Chapter Summaries

Umbridge urged Hogwarts students to trust the Ministry, but the Daily Prophet's competing articles had already made many of them suspicious of her and Fudge. During an inspection of Hagrid's lesson on Nifflers, Umbridge seized on his attempt to explain himself with gestures and began recording disparaging judgments about his intelligence and memory.

• Umbridge addressed the students in the Great Hall and told them to trust the Ministry's announcements and avoid discussing illegal topics, but many doubted her after reading the Daily Prophet.
• Barty Crouch Sr.'s arguments persuaded students to distrust Fudge and Umbridge, advancing Linley and Irina's goal.
• Umbridge's Educational Decree No. 23 made less capable professors, including Professor Trelawney, anxious, while the veteran professors remained confident.
• Umbridge attended Hagrid's class on Nifflers and looked for grounds to criticize his teaching, though the creature met the teaching standards.
• Hagrid greeted Umbridge and tried to clarify that the lesson was about Nifflers, but Umbridge mocked his gestures and wrote that he had intellectual deficiencies and a poor memory.

After Umbridge’s book-only Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson began, Hermione challenged her teaching methods in front of the class. Umbridge silenced Hermione, but the exchange left the other students with a clear view of how little she taught.

• Umbridge ordered the class to read Chapter Two of their textbook instead of practicing magic.
• Hermione told Umbridge she had already read the entire book and correctly answered a question about counter-jinxes from Chapter Fifteen.
• Hermione openly disagreed with Wilbert Slinkhard’s view of jinxes and argued that they could be useful for defense.
• Umbridge took five points from Gryffindor for disrupting class, but Hermione questioned why they should attend if Umbridge would not teach or answer doubts.
• Unable to refute Hermione, Umbridge threatened her with detention and ordered her to stop talking, while Hermione ended the exchange satisfied that her classmates had seen Umbridge’s shortcomings.

Hermione proposed that Harry and Irina teach students practical Defense Against the Dark Arts because Umbridge’s lessons were useless. Linley agreed to join them, and he planned to invite Irvin and Astoria so Slytherin House would be represented in the new Dark Arts Defense Group.

• Hermione told Harry, Ron, and Irina that students needed practical Defense Against the Dark Arts instruction and asked Irina and Harry to teach.
• Hermione persuaded Harry by pointing to his experience, while Irina cited the Daily Prophet’s coverage of Linley and her victories against Voldemort and the Death Eaters.
• Hermione planned to contact interested students and hold a meeting in Hogsmeade on the first weekend of October to avoid Umbridge’s attention.
• Irina told Linley about the plan, and Linley agreed to participate.
• Linley decided to invite Irvin and Astoria from Slytherin House to join the Dark Arts Defense Group.

Linley, Irina, Harry, Ron, and Hermione went to the Hog's Head Inn to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, with Irvin and Astoria joining them. Hermione's expected five or six attendees turned out to be a crowd of at least fifty or sixty students.

• Harry decided to assist Irina as she led the Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons.
• Linley reassured Harry and Ron that Irvin and Astoria were trustworthy despite being Slytherins.
• Hermione led the group to the Hog's Head Inn, where Linley promised to silence the room against eavesdroppers.
• Harry asked Hermione who else was coming, and she said she expected five or six people.
• At least fifty or sixty students poured into the inn, leaving everyone but Hermione stunned.

Hermione gathered a large group of students at the Hog's Head Inn, where Linley and Irina urged them to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts so they could protect themselves and their families. The students embraced the idea, and one asked whether Harry had learned to conjure a corporeal Patronus under their instruction.

• Hermione brought around fifty-eight students from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff to the Hog's Head Inn, while only Linley, Irvin, and Astoria represented Slytherin.
• Fred bought Butterbeer for the crowd, and Linley cast a Silencing Charm before addressing the students about Umbridge, Fudge, and the need to rely on their own strength.
• Linley called on the students to study and practice magic so they could protect themselves and their families, and they shouted their support for a better peace in the wizarding world.
• Irina offered to teach them proper Defense Against the Dark Arts and practical ways to survive Death Eater attacks.
• A girl asked Irina whether Harry had learned to conjure a corporeal Patronus under her instruction.

