Chapter Summaries

Manus took Sleipnir to the foggy dimension the horse had visited before and discovered that Sleipnir’s growing death trait resonated with the power that shifted space. After briefly returning to the Mental World, Manus planned to try reaching the dimension again with Sleipnir’s cooperation.

• Manus told Barty Jr. to study Hogwarts’ basic courses while Manus prepared additional material for him, and considered how Barty Jr. could help promote a new system of magic.
• Manus reflected on the Cognitive Obstruction between Wizard magic and the Magic Model system and considered developing a spell based on it.
• Manus rode Sleipnir at the weekend to investigate the place the horse had reached before, observing a growing death trait in him.
• Manus recorded a spatial shift when Sleipnir’s death trait resonated with another power, and they arrived at a fog-covered shoreline in another dimension.
• Manus calmed Sleipnir and returned with him to the Mental World, then said he thought he knew how to reach the dimension again.

Manus investigated how Sleipnir entered and left the strange mist-covered plane, then discovered that running through it brought them to a distant place in the ordinary world. Back in the Mental World, he reassured Pegasus that Sleipnir’s emerging ability was not harmful and wondered whether Pegasus would awaken powers of his own.

• Manus tested his theories about the plane, collected samples of sand and water, and found that both turned into grayish-white mist inside his Mental World.
• Manus and Sleipnir ran toward the far side of the water, but Manus stopped them when his Basilisk’s Death Trait reacted.
• Manus and Sleipnir crossed the strange plane for about ten minutes before emerging in the Sahara Desert.
• Manus mapped their location, returned Sleipnir to the Mental World, and told him he would need to learn to control his power.
• Manus reassured Pegasus that Sleipnir’s ability was awakening, and Pegasus asked whether he might undergo something similar.

After learning from Nicolas that Misty Illusion was the boundary between life and death, Manus realized Sleipnir could use it to move between places in the Material World. He concluded that Sleipnir’s legendary status as the world’s fastest horse had given it a unique form of supernatural speed.

• Manus read Nicolas’s explanation that Limbo Prison and Misty Illusion were different names for the boundary between life and death.
• Manus connected Sleipnir’s Death Trait to its role as a transition between life and death and considered how its eight legs might represent speed.
• Manus replied to Nicolas that he was safe, then reviewed his books and notes about Misty Illusion.
• Manus realized that ordinary visitors entered Misty Illusion as spirits and returned to their own bodies, while Sleipnir could use the realm to move in the Material World.
• Manus concluded that Sleipnir’s legend as the world’s fastest horse had granted it a unique ability to travel at high speed through Misty Illusion.

Manus completed an extreme-strength Potent Strengthening Potion after a tremor shook Hogwarts, then went to investigate what had caused it. The chapter left him asking Edmund about the disturbance.

• Manus considered using Sleipnir to travel through the Misty Illusion and recognized that Astral Plane Positioning would be needed for precise navigation.
• Manus resumed researching the Astral Plane and the laws governing creation.
• A sudden tremor shook Hogwarts while Manus was brewing a Potent Strengthening Potion, and he used magic to finish the potion without interruption.
• Manus bottled the potion in pure silver, having pushed its strengthening effects to the limit despite the risk of severe pain and bodily collapse.
• Manus left the Potions room and asked Edmund what had caused the tremor.

Manus learned that several Gryffindors had been hospitalized after an explosion while attempting to make a Broomstick, and he wondered what had gone wrong. He defended Professor Staky’s month-long absence from Hogwarts, though he knew he was the reason she had not been teaching.

• Edmund told Manus that several Gryffindors had caused an explosion on the third floor while trying to make a Broomstick and had been taken to the Hospital Wing.
• Manus questioned how a botched Broomstick-making attempt could have caused such a powerful explosion, while Edmund admitted he did not know.
• A Ravenclaw student wondered whether Professor Staky had run into trouble because she had been absent for a month.
• Manus reassured the students that Staky had her own life and might simply have been busy, while privately feeling guilty about her absence.
• Manus recalled that he had discovered the Beauty Potion could be added to a curling potion after brewing it following a Strong Strengthening Potion.

