Chapter Summaries

Adam admitted that he had no experience dating after Eugene teased him, then learned Eugene planned to confess to Melissa. Before leaving court, Adam warned Eugene that Melissa should avoid the magical plant business, and he set out to ask Dumbledore and the others about the Hanging Gardens Ruins.

• Eugene guessed that Adam was bad at dating, and Adam admitted he had never dated anyone.
• Eugene told Adam he planned to take Melissa to Nightingale and confess to her, explaining that she was two years older and ran her family's magical plant shop.
• Adam told Eugene to have Melissa change jobs because he planned to flood the international market with magical plants produced at no cost.
• Adam left to ask Dumbledore and the others what they knew about the Hanging Gardens Ruins.

Adam asked Professor Dumbledore and Professor Grindelwald about the Hanging Gardens Ruins, and Grindelwald identified Adam’s description as likely matching the legendary site. Their discussion suggested its lake and golden giant tree might hold a power linking liquid and life, and Adam left with those areas as priorities to investigate.

• Professor Grindelwald recounted a damaged tale about wizards who built a floating nation by usurping the power of Apsu and Tiamat, only for it to fall beneath the earth.
• Adam described the ruin’s pit, lake, strange plants, poisonous insects, and crystal world containing a golden giant tree, leading Grindelwald to identify it as probably the Hanging Gardens.
• Professor Grindelwald advised Adam to focus on the lake and the underground space around the giant tree, arguing that the lake’s creatures and seals made a simple underground connection unlikely.
• Professor Dumbledore proposed that the lake’s marine life might be connected to Tiamat, while Grindelwald and Dumbledore speculated that the lake and tree shared a power linking liquid and life.

Adam discovered that the Hanging Gardens lake could create gigantic sea creatures and noticed that its water level rose after he removed some. He chose to settle by the lake and study its marine life, beginning with a garlic-grilled Giant Clam.

• Adam lifted a gigantic Giant Clam from the lake and realized it had likely grown there within the past year.
• Adam speculated that the lake had also created the oarfish and Kraken, and tested whether the Giant Clam changed when frozen or placed in seawater.
• Adam noticed the lake’s water level rising after he removed some water and considered investigating the lakebed.
• Adam decided to grill the Giant Clam with garlic and built a hollow giant tree beside the lake as a temporary home.
• Adam planned to live there for several days and research the lake’s unusual marine life.

Adam prepared an enormous barbecue in the underground ruins, drawing two starving survivors toward the smell. He continued cooking with Kero, Suppi, and the others, while the captain and his companion approached the feast.

• Adam grilled an assortment of skewers and used wind magic to scatter the smoke through the ruins.
• The captain and his malnourished subordinate smelled the barbecue and decided to seek it out together.
• Adam brought Kero, Suppi, and the other little ones to the grills, and they quickly ate the cooked skewers.
• Adam caught a large black bird and began preparing it for the barbecue, including collecting its blood for blood pudding.
• Adam used a Purify Card on the bird, then made Kero knead its meat in marinade without gloves or magic.

Adam encountered two Chinese survivors who had followed the smell of his barbecue to the lake, and learned they had little knowledge of the Hanging Gardens Ruins beyond how to survive. He arranged for Fawkes to take them to his secret base in the Forbidden Forest while he continued exploring.

• The captain and his teammate followed the barbecue scent toward the dangerous lake, fearing it might be a lure but deciding they had to discover the truth.
• Adam noticed the approaching survivors, put Kero and the others away, and greeted the two men when they reached his campsite.
• Adam spoke with the captain and his teammate over food and found that their limited exploration had taught him nothing new about the ruins.
• Adam decided not to take the two survivors outside or bring them along, and summoned Fawkes to escort them to his secret base in the Forbidden Forest.

Adam uncovered Tiamat, the magical source beneath the lake, and studied it alongside Apsu from the golden giant tree. He brought both back to the professors for research, where the younger Grindelwald became fascinated by Adam’s improved magic circles.

