Chapter Summaries

Anduin persuaded Minister Bagnold to approve an expensive repair of the Ministry’s Detection Magic Array, then spent a week studying it under the pretense of carrying out the work. He discovered runes for Space Locking and tracking that could help him counter Thunderbird’s Portkeys, and left with plans to develop devices to restrict or track magical travel.

• Anduin told Fudge, Minister Bagnold, and Amelia that magic contamination had damaged the Detection Magic Array and quoted three ounces of Ulim Steel and one ounce of Refined Mithril for repairs.
• Anduin offered cheaper substitute materials with risks, but Minister Bagnold rejected them and approved the original materials, supervision, and maintenance training.
• Anduin spent the next week staging elaborate repair work while studying the Ministry’s Monitoring Magic Array and learning about its alchemical systems.
• Anduin found Space Locking and tracking runes and realized he could use their technology to develop equipment that interfered with Portkeys or tracked magical travel.
• Anduin drew on what Acelia had confirmed about the Silver Spear’s ability to manufacture Portkeys as he considered ways to prevent Thunderbird from escaping.

Anduin repaired the Alchemy Room’s Portkey detection function and investigated the Ministry’s magical power system, discovering that the Department of Mysteries consumed and generated a large share of its power. Minister Bardeno approved his visit to Azkaban to meet Sirius Black and accompanied him there.

• Anduin restored the Portkey Detection Device, though he found that monitoring Portkeys greatly increased the Alchemy Room’s energy consumption.
• Anduin inspected the Ministry’s Magic Storage Room and recorded how magical power was generated, stored, and used across its floors.
• Anduin discovered that the Department of Mysteries accounted for almost a third of the Ministry’s daily Magic Power consumption and generated the most power.
• Minister Bardeno approved Anduin’s request to visit Azkaban and said she would supervise his meeting with Sirius Black.
• Anduin assured Bardeno that he could cast the Patronus Charm reliably, and she again offered him a Ministry position.

Anduin accompanied Minister Bardeno to Azkaban, where she brought him through the prison’s freezing entrance corridors. After Bardeno rebuked two Aurors for failing to notice their visit, Anduin persuaded her to let them off with a warning.

• Anduin declined Bardeno’s invitation to work for the Ministry, and she Apparated with him to Azkaban.
• Anduin used his Echo Glasses to see the prison’s towering structure and learned that Apparition was only possible on its exposed rooftop plaza.
• Bardeno led Anduin down into the prison, past the Dementors and through a cold passageway.
• Bardeno found two Aurors playing Wizard Chess instead of watching the entrance and questioned them about the missing visitation notice.
• Anduin defended the Aurors, and Bardeno agreed to forgive their lapse with a warning.

Anduin and Minister Bardeno descended through Azkaban as Slim explained its guards and Dementors, then reached the silent fourth floor where Sirius Black was held. Anduin’s Fear Spell silenced the prisoners, and Bardeno sent Slim away before they continued toward Sirius’s cell.

• Bardeno ordered a guide to take her and Anduin to Sirius Black, and Slim led them into the prison.
• Slim explained that two Aurors and the Dementors guarded Azkaban, while house-elves provided the prisoners’ food.
• A Dementor fed on a prisoner, prompting Bardeno to ask whether prisoners ever died.
• A prisoner jeered at Anduin, who used a Fear Spell to silence the prisoners; one muttered, “Hybor... this is Hybor’s Fear...”
• Slim led them to the fourth floor and told Bardeno that Sirius Black’s cell was ten doors ahead, and she sent Slim back upstairs.

Anduin visited Sirius in his prison cell, hoping to learn what had happened to the Potters, but Sirius panicked when he recognized him. Anduin calmed him with a potion and tried to reach him through a familiar lamb chop.

• Minister Bardeno made herself invisible so Sirius would see only Anduin.
• Anduin approached Sirius's cell and introduced himself, but Sirius recognized him and screamed for him to leave, repeating that he had killed Potter and Lily.
• Anduin suspected Sirius's anguish was genuine and, with Bardeno's silent approval, used a Calming Potion to settle him.
• Anduin avoided mentioning the Potters, Peter Pettigrew, or Lupin and presented Sirius with the pistachio-crusted lamb chop he had first cooked for him at Christmas during his First Year.

