Chapter Summaries

Harley studied a silver card that could admit its holder to Sefirah Castle and speculated that it was one of Heavenly Venerable’s resurrection contingencies. The next day, she accompanied Professor Dumbledore to Nurmengard, where he reunited with the imprisoned Grindelwald and explained their unusual arrangement.

• Harley discovered that the silver card was a disposable admission pass to Sefirah Castle and suspected Heavenly Venerable had left it as part of a resurrection plan.
• Harley and Professor Dumbledore visited the former stronghold of Grindelwald, where Dumbledore explained that Grindelwald had agreed to remain imprisoned without guards or magical defenses.
• Harley and Dumbledore passed through Nurmengard’s dusty rooms, where Grindelwald had kept opponents and carved the names of fallen fighters into the walls.
• Dumbledore and Harley met Grindelwald in the castle’s highest tower, where he welcomed them over a lavish lunch and served them drinks.
• Grindelwald complained that Dumbledore rarely visited, while Dumbledore noted that the prisoner lived comfortably and said he envied Grindelwald’s leisurely days.

Harley learned that Dumbledore had brought her to Nurmengard to explore a dangerous magical wonder beneath the castle and protect her from the possible effects of her innate Dark Magic. Since the wonder had become too dangerous to visit, Dumbledore stayed with Harley at Nurmengard so she could study Grindelwald’s understanding of the mind.

• Grindelwald told Dumbledore that the magical wonder beneath Nurmengard had changed and become dangerous, so he could not take them there.
• Dumbledore explained to Harley that the wonder was a pitch-black lake whose power had taught Grindelwald to understand and influence minds.
• Dumbledore said he wanted Harley to visit the lake to guard against worsening negative effects from her innate Dark Magic after Tom’s resurrection, but Grindelwald described the lake as a sea and Harley recognized its connection to the Chaos Sea.
• Harley did not visit the lake because Dumbledore and Grindelwald considered it too dangerous, and Harley also feared a meeting between its power, her ticket to Sefirah Castle, and the Deathly Hallows.
• Dumbledore remained at Nurmengard under the pretense of monitoring Grindelwald and arranged for Harley to study Grindelwald’s understanding of the mind.

Harley studied Grindelwald’s advanced Fiendfyre techniques while Dumbledore lost his position as Britain’s representative to the International Confederation of Wizards but retained his role as Chief Warlock. Grindelwald and Dumbledore revisited their painful past before the chapter ended with Umbridge humiliated after trying to claim Dumbledore’s former position.

• Grindelwald trained Harley to wield Fiendfyre while resisting its negative emotions, and Harley learned his advanced methods for controlling and directing the flames.
• Fudge revoked Dumbledore’s status as Britain’s representative, costing him the Confederation presidency, but Dumbledore kept his Wizengamot seat and Chief Warlock position.
• Grindelwald criticized the British Ministry’s treatment of Dumbledore, then regretted mentioning that Dumbledore had once refused to help him; Dumbledore blamed himself for the tragedy involving Mother, Aberforth, and Ariana.
• Harley asked who would replace Dumbledore, and Grindelwald discovered that Dolores Umbridge had become Britain’s representative.
• Umbridge opposed allowing Dumbledore to remain president and put herself forward for the role, but Confederation members rejected and insulted her until she fled the meeting.

Harley finished ten days of magical training with Grindelwald in Nurmengard, then returned to Hogwarts with Dumbledore. As Grindelwald investigated a hidden passage in the castle, Harley chose to spend the rest of her summer with Sirius at the Order of the Phoenix headquarters.

• Grindelwald and Dumbledore discussed Voldemort’s threat while Harley studied magic in Nurmengard.
• On July 31, Harley left Nurmengard with Dumbledore after mastering Grindelwald’s Fiendfyre.
• After they departed, magical seeds revealed a concealed passage, and Grindelwald went to investigate it.
• At Hogwarts, Dumbledore asked Harley where she wanted to spend the rest of her summer, and she chose the Order of the Phoenix headquarters to visit Sirius.
• Dumbledore prepared a Portkey to take Harley to the headquarters.

Harley discovered that the Order of the Phoenix headquarters was protected by the Fidelius Charm and joined Professor Dumbledore there, where the Order surprised her with a birthday party. The celebration ended with Hermione confronting Harley about the familiar Witch in her tournament photos, leaving Harley worried that her secret with Fleur was about to come out.

• Harley realized the Fidelius Charm had tried to conceal the Order of the Phoenix headquarters in her memories, and Professor Dumbledore took her to Number 12 Grimmauld Place using a special Portkey.
• Harley and Professor Dumbledore arrived at the renovated headquarters, where Hermione, Sirius, the Weasleys, and other Order members surprised Harley with a birthday party.
• Harley learned that Bill and Charlie had returned to Britain and that Percy had joined the Order after losing faith in Fudge.
• Hermione congratulated Harley on winning the International Wizarding Duelling Tournament and asked about the Witch pictured beside her in the Daily Prophet.
• Harley realized the photographs showed her with Fleur, whom she had never mentioned to Hermione, and feared her secret would be exposed.

