Recaps

Ian Prince used his fortune-telling stall and his Mind Perception trait to reassure Mrs. Granger about Hermione’s future, then returned to his orphanage and found Albus Dumbledore visiting. Ian was puzzled that Dumbledore had arrived without the expected Hogwarts letter and explanation.

• Ian Prince read Mrs. Granger’s tarot cards and predicted that Hermione would enter the right school and become a highly regarded official.
• Hermione Granger denied believing in fortune-telling, but she secretly grew curious about Ian’s reading and blushed when he predicted she would have two sons.
• Mrs. Granger paid Ian five pounds and explained to Hermione that the money would help the poor boy buy food.
• Ian packed his stall, checked his Attribute Panel, and returned to the Orphanage, where the children said Santa Claus had come.
• Ian recognized Albus Dumbledore walking toward the headmaster’s office and wondered why Hogwarts had not sent an owl first.

Dumbledore visited Wu's Orphanage and invited Ian Prince to attend Hogwarts, while Ian wondered about his identity and the wizard who would help him. That night, Ian returned to the dreamlike place where Ariana was waiting for him.

• Dumbledore spoke with Elena about Ian and used the Confundus Charm so she could not perceive their real conversation.
• Dumbledore told Ian he was a wizard and invited him to study at Hogwarts; Ian accepted despite worrying about the cost.
• Dumbledore said Ian would receive a Hogwarts letter in half a month and that someone who felt indebted to him would help him get what he needed.
• After Dumbledore left, Ian wondered why he had come early and whether Ian's name or lineage had drawn his attention.
• Ian fell asleep, returned to the peaceful dream landscape, and told Ariana he had met a terrifying old man and forgotten her candy.

Ian Prince met Ariana in the Misty Illusion and told her he had been invited to Hogwarts, while worrying about Voldemort's return. As Ian woke from the dream, Ariana gave him a mysterious red-glowing gift.

• Ian explained to Ariana that a refined but supposedly nosy old man had come to let him attend Hogwarts.
• Ian warned Ariana that Voldemort would soon return and worried Hogwarts would not be safe, while Ariana offered help from her two brothers.
• Ariana lamented that she was forgetting her past and brothers, and Ian comforted her with chocolate and promised to ask around about them.
• Ariana joked that the Witch in the Castle thought Ian had an evil nature, then gave him a red-glowing gift that left a delicate pattern on his hand.
• Ian's dream began to fade, and he and Ariana said goodbye until the following week.

After waking from the Misty Illusion, Ian studied languages, earned money through fortune-telling, and shared his profits with the orphanage children. Catherine revealed that she knew Ian was going to Hogwarts and begged to join him, while Ian’s Biology Dissection skill reached Level 5 and unlocked an Extraordinary Trait.

• Ian examined the faint mark left by his friend’s gift, found no mention of it on his Skill Panel, and went back to sleep.
• Ian raised his Language Mastery proficiency through morning study.
• Ian used Psychology to persuade a woman to buy twenty handmade luck talismans for one hundred pounds, then brought hot pot back to the Orphanage.
• Catherine told Ian she knew he was going to Hogwarts and pleaded to learn magic; Ian agreed to keep her hopes secret.
• Ian helped the cooks slaughter livestock, maxed out his Biology Dissection proficiency, and unlocked an Extraordinary Trait upon reaching Level 5.

Ian gained the Butcher's Instinct trait and, impatient to learn magic, went searching for The Leaky Cauldron in London. Dumbledore and the Black Robed Woman watched him return to Wu's Orphanage after she secretly used magic to hide the pub from him.

• Ian gained the Butcher's Instinct trait, which let him identify the ideal places to cut creatures, and impressed the kitchen staff with his butchering.
• Growing impatient while waiting for his learning materials, Ian skipped work and searched London for The Leaky Cauldron.
• Ian noticed a black-robed figure following him, panicked, and escaped by taking the subway back to Wu's Orphanage.
• The Black Robed Woman told Dumbledore she had used a spell to prevent Ian from seeing The Leaky Cauldron and said he belonged to Slytherin.
• Dumbledore watched the orphanage and said he hoped he would not make the same mistake again.

Ian studied languages at the orphanage, spent time with Catherine and the other children, then entered the Misty Illusion and found Ariana missing. A mysterious black-robed woman appeared behind him in the deserted town.

• Ian studied Latin and Roman and checked his Attribute Panel, where Language Mastery had reached level four.
• Catherine brought Ian a chicken leg, asked about attending a magic academy, and invited him to play with the other children.
• Ian played football with the orphanage children and went to sleep wondering when he could practice magic skills.
• In the Misty Illusion, Ian walked through the Fairytale Forest to the Town of the Dead and found Ariana's house empty.
• A mysterious woman in a black robe appeared behind Ian and asked whether he was waiting for Ariana.

