Recaps

Will attended Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures lesson on Mooncalves, while rumors spread through the Castle after his paper was published. The talk began to turn unkind.

• Fernando left to research whether Will's ability to sense magic had any precedent.
• Hagrid showed the third-years Mooncalves and explained their habits, their connection to crop circles, and the value of their droppings as fertilizer.
• Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville discussed Will's published papers, and Ron argued with Hermione about whether he could publish one himself.
• Harry collected Mooncalf droppings after the class fell silent, and Hagrid announced that the next lesson would cover Ashwinders.
• Will returned to the Hippogriff enclosure to continue his research.
• Harry noticed Hermione reading Will's paper, while other students had read it too and rumors began spreading through the Castle.

Will faced accusations of academic fraud from Hogwarts students, but Snape punished his accuser and defended his work. While serving detention by brewing a potion, Will learned why Juan de León had called him a fraud and was told to prepare for a Daily Prophet interview.

• Will ignored Hogwarts students who doubted his research and achievements.
• Juan de León confronted Will over a Daily Prophet report about the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers, and Draco Malfoy accused Will of academic fraud.
• Will mocked Juan, who challenged him to a wizarding duel before Snape intervened and gave Juan detention and a Ravenclaw point penalty.
• Snape assigned Will one day's detention and watched him brew a potion, then warned him to beware of academic vultures.
• Snape explained that Juan had compared Will to Pankot Storm, a potion-maker who claimed others' research as his own, and told Will a Daily Prophet reporter would soon interview him.

Will was interviewed by Rita Skeeter, who was tasked with portraying him as an inspiring Muggle-born academic prodigy. He gave thoughtful answers praising Hogwarts and its teachers, but Skeeter’s question about whether he had worked entirely alone left Professor McGonagall displeased.

• Will declined sweets from the Weasley Brothers and told them Professor McGonagall had summoned him.
• Professor McGonagall introduced Will to Rita Skeeter and photographer Lydon Byrne in her office.
• Rita asked to interview Will by the Black Lake, but Professor McGonagall refused because of the cold and the Dementors.
• Rita asked Will about his interest in magic and the challenges of starting late, and he praised his curiosity, Hogwarts, and his teachers.
• Rita asked whether Will had completed all his research without anyone’s help, and Professor McGonagall’s smile vanished.

Will completed an interview with Rita Skeeter, carefully avoiding sensational claims and presenting himself as a focused Hogwarts student. After Skeeter left with his gift, Will and Professor McGonagall discovered that the gift had been an emerald-green beetle, which shattered outside the castle.

• Will answered Skeeter's questions about his research, doubts, and future plans without giving her material for a scandalous story.
• Will discussed his background, habits, and friendship with Harry while steering away from controversial topics about the wizarding world.
• Skeeter and the cameraman photographed Will for the interview, creating an image that later became part of his public persona.
• Will gave Skeeter an emerald-green box as a gift, and Professor McGonagall reminded him that the interview had been recorded on a crystal.
• Outside the castle, an emerald-green beetle fell from Skeeter's hand and shattered on the ground.

Rita Skeeter’s flattering interview made Will Behrens famous, while a rival article sparked a public feud over his character. Will’s growing popularity raised his Charisma to the human limit, and the system began assessing him for a bonus ability.

• Rita Skeeter hid the box warning that her secret was known and hurried away in fear.
• The Daily Prophet published Skeeter’s glowing interview with Will Behrens, boosting his reputation among ordinary wizards.
• Streeka Attrie attacked Will in a rival article, prompting arguments among readers and a two-week newspaper feud with Skeeter.
• Will received many Charisma notifications as public attention and admiration grew.
• Will’s Charisma reached level six and the human limit, and the system detected his Magic-Blessed Body before offering him a bonus ability.

Will paused his bonus ability selection and went to Professor Dumbledore to ask about magic’s response. Dumbledore’s playful mood vanished when Will raised the subject, leaving him under the wizard’s intense scrutiny.