At Sirius’s slip during Harley’s birthday feast, Hermione was embarrassed, while Fred and George pranked Ron and showed Harley their Invisible Hand gloves. Harley considered how their designs could help protect her from supernatural corruption and discussed the twins’ shop plans, as the magical world’s tensions continued to rise.

• Sirius revealed that Hermione had once recognized Fleur Delacour and wanted to travel to Spain to find Harley, leaving Hermione too embarrassed to question Harley further.
• Fred and George used their new party poppers to shove Ron’s face into his cake, and Mrs. Weasley blamed the twins.
• After the feast, Dumbledore left for a Wizengamot meeting, while Lupin, Phineas, and Mrs. Black took Sirius away for a private talk.
• Fred and George demonstrated their Invisible Hand gloves to Harley, who accepted a pair and considered adapting their designs to guard against corruption from higher powers.
• Harley encouraged Fred and George to keep studying at Hogwarts before opening their shop, then explained that Molly feared losing them in the war.
• Harley reflected that Voldemort was still gathering allies and that the Death Eaters she had secretly corrupted were helping her advance toward becoming an Archangel.

Harley and Hedwig reached a hidden Giant settlement in the Alps as Harley prepared for her advancement ritual. Hedwig planted a hypnotic seed in a Giant, and Harley awakened him and made him her servant, Gogmagog, greeting her as Master Gurg.

• Harley accepted Professor Dumbledore's offer to serve as Gryffindor's female prefect and spent the summer studying with Hermione at Number 12 Grimmauld Place.
• Hedwig used psychological invisibility and Hypnosis to turn a Muggle expedition away from the hidden magical tree in the Alps.
• Harley and Hedwig found roughly a hundred Giants, whose violent infighting had left their tribe diminished.
• Harley conjured a storm that drove the Giants into caves and isolated one sleeping Giant outside the storm.
• Hedwig entered the sleeping Giant's dream and planted a hypnotic seed, then complained about his grotesque dream of eating live boars.
• Harley awakened the Giant, used silver light to control him, and heard him introduce himself as Gogmagog and address her as Master Gurg.

Harley enlarged Golgomath and sent him back to challenge for leadership of the Giants while secretly preparing for the arriving Death Eaters. As Werewolves and Giants began traveling toward Great Britain, Voldemort’s allies secured Goblin support and sought Giant-sized armor, while Professor Babbling learned that the vampires had sensed Dracula’s will.

• Harley fed Golgomath until he grew to twenty-six feet, then ordered him to return to his tribe and fight for the position of Gurg, while asking him to look after Grawp.
• Nott received Malfoy’s urgent request for a helmet for a twenty-six-foot Giant, and Bilak agreed to have the Goblins forge it within three days.
• Harley’s hidden magic disturbed the Goblin leaders and altered their memories as they reviewed contracts bearing the Dark Mark.
• Professor Babbling questioned an elderly vampire about the vampires’ refusal to join either side, and he revealed that they had sensed Dracula’s will.
• Werewolves and Giants began moving toward a port to sail to Great Britain, while the Death Eaters in Azkaban prepared themselves and hid wands on the prison’s lowest level.

Harley received her Gryffindor prefect badge, and Sirius persuaded the adults to take her and the other children to Diagon Alley. There, Harley’s popularity drew a crowd, and a teasing question about Sirius and Snape left Sirius and Lupin insisting that nothing had happened between them.

• Harley’s Hogwarts letter arrived with a scarlet-and-gold badge naming her Gryffindor girls’ prefect, delighting Sirius and the Weasley Twins.
• Mrs. Weasley worried about taking the children to Diagon Alley, but Lupin offered to accompany the group and Tonks joined them.
• Sirius led the group to Diagon Alley, where wizards crowded around Harley to ask for autographs.
• Sirius bragged that he and James had disliked attracting attention, so Harley threatened to ask Professor McGonagall about his school days.
• Harley asked what had happened between Sirius and Professor Snape, and Sirius and Lupin denied doing anything while dismissing Snape’s account as slander.

Harley learned how Fudge’s denial of Voldemort’s return led Dumbledore to launch impeachment proceedings against him, while Sirius shared the news during the group’s shopping trip. After visiting Knockturn Alley to observe Voldemort’s recruitment and supply efforts, Harley boarded the Hogwarts Express for the new term and was summoned to the prefects’ compartment.

