Chapter Summaries

Darren explained why Luna had helped him and confronted Hermione for insulting her, then reassured Hermione that she was family and apologized for frightening her. Hermione admitted she had misunderstood Luna and went to apologize, while Darren stayed behind with Harry and Ron.

• Darren told Hermione that seeing a Thestral had brought back memories of the nine students whose deaths he had witnessed, and that Luna had helped him through his grief.
• Darren rebuked Hermione for insulting Luna and asked whether she was still his friend, then reassured her that she was his favorite sister and more important than his friends.
• Hermione accepted that she had misunderstood Luna and promised to apologize to her, while Darren apologized for losing his temper and for making Hermione feel insecure.
• Hermione scolded Harry and Ron for staring at her, then left the compartment to apologize to Luna.

Darren used his prophecy opportunity to predict that many girls would pursue him, then met with Snape, who told him to compete for third-year prefect. The chapter ended with Darren wondering whether Snape had summoned him just to feed him and assign him the role.

• Darren learned that Becky Greengrass had joined the Department of Mysteries and used his prophecy opportunity to predict that many girls would pursue him and that he would take them all.
• Professor McGonagall brought Harry and Hermione with her and sent Darren to meet Snape.
• Snape offered Darren cakes and chocolate before warning that he could be in danger that year.
• Snape ordered Darren to compete for third-year prefect so he would stay occupied and avoid being captured as a way to threaten Harry Potter.
• Darren wondered whether Snape had called him in only to feed him and tell him to become a prefect.

Darren received a Time-Turner and heard Snape warn him that time travel could not undo death and could have disastrous consequences. At Professor McGonagall’s office, Madam Pomfrey began examining Darren and Harry, believing Darren’s condition was more serious.

• Darren worried that he would hurt students as a prefect, and Snape said Cassandra would assist him and that he only needed to handle professors’ assignments.
• Snape questioned Darren about choosing courses that overlapped, and Darren claimed he hoped a Time-Turner might let him save his mother.
• Snape warned Darren not to change the past, explained the dangers of time travel, and gave him a Time-Turner approved for use with Hermione.
• Darren went to Professor McGonagall’s office, where he found Harry, Hermione, and Madam Pomfrey waiting.
• Madam Pomfrey asked about Darren and Harry fainting on the train, and Darren pretended to worry about Harry before she began examining Darren.

After the Obscurus attack, Darren and Harry were treated by Madam Pomfrey and learned that the creature would be severely punished. Dumbledore announced that Obscuruses would remain at Hogwarts and introduced Lupin and Hagrid as teachers, while Snape began Slytherin’s prefect-selection duels and Malfoy challenged Darren.

• Madam Pomfrey told Darren that the Obscurus that attacked him and Harry would be punished with the Patronus Charm until it was nearly dispersed.
• Professor McGonagall sent Darren, Harry, and Hermione back, reminding Hermione to coordinate her timetable with Darren’s.
• Dumbledore announced that Obscuruses would be stationed at Hogwarts, Professor Lupin would teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Hagrid would teach Care of Magical Creatures.
• Snape cleared the Slytherin Common Room and ordered students to compete in duels to select prefects.
• Malfoy stepped onto a dueling platform and challenged Darren to fight.

Darren faced Malfoy in a magical duel, endured his spells, and defeated him without using his unusual power. Cassandra then challenged Darren and unleashed a complex multi-wand attack, leaving their duel underway.

• Darren accepted Malfoy's challenge and promised to compete using only magic, earning Paternal Points from the watching Slytherins.
• Malfoy attacked Darren with a series of spells, but Darren dodged them while keeping up his Protego.
• Malfoy tried a sneak attack with bats and a Silencing Charm, but Darren took the spell without being hurt and awkwardly explained that he was too strong.
• Malfoy angrily left the dueling platform after Darren's explanation, and Cassandra stepped forward to challenge him.
• Cassandra attacked Darren with several conjured wands from every angle, and Darren recognized that he could counter by blasting the wands away.

