Chapter Summaries

Jon visited Morn Garden to ask the Fat Friar to persuade Peeves to help him, and Peeves agreed. After Jon left, Peeves revealed his loneliness as a cursed earthbound spirit, while the Fat Friar hoped Jon could help him.

• Jon gave the Fat Friar a pocket watch and asked him to help find Peeves.
• The Fat Friar led Jon to Peeves, who agreed to Jon's request and swore an oath.
• After Jon left, Peeves told the Fat Friar that he believed no one could like an earthbound spirit except someone trying to save him.
• The Fat Friar reassured Peeves that Jon could help because he was a descendant of Hufflepuff.
• Peeves smiled when the Fat Friar asked whether he himself was certain Jon could succeed.

Jon overheard the Fat Friar and Peeves discussing their arrangement and reassured the Friar that he did not mind being used. Curious about Peeves’s past, Jon persuaded the Fat Friar to tell him the story, and they went to find somewhere private to talk.

• Peeves told the Fat Friar that his efforts still mattered while Jon, the headmaster, and the heads of house remained immune to them.
• The Fat Friar left the classroom and found Jon waiting in the corridor with Poseidon’s manuscript.
• Jon assured the Fat Friar that he was not upset about being used and explained that he preferred to turn circumstances to his advantage.
• Jon asked about Peeves’s story, and the Fat Friar, Lunsiluo, agreed to tell him somewhere private.

Fat Friar explained to Jon that Peeves was a bound spirit created after a baby died in an evil magical experiment, and that the Hogwarts founders compensated him by granting him power throughout the school. He left Jon wondering why Peeves had always caused trouble.

• Fat Friar told Jon that Peeves had never understood death and had kept trying to be kind despite the school's hatred of him.
• Fat Friar explained that evil magic was judged by its harm to innocent people, then revealed that Peeves had been a baby when he died.
• Jon questioned how such a curse could have been used at Hogwarts while its founders were alive.
• Fat Friar said the four founders had compensated Peeves by letting him draw strength from Hogwarts's earth, with Helga's expertise in Earth Magic behind the enhancement.
• Fat Friar asked Jon why Peeves had always caused trouble at school.

The Fat Friar explained Peeves's hidden origins and his former role at Hogwarts to Jon. He left Jon with the revelation that Peeves had once served as the headmaster's secretary and helped maintain the school's defenses.

• Jon struggled to explain Peeves's nature, and the Fat Friar said only the Founders might have known his origins.
• The Fat Friar recalled that Hogwarts had once had many ghosts and that he learned Peeves's history from those who taught him.
• The Fat Friar explained that Peeves had died as an infant after becoming the subject of a dark wizard's experiment.
• The Fat Friar said Helga Hufflepuff's defensive magic had protected Peeves's soul and turned him into an earthbound spirit.
• The Fat Friar revealed that Helga taught Peeves, who later became Hogwarts's headmaster's secretary and helped maintain its defenses.

Fat Friar explained that Peeves had once been Piert, the leader of Hogwarts' ghosts and a close companion of the castle. After Hogwarts awakened and Piert lost control, he killed most of the ghosts before Helena and Baron helped suppress the curse, leaving Peeves with a new name and no authority.

• Fat Friar told Jon that Peeves had once served as Helga's secretary and was called Piert.
• Fat Friar explained that Hogwarts' defenses had become an alchemical life-form, and that Peeves had lived closely connected to the castle for centuries.
• When Hogwarts fell into a deep sleep, Piert tried to awaken its consciousness but lost control as the bound spirit curse erupted.
• Piert killed nearly all the castle's ghosts, while Helena, Baron, and Fat Friar survived.
• Helena and Baron suppressed the curse, and Piert surrendered his authority and took the name Peeves.

After hearing Fat Friar’s account of Peeves, Jon discovered that time magic at Flamel’s clock shop had affected him slightly. He returned to the dormitory, gave Stephen instructions about the Marauder’s Map, and learned that the school had socially excluded him to keep him out of the spotlight.

