Chapter Summaries

Jon began studying Memory Magic with Lockhart, whose teaching became unexpectedly intense and strict. After class, Jon spent time with Stephen, who hinted that Bella had said something that might cause Jon trouble.

• Lockhart passionately taught Jon the beginner Memory Magic spell Illusion Derivative, then slowed his pace after Jon admitted he could not keep up.
• After two hours, Jon made a start on Memory Magic, and Lockhart estimated that the lessons and training would take at least thirty days.
• Jon found Stephen sitting alone in the garden, and Stephen explained that he had left the family gathering because it felt stifling.
• Stephen hinted that Bella had said something that could cause Jon trouble, but Jon invited him to stay on his side and have dinner.
• Jon, Stephen, and Lockhart shared dinner and red wine, while Lockhart planned to use his free time at Biro Manor to write a new book.
• After dinner, Stephen declined to join Jon in his study, and Jon headed there alone.

Jon began a letter exchange with Joanne Rowling, prompting her to revisit an old document and remember her first MI0 mission. The chapter ended as J.K. and three colleagues prepared to attack a manor where a defected wizard and his Muggle family were hiding.

• Jon woke Stephen and tickled him before the two agreed to find work around the manor.
• Jon realized the manor was already tidy, then remembered his promise to correspond with Ms. Rowling and sent her a letter asking about her new book.
• Joanne received Jon's letter at the University of Manchester, replied, and opened an A4 document that brought back memories of her first mission.
• J.K. rode with K.C., G.L., and AB to a manor where they planned to kill a defected wizard and his family.
• G.L. cast an Invisibility Charm over the group, and J.K. chambered a round before they entered the manor.

J.K. carried out her assessment by killing a defector’s wife and daughter, then helped eliminate the defector. After leaving MI0, she packed away her mission records and found inspiration for a story in a boy’s letter addressed to Privet Drive.

• AB, K.C., J.K., and G.L. silently infiltrated the manor and split up to confront its occupants.
• J.K. shot the defector’s wife and daughter after AB ordered her to fire.
• K.C. subdued the defector, and G.L. extracted information from his mind while J.K. waited.
• J.K. killed the defector with a shot, and a spell destroyed his soul.
• J.K. Rowling packed away her MI0 records and considered writing stories after finding a letter addressed to Number 4, Privet Drive.

Lockhart reunited with AB at MI0 headquarters, where they reviewed mission memories and discussed his habit of comforting women he met on assignments. After finishing his work, he left without revealing to J.K. Rowling that he was Mr. G.L.

• Lockhart met J.K. Rowling, who had transferred to an external clerical position and come to hand over his work.
• At MI0 headquarters, AB teased Lockhart about the women he had picked up during his missions as they prepared to review memories.
• Lockhart and AB examined mission memories in Pensieves while enchanted pencils recorded what they saw and heard for MI0's profilers.
• Lockhart recalled that he had once considered leaving MI0, and that its identity rules let him recognize Muggle members who could not recognize him.
• Lockhart addressed J.K. Rowling as Miss Rowling, left his work with her, and departed without identifying himself as Mr. G.L.

Jon explained his theory about the Harry Potter stories in his memories and showed Stephen intelligence about rising tensions in Europe. He concluded that a war between two camps had already begun.

• Jon tried to apologize to Stephen by promising to reveal a major secret, then fled when Stephen glared at him.
• Jon considered whether the Harry Potter stories in his memories were an implanted possibility from a segment of [World] rather than evidence that this world was a derivative world.
• Jon gave Stephen intelligence gathered by his people and information from Professor Lockhart.
• Stephen read the documents and worried that a magical war could spill over into the Muggle world, leaving them caught in the middle.
• Jon pointed to Europe on the globe and told Stephen that the war had begun.

Jon and Stephen discussed the escalating conflict in Eastern Europe, Stephen’s family’s safety, and Jon’s research into Harry Potter. As Stephen prepared to leave for home, Helga appeared and asked whether he could keep a secret.

• Jon received Anthony’s report that fighting had begun in Eastern Europe and heard that Scaly and Fren had found signs of suspected dark wizards in France.
• Stephen asked about Jon’s inquiries concerning Harry Potter, and Jon clarified that he was gathering material before writing to Ms. J.K. Rowling.
• Stephen decided to return home to speak with his parents about protecting the family if Voldemort returned, and Jon agreed to prepare gifts for them.
• Stephen reflected on his ties to Jon and his worries about protecting his parents and younger siblings.
• Helga appeared in the training room and asked Stephen whether he could keep a secret.

Helga Hufflepuff explained why she wanted Stephen to help build influence among younger students, saying Dumbledore and Jon were too cautious or uninterested to act. She asked Stephen to become the future guardian of the Hufflepuff family.