Anduin used food to draw Sirius into a conversation about the Potters’ deaths, and Sirius insisted he had never betrayed them. Anduin concluded that someone else had been the Potters’ Secret Keeper.

• Anduin placed hot lamb chops in Sirius’s cell, and Sirius eventually ate them.
• Anduin grabbed Sirius when he reached for a glass of Butterbeer and demanded that he speak.
• Sirius admitted he believed he was guilty of letting the Potters down but denied betraying them or serving the Death Eaters.
• Anduin questioned how Voldemort had found the Potters if Sirius had not revealed their location.
• Anduin concluded that someone else had been the Potters’ Secret Keeper.

Anduin deduced that Peter Pettigrew had betrayed the Potters after Sirius chose him as Secret Keeper, but Sirius blamed himself and refused to leave Azkaban. Anduin finally reached him by reminding him of his godson Harry and showing him a family portrait.

• Anduin reasoned that the Fidelius Charm had held and concluded that Peter Pettigrew, not Sirius, had been the Potters’ Secret Keeper and betrayed them.
• Sirius admitted that he had suggested changing the Secret Keeper and trusted Peter, so he held himself responsible for the Potters’ deaths.
• Anduin tried to persuade Sirius to leave Azkaban and help fight the remaining Death Eaters, but Sirius refused and said he deserved to stay imprisoned.
• Minister Bardeno signaled her support for Anduin, despite the potential consequences of overturning Peter Pettigrew’s reputation.
• Anduin reminded Sirius of his responsibility to Harry and showed him a family portrait, prompting Sirius to reach for it and stare at the Potters and Harry.

Anduin discovered that Peter Pettigrew was still alive and used the revelation to rouse Sirius into seeking justice and escaping Azkaban. Minister Bagnold agreed to consider Sirius's innocence but said his inability to speak the Potters' address was not necessarily enough evidence to release him.

• Anduin urged Sirius to take responsibility for Harry, but Sirius asked Anduin to raise him instead.
• Anduin asked whether Peter Pettigrew was truly dead and tested Sirius by asking him to say the Potters' address.
• Sirius found he could not say the address and realized Peter was still alive, then vowed to find him.
• Anduin offered to help Sirius leave Azkaban legally, and Minister Bagnold appeared and said Sirius would need to prove his innocence.
• Anduin argued that the Fidelius Charm proved Peter was alive, but Bagnold said it was not necessarily sufficient evidence to release Sirius.

Anduin and Bardeno found evidence that Sirius was not the Potter family’s Secret Keeper, but Bardeno explained that clearing his name would face political resistance. Sirius agreed to remain in Azkaban while they worked to prove his innocence and find Peter Pettigrew.

• Bardeno explained that Sirius’s inability to reveal the Potters’ address could be dismissed as deliberate concealment, though an examination of his memories could support his innocence.
• Sirius demanded to be released so he could hunt Peter, but Anduin and Bardeno warned that escaping would make him a wanted criminal and undermine their efforts.
• Anduin urged Sirius to stay patient, and Sirius agreed while asking Anduin to clear his name quickly.
• Anduin supplied Sirius with food and necessities, and Bardeno promised to move the Dementors away and improve his meals.
• After returning to the Ministry, Anduin asked Bardeno about the obstacles to clearing Sirius’s name, and she explained that overturning the Ministry’s public verdict and Peter’s Order of Merlin award would threaten its credibility.

Anduin agreed to help Minister Bardeno clear Sirius’s name, with tracking down Peter Pettigrew or finding the Silver Spear as possible ways to secure support. Bardeno offered him an Unlimited Self-Defense Certificate for the dangerous overseas mission, and she later told Amelia and Moody that Sirius might be innocent.