• Will considered the four bonus abilities and paused his selection to give himself more time.
• Will told Professor Sprout he felt unwell and asked to go to the Hospital Wing.
• Professor Sprout sent Neville with Will, but Will told Neville to return after a few minutes while he went to see Dumbledore.
• Will entered Dumbledore’s office and declined the dessert Dumbledore offered.
• Will asked Dumbledore about magic’s response, and Dumbledore turned solemn and fixed his gaze on him.

Will asked Dumbledore whether his faster construction of Charms meant Magic had begun responding to him, and Dumbledore warned him about the dangers of that connection. Will chose Emotion Weaving as his bonus ability, while the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers announced its invitation for him to join.

• Will told Dumbledore he had been building Charms structures faster and asked whether Magic was responding to him.
• Dumbledore explained that magical exhaustion came from the mind and used Obscurials to show how Magic could become a force that consumed its wielder.
• Dumbledore revealed that he had received a response from Magic when he was older and warned Will not to become too absorbed in magic and knowledge.
• Will left the Headmaster's Office and chose Emotion Weaving from the paused bonus ability selection.
• The Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers announced that it intended to invite Will Behrens to join.

The Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers announced that it had invited Will Behrens to join, defending its review of his research at a press conference. The announcement was thrown into turmoil when Fernando publicly accused Will’s Potion Transfiguration paper of concealing a flaw involving a New Rune.

• The society completed its investigation and approved Will’s admission after testing his research and reviewing his background.
• Rock Rowle told reporters that Will’s Wolfsbane Potion and Potion Transfiguration research had passed rigorous review and that his age did not change the society’s standards.
• Rowle defended Will’s independence, saying the society had examined his records and experimental data and had spoken with him at length.
• Fernando rushed onto the stage and declared that he opposed Will’s admission despite the committee’s vote.
• Fernando claimed Will’s paper concealed a flaw in its transfiguration process because the final stage appeared to begin from a New Rune.
• Rowle tried to stop Fernando, while reporters seized on the accusation.

Fernando publicly accused Will Behrens of concealing part of his Sleeping Charm research, causing a scandal that dominated the wizarding newspapers and unsettled Hogwarts. After the professors offered to help him respond, Will decided to publish New Runes and stir up the Wizarding World further.

• Fernando interrupted the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers press conference and demanded that Will reveal the concealed part of his work.
• Rock Rowle argued that the Society had approved Will's membership, but Fernando rejected the decision and accused the review committee of overlooking hidden steps in Will's research.
• Rita Skeeter and other reporters seized on the confrontation, and the next day's newspapers spread doubts about Will and the Society's decision.
• Lucius Malfoy raged at Rock Rowle, while Hogwarts students debated the reports as Will received the Society's membership invitation.
• Snape brought Will to an empty classroom, where Dumbledore, Professor Flitwick, and Professor Babbling offered him support.
• Will calmly read the newspaper and decided to publish New Runes rather than issue a response.

After Fernando challenged Will’s paper, Dumbledore and the professors gave Will a week in an empty tower to finish his research and investigate who had forced the issue. Professor Flitwick overheard Juan de León accusing Will of fraud and confronted him.

• Professor Flitwick, Snape, Professor Babbling, and Dumbledore agreed to give Will a week to complete his paper, and Snape pledged his reputation on him.
• Dumbledore and Snape suspected Rock Rowle might have acted to pressure Will into revealing his research, and Dumbledore planned to investigate with Lucius Malfoy.
• Snape told Dumbledore that he had found no trace related to Black and again suggested Lupin might be helping him, but Dumbledore defended Lupin.
• Professor Flitwick took Will to an empty Hogwarts tower and prepared it as a temporary place for him to work.
• Professor Flitwick heard Juan de León call Will a fraud and confronted him, pointing out that he was the paper’s second author.

Will continued working on his Sleeping Runes paper while rumors about his research spread through Hogwarts. After Snape, Flitwick, and Babbling publicly defended him, researchers began to suspect that Will’s work on Potion Transfiguration involved Ancient Runes, though they dismissed the idea as impossible.