• Stephen considered why Helga had chosen him and listened as she argued that the magical world needed someone willing to act.
• Helga said Dumbledore focused on keeping Britain's magical world stable and would not oppose Voldemort unless forced to.
• Stephen agreed to try to help, while admitting that he could not promise success.
• Helga suggested that Stephen build a magical power base through his Club by developing younger students.
• Helga asked Stephen, who intended to move his home there, to become the future guardian of the Hufflepuff family.

Helga revealed that Magic Fairy Castle’s accelerated evolution was causing lapses in her soul, and she prepared to enter a long slumber. She arranged for Stephen to become the family’s guardian, leaving Jon to prepare the contract and wait for her return.

• Helga offered Stephen the position of guardian, and Stephen asked for time to consider it.
• Jon questioned Helga about the haste of her decision, and she explained that Magic Fairy Castle’s evolution was affecting her soul.
• Helga told Jon that she might sleep for three to five years while the castle continued to evolve.
• Helga said she believed Stephen would accept and told Jon to prepare the contract.
• Jon agreed and told Helga he would wait for her to wake up.

Jon left the Magic Fairy Castle after Helga dissolved into smoke, then said goodbye to Lockhart and Stephen as they departed. With the holiday nearly over, Jon prepared to leave as well.

• Jon confirmed Helga's passage still worked and left the Magic Fairy Castle.
• Lockhart refused Jon's offer of a job, said he planned to travel to Hawaii, and warned him that Quirinus Quirrell would teach Defense Against the Dark Arts next term.
• Lockhart told Jon that Quirrell's story about encountering vampires in Albania did not fit what he knew about the vampires' whereabouts.
• Lockhart left through the fireplace, and Jon stayed behind to wait for Stephen.
• Stephen arrived with Kaledi, said goodbye to the House-elf, and left after embracing Jon.
• Jon decided it was time to leave after a busy holiday, with a month and a half remaining before the next term.

Jon left home after Bella revealed that his family mistakenly thought he and Stephen were dating, then traveled to Little Whinging to meet Joanne. There, he learned that Harry Potter lived nearby and that wizards were watching over the area, and he and Joanne decided to remain observers.

• Bella told Jon that his family believed he and Stephen were dating and wanted to discuss their relationship.
• Jon clarified to Bella that he and Stephen were innocent, then left before more relatives arrived.
• Jon traveled to Little Whinging and met Joanne, who had investigated the neighborhood.
• Joanne told Jon that Harry Potter lived across the street and that several wizards with unusual energy signatures were nearby.
• Jon watched the Dursley home through a telescope, then told Joanne they were only observers.

Jon and Joanne discussed the magical activity around their rented house while keeping watch for Harry Potter. Joanne warned Jon that nearby wizard settlements could expose him, but Jon revealed that his Silent Bracelet concealed his magic from the Trace.

• Joanne returned from buying dinner with groceries and told Jon the rental house was stocked for their stay.
• Joanne showed Jon her watch, which measured abnormal regional force fields, and explained that nearby wizard settlements affected its readings.
• Joanne said she had investigated the local wizards and promised to tell Jon more upstairs.
• Jon admitted he had seen nothing of Harry Potter while watching the house across the street, and Joanne called them spies.
• Joanne found Jon using magic to tidy his room and warned that the Ministry of Magic might detect him.
• Jon showed Joanne his Silent Bracelet, which Helga had designed to cancel the Trace's tracking effect.

Jon settled into a few days of rest with Joanne before helping her prepare a pseudo-documentary Harry Potter novel. After Joanne went to investigate Privet Drive, Jon reviewed her manuscript and supplied an outline for the story’s opening chapter while watching the Dursleys through a telescope.

• Jon told Joanne that he felt restless after two days of resting, and she offered to train him before assigning him unfinished records to review.
• Jon helped Joanne choose material for her writing after they ate, while Joanne went to investigate Privet Drive and gather details about Harry’s home.
• Jon read Joanne’s draft and suggested that the opening begin with the Dursley family and events from eleven years earlier.
• Jon wrote down the remembered sequence of strange occurrences, wizard appearances, and the Potter family incident, then began observing the Dursleys through the telescope.

Joanne and Jon discussed Harry Potter’s life with the Dursleys and learned why the wizarding protection around him had diminished. Jon suspected Dumbledore had approved the change, but neither of them knew why.

• Joanne returned to the villa and told Jon she had not seen Harry Potter, then shared revised labels with him.
• Jon and Joanne discussed the Dursleys’ treatment of Harry and why neighbors and nearby wizards had not intervened.
• Joanne explained that the houses around the Dursleys belonged to Scarlett Barnold, whose family was tied to former Minister Millicent Barnold.
• Joanne said the number of wizards stationed near Harry had steadily declined after Fudge became Minister.
• Jon concluded that Dumbledore had likely suggested reducing the protection, though he did not know the reason.