• Adam used magic to excavate Tiamat from the center of the lakebed and discovered that its power could be extracted in liquid form.
• Adam examined Apsu and found a metal belt buckle inside a shattered crystal, suspecting that the liquid had dissolved the rest of a person and their belongings.
• Adam proposed researching the ancient magical structures to advance seafood farming, prompting Professor Grindelwald to object and Professor Dumbledore to warn against using the power for domination.
• Young Grindelwald and young Dumbledore focused on Adam’s magic circles, and young Grindelwald asked whether they had come from the Hanging Gardens Ruins.
• Adam explained that he had improved the circles and moved the original magical environment to a special area in the Forbidden Forest, which he offered to show them later.

Bernard sentenced young Avery to prison despite his attempts to bribe the court, and Adam warned Bernard not to let his pursuit of justice become excessive. After learning that his fellow countrymen were surviving on Murtlap in the Hanging Gardens Ruins, Adam offered to take them back, leaving the two Hong Kong Ministry of Magic wizards stunned.

• Bernard sentenced young Avery to a fixed term in prison after Avery tried to blame the Imperius Curse and offered money.
• Adam watched Avery get dragged away, then cautioned Bernard to keep his sense of justice in check.
• Bernard asked Adam about the Hanging Gardens Ruins, and Adam remembered that his two fellow countrymen were still there.
• Adam found the two men eating roasted Murtlap and offered to return them to the outpost or the Hong Kong Ministry of Magic.
• The two Hong Kong Ministry of Magic wizards exchanged a stunned glance when Adam said he would let them go.

Adam freed two Hong Kong Ministry of Magic explorers from the Hanging Gardens Ruins and asked where they wanted to go. The captain chose the Office, South China Branch, suspecting the Hong Kong Ministry had concealed the ruins from China, and Adam agreed to take them there.

• The two explorers feared Adam would keep them imprisoned or kill them, but Adam asked them to choose a destination.
• The team member asked to return to the Hong Kong Ministry of Magic, while the captain requested the Office, South China Branch in Guang Province.
• The captain suspected the Hong Kong Ministry had withheld news of the Hanging Gardens Ruins from The Office because no reinforcements had arrived.
• Adam listened to the captain's suspicions and offered to help the two explorers reach the Office branch safely.

Adam arrived at the Office’s South China Branch with a team member and a captain, where he examined the Heaven and Earth Array and caught the receptionist Hongguo’s Penglai Flying Sword. The branch’s old man arrived to find Adam and the others playing a drinking game with Hongguo, who was determined to win.

• A young man interrupted Old Zhang’s song to report that a foreigner had entered the branch with two Chinese people, and Old Zhang rushed there.
• Adam examined the branch’s defensive formation while the team member identified it as the Heaven and Earth Array.
• Adam altered the formation’s golden patterns into the Qian and Kun trigrams, alarming the receptionist.
• The receptionist attacked Adam with a Penglai Flying Sword, but he caught it and learned she was Chinese and named Hongguo.
• Hongguo played a drinking game with Adam and kept losing, while the team member warned that she had drunk too much tea.
• Old Zhang reached the reception room and found Hongguo determined to beat Adam at the game.

Adam stayed at the branch office while Old Li investigated the Hong Kong Ministry of Magic representatives’ claims. When Adam asked for cultural relic specialists, Old Li said the experts were in special care wards after believing the museums holding plundered Chinese relics had been destroyed, leaving Adam to hint that the artifacts might have survived.

• Old Li heard Hongguo’s account, tentatively accepted the two visitors’ identities, and arranged for Hongguo to show them to guest rooms.
• Old Li thanked Adam for bringing the visitors back and asked him to remain at the branch office while the matter was investigated.
• Adam agreed to stay, asking for a local guide to take him sightseeing and for help contacting cultural relic specialists.
• Old Li explained that the specialists had been traumatized by reports that British museums and other sites holding Chinese relics were destroyed and were receiving special care in the capital.
• Adam cautiously asked whether the experts might recover if the relics had not actually been destroyed.

