Chapter Summaries

Dumbledore announced a new era in which magic might no longer remain secret and revealed that Hogwarts would hold an open class on the Disarming Charm. He said students who mastered the spell could earn substantial extra marks in their O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s.

• Dumbledore reflected on the Paris Region Incident and warned that the changing world made practical magic more important.
• Dumbledore announced an open class on the Disarming Charm for Friday morning, prompting Ron and Hermione to discuss its conflict with Potions Class.
• Hermione guessed that the lesson would focus on mastering the spell rather than duelling, and Dumbledore confirmed the Disarming Charm would be taught.
• Dumbledore explained that students who performed the Disarming Charm in their O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s would receive extra marks, and Ron realised Malfoy's information had been correct.

The students learned that Wizet Lovegood would teach Friday’s open class on mastering the Disarming Charm, which could earn extra exam marks. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and their classmates discussed the class and their exams as they headed to Potions.

• Students at breakfast wondered who would teach the Disarming Charm open class and whether mastering it could earn extra marks.
• Ron worried that Snape had noticed him watching, and Hermione reminded Harry that becoming an Auror required strong O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. results, including Potions.
• Dumbledore announced that Wizet Lovegood, the charm’s inventor, would teach the open class on Friday.
• On the way to Potions, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas discussed the spell’s potential exam benefits and how difficult it might be to master.
• Ron joked that the coming Potions classes could calm Seamus, who then turned to Neville and asked what he was doing.

Neville told Seamus that he and the others were still trying to find an effective way to master the Disarming Charm. During Potions, Snape unexpectedly brought Ron to the front of the classroom to brew a Calming Draught, then challenged him to explain its color.

• Neville recited a passage about the giant wars and told Seamus that they had not yet found a method for mastering the Disarming Charm.
• Harry answered Snape’s questions about the Calming Draught, and Snape made no attempt to deduct points from him.
• As Harry and Ron prepared their potion, Snape unexpectedly ordered Ron to join him at the front of the classroom.
• Hermione wondered whether Snape had mistaken Ron for Harry because they had taken Polyjuice Potion, but Harry said he did not know what was happening.
• Snape asked Ron why the potion was that color.

Snape used a failed Calming Draught to quiz Ron on potion-making, deducting Gryffindor points as he explained the mistakes and their remedies. The lesson continued with Snape asking Ron to identify the cause of the potion’s foul smell.

• Snape revealed that Ron had added twice the required amount of white lilac petals and deducted five points from Gryffindor.
• Ron suggested adding water to fix the potion, and Snape deducted three points before explaining that dew purified and retuned its magical properties.
• Snape told Ron to keep adding dew until the potion turned pale blue, then heat it to a boil, while Hermione listened closely to the extra instruction.
• Snape made Ron approach the cauldron and smell the fumes, and Ron identified them as resembling Troll boogers.
• Snape explained that too much sneezewort tincture had caused the pungent odor and began demonstrating how to stir the potion counterclockwise.

Snape subjected Ron to relentless questioning and criticism during Potions class until Ron nearly collapsed, then left the students with a blackboard full of mistakes and corrections. Harry, Hermione, and the others helped Ron recover and realized that Wizet had endured an even harsher version of this treatment.

• Snape grilled Ron about potion ingredients and methods, repeatedly taking points from Gryffindor for his answers.
• Hermione recorded Snape's explanations while sympathizing with Ron, who grew increasingly overwhelmed.
• Snape ended class by warning the students to remember the mistakes and deducting another ten points from Gryffindor.
• Harry and Hermione helped the nearly collapsed Ron back to his seat, and Hermione used a drying charm to warm him.
• Neville, Seamus, and Dean agreed that Snape had acted unusually and recalled that Wizet had faced even worse Potions lessons.

Ron and his friends tried to work out why Snape had singled him out during Potions, considering his past pranks and Quidditch clash with Montague. Harry and Hermione realized Snape might have read Ron’s thoughts through eye contact, leaving the group wary of his Legilimency.

