Chapter Summaries

The French Minister of Magic and his secretary discussed Luke Gaunt’s visit and planned to use him as a target while consolidating their authority. Meanwhile, the French organization investigated Louis’s defection, the Followers, and Old Vaughn, as Luke and Dumbledore sailed home still unsure who had exposed them.

• The Minister of Magic and his secretary concluded that Luke had secured benefits and learned enough during his visit to make enemies, and the Minister said they would eventually stand with him against their chosen target.
• The French organization learned that Louis had joined Luke’s side, and its leaders decided to deploy their trained Gloves against the Followers.
• The organization ordered an investigation into the Lestrange Family, suspecting that Old Vaughn’s unusual interest in Luke was connected to his need to extend his life.
• Aboard the ferry, Luke and Dumbledore considered whether the Tin Man or the Ministry of Magic had exposed their whereabouts, and Dumbledore suspected the Ministry had helped the attack happen.
• Gemma overheard Luke ask Dumbledore why they were returning by ship, and Dumbledore admitted he wanted to delay going back to work.

Ilvermorny Principal Aegilbert decided to invite Luke Gaunt to investigate the failing Snakewood despite the risk of impeachment. Meanwhile, Snape brewed a potion for Luke, whose question about a Bezoar exposed that Snape had been hiding its role in the recipe.

• Professor Morian told Miranda he could not diagnose the Snakewood and urged the school either to summon Luke Gaunt or stop asking him for help.
• Aegilbert decided Professor Dumbledore would bring Luke to Ilvermorny and began drafting a formal invitation with Miranda.
• Snape brewed a potion for Luke using ingredients that differed from Nicolas Flamel's recipe, dismissing Luke's questions.
• Luke recognized a Bezoar and questioned Snape about adding it, so Snape challenged him to brew the potion himself.
• Snape hesitated, then added the Bezoar, which made the potion clear and sweet-smelling, before preparing another unexplained ingredient.

Luke drank Snape’s growth-promoting potion, then learned that Dumbledore had received an invitation tied to the Followers in the United States. Luke decided to investigate the inheritance claims and prepare for the dangerous trip, while Dumbledore hinted that an American friend interested in magical creatures might help.

• Snape warned Luke that his potion ingredients were rare, and Luke drank the potion despite suspecting Snape had tampered with it.
• Snape explained that the potion would help Luke digest his remaining magical power and promote his growth, then sent him away.
• Luke visited Dumbledore to borrow the fireplace, but Dumbledore showed him a letter inviting them to the United States, where the Followers held greater influence than in Europe.
• Dumbledore explained that Aegilbert was capable and likely truthful about the Snakewood and inheritance rights, and Luke planned to search his cabin and old house for clues.
• Dumbledore warned Luke that the trip would be dangerous and asked him to stay by his side; Luke said he was confident and would first work to improve his strength.
• Dumbledore mentioned an American friend who shared Luke’s interest in magical creatures, and Luke recognized the name.

Luke saw a mysterious gray shade in Dumbledore’s emotions, but the effort left him exhausted. After returning home, his body suddenly grew, and he approached a mirror to discover how Snape’s potion had changed his appearance.

• Dumbledore told Luke that Newt Scamander had been his close junior, and Luke expressed his admiration for Newt.
• Luke fixated on a gray shade in Dumbledore’s emotions, but it vanished when Dumbledore spoke, leaving Luke dizzy and depleted.
• Dumbledore warned Luke to treat his emotion-reading ability as a trump card until he understood its drawbacks, then promised to contact Ilvermorny about Luke’s ownership claim.
• Luke returned home and collapsed on the sofa, then felt a warm current restore his body and rapidly increase his height.
• Luke tore open his tight shirt and headed to the wardrobe mirror to see how Snape’s potion had altered his appearance.

After recovering from Snape’s punishment, Luke reviewed his system status and resolved to investigate the Chamber of Secrets before the next school year. He began drawing stored item cards, received several strange personal items, and opened a purple card that filled the room with light.

• Luke concluded that Snape had restrained himself because Luke knew a secret about his past involving Lily and Harry.
• Luke examined his system panel, reviewed his talents and stored rewards, and wondered whether his Parselmouth talent was tied to Slytherin’s Talent Magic.
• Luke decided to visit the Chamber of Secrets after Doris finished her special training, before the Diary could cause trouble through Ginny Weasley.
• Luke used his stored blue item cards and drew wool socks, a signed wizard hat, stockings, and a swimsuit, prompting him to question the system’s choices.
• Luke began opening a purple item card, and a burst of purple light illuminated the room.

