Chapter Summaries

Jon and Laura escaped a collapsing consciousness space after Laura found its anchor point, and Jon identified Voldemort as the source of the danger. They entered a deeper layer of Mrs. Longbottom’s subconscious, where Jon prepared for a possible confrontation while Laura searched for another way out.

• Jon revealed his presence in the consciousness space, stirring its owner into a violent response.
• Laura grabbed Jon and pulled him through the anchor point before the space vanished.
• Jon told Laura that Voldemort was the key to the problem and expected to find his projection in the deepest part of Mrs. Longbottom’s subconscious.
• Jon concealed Laura and warned her that the Voldemort within Mrs. Longbottom’s mind might be stronger than he was.
• Laura sensed the next anchor point and urged Jon to restore his strength while she searched for an exit.

Harry and the D.A. argued over who would join him in flying to the Ministry to rescue Sirius, and Luna suggested riding Thestrals. The group found only two, but Ginny confidently said more would come.

• Grindelwald wondered where Jon had gone while Dumbledore remained secretive and Hogwarts struggled without Jon’s guidance.
• Harry told Ron and the others that the Dark Lord had captured Sirius and that he believed Sirius was still alive.
• Luna proposed flying to rescue Sirius, and Ginny and Neville insisted that they and the other D.A. members should go too.
• Harry discovered two Thestrals in the Forbidden Forest, and the group realized they needed more for everyone to travel.
• Ginny said more Thestrals would come, and Harry asked why she thought so.

Harry and his companions mounted Thestrals and flew from the forest toward the Ministry of Magic in London. Dumbledore and Lockhart watched them go, then prepared to follow and summon the Order of the Phoenix for a great battle.

• Ginny explained that the children’s blood had attracted the Thestrals, and more arrived in the woods.
• Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna climbed onto the Thestrals, with Luna guiding the riders who could not see them.
• Harry directed the Thestrals toward London and the Ministry of Magic, and they took off into the sky.
• Dumbledore told Lockhart that Voldemort and Jon’s combined power had helped the children overcome the protective measures.
• Dumbledore decided to follow the children and ordered Lockhart to signal the Order of the Phoenix for the coming battle.
• Harry and his companions flew over Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, and the countryside as daylight faded.

Harry and his friends flew by Thestral to the Ministry of Magic to rescue Sirius. They entered the deserted Ministry at night and found the security desk empty as they headed for the lifts.

• Harry clung to his Thestral during the long flight, believing Sirius was still alive and resisting Voldemort.
• The six friends landed near the telephone booth, and Ron fell off his Thestral.
• Harry led the group into the booth, where they registered their names and received visitor badges.
• The telephone booth descended into the Ministry, and the group emerged into the quiet Atrium.
• Harry led his friends toward the lifts past the empty security desk, growing uneasy at the lack of guards.

Harry and his friends entered the Department of Mysteries in search of Sirius, but the rotating circular room confused their sense of direction. They searched one of its doors, found a chamber containing brains in a tank, and Hermione stopped them as they were about to leave.

• Harry led Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna through the black door into the circular room.
• The room’s walls rotated, leaving the group unsure which door led back to the corridor.
• Harry chose a door and led everyone into a bright chamber containing a tank of floating brains.
• Hermione identified the objects as brains, and Harry ordered the group to retreat and try another door.
• As Luna started to close the chamber door, Hermione cried out, “Reveal the mark!”

Harry and his companions searched another room in the Department of Mysteries while trying to find Sirius, but the mysterious archway enthralled several of them before Hermione got them to leave. They failed to open a locked door, and Hermione marked it as one they should abandon.

• Hermione marked a door with a fiery red X, and Harry led the group into a room containing a stone pit and a veiled archway.
• Harry heard whispers from behind the veil and became entranced by it; Luna, Ginny, and Neville were also drawn to it.
• Hermione reminded Harry that they had come to save Sirius, then led the group away from the archway.
• Harry and Ron tried to force open another door, but Alohomora and Sirius's Little Knife failed, and the knife blade melted.
• Hermione decided they should leave the locked door and marked it with another X.

Harry and his friends reached the Department of Mysteries’ Hall of Prophecy, searching Row Ninety-Seven for Sirius but finding him missing. They discovered a dusty glass sphere labeled with Harry’s name, leaving its meaning unknown.

• Harry led Luna, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny through a room filled with clocks and past a crystal case containing a bird trapped in a repeating cycle.
• The group entered a cold chamber lined with shelves of glass spheres and followed the row numbers toward Row Ninety-Seven.
• Harry searched the aisles for Sirius, but he and his friends found no sign of Sirius or a struggle.
• Ron noticed a dusty glass sphere labeled with a date from about sixteen years earlier and the names Dark Lord and (?) Harry Potter.

Harry and his friends found the Prophecy Orb in the Department of Mysteries, only to be surrounded by Death Eaters led by Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange. Bellatrix ordered the Death Eaters to seize the smallest member of the group and torture her as Harry held on to the Orb.

