Chapter Summaries

Perez rejected Hawthorne’s warning and defended his alliance with the Muggles, while Grindelwald and Antoine watched the confrontation from afar. As Perez vowed to pursue his chosen path to the end, Hughes challenged him to explain why he still had not attacked.

• Perez claimed the Muggles would give him access to their secrets and resources, and insisted he cared only about what he could gain from them.
• Antoine and Grindelwald watched the confrontation through a Streaming Mirror and discussed Wade’s restraint and Perez’s recklessness.
• Grindelwald said the outcome might depend on the cornered Hawthorne, whom he described as a hound still gripping a blade.
• Hawthorne urged Perez to abandon the Muggles’ conspiracy and help defend the Wizarding World, but Perez rejected his appeal and declared that he would stay on his chosen path.
• Hughes smiled coldly and asked Perez why he had not yet made his move.

Ezra Hughes confronted Reginald Perez as accelerated time particles began slowing Hughes’s thoughts and magic. Hughes defeated Perez with a spell and a whirlwind of particles, but the chapter ended with Hughes telling Niccolo Hawthorne it was too late.

• Ezra Hughes taunted Reginald Perez into attempting to use Avada Kedavra, but Perez lowered his wand and claimed the time particles would kill Hughes instead.
• Hughes struck Perez’s arm with a spell and sent him flying before sweeping the golden particles into a deadly whirlwind.
• The whirlwind engulfed Perez and rapidly aged him into a frail, dying old man.
• Niccolo Hawthorne tried to clear the particles from Hughes and support him, but Hughes told him it was too late.

Hawthorne watched Hughes regress into a baby, killed Perez when he tried to seize the Gold Powder, and was then framed by a coordinated group of officials and witnesses. As they stripped him of his authority and called for his trial, Hawthorne laughed at the spectacle.

• Hughes shrank into a baby before Hawthorne, and Perez crawled toward the Gold Powder in an attempt to regain his youth.
• Hawthorne killed Perez with a spell, gathered the scattered Gold Powder, and reached toward baby Hughes.
• An attacker stunned Hawthorne, and a crowd of officials and witnesses Apparated as Rex Grim accused him of murdering Hughes and Perez.
• Lila Piquery called for Hawthorne to be stripped of his offices and powers and handed over to the Wizengamot, and the crowd agreed.
• Egbert Fontana apologized to Hawthorne for failing to stop his supposed crimes, and Hawthorne began to laugh.

Seraphina intervened when Lila ordered Hawthorne’s arrest, but Hawthorne seized baby Hughes and unleashed a sphere of Time Particles. As the crowd fled the blast, Lila relied on Fontana and told him not to let Hawthorne escape.

• Lila ordered Rex Grim to arrest Hawthorne, but Seraphina struck Grim with a spell and defended Hawthorne.
• Lila ordered the Aurors to restrain Seraphina, who stunned the first people approaching her and confronted Fontana.
• Hawthorne picked up baby Hughes and summoned a glowing sphere of Time Particles.
• Hawthorne thanked Seraphina, told her to stay away, and sent the sphere into the sky, where it exploded.
• The crowd fled as chaotic winds swept the area, while Seraphina shielded herself and Lila told Fontana to stop Hawthorne escaping.

A burst of Time Particles plunged the crowd into chaos, allowing Niccolo Hawthorne to Apparate with the transformed baby Ezra, but he was pulled back into the scene. As Lila ordered the crowd to capture or kill him, a massive dark blue Phoenix-shaped flame struck the gathering.

• Fontana gathered the scattered Time Particles into a sphere while the dust caused varied changes among the crowd.
• Hawthorne Apparated with the baby, but a force dragged him back into the crowd, where he collapsed and the baby cried.
• Seraphina shielded Hawthorne and Ezra, Stella pleaded for the fighting to stop, and Fontana urged Hawthorne to hand over the baby.
• Lila knocked Seraphina down and ordered everyone to capture or kill Hawthorne, who prepared to fight back.
• A huge dark blue Phoenix-shaped flame plunged into the densest part of the crowd surrounding Hawthorne.

