Chapter Summaries

Harry watched Snape single him out in Potions while growing concerned about Darren’s apparent suspicion of the professor. Darren and Snape’s plan fooled Harry and Hermione, and the chapter ended with Darren refusing to stay in the Hospital Wing to avoid causing trouble for Harry and Dumbledore.

• Umbridge skipped Professor Binns’s History of Magic class and both Potions classes, while Snape gave Harry a D and mocked the class over their grades.
• Harry noticed Darren acting strangely around Snape and worried that something was wrong between them.
• Darren followed Snape’s instructions by acting distracted and attributing his suspicions to poor sleep, convincing Harry and Hermione to worry about both Snape and Darren’s condition.
• Hermione and the others took Darren to Madam Pomfrey, who refused to give him sleeping potions and advised against using them without supervision.
• Darren refused to stay in the Hospital Wing, claiming that the Daily Prophet would report that he and Harry had gone mad and cause trouble for Harry and Dumbledore.

During Divination, Darren eavesdropped as Umbridge inspected Trelawney and dismissed her predictions as fraudulent. Cassandra grew upset over Darren’s recurring nightmares, gave him a potion to prevent them, and Trelawney later predicted Harry’s death repeatedly while Umbridge took notes.

• Darren followed Hermione and the others to Divination, where Umbridge arrived to inspect Trelawney’s teaching.
• Umbridge challenged Trelawney to make a prediction, and Trelawney first refused before offering a vague warning that Umbridge mocked.
• Cassandra quietly cried after reading Darren’s fabricated dreams, then urged him to seek help for his nightmares and gave him a potion.
• Trelawney took Darren’s parchment and predicted that someone close to him would be punished if he dreamed of being captured.
• Trelawney analyzed Harry’s current and past dream assignments, predicting his death twenty-two times as Umbridge recorded notes against her.

Harry received another detention from Umbridge, prompting Angelina and Professor McGonagall to confront him about his behavior. Umbridge observed McGonagall’s Transfiguration lessons but was repeatedly ignored and rebuked, and Flitwick also taught without acknowledging her.

• Darren prepared potions to ease the pain Harry felt from Umbridge’s detentions, while Harry planned to keep provoking her.
• Angelina scolded Harry in the Great Hall for missing Quidditch practice, and McGonagall took points from Gryffindor and warned Harry not to defy Umbridge.
• Umbridge observed McGonagall’s Transfiguration class, but McGonagall ignored her interruptions and taught the lesson as usual.
• McGonagall awarded Darren points for making a mouse vanish, then dismissed the class before Umbridge could inspect the lesson further.
• McGonagall told Darren she hoped the lesson had helped him vent, and he agreed.
• Flitwick continued teaching during Umbridge’s observations without acknowledging her.

Umbridge interrogated Professor Grubbly-Plank and questioned students before Hermione proposed that Darren and Harry teach their friends Dark Arts magic. After Darren initially refused because the request stirred painful memories, he later agreed to help, and Harry agreed as well, though both called themselves too weak.

• Umbridge pressed Professor Grubbly-Plank to criticize Dumbledore and diagnose Harry, then questioned students about her lessons.
• Hermione asked Darren and Harry to teach their friends Dark Arts magic, but Darren left after Harry became angry that their past ordeals were being recounted lightly.
• For the next two weeks, Hermione treated Darren delicately, and Darren grew frustrated with the attention.
• In the last week of September, Darren agreed to teach the group some magic and asked Harry to handle the rest.
• Harry agreed to help, saying he and Darren should teach only if the others did not mind that they were too weak.

Hermione gathered a much larger crowd than Darren expected at the Hog’s Head Inn to hear Harry and Darren teach practical magic, while Umbridge secretly observed them. After Darren promised they would teach, the group debated whether students should learn defensive spells despite their upcoming exams.

• Hermione told Darren that many students wanted to attend the meeting in Hogsmeade, and she led him, Harry, and Ron to the Hog’s Head Inn, where disguised Umbridge was listening.
• Aberforth served Darren juice and the others Butterbeer, while Fred revealed that eighty-nine people had gathered and asked them to help pay for the drinks.
• The crowd of mostly girls stared at Darren and Harry, and Harry asked Hermione what she had promised them; Hermione said they needed to learn to protect themselves.
• Michael Corner questioned whether Darren and Harry had time to teach before their Ordinary Wizarding Level exams, and Darren guaranteed that they would teach.
• Another student asked why students whose exams were not near should spend time learning defensive magic.