Linley and Irina organized weekly gatherings to teach defensive and offensive magic, then Linley presented a Magical Contract to keep their plans secret. The Weasley twins signed it first, despite the contract’s unexplained punishment mechanism.

• Susan Bones saw Harry cast a corporeal Patronus, and Irina offered to teach defensive magic with Harry as her assistant.
• Linley offered to teach offensive spells with Irvin as his assistant and announced weekly gatherings, using enchanted quills to share meeting details.
• All the young wizards raised their hands to join, and Hermione proposed a signed secrecy list.
• Linley tore up Hermione’s list and presented a Magical Contract that required members not to reveal the gatherings, warning of severe punishment for violators.
• The young wizards inspected the contract and noticed its penalty was represented by a mysterious Alchemy Formation.
• Fred and George signed the Magical Contract first.

Linley let two Ravenclaw Academy boys leave after they refused to sign the Magical Contract, but he and Irina used Memory Charms to erase what they had learned. He distributed D.A. badges to the sixty-three members of the Dark Arts Defense Group, concealing a trap for anyone who betrayed him.

• Two Ravenclaw Academy boys refused to sign the Magical Contract, and Linley allowed them to leave the Hog's Head Inn.
• Linley and Irina cast Memory Charms on the boys, making them forget their experience before they left.
• Fred and George defended Linley, and the young wizards apologized after realizing the boys might have intended to report the group to Umbridge.
• Linley counted sixty-three people who had signed the contract and gave each a D.A. badge that could block spells other than the Killing Curse.
• Linley revealed that the badges secretly contained mechanisms that would punish anyone who betrayed him.

Irina gave the Dark Arts Defense Group members Apparition Keys, and they bound themselves to Linley’s Alchemy Badges before leaving the Hog’s Head Inn. Abouffus grew furious over the gathering’s resemblance to Dumbledore’s old movement, while Linley and Irina left for a private afternoon together.

• Irina explained how her Apparition Keys worked, handed them out, and warned the young wizards to use them only in deadly crises.
• The young wizards bound themselves to Linley’s Alchemy Badges, which concealed a contract spell, then left the inn with Alchemy Quills for future notices.
• Abouffus accused Linley and Irina of training an army and threatened to tell Albus, but Linley said Dumbledore had approved the gathering.
• Abouffus smashed his wooden goblet and stormed away after Linley invoked Dumbledore’s words about peace in the wizarding world.
• Linley and Irina left the Hog’s Head Inn and agreed to spend the afternoon together at Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Shop.

After Umbridge issued Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four to ban student groups, Linley reassured the Weasley twins that the Dark Arts Defense Group would continue in secret. He promised to teach Fred and George alchemy techniques for battle, leaving them ready to help him and Irina more directly.

• Linley and Irina returned to Hogwarts before the feast after their meetings at the Hog's Head Inn and Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop.
• Umbridge posted Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four, disbanding student groups and threatening unapproved members with expulsion.
• Linley burned a hole through the Ministry's mark on the decree in the Slytherin common room.
• Fred and George asked Linley what they should do about the ban, and he reminded them why they had founded the Dark Arts Defense Group.
• Fred and George said they wanted to help Linley beyond making alchemical products, so he offered to teach them alchemy for combat and share his knowledge.

After Harry’s scar hurt during Quidditch practice, he sensed that Voldemort was angry and chose to seek Irina’s help rather than Dumbledore’s. Irina examined the soul fragment in Harry’s forehead and said he needed to learn Occlumency.

• Linley told Fred and George that the Dark Arts Defense Group’s next gathering would proceed as planned.
• The Gryffindor Quidditch Team trained in a heavy rainstorm despite the poor weather.
• Harry’s scar burned in the changing room, and he sensed that Voldemort was angry.
• Harry and Ron went to the Gryffindor Common Room to ask Irina for help.
• Irina sensed Voldemort’s soul fragment in Harry’s forehead and told him it was time to learn Occlumency.

