Chapter Summaries

Roy returned to Diagon Alley, bought supplies and gifts, and visited the Leaky Cauldron before bringing a new television to the orphanage. Seeing Harry Potter isolated among the children reminded Roy of Harry’s unhappy life with his relatives, and Roy decided to discuss the matter with Dumbledore.

• Roy Apparated to London, withdrew money at Gringotts, and bought school supplies, gifts, and a blue cat he named Tom.
• Roy ate at the Leaky Cauldron, talked with Tom about the attack at Hogwarts, paid for his meal, and performed card tricks before leaving.
• Roy returned to the orphanage and promised the children he would buy them a new color television.
• Harry Potter stayed apart from the celebrating children and wished he could live at the orphanage.
• Roy watched Harry and decided he needed to discuss Harry’s relatives with Dumbledore.

Roy took Harry and the orphanage children shopping for Christmas gifts, then brought Harry home to Privet Drive. Harry remained uncomfortable accepting help, but Roy’s kindness left him feeling that someone cared about him.

• Harry tried to slip away rather than accept the clothes Mia had bought him, but Roy stopped him and insisted he join the shopping trip.
• Roy gave each child 300 pounds to spend at Tesco and bought the orphanage a new television, along with a camera and chainsaw.
• Harry bought a portable radio, and Roy took a group photo of the children with their gifts.
• Roy sent the other children back and rode with Harry to Number 4 Privet Drive, where he gave Harry more money and told him that Britain owed him.
• Harry returned inside in his old clothes, hid his new purchases, and thought that at least someone still cared about him.

Roy spent a quiet holiday at the orphanage, where he celebrated Christmas with the children and received gifts from his Hogwarts classmates. Aisling received Roy’s Christmas drone at her manor and found its greeting interesting.

• Roy lent Harry his old bicycle, and Kyle taught Harry to ride it; Harry later joined the orphanage’s Christmas Eve dinner and stayed overnight.
• Roy received letters from Hogwarts and Cedric, learning that the return date had been postponed and Connor had awakened but remained in intensive care.
• Roy celebrated Christmas with the orphanage children and found gifts from classmates, including a set of healing Potions from Aisling and an unexplained package of Dungbombs.
• Aisling woke on Christmas Day and opened Roy’s package, which contained a bee drone that played his recorded greeting.
• Aisling watched the drone display Roy’s cartoon Little Bumblebee and quietly called it interesting.

On the eve of returning to school, Mia practiced Dark Magic with Sebastian in her mindscape and learned that Roy wanted her to look after Harry Potter. Roy prepared to leave with Tom, while Mia stayed behind with money for the orphanage and a grudge against Dudley.

• Mia practiced Avada Kedavra and Crucio with Sebastian, but managed only a weak, poorly aimed Crucio.
• Sebastian warned Mia that students at Hogwarts could be bullies, and Mia said she would tell Roy she was a wizard when her acceptance letter arrived.
• Roy visited Mia before leaving for school, gave her money for the orphanage, and asked her to look after Harry Potter.
• Roy told Mia he was taking Tom with him, and he refused to change his mind despite her protests.
• After Roy left, Mia accepted his decision and hoped Dudley would not cross her path at school.

Roy returned to Hogwarts amid heightened security and growing suspicion that Aisling Greenhilde was behind the attacks. He met with Dumbledore to discuss a plan he called “Zhongli Feigned Death,” but left its details unrevealed.

• Roy said goodbye to Harry and the orphanage children, then returned to school by train with Cedric.
• Roy reassured Cedric that Connor was not in danger and told him about Harry’s life with his relatives.
• Aurors escorted the students to Hogwarts, where Dumbledore announced that they would remain until the attacker was caught.
• Roy learned that Rita Skeeter had accused Aisling Greenhilde of masterminding the attacks, though Dumbledore, Snape, and the Aurors had denied the rumors.
• Roy went to Dumbledore’s office, sat in the headmaster’s chair, and asked whether Dumbledore agreed to his plan.
• Dumbledore asked Roy to explain his plan, and Roy named it “Zhongli Feigned Death.”

Roy devised a plan involving Aisling and asked Cedric to deliver his proposal, but Aisling refused to discuss it through a messenger. Roy later invited her to meet at the pitch, where they began talking.

