Chapter Summaries

After learning that Umbridge had brought Aurors to Hogwarts, Albert went to the Entrance Hall to stop them from entering until a professor could verify their mission. He left the Aurors waiting outside while Filch went to fetch Professor McGonagall.

• Albert checked his map and saw a large group of unfamiliar wizards near the school gates, so he headed for the Entrance Hall.
• Albert gave Lee Jordan Essence of Dittany and urged him to help stop the Ministry party if matters got out of hand.
• Albert blocked the Aurors at the oak doors, questioning their identities and demanding that a professor confirm their visit.
• Students gathered behind Albert, while Filch had the Aurors sign in so their identities and invitations could be checked.
• After no professor arrived for half an hour, Albert sent Filch to Professor McGonagall with the Aurors’ signatures.

Fred, George, and Lee Jordan led Hogwarts students in attacking Fudge, Umbridge, and the Aurors after the Ministry confronted Dumbledore. Albert arrived, kept the Ministry’s forces outside the school, and then confronted Fudge and Umbridge himself, leaving the conflict unresolved as he threatened to alter their memories.

• Fred, George, and Lee Jordan rallied the students to disarm the Aurors, then the crowd beat Umbridge and Fudge and used Memory Charms to hide what happened.
• Professor McGonagall pretended not to notice Umbridge being beaten and took the injured students, including Ginny, to the School Hospital.
• Albert arrived with two Aurors as the students claimed Peeves had made Fudge and the others slip; Harry explained that the Ministry had accused Dumbledore of forming Dumbledore’s Army.
• Albert told the Aurors that Dumbledore had left Hogwarts and warned them not to bring their force inside, while Fudge woke and renewed his call to capture Dumbledore.
• When Umbridge accused Albert of being Dumbledore’s accomplice, Albert slapped Fudge, punched Umbridge, and threatened to erase Fudge’s memory.

After Albert altered Fudge and his companions’ memories, Hogwarts students drove them from the castle with Dungbombs, while Fudge appointed Umbridge Headmistress. As Umbridge faced growing mockery and resistance, Fred and George prepared to use the chaos to promote their joke shop and pursue their dream of leaving school.

• Albert told the students to claim Fudge and his group had knocked themselves unconscious, then arranged for them to be taken to the School Hospital while Jordan alerted Professor Flitwick.
• Fudge woke and ordered Percy to publicize the statements against Dumbledore, while Professor McGonagall warned Umbridge that Trelawney’s prophecies about her were coming true.
• Harry, the Weasley Twins, Peeves, and the Anti-Toad Alliance pelted Fudge, Umbridge, and the Aurors with Dungbombs until they fled Hogwarts.
• The Ministry posted a decree appointing Umbridge Headmistress, but students mocked her, discussed Trelawney’s prophecies, and learned that the Headmaster’s Office would not admit her.
• Harry and Ron agreed to help oppose Umbridge’s Inquisitorial Squad, while Albert encouraged Fred and George to promote their joke shop as they considered leaving school.

Umbridge used the Inquisitorial Squad to tighten her control over Hogwarts, but the students and Peeves retaliated with pranks and mysterious illnesses. She was left increasingly isolated and overwhelmed as the school turned against her.

• Umbridge formed the Inquisitorial Squad through an Educational Decree and gave Malfoy and his Slytherin allies authority to harass other Houses.
• Harry, Ron, Hermione, and other students held back from directly attacking Malfoy, while Fred, George, and Lee Jordan organized the DA members and offered prank products at a discount.
• Peeves unleashed chaos across Hogwarts with Laughing Bombs, Dungbombs, and Fanged Frisbees, while Umbridge failed to stop him and Filch.
• The Inquisitorial Squad suffered a series of humiliating magical mishaps, including Malfoy's green hair and Pansy Parkinson's antlers and pig snout.
• Students developed what they called Umbridge Syndrome during her Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons, and Umbridge could neither identify its cause nor prevent the symptoms.
• With the Inquisitorial Squad in the School Hospital and Peeves tormenting her, Umbridge grew volatile and was driven close to a nervous breakdown.

