Chapter Summaries

After the banquet, Professor Broad warned Albert about the limits of pursuing many magical fields and revealed that Ravenclaw’s treasure was hidden in the Room of Requirement. He asked Albert to keep a secret and help him later, while Albert chose to return home for the rest of Christmas.

• Albert thanked Professor Broad for the banquet, and Broad cautioned him that most wizards could master only one field and advised him against joining the Department of Mysteries.
• Professor Broad told Albert that Ravenclaw’s treasure was hidden in the Room of Requirement and said Mr. McDougal had failed to uncover its secrets.
• Professor Broad asked Albert to help him with a secret matter and warned him not to tell anyone, especially Rowena.
• Albert left the quest reward unclaimed and asked Professor Broad to arrange for someone to take him home.
• Albert spent the rest of Christmas at home with his family, enjoying their company and the comforts of home.

Albert rejected Mundungus Fletcher’s exorbitant price for Swamp Snatcher fur and asked him to name a fairer one. At home, Albert encouraged Nia to study and consider managing money for him in the future, while discussing his plans to live in both the wizarding and Muggle worlds.

• Albert laughed at Mundungus Fletcher’s demand for twenty Galleons for Swamp Snatcher fur and sent him a letter requesting a new price.
• Albert sent Shera off with the letter and joked that she needed exercise so she would not grow too fat to fly.
• Albert told Nia not to give Tom extra snacks, then offered to help her with the homework questions she could not solve.
• Albert suggested Nia could manage money or other matters for him someday, and urged her to study economics and get into a good school.
• Albert told Nia he planned to live on both sides and would look into restrictions on the wizarding side.
• Albert said magic made it easy to earn money but assured Nia they would not do anything illegal.

On the Hogwarts Express, Albert discussed Percy’s ambitions with Fred, George, and Lee, then received a letter from Mundungus Fletcher about Swamp Snatcher fur and showed his friends his new Wizard Cards. The group ended by speculating that Percy might have a girlfriend after learning he had been writing frequent letters.

• Fred, George, and Lee teased Albert for reading over the Christmas holidays and complained about their unfinished homework.
• Albert defended Percy’s ambition and explained that he was building resources for life after graduation, as they were.
• An owl delivered a letter from Mundungus Fletcher, and Albert said the man had agreed to discuss a lower price for Swamp Snatcher fur.
• Albert showed Fred, George, and Lee Wizard Cards he had invented, which could be altered using Transfiguration Charm.
• Fred and George gave Albert biscuits, while Lee gave him Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans, and they explained that Percy had kept the family owl busy writing letters.
• Albert joked that Percy might have a girlfriend, prompting Fred, George, and Lee to wonder whether Albert had one too.

After returning to Hogwarts, Albert and Shanna discussed homework and her struggles with Transfiguration before hearing rumors that Albert and Isobel McDougal were romantically involved. Albert traced the rumor to Fred and the others, dismissed it, and encouraged Shanna to pursue advanced Transfiguration; she became hopeful about joining Professor McGonagall’s Transfiguration Club.

• Shanna complained about students cramming homework, and Albert explained that laziness and poor study habits were common.
• Shanna told Albert she was struggling to turn slippers into rabbits, and he advised her to practice with smaller transformations and study beyond her class textbooks.
• Albert and Shanna noticed girls whispering about him, and Shanna revealed that students were saying he had won over Ravenclaw’s prettiest girl, Isobel McDougal.
• Albert suspected Fred and the others had spread the rumor, and Shanna explained that Fred had mentioned Albert carving Isobel a wooden unicorn pendant.
• Albert urged Shanna to focus on Transfiguration and said strong ability could earn her an invitation to Professor McGonagall’s Transfiguration Club, which excited her.

Albert asked Professor McGonagall about becoming an Animagus and advanced uses of the Transformation Charm, receiving permission to borrow books from the Restricted Section. He then told Fred, George, and Lee Jordan that their poor holiday assignments had earned them detention, and Mrs. Pince chased them from the library.

• Shanna declined Albert's suggestion to join the Transfiguration Club, saying the extra study would take too much time and effort.
• Albert visited Professor McGonagall, showed her his Griffin Patronus, and asked about Animagus; she had no useful records and advised him to wait until after graduation.
• Albert demonstrated that he could alter words on parchment and asked about advanced uses of the Transformation Charm.
• Professor McGonagall gave Albert a note authorizing him to borrow 'Ultimate Transfiguration' and 'Extraordinary Transfiguration' from the Restricted Section, while warning him to be careful.
• Professor McGonagall asked Albert to tell Fred, George, and Lee Jordan to serve detention because their Christmas Holiday assignments were a mess.
• Albert delivered the news in the library, where Fred shouted and Mrs. Pince chased the three boys out with a feather duster.

