Chapter Summaries

James and Sophie fled the Harrington home with Ollie after refusing to join the family’s pursuit of immortality, leaving Richard, Victoria, and Jonathan to turn on one another. After Jonathan beat Richard and attacked Victoria, an apparent bodyguard drugged her and began questioning her about the Prometheus organization.

• Victoria accused James of cowardice for refusing the family’s plans, and Sophie took Ollie and left with James despite the storm.
• Richard rebuked Victoria for seeking control of the Harrington family, then ordered her not to harm James and demanded he be brought back safely.
• Jonathan struck Richard repeatedly with an ashtray, killing or gravely injuring him as Victoria and Elana watched.
• Elana fled, and Jonathan strangled Victoria while accusing her of letting James’s family escape with their secrets.
• An apparent bodyguard incapacitated Jonathan, soothed Victoria, and gave her water that left her compliant and disoriented.
• The person questioned Victoria about Prometheus, and she identified LeBron Johnson as the organization’s military-trained cleaner.

LeBron Johnson and Victoria were interrogated about the Prometheus Project as coordinated attacks began against its members across New York. Victoria revealed that evidence extracted from a wizard was hidden in a basement, but only her father knew the password.

• LeBron Johnson was ambushed, drugged, and questioned about the Prometheus Project and his accomplices.
• Victoria and Jonathan were interrogated, naming several people involved in the organization, including Senator Elijah Stockton and Carter Frost.
• A swarm of scorpions reached Elijah Stockton’s home, while wasps burst from Evelyn Shaw’s faucet.
• Tiny cockroaches drugged sleeping residents, disabled their power, and unlocked a door for Wito to enter.
• Victoria told Wilan that the extracted items were behind a storage cabinet in a hidden basement and that only her father knew the password.

Wilan and Viktor covered up the deaths of Richard, Victoria, and Jonathan, while Antoine and Drayne raided a Scourer hideout but found that its leaders had escaped. Drayne wondered whether Wade Grey would still need the Acolytes once he had grown powerful enough.

• Wilan killed Victoria and Viktor staged Jonathan's death, framing Jonathan for the murders of Richard and Victoria.
• Wilan and Viktor searched Richard Harrington's basement, removed its contents, and arranged for the Acolytes to pursue people named on a list.
• Antoine met Drayne at the Ferry Printing Factory, where the Acolytes had raided a Scourer hideout but found its key people had escaped through multiple exits and Portkeys.
• Drayne said the Scourers' Dark Curse had killed a captured man before he could reveal their secrets, and the Acolytes disposed of the bodies.
• Antoine examined documents recovered from the hideout and suggested using the Muggle IRS against people who evaded magical justice.
• Drayne questioned how Wade Grey had influenced the weather and wondered whether Wade would still need the Acolytes after his power matured.

Hogwarts welcomed Frank Longbottom as its new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor while students celebrated the start of term. In New York, Ezra Hughes reached the Magical Congress after the storm and found Hawthorne managing the aftermath and asking whether he had urgent business.

• The students celebrated the feast, and Padma and others discussed Wiser’s success, book, and suitability as a Prefect.
• Dumbledore introduced Frank Longbottom as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, and Neville watched his father receive applause.
• After two days and three nights, the storm over New York subsided, leaving the city badly damaged.
• Ezra Hughes made his way through the debris to the Magical Congress, where Hawthorne coordinated media efforts and Magical Rumor Control.
• Hawthorne finally asked Ezra whether something urgent had brought him there.

Ezra Hughes reported unusually frequent magical fluctuations as prominent New York figures were found dead in apparent accidents and conflicts, prompting Mayor Rudolph Wieland to order a sweeping investigation. Meanwhile, a young man tested a street snail and wondered whether such creatures could be controlled as spies and killers.

• Ezra Hughes warned Hawthorne that magical fluctuations had appeared unusually often, and a clerk brought them a list of dead Muggle government figures.
• Mayor Rudolph Wieland learned that several prominent politicians and businesspeople had died within hours of one another, and he ordered agencies to investigate their lives and connections.
• A young man bought a hot dog while watching an ecologist explain the snails appearing after the rain.
• The young man crushed a snail to confirm it was ordinary, then speculated that snails might be controlled as eyes, ears, and killers.