• Roy told Dumbledore his plan and used Felix Felicis to persuade Cedric to help approach Aisling.
• Cedric found Aisling after class and tried to pass along Roy’s proposal for a fake attack, but she returned the Felix Felicis and told Roy to speak to her himself.
• Roy asked Aisling to meet him at the pitch at eight that night, and she kept the returned Felix Felicis and went to the meeting.
• Roy sat beside Aisling in the stands, and she asked what he wanted.

Roy and Aisling agreed to stage a conflict and a fake attack to draw out the person behind the attacks, while clearing Aisling of suspicion. As their Houses grew tense, Roy continued building his exoskeleton armor and resumed private Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons with Elias, despite Dumbledore’s suspicions about him.

• Roy convinced Aisling to help stage a conflict and a fake attack, offering her Felix Felicis and insisting he believed she was innocent.
• Roy returned to the Forbidden Forest base and told Cedric they could begin preparing the act.
• Cedric publicly provoked Aisling in Professor McGonagall’s class, and Roy also acted as though he suspected her, deepening tensions between Hufflepuff and Slytherin.
• Roy stubbornly maintained his suspicions when Professor McGonagall questioned him, and professors adjusted the timetable to keep the two Houses apart.
• Roy spent the following month developing his exoskeleton armor, which was nearly 80 percent complete by mid-February.
• Elias asked Roy to resume their private lessons, and Roy agreed despite Dumbledore’s suspicion that Elias might be behind the attacks.

Elias taught Roy the Unforgivable Curses during their likely final tutoring session, after warning him to use them only for self-defense. Roy unexpectedly cast a massively powerful Killing Curse, leaving Elias shaken and asking whether Roy had killed many people.

• Elias introduced Roy to his American colleague Walter White, then told Roy this would probably be their last tutoring session.
• Elias asked whether Roy had considered becoming an Auror and offered to help him find work in America after graduation.
• Elias demonstrated the Unforgivable Curses and explained that casting them required powerful malice, especially the Killing Curse.
• Elias recalled using the curses twice while fighting five Wizard Purist Party remnants, after which he had been the only survivor.
• Roy cast an extraordinarily powerful Avada Kedavra that struck the dummy with green lightning, and Elias froze after a bolt grazed his cheek.
• Roy asked whether Elias was all right, and Elias demanded to know whether Roy had killed many people.

Roy discovered that the hooded figure pretending to be Aisling was an attacker trying to frame her, but she escaped before he could capture her. After Roy secretly cleaned the scene, the professors found no evidence, leaving the attacker unidentified.

• Elias questioned Roy about his powerful Killing Curse and worried that Roy’s Dark Magic talent could make him dangerous in the conflict with Aisling.
• Roy met a hooded figure posing as Aisling and realized she was an impostor when she did not understand what “Jiahao” meant.
• Roy pretended to command the impostor, then attacked her with Stupefy, but an invisible force blocked his spell.
• The impostor counterattacked with Bombarda, then escaped by leaping from a tower window and flying away on a broomstick.
• Roy cleaned the corridor and hid before Elias, Snape, Professor McGonagall, and Walter White arrived; the professors found nothing and left.

Aisling studied Roy’s notes on illusion spells until Tom delivered a warning that Roy’s plan had been exposed and he had been attacked by someone disguised as her. Roy brought Aisling to his safe house in the Forbidden Forest, where Cedric joined them, and the three agreed to inform Dumbledore in the morning.

• Aisling studied the illusion book Roy had lent her and reflected on how their relationship had improved.
• Tom brought Aisling Roy’s letter warning that he had been attacked by someone disguised as her and urging her to come to his safe house.
• Aisling followed Tom into the Forbidden Forest, where Roy pulled her into his cabin and explained that the attacker had used Polyjuice Potion.
• Roy and Aisling discussed where to sleep, and Aisling explored Roy’s cabin while he went into the bedroom.
• Cedric arrived, heard Roy’s account of the attack, and joined Roy and Aisling in deciding to notify Dumbledore the next morning.