• Professor Flitwick extended Juan de León’s detention by two weeks and ordered him to patrol the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid after he spread rumors about Will.
• Will worked on presenting his Sleeping Runes paper in a form that wizards could understand.
• Harry and the Weasley Brothers discussed Will’s disappearance while returning from Quidditch practice.
• Rumors about Will intensified around Hogwarts as students speculated about Behrens’s questioning and whether the professors had been deceived.
• Snape published a statement declaring that Will’s research had been conducted under his supervision, and Flitwick and Babbling soon issued statements defending him.
• Researchers reconsidered Will’s Potion Transfiguration paper and conjectured that he had used Ancient Runes, but dismissed the possibility because of his age.

Will finished his paper on the new runes he called Origin Runes, and Professor Flitwick and Professor Babbling helped revise it before sending it out for publication. Will returned to the Room of Requirement exhausted, while snow began falling over Hogwarts.

• Will completed his paper with help from a Time-Turner and brought it to Professor Flitwick for review.
• Professor Flitwick praised the paper and suggested cutting sections that were unnecessary for readers to understand the runes.
• Professor Flitwick and Will visited Professor Babbling, who discussed the runes with Will as they revised the paper.
• Professor Flitwick arranged for an owl to carry the completed paper from Hogwarts for publication.
• Will collapsed into bed in the Room of Requirement, and Professor Flitwick noticed that it had started snowing.

Harry was barred from visiting Hogsmeade, while George and Fred offered to help him reach Honeydukes through a secret passage. Will visited Hogsmeade and spotted Fudge near Honeydukes as Harry, Ron, and Neville approached through the passage.

• Professor Flitwick stopped Harry from going to Hogsmeade because a criminal was still at large, and Harry gave Ron money to buy sweets for him.
• George and Fred showed Harry their color-changing sweets, and he turned red after trying one.
• George and Fred suggested taking Harry to Honeydukes through a secret passage, then led him and Neville toward its exit.
• Will went to Hogsmeade, bought two bottles of Firewhisky from Madam Rosmerta for old Seamus, and visited him.
• Will headed to Honeydukes and noticed Fudge passing by with several wizards as Harry, Ron, and Neville made their way through the secret passage beneath him.

Will helped the freezing Sirius by bringing him food, blankets, and firewood, then went to the Three Broomsticks, where he encountered Fudge and several Hogwarts professors. Fudge discussed the Dementors and Sirius with the pub crowd, while Harry and the Weasley Brothers remained unnoticed nearby.

• Will bought sweets at Honeydukes, and Harry used the secret passage beneath the shop to join the Weasley Brothers in Hogsmeade.
• Harry agreed to buy a cloak and get Butterbeer with Fred and George, despite Mr. Strange urging him to return to Hogwarts.
• Will brought Sirius food and blankets, lit a fire, and used Accio to gather firewood before leaving the Shrieking Shack.
• At the Three Broomsticks, Professor Flitwick introduced Will to Fudge, who praised his work and invited him to consider joining the Ministry.
• Rosmerta asked Fudge about the Dementors, and he said they were needed to guard against Black and that he had come to speak with Dumbledore about their previous intrusion into Hogwarts.
• The pub crowd began discussing Black, while McGonagall and Flitwick reminisced with Lupin and Harry and the Weasley Brothers stayed hidden in a corner.

Will guided the conversation at the Three Broomsticks toward Lupin’s memories of James, Black, and Peter while Harry secretly listened. Lupin began explaining their choice of Secret Keeper, but Snape arrived looking for Potter before he finished.

• Will confirmed that the black-robed figure in the corner was Harry, who was hiding there with the Weasley Brothers and listening to the conversation.
• Lupin described the Marauders’ friendship and said he wanted to protect Harry, catch Sirius, and make him atone for the past.
• McGonagall encouraged Lupin to focus on keeping Harry safe and teaching, and Lupin thanked Will for helping him.
• Lupin began recounting how they chose a Secret Keeper, leaving Harry eager to hear the rest of the story.
• Snape entered the Three Broomsticks and announced that he had come to find Potter.

