Chapter Summaries

Harry and Ron’s growing resentment over their aimless search culminated in Ron leaving, while Harry and Hermione struggled to decide how to help Darren. At Hogwarts, Darren endured close surveillance while preparing another operation and seeking a way to briefly release his magic.

• Ron accused Harry of neglecting his family and Darren, then removed the locket and stormed into the forest; Harry put it around his own neck.
• Harry and Hermione spent the following days worrying over Darren’s task, the Obscurus, and reports that Snape and the Carrow siblings were keeping Darren under constant watch.
• Phineas reminded Harry that he was a wanted criminal and could not return to Hogwarts, while Hermione kept stuffing Phineas’s portrait back into its bag.
• Darren received clothes from the Death Eaters and the Carrow siblings, whom he treated with outward disgust.
• Darren revealed that he had already stolen the real sword and secretly passed it to Filch, and he began looking for a way to briefly release his magical power.

Darren pretended to be a miserable captive at Hogwarts to gain Professor McGonagall’s sympathy and Paternal Points, while hoping Harry and the others would contact Phineas from Godric’s Hollow. The chapter left Harry and Hermione sheltering in a cold tent and deciding where to go next.

• Darren found the magical power source Snape had left in his office and planned to take it to Harry and the others once he found them.
• Darren pretended to grieve for his brother in front of Professor McGonagall, earning Paternal Points as she worried over him.
• Darren claimed he would rather die than reveal his brother’s whereabouts, and Professor McGonagall promised to find a way to free him.
• When the Carrow siblings interrupted them, Darren stood up to them, and Professor McGonagall mistook his behavior for evidence that they had threatened his friends.
• At Godric’s Hollow, Harry and Hermione endured the cold in their tent and discussed where to go next.

Harry and Hermione traveled to Godric’s Hollow after finding Grindelwald’s symbol in Dumbledore’s storybook and suspecting Darren had planned for them to go there. They contacted Phineas to send Darren their location, hoping he had anticipated what would happen next.

• Hermione noticed a symbol in the storybook that Harry recognized as Grindelwald’s emblem, and they wondered why it was there.
• Hermione agreed that Darren’s earlier instructions pointed them to Godric’s Hollow and planned how they could travel safely and escape if needed.
• Harry and Hermione spent a week preparing with disguises, Polyjuice Potion, the Invisibility Cloak, and a Portkey before setting out on Christmas Day.
• Harry and Hermione reached the square in Godric’s Hollow and brought out Phineas’s portrait.
• Phineas recognized Godric’s Hollow and agreed to pass their location to Darren, revealing that Darren had previously used him to send secret messages.

Harry and Hermione interpreted Darren’s hints as a reason to go to Godric’s Hollow, then traveled there under disguises and contacted Phineas. Phineas recognized the village and agreed to pass their message to Darren, though he warned them that Darren might have other plans.

• Harry recognized a symbol in Dumbledore’s storybook as Grindelwald’s symbol and told Hermione what Darren had said about it.
• Harry and Hermione decided Darren’s hints meant they should go to Godric’s Hollow and planned ways to hide and escape if necessary.
• Hermione spent a week preparing, and Harry and Hermione left for Godric’s Hollow on Christmas Day in disguises beneath the Invisibility Cloak.
• Harry and Hermione found a place in the village square without footprints and showed Phineas where they were.
• Hermione asked Phineas to tell Darren they had reached Godric’s Hollow, and Phineas warned them that Darren might have other plans.

Harry and Hermione followed Bathilda to her house in Godric's Hollow, where Harry found a photograph of a mysterious blond boy. After Bathilda led Harry upstairs alone, his scar began to hurt as he heard a voice warn someone to watch him.

• Harry and Hermione asked Phineas to send a message to Darren, but they remained unsure whether to trust Phineas's claims.
• Harry followed Bathilda toward her home despite Hermione's worry, drawn by the locket's increasingly violent pulsing.
• Harry and Hermione saw the ruins of James and Lily Potter's house and read messages wishing Harry and Darren well.
• Harry entered Bathilda's dusty house, cleaned the photographs, and found one of the blond boy he had seen in Voldemort's mind.
• Bathilda led Harry upstairs without Hermione, and Harry's scar hurt as he heard someone say to watch him and not let him run.