Hogwarts students and professors kept Umbridge busy with pranks, while Peeves tormented her with foul food and the Ministry prepared to expel him. Fred and George planned a swamp prank and toad statues for the Ministry’s arrival, leaving the castle anticipating more chaos.

• Professor Flitwick and the other professors let students misbehave and repeatedly sent Umbridge to deal with Fanged Frisbees and toy flies.
• Peeves opened Surströmming in the Great Hall and chased Umbridge with it, ruining everyone’s appetite.
• Fred and George told Albert that Umbridge had banned them from Quidditch and searched for evidence linking him to Peeves’s tins.
• Fred and George planned to turn the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom into a swamp, but Albert suggested blocking the corridor instead.
• Lee Jordan reported that Umbridge had issued an Educational Decree to expel Peeves, and Albert urged the twins to display their protected Umbridge statues when Ministry officials arrived.
• Lee Jordan spread news of the expulsion order, exciting Filch while students doubted the Ministry could remove Peeves.

Albert warned Hagrid that Umbridge and the Ministry planned to arrest him, then helped him escape before the Aurors arrived. When Dawlish’s squad pursued Hagrid, Albert ambushed and incapacitated them, then returned toward Hagrid’s cabin to watch events unfold.

• Albert warned Hagrid that Umbridge might use Veritaserum to force information about Dumbledore from him and urged him to flee with his wand and umbrella.
• Hagrid left the Hunting Cabin with Fang before Umbridge and a group of Aurors arrived and found a taunting note Albert had planted.
• Umbridge sent Dawlish and half the Aurors after Hagrid while she led the rest into Hogwarts to deal with Peeves.
• Albert used his disguise and Apparition to ambush Dawlish’s squad, stunning the Aurors one by one until Dawlish was the last to fall.
• Albert removed his disguise near the Forbidden Forest and headed back toward Hagrid’s cabin under a Disillusionment Charm.

Umbridge found an indestructible toad statue mocking her in the Entrance Hall and summoned Harry Potter for questioning, suspecting him of making it. Harry confronted Umbridge and the Aurors, then drank the Veritaserum-laced Pumpkin Juice as the interrogation began.

• Filch warned Umbridge that Peeves was hiding with Dungbombs, but she noticed a magically protected statue depicting her as a toad in the Entrance Hall.
• Umbridge and the Aurors failed to destroy or move the statue, so an Auror covered it with a black cloth while Umbridge considered whether Dumbledore or Albert Anderson had made it.
• Filch brought Harry Potter from Charms class to Umbridge's office, and Harry secretly took Veritaserum antidote pills on the way.
• Harry mocked Umbridge and the Aurors, then poured out the first cup of Pumpkin Juice and told Umbridge to use only three drops of Veritaserum.
• Umbridge added three drops to a fresh cup, and Harry drank it before sitting down for questioning.

Umbridge interrogated Harry under Veritaserum, but secrecy magic kept him from revealing Sirius’s location, and he fed her information about Dumbledore, the Order, and Hagrid. Peeves then incapacitated Umbridge and the Aurors, leaving Fred, George, and Lee Jordan to turn the office into a swamp and escape with Harry.

• Umbridge questioned Harry about Dumbledore, the Order of the Phoenix, the Ministry weapon, Dumbledore’s Army, and Hagrid, while Harry concealed Sirius’s location and supplied misleading details.
• Peeves attacked the office with filth, Mandrake roots, and a metal ball that released a terrifying cry, knocking Harry, Umbridge, and the Aurors unconscious.
• Fred and George replaced the Aurors’ wands with fakes, while George turned Umbridge into a toad with Polyjuice Potion.
• Lee Jordan photographed Umbridge and the others as the three prepared to send the images to newspapers.
• Fred, George, and Lee poured Portable Swamp into the office, erased their traces, and left with Harry, while Umbridge spun in circles singing, “I am a toad.”