• Bardeno asked Anduin to find Peter Pettigrew or locate the Silver Spear’s hideout to help free Sirius.
• Bardeno offered Anduin an Unlimited Self-Defense Certificate and support from the Ministry if he pursued the Silver Spear abroad.
• Anduin promised to help and said he expected to find the Silver Spear’s trail within about a year.
• Bardeno summoned Amelia and Moody and told them she believed Sirius was innocent.
• Moody accepted the possibility based on his knowledge of Sirius, while Amelia questioned whether Bardeno had been deceived.

Minister Bagnold, Amelia, and Moody discussed the risks of overturning Sirius’s conviction and why they believed Anduin was worth supporting. After a year of failed efforts to persuade the Wizengamot, Anduin considered making a deal and turned to Acelia as a backup plan.

• Amelia warned Minister Bagnold and Moody that the evidence was too weak to overturn Sirius’s conviction, but Bagnold insisted it was right to keep trying.
• Bagnold explained that Anduin had proved himself worthy of the Order’s trust, while Moody worried that Anduin might resent being tested through Sirius’s case.
• Anduin studied magical creatures and alchemy at the Scamanders’ home, gradually improving his mental connection with the Thunderbird and learning how the Traveling Kettle’s rune-infused water worked.
• Over the following year, Bagnold and Dumbledore tried to persuade the Wizengamot to clear Sirius, but the wizards refused to overturn the conviction.
• Anduin considered Bagnold’s proposed deal and relied on Acelia as a backup after the Thunderbird finally contacted her.

Acelia’s latest letter from Thunderbird suggested he was in Egypt and would likely target the British delegation at the International Alchemy Conference, so Anduin arranged to attend. Meanwhile, Silver Flash Merchant continued expanding, and Anduin’s staff bickered as they discussed their coming days off.

• Acelia told Anduin that Thunderbird had requested the British attendees at the International Alchemy Conference, and Anduin inferred that the Silver Spear planned another move there.
• Anduin told Acelia to make clear that he would attend the conference.
• Silver Flash Merchant grew through new supplier contracts, music and record deals, overseas sales, and Shalltear’s product designs.
• Shalltear, Hog, and Qiqi discussed lunch and where to spend their upcoming days off, teasing one another until Anduin arrived.

Anduin prepared to visit the centaurs in the Forbidden Forest and brought Hog along, while Shalltear stayed behind. In his expanded basement workshop, he retrieved a Dragon Heartstring that had been soaking in an enchanted liquid for ten months, ready for its final processing.

• Anduin told the shop staff he would be away in the Forbidden Forest and invited Hog to join him in visiting Firenze and Ronan.
• Shalltear asked to come, but Anduin and Hog refused because the centaurs hated Dark Magic Creatures and she could not go out during the day.
• Anduin took Hog into his expanded basement, where he had added rooms and eight specialized Magic Lathes to increase production.
• Anduin inspected the Dragon Heartstring he had obtained from the Travers family and said it was ready for final processing after ten months in the electric liquid.
• Anduin reached into the tank and pulled out the Dragon Heartstring.

Anduin visited the centaurs’ camp in the Forbidden Forest, where his years of fair trade and support had earned him their trust. He watched Brandwain train young centaurs, and one contestant nearly cleared the final hurdle before catching it with his hind legs.

• Anduin Apparated to the centaur camp with Hog and was greeted warmly by the centaurs.
• Anduin walked through the village, where centaurs worked, patrolled, and went about their daily routines.
• Anduin reached the central square and found Brandwain training young centaurs in jumping and archery.
• A centaur cleared several hurdles while hitting every target, but his hind legs caught the final hurdle.

Hog mocked Ronan after the centaur fell at the final hurdle, while Anduin met with Brandwain and the centaurs to forge equipment from rare metals. The metals were fused and shaped, and Brandwain asked Anduin why he preferred traditional smithing to magical shaping.

• Ronan fell face-first at the final hurdle, and Hog laughed at him and threatened to tell the camp about the spill.
• Hog ran through the camp shouting about Ronan's fall as Ronan chased after him, entertaining Brandwain, Anduin, and the young centaurs.
• Brandwain dismissed the training centaurs and led Anduin, Firenze, and Bane to the camp's smithy.
• Bane heated the furnace while Firenze prepared to work the tongs, and Anduin took Ulim Steel and Refined Mithril from his Space Ring.
• Anduin used magic to fuse the metals into a stable alloy and shaped it for forging, prompting Brandwain to ask why he did not make the equipment directly with magic.

