Chapter Summaries

Harry suspected Vaughn had manipulated events surrounding the Inquiry Meeting and Sirius’s escape, leaving him unwilling to face his friend. At the Ministry, Vaughn comforted Amelia as she defended her plan to reform Azkaban’s oversight and the Auror Office against Umbridge and other officials.

• Harry woke exhausted after a sleepless night and asked Ron and Hermione whether they knew where Vaughn was.
• Hermione said Vaughn had likely gone to the Ministry to comfort Amelia after she clashed with Scrimgeour over reforms to Azkaban’s management.
• Vaughn reassured Amelia that her political actions served the Ministry’s future, easing her doubts about becoming like Fudge.
• Umbridge and several senior officials visited Amelia’s office, and Crouch proposed a meeting to discuss reforming the Aurors.
• Amelia refused to let the Ministry factions interfere, citing the Wizengamot’s authority and her power to make personnel changes in the Auror Office.
• Amelia dismissed the officials, and Umbridge left without challenging her.

Vaughn explained to Dumbledore that his actions against Scrimgeour were meant to help Amelia gain control of the Aurors and address the danger posed by the Dementors. Dumbledore took Vaughn to Ireland to meet Agamemnon, whose decision on the Eight-Wizard Tournament could determine Uagadou’s place in Vaughn’s expanding magical-school alliance.

• Vaughn declined Dumbledore’s unspoken invitation to take over as Hogwarts Headmaster and said Dumbledore’s return was likely connected to the Ministry of Magic.
• Dumbledore questioned why Vaughn and Amelia were targeting Scrimgeour, and Vaughn explained that Amelia needed control of the Aurors to confront the Dementors and guard against Voldemort.
• Dumbledore apologized for suspecting Vaughn, and Vaughn immediately accepted after learning Dumbledore planned to introduce him to Agamemnon.
• Vaughn and Dumbledore traveled with Fawkes to a remote town in Ireland, where Vaughn explained that his Dimension Gate left spatial markers.
• Dumbledore said Agamemnon had come to Ireland after Vaughn killed Greyback, and Vaughn concluded that Agamemnon’s position on the tournament remained undecided.
• Vaughn and Dumbledore headed into town to meet Agamemnon, while Vaughn considered how the Eight-Wizard Tournament could benefit Uagadou or leave it out of his plans.

Vaughn and Dumbledore met Agamemnon in Ireland to discuss reviving the Triwizard Tournament, while Jacob and nine Pure-blood Families used forbidden Ritual Magic to create Ghosts tasked with finding the Dark Lord. After the ritual site was destroyed, Jacob and Lucius sensed a powerful wizard duel nearby.

• Vaughn and Dumbledore entered a devastated Irish town and discussed the deaths caused by the Greyback Legion.
• Vaughn corrected Dumbledore, saying WAC enforcement wizards had executed Greyback, then met Agamemnon at an old building.
• Agamemnon, Dumbledore, and Vaughn prepared to discuss their mutual interests, including the revival of the Triwizard Tournament.
• Jacob and representatives of nine Pure-blood Families sacrificed twenty-seven family members in an ancient ritual that transformed them into hostile Ghosts.
• Jacob ordered the Ghosts to find the Dark Lord, and the representatives left after arguing about how carefully to conceal the ritual.
• Lucius and Jacob erased the ritual site's traces, then sensed intense magical fluctuations from a likely duel between two powerful wizards.

Lucius and Jacob suspected that the street battle might be connected to the Pure-blood Families’ recent ritual, but left without investigating. Sirius returned injured after a staged fight, and Lupin went to the Shrieking Shack to contact Vaughn while Sirius stayed behind.

• Lucius and Jacob wondered whether an informer had exposed the Pure-blood Families, then Jacob chose to leave without approaching the battle.
• At Black Manor, Kreacher served Lupin supper while Walburga remained bound in a picture frame.
• Sirius returned injured, and Lupin healed his wound with a new externally applied Potion.
• Sirius told Lupin that his fight with the other wizard had gone smoothly and convincingly, while Lupin doubted the man was truly qualified to partner with Vaughn.
• Lupin refused Sirius’s request to see Harry and Apparated to the Shrieking Shack, where Fred and George were working on a device.
• Lupin touched the marked boulder that could signal Vaughn, while Fred and George continued tinkering and bickering.

