Chapter Summaries

Draco sought the Lady Grey’s help finding Ravenclaw’s Diadem, but she angrily drove him away, leaving him baffled by her dislike. The next morning, he asked Dumbledore to lend him a Pensieve so he could review their encounter, and Dumbledore suspected Linley’s plan was behind Draco’s search for the Diadem.

• The Lady Grey saw Draco’s Slytherin emblem, rejected his request for help finding Ravenclaw’s Diadem, and forced him out of the tower.
• Draco returned to the dormitory and spent the night wondering what he had done to offend the Lady Grey.
• Hermione and Irina compared their sixth-year schedules after breakfast.
• Draco went to Dumbledore’s office and asked to borrow the Pensieve to review his meeting with the Lady Grey.
• Dumbledore realized Draco’s visit was likely connected to Linley’s plan to find Ravenclaw’s Diadem.

Draco reviewed his memory of meeting the Lady Grey and realized her hostility began when he asked about Ravenclaw’s Diadem, possibly because she associated him with Voldemort. After Draco left, Linley admitted he had guided Draco’s search as a trial and implied that he already knew where the Diadem was.

• Draco placed his memory of meeting the Lady Grey into the Pensieve and watched it from a third-person perspective.
• Draco noticed the Lady Grey’s attitude shift when she saw his Slytherin badge, then turn sharply hostile when he asked about Ravenclaw’s Diadem.
• Draco suspected the Lady Grey knew something about the Diadem and resented him because Voldemort had once approached her in a similar way.
• Draco left Dumbledore’s office after thanking him, troubled by how he could convince the Lady Grey that he was not like Voldemort.
• Linley appeared in Dumbledore’s office and said he had given Draco clues, while implying that Draco’s search was a trial and that Linley knew where the Diadem was.

Linley learned that Dumbledore planned to use Harry’s private lessons to obtain Slughorn’s altered memory about Horcruxes, and agreed to help from the shadows. Meanwhile, Snape began teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts and questioned the sixth-years about silent spellcasting.

• Dumbledore told Linley that Slughorn’s memories might reveal information about Voldemort’s Horcruxes and that Harry would help retrieve one during private lessons.
• Dumbledore planned to tell Harry that he was a Horcrux, and Linley agreed to cooperate with Dumbledore’s actions from the shadows.
• Draco hurried to the joint Gryffindor and Slytherin Defense Against the Dark Arts class, where Snape had made the classroom dark and unsettling.
• Snape criticized the students’ preparation, described the dangers of the Dark Arts, and asked what advantages silent spellcasting offered.
• The D.A. members from Gryffindor raised their hands, while the Slytherins stayed silent, and a Gryffindor student explained how silent spells could conceal and misdirect an opponent.

During Snape’s Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson, the D.A. Army members demonstrated extraordinary silent-duelling skills that shocked him. The lesson ended with Snape taking out his frustration on the Slytherins while the Gryffindors left pleased.

• Snape explained Silent Spellcasting and paired the students for silent jinxing practice.
• Irina encouraged Hermione to use all her strength against her.
• Draco silently cast Tarantula Dance on his partner, earning Snape’s brief praise.
• Snape watched the D.A. Army members exchange rapid, advanced spells and recognized that most fought at the level of elite Aurors.
• Snape concluded that the D.A. Army could defeat the Auror Office, then gave the Slytherins stricter guidance and left them miserable.

Irina, Harry, and their classmates began advanced Potions with Slughorn, who introduced several powerful potions. Harry received an old textbook marked as belonging to the Half-Blood Prince, while the D.A. students recognized the displayed potions from their Illusion Trials.

• Slughorn welcomed the advanced Potions students and led them into a classroom filled with steaming cauldrons.
• Harry smelled the Love Potion but used Occlumency to clear his mind, while Irina recognized a scent that reminded her of intimate moments with Linley.
• Slughorn gave Harry and Ron old copies of Advanced Potion-Making and faded scales because they had not qualified for the class under Snape's requirements.
• Irina saw the Half-Blood Prince's inscription in Harry's book and recalled that she and Linley had removed Sectumsempra from it before returning it.
• Slughorn showed the class Veritaserum, Polyjuice Potion, Love Potion, and Felix Felicis, and the D.A. students raised their hands because they had used the potions as tactical tools in Illusion Trials.

In Slughorn's advanced Potions class, Harry, Neville, and Hermione described the dangerous uses of Veritaserum, Polyjuice Potion, and Love Potion, alarming their professor. Slughorn changed the subject to Felix Felicis, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione realized Irina had worn a pendant containing the same potion for years.

