Chapter Summaries

Albert and his roommates made a garlic-scented cross and tested it on a Grindylow, discovering that it drove the creature away through its overpowering smell. Albert decided to turn the amulet into a prank by hiding it as treasure for another student to find.

• Albert showed Fred, George, and Lee Jordan how to prepare garlic paste and soak it with a Guardian Tree cross to make an amulet.
• The four students finished the garlic cross beside the lake, and Albert suggested using leftover beeswax to prank Filch after the End-of-Year Feast.
• Albert and his roommates brought the cross to Hagrid, who led them to Professor Kettleburn to test it on a Grindylow.
• Professor Kettleburn explained that garlic might repel some creatures but was not a reliable defense, and the Grindylow moved away when Albert took out the cross.
• Albert renamed the amulet Vampire Repellent and planned to hide it as treasure for a student to discover, while Fred, George, and Lee Jordan offered to help with the prank.

Albert celebrated Gryffindor’s House Cup victory, helped Fred and George prank Filch, and finished the school year at the top of his grade. He left Hogwarts for summer vacation with his family, who were preparing to travel to France, while Tom stayed with Grandpa Luke.

• Dumbledore announced that Gryffindor had won the House Cup by five points over Ravenclaw, ending Slytherin’s four-year winning streak.
• Fred and George used Albert’s Disillusionment Charm to lure Filch away and cover his office with garlic-scented beeswax, leaving Filch furious and the castle amused.
• Albert came first in the year’s exams, ahead of Katrina, and explained to his friends how the underage-magic pledge and Trace worked.
• Filch confronted Albert, Fred, George, and Lee Jordan about the garlic prank as they headed to the Hogwarts Express, but they denied knowing anything.
• Albert reached King’s Cross and reunited with Herb, Daisy, and Nia, learning that Tom and his owl were staying with Grandpa Luke during the family’s trip to France.

The Anderson family vacationed in France, where Albert practiced his French while visiting landmarks and relaxing at the beach. Herb booked opera tickets for the family before their trip home, despite Albert's preference for a movie.

• The Anderson family visited the Champs-Élysées, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Seine before spending the rest of their vacation at Basque Beach.
• Albert surfed and swam with French locals, improving his French until he could handle ordinary conversation, reading, and writing.
• Albert told Nia that Europe had three magic schools and that they sometimes held competitions, then said he planned to write a novel about magic.
• Nia asked Albert to put on her sunscreen, and later insisted on applying his sunscreen herself with Daisy's help.
• Herb booked tickets for the family to see an opera at Opéra Bastille, and Albert reluctantly accepted the plan.

The Anderson family watched Romeo and Juliet at the Opéra Bastille before Nia found a solid-gold membership card. Albert stopped a wizard’s Summoning Charm from taking it and decided to keep the magical card until he could return it safely.

• The Anderson family attended a French opera performance of Romeo and Juliet, which Albert explained to Nia during the intervals.
• The opera ended in tragedy, and Albert and Nia discussed whether Romeo and Juliet could have been together as the family left the theater.
• Nia handed Herb a gold card she had picked up, and Albert recognized its writing as belonging to the Extraordinary Potion Makers Association.
• A wizard’s Summoning Charm tried to pull the card away, but Albert’s Protective Bracelet’s Shield Charm blocked it.
• Albert decided to keep the membership Gold Card until he could return it without risking blame or trouble.

Hertok Dagworth lost his Gold Membership Card, and Nicolas LeMay’s divination revealed that Albert had found it and was already returning to Britain. Albert’s family made it home safely, where he received a Ministry of Magic warning blaming him for Hertok’s Summoning Charm and prepared to challenge the Ministry’s unreliable Trace.

• Hertok asked Nicolas LeMay to locate his missing Gold Card, and Nicolas saw Albert holding it aboard a plane bound for Britain.
• Hertok sought help from the French Ministry of Magic, but he arrived at the airport too late to catch Albert before his flight departed.
• Albert studied the Gold Card and its runes while reassuring his family during turbulence on their flight home.
• The Anderson family visited Grandpa Luke, collected Tom, and received an exhausted owl carrying a Ministry of Magic warning for Albert.
• Albert wrote to the Ministry disputing the accusation and to Professor Broad asking about the Extraordinary Potion Makers Association.

Mafalda Hopkirk forwarded Albert Anderson’s reply disputing the Ministry’s mistaken warning, but her superior dismissed it as a small matter. Back home, Albert read his friends’ letters, considered the value of Hertok Dagworth’s Gold Card, and prepared to go shopping in Diagon Alley with his family the next day.

