Chapter Summaries

Darren’s friends celebrated Ron and Hermione becoming prefects while he turned down a Slytherin prefect nomination. As the summer drew to a close, Moody spoke to Darren about the Order’s losses and his near-death, and a Boggart resembling Darren’s corpse left Mrs. Weasley in tears.

• As school approached, Black grew depressed at the thought of being left alone, while Darren was excused from Order of the Phoenix work and Harry and the others welcomed the decision.
• The owl delivered the school book list, and Ron and Hermione discovered they had been chosen as Gryffindor’s prefects.
• Darren refused to sign Slytherin’s prefect nomination form, telling Snape that his head had been bothering him since his battle with Voldemort.
• Moody showed Darren an old photograph of fallen Order members and apologized for involving him in danger too soon.
• Mrs. Weasley opened a cabinet to deal with a Boggart, which appeared as Darren’s corpse and made her weep; Darren rushed in to comfort her.

Darren helped Mrs. Weasley recover from the Boggart, while Lupin reassured her that Darren and Dumbledore could fight Voldemort. As the group prepared to return to Hogwarts, they discussed keeping Darren’s recovery secret and reacted to a Daily Prophet attack on Darren and Dumbledore.

• Darren helped Mrs. Weasley away from the Boggart, and Lupin took over dealing with it as she worried about her family and the war.
• On the morning school began, Darren discovered that Dumbledore had left his luggage behind, while the group waited for a missing guard before departing.
• Hermione told Harry and Ron that Moody’s group planned to conceal Darren’s recovery to protect Snape’s position and catch attackers off guard.
• Hermione explained that Fudge had suppressed evidence of Voldemort’s return and encouraged the Daily Prophet to undermine Dumbledore and Darren.
• Darren picked up the newspaper after reading its accusations, and Ron pointed out that its author had died in a failed Apparition.

Darren left the Weasleys for Hogwarts with Tonks and the others, secretly giving Sirius a necklace that could let him transform into cats. On the train, Darren reassured Harry about Ron becoming a prefect, then shared a compartment with Harry, Ginny, Neville, and Luna.

• Darren and the others slipped out of the Weasleys’ home and reached King’s Cross safely, with Tonks escorting Darren and Sirius following in his Animagus form.
• At Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, Darren gave Sirius a necklace that could transform him into cats and explained that he had remade it for him.
• Darren boarded the train at the last moment, and Hermione questioned him about whether he had repaired the necklace before going to the prefects’ compartment with Ron.
• Darren took Harry to an empty compartment and reassured him that Ron receiving the prefect’s badge did not change how much Darren admired him.
• Ginny, Neville, and Luna joined Darren and Harry, and Luna said she had noticed fewer Wrackspurts around Darren while Ginny pointed out that Luna had not cured his serious condition.

Darren rejected Luna’s attempt to hypnotize him and traveled to Hogwarts with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, and the others. After Malfoy threatened him as a fellow prefect, Darren was separated from Harry’s group in the storm and boarded Cassandra’s Thestral carriage, where Harry and Ron joined him.

• Darren rejected the system’s offer to continue Luna’s hypnosis, and Luna gave up and read her magazine.
• Malfoy entered the compartment, mocked Harry for not becoming a prefect, and threatened Darren for spending time with Gryffindors.
• The students arrived at Hogwarts in a downpour and learned that Professor Grubbly-Plank, not Hagrid, was waiting for the first-years.
• The crowd separated Darren from Harry’s group as students boarded the Thestral carriages.
• Cassandra pulled Darren into her carriage because Harry’s was full, and Harry and Ron climbed in after him.

Darren attended the Hogwarts welcome feast, where Umbridge was introduced as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and delivered a speech that most students ignored. After the feast, he followed Cassandra and the first-years to the Slytherin Common Room, where Snape silently watched everyone arrive.

• Cassandra warned Darren that someone had returned and that Slytherin was no longer safe, then left the carriage.
• Darren ignored Malfoy's taunts and noticed Umbridge greet him, recalling that his reward made her regard him as one of her own.
• Professor McGonagall brought in the first-years, and the Sorting Hat sang before the ceremony concluded.
• Dumbledore announced Grubbly-Plank and Umbridge as new professors, but Umbridge interrupted him to deliver a long speech.
• Dumbledore finished the feast announcements, and Darren followed Cassandra and the first-years back to the Slytherin Common Room.
• Snape stood silently with his wand as the students entered, while Darren yawned and frightened the first-years beside him.