Manus discovered that adding a drop of Beauty Potion could transform the effects of other Potions, making them conform to popular ideas of beauty. Though Staky hailed it as a landmark invention, Manus concluded that its beauty was too generic to have a soul.

• Manus added a drop of Beauty Potion to Curling Potion and found that it produced strikingly effective curls on Sleipnir.
• After further experiments, Manus concluded that Beauty Potion was the only Potion he knew that could enhance another Potion in this way.
• Manus discussed Beauty Potion’s effects with Staky, who praised it for making other Beauty Potions fulfill their names.
• Staky wrote that Beauty Potion shaped a Potion’s results according to the public’s perception of beauty and called it the greatest Potion invention in Wizarding World history.
• Manus recognized that Beauty Potion could not create individual beauty and judged its effects hollow and soulless.

Manus discussed Staky’s Beauty Potion testing before joining Ravenclaw’s Halloween gathering, where students debated Royston Idle’s proposed wand ban at the Quidditch World Cup. The proposal had reached the Quidditch Committee and would probably pass.

• Manus reflected that the Beauty Potion fell short of his expectations, while Staky had not replied to his letter for two weeks.
• Manus attended the Halloween feast and then joined Ravenclaw students for Butterbeer and conversation in their common room.
• Helga said the Quidditch World Cup might not go smoothly because Royston Idle, the new international director of the Quidditch Committee, planned to ban spectators from bringing wands.
• The students protested the proposed ban, and Helga said Royston Idle had submitted it to the Quidditch Committee and it would probably pass.

Manus served Bellows his homemade, sweet Morning Dew Rose wine while they discussed Royston Idle’s proposal to ban spectators from bringing wands to the Quidditch World Cup. Manus told Bellows he could simply attend without a wand, since Hogwarts students could not use magic outside school.

• People at Hogwarts debated whether the Quidditch Committee would approve Royston Idle’s proposal to keep spectators’ wands out of the Quidditch World Cup.
• Helga asked Manus for more sparkling wine, and Manus refilled her glass before claiming he had run out and returning to the dormitory.
• Manus showed Bellows his homemade Morning Dew Rose wine and explained how he had made it sweet and low in alcohol.
• Bellows asked what they would do if the World Cup barred wands, and Manus said they could go without one.
• Bellows reconsidered sneaking in magic when he realized the crowded event and the presence of two professors made it impractical.

Manus prepared for the Quidditch World Cup and considered how to brew a Potion from Re'em materials before Potter approached him for advice about making Broomsticks. Potter offered to trade old family books for Manus's technique, and Manus realized Potter had mistaken reduced wind resistance for wind being shifted behind the Broomstick to push it forward.

• Manus decided that the wand dispute would not keep him from attending the Quidditch World Cup, despite expecting trouble.
• Manus made a salad for breakfast and thought about using Re'em materials to brew a Potion with delicious properties.
• Potter approached Manus in class to ask how he had made Broomsticks that affected airflow.
• Potter offered Manus old books on Potions, alchemy, and spells in exchange for the Broomstick-making technique.
• Manus realized Potter thought he had redirected wind from in front of the Broomstick to behind it to increase its speed.

Manus agreed to trade his Broomstick-making techniques to James Potter for copies of books from the Potter Family collection. They left the trade’s date undecided while Potter arranged the books and Manus considered the family’s Potions and Alchemy knowledge.

• Manus understood that Potter’s Broomstick design used jet propulsion, which had caused the builders’ explosion and injuries.
• Potter offered books from the Potter Family collection in exchange for Manus’s Broomstick-making techniques.
• Potter said he could copy the books with Geminio and replace them, convincing Manus to accept the trade.
• Manus and Potter left the trade date unsettled while Potter arranged for the books to be sent.
• Manus reflected on the Potter Family’s Potions achievements and concluded that genuine Alchemy books would have to come from older collections.

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.