Chapter Summaries

Angelina’s pregnancy ended her Quidditch career and prompted the families to discuss her wedding, while Cho Chang’s pregnancy led Shanna to urge faster construction of Avalon. Albert helped install a Muggle water system there, leaving Fred and George to clean the water tower.

• Angelina left the Holyhead Harpies after becoming pregnant, and Mrs. Weasley began arranging a July wedding with the Johnson family.
• Cho Chang became pregnant, and Shanna urged Albert to speed up Avalon’s construction and help the expectant mothers prepare for parenthood.
• Albert agreed to help build Avalon when he had time, while Isobel offered to teach the pregnant girls about caring for their children.
• Fred questioned why Albert was installing a Muggle water pump, tried using magic to raise water, and failed.
• Albert started the solar-powered pump, then handed Fred and George brushes to clean the water tower while he went to inspect it.

Albert finished installing Avalon’s water pipes and prepared Truman and Shanna to handle future maintenance. As the village’s fountain began working, Albert considered the decline of magical innovation and whether he should develop a Water-Drawing Charm, but left the problem for the future.

• Albert tested the new plumbing, and Shanna gave him her notes while Truman asked how long the pipes would last.
• Albert warned Truman that the pipes would need maintenance and planned to have him practice repairs with spare materials.
• After several days of work, Albert and Truman completed most of Avalon’s pipes, and residents gathered around the newly operating fountain.
• Albert reflected that practical magic had been forgotten and that magical education did little to encourage creativity.
• Albert considered creating a Water-Drawing Charm to solve Avalon’s water-storage problem, then decided they would use the current system and deal with the future later.

Albert and Shanna reviewed Avalon’s unfinished infrastructure and arranged to begin sewer construction, while residents worried about how the community would manage without Albert. Isobel suspected he did not intend to settle in Avalon for long, and she overslept after trying to take a nap.

• Truman and Albert walked around Avalon, discussed the villa gardens, and checked that the community’s plans were progressing.
• Albert returned to the tent area and learned that the girls had gone to Harry’s house for Isobel’s Infant Care Class.
• Shanna showed Albert the sewer construction plan, and Albert approved the existing drawings so she could organize the work.
• Albert and Shanna listed more facilities Avalon needed, including a hospital, library, greenhouses, public toilets, and workplaces, and Shanna warned that the community relied heavily on Albert.
• Isobel told Albert that Avalon’s residents feared he would leave for years, and she questioned whether he planned to settle there; Albert answered vaguely.
• Isobel meant to nap briefly but overslept.

As exams approached, Albert finished his work on the final Defence Against the Dark Arts Guide volume and redirected Avalon’s plans to expand Beauty Potion production and create jobs. Meanwhile, Fred and George arranged a simple joint wedding with Angelina and Katie, despite Mrs. Weasley’s objections.

• Albert supported Hermione’s focus on revision and prepared to publish the final volume of the Defence Against the Dark Arts Guide while helping Cedric with his future teaching role.
• Albert accelerated Avalon’s greenhouse and Potion projects to meet booming demand for Beauty Potion, with Kenneth and Louise helping stabilize its grey-market distribution channels.
• Angelina’s family visited Avalon, admired the village, and became reassured about her marriage to Fred.
• Fred told Albert that he and George planned a simple joint wedding, and that the Johnson family had agreed.
• Mrs. Weasley learned of the wedding plan before George had sorted out his arrangements, protested angrily, and eventually compromised after others persuaded her; Katie Bell’s family approved of George’s proposal.

Fred and George prepared their wedding villas while Avalon’s residents settled into a more comfortable routine. Albert and Isobel planned their new home but chose not to move in yet, leaving the story with Avalon growing livelier as Harry’s demanding Auror work illustrated the life they hoped to avoid.

• Mrs. Weasley’s wedding complaints drove Fred and George away from The Burrow, and Ginny complained about being caught in the fallout.
• Fred and George focused on their shop, wedding preparations, and inventions while their renovated villas neared completion.
• Isobel planned the garden and furnishings for her and Albert’s new villa, but Albert said they would not move in yet.
• More residents moved to Avalon, where Dobby and the girls helped provide and prepare meals for the community.
• The residents enjoyed Avalon’s relaxed life, while Harry’s exhausting Auror schedule left him little time for Ginny and their son.