• Dean and Seamus teased Ron about being important to Snape, and Ron insisted he never wanted to repeat the Paris Region Incident.
• Hermione questioned Ron about sabotaging Theodore Nott’s Shrinking Solution, and Ron claimed a spider had done it while Snape had not noticed.
• Hermione asked whether Ron’s Quidditch clash with Montague had made Snape target him, and Ron recalled Harry’s more serious collision with the Slytherin player.
• Ron complained that Snape had toyed with him throughout Potions and wondered aloud whether they had been dueling.
• Harry and Hermione recalled Ron saying he had made eye contact with Snape that morning and suspected Snape had used Legilimency to read his thoughts.
• Seamus and Dean warned each other not to meet Snape’s eyes, while Neville suggested learning Occlumency.

Neville told Fred and George how Snape had put Ron through a frightening Potions lesson, and the twins decided Ron could help with something they were planning. They dragged him out of the Great Hall before Hermione went after them, while Harry and the others wondered what the twins had in mind.

• Fred and George overheard Neville's account of Ron's Potions lesson and asked what had happened.
• Ron suspected the twins were acting strangely, but their answer about turning his teddy bear into spiders convinced him they really were Fred and George.
• After Ron described facing Snape as feeling like he was going to die, Fred and George said they needed his help and offered to pay him.
• Fred and George grabbed Ron and carried him out of the Great Hall, with Ron managing to snatch a few chicken legs.
• Hermione learned the twins had taken Ron and hurried after them, while Neville guessed their plan might involve the Disarming Charm.

Neville explained that M.S.C. was seeking a way to make the Disarming Charm’s survival-instinct requirement easier to understand, while the students prepared for Friday’s public class, now expanded into an academic symposium. At breakfast, the Ravenclaws discussed the Ministry visitors and duelling champions, including a mysterious champion nicknamed Blue Mirror Transcender.

• Neville told Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and Harry that M.S.C. was trying to lower the barrier to understanding the survival instinct needed to master the Disarming Charm.
• Neville admitted he lacked confidence that he would find a suitable method before the public class, and Dean and Harry reassured him they had only been joking.
• On Friday morning, students saw Ministry of Magic employees preparing the Great Hall for the Disarming Charm public class, which had become a public academic symposium.
• Michael Corner, Terry Boot, Chris Moen, and Anthony Goldstein discussed Minister Amelia Bones and the officials and visitors gathering at the staff table.
• Anthony explained that a green-bearded wizard was a former duelling champion and that Professor Flitwick had also won an All-England Wizarding Duelling Tournament.
• Anthony recalled that the latest tournament’s mysterious champion had been nicknamed Blue Mirror Transcender, leaving Chris wondering about the name.

Anthony Goldstein and the others discussed the Blue Mirror Transcender’s unexplained duelling championship and debated whether he could defeat Wizet. Their conversation ended as Amelia Bones and foreign Ministry delegations arrived at the Great Hall, including a former Five-Wizard Tournament Champion who was now an Auror.

• Anthony explained that the Blue Mirror Transcender became champion after werewolves attacked the All-England Wizarding Duelling Tournament and his opponent withdrew.
• Terry Boot speculated that the Transcender might have been bitten by a werewolf, while Chris Moen wondered if he might seek Wizet’s help curing Lycanthropy.
• Michael Corner asked who would win if the Transcender fought Wizet, and Anthony, Terry, and Chris argued that Wizet was stronger.
• Anthony noticed Amelia Bones and Dumbledore entering the Great Hall with the English Ministry delegation, followed by French Ministry wizards.
• Michael spotted a former Five-Wizard Tournament Champion among the arrivals, and Anthony identified him as a Graves Family wizard who appeared to be an Auror.

Harry reunited with Sirius before the Great Hall filled with visitors for Wizet’s public lesson. Ron overcame his nerves with help from Wizet and Luna, and the lesson began before a huge audience that included Aurors from magical Ministries around the world.

• Sirius greeted Harry and explained that he and Remus were helping M.S.C. record the public lesson for magical footage.
• Harry and Hermione realized Ron was expected to demonstrate a spell, and Ron panicked at the sight of the crowd before rushing off to speak with Wizet.
• Ron returned calmer and demonstrated the Projectile Deflection Charm, assuring Harry and Hermione that he was ready.
• McGonagall encouraged Ron and led the students into the packed Great Hall, where she explained that Aurors from magical Ministries had come to learn.
• After breakfast, the tables were concealed and projection screens showed Wizet as the crowd quieted for the start of the lesson.

