Chapter Summaries

Vera received Hogwarts’ help in experiencing the calm needed to begin learning Occlumency, then used that concentration to defeat Ron at Wizard’s Chess. She ended the chapter exhausted in the dormitory after Harry walked her back.

• Vera touched the glowing brick wall, and Hogwarts guided her into a state of clarity that helped her understand how to practice Occlumency.
• Harry found Vera in the library, and she joined Harry and Hermione in searching books for information about Nicolas Flamel.
• After dinner, Vera teamed up with Harry and Hermione to play Wizard’s Chess against Ron.
• Vera used intense concentration to trap Ron’s pieces and checkmate his king, surprising the common room.
• Harry took Vera back to the dormitory, where she asked whether Vera had learned chess before and ruffled her hair.

Vera agreed to try a treatment with Phoenix Tears after Harry and Hermione encouraged her, and Dumbledore brought the tears to the infirmary. The treatment triggered her Magic Circuit and Source Flow Reforging, easing her pain, but she had not yet tested whether she could walk.

• Vera noticed Quirrell's worsening condition, Hagrid's worry, and more black mist near the Forbidden Forest, and feared Voldemort's plans were advancing.
• Harry and Hermione urged Vera to try Madam Pomfrey's proposed treatment, and Vera agreed despite fearing another disappointment.
• Madam Pomfrey prepared Snape's potion, and Dumbledore supplied Phoenix Tears from his phoenix before Harry and Hermione waited outside.
• Vera drank the potion and endured severe pain as the Phoenix Tears activated her Magic Circuit.
• Vera used Source Flow Reforging to combine the circuit's power with the tears, and the pain faded into a feeling of ease.

After Phoenix Tears eased Vera’s spinal pain, Harry visited her in the Hospital Wing and brought her food at night, where they discussed the suspicious crying and black shadow near Professor Quirrell’s classroom. When Black Fog appeared and moved into the corridor, Vera used Source Flow Reforging to sense magic and detected a small magical presence moving upstairs.

• Madam Pomfrey and Dumbledore examined Vera, who reported that her legs remained numb but her spinal pain had eased.
• Harry and Hermione visited Vera, and Harry revealed rumors of a fast-moving black shadow and crying near the third-floor bathroom.
• Vera suspected the creature was Quirrell searching for Unicorn blood, and Harry promised not to investigate alone.
• Harry secretly returned under the Invisibility Cloak to bring Vera food and told her the crying had been heard near Quirrell’s classroom.
• Black Fog spread through the Hospital Wing, and Vera used Source Flow Reforging to sense a small magical presence moving up the stairs.

Vera sensed Quirrell approaching Harry and used Hogwarts’ moving staircase to separate them, sending Quirrell toward the room containing the Three-Headed Dog. The next morning, Vera woke in the Hospital Wing and told Harry and Hermione that she had sensed something unusual.

• Vera alerted Madam Pomfrey to a supposed dangerous creature, then left the Hospital Wing in her wheelchair to follow Harry and Quirrell.
• Vera used her Magic Circuit to activate the stair railing, causing the staircase to carry Quirrell toward the Three-Headed Dog’s room.
• Vera returned to the Hospital Wing and was caught by Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey, whom she told she had been frightened and alone.
• Madam Pomfrey gave Vera a sleeping draught, and Vera fell asleep after asking whether Dumbledore was at Hogwarts.
• Harry and Hermione visited Vera the next morning, and Vera admitted that she had sensed something unusual the night before.

After Vera warned Harry and Hermione about a suspicious figure, the three checked that Professor McGonagall was safe and continued investigating Nicolas Flamel. At the library, Harry hinted that she wanted to take Vera flying, and Vera looked to Hermione for a response.

• Vera told Harry and Hermione that she had seen something suspicious outside the window and urged them to stay alert.
• Madam Pomfrey said Phoenix Tears had stabilized Vera’s condition, though her other problems remained.
• Vera noticed Professor McGonagall was absent from breakfast and went with Harry and Hermione to check on her.
• Snape ordered the girls away, but Professor McGonagall came out unharmed and confirmed that the professors had handled the night’s disturbance.
• Vera asked Professor McGonagall about Transfiguration, then the three went to the library to research Nicolas Flamel.
• Harry hinted that she wanted to take Vera flying, and Vera turned to Hermione.