Harry and Ron discussed the Ministry’s failed goblin negotiations, Hermione’s plan to work in the House-elf Relocation Office, and their own futures over breakfast at the Weasleys’. They left for the Ministry, with Ron admitting he had accepted that he and Hermione were not suited to each other, though he still held a faint hope she might change her mind.

• Ron complained to Harry that he and the Weasleys were suffering because of Fred and George’s troublemaking, and Harry said the Ministry was sending someone to negotiate with the goblins.
• Mrs. Weasley welcomed Harry to breakfast, and Harry told her and Ron that Hermione planned to work in the House-elf Relocation Office.
• Harry and Ron debated Hermione’s career choice and bet on how long she would stay in the dull department.
• Harry and Ron finished breakfast and left for the Ministry of Magic.
• Harry asked Ron when he and Lavender would marry, and Ron said they would not marry soon and that he had stopped pursuing Hermione, though he still held a little hope.

Harry led an Auror team to Chipping Clodbury to prepare for the expected collapse of negotiations between the Ministry and the goblins. A Goblin Brotherhood attack on Royden Poke sparked a battle, and the chapter ended with some goblins escaping and relations between goblins and wizards reaching a historic low.

• Godwin Robards assigned Harry to lead the Aurors sent to Chipping Clodbury, where they prepared for trouble during Royden Poke's negotiations with the goblins.
• Harry arranged for two Auror teams to scout the village and prepare contingency plans while Dawlish accompanied Royden as his bodyguard.
• After the negotiations broke down, Goblin Brotherhood members ambushed Royden's group and transformed Royden into a Flobberworm.
• Dawlish shielded Royden but was nearly crushed by the attackers, giving Harry and his team time to intervene.
• Harry's Aurors subdued several goblins, but others caused chaos in the village and escaped while the team contained the damage.
• The Aurors escorted the captured goblins and the negotiating party back to the Ministry as relations between wizards and goblins deteriorated further.

Albert explained to Cedric how the Ministry’s hostile press campaign was provoking goblins over their resentment for deaths under Voldemort, while the pair attended Hogwarts’ O.W.L. and Ultimate Wizarding Exam invigilation meeting. The chapter ended with Albert hinting that he might not return to Hogwarts next year, leaving Cedric uneasy.

• Albert saw the Daily Prophet turn against goblins and recognized that the Ministry was stoking hostility to isolate them.
• Albert told Cedric that goblins blamed wizards for their wartime deaths and supported leaders demanding rights and vengeance.
• Albert and Cedric attended the exam invigilation meeting with McGonagall, Flitwick, Slughorn, and Sprout.
• Albert said he might not teach at Hogwarts next year, and Cedric asked whether he planned to leave.

As Hogwarts students prepared for Final Exams, Albert warned them not to use Fred and George's exam potions during tests and taught his Defense Against the Dark Arts class about Legilimency and Occlumency. He ended by advising them to focus on reviewing their professors' key points.

• Fred and George's exam-aid potions sold out, earning them more than a thousand Galleons in profit in one week.
• Albert warned his students that using the potions during exams would trigger the Anti-Cheating Charm and cost them their exam eligibility.
• When a student asked about cheating, Albert explained that Legilimency could reveal another person's thoughts but was too advanced and dangerous for them to learn for exams.
• Albert taught the class about Legilimency and Occlumency, naming Snape, Dumbledore, and himself as skilled practitioners.
• Albert advised the students to review the key points their professors had taught, saying that mastering them would be enough to earn an Acceptable.

Albert finished overseeing the seventh-year exams and discussed Hermione’s plans to help House-elves after she told him Winky had agreed to work at Avalon. He showed Hermione a report revealing that the Ministry’s House-elf Relocation Office existed only in name, and she left considering how best to pursue change.

• Albert oversaw the seventh-year exams, where examiners were impressed by Hogwarts students’ Defence Against the Dark Arts skills.
• Hermione told Albert that Winky had agreed to help Dobby at Avalon, then asked whether the House-elves there would receive wages.
• Albert gave Hermione Percy’s report showing that the House-elf Relocation Office had no staff and existed only in name.
• Albert advised Hermione to become Kingsley’s assistant or work in the Magical Creatures Management Control Division if she wanted to help House-elves.
• Hermione said she would think carefully about her options, and Albert reminded her that gaining authority could make reform easier.