• Jon realized he had confused the date and asked Fat Friar to examine his pocket watch.
• Fat Friar found that time-related magic at a workshop had slightly affected Jon, and Jon went back to his dormitory.
• After sleeping until noon, Jon gave Stephen the Marauder’s Map and asked him to pass it secretly to the Weasley twins.
• Stephen told Jon that students across the school had socially excluded him to make him less conspicuous.
• Jon accepted the explanation and decided to keep a lower profile.

Jon considered the advantages of his growing network and planned his next steps while adjusting to being socially ostracized. He intended to find an alchemist to make a Magic Fairy Castle access charm, reclaim the Hufflepuff Golden Goblet, and seek approval for a study tour, then enjoyed his solitude on the Eighth Floor.

• Jon reasoned that Hufflepuff's alumni connections could become a powerful network and help him protect himself.
• Jon planned to ask an Alchemy Master to engrave a Magic Fairy Castle access pattern onto an accessory, but decided to wait until he knew them better.
• Jon resolved to reclaim the Hufflepuff Golden Goblet after recalling how easily he had imprinted Gringotts' vault.
• Jon considered how to get Dumbledore's approval for a study tour and decided Peeves might know about past approvals, with Professor McGonagall as a fallback.
• Jon wandered to the Eighth Floor and found that he enjoyed the quiet life of an unknown person.

Jon’s social exclusion across Hogwarts made it easier for him to avoid Draco and work behind the scenes on monitoring Harry Potter, while he continued writing and handling business matters. He asked Professor Sprout to let him leave the dormitory and live elsewhere, but she refused because Voldemort was in the castle.

• Stephen’s social exclusion campaign spread through Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, while Gryffindor and Slytherin joined in for their own reasons, leaving Jon pleased that Draco stopped bothering him.
• Jon corresponded with Joanne as she and Rank organized records of Harry Potter and his friends gathered by House-elves and Peeves.
• Eddie led a Ravenclaw group that carried out Jon’s plans, with Bella helping prepare Ravenclaw’s affairs.
• Jon continued managing Americas Company matters and stalled Anthony’s questions while reflecting on the gap between his strength and the level he had glimpsed.
• Jon asked Professor Sprout to let him move out of the dormitory, but she angrily refused because Voldemort was in the castle.

Jon tried to persuade Professor Sprout to let him leave the dormitory, intending to isolate himself in a sealed training ground and stay safe from the accelerating events around him. He waited for Dumbledore to respond, while Stephen returned with a matter to discuss.

• Jon left Professor Sprout's office confident that he had set his plan in motion, then nodded to Stephen as they crossed paths in the dormitory.
• Jon reasoned that Professor Sprout would reject his demand, but that she would relay it to Dumbledore and help him test Dumbledore's limits.
• Jon decided that leaving the dormitory was his minimum requirement, since he believed he could no longer afford to risk his safety.
• Stephen returned to Jon's curtained bed, drew the curtains shut, and said he had a trivial matter to tell him about.

Jon finished his overdue homework while discussing his plans to move out of the dormitory and keep his activities secret from the professors. He then used the Disillusionment Charm to sneak out for his first visit to the Club that term.

• Stephen reported recent developments to Jon, who told him to carry out their plans without worrying about minor setbacks.
• Jon and Stephen discussed Jon moving out, and Jon explained that he wanted to preserve his leverage in future negotiations with Dumbledore.
• Jon agreed to let Stephen access his new place in emergencies and promised to practice the Disillusionment Charm so Stephen could visit it.
• After finishing his homework, Jon cast the Disillusionment Charm and left the dormitory for the Club.

Jon watched the Magic Research Society hold placement exams, then claimed a sunny spot by the Black Lake while waiting for Dumbledore’s permission to build a cabin. Dumbledore confronted him about skipping classes, and Jon asked him to move because he was blocking the sun.

