Chapter Summaries

Darren used Felix Felicis to get Slughorn drunk enough to surrender his memory about the Obscurus, then stumbled into Dumbledore’s Office after a kiss from Luna. The chapter ended as concerned people gathered outside.

• Darren invited Slughorn to Aragog’s funeral, where Slughorn secretly collected bottles of Acromantula venom.
• Darren encouraged Slughorn and Hagrid to drink Firewhisky, then pretended to be drunk and confronted Slughorn about the Obscurus and his mother.
• Slughorn broke down, admitted he was a coward, and gave up the memory Darren had been seeking.
• Darren took the memory and staggered away, where Luna kissed him before he continued toward Dumbledore’s Office.
• Dumbledore saw that Darren had only drunk too much, and Darren heard many people approaching the office.

After Darren woke from his drunken ordeal, Harry and his friends learned he had obtained Slughorn’s memories, while rumors exaggerated his condition into a tale of capture by Voldemort. Dumbledore invited Darren and Harry to view the memories that evening, and the chapter ended as Dumbledore remarked on how much Darren had worried everyone.

• Darren woke in the school infirmary and explained that he had gotten Slughorn’s memories after drinking with Slughorn and Hagrid.
• Hermione told Darren that McCall had knocked Harry off his broom, while Ginny visited and kissed Darren on the forehead.
• Darren left the hospital with Harry and Ron and heard that rumors claimed he had been captured by Death Eaters and fought Voldemort.
• Luna gave Darren and Harry a parchment and revealed that she had smelled alcohol on Darren outside the castle.
• Harry told Darren that Dumbledore had invited them to view the memories that evening.
• Dumbledore greeted Darren and said that Darren had frightened many professors and students.

Dumbledore warned Darren and Harry to take care of themselves and criticized Harry for neglecting his homework about Voldemort. He showed them Hokey’s memory of Voldemort visiting a wealthy witch and recognizing Hufflepuff’s cup and Slytherin’s locket, then prepared to show them one of his own memories.

• Dumbledore admonished Darren for risking his safety while drunk, and Darren apologized.
• Dumbledore criticized Harry for forgetting his assigned work, and Harry apologized for neglecting it.
• Dumbledore showed Darren and Harry Hokey’s memory of Voldemort visiting her mistress while working for Borgin and Burkes.
• Voldemort recognized Helga Hufflepuff’s Golden Cup and Slytherin’s locket among the mistress’s treasures.
• Dumbledore explained that Hokey had been accused of poisoning her mistress and that Voldemort disappeared afterward, then placed one of his own memories in the Pensieve.

Harry and Darren watched Dumbledore reject Voldemort’s request to teach at Hogwarts, then examined Slughorn’s memory of Voldemort asking how to split his soul. Darren concluded that Voldemort had made Obscuruses, possibly including the textbook they encountered in their second year.

• Voldemort asked Dumbledore for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position, but Dumbledore refused him.
• Dumbledore showed Harry and Darren Slughorn’s memory to reveal the reason Voldemort had returned to Hogwarts.
• Voldemort questioned Slughorn about splitting his soul through murder and hiding pieces inside objects.
• Darren told Dumbledore that Voldemort had made Obscuruses and suggested the second-year textbook might have been one.

Dumbledore revealed that Harry and Darren were Voldemort’s Obscuruses and explained that destroying the remaining soul fragments could make Voldemort mortal. Harry forgot the revelation, while Darren begged Dumbledore to protect him and later joined Harry in preparing to hunt the Obscuruses; Harry chose to fight Voldemort even without the prophecy.

• Dumbledore explained that Voldemort had split his soul into seven pieces and identified several likely Horcruxes, including the locket, cup, Ravenclaw heirloom, and snake.
• Darren asked whether the souls inside him and Harry were Voldemort’s, and Dumbledore admitted that Harry was an Obscurus.
• Darren asked Dumbledore to make Harry forget and vowed to sacrifice his life and soul if that would keep Harry alive.
• After Harry forgot the revelation, he and Darren asked to help Dumbledore search for the remaining Obscuruses, and Dumbledore agreed.
• Dumbledore told Harry that Voldemort might not sense the destruction of his soul fragments and confirmed that destroying them all could allow Voldemort to be killed.
• Harry decided he would fight Voldemort even if there were no prophecy.