Hermione chose to pursue work at the House-elf Relocation Office despite Albert’s advice, relying on his backup plans, and spent more time with him. Back at Hogwarts, a student named Rolle was caught cheating with Fred and George’s exam-assistance candies and was ordered to repeat the year.

• Hermione remained determined to work at the House-elf Relocation Office, knowing she could instead seek a position in the Magical Creatures Management Control Division or become Kingsley’s assistant.
• Hermione devoted more time to Albert, and the sisters at home resented her for monopolizing his attention.
• Cedric sent Albert an urgent message about a student who had cheated with Fred and George’s candies, so Albert and Hermione returned to Hogwarts after spending several more hours together.
• Albert questioned Rolle, while Slughorn said Rolle had likely tested the candies before using them during the History of Magic exam.
• Flitwick and the other professors agreed to revoke Rolle’s exam eligibility and have him repeat the year, and the school publicly warned students against cheating.
• Students were surprised that Hogwarts did not crack down on Fred and George’s candies, which continued to sell because homemade potions were risky and Albert had helped improve the formula.

After the exams, Albert advised seventh-year students about careers, and Hermione decided to move to Avalon. At the end-of-year feast and graduation, Ravenclaw won the House Cup, the seventh years departed, and Albert left Hogwarts despite McGonagall's hopes that he would stay.

• Albert hosted the seventh-year Defence Against the Dark Arts students, thanked for helping them prepare for the Ultimate Wizarding Exam, and shared career advice and information about Ministry vacancies.
• Hermione told Albert she planned to move directly to Avalon, where Winky would help her settle in.
• Ravenclaw won the House Cup at the End-of-Year Feast, and Albert persuaded Hagrid to spend the summer at Avalon checking the breeding farm.
• Albert returned to Hogwarts for the graduation ceremony, watched the seventh years depart by boat, and left after bidding farewell to the professors.
• McGonagall resented Albert's departure because Hogwarts still lacked professors, while Cedric remained an uncertain replacement for Defence Against the Dark Arts.

Albert and his companions developed Avalon’s chicken coop and greenhouses while considering how to improve their food. The chapter ended with Shanna proposing that they find someone willing to learn to cook for the community.

• Little Alice fell while chasing Shera, and Albert and Isobel comforted her.
• Katrina told Albert that she and Louise planned to visit the Witch Beauty Shop’s potion industry in France, while Albert reflected on worsening tensions between wizards and goblins.
• Albert met Hagrid at Avalon, enlarged the chicken coop doorway, and helped settle Hagrid’s chicks into their new home.
• Cho Chang and the others suggested expanding Avalon’s greenhouses after tasting Albert’s unusually sweet tomatoes.
• After a tough rooster made lunch unpleasant, Shanna suggested finding someone who loved food and could learn to cook, and Albert agreed to let her try.

Albert considered introducing Catherine’s potion-brewing method in Avalon, attracting applicants for respectable, well-paid work. As Avalon’s residents rushed construction despite his warnings, he explained to Shanna that they would have to face the consequences and learn to care for their community themselves.

• Shanna’s search for cooks failed, while Isobel and Katrina supported introducing Catherine’s standardized potion-brewing technique in Avalon.
• Albert quietly spread word of a potion-making job, and thirteen residents with strong N.E.W.T. Potions results registered with Shanna.
• Avalon’s residents accelerated construction despite Albert’s warnings, alarming Shanna.
• Albert told Shanna that repeated warnings had lost their effect and that the residents needed to learn from their own mistakes.
• Albert explained that he would offer guidance but would not act as a nanny, leaving Avalon’s residents responsible for preserving their community’s wealth.

Avalon’s residents realized their rushed construction and villa renovations were shoddy, and Shanna announced that the depleted budget could not cover repairs. The chapter ended with residents in distress as they learned they would have to pay for renovations themselves.

• Albert ordered the poorly built houses demolished and told the young wizards to rest before rebuilding.
• Shanna informed residents that the renovation materials and budget were nearly exhausted, leaving villa owners to pay for further work themselves.
• Cedric and Cho Chang suspected Albert had deliberately let the construction fail, but Hermione defended him and said he had tried to warn them.
• Hermione proposed an emergency meeting, and Shanna convened it at Avalon’s bar.
• Shanna announced that Avalon could not spare additional Galleons for villa renovations, prompting cries of anguish and a small commotion.

