Chapter Summaries

The Alchemy competition proved far more tedious than the audience expected, as competitors spent their time calculating and drafting designs. Michael described Wade Grey’s dazzling, instinctive approach to Alchemy, leaving Harry and the others eager to see him work.

• William Harris tried to entertain the audience, but Krupp asked him not to disturb the competitors, so Harris fell silent.
• Harry, Michael, Hermione, Fred, George, Lupin, and Moody grew bored as the Alchemists carefully planned their creations.
• Hermione said she was recording the competitors’ designs so she could study their ideas later.
• Michael described how Wade Grey made materials seem to move according to his will while performing Alchemy.
• Harry and Hermione said they wanted to watch Wade work, while Michael wondered whether the competitors’ method was orthodox Alchemy.

Fred and George rejected conventional Alchemy in favor of their impulsive approach, while an FMC salesman offered entertainment to the bored spectators. The group learned that Wade Grey had created an immersive game opening in Diagon Alley, and they eagerly planned to visit it.

• Fred and George agreed to pursue Alchemy through direct experiments and wild inspiration, prompting Moody and Lupin to warn them about the dangers.
• An FMC salesman entered the box and sold the spectators miniature Streaming Mirrors, a Daydream Quill, and games.
• The salesman handed Michael pamphlets advertising Wade Grey's upcoming Land of Little People experience game.
• Harry, Fred, and the others expressed interest in visiting the game after it opened on August 10th.
• Lupin reflected on how Wade's influence had spread throughout the Wizarding World, while Moody questioned the safety of the game.

The Alchemy Competition ended as the judges began evaluating the competitors’ creations. Dalia Rostigo presented her temperature-adjusting Extreme Cold Robes, and the judges praised their quality while Hawthorne said he would deduct some points for innovation.

• Harris announced the final countdown as Kravchuk rushed to finish his work.
• Kravchuk completed his project at the last second, and the competition bell rang.
• Dalia Rostigo presented her Extreme Cold Robes and explained their materials, spells, and features.
• The judges tested the robes and praised their protection, workmanship, and stability.
• Wade recognized design similarities to his Anti-Curse Vest and Golems, but said he welcomed the inspiration.
• Hawthorne said he would personally deduct points from Dalia for innovation, and she accepted his judgment.

Wade watched other Alchemists present their protective equipment while Professor Murray took pride in Wade’s influence on them. Ben Carter’s gear failed during testing, and Viktor Kravchuk presented unfinished plate armor before Wade encountered a Golem that caught his attention.

• Professor Murray told Wade that other Alchemists imitating his ideas proved his exceptional skill.
• Ben Carter presented protective equipment and was knocked unconscious when its filtration and insulation failed against poisonous gas.
• The judges criticized Ben’s equipment after a healer carried him away.
• Viktor Kravchuk presented enormous plate armor without the magic he had planned to include because he ran out of time.
• After two more competitors, Wade noticed a competitor’s Golem walking across the ground.

Karl Claister demonstrated his awkward Explorer Golem, which collapsed while trying to retrieve moonstones from Poisonous Gas, drawing laughter from the audience. Wade Gray encouraged Karl to redesign the Golem around its intended tasks, leaving Karl inspired to improve it.

• Karl Claister introduced Explorer and demonstrated that it could enter Poisonous Gas and retrieve moonstones.
• Explorer dropped the moonstones, tangled itself in ropes, and fell, prompting laughter from the audience and criticism from the judges.
• Wade Gray explained that Golems should be designed for their tasks rather than made to resemble living creatures.
• Karl Claister thanked Wade and resolved to develop his own designs and improve Explorer.

Wade’s expert judging silenced doubts about his Alchemy, while the final competitor, Modihis Graves, stunned the audience with a Werewolf Golem called Hound that endured several extreme environments. After the judges praised its power, Madam Piquery questioned its lack of vitality, and Graves replied that golems were tools.