Darren defeated Cassandra’s attacks without moving, then made her apologize for insulting Harry Potter. The next morning, he told Snape he had pushed Cassandra away because he feared she would be endangered by her connection to him, and he received the Three Hearts, Two Minds skill.

• Cassandra unleashed her strongest spells at Darren, but his Protego blocked them all.
• Darren asked Snape to make Cassandra apologize for insulting his brother, and Snape declared Darren the winner.
• Cassandra apologized, then challenged the female prefects; her later attacks injured several students and drew a warning from Snape.
• Snape summoned Darren the next morning and questioned why he had made Cassandra apologize.
• Darren explained that he feared Cassandra would be hurt because of her ties to him, and the system awarded him Three Hearts, Two Minds.

Darren left Snape’s office after Snape warned him not to be reckless, while Cassandra secretly departed from the office. Darren then reunited with Hermione, Harry, and Ron, reassured Harry about his timetable and Snape, and heard Hagrid excitedly discuss teaching their class.

• Snape told Darren to stop worrying and return, then spoke privately to the hidden Cassandra after Darren left.
• Cassandra thanked Snape for helping her and hurried out; Snape lamented to Lily that Darren knew his fate.
• Hermione greeted Darren and explained that they would attend classes together, while Harry noticed Darren had ten classes scheduled in a day.
• Snape reprimanded Harry for slandering a professor, and Darren pulled Snape into the corridor to calm the conflict.
• Darren told Harry that the timetable was arranged by the school and urged him not to speak badly of Snape.
• Hagrid excitedly told Darren, Hermione, Harry, and Ron about his class, and Darren defended Hagrid when Harry and Ron doubted his teaching.

Darren attended his first Divination class, where Professor Trelawney insisted that he would have many girlfriends despite his claim that he had none. The chapter left Trelawney confused by Darren’s sincere denial while he quietly earned Paternal Points.

• Darren led the third-year students to Divination as a prefect, and the Slytherins followed him without bullying him.
• Darren sat beside Hermione, who was pleased, before Professor Trelawney began the lesson.
• Trelawney asked Darren whether his girlfriends were well, and he pretended not to understand her prophecy.
• Darren said he had female friends but no girlfriend and wanted to focus on his studies, earning Paternal Points as the girls reacted.
• Trelawney insisted that Darren would have many girlfriends, but his confused expression made her doubt what she had seen.

During Divination, Trelawney frightened Neville and Lavender with ominous predictions before declaring that Darren was marked for death by a Grim. Darren calmly helped her up, leaving Trelawney unsettled, and she turned her attention to Harry.

• Trelawney asked Neville about his grandmother and made him fall from his chair in fear.
• Trelawney warned Lavender about a red-haired boy and predicted that what worried her would happen on October 16th.
• Trelawney mistook Hermione's teacup for Darren's, then theatrically predicted that Darren had many enemies and faced death from a Grim.
• Darren calmly helped Trelawney up and said he and his brother were prepared to die at any time, earning Paternal Points and leaving her bewildered.
• Trelawney stopped trying to frighten the class until she saw Harry.

Darren and Hermione used the Time-Turner to attend Arithmancy, where Professor Victor predicted that someone Darren cared about would encounter trouble that afternoon. Darren’s staged worry alarmed Professor McGonagall, who reported the prediction to Dumbledore, and he agreed it needed to be taken seriously.

• After Divination, Darren and Hermione used the Time-Turner to return to the Arithmancy class and hid as their earlier selves arrived.
• Professor Victor predicted that someone Darren cared about would face trouble that afternoon, and Darren feigned fear to earn Paternal Points.
• Darren stayed distracted in Professor McGonagall’s class, and Hermione explained Victor’s prediction to her.
• Professor McGonagall grew worried and rushed to Dumbledore’s office to report the predictions.
• Dumbledore agreed with Professor McGonagall that the matter needed to be taken seriously.