Brian Danis heard an old man describe a huge Black Dog that had rescued him from a flood and realized the creature matched what he had been investigating. He paid the old man for details and left for his meeting, convinced that the being he had been seeking was nearby.

• Brian Danis ignored his assistant’s calls after hearing an old man describe a Black Dog that had saved him from a flood.
• Danis offered the old man a hundred eggs in exchange for details about the dog and asked about its appearance, movements, and whether it seemed artificial.
• The old man recalled that the dog had left no saliva or smell on his clothes, confirming Danis’s suspicions.
• Danis told his assistant, Becky, to pay the old men for their eggs and headed to the meeting, muttering that he had been right and that the being was there.
• Becky gave the old men money for a thousand eggs and hurried after Danis.

Brian Danis warned the Fire Thieves that Wade Grey might be behind the snails, Black Dogs, and precise storm that had devastated their organization. He and Golden Eagle Head concluded that Wade’s possible involvement could mean the Fire Thieves faced an alliance between Grindelwald and Dumbledore.

• Masked Fire Thieves discussed the deaths of more than a dozen members and LeBron’s apparent death in a Queens safe house.
• Danis suspected Wade Grey had used Golem snails and Black Dogs to gather intelligence and rescue people during the storm, but the others dismissed his evidence.
• The Fire Thieves planned to hide their personnel, transfer their data and Time Particles, and frame the Acolytes to provoke conflict with the Magical Congress.
• After the meeting, Danis told Golden Eagle Head that the storm and the attacks were too precise to match the Acolytes’ or Magical Congress’s methods.
• Danis suggested Golems could have guided the storm, and Golden Eagle Head feared Wade was helping the Acolytes as part of an alliance between Grindelwald and Dumbledore.

Yodel Brolin and the Scourers regrouped after the Acolytes exposed their hideout, and Abigail learned that the organization had secretly cursed its young trainees to die if they revealed its secrets. The chapter ended with Abigail questioning Stern about whether she had been cursed, while he assured her she had not.

• Brolin blamed Oliver Hornby for exposing the Scourers' hideout, while Stern and Abigail each took responsibility for the trainees' failure.
• Brolin ordered the Scourers to find Oliver and punish him for betraying the organization.
• Stern told Abigail that Leader Thorne had placed curses over the trainees' hearts, causing fatal internal bleeding if they betrayed the Scourers or revealed secrets.
• Stern explained that Oliver was likely already dead if he had disclosed information or been forced to take Veritaserum.
• Abigail challenged Stern about whether she had a curse, and he said she had been spared because she joined willingly and had connections to powerful wizards.

Abigail remembered how Headmaster Fontana had advised her to look beyond her books before the IRS suddenly dismantled Brolin’s criminal network. Brolin confronted Madam Piquery about their agreement, but she claimed he had already received the protection she promised.

• Abigail recalled joining the Scourers as a child, attending Ilvermorny under orders to steal magical knowledge, and meeting Headmaster Fontana in the library.
• A call informed Stern that the IRS was shutting down Aurora Import and Export Company, and further calls reported frozen accounts, arrests, and detained ships.
• Brolin realized that the Acolytes had used a mental method to make the company’s executives report themselves to the IRS.
• Brolin dismissed Abigail and the others, then contacted Lila Piquery to demand an explanation for their agreement.
• Lila Piquery replied that she had protected Brolin for years by not interfering with his businesses.

Brolin blamed the Magical Congress and Lila Piquelly for the Scourers’ troubles, while Abigail followed him through the tunnels to a hidden subway station filled with dark Magical Creatures. There, she spotted a snow-white Vampire girl who seemed familiar, and the girl noticed her watching.

• Brolin argued with Lila Piquelly, who said the Scourers had brought their troubles on themselves, and he vowed that the Magical Congress had broken their agreement first.
• Abigail comforted a student grieving Oliver and resolved to find a way to recover his body and hold a funeral for him.
• Abigail saw Brolin’s expression as he left and secretly followed him through the underground tunnels.
• Brolin entered a forgotten subway station crowded with werewolves, Vampires, trolls, Ghouls, and Gargoyles.
• Abigail noticed a flawless, white-haired Vampire girl in a white gown, and the girl opened her eyes and looked straight at her.

