Recaps

During a Hogsmeade visit, Rita Skeeter tried to interview Will, but Barty Crouch took him aside with a message from the Master. Crouch revealed the Second Task’s details and gave Will spell notes, then offered to ensure a woman obeyed Will’s orders.

• Rita Skeeter approached Will at the Three Broomsticks for an interview, but Sylvia told her Will had come to relax.
• Crouch asked Will to speak with him alone and relayed the Master’s orders to protect Potter and prevent him from withdrawing from the tournament.
• Crouch warned that Karkaroff was looking for a chance to tamper with the Goblet of Fire and revealed that the Second Task would take place in the Black Lake.
• Crouch explained that the champions would rescue people they cared about underwater, with Beauxbatons and Durmstrang entering twenty minutes late and a Durmstrang contestant also hidden in the lake.
• Crouch gave Will notes on underwater and other spells, then offered to make a woman obey Will’s instructions.

Will and Sylvia prepared for the Yule Ball as Christmas arrived at Hogwarts, where students from all three schools gathered for the Triwizard Tournament celebration. After helping Ron fix his dress robes, Will and the others headed back to the Castle as the Great Hall was transformed for the ball.

• Will and Crouch agreed to stick to their original plan for the Second Task, then Will returned to Sylvia at the Three Broomsticks.
• Sylvia showed Will the silver-gray dress robes she had ordered for him and warned she would not dance with him if he wore his usual black robes.
• On Christmas Day, students prepared for the Yule Ball while heavy snow covered Hogwarts.
• Ron struggled with his old-fashioned dress robes, and Will used Transfiguration to turn Ron's black robes into a flashy purple formal outfit.
• Will and Sylvia joined the others heading back to the Castle, where the Great Hall had been decorated for the Yule Ball.

At the Yule Ball, Will and Sylvia made a striking entrance and drew attention as they danced together. Sylvia began to tell Will something as the chapter ended.

• The champions and their partners entered the Great Hall, including Harry with Sophie Robert, Cedric with Cho Chang, and Will with Sylvia.
• Will used Emotion Weaving to heighten the guests’ favorable impressions of him and Sylvia.
• Percy boasted to Harry about attending in Crouch’s place before Dumbledore announced dinner.
• The champions ate amid tension between the schools, with Karkaroff repeatedly interrupting Krum and Hermione.
• Will invited Sylvia to dance, and they moved smoothly together despite Will saying he had learned the steps the night before.
• Sylvia wished Will a Merry Christmas and began to say something more.

Will and Sylvia shared a romantic dance at the Yule Ball while Hogwarts students and professors celebrated around them. After the song ended, they left the Great Hall and walked through the snow toward the Black Lake.

• Will and Sylvia danced together as the students and professors filled the Great Hall with music and celebration.
• Harry danced with Sophie, who teased him and helped him relax, while other students enjoyed the ball with their partners.
• Will and Sylvia finished their dance to applause and left the dance floor side by side.
• Will transformed Sylvia’s pearls into a warm coat, and they stepped outside into the snowfall.
• Sylvia took Will’s arm and led him across the snowy lawn toward the Black Lake, where he used charms to keep her warm.

Beside the Black Lake, Will and Sylvia confessed their feelings and Will showed her a star-like display of the Patronus Charm. Their magic illuminated Hogwarts, leaving the watching professors and students—including Dumbledore—staring in awe.

• Sylvia told Will how meeting him had changed the life she expected to lead and recalled dreaming of a future self who promised she would be happy at Hogwarts.
• Will warned Sylvia that his path would bring danger and uncertainty, but Sylvia said she wanted to stand beside him and that emotion and love were powerful magic.
• Will and Sylvia kissed, and Will conjured silvery Patronus motes around them.
• Will used the Flying Charm to carry Sylvia above the Black Lake, then spread countless silver lights across the lake, Forbidden Forest, and Hogwarts Castle.
• Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick noticed the lights from the Great Hall, and the watching crowd and Dumbledore were left in awe.

Will used the Patronus Charm to fill the sky above Hogwarts with stars, sharing the spectacle with Sylvia before they returned to the castle. After the Yule Ball, romance distracted Harry and Cedric from their training, and Will arrived at the new Training Ground to inspect it.

