Recaps

After the troll’s death, Ron celebrated by telling an exaggerated story that credited Vaughan with the kill and himself with a powerful contribution. Harry and Hermione questioned Dumbledore’s secrecy about the fourth-floor incident, suspected a professor might be involved, and went to check on Vaughan.

• Filch’s notice announced that Vaughan and Ron lost points for leaving the feast but earned Slytherin and Gryffindor points for killing the troll.
• The Weasley twins hosted a celebration feast, where Ron exaggerated his role in the fight and described Vaughan’s spells.
• Hermione told Harry that Ron’s account was exaggerated, and Harry wondered why Dumbledore had ordered them to hide what happened on the fourth floor.
• Hermione suggested Dumbledore might be investigating a professor and rejected Harry’s suspicion that Snape was the black-robed figure.
• Hermione told Harry that Snape had taught Vaughan the Sectumsempra spell, then left to check on Vaughan, with Harry following her.

Vaughan reviewed Voldemort’s weakened state and spent Fame Points to improve the Patronus Charm and Vanishing Spell. He successfully cast his first Patronus, which took the form of a Maine Coon cat.

• Vaughan concluded that Voldemort was draining Quirrell’s life force and had acted out of fear of losing his last loyal servant.
• Vaughan saw that his Fame Points had risen by one and spent four points on the Patronus Charm and one on the Vanishing Spell.
• Vaughan explained that his difficulty summoning a Patronus had come from struggling to recall happy memories strong enough to fuel the spell.
• Vaughan cast the Patronus Charm and recalled joyful memories from both his past life and his life with the Weasleys.
• Vaughan summoned a blue-white Maine Coon Patronus and realized that tears were running down his cheeks.

Vaughn successfully conjured a Patronus in the shape of Fruit Tea, then investigated the Vanishing Spell and discovered that vanished matter remained in an unstable, spell-sustained state. He considered studying how the spell affected living creatures and souls, but recognized that such research was taboo.

• Fruit Tea startled at Vaughn’s Patronus, then realized it was harmless and demanded compensation for the scare.
• Vaughn reflected on why his Patronus took Fruit Tea’s form, then ended the spell and turned to the Vanishing Spell.
• Vaughn used the Vanishing Spell on a pebble and sensed that it could return when the spell ended, though outside interference might make the disappearance permanent.
• Vaughn considered vanishing a slug to investigate what happened to its soul, but decided he lacked the means to observe it.
• Vaughn thought about making soul research a project after developing his new potion, then recalled that soul-targeting magic was taboo.

Vaughan realized Dumbledore distrusted him because of what he knew about Horcruxes, and he considered using Harry to reassure the Headmaster. Harry and Hermione visited Vaughan in the Slytherin common room, where Vaughan revealed a spell that made a pebble truly disappear and warned Harry that his problem was serious.

• Vaughan recalled that Dumbledore had hidden books on dark magic and souls, and decided he needed to gradually earn Dumbledore's trust.
• Harry and Hermione encountered Professor Quirrell, who was recovering from his encounter with the troll and was mocked by students.
• Harry and Hermione entered the Slytherin common room after telling a student they were Vaughan Weasley's friends, and they passed Malfoy on the way to Vaughan's dormitory.
• Hermione greeted Fruit Tea while Harry watched Vaughan cast a spell that made a pebble vanish completely.
• Vaughan asked Harry what he thought of the spell, then told him that his problem was serious.

Vaughn convinced Harry that Voldemort’s influence was threatening to overwhelm his mind and arranged for him to ask Dumbledore for Occlumency lessons. Dumbledore considered asking Snape to teach Harry, but Vaughn revealed that he knew Occlumency and demonstrated his Patronus, leaving Dumbledore reassured about his abilities.

• Vaughn warned Harry that Dark magic was influencing his thoughts and told him Occlumency could save him, though Dumbledore might refuse to teach it.
• Vaughn had Harry write Dumbledore a letter requesting lessons, and Harry went to the Great Hall convinced his condition was worsening.
• Dumbledore began asking Snape to teach Harry, but an owl delivered Harry’s letter, and Dumbledore sprayed pumpkin juice over Snape’s meal while reading it.
• Vaughn visited Dumbledore and argued that Snape’s hostility would make him a poor teacher for Harry.
• Dumbledore questioned Vaughn’s suitability, and Vaughn cast a Patronus Charm that impressed Dumbledore.

