Recaps

François told Fenrir Greyback that C was conducting research at an abandoned arms factory in Dublin that might lead to the elimination of werewolf poison. Greyback ordered François to take him there and sent his werewolves to gather more help for an attack.

• Greyback collected coins from his werewolves while François questioned why they had to hide.
• François told Greyback he had found a C werewolf wizard in Dublin and traced him to an abandoned arms factory where Muggles were gathered.
• François claimed C was combining magic protein with the Wolfsbane Potion in an effort to eliminate werewolf poison.
• Murphy confirmed that the research might be possible, and Greyback ordered François to lead him to the factory.
• Greyback threatened François into agreeing and ordered a werewolf to stir up Dublin for a feast.

François lured Greyback and the Werewolf Legion into raiding C’s factory, but revealed himself as Vaughn Weasley’s undercover agent when Vaughn arrived. Vaughn disabled the werewolf wizards and stopped the assault, intending to capture the Legion and reserving death for Greyback.

• Greyback gathered nearly five hundred werewolves in Dublin and sent them to seize vehicles and attack the factory where Muggles had been assembled.
• François realized Greyback planned to leave Ireland after the raid, then followed the attackers to the factory while secretly using a mirror to contact Vaughn.
• Greyback ordered François to find and kill Matthew, but François Apparated away when Matthew revealed an enchanted envelope that brought Vaughn through a Dimensional Gate.
• Vaughn silenced Greyback and the werewolf wizards, then used the Dimensional Gate to spread a Blinding Curse across them.
• Vaughn cast an Infrasound Charm that stopped the charging werewolves, planning to capture them all except Greyback.

Vaughn captured Greyback and his army in Ireland, then handed Greyback over to Lupin and C's werewolf wizards, who tortured him until his mindscape collapsed. The next morning, news of Greyback's death caused an uproar at Hogwarts, where Ron, Harry, and Hermione argued over Vaughn's actions.

• Vaughn sent Greyback's Army and the impoverished Irish Muggles through the Dimensional Gate to the Trial Space, then let C's werewolf wizards take revenge on Greyback.
• Vaughn reassured François that he had stayed true to himself and promised to bring North American werewolves into C, with a place for him on the Executive Committee.
• C's werewolf wizards tortured Greyback until his mindscape collapsed, and Vaughn decided not to send him to Azkaban.
• Newspaper reports about Greyback and Wolfsbane Potion 2.1 stirred excitement among Hogwarts students and visiting schools in the Great Hall.
• Dean and Seamus questioned Ron about Vaughn's actions, while Harry and Hermione praised Vaughn and Ron worried about the fact that he had killed someone.

Vaughn used the release of Wolfsbane Potion 2.1 and raids against dark wizards to strengthen his political position in Britain and Ireland. He then went to meet Lupin at the Shrieking Shack, where Lupin was struggling with his suspicions about Vaughn's role in Sirius's escape and his own anger over Greyback.

• Owls delivered a second batch of newspapers and magazines featuring Vaughn's paper on Wolfsbane Potion 2.1, which Vaughn had arranged to sell through The Quibbler.
• Vaughn defended killing Greyback by pointing out that the execution took place in Ireland, outside England's jurisdiction.
• Newspaper articles questioned the potion and accused Vaughn of potentially building a Werewolf Legion, but Vaughn urged Dumbledore to focus on establishing the Werewolf Class.
• The Daily Prophet reported that Vaughn and C had raided dark-wizard gatherings in England and Ireland, with Amelia's approval, killing or capturing more than five hundred dark wizards.
• Vaughn left to visit Lupin at the Shrieking Shack, while Lupin wrestled with his suspicions about Sirius's escape and his anger over Greyback.

Vaughn showed Lupin that Peter Pettigrew was alive and explained that he and Dumbledore were using him as bait to lure Voldemort, then asked Lupin to contact Sirius. Back at Hogwarts, Harry, Ron, and Hermione discussed the Ministry's Acting Minister vote, with Hermione expecting Amelia to win.