Harry learned the Sectumsempra curse from the Half-Blood Prince’s book and used it on Malfoy during a fight in the washroom, gravely wounding him. Snape healed Malfoy while Harry stood horrified by what he had done.

• Harry told Ron and Hermione that Dumbledore had agreed to take him to destroy the Obscurus, and Hermione urged Darren to stay safe.
• Ron described how he had frightened Malfoy by pretending to confess his feelings, but Professor Flitwick caught him trying to pass vinegar off as red wine.
• Katie returned to the Quidditch team but could not remember who had given her the cursed necklace, leaving Harry uncertain whether Malfoy was responsible.
• Harry found Sectumsempra in the Half-Blood Prince’s Potions book and memorized the spell.
• Harry overheard Malfoy crying in a washroom and, after Malfoy attacked him, cast Sectumsempra, badly cutting Malfoy across the face and chest.
• Snape pushed Harry aside and used a healing spell to stop Malfoy’s bleeding and restore his wounds.

Darren helped Malfoy to the Hospital Wing and learned that Malfoy had warned Dumbledore to be careful, while Harry faced punishment for attacking Malfoy. Harry missed the Quidditch match, lost access to the Half-Blood Prince’s book, and spent his detention copying old disciplinary records about his father and Sirius.

• Darren took Malfoy to the Hospital Wing and privately asked whether Voldemort was forcing him to target Dumbledore or Darren.
• Malfoy told Darren to warn Dumbledore to be careful, and Darren defended Malfoy as someone who could not bring himself to kill.
• Professor McGonagall summoned Harry and told him that his detention and Quidditch ban were his own fault.
• Harry endured Slytherin mockery, lost his Potions textbook to Snape, and had to hide it in the Room of Requirement.
• Snape made Harry copy damaged disciplinary records, including one describing James Potter and Sirius Black enlarging a classmate’s head, before releasing him after midnight.

Harry saw Ginny kiss Darren and later learned that Hermione suspected Snape was the Half-Blood Prince, though he refused to believe it. When Dumbledore summoned Harry and Darren, they found Trelawney thrown out of the Room of Requirement, and she told Darren how Snape had once overheard her interview with Dumbledore.

• Harry entered the Gryffindor Common Room and saw Ginny deeply kissing Darren, who explained that Ginny had only been joking about them dating.
• Harry watched Ginny grow close to Darren, Hermione, and their group, while Ron said their mother hoped Ginny would win Darren over.
• Hermione showed Harry that Eileen Prince had been captain of the Hogwarts Gobstones Team, and Darren suggested Snape’s mother had belonged to the Prince family.
• Dumbledore invited Darren and Harry to his office, and they found Trelawney in the corridor after she had been thrown out while trying to hide alcohol in the Room of Requirement.
• Darren tried to help Trelawney enter the Room of Requirement, then brought her toward Dumbledore as she complained about being displaced by Firenze and recounted Snape overhearing her interview years earlier.

Harry confronted Dumbledore after learning that Snape had told Voldemort about the prophecy that led to Harry's parents' deaths. Despite his anger and suspicions, Harry and Darren agreed to join Dumbledore in searching for the Obscurus, while Dumbledore prepared them to follow his orders.

• Harry dragged Darren from Trelawney and confronted Dumbledore, accusing Snape of revealing the prophecy to Voldemort.
• Dumbledore explained that Snape had served Voldemort when he reported the prophecy and later deeply regretted it, but Harry challenged his account and Snape's motives.
• Darren questioned why Snape still treated Harry cruelly if he regretted indirectly causing their father's death.
• Harry warned Dumbledore that Malfoy and others were conspiring and that Trelawney had been thrown out of the Room of Requirement.
• Dumbledore assured Harry that he had made arrangements to protect the students and asked whether he and Darren would still join the search for the Obscurus; both agreed.
• Dumbledore told the boys to obey any orders to flee, then sent Harry to fetch his Invisibility Cloak and put his ring on a silver chain.

