Chapter Summaries

Manus realized Dumbledore might be using Bagnold as bait to lure Voldemort into an ambush, and he decided to have Muninn watch her. While bathing, Manus developed a clearer understanding of a dynamic Way of Balance between reality and ideals, though he lacked a suitable means to use it.

• Manus reasoned that Dumbledore could control where Bagnold appeared and use her to draw Voldemort into a trap, but he worried that she faced too much danger.
• Manus considered the unusual, potentially unreasonable magic of the wizarding world and wanted to witness what Dumbledore and Voldemort could do in their eventual fight.
• Manus decided that watching Dumbledore was too risky and sent Muninn to secretly observe Bagnold.
• While bathing, Manus reflected on how this world balanced fairy-tale forces with material reality and recognized that balance had to adapt as circumstances changed.
• Manus concluded that Righteous Qi and Black Qi might carry the Way of Balance, but his current methods could not make use of it.

Manus sealed away the balancing trait he had accidentally taken from the world, then decided to accept responsibility for Petunia’s future and bring her to his secret base. He began teaching her magic and told her that after he graduated, she would either be prepared to choose her path or would have to return to her former life.

• Manus built a Qi Magic structure to temporarily seal the balancing trait he had seized.
• Manus burned the letters he had kept and erased their remaining ashes.
• Petunia took Huginn’s claw and was transported from her home to Manus’s secret base in Cokeworth.
• Manus told Petunia he would teach her magical knowledge during the first half of each night while he was at Hogwarts.
• Petunia asked what would happen after Manus graduated, and he said she would either be ready to choose her future or would need to return to her former life.

Manus taught Petunia how to condense magical power, then helped her settle into bed when her first meditation ended in sleep. At Hogwarts, he checked on Sybill Trelawney and told Bellows why he had agreed to look after her, while Bellows questioned his involvement with the Trelawney family.

• Manus began teaching Petunia to condense magical power after she completed her foundational studies.
• Petunia tried meditating but fell asleep from exhaustion, and Manus used Huginn to tuck her into bed.
• Manus trained in the morning, patrolled Hogwarts with Huginn, and found no unusual activity despite Dumbledore's absence.
• Manus gave Sybill a note with practical advice about Hogwarts and Ravenclaw House.
• Bellows asked Manus about his connection to Sybill, and Manus explained that Mr. Trelawney had asked him to look after his daughter.

Manus realized that Sybill might deliberately seek trouble, making his duty to protect her more complicated, and decided to warn Tracey. In Herbology, Sprout taught the class about Bubotubers, and Manus wondered whether an acne treatment Potion would count as healing or beauty magic.

• Bellows warned Manus that Sybill had already drawn attention at Hogwarts and might have plans beyond keeping a low profile.
• Manus reconsidered Sybill’s motives and decided to tell Tracey that protecting her could become difficult if she provoked trouble.
• Sprout began a lesson on Bubotubers, explaining their care, uses, and the dangers of undiluted pus.
• Several students tried squeezing Bubotubers prematurely, so Sprout treated them and demonstrated the proper technique.
• Manus wondered whether students wanted Bubotuber pus to treat acne and whether an acne treatment Potion would be classified as healing or beauty magic.

Manus reconsidered Beauty Potions as treatments that could restore damaged or ill bodies and planned to develop treatment-oriented formulas. After class, he overheard Potter, Black, and Pettigrew discussing a secret attempt to become Animagi to help Lupin endure his werewolf transformations.

• Manus realized Beauty Potions might include remedies for acne, wounds, and missing limbs, and began considering a treatment-focused potion project.
• Manus watched Sprout treat students injured while handling Bubotubers, then finished his lesson and wrote an application for a Potions room.
• Manus recognized Pettigrew, Potter, and Black outside a storage room and waited while they continued their conversation.
• Manus learned that Potter and Black wanted to become Animagi to help Lupin, who could not afford Wolf-Healing Potions and refused their costly support.