Vaughn studied memory magic and began teaching Harry Occlumency, using Legilimency to enter Harry’s mind. He glimpsed Harry’s memories and a romantic dream before Harry forced him out.

• Vaughn received a book on memory magic from Dumbledore and studied its account of memory’s role in spells and advanced Transfiguration.
• Snape refused to revise his agreement with Vaughn until after the Quidditch season, telling him to speak again after defeating Potter.
• Harry met Vaughn in the Room of Requirement to begin learning Occlumency.
• Vaughn explained that he would use Legilimency during the lessons, then successfully cast the spell after several failed attempts.
• Vaughn saw Harry’s memories, including a dream in which Harry held a girl’s hand, and Harry expelled Vaughn from his mind.

Vaughn continued using Harry to practice Legilimency and promised him a Sweet Dream Charm in exchange for cooperating. After reviewing Harry’s memories with Dumbledore, Vaughn found no sign that Tom had tampered with them, though Dumbledore warned him that Tom was skilled at hiding his influence in people’s minds.

• Harry lost heart over his lack of progress in Occlumency, but Vaughn persuaded him to cooperate by promising him a pleasant dream.
• Vaughn saw Harry dream of walking beside a girl, then promised not to tell anyone about it.
• Vaughn extracted his memory of Harry’s dreams and showed it to Dumbledore in a Pensieve.
• Vaughn and Dumbledore reviewed Harry’s memories and saw how much of his childhood had been bleak before Hogwarts.
• Vaughn found no signs that Tom had altered Harry’s memories, while Dumbledore warned him that Tom could conceal and magnify malice within a victim’s mind.
• Vaughn agreed to keep watching Harry and continued treating him as a target for Legilimency practice.

Harry prepared for Gryffindor’s Quidditch match against Slytherin while struggling with nerves and insomnia, and Vaughn prepared to play for Slytherin. The chapter ended with both teams getting ready to enter the pitch.

• Harry continued Occlumency practice, attended classes, and trained with Gryffindor as Wood increased their Quidditch sessions before Saturday’s match.
• Harry noticed Vaughn attending fewer Slytherin practices, and Wood encouraged Harry to help Gryffindor beat Slytherin.
• The night before the match, Harry worried about Slytherin’s larger players and asked Vaughn for a stronger Sweet Dream Charm, but stayed awake until dawn.
• At breakfast, Harry gave Fred and George’s Canary Cream to Ron, who turned into a giant canary before changing back and scolding his brothers.
• Harry forced himself to eat before the match, while Hermione wished Vaughn luck in Slytherin’s locker room and he ruffled her hair.

Vaughan helped Slytherin dominate Gryffindor by using his speed to disrupt their formation, while Flint and Pucey blocked Harry when he spotted the Snitch. The match remained underway as Fred broke free to help Harry.

• Vaughan used the Bludger to disrupt Gryffindor's Chasers, and Slytherin took an early lead.
• Slytherin extended its lead to 90–20 while Harry searched for the Golden Snitch.
• Harry dived after a golden flash, but Flint and Adrian Pucey blocked his path and repeatedly interfered with his broom.
• Vaughan kept Fred and George occupied with the Bludger, preventing them from helping Harry.
• Fred finally broke free to rush to Harry's aid, while Ron and Hermione watched anxiously and Hagrid offered them rock cakes.

During the Quidditch match, Harry’s broom went out of control and he fell, while Vaughan spotted the Golden Snitch. Vaughan rescued Harry before returning to catch the Snitch, securing Slytherin’s victory.

• Ron spotted Snape glaring at Harry, and Hermione saw Snape muttering as Harry’s broom began bucking wildly.
• Hermione set the Slytherin stands on fire to stop Snape, but the counterspell on Harry’s broom ended and he remained in danger.
• Angelina Johnson scored for Gryffindor, while Vaughan spotted the Golden Snitch and dived after it.
• Harry’s broom flipped over and threw him into a fall; Vaughan abandoned his pursuit of the Snitch, caught Harry, and carried him safely to the ground.
• Vaughan returned to the sky and caught the Golden Snitch, giving Slytherin a crushing victory as the crowd applauded his rescue of Harry.

