Recaps

Manus began brewing the Delicious Potion by transforming Re’em tenderloin into a liquid base and adding a wide range of foods and seasonings based on humanity’s food history. He left the potion to brew overnight, hoping his complex design would capture a deeper kind of deliciousness than the Beauty Potion had.

• Manus started the first attempt by heating Re’em tenderloin in a cauldron and using honey and magic to transform it into a red liquid.
• Manus added fats, seasonings, and many ingredients representing foods from different environments and stages of human food preparation.
• Manus adjusted the ingredients’ order and quantities as his magical senses guided the brewing, then determined that the first day’s work was complete.
• Manus left the cauldron protected by spells and reflected that the Beauty Potion’s name had limited its concept of beauty.

Staky arrived at Hogwarts in disarray after spending weeks testing the Beauty Potion, and she asked Manus for help with her brewing failures. She gave Manus her extensive test records before revealing she had failed to brew the Potion for twenty-three days.

• Staky waited outside Manus's lesson and asked McGonagall to let him leave so they could discuss an urgent matter.
• McGonagall let Manus go, hoping he could help Staky resume her duties before Eulalie Hicks left Britain.
• Staky showed Manus the detailed records she had gathered from Beauty Potion users, and he thanked her and kept them.
• Manus realized Staky's urgent problem was that her attempts to brew the Beauty Potion had failed.
• Staky told Manus she had failed for twenty-three days, despite being a Potions master who had brewed Felix Felicis.

After Staky failed to brew Manus’s Beauty Potion formula for twenty-three days, she challenged him to brew it himself. Staky agreed to return to teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts but revealed she expected to leave early because she was in danger and could not take over Slughorn’s other role as Head of Slytherin House.

• Staky complained that she had failed to brew the Beauty Potion for twenty-three days and demanded that Manus demonstrate the formula successfully.
• Manus agreed to brew the potion on the condition that Staky return to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts.
• Staky told Manus that she had already agreed to return temporarily, but planned to leave around March or April because the post was cursed and someone had warned her she was not safe.
• Staky explained that she could not replace Slughorn as Head of Slytherin House because she had graduated from Gryffindor.
• Staky revealed that Tracey had originally been chosen to become the new Head of Slytherin House.

Manus learned that Professor Tracey faced danger because Voldemort might target her over Slytherin’s weakening influence at Hogwarts. After successfully brewing the Beauty Potion, Manus warned her that leaving Hogwarts might not protect her once Voldemort had decided to kill her, leaving Tracey to consider his advice.

• Manus asked why Professor Tracey would be endangered as Slytherin’s head, and Staky explained that some Pure-blood Families viewed the lack of Slytherin professors teaching compulsory subjects as a humiliation.
• Staky said Voldemort had not rejected the request to act against Tracey and might be waiting for the right time or for an agreement on what he would gain.
• Manus brewed a Beauty Potion successfully while Staky watched, and he suggested that only one correct path among many details led to the potion’s result.
• Manus gave Staky the potion and warned that Voldemort might still pursue her even if she left Hogwarts after he had prepared to eliminate her.
• Staky froze and reflected on Manus’s warning as he left.

Manus discussed his completed Potent Strengthening Potion with Severus, then showed him a new, transparent potion whose fragrance evoked foods he enjoyed. Their observations suggested the Delicious Potion might share a magical characteristic with Amortentia, leaving Manus unsure what effect he had brewed.

• Manus told Severus that the Potent Strengthening Potion had finished brewing more than a week earlier, but he had not yet tested it.
• Manus explained that he had been working on a new potion, and Severus guessed it was the Beauty Potion after hearing Professor Staky discuss it.
• Severus described Manus’s potions as having a distinctive approach and asked what was brewing in the cauldron.
• Severus smelled several favorite foods in the potion’s fragrance and noticed that different scents came forward in turn.
• Severus compared the potion’s effect to Amortentia, and Manus wondered whether his Delicious Potion could create false appetite.