• Will cast a starry Patronus that left Hogwarts and Hogsmeade gazing silently at the sky, then kissed Sylvia beneath the stars.
• Dumbledore called the display happiness and predicted that the ball would become a legend.
• Will and Sylvia landed by the Black Lake, promised to see the stars again, and walked back toward the castle hand in hand.
• After the ball, Harry and Cedric became distracted by romance during their training, prompting Professor McGonagall to scold them.
• Will entered the Training Ground and asked Professor McGonagall if he could look around first.

Will trained underwater in Dumbledore’s expanded lake, learning more about the Undetectable Extension Charm before testing his skills against magical obstacles. As he continued deeper, Professor McGonagall used his calm, precise performance to instruct Harry and Cedric.

• Will admired the vast Training Ground and asked Professor McGonagall about Dumbledore’s Undetectable Extension Charm, gaining Charms experience as she explained it.
• Harry and Cedric emerged from the freezing water, and Will warmed them with Wandless Magic.
• Will entered the lake wearing a Muggle diving suit and a Bubble-Head Charm while Harry watched through the crystal ball.
• Will trapped a Haywood Stingweed in a metal cage and petrified three attacking Grindylows.
• Professor McGonagall praised Will’s underwater composure and urged Harry to improve his Bubble-Head Charm and breathing as Cedric watched the crystal ball.

Will completed the underwater training course flawlessly, then watched Harry continue practicing while considering how to improve his ancient Magic. In Little Hangleton, Lucius Malfoy and Barty Crouch Jr. discovered that Old Riddle’s remains had been cremated and scattered, leaving them unable to recover the bones needed for Voldemort’s plan.

• Will shrank the Fish Monster, retrieved the target, and finished the training course in under twenty minutes without making a mistake.
• Harry entered the water to practice again while Will watched and thought about improving his Transfiguration, Charms, and ancient Magic.
• Barty Crouch Jr. and Lucius Malfoy found Muggle construction workers at the Little Hangleton cemetery and used the Imperius Curse to learn what had happened.
• Lucius learned that Old Riddle’s remains had been cremated with the other cemetery remains and that the ashes had been scattered, leaving their whereabouts unknown.
• Lucius worried about how Voldemort would react when he learned the bones were gone.

Will prepared Felix Felicis at Hogwarts and promised Sylvia they would watch the stars in a few days. At Malfoy Manor, Voldemort learned that his father’s remains had been destroyed and considered Lucius’s proposal to use a Time-Turner, then began explaining the dangers of changing time.

• Will finished preparing Felix Felicis and went to dinner with Sylvia.
• Sylvia asked Will to watch the stars with her, and he promised they would do so in a couple of days.
• Lucius reported to Voldemort that Muggle officials had disposed of the remains from the Little Hangleton graveyard.
• Voldemort told Barty Crouch Jr. that his father’s bones were essential to the resurrection ritual and silenced him when he suggested another method.
• Lucius proposed using a Time-Turner to recover the bones, and Voldemort explained that powerful wizards risked attracting time’s attention when they changed the past.

Voldemort considered using a Time-Turner to alter the past but lacked a way to breach the Department of Mysteries and a suitable user. Will met Lucius at the Echoing Fireplace, where he detected Rita Skeeter spying on them in beetle form.

• Voldemort told Lucius and Barty Crouch Jr. that changing time would require breaching the Department of Mysteries and finding someone to use the Time-Turner.
• Will continued brewing Felix Felicis and Strengthening Solution, losing several cauldrons while recording and correcting problems.
• Will arranged to meet Lucius at the Echoing Fireplace after receiving his letter.
• Lucius advised Will to conceal himself because he was Voldemort's pupil, then explained that he had declined Rita Skeeter's interview request.
• Will sealed and silenced the private room, accused someone of following Lucius, and revealed that Skeeter was spying as a beetle.

Rita Skeeter was caught spying on Will and Lucius, and Lucius erased her memory. Lucius then revealed Voldemort’s plan to attack the Department of Mysteries during the Triwizard Tournament’s final task and use a Time-Turner, leaving Will worried about what might happen if the plan succeeded.