Students discovered that Umbridge and the Ministry Aurors had been defeated by Peeves and left covered in filth, while a foul-smelling statue resembling Umbridge became a public spectacle. Fudge sent Percy Weasley to investigate and take the injured to St. Mungo’s, but news of the disaster spread, intensifying calls for Fudge to resign.

• Students uncovered a foul-smelling statue resembling Umbridge in the Entrance Hall, and spells could not move it.
• Students found Umbridge and the Aurors unconscious in a filthy swamp inside the Defence Against the Dark Arts office, and Professor McGonagall sealed off the corridor and notified the Ministry.
• Madam Pomfrey refused to treat Umbridge and the Aurors, so Percy Weasley took them to St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
• Fudge ordered Percy to investigate who had bought Dungbombs and who was behind the attack, then sent him to Hogwarts.
• Percy was chased by Peeves but completed his task; Fudge dismissed him to bathe after the stench clung to him.
• Newspapers reported the Aurors’ defeat, and Albert’s efforts helped intensify calls for Fudge to step down.

Fudge convened Ministry officials after the Ministry became a public laughingstock over the Hogwarts incident, but Percy’s report cleared Albert Anderson of attacking the Aurors. The officials discussed Anderson’s abilities and agreed to approach him for help capturing the escaped Death Eaters, leaving Scrimgeour resolved to contact him.

• Fudge blamed Hogwarts for the Ministry’s humiliation and convened a meeting to discuss the crisis.
• Scrimgeour warned that the Ministry lacked Aurors and that sending more people to Hogwarts would likely provoke further resistance.
• Amelia Bones pointed to suspicious incidents connected to the Department of Mysteries, and Fudge ordered an emergency task force to investigate Dumbledore’s alleged Secret Base.
• Percy gave the officials his report, which showed that Albert Anderson had been in Transfiguration Class when the Aurors were attacked.
• Percy described Anderson as exceptionally capable and warned that angering him could be dangerous, while explaining that Anderson was unlikely to help the Ministry without suitable payment.
• Scrimgeour proposed paying Anderson for leads on escaped Death Eaters and resolved to contact him.

After the Ministry began searching the Forbidden Forest, Rufus Scrimgeour visited Albert to ask for prophecies about escaped Death Eaters, Voldemort, and the next Minister of Magic. Albert warned that Amelia Bones was likely to die, Scrimgeour might succeed her, and the Ministry would collapse if it turned against Dumbledore, leaving Scrimgeour troubled as he departed.

• Hogwarts students spread rumors that Ministry employees in the Forbidden Forest were searching for a secret weapon hidden by Dumbledore.
• Professor McGonagall summoned Albert to meet Rufus Scrimgeour, who asked him to divine the whereabouts of escaped Death Eaters.
• Albert demanded payment for his prophecy services, then warned Scrimgeour that the Ministry could not defeat Voldemort even if it found him.
• Scrimgeour paid Albert to ask who would become the next Minister, and Albert said Amelia Bones would take the role if she survived, otherwise Scrimgeour would.
• Albert warned that Scrimgeour would not live long as Minister and that Britain would collapse within six months if the Ministry lost Dumbledore’s protection.
• Scrimgeour left after asking whether he could change that future, while Albert said he did not know.

Albert and Isobel discussed their upcoming wedding and the war Albert foresaw before Dumbledore contacted him for help investigating Voldemort’s Horcruxes. Dumbledore asked Albert to help locate the remaining Horcruxes and obtain Slughorn’s memory, while Albert suggested Voldemort might have entrusted a Horcrux to another Death Eater.

• Albert told Isobel their wedding would take place in mid-July at an estate in France, and said their Felix Felicis was ready.
• Albert explained that he might move the wedding forward if Scrimgeour became Minister and agreed to his plan to draw hatred toward them.
• Dumbledore contacted Albert through the Two-Way Mirror, thanked him for warning Hagrid, and asked for his help.
• Dumbledore listed the suspected Horcruxes and sought Albert’s help finding their locations and confirming how many Voldemort had made.
• Albert suggested Voldemort might have given a Horcrux to a Death Eater for safekeeping, and Dumbledore ended the call.

