Chapter Summaries

Gavin defeated Peter in the secondhand bookshop after Gavin’s real self took control and improvised a desperate fight, then revealed he had staged his own apparent defeat to force Gavin to act. After Peter was captured and Professor McGonagall and Fudge arrived, Gavin noticed that his right palm had turned black and necrotic.

• Peter attacked Gavin with a Stunning Spell, and Gavin’s consciousness took over after Gavin pretended to be unconscious.
• Gavin bluffed Peter by copying Gavin’s cold manner, but Peter struck him and exposed the bluff.
• Gavin used levitated parchment, a rope snare, a bookend, and a heavy ledger to knock Peter out as he tried to escape in rat form.
• Gavin admitted that he had pretended to be incapacitated to train Gavin, and they sent up a distress flare before McGonagall and Fudge arrived to find Draco and Hermione unconscious.
• Peter awoke in a cage in his rat form, where Gavin said he wanted to conduct experiments on him.
• Gavin’s wand fell from his hand, and he discovered that part of his right palm had turned black, hardened, and begun to rot.

After Peter Pettigrew was captured at Hogwarts, Gavin’s friends spread absurd rumors about his relationships while Gavin continued investigating his blackened fingers and met Cordelia Rowle, a mysterious girl he had known for two years. The chapter ended with Lupin noticing Gavin’s injured hand and asking whether he had recently encountered something dangerous.

• Hermione and Draco told Fudge that Peter Pettigrew had attacked them, but Fudge ordered them to keep quiet; McGonagall summoned Sirius, who found evidence of Sectumsempra at the ruined bookshop.
• Slytherin students misread Hermione and Draco’s meeting as a romantic scandal, while Harley and Ron proposed that Gavin pretend to pursue Ron; Sirius and Snape nearly drew their wands before McGonagall intervened.
• Gavin arranged for an unconscious Peter, identifiable by his missing toe, to fall into Sirius’s hands at Hogwarts, and Sirius recognized and arrested him.
• Gavin visited the weak girl in the Room of Requirement, argued with her about trusting his inner companion, and learned that her name was Cordelia Rowle.
• Gavin warned the boy inside him not to damage his blackened fingers and resolved to research the condition; in Defense Against the Dark Arts, he demonstrated precise Levitation Charm control, after which Lupin questioned him about contact with something dangerous.

Gavin’s blackened hand healed after Lupin guided him to use a Patronus, and a discussion of Lupin’s werewolf cure helped Gavin identify that the soul had to be healed before the body. The chapter ended with Gavin realizing that his own soul might be causing his body’s erosion and questioning why his first arrival in this world had caused no such rejection.

• Gavin hid inside an iron cage when Lupin brought him into his office, then let Lupin examine his numb, blackened hand and explain that prolonged close contact with ghosts could cause the damage.
• Gavin used a corporeal silver seagull Patronus to restore feeling and color to his fingers, while realizing the erosion might come from his own soul rather than Cordelia.
• Gavin told Lupin he had been studying ghosts to help Harley’s parents, and Lupin shared the unfinished manuscript about the Armenian wizard who had cured his werewolf curse.
• Gavin deduced that the cure had restored Lupin’s soul before his body, revealing that St. Mungo’s healers had focused on the wrong order and giving him a new clue about treating soul damage.
• Gavin told the other Gavin that he was the source of the body’s rejection, then wondered why his first arrival in the body five years earlier had caused no decay or loss of sensation.

Gavin trained the boy in the Patronus Charm, then pursued a plan to obtain Hermione's Time-Turner while investigating Daiya Rowle. Daiya revealed that he was Cordelia Rowle, and Cordelia told the boy she preferred Gavin, leaving him devastated inside their shared consciousness.

• Gavin insisted the boy keep helping him despite the soul erosion, and made him practice the Patronus Charm until he conjured a capybara.
• Gavin planned to obtain Hermione's Time-Turner by disguising himself as a girl, considering Polyjuice Potion or asking Daiya Rowle for help.
• Gavin encountered Fred and George demonstrating rule-enforcement inventions to Filch, then went to the library with Ron, where he saw Tom M. Riddle's furious annotations in old Ancient Runes notes.
• Gavin nearly plucked a hair from Harley while Sirius and Snape watched, but Daiya interrupted and led him to the Room of Requirement on the seventh floor.
• Daiya drank a potion and transformed into Cordelia Rowle, revealing that she was the girl Gavin had visited on Wednesday nights.
• Cordelia said she disliked the timid boy who had been there before, then told Gavin that he was the better one, leaving the boy trembling and withdrawn inside their consciousness.

Cordelia Rowle revealed that she had mistaken Gavin for the possessing soul that had taken over her cousin and tried to kill him with a Killing Curse, then used a Horcrux-like locket to draw Gavin out of Gavin's body. As Cordelia moved to destroy the locket, Gavin seized it and declared he would not let her hurt him, his eyes turning silver-white.

• Cordelia explained that she had disguised herself as Daiya to protect the Rowle family and tried to kill Gavin with Avada Kedavra, but Gavin dodged and disarmed her.
• Cordelia told Gavin that a possessing soul had replaced her cousin and that the cousin had died as his body rotted; she believed Gavin's blackening hand meant the same fate awaited him.
• Cordelia revealed that she was dying from an Obscurus and used an old silver locket and a soul-drawing spell to pull Gavin out of Gavin's body.
• Gavin returned to control of his body and panicked when he could no longer sense Gavin, while Cordelia prepared to destroy the soul inside the locket.
• Gavin cast Wingardium Leviosa, pulled the locket from Cordelia's grasp, and declared that he would not let her hurt Gavin as his eyes turned silver-white.

