Recaps

Regulus reflected on Professor McGonagall’s ideas about Transfiguration, fate, and his own progress in Space Magic. In Defense Against the Dark Arts, Sirius began suspecting that Remus was a Werewolf and decided to tell James while standing by their friend.

• Regulus considered how changing an object’s position, relationships, or place in time might affect what it was, and wondered whether his path through Germany had interfered with fate.
• Regulus recalled Professor Slughorn and Professor McGonagall’s guidance and felt encouraged by his growing control and understanding of Space Magic.
• Professor Ezra Vance taught the third-years how to identify and defend against Werewolves and other dark creatures.
• Sirius connected Remus’s regular absences around the full moon and his illness afterward to the Werewolf signs described in class.
• Sirius decided to warn James about his suspicion but resolved that they would not abandon Remus.
• James invited Remus to lunch, but Remus declined and stayed behind before eventually leaving the classroom alone.

Avery and Alex joined Regulus's training after the unsettling start to term, while Hermes tested his improved Dark Arts against Regulus. The chapter left Avery and Alex struggling against the moving dummies as Regulus and Hermes watched.

• Alex asked Regulus to train him, and Avery joined rather than be left behind.
• Regulus watched Avery and Alex duel, judged their skills inadequate, and sent them to train against spell-casting dummies.
• Hermes attacked Regulus with the Dark Arts he had practiced over the holiday, but Regulus's automatic shield blocked every spell.
• Regulus praised Hermes's improvement and advised him to conserve Magic Power and vary the strength of his spells.
• Avery lost his Wand twice, while the dummies shattered Alex's Shield Charm and immobilized him.

Avery, Alex, and Hermes left the training session humbled by Regulus’s strength, while Hermes stayed behind to practice. Regulus developed a network of Spatial Anchors that could redirect and store spells, then left himself room to improve Space Magic further.

• Avery and Alex left the Room of Requirement realizing how far Regulus and Hermes had surpassed them, and Avery decided he wanted to grow stronger.
• Regulus entered a separate practice room, and Hermes reflected on how Regulus had stopped spells without raising his Wand before returning to the Training Ground to practice.
• Regulus considered new uses for his twelve Spatial Anchors and connected them into a network of Spatial Channels.
• Regulus tested the network by sending a Lumos between anchors, then made it loop until he opened an exit.
• Regulus stored and released several spells at different intervals, finding that the network could hold for about thirty seconds before collapsing.

Regulus mastered storing and coordinating five spells in the Spatial Network, then followed Sirius, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew as they sneaked out on a full-moon night. After they struggled against the Whomping Willow, Dumbledore appeared and silently directed Regulus toward a safer path.

• Regulus perfected his control of five simultaneous spell trajectories and considered using the Mental Splitting Technique to manage more.
• Regulus found Hermes exhausted in the Training Ground and used a Levitation Charm to help him return to the Dormitory.
• Regulus demonstrated five Disarming Charms traveling through the Spatial Network and emerging from separate anchor points at once.
• Regulus noticed James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius sneaking out of the Castle and followed them toward the Whomping Willow, concerned for Sirius.
• James Potter rushed the Whomping Willow, while Sirius tried to help and Peter stayed behind the bushes; the branches drove them back.
• Dumbledore appeared beneath an oak, revealed that he could see Regulus, and indicated a path outside the Whomping Willow's reach; Regulus lifted his Disillusionment Charm and went toward it.

Avery and Alex left the Room of Requirement humbled by Regulus’s skill, while Hermes stayed behind to train. Regulus experimented with Space Magic, successfully linking twelve Spatial Anchors into a network that could redirect and store spells, and left with a new technique to develop.

• Avery and Alex recognized how far Regulus and Hermes had surpassed them, and Avery decided he wanted to catch up while Alex accepted that drawing close to the strong was wise.
• Regulus entered a private practice room, and Hermes reflected on how effortlessly Regulus had withstood his Dark Arts before returning to the Training Ground to practice.
• Regulus considered ways to expand his Space Magic and connected twelve Spatial Anchors into a network of channels.
• Regulus tested the network with Lumos, redirecting the spell between anchors and keeping it circulating until he opened an exit.
• Regulus stored and released several spells at different delays, confirming the technique worked but drained considerable magic and focus.