Vaughn took Lupin to The Hog's Head after stopping a dangerous Fake Wand from injuring him, then arranged to speak with Aberforth about Dumbledore's perilous fixation on the Resurrection Stone. Lupin began reporting that a former Death Eater had been attacked and the truth about the past exposed, but the Death Eater was unlikely to reveal it.

• Vaughn stopped spikes fired from George's Fake Wand before they could hit Lupin, and explained that he had commissioned the twins to make the spell-fixing prank items in bulk.
• Vaughn and Lupin went to The Hog's Head, where Aberforth initially objected to Vaughn being there on a school night.
• Vaughn told Aberforth that Dumbledore was risking his life, and Aberforth agreed to hear him out in a private room.
• Vaughn let Lupin report first, and Lupin said his friend had attacked a former Death Eater in the Muggle world and exposed the truth about what happened, but he did not expect the Death Eater to reveal it.

Vaughn told Aberforth that Dumbledore was risking his life over the Resurrection Stone, then brought the brothers together so Aberforth could confront him. Their meeting ended in an argument, leaving Dumbledore stunned and their reconciliation unresolved.

• Vaughn told Lupin that Sirius should rest until public opinion had developed further, then promised to arrange a meeting with Harry.
• After Lupin left, Vaughn revealed to Aberforth that Peter had framed Sirius and was hiding at Hogwarts, and that Sirius's staged attack was meant to expose the truth.
• Vaughn explained that Dumbledore had found the Resurrection Stone, which was a Horcrux cursed by Voldemort, and was tempted to use it to see Ariana again.
• Aberforth went through the hidden passage behind Ariana's portrait, and Vaughn sent Dumbledore to meet him in the Room of Requirement.
• Aberforth confronted Dumbledore about the Resurrection Stone and Ariana, then left as Dumbledore stood stunned.

After Dumbledore accepted that the Resurrection Stone could only be kept as a memento, he confronted Vaughn about Sirius’s staged duel on a Muggle street. Vaughn explained the scheme behind it, while Dumbledore weighed the danger of introducing him to Nicolas Flamel and Aether’s attention.

• Dumbledore kept the Resurrection Stone’s ring as a memento rather than using it to call back Ariana.
• Aberforth remained wary of Vaughn’s ambitions and questioned why Dumbledore continued to support him.
• Dumbledore challenged Vaughn over Sirius’s attack on Corban Yaxley, and Vaughn revealed that the duel was meant to alarm the Pure-bloods and spur them to seek Voldemort.
• Vaughn said Corban was his ally and that the supposed Yaxley family members were Irish Dark Wizards whose memories he had altered.
• Dumbledore asked Vaughn to accompany him to the Great Hall, but Vaughn said they should wait before meeting Harry and urged Dumbledore to arrange his meeting with Nicholas soon.
• Dumbledore left the laboratory worried that introducing Vaughn to Nicolas Flamel could expose him further to Aether and the beings seeking to correct Destiny.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione read Rita Skeeter’s report claiming Peter, not Sirius, betrayed Harry’s parents and framed Sirius. Hermione arranged for Harry to meet Lupin, and Barnaby led the three friends to him at WAC’s Forbidden Forest field office.

• Rita Skeeter’s Daily Prophet article described Sirius accusing Peter of betraying James and Lily, while Corban Yaxley confirmed Peter had been the informant and was still alive.
• Harry questioned the article, and Hermione showed him her notes about his parents and urged him to ask Lupin whether Sirius had been framed.
• Hermione revealed that a colleague had contacted Lupin, while Ron objected to her work with WAC and denied being jealous.
• Hagrid arrived and took Harry, Ron, and Hermione through the Forbidden Forest to WAC’s field office, where Dire Wolves and Centaurs lived and worked together.
• Barnaby welcomed the group and told Harry that Mister Lupin was waiting for them.