• Wade gave competitors constructive criticism as their golems struggled with the competition’s extreme-environment tests, earning respect from observers who had doubted his skill.
• Murray and the other judges discussed how Wade’s example would inspire future golem-makers, while Murray lamented that Wade was already a judge and could not compete for the championship.
• Modihis Graves entered with a spherical golem that unfolded into a towering Werewolf Golem, terrifying the audience until Fontana calmed them.
• Graves demonstrated that Hound could withstand freezing, acid, and a vacuum, prompting Silas Hawthorne to call it the likely champion.
• Madam Piquery asked why Hound seemed lifeless, and Graves answered that golems were tools.

At the Alchemy Competition, Wade and the judges challenged Modihis Graves over his cold, utilitarian treatment of his werewolf golem, but Graves defended his philosophy and won the highest honor. After the event, potential partners crowded around Graves, including Aldridge Corbett of the Magical Congress Security Department.

• Wade warned Graves that a golem given a mind could develop a spark of life, while Graves insisted that golems were tools without true minds.
• The judges questioned Graves about his lack of attachment to his creation and cautioned him about the risks of ignoring its safety; Graves explained that dismantling and recycling obsolete creations was his way of cherishing his investments.
• The judges awarded Graves high scores, including Wade's 9, and William Harris announced Graves as the competition's winner.
• Murray criticized the judges for not deducting more points, while Wade let his professor assume his high score had been given out of politeness.
• After the competition ended, business representatives gathered around Graves to offer partnerships, and Aldridge Corbett introduced himself from the Magical Congress Security Department.

Modihis Graves defended his philosophy of treating Golems as disposable tools, while the judges questioned the risks and emotional coldness of his methods. His Werewolf Golem won the Alchemy Competition, and as potential partners crowded around him, Aldridge Corbett approached on behalf of the Magical Congress Security Department.

• Wade Grey warned Graves that a Golem given thought might turn its suffering into darker fuel, but Graves insisted Golems were tools whose value depended on their usefulness.
• Silas Hawthorne questioned whether Graves truly regarded his Werewolf Golem as his own creation, and Graves said emotional attachment hindered efficiency and safety.
• The judges awarded Graves high scores, placing him first in the competition, while Terence Murray complained that the work deserved deductions for its completion and safety flaws.
• William Harris announced Graves as the competition's winner and then hurried away as the competitors packed up their workstations.
• Businesspeople and representatives offered Graves partnerships and business cards before Aldridge Corbett introduced himself from the Magical Congress Security Department.

Tom Haik chose to expose the Magical Security Department’s interest in Hollow Golems in a provocative article, while Wade Grey discovered the story in the morning paper. The chapter left Wade reading the report over breakfast with Elsie.

• Tom Haik set aside photos of Dalia and Karl Claister and wrote an article questioning the Security Department’s plans to introduce Hollow Golems.
• The Weasleys argued about their purchases and invited Wade and Michael to visit local prank shops.
• Fred and George teased Wade by leaving him alone with Elsie, who greeted him and gave him the New York Ghost.
• Wade read Tom Haik’s article, which questioned whether the Magical Security Department favored force over humane governance and whether Werewolf Golems were safe.

Wade rejected Elsie’s suggestion to seek a powerful American partner, and she warned him that New York had become dangerous for a rising star. Meanwhile, Corbett and an old man in a wheelchair realized Tom Haik had targeted Corbett instead of Wade, disrupting their plans.

• Elsie asked Wade whether he would consider partnering with a powerful American faction, but Wade said his cooperation with Marchioni was already satisfactory.
• Elsie warned Wade to return to Britain soon if he did not intend to work with an American faction, and Wade said he would stay in New York for a few more days.
• An old man in a wheelchair angrily confronted Corbett over Tom Haik’s newspaper report targeting him rather than Wade.
• Corbett explained that he had arranged Wade’s release and leaked news about Wade inheriting Nicolas Flamel’s estate, but Haik’s report had ignored the story and upset his plans.

Li Chang'an acquired a third-tier mid-grade puppet inheritance and traded its flesh-and-blood puppet techniques to Mo Qingxue for three favors, then returned safely to Changqing Mountain. After interrogating Sima Rui's soul, he learned about Huanghe Mountain's strength and that Murong Kang might belong to a Demonic faction.

