Chapter Summaries

Brolin arranged to manipulate public opinion around the video, draw Wade Grey into contact, and set rival factions against one another before revealing the name of his plan. Wade met Grindelwald in a rain-soaked church, where Grindelwald explained that the Prometheus plan was named after the myth of stealing heavenly fire.

• Brolin told Abigail to contact Wade as his former teacher and learn his true stance and how much he and Dumbledore were involved.
• Brolin ordered Rolando to spread the claim that the Acolytes had staged the video and told Stern to abandon select strongholds for the Aurors to seize.
• The man in the Crow mask questioned whether Brolin's faction could defeat its rivals, and Brolin asked him about the Prometheus plan.
• Wade arrived at the church in heavy rain, where Antoine told him Grindelwald had been waiting.
• Wade and Grindelwald discussed gods, faith, and stealing heavenly fire, and Grindelwald explained that the conspirators had named their plan Prometheus.

Grindelwald warned Wade that Prometheus, a powerful Muggle organization, was operating across the United States, and Wade resolved to confront its evils even if doing so required killing. Grindelwald gave Wade Drayne’s support and broad authority, and Wade joined Drayne and Antoine at a pit containing a mass of scarred bones.

• Grindelwald told Wade that Prometheus had infiltrated Muggle society and used kidnapping, murder, war, and human experimentation to pursue wizarding power.
• Wade said he would kill if necessary to protect others and would not leave evil unchecked just to keep his own hands clean.
• Grindelwald urged Wade to show no mercy to certain enemies and authorized Drayne to provide him with resources and assistance.
• Wade left Grindelwald in the Church and went to the back garden, where Drayne and Antoine stood beside a freshly excavated pit.
• Wade looked into the pit and saw a heap of pale bones marked with old scars.

Wade ordered a search for the organization behind the Church’s abuse and deaths of magical children after its remaining clues went cold. Meanwhile, Elsie blocked flattering press coverage naming Wade as the solution to a security crisis and redirected newspapers toward praising Congress officials, leaving her motives for protecting him uncertain.

• Wade, Drayne, and Antoine discovered the bones of children at the Church, which had once been one of Prometheus’s strongholds, and Wade ordered Antoine to bury them.
• Drayne told Wade that the Church keeper remembered only the fake name “Joe King,” while Antoine said the organization had erased its traces and left no useful witnesses.
• Wade proposed forcing the organization out with a carpet search and said he first needed to make more Golems and create a storm.
• Elsie’s assistant brought her submissions urging Congress to let Wade Grey resolve the recent security incident, but Elsie ordered that none be published and asked other newspapers to remove reports about him.
• Elsie told her assistant to promote accounts praising Chairman Hawthorne, Madam Piquery, and Director Hughes instead, while presenting the Vanderbilt family as a defender of order.
• Elsie’s assistant asked whether she was suppressing coverage because she disliked Wade Grey or wanted to protect him.

As rumors about a fake video spread panic across the United States, the Magical Congress struggled to contain unrest and pressure from the public. Ezra Hughes rejected a proposal to seek Wade Grey’s help, but Reginald Perez later argued that inviting him could reassure people.

• Niccolo Hawthorne and other Congress officials faced a flood of worried letters, urgent requests, and inquiries from abroad.
• Ezra Hughes dispatched Aurors nationwide as crime, Dark Magic sales, and illegal Portkey activity increased amid public panic.
• Rex Grim reported that Aurors had dispersed Werewolves in the Cascade Mountains, capturing thirteen and killing five.
• Grim told Hughes that citizens wanted Wade Grey’s help with Muggle news dissemination, but Hughes refused to involve a foreign Alchemist.
• At a high-level meeting, Reginald Perez urged Congress to invite Wade, arguing that it would show openness and help calm the public.

The Magical Congress debated whether to invite Wade Gray to help with the crisis caused by a forged video, but Hawthorne argued that he could not control Muggle media and that the Congress needed to address the real source of the threat. The meeting turned to possible responses before Kingsley Shacklebolt arrived, claiming the British Ministry had brought a way to resolve the Wizarding World's exposure crisis.