Ian met the Witch in the Castle in the World of the Departed, and she invited him to learn magic if he brought back her Magic Mirror. After Ian vanished, the witch returned to her castle and spoke to herself at a mirrorless dressing table.

• The Witch in the Castle mocked Ian and said Pandoro Natger had taken Ariana to search for a Golden Apple.
• The witch pointed Ian toward her castle and offered to teach him magic in exchange for her missing Magic Mirror.
• Ian disappeared as his time in the World of the Departed ended, leaving the town silent.
• The witch returned to her castle, where magic prepared a meal, and she sent away a roasted pig because it reminded her of Ian.
• The witch sat before a dressing table without a mirror and murmured, “Mirror, mirror, who is the fairest in the world...”

Ian reflected on the mysterious witch in the Misty Illusion and chose not to accept her offer to teach him magic. When a Hogwarts representative arrived at the orphanage, Ian went to meet them and discovered it was a dark, intimidating figure rather than Dumbledore.

• Ian considered whether to help the mysterious witch find her Mirror and decided against learning magic from her in the Misty Illusion.
• Ian studied Roman to improve his Language Mastery and hoped the skill might help him communicate with animals.
• Catherine told Ian that a Hogwarts representative had arrived, and the children asked whether he would return and teach them.
• Catherine led Ian to the headmistress's office, where Ian saw a gloomy figure and realized the visitor was the Black Bat, not Dumbledore.

Snape came to the orphanage to take Ian to Hogwarts, but discovered Ian’s mind-perception ability and mistook it for natural Legilimency. Ian said goodbye to the orphanage and left with Snape, while Ms. Elena found the money he had secretly left for the children.

• Snape arrived at the orphanage and introduced himself as Ian’s guide to Hogwarts.
• Ian sensed Snape’s guilt and unease, and Snape realized Ian had a talent he mistook for Legilimency.
• Snape warned Ian to control his ability and arranged to take him away from the orphanage.
• Ian said goodbye to Ms. Elena and the children, promised he would return, and left with Snape.
• Ms. Elena found an envelope of money Ian had left behind to help the orphanage through winter.

Ian left the orphanage with Snape and explained why he had given his money to help the people who had raised him. Snape refused to donate, but gave Ian a potion and Apparated him to Diagon Alley, where Ian saw the wizarding world for the first time.

• Ian followed Snape away from the orphanage, grieving as he left the people who had cared for him.
• Ian told Snape how Ms. Elena, Catherine, Daniel, and Mia had helped him and said he felt responsible for helping them in return.
• Ian hinted that Snape should donate to the orphanage, but Snape refused and called him a worthy Slytherin.
• Snape gave Ian a sweet-tasting potion, then grabbed him and Apparated them away from the alley.
• Ian arrived in Diagon Alley and marveled at the magical shops, creatures, and bustling wizards.

Ian explored Diagon Alley with Snape, who bought his Hogwarts supplies and showed him unusual consideration. Snape’s actions left Ian wondering what debt he owed Ian’s parents as they continued shopping.

• Ian followed Snape through Diagon Alley and wondered whether Snape had been responsible for his parents’ deaths during his time as a Death Eater.
• Snape warned Ian not to use Mind Perception on the Wizards around them and took him to Flourish and Blotts instead of Gringotts.
• Snape gave Ian his Hogwarts acceptance letter, and Ian quietly agreed with a clerk who defended Hufflepuff.
• Snape paid for Ian’s textbooks and used a Shrinking Charm to make room for them in his suitcase.
• Snape bought Ian a Brass Cauldron instead of the pewter one listed in the letter, leaving Ian baffled by his generosity.

Ian finished buying his Hogwarts supplies with Snape, who chose expensive, high-quality goods and paid for them himself. They arrived at Ollivanders Wand Shop, where Ian wondered about the shop’s mysterious prophecies before going inside.

• Snape guided Ian through most of his school-supply purchases, including premium robes, gloves, a cauldron, textbooks, and a limited-edition telescope.
• Ian questioned whether Hogwarts student loans could really cover such luxurious items, but Snape brushed off his doubts.
• Snape took Ian to Ollivanders Wand Shop as their final stop in Diagon Alley.
• Ian felt anticipation and unease as he considered the shop’s role in the prophecies surrounding powerful wizards and Harry Potter.

Ian visited Ollivanders to buy his first wand, but dozens of wands failed to suit him. Ollivander gave him an Elder Wood wand he had made in 1980, and it produced a spectacular display when Ian took hold of it.

• Snape gave Ian seven Galleons and waited outside while Ian entered Ollivanders.
• Ollivander recognized Ian as Mr. Prince and measured him before asking which hand he used.
• Ollivander had Ian try dozens of wands, but none seemed to be a good match.
• Ollivander brought out an Elder Wood wand he had made in 1980 while attempting to rival the Elder Wand.
• Ian took the wand, and silvery-white threads filled the shop with misty visions as Ollivander exclaimed that it worked.

