Chapter Summaries

Vaughn ended the Hogwarts house-elves' strike and asked Kreacher, Dobby, and Winky to keep his role secret. As the wizards of Britain prepared to learn that Voldemort had returned, Voldemort ordered the Death Eaters to leave England and privately gave Lucius a new task.

• Vaughn used magic to end the house-elves' strike, claiming dark magic had caused their behavior so they would return to work.
• Vaughn asked Kreacher, Dobby, and Winky to keep the incident secret, and Dobby stayed at Hogwarts hoping to meet Dumbledore and Hermione Granger.
• Vaughn returned to his Laboratory, recorded discoveries about influencing house-elves, and sent a letter to reassure his family.
• Voldemort told Lucius, Corban, Jacob, and Snape that they would leave England after Nagini and Peter recovered, and said he would seek allies among the Yankees.
• Voldemort told Lucius he had proven his loyalty and began assigning him a new task, after having used Draco to test him.

Vaughn helped Draco and Creevey recover from the events in the Chamber of Secrets, then considered who should replace Snape as Hogwarts' Potions professor. As news of Voldemort’s return spread across England, Vaughn settled on approaching Slughorn as the strongest candidate.

• Draco chose to remain at Hogwarts and oppose Voldemort, even though doing so meant breaking with his father and family.
• Vaughn convinced Creevey that the Diary had manipulated him and that he had helped Dumbledore and Vaughn defeat Voldemort.
• Vaughn decided to let Harry and Ron learn the truth from the coming public reaction before he spoke with them.
• Vaughn weighed Slughorn’s merits as a Potions professor and abandoned the idea of using him as bait for Voldemort.
• Owls carried news of Voldemort’s return across England, unleashing the public storm Vaughn had anticipated.

After reports revealed coordinated attacks by Voldemort’s forces, Vaughn explained to Harry, Ron, and Hermione why he and Dumbledore had kept their plan secret. Ron angrily challenged Vaughn over the danger to their friends, while Harry was left confronting how easily Voldemort could have read his thoughts.

• Rita Skeeter’s Daily Prophet reported the Azkaban crisis and a wave of Dark Wizard attacks, while directing readers’ attention to the Council of Wizarding Sages that evening.
• Vaughn read the reports in the Hospital Wing and anticipated that the Council would be the main event in his campaign to shape public opinion.
• Harry, Ron, and Hermione visited Vaughn under the Invisibility Cloak, and Vaughn confirmed that Voldemort was behind the attacks.
• Harry asked why Voldemort’s return had not been announced, and Vaughn explained that the Council and Ministry would carry more authority than the Daily Prophet.
• Harry accused Vaughn and Dumbledore of using him as bait, and Vaughn admitted they had kept him uninformed to prevent Voldemort from reading his memories.
• Ron angrily cited the danger to Harry, Draco, Creevey, and Goyle, but Vaughn reminded him that Ron had trusted him in the Chamber of Secrets.

Vaughn explained why he had kept his plans from Ron and Harry, then returned Harry’s wand after McGonagall recovered it. As Hermione stayed with Vaughn in the Hospital Ward, she revealed how much she trusted him, while Harry and Ron left with a new awareness of their weakness and their faith in him.

• Vaughn told Ron that he had kept him uninformed to protect him and Harry, and reminded him that their plan had helped prevent Voldemort’s return.
• Vaughn invited Ron to go home with Ginny and the other Weasleys, while Hermione stayed behind for her date with Vaughn.
• Harry admitted to Ron that Vaughn and Dumbledore had directed events, and Ron explained that he had trusted Vaughn to rescue him in the Chamber of Secrets.
• Hermione asked Vaughn about Harry’s wand, and Vaughn revealed that McGonagall had recovered it and offered to trade it for the Death Eaters’ wands.
• Vaughn asked why Hermione had spared Snape, and she said she had trusted Vaughn; he understood that she had also trusted him to protect everyone in the Chamber.

Vaughn brought Harry and the Weasley children to the Council of Wizarding Sages, where Umbridge resigned as Minister for Magic and accused Cornelius Fudge of colluding with Death Eaters. Vaughn began recounting Voldemort’s past attacks and his preparations for the Dark Lord’s return.

• Vaughn gave Harry Corban and Lucius’s wands, and invited Harry to attend the Council meeting and visit the Burrow afterward.
• Vaughn persuaded Dumbledore to let the young wizards attend the meeting, and he brought them to the Wizengamot with Hermione.
• Amelia opened the meeting and announced that it would address dark wizard attacks and judge those who had aided them.
• Umbridge resigned as Minister for Magic, accused Fudge of ties to Death Eaters and involvement in the attacks, and Amelia ordered the Aurors to bring him in.
• Hermione explained to Harry and Ron that Vaughn’s plan involving Umbridge had begun after he turned her into a toad in North America.
• Vaughn told the Wizengamot how he and Dumbledore uncovered Voldemort’s survival, discovered his Horcruxes, and prepared for his return.

At the Council of Wizarding Sages, Vaughn described the attacks and revealed that North American Dark Wizards, including a Legend, had targeted Newt, while Dumbledore presented the Ministry’s account of Voldemort’s return, Hogwarts, and the Dementors. The council then put nine pure-blood families and over a hundred wizards on trial, as Vaughn’s hints left people suspecting he had a mole among Voldemort’s allies.

• Vaughn told the council that North American Dark Wizards, including a Legend, had attacked Newt and said Mr. Li had helped protect the Scamanders.
• Vaughn said he had captured a North American Dark Wizard and would hand the prisoner to the International Confederation of Wizards.
• Dumbledore urged the council to abolish Azkaban and banish the Dementors, then claimed Hogwarts had destroyed a Horcrux and exposed Snape as a danger.
• The Ministry backed Vaughn’s account, and the council began trying nine pure-blood families and more than a hundred wizards.
• The attendees suspected Vaughn had a mole among the Dark Wizards or Death Eaters, while Vaughn deliberately encouraged mistrust within Voldemort’s ranks.