Shanna told Avalon’s residents that Albert would soon leave Britain with his family and would no longer manage or subsidize the village. She explained how Avalon could sustain itself through farming and profitable shops, leaving its future in the residents’ hands.

• Shanna stopped the residents’ arguments and warned them to consider Avalon’s future rather than blame one another for the ruined renovations.
• Shanna explained that Albert had not received Voldemort’s bounty and that Avalon’s remaining funds came from his wartime earnings and donations, which were nearly gone.
• At Cedric’s prompting, Shanna described Albert’s plans for greenhouses and farms to provide affordable food and shops to fund Avalon and offer residents jobs.
• Shanna warned that shop workers would be paid from their shops’ profits and that Albert would not rescue Avalon if the residents let its systems fail.
• Shanna reflected that Avalon was a fragile experiment and that its residents would have to decide whether it could survive without Albert.

Isobel, Valeria, Katrina, and Yanila discussed having children with Albert and the security a child might offer his lovers. Valeria remained undecided, while Albert said Avalon’s completion would be delayed by recent problems and upcoming weddings.

• Isobel told Valeria she planned to have another child and would be content even if it were a girl, since Albert’s knowledge mattered more than his wealth.
• Katrina and Yanila urged Valeria to consider having a child, and Yanila said she planned to become pregnant soon with her mother’s help caring for the baby.
• Valeria admitted she was tempted but worried about raising a child alone and the effects of pregnancy on her body.
• Katrina said Hermione Granger had already spent time with Albert and was unlikely to want a child soon because she was focused on her career.
• Albert said Avalon had suffered recent setbacks and its completion would wait until after Cedric’s and the Weasley Twins’ weddings.
• Yanila climbed onto Albert’s lap and declared that it was her turn with him that night.

Shanna standardized Avalon ahead of schedule, forcing its residents to confront the consequences of their choices while Albert checked on the village and Cedric’s wedding preparations. Cedric and Cho Chang’s wedding was nearly ready, and Albert left Avalon’s future in its residents’ hands.

• Shanna stopped mixing emotion into her work and advanced Avalon’s standardization, ending Dobby’s Saturday cooking service so residents had to prepare their own food.
• Albert visited Shanna, who told him Avalon’s residents had settled down and that most planned to live with their renovations rather than pay for new ones.
• Albert found Cedric showing both families around Avalon Village as they discussed the wedding planned for a few days later.
• Cedric told Albert that both families had urged them to guard Avalon, and Albert said he was leaving the village’s future to its residents.
• Albert confirmed that Cedric still wanted him as best man and Isobel as bridesmaid, and Cedric said he and Cho Chang hoped to be as happy as they were.

Cedric and Cho Chang married in Avalon, where guests explored the village and enjoyed a lavish international wedding feast. The celebration ended with the Weasley Twins’ fireworks, while Albert stayed behind to handle questions about Avalon.

• Cedric prepared for the wedding and explained that neither family objected to Albert and Isobel serving as Best Man and bridesmaid.
• Guests toured Avalon, where Professor Slughorn admired his future retirement villa and Professor Sprout marveled at Albert’s greenhouses.
• Cedric and Cho Chang exchanged vows and rings, kissed, cut their cake, and opened the banquet.
• The guests feasted on food prepared by the Hogwarts House-elves, while Albert sent Isobel home and stayed to deal with inquiries about Avalon.
• The Weasley Twins ended the celebration with a fireworks display, and Cedric said he and Cho Chang were happy despite the exhausting day.

When Rita Skeeter tried to sneak into Avalon as a beetle, Shanna and the Defence Association caught her and decided to silence her permanently. After beating her and repeatedly using Memory Charms, they disguised her and abandoned her abroad, where she vanished from the British magical world.

• Rita Skeeter arrived at Avalon to investigate, but Shanna refused to let her enter and warned that she would likely sneak in as a beetle.
• Kenneth spotted beetle-form Rita Skeeter and stunned her with help from the other residents.
• Shanna rejected killing Rita and proposed beating her and wiping her memories with Memory Charms.
• The residents transformed Rita back, beat her, repeatedly cast Memory Charms on her, and gave her Polyjuice Potion.
• Kenneth abandoned Rita in a remote city abroad, and the residents later impersonated her to avoid Ministry suspicion.