• Harry took the Prophecy Orb from its shelf despite Hermione's and Neville's warnings.
• Lucius Malfoy and the Death Eaters surrounded Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, and Luna and demanded the Orb.
• Harry demanded to know where Sirius was, but Malfoy and Bellatrix mocked him and insisted he hand over the Orb.
• Bellatrix tried to summon the Orb, but Harry cast Protego and caught it before it fell.
• Bellatrix removed her hood and ordered a Death Eater to grab the smallest girl and torture her in front of Harry.

Harry held the Prophecy Orb at bay while he distracted the Death Eaters and learned that the prophecy concerned both him and Voldemort. Bellatrix explained that Voldemort had sent them because he could not risk entering the Ministry himself, while Harry prepared his friends to destroy the shelves.

• Harry shielded Ginny with the Prophecy Orb and demanded to know why Voldemort wanted it.
• Bellatrix tried to curse Harry, but Malfoy deflected her spell and it shattered other prophecy spheres.
• Harry secretly told Hermione to smash the shelves while Malfoy explained that only someone named in the prophecy could remove its orb.
• Malfoy revealed that the prophecy concerned Harry and Voldemort and might explain why Voldemort tried to kill Harry as a baby.
• Bellatrix said Voldemort stayed away from the Ministry because the Aurors were searching for him.

Harry, Hermione, and Neville escaped the Hall of Prophecy with the prophecy orb while the Death Eaters searched for them. They fought two pursuers in the room of bell jars, and one stunned Death Eater ended up with his head submerged in a bell jar as the group prepared to flee.

• Harry and the others shattered prophecy shelves to escape the Death Eaters, then ran through the Hall of Prophecy with the orb.
• Harry, Hermione, and Neville discovered Ron, Ginny, and Luna were missing and heard Lucius Malfoy order the Death Eaters to search for them.
• The three hid beneath a table when two Death Eaters entered, and Harry stunned one while Neville disarmed Harry and the other man by mistake.
• Harry tackled the remaining Death Eater as he tried to curse Hermione, and Neville's spell knocked the table over.
• Hermione stunned the Death Eater, who fell with his head inside a bell jar, and then retrieved Harry's wand with Accio.

Harry, Hermione, and Neville fought their way through the Department of Mysteries while trying to escape the Death Eaters. After Hermione was struck down and Dolohov was immobilized, Harry and Neville prepared to carry her onward and search for their friends.

• A Death Eater's head repeatedly changed into a baby's head after he was caught in a bell jar, and Harry's group fled toward the exit as fighting broke out nearby.
• Two Death Eaters cornered Harry, Hermione, and Neville in an office, where Hermione silenced one and Harry immobilized the other.
• The silenced Death Eater struck Hermione with a purple spell, and Dolohov threatened Harry for the prophecy sphere while Neville urged him not to surrender it.
• The baby-headed Death Eater stumbled into the office, giving Harry a chance to immobilize Dolohov and his companion.
• Neville confirmed that Hermione still had a pulse, then insisted on carrying her with Harry as they went to find the others.

Harry and Neville carried Hermione through the Department of Mysteries, where they found Ron, Ginny, and Luna injured after escaping Death Eaters. The group took refuge in the Brain Room, but Death Eaters broke in, and Ron accidentally unleashed the brains in a glass tank.

• Harry and Neville carried Hermione out of the Time Room, then found Ron, Ginny, and Luna in the hall; Ginny had a broken ankle, and Ron was dazed and giggling.
• Harry and Luna helped Ginny and Ron, while Neville carried Hermione, and the group fled when Bellatrix Lestrange and two Death Eaters appeared.
• Harry, Luna, and Neville sealed doors in the Brain Room as Death Eaters pursued them, but Luna was struck down when five Death Eaters broke in.
• Bellatrix chased Harry through the Brain Room, and Ron staggered to his feet and cast Brains-come-flying at the tank of brains.

Harry tried to protect Ron and Ginny from the Death Eaters, but the brain in the tank wrapped around Ron and Ginny was stunned. Surrounded by the Death Eaters in the stone chamber, Harry offered them the Prophecy Orb to stop Bellatrix from torturing Neville.

• A brain leaped from the tank and wrapped Ron in its tentacles after he grabbed it, while a Death Eater stunned Ginny.
• Neville tried to fight the Death Eaters as Harry ran with the Prophecy Orb, but Harry fell down into a stone chamber with an archway.
• Lucius demanded the Prophecy Orb, and Harry offered it in exchange for the others' safety.
• A Death Eater seized Neville, and Bellatrix tortured him with the Cruciatus Curse while threatening to continue unless Harry surrendered the orb.
• Harry held out the Prophecy Orb to Bellatrix.

The Order of the Phoenix staged a rescue at the Ministry while Sirius carried out a plan to disappear into the shadows. Harry secured the prophecy and tried to get Neville out as the battle continued and Tonks fell.