Darren rescued Harry and Hermione from Bathilda and explained that saying Voldemort’s name triggered the Death Eaters’ tracking spell. He warned that Voldemort could not be defeated until his Obscuruses were destroyed, leaving the group to continue avoiding a direct confrontation.

• Bathilda’s snake attacked Harry and broke his wand, but Darren arrived and drove it off.
• Harry and Hermione embraced Darren, and Darren Apparated them to the outskirts of a farm.
• Hermione set up the tent and explained that Death Eaters had kept finding them despite her concealment spells.
• Darren checked Harry and Hermione for tracking magic but found no trace, then pretended he had recovered his wand and regained his magic.
• Harry asked whether Darren had sided with Voldemort, and Darren denied it while explaining that Voldemort’s name was cursed to summon Death Eaters.
• Darren told Harry that Voldemort had several ways to escape and that they needed to destroy all his Obscuruses before trying to kill him.

Harry and Hermione confronted Darren about risking his life and using stolen magic, then learned how he had gained access to it and endured the Carrow siblings’ attention. The chapter ended with Harry asking about Darren’s supposed collapse from exhaustion, while Darren privately knew he had simply fallen asleep.

• Harry angrily challenged Darren’s plan to help everyone, and Darren said he wanted peace rather than fame or sacrifice.
• Harry demanded to know how Darren had reached them without magic, and Darren admitted he had taken a temporary source of magic from Snape’s office.
• Darren told Harry and Hermione that he had won the Carrow siblings’ trust by cooking for them, making them clothes, and helping them with chores.
• Harry grew furious as Darren described the Carrow siblings’ treatment, but he restrained himself and vowed to remember it.
• Harry asked about Darren collapsing while cleaning with Filch, and Darren said his health was poor, though he had actually fallen asleep on a sofa.

Darren brought food and potions to Harry and Hermione in Godric's Hollow, while hiding how well he was actually doing. He explained why he had to return to Hogwarts and revealed that he had seen their parents' grave, their home, and statues honoring the family.

• Darren gave Harry and Hermione food and potions, and they mistook his reluctance to eat for evidence of mistreatment.
• Darren told Harry and Hermione that Bathilda had been the snake, and explained that he had spared it to prevent the Dark Lord from making another Obscurus.
• Darren said Phineas had helped him find Harry and Hermione and explained that he had to return to Hogwarts because the others were being threatened and his magic was nearly spent.
• Darren reassured Harry and Hermione that he believed he would survive, then described seeing their parents' grave, their home, and statues of the family.

Darren reunited with Harry and Hermione, gave Harry his broken wand and the Sorting Hat containing Gryffindor’s sword, and discussed Ron and Hermione’s plans. Harry’s scar then showed him a photograph, and Darren identified the blond boy as Gellert Grindelwald, Dumbledore’s friend and lover.

• Darren recalled finding Harry alive after discovering his wand broken and offered Harry his own wand to use.
• Darren explained that Ginny had made a copy of the Sorting Hat and gave Harry the hat containing the sword.
• Darren asked why Ron had left, and Harry and Hermione told him what Ron had done.
• Hermione promised Darren that she would not leave, while Darren said he still had few leads about the Obscurus.
• Harry’s scar showed him Nagini reporting his escape and the photograph in Bathilda’s home, and he asked Darren to identify the blond boy.
• Darren identified the boy as Gellert Grindelwald, Dumbledore’s friend and lover, leaving Harry and Hermione shocked.

Darren told Harry that Dumbledore had released Gellert from Nurmengard, then left while blaming himself for failing to protect Dumbledore. Harry and Hermione struggled to draw Gryffindor’s sword, and Harry finally realized he needed courage before he slipped into a freezing river.

• Darren revealed that Dumbledore had let Gellert out of Nurmengard and said he could no longer contact him after Dumbledore died.
• Harry rejected Darren’s self-blame and accused Dumbledore of hiding his past, but Darren defended Dumbledore and departed before dawn.
• Harry and Hermione continued trying to draw Gryffindor’s sword while Darren faced tighter restrictions from Snape.
• Harry went out wearing the Invisibility Cloak and Sorting Hat, reflected on what made Darren able to draw the sword, and concluded that courage was the answer.
• Harry’s feet slipped, and he fell into the freezing river.