Luke received several System rewards, including a Dragon Heart and an Animagus Skill Card, and realized the Dragon Heart might help him overcome the transformation’s limitations. He also drew a Blue Fiendfyre Skill Card tied to Grindelwald, which he decided not to use under his current identity, and ended with his hopes resting on the graduation gift box.

• Luke received Newt Scamander's Magical Creatures Research Notebook and thought about his correspondence with Luna and the mystery surrounding her ability to glimpse his thoughts through Legilimency.
• Luke drew an ordinary Fire Dragon Heart and connected it to the Animagus Skill Card’s warning that the magic was imperfect, though he knew he had only found a possible clue toward a better transformation.
• Luke drew a Blue Fiendfyre Skill Card and wondered whether Grindelwald had truly chosen death, then decided the spell was too distinctive to use under his current identity.
• Luke drew five more Skill Cards—Stupefy, Sandstorm, Sectumsempra, Expelliarmus, and Bombarda—but found that none addressed what he needed most.
• Luke placed his remaining hopes on the end-of-term graduation gift box.

Luke opened the End-of-Term Gift Pack and used its blue sphere, while Mathieu White experienced an illusion that ended with his death decades later. The story then revealed a plot to stop Luke from claiming an important position, as Dumbledore noticed that Luke had changed in more ways than his appearance.

• Luke opened the End-of-Term Gift Pack, stored two items, and absorbed the blue sphere's Light Dust.
• Mathieu White struggled through increasingly convincing illusions before waking in his real home beside the woman who held him under control.
• Decades later, Mathieu White died, and a Wizard delivered a eulogy describing his secret accomplishments and unhappy life.
• A red-haired woman reported completing her mission, and the gentle-faced man ordered her to stop Luke Gaunt from taking an important position.
• Jenkins Lum learned that Mathieu White had apparently died of natural heart failure but suspected someone had caused it.
• Dumbledore remarked that Luke's appearance and other characteristics had changed, leaving him puzzled.

Luke invited Dumbledore into his heavily defended cottage and asked to learn Dumbledore’s unique Water Prison, while Dumbledore warned him to study its principles rather than try to master it. Meanwhile, Ilvermorny prepared for Dumbledore and Luke’s visit and ordered troublesome students kept away from the school, unaware that someone was spying on them.

• Luke told Dumbledore his increased strength came from a harmless method and invited him into the cottage, where he wanted to learn Dumbledore’s Water Prison.
• Dumbledore agreed to teach Luke the spell’s underlying method during their journey to the United States, but warned that it was personal magic Luke should not try to master yet.
• Dumbledore decided he would not search Luke’s cottage for the secret he had come to find, saying he had reconsidered the risks.
• Miranda told Aegilbert that Hogwarts had accepted Ilvermorny’s invitation and that Dumbledore would bring Luke before the summer holiday.
• Aegilbert ordered Miranda to send troublesome students home and keep them away from the school before Luke’s visit.
• An unseen observer watched Aegilbert and Miranda from the bushes outside the window.

Luke struggled to decipher Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin’s notebooks, while nobles in the United States prepared for his arrival with Dumbledore. The chapter ended with Luke still unable to access the notebooks’ contents.

• A black-haired youth and two fellow students learned that a British noble would visit their school and planned to report the news to Jacob Senior.
• Lord Trippcard consulted Lucius Malfoy about Luke Gaunt, then ordered preparations for Luke and Dumbledore’s visit.
• Lucius explained to Draco that Luke had wisely avoided turning the Lans Family into unwilling vassals, then sent Draco to study in the library.
• Lucius privately anticipated that Trippcard would struggle to deal with Luke and Dumbledore.
• Luke tried to decipher Gryffindor and Slytherin’s notebooks but found that none of the Gaunt family’s methods worked.

Luke discovered that Slytherin’s protected research notebook could not be deciphered with the family’s materials, so he put off pursuing it until after his trip to the United States. Meanwhile, Harry and Hermione enjoyed very different summers, while Taylor struggled through a dangerous ordeal in a cave.

• Luke realized Slytherin’s research drained mental strength and that the family’s decryption notebook could not decipher a separate notebook, leaving him to consider other approaches for later.
• Harry used a potion to frighten the Dursleys into leaving him alone, then tried to write Taylor before realizing he did not know her address.
• Hermione worked on mathematical ways to describe magic, and Mrs. Granger worried about how often Hermione praised Luke.
• In a dark cave, Taylor struggled in pain as an elderly woman urged her to hold on.