Regulus and Dumbledore watched James, Sirius, and Peter enter the Shrieking Shack to witness Lupin’s transformation into a Werewolf. After seeing Lupin return to human form and his friends rush to help him, Regulus left with Dumbledore and called Werewolves too ugly.

• Regulus asked Dumbledore whether he came to watch Lupin every month, and Dumbledore said he did so Lupin would not be misunderstood or hurt for being different.
• James and Sirius made it through the Whomping Willow and entered the passage, while Dumbledore slowed the branches so Peter could follow.
• Regulus and Dumbledore entered the Shrieking Shack under concealment and watched Lupin transform into a chained Werewolf.
• Lupin changed back at dawn, and James, Sirius, and Peter rushed to his side.
• Dumbledore asked Regulus what he thought of Werewolves, and Regulus answered that they were too ugly.

Regulus considered whether a werewolf could retain control during transformation and asked Dumbledore how will and self-understanding might overcome instinct. Dumbledore explained how Legilimency and a clear sense of self related, while Lupin and his friends returned from the Shrieking Shack as dawn approached.

• Regulus wondered whether Legilimency could isolate a werewolf's instincts and let human consciousness control the transformed body.
• Dumbledore said Legilimency alone could not overcome the internal changes of transformation or control a werewolf's body, and that overriding instinct required a strong understanding of oneself.
• Regulus realized Dumbledore could protect Remus but that many other werewolf children might never receive the same chance.
• Dumbledore explained that Legilimency was a tool for mental protection, while self-knowledge could eventually make a person's sense of self into a barrier.
• James and Sirius helped Lupin leave the Shrieking Shack as Peter Pettigrew followed, and Dumbledore told Regulus to leave the Forbidden Forest before dawn.

Regulus used Star Orbit Meditation to search for the core of his identity and saw his soul for the first time, allowing him to absorb the gains from lighting Bellatrix. By the end of September, his senses and magic had strengthened, and he prepared to light Saiph.

• Regulus saw Sirius searching the Library for a way to accompany a Werewolf through the full moon, but chose not to tell him about becoming an Animagus.
• Regulus considered how to combine protection of the self with mental defense without keeping Legilimency active.
• After meditating on who he was for several days, Regulus saw his soul at the center of the Star Orbit.
• Regulus continued meditating as his soul grew clearer and steadier, and his senses, Patronus, and control over Fiendfyre strengthened.
• Regulus realized he had absorbed the progress from lighting Bellatrix and decided he could begin lighting Saiph.
• Regulus found Hermes collapsed outside the little room and levitated him toward the Dormitory.

After discovering that he could see his own soul, Regulus reflected on how it might strengthen his defenses against attacks on his essence. He then added Saiph to his Star Orbit, where it faintly lit as the sixth star, though its power remained dormant.

• Regulus examined his Soul Avatar and considered how Dumbledore, Voldemort, Harry Potter, and other powerful wizards had encountered souls.
• Regulus concluded that seeing his soul confirmed his sense of self and might let him detect attempts to alter his essence.
• Regulus considered Saiph’s hidden sharpness and imagined it as a sword that would remain sheathed until the right moment.
• Regulus placed Saiph into his Spiritual World’s star model, and the six stars adjusted their orbits into a new balance.
• Saiph began to glow faintly, improving the stability and flow of Regulus’s Star Orbit, but Regulus could not yet draw out its imagery.

Regulus spent the day preparing to attend Slytherin’s welcoming party and contest for Head of New Students. Eleanor Bones confronted him at lunch to complain that Sirius had ruined her Mandrake, then used the conversation to needle Sirius across the Great Hall.

• Regulus listened as Avery and Alex discussed the new students competing for Head of New Students and recalled how he had defeated Hermes the previous year.
• Avery and Alex advised nervous first-year students before Regulus, Hermes, and the others left the Great Hall.
• Eleanor Bones called Regulus over and told him Sirius had torn every leaf off the Mandrake she had raised for more than half a year.
• Eleanor admitted she had come to complain to Regulus partly to make Sirius feel bad, then watched Sirius react angrily from the Gryffindor table.
• Eleanor thanked Regulus and returned to her table, visibly pleased by Sirius’s expression.

At Slytherin’s Welcome Party, first-years drew lots and began dueling while Regulus noticed one boy’s Magic Power erupting dangerously. Regulus sent Alex to fetch Professor Slughorn, but the boy’s power kept worsening as the duels continued.