After surviving another attack, Roy created Communication Notebooks and told Dumbledore what had happened, but Dumbledore ordered him to stay out of the investigation and avoid the Forbidden Forest. Roy warned Aisling through the notebook, unaware that someone in Hogsmeade was secretly copying their messages and sending them to an Auror.

• Roy gave Aisling and Cedric Communication Notebooks he had made overnight, then hurried to the Headmaster's Office to find Dumbledore.
• After waking Roy, Dumbledore heard his account of the attack, praised his response, awarded Hufflepuff forty points, and told him to leave the investigation to professionals.
• Dumbledore warned Roy and his friends to avoid the Forbidden Forest and told him to remind Aisling to be careful; Roy protested and shouted, “Riddler, get out of Hogwarts!”
• Roy wrote to Aisling that they should avoid the Forbidden Forest and that Dumbledore had told her not to move around the school alone; Aisling replied that she understood.
• In a Hogsmeade safehouse, people secretly copied Roy's notebook messages, and a wizard in an Auror uniform sent them out by raven after warning that Dumbledore might suspect the Auror team at the school.

Roy completed his Exoskeleton Armor and became involved in the Quidditch competition as House Cup stakes rose. Gryffindor retained the Quidditch Cup, and Roy ended the chapter looking ahead to joining Cedric on the team next year.

• Roy abandoned the secret base, focused on his Exoskeleton Armor, and eventually completed a stable prototype with a charged Gold Rose overload switch and golden skull mask.
• Aisling replicated Roy’s Smoke Drone for Slytherin, and their smoke-spewing mascots battled above the stands during Hufflepuff’s match against Slytherin, which Hufflepuff lost.
• Roy gave the drone technology to Gryffindor and later to Penelope for Ravenclaw, making the technology available to all four houses.
• Gryffindor won all four matches and retained the Quidditch Cup after Slytherin lost to them in November.
• Bill raised the trophy and shouted, “Gryffindor, this is for you!” as he concluded his retirement tour, and Roy said he and Cedric would form a Quidditch duo next year.

Roy and his friends went to St. Mungo’s to bring Connor back to Hogwarts after his recovery. While waiting, Roy met Neville Longbottom and learned that Neville’s parents had been tortured by Death Eaters; Dumbledore led them into the ward to visit Frank and Alice.

• Roy received Dumbledore’s letter saying Connor would be discharged, and Cedric and Gabriel joined him to collect Connor from St. Mungo’s.
• Connor underwent examinations and discharge paperwork while Roy wandered through the hospital.
• Roy overheard Madam Longbottom urging Neville to stand tall and saw her lead him into a ward.
• Cedric told Roy that Neville’s parents, Frank and Alice, had been tortured by four Death Eaters after Voldemort fell.
• Dumbledore arrived, called Frank and Alice heroes, and led Roy and Cedric into their ward; Roy reflected that the present was not peaceful either.

Roy visited Neville's parents, Frank and Alice Longbottom, and used his healing magic enhanced by Ancient Magic to briefly restore Alice's ability to speak. He asked Dumbledore to help him get a summer internship at St. Mungo's, and Dumbledore agreed to write him a recommendation letter.

• Dumbledore, Roy, and Cedric visited Frank and Alice Longbottom in the hospital, where Neville and Madam Longbottom were keeping watch.
• Roy comforted Neville by speaking sympathetically about his own life as an orphan.
• Roy secretly used his healing magic on Frank and Alice, then empowered it with Ancient Magic when the ordinary healing light failed.
• Alice briefly regained enough clarity to call Neville's name, but she and Frank returned to their vacant state when Roy stopped healing them.
• Roy asked Dumbledore to help him obtain a summer internship at St. Mungo's, and Dumbledore agreed to write a recommendation letter.

After Connor returned to Hogwarts, Roy considered how to use Ancient Magic to heal Neville's parents and decided to search for a hidden vault beneath the school. His dormmates refused to join him, so Roy set out alone.