• Lyla Piquery, Corbett, and Reginald Perez supported inviting Wade Gray to calm the public and shift pressure away from the Congress.
• Ezra Hughes objected, warning that asking a British student for help would damage American dignity and undermine confidence in its own abilities.
• Hawthorne asked whether Wade Gray could control Muggle media and pointed out that the Scourers could expose magic to ordinary people through Muggle broadcasts.
• Lyla Piquery apologized for overlooking the difference between magical and Muggle media, and the meeting shifted to discussing ways to reassure the public and respond to the crisis.
• A young assistant reported that Kingsley Shacklebolt had arrived seeking an immediate meeting and claiming the British Ministry had a way to resolve the exposure crisis.

Harry relived his miniature adventure with his friends before waking in the Dursleys’ home, where he recognized Fred and Wally performing on a Muggle television show. The chapter left Harry stunned as Fred began a card trick in front of the Dursleys.

• Harry remembered exploring Gulliver’s Travels with Padma, Hermione, and Ron, where they rode giant snails and were drenched by falling dew.
• Harry woke to Dudley’s footsteps and went downstairs for a meager breakfast at the Dursleys’ home.
• Vernon and Petunia discussed Sirius Black and warned Dudley to stay away from Harry.
• Harry heard the television announce Magic-like Magic Show and recognized Fred and Wally as its Twin Magicians.
• Fred showed the audience an Ace of Hearts and announced that he would make it appear at the bottom of the deck.

Fred and George performed a televised magic show, first explaining ordinary tricks before astonishing the audience with a real Levitation Charm. They challenged viewers to solve the levitation mystery for a prize, while Harry rushed upstairs in alarm.

• Fred and George entertained the studio audience with card tricks and other illusions, then explained how they had done them.
• Fred and George performed a Levitation Charm on a table with Fred sitting on it, and they refused to reveal how it worked.
• Mac announced a one-thousand-pound prize for the first viewer to solve the levitation mystery before the following Saturday.
• Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley scrambled to call the television station with their guesses.
• Harry hurried out of the kitchen and raced upstairs, worried about the Twins using magic on television.

Harry learned that Fred and George had appeared on television in a staged magical performance approved by the Ministry of Magic, which hoped to disguise future real magic as tricks. Hermione’s concerns about the Ministry’s strategy left Harry wondering why Dumbledore, Sirius, and Remus had not told him about it.

• Vernon Dursley yelled at Harry, who retreated to his room and tried to contact Ron, Hermione, and Wade.
• Ron explained that Fred and George had used stage-magic props on television while Arthur secretly used a Levitation Charm to support the act.
• Ron said the Ministry of Magic had authorized the performance to make Muggles dismiss filmed magic as a hoax, then ended the call when Molly ordered him out of bed.
• Hermione praised the strategy as more effective than isolation but worried that it could weaken the Statute of Secrecy and eventually expose the truth.
• Harry wondered why Dumbledore, Sirius, and Remus had not told him about the plan, and the Communication Pea began vibrating again.

Harry learned that the Ministry had to hide the Wizarding World because Scourers in the United States could expose it at any moment. Meanwhile, Wade and Drayne heard wizards speculate that Wade was Grindelwald’s descendant and that Grindelwald’s followers had staged the threatening video, leaving the gathered diners uneasy.

• Fred and George told Harry that Scourers had made a video capable of exposing the Wizarding World, forcing the Ministry to rely on deceptions to conceal the truth.
• Harry watched Uncle Vernon and Dudley argue over how the twins’ televised magic trick had worked.
• Wade and Drayne ate at the White Bridge Inn, where anxious wizards discussed the rumors and watched Muggle news on the Streaming Mirror.
• Oliver claimed Wade was Grindelwald’s descendant and that Grindelwald had trained him to infiltrate Dumbledore’s school, but a witch challenged his theory.
• Oliver then claimed the Acolytes had staged the video to create chaos and that Grindelwald wanted to start a war between wizards and Muggles, frightening the diners.

After Oliver accused Wade Grey of being an Acolyte, Drayne and Wade questioned him about his reasoning. Oliver explained his theory and urged the Magical Congress to detain Wade, provoking a cold stare from Wade before he asked Oliver his name.