Harry interrupted the Three Broomsticks gathering to question Lupin about his father and the Secret Keeper, and Will returned to Hogwarts. Will asked Lupin to teach him the Patronus Charm, then searched for happy memories and wondered whether Emotion Weaving could help him succeed.

• Harry confronted Lupin about his father and asked whether Black had been the Potters' Secret Keeper, but Snape and McGonagall escorted him back to Hogwarts.
• McGonagall demanded an explanation from the Weasley twins, and they warned Will that they would talk later before returning to school.
• Will reunited with his friends at dinner and distributed presents while Fudge dined with Dumbledore and promised to address the Dementor issue.
• Will asked Lupin for help learning the Patronus Charm, and Lupin arranged a lesson for the following evening and advised him to recall happy, hopeful memories.
• Will reflected on his past and his limited happy memories, then considered whether Emotion Weaving could help him cast the Patronus Charm.

Will tested whether Emotion Weaving could strengthen his own happiness and found that it produced only a cloud of silver mist when he attempted the Patronus Charm. In the Library, he read the story of Ellius and his mouse Patronus, whose true power was revealed when Dementors attacked his village, and the chapter ended as Lachidian summoned a Patronus to confront him.

• Will used Emotion Weaving on himself, but his attempt to cast a corporeal Patronus failed.
• Will reread a paper about Andros and went to the Library to find more material on the Patronus Charm.
• Will found The Tale of Ilius, which described a village whose people used Patronuses to defend themselves from Lachidian and his Dementors.
• Lachidian threatened to destroy the village unless Eliana's parents gave her to him, and the villagers prepared to fight.
• When the villagers were overwhelmed, Ellius's tiny mouse Patronus drove back the Dementors.
• Lachidian entered the battle and summoned a Patronus to oppose Ellius's mouse, and something terrible happened.

Will read a fairy tale about a wizard whose Patronus Charm summoned maggots that devoured him, and wondered whether evil wizards could cast the charm. Meanwhile, Harry told Ron and Neville that McGonagall had banned him from Hogsmeade, then began revealing a secret passage before Ron chased Crookshanks away.

• Will finished The Tale of Ilius and concluded that joyful memories, rather than a wizard’s goodness, were key to casting a Patronus, though he could not explain Lachidian’s deadly spell.
• Will packed books and papers into his Book Trunk after Madam Pince announced that it was nearly eight.
• Neville and Ron realized they had forgotten to buy the sweets Harry had asked for, then met him on the way to the Common Room.
• Harry told Ron and Neville that McGonagall had forbidden him from visiting Hogsmeade until Black was caught and required a professor to supervise his Quidditch practice.
• Harry explained how he had been caught at the Three Broomsticks and began telling Ron and Neville where the secret passage was.
• Ron kicked at Crookshanks as the cat approached Harry, interrupting Harry’s explanation.

Will’s new runes drew acclaim from the Rune Association and astonished readers across the wizarding world. At Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall summoned Will to meet someone.

• Professor Flitwick eagerly read newspaper reports announcing Will’s new runes, while the Rune Association praised him and sent members to Hogwarts.
• Fernando read the news and realized that Will had created an entirely new set of runes, making his accusations of misconduct seem foolish.
• Molly and Arthur Weasley discussed Will’s achievement, then Arthur received McGonagall’s letter and learned George and Fred had taken Harry on a dangerous adventure.
• George and Fred carried tools to serve detention by helping Professor Sprout tend the Whomping Willow.
• Professor McGonagall called Will over and told him someone wanted to see him.

George and Fred learned how to safely subdue the Whomping Willow while tending its roots, then noticed an opening near it linked to the secret passage on the Map. Will accepted the Rune Association’s invitation to visit over Christmas and began practicing the Patronus Charm with Lupin and Harry.