Wizet addressed a packed Great Hall about the fears caused by a rapidly changing magical world and introduced his open class on confronting fear through magic. He demonstrated a Boggart and explained how it transformed from a balloon into a Dementor, leaving the audience to face the danger of a creature that consumed positive emotions.

• Wizet told the gathered students, Ministers, department heads, and Aurors that changing threats made old rules unreliable and that he had created the Disarming Charm to improve safety.
• Flitwick, McGonagall, and Snape applauded Wizet, while Flitwick and McGonagall praised him.
• Wizet posed a question about spells that depended on mastering emotion and wrote the Tickling Charm, Boggart-Banishing Charm, Cheering Charm, and Patronus Charm on the blackboard.
• Wizet explained that he would focus his class on the Boggart-Banishing Charm and Patronus Charm, associated with Boggarts and Dementors.
• Wizet opened an old cabinet, where a Boggart appeared as a balloon, and the guests inferred that he had advanced Occlumency.
• Wizet described the Boggart and watched it transform into a Dementor, which he said fed on positive emotions and could plunge people into despair.

Wizet used a Boggart posing as a Dementor to explain how positive emotions could counter fear and despair, then argued that escaping danger should come before fighting. He left the class considering how difficult it was to override natural fear with happiness.

• Wizet explained how the Boggart-Banishing Charm and Patronus Charm used positive emotions against Dark creatures, while the Boggart acted as a Dementor.
• Wizet told the class that fear was a natural protective response and that people should first try to escape danger.
• Wizet said people should resist Dark creatures only when they could not escape, and connected the lesson to tracing problems back to their roots.
• Dumbledore told Amelia Bones that he had taught Wizet to trace problems back to their roots and showed pride in Wizet.
• Wizet reflected that suppressing or replacing fear with happiness could go against natural reactions.

Wizet explained how fear could be accepted and used to reach the survival instinct, comparing emotions to books in the soul’s library. He connected the idea to the Disarming Charm and continued his public lesson after the students’ enthusiastic reaction.

• Wizet said fear could sharpen focus and described emotions as books in the soul, which magic could draw upon.
• Wizet conjured towering bookshelves and transformed the Dementor-shaped Boggart into a book, then urged students to use their survival instinct against threats.
• Gryffindor students cheered Wizet’s analogy, while Professor McGonagall quieted them with a stern look.
• Barty Crouch Sr. asked Percy Weasley whether Fred and George’s noise would affect the recording, and Percy assured him that Mr. Lupin had prepared clear footage.
• Wizet explained that the Disarming Charm’s incantation and wand movement guided the caster to follow fear toward the deepest desire for survival.

Wizet invited Ron to demonstrate survival instinct during his lecture, and Ron confidently dodged a sudden attack. The demonstration ended with Wizet explaining how instinct can guide a quick magical response.

• Wizet invited Ron to help demonstrate survival instinct, and Ron assured Harry and Hermione that he was ready.
• Harry and Hermione guessed that Ron's confidence came from Felix Felicis, and Hermione explained the potion's effects and dangers.
• Ron introduced himself to the Great Hall while wearing a scarf from Fred and George.
• Wizet suddenly swung a book at Ron, and Ron instinctively dodged it.
• Ron described feeling fear and reacting before he could think, and Wizet presented the dodge as an example of survival instinct guiding a response to danger.

Wizet demonstrated the Disarming Charm by having Ron deflect a barrage of stones without moving or recasting. He explained how the charm worked, while Amelia Bones and Dumbledore discussed Wizet’s Ravenclaw ingenuity.

• Wizet asked Ron to demonstrate the Disarming Charm, and Ron cast it as a golden glow enveloped him.
• A Gryffindor student threw a paper ball at Ron, but the charm deflected it into Natalie Macdonald’s head.
• Wizet opened the Great Hall’s windows and turned the cold wind into a warm breeze.
• Countless stones flew toward Ron, but his charm bounced them away while a separate magical field stopped them from scattering through the hall.
• The students applauded Ron, and Wizet explained that the charm gave form to the body’s survival instinct.
• Amelia Bones and Dumbledore discussed how Wizet’s Ravenclaw greed and knowledge had helped him create the spell.