• Polius Greengrass and Veronica Yaxley gathered the Slytherins in the Common Room and explained the first-year dueling rules.
• Regulus’s second-year companions stood with him as the first-years drew lots, and several early matches ended in draws or a win for a boy who used Silencio.
• Regulus noticed a nervous first-year’s Magic Power erupting and quietly told Alex to find Professor Slughorn.
• Alex passed the message to Lina Costa, who slipped out of the Common Room, and Samuel Vance followed her.
• The first-year cast an unusually powerful Flipendo that sent his opponent crashing into a wall, while his Magic Power continued to worsen.

Lina and Samuel worked to attract Black’s notice while a first-year dueling contest unfolded in the Slytherin common room. As Rosalie Selwyn prepared to face Geoffrey Selwyn, Regulus stopped the match and asked whether the winner would have another challenge.

• Lina and Samuel agreed to search for Professor Slughorn separately and tell him something was happening in the common room.
• Rosalie Selwyn defeated Darius Nott in a duel, disarming him with Expelliarmus.
• Veronica Yaxley announced Rosalie Selwyn’s next match against Geoffrey Selwyn.
• Regulus stopped the duel before Rosalie and Geoffrey began, then asked Pollux Greengrass what would happen after the winner was decided.
• Pollux explained that the winning first-year could choose to challenge the previous Chief for guidance.

Regulus recognized that Dolphin Rowle had used Geoffrey Selwyn and a potion to provoke a dangerous duel, then called on Snape to check Geoffrey. The chapter ended with Snape asking Geoffrey for his wand so he could investigate.

• Regulus sensed Dolphin Rowle's malice and realized Geoffrey Selwyn had been set up to suffer an accident during their duel.
• Regulus decided Dolphin Rowle could not be allowed to live until graduation, though he concealed that decision and let Rowle believe he remained undetected.
• Veronica Yaxley asked Regulus what had happened, and he said he needed to confirm something.
• Regulus called to Snape and asked him to check whether Selwyn had drunk any potion.
• Snape recognized that Regulus had given him a chance to act, approached Geoffrey, and asked for his wand.

Regulus exposed Geoffrey Selwyn’s potion use, secured Rosalie Selwyn’s victory as Head of New Students, and demonstrated how the previous Chief could guide the next generation. The chapter ended with Regulus helping Rosalie successfully cast the Shield Charm for the first time.

• Snape confirmed that Geoffrey had taken an ability-boosting potion, and Regulus had Veronica Yaxley announce Rosalie as the winner and Geoffrey as disqualified.
• Professor Slughorn suppressed the potion’s effects and took Geoffrey away with Snape’s help.
• Regulus agreed to guide Rosalie in a duel, evaded her spells without attacking, and proposed that each new Chief learn one spell from the previous Chief.
• Rosalie asked Regulus to teach her the Shield Charm, and he guided her magic until she formed a stable barrier.
• Rosalie thanked Regulus, and Veronica ended the Welcome Party.

Regulus left the Slytherin common room after directing Avery to present Rosalie’s Shield Charm lesson as a tradition passed from one Chief to the next. In the Room of Requirement, he explained that Rosalie had only been guided through the feeling of the spell, then considered whether the night’s influence and reputation would test his hypothesis about lighting up Saiph.

• Regulus told Avery to frame Rosalie’s Shield Charm as the previous Chief’s reward and an example of Slytherin tradition, then left with Alex and Hermes.
• Avery addressed the gathered students, presenting the lesson as a tradition and urging Rosalie to pass its spirit on.
• Regulus asked Alex and Hermes whether they wanted power that was not their own, and Hermes explained how Mr. Mulciber had taught him the Dark Arts by guiding him through their required emotions.
• Regulus explained that Rosalie had experienced the Shield Charm’s intended feeling but still needed to practice and make the magic her own.
• Regulus reviewed how he had tested his theory that taking initiative, seeing what others missed, and exerting influence could help light up Saiph.
• Regulus headed to the private Cabin, while Hermes and Alex went to practice in the Training Ground.

Regulus considered whether lighting Saiph required an outward-reaching magical ritual, then set aside the unanswered questions and expanded his Spatial Network to handle six spells at once. He demonstrated the technique in the Dummy Area, leaving Hermes to wonder how he could defend against it.

