Chapter Summaries

Fifth-year Slytherin Mariano Appia entered a Hogwarts Chicken Dinner match in the Forbidden Forest, relying on stealth and his experience to survive. After finding a wand in a Chest Monster, he headed toward the center while planning to camp rather than fight openly.

• Mariano remembered Snape saying combat was the best way to learn magic and recalled how the Chicken Dinner Game had proved him right.
• Madam Hooch supervised the match and fired a red flare to signal its start.
• Mariano entered the Forbidden Forest, adjusted to the darkness, and cast Lumos to search for a wand.
• Mariano found a Chest Monster, opened it with a branch, and took the wand inside.
• Mariano extinguished his light and quietly moved toward the center, expecting advanced players to hide and camp.

Mariano sneaked through the Chicken Dinner Game while thinking about learning Animagus transformation, then came across a duel between a black-robed FFF Squad member and the Hufflepuff couple Slit and Brenda. The FFF member gained the upper hand, but Brenda’s surprising reaction left the confrontation unresolved.

• Mariano decided to try learning Animagus transformation over the summer, with help from his Third Granduncle.
• Mariano avoided a spell in the crossfire and crept closer to watch a duel between a black-robed wizard and the couple Slit and Brenda.
• The black-robed wizard revealed his hatred of couples and said he had joined the Dueling Club to beat them up.
• Slit’s Petrificus Totalus failed against the wizard’s Armor Charm, and the wizard bound Slit and Brenda’s hands with vines.
• The wizard made Brenda dance with Tarantallegra and threatened to cast the Heartburn Charm on Slit.
• Brenda told the wizard to continue, surprising both Slit and the black-robed wizard.

Slit and Brenda defeated Heffernson after he tried to force them to break up, but Mariano ambushed them and had a house-elf carry them out of the Forbidden Forest. Mariano continued sneaking through the competition until a huge red zone forced him to run.

• Heffernson trapped Slit and Brenda, threatened them with the Heartburn Charm, and demanded that they renounce their relationship.
• Slit blinded Heffernson, stunned him, and bound him, while Brenda lifted her curse and transformed his nose and butt into pig features.
• Mariano petrified Slit and Brenda and summoned a house-elf to carry all three students out of the forest.
• Madam Pomfrey treated Slit and Brenda outside the forest, and the gathered students laughed when Heffernson's pig features were revealed.
• Mariano watched a competitor escape in a flying car, then fled when the ground around him turned red.

Mariano competed in Snape’s Forbidden Forest game while hoping to catch the Auror Office’s attention, but Harry Potter and Astoria took the win by appearing beside him under an unknown concealment spell. Harry crushed the Golden Egg to end the game.

• Mariano reflected on how the competition could help him become an Auror and learned that Wu Wukai had become a leading candidate for recruitment.
• Mariano defeated three opponents and cautiously approached the final safe zone, where the Golden Egg appeared.
• Mariano stunned a wizard concealed by the Disillusionment Charm and moved toward the Golden Egg as the safe zone shrank.
• Harry Potter and Astoria appeared beside the Golden Egg after their concealment spell was lifted, and Harry knocked Mariano unconscious with a ray of light.
• Harry grabbed and crushed the Golden Egg, ending the game.

Harry lounged with Cho while Astoria played with the Invisibility Cloak and teased him about using it for mischief. He suggested Astoria use a black stone to raise the undead, but she rejected the idea of becoming a dark ruler.

• Harry rested his head on Cho's lap, teased her about her racing heart, and accepted an apple she gave him.
• Astoria delighted in using the Invisibility Cloak to pretend to be an invisible menace in the Forbidden Forest, while Helena worried that Astoria had mistaken the cloak for an apron.
• Astoria teased Harry about the ghost stories he had told and asked whether he had used the cloak to sneak into girls' dormitories or bathrooms.
• Harry spanked Astoria for the insinuation, but Hermione stopped him before things could escalate.
• Harry suggested that Astoria use a black stone to summon an undead army and become the Princess of the Undead, but Astoria said she was not interested.