Darren avoided Snape’s fifth-year prefect selection tournament and returned to his dormitory, while Harry argued with Seamus over the Daily Prophet’s claims and worried that Darren was being mistreated in Slytherin. The chapter ended with Harry and his friends misreading Darren’s cheerful morning as proof of hidden suffering as he headed to class with Hermione.

• Snape announced that fifth-years could compete in the prefect selection tournament, but Darren declined and went back to his dormitory.
• Harry argued with Seamus after Seamus questioned the truth of Harry’s claims and asked for proof that the previous projection was real.
• Harry spent the night dreaming of Darren being insulted and tortured, then woke exhausted and worried about him.
• Darren told Harry and the others that he had skipped the tournament and slept, but they suspected he was hiding punishment after hearing Snape had berated a sixth-year who declined to compete.
• Hermione gave Darren a beef patty to eat on the way to class, while Harry and the others continued to pity him.

Darren attended History of Magic and Potions, where Snape revealed that Dumbledore wanted them to pretend to hate each other so Darren could learn to act. Snape gave Darren a semester of detention as part of their plan, leaving Harry angry and convinced Darren had suffered in Slytherin.

• Darren hid his beef pie whenever he met someone, while Harry and the others pitied him.
• Darren used a self-writing quill to take notes in Professor Binns's dull History of Magic class.
• Snape warned the class about their upcoming Ordinary Wizarding Level exams and taught them to brew a Calming Draught.
• Snape told Darren that Dumbledore wanted them to stage a falling-out, then arranged to teach him acting during detention.
• Darren recognized Snape was provoking Harry to create an excuse for detention, but pretended to object when Snape criticized Harry.
• Snape sentenced Darren to a semester of detention, and Harry lost twenty points while protesting the punishment.

Darren challenged Umbridge’s wandless Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons, arguing that students needed practical training to survive Death Eaters. After Umbridge gave him detention, Darren walked out, and Harry followed after Umbridge sent him to deliver a sealed message to Professor McGonagall.

• Umbridge ordered the class to put away their wands, and Hermione Granger questioned how students could learn defensive magic without practicing it.
• Darren Potter confronted Umbridge and defended practical training, prompting Dean, Parvati, and other students to voice their objections.
• Umbridge assigned Darren detention and summoned him to discuss his theory, but Darren refused and left the classroom.
• Harry rebuked Umbridge for dismissing Darren’s suffering, then received a sealed message to take to Professor McGonagall.
• Harry rushed out of the classroom, hoping to find Darren.

Harry feared that he and Darren might be expelled after confronting Umbridge, but Professor McGonagall told him Darren could stop attending her Defense Against the Dark Arts class while Harry still had to go and serve detention. At dinner, Darren told Harry that he had canceled the punishment, concealing that he had threatened Umbridge and erased her memories.

• Harry searched for Darren, then brought Umbridge's parchment to Professor McGonagall, who asked where Darren was and denied that either boy was being expelled.
• Professor McGonagall told Harry that Darren no longer needed to attend Umbridge's class and would need full marks on his exam, while Harry still had to attend class and serve detention.
• Harry searched the school until he found Darren at dinner, and Darren said he had persuaded Umbridge to cancel Harry's punishment.
• Darren secretly revealed that he had threatened Umbridge with evidence of embezzlement, made her write a confession, and erased her memories of the encounter.
• Malfoy offered Darren a healing potion, but Darren refused it, saying he had no wounds.

Hermione explained to Harry that Darren had been trying to undermine Umbridge’s authority, but Harry’s intervention let Umbridge make Darren an example instead. Darren privately admitted he had only wanted to skip Umbridge’s class, then went to serve detention with Snape as Umbridge gloated.

• Malfoy scolded Darren for risking his life, while Darren ignored him and ate.
• Harry struggled with the other students’ questions about the night Voldemort returned, and Hermione explained why Darren had tried to stay composed in public.
• Hermione told Harry that he had ruined Darren’s attempt to challenge Umbridge’s authority, forcing Darren to take Harry’s place as her target.
• Hermione left in tears, and Ron told Harry they might learn more about Darren’s punishment the next day.
• Darren revealed that he had picked a fight with Umbridge because he wanted to avoid her class and protect Harry from being punished.
• Snape summoned Darren to detention, while Umbridge gloated and the other professors left the teachers’ table.

Snape coached Darren in acting and staged a public falling-out between them so Darren could refuse Umbridge’s classes without revealing their plan. Darren left the Great Hall appearing heartbroken, then impressed Professor McGonagall by mastering the Vanishing Spell in Transfiguration.