• Harry identified Veritaserum and explained how it could be used to interrogate enemies, prompting Slughorn to warn that such use was restricted.
• Neville identified Polyjuice Potion and described using it to infiltrate enemies, making Slughorn point out that those uses were illegal in peacetime.
• Hermione identified Love Potion and outlined how it could control an enemy, leaving Slughorn convinced his students might become Dark Lords.
• Slughorn redirected the class to Felix Felicis and explained its effects and dangers.
• Harry, Ron, and Hermione recognized the Felix Felicis in Irina's pendant, and Irina said Linley had given it to her as a blessing for their good luck.

Irina let Harry win Slughorn’s Felix Felicis prize so he could pursue Dumbledore’s lessons and obtain Slughorn’s hidden memory, while Harry also helped Ron earn a place on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. The chapter ended with Harry mistaking the writhing creatures in Hagrid’s barrel for Irina’s teaching aid.

• Michael Conner asked Slughorn whether he had taken Felix Felicis, and Slughorn made the potion the prize for the lesson.
• Irina deliberately followed the textbook recipe, and Harry won the Felix Felicis with his Hellebore Soup.
• Harry learned about Voldemort’s known Horcruxes from Dumbledore but failed to obtain the memory from Slughorn.
• Harry helped Ron win the Gryffindor Quidditch Team Keeper position after training him with Linley’s Illusion Trials.
• Hermione persuaded Irina to accompany her, Harry, and Ron to apologize to Hagrid for skipping his class.
• Harry saw Hagrid’s barrel of writhing maggot-like creatures and mistook them for Irina’s teaching aid.

Hagrid told Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Irina that Aragog was gravely ill, while Yaxley secretly infiltrated the Forbidden Forest and threatened the Acromantula king with Fiendfyre. Aragog submitted, and Yaxley considered replacing him with a king loyal to Voldemort.

• Irina explained that Hagrid's creatures were Giant Grubs, and the group joked about her imitation of Snape.
• Hagrid revealed that he was raising the Giant Grubs to feed Aragog, who had been sick all summer and was near death.
• Yaxley used the Yaxley Family's secret art to evade Hogwarts Castle's ancient magic and infiltrated the Forbidden Forest.
• Yaxley controlled several Acromantulas, found Aragog's nest, and threatened to burn the colony with Fiendfyre.
• Aragog emerged and submitted to Yaxley's threat, while Yaxley considered installing a new Acromantula king loyal to Voldemort.

Yaxley used the Imperius Curse to control Aragog and order the Acromantulas to secretly multiply and obey the Death Eaters. As Christmas approached, Linley and Irina intensified D.A. Army training, preparing for Voldemort’s expected attack on Hogwarts.

• Yaxley tempted Aragog with promises of Acromantula rule over the Forbidden Forest, then controlled him with the Imperius Curse.
• Aragog ordered the Acromantulas to obey any wizard bearing the Dark Mark and to expand and breed in secret until the assault on Hogwarts.
• Hagrid decorated Hogwarts for Christmas as snow fell and the holiday approached.
• Linley and Irina increased D.A. Army meetings to as often as three times a week because they expected Voldemort’s final battle to come soon.
• With Umbridge dead, the Ministry under Barty Crouch Sr., and Dumbledore supporting the group, the D.A. Army faced no obstacles to growing.

The D.A. Army expanded to more than two hundred members after applicants passed three assessments, including an Illusion Trial. Draco earned Helena Ravenclaw’s trust by telling her Voldemort had turned her mother’s diadem into a Horcrux, and he learned how she had died before recognizing the name of her killer.

• Linley and Irina oversaw three rounds of assessment that screened applicants’ motives, required a member’s recommendation, and tested their ability in Linley’s Illusion Formation.
• The D.A. Army grew from around fifty or sixty members to more than two hundred, with veteran members assigned to train newcomers.
• Draco gained the Lady Grey’s trust by helping Ravenclaw students and telling Helena Ravenclaw that Voldemort had made her mother’s diadem a Horcrux.
• Helena agreed to help Draco destroy the Horcrux and revealed that she had stolen the diadem before Barrow killed her when she refused to return with him.
• Draco asked Helena whether Barrow was the Bloody Baron.

Draco found and destroyed Ravenclaw's Diadem, passing Linley's test and joining the D.A. Army. Linley began appointing Pocket Anchor holders, giving Irvin the Knight piece and calling Harry, Ron, and Hermione forward.

