Chapter Summaries

Silvan showed Dumbledore the diary he had transformed into a wand, and Dumbledore discovered that Voldemort’s soul fragment was gone despite the diary remaining intact. Silvan revealed that the fragment had become the wand’s core, leaving Dumbledore astonished and uncertain about how the magic had worked.

• Dumbledore asked about Silvan’s unusual wand and recalled a parrot that had escaped from its cage when he was a student.
• Silvan let Dumbledore examine the diary, and Dumbledore sensed that Voldemort’s soul fragment had vanished from the undamaged Horcrux.
• Dumbledore explained that he had suspected Silvan could destroy Horcruxes and said he believed Silvan’s Unicorn Magic could harm Voldemort’s wraith.
• Dumbledore asked what Silvan had used as the wand’s core, and Silvan admitted it was the thing that had originally lived inside the diary.
• Silvan suggested that the soul fragment’s incompleteness might explain why it could become a wand core, while Dumbledore remained unsure how it had happened.

Dumbledore confirmed that Silvan had destroyed Voldemort’s diary Horcrux, then used a Pensieve to show him a memory of an Apparition lesson. Inside the memory, Silvan unexpectedly spoke through the younger Dumbledore and volunteered to demonstrate Apparition.

• Dumbledore recalled how Dark magic had transformed Tom Riddle and concluded that Voldemort’s soul fragment could plausibly serve as a wand core.
• Dumbledore confirmed that Silvan had destroyed Voldemort’s diary Horcrux but chose not to press him about how he had done it.
• Dumbledore cleared space in the Great Hall and brought out a Pensieve containing one of his memories.
• Silvan entered the memory and watched a professor scold Eric for repeatedly splinching himself while learning Apparition.
• Silvan’s arm rose against his will, and he announced that he had already learned Apparition.
• The professor accepted Silvan’s offer and called Albus into the middle to demonstrate.

Silvan experienced young Dumbledore’s memory of learning Apparition and used the sensation to Apparate himself. Dumbledore ended the tutoring lesson, leaving Silvan to await word from Snape about whether he needed another.

• Silvan watched young Dumbledore perform perfect Apparition in the Great Hall and heard students complain about Headmaster Black’s favoritism toward Slytherin.
• Silvan returned from the Pensieve memory and recalled how Dumbledore had Apparated.
• Silvan raised his wand and Apparated across the Great Hall, impressing Dumbledore.
• Dumbledore advised Silvan to practice until Apparition became instinctive and warned him not to attempt it in battle before then.
• Dumbledore ended the lesson and said Snape would decide whether Silvan needed another tutoring session.

Silvan reflected on Dumbledore’s tutoring and considered practicing Apparition in the Room of Requirement, but ran into Harry after a furious confrontation with Snape. Harry refused to explain what happened during Occlumency, though his questions about Sirius and Slytherins led Silvan to suspect he had learned something disturbing about James Potter.

• Silvan decided to test whether the Room of Requirement could provide a place to practice Apparition.
• A jar of dead cockroaches flew from Snape’s underground classroom, and Harry emerged with a bruise while Snape shouted at him to leave.
• Silvan asked Harry what had happened, but Harry denied that Snape had hurt him and hid his arm.
• Harry asked what Sirius had been like at school, then murmured about Sirius and his friends targeting Slytherins, prompting Silvan to suspect Harry had learned about James Potter.
• At the common room, Hermione and Ron noticed Harry’s distress, but Harry denied anything had happened and compared his Occlumency lessons to Silvan’s Apparition lessons.

Silvan discovered that the Room of Requirement could provide a place to practice Apparition and spent the night training there. By morning, he had reached the point where he could Apparate without deliberately recalling the sensation, though he was exhausted.

• Silvan told Harry, Ron, and Hermione that Dumbledore had taught him Apparition through a memory in the Pensieve.
• Silvan went to the third-floor corridor and entered the Room of Requirement by concentrating on needing a place to Apparate.
• Silvan found Apparition books, Essence of Dittany, and practice markings in the room, then successfully Apparated beside a mailbox.
• Silvan practiced Apparition through the night and, by morning, could perform it without deliberately searching for the feeling.
• Harry was startled by Silvan's exhausted appearance, and Hermione questioned whether he had sneaked out.

After Umbridge posted a decree threatening to expel students caught with prank items, Fred and George admitted to a string of pranks that had left her with purple teeth and sent her to the Hospital Wing. They told Harry he could see her there, where Madam Pomfrey had been unable to restore her teeth.

