Chapter Summaries

Harry learned that Dumbledore had died after drinking a potion to retrieve an Obscurus, only to discover the locket Darren had carried was a fake containing a note from R.A.B. Darren woke, but Madam Pomfrey warned that the Inferi poison remained, and he refused to take Snape’s antidote.

• Harry told McGonagall and the others that Snape had betrayed the Potters, deceived Dumbledore, and secretly tried to harm Darren.
• Fleur arrived at Darren’s bedside and wept with Hermione while Harry noticed the locket slipping from Darren’s pocket.
• Harry secretly took the locket and found R.A.B.’s note revealing that the Obscurus had been stolen and replaced with a fake.
• Harry realized Dumbledore had drunk the potion for nothing and broke down in tears.
• Ginny announced that Darren had awakened, and Madam Pomfrey examined him and warned that the Inferi poison had not been cured.
• Darren refused to take Snape’s antidote and said he would ask Peeves to buy another one.

Darren recovered in the hospital wing while the others recounted the Death Eaters’ attack on Hogwarts and the injuries it caused. Before sleeping, he warned Sirius and the others that Grimmauld Place was no longer safe and asked to avoid dealing with the Ministry of Magic.

• Darren refused to drink Snape’s potion and sent Peeves to find him an antidote, while the others told him that Bill, Hermione, Neville, Luna, and others were recovering from their injuries.
• Professor McGonagall explained that Dumbledore had left the school, and Darren revealed that Malfoy had used the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement to bring Death Eaters into Hogwarts.
• Ron described how Malfoy escaped their ambush with an invisibility smoke bomb and the Hand of Glory, and Lupin recounted pursuing the Death Eaters toward the Astronomy Tower, where Gibbon was struck by Killing Curses meant for him.
• Hermione told Darren that Snape had tricked her and the others into entering his office, and Hagrid reported that Professor Flitwick was safe and that Slughorn had contacted the Ministry of Magic.
• Darren warned Sirius, Lupin, and the others not to return to Grimmauld Place because Snape could reveal its location, then asked Madam Pomfrey to let him sleep and have his brother handle the Ministry.

Hogwarts prepared for Dumbledore’s funeral as Harry and his friends waited for Darren to wake. Darren arrived at the Great Hall the next morning, looking haggard but determined to attend the funeral.

• Classes and exams were suspended, parents and visitors arrived at Hogwarts, and Nicolas Flamel and his wife tried to take Darren away before Harry stopped them.
• Harry sat with Ron, Ginny, and the others while they visited their recovering friends and kept watch over the still-sleeping Darren.
• Hermione told Harry that Darren believed Snape was the Half-Blood Prince and had said Snape had been good to Harry, leaving Harry to reflect on Darren’s pain and hatred of Snape.
• Harry worried that Darren would struggle with Dumbledore’s funeral and learned that Madam Pomfrey would wake him so he could attend.
• The next morning, Harry found Darren in the Great Hall wearing loose, worn black robes and a necklace.

Darren attended Dumbledore’s funeral with Harry and vowed to protect him, then ended his relationship with Ginny so he could focus on staying by Harry and facing Voldemort. Ginny accepted his decision through tears.

• Darren left the Slytherin group and followed Harry to Dumbledore’s funeral, where Hermione comforted him as he trembled.
• At the funeral, Darren told Harry he would protect him now that Dumbledore was gone.
• After the funeral, Scrimgeour summoned Harry, while Darren watched them leave.
• Darren told Ginny he could no longer be with her because he needed to stay with Harry and face Voldemort.
• Ginny cried and admitted she had struggled to distance herself from Darren but could not stop caring about him.

Darren and Hermione agreed to keep traveling together as they and Harry planned their next steps, including searching for the other Obscurus. In July, Snape told Voldemort that the Order of the Phoenix planned to move Harry, and claimed he had a potion that could incapacitate Darren.

• Darren asked Hermione if she still intended to join him and his brother, and Hermione said she would not change her mind or let him leave her behind.
• Harry and Ron rejected Darren's plan to act alone, and the group discussed their summer plans and search for Obscurus clues.
• In July, Snape and Yaxley arrived at Voldemort's manor and joined the gathering of Death Eaters.
• Snape told Voldemort that the Order of the Phoenix planned to retrieve Harry on Saturday evening and that Darren would be with him.
• Snape claimed he had prepared a potion that would make Darren lose all fighting ability, despite Yaxley's doubts.