• Vaughn used the Marauder's Map to show Lupin that Peter Pettigrew was hiding as Ron's pet rat, Scabbers.
• Vaughn admitted that he had arranged Sirius's escape and told Lupin not to expose Peter, who was being used as bait in a plan against Voldemort.
• Vaughn asked Lupin to help him find Sirius and establish contact, and promised that someone would soon take Lupin to see him.
• In the Gryffindor common room, Hermione warned Ron to stop spreading rumors about Vaughn, while Harry wondered whether Amelia or Mr. Crouch would become Acting Minister.
• Hermione predicted that Amelia would win the vote, while Ron contrarily suggested Mr. Crouch and Harry hoped Amelia would take office.

Harry and Ron found partners for the ball while Hermione wondered why Umbridge had become acting Minister for Magic. Vaughn arrived just before the ball and reassured Hermione that he would be her partner.

• Hermione, Harry, and Ron reacted to Umbridge's election as acting Minister and planned to mislead her with false secrets.
• Harry and Ron realized they had no partners for the ball, and Hermione left to get ready.
• Ron invited Lavender Brown to the ball, and she happily accepted.
• Ron announced that Harry wanted Cho Chang as his partner, and Cho agreed to go with him.
• Cho reminded Hermione to change into her evening gown, and Hermione hurried back to Gryffindor Tower.
• Vaughn caught Hermione when she walked into him and told her he would not leave her alone at the ball.

Fred and George sold fake Amortentia at the ball and were punished by McGonagall, while Percy earned her praise for refusing to cover for them. As the twins found dance partners, Vaughn learned that Hogwarts was spreading rumors that he and Pheobe had a secret romance.

• Fred and George tried to sell Percy perfume as Amortentia, but Percy refused and warned them to stop.
• McGonagall confiscated the twins' earnings, took fifty points from Gryffindor, and assigned them detention after the ball; she praised Percy for acting properly.
• Vaughn watched as Angelina chose to dance with George, while Fred invited Pheobe onto the dance floor.
• Dumbledore told Vaughn that students were spreading rumors of a secret romance between him and Pheobe, and Vaughn suspected Fred and George had started them.

At the Yule Ball, Vaughn danced with Hermione and then Isabella, explaining that the Trial Space would prepare exchange students for danger. He revealed to Isabella that he intended to unite wizarding schools into a powerful force capable of reshaping the wizarding world.

• Dumbledore told Vaughn that Ron had started the rumours about Vaughn and Pheobe after claiming he had seen them on a date by the Black Lake.
• Vaughn danced with Hermione, then agreed to dance with Isabella so she could fend off Karkaroff’s unwanted attention.
• Isabella questioned Vaughn about the dangerous Trial Space he planned for the exchange students, and Vaughn argued that they needed practical experience facing danger.
• Vaughn explained that wizarding schools held immense influence because they educated nearly all wizards and could unite behind a common purpose.
• Vaughn told Isabella he was gathering the schools into a force that could stir up an unstoppable gale.

Vaughn showed Hermione the transformed Trial Space and revealed the rules for a faction-based competition built around brewing potions, recruiting NPCs, and destroying rival teams’ Magic Crystals. He announced that the rewards would include the Essence Charm and increasingly complete Magic Extraction Method and magic protein materials, leaving Dumbledore, Isabella, and Hermione impressed by the competition’s design and stakes.

• After the ball, Vaughn brought Hermione to the Practical Class Classroom, where Dumbledore and Isabella were waiting to finalize the Trial Space.
• Hermione saw that the Trial Space had been transformed into a battlefield with nine faction camps surrounding a central region.
• Vaughn set the Trial Space’s rules, then gave Hermione, Isabella, and Dumbledore access to the complete design.
• Vaughn explained that nine school teams would recruit NPCs with potions and try to destroy rival factions’ Magic Crystals while avoiding wardens.
• Vaughn announced the Essence Charm, Magic Extraction Method notes, and magic protein manuscript as prizes for successive competition victories.