Albert advised Fred and George to delay buying a shop while their joke business grew, and he helped Harry recognize that Voldemort’s recurring dreams were likely a trap. The chapter ended with Harry deciding to turn the trap against Voldemort and Hermione confronting the harm her efforts to free House-elves had caused.

• Albert reviewed Bill’s list of Diagon Alley shops and told Fred and George to negotiate cautiously and wait for prices to fall after summer.
• Fred and George’s joke products, especially the Skiving Snackbox, sold well, while the Quidditch captains cancelled the remaining matches to leave more time for DA training.
• Harry told Albert that his Occlumency lessons with Snape had failed and his dreams had grown clearer; Albert suggested Voldemort was influencing him and that the dreams pointed to a trap.
• Harry realized he could use the trap to expose what Voldemort wanted and planned to involve Sirius and possibly the Order of the Phoenix.
• Albert told Hermione that her hidden wool hats and socks had angered the House-elves, who had stopped cleaning Gryffindor Tower, and urged her to apologize before Dobby left Hogwarts.
• Hermione was left shaken and questioning whether her efforts to free the House-elves had been mistaken.

Sirius told the Order of the Phoenix that Voldemort was manipulating Harry’s dreams to lure him to the Department of Mysteries for a Prophecy Sphere. The Order agreed to prepare a counterplan with Dumbledore’s help, leaving Sirius to use Kreacher to learn how Voldemort’s scheme would unfold.

• Sirius explained that Harry suspected his recurring dreams and vision of Arthur being bitten by a snake were part of Voldemort’s trap.
• Sirius told the Order that Voldemort wanted Harry to retrieve a Prophecy Sphere and argued that they should exploit the trap rather than merely avoid it.
• Molly objected to putting Harry in danger, but Moody, Kingsley, and McGonagall supported preparing to stop Voldemort, and McGonagall agreed to help Harry at school.
• Sirius proposed finding Dumbledore, making a communication tool like the D.A.’s Magic Coin, and preparing Felix Felicis for the confrontation.
• Sirius suggested temporarily driving Kreacher away so it might visit his cousins and reveal information about Voldemort’s plan.

Albert discussed Hermione’s plans to help house-elves and warned her that power could change people, while explaining why he avoided a Ministry career. Fred, George, and Lee Jordan brought him shop photographs, and Albert planned to buy several Diagon Alley properties as prices fell.

• Hermione found Albert in the Room of Requirement and asked about his work with Rita Skeeter and her own prospects in the Ministry.
• Albert advised Hermione that she might gain influence over house-elf policy by rising through the Ministry, but warned that politics could change her priorities.
• Albert explained that Dumbledore had avoided becoming Minister because he feared power and temptation, and said he intended to write books and live comfortably after graduation.
• Albert told Hermione that Rita Skeeter had agreed to publish articles in The Quibbler because she expected to profit when the Daily Prophet later bought their reprint rights.
• Fred, George, and Lee Jordan showed Albert photographs of possible shops, and Albert decided to buy several Diagon Alley properties before prices fell further.

Lucius Malfoy gathered the Death Eaters to plan the theft of the Prophecy Sphere from the Department of Mysteries by luring Harry Potter to the Ministry. They discussed possible interference from Albert Anderson and arranged Portkeys as an escape plan.

• Lucius Malfoy told the Death Eaters that Voldemort wanted them to retrieve the Prophecy Sphere concerning him and Potter.
• Lucius Malfoy explained that they would trick Potter into coming to the Ministry by making him believe Sirius Black had been captured, with Kreacher helping to prevent Potter from checking the story.
• The Death Eaters planned to draw away Aurors, control Ministry members, and have Saul Croaker open the Department of Mysteries door before they captured Potter and took the sphere.
• Avery warned the group about Albert Anderson, but Lucius Malfoy said they should avoid rash action against him; Bellatrix proposed targeting him at his rumored summer wedding.
• Avery raised the risk of being trapped in the Ministry, and Lucius Malfoy suggested timed Portkeys disguised as socks as a way to escape.