• Jon entered the Magic Research Society unnoticed and saw students taking placement exams arranged by Sophia and the Society’s student leaders.
• Jon observed how the Society’s leadership succession had been organized under its new rules.
• As autumn arrived, Jon visited The Le Meys’ clock shop and planned to ask Mrs. Flamel for a weekend job.
• Jon settled beneath the barrier by the Black Lake and put up a temporary claim on the training ground while awaiting Dumbledore’s approval to build a cabin.
• Dumbledore questioned Jon about skipping classes, and Jon defended himself by citing his agreement with Professor Flitwick.
• Jon asked Dumbledore to move because he was blocking the sunlight.

Jon persuaded Dumbledore to let him live in the abandoned training ground so he could grow stronger and stay safe from Voldemort. Dumbledore agreed to reinforce the site and asked Jon what kind of house he wanted.

• Dumbledore offered to help Jon live in the training ground, and Jon eagerly accepted.
• Jon explained that he needed a safe place to pursue his growth plan and claimed he was acting to restore the Hufflepuff family's prosperity.
• Dumbledore agreed to honor his promise but warned that Voldemort might know about the training ground.
• Jon asked Dumbledore to strengthen the site's defenses and concealment, then asked whether German dark wizards had returned.
• Dumbledore avoided discussing the wider conflict, reinforced the training ground's protective membrane, and asked Jon what kind of house he wanted.

Jon built a small wooden home in Hogwarts’s training ground and continued visiting the Le Meys’ clock shop, where Perenall helped him with his magical studies. Perenall explained that time was chaotic in the shop and revealed that Jon’s presence was important to the couple’s research.

• Dumbledore conjured a wooden house for Jon, who furnished it and raised low walls around the training ground to create a simple residence.
• Jon left the training ground under a Disillusionment Charm and went to the clock shop, where he helped Perenall clean the clocks.
• Perenall explained that the shop’s chaotic time sometimes made magical elements impossible to sense.
• Perenall told Jon that he had asked him to visit because Jon was special and could greatly assist the couple’s research.

Jon discussed his ambitions for magical research with Perenall, who explained the limits of the current magical environment and the flaws in the school’s educational approach. Perenall revealed that the Philosopher’s Stone had lost its power to create the Elixir of Life and introduced the Flamels’ time-related alchemical project: a Time-Turner.

• Jon told Perenall that he wanted to find the true essence of the magical world, and she warned him that generations of Legendary Wizards had failed to do so.
• Perenall and Jon discussed the merits of individualized wizard training compared with the school’s broader system of education.
• Perenall explained that the Philosopher’s Stone could no longer create the Elixir of Life and now only stored magical power.
• Perenall said the immortal substance from twelve Philosopher’s Stones had been made into potions, whose effects had weakened over the years.
• Perenall revealed that the many clocks the Flamels had made were connected to their alchemical work on a Time-Turner.

Jon learned from Perenall how ordinary Time-Turners differed from a more complete device Nicol was creating, and why Jon’s arrival had helped their research. Perenall explained that defective Time-Turners only altered events within a tightly limited space, while she and Nicol had struggled to master time magic until Jon brought them time.

• Jon asked Perenall whether the Ministry’s many Time-Turners meant the devices were common, and she dismissed them as unstable consumables and defective products.
• Perenall told Jon that Nicol was making a more complete Time-Turner, though a truly complete one was beyond wizards’ ability to create.
• Perenall explained that Jon had brought them time, and said ordinary Time-Turners could not truly alter a timeline.
• Jon challenged her by recalling that he had seen his mother use a Time-Turner, and Perenall demonstrated one by restoring a shattered cup through a small, predetermined timeline change.
• Perenall said she and Nicol had researched Time-Turners for a very long time but had not succeeded until Jon came.

Jon told Perenall about the Azure Deep Sea, prompting Nicolas Flamel to offer him a wish in exchange for details. Meanwhile, Dumbledore discussed Jon’s plans and the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor with Snape, ending by asking whether Snape’s Dark Mark had begun to sting again.