• Madam Longbottom hosted Dumbledore, Roy, Cedric, and Neville for lunch, where Roy and Cedric told Neville about Hufflepuff.
• Dumbledore took the children back to Hogwarts after Connor completed his discharge paperwork, and Hufflepuff welcomed Connor at dinner.
• Connor learned he had four months of homework to make up, while Roy studied the lingering effects of the Cruciatus Curse on Neville's parents.
• Roy calculated that healing Neville's parents with his current magic would take months and considered borrowing Ancient Magic from a Hogwarts vault.
• Roy invited Cedric, Connor, and Gabriel on a treasure hunt, but they refused, so he left the dormitory alone with the Ancient Magic Practical Guide.

Roy found the hidden vault beneath Hogwarts and learned from a Pensieve that he could borrow some of its Ancient Magic, though he was not strong enough to pass its trial. He returned to his dormitory and arranged for Aisling to meet him at the Underground Dock so she could help him draw on the vault’s power.

• Roy picked the rusted lock on the dungeon entrance, followed Ancient Magic symbols to a hidden mirror, and was pulled into the vault.
• Roy explored the vault, found that a powerful barrier blocked access to its central magical sphere, and viewed the predecessor’s memories in a Pensieve.
• Roy learned how to borrow some of the vault’s Ancient Magic and returned to the dungeon cell using the method shown in the memories.
• Roy went back to his dormitory and wrote to Aisling in the Communication Notebook.
• Roy asked Aisling to meet him at the Underground Dock at eight the next night to help him steal electricity, and she agreed.

Roy realized Aisling had vanished after she failed to meet him or return to her dormitory, and he searched Hogwarts for help. The chapter ended with Roy showing Snape a red message in his Communication Notebook: “Save box Auror.”

• Roy waited at the Underground Dock for Aisling, but she never arrived or answered his message.
• Roy discovered that Aisling had not returned to the Slytherin Common Room overnight and rushed to search the Hospital Wing.
• Roy ran to Dumbledore’s Office but learned that Dumbledore had left for the Ministry of Magic.
• Roy interrupted Snape’s lesson and told him the matter concerned Grindelhill.
• Roy showed Snape the red message in his notebook asking him to save Box Auror.

Aisling woke bound and silenced inside an expanded suitcase after Aurors kidnapped her on Thorne's orders. Unable to escape, she sent Roy a blood-written message and waited for him to find her before the planned handoff to America.

• Aisling realized she had been kidnapped and heard the Aurors discuss moving her to America that night.
• Aisling recognized the Aurors as the school investigators and understood that Thorne had arranged her kidnapping.
• Aisling pretended to remain unconscious when an Auror opened the suitcase to check on her.
• Aisling retrieved a scrap from Roy's communication notebook and wrote “Help. Suitcase. Aurors.” in her blood.
• Aisling collapsed in the suitcase and prayed that Roy would come save her before nightfall.

After Aisling was kidnapped, Roy and Snape alerted Hogwarts’ professors and searched the Castle but found no clues. As night fell, Roy realized Aisling might have been taken to the Safe House.

• Snape learned from Roy that Aisling had disappeared and suspected Roy was involved in an earlier explosion, but he put the argument aside to organize a search.
• Snape questioned a Slytherin student, ordered Elliott and Selwyn summoned, and warned Roy not to tell Professor Thorne that Aisling was missing.
• Roy informed the professors, who saw Aisling’s distress signal and recruited trusted students to help search; McGonagall also agreed not to alert Thorne.
• Snape searched the Castle, interrogated Aurors with Veritaserum, and found no trace of Aisling, while Roy searched Thorne’s office and the rest of the Castle without success.
• Roy sat in Dumbledore’s empty office to consider what Dumbledore might do, then remembered the Safe House as the sun set.

Roy searched for Snape but avoided alerting Elias, then went alone to the Special Operations Office in the Forbidden Forest and rescued Aisling from a locked suitcase. As Aisling warned that her captors had returned, Roy faced an immediate threat in the cabin.

• Roy learned Professor McGonagall had left for London and found Snape confronting Elias in the Great Hall, so he left Snape a note and set out alone.
• Roy entered the neglected Special Operations Office and found Elias's radio and a locked suitcase beneath his bed.
• Roy opened the suitcase and found Aisling bound and silenced inside, then cut her ropes and lifted the Silencing Charm.
• Aisling thanked Roy and embraced him before abruptly collapsing and convulsing, then regained consciousness and warned him that her captors had returned.