Harry teased Helena about her changing soul and learned that she felt stronger, while she hid an inexplicable attraction to him. Later, Helena posted a notice requiring fifth-years to consult their Heads of House about future employment and arranged for prefects to distribute career books.

• Harry found Helena writing and teased her after she blushed at seeing him bare-chested.
• Helena said her soul had grown stronger and could change color when her emotions surged, while Harry guessed she had absorbed his vital essence.
• Helena privately reflected on an enticing feeling that drew her toward Harry, which she had been suppressing.
• Helena posted a notice requiring fifth-year students to attend employment consultations during the first week of summer term.
• Helena told the fifth-year prefects to collect books about magical professions and distribute them in their dormitories.

Helena brought Harry, Cho Chang, Hermione, and Astoria a collection of career materials for Hogwarts fifth-years, and the group browsed magical employers’ requirements and advertisements together. The chapter ended with them still relaxing in Harry’s bedroom as rain fell outside.

• Helena brought back flyers and booklets from wizarding employers seeking students for specific magical careers.
• Hermione read St Mungo’s Healer requirements, and Harry and Cho Chang joked about how demanding the qualifications seemed.
• Harry showed Hermione the Muggle Liaison Office advertisement and said she was uniquely suited to the role.
• Cho Chang showed Harry the British Wizarding Bank booklet, whose cover featured Fleur, and Hermione teased him about their upcoming wedding.
• Astoria found advertisements for professional Quidditch teams, while the group also discussed careers in potion-making, dragon-taming, and other fields.
• Harry and Hermione read advertisements for a middle-manager role at Rookie Turn-Turn-Turn Station and jobs at a Leaky Cauldron branch.

Harry felt lost about his future until Hermione suggested that he aim to become an Auror and explained the qualifications. Harry then flirted with Hermione and began an intimate encounter on the desk, which Cho Chang accidentally witnessed before retreating to the bedroom.

• Harry told Hermione that he felt directionless and questioned what made life meaningful.
• Hermione suggested that Harry pursue becoming an Auror and outlined the academic, personal, and background requirements.
• Harry joked that Hermione might become Minister for Magic and began kissing and undressing her at the desk.
• Cho Chang came out of the bedroom, saw Harry and Hermione together, and rushed back inside to hide under the blankets with Astoria.
• Harry continued while Hermione tearfully blamed him for Cho Chang having seen them.

Cho overheard Harry and Hermione plotting to repeat an intimate encounter with her, while Luna later encountered a Sphinx searching for Harry Potter and agreed to lead it to him. The story left Luna walking with the Sphinx, telling herself she only wanted to help the creature find its master.

• Cho demanded to know what Harry and Hermione were whispering about, and they said they were nearly done.
• Harry and Hermione planned to use the same intimate knowledge on Cho that Hermione had experienced, with Hermione watching.
• Luna borrowed three books from the library and reflected on her feelings for Harry and her envy of Astoria.
• A Sphinx appeared before Luna and said it could smell its master, Harry Potter, on her.
• Luna misunderstood the Sphinx's words, then realized her mistake and agreed to take it to Harry.

Harry welcomed Luna and the Sphinx into the Room of Requirement, where Luna discovered the group lived among both magical and Muggle conveniences. After the others reacted sympathetically to Luna’s lonely childhood, Harry turned to finding a den for the three-meter-tall Sphinx.

• Luna arrived with the Sphinx and told Harry she had found the Sphinx at school, where it had asked her to help find him.
• Harry invited Luna inside, and the doorway magically expanded so the Sphinx could enter.
• Luna looked around the ordinary house and was surprised by its Muggle appliances and devices.
• Harry and Hermione teased each other about bringing Muggle inventions into their home, while Luna revealed she had often visited Muggle towns as a child.
• Hermione and Cho Chang looked at Harry sharply after learning about Luna’s childhood, so Harry suggested finding the Sphinx a den.