• Mafalda Hopkirk recalled the earlier Trace scandal and passed Albert Anderson’s letter to the Head of the Misuse of Magic Office, who discarded it without reading it.
• Albert received letters from Fred and George, Professor Broad, and Rowena Smith; the first two treated the Ministry’s error as a small matter, while Rowena hinted at a coming surprise.
• Albert inferred from Professor Broad’s letter that Hertok Dagworth would care about the Gold Card Albert held.
• Albert returned to his summer homework and stopped working early after Nia told him the family would shop in Diagon Alley the next day.
• Nia took Tom to bed, and Albert went to sleep after Shera returned from hunting.

Albert took his family on a shopping trip through Diagon Alley, showing them its hidden entrance and buying school supplies, potion ingredients, and new robes. The family finished the day wandering the alley, while Albert declined to buy a broom and admitted that Quidditch training took too much time.

• Albert warned his family that some wizards looked down on ordinary people and advised them not to bring a camera to Diagon Alley.
• Albert led Herb, Daisy, and Nia into the Leaky Cauldron and opened the hidden entrance to Diagon Alley.
• Herb bought Albert's required spellbook, and the family stocked up on potion ingredients, including Essence of Dittany for themselves and Grandpa Luke.
• Albert had new robes made, bought writing supplies and food for Tom, and promised to help Nia get a model of the Solar System if she did well in school.
• Wood reminded Albert to buy a Flying Broom, but Albert declined until he knew whether he had joined the Quidditch team.
• Albert told Herb that he disliked Quidditch training because it wasted time, and Nia teased him about abandoning other activities.

Hertok Dagworth met Brood to learn that his Gold Membership Card had likely been found by Anderson, and Brood warned him to fix the trouble he had caused rather than offer compensation. After Hertok left, Brood and McDougal discussed Rowena’s plans to go to Hogwarts and decided to investigate Ge Bo.

• Hertok received Brood’s letter and traveled to Lake Cottage, where Brood revealed that his young friend Anderson had returned from France and received a Ministry letter for using the Summoning Charm there.
• Hertok understood that Anderson had likely found his Gold Membership Card, and Brood gave him Anderson’s letter and urged him to clean up the trouble he had caused.
• Hertok left intending to negotiate with Anderson and recover his card, while Brood told McDougal that Hertok would fail if he tried to settle things with compensation.
• McDougal told Brood that Rowena planned to become Hogwarts’s Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, and they wondered why she was going there.
• Brood and McDougal decided to ask Ge Bo what was happening and agreed to keep an eye on two possible candidates.

Albert returned to Platform 9¾ for his second year at Hogwarts and confronted Hertok Dagworth over the Gold Membership Card and the Ministry of Magic’s warning. He refused to return the card until Hertok secured a personal apology from the Ministry, leaving Hertok to decide how to deal with the demand.

• Albert said goodbye to Herb, Daisy, and Nia at King's Cross Station and boarded the Hogwarts Express after reaching the platform late because of a traffic jam.
• Hertok Dagworth stopped Albert and asked him to return the Gold Membership Card, offering twenty Galleons as a reward.
• Albert explained that Hertok’s Summoning Charm had caused the Ministry of Magic to send him a warning and demanded that Hertok obtain a personal apology from the Head of the Misuse of Magic Office.
• Hertok tried to summon the Gold Membership Card, but the spell failed because Albert had left it at home.
• Albert warned Hertok not to use underhanded methods and said he would melt the card down if Hertok did not resolve the Ministry’s mistake.
• Hertok reflected on Albert’s connections and the difficulty of getting the Ministry to apologize, then Apparated away.

On the Hogwarts Express, Albert told Lee Jordan and the others about Hertok Dagworth’s attempt to reclaim a membership card and his unresolved Ministry problem. He declined to buy a broom or commit to the Quidditch team, leaving Charlie disappointed but agreeing to help if the team needed him.

• Albert told Lee Jordan that Hertok Dagworth wanted the membership card and had offered no real help with the Ministry’s mistaken warning; Albert refused to return it unless Hertok resolved the issue.
• Fred and George arrived with Cleansweep Seven 5 brooms, and Albert congratulated them but said he had not bought one or decided to join the Gryffindor team.
• Albert explained to Charlie that his commitments to Professor McGonagall’s Transfiguration Club and his plans to learn from Rowena Smith might keep him from playing, but he agreed to help if needed.
• Fred and George asked Albert about the rubber duck he had sent them, and he explained it was a Muggle bath toy.
• Albert told Fred, George, and Lee Jordan that Hertok had offered him twenty Galleons, prompting them to question why Hertok would pay him rather than settle the Ministry problem.

