Chapter Summaries

Linley examined Alice Longbottom’s shattered soul and realized he could not heal the damage caused by the Cruciatus Curse. As the group prepared to leave the hospital ward, Irina recognized a potted plant beside Broderick as Devil’s Snare and suspected an assassination plot.

• Mrs. Longbottom rebuked Neville for hiding that his parents had been tortured into madness, and Alice approached him with a Cheering Charm Bubblegum wrapper.
• Linley used magic similar to Legilimency to examine Alice’s soul and found it fragmented and tangled by Dark Arts.
• Linley admitted he had no way to heal Alice’s soul, and Mrs. Longbottom left with Neville.
• Harry and the others prepared to leave, but Irina spotted Devil’s Snare beside Broderick and recognized it as part of a planned assassination.

Irina discovered that the Christmas gift beside Broderick Bode was Devil's Snare, revealing a second attempt on his life at St Mungo's. Dean Poham explained that Bode had been attacked by Death Eaters after leaving the Department of Mysteries, strengthening suspicions that they were targeting him.

• Irina identified the Christmas Cactus beside Broderick Bode as Devil's Snare and took it as evidence of a planned murder.
• Linley asked the healer to fetch her dean, while Ron recognized Bode as an Auror in the Department of Mysteries.
• Dean Poham arrived, recognized Linley and Irina, and said he would inform Dumbledore about the Devil's Snare.
• Dean Poham revealed that Death Eaters had attacked Bode as he left the Department of Mysteries after work.

Linley, Irina, and Dean Poham concluded that Death Eaters had tried to kill Mr. Bode because he had learned a secret in the Department of Mysteries, and they suspected the attacker had Ministry connections. Dumbledore arrived to investigate and proposed warding Mr. Bode’s room, leaving Dean Poham to decide whether to allow it.

• Harry realized that the attempted murder of Mr. Bode was connected to the Death Eaters, and Linley and Irina inferred that Bode had discovered a secret while working in the Department of Mysteries.
• Linley urged Dean Poham to contact Dumbledore, reasoning that the attacker likely had ties to the Ministry of Magic; he explained that Barty Crouch Sr. screened his own employees and that Fudge’s allies were more likely suspects.
• After waiting for Dumbledore, Dean Poham explained the attack, and Dumbledore said he would investigate whether the Devil’s Snare had been sent from the Ministry and ask his contacts to look for clues.
• Irina and Linley proposed tracking Fudge’s lackeys and using evidence of crimes to bring them into Crouch’s reach, where Linley’s Alchemy Detector could identify any hidden Death Eaters.
• Dumbledore told Dean Poham that St Mungo’s was no longer safe and asked permission to install defensive, detection, and warning magic in Mr. Bode’s ward.

Linley and Irina returned from their travels to find Mr. Weasley recovered, then searched the Black ancestral home for Voldemort’s missing Slytherin locket. Unable to find it, Linley asked Kreacher about the locket and connected it to the final letter left by his father, Hendry Rowle.

• Dumbledore installed protective, detection, and warning spells in the St Mungo's ward before leaving with the Devil's Snare.
• Linley and Irina toured France and Germany, visited Beauxbatons and Walterson Magical Plant Garden, and learned that Mr. Weasley had recovered.
• Linley and Irina visited Mr. Weasley at 12 Grimmauld Place and reminded him to look for Voldemort's Horcruxes.
• After receiving no news, Linley and Irina searched the Black ancestral home but found no trace of the Slytherin locket, even with Nicholas's Alchemy Detector.
• Linley questioned Kreacher about the locket and revealed that he was Hendry Rowle's son, recalling his father's letter about Regulus Black and a weapon hidden somewhere.

Linley learned from Kreacher that his father Hendry Rowle had gone with Regulus Black to retrieve the Slytherin locket, but he still did not know whether Hendry had hidden it or Voldemort had reclaimed it. Sirius ordered Kreacher to recount everything, and Kreacher began describing how Regulus joined the Death Eaters and offered Kreacher to Voldemort.