Anduin explained how forging and rune-work could create a Holy Artifact, then worked with Brandwain and the centaurs to forge a sword around a Dragon Heartstring infused with Desolate Lightning. The sword was shaped and quenched, leaving Anduin to inscribe its runes before the next stage.

• Anduin told Brandwain that a Holy Artifact required forging, rune engraving, and further work to develop its potential.
• Brandwain, Bane, and Firenze heated the Magic Metal in a furnace until it melted, while Anduin prepared the Dragon Heartstring.
• Brandwain and Anduin poured the molten metal around the Dragon Heartstring and forged it into a four-sided Han Jian using enchanted tools.
• Firenze quenched the finished sword, and Anduin said he would inscribe its runes before they continued forging.

Anduin completed the runes on his sword, including a Permanent Energy-Absorption Spell that drained some of the maximum magic of blood-bearing creatures it struck. He brought the enchanted Sword Blank to Brandwain’s forge to begin the final re-forging stage.

• Anduin tested the Sword Blank and confirmed its dimensions, magical conductivity, hardness, and flexibility.
• Anduin planned runes to reinforce the sword, control it at a distance, increase its sharpness, and permanently absorb energy from creatures it wounded.
• Anduin spent two days carefully engraving the runes onto the Sword Blank.
• Anduin returned with the enchanted sword, and he and Brandwain began re-forging it at the Mountain Top Forge.
• Anduin placed the sword in the furnace and infused it with magic, while its runes and heat-resistant materials protected it from the flames.

Anduin and Brandwain used Fiendfyre to reforge the Sword Blank, repeatedly heating and hammering it until its magical impurities were nearly gone. As black storm clouds gathered over the mountaintop, Anduin sensed the Han Jian was nearing its complete form and began the final forging step.

• After the furnace proved too weak, Anduin moved the equipment outdoors and prepared to heat the Sword Blank with Fiendfyre.
• Anduin carefully heated the blade while infusing it with magic, then he and Brandwain hammered it on the anvil.
• The repeated forging purified the blade, replaced its magical starbursts with a silver glow and crackling Electric Arc, and made it increasingly resistant to Fiendfyre.
• Firenze spotted black clouds and lightning gathering above the mountaintop while Anduin and Brandwain prepared to heat the blade again.
• Anduin sensed the Han Jian was about to reach its complete form and told Brandwain they were beginning the final forging step.

Anduin and Brandwain completed forging the lightning-element Han Jian as a storm gathered overhead, but the clouds did not unleash a tribulation. Anduin admired the finished blade, then realized its balance was off and remembered what he had forgotten.

• Brandwain and Anduin continued hammering and infusing the Sword Blank until it was filled with magic.
• As Anduin took hold of the lightning sword, a Thunder Cloud formed a swirling vortex overhead, prompting him to raise the blade toward it.
• The Thunder Cloud did not react, and the lightning effects faded to reveal the silver Han Jian.
• Anduin tested the sword with a series of swings and Sword Moves, then noticed that its blade was heavier than its hilt.
• Anduin realized he had forgotten something while forging and slapped his forehead.

Anduin united Dark Brush with his sword, creating An Mie, whose transformation drew Thunder Cloud’s lightning and refined his magic power. When the storm’s lightning began to weaken, Anduin flew straight into its heart, leaving the watching centaurs, Hog, and Brandwain stunned.

• Anduin inserted Dark Brush into the hollow hilt of his sword and named the combined weapon An Mie.
• An Mie transformed into a brilliant blade of blue-silver light, while the storm vortex began gathering power overhead.
• Thunder Cloud struck Anduin with lightning, and An Mie absorbed the bolts while sending plasma into him that replenished and refined his magic power.
• Anduin noticed the lightning was weakening, raised An Mie, and launched himself toward the heart of the storm.
• Hog and Brandwain watched in amazement as Anduin flew into the vast storm cloud.