Chapter Summaries

Darren comforted Kreacher and learned how Regulus had discovered and tried to destroy one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes. He trusted Kreacher to find Mundungus and bring him the locket’s location, leaving the group preparing to recover it.

• Darren showed Kreacher Regulus’s note, prompting Kreacher to explain how Regulus joined the Death Eaters and was forced to drink the potion guarding the locket.
• Kreacher revealed that Regulus later drank the potion himself, left a fake locket in the basin, and ordered Kreacher to take the real locket away and destroy it.
• Kreacher admitted he could not damage the locket, and Hermione explained that he had helped the Malfoys because Sirius had treated him without affection.
• Darren reassured Kreacher that he was still one of them and asked him to find Mundungus without alerting him.
• Kreacher agreed and vanished, while Darren told Harry and the others that he trusted Kreacher to return with the locket’s location.

Harry and his friends waited for Kreacher’s news while Lupin pleaded to join their group, revealing his loneliness and fear for Darren. Darren refused him, and then explained the Ministry’s persecution of Muggle-born wizards.

• Harry and his friends kept Sirius from learning about Regulus and waited for Kreacher to find Mundungus.
• Lupin found Harry and the others and begged to join them, saying the werewolves had sided with the Dark Lord and that he had only Darren left.
• Lupin showed them a Daily Prophet report blaming Harry for Dumbledore’s death and told them the Ministry had searched the Weasleys’ and Tonks’s homes for Harry.
• Darren returned and refused to let Lupin join their group, while Lupin angrily rejected Darren’s offer to develop a potion for his descendants.
• Darren told Harry and the others that the Ministry was forcing Muggle-born wizards to register and threatening to take them away for research.

Darren comforted Hermione over the danger facing Muggle-born students and was shaken by Rita Skeeter’s report about Dumbledore, then collapsed from exhaustion. He woke when Kreacher brought Mundungus to him, leaving the group alone with their captive.

• Darren told Hermione to claim she was his cousin if authorities investigated her, and she replied that she feared nothing while fleeing with Harry Potter.
• Harry showed Darren Rita Skeeter’s report about Dumbledore, and Darren tore up the newspaper, saying he would not believe it unless Dumbledore told him himself.
• Harry realized how exhausted Darren was, apologized for adding pressure, and urged him to sleep.
• Hermione laid Darren down, but the sound of Apparition and shouts about Mundungus woke him.
• Darren Apparated downstairs and drove away the others, leaving only Kreacher and Mundungus; Kreacher explained that he had caught Mundungus for Darren.

Darren questioned Mundungus about the stolen locket and learned that Umbridge had taken it. As Harry’s scar revealed Voldemort searching for a wand, Darren connected the wand, Invisibility Cloak, and Resurrection Stone to the Deathly Hallows.

• Kreacher attacked Mundungus with a toilet brush while Darren demanded to know whether he had seen a locket.
• Mundungus said a woman with a pink bow took the locket from him, and Harry, Hermione, and Darren attacked him with magic.
• Darren silenced Mundungus, and Mrs. Weasley removed his tongue to keep him from revealing what he had told them.
• Darren proposed entering the Ministry of Magic to retrieve the locket, but Harry warned him that Voldemort might be there and forbade him from facing the Dark Lord.
• Harry experienced a vision of Voldemort questioning Gregorovitch about a wand and realized Voldemort was searching for one.
• Darren asked Hermione about the Invisibility Cloak and Resurrection Stone, then identified them with the wand as the Deathly Hallows.

Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Darren discussed the Deathly Hallows and prepared to infiltrate the Ministry of Magic, while the Daily Prophet revealed Snape had become Hogwarts headmaster. The group learned that the Carrows would teach at Hogwarts and remained determined to oppose Voldemort’s takeover.

• Hermione questioned why Dumbledore had given her a fairy-tale book about the Deathly Hallows, and Harry suspected Voldemort wanted the Hallows and could watch him.
• Harry insisted that he and his friends would infiltrate the Ministry together, and they gathered information about Ministry workers and an upcoming hearing for Reg Cattermole’s wife.
• Darren showed the group the Daily Prophet report naming Snape as Hogwarts headmaster, and Hermione silenced and confused Phineas Black’s portrait so Snape could not use it to spy on them.
• Harry and Ron discussed how McGonagall and Flitwick might stay at Hogwarts to protect students despite Snape’s appointment.
• Darren read that Alecto and Amycus Carrow would teach at Hogwarts and said he wanted to kill them, while Hermione reminded him he could not even bring himself to kill a chicken.

Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Darren used disguises to infiltrate the Ministry of Magic and retrieve the locket. Darren warned the others to escape without him if the plan went wrong, then they entered the Ministry through a public restroom.

• Hermione prepared their disguises and supplies while Darren knocked out a Ministry employee and helped her transform into Mafalda.
• Darren Confunded Reg, sending him to St Mungo's, and Ron took his hair to impersonate him.
• Darren obtained hair for himself and Harry, then told the others to flee to his safe house if the mission went wrong.
• The group entered the Ministry's public restroom disguised as wizards and used the toilet flush chains to travel through the fireplaces.

Darren, Harry, Hermione, and Ron moved through the Ministry of Magic while posing as Ministry employees, where Yaxley ordered Ron to fix his leaking office and threatened his wife. Becky Greengrass took Darren to her office under the pretext of punishment, and her expression changed once they were alone.

• Darren saw the Ministry's new statue depicting a wizard trampling Muggles and stepped aside when Becky Greengrass addressed him as Yalin.
• Hermione, Harry, and Ron emerged from the fireplace, and the group blended into the crowded Ministry atrium.
• Yaxley ordered Ron to repair his office leak and threatened to add charges to Cattermole's wife's case if he refused.
• Darren gave Ron suggestions for repairing the leak as Ron hurriedly wrote them down in the elevator.
• Becky stopped the elevator, accused Darren of neglecting his letter of repentance, and ordered him to renovate her office as punishment.
• Becky led Darren into her office, where her expression changed.

Darren and Becky secretly discussed resisting Voldemort, but Yaxley interrupted them and took Darren to his office. Darren stayed in character as Martin while Yaxley made unwanted advances, leaving Ron alarmed outside.

• Becky warned Darren that Voldemort's name had been cursed so the Death Eaters could identify and arrest people who said it.
• Becky offered to help Darren, but he urged her to pretend to reject him when someone knocked at her office door.
• Yaxley entered, accused Becky of taking his assistant, and dragged Darren away after Becky staged a quarrel to protect him.
• Yaxley dismissed Ron, who was disguised as Cattermole, then stroked Darren's hand and asked for affection.
• Darren rejected Yaxley's advances while pretending to be Martin.

Darren escaped Yaxley with Becky's help and learned that Umbridge had the locket in the underground Court of Law. He reunited with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who had already taken Moody's eye, and the group prepared to go downstairs as Percy and Arthur arrived.

• Yaxley tried to kiss Darren, but an explosion distracted him and Becky rescued Darren from his office.
• Becky told Darren that Umbridge had taken the locket and was in the underground Court of Law, and offered to help him escape.
• Darren entered the elevator and reunited with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who were disguised as three wizards.
• Harry revealed that he had already taken Moody's eye from a door, and Hermione worried that its disappearance would expose them.
• Darren told the group to search for the locket quickly and leave if they could not find it, while Percy and Arthur entered the elevator.
• Arthur began asking Ron, disguised as Cattermole, about his wife.

Darren, Harry, Ron, and Hermione infiltrated Mary Cattermole’s trial, where Harry attacked Umbridge and Yaxley after hearing them humiliate Mary. Darren then drove back the incoming Obscurus and agreed to help the prisoners escape, leaving the group committed to rescuing them.

• Arthur Weasley confronted Harry over reporting Cattermole’s wife, then left the elevator.
• Harry, Ron, and Darren followed Hermione into the Court of Law, where Umbridge began Mary Cattermole’s trial.
• Umbridge mocked Mary’s Muggle-born family, and Yaxley dismissed her pleas to see her husband.
• Harry revealed himself and attacked Umbridge and Yaxley, while Darren struck Yaxley down and urged Hermione to retrieve the Obscurus.
• Harry insisted they save the Muggle-born prisoners, and Darren used a silver-white Azure Dragon to drive back the Obscurus.