• Perenall told Jon that time-reversal clocks had slowed when he arrived and asked whether he knew what made him unusual.
• Jon mentioned the Azure Deep Sea, and Nicolas Flamel offered to grant him one wish if he explained it in detail.
• Dumbledore invited Snape to dinner and said Jon had agreed to stay at Hogwarts until Voldemort returned.
• Snape warned that Jon’s identity could make him a target, while Dumbledore accepted that Jon was unwilling to use it for their cause.
• Dumbledore turned the conversation to the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and asked Snape whether his Dark Mark had begun to sting again.

Jon explained the temporal anomaly and his connection to the Le Meys, while Nicol and Perenall prepared to investigate it at great personal cost. Dumbledore confronted Jon about leaving school, and Jon presented him with a plan to transform the magical world.

• Snape told Dumbledore that the matter they had discussed had nothing to do with the day's events, and Dumbledore challenged him about Harry.
• Jon explained Helga's presence and his supposed exchange with [Azure Deep Sea] to The Le Meys, who focused on how the temporal anomaly could advance their research.
• Nicol decided he and Perenall could not wait to investigate the anomaly, and Perenall agreed to help him make preparations.
• Dumbledore visited Jon and warned that Jon would need the headmaster's approval to leave school, but Jon said he had his own bargaining chips.
• Jon handed Dumbledore a parchment titled "Magical World Transformation Plan."

Jon secured Dumbledore’s permission to work on his Magical World Transformation Plan inside the castle, while recognizing Dumbledore’s reminder that Joanne remained under the Order of the Phoenix’s control. Later, he released students trapped in an illusion near the Forbidden Forest and said he would return to classes the next day.

• Dumbledore agreed to let Jon work on his plan at the castle as long as he kept their previous plan on track, and asked to review Joanne’s writing.
• Jon worried about Joanne’s safety, wrote a coded letter, and sent Kane to deliver it.
• Stephen and Eddie told Jon that students had become trapped in an illusion near the Forbidden Forest, with Poseidon’s force field at its edge.
• Jon used the water barrier to locate the students and lifted the illusion, then asked Stephen and Eddie to provide an excuse for the area’s defenses.
• Stephen said Snape had blamed the danger on hallucinogenic poisonous plants and reminded Jon to renew his leave or return to classes; Jon chose to resume classes the next day.

Jon ignored the social ostracism and went to breakfast with his friends, where he and Stephen came across a dispute over a Gryffindor couple and a Slytherin who objected to their relationship. Jon mocked the Slytherin, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Joanne accepted that Dumbledore would become involved and advised Jon to compromise, but Jon burned her letter without responding.
• Jon rested, then joined his roommates for breakfast despite the social ostracism, which limited new friendships but left his existing connections intact.
• On the way to the dining hall, Jon and Stephen found a crowd watching a Gryffindor girl and boy with a Slytherin student who wanted to disrupt their relationship.
• Stephen explained that the couple had been together for days and that the girl had so far kept the dispute from turning into a fight.
• When the Slytherin noticed him watching and glared, Jon told Stephen that the couple were a perfect match and asked who the Slytherin was to object.

Jon arranged a secret meeting with a dark wizard from Albania’s Dark Forest after corresponding with him by letter. He and Stephen left Hogwarts through a secret passage, and Jon spotted the visitor approaching in a cloud of black mist.

• Jon received a detailed report about an incident in flying class and decided it would give Joanne useful material for her writing.
• Jon reflected on his business ventures and arranged for Anthony to oversee the A.O. Foundation’s operations and investigations.
• Jon found information about the Albanian dark wizards among the belongings of a dark wizard he had killed and secretly sent them a letter through a photographer.
• Jon exchanged letters with a dark wizard in the Dark Forest, explained his purpose, and arranged to meet him at Hogwarts.
• Jon took Stephen through a secret passage and used the Disillusionment Charm to leave the school for their meeting.
• Stephen warned Jon to be careful as a cloud of black mist approached, and Jon said their visitor had arrived.