• The patrons fled after Oliver mentioned Gellert Grindelwald, and a witch accused Oliver of spreading rumors about Wade Grey.
• The witch threatened to report Oliver to the Aurors and have him sent to Martinis, then left as two wizards approached him.
• Drayne questioned Oliver about why he believed Wade was connected to the Acolytes and warned him about making baseless claims.
• Oliver cited Streaming Mirror technology and declared that Wade was an important Acolyte, proposing that the Magical Congress place him under house arrest.
• Wade stared coldly at Oliver, and then asked how he should address him.

Wade and Drayne realized that Oliver’s claims about Wade and the Acolytes were dangerously close to the truth, so they split up to investigate and prepare. Wade’s Golems predicted the hurricane would affect parts of New York, and Wade decided to intensify the storm before the vacation ended.

• Oliver gave Wade and Drayne the name Oliver Kruse, then stayed behind to finish his drink after they left.
• Drayne offered to gather reliable people to watch Oliver and investigate the rumors within the Acolytes.
• Wade declined Drayne’s help and left the alley with Widas and the other Golems.
• Widas reported that the storm would affect Long Island’s coasts, Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan, while Wilan noted that the Upper East Side would mostly escape it.
• Wade said they would make the storm fiercer to give the powerful figures in the region an unforgettable late-summer memory.

Wilan, Vera, Wito, and Viktor gathered materials for an apparent plan involving the approaching hurricane. Meanwhile, Oliver’s hidden tunnel was discovered by the Acolytes, and Drayne confronted him before the chapter ended with the group’s supplies assembled at an abandoned factory.

• Wilan and Wade obtained approval to collect large quantities of liquid nitrogen for meteorological research.
• Vera bought salt and Silver Iodide, while Wito purchased 1,500 kilograms of Snow Melting Agent.
• Oliver stumbled upon his hidden tunnel after drinking, and a Sneakoscope alarmed as an armed man rushed out.
• The Acolytes blasted open the tunnel entrance, and Drayne confronted Oliver about his earlier remarks.
• Wito, Wilan, and Viktor brought Snow Melting Agent, urea, and dry ice to an abandoned factory, where Golems unloaded and organized the materials.

Wade prepared supplies and created Seagull Golems to carry them ahead of Hurricane Louis toward New York’s coast. As the storm’s waves approached, he sent his Golems out and told Wilan and the others to move independently if accidents occurred.

• Wade used runes to block magical surveillance and expanded leather bags to hold the portioned materials.
• Wade created lively Seagull Golems, and Wilan and Viktor discussed how Golems were made.
• Wade commanded the Seagull Golems to carry the bags into the night and told Wilan and the others to begin moving.
• Wilan asked what they should do if they encountered trouble, and Wade said they would have to act without waiting for orders.
• Hurricane Louis battered Roosevelt Island while partygoers in the Upper East Side dismissed the threat, and a Seagull Golem scattered white particles above the clouds.

Wade and Grindelwald watched Wade’s Golems trigger an artificial storm over New York using cloud-seeding materials and magic. The downpour and hail knocked out power across the Upper East Side, while Grindelwald laughed from the rooftop.

• Wade explained how his Seagull Golems used snow-melting agent, urea, and table salt to form large droplets in the clouds.
• The White Elves scattered Dry Ice and Silver Iodide, creating ice crystals that guided moisture to condense.
• Wade’s Golems released Liquid Nitrogen into the cold center of the clouds, setting off a violent storm.
• Rain and hail battered the city as fierce winds swept through the Upper East Side.
• The lights went out across the neighborhood, frightening people in the building below, while Grindelwald laughed on the rooftop.

Wade watched the storm he had accelerated devastate the city while Grindelwald urged him to treat the fallen Golems as tools and join the Acolytes. Grindelwald claimed Wade could not return to Britain, but Wade revealed that his preparations had limited the damage beyond the marked areas and left the storm’s targets unclear.