Taylor experienced possible futures in which her relationship with Luke ended in devotion, family happiness, violence, or grief, then woke and discussed what she had seen with her grandmother. Days later, Luke packed for a trip to the United States, where an unexpected visitor arrived at his door.

• Taylor watched visions of possible futures, including versions of herself who worshipped Luke, raised children with him, plotted to kill him, and mourned him.
• Taylor saw a red-haired woman stab Luke, later protect Taylor, and receive purple particles in her forehead before Taylor lost consciousness.
• Taylor's grandmother carried her from the cave and later explained that the futures Taylor saw were possibilities, urging her to focus on the present.
• Taylor recovered while drinking beef soup and told her grandmother that she had seen many futures ending in failure.
• Several days later, Luke packed trunks for his trip to the United States and frowned when he opened the door to an unexpected visitor.

Luna Lovegood visited Luke before his departure and gave him the emerald necklace her mother had left her, believing her intuition warned that he might need it. After Dumbledore cautioned Luke about his relationships and his future, Luke insisted he would make his own choices, and the two prepared to leave.

• Luna told Luke that Growth Elves were a bedtime story her father had invented and explained that she had come to give him her mother's protective emerald necklace.
• Dumbledore recognized Luna as Pandora Lovegood's daughter, spoke kindly of her mother, and wished Luna happiness at Hogwarts.
• Dumbledore warned Luke not to hold Luna back, but Luke told him he would handle his private affairs himself and would not accept others meddling.
• Dumbledore changed into a brown suit and fedora, and Luke revealed that he carried his luggage in his Multi-functional Belt as they prepared to leave.

Luke and Dumbledore boarded a Muggle ship, where Luke challenged Dumbledore to reconsider the Wizarding World's stagnation and the value of Muggle innovation. As Dumbledore began to understand Luke's aims, a dangerous enchanted suitcase started luring a smuggler, while something stirred beneath the sea.

• Dumbledore and Luke boarded the ship, and Dumbledore reflected on the contrast between Wizarding and Muggle attitudes toward innovation.
• Luke argued that the Wizarding World had changed little beyond the absence of dark wizards, prompting Dumbledore to consider his criticism and warn him to value human life.
• Dumbledore and Luke reached a tacit understanding that Dumbledore would tolerate Luke's plans so long as his methods did not become too extreme.
• Yellow Hair briefly recognized Dumbledore as he boarded, but Dumbledore and Luke vanished from sight.
• White Hair became entranced by a song coming from his suitcase, reached for it, and was blasted into a wall by its blue light.
• White Hair left his cabin after resisting the suitcase's influence, while the song continued and something beneath the sea stirred.

Luke questioned Dumbledore about the Defense Against the Dark Arts position and Gilderoy Lockhart while they traveled aboard a ship. Beneath them, three Mermaids planned to delay the ship until reinforcements arrived to rescue their captured princess.

• Luke warned Dumbledore that a Muggle ship could not withstand dangerous sea creatures and asked what he thought of the Defense Against the Dark Arts position and Lockhart.
• Dumbledore admitted he had suspicions about Lockhart’s books but lacked evidence, and Luke said the stories’ origins seemed questionable.
• The ship trembled slightly, though Luke dismissed the sensation.
• Beneath the ship, Fis urged Ailos to attack, but Ailos said the three Mermaids could not overcome the ship and that their reinforcements would arrive in about half a day.
• Ailos and Carson agreed they should try to board the ship and locate the captured princess before the squad arrived.

Luke relaxed aboard a luxury cruise ship while secretly observing other wizards, then recognized Mide as a disguised Mermaid searching for the missing Princess. The chapter ended as Mide spotted Luke’s magic and Luke heard someone call Mide’s name.

• Luke lounged on the cruise ship and turned away women who tried to approach him.
• A blond-haired man left the deck while the white-haired man headed to the dining hall, unaware that Mide watched him with killing intent over Princess’s disappearance.
• Mide, disguised as a handsome man, was swept toward the entertainment area by women and worried that a nearby bodyguard carried a dangerous weapon.
• Luke sensed Mide’s magic, saw through his disguise, and realized he was a Mermaid searching for Princess.
• Luke watched Mide with interest, and someone nearby called out, “Mide?”