Amelia Bones and Dumbledore discussed why the Ministers for Magic had quickly agreed to name Wizet’s spell the Disarming Charm. The public lesson ended with Dumbledore relieved that his past mistakes had not harmed Wizet and ready to listen with Amelia.

• Amelia Bones and Dumbledore agreed that the Disarming Charm was a suitable, unassuming name for Wizet’s spell.
• Dumbledore explained that the Ministers trusted Wizet because he freely shared his research, books, and inventions.
• Dumbledore admitted that his past mistakes, including delaying his confrontation with Gellert Grindelwald, had made people distrust him.
• Dumbledore said he had feared that distrust might affect the vote, but the quick agreement showed his worry had not come true.
• As Wizet’s public lesson ended, Dumbledore and Amelia turned their attention back to the students and recalled their own school days.

Wizet explained how students could learn the Disarming Charm by practicing its casting until it became instinctive, then connecting the movement to their survival instinct in a controlled crisis. He invited students to share their methods for a future M.S.C. practice manual and ended by comparing emotions used in magic to potion ingredients.

• Wizet reassured the students that they could all learn the magic and explained that the Disarming Charm did not require a happy memory like the Patronus Charm.
• Wizet described practicing the incantation and wand movement until casting became a physical instinct, then learning to recognize and guide the survival instinct.
• Wizet transformed the Boggart into a lion and used it to demonstrate how students could experience fear in a controlled setting and connect it to the Disarming Charm.
• Wizet invited students to share their own practice methods for inclusion in an M.S.C. manual, and the students were encouraged by his offer to credit contributors.
• Wizet compared spellcasting emotions to potion ingredients as the lion-shaped Boggart transformed into a steaming cauldron.

Wizet explained how students could channel their survival instinct through their wands to cast the Disarming Charm, using potion-making as a metaphor for understanding emotion and magic. He ended the public lesson by encouraging them to discover their own potential, and Dumbledore told Amelia its value exceeded his expectations.

• Wizet described emotions as ingredients in an inner cauldron and showed fear reacting with survival instinct to create a pale golden haze.
• Wizet explained that students could strengthen their personal sources of survival instinct and use moments of fear to focus and cast the Disarming Charm.
• Wizet demonstrated mastery of the inner potion by sending the cauldron back into the cabinet and spreading a golden halo across the Great Hall.
• Wizet concluded the public lesson by saying the process could help students understand magic and themselves, then bowed to the audience.
• The Great Hall erupted in applause, and Dumbledore told Amelia that the lesson's value was greater than he had imagined.

Dumbledore explained to Amelia Bones that Wizet’s open class and Hogwarts Voice encouraged students to form their own understanding of magic by drawing on their inner strengths. He believed Wizet had given them a guide toward deeper magic and possibly the study of the soul, though the destination remained unknown.

• Dumbledore told Amelia Bones that Wizet’s open class had greater value than he had expected and connected it to his hopes for education.
• Amelia Bones said she liked Hogwarts Voice and understood that Dumbledore wanted students to build their own understanding of magic through thinking and expression.
• Dumbledore explained that asking questions and seeking personal answers could lead students onto their own paths of magic.
• Dumbledore said Wizet had shown how the Hogwarts houses’ traits could serve as inner strengths that opened new possibilities in magic.
• Dumbledore suggested that following this path might lead wizards to explore the source of their inner strength, which Amelia Bones identified as the study of the soul.
• Dumbledore described Wizet’s lesson as a map and shovel rather than a revealed destination, and Amelia Bones recognized this as the class’s true value.

After Wizet’s open class, Luna praised him and playfully kissed him while he carried her toward her common room. Percy Weasley and Ron interrupted to thank him for helping Ron, naming Felix Felicis as the reason.

• Students crowded around Wizet after the open class, and Abercrombie thanked him and received his autograph.
• Wizet left the Great Hall and met Luna on the stairs, where they held hands and discussed whether she had enjoyed the class.
• Wizet carried Luna up the stairs, and she kissed him while telling him what oranges tasted like.
• Percy Weasley arrived with Ron, interrupted the pair, and began thanking Wizet for helping Ron with Felix Felicis.