Vaughn prepared to launch the Potions Exchange’s second stage while Hermione kept Harry and Ron from learning about the trap for Voldemort. Harry secretly met Draco Malfoy, who warned him that his parents had mentioned a Diary connected to Voldemort’s return and urged him to find it and remove it from Hogwarts.

• Vaughn finished preparing the Trial Space, arranged for Lupin to be contacted, and returned to help begin the Potions Exchange’s second stage.
• Hermione denied telling Vaughn about Snape and Umbridge, while Harry and Ron pressed her for information and Malfoy quietly watched them.
• After class, Malfoy bumped into Harry and secretly slipped him a note inviting him to meet in Moaning Myrtle’s Bathroom.
• Harry went to the bathroom alone, where Malfoy revealed that he had overheard his parents discuss the Diary and feared Voldemort would return.
• Malfoy urged Harry to find the Diary and get it out of Hogwarts, then left after asking him to prevent Voldemort from destroying the school.

After Malfoy revealed that Voldemort’s resurrection plot involved the Diary, Harry, Ron, and Hermione decided they would have to investigate without Vaughn or Dumbledore, who were both absent from Hogwarts. Meanwhile, Vaughn arrived at the old Black family home and asked Kreacher about Sirius and Lupin.

• Malfoy’s guilt over betraying his father and his love for Hogwarts led him to reveal that Voldemort’s return involved the Diary, while keeping Snape’s role secret.
• Harry told Hermione and Ron that the Diary could be used to resurrect Voldemort, and the three debated whether to act on their own or seek Vaughn’s help.
• McGonagall announced that Dumbledore had left for the International Confederation of Wizards headquarters and would leave her overseeing Hogwarts.
• Umbridge confronted Harry and Ron, but Hermione left them to deceive her and later reminded them that they still had to find a way to tell Vaughn or Dumbledore.
• Harry and Ron agreed to search for the Diary themselves, while Hermione resolved not to let them disrupt Vaughn’s plans.
• Vaughn arrived at the old Black family home, stopped Kreacher from hurting himself, and learned that Lupin was inside.

Vaughn visited Sirius at the old Black house and learned that an Auror had used dark magic on him under Fudge’s orders. He explained the plan to use Peter as bait for Voldemort, leaving Sirius to ask why Vaughn had saved him.

• Vaughn warned Phineas to keep Walburga from revealing Sirius’s secret, then found Lupin looking healthier and more hopeful.
• Vaughn removed the contaminated Personality Armament from Sirius and learned that an Auror named Williams had used dark magic on him at Fudge’s command.
• Sirius learned that Peter was alive at Hogwarts, while Lupin admitted he had withheld Vaughn and Dumbledore’s plan from him.
• Vaughn explained that Peter had to stay alive as bait for Voldemort, and Sirius asked why Vaughn had saved him.

Vaughn asked Sirius to provoke Peter by publicly telling the truth about the past, while Sirius and Lupin discussed Vaughn’s influence on Harry and agreed to meet him together. At a secret gathering, Jacob Rosier and eight allies heard Lucius explain how Vaughn’s Trial Battlefield used captured people as subjects for potion experiments, intensifying their plans against him.

• Vaughn admitted that he had secured benefits from the Black Family inheritance and asked Sirius to make Peter feel threatened by publishing his account in the Daily Prophet.
• Sirius learned that Lupin had distanced himself from Dumbledore to support Vaughn’s work for werewolves, and Lupin explained that Vaughn was close to Harry and teaching him Occlumency.
• Sirius decided to regain his strength before confronting Peter and invited Lupin to join him in visiting Harry.
• Jacob Rosier convened eight allies to discuss Vaughn’s Practical Class, and Lucius described the political threat they believed it posed at Hogwarts.
• Lucius revealed that Vaughn and Dumbledore had turned the World Within the Painting into the Trial Battlefield, where captured Muggles, wizards, and werewolves served as subjects in potion trials.

Jacob, Lucius, and the other pure-bloods discussed how to find Voldemort, while Harry and Draco sneaked into Snape’s office to search for the Diary. They overheard Lucius ask Snape for help, but learned that Voldemort still trusted no one and had given his followers no instructions.

