Chapter Summaries

Linley gave Barty Crouch Sr. a Pocket Anchor before leaving, while Dumbledore and Harry visited Horace Slughorn to recruit him as Hogwarts’s Potions professor. Harry saw through Slughorn’s staged attack by noticing the blood lacked the smell of human blood, and Slughorn learned that Harry had exposed him.

• Linley explained the Pocket Anchor to Barty Crouch Sr. and gave him a white chess piece before departing by Apparition Key.
• Dumbledore and Harry went to Horace Slughorn’s cottage to invite him to return to Hogwarts as Potions professor, while Snape had taken the Defense Against the Dark Arts post.
• Dumbledore and Harry entered Slughorn’s wrecked sitting room, where the walls were splattered with what looked like blood.
• Harry recognized that the blood had no human-blood smell, and Dumbledore found Slughorn disguised as an armchair.
• Slughorn asked how Harry had uncovered the ruse, and Harry explained that the blood smelled unlike human blood.

Harry explained how Linley’s Illusion Formation taught him to recognize the fake Dragon Blood at Slughorn’s house, while Dumbledore recruited Slughorn to return to Hogwarts as Potions professor. Slughorn accepted after securing promises of protection, shelter, and higher pay.

• Slughorn asked how Harry had identified the fabricated crime scene, and Harry described learning to recognize magical creatures’ blood in Linley’s Illusion Trials.
• Dumbledore and Slughorn used magic to restore the wrecked room.
• Dumbledore asked Slughorn to return to Hogwarts as Potions professor because Severus had taken the Defense Against the Dark Arts position.
• Harry challenged Slughorn’s fear of saying Voldemort’s name, and Slughorn noted that two newly risen Demon King level wizards had changed the balance of power.
• Slughorn agreed to return if Hogwarts protected him during and after his employment and paid him more, and Dumbledore accepted his demands.

Irvin and Astoria sparred at Frey Castle, where Astoria’s Blood Curse Kill proved stronger in single-target combat. Astoria explained that she had fled the Grindelwald Family’s disputes and found refuge with Irvin, who believed he might reach Demon King level within two years.

• Board members with ties to Death Eaters continued funding Hogwarts because they feared Linley and Irina might expose their families.
• Irvin and Astoria exchanged lightning and Blood Curse attacks in Frey Castle’s training ground, and Astoria broke through Irvin’s Thunder Prison.
• Astoria overwhelmed Irvin with Black-Red Blood Blades, and Irvin conceded that her single-target killing power surpassed his.
• Astoria thanked Irvin for giving her a place to practice and escape the Grindelwald Family’s disputes.
• Astoria said Daphne and her parents supported extreme pure-blood ideals and hoped Voldemort would win, so she had run away and accepted Irvin’s invitation to stay at Frey Castle.
• Irvin studied the lightning gathering above his palm and said he might advance to Demon King level within two years.

Irvin proposed using the Imperius Curse to control Astoria’s parents and sister so she could take charge of the Grindelwald Family and prevent it from supporting Voldemort. Astoria hesitated over betraying her family, then agreed to trust Irvin and take him to Greengrass Manor.

• Astoria envied Irvin’s near-Demon-King-level lightning power and considered how she might advance through her own magic and bloodline curses.
• Irvin told Astoria that the Grindelwald Family’s uncertain allegiance threatened their cause and that she needed to become its heir or leader.
• Astoria worried that her father favored Daphne and asked whether gaining control meant turning against her family.
• Irvin suggested using the Imperius Curse on Astoria’s parents and Daphne until Voldemort was dead, offering to do it himself.
• Astoria accepted Irvin’s plan and agreed to take him to Greengrass Manor.

Irvin Apparated with Astoria to Greengrass Manor, where she confronted her family over their pure-blood ideology. After Irvin clarified that he supported Lynn Roll rather than Dumbledore, he revealed his own purpose and cast Soul Possession at Old Grindelwald.

• Irvin Apparated with Astoria to Greengrass Manor and broke through its protective spells.
• Raffal recognized Astoria, let her and Irvin into the manor, and summoned Daphne and Astoria's parents.
• Daphne insulted Astoria, who declared that she had returned to stop the Grindelwald Family from heading toward destruction.
• Astoria told Irvin to act, and he explained to Old Grindelwald that the Fli Family supported Lynn Roll, not Dumbledore.
• Irvin drew his Wand and cast Soul Possession at Old Grindelwald, saying he had come to bring the family into a cage.