Manus discovered that his Delicious Potion was a stable half-finished potion that required cooking to complete, and he bottled it for testing. He invited Severus and others to a Sunday meal, while Severus declined to bring his Slytherin friends because seeing Lily would cause trouble.

• Manus used magic to examine the potion and learned that adding it to food during cooking would complete it.
• Manus and Severus discussed how Delicious Potion differed from Polyjuice Potion and Beauty Potion, and wondered whether its final form would be a dish or a food-flavored potion.
• Manus transferred the potion into a large bottle and explained that it could be used by the drop, though its ingredients had been extremely costly to obtain.
• Severus eagerly volunteered to test the potion, but Manus told him to wait until he had prepared ingredients and tested different cooking methods.
• Manus invited Severus to a Sunday meal and said he would invite Lily and others; Severus declined to bring his Slytherin friends because they might see Lily.

Manus arranged a Sunday potion-testing gathering at Hagrid’s yard and invited Severus, Lily, and four of his close friends. Before involving anyone else, he began testing Delicious Potion on fried eggs in the Mental World, but the results had only just begun.

• Manus asked Hagrid to host the Sunday gathering, and Hagrid agreed while offering to obtain ingredients unavailable at Hogwarts.
• Manus wrote invitations to Severus, Lily, Bellows, Barty Jr., Pandora, and Grogan, deciding to bring those four friends into his core social circle.
• Manus entered the Sculpting Laboratory in the Mental World to test Delicious Potion on seven portions of fried egg at different doses.
• Manus tasted the untreated first egg and called it ordinary, then moved to the second egg, whose aroma was exceptionally enticing.

Manus tested fried eggs made with increasing amounts of the Delicious Potion, finding that the potion altered flavor and progressively intensified food’s temptation. Fried Egg No. 6 triggered his Mental Core as an Enchantment School effect, though his resistance negated it.

• Manus found that Fried Egg No. 2 tasted perfect and lacked the eggy flavor, then wondered whether the potion changed taste differently for each person.
• After resetting his senses, Manus found Fried Egg No. 3 more tempting than delicious and noted its effects on his hormones and neural signals.
• Manus sampled Fried Egg No. 4 and found it both more tempting and more delicious, then judged Fried Egg No. 5 dangerously addictive because of its excessive dopamine secretion.
• Manus tasted Fried Egg No. 6, made with a whole bottle of Delicious Potion as the main material, and his Mental Core reacted to its scent as though it were an Enchantment School spell.

Manus tested the changed effects of several fried-egg potions, discovering that the final potion converted food into a drink that reproduced and improved its taste, texture, nutrition, and fullness. He planned further food experiments and reflected on how much he had changed over the past two years.

• Manus ate Fried Egg No. 6 and found that it altered the eater’s perception, making fried eggs seem delicious.
• Manus added a drop of Delicious Potion to Fried Egg No. 7, turning the cooked egg into a small vial of liquid.
• Manus drank the potion and experienced the fried egg’s texture and flavor, along with improved nutrition, energy, and a sense of fullness.
• Manus considered using the potion to preserve food, then remembered Big and Little Tom and reflected on his progress since entering the wider world.
• Manus planned to test Beauty Potion on wine and sauces before making himself dinner.

Manus inspected the Second-Generation Magical Loom as it slowly wove and enchanted his custom mage robe, considering how to power the machine efficiently. He chose soul-infused spider silk for now and continued refining the robe’s design.

• Manus reflected that he could not recreate the flavor of the food he remembered, then went to check on his mage robe.
• Manus assessed the loom’s slow but precise automated weaving and considered developing a soul-producing energy core.
• Manus decided that using part of his own soul as the loom’s core was inefficient and that soul-infused spider silk was a better temporary fuel.
• Manus fed spider silk spools into the loom and examined the robe’s seamless fabric and ongoing enchantment.
• Manus explained that his fitted robe prioritized customized effects rather than excess sizing or magic-recovery enhancements.

