Chapter Summaries

Albert discussed Harry, Hermione, and Ron’s plan to infiltrate Gringotts and destroy Hufflepuff’s Cup, while the Order members waited outside and prepared for the Hogwarts battle. After Albert arranged a pre-battle meeting and told the twins to organize the broadcast and Shelter, Harry committed to the Gringotts plan and prepared to bring the Sword of Gryffindor.

• Percy found the Order members crowding outside the Meeting Room and urged them to prepare for the Hogwarts battle instead of waiting to overhear Albert’s discussion.
• Fred and George showed Percy their preparations and said they trusted Albert’s plan to catch Voldemort off guard.
• Albert told the twins to begin work on the broadcast and Shelter, then scheduled the pre-battle meeting for the next day after Kingsley returned.
• Ron complained that Albert seemed unconcerned about destroying Hufflepuff’s Cup, and Hermione reminded him that they could not rely on Albert to solve every problem.
• Harry said they should bring Flying Brooms, spare wands, and the Sword of Gryffindor to Gringotts, and he dismissed Ron’s concern that the goblins might claim the sword.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron discussed the dangers and backup plans for their planned break-in at Gringotts to destroy Hufflepuff’s Cup. They planned to consult Albert and scout the vault, while Harry resolved to use Fiendfyre if necessary and take responsibility for the consequences.

• Ron warned Harry and Hermione that the goblins might betray them and suggested using the Imperius Curse to control them.
• Hermione said Albert would not let the mission fail, while Harry and Hermione tried to reassure Ron and explain that Albert might need to hold Voldemort back.
• Harry and Hermione planned to ask Albert for details, take the Gryffindor Sword to meet the goblins, scout Gringotts, and consider alternate ways into the vault.
• Hermione suspected Albert’s backup plan involved a House-elf and Fiendfyre, and Ron warned that using the curse inside Gringotts would bring serious consequences.
• Harry said he would use Fiendfyre if necessary and accept responsibility, while Hermione urged him to trust Albert and focus on surviving the war.

Yaxley gathered the Death Eater leaders to listen to the Wizard Lookout Station Broadcast and figure out why Albert Anderson was repeatedly hinting at major news. Snape suspected the announcement was a distraction from a more dangerous move, while the conversation itself began drawing the Death Eaters toward the trap being laid for them.

• Death Eater leaders listened to the Wizard Lookout Station Broadcast in the Ministry of Magic Meeting Room, where Yaxley asked Macnair about their spy in the Shelter.
• Macnair said their spy had sent no news, and he agreed to keep the Crisis Response Team ready as Yaxley ordered increased surveillance of the Shelters and wizarding world.
• Snape argued that Albert Anderson was probably using the repeated broadcast announcements to distract the Death Eaters from another plan.
• Yaxley and the others considered whether Albert would stir up European countries against them, and Yaxley told Macnair to monitor developments across Europe.
• Snape realized Yaxley’s focus on European retaliation might be steering the Death Eaters toward a trap.

Kingsley secured the European Ministries of Magic’s cooperation in a plan to pressure the Death Eaters, while Albert explained how their fear would drive them into the trap. Albert planned to act on Friday night, leaving Voldemort’s defeat to Harry Potter if possible and preparing to intervene if Harry failed.

• Kingsley persuaded the European Ministries of Magic to provide aid and help the Anti-Voldemort Alliance, and they agreed to spread a false report about sending over two hundred Aurors to Britain.
• Albert told Kingsley that the European Ministries’ support only needed to distract the Death Eaters and buy time.
• Albert explained to Katrina and Isobel that the Death Eaters would monitor the Ministries even if they suspected a trap, because they could not risk another ambush like the one led by Scrimgeour and Albert.
• Albert said he planned to make his move on Friday night and admitted he did not know how many people would die.
• Albert said he would let Harry Potter face Lord Voldemort if Harry could succeed, but would intervene himself if Harry failed, relying on Dumbledore’s ultimate weapon.

Harry said goodbye to Ginny and joined Hermione and Ron as they set out to destroy the final Horcrux at Gringotts. Albert coordinated the wider plan to take Hogwarts and confront Voldemort, while preparing to meet someone before the battle.

• Harry gave Ginny a ring and a key, promised to return, and told her to stay away from Hogwarts.
• Albert gave Hermione Felix Felicis and explained that the Ravenclaw Diadem had already been destroyed and Hufflepuff's Cup was Voldemort's final Horcrux.
• Dobby Apparated Harry, Hermione, and Ron away to meet the goblins and infiltrate Gringotts.
• Albert told Fred to finish preparations and confirmed to Sirius, Kingsley, Lupin, Arthur, and Moody that the plan would begin in half an hour.
• Albert ordered Fred and George to lead people with Kingsley after Harry's task, then said he needed to meet someone before keeping watch on Voldemort.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron infiltrated Gringotts with Griphook to reach the Lestrange vault and retrieve Hufflepuff’s Cup in exchange for the Gryffindor Sword. They found the vault’s dragon, and Harry prepared to deal with it.