Irvin used the Imperius Curse to control the Grindelwald family and ordered them to transfer their estate and businesses to Astoria, who asked Raffal to watch over her family until Voldemort was dead. At Roer Castle, Linley proposed linking the castle and the Lowells’ home with a space teleportation formation.

• Irvin controlled Old Grindelwald, Daphne, and Mrs. Grindelwald with the Imperius Curse, then ordered Old Grindelwald to transfer the family’s property and business control to Astoria.
• Irvin confined Daphne and Mrs. Grindelwald to the castle and forbade them from contacting anyone outside.
• Astoria asked Raffal to watch over her parents and sister until Voldemort was truly dead, and Raffal agreed.
• At Roer Castle, Linley told Rowena and the Lowells he planned to install space lockdown formations and connect the castle to the Lowells’ home with a teleportation formation.
• Igor asked Linley to place the formation in his and Carolina’s room, and Linley agreed.

At Avery Manor, Voldemort learned to plunder stellar power and taught the method to his Death Eaters, believing it would counter Lynn Roll’s Mana Suppression Power. He then led them toward Malfoy Manor to punish Lucius Malfoy and the other Death Eaters who had fled.

• Voldemort used magic to seize stellar power from the sky and celebrated his new ability to break Lynn Roll’s Mana Suppression Power.
• McNair gathered more than three hundred Death Eaters, and Voldemort revealed the secret method for plundering stellar power to them.
• Voldemort declared that the Death Eaters who had fled the Battle of Little Hangleton, including Lucius Malfoy, would be punished.
• McNair gave Voldemort the coordinates of Malfoy Manor, but its protective magic concealed the destination.
• Voldemort found coordinates for a hill about five kilometers from Malfoy Manor and Apparated there with the Death Eaters.

Voldemort and the Death Eaters arrived near Malfoy Manor, prompting the Malfoys to prepare their escape. Lucius sent Narcissa and Draco away with a Portkey and stayed behind to detonate ten Alchemical Shells buried beneath the estate.

• Voldemort led hundreds of Death Eaters to a hill near Malfoy Manor, where the manor's detection spells alerted Lucius, Narcissa, and Draco.
• Draco urged his parents to seek Linley's protection, explaining that he had already arranged for Linley to shelter the family in exchange for completing a task.
• Lucius decided to abandon Malfoy Manor and revealed that he had buried ten linked Alchemical Shells beneath it to destroy the estate and punish the Death Eaters.
• Lucius gave Narcissa and Draco a Cross-border Portkey to a safe house in Germany so they could contact Lynn Roll and escape.
• Narcissa and Draco vanished with the Portkey, while Lucius remained behind, consumed by rage and madness.

Lucius Malfoy detonated ten Alchemical Shells beneath Malfoy Manor and escaped by Cross-border Portkey as Voldemort’s forces arrived. The blast devastated the Death Eaters, while Voldemort’s Shield Charm bought time for only about one hundred to Apparate away.

• Lucius Malfoy activated ten Alchemical Shells beneath Malfoy Manor and escaped through a Cross-border Portkey.
• Voldemort sensed the danger and ordered the Death Eaters to run, but most continued attacking the manor.
• Voldemort cast a powerful Shield Charm to protect the Death Eaters as the Alchemical Shells detonated.
• The blast killed more than two hundred Death Eaters outright and destroyed Voldemort’s Shield Charm within three breaths.
• Nearly another hundred Death Eaters were killed, while about one hundred escaped by Apparition.

Lucius revealed that he had arranged the explosion at Malfoy Manor to take revenge on Voldemort, killing most of the Death Eaters and leaving Voldemort barely alive. The blast exposed the wizarding world to the Muggles, and Linley and Irina learned the Malfoy Family had caused the global crisis.

• Ten alchemical shells detonated at Malfoy Manor, destroying the estate and killing most of Voldemort's Death Eaters while Voldemort barely survived.
• The explosion's aftermath became visible to the Muggle world, prompting worldwide investigations and a crisis for the British government and Ministry of Magic.
• Barty Crouch Sr. struggled to manage the International Secrecy Law fallout and coordinate with the English Prime Minister and Auror Office.
• The British wizarding world ceded the former Malfoy Manor grounds to the Muggles as the blast site drew international attention.
• At Roer Castle, Lucius told Linley and Irina that he had obtained ten alchemical shells from the Goblins and used them as the Malfoy Family's final weapon against Voldemort.

