew suspected his transfigured ice might have contributed to the accident.
• Students spread a rumor that older students had performed ritual magic to summon the Giant Squid and uncover a treasure, prompting others to grow eager to join the hunt.
• Andrew decided to stay out of the rumored treasure hunt and focus on learning new magic.
• A Slytherin student feared the rumor would undermine his family’s plans to exploit gold found in soil near the Black Lake and considered asking his family’s contact on the Board of Governors for help.

Andrew went to inspect a research team that claimed to have solved the problem of using electricity at Hogwarts, only to discover they had made an incandescent lamp without generating electricity. He was left stunned by the students’ unexpected interpretation of his advice.

• Andrew noticed a crowd gathering by the Black Lake over rumors of treasure and went to continue his studies instead.
• Andrew received a message from a nearby Laboratory claiming the team had succeeded and went to investigate.
• The students showed Andrew a crude device that made a tungsten filament glow like an incandescent lamp.
• The students explained that they had followed Andrew’s advice to start with a lamp, using an Alchemy Device to heat the filament rather than producing electricity.

Andrew tested a Transfigured tungsten filament in the alchemical electricity apparatus, discovering that it could withstand extreme heat while a student’s version failed. The Electricity Connection Group presented its working lamp to Professor McGonagall, who saw it as a way to light the library safely, leaving the researchers worried about their reputation at Hogwarts.

• Andrew transformed carbonized bamboo into a tungsten filament and tested it in the group’s alchemical apparatus, where it lit successfully.
• A Gryffindor student tried his own Transfigured filament, but it failed under the heat and briefly burst into flames.
• Andrew proposed testing whether a Transfigured electric field could resist Hogwarts’ protective magic, but the others pointed out that their work could not overcome the castle’s protections.
• The Electricity Connection Group completed its report in two days and showed Professor McGonagall the working lamp.
• Professor McGonagall praised the lamp as a safe way to light the library, while the researchers worried that the group’s reputation would worsen.

Andrew reported to Dumbledore’s office for duty and discovered that Dumbledore, the portraits, and the Sorting Hat had been reading the latest issue of Magical Legends. Dumbledore tested Andrew’s Transfiguration and assigned him a strange transformed stick to study until spring break.

• McGonagall sent Andrew to handle paperwork in Dumbledore’s office and told him to seek Dumbledore’s guidance with Transfiguration.
• Andrew entered the office and found the Sorting Hat reading his latest story from Magical Legends to Dumbledore and the former headmasters.
• Dumbledore welcomed Andrew and tested his ability to sense the rules of Transfiguration by asking him to straighten a crooked stick.
• Andrew followed the rules he sensed, but transformed the stick into the bizarre shape he had perceived instead.
• Dumbledore praised Andrew and assigned him the strange stick to study until spring break.

Andrew worked in Dumbledore’s office until Belkour Stevenson reported that Gryffindors were attacking the enchanted windows of the Slytherin common room beneath the Black Lake. Andrew rushed to the lake, learned that five groups of students had dived underwater, and plunged in to find them.

• Andrew continued handling Dumbledore’s office paperwork while reflecting on his rushed magazine issue and his workload.
• Belkour Stevenson warned Dumbledore that Gryffindors were blasting the windows of the Slytherin common room from inside the Black Lake.
• Dumbledore went to the common room and sent Andrew to stop the students at the lake.
• Andrew found five groups of three students had dived into the icy water with Bubble-Head Charms and potions.
• Andrew drank a Warming Potion, prepared protective spells and a marker, then plunged into the Black Lake to find the students.

Andrew searched the winter waters of the Black Lake and helped Dumbledore retrieve students who had gone underwater after the lake’s supposed Secret Treasure. After the rescue, Dumbledore left Andrew to handle the students’ detentions.

• Andrew used a warming potion, a Bubble-Head Charm, and a glowing bundle of plants to search the lake, then found three students and ordered them to follow him.
• Andrew found a Hufflepuff group and sent them swimming back up along his water rope.
• Dumbledore arrived with nine students inside an air pocket, and Andrew told him that six others were already swimming up the rope.
• Andrew and Dumbledore searched the lake bed, spoke with the merpeople, and confirmed that no students remained underwater.
• Dumbledore brought Andrew and the rescued students to the surface, then assigned Andrew to handle their detentions before leaving.