Luke and Dumbledore agreed to help Mide rescue a girl taken by two Wizards, while Mide concealed her true identity. They found White Hair confronting the opened room where he had hidden a dangerous box, and realized the other Wizard, Yellow Hair, had been killed by someone aboard the ship.

• Dumbledore reunited with Mide Aran, a Mermaid from the Deep Sea Empire, and introduced him to Luke.
• Mide said two Wizards had taken a girl close to him, and Luke and Dumbledore agreed to help find her.
• Luke learned that Mermaids' scales resisted magic but were vulnerable to physical weapons such as guns.
• White Hair returned to find his protective spells broken and the room containing his box opened, then accused Toris of betraying him.
• Luke, Dumbledore, and Mide spotted White Hair among a crowd and sensed that Yellow Hair's magical power had nearly vanished, suggesting he had been killed.

Luke and Dumbledore investigated the white-haired man’s room and learned that Princess Landy had run away on her own, while the princess secretly traveled toward the United States seeking help for her poisoning. Luke concluded that an American had sold the poisoned girl’s captive and that someone close to Landy meant her harm.

• Luke used his magical bagpipes to clear the Muggles from the corridor, then joined Dumbledore and Mide in questioning the white-haired man.
• Dumbledore found the white-haired man unconscious and Yellow Hair dead beside the bed, while Mide entered the box and discovered Princess Landy’s note saying she had gone out to play.
• Mide realized the princess had escaped by herself and considered asking Luke and Dumbledore for help finding her.
• Princess Landy rode west on a shark in a seaweed basket, suspecting her brother or second uncle had bought off someone around her and seeking a cure for the poison restricting her strength.
• Luke told Mide that the seller was definitely American, that Landy would likely travel to the United States, and that someone near her wanted to harm her.

Sephir Skye agreed to attend the banquet welcoming Luke Gaunt, while Tripcard planned to use it to bring Luke and Ivanna together. Luke refused to join Mide’s search for the girl but offered help from the United States, then Dumbledore warned him about the corrupting effects of Dark Magic after the poachers’ bodies were found.

• Sephir Skye agreed to attend Tripcard’s banquet and privately admired Luke Gaunt’s appearance and Muggle-influenced style.
• Tripcard told his subordinate that he expected Sephir Skye to pursue Luke’s wealth and planned to bring Ivanna to the banquet as well.
• Luke told Mide he would not join the search party, and Dumbledore declined to put his student in danger, though Luke promised to help search from the United States.
• Mide left Luke and Dumbledore a Conch for contact and departed.
• The blond and the white-haired man’s bodies were discovered, and Dumbledore warned Luke that Dark Magic could corrupt its caster.

Luke and Dumbledore arrived in America and discussed the country's Wizarding families, including the Skye Family, which they suspected was their target. After Muggle police finished investigating two deaths aboard their ship, American Aurors tried to question them, but a representative of the Trippcard Family intervened.

• Luke told Dumbledore that America's Muggle society had helped shape its Wizarding world and its educational strengths.
• Luke described the brutal history of American families and said he looked forward to meeting the head of the Skye Family, whom he suspected was their target.
• Luke admitted his American contact was a pen pal, and he and Dumbledore arrived at the docks amid a grand reception for other passengers.
• Muggle police briefly investigated the two dead Wizards aboard the ship, then allowed the passengers to disembark.
• Two American Aurors approached Luke and Dumbledore to investigate the deaths, and Dumbledore agreed to cooperate.
• A young man sent by the Trippcard Family greeted Luke and Dumbledore, then questioned Director Barry about why the Aurors wanted to take them away.

Luke and Dumbledore rejected the Wizarding Congress and the Trippcard Family’s competing attempts to host them, choosing instead to visit Alice. Elsewhere, Landy killed another Wizard on the reef and decided she needed to find help.

• Dita Bilow and Barry argued over whether Luke and Dumbledore should go with them, until Miranda Calleh arrived and offered to take the guests to Ilvermorny.
• Luke declined the invitations for the moment, saying he would first have lunch with his friend Alice, and Barry agreed to resume the Auror Office’s investigation later.
• Arthur arrived to escort Luke to Alice, and Dumbledore chose to join them for lunch rather than meet Newt Scamander that evening.
• On a reef, Landy killed a Wizard with a blade of water and ordered crabs to dispose of his body and another corpse.
• Landy admitted she needed help and wondered whether the old man she had met would keep his promise as she handled a tiny Conch from her necklace.