The Prime Minister met Barty Crouch Sr., the new Minister for Magic, to discuss the Wiltshire Great Explosion Incident. Crouch revealed that the blast had come from the wizarding world and involved both magic and technology.

• The Prime Minister worried over public panic and his rival’s accusations about the government’s handling of the suspected nuclear explosion.
• A messenger in a painting summoned the Prime Minister to an urgent meeting with Minister Crouch and promised the president’s call would be delayed until the following night.
• The Prime Minister agreed, and Barty Crouch Sr. arrived through the fireplace and introduced himself as the new Minister for Magic.
• The Prime Minister asked about the Wiltshire Great Explosion Incident, and Crouch explained that the blast came from the wizarding world.
• Crouch said the weapon combined magic and technology, using a prototype based on a Red-Coat Cannon shell discarded by the Prime Minister’s people a century earlier.

Barty Crouch Sr. persuaded the Prime Minister to let the Aurors secure the Wiltshire blast zone, while Linley ordered Draco to find Ravenclaw's Diadem within a month. At Avery Manor, the wounded Voldemort confined most of his Death Eaters and vowed revenge on the Malfoys.

• Barty Crouch Sr. explained to the Prime Minister that the Wiltshire explosion came from Goblin Alchemy Weapons and secured permission for the Aurors to handle the blast zone.
• At Roer Castle, Linley told the Malfoys that their actions had caused trouble but refused compensation.
• Linley ordered Draco to find Ravenclaw's Diadem within one month after school began, and Draco vowed to succeed.
• At Avery Manor, the injured Voldemort ordered his Death Eaters to remain there, gather power, and prepare for war while he recovered.
• Voldemort learned that the Malfoys had appeared in the German magical world and vowed to make them pay.

Linley and Irina returned to Hogwarts and told Dumbledore about their holiday work, including the Pocket Anchors they had developed. When Dumbledore summoned McGonagall to accept one for Hogwarts, Linley and Irina noticed his severely burned hand and realized he had gone alone to Gaunt's Old House for Marvolo Gaunt's Ring.

• Barty Crouch Sr. sent most of the Aurors to guard the Hogwarts Express and instructed them to assist young wizards without disturbing them.
• Linley and Irina met Dumbledore in his office and described Linley's Bloodline Fusion Magic and alchemy studies and Irina's work with Newt on the Pocket Anchors.
• Linley offered Dumbledore a Pocket Anchor on behalf of Hogwarts, but Dumbledore declined because Fawkes gave him greater mobility.
• Linley asked Dumbledore to summon McGonagall so she could accept the Pocket Anchor for Hogwarts, allowing holders to reinforce the castle or one another.
• Linley and Irina saw Dumbledore's badly burned hand and realized he had retrieved Marvolo Gaunt's Ring, the Resurrection Stone, from Gaunt's Old House.

Linley and Irina learned that Dumbledore had been cursed after finding Marvolo Gaunt’s Ring, with the curse likely to kill him within a year. Dumbledore reviewed the remaining Horcruxes, and Linley said he and Irina would find and destroy Ravenclaw’s Diadem within a month.

• Irina explained the Pocket Anchor to Professor McGonagall, and McGonagall accepted the Imperial Guard chess piece on Hogwarts’ behalf.
• Professor McGonagall used the piece to view the Pocket Anchor’s map and its fifteen symbols, then left the Headmaster’s office.
• Linley questioned Dumbledore about his charred hand, and Dumbledore revealed he had found Marvolo Gaunt’s Ring and fallen into Voldemort’s trap.
• Linley scanned Dumbledore’s hand and warned that the curse would erupt within a year and kill him, though Dumbledore remained calm.
• Dumbledore listed the destroyed and remaining Horcruxes, and Linley said he and Irina had enough clues to destroy Ravenclaw’s Diadem within a month.

Linley rejected any plan that required a sacrifice and proposed using an illusion to make Harry master of the Elder Wand before Voldemort obtained it. He planned to use Death Eater infiltrators in the Ministry to get the wand to Voldemort, while the group first focused on destroying the snake Horcrux.

• Dumbledore explained that the Elder Wand would not harm its master and outlined a plan to use it to destroy the soul fragment inside Harry.
• Linley refused to accept a plan that sacrificed Harry or anyone else and said Voldemort could be defeated without Dumbledore's or Snape's sacrifice.
• Linley proposed using an Illusion Formation to make Harry disarm Dumbledore, transferring the Elder Wand's allegiance to Harry.
• Linley said Death Eaters secretly planted in the Ministry of Magic could steal the wand and deliver it to Voldemort after its allegiance changed.
• Linley said they would deal with the snake Horcrux before Harry, who must be the last Horcrux they addressed.