Hermione organized the students who wanted to learn defense against Voldemort, and Darren persuaded them to prepare to protect themselves. The next day, Umbridge banned regular gatherings of more than three people, while Hermione revealed that she had placed a contract on the sign-up parchment.

• Zacharias Smith questioned the evidence that Voldemort had returned, and Darren explained how his mother's protective magic had saved Harry before urging the students to learn to protect themselves.
• Hermione asked anyone who still wanted to leave to do so, but no one left, and the group discussed meeting times and asked Harry and Darren about their past adventures.
• Hermione passed around a parchment for everyone to sign, and the students dispersed without choosing a meeting place.
• The next day, Umbridge posted notices requiring approval for regular gatherings of more than three people, and Harry suspected someone had informed on them.
• Hermione told Darren that she had placed a contract on the sign-up parchment that would make anyone who broke its rules develop pimples.

Darren and Harry discovered that someone was monitoring their communications after Hedwig was attacked and delivered Sirius's letter. Darren ended the chapter asleep in the Hospital Wing, while Professor McGonagall warned Harry not to mention anything in his letters.

• Darren told Harry that Umbridge might ban Quidditch as well as their organization, and Harry and Ron worried about losing their training.
• During History of Magic, Harry spotted an injured Hedwig outside the window, and Darren pretended to faint so they could leave class.
• Darren picked up Hedwig and found Sirius's letter, then told Harry that someone was monitoring their communications.
• Madam Pomfrey diagnosed Darren with exhaustion and put him to sleep in the Hospital Wing.
• Professor McGonagall told Harry that Hogwarts' communication system was being monitored and warned him not to discuss anything in letters.

After Darren collapsed, Harry and his friends worried that Sirius might come to their monitored meeting place while Darren was still in the Hospital Wing. Harry endured a tense day of classes, and the chapter ended with Angelina reporting that Umbridge still had not approved Gryffindor's Quidditch matches.

• Harry left Hedwig with Professor Grubbly-Plank and told Hermione and Ron that Darren was only exhausted; they read Sirius's letter and worried they could not warn him about the monitored communications.
• Malfoy insulted Darren outside Potions, Neville punched him, and Snape deducted forty points from both Gryffindor and Slytherin after Malfoy admitted what he had said.
• Umbridge observed Snape's Potions lesson, praised his teaching, and questioned him about applying for the Defense Against the Dark Arts post; Snape retaliated against Harry by scouring his cauldron.
• Malfoy taunted Harry with the approved Quidditch form, while Trelawney lost her temper after Umbridge placed her on probation.
• Harry endured Umbridge's Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson to protect Gryffindor's Quidditch chances, but Angelina told him Umbridge still had not approved their matches.

Harry and the others spoke with Sirius about the Defense Against the Dark Arts group, but Darren questioned whether forming it would undermine Dumbledore’s plans and urged everyone to wait. Harry resumed Quidditch training after Umbridge approved the Gryffindor team, and the chapter ended when his scar suddenly hurt.

• Sirius visited Harry and the others through the fireplace, learned about the group and Umbridge’s restrictions, and told Ron that his mother opposed his joining.
• Sirius suggested meeting at the Shrieking Shack, but Umbridge appeared at the fireplace and forced him to vanish.
• After waking, Darren realized that only Sirius had approved of the group and urged everyone to wait so they would not interfere with Dumbledore’s plans.
• Harry and his friends performed poorly in Professor Flitwick’s class, and Flitwick assigned them an extra essay on the Silencing Charm.
• Umbridge approved Gryffindor’s Quidditch team after Angelina approached Professor McGonagall, who went to Dumbledore.
• Harry trained with Ron and the others in the rain, then felt agonizing pain in his scar.

Harry learned about the Room of Requirement from Dobby and planned to use it for secret group practice. The next morning, Harry tried to persuade Darren that Dumbledore had hinted they should find the room, but Darren remained reluctant.