Lupin and Sirius told Harry and Ron that Sirius had not betrayed Harry’s parents and that Peter Pettigrew had been the traitor, while Hermione helped conceal the full truth. Sirius offered to take Harry away from the Dursleys, and Harry accepted; Sirius and Lupin left, planning to keep in touch by letter until summer.

• Barnaby brought Harry, Ron, and Hermione to meet Lupin and Sirius, who had been disguised as a black dog.
• Lupin explained that Peter Pettigrew had been the traitor and that Sirius had suggested changing the Secret Keeper, leaving Sirius consumed by guilt.
• Lupin revealed that Peter had hidden as Ron’s pet Scabbers and escaped, while Hermione claimed Peter fled because he feared Vaughn’s research.
• Harry realized Vaughn and Dumbledore might have been avoiding him and wondered why Vaughn had not confronted him with the truth.
• Lupin told Harry that Sirius was his godfather and legal guardian, and Sirius offered to take him away from the Dursleys; Harry gladly accepted.
• Sirius and Lupin left the cabin, with Sirius promising to write to Harry and collect him during summer vacation.

Harry learned that Sirius was his godfather and struggled with suspicions about what Vaughn and Dumbledore knew about Peter Pettigrew. Meanwhile, the first Faction Clash ended with Central Qi Refinement Academy in first place, intensifying rivalry among the participating schools and pleasing Vaughn.

• Harry, Ron, and Hermione left the Dire Wolf Tribe with Hagrid, and Harry reassured Ron that learning Scabbers was Peter had probably protected him from danger.
• The Daily Prophet published Corban Yaxley's account confirming Rita Skeeter had been at the Muggle street attack, while political observers speculated about Vaughn's and Fudge's roles.
• Harry told students who asked that he believed Sirius and would capture Peter to avenge his parents.
• Central Qi Refinement Academy won the first Faction Clash, with Quan Dao Cheng leading its team past Hogwarts and Uagadou.
• Vaughn welcomed the growing rivalry between the schools as a way to accelerate the Potion Exchange Event and broader changes in the Wizarding World.

After the Faction Clash, the Hogwarts students discussed the results while Vaughn prepared to visit Nicolas Flamel with Dumbledore, Hagrid, and the Beauxbatons delegation. The group reached the Flamel residence, where Dumbledore called out to Nicolas and Perenelle.

• Ron, Harry, and Seamus discussed the exhausted exchange representatives, while Ginny explained that Vaughn had prepared supplies for her and Cedric had assigned her to brew Potions.
• The Great Hall buzzed with debate about the Central Qi Refining Academy’s victory, and Harry learned from Hagrid that Vaughn was leaving to visit Nicolas Flamel with the Beauxbatons delegation.
• Hagrid met Vaughn, Dumbledore, and the Beauxbatons representatives at his hut, and Vaughn opened a Dimension Gate for the group.
• Vaughn, Dumbledore, Hagrid, and the Beauxbatons delegation arrived in Devon and walked with Dumbledore to the Flamel residence.
• Dumbledore called out to Nicolas and Perenelle from outside their door.

Dumbledore brought Vaughn and the Beauxbatons delegation to visit Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel, where Nicholas promised Beauxbatons his estate and asked to speak privately with Vaughn. Dumbledore accepted that he could no longer put off Vaughn’s pursuit of alchemy, though he remained uneasy about the wider consequences of Vaughn’s plans.

• Dumbledore introduced Vaughn, Hagrid, Madame Maxime, and the Beauxbatons students to Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel at their home.
• Nicholas recognized that Vaughn’s Mental Body had recovered, and Dumbledore and Vaughn suspected his mention of dreams was connected to Aether.
• Hagrid gave the Flamel couple a gift, and Nicholas announced that he intended to leave his estate to Beauxbatons after his death.
• Nicholas reassured Maxime that he had decided not to destroy the Philosopher’s Stone, then asked to speak with Vaughn alone.
• Maxime and the students left with Hagrid, while Nicholas asked Dumbledore to state his position before their private conversation with Vaughn.
• Dumbledore considered Vaughn’s plans for alchemy and the Oath Spell, and accepted that he could no longer delay their meeting with Nicholas.