• Harry offered Griphook and another goblin the Gryffindor Sword in exchange for help retrieving Hufflepuff’s Cup, and they agreed to make an Unbreakable Vow.
• Harry, Hermione, and Ron disguised themselves with Polyjuice Potion and entered Gringotts, using the Imperius Curse to get past the guards and control their cart driver.
• Griphook warned the group that only Bogrod could open the Lestrange vault and that goblins would notice their intrusion if they lingered too long.
• The trio used Flying Brooms to travel through the underground passages, passing several checkpoints until Griphook led them toward the Lestrange vault.
• A chained dragon breathed fire at the group around a passage bend, and Harry said it would be easy to attack.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron killed the dragon guarding the Lestrange vault and used Fiendfyre to destroy the vault and the Horcrux inside. Harry sensed that Voldemort knew what had happened, and the group escaped Gringotts as its guards arrived.

• Harry used Fiendfyre to kill the dragon while Hermione and Ron helped control the flames.
• Griphook identified the Lestrange vault, and Harry burned through its door after Griphook warned them about its protections.
• Harry decided to destroy the vault rather than search for Hufflepuff's Cup, and Hermione gave Griphook the Gryffindor Sword after he fulfilled his promise.
• Harry sent Fiendfyre into the vault, destroying its treasures and the Horcrux; he then felt Voldemort's rage and fear.
• As Gringotts guards arrived, Harry drank a Vitality Potion, helped Hermione extinguish the flames, and summoned Dobby to get them out.

After the Order of the Phoenix captured Hogwarts and the Death Eaters learned that the Auror Alliance might intervene, Voldemort ordered his forces to prepare a counterattack. Albert Anderson then attacked Voldemort’s headquarters to reach Snape, who escaped as Voldemort shielded him, leaving Albert and Voldemort to begin their duel.

• Snape told Voldemort that the Order of the Phoenix and the Defence Association had overwhelmed Hogwarts, and Alecto Carro confirmed that Hogwarts and Hogsmeade had fallen.
• Yaxley warned Voldemort that the Order’s broadcast urged British wizards to rise up and that foreign Aurors were moving, so Voldemort ordered him to investigate and told Macnair to gather forces.
• Snape advised Voldemort to counter the Auror Alliance while avoiding Albert Anderson’s traps, and Voldemort asked Snape to stay behind for an important task.
• Albert Anderson’s assault destroyed the defenses and manor at Voldemort’s headquarters, targeting Snape while Voldemort fought to protect him.
• Voldemort told Snape to Apparate away, and Albert and Voldemort faced each other among the ruins as their duel began.

Albert confronted Voldemort to keep him from discovering that his Deathstick was fake, and the two fought fiercely among the manor ruins. Albert used the Elder Wand to gain the upper hand, but Voldemort survived, and their duel continued with both still unable to finish the other.

• Albert intervened when Voldemort threatened Snape and challenged him among the manor ruins.
• Albert and Voldemort traded attacks, with Albert taking control of Voldemort’s Fiendfyre and surviving his lightning spell with a Silver Shield.
• Albert hurled a powerful fireball that destroyed the manor ruins, then Apparated away as Voldemort escaped the blast.
• Albert struck Voldemort after he Apparated, and Voldemort drove him back with spreading lightning bolts.
• Albert and Voldemort resumed their duel, their green and golden spells colliding as time ran short.

Albert and Voldemort fought to a stalemate while each tried to hold the other in place. Voldemort realized Albert might be targeting his followers, but the chapter ended with Voldemort firing a Killing Curse at Albert through the dust.

• Voldemort struggled against Albert and waited in vain for reinforcements, as Yaxley led the Death Eaters to intercept the nonexistent Auror Alliance instead.
• Voldemort concluded that Albert was holding him in place so the Auror Alliance could attack his followers, and hesitated to retreat because he feared losing his army.
• Albert sensed Voldemort's hesitation, and the two slowed their attacks as each tried to keep the other occupied.
• Voldemort taunted Albert that neither he nor Dumbledore could kill him, and Albert answered with a storm of stone fragments.
• Voldemort blasted the stones into dust, sent a face of dust surging at Albert, and fired a green Killing Curse through the swirling cloud.