• Regulus compared Saiph with ritual magic and concluded that its progress might depend on exerting influence outward, though he could not determine the requirements or source of feedback.
• Regulus decided to investigate ritual magic in the Forbidden Section and ask Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall if needed, while continuing to observe Saiph.
• Regulus spent three hours recalculating and debugging the Spatial Network, successfully arranging for six spells to travel through it without interfering.
• Regulus found Alex exhausted and Hermes practicing the Shield Charm against four dummies, then stopped the dummies and increased their movement speed.
• Regulus used twelve passages and six anchor points to release six Disarming Charms simultaneously, striking six dummies and knocking away their fake wands.
• Hermes imagined facing the attack if Regulus used it against him, then decided he could not beat Regulus either way and stayed on the ground.

Regulus met with Slughorn after breakfast to discuss Selwyn’s suspicious potion and the danger behind the staged duel. Slughorn awarded Slytherin points for Regulus’s intervention, while both left the larger plot unspoken.

• Hermes got Alex and Avery out of bed, while Regulus encountered Snape, who told him Slughorn wanted to see him after breakfast.
• Slughorn praised Regulus’s guidance during the previous night’s events and warned that others were asking to learn his Shield Charm technique.
• Slughorn asked whether Regulus had found anything else wrong with Selwyn, and Regulus indirectly led him to consider whether the potion had been deliberately designed to provoke the duel.
• Slughorn concluded that the potion’s effects and timing suggested a larger scheme, but chose not to pursue the matter without evidence.
• Slughorn awarded Slytherin thirty points for Regulus’s actions and asked him to offer students occasional guidance.

Regulus learned that the Whomping Willow’s magic used conduction and internal vibrations to shatter objects, giving him ideas for developing a new spell. Professor Sprout refused to let him study Hogwarts’s tree directly but shared what she knew, and Regulus left promising to report any discoveries.

• Students across Hogwarts sought older students for advice on copying Regulus’s Shield Charm demonstration, while family letters told some Pureblood students to focus on their basics.
• James asked Sirius whether he could teach the Shield Charm the way Regulus had, but Sirius snapped at him instead of answering.
• Professor Flitwick explained that Regulus’s technique guided another person’s magic, while Professor McGonagall ordered Gryffindors to practice their fundamentals.
• Regulus asked Professor Sprout to study the Whomping Willow, but she refused to let him approach Hogwarts’s rare tree.
• Professor Sprout described how the Whomping Willow conducted magic and caused internal vibrations, and Regulus realized the process might help him develop a spell for shattering hard objects.
• Professor Sprout asked Regulus to share any discoveries he made, and he promised he would.

Regulus studied magical plants before Lily asked him about his Shield Charm shortcut, and he let her experience the charm’s magical feeling in the Library. Lily left encouraged to practice it herself, while Regulus watched her go and headed off separately.

• Regulus studied a book on magical plants and guessed at the magical properties hidden in their descriptions.
• Lily asked Regulus about his reputation for helping a first-year cast a Shield Charm, and he explained that the shortcut was unsuitable without a skilled wizard’s help.
• Lily grew uncomfortable thinking about the disadvantage of having no wizards in her family, but Regulus told her he trusted her strength.
• Regulus offered to let Lily experience the Shield Charm and sent silver light into the space between her brows so she could feel it.
• Regulus told Lily to practice the feeling herself and said she could share the method with a trusted friend.
• Lily thanked Regulus and ran off with her books, while Regulus watched her leave and walked in the opposite direction.

Regulus decided he needed a mature Whomping Willow and wrote to Orion, asking his father to obtain one through the Black family's connections before Christmas. The next morning, Regulus dismissed a Hogwarts argument over House-elf liberation as futile and left the Great Hall while it continued.

• Regulus considered where to obtain a Whomping Willow and concluded he would ask Orion to arrange a purchase or exchange through proper channels.
• Regulus wrote Orion a letter requesting a mature Whomping Willow before Christmas and sent it with the Black family's Eagle Owl.
• At breakfast, students discussed a Daily Prophet report that the Ministry of Magic had rejected a House-elf liberation appeal.
• A Gryffindor argued that House-elves had been conditioned to accept servitude, while other students joined the dispute.
• Regulus judged the liberation effort unlikely to succeed, then left the Great Hall with Avery and the others as the argument continued.

Orion received Regulus’s request for a mature Whomping Willow and agreed to obtain one, then told him that their cousin Andromeda was getting married in France. Regulus remembered Andromeda’s support and realized he could find the wedding location from Orion’s map.