Harry and Ron reunited after Ron saved Harry from the Obscurus, and they destroyed it together. Ron acknowledged that his friends had never looked down on him, leaving Harry and Ron reconciled.

• Ron pulled Harry out of the water and removed the Obscurus from his neck.
• Harry asked Ron why he had returned, and Ron said he wanted to come back if Harry still wanted him.
• Harry urged Ron to destroy the Obscurus, and Ron agreed despite being frightened by its influence.
• Harry opened the locket in Parseltongue, and its smoke showed Ron visions meant to make him feel jealous and worthless.
• Ron stabbed the locket with Gryffindor's sword, destroying its magic.
• Ron explained that he trusted Harry and remembered Darren's kindness, and Harry angrily reassured him that they had always considered him their best friend.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron reunited after Ron explained how the Deluminator led him back to them. The next morning, Harry asked what Ron had heard about Dumbledore and Grindelwald, and Ron reacted with shock when Harry said they had been lovers.

• Harry brought Ron to the tent, where Hermione initially confronted him before Harry explained that Ron had saved his life and destroyed an Obscurus.
• Ron described how he had escaped the Seeker team, used the Deluminator to find Harry and Hermione, and followed them back to the forest.
• Ron gave Harry the black wand he had taken from the Seeker team, and Harry explained that his own wand had broken.
• The next morning, Hermione allowed Ron to eat with them, and Ron and Harry exchanged stories about what had happened while they were apart.
• Harry asked Ron what people had said about Dumbledore and Grindelwald, then revealed that Darren had told him they had been lovers.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione decided to investigate Grindelwald’s symbol by visiting Luna’s home, despite Harry’s concerns about the danger. They reached the Lovegoods’ house and were let inside by a nervous Mr. Lovegood, who urged them upstairs.

• Harry told Ron what Darren had said, and Ron reflected that Gellert had eventually gone back.
• Hermione and Ron persuaded Harry to visit Luna’s home to ask her father about Grindelwald’s symbol.
• On the way, Ron explained that Bill had kept him company at Christmas because Ron felt unable to return to The Burrow.
• The trio reached the Lovegoods’ house, where Mr. Lovegood reacted with shock and unease upon seeing Harry.
• Mr. Lovegood let them in, and they heard strange noises upstairs as he suggested they go up.

Harry and his friends visited Mr. Lovegood to ask for his help, and Hermione recognized a dangerous horn in his house. Mr. Lovegood explained the Deathly Hallows symbol and urged them to read The Tale of the Three Brothers, whose meaning Hermione still could not understand.

• Hermione identified the gray horn as a dangerous Horned Serpent horn, but Mr. Lovegood insisted it was a Crumple-Horned Snorkack horn.
• Harry asked Mr. Lovegood for help, and after hesitating, Mr. Lovegood agreed to do his best.
• Hermione showed Mr. Lovegood the symbol in Dumbledore’s Fairy Tale Book, and he identified it as the Deathly Hallows symbol, often mistaken for Grindelwald’s.
• Mr. Lovegood urged Hermione to read The Tale of the Three Brothers aloud, and Harry listened to the story of the Elder Wand, Resurrection Stone, and Invisibility Cloak.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione questioned Mr. Lovegood about the Deathly Hallows and the Peverell family, then discovered Luna’s photographs of Darren and realized Mr. Lovegood had betrayed them to the Ministry. They learned Luna had been taken and prepared to flee.

• Hermione asked Mr. Lovegood about the Peverells and the Hallows, and he claimed the Peverell brothers had inherited them and the Elder Wand existed.
• Hermione questioned whether Harry’s cloak was a Hallow and wondered what the cloak Lezi had shown them in their second year was.
• Harry, Ron, and Hermione left Mr. Lovegood’s room and found an upstairs room filled with Luna’s photographs of Darren, including pictures dating back to Darren’s second year.
• Harry found a Quibbler declaring him Public Enemy Number One, and Mr. Lovegood admitted the Ministry had taken Luna and he had informed them Harry was there.
• Hermione said Luna had been gone for a long time and urged them to leave.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron escaped Mr. Lovegood’s house after Aurors arrived, with Hermione protecting them and rescuing Darren’s photos. They took shelter in a tent, where Ron suspected Mr. Lovegood’s claims about the Crumple-Horned Snorkack might be true.