Manus completed and tested Manus's Spider-Silk Robe, whose magical-power circulation enchantment outperformed his previous gear. He transformed it into ordinary clothes and planned to make more accessories, while explaining why wizards could only maintain a limited number of magical-item connections.

• Manus finished enchanting the robe after the Magical Loom took three and a half days to weave it.
• Manus put on Manus's Spider-Silk Robe and found it greatly increased his magical-power circulation speed, letting him construct an Astral Plane Locating Spell in under half a second.
• Manus tested the robe's enchantments and used its permanent Transfiguration effect to turn it into a shirt and trousers.
• Manus decided to consider making functional accessories such as scarves and gloves.
• Manus explained that each connected magical item occupied a wizard's attention and magical capacity, so he kept most of his completed items in Wardrobe Space.

Manus reflected on the limits of his earlier magical items and considered ways to improve their materials. He prepared a lavish lunch at Hagrid’s Hut to test Delicious Potion on a variety of foods, leaving the results for the meal itself.

• Manus recognized that his previous magical items had powerful special effects but weak overall stats, and wondered whether souls or better materials could strengthen them.
• Manus brought ingredients to Hagrid’s Hut, where Hagrid left with Fang while Manus prepared for lunch.
• Manus confirmed that eight people would attend, including Lily’s roommate Mary Macdonald, and planned a broad food test for Delicious Potion.
• Manus prepared appetizers, soup, fish, meat dishes, and sides, saving the chilled seafood platter for just before the meal.
• Manus wondered what Delicious Potion would do to the Rock Cakes he had made especially for Hagrid.

At Manus’s dinner, Severus and Lily discovered that the food and fruit juice had been enhanced with Delicious Potion and tested how the spell detected it. Manus discussed further study with Barty Jr., Grogan, and Pandora, while reassuring Bellows that he did not need to follow their path.

• Manus told Bellows that the juice really was fruit juice, though he admitted Delicious Potion had been added during its preparation.
• Severus and Lily used Scarpin's Revelaspell on the food and were overwhelmed by its vivid feedback of flavors and ingredients.
• Manus told Barty Jr. that he would soon be able to investigate problems independently, while Grogan said he wanted to study knowledge that could help him understand the world.
• Pandora decided that further study would support her long-term goals, while Bellows wondered if he was out of place.
• Manus told Bellows not to study unless he genuinely wanted to, and Bellows accepted the advice without hesitation.

Bellows found acceptance among the students, who enjoyed their meal together, while Manus concluded his Delicious Potion experiment and discussed potion-making with Severus. Manus set aside further work on Beauty Potion, and he and Severus prepared to submit their reports to Slughorn.

• Bellows realized the students did not reject him, and the group enjoyed the rest of the meal together while McDonald focused on the food and Hagrid drank the Mead.
• Manus recorded that the Delicious Potion test had met expectations, and Severus marveled at the difficulty of turning a potion concept into a workable formula.
• Severus asked Manus about Staky's Beauty Potion, and Manus explained how it differed from Delicious Potion without revealing the complete formula.
• Manus decided that developing a true Beauty Potion was not a priority and reflected that Staky had not followed his advice.
• Manus finished the report and joined Severus in preparing to submit their work to Slughorn.

Severus finished his work in Manus's Potions laboratory and reflected on the difficult lessons he had once taken there. Over half a year, Barty Jr., Grogan, and Pandora continued Manus's demanding studies, and Pandora left for the holiday with homework and doubts about how to resume her novel.

• Severus discussed his studies with Manus, declined an offer to take classes again, and carried two final reports and a project proposal to Slughorn's office.
• Barty Jr. taught Grogan and Pandora linguistics as part of their intensive lessons, while Manus continued supplementing Barty Jr.'s Hogwarts studies.
• Pandora struggled through the demanding coursework but chose to keep going, and Grogan also persevered because he wanted the knowledge.
• After half a year of study, Pandora packed for the holiday and admitted to Elizabeth that Manus had assigned her homework and that she might struggle to write without seeing Potter and Black.
• Elizabeth questioned whether Pandora really needed to see Potter and Black to continue her novel.