Andrew punished the students who searched the Black Lake and learned that a Merpeople carving might lead to treasure. He reported the discovery to Dumbledore, who agreed to protect the students’ share and joined Andrew to investigate.

• Andrew punished three Gryffindors who smashed the Slytherin common-room window with a week of bathroom cleaning and assigned the other students to clear snow.
• Three students from different houses worried their snow-clearing punishment would prevent them from searching for the treasure, so they agreed to tell Andrew about it.
• The students showed Andrew an ancient Merpeople carving that looked like a treasure map and asked him to help secure their share.
• Andrew agreed that the students could receive half of anything they found and promised to report the carving to Dumbledore.
• Dumbledore said the School would copy any knowledge they found and return the rest to the Merpeople, then set off with Andrew to investigate.

Andrew accompanied Dumbledore and three students from Hogwarts to the Isle of Sula after Dumbledore retrieved a stone tablet from the Black Lake. They left by Floo Network and reached the coast, where Dumbledore conjured a magically enhanced boat to carry them out to sea.

• While Dumbledore retrieved the stone tablet from the Black Lake, Andrew amused himself by making nearly a hundred snow Ravensclaw students along the shore.
• Dumbledore studied the tablet, identified the Isle of Sula as their destination, and told Andrew to inform Professor Snape before they left.
• Professor Snape agreed to stay behind, and Andrew joined Dumbledore and the three students in his office.
• Andrew traveled first through the Floo Network to the Isle of Sula, followed by the students and Dumbledore.
• Dumbledore transported the group to the coast, Transfigured a boat, and enchanted it to speed across the sea.

Andrew joined Dumbledore and the others on a brief trip to a hidden Merpeople island, where they found a spring that helped people swim and breathe underwater. Back at Hogwarts, Andrew gained a modest underwater advantage and returned to work, while someone screamed beside the Black Lake after apparently being punished for kicking snowmen.

• Andrew discovered a cleverly hidden spatial enchantment on the boat and sang a lullaby when Dumbledore asked him to take his turn.
• Dumbledore opened the Merpeople's concealment spell and led Andrew and the others across the barren island to a spring.
• Dumbledore explained that the spring's water helped swimming and had likely been used to bathe Merpeople infants, then told the group to soak.
• Andrew soaked only his calves, while the others immersed themselves, and he learned the Black Lake's freshwater did not trouble Merpeople children.
• Dumbledore brought the group back to Hogsmeade and Hogwarts, where Andrew gained a limited ability to breathe underwater and swim faster.
• Andrew returned to his duties and smiled when he heard someone scream by the Black Lake, thinking the person had been punished for kicking snowmen.

After Andrew’s adventure with Dumbledore became a Hogwarts rumor, Hagrid confirmed it to Harry and Sirius, who wondered why Andrew had refused his Galleons. Lockhart, upset that he had missed the adventure, planned to create a club that would tie him to future stories.

• Andrew let students circulate rumors about the adventure, and the most popular version portrayed him as a dependable companion who had brought in Dumbledore.
• Sirius laughed at Harry’s account until Hagrid confirmed that Dumbledore, Andrew, and three Upper Year students had left Hogwarts and returned together.
• Sirius wondered why Andrew had refused his Galleons and speculated about Andrew’s power and possible family connections.
• Lockhart lamented missing the adventure and decided to form a club that would connect him to students and their future adventures.

Andrew was left to manage Hogwarts’s Christmas preparations and paperwork while Dumbledore went to work, and Sirius brought Harry to Dumbledore’s office to request permission to leave school. Sirius found Andrew running the office in Dumbledore’s place and was stunned by the scene.