• The soul in the ruins chose Li Chang'an for its puppet inheritance, and he discovered that it included complete flesh-and-blood puppet methods.
• Mo Qingxue explained that her family's inheritance lacked those methods, and she and Li Chang'an signed a contract exchanging a copy for three favors, including help finding a Core Formation treasure.
• Li Chang'an left the ruins, collected several storage bags, and returned to Changqing Mountain, where he gave Jiang Muyu water-element treasures and fed spirit soil and demon carcasses to the Evergreen Vine.
• Li Chang'an revealed his sword formation to Sima Rui's soul, forcing Sima Rui to realize that Li Chang'an had defeated him, before the fiend soul dragged Sima Rui into the Soul Honoring Banner.
• After the fiend soul broke Sima Rui's resistance, Sima Rui told Li Chang'an about True Person Huanghe, Huanghe Mountain's disciples, and Murong Kang's suspicious dealings with strange people and smell of blood.

Wade met with Madam Piquery to discuss his teaching methods, but their conversation was interrupted by Stella’s staged dog-bite incident. After the servants left, Madam Piquery revealed that Wade had to carry fragile memories to Dumbledore in his own mind.

• Wade and Madam Piquery discussed emotional anchors and how to teach magic to beginners.
• Stella burst into the study with a bleeding arm and claimed her Crup, Amy, had bitten her, prompting Madam Piquery to heal her and send the servants to search.
• Madam Piquery kept Wade’s visit going, while the butler overheard Stella complaining and mistakenly concluded that she had staged the incident to disrupt Wade’s meeting.
• Once the surveillance eased, Madam Piquery explained that a fragment of memories could only be shown once and entrusted Wade with a cracked Glass Vial.
• Madam Piquery told Wade to view the memories in the washroom and carry them back to Dumbledore in his mind, so Wade asked for directions.

Wade entered the memory left by Jensen, a Muggle soldier who had witnessed an invasion of a wizarding community in the Middle East. The memory revealed soldiers capturing wizard children and torturing an elderly wizard until he exposed a hidden chamber, where they found a familiar Golden Kettle.

• Wade transformed Madam Piquery's enchanted washbasin into a Pensieve and entered Jensen's memory.
• Wade saw Jensen and other soldiers moving through a devastated city while their forces searched for a target.
• Soldiers attacked a group of wizard children, and the children fought back before being overwhelmed by stun guns.
• Wade watched the soldiers capture an elderly wizard and threaten the children until he agreed to reveal his secret.
• The injured wizard opened a hidden underground chamber, and the soldiers emerged carrying its contents, including a familiar Golden Kettle.

Wade explored Jensen’s memory of soldiers entering a forbidden underground chamber, where golden sand unleashed a deadly curse that rapidly aged or killed everyone who touched it. The memory ended with Jensen fleeing the destruction and crashing into an unfamiliar person.

• Wade approached the underground passage, but a soldier named Hayden emerged aged and dying after entering it.
• The commander interrogated Hayden, who warned that the chamber held a god’s curse, then died after revealing he had already poisoned himself.
• Jensen was ordered into the passage, where he saw a child crawl from the golden-lit chamber before terror disrupted his memory.
• Wade saw that the chamber’s golden sand had killed the soldiers in grotesque ways, and that a fist-sized lump of bloody flesh lay beyond tiny handprints and footprints.
• The commander ordered the passage bombarded, but golden sand continued to drift from the rubble as the surviving soldiers rapidly aged and died.
• Jensen escaped the building and collided with a person who asked which class he belonged to.

Wade witnessed Jensen’s memories of the cruel experiments conducted to exploit the power of Time Magic and the wizard who died helping him escape. After Jensen’s memories were extracted, Wade encountered him within the memory and learned that he remembered everything before walking into the void.

• Jensen realized the golden sand had made him younger, then the scene shifted to a laboratory where a wizard and a wealthy man discussed researching Time Magic.
• Wade witnessed experiments that repeatedly altered victims’ ages and bodies, while Jensen survived and remained trapped in the facility.
• A ponytailed wizard carried Jensen toward safety and was shot; before dying, he urged Jensen to run and live, and Jensen later asked a girl to preserve his memories for Dumbledore.
• The girl extracted Jensen’s memories with a difficult spell, and Wade found himself face-to-face with a healthy, cheerful Jensen who remembered everything.
• Wade told Jensen that Dumbledore had sent him, and Jensen walked toward a distant void after saying they might meet again.