• Umbridge posted Educational Decree No. 26, threatening immediate expulsion for students carrying prank items.
• Fred and George admitted they had replaced Cockroach Clusters with real cockroaches, covered Umbridge with itching powder, tampered with the plates in her office, and poured Neville's Potions homework into her porridge.
• Fred and George explained that the pranks had left Umbridge with purple teeth and blue bubbles when she spoke.
• Fred and George told Harry that Umbridge was on her way to the Hospital Wing, where Madam Pomfrey had suggested pulling out her teeth and using Skele-Gro, but Umbridge had refused.

Harry and his friends dealt with Umbridge’s renewed attacks while Fred and George borrowed the Marauder’s Map to track her and Filch. A letter from Sirius warned that fifteen Death Eaters had escaped Azkaban, prompting Hermione to search recent newspapers for any report of the escape.

• Umbridge returned from St Mungo’s and retaliated against Gryffindor, targeting Fred and George and issuing Educational Decree Number Twenty-Six.
• Fred and George dismissed Silvan’s warning that Umbridge was trying to provoke them and borrowed the Marauder’s Map to monitor her and Filch.
• Silvan received a letter from Sirius saying fifteen Death Eaters had escaped Azkaban and advising him and Harry to stay inside Hogwarts.
• Harry was relieved to hear from Sirius but grew angry that Sirius had not written sooner.
• Hermione brought recent Daily Prophets to the table and asked Harry and Silvan to help find a report about the escape.

After the Ministry suppressed news of the Death Eaters’ prison break, Harry decided to warn Hogwarts, and Silvan helped him arrange to post notices. Fred and George spread the notices under Dumbledore’s name, leaving Harry’s warning circulating through the school.

• Silvan, Harry, Ron, and Hermione found no newspaper reports about the escape of fifteen Death Eaters and blamed the Ministry’s cover-up.
• Harry decided to tell people about the prison break, and Silvan suggested getting Fred and George to help post notices at night.
• Hermione rewrote an article about the escape, while Ron gave Harry the Invisibility Cloak and helped him find Fred and George.
• Fred and George used the Marauder’s Map to avoid Umbridge and Filch while preparing to post hundreds of notices.
• Fred signed the notice with Albus Dumbledore’s name, making it appear more convincing than Harry’s unsigned version.

Notices claiming that more than fifteen Death Eaters had escaped from Azkaban appeared around Hogwarts, provoking fear and anger until Umbridge and McGonagall denied them. The notices reappeared on each of the next two mornings, and Umbridge remained unable to catch whoever was posting them.

• Students found notices announcing that more than fifteen Death Eaters, including Amicus Carrow and Alecto Carrow, had escaped from Azkaban, and many believed them because they bore Dumbledore's name.
• Dumbledore told Umbridge he had not posted the notices, and Snape pointed out that they bore no magical seal; Umbridge realized the signature was an imitation.
• Umbridge announced that the notices were fake and threatened to expel anyone who discussed them, while McGonagall confirmed Dumbledore had not posted them.
• Identical notices appeared the next day, stuck up with magical glue, and McGonagall and Professor Sprout removed them after Umbridge failed to do so herself.
• Umbridge and Filch patrolled the castle that night but found no culprit, and around a dozen notices appeared again the following morning, attached with a Permanent Sticking Charm.

Dumbledore and the Hogwarts professors refused to let Umbridge’s demand to remove the magically fixed notices disrupt their work. Dumbledore left for Norway after confirming that fifteen Death Eaters had escaped Azkaban, leaving Umbridge alone with Filch and the notices.

• Filch failed to remove the notices, and Dumbledore praised the skill of the Permanent Sticking Charm while McGonagall noted that some spells were poorly cast.
• Umbridge ordered Dumbledore to find and expel whoever had posted the notices, but Dumbledore said he had to travel to Norway over the disappearance of the Durmstrang headmaster.
• Dumbledore confirmed to McGonagall that fifteen Death Eaters had escaped Azkaban, while Umbridge denied that anything had happened there.
• Dumbledore asked McGonagall to help Umbridge deal with the notices, then left after an owl arrived with a red-ribboned letter.
• McGonagall insisted on teaching her fifth-year class, and Snape left to investigate another break-in at his office after Umbridge urged him to retrieve and destroy the stolen assignments.
• The other professors left for classes or other duties, leaving Umbridge and Filch with the notices and Mrs Norris.