• Andrew learned that Professor McGonagall would miss Christmas because her meetings about new lighting fixtures had been extended.
• Dumbledore told Andrew to arrange Christmas with the house-elves, handle purchasing, and write a plan, then left him with the paperwork.
• Sirius decided to leave Hogwarts with Harry to collect what he needed and asked Harry what present he wanted.
• Sirius used the password “Honey lemon tea” to enter Dumbledore’s office with Harry.
• Sirius found Andrew giving orders to a house-elf at a new desk while a portrait of his ancestor called him a great-great-grandson.

Andrew organized Hogwarts’ Christmas celebration, including a Wizard’s Chess tournament that let Hufflepuff decorate the Great Hall, and handled his gifts and correspondence. After the Christmas feast, Sirius gave him a mysterious box at Dumbledore’s urging, which Andrew accepted as a gift connected to getting Sirius’s ancestor out of Azkaban.

• Andrew arranged a Wizard’s Chess tournament so the winning house could decorate the Great Hall, and a Hufflepuff student won after several players were disqualified or injured by cheating.
• Andrew supervised the Hufflepuffs’ decorations, sent out Christmas gifts, and later found that his own gifts included sweets, rare items, and an unexplained magical pocket watch from Dumbledore.
• Andrew wrote a warm reply to Huffman, who had sent him an enthusiastic letter about his training camp and hopes for the future.
• At the Christmas feast, Gryffindor students lamented losing the decorating privilege, while Dumbledore publicly thanked Andrew and distributed special firecrackers.
• Sirius returned to Hogwarts and offered Andrew a box as payment, and Dumbledore urged Andrew to accept it as a gift for helping get Sirius’s ancestor out of Azkaban.

Andrew examined Sirius's gift and discovered that its magical devices were designed to help him practice Human Transfiguration. While working in Dumbledore's office, he learned Professor McGonagall was returning to Hogwarts and celebrated, drawing laughter from the portraits.

• Andrew let the first device bite his hand and discovered it caused localized Human Transfiguration that he could reverse.
• Andrew examined the remaining gifts, identifying tools for advanced and biological Human Transfiguration, though he could not open the last one.
• Dumbledore asked Andrew about the gift and said they could begin Human Transfiguration practice once Andrew had figured out the stick.
• Andrew read a letter announcing Professor McGonagall's imminent return and rejoiced that he would no longer have to handle so much office work.
• The former headmasters laughed when Andrew told them why he was so happy.

Andrew learned that Professor McGonagall was returning to Hogwarts with several vice principals and arranged a reception, while the Electricity Laboratory prepared prototypes of its simplified magical Lamp. Dumbledore assigned Andrew to accompany him to meet an elderly guest, leaving Andrew alarmed about the reception and the visit.

• Andrew told the Electricity Laboratory team that Professor McGonagall had promoted their breakthrough and urged them to prepare expensive and affordable Lamp prototypes.
• The team explained that the simplified Lamp ran on Alchemy Oil, and Andrew agreed to request more funding after they submitted a report.
• Andrew told Dumbledore that Professor McGonagall was returning with several vice principals and insisted that Dumbledore attend the reception.
• Dumbledore said he had a short-notice appointment with an elderly guest, rejected Andrew's suggestion to take Harry, and decided Andrew would accompany him.

Andrew prepared to host visiting magical-school leaders and helped arrange the sale of the Electricity Laboratory’s design rights. After the agreements were signed, Professor McGonagall instructed him on the different prices for each school and gave him three days off.

• Andrew asked Professor Flitwick for etiquette lessons and arranged for prefects and laboratory members to help receive the visitors.
• Professor McGonagall arrived with Aika Amato, Bardo Roland, Dora Aurora, and Elf Neto, and Andrew greeted them at Hogwarts.
• The visitors toured the Electricity Laboratory and negotiated permanent rights to use its design.
• Professor McGonagall told Andrew to prepare the agreements, then set different prices for Ilvermorny, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, and Castelobruxo.
• Professor McGonagall asked about Andrew’s Transfiguration work and told him to take three days off.

Andrew learned that Vice Principal Dora wanted to arrange a Potions research exchange with Hogwarts, then prepared to leave with Dumbledore for Paris to meet the legendary alchemist Nick. He resolved to treat the visit as a chance to learn basic Alchemy rather than pursue the Philosopher’s Stone.

