Recaps

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.

At the Council of Wizarding Sages, Fudge was put on trial after Umbridge presented evidence of his collusion with Death Eaters, while Vaughn supported her account. The hearing left Fudge politically ruined, and newspapers portrayed the Weasley family as rising to power in Wizarding Britain.

• Kingsley brought Fudge to the hall, where Amelia ordered him to stand trial on charges filed by Umbridge.
• Umbridge presented letters, witness testimony, and evidence linking Fudge to the Death Eaters and their attacks.
• Fudge pleaded guilty and accused Umbridge of sharing his crimes, while Umbridge admitted her involvement and claimed she had secretly helped Vaughn investigate him.
• Vaughn testified that Umbridge had assisted his investigation and submitted their correspondence as evidence.
• After the Council ended, newspapers reported on Fudge's downfall and the growing influence of the Weasley family.

Amelia’s rise to Minister and the reshaping of the Ministry followed Umbridge’s downfall, while Vaughn stayed focused on C. At the Burrow, the Weasleys reunited with Vaughn, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny, and Vaughn discussed politics and family choices with Arthur and his brothers.

• Amelia became the clear choice for Minister, while Kingsley Shacklebolt, Barty Crouch Sr., and Scrimgeour received new Ministry posts that brought the Aurors under firmer control.
• Ginny and Vaughn returned to the Burrow, where Molly welcomed them and Harry and Hermione, then praised Ron, Fred, and George for their bravery.
• Arthur gathered Vaughn, Bill, Charlie, and Percy to discuss Gringotts, the Ministry, and Vaughn’s warning that Bill should keep the Death Eaters’ attack confidential.
• Charlie advised Percy to ask and say less while watching and doing more, but Percy remained unconvinced.
• Arthur told Vaughn he had declined Amelia’s offer of a new post because he valued having time with his family, while Bill chose to remain in Egypt rather than return to an unsettled England.

At the Burrow, Vaughn shared research that could help Hermione’s house-elf rights campaign, while Ginny admitted she wanted to become a reporter to defend him from slander. The dinner ended with Vaughn asking Harry whether he was still thinking about Voldemort, leaving Harry’s troubles unresolved.

• Hermione told the Weasleys about Dobby and asked Vaughn how he had changed house-elves’ attitudes; Vaughn explained Personality Armament and gave her his research notebook.
• Ginny revealed that she was studying newspaper writing because she wanted to become a reporter and stop people from slandering Vaughn; Vaughn offered to ask Dumbledore to establish a Hogwarts journalism club.
• Molly changed the subject by asking about Aberforth, and Vaughn explained that Aberforth was helping the family to repay a favor.
• Vaughn noticed Harry’s silence and asked if he was still thinking about Voldemort, making the Weasleys tense as Harry’s worries remained unspoken.

Harry learned that Vaughn intended to clear Sirius’s name through unconventional means, while Li Nanyu revealed that Vaughn was a fate-defying variable central to stopping the Creator, or God of the End. Li Nanyu pledged China’s support, including help with war or Vaughn’s ascension to Legend.

• Vaughn reassured Harry that he had promised Sirius a public return and legal guardianship for Harry, but said Sirius’s case required unconventional methods.
• Vaughn returned to his Laboratory and found Li Nanyu reading his notes on the Qimen Spell.
• Li Nanyu explained that the God of the End would gather all living beings’ fates and destroy Legendary Wizards who threatened his rise.
• Li Nanyu told Vaughn that his resistance to fate made him the greatest variable and that the Creator would need to destroy him.
• Li Nanyu revealed that China had identified Vaughn through Nicolas Flamel’s fate and promised to support him against the Creator, even by starting a war or helping him ascend to Legend.

Vaughn studied his reputation settlement, claimed his completed quest reward, and raised his alchemy talent while planning to reverse public opinion. Dumbledore then revealed that a second Legend had tried to enter the Headmaster’s Office, leading Vaughn to realize the New Gospel Society had sent two Legends to Hogwarts; he refused to take responsibility for dealing with them.

• Vaughn saw his reputation points rise to 97 and concluded that negative public opinion had boosted his monthly settlement, though the tactic would soon reach its limits.
• Vaughn reviewed his unfinished quests, planned to meet Dumbledore about Hogwarts representation, and waited for the Triwizard Tournament quest to advance.
• Vaughn claimed the completed main quest reward, raised his Magic Scale to 862, and spent his talent point on alchemy, increasing its talent to 7.
• Dumbledore revealed that while the Scamanders were under attack, a Legend had tried to break into the Headmaster’s Office, and Vaughn inferred that the New Gospel Society had sent two Legends.
• Vaughn told Dumbledore that handling the Legends was his problem and said a thirteen-year-old should not be expected to help fight them.