• Lucius warned the Pure-blood Meeting that Vaughn’s magic-protein research could expose dangerous knowledge, and Jacob agreed that Vaughn’s ambitions were clear.
• Jacob urged the group to find Voldemort, but Lucius and Corban explained they could not contact him; Jacob suggested Dumbledore might know a way to locate him.
• Harry and Draco left the Slytherin dungeon under the Invisibility Cloak, and Harry said they should watch Snape to find the Diary.
• Draco objected to spying on his godfather, but Harry said Snape’s activated Dark Mark showed he had returned to Voldemort’s service.
• Harry and Draco entered Snape’s office and hid under a table, where Draco recognized Lucius speaking with Snape.
• Lucius asked Snape to help find the Diary, but Snape pointed out that Voldemort had given them no instructions and still refused to show himself.

Harry and Draco overheard Lucius and Snape discussing how to contact Voldemort, then escaped with help from Fruit Tea. Harry planned to tell Vaughn about the Diary, but ended the night privately questioning whether Vaughn had engineered Sirius's escape.

• Harry and Draco overheard Lucius tell Snape that Jacob believed Harry would help the Death Eaters complete Voldemort's resurrection if they found the Diary.
• Harry struck his head under the desk and nearly exposed them, but Fruit Tea distracted Lucius and helped them escape Snape's office.
• Draco urged Harry to tell Vaughn about the Diary, and Harry agreed to do so when he got the chance.
• Harry returned to the dormitory, where Ron described a nightmare about Fred and George and Harry speculated that Sirius might come to Hogwarts to help Voldemort.
• After Ron suggested telling Vaughn about Snape, Harry lay awake, troubled by the possibility that Vaughn had orchestrated Sirius's escape to bring down Fudge.

Harry suspected Vaughn had orchestrated Sirius's escape to weaken Fudge and avoided telling him what had happened, while Amelia and Vaughn worked to reform the Auror Office and strengthen her position in the Ministry. The chapter ended with Amelia rejecting Umbridge and other officials' attempts to interfere with her reforms.

• Harry spent a sleepless night suspecting Vaughn had engineered Sirius's escape and decided not to tell him what had happened.
• Hermione told Harry that Amelia had furious over the Wizengamot vote and was planning to overhaul the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
• Vaughn visited Amelia at the Ministry, where she explained that she was reforming Azkaban's oversight and the Auror Office while pushing Scrimgeour aside.
• Amelia admitted feeling that she was becoming like Fudge, and Vaughn reassured her that she acted for the Ministry's future.
• Umbridge offered Amelia time off and tried to assert her authority, while Barty Crouch and other officials proposed involving the Ministry in the Auror reforms.
• Amelia invoked the Wizengamot's authority, refused outside interference, and sent Umbridge and the officials away.

Vaughn explained to Dumbledore that his actions at the Ministry targeted the Dementors, not Scrimgeour, and that Amelia needed control of the Aurors to become Minister. Dumbledore took Vaughn to Ireland to meet Akinbade, whose support could affect the revived Eight-School Tournament.

• Dumbledore returned to Hogwarts and found Vaughn sitting in the Headmaster's chair, where they discussed Vaughn's actions at the Ministry.
• Dumbledore questioned why Vaughn and Amelia had targeted Scrimgeour, and Vaughn said their real objective was to address the danger posed by Dementors.
• Vaughn assured Dumbledore that he had nothing against Scrimgeour and that Amelia would welcome him leading the Aurors again when the time was right.
• Dumbledore offered to arrange a meeting with Akinbade, and Vaughn immediately accepted his apology so they could go.
• Dumbledore took Vaughn by Phoenix travel to a small town in Ireland, where he said Akinbade had gone after Greyback's death.
• Vaughn and Dumbledore headed toward the town to meet Akinbade and discuss the Eight-School Tournament.