Abigail questioned Brolin’s account of her lost memories while Brolin persuaded Ilari to cooperate with Prometheus by offering Golems in exchange for Muggle resources and protection. The chapter ended with Dumbledore arriving unexpectedly at Wade’s door.

• Abigail recalled Brolin’s explanation that painful memories of Hogwarts had been removed, then wondered why thinking of the school brought her no instinctive disgust or pain.
• Ilari lamented his failed Fire Dragon Golem and asked Brolin whether he had resolved his trouble with the IRS.
• Brolin told Ilari he was preparing to cooperate with Prometheus and described how Muggles’ technology and resources could support Ilari’s research.
• Brolin explained that Prometheus wanted Golems as vessels for transferred human consciousness, and Ilari began to consider the offer.
• Wade concealed the images on his wall and hid a large snail before opening his door to find Albus Dumbledore standing outside.

Wade showed Dumbledore evidence of Prometheus’s horrific experiments and the powerful people who supported them. Dumbledore was enraged by what he read, but resolved to guide Wade without either encouraging his vengeance or driving him away.

• Dumbledore visited Wade in his hotel room and met the shy Snail Automaton hiding beneath a pillow.
• Wade explained that ordinary snails across New York helped camouflage his Golems and acknowledged that others were working with him.
• Wade gave Dumbledore documents about Prometheus, including its abductions, experiments, and exploitation of victims.
• Dumbledore read that influential politicians, socialites, and tycoons had knowingly supported Prometheus and felt they had deserved their deaths.
• Dumbledore restrained his anger and decided he needed to be a steady point of guidance for Wade.

Dumbledore spoke with Wade about Wade’s secret trials and executions, accepting that his actions were not wrong while urging him to use power cautiously. Wade outlined a data-based plan to uncover Prometheus, and Dumbledore gave him a Swooping Evil to help.

• Wade apologized to Dumbledore for allowing his Golem to conduct private trials and executions, and Dumbledore said Wade’s actions were not wrong.
• Wade explained that he would use the Harrington family’s business gains and crisis preparations to identify other members of Prometheus.
• Dumbledore offered Wade help but agreed that he should remain at Hogwarts, where his presence could deter Voldemort.
• Dumbledore gave Wade a Swooping Evil borrowed from Newt, and Wade recognized its memory-altering venom and resistance to spells.

After Dumbledore left Wade’s motel room, Grindelwald visited and challenged Wade’s claim that he sought justice rather than chaos. He warned Wade that someone had noticed his rescue Golems, then left after learning Dumbledore had been there.

• Wade comforted his Snail Automaton, which admitted it had been frightened by Dumbledore.
• Grindelwald arrived and criticized Wade for staying in a shabby motel instead of an Acolyte property.
• Wade denied being like Grindelwald and said he acted to eliminate criminals without harming innocents.
• Grindelwald warned that someone had noticed the Golems rescuing people and had asked Hogwarts about Wade’s whereabouts.
• Grindelwald revealed that Anthony Goldstein had told Salina Goldstein Wade was usually at school, and Wade thanked him for the information.
• Grindelwald turned back at the door and asked Wade whether Dumbledore had visited.

Wade considered Grindelwald’s warning about Dumbledore while continuing to monitor New York for enemies who might know his location. Meanwhile, Salina Goldstein and Rex Grim arrived at the Harrington family mansion to investigate, wary of the cameras following them.

• Grindelwald warned Wade that Dumbledore would abandon him if Wade’s actions conflicted with Dumbledore’s principles, while offering his own support.
• Wade inferred that Grindelwald had come to warn him about nearby people, his disguise, and enemies who might have tracked him to the United States.
• Wade resumed monitoring New York through live feeds watched by animal Golems, reflecting on Grindelwald’s ability to sway people.
• Salina Goldstein and Rex Grim arrived at the Harrington family mansion, where police tape and reporters surrounded the scene.
• Grim and Salina discussed their unease around Muggle cameras after the video from that day.