Vaughn persuaded Dumbledore to support Arthur for Hogwarts’s Board of Governors and proposed a student-run News Club to address students’ limited understanding of the outside world. After Dumbledore left, Vaughn reviewed new system missions that tasked him with killing Voldemort, protecting Harry, and eventually abolishing the International Statute of Secrecy.

• Vaughn asked Dumbledore to appoint his father, Arthur, as a Hogwarts governor and chairman, and Dumbledore agreed to help secure the appointment.
• Vaughn explained that Hogwarts students lacked access to outside information and proposed an independent News Club, which Dumbledore agreed to raise with Minerva.
• Dumbledore suggested Vaughn could monitor the governors himself, then vanished using unusual spatial magic that Vaughn associated with the Web of Fate.
• Vaughn checked the system and received a main mission to kill Tom Riddle and keep Harry Potter safe, with Qilin Blood as a reward.
• Vaughn also discovered a side mission to abolish the International Statute of Secrecy, which offered a Legend Foundation Stone, and wondered what the item could do.

Vaughn returned to Voldemort’s underground cavern, collected blood left behind by an intruder, and cleared away the remaining magic. Back at the laboratory, he told Hermione the story of Regulus and tested the blood, whose dark magic suggested it belonged to Voldemort.

• Vaughn considered how developing Contract Magic would prepare him to challenge the International Statute of Secrecy and pursue the wizarding revolution.
• Vaughn entered the underground cavern, removed its traps, and collected blood that might have come from Voldemort or Peter Pettigrew.
• Vaughn cleared the cavern’s remaining dark and ancient magic, then returned to the laboratory, where Hermione was waiting with his note.
• Vaughn told Hermione how Regulus and old Kreacher had helped him set a trap for Voldemort, and Hermione grew emotional as she heard the story.
• Vaughn tested the blood with the Essence Charm, but dark magic and curses made it rebound, suggesting the blood belonged to Voldemort.

Vaughn told Hermione that they would research Nagini’s blood curse together, aiming to break or reverse it, and explained how Voldemort’s blood could provide a reference. The chapter left them planning their research, with Vaughn dismissing the accepted claim that the curse was irreversible as an excuse for failed researchers.

• Vaughn revealed that the blood in his new bottle belonged to Nagini, a carrier of the hereditary Blood Demon Curse.
• Hermione recalled Professor Binns’s account of an old international campaign against blood curse carriers and its execution of those who were captured.
• Vaughn invited Hermione to join his research group, explaining that studying the blood curse could also help free house-elves through insights into heredity.
• Vaughn proposed analyzing Voldemort’s blood first and comparing it with Nagini’s to find shared factors that could guide their research.
• Vaughn and Hermione discussed the curse’s maternal inheritance and its possible research directions, while Vaughn rejected the belief that it was irreversible.

Vaughn reflected on how the Blood Curse might be broken, then returned to Dumbledore’s office and rested in his developing Suitcase World. He read letters about the political fallout from recent events while having breakfast, as Dumbledore left to handle his duties.

• Vaughn explained to Filch that magic protein could alter potions so they worked on Muggles, but could not give Muggles magic, and frightened him by mentioning the lingering aura of Voldemort and a basilisk.
• Vaughn met Dumbledore, who was dealing with Fudge’s verdict, the North American attack on the Scamanders, and clearing Sirius’s name; they discussed Jacob Kowalski and the possibility of his reunion with old friends.
• Vaughn rested in the small space he had preserved inside his suitcase, which he was developing as the seed of an independent little world.
• After Dumbledore left, Vaughn asked Phineas to have Dobby bring breakfast, tipped Dobby a Sickle, and read Dumbledore’s letters while eating.

Vaughn read Akinbade’s letter about the Confederation’s ruling on the North American Dark Wizards and considered his plans to test magic protein and alchemy technology on Kowalski. At Hogwarts, students reacted to Draco’s break with his family as Harry and his friends openly befriended him, while the Slytherins shunned him.