• Harley inferred that Sirius, Lupin, and her father had done something wrong involving Snape during their school days, but she did not press them for details.
• Sirius told Harley that Dumbledore had secured enough support in the Wizengamot to begin impeachment proceedings against Fudge after Fudge trusted Lucius Malfoy’s lies about Voldemort’s return.
• Lupin stopped Sirius from sharing more at Madam Malkin’s, and the group finished shopping before returning to Number 12 Grimmauld Place.
• Harley visited Knockturn Alley with the werewolves and saw Death Eaters recruiting dark wizards and buying strategic supplies for Voldemort.
• Harley boarded the Hogwarts Express for the new term and left her compartment to attend a meeting in the prefects’ compartment.

Harley Potter attended the prefects’ meeting and patrolled the Hogwarts Express with Neville, whose confidence she helped restore. The patrol exposed the students’ antics and the trouble caused by Fred and George’s products, and Harley returned to her compartment exhausted.

• Harley arrived at the prefects’ compartment, where the other prefects watched her with a mix of awe, pride, and hostility.
• Draco recalled Lucius’s warning to stay neutral if Fudge sent someone to interfere at Hogwarts and to hedge the Malfoy family’s bets by getting on Harley’s good side.
• Neville joined the Gryffindor prefects as a surprise choice, and Angelina defended him when Bitty McNeill provoked him.
• Cedric and Pamela Gonzales quickly assigned patrol areas and reviewed the prefects’ rules, while Angelina explained that Percy’s old bureaucratic meetings had made later meetings shorter.
• Harley and Neville patrolled the train, and Harley encouraged Neville after he called himself cowardly and unworthy of being a prefect.
• Harley saw students behaving intimately and dealt with the chaos caused by Fred and George’s Fanged Frisbees, Screaming Seeds, and strengthened Dungbombs before returning to her compartment.

Harley Potter and Hermione Granger received invitations from Professor Horace Slughorn and attended his lunch gathering aboard the Hogwarts Express. After Slughorn introduced his guests and promoted his Slug Club, Harley and Hermione returned to their compartment, where Harley explained that Sirius was scouting Malfoy Manor and searching for Voldemort.

• Harley and Hermione received invitations to lunch with Professor Horace Slughorn, and a third-year girl asked Harley to sign her sleeve.
• Harley and Hermione joined Slughorn's gathering in Carriage C, where he praised their Potions talent and introduced them to the invited students.
• Slughorn discussed the students' backgrounds, promoted his Slug Club, and reminisced until the train neared Hogwarts.
• Hermione criticized Slughorn's networking and showmanship, while Harley defended his helpfulness and Potions accomplishments.
• Harley told Hermione that Snape would likely teach Defense Against the Dark Arts and that Sirius had been sent to scout Malfoy Manor while looking for Voldemort.

Harley and Hermione arrived at Hogwarts, where Professor Slughorn joined them in a carriage and confirmed Harley’s power by observing her Weather Charm. Slughorn revealed that Karkaroff had been murdered by Death Eaters after betraying them, and explained that he had come to Hogwarts because he feared Voldemort would kill him.

• Harley used a Weather Charm to clear the storm around the station as the students disembarked, and Professor Grubbly-Plank led the first-years in Hagrid’s absence.
• Harley told Hermione that Dumbledore had likely sent Hagrid to contact the Giants, and Hermione inferred that the mission involved the Order of the Phoenix.
• Harley and Hermione boarded a lavishly furnished carriage with Professor Slughorn, who asked whether Harley had truly defeated Voldemort during the Six-Wizard Tournament.
• Harley demonstrated precise, wandless control of a Weather Charm, convincing Slughorn that the reports of her strength were true.
• Slughorn told Harley and Hermione that Karkaroff had been murdered by Death Eaters for betraying Voldemort, and that Dumbledore had convinced him Voldemort had returned.
• Slughorn admitted he had come to Hogwarts for protection because he feared Voldemort would kill him for knowing his past.

Harley and Hermione arrived at Hogwarts after Professor Slughorn invited them to join his Slug Club, and the students gathered for the start-of-term feast. Harley recognized the fawning pink toad beside Professor Dumbledore as Umbridge, whose role at Hogwarts remained uncertain.

• Professor Slughorn admitted he feared Voldemort and invited Harley and Hermione to join the Slug Club.
• Harley accepted the invitation but said she would rarely attend its activities, while Hermione discussed Potions with Professor Slughorn during the journey.
• Professor Slughorn left the carriage early to find Professor Dumbledore, and Harley saw no sign that Hagrid had returned to Hogwarts.
• Harley and Hermione entered the Great Hall, where the students watched Harley and the professors sat at the staff table.
• Harley recognized Umbridge beside Professor Dumbledore and told Hermione that the pink toad was probably not a professor.

Harley considered Fudge’s plan to undermine Dumbledore and watched Hogwarts begin the new school year as the Sorting Hat delivered a warning about unity. After learning that Grindelwald had feared Dumbledore, Harley became more convinced that their relationship deserved closer scrutiny.