Umbridge organized a nighttime patrol to catch whoever was posting warnings around Hogwarts, but Harry secretly put up another notice with help from Fred and George. After Umbridge searched the Gryffindor dormitories without finding anyone, the group stopped posting notices, and Silvan decided to stay at Hogwarts during the coming Hogsmeade Weekend.

• Umbridge recruited Filch, McGonagall, and Snape to patrol the castle and assigned herself to the eighth floor so she could catch students outside their dormitories.
• Harry, hidden beneath the Invisibility Cloak, posted a notice outside the library and applied the Weasley brothers' Invisibility Potion to make it disappear.
• The next morning, Umbridge's furious shouts woke many students after she discovered the vanished notice.
• Umbridge raided the Gryffindor Common Room with Filch and Slytherin students, but Harry, Fred, and George were safely in their dormitory and she found no culprit.
• Fred and George decided to stop posting notices, while Silvan declined to visit Hogsmeade and chose to remain at Hogwarts.

Umbridge tightened her control over Hogwarts after the mysterious notices disappeared, banning discussions of Azkaban and the use of wands. As Hermione looked for a way to learn practical defensive magic, she asked Silvan to teach the students.

• Umbridge issued Educational Decree Number Twenty-Seven, forbidding students from discussing Azkaban and threatening expulsion for breaking the rule.
• Umbridge also banned students from using wands throughout Hogwarts, but the other professors continued teaching magic in their classes.
• Hermione complained that Umbridge’s Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons taught only theory and said the students needed to learn defensive magic.
• Silvan asked Harry to help him practise Apparition under attack, and they agreed to train on Saturday.
• Hermione interrupted Silvan and Harry to suggest that Silvan teach the students Defence Against the Dark Arts.

Silvan declined Hermione’s plan to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, explaining that a large group could attract Umbridge’s attention, and recommended Cedric instead. He brought Harry to the Room of Requirement to practise Apparition and began asking Harry to interfere with his spellcasting.

• Hermione left for Hogsmeade to meet Cedric and discuss teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts.
• Silvan explained to Harry that a large practice group could expose them to Umbridge and put frightened students at risk, making Cedric a better leader.
• Silvan revealed the Room of Requirement to Harry and explained that Hermione and Cedric could use it as a classroom.
• Silvan Apparated inside the room, and Harry asked him to teach the spell after helping him practise.
• Silvan asked Harry to cast a simple spell at him for their first Apparition interference practice.

Harry abandoned Apparition practice after watching Silvan repeatedly splinch himself, while Hermione returned from Hogsmeade with Cedric’s agreement to establish the S.D.A. The group’s plans for secret Defence lessons took shape around a magical confidentiality contract.

• Harry helped Silvan reattach his limbs after repeated failed Apparition attempts, then declined to try Apparition himself.
• Harry and Silvan left the Room of Requirement and avoided the Great Hall after Umbridge arrived.
• Silvan bathed in the prefects’ bathroom but could not completely wash away the scent of dittany.
• Hermione returned from Hogsmeade and told Silvan and Harry that Cedric had agreed to help form the S.D.A.
• Hermione showed the group a magical contract that would prevent anyone who signed it from revealing information about the S.D.A.

Blast-Ended Skrewts multiplied out of control in the Forbidden Forest after Professor Grubbly-Plank mistook them for food, and Silvan was asked to deal with them. With Umbridge driven off by a giant Skrewt and McGonagall excusing him from class, Silvan entered the forest with Fluffy to hunt the creatures.

• Hermione and the others continued preparing the S.D.A. while Silvan focused on the Skrewts Hagrid had left near his hut.
• Professor Grubbly-Plank put the Skrewts in the Hippogriffs' enclosure, where they multiplied and caused constant explosions in the Forbidden Forest.
• Hagrid recommended Silvan to McGonagall, and Umbridge tacitly approved his work after a giant Skrewt chased her through the forest.
• Silvan reassured Harry that Hagrid would not return soon and that Umbridge might be affected by the Defence Against the Dark Arts curse.
• McGonagall let Silvan miss her Transfiguration class and Flitwick's Charms class so he could resolve the Skrewt problem before the Easter holidays.
• Silvan entered the Forbidden Forest and met Fluffy, who would help him track and handle the Skrewts.