Darren accepted Dumbledore’s Obscurus and Resurrection Stone, then prepared Ron and the Dumbledore’s Army for a dangerous night before setting out with Harry and Dumbledore. When Dumbledore warned him that he could still hide from the war, Darren refused and chose to stand with the people he loved.

• Dumbledore gave Darren Voldemort’s Obscurus and wrote “Enter Freely” on a parchment that vanished.
• Darren gave Ron a relay coin, the Marauder’s Map, and Felix Felicis, telling him to monitor Malfoy and save the potion for an attack.
• Darren took Harry and met Dumbledore in the Entrance Hall, then followed him toward Hogsmeade under concealment.
• Dumbledore told Darren not to seek out Nicolas and the others, who planned to seal themselves away until the war ended.
• Darren refused the chance to hide, saying he would stand with the people he loved and fight in the war.

Dumbledore, Harry, and Darren reached the hidden entrance to Voldemort’s orphanage and entered a cavern containing a vast lake and a green light. Dumbledore warned Harry to avoid the water as they prepared to search for the Obscurus.

• Dumbledore took Harry and Darren to the cliffs near Hogsmeade, where Darren used a Water-Repelling Charm before swimming to the hidden entrance.
• Darren identified the concealed entrance, and Dumbledore opened it by offering his blood despite Darren’s attempt to stop him.
• Dumbledore, Darren, and Harry passed through the rock wall and found a vast underground lake with a green light glowing at its center.
• Dumbledore warned Harry not to touch the water while he and Darren discussed how to find the Obscurus.

Dumbledore and Harry crossed the lake to reach the green potion and the Slytherin locket, while Darren stayed behind. When Dumbledore began drinking the potion, Darren heard him plead for Darren’s safety, and Harry warned Darren not to come closer.

• Harry tried to summon the Obscurus, startling himself when Inferi leaped out of the lake.
• Dumbledore summoned a small boat and decided Darren would cross on a second trip because the boat could not carry all three of them safely.
• Harry and Dumbledore reached the island, where they found a stone basin filled with green potion above the Slytherin locket.
• Dumbledore drank the potion, and Darren heard him cry out not to let Darren die.
• Darren called anxiously to Harry, who warned him not to come over.

Harry forced Dumbledore to drink the potion, then fought off the Inferi at the lake until Darren arrived and rescued them with Fiendfyre. As Harry and Dumbledore reached shore, Darren returned by boat, but a dimming flame left an Inferius close to grabbing him.

• Harry poured the remaining potion down Dumbledore's throat, and Dumbledore asked for water.
• Harry drew water from the lake and was surrounded by Inferi, so he warned Darren to stay away.
• Darren arrived and used Fiendfyre to burn back the Inferi, then helped Dumbledore and pushed Harry onto the boat.
• Harry and Dumbledore reached shore, where Dumbledore murmured, "Obscurus," and Harry realized he had left it behind.
• Darren returned toward shore in the little boat, but his Fiendfyre dimmed as an Inferius nearly grabbed him.

Darren returned from the cave with the locket, but he was poisoned and saw the Dark Mark above Hogwarts. Dumbledore, Darren, and Harry hurried back to the castle, where Dumbledore sent the brothers to find Severus.

• Darren retrieved the locket after fighting the Inferi, but froze and hid the Obscurus in his pocket.
• Darren revealed his poisoned wounds and took Dumbledore and Harry to Hogsmeade despite his worsening condition.
• Darren and Harry saw the Dark Mark over Hogwarts, and Dumbledore urged them to return at once.
• Harry summoned brooms, and Darren insisted on flying with him to help protect his brother.
• Dumbledore entered Hogwarts with them and landed on the Astronomy Tower, then told Darren and Harry to find Severus and asked Severus to prepare an antidote for Darren.

Dumbledore confronted Malfoy after Malfoy disarmed him, while Darren and Harry remained immobilized. Malfoy revealed how he had helped the Death Eaters enter Hogwarts and admitted that he still could not bring himself to kill Dumbledore.