Albert finished his Restricted Section borrowing authorization and endured his friends’ bad luck after they ignored his homework advice. He then discussed a hidden door with Professor Smith, promising to help open it after studying Ancient Runes further.

• Albert told Fred, George, and Lee Jordan that Professor McGonagall was displeased with their holiday homework and warned them to take Snape’s class seriously.
• Snape gave Fred, George, and Lee detention; George spilled Swelling Solution on Fred, and Snape sent them to Madam Pomfrey before assigning an essay.
• Albert suggested that the three friends work on their homework together during breaks, then went to see Professor Smith.
• Katrina asked Albert whether he was dating Isobel, and Albert teased her about becoming closer friends before they entered Smith’s office.
• Albert told Professor Smith that opening the hidden door likely required more Ancient Runes research and promised to help him in a few years.

Fred, George, and Lee Jordan ate Albert’s Egg and Potato Pancakes and developed swollen lips, then learned Albert had seasoned the food with diluted Swelling Solution. Albert revealed the prank’s origin and gave Fred the method, while the three planned to use it on Peeves.

• Fred, George, and Lee Jordan found Albert’s steaming Egg and Potato Pancakes in the dormitory and ate all of them before he returned.
• Albert came back and found the three with swollen lips, then took them to Madam Pomfrey, who treated them with an Anti-Swelling Potion.
• Fred, George, and Lee accused Albert of setting them up, and Albert showed them the Seasoning with Additives he had made from diluted Swelling Solution.
• Albert explained that he had created the seasoning while Fred and George were in detention as payback for spreading rumors.
• Fred said the three had planned to prank Peeves, and Albert gave Fred the method so they could make their own seasoning.

Peeves repeatedly made Hogwarts students’ lips swell by seasoning the Great Hall meatloaf, after Fred and George supplied him with a strange seasoning. The students learned to treat the prank with Anti-Swelling Potion, which became popular on the Hogwarts black market.

• Charlie confronted Fred and George about missing Quidditch practices, and they promised to attend the next one.
• Wood reported that Marcus Flint had developed swollen lips, while Albert realized Fred and George had arranged the prank through Peeves.
• Peeves secretly seasoned meatloaf, causing more students, including Albert and Lee Jordan, to suffer swollen lips.
• Students discovered Peeves was responsible, and Filch failed to drive him out of Hogwarts.
• Madam Pomfrey arranged for Snape to brew Anti-Swelling Potion and advised affected students to collect it from the School Hospital.
• Students began using Anti-Swelling Potion to counter the prank, and the potion became popular on the Hogwarts black market.

Fred proposed making candy that caused a person’s tongue to swell, and Albert urged Fred and George to develop their prank products themselves and consider the danger. After a student was poisoned by homemade Anti-Swelling Potion, the group discovered Albert had been selling his own potion on Hogwarts’s black market.

• Fred suggested using an Engorgement Charm to make prank candy, and Albert told Fred and George to work out how to create it themselves and consider its risks.
• Shanna mentioned that Anti-Swelling Potion had become popular on the black market, prompting Fred to consider brewing and selling it.
• A Hufflepuff third year student was poisoned after drinking homemade Anti-Swelling Potion, and Snape assigned the student a month of detention after recovery.
• Albert warned Fred that the black market was already well supplied with Anti-Swelling Potion and that selling it would not earn much.
• Aylia showed the group a bottle bearing Albert’s A.A. mark, and Albert admitted that he had brewed and sold a cauldron of Anti-Swelling Potion.

After the Charms Club, Albert asked Isobel about advanced magic and a way to create a cooling device, then agreed to help her younger sister Katrina. The chapter left Albert planning to help Katrina while waiting for Isobel’s promised gift.

• Isobel called Albert greedy because he constantly pursued magical knowledge, and they joked about his long list of questions for Professor Flitwick.
• Albert asked Isobel to teach him the Undetectable Extension Charm, but she said she did not know it and suggested he ask Professor Smith.
• Albert explained that he wanted to develop a magical item that could lower temperatures to complete the Task Panel’s Summer Regret quest and earn the Freezing Charm.
• Isobel offered to help Albert with his cooling-magic research if he helped Katrina, who had recently been visiting Professor Smith.
• Albert agreed to do his best to help Katrina, and Isobel promised to prepare a gift for him.

Albert sought Professor Smith’s guidance, helped Katrina improve, and demonstrated his new enchanted Wizard Cards at the club’s gathering. As the competition roster was finalized, Albert dodged questions about Isobel and vanished before answering.