Gellert Grindelwald arrived amid a ring of Blue Fire and offered Niccolo Hawthorne a place among the Acolytes. Hawthorne accepted and left with Grindelwald, while Lila was left behind furious and helpless.

• Blue Flame killed three wizards, and a fourth died after Apparating into the fire.
• Gellert Grindelwald entered the ring of flames and offered to take Niccolo Hawthorne with him.
• Fontana and the others were too afraid to intervene as Hawthorne considered the offer.
• Hawthorne accepted Grindelwald's invitation and left with him through the Blue Fire, carrying the baby.
• The Blue Fire vanished, and Lila screamed in rage at the empty space where they had disappeared.

Hawthorne learned that Ezra’s time reversal had damaged his body and left him only a few years to live, though the Golden Kettle might be able to help. He agreed to pay any price to restore Ezra, then asked what the Acolytes wanted from him.

• The healer warned Hawthorne that reversing Ezra’s Time Magic could cause unpredictable harm and that Ezra might have only a few years to live.
• The healer explained that the Golden Kettle might stabilize Ezra’s disrupted time, but it had ended up in Dumbledore’s hands.
• Antoine asked Hawthorne what price he would pay if the Acolytes could restore Ezra, and Hawthorne answered that he would pay any price.
• Antoine questioned whether Hawthorne suspected the Acolytes had helped cause the events surrounding him, and Hawthorne acknowledged their possible exploitation while blaming the Magical Congress’s corruption and his own failures.
• Antoine revealed that the Acolytes had neither advanced nor stopped the Magical Congress’s collapse, and Hawthorne asked what Grindelwald wanted him to do.

Antoine urged Hawthorne to join the Acolytes, promising that Grindelwald would help restore Hughes, while Hawthorne worried about the group’s true aims. Meanwhile, Wade and Viktor interrogated Grayson Stonefield about the Time Particles as the New York Ghost reported Hawthorne’s crimes and the pursuit against him.

• Antoine told Hawthorne that Grindelwald valued his sense of responsibility and asked him to trust that Hughes could be brought back.
• Hawthorne watched the sleeping Hughes and feared the Acolytes might use him to overthrow the Magical Congress and impose an authoritarian regime.
• Viktor questioned Grayson under Veritaserum, learning that General Carlton Crawford sought to delay aging and create tireless, invulnerable soldiers.
• Grayson revealed that the Time Particles were found beneath a church at Cape Adan and that captured wizards had been used as bait.
• Wade read the New York Ghost’s report accusing Hawthorne of forbidden Time Magic, murder, and resistance to arrest, and announcing an international pursuit.

Salina Goldstein seized FMC’s studio to make a nationwide broadcast exposing Lyla Piquery’s alleged conspiracy and clear Chairman Hawthorne. She entered Studio Three with Anderson and Lopez, prepared to speak despite the risk of arrest.

• Salina Goldstein and two Aurors arrived at FMC’s New York Branch in a storm, and Salina demanded its studio for an immediate nationwide broadcast.
• Nelson agreed to let Salina use Studio Three and ordered the staff to connect it to the national main channel.
• Nelson told a staff member that FMC could not keep turning a blind eye to what was happening.
• Anderson urged Salina to wait for support, but Salina insisted that there was no more time to hesitate.
• Salina told Anderson and Lopez that Lyla Piquery and her allies had framed Chairman Hawthorne, concealed Muggles’ experiments on wizards, and used Time Magic against their colleagues.
• Salina declared that she would broadcast the truth and accept arrest or trial if necessary.

Salina began a forced nationwide broadcast to expose the Prometheus Project and corruption inside the Magical Congress, but Rex Grim stormed the studio to stop her. Salina and her allies fought Grim’s Aurors as the broadcast room descended into chaos.

• Lopez and Anderson pledged to stand with Salina as she prepared to reveal evidence of Prometheus’s crimes and Hawthorne’s innocence.
• Nelson announced that every active Streaming Mirror in the United States would relay Salina’s live broadcast.
• Salina addressed the Wizarding public and began exposing Prometheus’s experiments and its allies inside Congress.
• Rex Grim burst into the studio, ordered the signal cut, and accused Salina of undermining Congress.
• Salina refused to surrender, and she, Anderson, and Lopez fought Grim and the Aurors while the studio was wrecked.