• Orion returned from meeting Abraxas and heard that the Dark Lord’s demands were growing more urgent among the Pureblood families.
• Kreacher delivered Regulus’s letter requesting a mature Whomping Willow, and Orion resolved to secure one for him.
• Orion wrote back that he would obtain the tree and gave Regulus the date and location of Andromeda’s wedding.
• Regulus read Orion’s reply at Hogwarts, remembered Andromeda’s kindness and promise of help, and recognized the place shown on the map.

Avery, Alex, and Hermes continued training in the Room of Requirement while Regulus meditated on the soul and the glowing figure in his Spiritual World. He found that magic and spirit could not touch the figure, and ended by considering ways to strengthen the soul and explore its relationship with the body and objects.

• Avery and Alex improved enough to withstand the dummies for fifteen minutes, while Hermes practiced chaining powerful Dark Arts with minor spells.
• Regulus observed the six stars in his Spiritual World and reflected on Voldemort’s five Horcruxes and the damage caused by splitting the soul.
• Regulus considered whether the glowing figure represented a standard for a complete soul and whether strengthening it might improve a wizard’s abilities.
• Regulus tried directing magic and spirit toward the figure, but both passed through without affecting it.
• Regulus connected Arcturus Black’s warning about a sturdy container trapping its contents to the possibility of a living soul leaving the body or bearing an object.
• Regulus concluded that his questions all involved exploring and strengthening the self, but decided he first needed to find a way to make the glowing figure grow.

Sirius excelled at Professor McGonagall’s Complex Transfiguration lesson, discovering an instinctive talent for changing an object’s form. McGonagall gave him an advanced book and hinted at Regulus’s unusual abilities, leaving Sirius wondering how to develop his own talent.

• Professor McGonagall taught the class to transform a stone into a cup, animate it, and turn it into a flying pigeon.
• Sirius made his cup walk and dance, then transformed it into a pigeon that flew around the classroom, earning five points for Gryffindor.
• Professor McGonagall explained that Sirius had an innate Morphing Intuition, while Regulus’s transformation of an Oak Match into a Linden Match had changed the material’s essence.
• McGonagall gave Sirius Advanced Transfiguration: The Limits of Form and told him Regulus had once asked whether graphite and diamond could be transfigured into each other.
• Sirius returned to Gryffindor Tower with the book and wondered whether Morphing Intuition was the talent he should develop.

Regulus abandoned his attempt to merge Guardian Images with Hogwarts’s space and explored ideas for Light Magic before riding a Thestral through space into an unfamiliar part of the Forbidden Forest. There, he built a Shield Charm shell powered by Fiendfyre and flew back toward Hogwarts at near-supersonic speed, eager to push the design faster.

• Regulus concluded that Hogwarts’s space would not cooperate with his attempts to combine it with Guardian Images, then imagined several ways to manipulate light through magic.
• Regulus followed James, Sirius, and Peter toward the Whomping Willow, then went to the Forbidden Forest and mounted a Thestral after greeting it with his magic.
• The Thestral flew Regulus across Hogwarts and through space before dumping him in an unfamiliar part of the forest and flying away.
• Regulus formed a streamlined Shield Charm shell, added auxiliary spells and Fiendfyre propulsion, and launched himself through the sky.
• Regulus reached near-supersonic speed, returned to a clearing near Hogwarts, and landed exhausted but excited by the flight.

Regulus reflected on how to improve the Fiendfyre-powered Flying Device he had tested and imagined one day flying alongside Voldemort. At the Forbidden Forest, Dumbledore and McGonagall discussed Regulus’s dangerous use of Fiendfyre, leaving Dumbledore confident that the boy would not be controlled by the Dark Arts.

• Regulus reviewed the Flying Device’s flaws and planned improvements to its shape, propulsion, protection, and control.
• Regulus considered obtaining Muggle flight research through Muggle-born or Half-blood students, and imagined using Fiendfyre to spread destruction before dismissing the idea.
• Regulus noticed that Hermes had not returned to the dormitory, then fell asleep imagining Voldemort flying beside him.
• Dumbledore and McGonagall discussed Regulus’s use of Fiendfyre in the Forbidden Forest, and McGonagall warned that his talent and experiment were dangerous.
• Dumbledore acknowledged that Fiendfyre was Dark Arts but asked whether McGonagall believed Regulus could be controlled by it.