Manus overheard Potter, Black, and Pettigrew discussing their plan to become Animagi so they could accompany Lupin during his transformations. After sending a letter to Tracey and applying to use the Potions room, Manus considered Minerva’s safety and the significance of the Quidditch World Cup.

• Manus learned that Animagus transformation could conceal a wizard even from Dementors, while Potter and Black urged Pettigrew to join them in attempting the transformation.
• Pettigrew agreed to transform with Potter and Black despite fearing that failure could kill him or leave him trapped as an animal.
• After the three left, Manus sent Minerva with a letter for Tracey and considered whether to incorporate her into the Soul System to protect her from accidents.
• Manus asked Slughorn for permission to use the Potions room, and Slughorn praised the historic Quidditch World Cup.

Manus brought Minerva into his Soul System, where she accepted the bond and gained effortless flight and a safer connection to him. After Minerva flew off to explore, Manus received Tracey’s letter confirming he would investigate Sybill’s situation and act if the threat proved real.

• Slughorn left Manus after the tournament, and Manus used an ink bottle to weigh down his application form before meeting Minerva.
• Manus explained the Soul System to Minerva in an abandoned classroom and brought her into the Mental World.
• Minerva joined Manus’s Soul System and discovered she could fly without tiring.
• Manus told Minerva she could explore freely, and she flew out of the abandoned classroom to have fun.
• Manus intercepted Tracey’s owl and read Tracey’s promise to investigate the threat to Sybill and deal with it if confirmed.

Manus tested his new Wound-Healing Potion and found that it healed serious injuries poorly but removed scars exceptionally well. After trying it on Lily, he concluded that the potion was still a success for treating minor wounds and leaving little trace.

• Manus found that his Wound-Healing Potion healed rabbit injuries less effectively than expected, especially when wounds were deep or damaged internal organs or bones.
• Manus tested the potion on a rabbit with a long scar and discovered that half a bottle erased it completely.
• Manus concluded that the potion’s scar-removal effect came from its Beauty Potion principles and that this made it somewhat off-track as a healing potion.
• Manus used the potion on Lily’s arm, and the cut quickly faded to a mark that vanished as they discussed the limits of her defensive magic.
• Lily asked whether multiple defensive spells could work together, and Manus said the potion’s development could still be considered a success.

Manus tested the Wound-Healing Potion on humans and rabbits, then planned to advance Beauty Potion research through a new paper. He gave Lily an early birthday gift: a Spider-Silk Scarf that accelerated her magic circulation, and warned her about the cost of maintaining its magical connection.

• Manus confirmed that the Wound-Healing Potion worked equally well on humans and rabbits and considered its low cost and scar-free healing useful advantages.
• Manus decided that encouraging broader research into Beauty Potions was a better way to develop a genuine Beauty Potion than pursuing the work alone, and planned an article for the Monthly Potion Digest.
• Lily prepared to leave, but Manus gave her an early birthday gift and explained that the Gryffindor-colored Scarf was a magical item.
• Manus helped Lily connect to the Spider-Silk Scarf, which sped up her magic circulation and casting, and cautioned her not to maintain the connection when she did not need to cast spells.

Manus gave Lily the first spider-silk handkerchief, which she tied around her neck, then attended Kettleburn’s Care of Magical Creatures lesson. The class studied a newly acquired Horned Serpent, whose repeated attacks on the cage left the students frightened.

• Lily tied Manus’s spider-silk handkerchief around her neck and asked whether he wanted her to bring Severus’s gift to him, but Manus said Severus’s was not finished.
• Manus explained that he planned to make more spider-silk handkerchiefs for his parents, Aunt Eileen, friends, professors, and Margaret, whose Magical Textiles techniques had improved the loom’s production process.
• Manus went to Kettleburn’s Care of Magical Creatures lesson, where Bellows joined him and asked what was inside the rattling cage.
• Kettleburn revealed a Horned Serpent from the Americas and described the jewel set into its forehead, which legend claimed could grant invisibility and flight.
• The Horned Serpent repeatedly lunged at Kettleburn’s hand and rammed the cage, while the Hufflepuffs huddled together and the Ravenclaws pushed Manus to the front.