After Gryffindor lost the Quidditch match, Harry and his friends learned that Snape may have tried to save him from a Jinx cast by Quirrell. Vaughn helped Dumbledore narrow down Quirrell’s travels, then learned he and his friends would spend the holiday at Hogwarts while the Weasleys visited Charlie in Romania.

• Professor McGonagall checked that Harry was unharmed, criticized Gryffindor’s play, and took his broom to inspect it.
• Hermione told Harry and Ron that Snape had tried to counter the Jinx on Harry’s broom, and Vaughn later confirmed her suspicion at Hagrid’s hut.
• Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Vaughn shared a hot pot meal at Hagrid’s, and Harry went to sleep wondering whether Snape had saved him.
• Vaughn told Dumbledore that Quirrell probably cast the Jinx, then suggested investigating Bulgaria and Romania to trace Quirrell’s travels.
• After Snape mocked Harry for losing the match, Vaughn received a letter saying the Weasleys would take Ginny to Romania, leaving Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Vaughn at Hogwarts for the holiday.

Vaughn investigated how Muggle legends could shape potion ingredients and began developing a potion to suppress the werewolf virus, drawing Snape into helping him test it at Christmas. While spending the holiday at Hogwarts, Vaughn found a poem by Rowena Ravenclaw that led him to suspect she had hidden her secrets beside Slytherin’s Chamber of Secrets, which he believed had already been searched and emptied.

• Vaughn showed Snape his research suggesting that Muggle legends could give ingredients new magical properties, including aconite’s potential to suppress the werewolf virus.
• Vaughn explained that he wanted to create the Wolfsbane Potion, and Snape agreed to take him out to test it at Christmas.
• Vaughn, Harry, Ron, and the twins stayed at Hogwarts for the Christmas holiday, while Hermione went home and the twins planned to develop products for their joke shop.
• Vaughn read Rowena Ravenclaw’s poem by the frozen Black Lake and concluded that she had discovered Slytherin’s Chamber of Secrets and built a hidden place nearby for her secrets.
• Vaughn recalled that Corvinus Gaunt had overseen Hogwarts’ sewer renovations and concluded that Slytherin’s descendants had likely searched the Chamber repeatedly, leaving little behind except the basilisk.

Vaughn and Snape traveled to an underground market to test Vaughn’s new potion on imprisoned werewolves, and Vaughn uncovered how the werewolf virus and its curse worked. He concluded that the potion could help forcibly infected werewolves retain their sanity, but further testing was needed before he could develop a finished formula.

• Snape took Vaughn through Borgin and Burkes to a hidden underground district, where Vaughn paid to use a basement containing imprisoned werewolves.
• Vaughn identified the werewolves as members of Greyback’s army and set up his experimental equipment before testing his potion on them.
• After more than three hours of experiments, Vaughn found that the werewolf virus hid in an extra organ and spread through the lymphatic system during transformation.
• Vaughn explained that Werewolf Poison could suppress the curse but could not destroy the virus, while Snape argued that a potion allowing werewolves to retain their sanity would still help those forcibly infected.
• Vaughn said he needed further tests to finalize the potion, then asked Snape to burn the dead test subjects; Snape used Fiendfyre to destroy them.

Vaughn continued developing the Wolfsbane Potion and recruited seven werewolf drifters to find others who might need it. He explained to Snape that poor werewolves would not be able to afford the potion, leaving its future distribution unresolved.

• Vaughn left Snape’s home in Cokeworth and visited the warehouse where he was keeping seven werewolves.
• Vaughn reviewed the drifters’ forms, learned about their lives, and told them his Wolfsbane Potion might let them retain their sanity during full moons.
• William White and the others agreed to find werewolves who needed help, and Vaughn gave them a way to contact him.
• Snape confronted Vaughn about gathering werewolves, comparing his actions to Voldemort’s recruitment of pure-blood families.
• Vaughn told Snape that impoverished werewolves would be unable to buy the Wolfsbane Potion once it was released.