• Linley showed Kreacher the Rowle Family badge, prompting Kreacher to mistake him for his father and ask about the Slytherin locket.
• Sirius overheard Linley questioning Kreacher about Hendry and Regulus, then entered with Irina, Harry, and the others.
• Linley pressed Kreacher to confirm whether Hendry had taken the locket, while he worried Voldemort might already have recovered it.
• Sirius commanded Kreacher to tell the full story, despite Kreacher's reluctance to reveal it to Regulus's brother.
• Kreacher recounted that Regulus joined the Dark Lord's organization at sixteen and, a year later, offered Kreacher to Voldemort and told it to return home.

Kreacher recounted how Regulus Black and Hendry Rowle returned to Voldemort’s cave to exchange the Slytherin locket, with Regulus sacrificing himself so Hendry could escape with the real Horcrux. The group understood what had happened, but the locket’s ultimate fate remained unknown.

• Kreacher told Sirius Black, Harry, and the others how Voldemort forced him to drink potion in a sea cave and left him on an island with Inferi in the lake.
• Kreacher explained that Regulus ordered him to return home, then later asked him to take Regulus and Hendry Rowle back to the cave.
• Regulus drank the potion and had Kreacher switch Voldemort’s locket for a replica, then told Kreacher to take Hendry away with the real locket.
• Kreacher watched Regulus get dragged underwater, while Hendry escaped the cave with Kreacher’s help.
• Linley and Irina pieced together Regulus’s attempt to destroy the Horcrux, but the locket’s ultimate fate remained a mystery.

Linley reasoned that Hendry Rowle had hidden Slytherin's locket on Roer Castle's sealed fifth floor before Voldemort killed him. Linley and Irina returned to the castle to search, and Rowena confirmed that Hendry had placed the seal.

• Kreacher told Linley that he heard of Hendry Rowle's death three days after Regulus died.
• Linley concluded that Hendry had hidden Slytherin's locket somewhere secure and identified Roer Castle's sealed fifth floor as the likely hiding place.
• Irina gave Linley an Apparition Key, and the two left for Roer Castle while Sirius and Harry stayed behind.
• Linley asked Rowena whether Hendry had sealed the path to the fifth floor, and she confirmed that he had.

Linley broke the archaic seal blocking the fifth floor of Roer Castle and entered with Irina and Rowena. Rowena revealed that the Roll Family’s rarest inheritance was Elemental Magic, and began explaining its categories.

• Rowena told Linley that Hendry had sealed the fifth floor after carrying an evil object there before he died.
• Linley used his Demon King-level magic to shatter the archaic seal, opening the way upstairs.
• Linley, Irina, and Rowena found precious magical books and artifacts on the fifth floor.
• Rowena explained that the Roll Family’s true treasures were unique Elemental Magic books, not just Dark Arts and curses.
• Rowena described the family’s classifications of natural, mysterious, and law elements.

Linley found the Slytherin locket hidden behind a bookshelf in Roer Castle and explained that it was one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes. Rowena destroyed it with Fiendfyre, then left Linley and Irina with a worried reminder to be careful.

• Linley sensed the Horcrux behind the Dark Arts bookshelf and found the Slytherin locket hidden behind a decorative book.
• Linley told Rowena that the locket contained a fragment of Voldemort’s soul and offered her the chance to destroy it.
• Rowena took the locket and burned it with Fiendfyre, destroying the Horcrux as its fragment screamed.
• Linley said Voldemort still had five Horcruxes after the locket and the diary, and Irina explained that seven was likely Voldemort’s chosen number.
• Rowena questioned their certainty, then went downstairs after warning Linley and Irina to be careful.

Linley and Irina searched the Roll Family’s inherited Elemental Magic books to strengthen their elemental mastery and reach greater power. While studying a book on flame magic, Linley discovered that spells could be understood as magical power rearranged into distinct structures, leaving him on the verge of a deeper understanding of magic.

• Linley and Irina turned to the five bookshelves after dealing with the Slytherin locket and found the Roll Family’s Elemental Magic collection.
• Irina chose a book about ice elements, hoping to deepen her affinity and advance to Demon King level, while Linley sought to improve his flame magic.
• Linley read an old book explaining how magical power was transformed into flames through a specific magical structure.
• The book projected a demonstration of magical power changing into fire and showed its microscopic structure, which Linley compared to DNA sequences.
• Linley grasped that arranging magical power into the correct structure could produce a spell regardless of intent, incantation, or gestures, and entered a state of enlightenment.