The Horned Serpent frightened several students during Kettleburn’s lesson, but Manus approached it and spoke with it in Parseltongue. He learned how it had been captured and relayed its complaints about its habitat and food to Kettleburn.

• The Horned Serpent slammed into its cage, terrifying four students, and Kettleburn took them to the Hospital Wing.
• Manus freed himself from Bellows and approached the cage, explaining that its protective magic was secure.
• Manus spoke to the Horned Serpent in Parseltongue and told the students that they could learn the language from books in the library.
• The Horned Serpent told Manus that poachers had taken it from a South American marsh before it was auctioned to Kettleburn.
• When Kettleburn returned, Manus relayed the Horned Serpent’s complaints that its enclosure was too dry and that it disliked being fed sheep.

Manus corrected Kettleburn’s mistaken belief that Horned Serpents ate mutton and revealed that he had learned Snake Language from Hogwarts library books. On the way back, he explained why he had read nearly every book in the library, leaving Jasper and the others reconsidering their own study habits.

• The Horned Serpent’s dislike of mutton led Kettleburn to defend his feeding choices, but Manus explained that the novel’s claim about Horned Serpents eating Bighorn Sheep was likely inaccurate.
• Manus spoke with the Horned Serpent and confirmed that it did not eat mutton, while Kettleburn became excited about Manus’s ability to communicate with it.
• Manus told Kettleburn that he had taught himself Snake Language from Hogwarts library books, surprising the professor and students.
• Manus questioned whether Kettleburn had explored the library before graduating, and Kettleburn ended the lesson flustered as he went to find suitable food for the Horned Serpent.
• Jasper asked Manus how he knew which books were valuable, and Manus said he had read or skimmed nearly every book in the library.
• Quirinus considered Manus’s advice about learning information before field research, while Bellows began mapping out fields to study and Jasper wondered what had gotten into Ravenclaw.

Manus brewed a Restoration Potion intended to restore missing limbs, but its first test regrew a rabbit’s leg in metallic gold. He recorded the unexpected result and decided to delay publishing his paper while he continued refining the potion.

• Manus noticed the second full moon and went to check the Restoration Potion he had brewed using lunar phases and Beauty Potions principles.
• Manus tested the potion on a rabbit whose leg he had severed, giving it the potion by mouth.
• The rabbit’s missing leg grew back completely, but the new limb and its fur were metallic gold.
• Manus recorded a tentative hypothesis that the potion lacked a Beauty Potion and decided to postpone publishing his paper until he had finished refining the Restoration Potion.

Manus’s Restoration Potion successfully regrew missing rabbit limbs, but the new limbs were golden, leading him to seek Slughorn’s advice. Slughorn was astonished by the potion’s power and began considering what might explain the golden limbs.

• Manus tested the restored rabbit limbs and found they worked and tasted like ordinary limbs despite their golden appearance.
• Manus reviewed his notes, then visited Slughorn to ask for help identifying the cause.
• Manus described the Restoration Potion’s effects, and Slughorn spilled his Mead in shock at hearing it could regrow limbs.
• Slughorn asked Manus to repeat the details and began examining the golden limbs as a possible flaw in the potion.

Manus and Slughorn reasoned that the Restoration Potion repaired missing limbs by substituting external materials, much as gold dentures replaced teeth, rather than regrowing limbs. Manus decided to publish the Potion’s paper as planned, but Slughorn struggled to follow the reasoning behind its formula.

• Slughorn deduced that the Potion’s golden replacement limb might result from a cosmetic effect that filled in missing parts with substitutes.
• Manus questioned why the Potion’s effect resembled dentures rather than prosthetic limbs, and Slughorn argued that dentures replaced their original function more effectively.
• Manus concluded that perfecting the Potion would require either limb regrowth to become an accepted possibility or lifelike prosthetics to match gold teeth.
• Manus decided to publish his paper, and Slughorn began reading it after changing out of his damp pajamas.
• Slughorn asked Manus how he had derived several parts of the formula, despite Manus’s claim that he had written down every step.