• Dumbledore immobilized Darren and Harry just as Malfoy entered and disarmed him.
• Malfoy revealed that the Death Eaters had entered Hogwarts through the Vanishing Cabinets in the Room of Requirement and Borgin and Burkes.
• Malfoy told Dumbledore that Rosmerta, under the Imperius Curse, had delivered the cursed necklace to Katie Bell.
• Malfoy denied giving Ron the Love Potion but admitted he had prepared poisoned wine for Dumbledore.
• Dumbledore challenged Malfoy to kill him, and Malfoy raised his wand while struggling with the thought of taking a life.

Malfoy confronted Dumbledore on the tower, admitting he had copied a DA coin to contact the Death Eaters and that someone had already died. Snape arrived and killed Dumbledore, leaving Harry and Malfoy stunned as the attackers fled.

• Malfoy told Dumbledore that he had stolen a student's DA coin and made a simplified version to contact the Death Eaters.
• Malfoy admitted that one person had died before he reached the tower, and Dumbledore urged him to choose whether to kill him.
• Greyback and three other wizards entered the room as Harry and Darren remained unable to move.
• Snape arrived after an explosion, cast the Killing Curse on Dumbledore, and shoved Malfoy toward the exit.

After Dumbledore’s death, Darren fought off the Obscurus and survived severe injuries, then helped Harry battle the Death Eaters. The chapter ended with Darren rescuing Ron, Ginny, and the others by killing two witches who were attacking them.

• Harry freed himself from the Invisibility Cloak and urged Darren to resist the Obscurus, prompting Darren to cast a Patronus that held it back.
• Harry captured a Death Eater while Darren collapsed from his wounds, then revived him with Rennervate.
• Darren and Harry left the room as Snape ordered the Death Eaters to retreat, and Darren stopped Harry from rushing at Snape.
• Darren fought Greyback and struck him with a red beam, knocking him down.
• Darren reached Ron, Ginny, and the others as two witches attacked them with Unforgivable Curses, then killed the witches with black beams.

Darren confronted Snape over Dumbledore’s death, but Snape poisoned and stunned him while Harry struggled to intervene. Darren recovered and knocked Snape unconscious, leaving Harry and Hagrid at the scene.

• Harry cleaned up the remains of the person Darren had killed, then saw Snape pushing Malfoy and the others into the Room of Requirement.
• Darren attacked Snape and accused him of killing Headmaster Dumbledore, but Snape revealed he had tampered with Darren’s potions and poisoned him.
• As Darren choked Snape, a freed wizard threatened to kill Harry, and Snape stunned Darren before escaping with the wizard.
• Snape disarmed and choked Harry, but Darren recovered, knocked Snape over, and Buckbeak appeared beside him.
• Hagrid told Harry to calm down because Snape was already unconscious.

Harry and Darren struggled to accept that Snape had killed Dumbledore, and they hurried to the tower to see for themselves. They found Dumbledore’s lifeless body, leaving Darren questioning whether he was truly dead.

• Hagrid carried the badly wounded Darren to the Hospital Wing, where Madam Pomfrey treated him.
• Darren woke and told Harry, Hagrid, and Madam Pomfrey that Snape had killed Dumbledore by throwing him from the tower.
• Darren vomited his potion and blood, then asked Harry to go with him to see Dumbledore; Harry agreed and supported him out of the Hospital Wing.
• Harry and Darren reached the crowd near the tower, where Hagrid realized someone had fallen.
• Darren straightened Dumbledore’s spectacles and checked his neck, finding no heartbeat or sign of life.

After learning that Dumbledore’s soul and life force were with Grindelwald, Darren pretended to be devastated and collapsed after reassuring Ginny that he wanted to sleep. Harry recounted the night’s events to the people in the Hospital Wing as Fawkes’s song eased their grief, and he hoped Darren would recover.

• Darren paid the system fifty thousand Paternal Points and learned that Dumbledore and Grindelwald had turned Dumbledore’s knee scar into a transmitter for his soul and life force.
• Darren pretended to be stunned by Dumbledore’s death, and Ginny told him that Bill was alive after being hit by a curse.
• Darren vomited blood, told Harry he wanted to sleep, and collapsed into Ginny’s arms.
• Harry told the people in the Hospital Wing that Snape had killed Dumbledore and explained how Darren had fought to save him.
• Fawkes sang as it left, easing the grief in the Hospital Wing, and the ward door opened.