After Professor Staky was murdered and the Dark Mark was found at her home, Dumbledore cancelled the Hogwarts holiday to keep students safe. He summoned Manus to his office after dinner.

• Elizabeth and her companion discussed the fictionalized versions of Potter and Black as they left the dormitory for dinner.
• Dumbledore announced that Professor Staky had been murdered and that the Dark Mark had been left at the scene.
• Dumbledore cancelled the holiday, explaining that students would be safer staying at Hogwarts while the Ministry investigated.
• Manus wondered whether Dumbledore knew why Staky had been killed and watched the uneasy Slytherin students.
• Professor McGonagall told Manus that Dumbledore wanted to see him, and Manus agreed to go to the office.

Manus learned that Staky survived Voldemort’s attack through Dumbledore’s plan to use a disguised scapegoat, and discovered she would leave Britain for France. Staky departed by Portkey after secretly giving Manus a notebook, while Dumbledore warned that Voldemort was more dangerous than Manus could imagine.

• Manus found Staky alive in Dumbledore’s office and asked how she had escaped Voldemort’s Killing Curse.
• Staky explained that Dumbledore had arranged for a Polyjuice-disguised Death Eater to pose as her, and Voldemort killed him without checking his identity.
• Manus suspected that Voldemort’s confidence reflected his trust in the secrecy of the information about Staky.
• Dumbledore told Manus that Staky had wanted him to know she was alive, and Staky said she planned to move to France for her safety.
• Staky embraced Manus, slipped him a notebook, and vanished with a timed Portkey.
• Dumbledore said Staky had already delayed too long before leaving and warned Manus that Voldemort was exceptionally dangerous.

Manus discussed the worsening danger with Dumbledore but struggled to warn him about Voldemort’s Horcruxes without revealing too much. On his way back to Ravenclaw Tower, Manus sent Muninn, disguised as a Patronus, to confront Peeves.

• Dumbledore told Manus he should focus on his studies and said the adults were responsible for letting students worry about the conflict.
• Manus considered ways to help Dumbledore discover a Horcrux, but found flaws in each plan and decided to wait for a chance to claim Voldemort had been killed by Dumbledore.
• Manus left the Headmaster’s Office late and walked toward Ravenclaw Tower while continuing to think about his plans.
• Peeves taunted Manus in a corridor, and Manus summoned Muninn with the Patronus Charm and ordered him to approach Peeves.

Manus tested the Patronus Charm on Peeves and confirmed that it could affect Poltergeists, then considered using Qi Magic as a foundation for a spell that embodied desire. He returned to Hogwarts and saw Hagrid decorating the Great Hall for Christmas.

• Manus sent Muninn to strike Peeves with a Patronus, driving him into a wall.
• Manus concluded that a Patronus's effects on Non-beings depended on emotional collision and the caster's intent.
• Manus considered creating wolf-like beings embodying greed and gluttony, then identified Qi Magic's Three Corpses as a possible foundation.
• Manus returned to the dormitory and told Bellows that he had discussed academic matters with Dumbledore.
• On Christmas Eve, Manus watched Hagrid decorate the Great Hall and learned that the gift boxes beneath the tree were empty and that Dumbledore had ordered Christmas Crackers.

Manus spent Christmas morning at Hogwarts, where he prayed, exercised, and ate breakfast while reflecting on the risks of Lupin’s lycanthropy. The peaceful holiday was interrupted when a student announced that a fight had broken out.

• Manus prayed to the Sun God while jogging around the Great Lake, then greeted Pandora and Grogan and played with Fang.
• Manus ate breakfast in the Great Hall as Christmas crackers popped, and Black and Lupin came over after dealing with mice released from one.
• Black told Manus that he and Lupin had detention clearing snow, then left with Lupin after opening another cracker and scuffling over a witch’s hat.
• Manus wondered whether Black had nearly revealed Lupin was a werewolf and considered the danger Lupin posed to others.
• Manus left the Great Hall and detoured around a couple embracing, but a student soon shouted that a fight had broken out.