• Rita Skeeter admitted she had hidden in Lucius’s dress robes and followed him through the Floo Network.
• Will stopped Lucius from killing Skeeter, and Lucius used Obliviate and Stupefy on her.
• Lucius told Will that Voldemort wanted a Time-Turner from the Department of Mysteries.
• Lucius explained that the Death Eaters planned to strike during the final task, when Ministry officials were at Hogwarts and Harry Potter would be sent away by a tampered Triwizard Cup.
• Lucius revealed that Voldemort had named Will and Barty Crouch Jr. as candidates to use the Time-Turner, and Will feared the consequences.

Will informed Dumbledore that Voldemort wanted a Time-Turner, and Dumbledore explained the resurrection ritual and the dangers of time travel. Dumbledore resolved to destroy Voldemort and his Horcruxes, while Will agreed to help.

• Will told Dumbledore that Lucius had reported Voldemort’s plan to obtain a Time-Turner.
• Dumbledore deduced that Voldemort had intended to use a resurrection ritual requiring a servant’s flesh, an enemy’s blood, and a father’s bone.
• Dumbledore warned Will that powerful wizards and major changes drew time’s attention, and that changing established facts carried serious risks.
• Dumbledore said Will would use the Time-Turner rather than let Death Eaters travel through time.
• Dumbledore vowed to put an end to Voldemort and his Horcruxes, and Will agreed to do what he could.

Dumbledore told Will he planned to remove the other Time-Turner candidates before the Department of Mysteries battle, while Will continued studying Transfiguration and preparing for the future. As the Second Task approached, Sophie warned Harry to train underwater, and Will went to Grimmauld Place after spending the morning in Hogsmeade with Sylvia.

• Dumbledore told Will to cooperate with Voldemort while he searched for and destroyed the Horcruxes, and Will resolved to strengthen his Transfiguration.
• Sophie took Harry to the Black Lake, warned him that the Second Task would be underwater, and invited him to visit France over the summer.
• After Harry left, Sophie told another Beauxbatons girl that she hoped to win him over for the Robert Family, though she also considered Will a valuable prospect.
• Will studied Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall, continued experimenting with food transfiguration, and began learning Apparition as February approached.
• Sylvia woke Will to spend the morning in Hogsmeade, where they encountered Harry giving Sophie Gillyweed.
• Will spent the morning with Sylvia, saw her back to Hogwarts after lunch, and used Floo powder to travel to Grimmauld Place.

The Triwizard Tournament’s second task began at the Black Lake, where champions had three hours to find and rescue their hostages. Will descended with a guide marking possible locations, while Beauxbatons and Durmstrang waited out their delayed start.

• Ludo Bagman announced the lake task, its three-hour limit, and the twenty-minute delay for Beauxbatons and Durmstrang; Durmstrang also had to rescue Semyon first.
• Cedric Diggory, Harry Potter, and Will entered the water after preparing with spells, gillyweed, and Transfiguration.
• Will studied his guide as he descended through the murky lake, then transfigured two fish and waterweed into an underwater carriage.
• Bagman reported on the Hogwarts champions’ progress as the twenty-minute delay ended and the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang champions were allowed into the water.

Harry reached the underwater village to rescue Ron, but armed Merpeople attacked him when he refused to turn back. As Harry struggled against them, Strange warned him to eat a biscuit just as another Merperson charged.

• Harry swam through the underwater village and spotted Ron tied to a rock inside a dry area.
• Harry tried to explain to the Merpeople that he had come to rescue Ron, but they ordered him to go back.
• A Merperson lunged at Harry with a Spear, and Harry disarmed and stunned him before fighting off the others with spells.
• Several Merpeople grabbed Harry, leaving him struggling to keep hold of his Wand.
• Strange warned Harry that a Merperson was charging and told him to eat a biscuit, so Harry pulled one from his Kabuto and stuffed it into his mouth.

Harry rescued Ron from the Black Lake in under thirty minutes, then advertised the Weasley shop before the spectators. Meanwhile, Krum fought through a grindylow nest and reached the hostage at the second marked location.