Linley studied how magical power could be deconstructed and reconstructed, then used the technique to create several kinds of flame. He discovered that his innate affinity let him perceive only flame structures, while Ziwei Heavenly Fire remained beyond his reach because it came from the power of the stars.

• Linley deconstructed the Goblet Immortal Fire into raw magical power and reconstructed it as an ordinary flame.
• Linley found that he could remember the structure of magical flames but could not retain the structures of magical ice or magical light.
• Linley summoned Fiendfyre, Goblet Immortal Fire, and Mana Suppression Flame and sensed their magical structures.
• Linley learned that he could create Mana Suppression Flame directly by linking its magical structure to Alchemy Formations.
• Linley could not sense Ziwei Heavenly Fire’s structure because it was formed from the power of the stars rather than magical power.

Linley studied advanced fire magic while Irina discovered new ice techniques that could counter magical flames and block spatial travel. The final technique hinted that sufficiently cold ice could affect time, but Irina knew she was nowhere near powerful enough to use it.

• Linley reflected that his understanding of fire magic remained just below Demon King level and began reading another fire magic book.
• Irina read a book on ice elemental reactions and learned that special techniques could let ice reflect, refract, or absorb even magical flames.
• Irina learned that Blocking Ice could prevent spatial travel through routes it covered, potentially disabling Apparition, Portkeys, and Floo Network access to Roer Castle.
• Irina reached the book’s final technique, which described using ice to make time viscous or freeze it, but recognized that she lacked the strength to affect time.

Linley and Irina finished studying books on fire and ice magic, then returned to 12 Grimmauld Place with the destroyed Slytherin locket. Dumbledore, Sirius Black, and Kreacher set out with them to bring Regulus home and clear his name.

• Irina studied the magical structure of ice and packed two more ice-magic books to read later.
• Linley and Irina returned to 12 Grimmauld Place, where they found Dumbledore waiting with Sirius Black, Harry, and the others.
• Linley showed Dumbledore the remains of the destroyed Slytherin locket.
• Dumbledore asked Kreacher to take them to the cave, and Sirius Black agreed to help bring Regulus home.
• Kreacher took Linley, Irina, Dumbledore, and Sirius Black to the cave by Apparition.

Linley, Dumbledore, Sirius, and Irina entered Voldemort’s cave and opened its blood-sealed entrance using blood taken from a captured Dark wizard. They followed the shore of a vast black lake toward a distant green light, with Dumbledore warning them to stay out of the water.

• Dumbledore revealed that Voldemort’s rock wall required blood to open, and Irina explained that forcing it would trigger the cave’s defenses.
• Sirius offered his own blood, but Linley stopped him and argued that the mechanism did not require their blood specifically.
• Irina gave Linley a frozen blood bag taken from a captured Dark wizard, and Linley splashed its blood onto the rock to open the arch.
• The group passed through the arch and found a vast black lake with a distant green light glowing near its center.
• Dumbledore led the group along the lake’s narrow shore and warned them not to step into the water.

Linley, Dumbledore, Irina, Sirius, and Kreacher reached the island where Voldemort hid the Slytherin locket. Dumbledore identified the enchanted poison guarding it, and the group realized that Kreacher had watched Regulus endure its effects.

• Linley sensed the hidden boat and pulled it from the lake, and Dumbledore determined that it could carry only one wizard at a time.
• Kreacher ferried Linley, Irina, Dumbledore, and Sirius across the lake, where Sirius saw Inferi beneath the water.
• Linley inferred that Voldemort had killed more than a thousand Muggles to create the Inferi guarding his Horcrux.
• Sirius found that an invisible barrier prevented him from touching the glowing poison in the stone basin, and Dumbledore explained that it could only be consumed.
• Dumbledore concluded that the poison was meant to incapacitate anyone seeking the Horcrux, and Kreacher sobbed as they realized Regulus had endured it.