Adam reassured Old Li that the cultural relics would be returned to China after they were restored, while experts who saw the collection through the Yuan Guang Shu rushed to leave the hospital. When Chinese professors began inspecting the relics, they discovered that many were fakes and suggested the originals had been stolen or secretly sold.

• Professor Ma and the other hospitalized experts saw the relics through the Yuan Guang Shu and tried to leave immediately, alarming the doctors and nurses.
• Old Li asked Adam whether the relics would be gifted back to China and suggested changing Adam's nationality if he could not ensure it.
• Adam promised that the relics would be returned after they were restored or their condition could be guaranteed.
• The chapter explained that Tony Blair had agreed to the Ministry of Magic's demands after witnessing magic and learning that Aurors carried guns.
• Chinese professors inspected the collection and identified many items as fakes, with one professor saying the originals had likely been stolen or secretly sold.

After completing his side quests, Adam began planning a long sightseeing trip through China and arranged with The Office to use the Heaven and Earth Array for occasional trips back to Britain. As Yun Jinshu and Yun Yanhu drove him through Guang Province, Adam wondered what he would find at a distant place he expected to reach in half a year.

• Adam decided to begin his main quest by traveling around China to explore its regional customs and food.
• Old Li approved Adam’s coastal and Silk Road itinerary and offered him access to spatial teleportation at The Office’s facilities.
• Adam thanked Old Li and set off the next day with Yun Jinshu and Yun Yanhu assigned to protect him.
• Yun Jinshu nearly drove into a ditch when he discovered Adam spoke fluent Chinese, then he and Yun Yanhu chatted with Adam about local sights and snacks.
• Adam looked out the car window and wondered what he would see at the place he expected to reach in half a year.

Adam visited Uther in Egypt to ask whether he wanted Egyptian artifacts returned, then learned the curses made the artifacts more trouble than they were worth. Adam left them in Britain and offered Uther Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.

• Adam left Fuzhou for the British Ministry of Magic, where Bernard said they needed to notify Gringotts before acting against it.
• Adam asked Eugene what Uther thought about the Egyptian artifacts, but Eugene could not explain Uther’s response.
• Adam went to Egypt and asked Uther whether he wanted the artifacts returned.
• Uther explained that the artifacts’ curses were harmless outside Egypt and that the remaining items were costly liabilities to reclaim.
• Adam agreed to leave the artifacts in Britain and mentioned he had brought Uther Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.
• Uther hurried off to wash up so he could eat.

Adam joined Eugene and the Aurors to confront Gringotts after the goblins rejected the Ministry’s demands. He unleashed Xiao Hei against the bank, leaving Gringotts and nearby Diagon Alley in ruins while hoping the destruction would make local owners willing to sell their land.

• After returning to Britain, Adam met Eugene and the Aurors, who prepared to act against Gringotts.
• Eugene told the head of the Auror Command to evacuate Diagon Alley and leave the fight to Adam.
• Adam summoned Xiao Hei, who tore the roof from Gringotts and exposed the goblins inside.
• A goblin raised a Mithril Sword and shield to defend the bank’s treasure, and Adam entered Gringotts.
• Xiao Hei’s Dragon Breath killed the goblin and shattered Gringotts, damaging nearby buildings as Adam stood unharmed.

Adam and Xiao Hei attacked Gringotts, trapping its treasures underground and unleashing chaos among its dragons and goblins. The elderly goblin confronted Adam in enchanted armor, and Adam recognized something familiar about it.

• Adam sealed Gringotts' transfer magic, preventing the goblins from moving the vault treasures to other branches.
• The elderly goblin ordered the goblins to arm themselves and released the Ukrainian Ironbellies guarding the vaults.
• Xiao Hei intimidated the dragons and knocked one into the vaults, causing tremors that broke vaults free and sent a goblin falling to his death.
• Adam stirred the dragons' emotions, prompting them to fight each other before charging into the underground tunnels.
• The elderly goblin emerged with armed goblins and fired a beam from his enchanted glove, but Adam blocked it with rising rock and recognized the armor.

Adam defeated the goblins attacking him and Xiao Hei at Gringotts, then sent the captured goblins to the Aurors and went underground to investigate their weapons. Examining a frozen beam of crimson energy, he found it strangely familiar.