Dumbledore questioned whether Sirius Black had betrayed the Potters as he prepared Hogwarts staff to watch over the students. In Hagrid’s Care of Magical Creatures class, Darren taught the students three ways to open their unruly textbooks, leaving McGonagall moved by his need for approval and Snape disapproving of his recklessness.

• Dumbledore considered the doubts surrounding Black’s role as the Potters’ Secret Keeper and resolved to have professors watch the students.
• Darren saw McGonagall and Snape standing guard near the Forbidden Forest as Hagrid began his class.
• Darren showed the class that stroking the book’s spine or finding and striking its weak point with a wand would make it open.
• Darren explained that the book had become obedient after biting him and absorbing his blood, though he warned the students not to try it.
• McGonagall praised Darren’s discovery and worried that he felt insecure and unwanted, while Snape called him reckless.

Darren accepted a system task to approach a Hippogriff before Harry and intimidate it with his Obscurus. The lesson ended as Darren stepped forward, with the task’s outcome still unknown.

• Malfoy mocked Hagrid’s teaching and made Hagrid leave to fetch magical creatures.
• Hagrid brought the class twelve Hippogriffs and insisted that he was in charge of the lesson despite Snape’s objections.
• Snape took ten points from Gryffindor after Harry reacted to him, and Ron urged Harry to avoid drawing more attention.
• Hagrid explained how to approach a Hippogriff, and the students hesitated to volunteer.
• Darren accepted the system’s task and stepped forward before Harry could try.

Darren rode Buckbeak without injury, but Buckbeak struck Malfoy and broke his arm. Malfoy was sent to St. Mungo’s, while Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and Snape went to see Lucius, leaving Hagrid distressed.

• Darren approached Buckbeak, who bowed to him and granted him the Favor of the Hippogriff.
• Darren rode Buckbeak through the sky and returned unharmed, despite Snape’s alarm.
• Malfoy insulted Buckbeak, who struck him and broke his arm, shattering his protective talisman.
• Darren rushed to Malfoy and called for him to be taken to the Hospital Wing.
• Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and Snape went to see Lucius after Malfoy was sent to St. Mungo’s, while Hagrid remained distraught.

Darren went to comfort a distraught Hagrid after the incident in Care of Magical Creatures, while Harry and the others blamed Malfoy. The Paternal System then offered Darren a mission to distance himself from Harry’s group for a month, leaving him to decide whether to accept it.

• Darren left the Slytherin matter with Cassandra and went with Ron and the others to visit Hagrid.
• Darren found Hagrid crying and drinking heavily because he feared he would be fired, and he took the alcohol away from him.
• Darren reassured Hagrid that he was not useless and had not done anything wrong, earning Paternal Points.
• Harry and the others blamed Malfoy for provoking the creature, but Darren asked how Malfoy was doing.
• The Paternal System offered Darren an Animagus form if he separated himself from Harry’s group for one month, and Darren considered the mission.

Darren manipulated Harry and the others into believing he had broken with them over their comments about Slytherin, earning Paternal Points while leaving Hagrid reassured he would help with Malfoy. After Harry, Ron, and Hermione returned to the castle, Professor McGonagall confronted them, while Darren entered and was asked what was wrong.

• Darren blamed Hagrid for bringing an unsafe Hippogriff to class while acknowledging Malfoy's misconduct, making Harry and the others feel guilty and earning Paternal Points.
• Darren told Harry that his dislike of Slytherin ran deep and said he would keep his distance, then promised Hagrid he would find Malfoy and try to prevent Hagrid's dismissal.
• Harry, Ron, and Hermione were stunned by Darren's apparent break with Harry, and Harry insisted Darren should have known he did not truly hate Slytherin.
• Professor McGonagall confronted Harry, Ron, and Hermione for upsetting Darren and criticized Harry for making his younger brother angry.
• Darren entered the castle with a bitter smile, and Professor McGonagall asked what was wrong and where Harry and the others were.