Irina revealed to Harry that Voldemort’s soul fragment in his scar was growing more active and explained why he needed to learn Occlumency. She then went with Linley to tell Dumbledore about the fragment and Harry’s growing connection to Voldemort.

• Irina told Harry, Ron, and Hermione that Voldemort’s soul fragment in Harry’s scar was becoming more active and could eventually let Voldemort influence or control Harry.
• Harry asked Irina about Occlumency, and she explained that it could block Voldemort from using the soul fragment to affect his mind.
• Irina told Harry she could not teach him Occlumency herself and offered to ask Dumbledore for help; Harry understood why Dumbledore had avoided him.
• Irina left the Gryffindor Common Room, called for Linley, and went with him to the Headmaster’s office.
• Irina told Dumbledore that the soul fragment in Harry’s head was growing more active and that Harry had begun sensing Voldemort’s emotions.

Linley offered to teach Harry Occlumency instead of Snape and planned to do so after the D.A. Army’s first gathering. The students received the gathering’s time and location through their Alchemy Quills.

• Dumbledore agreed that Harry needed to learn Occlumency but initially planned to have Snape teach him.
• Linley explained that Harry’s hostility toward Snape would hinder his progress and volunteered to teach him, noting his own Occlumency expertise.
• Linley told Dumbledore and Irina that he would teach Harry after the D.A. Army gathered in the Room of Requirement, then conceal the corridor with a Confundus Charm.
• Irina told Harry that Linley would teach him, and Harry eagerly promised to do his best.
• The students’ Alchemy Quills displayed a notice for the D.A. Army’s first gathering at eight the following night on the eighth floor, opposite the tapestry of Barnaby the Barmy being beaten by trolls.

Linley and Irina gathered the members of the Dark Arts Defense Group in the Room of Requirement for their first lesson. Linley began by teaching that survival and escape were essential in a dangerous fight, calling it a tactical retreat.

• Linley summoned the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor and brought Irina, Irvin, Astoria, Harry, Ron, and Hermione inside.
• Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Astoria explored the room while Irvin and Astoria helped watch for threats outside.
• Harry and the others guided more than sixty members of the group into the Room of Requirement for the eight o’clock meeting.
• Linley explained the room’s secrecy and urged the group to stay united and keep it hidden.
• Linley began the lesson by stressing the importance of getting away safely, and he called retreat a tactical retreat when Ginny asked whether it made them deserters.

Linley taught the young wizards that tactical retreat could save lives and began training them to use the Disillusionment Charm, especially through silent casting. After the gathering ended, he prepared to teach Occlumency to Harry, Irvin, Astoria, Fred, and George.

• Linley explained to Hermione and the group that retreating from an unbeatable enemy was a tactical choice that could save lives and help them fight again.
• Linley assigned the young wizards to learn the Disillusionment Charm and its silent casting, with Irvin and Irina helping teach different groups.
• By curfew, nine of the fifty-odd students had learned to cast the charm, while one of Irina's eight students had mastered silent casting.
• Linley told Irina that the students would likely become proficient with the charm by the next gathering through practice.
• Linley began an Occlumency lesson for Harry, Irvin, Astoria, Fred, and George.

Linley taught the five young wizards Occlumency and showed Fred and George how to forge Alchemy Formations with their wands. Over the following gatherings, the group mastered the Disillusionment Charm, and Linley began using Illusion Formations to train them.

• Linley explained Occlumency and assigned the group a week to practice before he tested them with Legilimency.
• Harry, Astoria, and Irvin used the Disillusionment Charm to leave the Room of Requirement unnoticed.
• Linley taught Fred and George to forge Alchemy Formations with their wands and demonstrated how to form one in midair.
• Fred and George learned to draw Alchemy Formations on parchment with their wands and left pleased with their progress.
• Irina transformed the Room of Requirement into a bedroom, where she and the exhausted Linley spent the night.
• At later gatherings, the young wizards mastered the Disillusionment Charm, and Linley used Illusion Formations to train them to unravel illusions.