Darren helped Harry and the Muggle-born wizards escape the Ministry of Magic, but he was struck by many spells as he sent Harry, Hermione, and Ron through a fireplace. Hermione Apparated them to the forest where the Quidditch match had been held, leaving Harry fearing for Darren’s life while Ron lay wounded.

• Mary Cattermole chose to flee with her husband and children, and Darren began leading the Muggle-born wizards through the fireplace.
• After the Ministry announced that the Magic Eye had been stolen, Darren held back the arriving wizards while Harry hurried everyone toward the escape route.
• Yaxley attacked Harry and Ron, and Darren revealed himself as Darren Potter before sending Harry, Hermione, and Ron through the fireplace.
• Darren was struck by a barrage of spells as someone jumped into the fireplace after them.
• Hermione Apparated Harry and Ron to the forest where the Quidditch match had been held, and she wept while Harry feared Darren had died.
• Ron cried out in pain, and Harry saw that Darren had treated his wound with medicine.

Hermione, Harry, and Ron hid for the night, fearing Darren was dead and that Grimmauld Place had been exposed. Voldemort ordered Darren's magic sealed and sent him back to Hogwarts under Snape's supervision, while Darren woke at St. Mungo's and Voldemort visited him.

• Hermione told Harry and Ron they could not return to Grimmauld Place until they knew Darren's condition, since his death might expose the house.
• Voldemort punished the Death Eaters who had attacked Darren and ordered the others to keep him from helping Harry again.
• Yaxley suggested sealing Darren's magic and placing him in his custody, but Voldemort rejected his methods and chose to send Darren to Hogwarts in Snape's House.
• Snape objected that Darren had left Slytherin, but Voldemort insisted and told him to make Darren recognize his concern.
• Darren woke at St. Mungo's, where Voldemort visited and appeared ready to tell him about his connection to Voldemort's bloodline.

Darren pretended to remain helpless while Snape and Bellatrix confronted him in the hospital. He learned Voldemort planned to use him to lure Harry out, while Bellatrix accused him of seducing Voldemort and Snape stopped her from harming him.

• Snape entered Darren’s room and threatened him with the danger Harry faced, prompting Darren to ask after his brother.
• Snape denied knowing Harry’s whereabouts, and Darren demanded that Snape kill him, earning Paternal Points.
• Bellatrix revealed Voldemort intended to use Darren as bait to draw Harry out and kill him.
• Bellatrix accused Darren of seducing Voldemort because Yaxley had claimed they held hands.
• Snape restrained Bellatrix and warned her that Voldemort would punish her if she harmed Darren, and Bellatrix backed down.

Snape told Darren to return to Slytherin, but Darren accused him of killing him until Snape silenced him with a potion. Meanwhile, Harry, Hermione, and Ron were attacked at their hiding place and prepared to flee with the Obscurus.

• Snape told Darren he would return to Slytherin for seventh-year classes, and Darren repeatedly accused him of killing him.
• Darren accused Snape of using him as bait for Voldemort, then recognized a scented Draught of Living Death before falling unconscious.
• Harry took the Obscurus, and Hermione revealed Darren had packed a tent in her bag as a backup.
• A female wizard and two male wizards attacked Harry, Hermione, and Ron; the three fought back with spells.
• Hermione decided they had to leave and avoid Grimmauld Place, while Ron complained that he was hungry and weak from blood loss.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron hid in a forest after leaving Darren behind, but grief, hunger, and blame strained their friendship. When Obscurus surrounded their shelter and neither Harry nor Hermione could cast a Patronus, they faced being trapped without food or a way out.

• Harry and Hermione Apparated to a forest and hid themselves with spells while Ron recovered in the tent.
• Harry brooded over Darren’s fate and blamed himself and his friends as he felt the Obscurus throbbing against his neck.
• Hermione took over the watch, then argued with Harry after he called her a Mudblood.
• Hermione returned in panic when Obscurus surrounded the camp and said she could no longer cast the Patronus Charm.
• Harry also failed to cast a Patronus, and Hermione and Ron worried that they were trapped without food.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron learned from Lupin that Darren had survived but was being held at Hogwarts under Snape’s control. Harry wanted to rescue him, but Lupin revealed that Darren had ordered them to keep fighting Voldemort instead; meanwhile, Darren remained under guard and enjoyed food secretly brought by Peeves.