• Helena told Draco that Voldemort had moved Ravenclaw's Diadem from the hollow tree to the Room of Requirement and explained how to enter it.
• Draco found the Diadem in the Room of Requirement and destroyed it with Fiendfyre, earning the Malfoy Family the Roll Family's protection and joining the D.A. Army.
• At a D.A. Army gathering, the new members practiced Sectumsempra under their mentors.
• Linley explained Pocket Anchors to eleven selected members, and Draco realized they would take on point-to-point support missions.
• Linley gave Irvin Fleury the Knight Pocket Anchor and then called Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger forward.

Linley distributed the remaining Pocket Anchors to Irina’s friends and allies, reserving the last one for Neville if he could kill Nagini. Meanwhile, Augustus Rookwood met with Fenrir Greyback and a vampire in a werewolf village as Voldemort’s recruitment efforts continued.

• Linley gave Harry, Hermione, and Ron a shared Knight Pocket Anchor because of their bond with Irina.
• Linley awarded Astoria an Imperial Guard Pocket Anchor and gave Andy and Elsa one together after they revealed they were a couple.
• Linley distributed Imperial Guard Pocket Anchors to Luna, Draco, Cedric, and Ginny, leaving one piece unclaimed.
• Linley told Irina he would give Neville the final Pocket Anchor if Neville killed Nagini, whom Linley planned to have him encounter.
• Augustus Rookwood met Fenrir Greyback and a vampire in the werewolf village, while his attempt to recruit trolls had already failed.

Luke Wood gathered Werewolves and vampires for Voldemort’s planned assault on Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic. At Christmas, Fred and George told Linley they wanted his help opening an Alchemy Weapons shop in Diagon Alley, leaving him concerned about arming ordinary wizards.

• Luke Wood learned that Greyback had gathered 895 Werewolves and that Fabrizio had recruited 372 vampires for Voldemort.
• Fabrizio explained that many vampires had no reason to rebel because they could live among wizards, while Voldemort’s promise of access to Muggle blood drew the outcasts to his cause.
• Luke Wood told the Werewolves and vampires to lie low and build their forces until June, when Hogwarts students and professors would be relaxed after final exams.
• At Christmas, Fred and George asked Linley to help them obtain a Ministry business permit for a Diagon Alley shop, and Ron questioned how they would fund it.
• Fred and George explained that they wanted to sell Alchemy Weapons modeled on Muggle firearms, including heavy weapons for the Ministry and lighter pistols for ordinary people.
• Linley warned Fred and George about the consequences of letting ordinary people possess powerful weapons.

Fred and George explained how Weasley's Armory would sell spell-firing civilian firearms and restricted lethal weapons, and Linley agreed to submit their proposal for approval. Meanwhile, Elebic entered a lifelike Mechanical Soldier Number One and headed to the British Ministry of Magic to hold it accountable for the Wiltshire Great Explosion Incident.

• Fred and George explained that their public alchemy firearms used magic drawn from the wielder to fire spells without incantations or gestures.
• Fred and George said civilian models would use control spells, while powerful firearms would be restricted to Aurors and certified wizards.
• Linley agreed to review the armory proposal and submit it to Barty Crouch Sr. for approval, and Fred and George decided to buy a shop.
• Josue and the other alchemists installed Elebic's consciousness chip in a humanlike body they named Mechanical Soldier Number One.
• Elebic traveled to London on behalf of the American Magical Congress to hold the British Ministry of Magic accountable for the Wiltshire Great Explosion Incident.

Elebic entered the Ministry of Magic on a test mission and confronted Barty Crouch Sr. over the Wiltshire Great Explosion, but the Minister refused American intervention against Voldemort. As the British wizarding world waited anxiously for the next conflict, Irina prepared to master Apparition and graduate early while the D.A. Army continued its training.

• Elebic used Mechanical Soldier Number One’s alchemical analysis device to bypass the Ministry’s entrance checks and meet Barty Crouch Sr.
• Elebic demanded an explanation for the Wiltshire Great Explosion and offered American help, but Barty Crouch Sr. refused outside intervention and ordered him to leave.
• Elebic transmitted the news that Voldemort was a Demon King level wizard to the American Magical Congress.
• Voldemort and the Death Eaters stopped their activity, leaving the British wizarding world uneasy as it awaited a brewing storm.
• Irina signed up for Apparition lessons and applied through Professor McGonagall to take her N.E.W.Ts early so she could graduate with Linley.
• The D.A. Army continued training, and its newest members rapidly approached the magical ability of the veterans.