Vaughan and Snape discussed how the Ministry of Magic might use Wolfsbane Potion to control werewolves, and Vaughan said he was organizing werewolves to act before the Ministry took the initiative. On Christmas, Vaughan sorted through a flood of gifts, received Felix Felicis from Snape, and read Isabella Rosier's account of the harsh wizarding policies in North America before warning her and sharing news of his potion.

• Vaughan explained to Snape that the wizarding world would need to fund and regulate Wolfsbane Potion, and warned that Fudge might use it as leverage over registered werewolves.
• Snape realized pure-blood families could exploit Ministry control of the potion, and Vaughan said he had contacted other werewolves so they could take the initiative.
• On Christmas morning, owls delivered gifts to Snape and Vaughan, and Snape angrily discovered that Vaughan had sent him dozens of bottles of shampoo.
• Vaughan had Harry and Ron help sort his many presents, while Fruit Tea fetched them from Gryffindor Tower and Harry brought along an Invisibility Cloak for Vaughan to inspect.
• Vaughan received gifts from Hogwarts staff and friends, including Felix Felicis from Snape, and he replied to Isabella Rosier after reading about the Magical Congress's treatment of wizards in North America.

Harry celebrated his first joyful Christmas at Hogwarts and decided to use the Invisibility Cloak for nighttime wandering. Dumbledore took Vaughn on a midnight walk, where they discussed magic and human nature before secretly steering Harry toward the Mirror of Erised.

• Vaughn inspected Harry's Invisibility Cloak, confirmed it was safe, and watched Harry and Ron use it to prank Malfoy.
• Dumbledore arrived at the Christmas feast wearing Vaughn's pink nightgown, and the students and professors celebrated with food, gifts, and crackers.
• After the feast, Harry read Dumbledore's note and resolved to roam Hogwarts at night under the Invisibility Cloak.
• Dumbledore summoned Vaughn and took him on a concealed midnight walk, probing his views on Dark magic and human nature as they discussed Muggles.
• Vaughn and Dumbledore saw Harry enter the Restricted Section, then watched Dumbledore and Snape steer him into an abandoned classroom where he discovered the Mirror of Erised.

Harry discovers that the Mirror of Erised shows his family, while Snape and Dumbledore confront their own deepest regrets. Vaughan’s Wolfsbane Potion receives front-page coverage and prompts werewolves to organize, while Rita Skeeter prepares to interview Vaughan and the news spreads through Hogwarts.

• Harry sees his parents and family in the Mirror of Erised, and Dumbledore later sees Ariana, Aberforth, and Gellert Grindelwald together in his reflection.
• Snape looks into the mirror and sees Lily, while Vaughan and Dumbledore quietly give him privacy as he grieves.
• Vaughan sends his paper and Wolfsbane Potion formula to Dumbledore’s contact, and the Daily Prophet announces the potion’s effectiveness and praises Vaughan.
• Barnard reads the newspaper to a group of werewolves and urges them to gather and travel to Diagon Alley and the Ministry of Magic to support Vaughan’s effort to make the potion free.
• Rita Skeeter volunteers to interview Vaughan and privately plans to investigate him for a scandalous story.
• Harry and Ron read about Vaughan’s achievement, while Fred and George distribute newspapers at Hogwarts and students gather around Vaughan.

Vaughan Weasley met Minister Cornelius Fudge’s effort to secure the Wolfsbane Potion formula and support for the Werewolf Registration Act with apparent openness, while uncovering reporter Rita Skeeter’s secret. The chapter ended with Vaughan capturing Rita in her Animagus form after she broke into the Slytherin common room to spy on him.

• McGonagall told Vaughan that a Ministry investigation team and a Daily Prophet reporter would visit Hogwarts, and Vaughan persuaded her to bring Snape along.
• Fudge arrived with the delegation, posed for a photograph with Vaughan, and privately urged him to give the Wolfsbane Potion formula to the Ministry in exchange for potion funding and support for the Werewolf Registration Act.
• Fudge claimed credit for Vaughan’s Second Class Order of Merlin and said the ceremony would take place at the Wizengamot courtroom in three days.
• The investigation team watched Vaughan brew Wolfsbane Potion, while Vaughan confronted Rita Skeeter over her fabricated interview notes and hinted that he knew her secret.
• Rita transformed into a beetle and secretly entered Vaughan’s room, where Vaughan used magic to capture her in a glass jar and revealed that he knew she was an illegal Animagus.