Manus discussed his Beauty Potion research with Slughorn, who agreed to submit the paper to the Monthly Potion Digest. Manus then met Sybill to explain the protection he would provide, and she asked whether he would report her to Professor Tracey.

• Manus explained to Slughorn that his Beauty Potion research relied on prerequisite knowledge about beauty and collective cognitive reinforcement.
• Slughorn judged Manus's paper ready for publication and offered to submit it, while Manus withheld his ideas for a Restoration Potion trigger.
• Manus asked Slughorn to handle the submission process, and Slughorn promised to secure the paper the best possible treatment.
• Manus went to meet Sybill in an abandoned room to explain that he would not interfere in her studies or daily life.
• Sybill asked Manus whether he would report her to Professor Tracey.

Manus told Sybill he would intervene if her choices put her life at risk because her father had entrusted him with her guardianship. He left her with boundaries for when he would help, and Sybill was left to reconsider what she expected from Hogwarts.

• Manus explained that his deal with Sybill's father required him to inform Tracey or stop Sybill if her actions endangered her life.
• Sybill argued that she wanted to decide her own fate, but Manus said he would respect her choices if she could prove she could live independently.
• Manus told Sybill he would help if others maliciously bullied her, but not if trouble resulted from her own actions or poor academic performance.
• Sybill asked whether she could do anything besides study, and Manus clarified that he would not intervene in matters that did not risk her life.
• Manus advised Sybill to adjust her expectations or transfer schools, then left the abandoned room to chat with Hagrid.

Manus avoided the Great Hall and ate lunch with Barty Jr., Grogan, and Pandora atop the Astronomy Tower after Barty Jr. finished teaching the two third-years. The meal left Pandora delighted, while Manus began considering whether weight loss could be explored as a beauty effect.

• Manus changed course from Hagrid's Hut and climbed to the Astronomy Tower to find somewhere to eat lunch.
• Manus found Barty Jr. teaching Grogan and Pandora, and invited them to join him for lunch.
• Grogan questioned how Barty Jr. had progressed so far, and Barty Jr. replied that he had simply studied seriously.
• Manus reassured Grogan and arranged a lavish lunch for the four of them atop the tower.
• Pandora praised the food, and Manus wondered whether weight loss could count as a beauty effect.

Barty Jr. asked Manus whether Remus Lupin was a werewolf, then explained that he was interested in rare magical creatures because he wanted to create spells that used casting materials. Manus outlined how materials could be either optional aids or irreplaceable components of a spell, leaving Barty Jr.’s plan unexplored.

• Barty Jr. told Manus he had overheard Potter, Black, and Pettigrew discussing Animagus training and suspected that Lupin was a werewolf.
• Manus confirmed Lupin’s secret and gave Barty Jr. a bottle of Wolfsbane Potion for self-defense.
• Barty Jr. clarified that he did not fear Lupin and was interested in werewolves because he wanted to use them to create magic requiring casting materials.
• Manus explained the roles of incantations, gestures, and materials, distinguishing optional casting aids from materials that formed an irreplaceable part of a spell.

Manus reconsidered his research and personal schedule, planning to explore Shadow Magic while continuing several potion and magical development projects. He also anticipated traveling to Australia for next year's solar eclipse and weighed how to protect himself in the meantime.

• Manus reminded Barty Jr. not to cross moral lines while developing magic that required a werewolf as a material, and Barty Jr. assured him he knew his limits.
• Manus decided to try a Weight-loss beauty potion and continue brewing a beauty-potion version of the Restoration Potion, while postponing broader beauty-potion experiments until he understood the field better.
• Manus concluded that his Beast Blood Baptism modifications were nearly complete and planned to update its effects on himself and arrange baptisms involving other magical creatures.
• Manus chose to devote more time to Shadow Magic, while reducing time spent on Star Magic as Nick's meteorite supplies and connections had been exhausted.
• Manus noted that a solar eclipse would occur in Australia next May and considered temporary protection while continuing work on the Astral Vestment.