Recaps

Regulus stood with his parents and the Black family’s armed retainers as Crouch demanded that he return to the Ministry of Magic for investigation. With both sides facing off at Hogwarts, Regulus prepared to answer Crouch publicly, beginning with a friend’s question about a wizard’s power.

• Regulus met Orion and Walburga on the bridge, and Orion told him to do as he intended.
• Crouch arrived with a large force of Aurors and accused Regulus of attacking law enforcement while resisting an investigation into Edmund Wilton’s death.
• Orion refused to hand Regulus over, while Crouch tried to make him publicly admit that the Black family would use force to obstruct the Ministry.
• Students and Hogwarts staff watched as the standoff intensified, and Slytherins weighed the consequences of staying or leaving.
• Crouch demanded one last time that Regulus return to the Ministry, and Regulus looked to his parents before addressing the gathering about a friend’s question on how powerful a wizard could become.

Regulus confronted Crouch and the Aurors at Hogwarts, transforming Fiendfyre into a small blue bird under his control. He sent it skyward, where it burst into an immense canopy of blue flame, leaving the gathered witnesses staring at the blazing sky.

• Regulus stepped forward to answer Crouch and summoned orange-red Fiendfyre above his palm, alarming the Aurors.
• Regulus joined Guardian Will with the flames and shaped Fiendfyre into a small blue bird that perched calmly on his hand.
• Aksha began forming black flames, but McGonagall stopped her and extinguished them.
• Regulus released the blue bird into the sky as Crouch and the Aurors watched without attacking.
• The bird exploded into expanding waves of blue flame that covered the sky above the bridge and bathed Hogwarts in blue light.

Regulus held a vast sea of Fiendfyre over the bridge, forcing Crouch and the Aurors to recognize the danger of confronting him. Crouch ordered his Aurors to put away their wands, leaving the conflict unresolved but forcing the Ministry to reconsider its course.

• Orion and Walburga watched Regulus’s display and considered what his question about a friend revealed about the people close to him.
• Crouch compared Regulus’s controlled Fiendfyre to accounts of Grindelwald’s power and wondered whether Dumbledore had taught Regulus or whether Regulus had developed the magic himself.
• Regulus directed the Fiendfyre’s threat toward the people on the bridge, and Moody stopped the Aurors from raising their wands.
• The watching students realized the importance of what they had witnessed, while Avery gained the older students’ approval.
• Moody judged that fighting Regulus would be pointless, and Crouch ordered the Aurors to put away their wands.

Regulus gave Avery instructions to keep Sirius and their allies safe while warning that the conflict might continue, then left Hogwarts with Orion and Walburga as the blue flames vanished. Watching his father, Barty Crouch Jr. realized that his commands could be disobeyed.

• Regulus called Avery to the bridge and told him to repeat what he had witnessed, keep Sirius at school, and have Sirius stop practicing the Patronus until Regulus returned.
• Regulus told Avery to warn Mr. Cuthbert and Mr. Mulciber to prepare for further trouble, and arranged for Baruk to go to 12 Grimmauld Place by Floo Network.
• Aksha asked Regulus to show her the bird when he returned, while Orion considered what a relationship between Regulus and Aksha might mean for the family.
• Regulus left with Orion and Walburga as the blue flames receded and vanished, and the Black family's dependents Apparated away afterward.
• Barty Crouch Jr. watched his father and, remembering Regulus's defiance, felt excited by the realization that his father's commands could be disobeyed.

After Regulus and the Black family left Hogwarts following a confrontation with the Ministry, the students reacted to the display of blue flames and were allowed to leave or contact home. Lily worried about Regulus’s conflict with the Ministry, while Sirius received warnings from Regulus’s friends and chose to remain at school.

• The professors sent the students back to the castle, suspended afternoon classes, and arranged supervised departures through the Floo Network and school owls.
• Marcia and Susan questioned Lily about her connection to Regulus, and Lily admitted she had asked him about the blue bird.
• Lily worried that Regulus and the Black family might suffer for confronting the Ministry, while Marcia invited Lily and Susan to go home with her.
• Avery told Sirius that Regulus had ordered him to stay at school, avoid Hogsmeade and secret passages, and stop practicing his Patronus until Regulus returned.
• James invited Sirius, Remus, and Peter to go to his home, but Sirius refused and chose to stay at Hogwarts.