On the train, Albert discussed ways to make money with Fred, George, and Lee Jordan, then proposed creating a Wizard Card Game based on famous wizards and magical history. The four began outlining the game, which would later become popular throughout the wizarding world.

• Albert offered to invest in Fred and George’s planned Joke Shop and suggested earning money through Acromantula venom, Snow Fungus, and improved Protective Bracelets.
• Albert explained that magical items could evade the Ministry of Magic’s detection and described how he had used a Protective Bracelet and kept Hertok’s Gold Card to protect himself from blame.
• Lee Jordan and the Twins joked about Albert winning the Daily Prophet’s grand prize, and Albert suggested George’s family might win it someday.
• Albert proposed turning Chocolate Frog Cards, famous wizards, historical events, and spells into a Wizard Card Game, and he wrote down his ideas.
• Lee Jordan, Fred, George, and Albert discussed their cards and effects as the future game began taking shape in the compartment.

Albert and his friends returned to Hogwarts in heavy rain, where they met the new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, Rowena Smith, and welcomed the school year at the opening feast. After Dumbledore announced a ban on garlic, Albert settled into the Gryffindor dormitory for the night.

• Albert refined the rules for Wizard Cards with Fred, George, and Lee Jordan during the train ride.
• At Hogsmeade Station, Albert conjured and duplicated umbrellas so the group could reach Hogwarts dry.
• Albert arrived at Hogwarts, greeted familiar students, and watched Cho Chang, Zacharias Smith, and Katie Bell get sorted into their houses.
• Dumbledore introduced Professor Smith as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and began the feast.
• Dumbledore announced that students could not grow garlic or bring garlic-related items into the castle, prompting Fred and George to struggle not to laugh.
• Albert returned to the Gryffindor dormitory and went to bed while rain fell outside.

On Hogwarts’ first day back, Albert hid Hertok’s Gold Card in the Room of Requirement and began designing a Wizard Card game with Lee Jordan, Fred, and George. Charlie assigned Albert the Seeker position for Gryffindor’s Quidditch team, while the group started planning the Hogwarts Card Set.

• Albert and Shanna discussed the Duplication Charm on their way to breakfast, where Charlie told Albert that Quidditch tryouts were Wednesday and assigned him the Seeker position.
• Shera delivered a letter containing the Gold Card, and Albert decided to hide it near Ravenclaw’s Diadem in the Room of Requirement.
• Albert returned to the dormitory, where Lee Jordan asked when they would begin making Wizard Cards.
• Albert sketched cards for Fred, George, Lee Jordan, and himself, giving each different stats and effects.
• Albert proposed a thirty-card Hogwarts Card Set with no more than three copies of any card, and Fred suggested adding Charlie, Percy, the Quidditch players, and the professors.

Albert and his friends play his homemade Wizard Cards game in the Gryffindor Common Room, introducing Angelina, Charlie, and Wood to cards based on students and professors. The group ends by laughing over Snape’s card effect, “Gaze from Behind.”

• George complained after losing another game, and Albert explained card balance and proposed rules for the Avada Kedavra Curse card.
• Angelina joined the game, received her own Quidditch-themed card, and lost first to Albert and then to George.
• Charlie arrived with the Quidditch tryout notice, and the group joked about his Devil Captain card and Wood’s Keeper card.
• Angelina asked about professor cards, and Fred showed her Snape’s Gaze from Behind card, prompting Lee Jordan to imitate Snape and everyone to laugh.

Rufus learned that Hertok Dagworth’s negotiations with the Ministry over the Trace had failed. Unable to reach Albert or recover his Gold Membership Card, Hertok turned to Bard Brood for advice and decided to ask Dumbledore for help.

• Rufus asked Hopkirk why Hertok Dagworth had argued with the Ministry Director, and Hopkirk said the dispute involved the Trace.
• Hertok left the Ministry after the Director refused to apologize or acknowledge that the Trace had malfunctioned.
• Hertok found that Lake Cottage had been concealed, but a House-elf Apparated him to Bard Brood.
• Hertok told Brood that Albert had hidden the Gold Membership Card and planned to melt it down and sell it in the Muggle world.
• Brood warned Hertok not to pressure Albert and said the Ministry was his best chance of recovering the card.
• Hertok decided to write to Dumbledore and ask the Hogwarts headmaster for help.