Darren returned alone after a painful disagreement with Harry, and Professor McGonagall angrily confronted Harry and the others. When Draco Malfoy threatened to sue Hagrid, Darren accepted the system’s mission and agreed to be Malfoy’s follower for a month in exchange for sparing Hagrid, earning a Time-Turner.

• Darren told Professor McGonagall that Harry had not bullied him, but he was hurt and needed time to think, and she later warned Harry not to upset him again.
• Draco Malfoy returned from St. Mungo’s and boasted that his father planned to sue Hagrid for murder.
• The Paternal System offered Darren a Time-Turner if he pleaded with Malfoy and agreed to follow him for a month, and Darren accepted the mission.
• Darren begged Malfoy not to sue Hagrid and offered to make amends, but Malfoy demanded that he become his follower for a month.
• Darren agreed immediately, and the system awarded him a Time-Turner.

Darren agreed to be Malfoy’s follower for a month to keep Hagrid from being sued, while Malfoy planned to use the arrangement to provoke Harry. In Potions class, Malfoy sat beside Darren, and Snape targeted Harry with two point deductions.

• Malfoy told Darren that a follower had to take his side against Harry, then said Darren could stay out of their arguments.
• Darren agreed to follow Malfoy for a month and thanked him, while Malfoy decided to keep the arrangement long enough to show off to Harry.
• Malfoy followed Darren into Potions class and sat beside him, drawing angry reactions from Harry and Ron.
• Snape ordered Malfoy to sit properly, then deducted ten points from Gryffindor for Harry not having taken out his cauldron.
• After Harry set out his cauldron, Snape criticized its cleanliness and deducted another ten Gryffindor points.

Harry and Ron watched Darren favor Malfoy in Potions and concluded that Malfoy had forced him to cut ties with them. An hour earlier, Hermione confronted Darren, who refused to explain himself and handed her his Time-Turner.

• In Potions, Malfoy made Harry prepare ingredients for him, then mocked Harry while Darren remained silent.
• Malfoy threatened Hagrid with a lawsuit and glanced at Darren, leading Harry and Ron to suspect that he was using Hagrid to control Darren.
• After Potions, Harry and Ron found that Darren and Hermione had disappeared, as they had traveled an hour into the past.
• Hermione confronted Darren about severing ties with Harry, but Darren asked her to give him more time to calm down.
• Darren removed his Time-Turner and asked Hermione to apologize to the professor, prompting her to ask whether he wanted to stop using it or stop talking to her.

Darren told Hermione that her and the others’ repeated rejection of Slytherin had hurt him, and Hermione realized how long they had neglected his feelings. She told Harry and Ron what had happened and began to regret how they had treated Darren, while Harry decided he could apologize.

• Darren refused to use the Time-Turner with Hermione and explained that she had never respected his House or his Slytherin friends.
• Hermione realized that Harry and Ron had repeatedly rejected Darren’s invitations to spend time with Slytherins.
• Hermione rejoined Harry and Ron in tears and told them Darren would never speak to them again.
• Hermione described Darren’s grievances, and Harry recognized how much they had neglected him and offered to apologize.

Harry and Ron tried to apologize to Darren, but Snape kept them from reaching him. When they finally found Darren in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Malfoy staged a fall to draw Darren’s concern and earn Paternal Points.

• Hermione blamed herself for doubting Darren and ran off, leaving Harry and Ron to plan an apology.
• Snape refused to let Harry and Ron enter Slytherin and mocked Harry, taking twenty points from Gryffindor.
• Harry and Ron waited by the Slytherin table, but learned Snape had taken Darren away to work, so Hermione shared saved pies with them.
• Harry and Ron found Darren in Defense Against the Dark Arts beside Malfoy and Cassandra, but Malfoy blocked their approach.
• Malfoy pretended Ron had injured his arm, and Darren hurried to check on him, earning Paternal Points.