Vaughn accepted Nicholas as his Alchemy master after Nicholas praised his insight into the Philosopher’s Stone and offered to teach him under the condition that he stay out of Aether until becoming a Legendary Wizard. Meanwhile, the Pure-blood Alliance met in secret, where Corban challenged Jacob’s leadership and raised suspicions that someone had revealed their gathering to Sirius Black.

• Nicholas offered to teach Vaughn Alchemy and agreed to travel through Aether in Vaughn’s place until Vaughn advanced to Legendary Wizard.
• Vaughn called Nicholas “Master” and received a hair-and-fingernail ring that let him pass through the protective spells around Nicholas’s home.
• Jacob convened the Pure-blood Alliance after Corban left St. Mungo’s, then demanded that Corban explain his public remarks and Rita Skeeter’s article.
• Corban denied making the statements attributed to him and argued that opposing the article would damage his reputation once Peter’s affair was exposed.
• Corban told the alliance that Sirius Black had attacked their gathering and asked how Black had learned its time and location.
• Jacob suspected that the alliance had an informant, but he ruled out Lucius and Corban and realized he no longer trusted the other members.

Jacob proposed limiting information within the Pure-blood Alliance while he, Lucius, and Corban coordinated their plans, unaware that Corban was secretly working with Vaughn. At Hogwarts, Harry and Ron entered the Headmaster’s Office using “Rock Cakes” as the password, but found it empty.

• Jacob persuaded the six other alliance representatives to accept private instructions from him, Lucius, and Corban.
• Jacob, Lucius, and Corban met in the Chamber of Secrets to plan their response to the Weasley Faction and their search for Voldemort.
• Corban was revealed as Vaughn’s secret informant, recruited through Oliver Yaxley and committed to Vaughn’s faction.
• Harry and Ron sneaked toward the Headmaster’s Office under the Invisibility Cloak, deciding not to involve Hermione.
• Harry guessed that “Rock Cakes” was the password, and the Gargoyle opened to reveal the stairs.
• Harry and Ron entered the empty office, where the former Headmasters slept in their portraits.

Harry and Ron broke into Dumbledore's Office, where Harry found a Pensieve and entered one of Dumbledore's memories. He learned that he was a Horcrux carrying a fragment of Voldemort's soul before the memory ended and pulled him back.

• Harry and Ron found no one in Dumbledore's Office, but Phineas Black's portrait caught them and revealed that Dumbledore was at the Confederation.
• Ron argued with Phineas while Harry spotted a Pensieve in an open cabinet and decided to search its memories for answers.
• Harry entered the Pensieve and saw a memory of Dumbledore and Vaughn discussing why Voldemort had survived.
• Vaughn told Dumbledore that Voldemort's soul fragment had made Harry a Horcrux, linking their souls and allowing them to share thoughts, feelings, perspectives, and memories.
• Vaughn warned that Harry was too young to face Voldemort and said they should protect him from Voldemort's influence through Occlumency before the memory ended.

Harry and Ron learned from the Pensieve that Voldemort survived through Horcruxes and that Harry might contain a fragment of his soul, while Vaughn and Dumbledore’s trap stirred Peter Pettigrew’s memories. Peter remembered who he was and fled Hogwarts, as Vaughn warned Snape to stay out of the coming conflict with the Pure-blood Families.

• Harry and Ron escaped the Headmaster’s Office after Phineas pretended to threaten them, unaware that Vaughn and Dumbledore had set the whole encounter up to guide Harry.
• Harry told Ron that Voldemort had survived through Horcruxes and that the scar on his forehead might mean Harry was one himself.
• Harry decided he might try to invade Voldemort’s thoughts, emotions, and memories, while Ron worried about what they should do next.
• Peter Pettigrew saw Sirius in a newspaper illustration, recovered his memories, and briefly transformed into a man before fleeing Filch’s office as a mouse.
• Peter remembered the Diary at the Weasleys’ home but was too terrified to enter Gryffindor Tower, deciding he needed to leave Hogwarts and return to Voldemort.
• Vaughn told Snape that Peter was the poisoned bait and instructed him to stay out of the conflict against the Pure-blood Families.