Voldemort ordered the Death Eaters not to kill Darren Potter because he intended to defeat him himself and make him join their ranks. Harry remained with the Dursleys until he came of age to avoid the Ministry tracking him, while Darren arranged a safe place for their families.

• Snape warned Voldemort that Darren Potter was becoming harder to incapacitate and urged the Death Eaters to kill him if they captured him.
• Voldemort insisted that Darren be left alive so he could defeat him openly, and threatened to treat anyone who killed Darren as a traitor.
• Voldemort took Lucius Malfoy's wand and killed Professor Blagg for her public support of wizards marrying Muggles.
• Voldemort announced that he would capture Darren, corner Harry Potter, and kill Harry himself.
• Harry cut his hand on a broken cup and could not use magic to heal it because he was underage and still subject to the Trace.
• Darren searched for a safe place for the Dursleys and Hermione's parents, and Harry heard that Hermione's parents had already been moved to one.

Darren persuaded the Dursleys to move to a protected Muggle town by giving them a house, a company, and other comforts. As the Dursleys departed, they learned that Harry and Darren were staying behind to fight Voldemort.

• Harry argued with Vernon, who refused to move unless Darren explained the plan himself.
• Darren arrived with Haisjia and Dedadalo and gave Vernon property deeds and a company, Petunia spending money and memberships, and Dudley a place at a sports school.
• Darren arranged for Dudley's friend Mile's family to move to the town and warned that the Dursleys would have to remain there until the war was won.
• Darren loaded the Dursleys' luggage into the car, and Vernon invited Harry to stay at his house after the war.
• Dudley and Petunia realized that Harry and Darren were staying to fight Voldemort, and Haisjia explained that they had already fought many times.

Harry and Darren prepared to leave the Dursleys’ home, but Darren planned to pose as Harry and draw Voldemort’s attention while Harry escaped. Harry objected, and Moody insisted that the Order’s disguise plan was the safest way to protect him.

• Dudley hugged Harry and Darren before leaving with Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, while Dedadalo and Haisjia went to Apparate them and their car to safety.
• Darren told Harry to escape under the Invisibility Cloak, but Moody arrived and explained that Darren would disguise himself as Harry while Moody disguised himself as Darren.
• Harry protested that the plan would put Darren in front of Voldemort, but Darren explained that the blood protection would soon fail and said he believed he could survive.
• Moody ordered Harry to follow the plan and revealed that Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Tonks, Fleur, and Mundungus had also come to help.
• Moody said the Order members would all disguise themselves as Darren, leaving Darren to pose as Harry, so the Death Eaters would be misled while Harry escaped.

Darren organized the Order of the Phoenix’s plan to rescue Harry, taking Harry’s place as the one who would face Voldemort. He promised to return alive and told the others to leave Snape to him.

• Darren reassured Harry that Harry was more important to the Order, and Harry reluctantly gave him a strand of hair for the Polyjuice Potion.
• Darren used his hair to prepare disguises and instructed Harry to hide in the backyard with the Invisibility Cloak and escape using a Portkey.
• Darren told the Order to obtain a sample of Snape’s immobilizing potion and leave immediately rather than get drawn into battle.
• When Moody asked how Darren would return, Darren promised he had a way and ordered the others not to kill Snape because he intended to kill him himself.

Darren disguised himself among Harry’s decoys to draw Voldemort into a confrontation, then faced the invisible creatures Voldemort had created to kill Dumbledore. Voldemort demanded Darren submit, but the chapter ended with him angrily warning someone not to attack because Darren was his.

• Darren told Harry and the others to leave after retrieving their target, then flew off with Harry’s luggage and Hedwig on a broomstick.
• Moody and the others escorted Darren’s decoys on flying motorcycles as nearly thirty Death Eaters surrounded them and hurled potions at the lookalikes.
• The Death Eaters mistook Harry for Darren and carried him away, but Darren revealed himself and blasted the attackers.
• Voldemort confronted Darren, exchanged spells with him, and demanded that he submit.
• Voldemort revealed that invisible creatures he had created to kill Dumbledore were devouring everything around them as they multiplied.
• Darren dodged Voldemort’s green spell, and Voldemort roared at someone to stop because Darren was his.

Darren sacrificed part of his body to escape Voldemort after buying time for Harry to return. Harry reunited with the Order at the Burrow and learned that the others had retrieved a potion that could help Darren resist Snape’s potion, but Darren had not yet come back.