Vaughn captured Rita Skeeter in her beetle form and used her mindscape to force her to cooperate as his reporter, then directed her coverage toward the Wolfsbane Potion and the Ministry of Magic. After Dumbledore found Rita and Vaughn apparently conducting a friendly interview, Rita left under Vaughn’s control, while Vaughn reflected on Animagus transformation.

• Vaughn trapped Rita in her mindscape, threatened to erase her memories, and persuaded her to become his mouthpiece.
• Dumbledore visited Vaughn and Rita during their interview but found nothing suspicious and left.
• Vaughn instructed Rita to write provocative but mostly truthful reports, focusing on werewolves and the Ministry of Magic’s potential control of the Wolfsbane Potion.
• Rita accepted Vaughn’s conditions and left after the interview, increasingly tempted by the protection and influence he offered.
• Vaughn explained why he had no intention of becoming an Animagus, then wondered whether the system could teach him the transformation.

Vaughn negotiated with Fudge to transfer the Wolfsbane Potion rights to the Ministry in exchange for holding his Order of Merlin ceremony in Diagon Alley, where he planned to gather werewolves and announce the potion. After confronting Vaughn over his manipulation of Madam Rosmerta and his plans, Lupin left uncertain about his motives and surprised by Vaughn’s powerful Banishing Charm.

• Vaughn agreed to give the Ministry control of the Wolfsbane Potion formula and rights if Fudge moved his award ceremony to Diagon Alley and turned it into a public announcement.
• Fudge, excited by the publicity the event could bring, left to discuss Vaughn’s proposal with the Ministry.
• Vaughn used memory magic on Madam Rosmerta, then met Barnard, William, James Brown, and Remus Lupin, who reported that they had gathered more than six hundred werewolves in London.
• Vaughn gave Barnard money to support the gathered werewolves and asked James Brown and Lupin to help organize them for the Diagon Alley event.
• Lupin returned to the Three Broomsticks, discovered Vaughn altering Rosmerta’s memories, and accused him of deceiving the werewolves and endangering them.
• Vaughn explained his concerns about the Werewolf Registration Act and his public goals, then blasted Lupin out of the room with a Banishing Charm.

Lupin witnessed how Vaughan’s support brought hope and improving conditions to the werewolf camp, while Vaughan’s Wolfsbane Potion earned him an international award ceremony and a seat on the Wizengamot. After receiving the Order of Merlin, Second Class, Vaughan began to speak before announcing the potion’s ownership transfer, leaving Fudge anxious about what he would say.

• Lupin watched the werewolves celebrate Vaughan’s money and promises of treatment, then recognized that Vaughan had given them hope.
• Dumbledore told Vaughan that Fudge had turned the award ceremony into an international press conference, attracting representatives from many countries.
• At Hogwarts, Ron and Harry discussed Vaughan’s award before Dumbledore took Vaughan to the ceremony in Diagon Alley.
• Fudge paraded Vaughan before foreign liaisons and influential guests, presenting himself as Vaughan’s close ally.
• Amelia Bones awarded Vaughan the Order of Merlin, Second Class, and invited him to join the Order of Merlin and the Wizengamot.
• Vaughan began his remarks by saying he had other things to discuss before announcing the Wolfsbane Potion’s ownership transfer, unsettling Fudge.

Vaughn used his investiture speech to expose the prejudice and restrictive laws imposed on werewolves, then proposed an independent Werewolf Affairs Committee. The chapter ended with Fudge accusing him of splitting the Ministry of Magic as the crowd looked to Dumbledore and the Wizengamot.