Manus arranged to turn the Gryffindor-Slytherin snowball fight into a free-for-all to ease tensions between the houses during the remaining school year. When McGonagall arrived, students from all four houses were fighting together, with even rival Blacks teaming up against Potter.

• Manus found Gryffindors and Slytherins locked in an intense snowball fight, with Black and Lupin on one side and the younger Black on the other.
• Manus asked Ignis to gather students for a larger snowball fight, explaining that easing house tensions mattered while they still had time together at Hogwarts.
• Ignis agreed to follow Manus's orders, and Manus recruited a Hufflepuff senior as well.
• More than ten minutes later, McGonagall arrived to find students from all four houses in a chaotic free-for-all, with Gryffindors and Slytherins even joining forces against others.

Manus turned the Gryffindor-Slytherin conflict into a schoolwide snowball fight, easing the tense atmosphere after Staky’s murder. The fight lasted until lunchtime, leaving the exhausted students to recognize that they had fought alongside former rivals and siblings.

• Manus explained to McGonagall that he had drawn Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff into the snowball fight to keep Gryffindor and Slytherin from targeting each other.
• McGonagall and Slughorn agreed not to interrupt the students, and they joined Manus in a staff lounge for tea and conversation.
• More than half the students fought from breakfast until lunchtime, when exhaustion finally brought the snowball battle to an end.
• Big Black realized that the good-aimed teammate beside him was his younger brother, and other students likewise remembered whom they had fought alongside.

After a snowball fight left many students with severe colds, Manus tried a newly developed healing Charm on Bellows and found it eased his symptoms. He treated the other sick students as Ravenclaws gathered around him, leaving him with a crowd of volunteers for further testing.

• Bellows and Jasper complained of severe cold symptoms at breakfast while Quirinus said the Hospital Wing had run out of cold potions.
• Manus told them he had developed a Charms spell that might cure colds, and Bellows volunteered to try it.
• Manus cast Cure Minor Ailments on Bellows, whose headache eased and whose condition improved.
• Manus cast the Charm again on Bellows and treated the others' colds as well.
• A crowd of Ravenclaws asked Manus to cure them, and he agreed while warning that the Charm was still being refined.

Manus tried to make Cure Minor Ailments easier for other wizards to learn, but gave up after realizing he needed deeper magical knowledge. Bellows told him he could not attend the Quidditch World Cup with his cousin, so Manus invited him to travel with their group.

• Manus recalled that Madam Pomfrey had been unable to learn Cure Minor Ailments, prompting him to write an explanatory paper about the spell.
• Manus admitted his paper had made little progress and set it aside with other research problems he could not yet solve.
• Bellows told Manus that his half-blood cousin had killed several Death Eaters and was now hiding, so Bellows could not go to the Quidditch World Cup with him.
• Manus invited Bellows to join him, Severus, and Lily for the trip and said they would pick him up in a flying carriage.
• Bellows was surprised when Manus mentioned the flying carriage and asked whether they were not going to Australia.

Bellows worried that the year’s inconsistent Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons would hurt his grade, but the written exam stuck to the textbook. During the practical, he realized the familiar test had been changed to include a hidden underwater threat and discovered it was a merperson.

• Manus reassured Bellows that the professors would account for the disrupted Defense Against the Dark Arts classes when grading.
• Bellows found the written exam focused on textbook material, easing his worries about the inconsistent lessons.
• McGonagall and Slughorn directed students through a practical test in the familiar examination room.
• Bellows sent a boat ahead to check for danger, froze a Grindylow, and repeated the tactic as he crossed the water.
• Something struck and sank Bellows's boat, so he split the nearby water and spotted a fish tail, realizing a merperson was involved.