• Grindelwald stepped into the storm as Wade watched the wind, rain, lightning, and citywide power failures intensify.
• Wade saw Seagull Golems fall from the sky after lightning damaged them, and Grindelwald told him not to mourn creations that had completed their mission.
• Grindelwald invited Wade to join the Acolytes and warned that Britain would imprison him if people learned he had caused the disaster.
• Wade showed Grindelwald a bottle of quartz sand and explained that it had reduced rainfall outside the areas they marked.
• Wade asked Grindelwald to guess what his Golems were doing in the areas being battered by the storm.

As the storm battered the city, a mysterious force saved John from the sea, and Black Dog rescued a trapped mother and child from a flooded underground garage. Black Dog carried them toward the exit through the rising floodwaters.

• Wade watched Grindelwald Apparate away, then turned his attention to the storm-ravaged city.
• A powerful force hurled John out of a deadly tidal wave, and he escaped the shore with his companion.
• A woman and her young child became trapped on an SUV as floodwater filled an underground garage.
• Black Dog approached the pair, caught them when a drifting Honda Accord knocked them from the SUV, and let them climb onto its back.
• Black Dog carried the woman and child through the flooded garage toward the exit.

Black Dog carried a mother and child through the flooded streets and left them at a hotel, where the woman learned the marking on its paw read “V.G.” As the pair found shelter, a wealthy family discovered their home was crawling with snails and other insects.

• Black Dog carried the mother and child through the flood and across a sharp boundary where the torrential rain weakened.
• The woman thanked Black Dog and read the symbol on its paw as “V.G.,” but Black Dog left without answering her questions.
• The child called Black Dog a superhero, and the hotel manager ushered the soaked pair inside to warm up.
• A girl in a luxurious home screamed after finding snails covering her bedroom.
• The master of the house stepped outside and found the floor covered in snails, beetles, cockroaches, ants, spiders, and centipedes.

During a hurricane that disables the Harrington mansion’s security and communications, Viktor and Wilan searched Richard Harrington’s study for evidence linking him to the Prometheus Project. As they questioned whether the storm had arrived by chance, Viktor suspected their master had known it was coming.

• The storm knocked out the mansion’s surveillance and communications while the bodyguards remained outside, unaware of what was happening inside.
• Viktor and Wilan searched Richard Harrington’s study with help from the insects and other creatures, but found no relevant documents.
• Wilan explained why Richard Harrington was their likely target, citing his suspiciously successful career, his competitors’ strange misfortunes, and his unusually youthful health.
• Viktor and Wilan noted that the hurricane concealed their actions from the Magical Congress and left the mansion isolated from its guards.
• After Wilan called the storm a sign of their master’s good fortune, Viktor wondered if the master had known the hurricane was coming.

The Harrington family took shelter from a storm and an infestation of insects in the mansion’s breakfast room, where a tense argument exposed James’s resentment toward his father and their family’s secret plan. Richard ended by revealing that James’s mother died in a failed experiment that had helped him find a path to a longer life.

• Wilan and Viktor discussed a possible prophecy and worried about Locke before leaving.
• Bugs invaded the Harrington mansion during a storm, leaving the family unable to contact the bodyguards or escape safely.
• Richard led the family to the breakfast room, where the fireplace kept most of the insects away.
• As the family gathered by the fire, James accused Richard of benefiting from a plan that made him an immortal monster and demanded to know how his mother had died.
• Richard said the experiment had failed and that James’s mother had sacrificed herself, helping him find a path to a longer life.

James learned that his family had supported the Prometheus Project, a secret effort to capture wizards and study their powers in pursuit of immortality. Richard revealed the family’s alliance and history, leaving James horrified by what his relatives had done.

• Victoria told James that their mother and other family members had volunteered for experiments and blamed James for refusing to help preserve the family’s power.
• Elana challenged Jonathan’s account of the Prometheus Project, and Richard insisted that the family deserved to know the truth.
• Richard revealed that magic, wizards, and the Philosopher’s Stone were real, and recounted witnessing a wizard as a child.
• Richard explained that he had joined a centuries-old alliance, funded research, and helped capture monsters to analyze their powers and master time.
• Sophie realized the family might have experimented on people, while Richard and Victoria defended their treatment of wizards as experiments on a different species.
• James accused his father, Victoria, and Jonathan of being lunatics and the real monsters.