Gavin and Cordelia fought over the Locket until Cordelia’s attempt to destroy it with Fiendfyre trapped them in a burning room. As they prepared to die together, another Gavin appeared and extinguished the fire, leaving the pair alive and confused.

• Gavin’s magic surged as he defended the Locket from Cordelia, and he eventually pinned her down with a powerful spell before knocking her back when she forced her Obscurus through the pressure.
• Cordelia told Gavin she had secretly searched for and rescued him when he was trapped in the Empty Classroom, and Gavin apologized but refused to give her the Locket.
• Cordelia cast Fiendfyre at the Locket, but the flames escaped her control and blocked the pair from reaching the door.
• Gavin returned through the fire to rescue Cordelia, then threw the Locket out of the room and told her he would die with her rather than leave her alone.
• Cordelia embraced Gavin and agreed they would die together, but a second Gavin took his wand and cast Finite Incantatem, extinguishing the Fiendfyre.

Gavin revealed that the Horcrux had helped him escape Cordelia’s trap, then explained that he could extract her Obscurus and have it inhabit Gavin, whose hidden magical strength he uncovered. The chapter ended with Gavin telling the two of them to kiss before he proceeded.

• Gavin explained that Cordelia’s Horcrux spell had a counterspell, recovered the Locket, and revealed that it could stir desire and absorb life force.
• Gavin said he knew how to extract Cordelia’s Obscurus and explained that he had once chosen to become an Obscurial himself.
• Gavin falsely told Cordelia that her extracted Obscurus would need to inhabit Gavin, who eagerly agreed so she could live.
• Gavin explained that Gavin’s magic was unusually dense and that strong positive emotions, such as the desire to protect someone, could unlock his power.
• Gavin told the stunned Gavin and Cordelia that they had to kiss first.

Gavin guided Gavin through transferring Cordelia’s Obscurus into him, successfully freeing her while keeping both of them stable. After Gavin briefly woke and Cordelia told him not to listen to his brother’s teasing, another presence took control and revealed that Gavin had truly passed out.

• Gavin teased Cordelia and Gavin into accidentally kissing, then had them clasp hands and make solemn promises before starting the transfer.
• Gavin used Newt’s spell and his knowledge of consciousness to separate Cordelia’s Obscurus from her magic and guide it into Gavin’s consciousness.
• Gavin maintained the Obscurus in its new position, while Cordelia discovered that she could breathe without pain and the burden inside her was gone.
• Gavin woke and reassured Cordelia, then accidentally revealed that Gavin had suggested he pretend to feel terrible.
• Cordelia lightly punched Gavin, who collapsed; when he opened his eyes again, he spoke in Gavin’s cool voice and told her that Gavin had really passed out.

Gavin explained that the exhausted Gavin had only passed out and helped Daiya imagine a future beyond hiding his identity, while their trip to the Great Hall sparked a series of misunderstandings over Hermione’s Time-Turner. The confusion ended when an injured student reported that Bellatrix had blasted through Hogwarts’ main gate.

• Gavin demonstrated his control over the Obscurus and explained that Gavin had collapsed from mental exhaustion, then learned the recipe for Daiya’s Gender-Change Potion through Legilimency.
• Gavin encouraged Daiya to consider abandoning the potion and confronting the Rowle branch families, and Daiya thanked him while insisting he eventually leave Gavin’s body.
• Gavin told Daiya that Hermione had a Time-Turner, prompting Daiya to hurry into the Great Hall to negotiate with her.
• Daiya’s offer to Hermione and Draco’s insistence on repaying her debt fueled rumors that Daiya and Gavin were romantically involved, while Ron admitted he had suggested pretending to pursue another boy.
• An injured patrol student staggered into the Great Hall and told Professor McGonagall that Bellatrix had blasted open Hogwarts’ main gate.

Harley, Ron, Hermione, and Draco rushed toward the grounds after Bellatrix attacked Hogwarts, while Cordelia learned that Professor Vale was her mother and that Gavin had disappeared. Hermione protected a weakened Draco from a swarm of Dementors with a white peacock Patronus, but Bellatrix appeared beside them and threatened them.

• Dumbledore organized the response to Bellatrix’s attack as McGonagall evacuated the students, but Harley ran toward the grounds, followed by Ron, Hermione, Draco, Snape, and Lupin.
• Cordelia discovered that Professor Vale was her mother and told her that Gavin had vanished; Vale went toward the Entrance Hall while Gemma Farley escorted Cordelia toward the Cellar.
• An explosion separated Hermione from Harley and Ron, and Draco found Hermione by the lakeshore and tried to lead her back to the castle.
• Hermione and Draco argued about her determination to protect Harley and each other, then a swarm of Dementors surrounded them.
• Draco collapsed under the Dementors’ pressure, and Hermione conjured a powerful white peacock Patronus that drove the creatures away and helped Draco recover.
• Hermione and Draco reconciled as the Patronus circled overhead, but Bellatrix appeared and mocked them before threatening them.