• Harry transformed into a shark, drove off the merpeople, and reached Ron despite being wounded by a spear.
• Harry freed Ron, gave him gillyweed, and swam with him to the surface, becoming the first champion to rescue a hostage.
• Harry used Ludo Bagman's question to advertise the Weasley shop's shark biscuits and prank products, delighting Fred and George.
• Krum encountered and killed a group of grindylows blocking the first location, but found no hostage in the cave there.
• Krum swam to the second marked location, an underwater graveyard, and found the hostage.

Krum fought off Kelpies, tamed two of them, and rescued Semyon from the Underwater Cemetery. They mounted the Kelpies and headed deeper into the Lake, while Will continued steadily toward the hostages in his Fish Carriage.

• Krum was ambushed by Kelpies while approaching Semyon and suffered claw wounds as he fought them off.
• Krum recalled how to tame Kelpies, forced bridles onto two of them, and drove the others away.
• Krum freed Semyon, who took his Wand and cast a Bubble-Head Charm before they rode off in separate directions.
• Bagman announced that Krum and Semyon had become Underwater Knights as they sped into the darkness.
• Will rode his Fish Carriage through the Underwater Grassland, following his parchment toward the hostages.

Will rode a Fish Carriage through the lake, fought off the Merpeople guarding Sylvia, and rescued her. He then set off with Sylvia in the carriage, finishing at nearly the same time as Marc Pierre.

• Will encountered Phoebe underwater, and she searched for a creature to use as a mount after seeing his Fish Carriage.
• Will reached the Merpeople village and found Sylvia tied to a rock inside a pocket of air.
• Will defeated the Merpeople guarding the village with spells and his enlarged, armored Giant Fish.
• Will untied Sylvia, gave her a diving suit and a Bubble-Head Charm, and took her back into the water.
• Will and Sylvia rode toward the finish as Ludo announced that Will had rescued his hostage almost as quickly as Marc Pierre.

Marc Pierre and Fleur Delacour worked together to rescue Marc’s girlfriend from underwater ruins guarded by a Giant Squid, while Cedric Diggory freed Cho Chang from a shipwreck. The two Durmstrang Champions were nearly finished ahead of them, riding Kelpies.

• Fleur Delacour found Marc Pierre watching a Giant Squid guarding the ruins where his girlfriend was held, and offered to distract it while he rescued her.
• Fleur drew the squid away with her Veela ancestry as Marc entered the ruins, freed his girlfriend, and escaped with her.
• Fleur used clouds of ink to help Marc get away, and Bagman praised the Beauxbatons team’s cooperation.
• Cedric Diggory lured the Grindylows guarding a Spanish galleon into a rocky gap and sealed them inside.
• Cedric freed Cho Chang from the wreck, shielded her from a falling beam, and swam upward with her.
• Bagman announced Cedric’s rescue and noted that the two Durmstrang Champions were nearly done riding Kelpies.

Will and Sylvia leisurely explored the Black Lake while the other Champions rescued their hostages and raced back to shore. Krum and Fleur reached shore ahead of the others, but Semyon and Ivan became embroiled in underwater duels as the competition descended into a free-for-all.

• Will and Sylvia toured the underwater scenery in their Fish Carriage and watched the other Champions compete.
• Semyon lured most of the Merpeople away, seized the Durmstrang girl, and escaped on his Kelpie; Ivan overcame Kappas, while Krum rescued Hermione early.
• Krum reached shore in second place and Fleur arrived third with Gabrielle, earning cheers for Durmstrang and Beauxbatons.
• Semyon attacked Marc Pierre underwater, and Marc fought back while protecting his girlfriend.
• Sophie attacked Ivan to repay him for stealing her dragon egg, and the two exchanged spells underwater.
• Bagman announced that the fights between Semyon and Marc and between Sophie and Ivan had turned the rescue into a free-for-all.

Marc Pierre reached shore first, followed by Semyon Petrov and Cedric Diggory, leaving all three schools tied at thirteen points as a Silver-Gray Carriage burst from the Black Lake. The final three competitors remained, and the carriage’s arrival interrupted the contest.