Ian received the Elder Wand from Ollivander, who declared that its rare wood and unusual core marked Ian for a remarkable destiny. As Ian left the shop, Ollivander greeted Madam Rosier and her striking, heterochromatic-eyed young witch, whom he also praised as destined for greatness.

• The Elder Wand chose Ian, and Ollivander explained that its Elder wood and Unicorn tail hair core made it an unusual, difficult wand associated with remarkable destiny.
• Ian tried to bargain down the wand’s seven-Galleon price, but Ollivander refused and cited Ministry rules.
• Ian paid with all seven Galleons Snape had given him and left Ollivander’s shop.
• Madam Rosier entered with a platinum-blonde young witch whose eyes were different colors, and Ian noticed her before leaving.
• Ollivander recognized the young witch as a descendant of a family with extraordinary talent and predicted her future greatness.

Ian considered Ollivander responsible for some of the magical world’s chaos, then declined to buy a pet and decided he wanted a Basilisk instead. Snape took him to a secluded house in Hogsmeade, where Ian prepared to focus on learning magic.

• Ian blamed Ollivander for influencing young wizards’ destinies and wondered whether The Daily Prophet would publish his ideas.
• Snape brought Ian to a pet shop, where Ian asked about getting a Phoenix and then a snake.
• Ian decided he would try to raise a Basilisk in his second or third year and left the shop without a pet.
• Snape Apparated with Ian to Hogsmeade and gave him a key and the Galleons left from their shopping trip.
• Snape warned Ian not to wander around, then left him at the house as Ian looked forward to becoming a real Wizard.

Ian settled into Snape’s Small Wooden House and began practicing Lumos, while Dumbledore and Snape argued over Ian’s dangerous natural Legilimency and how much to interfere in his life. Dumbledore also considered Aurora Grindelwald’s approaching Hogwarts admission and Grindelwald’s warning that a Legend would rise.

• Ian counted the 150 Galleons Snape had left him, moved into the Small Wooden House, and began practicing Lumos as his spell proficiency appeared on his panel.
• Snape confronted Dumbledore, warning that Ian’s Legilimency could penetrate his Occlumency and demanding that Dumbledore not shape Ian’s life.
• Dumbledore and Snape made an Unbreakable Vow that Dumbledore would not make Ian part of a plan, and Snape said he would watch over him at Hogwarts.
• After Snape left, the former headmasters debated his concern while Dumbledore studied Aurora Grindelwald’s name in a copy of the Book of Admissions.
• Dumbledore recalled Grindelwald’s warning that neither of them could stop the rise of a Legend and wondered whether Aurora was that Legend.

Ian mastered the Lumos Charm and reflected on how his growing insight into magic differed from merely repeating spells by incantation. After checking his panel, he went to sleep wondering what it would take to cast magic without a wand.

• Ian kept practicing Lumos until he understood that its light came from a Wizard’s mind and the charm reached Level 1.
• Ian recognized that magical exertion felt like weariness rather than a loss of measurable Magic Power, then went to bed.
• Ian checked his panel and saw that his Magic Power was Level 4 and his Lumos Charm was Level 1.
• Ian concluded that each increase in spell proficiency revealed the magic behind a spell, while most Wizards relied on incantations as shortcuts.
• Ian wondered how much insight wandless casting required and fell asleep without using Dream Control.

Ian settled into his daily life in Hogsmeade, practiced Incendio, and entered the Misty Illusion in his sleep. Instead of finding the familiar meadow, he arrived in a palace where a witch sat on a Golden Chair amid fleeing furniture.

• Ian bought breakfast and lemonade in Hogsmeade, but Madam Rosmerta refused to sell him Butterbeer because he was too young.
• Ian avoided a Wizard Chess hustler after recognizing the man's trick of making players feel they had nearly won.
• Ian returned to the Small Wooden House and practiced Incendio until his Personal Panel recorded it at Level 1.
• Ian went to sleep expecting to visit the Misty Illusion and look for Ariana.
• Ian awoke in an unfamiliar palace, where animated furniture fled from him while a witch remained seated on a Golden Chair.

Ian met the mysterious witch in the Misty Illusion and learned that the place reflected his changing desires, leading him to her because he wanted to learn powerful magic. She offered to teach him, and the chapter ended with her denying that she had read his mind.

• Ian arrived and interrupted the mysterious witch's meal, then admitted that he had begun pursuing magic.
• The witch told Ian to call her teacher and explained that only three days had passed in the Misty Illusion since his last visit.
• The witch said the illusion responded to people's deepest desires, which explained why Ian's arrival point had changed from his longing for friendship to his desire for magic.
• Ian asked whether she could use Mind Reading, and the witch replied that she had lost her former magic and was simply good at observing.