• The goblins fired crimson energy beams from their equipment at Adam and Xiao Hei, but Adam made the beams explode in midair.
• Adam knocked the goblins unconscious with sleep magic and accused them of stockpiling weapons to wage war against wizards.
• Adam told the Aurors to detain the goblins and remove their equipment, then went underground to investigate the remaining goblins and vaults.
• Adam froze a beam of crimson energy in his hand and sensed that it felt strangely familiar.

Adam identified the violent energy as magic formed from negative emotions, then captured the goblins and asserted the Ministry of Magic’s authority over them. He released one goblin to carry an ultimatum to Gringotts, leaving the possibility of war unresolved.

• Adam recognized the energy in the underground passage as magic formed from negative emotions and reached the vaults.
• A young goblin surrendered, and several others followed, but Adam ordered the Aurors to bind them and take them away.
• An Auror said the goblins would face Azkaban for resisting law enforcement and hiding destructive weapons, prompting a goblin to protest and threaten war.
• Adam declared that the Ministry’s rules governed the country and warned that goblins would not decide when a war ended.
• After examining one goblin’s memories, Adam released him and ordered him to tell Gringotts to accept the Ministry’s rules or face trial and further measures.

After Adam's remarks about fighting the goblins shocked a veteran Auror, Eugene accepted Adam's confidence without question. A message from Uther prompted Adam to consider how a goblin war could threaten Gringotts branches worldwide, and he went to Egypt to discuss the danger, where Uther asked how he would handle the International Confederation of Wizards.

• A veteran Auror asked whether Adam had cleared his offer to represent the Ministry of Magic with Eugene, who was surprised to learn about the possibility of war with the goblins.
• Adam assured Eugene that he could defeat the goblins alone, and Eugene trusted him while the Auror struggled to believe their exchange.
• Adam received a magical letter from Uther reporting that Gringotts branches worldwide had condemned the British Ministry of Magic's actions and asking whether Adam needed help.
• After reviewing an elderly goblin's memories, Adam suspected the goblins were nearly ready for war and might seize the valuables held in Gringotts branches.
• Adam went to Uther and explained the situation, then Uther asked how he planned to deal with the International Confederation of Wizards.

Adam and Uther discussed how the Egyptian Ministry of Magic would respond to the International Confederation of Wizards and ordered wizards to withdraw their assets from Gringotts. Back in Britain, Adam uncovered the goblins’ failed attempts to recreate ancient weapons and learned that the last remaining Ancient Magic might be beneath Hogwarts.

• Adam told Uther he would decide when any war with other Ministries of Magic ended and said he would not be concerned if the Confederation ignored them.
• Uther agreed to make withdrawing assets from Gringotts mandatory so the Ministry could identify wizards who disobeyed its orders.
• Adam returned to Britain and searched the elderly goblin’s memories for information about the goblins’ equipment.
• Adam watched a young goblin fail to forge a bracelet weapon and heard the elderly goblin explain that the goblins had lost the knowledge of their ancestors’ Ancient Magic.
• Adam learned that the elderly goblin believed Ancient Magic remained beneath Hogwarts and was startled because the energy there was unstable.

After learning from an old goblin’s memory that goblins had built a backup machine to dig beneath Hogwarts and unleash Ancient Magic, Adam went to the Headmaster’s Office to investigate whether a hidden threat lay under the school. He questioned the headmasters in the portraits and asked Professor Neophyte FitzGerald for information.

• Adam watched a memory in which an old goblin described Ragnok’s plan to dig beneath Hogwarts and recover Ancient Magic.
• The old goblin killed a young goblin with an energy weapon, fearing he might betray the goblins’ plan, then disposed of his body in lava.
• Adam decided to check whether a bomb existed beneath Hogwarts and appeared in the Headmaster’s Office.
• Adam summoned the headmasters from the portraits and asked whether any of them knew about Ancient Magic.
• Adam singled out Professor Neophyte FitzGerald and asked her to provide information.