Silvan and Fluffy cleared the Blast-Ended Skrewts from the Forbidden Forest, and Silvan saved twenty-nine intact shells to make wands. At Hogwarts, Umbridge had every Easter parcel and letter opened, provoking Fred and George into deciding to accept her challenge.

• Silvan and Fluffy dealt with the Blast-Ended Skrewts, and Silvan salvaged twenty-nine shells for future wands.
• Hermione gave Silvan, Ron, and Harry revision timetables that reserved time for Silvan's wand-making and Harry's Quidditch practice.
• Silvan received an Easter egg and sweets from his mother and shared the unfamiliar candies with his friends.
• Harry and the other students discovered that Umbridge had ordered their parcels and letters opened and marked as approved by the High Inquisitor.
• Silvan warned Fred and George that Umbridge was trying to provoke them, but Fred and George decided to accept her challenge despite Hermione's appeal for caution.

During Easter break, Silvan finished making twenty-nine wands from Blast-Ended Skrewt shells, most of which boosted spell power at the cost of backlash. As the holiday ended, fifth-years prepared for career guidance meetings, and Fred and George hinted that they would soon resume challenging Umbridge.

• Silvan turned all twenty-nine Blast-Ended Skrewt shells into wands, finding that nineteen powerful combat wands inflicted equal backlash on their wielders.
• Silvan discovered that one wand had a five percent chance to make a spell spread to everyone nearby without harmful side effects.
• On the final morning of the holiday, Harry and Ron showed Silvan the career guidance notice and the materials about wizarding professions.
• Silvan found that he was scheduled to meet McGonagall on Monday afternoon and joked that he might someday become Headmaster.
• Silvan asked Fred and George why they had been quiet over the holiday, and they said they would soon return to challenging Umbridge.

Silvan and his friends discussed how Potions qualifications affected their future careers, while Harry hoped Snape would keep ignoring him. In Divination class, Silvan reflected on his earlier crystal-ball prophecy as Trelawney appeared increasingly distressed by Umbridge’s scrutiny.

• Snape ignored Harry during Potions, and Harry successfully brewed an acceptable Invigoration Draught.
• Silvan warned Harry and Ron that many careers required a Potions N.E.W.T., and Hermione explained why Aurors needed Potions skills.
• Harry grew nervous about his upcoming career guidance session with McGonagall as students debated their career options.
• Silvan saw Trelawney looking unwell and heard her mutter that Umbridge would pay for her actions.
• Silvan recalled that his earlier crystal-ball vision had matched events involving Bellatrix, Voldemort, and Fawkes, but the crystal ball showed only white mist afterward.

Harry reported that Umbridge had clashed with McGonagall over his Defence Against the Dark Arts ability, while McGonagall warned Silvan that Umbridge might target him. In the common room, Fred and George prepared to publicly prank Umbridge, and Silvan hinted that he had another plan for them after exams.

• Harry told Silvan, Ron, and Hermione that Umbridge had criticized his Defence Against the Dark Arts grades, and McGonagall had defended him by pointing to his high marks under competent teachers.
• Umbridge left McGonagall's office furious, and McGonagall warned Silvan to be careful because Umbridge was backed by Minister Fudge.
• McGonagall's career guidance for Silvan proved brief, and she sent him away after explaining that Dumbledore had wanted his name included on the notice.
• Silvan returned to the common room and found Fred and George preparing a Portable Swamp to prank Umbridge and make a public exit from Hogwarts.
• Silvan told Fred and George he had a plan that might need their help after exams, and they agreed to hear about it later.

Silvan decided to use Hermione’s student-run Defence Against the Dark Arts class as bait to draw Umbridge into a plan. After Fred and George’s Portable Swamp trapped Umbridge in a foul-smelling mess, Silvan urged them to seek McGonagall’s help before Umbridge could punish them.

• Silvan told Fred and George that the S.D.A. would be the preparation stage of his plan against Umbridge.
• Fred and George decided to postpone leaving school to start their joke shop, but still used their Portable Swamp on Umbridge.
• Umbridge fell into the swamp, which stank from Dungbombs, dead frogs, and leech juice as students gathered to watch.
• Silvan warned Fred and George that Umbridge might use Veritaserum to find out who was responsible.
• Members of the Inquisitorial Squad drove away the onlookers and pulled Umbridge out of the swamp.
• Silvan advised Fred and George to confess to McGonagall, pointing out that she had argued with Umbridge earlier.