Albert spent Easter with Isobel, while Katrina received an Easter egg and N.E.W.T. advice from her sister. Harry received Felix Felicis and a communicator from Sirius and prepared with Ron and Hermione to act as bait in a plan against Voldemort.

• Albert and Isobel made Easter eggs, keeping one for themselves and sending Katrina one filled with her favorite sweets and Isobel's N.E.W.T. advice.
• Katrina resolved to study hard for her exams and left the noisy Ravenclaw Common Room for the library.
• Fred and George discussed their failed Surprise Easter Eggs and planned a fireworks-filled Hogwarts farewell targeting Umbridge, with Lee Jordan's support.
• Harry received Felix Felicis and an emergency communicator from Sirius through Professor McGonagall, then explained the plan to Ron and Hermione.
• Ron and Hermione agreed to join Harry's plan to draw Voldemort out, and Harry later told Neville they would teach the group something other than the Patronus Charm.

Albert warned Ollivander, Florian Fortescue, and other old friends that danger was approaching, while the Wildsmith Family prepared for Voldemort’s return and made plans to protect Albert’s wedding. Back at Hogwarts, Albert advised Fred and George on their pranks and reassured Hermione about Harry’s plan before receiving a coded message from Nicolas LeMay.

• Ollivander hesitated to leave after reading Albert’s warning, while Florian Fortescue and Hertok Dagworth decided to go into hiding or travel abroad.
• Bard, Morg, Ge Bo, and Tiberius Ogden met to discuss Voldemort’s return and how to keep Albert’s wedding safe, eventually choosing to protect the manor with the Fidelius Charm.
• Fred and George asked Albert for advice about their surprise Easter eggs and farewell plan, and he suggested varying the eggs and making themselves heroes against Umbridge.
• Hermione asked Albert about Harry’s plan, and he reassured her that Harry could prepare and would eventually have to face the danger.
• Lee Jordan brought Albert an owl carrying a coded date and time from Nicolas LeMay for a Two-Way Mirror contact.

Albert struggled with the news that Nicolas and his wife would soon die when their supply of Elixir of Life ran out, but he gradually recovered his spirits. Umbridge returned to Hogwarts and was met with escalating pranks from the students and Peeves, leaving her furious and humiliated.

• Albert learned from Nicolas and his wife that their Elixir of Life was running out, and they planned to leave him their research materials.
• Nicolas warned Albert that dark wizards might disrupt the wedding, but Albert reassured the LeMay Couple that he had made preparations and invited Dumbledore to protect it.
• Fred, George, and Lee Jordan tried to cheer Albert up during his gloomy days, and his mood eventually settled.
• Umbridge returned to Hogwarts and was pelted with Dungbombs by Peeves while students applauded and jeered.
• Umbridge fell into a swamp hidden in her office, then returned the next morning to find Dungbombs inside and another swamp outside her door, with an Anti-Toad Alliance sign mocking her.

Umbridge sought Ministry support to regain control of Hogwarts, bringing healers and Aurors to counter the students’ illnesses, the swamps, and Peeves. Her efforts restored some order but ended with Peeves agreeing not to trouble Hogwarts’s Headmaster, while the Ministry failed to remove the toad statue.

• Umbridge reported Hogwarts’s troubles to Fudge and proposed expelling Albert Anderson, but Fudge warned her not to provoke him and approved her plan for Ministry assistance.
• Umbridge brought St. Mungo’s healers to a Defense Against the Dark Arts class, where they identified the students’ symptoms as likely induced and offered remedies that only eased them; Umbridge assigned the students detention.
• Ministry Curse-Breakers cleared the swamps, while Godwin Robards’s Aurors suppressed Peeves and fought him to a stalemate despite his tricks and the students’ jinxes.
• Albert lifted the spell that had silenced Peeves and suggested he sign a contract promising not to trouble Hogwarts’s Headmaster in exchange for privileges.
• Peeves accepted the contract after Bloody Baron came to negotiate, and Ministry employees failed to remove the toad statue, covering it with a rag instead.