• Harry told Darren and Ron that he could sense Voldemort's anger, and Darren warned him to control the connection and keep practicing Legilimency.
• Harry dreamed of a door in a windowless corridor, but Dobby woke him and brought Hedwig to him.
• Dobby told Harry that Darren was excluded in Slytherin and explained that Snape kept people out of Darren's room.
• Harry asked Dobby for a hidden place where nearly ninety people could practice magic, and Dobby told him about the Room of Requirement.
• Harry decided to postpone finding the room until morning to avoid Umbridge catching him out at night.
• Harry told Darren about the Room of Requirement and argued that Dumbledore might have tacitly approved their plan.

Darren investigated the Room of Requirement with Harry and Hermione and discovered it was linked to the system. After the room opened into a large practice space, Darren learned the system could merge with it and eventually let him take control.

• Hermione interrupted Darren as he hesitated over teaching nearly ninety students, and she, Harry, and Darren went to the eighth floor to find the Room of Requirement.
• Darren heard a mechanical voice identify him as Mr. Slytherin and approve Harry’s access when Darren spoke aloud.
• Harry opened the Room of Requirement, and Darren entered first to check the enormous practice room, its bookshelves, Sneakoscopes, and new comics.
• Darren thanked the room and learned from the system that it was a subsystem merging with it, with control available for 5,000 Paternal Points.
• Hermione and Harry feared Darren had been kidnapped, and Darren returned to reassure them before Harry angrily insisted he would not die.

Hermione and the others gathered eighty-nine students in the Room of Requirement to form a Defense Against the Dark Arts group. The students unanimously chose Darren as their leader, and the chapter ended with them debating what to call the group.

• Hermione and the others contacted everyone on their list and returned to the Room of Requirement that evening.
• Students arrived in groups, hugging Darren and repeatedly asking Harry how he had found the hidden room.
• Hermione proposed choosing a leader, and all eighty-nine students raised their hands for Darren.
• Darren agreed to lead the group after Harry and Hermione offered to help him.
• The Weasley twins set off fireworks, and Darren made them vanish with a wave of his wand.
• The students suggested names for the group, and Darren proposed calling it the Defense Against the Dark Arts Study Group.

Darren helped the students name their secret defense group Dumbledore’s Army and led their first practice session with Harry correcting their spells. After the training ended near curfew, Darren headed back to the Slytherin common room, while Harry and the others worried that he still seemed listless.

• Ginny suggested that the group call itself Darren’s Army, but Hermione warned that the Ministry might use the name to expel Darren.
• Darren proposed Dumbledore’s Army, and the students accepted the name and its abbreviation, DA.
• Darren explained the value of Expelliarmus and urged everyone to practice while Harry and the others corrected their spellwork.
• Neville accidentally sent his own wand flying, and Darren used magic to return it to his hand.
• Darren ended the practice near curfew, and Harry used the Marauder’s Map to help the students leave in small groups.
• Darren went toward the Slytherin common room, while Harry and the others worried that he still looked listless despite having slept in the Hospital Wing.

Darren helped Harry organize secret student gatherings and created enchanted Galleons for them to communicate safely while learning defensive spells. As Gryffindor’s first Quidditch match against Slytherin approached, Harry remained hopeful despite Ron’s nerves and Snape’s efforts to hinder Gryffindor.

• Hermione angrily defended Darren after Ron suggested Darren might be lazy, then left while Harry and Ron failed to notice she was gone.
• Harry held three gatherings where students learned defensive spells, and Darren enchanted Galleons to let nearly a hundred people communicate privately through a group chat.
• At the fourth gathering, Darren distributed the Galleons and taught the students Accio and the Lost Curse so they could retrieve misplaced coins.
• As the Gryffindor-Slytherin Quidditch match approached, McGonagall and Snape eased their houses’ homework demands, while Snape repeatedly reserved the pitch for Slytherin.
• Snape dismissed evidence that Slytherin students had attacked Alicia, and Harry worried that Ron’s nervousness could hurt Gryffindor’s chances.

Darren stopped Slytherin students from mocking Ron and punished them by making them copy the House Rules. Gryffindor won the Quidditch match after Harry caught the Golden Snitch, while Slytherin remained silent in detention.

• Darren saw Slytherin students singing “Weasley Is Our King” to upset Ron and ordered them to stop.
• When Phelps challenged Darren, Darren silenced Slytherin and ordered the students to copy the House Rules one hundred times.
• Phelps sought help from Snape and Professor McGonagall, but both supported Darren and sent him back to serve his punishment.
• Darren watched Ron struggle to defend the hoops as Harry caught the Golden Snitch despite Crabbe nearly hitting him with a Quaffle.
• Harry and George lunged at Crabbe as the pitch erupted in celebration, while Slytherin remained silent.