FBI agents Salina and Grim investigated the Harrington family murders and discovered the victims were members of Prometheus, an organization that captured wizards for experiments. Meanwhile, Viktor used his Black Dog to draw out anyone searching for Wade, and Ezra Hughes approached him to talk.

• Salina and Grim questioned Elana and James about the murders, while both concealed what they had heard that night.
• Salina reported to Mr. Hughes that the Harrington victims belonged to Prometheus and said she would bring back the witnesses’ memories.
• Viktor walked his Black Dog through a public park, hoping to attract people who were looking for Wade.
• Ezra Hughes approached Viktor and politely asked to sit down and talk.

Ezra Hughes confronted Viktor Kravchuk about his British trip, the Harrington deaths, and the Black Dog, then shared evidence of a hidden organization operating in America. Viktor questioned whether corruption within the Auror Office had kept the threat concealed.

• Ezra Hughes questioned Viktor about his Alchemy Competition qualifications, his trip to Britain, and a bodyguard who resembled him at the Harrington estate.
• Ezra examined Viktor's Black Dog, which avoided his touch, and asked whether it was a Golem.
• Viktor challenged Hughes over whether he meant to accuse him of the Harrington deaths or implicate British wizards, while Hughes said he wanted the truth.
• Hughes told Viktor that the Auror Office had questioned the Harrington survivors under Veritaserum and learned of an organization behind years of disappearances.
• Hughes described missing reclusive wizards, vanished foreign visitors, and unexpectedly low Ilvermorny enrollment as clues to a threat rooted in America.
• Viktor suggested the Aurors may have failed to uncover the enemy because their own ranks were not clean.

Viktor gave Hughes a Streaming Mirror recording of the banquet, and Hughes brought it to Chairman Niccolo Hawthorne at the Magical Congress headquarters. After reviewing the footage, Hawthorne identified a handful of possible informants and ordered Ezra to investigate them.

• Viktor revealed a Streaming Mirror hidden in the Black Dog’s tag and told Hughes to find the answer in its recording.
• Hughes delivered the mirror to Niccolo Hawthorne, who agreed it was unwise to confront Dumbledore or the British Ministry of Magic.
• Hughes and Hawthorne watched footage of the banquet and studied the guests’ reactions to the Wizarding World’s exposure.
• Hawthorne suspected the young brown-haired wizard in the corner had come from Britain to work with Viktor Kravchuk, and noted Alastor Moody had protected him.
• Hawthorne reviewed the footage again, narrowed the possible informants to a handful, and ordered Ezra to investigate their contacts and actions.

Lila discovered that someone had searched her office and destroyed the coded writing hidden on her documents before anyone could uncover it. She then told Hawthorne that Aldridge Corbett’s suspicious finances should be investigated, and Hawthorne assigned Hughes to verify the matter.

• Lila noticed signs that her office had been searched and realized Hawthorne had authorized the searcher.
• Lila used magic to make concealed writing briefly appear on her documents, then destroyed the coded text without checking whether it had been read.
• Lila brought Hawthorne his documents and reported that Aldridge Corbett had unusual funds and made frequent, large exchanges at Gringotts.
• Hawthorne praised Lila and said he would have Hughes investigate Corbett.

Lila left Hawthorne after reassuring him about her sense of duty, then considered cleaning up traces of her past. Corbett’s attempt to obtain an Auror Office report was exposed, and after escaping the Aurors he was abandoned by his contact.

• Hawthorne warned Lila that many people had forgotten their responsibilities and urged her not to lose sight of her original purpose.
• Corbett hurried away with a check, grew uneasy about Hughes’s interest in accidental Muggle deaths, and received a warning that the Congress knew about him.
• Ezra Hughes and the Aurors confronted Corbett, who Apparated away after they cast spells at him.
• Corbett discovered that Hughes had marked him with a Tracking Charm and fled to a bar, where he called his contact for help.
• Corbett’s contact hung up on him, and a dancing drunk crushed his Communication Pea underfoot.