Vaughn and Dumbledore met Akinbade in Ireland to discuss the Resurrection Tournament, while Jacob and the pure-blood families used forbidden ritual magic to turn twenty-seven relatives into hostile ghosts tasked with finding Voldemort. After cleaning up the ritual site, Jacob and Lucius sensed a powerful magical battle nearby.

• Vaughn and Dumbledore saw the devastation left by Greyback's Army in an Irish town, and Vaughn clarified that C's Executive Council had executed Greyback.
• Vaughn and Dumbledore met Akinbade at his home and prepared to discuss the Resurrection Tournament.
• Jacob and representatives of nine pure-blood families sacrificed twenty-seven relatives in an ancient ritual that transformed them into ghosts capable of casting wandless magic.
• Jacob sent the ghosts to search for Voldemort, while the pure-blood representatives left cautiously and Jacob and Lucius erased the ritual's traces.
• Jacob and Lucius noticed powerful magical fluctuations at the end of the street and realized two powerful wizards were likely fighting.

Lucius and Jacob suspected that the wizard battle on a Muggle street was connected to their pure-blood gathering, but left without investigating. At the Shrieking Shack, Lupin went to signal Vaughn after Sirius returned from a staged fight, while Fred and George continued working on a device.

• Lucius and Jacob wondered whether an informer had exposed the pure-blood families, then decided to leave without checking the battle.
• Kreacher served Lupin a snack while thinking about Walburga, Vaughn, and his conflicting prejudice toward Lupin.
• Sirius returned to the old Black house injured, and Lupin healed his arm with an externally applied potion.
• Sirius told Lupin that his fight with a Death Eater had gone smoothly, then agreed not to visit Harry yet.
• Lupin went to the Shrieking Shack, where Fred and George were tinkering, and touched the marked stone to signal Vaughn.

Vaughn brought Lupin to the Hog’s Head after Fred and George’s fake wand nearly struck Lupin with a volley of poisonous-looking spines. There, Lupin reported that his friend had attacked a former Death Eater and revealed the truth about an old incident, though no wizard witnesses could confirm it.

• George accidentally activated his unfinished fake wand, sending sharp spines at Lupin, and Vaughn stopped them with a Banishing Charm.
• Vaughn told Lupin that he had asked Fred and George to mass-produce fake wands with jinxes for use against Voldemort and the Death Eaters.
• Vaughn and Lupin went to the Hog’s Head, where Aberforth challenged them for entering on a school night but let them pass after recognizing Vaughn.
• Vaughn invited Lupin to report privately, and Lupin said his friend had attacked a former Death Eater and exposed the truth about an old incident on a Muggle street.
• Lupin explained that no wizards had witnessed the attack and doubted the former Death Eater would tell anyone what had really happened.

Vaughn told Aberforth that Sirius had been framed by Peter and explained Dumbledore’s dangerous use of the cursed Resurrection Stone. He brought the estranged brothers together, but they argued bitterly, leaving Dumbledore shaken and Aberforth gone.

• Vaughn sent Lupin away with Butterbeer for Fred and George, then told Aberforth that Sirius was innocent, Peter was hiding at Hogwarts, and their staged attack would help reveal the truth.
• Vaughn explained that Voldemort had made the Resurrection Stone a Horcrux and that Dumbledore risked dying by using it to reach Ariana, urging Aberforth to speak with his brother.
• Aberforth closed the Hog’s Head, entered the secret passage behind Ariana’s portrait, and reached the Room of Requirement.
• Dumbledore saw Aberforth in the Room of Requirement, and Aberforth confronted him about using the Resurrection Stone to see Ariana.
• Aberforth left after insisting Ariana would never want to see Dumbledore, while Vaughn listened from the Headmaster’s Office and judged the meeting’s outcome favorably.

Dumbledore accepted that the Resurrection Stone could not truly bring Ariana back and kept it as a memento, then questioned Vaughn about Sirius's staged attack on Corban Yaxley. Vaughn explained the plan to expose the pure-bloods and draw Voldemort out, while Dumbledore continued delaying their meeting with Nicolas Flamel because he feared the aether's dangers to Vaughn.