Neville defeated a Basilisk in his Illusion Trial while Linley and Irina watched, and Linley planned to use Neville against Nagini once he found her location. Hagrid’s letter about Aragog’s funeral gave Harry a chance to approach Professor Slughorn and obtain the memory.

• Neville fought the blind Basilisk with a silver sword, used Wandless Magic to pierce its vital point, and beheaded it.
• Irina judged Neville’s skill sufficient, and Linley planned to use him to kill Nagini after locating her through shared vision.
• Linley explained that many Death Eater viewpoints had been lost and that finding a chance to isolate Nagini would be difficult.
• Harry received Hagrid’s letter inviting him, Ron, and Hermione to Aragog’s funeral.
• Harry decided to invite Slughorn, hoping the chance to collect potion ingredients from Aragog would make him willing to attend.

Harry used Felix Felicis to get Slughorn to accompany him to Hagrid’s funeral for Aragog, hoping to obtain Slughorn’s memory. After the burial, Slughorn had collected the venom, but Harry had not yet achieved his goal.

• Harry told Hermione and Ron he would use Felix Felicis and Linley’s permission to get past the Alchemy Formation and approach Slughorn.
• Harry took a spoonful of Felix Felicis, left the castle under his Invisibility Cloak, and followed an impulse to visit the vegetable garden.
• Harry encountered Slughorn in the garden and told him Aragog had died, prompting Slughorn to ask about collecting the Acromantula venom.
• Harry persuaded Slughorn to come with him to Hagrid, and they completed Aragog’s funeral while Slughorn obtained the venom.
• Harry, Slughorn, and Hagrid noticed hundreds of Acromantulas following a stronger one with an iridescent sheen, but they paid it no attention.
• Harry remained without the memory he wanted, while Hagrid buried Aragog and Slughorn took the venom.

Harry persuaded Slughorn to surrender the memory of telling Tom Riddle about Horcruxes. After viewing it, Dumbledore confirmed that Voldemort’s remaining Horcruxes were Nagini and Harry, while Linley planned to make catching Nagini Neville’s trial to become the future leader of D.A. Army.

• After the funeral, Harry watched Hagrid and Slughorn drink at Hagrid's Hut, then prompted Slughorn to speak about Francis, the fish Lily had given him.
• Slughorn admitted that Lily had turned a flower petal into Francis and connected the fish’s disappearance to her death, but initially refused to reveal what Tom Riddle had asked him.
• Harry urged Slughorn to honor Lily’s sacrifice by telling the truth, and Slughorn extracted his memory and placed it in a vial.
• In the Headmaster's office, Dumbledore confirmed from Harry’s memory that Voldemort had made seven Horcruxes and that Nagini and Harry were the remaining ones.
• Linley told Dumbledore he expected to catch Nagini within seven days and make it Neville’s trial to prove he could succeed Linley and Irina as leader of D.A. Army.

Linley brought Nagini to the Forbidden Forest and arranged an assessment for Neville to prove he could succeed him as leader of the D.A. Army. Neville wounded Nagini with the Gryffindor Sword and evaded its venom, but Nagini then lunged to bite him.

• Linley captured Nagini near Avery Manor and took it to the Forbidden Forest, where Irina brought Neville and the Gryffindor Sword.
• Linley used an Illusion Formation and an Alchemy Detector to make Neville see Nagini as a giant venomous snake and the Gryffindor Sword as a familiar silver sword.
• Neville entered the illusion and took up the sword Linley had placed beside him.
• Linley lifted the Full Body Bind, and Neville dodged Nagini's charge before wounding it with the Gryffindor Sword.
• Neville evaded Nagini's repeated venom attacks as he advanced, until Nagini lunged at him to bite.

Neville killed Nagini, revealing her as one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes, and Linley named him the leader of the D.A. Army. Irina then reported the success to Dumbledore, and they planned to use an Illusion Formation in three days to destroy the Horcrux inside Harry and arrange for Dumbledore to relinquish the Elder Wand.

• Neville used Wandless Magic and the Gryffindor Sword to defeat Nagini and sever her head, destroying the Horcrux inside her.
• Linley and Irina revealed to Neville that he had killed one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes and told him he would lead the D.A. Army.
• Linley took the Gryffindor Sword and left, while Irina sent Neville back to the castle and Apparated to Dumbledore’s office.
• Irina told Linley and Dumbledore that Neville had killed Nagini, leaving the Horcrux inside Harry as their next target.
• Linley scheduled an Illusion Formation for three days later, when Irina would bring Harry to The Three Broomsticks and Dumbledore would appear to him as a Death Eater.