• Vaughn learned that the Confederation had designated DeSantis and the New Gospel Society international Dark Wizard organizations, ordered warrants and verification of the North American Legendary Wizards’ deaths, and asked Dumbledore to impose travel restrictions.
• Vaughn considered using Kowalski to test magic protein and alchemy products, then wondered about the familiar presence he had sensed from Filch.
• Students gathered in the Great Hall, eager to read reports about the Council of Wizarding Sages and the suspension of classes.
• Harry, Hermione, Ron, Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle sat together at the Gryffindor table, surprising Ginny and the other students.
• Ginny inferred that Draco had sided with Hogwarts during the attack, while Slytherins’ letters from their parents urged them to avoid him for betraying his family.

Hogwarts students read reports that Cornelius Fudge had received life imprisonment and Sirius Black had been cleared, while Hermione pieced together Vaughn’s political maneuvering behind the public account. The chapter left Hermione suspecting Vaughn had shaped the story for the wizarding public and wondering why Bellatrix Lestrange had testified for Sirius.

• Peeves treated Ginny as a princess and offered to read her newspapers, leaving her embarrassed and suspicious that Vaughn was behind his behavior.
• Harry and the others read that the Wizengamot had sentenced Cornelius Fudge to life imprisonment in Azkaban, and Hermione explained that the prison would reopen once it had a proper system.
• Hermione found a report stating that Sirius Black was innocent and that the Ministry had restored his legal status.
• The article claimed Bellatrix Lestrange had identified Peter Pettigrew as the real informer and said Fudge had tried to silence Sirius after Sirius discovered Fudge’s plans for a prison break.
• Hermione inferred that Vaughn had used the article to persuade the public of Sirius’s innocence while concealing the true details, then wondered why Bellatrix had testified for him.

Hermione deduced that Vaughn planned to clear Sirius through public opinion after the Ministry declared him innocent, using Bellatrix’s false testimony against Fudge. Vaughn confirmed her reasoning and returned to Hogwarts, while Hermione asked him to explain the detail she had missed.

• Hermione questioned Draco about Bellatrix Lestrange, then led Harry and Ron away from the Great Hall to discuss Sirius.
• Hermione explained that Vaughn’s plan relied on public opinion rather than official hearings, since the evidence could not clear Sirius of every charge.
• Harry realized Bellatrix was framing Fudge, and Hermione suspected the interviewee was an impostor using Polyjuice Potion or Vaughn’s Thousand Illusions Charm.
• Ron and Harry deduced that Hermione had spent the night with Vaughn, and Vaughn emerged from around a corridor corner to confirm that she had worked out the plan herself.
• Vaughn said he would return to a few classes and suggested Hermione spend the summer with Amelia; Hermione asked what detail in her deduction was inaccurate.

Vaughn told Harry, Ron, and Hermione that Fudge had not knowingly helped the Dark Wizards and that Bellatrix’s interview had been magically compelled, then met Dumbledore to discuss plans for publicizing events involving the Magical Congress of the United States. Dumbledore warned Vaughn of a gift and lent him a basilisk fang, while offering access to Hogwarts’s ancient magical resources to support his research into Contract Magic.

• Vaughn explained that Fudge had not been involved in the Azkaban riot and that Bellatrix had been forced by magic to give her interview, while Hermione warned him that revealing this could cause trouble.
• Vaughn told Harry, Ron, and Hermione he would see them in class the next morning, and they realized their holiday was over.
• Vaughn used a Dimensional Gate to enter Dumbledore’s office, where Dumbledore explained that he planned to coordinate worldwide newspaper coverage of his statement about the Magical Congress of the United States.
• Vaughn warned Dumbledore not to make the statement public the next day because a major event would cause a sensation in Britain, and Dumbledore agreed to delay it.
• Dumbledore gave Vaughn a basilisk fang and offered to lend him Hogwarts’s possessions, including its ancient magical resources, so he could advance his research into Contract Magic.

Vaughn borrowed the Quill of Acceptance and the Book of Admittance, then began filling in as Hogwarts’ Potions professor and acting Slytherin Head of House. After his first lesson, he invited Neville to join his Research Group to continue developing magic protein.

• Vaughn told Dumbledore he wanted to study the Quill of Acceptance and the Book of Admittance, and promised he would destroy the Diary’s Horcrux with a Basilisk fang if necessary.
• Vaughn studied the fang overnight but found little beyond a few medicinal substances, while wondering how Salazar’s Basilisk had survived for nearly a thousand years without an apparent food source.
• Vaughn announced that he would teach Potions for the rest of the school year, and Dumbledore declared him acting Slytherin Head of House until the year ended.
• Vaughn led a relaxed Potions lesson, and Harry completed the assignment while Ron admitted he would rather have Snape teaching.
• Vaughn asked Neville whether he wanted to join his Research Group to continue research and development on magic protein.