Jon woke to Joanne leaving the house in the middle of the night and waited for her return, suspecting someone had contacted her. At Privet Drive, Joanne met her former MI0 instructor, Ronas Carl, who told her she had crossed the line.

• Jon's [Listening to Wind Whispers] spell jolted him awake, and he saw Joanne leave the house without her watch-shaped detector.
• Jon noticed the detector was still on Joanne's desk and realized someone might have come looking for her.
• Joanne met Ronas Carl at a street corner near Privet Drive and recognized the MI0 case carrying a weapon designed to strip wizards of their magic.
• Ronas told Joanne he had approved her transfer and claimed he had no intention of harming her.
• Joanne asked Ronas to explain why he had come, and he said she had crossed the line.

Joanne learned that the Ministry of Magic would send someone to verify her identity, but Jon had already arranged for Arnold Pescud to handle the matter. Jon told her he supported her writing as an investor and expected her work to bring returns.

• Ronas told Joanne that a Ministry of Magic representative would soon come to coordinate with her about the two African wizard stowaways.
• Joanne returned home and found Jon waiting; he explained that he had already begun smoothing things over with the Ministry a month earlier.
• Jon gave Joanne a letter naming Arnold Pescud, whom Joanne recognized as a former colleague from the Memory Cancellation Command.
• Joanne asked how Jon had become so calm and mature, and Jon said people changed before urging her to rest.
• Joanne thanked Jon for supporting her, and he said his support was an investment in her writing rather than a favor between friends.

Jon helped Joanne shape the opening chapters of her Harry Potter manuscript, advising her on Dumbledore’s portrayal and Harry’s childhood while keeping the project secret. As they discussed their plans over breakfast, an expected guest arrived at the door.

• Jon reflected on how time had passed and how little he remembered of the original book’s opening.
• Joanne showed Jon her draft, which introduced the Dursleys, their hostility toward magic, and the wizards’ celebrations.
• Jon advised Joanne to keep the manuscript confidential, focus on Harry, and portray his unhappy childhood without undermining his standing among wizards.
• The doorbell rang, and Jon recognized the visitor as their expected guest.

Jon received Ministry of Magic approval for his book about Harry Potter, though Piscegood warned that publishing it would be difficult. Bored at home, Jon suggested visiting the zoo with Joanne, and they prepared to leave.

• Piscegood visited Jon and Joanne and handed Jon two Ministry of Magic documents approving his project.
• Piscegood warned Jon that the Ministry controlled stories about Harry Potter and that publishing in the Muggle world would be difficult.
• Jon corrected Piscegood about when Joanne had left the Ministry, then gave her the approval notice to put away.
• Jon thought about the limits of his Silent Bracelet and the materials available for improving it.
• Jon asked Joanne to visit the zoo, and after she said it was some distance away, they decided to set off and find a car.

Jon and Joanne visited the zoo to investigate the earlier reptile-house incident involving Harry Potter. Joanne’s profiling revealed that the glass Harry had vanished and replaced was new, and they found the Brazilian Python asleep in its enclosure.

• Jon bought Joanne chocolate ice cream and took her around the zoo, where she laughed at a dancing chimpanzee.
• Jon and Joanne ate lunch at the zoo restaurant before heading to the reptile house to investigate the incident.
• Joanne pointed out the enclosure where the incident had happened, but it held a large lizard instead of the Brazilian Python.
• Joanne profiled the enclosure and found that its glass was new, leading Jon to suspect Harry Potter’s uncontrolled magic had replaced the original pane.
• Jon and Joanne walked through the reptile house and found the Brazilian Python coiled around a tree trunk and sleeping.

Jon’s black bird Patronus suppressed a surge from his soul, causing a powerful magical disturbance that forced the snakes in the reptile house to cower. Joanne’s watch recorded the disturbance at the device’s maximum reading of 99, and Jon asked her to keep the incident secret.

• Joanne helped Jon use a camera blind spot to approach the giant python unnoticed.
• The python seemed to send Jon information, and a fluctuation in his soul stirred in response.
• Jon focused on his soul, and his black bird Patronus suppressed the fluctuation as the snakes around him were forced down or hid.
• Joanne showed Jon that her watch had recorded a force-field distortion of 99, beyond its measurable range.
• Jon connected the disturbance to the Law Imprint Helga had given him and asked Joanne to keep it secret.

Jon grew restless while waiting for Hogwarts to begin, so Joanne suggested he visit a place where Harry Potter often went to clear his head. There, Jon watched Harry worry about the mysterious letters addressed to him and saw how thin and neglected the boy was.

• Jon complained to Joanne that he was bored, and she suggested he visit a place where Harry often went.
• Harry wandered to an abandoned swing to think about the Hogwarts letters he had been unable to get.
• Jon realized Harry had been receiving letters earlier than he expected because he had grown up in a Muggle family.
• Jon watched Harry under a Disillusionment Charm and noticed his gaunt frame, oversized clothes, and resemblance to himself.