• Professor Sprout showed George and Fred how to strike the Whomping Willow’s knot and secure it with magical tape.
• George and Fred cleared debris from the Willow’s roots and learned that Fire-boring Moth larvae were damaging it.
• After Professor Sprout left, Fred and George spotted a wide opening beneath the Whomping Willow and recalled the secret passage on the Map.
• Members of the Rune Association invited Will to visit during Christmas, and he accepted after confirming he could consult most of its collection.
• Will spent time with the Hippogriffs, then joined Lupin and Harry for a Patronus Charm lesson.
• At Lupin’s request, Will raised his Wand and began casting, “Expecto Patronum.”

During Lupin’s Patronus lesson, Will’s spell transformed into a swarm of black snakes when the Boggart became a Dementor, revealing a dangerous reaction tied to his cold rage. Will visited Dumbledore to explain what happened, and Dumbledore listened with a troubled expression.

• Will’s Patronus produced only a brief wisp of silver mist, while Harry also managed to conjure a cloud of mist during practice.
• Lupin released a Boggart that became a Dementor, and Will cast a Patronus before Harry could act.
• Will’s spell formed black snakes that lunged at everyone before dissolving, while Lupin’s silver Patronus drove the Dementor back and he shut the Boggart away.
• Will calmed down and explained that the Dementor had stripped away his Joy and triggered a cold rage that changed his Patronus; Lupin told him to stop practicing and consult Dumbledore.
• Will visited Dumbledore and described the incident, leaving Dumbledore looking troubled.

Will asked Dumbledore about his unusual Patronus, and Dumbledore revealed that he had long suspected Will possessed extraordinary affinity for people and magic. Dumbledore suggested Will might be partly an Obscurial, leaving Will to connect the theory to the former Will’s death in a magical outburst.

• Dumbledore explained that Patronus mutations were rare and discussed the cases of Andros the Invincible and Lachidian with Will.
• Dumbledore admitted he had once distrusted Will, used Legilimency on him, and worried that Tom’s Diary might influence him.
• Dumbledore told Will that he had an exceptional affinity for both people and magic.
• Dumbledore said Will’s strong soul and traces of dark magic made him suspect Will might be half an Obscurial.
• Will recalled that the former little Will had died in a magical outburst.

In 1985 London, young Will Behrens endured abuse and imprisonment at the hands of his alcoholic mother, Dorothy. After she locked him away again, a strange force lifted him from his body before he fell back and lost consciousness.

• Will Behrens grew up surrounded by alcohol and tobacco, while Dorothy repeatedly locked him in a dark storeroom as punishment.
• After being freed from a two-day confinement, Will wished Dorothy a happy birthday, but she reacted with anger and blamed him for ruining her life.
• Will accidentally knocked a bottle off the table, and Dorothy beat him and locked him in the storeroom again.
• As Will cried in the darkness, a strange force made him float out of his body before he dropped back into it and passed out.

Will discussed his possible connection to an Obscurus with Dumbledore, while George and Fred planned to explore the passage beneath the Whomping Willow. Sirius waited in the Shrieking Shack for Lupin, who arrived looking furious.

• Will considered how his painful childhood and possible death and return might have shaped his Patronus, and Dumbledore advised him not to rush the spell.
• George and Fred discussed how to reach the Whomping Willow’s knot, and Hermione suggested using magic before telling them they had detention with Snape.
• Sirius searched for a Christmas gift for Harry and hoped Lupin would join him to help catch Peter Pettigrew.
• Sirius transformed into a Black Dog when someone approached the Shrieking Shack, and Lupin entered with his Wand and a furious expression.

Remus Lupin heard Sirius Black’s account of how Peter Pettigrew betrayed James and Lily and framed Sirius, then joined Sirius in deciding to catch Peter and protect Harry. Their reunion was interrupted when Severus Snape approached the room.

• Remus confronted Sirius and bound him while demanding to hear his account.
• Sirius explained that Peter had been made Secret Keeper, betrayed James and Lily, framed Sirius for the explosion, and survived as Scabbers.
• Remus realized Peter might be Ron Weasley’s pet rat, freed Sirius, and embraced him.
• Remus and Sirius agreed to catch Peter and protect Harry, but hid Sirius as a dog when Fisher arrived with food.
• Remus saw Severus Snape approaching and grew wary.