Ian learned that Teacher Mara had overheard his conversations by the river and agreed to become her apprentice. When she offered to teach him Potions, her familiar-sounding words led him to conclude that Snape had copied his famous speech from a book she had written.

• Teacher Mara explained that she had heard Ian and the little girl discussing Tom and Hogwarts during their conversations by the river.
• Ian asked for her name, and Mara told him to call her Teacher Mara.
• Mara told Ian that knowledge remained precious even after she lost her magic and power, then offered to teach him Magic or Potions.
• Mara described the beauty and power of Potions in terms that reminded Ian of Snape's speech to new students.
• Mara said she had left a book behind, and Ian decided that Snape had copied his opening speech from it.

Ian learned that Professor Snape’s familiar Potions lesson came from one of Teacher Mara’s books, and Mara explained that Golden Apples had once made life-reversing potions possible. She began training Ian in magic, ending by teaching him to feel killing intent and repeat the Killing Curse.

• Ian told Teacher Mara that Professor Snape used a sentence from her book as his annual Potions lesson opening, and she said it was no disgrace.
• Teacher Mara explained that Golden Apples were essential to potions that could stop death or reverse life and death, and that she had cut down the last Golden Apple Tree in the mortal world.
• Teacher Mara told Ian to bring modern Potions books so she could catch up with his era, while Ian considered borrowing ingredients from Snape.
• Teacher Mara warned Ian to study magic until he was strong enough not to disguise himself, then transformed a painting’s metal frame into a wand for him.
• Teacher Mara pressed a finger to the back of Ian’s head and taught him to feel killing intent before repeating “Avada Kedavra.”

Ian learned the Killing Curse from Teacher Mara in the Misty Illusion, then was sent back to reality with a fragment of her gown as homework. He woke holding the fragment, which shimmered with ancient knowledge.

• Ian channeled Teacher Mara’s murderous intent and cast the Killing Curse at a stone wall, mastering the spell at Level 1.
• Teacher Mara praised Ian’s magical talent and advised him to hunt animals to build the murderous intent needed to cast the curse.
• Ian decided not to tell Teacher Mara that he had already mastered the Killing Curse and asked her to teach him a less dangerous spell.
• As Ian began fading from the Misty Illusion, Teacher Mara wrote on a corner of her gown and gave it to him as homework.
• Ian woke in reality holding the silvery Gown Fragment.

Ian discovered that he could bring Teacher Mara’s gown fragment from Misty Illusion into the living world, prompting him to wonder whether the dead could cross over too. He deciphered the fragment’s writing as Ancient Runes and realized Mara’s homework was to learn them.

• Ian examined the gown fragment and reasoned that bringing objects out of Misty Illusion might require special conditions, since Mara’s wand had not come back with him.
• Ian speculated that the dead might be brought back to the living world and imagined finding Lily Potter’s soul for Harry Potter.
• Ian considered finding the Magic Mirror Mara wanted in return for teaching him more magic.
• Ian cast Lumos on the gown fragment and saw a passage written in crooked, unfamiliar characters.
• Ian checked his Magical Theory textbook and identified the characters as Ancient Runes, realizing he had to learn them as part of Mara’s homework.

Ian bought three secondhand books on Ancient Runes from Hogsmeade’s bookshop so he could begin studying the advanced subject early. The bookshop owner’s Golden Snitch tattoo stirred a memory of a past vow of loyalty.

• Ian woke early and went to the unassuming secondhand bookshop in Hogsmeade to look for Runes study materials.
• The bookshop owner warned Ian that Runes was difficult, then searched the disorganized shop for books.
• Ian noticed the owner’s Golden Snitch tattoo, but changed the subject rather than ask about its history.
• Ian paid six Galleons for three books, and the owner offered to buy them back for half the price if Ian gave up studying.
• After Ian left, the bookshop owner stroked his tattoo and remembered pledging his life in unwavering loyalty.

Ian struggled to learn Ancient Runes, but after mastering his first pronunciation, his Personal Panel unlocked Rune Mastery and boosted his Language Mastery. As his study began to accelerate, the chapter explained how wands and modern spells had displaced Runes, while leaving open whether spells might one day face the same decline.

• Ian studied three introductory Ancient Runes textbooks but found even basic pronunciations difficult to master.
• Ian kept practicing despite the difficulty and successfully learned the pronunciation of his first Rune, unlocking Rune Mastery on his Personal Panel.
• Ian's Epiphany trait helped his Rune Mastery and Language Mastery proficiencies rise as he continued studying.
• Ian reflected on how Runes had once served as circuits for Ancient Magic and Alchemy before wands and simplified spells replaced them as safer, easier tools for most wizards.
• Ian considered how spells might eventually follow Runes into obscurity as magic changed over time.