Harry settled the Sphinx into a spacious new room in the Room of Requirement and discovered how comfortable her fur was. In the living room, Luna tried to attract Harry with repeated adjustments of her glasses, but he only checked whether their screws were loose.

• Harry asked the Sphinx whether she could shrink, and she explained that her body only grew as her knowledge increased.
• Harry used the Room of Requirement to create a large, bright room for the Sphinx, who said it was better than any home she had lived in in Egypt.
• The Sphinx told Harry that she absorbed knowledge as magical power and did not need to eat.
• Harry lounged in the Sphinx's fur, then hurried to the living room after realizing where his head had been resting.
• Luna repeatedly adjusted her glasses to draw Harry's attention, and Harry eventually took them off to check whether their screws were loose.

Harry struggled to understand Luna’s feelings and finally asked her to be his girlfriend. Luna accepted, leaving Harry to realize that she had been waiting for him to explain what their earlier intimacy meant.

• Harry helped Luna put on her glasses, and she left with him to walk her out.
• As they descended the moving staircase, Harry reflected on his confusion about Luna’s calmness and lack of resistance.
• Harry asked Luna to be his girlfriend, while an old witch in a portrait warned her against him.
• Luna told Harry she would reluctantly agree, and he stroked her face as she looked at him gently.
• Harry realized Luna had been waiting for an explanation or promise after their earlier encounter, and he regretted having overlooked that.

Harry and Luna stumbled upon Vinelana and her boyfriend in an abandoned classroom, then Luna later accused Harry of lying about what she had seen. As the Easter holiday ended, Hermione vowed to focus on her O.W.L. revision and secretly planned to outscore Harry by keeping him distracted for the next month.

• Harry silenced the portrait witch and kissed Luna in a stairwell before leading her toward an abandoned classroom.
• Harry and Luna opened the classroom door and surprised Vinelana and her boyfriend; Harry later told Luna the white substance on Vinelana’s lips was milk.
• That night, Luna angrily accused Harry of lying about what she had tasted.
• With thirty days left before the O.W.L.s, Hermione moved to the living room and declared she would study until her final History of Magic exam.
• Hermione secretly planned to conserve her energy while Harry was drained, hoping to score higher than him on the O.W.L.s.

Harry drank Felix Felicis and tested its effects at home, where his luck led him into awkward encounters with Cho Chang, Hermione, and Astoria. Hermione recognized the potion and told him to stay home while it lasted, leaving Harry to wonder how its magic worked when he did nothing.

• Harry drank nearly a third of the Felix Felicis Severus Snape had given him and went looking for signs of its effects.
• Harry opened the bedroom door and saw Cho Chang changing, then opened the bathroom door and interrupted Hermione and Astoria bathing.
• Hermione wondered why the protective spell on the bathroom door had failed, while Helena fled after witnessing Harry's accidental visits.
• Hermione identified the potion as Liquid Luck and estimated that Harry's remaining dose would last four hours.
• Hermione told Harry to stay home for the morning, and Harry watched the unchanged world from the window.

Harry and Hermione encountered a runaway Canadian Electric Bee, while Harry also visited Big Black and urged the adult fire dragon to kidnap a princess. Big Black wandered sadly into the Forbidden Forest, ignoring Harry’s calls.

• A meteorite fragment appeared inexplicably in space and collided with an approaching meteorite, preventing a catastrophe on Earth.
• Harry trapped a Canadian Electric Bee in a magical bubble, and Hermione explained the creature’s habits to him.
• The bee’s owner found it, apologized to Harry, and put it in a ventilated bottle before Harry returned it.
• Harry visited Hagrid more often and saw that Big Black had grown into an adult fire dragon.
• Harry told Big Black to kidnap a princess and mentioned Daenerys Targaryen, but Big Black walked deeper into the Forbidden Forest without looking back.