• Snape watched Darren write his Divination homework, believed his fabricated dreams were real, and awarded him 100 Paternal Points when Darren admitted he had made them up.
• Snape excused Darren from Potions assignments because he had mastered the subject, then instructed him to submit blank parchment while pretending the next day that he had completed the work.
• Snape told Darren to refuse to apologize to Umbridge in front of the school, and Darren declared that he would not attend her classes even if it meant being expelled.
• Snape called Darren selfish and reckless, but could not continue his harsh speech; he walked away while Darren left the Great Hall looking miserable.
• In Professor McGonagall’s Transfiguration class, Darren vanished a snail immediately and earned Slytherin ten points.

Darren navigated Hogwarts tensions by pretending to have argued with Snape and defending Luna when Hermione dismissed her. After a tiring day of classes and homework, he planned to use acting to persuade Snape to let him leave detention early each night.

• Professor McGonagall urged Darren to endure Hogwarts’s changed atmosphere and avoid clashing with Umbridge, while Professor Flitwick warned him that Snape might retaliate privately.
• At lunch, Darren pretended to Harry and the others that he had argued with Snape, and they believed his clumsy lie.
• Professor Grubbly-Plank gave Darren a Bowtruckle, and Harry rushed away with bloodied hands after it scratched him during class.
• Luna told Darren she believed that he and Harry had seen the Dark Lord return, and Darren asked Hermione to treat Luna with respect.
• Darren endured dragon-dung work and a heavy homework assignment, then planned to persuade Snape to let him leave detention early by acting out scenes with him.

Darren rehearsed a staged warning about Snape to mislead Voldemort, then watched Harry earn Umbridge’s detention by openly challenging her teaching. The chapter ended as Harry entered Umbridge’s newly decorated pink office for detention.

• Snape taught Darren lines to warn Harry about him so Voldemort would believe they were enemies.
• Darren praised Hermione’s effort to free the House-elves, then delivered Snape’s warning to Harry while Snape watched.
• Darren urged Harry to behave in Umbridge’s class, but Harry angrily criticized her lessons and received detention.
• Umbridge told Harry to report to her office at five and threatened that even Darren could not change her mind.
• Harry entered Umbridge’s office and found its furnishings replaced by pink decorations and cat ornaments.

Harry endured Umbridge’s blood-quill detention without showing weakness, then found Darren waiting with healing potion and learned Darren had accepted memory erasure to spare him. Darren encouraged Harry to stand up to Umbridge, and Harry resolved to keep the punishments secret from everyone else.

• Umbridge made Harry write “I must not tell lies again” with a blood quill, carving the words into the back of his hand.
• Harry kept writing through the pain, and Umbridge said Darren had endured an entire afternoon of punishment before sending Harry away.
• Darren met Harry outside Umbridge’s office and applied healing potion to his wounded hand.
• Darren told Harry he had agreed to let Umbridge erase his memories of the punishments so she would release Harry.
• Harry told Darren not to beg Umbridge on his behalf again, and Darren promised to support whatever Harry chose to do.
• Harry hid the abuse from Ron and Hermione, claiming he had only copied lines.

Harry endured Umbridge’s painful detention and, after Ron discovered the wounds she had carved into his hand, explained what was happening but refused to ask Darren or Dumbledore for help. He encouraged Ron to try out for Keeper, while Hagrid remained missing and Harry entered another detention with Umbridge.

• Harry’s worsening hand wound and exhaustion hurt his Quidditch performance, and Angelina angrily confronted him for missing practice.
• Ron found Harry treating the carved words on his hand, learned about Umbridge’s punishment, and urged him to seek help from Darren or Dumbledore.
• Harry refused to involve Darren or Dumbledore, reflecting on Dumbledore’s distance and his decision to have Snape teach Harry Legilimency while teaching Darren himself.
• Harry realized Ron was carrying a broom because he wanted to try out for Keeper and encouraged him to believe in himself.
• On Friday, Harry worried that Hagrid had still not returned, then went back to Umbridge’s office for detention and looked out at the Quidditch pitch.

Harry worried that Umbridge might be connected to Voldemort after his scar hurt when she touched his wound, and he told Ron, Hermione, and Darren what happened. Darren dismissed the idea that Voldemort had possessed Umbridge, noting that Voldemort now had a body.