Linley introduced five Illusion Formations that trained young wizards in different uses of the Disillusionment Charm. Harry passed the infiltration trial but appeared to fail the scouting trial after counting 111 people on a floor of the Ministry of Magic.

• Linley sent Harry into the first Illusion Formation, which tested infiltration past a guarded street entrance.
• Harry used the Disillusionment Charm and carefully slipped between the Aurors, passing the trial and returning to the Room of Requirement.
• Linley directed Harry into the second Illusion Formation, set in the Ministry of Magic and focused on scouting.
• Harry counted people throughout the floor and answered that there were 111 in total.
• Harry read the slip of paper marking his answer wrong and reacted in disbelief.

Harry passed the third Illusion Formation by infiltrating Cornelius Fudge's office and stealing an intelligence document, then entered a fourth illusion. The new task was to assassinate Fudge and retreat safely.

• Harry realized he had counted Ministry employees along with Aurors, corrected his answer to ninety-one, and passed the second trial.
• Harry used a Disillusionment Charm and timed his movements to slip past patrolling Aurors toward Fudge's office.
• Harry turned the task slip into a stone and threw it down the stairs to distract the Aurors, then entered the office and summoned the intelligence document.
• Harry hid near the stairs until the Aurors returned to their posts, then escaped and completed the third trial.
• Harry entered the fourth illusion, where he saw Fudge surrounded by reporters and Aurors, and read the task to assassinate him and retreat safely.

Harry failed Linley’s illusion trial to assassinate Fudge after hesitating to use a lethal spell, and Linley explained that the mission required killing Fudge in one strike to escape. Ginny entered the same trial and immediately attacked Fudge with Confringo.

• Linley assigned Harry an illusion mission to assassinate Minister Fudge, and Harry used Expelliarmus, badly injuring but not killing him.
• The Aurors unleashed a barrage of Killing Curses, ending the illusion and leaving Harry shaken.
• Linley explained that Harry had needed to kill Fudge in one blow and said several powerful spells could do so.
• Hannah Abbott objected that Linley was teaching them to kill, but Linley argued they needed to defend themselves against lethal enemies.
• Ginny Weasley entered the trial and cast Confringo at Fudge without hesitation.

Ginny passed the fourth Illusion Trial by killing Fudge and escaping, then survived the fifth by hiding motionless from the Death Eaters. Linley praised her and told the young witches and wizards to begin attempting the five trials themselves.

• Ginny blasted Fudge with Confringo, concealed herself, and escaped the Ministry, passing the fourth Illusion Trial.
• Harry watched Ginny's performance and realized he had failed because he had hesitated to use deadly magic against Fudge.
• In the fifth Illusion Formation, Ginny recognized the Little Hangleton graveyard and found herself surrounded by Death Eaters firing Killing Curses.
• Ginny used a Disillusionment Charm and lay still, avoiding the Death Eaters' detection spells until they left and the illusion ended.
• Linley praised Ginny, then instructed the young witches and wizards to enter the five Illusion Formations and complete the trials.

Linley and Irina ran the D.A.’s full-scale trials, using five Illusion Formations to test young wizards in varied infiltration, intelligence-gathering, assassination, and survival missions. By the end of the gathering, only two-thirds had completed all five trials, and Linley promised the rest could continue next week.

• Linley added four light screens so the D.A. members could watch all five Illusion Formations at once while participants took their trials simultaneously.
• The young wizards faced randomly varied scenarios and targets, including Aurors, professors, Death Eaters, Cornelius Fudge, and Voldemort.
• Two unlucky wizards received missions to assassinate Voldemort, failed immediately, and were sent back into the formation by Linley to retake the trial.
• Participants in the Little Hangleton survival trial discovered they could escape before the Death Eaters formed an encirclement, improving their chances of passing.
• Only two-thirds of the D.A. completed all five trials before the gathering ended, and Linley promised the others could continue at next week’s gathering.
• After the D.A. members left, Irina remarked on the trials’ popularity, and Linley admitted he had not expected the formations to work so well.