• Darren told Voldemort that he had held him off to give Harry time, then blasted part of his own body so the creatures would attack his blood and he could escape.
• Voldemort dispersed the creatures, collected the remaining bloody mist, and cursed the Death Eaters for their failure.
• Harry’s Portkey took him from Privet Drive to Grimmauld Place, where Sirius greeted him and brought him to the Burrow.
• Mrs. Weasley welcomed Harry, and Moody explained that Darren had pretended to be captured to keep the Death Eaters from suspecting Harry was still at Privet Drive.
• Hermione, Ron, Tonks, Fleur, Lupin, Fred, and George returned, and Moody said Fred and George had obtained a bottle of potion to help Darren break free of Snape’s potion.

Darren returned from fighting Voldemort badly injured but recovered within three days while the Order of the Phoenix dealt with the fallout from the ambush. Harry felt isolated at the Burrow and asked to leave, but Darren told him to wait until the Trace disappeared.

• After exactly forty minutes, Darren returned to the Burrow with severe injuries, and Hermione stunned him so Mrs. Weasley could treat him.
• Lupin and Sirius reassured Harry that they could not safely go to St. Mungo's, while Moody revealed that Mundungus had fled and tried to shove him toward the Death Eaters.
• Moody returned to his own face, and Mrs. Weasley said Darren was asleep and should recover by morning; the group toasted Darren.
• Over the next three days, Darren recovered while Order of the Phoenix members guarded the Burrow and used Grimmauld Place as their secret base.
• Harry told Darren he wanted to leave, but Darren asked him to wait two more days until they came of age and Harry's Trace disappeared.

Harry and Darren prepared to leave the Order of the Phoenix on Dumbledore’s mission, while Ron insisted on joining them despite Mrs. Weasley’s objections. After Darren warned that Voldemort planned to attack The Burrow, Ron showed them a ghoul disguised as himself to cover his disappearance.

• Darren told Harry they would leave that night after Mrs. Weasley’s coming-of-age ceremony, and Harry began packing.
• Mrs. Weasley confronted Harry about leaving school, but Ron defended their decision to go with him.
• Darren told Mrs. Weasley that Voldemort planned to attack The Burrow on the thirty-first and promised they would move everyone to Grimmauld Place afterward.
• Ron showed Harry and Darren a ghoul dressed to resemble him, explaining that the Weasleys would claim he had become ill to protect his family from trouble at the Ministry of Magic.

Darren prepared to leave for Godric's Hollow with Harry and Ron, while warning them that Voldemort might ambush them and urging them to practice their spells. On his seventeenth birthday, Ginny gave Darren an amulet and asked him to come back alive before he set out.

• Darren adjusted the ghoul's face to resemble Ron and discussed their first destination, Godric's Hollow, where they could visit Harry's parents and Bathilda Bagshot and look for information about an Obscurus.
• Darren warned Harry and Ron that Voldemort might have laid ambushes wherever they went and told them to spend the next few days revising their spells.
• Harry woke on his birthday to find presents and learned from Mrs. Weasley that Darren was still overwhelmed with work.
• After finally finishing his work, Darren was pulled into a small room by Ginny, who kissed him before Lupin and Sirius interrupted them.
• Ginny gave Darren an amulet, wished him a happy seventeenth birthday, and tearfully asked him and the others to come back alive.

Scrimgeour visited The Burrow to discuss Dumbledore’s will with Darren, Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Darren challenged the Ministry’s handling of the inheritance, and the meeting ended with Dumbledore’s cryptic message to Darren raising questions about what “the end” meant.

• Scrimgeour arrived at The Burrow and asked Darren, Harry, Hermione, and Ron to speak privately about Dumbledore.
• Darren accused the Ministry of unlawfully withholding Dumbledore’s inheritance after the thirty-one-day limit had passed.
• Scrimgeour gave Ron Dumbledore’s Deluminator and Hermione a copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, but withheld Gryffindor’s sword from Harry.
• Scrimgeour told Darren that Dumbledore had left him one hundred thousand Galleons, the house in Godric’s Hollow, and his wand, though the wand had been buried with Dumbledore.
• Darren asked about a written message, and Scrimgeour read Dumbledore’s words: “When you reach the end, Darren, you may come and discuss it with me.” Darren pointed out that Dumbledore was dead.