After escaping a disturbing memory in the Pensieve, Wade hid his shock and prepared to leave Madam Piquery's home. Stella revealed that her aunt Seraphina was constrained by the Magical Congress president and begged Wade to seek justice through Headmaster Dumbledore.

• Wade emerged from the Pensieve shaken, destroyed the vial, and disguised the basin as an ordinary sink.
• Wade returned to the study, where Stella scolded her injured terrier and Madam Piquery ended their conversation ahead of an inquiry by Elijah Watkins.
• Madam Piquery apologized for Stella's rudeness and asked her to escort Wade out.
• As they walked, Stella asked whether Wade had seen everything in the memory, then explained that the Magical Congress president obstructed Seraphina.
• Stella told Wade that hope rested with Headmaster Dumbledore and pleaded with him to seek justice for those in the memory.

Wade realized Stella had risked herself to recover Jensen’s memories and deliver them to Madam Piquery, and promised to help. After meeting Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes official Elijah Watkins, Wade left the manor with Moody and Lupin, deciding to return to Britain soon.

• Wade recognized Stella’s past actions as a mission to preserve Jensen’s memories, and promised they would help her.
• Elijah Watkins arrived to investigate Madam Piquery’s Crup and asked Wade when he planned to leave the United States.
• Wade thanked Stella and Madam Piquery before departing, while Stella accompanied Elijah to see the Crup.
• Moody and Lupin met Wade outside the manor, and Wade told them his visit had gone smoothly.
• Lupin asked whether Wade wanted to stay longer, but Wade chose to return to Britain because school was about to start and his summer homework remained unfinished.

Wade, Lupin, and Moody discovered a deadly curse trap near White Bridge Inn, and Moody and Lupin destroyed it with a coordinated attack. As the inn’s occupants rushed outside, a masked figure who had been watching them disappeared into the shadows.

• A taxi dropped Wade, Lupin, and Moody near White Bridge Inn, and Wade glimpsed golden threads spread across the path ahead.
• Moody recognized the threads as an insidious curse trap and told Wade and Lupin to retreat.
• Lupin raised a whirlwind to conceal the street while Moody blasted the trap, triggering a violent explosion that wounded his arm.
• The three spotted a hooded figure wearing a smiling God of Death mask at an alley entrance.
• When people rushed out of White Bridge Inn, the masked figure slipped back into the shadows and vanished.

Moody and the others were attacked by a masked assailant, leaving Moody wounded and the street scarred by a powerful curse. Salina arrived with Aurors to investigate, and Lupin began recounting the attack as the group headed into the inn.

• Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, Harry, and Sirius rushed to check on the group after the explosion, while Moody dismissed their concern.
• Moody warned Sirius that anyone could be an enemy and urged him to suspect everything around Wade.
• The innkeeper offered compensation, and nearby Muggles fled after seeing the blast site and hearing Apparition.
• Salina arrived with Aurors, ordered them to secure and examine the area, and asked Moody what had happened.
• Moody challenged Salina over the Aurors’ ability to protect them and refused the innkeeper’s offer of drinks.
• Salina asked about the masked man, and Lupin began explaining the events that led to the attack.

Wade and his companions investigated who had revealed their whereabouts and defended Lupin and Moody from suspicion. Elijah Watkins discovered a tracking charm hidden beneath Wade’s shoe, giving the Aurors a new lead as the investigation continued.

• Salina questioned Lupin about Dumbledore assigning him to protect Wade, but Wade insisted that neither Lupin nor Moody had betrayed them.
• Harry and Michael defended Lupin, and Salina agreed to investigate other leads first without entirely ruling him out.
• Elijah Watkins arrived and learned that the group believed their trusted companions were unlikely to have leaked their whereabouts.
• Watkins examined Wade and found a tiny tracking Book of Friends hidden beneath his shoe.
• Watkins warned Wade to consider how new objects could be misused, then went to investigate the nearby Muggles while Salina continued the inquiry.