Salina Goldstein was killed during a live broadcast, and Lyla Piquery used the tragedy to rally public support while blaming Rex Grim. After the broadcast ended, Nelson discovered papers Salina had left behind and decided to contact Mr. Marchioni.

• Salina Goldstein was struck by the Killing Curse during her duel with Rex Grim, then Lopez blasted Grim and Lyla Piquery's group arrested him.
• Lyla Piquery mourned Salina on the live broadcast, accused Grim of murder, and vowed to expose traitors and avenge her.
• Lyla ordered the broadcast cut, and a Congress official warned Nelson to claim he knew nothing about the events.
• A young staff member gave Nelson papers Salina had brought, and Nelson was shocked by what he read.
• Nelson told Pete to contact Mr. Marchioni.

Viktor interrogated John Stonefield and uncovered the orphanage’s trafficking of underage wizards, along with the involvement of people in the Wizarding World. Wade and Vera mapped the Stonefield family’s network and evidence, until the Streaming Mirror suddenly changed images.

• Viktor questioned John Stonefield under Veritaserum, and John revealed that children with valuable blood or magical abilities had been targeted for their organs and other uses.
• John said some Wizarding World officials and school professors had provided lists of underage wizards for the Stonefields to supervise under the pretext of the Rapaport Law.
• John admitted that children had been used for magical gene research or supplied to clients seeking magical organ transplants, including members of ancient families.
• John told Viktor that the business ledger was in a Basement safe and identified a hidden Ministry contact as the director of an unofficial placement office; Wito retrieved sealed lead boxes.
• Wade charted the Stonefield family’s political and business connections while Vera sorted evidence, and the Streaming Mirror suddenly switched images.

Salina Goldstein was murdered on a live broadcast while exposing corruption in the Magical Congress, and Wade learned that Prometheus was preparing a demonstration of the Soul Transfer Experiment at Stonefield Manor. After receiving an urgent message from Marchioni, Wade decided to return to New York and infiltrate the demonstration as John Stonefield.

• Wade and his companions watched Salina Goldstein's broadcast, where Rex Grim's forces fought her people as she tried to expose the truth.
• An unseen attacker struck Salina with a killing curse, and Lyla Piquery appeared as Grim was caught at the scene.
• Wade, Vera, Wito, and Widel suspected that Lyla's faction and the corrupt network behind Congress had arranged Salina's murder.
• Wito reported that Stonefield Manor had increased its guards and planned a Soul Transfer Experiment demonstration attended by influential Muggles and most Prometheus members.
• Marchioni messaged Wade that Nelson had obtained something extraordinary from the fallen warrior and wanted Wade to decide what to do with it.
• Wade ordered his companions to gather the evidence and prepare to leave, then planned to attend the demonstration under John Stonefield's identity.

Disguised as John Stonefield, Wade arrived at Stonefield Manor for a masked gathering and joined the family members in a private box. As the ballroom filled, Wito warned him that the manor had been sealed and its weapons systems activated.

• Wade arrived at Stonefield Manor disguised as John and used his knowledge of John's memories to imitate his mannerisms.
• Mark Paul greeted Wade, told him Grayson was ill and absent, and escorted him to the family’s private box.
• Wade greeted the Stonefield relatives and listened as they discussed Grayson and other topics.
• At eight o’clock, the ballroom filled with masked guests while Stonefield guards watched the venue.
• Wito warned Wade that the manor’s entrances and exits had been sealed and its weapons systems activated.

Wade recognized that the Golem exhibition was being used to drug the guests and took an antidote while secretly sending ants outside. After the audience and the Stonefield family were incapacitated, Sir William Stonefield appeared onstage.