At Darren and Harry’s coming-of-age feast, Kingsley’s Patronus announced that the Ministry of Magic had fallen and Scrimgeour was dead, prompting a Death Eater attack. Darren and Harry fought Voldemort before the Dark Lord vanished, and Darren escaped with Harry.

• Darren told Scrimgeour that Dumbledore’s portrait might be able to explain matters, and warned the Minister not to pressure him.
• Scrimgeour threatened Darren, but Darren unleashed his magic and told him he would do whatever it took to protect the people he loved.
• Lupin and Sirius celebrated Darren and Harry’s coming-of-age, while Harry listened to Aunt Muriel speak about Dumbledore and his family.
• Kingsley’s Patronus announced that the Ministry of Magic had fallen and Scrimgeour was dead, so Darren sent Hermione and Ron away by Portkey.
• Darren and Harry fought the Death Eaters and faced separate versions of Voldemort; Darren struck one while Harry’s golden wand-light restrained the other.
• Voldemort vanished after the attacks, and Darren grabbed Harry and told him to go.

Darren brought Harry, Ron, and Hermione to a protected house he had built with Muggle machines and magic so they could rest before going to Godric’s Hollow. He then took them to Grimmauld Place, where they found Moody badly injured by the Dark Arts and missing his Magic Eye and both hands.

• Darren led Harry, Ron, and Hermione to a house that his teacher had bought for him and showed them its magical security systems.
• Harry and the others rested at the house, then worried about their families and the Order of the Phoenix.
• Darren took Harry, Ron, and Hermione to Grimmauld Place to visit the Order.
• Lupin and Sirius were discussing the situation while Moody tried to dig at his ruined eye socket.
• Darren saw that Moody had lost part of his face, his Magic Eye, and both hands, and Lupin said Dark Arts had caused injuries that could not be healed.

Darren healed Moody’s eye socket and replaced his hand, while Harry again experienced Voldemort’s anger through his scar. The next morning at Grimmauld Place, Harry woke remembering Dumbledore’s death and questioning the comfort he had once found in trusting him.

• Darren marked Moody’s arm with a phoenix and restored his eye socket and hand, while promising to look for his missing Magic Eye.
• Mrs. Weasley reported that the Order had survived the attack, two Death Eaters had died, and Dedalus had been stunned.
• Harry’s scar pain let him witness Voldemort torturing Ollivander over his failure to kill Harry.
• Darren reassured Harry that he could judge how to handle his connection to Voldemort, despite Hermione’s concern about Dumbledore’s advice to close his mind.
• Harry woke at Grimmauld Place and reflected on Dumbledore’s death and the troubling stories he had heard about Dumbledore’s family.

Harry visited Sirius's room and read a note from his mother that hinted she believed Darren might still be alive and raised questions about Dumbledore. As Harry considered visiting Godric's Hollow and searching for R.A.B., he and Sirius found Darren staring at a room upstairs.

• Harry left Darren sleeping and went upstairs, where Sirius happily showed him his bedroom.
• Harry noticed a graduation photo of Sirius with a man who resembled him, then read his mother's note to Sirius.
• Sirius explained that Lily had suspected him and had hinted at Darren in her letters.
• Harry questioned why Dumbledore had borrowed James's Invisibility Cloak, and Sirius said it would not have protected James from Dumbledore or Voldemort.
• Harry considered going to Godric's Hollow to speak with Bathilda Bagshot, but Darren had advised him not to rush.
• Harry and Sirius left the room and found Darren standing in the corridor, staring at a door.

Harry, Darren, Hermione, and Ron discovered that Regulus Black was the R.A.B. connected to Voldemort’s locket, but Kreacher’s den had been looted. Kreacher revealed that Mundungus had stolen the locket and other Black family treasures, leaving Harry furious and Darren admitting he had already tried to get rid of Mundungus.

• Harry recognized Regulus Arcturus Black’s nameplate as the initials R.A.B., and Darren recalled a vision of the locket in Kreacher’s den.
• Harry and the others hurried to the den but found that its valuable contents, including the Black family crest, were gone.
• Sirius ordered Kreacher to obey the group, and Darren asked the house-elf where the locket was.
• Kreacher said Mundungus had stolen the locket and other possessions two years earlier, including Darren’s Order of Merlin.
• Harry knocked Kreacher down in anger, but Darren restrained him and admitted he had deliberately put Mundungus in danger so the man would leave the group.