• Mr. Lovegood tried to stop Harry and the others from leaving, and his Stunning Spell struck a Horned Serpent horn that caused the room to explode.
• Harry and Hermione tried to free Ron while Aurors accused Mr. Lovegood of lying and ordered him to lure the fugitives downstairs.
• Hermione told Harry and Ron to let Ron wear the Invisibility Cloak, then blasted a hole through the room and used Obliviate on Mr. Lovegood before they vanished.
• Hermione cast protective enchantments around their landing spot and took out the tent while Harry and Ron recovered.
• Hermione revealed that she had saved Darren’s photos, and Ron said Mr. Lovegood might have been telling the truth about the Crumple-Horned Snorkack.

Harry connected the three Deathly Hallows to Darren, but Hermione and Ron urged him to focus on finding Obscuruses. In March, the trio finally heard Potter Watch and learned that familiar allies were safe and broadcasting news of Voldemort’s victims.

• Harry concluded that Marvolo Gaunt’s ring held the Resurrection Stone, Darren had it, his own cloak was a Hallow, and Voldemort sought the Elder Wand.
• Hermione and Ron pressed Harry to focus on finding Obscuruses, while the trio searched dangerous places and narrowly avoided Seeker teams.
• Ron explained that Potter Watch broadcast the truth and that its password was difficult to guess.
• In March, Ron guessed the password “Darren,” and Harry, Hermione, and Ron tuned in to Potter Watch.
• Lee Jordan, Fred, and Kingsley broadcast news of recent deaths and encouraged listeners to unite and keep hope.

Harry and his companions listened to Potter Watch and learned that Hagrid had escaped arrest and that Darren was alive and still coordinating the Order of the Phoenix. Meanwhile, Darren endured sharing a room at Hogwarts and expected Harry’s group to be captured soon, after which they would return to Hogwarts and free him.

• Kingsley, Lupin, Black, Lee Jordan, and Ginny broadcast news that Harry was alive, Hagrid had escaped arrest, and Voldemort was abroad.
• Ginny reported that Darren was alive, still helping coordinate the Order of the Phoenix, and remained close to Harry.
• Harry wondered whether Darren had recovered, but concluded that Darren would come for them if he were well enough.
• Darren complained about sharing a room with Crabbe and Goyle and speculated that Snape knew about his Voldemort bloodline.
• Darren predicted that Harry and the others would soon be captured, steal the Obscurus from Gringotts, and return to Hogwarts, freeing him.

While Darren stayed in his tent, confident he could rescue Harry later, Harry’s camp was raided by Snatchers after he mentioned Voldemort’s search for a wand. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were captured and taken with other Hogwarts students, including Dean.

• Darren decided he would wait until Harry and the others were captured before going to rescue them, then quietly read his novel.
• Harry excitedly told Hermione that Voldemort was looking for a wand, and the camp’s protective enchantments were blasted open.
• The Snatchers seized Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the Sorting Hat, took their wands, and questioned them about their names.
• Harry reunited with Dean among the captured students and felt guilty that his careless remark had led to their capture.
• A Snatcher asked Harry which Hogwarts House he belonged to, and Harry answered Slytherin, prompting the man to laugh.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron were captured after their identities were exposed and taken to Malfoy Manor, where Lucius questioned whether Harry was really Harry Potter. Draco recognized Harry but concealed it, saying he needed to return to watch Darren Potter eat.

• Harry convinced the capture squad that he was a Slytherin, but they found the Sword of Gryffindor and Hermione's records, exposing him and Hermione.
• The captors identified Harry by his scar and decided to take him to Malfoy Manor instead of the Ministry.
• Harry experienced a vision of himself torturing an old man in a prison before the captors dragged him and his friends away by Apparition.
• Lucius examined Harry and summoned Draco to confirm his identity.
• Draco recognized Harry but did not reveal him, telling Lucius he needed to return to watch Darren Potter eat.