Harry took Vera flying on her Nimbus 2000, giving Vera her first taste of flight and promising to help find a way to heal her legs. When Slytherin captain Marcus Flint attacked them with a Bludger and insulted Vera, she struck him with the returning ball and challenged him to a secret duel that night.

• Hermione agreed to accompany Harry and Vera to the Quidditch pitch.
• Harry helped Vera onto her Nimbus 2000, and they flew together over the grounds while Harry offered to help heal Vera's legs.
• Marcus Flint and the Slytherin Quidditch players arrived, and Flint sent a Bludger toward Harry and Vera before mocking Vera.
• Vera turned the returning Bludger against Flint, striking him in the nose and telling him to seek treatment.
• Vera challenged Flint to a duel in an abandoned classroom after dinner, and Flint agreed while ordering his teammates to keep it secret.

Vera prepared to duel Flint by researching his preferred spells and practicing defenses with Hermione, while Harry sought information from Wood. Vera’s sparring with Hermione exposed the gap in their abilities, and she comforted Hermione as the practice continued.

• Vera, Hermione, and Harry listed spells and discussed Flint’s likely use of hexes before Harry went to ask Wood for more information.
• Vera and Hermione practiced anti-hexes in an abandoned classroom, where Vera easily blocked Hermione’s spells.
• Hermione cast Petrificus Totalus, but Vera quickly canceled it with Finite Incantatem.
• Hermione criticized Vera’s speed and precision, and Vera reassured her that she was talented and had time to improve.

Vera prepared for a secret duel with Flint, reassuring Hermione and Hallie before facing the Slytherin team in an abandoned classroom. She began the duel by countering Flint’s opening spells, leaving the fight underway.

• Hermione practiced spells with Vera, regained confidence, and thanked her with a hug before Hallie arrived with information about Flint’s favored Stinging Jinx.
• Hallie sparred with Vera, and the three rested, ate dinner, and went to the fifth-floor classroom for the duel.
• Flint arrived with the Slytherin team and chose Adrian Pucey to duel Vera’s side, while Vera named Hallie as her assistant.
• At Hermione’s count, Flint cast a Stinging Jinx before the duel officially began, but Vera blocked it and reflected it into a Slytherin teammate.
• Flint cast Incendio and then Densaugeo through a cloud of steam, while Vera countered the flames with Aguamenti and responded to the final spell with Finite Incantatem.

Vera, Harry, and Hermione defeated Flint and the Slytherin Quidditch team, then concealed the evidence of their duel. The following week, Vera noticed that the Black Fog surrounding Quirrell had thinned and wondered whether Voldemort’s condition had improved or his plans had succeeded.

• Vera disarmed Flint, and she, Harry, and Hermione defeated the Slytherin players in the classroom.
• Vera restored the classroom, woke the defeated Slytherins, and made Flint promise to keep the duel secret.
• Vera concealed the classroom’s magical traces with Hogwarts’s help, then returned to Gryffindor Tower with Harry and Hermione.
• A week later, Vera noticed that Quirrell looked healthier and that the Black Fog around him had grown thinner.

Vera realized Quirrell had broken into the Hospital Wing and stolen Phoenix Tears to help Voldemort, though she suspected someone had deliberately led him to them. With her medicine temporarily unavailable, Madam Pomfrey arranged for Harry and Hermione to massage Vera twice a day, and taught them the techniques before sending them off with muscle-relaxing ointment.

• Vera asked Harry whether Hagrid had sent any letters, then went with Harry and Hermione to check on him after breakfast.
• Vera saw Snape leave the Hospital Wing and went inside with Madam Pomfrey, where she learned that someone had broken in and stolen medicines, including Phoenix Tears.
• Vera concluded that Quirrell had taken the Phoenix Tears to help Voldemort and suspected someone had revealed their location to him.
• Madam Pomfrey explained that Vera's medicine would take three days to replace and instructed Harry and Hermione to massage Vera while she waited.
• Madam Pomfrey taught Harry and Hermione how to massage Vera's back and legs, then gave them muscle-relaxing ointment to apply twice daily.