• Paul introduced the Golems, whose exhibition drew the guests' attention as a floral fragrance spread through the hall.
• Wade noticed the fragrance affecting people, drank a homemade antidote in the restroom, and sent ants through a ventilation window.
• Wade returned to the private box while the guests inhaled more of the fragrance and began collapsing.
• Paul stopped the Golems and ordered the lights and ventilation turned up after bodyguards subdued the remaining resistant guests.
• A young man brought Sir William Stonefield onto the stage in a wheelchair while the guests and Stonefield family lay unconscious.

Sir William Stonefield explained to Chris why he rejected soul-transfer experiments and revealed how decades of attempts to defeat aging had ended in failure. After the unconscious guests were removed, William summoned exact doubles of them, leaving Chris unnerved.

• William dismissed the guests' belief in soul transfer and insisted he would never surrender his identity to someone else.
• Chris praised the Stonefield family's reputation for miracles and said the guests trusted its name more than their own judgment.
• William recalled spending forty years and vast family resources on experiments to prolong life, only to conclude that ordinary people could not overcome death.
• Chris concealed his doubts about William's conclusion and told him that his plan had succeeded.
• William said he would take everything from the guests instead of paying for what they possessed.
• After the guests were carried out, William clapped three times, and a group of people with identical appearances and clothes emerged through a side door.

Chris watched William reveal the Stonefield family’s plan to replace wealthy Guests with Golems, steal their assets, and eliminate them afterward. When Brolin stormed into the exhibition and tried to take the Golems away, William demonstrated that they no longer obeyed Brolin.

• Chris saw the new Golems imitate their targets and heard William explain that Ilari would implant their memories so they could replace them and transfer control of their assets.
• William assured Chris that the Golems had bombs inside them and ordered the unconscious Stonefield relatives taken to the underground cells.
• As Wade lay pretending to be unconscious, Brolin burst into the Manor, confronted William, and accused him of planning to replace the Guests and seize their wealth.
• Brolin told Ilari and the Golems to leave with him, but neither Ilari nor the Golems responded.
• William snapped his fingers, and every Golem stood and turned toward Brolin.

Brolin tried to regain control of the Golems and escape after William’s group turned against him, but his attacks failed to overcome their defenses. William ordered the damaged Golems to dispose of Brolin.

• Brolin accused Ilari of betrayal, but Mark Paul explained that Ilari had revoked Brolin’s authority over the Golems and they now obeyed only William and Ilari.
• The Golems ignored Brolin’s commands and attacked him, while Chris realized how vulnerable his own position was.
• Brolin fought back with hidden weapons, but the Golems wounded him and Ilari fled the hall.
• Brolin threw Red balls at William and Chris, unleashing a corrosive blast that damaged several Golems but left the Stonefields unharmed behind a protective barrier.
• William praised Brolin’s courage, then ordered the damaged Golems to dispose of him.

Brolin revealed himself as a Vampire and tried to escape, but William Stonefield’s guards shot him down and captured him. After arranging to use Brolin as a gift for Lyla Piquery, William turned his attention to Mark Paul and asked whether he wanted to replace him.

• Brolin vanished from his clothes by transforming into a bat, but William Stonefield’s precautions exposed his escape attempt.
• The Vampire Golems and bodyguards pursued Brolin, and gunfire wounded him and forced him to transform back into human form.
• William identified Brolin as a Vampire and ordered the Golems to sedate him and lock him in a prepared cage.
• William instructed Paul to tell Lyla Piquery that the Stonefield family would give her Brolin as a congratulatory gift for her upcoming appointment.
• William turned to Mark Paul and asked whether he wanted to replace him, leaving Chris shocked.

William exposed Paul’s role in orchestrating Brolin’s attack and revealed that Ilari had been bound to the Stonefield family by an Unbreakable Vow. Paul admitted his own agreement with Ilari had been broken and killed him, leaving William and Chris facing the aftermath of the plot.

• William accused Paul of arranging for Brolin to discover Ilari’s memory extraction, obtain Alchemical Bombs, and attack William and Chris.
• Paul summoned Ilari, who appeared from the shadows and confessed that he had told William about their plan.
• William revealed that he had forced Ilari to swear an Unbreakable Vow to protect and obey the Stonefield family.
• Paul told Ilari he forgave him for breaking their agreement, then revealed that betrayal required death and killed him with a shot to the chest.