Albert and his classmates learned about Mandrakes in Herbology and repotted the dangerous plants while wearing earmuffs. After successfully repotting his first Mandrake, Albert still had Defense Against the Dark Arts and Quidditch tryouts ahead that afternoon.

• At breakfast, Albert discussed rumors about the Defense Against the Dark Arts curse with Angelina, Shanna, Lee Jordan, Fred, and George, and Charlie reminded the group about Quidditch tryouts.
• Professor Sprout taught the class that Mandrake cries could be fatal and awarded Gryffindor points for Albert's answers.
• Professor Sprout demonstrated how to pull a Mandrake seedling from its pot and repot it while wearing earmuffs.
• Fred and Lee Jordan struggled to pull out and contain their Mandrake, and it bit Fred's Dragonhide Glove.
• Albert forced his Mandrake into a flowerpot and buried it in damp soil and compost.

After Transfiguration class, Albert learned he had been invited to meet Dumbledore and faced a clash between several activities. He declined a chance to try out as Gryffindor's Seeker, while Katrina prepared to join the Transfiguration Club and continue their wager.

• Gryffindor arrived late to Transfiguration, where Albert easily turned a beetle into a silver button and earned five points.
• Professor McGonagall told Albert and Katrina that they had been invited to the Transfiguration Club gathering that evening, and Katrina pressed Albert to resume their wager.
• Lee Jordan gave Albert a note from Dumbledore inviting him to the Headmaster's office for tea at seven, and Albert suspected the meeting concerned his Gold Card.
• Albert told Katrina about the club meeting and offered to show her where Classroom 21 was, then explained to Charlie that he could not attend Quidditch tryouts because of the schedule conflict.
• Charlie agreed to keep the reserve Seeker position open for Albert, while Albert joked with his friends about starting a Wizard Card Club.

Albert brought Katrina to the hidden entrance of Classroom 21, then attended Professor Rowena’s lesson on Boggarts. The class practiced the Riddikulus spell, and Albert’s Boggart became a book before the lesson continued with Fred, George, and Lee Jordan facing their fears.

• Albert showed Katrina that the witch in a Sixth Floor portrait opened the entrance to Classroom 21, then left for Defence Against the Dark Arts.
• Professor Rowena brought the class to an abandoned Third Floor classroom and taught them that Boggarts took the shape of nearby people’s greatest fears and could be defeated with laughter and Riddikulus.
• Albert volunteered to face the Boggart, which turned into a thick book; he tried to open it, then threw it down and stomped on it.
• Professor Rowena transformed the Boggart into a corpse and then a coffin, and explained that his friend had died in a magical experiment.
• Fred and George turned their Acromantula Boggarts into clumsy dancers with ice skates, while Lee Jordan’s Boggart became a box of revolting-flavored Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans.

Albert met Hertok Dagworth in Dumbledore’s office to settle the dispute over the Gold Membership Card. Hertok agreed to arrange an apology from the Head of the Misuse of Magic Office, and Albert left after refusing compensation.

• Albert visited Dumbledore’s office, where Hertok Dagworth proposed paying him to return the Gold Membership Card.
• Albert demanded that Hertok resolve the trouble he caused and obtain a written apology from the Head of the Misuse of Magic Office.
• Albert suggested that Hertok have the Ministry publish an apologetic statement in the Daily Prophet if the current office head refused to apologize.
• Hertok agreed to arrange a handwritten apology, and Albert explained that he wanted the Ministry to take responsibility for its mistake rather than pay him.
• Hertok offered to answer Albert’s questions about potions and predicted he could become Minister of Magic, but Albert declined interest in politics and left.

After Albert left the Headmaster's Office, the portraits discussed his intelligence, magical talent, and Smith Family ancestry. Dumbledore defended Albert’s actions against the Ministry and predicted Hertok would agree to apologize, while the portraits noted Albert’s apparent dislike of the Ministry.

• The portraits discussed how calmly Albert had handled the dispute over the Gold Membership Card, and Dumbledore described him as confident and exceptionally clever.
• Dumbledore told the portraits that Albert was a Muggle-born wizard descended from a branch of the Smith Family, whose members were known for producing exceptional wizards.
• Dumbledore cited Albert’s Ancient Runes research and his rescue of Fred and George from the Forbidden Forest as evidence of his talent and courage.
• The portraits discussed the Smith Family’s mysterious legacy and the influential circle of prominent wizards connected to Brood and Rowena.
• The portraits debated Albert’s anger at the Ministry, and Dumbledore said Hertok would likely agree to apologize as the cheapest solution.