• Dumbledore and Sirius confirmed their plan, and Sirius joined Lupin, Moody, Tonks, and Kingsley in the Ministry fight.
• Neville stabbed Macnair in the eye with Hermione's wand, allowing Harry to stun him and escape his grip.
• Dolohov attacked Harry and Neville, but Sirius interrupted him and Harry immobilized Dolohov, recovering the prophecy.
• Sirius ordered Harry to leave with Neville and charged at Bellatrix as Tonks fell down the steps.
• Harry helped Neville to his feet, but Neville's legs kept dancing uncontrollably as the battle raged around them.

Harry and Neville lost the prophecy during the battle in the Department of Mysteries, and Dumbledore arrived to confront the Death Eaters. Bellatrix struck Sirius with a spell that sent him through the Veil, leaving Harry certain he would return even as Lupin told him Sirius was dead.

• Harry knocked Lucius Malfoy away and helped Neville climb the steps with the prophecy.
• Neville accidentally kicked the prophecy, shattering it and releasing a pearly figure whose words Harry could not hear.
• Dumbledore arrived and drove back a fleeing Death Eater while Sirius continued fighting Bellatrix.
• Bellatrix struck Sirius, and he fell through the Veil and disappeared.
• Harry rushed toward the Veil, but Lupin restrained him and told him Sirius was dead.

After Sirius fell through the archway, Harry chased Bellatrix through the Department of Mysteries and confronted her in the Ministry Atrium. The chapter left them trading spells around the fountain, with Harry trying to keep out of Bellatrix’s line of fire.

• Lupin pulled Harry away from the archway, and Neville told him that Sirius had fallen through it.
• Lupin freed Neville from the spell on his legs and learned that Ron was recovering while Hermione remained unconscious.
• Bellatrix escaped after knocking Kingsley down, and Harry broke free from Lupin to pursue her.
• Harry followed Bellatrix through the Brain Room, the rotating corridor, and the lifts into the Atrium.
• Harry struck Bellatrix with the Cruciatus Curse, but she recovered and taunted him as they exchanged spells around the fountain.

Harry confronted Bellatrix at the Ministry and told her the Prophecy Orb had been shattered. Voldemort arrived and attacked Harry, but Dumbledore intervened, and the two began dueling as Dumbledore warned Voldemort that some things were worse than death.

• Harry told Bellatrix that the Prophecy Orb had broken and taunted her about Voldemort learning of its destruction.
• Voldemort appeared, confirmed Harry was telling the truth, and tried to kill him with the Killing Curse.
• A golden statue sprang to life and shielded Harry, and Dumbledore arrived at the hall.
• Dumbledore animated another statue to pin Bellatrix down while the goblin and House-elf fled and the centaur charged Voldemort.
• Voldemort and Dumbledore exchanged spells, and Dumbledore told Voldemort that he was mistaken about death being the worst fate.

Dumbledore fought Voldemort in the Ministry of Magic while Harry endured Voldemort possessing him. Voldemort escaped with Bellatrix, and Fudge arrived to witness proof that Voldemort had returned.

• A one-armed centaur sacrificed himself to block Voldemort's curse, and Dumbledore trapped Voldemort first with fire and then with water.
• Fawkes swallowed Voldemort's green curse and fell, while Dumbledore banished the attacking snake.
• Voldemort possessed Harry and used his mouth to demand that Dumbledore kill them both, but Harry's pain ended when Voldemort released him.
• The Ministry officials arrived and Williamson and Fudge confirmed that Voldemort had appeared and escaped with Bellatrix.
• Dumbledore told Fudge that escaped Death Eaters were bound in the Death Chamber and urged him to accept that Voldemort had returned.

Dumbledore arranged for Harry to return to Hogwarts while he confronted Fudge about the events at the Ministry. Harry grieved for Sirius in Dumbledore’s office, and Jon left to find Peeves as Dumbledore remained away.

• Dumbledore ordered Fudge to remove Dolores Umbridge from Hogwarts and stop the investigation of the Care of Magical Creatures teacher, then arranged to discuss the Ministry’s events with him.
• Dumbledore sent Harry to Hogwarts using a Portkey made from a statue’s head.
• Harry arrived in Dumbledore’s office and blamed himself for Sirius’s death.
• Phineas Nigellus questioned Harry, while Jon watched invisibly and judged that the plan to send Sirius to his wife had gone well.
• Jon left to find Peeves while waiting for Dumbledore to return.

Jon and Laura fought through Mrs. Longbottom’s consciousness to reach Voldemort’s wand, the anchor point keeping them trapped. Jon broke the wand and escaped with Laura, leaving Mrs. Longbottom’s distorted inner world behind.

• Jon realized that Voldemort’s powerful presence was a manifestation of Mrs. Longbottom’s trauma and that the Death Eaters were trying to keep him trapped.
• Laura found the anchor point on Voldemort’s wand and explained that they had to touch it to escape.
• Jon used magic to bring Laura through Voldemort’s defenses and bind him, then seized his wand.
• Jon told the force behind the scene that they meant to save Mrs. Longbottom and snapped the wand, causing the space to shatter.