Vaughn offered the visiting school representatives the chance to remain at Hogwarts as exchange students and join his research projects, while Cheng Quandao proposed expanding China's exchange student slots. Vaughn agreed on the condition that he could visit China through the Central Qi Refinement Academy, leaving Hermione surprised to learn that Dumbledore would oppose the trip.

• Vaughn taught the representatives about the Magic Extraction Method and Magic Protein, with Hermione translating difficult ideas into accessible Wizarding theory.
• Vaughn invited the representatives to stay at Hogwarts as exchange students and join future research projects, while they weighed the political consequences of aligning with him.
• Cheng Quandao offered to remain at Hogwarts and requested more exchange student slots on behalf of the Central Qi Refinement Academy.
• Vaughn agreed to consider more slots if the Academy arranged his summer visit to China under the exchange student program.
• After the representatives left, Hermione questioned Vaughn about the trip, and he told her Dumbledore would oppose it.

Vaughn discussed the exchange program and his plans with Hermione before meeting Dumbledore, who had returned to Hogwarts. They reviewed Harry, Voldemort, the Pure-blood Alliance, and the Confederation, while Dumbledore warned Vaughn to honor his agreement with Agamemnon.

• Vaughn reassured Hermione that he would not leave England permanently and said the Board of Governors would approve the exchange program.
• Vaughn and Hermione spent the afternoon discussing academics and magic in the laboratory before Hermione returned to Gryffindor Tower.
• Vaughn met Dumbledore in the Headmaster's Office and learned that Dumbledore knew Nicolas Flamel had told him about Dumbledore's failing health.
• Vaughn and Dumbledore discussed prophecy, Harry, Peter, Tom, and the Pure-blood Alliance, and Vaughn urged Dumbledore to watch DeSantis.
• Dumbledore reported that the Confederation had approved the proposal and reminded Vaughn to fulfill his agreement with Agamemnon.

Vaughn agreed to establish an International Werewolf Association as part of his cooperation with Agamemnon, then met with Isabella in the laboratory. Isabella told him that an unknown wizard had attacked her with the Killing Curse, leaving Vaughn to consider who at Hogwarts might be responsible.

• Vaughn and Agamemnon's agreement included establishing an International Werewolf Association, which Vaughn believed could expand WAC without weakening its core leadership.
• Vaughn called a WAC Committee meeting to discuss the International Werewolf Association.
• Vaughn returned to the laboratory and made coffee for Isabella, who had been waiting for him.
• Isabella told Vaughn that her Trial Battlefield duties were going smoothly but that she had been attacked the previous night.
• Isabella said an unknown wizard had tried to kill her with the Killing Curse, and Vaughn struggled to assess the many possible suspects at Hogwarts.

Vaughn investigated who had attacked Isabella and narrowed his suspicion to an adult wizard among the visiting school delegations. After encouraging Isabella to combine Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Duelling Club, he traveled to the Lovegood home to meet Xenophilius.

• Vaughn considered whether DeSantis had attacked Isabella to seize Tom's Diary, but judged that explanation unlikely and investigated Hogwarts staff and visiting adult wizards instead.
• Isabella denied having recently offended anyone and complained that her work on the Trial Battlefield had displaced practical Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons.
• Vaughn proposed holding Defense Against the Dark Arts classes in the Great Hall as part of the Duelling Club, and Isabella enthusiastically imagined duels with Professor Snape.
• Vaughn reviewed Isabella's recent relationships, ruled out Hogwarts staff, and told her to focus on planning lessons while he investigated the likely attacker among the visiting delegations.
• Vaughn traveled through the Dimension Gate to the Lovegood home near Ottery St Catchpole, where Xenophilius welcomed him and asked about the Potion Exchange and Rita's report about Peter Pettigrew.
• Xenophilius called upstairs for Pandora after Vaughn confirmed that only smart people could discover the truth about the report.