Harry visited the sleeping Basilisk and rode Little Snow through the Forbidden Forest before spending time at Hogwarts, where a new Quidditch training pitch had been built. The extra field ended Snape’s ability to monopolize the original pitch, leaving him disgruntled.

• Harry connected to the Basilisk through his ruby ring and found it asleep in the lake.
• A giant rat tried to cross the lake to attack Harry but sank beneath the surface.
• Little Snow leaped across the lake to provoke the Basilisk until Harry called it back, then carried him through the Forbidden Forest.
• Harry promised Little Snow he would visit again soon and persuaded it not to follow him back to Hogwarts.
• Hogwarts built a second Quidditch training pitch beside the original one, and Snape complained because he could no longer take the original field from Gryffindor.

Harry watched Ginny train as her teammates teased her about liking him and revealed that the Harry Fan Club had spread negative rumors to discourage other girls. Ginny continued to establish herself as a talented Quidditch player ahead of Gryffindor’s match against Ravenclaw.

• The new Quidditch pitch eased scheduling conflicts, though teams training on neighboring pitches traded taunts under Madam Hooch’s no-contact rule.
• Harry saw Ginny give a Hufflepuff player a timid one-finger gesture after he booed her.
• Aelia, Katie, and Angelina teased Ginny that Harry came to watch her train and revealed they had all confessed their feelings to him.
• Angelina admitted that she led the Harry Fan Club and spread rumors to keep younger girls from pursuing Harry.
• Harry watched Ginny practice as her popularity and reputation as a Quidditch player grew before the match against Ravenclaw.

After Quidditch practice, Harry offered Ginny Liquid Luck to help Gryffindor win against Ravenclaw, but she took his offer as an insult to her ability and walked away in tears. She then returned to snatch the potion, leaving Harry confused, and he later told Cho Chang and Hermione what had happened.

• Harry asked Ginny whether she truly wanted to beat Ravenclaw and offered her Liquid Luck to guarantee a Quidditch victory.
• Ginny believed Harry thought she could not win on her own, rejected the potion, and left in tears.
• Ginny returned, snatched the Liquid Luck from Harry, and left without looking back.
• Harry told Cho Chang and Hermione about the encounter, and Hermione looked at him as if he were an idiot.

Harry explained why Ginny considered using Liquid Luck in Quidditch insulting, while Ron secretly bought a bottle of the potion with money from his brothers and Ginny. Ron planned to use it to prove himself, despite resenting Harry, whose business had made the potion available at Hogwarts.

• Hermione and Cho Chang told Harry that Ginny would see using Liquid Luck in Quidditch as an insult, and Cho Chang warned that Ginny had taken the potion too.
• Ron slipped into the Gryffindor dormitory and opened a package containing Liquid Luck, then crumpled the card signed by Severus Snape.
• Harry had arranged for Snape to make potions for sale through the Severus Potion Experience Shop, using the Wizard Supermarket and Big Bird Spin-Spin-Spin Courier Station to deliver them.
• Ron recalled that George and Fred had sent him five hundred Galleons and that Ginny had given him her share after he repeatedly pestered her.
• Ron decided the Liquid Luck would help him show others not to look down on him, though he resented Harry for being more talented and popular.

Ron tried to persuade Angelina to let him return as Gryffindor’s Keeper by showing her a vial of Liquid Luck, but she rejected his proposal and condemned his arrogance. The chapter ended with Angelina’s expression turning grim as she reconsidered what she had thought she understood about Ron.

• Ron followed Angelina into a secluded corridor and asked her to let him rejoin the Quidditch team for the final against Ravenclaw.
• Angelina refused, explaining that Ginny had trained hard, the team had developed a new formation, and Ron could not coordinate with them.
• Ron insisted that he did not need teammates, prompting Angelina to scold him for dismissing the team’s skill and effort.
• Ron showed Angelina the vial and revealed that it contained Liquid Luck, believing it would persuade her to accept him.
• Angelina said she had thought Ron’s poor performances came from nervousness and recalled seeing him practice alone, then told him she had been wrong.