• Albert visited Professor Smith for instruction, but Smith refused to teach him the Undetectable Extension Charm unless Albert helped open Ravenclaw’s Chamber of Secrets.
• Katrina increasingly asked Albert for advice and quickly surpassed every student in their year except him.
• At the Wizard Card Club’s late-January gathering, Lee Jordan worried that membership and progress on the game were declining.
• Albert demonstrated improved Wizard Cards linked to a master card through the Transformation Charm, stunning the other members.
• Field asked whether Albert and Isobel were a couple, and Albert postponed answering while the club finalized its competition roster.
• Albert handed the registration list to Lee Jordan and vanished before the gathering could question him further.

Albert juggled his many commitments while arranging to obtain Swamp Snatcher fur from Mundungus Fletcher, considering robbing him if he refused a fair deal. Rumors of a monster in the Forbidden Forest spread through Hogwarts, and Professor Kettleburn planned to move most classes to the nearby lawn.

• Albert wrote to Mundungus Fletcher to arrange a meeting at the Three Broomsticks and obtain Swamp Snatcher fur for his Mandrake-based Dark Magic item.
• Mundungus replied with an apparent attempt to overcharge Albert, who discussed robbing or forcing him to sell with Fred, George, and Lee Jordan.
• Albert described using Disillusionment, Stunning, and Memory Charms if he decided to rob Mundungus, while his friends agreed that Mundungus was a bad sort.
• Shanna told Albert, Fred, George, and Lee Jordan that someone had heard a terrifying roar near the Forbidden Forest.
• Rumors spread that a dangerous creature had reached the forest's outskirts, and Professor Kettleburn planned to move most of his classes to the lawn near the Forbidden Forest.

Albert discussed third-year course choices with Shanna and Percy before learning that Hagrid’s three-headed dog, Fluffy, had escaped into the Forbidden Forest. Albert joined Hagrid to search for him and urged Hagrid to tell Dumbledore if they could not find Fluffy that day.

• Albert told Shanna that Muggle Studies, Divination, and Arithmancy were easier electives, while Percy warned her not to compare herself with Albert.
• Fred and George declined to visit Hagrid, and Albert received a letter from Adolf before heading to Hagrid’s hut.
• Hagrid told Albert that Fluffy had bitten through the vines and escaped into the Forbidden Forest.
• Albert warned Hagrid that Fluffy threatened the students and said Dumbledore needed to be told if they failed to find the dog.
• Albert persuaded Hagrid to let him help search, and they set off toward the Forbidden Forest.

Albert helped Hagrid search the Forbidden Forest for his escaped Three-Headed Dog, Fluffy, and suggested looking near animal feeding grounds and asking the forest’s inhabitants. After a centaur reported that Fluffy had been driven away by patrols, Hagrid and Albert continued searching, hoping to find him that day.

• Albert pointed out that wandering aimlessly would be unreliable and advised Hagrid to search animal gathering places and ask the Forbidden Forest’s inhabitants for clues.
• Hagrid led Albert to a winter spring where animals gathered, but they found no sign of Fluffy.
• Albert tried summoning Fluffy with a charm, but the spell failed, and Hagrid said Fluffy had never worn a collar that Albert could summon.
• Ronan emerged in centaur territory and told Hagrid that patrols had driven away a hungry Three-Headed Dog, pointing them toward where it had been seen.
• Hagrid thanked Ronan and led Albert onward, saying he felt they might find Fluffy that day.

Albert and Hagrid searched the Forbidden Forest for Fluffy but found no trace of him, and Hagrid proposed asking Aragog for help. An Acromantula ambushed Albert, who killed it with magic, and they returned safely to Hagrid’s Hut after Albert urged Hagrid to confess the situation to Dumbledore.

• Albert warned Hagrid that centaurs were proud and difficult to deal with as they headed into the forest to find Fluffy.
• After searching unsuccessfully, Hagrid said he would visit Aragog, but Albert refused to accompany him because he distrusted Acromantulas.
• An Acromantula lunged at Albert, who stopped it with a shield and destroyed it with Thunderbolt Explosion.
• Hagrid checked that Albert was unharmed and felt guilty that an Acromantula had attacked him despite Hagrid’s promise to protect him.
• Albert urged Hagrid to confess to Dumbledore and find Fluffy before the missing dog caused trouble, then they returned safely to Hagrid’s Hut and agreed to meet that afternoon.

Albert told Fred, George, and Lee Jordan that he and Hagrid had found nothing in the Forbidden Forest, then advised Katrina on her Transfiguration essay. After taking a sip of Felix Felicis, he sought Professor Smith’s help so he could tell Dumbledore that Hagrid’s escaped Three-Headed Dog needed to be found.