• Hermione took the locket from Harry after realizing it had intensified his pain and suspicion, and the three ate food she got from a farm.
• Harry, Hermione, and Ron returned to the area around Grimmauld Place and found no Order members there until Lupin appeared and verified their identities.
• Lupin showed them the Daily Prophet, which reported that Darren had been rescued and taken to Hogwarts after suffering severe injuries and having his magic sealed.
• Lupin told Harry that Darren had ordered the Order to leave Grimmauld Place and warned Harry not to return for him, but to continue fighting Voldemort.
• Darren ate food Peeves had brought him in his guarded dormitory, then sent Peeves to warn the author of a novel he had read.

Darren refused to eat or attend class until Voldemort punished the Death Eaters responsible for watching him. Voldemort revealed that Darren was his descendant and ordered Bellatrix to apologize to him, while keeping the bloodline secret.

• Darren stayed in his room reading and ignored the food left by the Death Eaters.
• After Darren went five days without eating, Voldemort punished the Carrow siblings and ordered them to get Darren back to a normal life.
• Snape questioned why Voldemort gave Darren so many privileges, and Voldemort praised his honesty.
• Voldemort revealed that Darren was his descendant and claimed Harry Potter could cleanse Darren’s bloodline of its Muggle-born taint.
• Voldemort ordered Bellatrix to apologize to Darren for her first offense, and she gratefully accepted his forgiveness.
• Voldemort told Snape to keep Darren’s bloodline secret, saying the Carrow siblings could know despite having humiliated it.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron struggled to survive while fleeing the Death Eaters, and Ron’s hunger and frustration deepened the tension among them. After hearing unfamiliar voices near a stream, they used Extendable Ears and discovered someone summoning fish and addressing Griphook.

• Snape and Bellatrix accepted the Dark Lord’s chance to make up for failing their future young master.
• Harry, Hermione, and Ron endured hunger and constant changes of location as Death Eaters pursued them, while Ron repeatedly complained about their lack of a plan.
• Harry saw the blond wand thief and the name Gregorovitch through the Obscurus, and Voldemort’s anger at Darren reassured Harry and encouraged Hermione.
• Ron criticized Hermione’s cooking, and Hermione angrily confronted him for doing nothing but complain.
• Harry heard noises outside the tent, so he and Hermione put on the Invisibility Cloak and listened with Extendable Ears.
• A weary man summoned several carp from the water and asked Griphook how he was.

Harry and his companions overheard Griphook recount Darren Potter’s resistance and suffering at Hogwarts. Griphook ended with the news that Snape feared Darren would try to steal Gryffindor’s sword and the Sorting Hat again.

• Harry recognized Ted Tonks and Dean Thomas while listening to goblins talk in hiding.
• Griphook told Ted and Dean that Darren had starved himself after being taken to Hogwarts and that Snape had forced him to eat.
• Griphook said Darren, a Weasley girl, a Longbottom child, and another girl sneaked into Snape’s office and stole Gryffindor’s sword and the Sorting Hat.
• Griphook explained that Darren helped the others escape before Snape arrived, but Snape punished him by making him clean for Slytherin until he collapsed.
• Griphook said Snape feared Darren would find another way to steal the sword and Sorting Hat.

Harry and Hermione questioned Phineas about Darren’s supposed attempt to steal Gryffindor’s sword and learned that he had used the Sorting Hat to produce the sword and coat it with poison. Harry realized Darren had planted a clue about destroying the Obscurus, but the sword and hat were now secured in Gringotts.

• Harry and Hermione overheard people discussing Darren’s resistance and his punishment of the Weasley children.
• Hermione brought out Phineas’s portrait and summoned him, then covered his eyes with a spell so he could not leave.
• Phineas revealed that Darren had made a sword fall from the Sorting Hat and put something highly poisonous on it.
• Harry concluded that Darren had staged the theft to pass along the clue that Gryffindor’s sword could destroy the Obscurus.
• Hermione wondered whether Darren’s clue meant they had to break into Gringotts to retrieve the Sorting Hat and sword.