At the American Magical Congress, Josue and the alchemists completed an alchemical chip capable of carrying a wizard’s consciousness, despite discovering that it would permanently anchor the uploaded mind. They accepted the flaw as useful for creating loyal Mechanical Soldiers and prepared to test the chip in Alchemical armor.

• Josue announced that the alchemical chip had been successfully produced and met the requirements for consciousness capacity and compatibility with Alchemical armor.
• Josue explained that a consciousness uploaded into the chip would remain fixed, unable to develop or deteriorate.
• The alchemists debated whether an anchored consciousness still counted as a person and decided its permanent loyalty to the American Magical Congress mattered more.
• Josue provisionally declared the chip finished and ordered the next stage: uploading a thoroughly vetted, loyal wizard’s consciousness into it.
• The alchemists prepared to install the chip in Alchemical armor, completing Human Alchemy’s preparations for its ultimate test.

Josue and his colleagues tested a device that uploaded wizard consciousness into an alchemical chip, shattering Elebic’s soul in the process. They prepared to install his consciousness chip into Mechanical Soldier Test Unit 001.

• Henry brought the brainwashed wizard Elebic into the laboratory and had him wear the Consciousness Upload Device.
• Josue activated the device, and Elebic convulsed until the console showed 100%.
• An alchemist reported that Elebic’s soul was irreparably shattered, leaving him a walking corpse.
• Josue ordered Henry to remove Elebic and bring out Mechanical Soldier Test Unit 001.
• Andrei Smirnov explained that the robot was a test unit, while his team continued developing more humanlike mechanical bodies.
• Josue removed the chip containing Elebic’s consciousness and tapped the Mechanical Soldier Test Unit’s forehead with his Wand.

Josue successfully transferred Elebic’s consciousness into a Mechanical Soldier Test Unit and tested its ability to cast a spell. On the Hogwarts Express, Harry and Neville attended Slughorn’s lunch with several D.A. Army members, where Neville showed off his improved social skills.

• Josue implanted the alchemy chip and awakened the Mechanical Soldier Test Unit with Elebic’s consciousness, which had no memory of the transfer procedure.
• Josue gave Elebic a metal wand, and Elebic successfully used the Levitation Charm to lift a chair.
• Harry and Neville arrived at Slughorn’s lunch in Carriage C, where they joined invited students including Marcus Belby, Cormac McLagan, Ginny Weasley, Irvin, Astoria, and Elsa Jones.
• Slughorn greeted Neville, who responded confidently after his Illusion Trials had trained his social skills and swordsmanship.

Slughorn questioned the students about the D.A. Army and assessed their magical abilities and connections during a meal. He ended by warmly praising Elsa after learning she had declined a place on the Hufflepuff Quidditch Team.

• Everyone except Marcus raised their hands when Slughorn asked who belonged to the D.A. Army.
• Irvin showed Slughorn a controlled ball of lightning, and Slughorn praised his silent Wandless Magic.
• Astoria told Slughorn that Ancient Magic had cured her Blood Curse and that she was trying to make it useful for others.
• Marcus choked on quail while answering Slughorn's questions about his uncle Damocles, and Slughorn lost interest after learning Marcus's father and uncle did not get along.
• Slughorn spoke warmly with Elsa, who said she had declined Cedric's invitation to join the Hufflepuff Quidditch Team.

Slughorn learned that Elsa was an exceptionally capable combat healer, and the Hogwarts students began the new school year with Snape teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts and Slughorn teaching Potions. After the feast, Draco went to investigate Ravenclaw’s Diadem, which he needed to find within Linley’s one-month trial.

• Elsa explained that her Healing Magic let her treat companions even during battle, and Slughorn praised her as irreplaceable to the team.
• The D.A. Army members discussed Slughorn before the Hogwarts Express reached the station, then changed into their robes and traveled to Hogwarts.
• Dumbledore announced Snape as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and Slughorn as the new Potions professor.
• Irvin guided the first-year Slytherins to their common room while Draco headed toward Ravenclaw Tower to begin searching for Ravenclaw’s Diadem.
• Draco stopped outside the Ravenclaw Common Room, worried that the students would distrust him because his father had been a Death Eater.