Darren confronted the Slytherin team after their humiliating defeat, but Umbridge used her new Ministry authority to ban Harry and George from Quidditch for life. She tried to lure Darren into her office by offering to spare them, but Harry, George, and the Gryffindors stopped him from agreeing.

• Darren punched Crabbe and Goyle, then ordered the Slytherin team to copy the House Rules for their unsportsmanlike conduct.
• Umbridge challenged Darren, but Malfoy warned her that neither he nor his father could stop Darren, and Cassandra left after handing Darren her copied rules.
• Umbridge presented a Ministry order giving her authority to punish students and announced that Harry and George would be banned from Quidditch for life and have their brooms confiscated.
• Darren begged Umbridge to spare Harry and George and began to agree to meet her alone in her office, but Harry and George covered his mouth and refused.
• Harry, George, and the Gryffindor students carried Darren away as he insisted that he would be safe in Umbridge's office.

After Umbridge banned Harry, George, Fred, and Darren from Quidditch, Darren tried to console the Gryffindors and found Ron ready to quit the team. Darren then led the others to visit Hagrid, whose battered face suggested he had been fighting giants, though he denied it.

• Umbridge banned Harry, George, Fred, and Darren from competing in Quidditch, and Darren was dragged to the Gryffindor Common Room.
• Darren blamed himself for the bans and promised to find a way to help, while Hermione and Ginny kept him from leaving.
• Ron returned, threw down his broom, and said he wanted to quit the Quidditch team; Harry told him about Umbridge's bans.
• Darren spotted that Hagrid had returned, and the group left the castle under the Invisibility Cloak to visit him.
• Darren offered Hagrid a potion for his bruised face, but Hagrid declined and denied Darren's suspicion that he had fought giants and brought them to Hogwarts.

Darren, Harry, and their friends concealed their visit to Hagrid from Umbridge, who searched his hut and warned him to prepare his lessons. Hagrid then began his first Care of Magical Creatures class back from his journey, leaving Darren to reflect sadly on his brother being able to see Thestrals.

• Darren changed the subject after Hagrid's convincing denials dispelled the others' suspicions, then heard Umbridge approaching and helped hide the visitors and their teacups.
• Umbridge searched Hagrid's hut, questioned him about his summer, and warned that she would inspect his lessons; Hagrid denied having seen any students.
• Hermione tried to help Hagrid prepare for class, but he refused, and she later told Darren that Hagrid had gone out.
• Darren joined Harry and the others for Hagrid's first Care of Magical Creatures lesson, where Hagrid led the uneasy students toward the Forbidden Forest with a dead cow.
• A Thestral appeared, and Darren lamented that he had hoped to protect his brother from ever seeing creatures like it.

Darren attended Hagrid’s lesson as Umbridge questioned Hagrid about teaching Thestrals and recorded criticisms of his conduct. As Christmas approached, Darren led the last Dumbledore’s Army meeting before the holiday, and Cho Chang kissed him beneath the mistletoe before someone interrupted them.

• Umbridge challenged Hagrid’s decision to teach Thestrals and wrote down negative judgments about him.
• Darren struggled with exhaustion from homework and Snape’s detentions while Christmas preparations kept his friends busy.
• Darren led the final Dumbledore’s Army gathering before Christmas, where the group reviewed spells they had learned.
• Cho Chang told Darren she wanted to stay by his side despite her parents’ fears and kissed him beneath the mistletoe.
• Someone interrupted Darren and Cho Chang by demanding to know what they were doing.

After Darren comforted Hermione and promised to care for himself, Harry dreamed that he had attacked Arthur Weasley as a snake. Snape sent Darren to Dumbledore’s Office, where Darren found Umbridge blocking the way.

• Darren refused Cho Chang’s advance, and Hermione became distraught over the danger Darren and Harry faced.
• Darren gave Hermione Draught of Living Death to help her sleep and promised he would take care of himself.
• Harry woke from a dream in which he had bitten Arthur Weasley and told Ron that his father had been attacked.
• Snape told Darren that Arthur Weasley had been taken to St. Mungo’s and that Dumbledore wanted Darren at his office.
• Darren hurried through Hogwarts and found Umbridge near the corridor to Dumbledore’s Office.