• Fred, George, and Lee Jordan surrounded Albert and asked about his trip into the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid, and he said they had found nothing.
• Albert reminded the three boys to finish their homework and urged Fred and George to work on their Fattening Tongue Toffee and Lee Jordan to prepare for the Wizard Card Club.
• Katrina asked Albert to review her essay for the Transfiguration Club, and he advised her to build her knowledge before attempting an academic paper.
• Albert told Katrina that Transfiguration Today planned to give him the Most Promising Newcomer Award, and she praised him while he shared sweets with her.
• After lunch, Albert drank a small sip of Felix Felicis and asked Professor Smith to help him reach Dumbledore’s office so he could report that Hagrid’s escaped Three-Headed Dog was missing.
• Professor Smith understood Albert’s request and offered to take him to the Headmaster’s Office.

Albert told Dumbledore that Hagrid’s Three-Headed Dog, Fluffy, had escaped into the Forbidden Forest, and joined Dumbledore, Professor Smith, and Hagrid in searching for him. They tried a group Summoning Charm, but the chapter ended before Fluffy appeared.

• Albert told Dumbledore that Fluffy had escaped and asked whether Hagrid would be expelled; Dumbledore reassured him and awarded Gryffindor twenty points.
• Dumbledore, Professor Smith, and Albert went to Hagrid’s hut, where Hagrid realized Albert had informed the Headmaster.
• Professor Smith suggested asking Professor Kettleburn for help, and Kettleburn advised them to use food to lure Fluffy out.
• Albert suggested summoning Fluffy, so Dumbledore, Professor Smith, and Hagrid joined him in casting the Summoning Charm.
• Dumbledore, Professor Smith, and Hagrid shouted, “Fluffy, come!” together.

Albert, Dumbledore, and Professor Smith used the Summoning Charm to find and retrieve Fluffy after it crashed into a forest burrow. After Hagrid took the injured dog to Professor Kettleburn, Albert told Smith he might have worked out how to open Ravenclaw’s hidden chamber, leaving them ready to test the idea.

• When the first Summoning Charm brought no dog, Dumbledore, Professor Smith, Albert, and Hagrid followed a commotion into the forest and found Fluffy’s wrecked burrow.
• Professor Smith identified the blood and tracks, and Dumbledore pointed out that the injured Fluffy had fled; Albert realized Smith might have used Legilimency to learn about the Summoning Charm.
• Dumbledore, Albert, and Smith cast the Summoning Charm together, and Fluffy flew to them with whimpers.
• Dumbledore gave Hagrid collars and chains for Fluffy and agreed to let him keep the dog until it was fully grown, provided he kept it from the students.
• Hagrid took Fluffy to Professor Kettleburn for treatment, while Albert and Smith returned to the castle and Albert said he might know how to open Ravenclaw’s hidden chamber.

Albert and Professor Smith entered Ravenclaw’s Chamber, where Smith revealed that Albert and Isobel were candidates to inherit the Wildsmith legacy, including the Floo Powder business. Albert rejected the inheritance and asked Smith to seek ancient books for him, leaving Smith urging him to reconsider.

• Albert and Professor Smith returned to the Room of Requirement and found that Ravenclaw’s Bronze Book was gone, while Dumbledore’s writing remained on the wall.
• Professor Smith told Albert that Will de Smith had taken the Bronze Book and explained that the Wildsmiths were a mysterious wizarding family.
• Professor Smith revealed that Albert and Isobel were candidates for the Wildsmith inheritance, and that Ignatia Wildsmith had invented Floo Powder.
• Albert learned that Professor Smith had once been a candidate but had failed to qualify, and Smith described the dangers of imitation Floo Powder.
• Albert firmly declined the inheritance and asked Professor Smith to arrange for him to borrow ancient books from Isobel’s family, but Smith told him to reconsider.

Albert wrote Professor Broad about opening Ravenclaw's Chamber and the Bronze Book, then strengthened his Occlumency to protect his secrets. After claiming Hagrid's completed task, he received a rare pouch from Hagrid and learned that Fluffy had been moved somewhere safe.

• Albert decided to tell Professor Broad that he could open Ravenclaw's Chamber and wrote him a letter about the Bronze Book.
• Albert upgraded his Occlumency to level four, giving him the ability to construct false memories.
• Albert claimed the reward for completing Hagrid's task and noticed a new task about the Wildsmith Family on his panel.
• At dinner, Fred asked Albert whether he had seen the monster in the Forbidden Forest, but Albert avoided answering directly.
• Hagrid sent Albert a Transfiguration Lizard Skin pouch and a note saying Dumbledore had moved Fluffy somewhere safe.