• Dumbledore kept the Gold Chain beneath his robes after deciding not to use the Resurrection Stone to summon Ariana.
• Aberforth remained wary of Vaughn's ambitions and wondered why Dumbledore continued supporting him.
• Dumbledore confronted Vaughn in the Laboratory about Sirius's public duel with Corban Yaxley, and Vaughn explained that it was meant to pressure the pure-bloods into seeking Voldemort.
• Vaughn revealed that the supposed Yaxley elites were Irish Dark Wizards whose memories he had altered, and confirmed that Corban was one of his people.
• Dumbledore asked about Rita Skeeter's Animagus form and invited Vaughn to the Great Hall, but Vaughn said it was not yet time to meet Harry.
• Vaughn pressed Dumbledore to arrange his meeting with Nicolas Flamel, while Dumbledore privately worried that the aether gods and fate posed a danger to him.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione read Rita Skeeter’s report claiming that Peter Pettigrew betrayed Harry’s parents and framed Sirius, then sought Remus Lupin to learn the truth. Hagrid brought them to C’s Forbidden Forest office, where Barnard said Lupin was waiting for them.

• Rita Skeeter’s Daily Prophet article showed Sirius fighting Corban Yaxley and reported that Peter Pettigrew had betrayed Harry’s parents and survived after framing Sirius.
• Harry questioned the report, while Ron doubted it and Hermione presented notes about Harry’s parents that she had gathered from Hogwarts professors.
• Hermione said meeting Lupin could confirm whether Sirius was the informant and revealed that a former colleague had agreed to pass along her request.
• Hagrid arrived and led Harry, Ron, and Hermione through the Forbidden Forest to C’s office, where Dire Wolves and centaurs lived alongside one another.
• Barnard greeted the group, recognized Harry, and told them that Mr. Lupin was waiting.

Lupin and Sirius revealed to Harry that Sirius had not betrayed his parents and that Peter Pettigrew was the real traitor, while Hermione helped conceal Vaughn's involvement with a carefully woven lie. Sirius offered to take Harry away from the Dursleys, and they agreed to keep in touch by owl until the summer holidays.

• Barnard brought Harry, Ron, and Hermione to meet Lupin and Sirius, who revealed that Sirius was Harry's godfather and his parents' loyal friend.
• Lupin explained that Peter Pettigrew had betrayed Harry's parents, while Sirius blamed himself for suggesting the change of Secret Keeper.
• Hermione persuaded Ron that Scabbers had been Peter in disguise and had fled because he feared Vaughn's research.
• Sirius told Harry that Vaughn had created an opportunity for his escape, and Harry wondered why Vaughn and Dumbledore had kept their distance.
• Lupin told Harry that Sirius was his legal guardian and could take him away from the Dursleys, and Harry gladly accepted.
• Sirius left with Lupin in dog form, promising to write to Harry and collect him from the Dursleys during the summer holidays.

Harry learned that Sirius was his godfather and struggled with suspicions that Vaughn and Dumbledore had withheld the truth about Peter. Meanwhile, Hogwarts students followed reports supporting Sirius’s claims, and the Central Qi Training Academy won the first faction clash, intensifying rivalry in the Potions Exchange.

• Harry heard the truth about Sirius and wondered when Vaughn and Dumbledore had learned that Peter Pettigrew was alive, while Hermione felt guilty about what she knew.
• Hagrid escorted Harry, Hermione, and Ron away from the Giant Wolf Tribe, and Harry and Ron comforted each other about Peter and Scabbers.
• Hermione watched Ron defeat Harry and her at Wizard’s Chess and wondered whether he had an undiscovered talent for leadership.
• The Daily Prophet published an interview in which Corban Yaxley confirmed seeing Rita Skeeter at the attack scene but hinted he could not reveal the truth about the past.
• The Central Qi Training Academy won the first Potions Exchange faction clash, defeating the remaining competition from Hogwarts and Uagadou as Cheng Quandao led his team.