• Semyon Petrov abandoned his fight with Marc Pierre to help Ivan, leaving Marc free to swim for shore.
• Semyon and Ivan overwhelmed Sophie, who was struck in the foot while Cedric Diggory and Cho Chang swam toward the bank.
• Marc reached shore in fourth place, giving Beauxbatons the lead with thirteen points.
• Semyon reached shore in fifth place and Cedric followed in sixth, bringing Durmstrang and Hogwarts to thirteen points each.
• Two Giant Fish burst from the lake, pulling an enormous Silver-Gray Carriage behind them.

Will Behrens defended his lead against Ivan and Sophie to finish seventh, helping Hogwarts win the second task by one point. Afterward, Dumbledore met with Will and revealed that he had called him to discuss something besides the Horcruxes.

• Will Behrens blocked Ivan and Sophie's spells as his Fish Carriage sped toward shore.
• Ivan stunned Sophie, then reached shore in eighth place; Sophie came ninth with Poppy's help.
• Bagman announced Hogwarts had won the second task with sixteen points, ahead of Durmstrang with fifteen and Beauxbatons with fourteen.
• Will ate with Sylvia and the Lestranges in Hogsmeade, then went to Dumbledore's office instead of attending the celebration.
• Dumbledore said he was tracking the Horcruxes and told Will he had called him to discuss something else.

Dumbledore brought Will to a Muggle village plagued by creatures that fed on sleepers’ dreams and caused nightmares. Will recognized that the attacks were connected to his earlier Patronus experiments, but he was left wondering why the creatures had appeared again after Christmas.

• Dumbledore took Will to a village near a valley where Tom had once stayed and explained that he had sensed something like Will’s Patronus Charm there.
• While they waited, Dumbledore taught Will Transfiguration, and Will gained experience.
• Will saw small magical figures enter the village homes and noticed that they avoided houses with horseshoes above their doors.
• Dumbledore showed Will a creature feeding on a sleeping man and identified it as a mære, or Nightmare.
• Dumbledore explained that Nightmare attacks had resurfaced among Muggles after Christmas, and Will connected the earlier outbreak to his Christmas Dark Wizard experiments.

Will and Dumbledore discussed how Muggles’ minds might affect magic, and Will concluded that wizards acted as catalysts who could make legends real. With Voldemort’s plans nearing the Third Task, Dumbledore began preparing Will to become powerful enough to face the future.

• Will wondered whether Muggles’ emotions and beliefs could make mythical beings real, but admitted he could not yet explain the Nightmares.
• Dumbledore asked Will what a wizard was, and Will said wizards were gods of the magical world who used their minds to shape reality.
• Will reasoned that Muggles possessed Power of the Mind but needed a wizard as a catalyst, and that some beings, such as Santa Claus, became legends because they were wizards.
• Dumbledore praised Will’s insight and said that he had taken a long time to understand the same truths.
• Dumbledore warned that Voldemort’s plans would begin during the Third Task and promised to train Will to become a powerful wizard who knew how to use his strength.
• Dumbledore apologized for suspecting Will of conducting secret experiments and entrusted him with preparing for the danger ahead.

Will trained in advanced Transfiguration under Dumbledore while Dumbledore searched for Horcruxes. Their lessons were interrupted when a deranged Barty Crouch attacked Harry and Krum near the Forbidden Forest, and Dumbledore ordered Hagrid to take Crouch to Poppy.

• Dumbledore taught Will advanced Transfiguration each morning, and Will's skill rapidly approached level six.
• Dumbledore admitted that his search for Horcruxes had yielded few leads as he walked with Will near the Black Lake.
• Will and Dumbledore heard a commotion and saw a distress signal near the Forbidden Forest, so they hurried toward it.
• Barty Crouch shouted incoherently about his son, the Dark Lord, Harry Potter, and Bertha before stunning Harry and Krum.
• Hagrid disarmed Crouch and seized him, and Dumbledore ordered Hagrid to take him to Poppy.
• Karkaroff watched tensely as Dumbledore followed Hagrid, and Will came up beside him.