Sirius drank the entire emerald-green potion in the stone basin to obtain Regulus's relic, enduring extreme physical and mental agony with Linley's help. The basin was emptied and Linley gave Sirius the locket, but Sirius was still overwhelmed by the potion and begged for water.

• Sirius accepted that his distrust of Regulus had been his fault and asked Linley to make him keep drinking if the pain became unbearable.
• Sirius drank the potion until he could no longer continue on his own, and Linley forced the remaining goblets down his throat.
• Sirius resisted and begged to die, so Linley bound him with magic and poured in the final two goblets.
• Kreacher watched Sirius finish the potion and murmured that he was foolish.
• Linley took Regulus's metal locket from the empty basin and gave it to Sirius, who rasped that he needed water.

Sirius recovered after Irina used ice to bypass the cave’s magic, and he confirmed he had found Regulus’s locket. Linley unleashed his Ziwei Heavenly Fire to incinerate the Inferi emerging from the lake while Kreacher searched for Regulus, and a young figure wearing Black family robes finally surfaced.

• Dumbledore’s conjured water vanished, but Irina summoned ice and fed it to Sirius, helping him recover.
• Sirius showed Kreacher the locket he had found, and Kreacher sincerely bowed to him.
• Irina suggested bringing the Inferi out of the lake so Kreacher could identify Regulus, and Linley agreed.
• Linley unleashed Ziwei Heavenly Fire and burned the Inferi as they emerged while Kreacher watched for Regulus.
• After more than five hundred Inferi had been destroyed, Kreacher spotted a young figure in Black family robes surfacing from the lake.

Linley and Dumbledore destroyed Voldemort’s cavern after finding Regulus Black’s body, and Dumbledore ended Regulus’s Inferi state. At the Black ancestral home, Sirius and Kreacher buried Regulus, and Sirius entrusted Regulus’s locket to Kreacher.

• Kreacher recognized Regulus, and Sirius handed him Regulus’s restrained Inferi body to support.
• Linley unleashed the Ziwei Heavenly Fire, destroying the Inferi and the cavern’s traps as the group escaped.
• Dumbledore lifted Regulus’s Inferi state at the Black ancestral home, and Sirius and Kreacher buried him by hand.
• Sirius carved Regulus’s epitaph and gave Regulus’s locket to Kreacher, apologizing and telling him he was the most qualified to keep it.
• Kreacher tearfully accepted the locket, then went to prepare dinner at Sirius’s urging.

Linley returned to Hogwarts for the new term and signed up for the Ministry’s Apparition course. He also agreed to learn Blood Curse Kill from Irvin and gave him a powerful protective token, leaving their plans for the curse to continue.

• Dumbledore told Linley that he could enroll in Apparition lessons once he turned seventeen, and Linley agreed.
• Linley and Irina returned to Roer Castle, then traveled back to Hogwarts and resumed reading Elemental Magic books.
• Linley signed the notice for the twelve-week Apparition course after arriving at Hogwarts for the new term.
• Irvin asked Linley about his Christmas gift, and Linley agreed to learn Blood Curse Kill and teach it to Astoria.
• Irvin thanked Linley for a protective token that could resist the Imperius Curse, evade other Unforgivable Curses, and retaliate against attackers.

Linley coordinated with Barty Crouch Sr. as Scrimgeour investigated a suspected Death Eater mole in the Ministry, while Umbridge placed Hagrid on probation. The investigation led Scrimgeour to Michael Landry in the Department of Magical Transportation, where he went to question him.

• Linley told Barty Crouch Sr. through their Two-way Mirror to continue investigating the Ministry mole and execute the Death Eater once caught.
• Umbridge placed Hagrid on probation, and Irina reassured him that it would last no more than half a year.
• Scrimgeour identified Michael Landry, a Department of Magical Transportation employee who had sent the Devil's Snare to St Mungo's.
• Barty Crouch Sr. watched Scrimgeour and Corun leave the Auror Office and realized the Death Eaters had hidden their mole in an inconspicuous post.
• Scrimgeour and Corun arrived at the Floo Network Administration and asked Mrs. Eckert whether Michael Landry was there.