• Harry wondered why Darren had been increasingly exhausted and troubled, and decided to ask him about Snape.
• Umbridge reopened Harry's wound during his punishment, and Harry's scar began aching when she touched him.
• Harry returned to the Common Room, where Ron celebrated making Gryffindor's Keeper and Darren slept after drinking Butterbeer.
• Hermione scolded Fred and George for trying to make Darren sleep with their sweets, then sat beside him to deter a girl from approaching.
• Harry pulled Ron aside and quietly told him, Hermione, and Darren that he suspected Umbridge might be a Death Eater.
• Darren revealed he had been awake and argued that Voldemort was unlikely to possess Umbridge because he already had a body.

Darren urged Harry to tell Sirius about his scar hurting so Sirius could pass the information to Dumbledore, and he hinted that he was struggling without Luna’s help. After Harry sent the letter, Cho Chang offered to comfort Darren, making Hermione jealous, and Darren ended the chapter eating at the Gryffindor table despite Malfoy’s glares.

• Darren suggested Voldemort’s thoughts might have caused Harry’s scar to hurt and urged Harry to tell Sirius so he could inform Dumbledore.
• Darren admitted he was still struggling and said he hoped to accept Luna’s help again once his troubles were dealt with.
• Harry, with Darren and the others’ help, wrote a letter to Black and sent it by Hedwig.
• Cho Chang offered to comfort Darren, and Hermione grew jealous and told him he could come to her for comfort.
• Darren sat at the Gryffindor table for a meal, while Malfoy glared at him but did not intervene.

Darren learned that the Ministry of Magic planned to intervene at Hogwarts and suspected Umbridge would be sent to take charge. He supported Harry and accompanied the others to Quidditch practice, where Ron struggled as Keeper and returned discouraged.

• Darren read the Daily Prophet's report that the Ministry of Magic intended to rectify Hogwarts and predicted that Umbridge would be sent there.
• Darren said Umbridge was as bad as Voldemort for making Harry write humiliating sentences that left scars, and reassured Harry that people could change and mature.
• Darren went with Harry and the others to watch Ron practice Quidditch, where Slytherin players jeered at Ron and Malfoy argued with Darren.
• Darren led the Slytherin team away, but Ron still let in three goals and Angelina berated him.
• Back in the common room, Ron called the practice a disaster, Hermione teased the unfinished homeworkers, and Harry and Ron complained that she had brought juice only for Darren.

Harry and Ron read Percy's letter urging them to distance themselves from Harry and align with Umbridge, prompting Harry and Darren to reaffirm their bond. Hermione worried that the Ministry was weakening Dumbledore's authority, while Darren insisted that Dumbledore was protecting them; Black agreed.

• Hermione made Harry and Ron finish their homework while Darren avoided knitting hats by going to serve detention with Snape.
• Ron received Percy's letter, which praised his prefect appointment but urged him to avoid Harry, get closer to Darren, and follow Umbridge's lead.
• Harry read the letter aloud, and Darren angrily rejected Harry's suggestion that their friendship might end to protect Darren from being dragged down.
• Harry and Darren reconciled, and Ron tore up Percy's letter while Hermione read the pieces and warned that the Ministry intended to interfere at Hogwarts.
• Harry criticized Dumbledore for allowing Fudge to gain power, but Darren defended Dumbledore as someone trying to keep them alive, and Black agreed.

Sirius relayed Dumbledore’s warning that Harry’s scar would keep hurting and that Hagrid was still missing, while Darren challenged Sirius for treating Harry as a replacement for James. The chapter ended with the group reading a Daily Prophet article that praised Umbridge’s reforms and portrayed Darren as a victim of Dumbledore.

• Sirius told Harry, Darren, and Hermione that Dumbledore expected Harry’s scar to keep hurting, Umbridge was not a Death Eater, and Hagrid was likely alive but still missing.
• Sirius wanted to go to Hogsmeade, but Harry warned him that Malfoy’s father planned to catch a black dog, so Sirius abandoned the idea.
• Sirius compared Harry to James, and Darren rebuked him for treating Harry as his father’s replacement; Sirius then vanished from the flames.
• Darren admitted he had been thinking about dying because he had not been sleeping well, and Harry and Hermione reassured him.
• Hermione read the Daily Prophet’s front-page story announcing Ministry control over Hogwarts and Umbridge’s appointment as Senior Undersecretary.
• The article quoted Percy Weasley and Lucius Malfoy criticizing Dumbledore, then falsely claimed that Dumbledore had tormented Darren and caused his distress.