• Vaughn recounted how learning that werewolves were managed by the Beast Division inspired him to develop the Wolfsbane Potion, while Kingsley and other Aurors listened outside.
• Hundreds of werewolves arrived at Diagon Alley and gathered outside the hall, where Vaughn asked whether they were beasts or people.
• Selwyn mocked the werewolves, so Vaughn defeated him with a Disarming Charm before Barnard explained that the werewolves had exiled themselves to protect others.
• Vaughn condemned prejudice and revealed Fudge's demand that werewolves obey the Werewolf Registration Act, prompting Wizengamot members to attack Fudge and Umbridge with shoes and other objects.
• Vaughn asked the Wizengamot to establish an independent Werewolf Affairs Committee, reclaim werewolf-related authority from the Ministry, and reserve half the committee seats for werewolves.
• Fudge accused Vaughn of splitting the Ministry, while the crowd turned its attention to Dumbledore over Vaughn's proposal for the International Confederation of Wizards to appoint the other representatives.

After the werewolves’ appearance at Vaughan Weasley’s award ceremony, Vaughan secured Dumbledore’s support and funding for their immediate needs while newspapers praised and condemned them both. As Harry and Ron learned what Vaughan was trying to accomplish, Vaughn studied the Vanishing Spell and considered which magic to develop next.

• Dumbledore told Vaughan that the Wizengamot would meet in half a month, and Vaughan asked him for five thousand Galleons to provide Wolfsbane Potion for the werewolves until the Werewolf Affairs Committee was established.
• Vaughan explained that Remus had taken the werewolves to the Muggle world, while Headmaster Black criticized Dumbledore for supporting Vaughan and pleaded over Sirius and the Black Family’s future.
• Seamus showed Ron and Harry the newspaper coverage, and Hermione corrected Ron when he described Vaughan as taking in werewolves instead of fighting for their rights.
• Harry understood Vaughan’s efforts more clearly, and Ron asked Harry to take him back to the mirror that had shown him as a celebrated prefect.
• Vaughn tested the Vanishing Spell and found that it reduced a rat to irrecoverable matter, then weighed studying memory magic against developing the spell further.
• Vaughn reviewed his plans to improve his combat magic and stunned a prefect in the Slytherin common room, leaving Malfoy hiding in fear.

Vaughan spoke with his family through Snape’s fireplace, then helped Dumbledore observe Harry and Ron at the Mirror of Erised. After Harry rejected the mirror’s illusions, Vaughan reconsidered how memory magic might protect him from Dark magic’s effects, and the new year brought him a large increase in Fame Points.

• Vaughan borrowed Snape’s fireplace to call Molly, Arthur, and Ginny, who reassured him that they supported his actions and showed him Ginny’s Puffskein.
• Dumbledore asked Vaughan to warn Harry about the Mirror of Erised, but Harry arrived with Ron before Vaughan could speak to him.
• Ron saw himself celebrated with an Order of Merlin, First Class, while Harry pulled him away and decided to stop visiting the mirror.
• Dumbledore and Vaughan revealed themselves, embarrassing Harry and Ron, and Dumbledore moved the Mirror of Erised away.
• Vaughan interpreted Dumbledore’s advice as a clue that memory magic could shield his soul from Dark magic, and he began planning a system of spells to create and protect false memories.
• At midnight, the system settled Vaughan’s Fame Points, which he calculated would now amount to fifteen per month, and displayed his updated status with 22 Reputation Points.

Vaughn maxed out the Shield Charm and Disarming Charm, then used his improved Legilimency on Harry to create a false memory that made Harry believe his parents had been erased. Harry realized the scene was fabricated, but Vaughn’s test left him shaken.

• Vaughn spent 15 fame points to max out the Shield Charm and Disarming Charm, then tested their new defensive and offensive abilities in the Room of Requirement.
• Vaughn raised his Legilimency to LV2 and agreed to investigate Snape for Harry in exchange for using Harry to test memory alteration.
• Harry’s strange behavior after the test sparked rumors at Hogwarts, and he insulted Snape in Potions class before losing Gryffindor 30 points.
• Vaughn criticized Harry’s weak Occlumency and used Legilimency to place him inside a memory of the Mirror of Erised.
• Vaughn made Harry believe he had destroyed the images of Harry’s parents, then revealed that the scene had been a false memory.