Albert escaped Voldemort after Harry destroyed the Horcrux hidden in Gringotts, leaving Voldemort enraged and frightened by the loss. Voldemort suspected Harry and Albert knew about his Horcruxes and set out to check whether the remaining ones were safe.

• Albert used Apparition and a feigned death to ambush Voldemort, then struck him again when he reappeared.
• Dementors arrived as reinforcements, and Albert left after sensing that Harry had destroyed Voldemort's Gringotts Horcrux.
• Voldemort felt a Horcrux being destroyed and realized that Harry was the likeliest culprit.
• Voldemort blamed Dumbledore for revealing his secret and suspected Albert had used Divination to locate his Horcruxes.
• Voldemort panicked over the loss of three Horcruxes and decided to check the remaining ones.

Voldemort discovered that several of his Horcruxes were missing and went to Gringotts to protect Hufflepuff's Cup, only to learn that Harry Potter and his companions had destroyed the Lestrange vault. After Voldemort slaughtered the bank's defenders and left, Dark wizards and goblins fought over the wreckage, and Griphook was killed.

• Voldemort checked the Gaunt Old House and the cave beneath the cliff, discovering that Marvolo Gaunt's Ring and Slytherin's Locket had been taken.
• Voldemort realized that multiple Horcruxes had been destroyed and Apparated to Gringotts to check Hufflepuff's Cup.
• A goblin told Voldemort that Harry Potter and his two accomplices had destroyed the Lestrange family vault without taking anything.
• Voldemort killed the goblin and slaughtered the goblins and wizard guards in Gringotts before leaving to attack Hogwarts.
• Dark wizards entered Gringotts to loot it, and Griphook fought them with the Gryffindor Sword before a Charm struck him dead.

The Order of the Phoenix and the Defence Association secretly entered Hogwarts through the Underground Kitchen and began carrying out Albert’s plan to seize the school and Hogsmeade. As the teams prepared to expand the operation, Professor McGonagall’s Patronus reported that Snape had escaped and the students were being evacuated.

• Dobby brought Sirius, Lupin, Percy, and more than forty members of the Order of the Phoenix and the Defence Association into Hogwarts in his suitcase.
• The resistance split into teams to contact the professors, clear Voldemort’s Claws from the school, and prepare to capture Hogsmeade.
• Moody and Arthur remained in the Underground Kitchen to manage reinforcements, while Percy organized arriving wizards and sent Hagrid with Firenze to seek the Centaurs’ support.
• Hagrid was warned that his Little Cute Ones were now enemies and that foolish choices could get his companions killed.
• George’s team encountered Moody after killing a Dark wizard, and George and Kenneth urged the resistance to fight decisively rather than show mercy.
• Professor McGonagall’s silver cat Patronus announced that Snape had escaped and that the professors were preparing to evacuate the students.

After Lee Jordan announced that Voldemort’s final battle would begin at Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall and Neville organized the students’ evacuation and prepared the school’s defenses. The students were moved to safety while preparations continued and the battle in Hogsmeade neared its end.

• Lee Jordan announced on the Wizard Lookout Station Broadcast that the war against Voldemort would begin at Hogwarts.
• Professor McGonagall confirmed that Snape had fled and ordered the students evacuated, while Neville led Dumbledore’s Army in organizing them.
• Professor McGonagall allowed eligible students to stay and help defend Hogwarts, while younger students were sent away.
• Students entered Albert’s suitcase by house and were transported by House-elves to the Defence Association Headquarters; Slytherins were stunned unconscious to prevent leaks.
• Percy assigned the remaining helpers defensive tasks, including destroying the Connecting Bridge and preparing dangerous plants, pits, and swamps.
• Fred and George used their advantage to defeat large numbers of Dark wizards in Hogsmeade, though the enemy resisted fiercely.

Fred, George, and the Defence Association captured Hogsmeade through a series of ambushes, then prepared for possible Death Eater reinforcements. The chapter ended with the Order of the Phoenix holding the village while allies gathered and Kingsley’s Aurors still debated joining them.

• Fred, George, and the Defence Association lured Dark wizards into successive ambushes, killing or disabling more than twenty and driving off the Dementors with Patronuses.
• The surviving Dark wizards took cover in houses, but the Defence Association broke through their defenses and overwhelmed them.
• George directed the cleanup, and Nelson Tobin killed the fallen Dark wizards to avenge his family, who had been killed by Death Eaters.
• Aberforth signaled that the Order of the Phoenix had taken Hogsmeade, and the group buried the bodies in a mass grave outside the village.
• George said Lee Jordan was gathering willing wizards at Hogwarts, where students had been evacuated and defenses were being prepared with help from Hagrid, Firenze, and the Centaurs.
• Aberforth volunteered to receive any Death Eater reinforcements while the others set up an ambush, and Fred and George said someone would persuade Kingsley’s hesitant Aurors to join.