• Harley learned from Ludo’s report that Fudge was nearing a forced removal from office and had sent Umbridge to Hogwarts to damage Dumbledore’s reputation.
• Harley secretly assigned tasks to Rita and Ludo as Professor McGonagall led the first-year students into the Great Hall for the Sorting Ceremony.
• The Sorting Hat praised Slytherin before warning the school to unite against danger.
• Hermione asked Nick about earlier warnings, and Nick recalled warnings during the last Wizarding War and Headmaster Phineas Black’s time.
• Harley asked whether the Sorting Hat had warned about Grindelwald, and Nick explained that Grindelwald had stayed out of Britain because he feared Dumbledore.

At the start-of-term feast, Dumbledore announced changes to Hogwarts’s staff and introduced Umbridge as High Inquisitor. Students cheered Snape’s departure from Potions, then learned he would teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, while Umbridge prepared to inspect the professors’ lessons.

• Dumbledore warned students to stay out of the Forbidden Forest and condemned the Weasley twins’ prank items, which Filch added to his list of prohibited items.
• Dumbledore introduced Slughorn as the new Potions professor and former teacher of Snape, prompting enthusiastic applause from most students.
• Dumbledore announced that Snape would teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, silencing most of the Great Hall as Slytherins applauded their Head of House.
• Dumbledore introduced Umbridge as Hogwarts’s High Inquisitor, responsible for checking whether professors followed the Wizarding Examinations Authority curriculum.
• Umbridge praised Hogwarts and explained her inspection duties while Seamus hoped she would investigate Snape, despite Neville pointing out that Snape no longer taught Potions.

After Umbridge delivered her speech at the opening feast, Harley guided the Gryffindor first-years to their common room and gave them an inspiring introduction to their house. She left them fired up with Gryffindor pride, while Fred teased Angelina about Harley being a better prefect than she had been.

• Umbridge gave a lengthy speech that bored the students and irritated the professors, before Dumbledore praised it and the opening feast ended.
• Harley took responsibility for leading the Gryffindor first-years to the tower, and sent Peeves flying after he tried to ambush them.
• Harley toured the first-years around the common room and explained the significance of its portraits, colors, and values.
• Harley urged the first-years to be courageous without acting recklessly, leaving them excited and making a strong impression on them.
• Fred told Angelina that Harley was a better prefect than she had been, and Angelina pinched him until he apologized.

Umbridge settled into the former Defense Against the Dark Arts office and reported to Fudge and her hidden master, revealing that she had infiltrated Hogwarts to search for an item. Dumbledore watched a room on the same floor, while dark magic there continued to erode a golden barrier.

• McGonagall assigned Umbridge the former Defense Against the Dark Arts office after Slughorn and Snape chose other rooms.
• Umbridge hung a black-and-gold necklace on her door, briefly linking her office to dark magic that pressed against a golden barrier elsewhere in the castle.
• Umbridge sent Fudge a report exaggerating her success and promising to bring down Dumbledore within six months.
• Umbridge revealed a living-looking Dark Mark and told her master she had infiltrated Hogwarts to search for an item, while noting that Dumbledore distrusted her and Trelawney was absent.
• Dumbledore sat in his office and stared toward a room on the same floor.

Dumbledore noticed that Voldemort’s curse on the Defense Against the Dark Arts post had briefly grown stronger and considered seeking Harley’s help to remove it. Meanwhile, Harley focused on Hermione’s anxiety as the O.W.L. year began.

• Dumbledore inspected Hogwarts and found that the curse on the Defense Against the Dark Arts post had become more dangerous over time.
• Dumbledore suspected the curse’s magic had surged and considered resolving it with help from Severus, Harley, and knowledge of the Horcruxes.
• Harley remained unaware of Dumbledore’s plans and prepared for the start of the O.W.L. year.
• Hermione fretted over the day’s timetable and the importance of their exams, then scolded Harley for seeming unconcerned.

Horace Slughorn replaced Severus Snape as Potions professor and quickly won over the students with effective, supportive teaching. Snape then taught Defense Against the Dark Arts, but his lesson ended when he blasted Umbridge as she entered the classroom.

• Horace Slughorn introduced himself as the new Potions professor and spent much of his opening speech praising Severus Snape and boasting about his own teaching history.
• Slughorn explained potion-making clearly, and most students brewed Calming Draught successfully; even Neville managed a partial brew, while Seamus's cauldron exploded.
• Dean of Gryffindor and Hermione blamed Snape's poor teaching for their old Potions struggles, and Harley recorded Hermione's remarks before Hermione seized and destroyed the parchment.
• Severus Snape began teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts and gave the students an in-depth lesson on dark magic.
• Umbridge opened the classroom door to speak, and Snape immediately struck her with a spell, sending her crashing into the corridor wall.