• Andrew showed Vice Principal Dora around the greenhouses, where she asked whether a Potions research team could join the exchange program.
• Andrew reported Dora’s request to Professor McGonagall, who wondered what motivated it and warned Andrew not to get too involved in Alchemy.
• Andrew realized he could manipulate the hidden rule on the wooden stick, but had to leave with Dumbledore before he could explore it further.
• Dumbledore told Andrew they would travel by Portkey to Paris and confirmed that they were going to meet Nick, a master of Alchemy.
• Andrew accepted that Nick was meeting him for his potential and set himself the modest goal of learning Alchemy’s basics.

Andrew traveled with Dumbledore to meet Nicolas Flamel and was surprised by the old alchemist’s informal friendship with the Headmaster. Nick praised Andrew’s discovery of a glowing tungsten filament as a new path for Alchemy, leaving Andrew to hear how Nick had grown tired of searching for a summit beyond the Philosopher’s Stone.

• Dumbledore took Andrew abroad by Portkey, and Andrew struggled with the journey’s aftereffects.
• Dumbledore led Andrew to Nick’s concealed home, where Nick greeted him as an old friend and called him a little rascal.
• Nick told Dumbledore that he had changed his mind about being ready to die after what happened the previous year.
• Nick praised Andrew’s glowing tungsten filament and said the boy had discovered a new path.
• Nick explained that he had once believed the Philosopher’s Stone was Alchemy’s ultimate achievement, but had become bored after failing to find a higher summit.

Andrew visited Nicolas Flamel with Dumbledore, who discussed his past failures in alchemy with Nick. Andrew revealed that his research into Muggle Transfiguration—the Iron-Carbon Phase Diagram—had inspired a breakthrough, leaving Dumbledore and Nick eager to study its implications.

• Nick asked Dumbledore whether he had made progress in alchemy, and Dumbledore admitted he had not.
• Nick sent Andrew to his Study, where Andrew copied a handwritten French volume and took a magical balance as a souvenir.
• Nick recognized Andrew's name from a report crediting his guidance with a breakthrough, and Andrew explained that the idea came from his study of Muggle Transfiguration.
• Andrew enlarged a parchment to reveal the Iron-Carbon Phase Diagram and explained how temperature and composition transformed iron into different states.
• Dumbledore demonstrated the process by combining iron and powdered carbon, then resolved to study the diagram while Nick called for more references.

Andrew explained how intuition and precise material knowledge could advance Transfiguration, then returned to Hogwarts after Dumbledore left to study the Iron-Carbon Phase Diagram. He showed the diagram to Professor McGonagall and planned to continue working on the stick containing hidden Rules.

• Andrew reasoned that Transfiguration began with intuition but became more systematic through practice and measurable knowledge such as the Iron-Carbon Phase Diagram.
• Dumbledore took Andrew to Hogsmeade, then Disapparated and left him with two manuscripts, including Nicolas Flamel's introduction to Alchemy.
• Andrew returned to Hogwarts and told Professor McGonagall that Nicolas Flamel had begun working with iron.
• Andrew showed Professor McGonagall the Iron-Carbon Phase Diagram, and she agreed to study it and answer his questions in a week.
• Andrew left the Office to work on the stick containing the Rules Dumbledore had hidden inside it.

Andrew returned to Hogwarts after the holiday and found that he had missed the latest student gossip. At the Library, Professor Lockhart announced a Duelling Club, leaving Andrew worried that the popular professor might not remain at Hogwarts for long.

• Hal returned to the Dormitory, learned that Andrew had gone on an adventure with Dumbledore, and eagerly questioned him about the holiday.
• Hal and the other students gathered with Andrew to share holiday news, and Andrew told them that the Library had installed lights.
• Andrew and the students went to the Library, where Madam Pince announced that it would open for an hour of evening reading.
• Professor Lockhart announced that he would establish a Duelling Club, and the students cheered enthusiastically.
• Andrew denied knowing about the Duelling Club and privately worried that Lockhart might leave Hogwarts if his curses took effect.