Kingsley gathered the Aurors after Lee Jordan’s broadcast exposed Scrimgeour’s last words and urged them to join the final battle against Voldemort. He explained that Harry would face Voldemort at Hogwarts, while the Aurors helped draw the Death Eaters’ attention and Harry completed Dumbledore’s task.

• Lee Jordan’s broadcast revealed Scrimgeour’s last words and claimed the Aurors had only pretended to join Voldemort.
• Aurors gathered at Scrimgeour’s Safe House, and Kingsley arrived to address them.
• Kingsley warned the Aurors that refusing to fight would leave them branded as Voldemort’s traitors after the war.
• Kingsley said the Aurors did not need to fight Voldemort themselves, but had to give Harry a fair chance to duel him.
• Kingsley revealed that Dumbledore had found a way to kill Voldemort and that Harry was carrying out Dumbledore’s task before coming to Hogwarts.

Harry arrived at the Safe House after destroying a Horcrux and told the hesitant Aurors how Voldemort had made himself immortal. He left them to decide whether to help protect Hogwarts while he searched for the final Horcrux.

• Harry returned to the Defence Association and told Cedric that Hermione and Ron had gone to Hogwarts while he went to meet Kingsley.
• Harry entered the Safe House, where Kingsley and the Aurors were waiting, and sent the Defence Association members outside to stand guard.
• Harry explained that Voldemort had made six Horcruxes and that he and Dumbledore had already destroyed five.
• Harry told the Aurors the final Horcrux was hidden at Hogwarts and that they needed to buy him time to destroy it before Voldemort could hide it again.
• Harry warned the Aurors that making Horcruxes would split their souls and leave them cursed, while Kingsley pressed them to join the fight.

The Death Eaters debated the growing threats from the Auror Alliance and the Order of the Phoenix while they searched for Voldemort. After summoning them, Voldemort ordered an attack on Hogwarts and killed Thicknesse for questioning the plan.

• Yaxley, Snape, and Alecto learned that Voldemort had disappeared after the manor was destroyed and debated whether the Auror Alliance was a trap.
• Walton Macnair reported that the Auror Alliance was supposedly a deception meant to tie the Death Eaters down while the Order of the Phoenix acted at Hogwarts.
• Thicknesse announced that the Ministry Aurors had likely defected to the Order of the Phoenix, and the Death Eaters felt their Dark Marks summon them.
• The Death Eaters Apparated to Voldemort, who ordered them to gather forces and attack Hogwarts.
• Voldemort killed Thicknesse with the Killing Curse after Thicknesse questioned what to do about the Auror Alliance.

As Voldemort’s forces gathered outside Hogwarts, Godwin Robards tried to control the chaos in Hogsmeade while Albert strengthened the school’s defenses. The chapter ended with Albert preparing for the coming assault and urging Professor McGonagall to use the Founders’ spell to animate the statues.

• Godwin Robards learned from Williamson that only thirteen wizards had volunteered to fight, then ordered the Aurors to drive disruptive families out of Hogsmeade or stun them.
• Robards’ Aurors knocked out several family members who refused to leave and carried them into Three Broomsticks.
• Albert reinforced Hogwarts’ defenses with a powerful barrier, and a family member who ignored the warning was vaporized by the Super Iron Armor Barrier.
• Professor McGonagall asked Albert whether Voldemort would attack, and Albert explained that Voldemort’s final treasure was hidden at Hogwarts.
• Death Eaters tested the Hogwarts barrier with Inferi, which were vaporized, while Albert estimated that Voldemort needed at least half an hour to gather his forces.
• Albert told Professor McGonagall to use the Founders’ spell to turn the statues into expendable defenders.

Professor McGonagall awakened Hogwarts' statues and armor with a defensive spell left by the Four Founders, while Albert brought Snape's memories to Harry. The chapter ended with Harry preparing to face Voldemort without knowing whether he would survive the Killing Curse.

• After Albert departed, Professor McGonagall cast Stone Pier Charge and awakened Hogwarts' statues and suits of armor to defend the castle.
• Sirius and Professor Flitwick asked whether the animated defenders could be controlled, but Professor McGonagall explained that they only followed their original instructions.
• Albert Apparated to the Headmaster's Office, where Harry had spoken with Dumbledore's portrait and taken the Resurrection Stone from the Golden Snitch.
• Albert gave Harry a vial of Snape's memories and said Snape might die while taking Voldemort with him.
• Harry accepted that he might have to die to defeat Voldemort, while Albert and Dumbledore could not be certain whether Harry would survive the Killing Curse.