Recaps

Will studied Stitching Theory and planned to use its staged approach to transform the Despair Curse into the Happiness Charm. A few days later, Percy received a letter from the Ministry of Magic and hurried to Dumbledore's office.

• Will read about Stitching Theory, the Stitching Charm, and the Skinning Curse, then decided to reverse the Despair Curse one layer at a time.
• Will tested Bellatrix as he investigated ways to separate the curse's mental despair from its physical pain.
• Percy wrote an unsent letter apologizing to his family and reflected on how Dumbledore's power had changed his view of the Wizarding World.
• Percy received a letter bearing the Ministry of Magic's seal and appeared in Dumbledore's office less than ten minutes later.

Dumbledore learned that Fudge and the Death Eaters were both heading to Romania, and he suspected Tom planned to target Fudge. He told Will he was going to Romania to intervene, then revealed that his more important reason for summoning Will concerned Gellert.

• Dumbledore read Fudge's letter urging Percy to work with Macnair to remove him and learned that Fudge planned to visit Romania.
• Dumbledore asked Percy to warn Charlie about Death Eater activity in Romania, and Percy worried that his estrangement from his brother would make Charlie ignore him.
• Will received Dumbledore's message in his soup and met him after lunch in the Headmaster's Office.
• Dumbledore told Will that Harry had seen Tom's plans and that he suspected Fudge was Tom's target, so he intended to go to Romania.
• Dumbledore told Will that his more important reason for calling him concerned Gellert.

Will left Hogwarts with Dumbledore to visit Grindelwald at Nurmengard, where Grindelwald served them macaroni and advised Will on his spell research. The visit ended with Grindelwald asking how Will was faring as a Prefect.

• Dumbledore arranged for Will to meet Grindelwald the next day, so Will had to miss the Hogsmeade visit.
• In Lupin's Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, Draco and Harry answered questions about hexes while Will studied spell-splicing in his notebook.
• Will and Dumbledore arrived at Nurmengard, where Grindelwald served them macaroni.
• Will discussed his research into the Wound-Stitching Charm, and Grindelwald pointed out flaws in the approach and explained how to improve it.
• After teaching Will for two hours, Grindelwald asked whether people trusted him and believed in him as a Prefect.

Dumbledore was reassured that Will remained focused on magic rather than power, and Grindelwald set aside plans to develop his leadership skills. Before Dumbledore left for Romania, Grindelwald taught Will advanced Transfiguration, leaving Dumbledore more at ease about his trip.

• Will admitted that he had been too busy researching the Water of Despair to carry out his Prefect duties.
• Dumbledore told Grindelwald that Will's lack of interest in his Prefect role showed he was focused on building his magical skills and sense of self.
• Grindelwald reconsidered pushing Will to develop leadership skills and urged him to eat more.
• Dumbledore asked Grindelwald to share anything important with Will before the trip to Romania, and Will requested help with Transfiguration.
• Grindelwald taught Will advanced Transfiguration techniques for hours, and Will filled his notebook with notes.
• Dumbledore and Will returned to Hogwarts late, and Dumbledore watched Will go, feeling reassured before his trip.

Cornelius Fudge visited the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary to promote a partnership and present the agreement as a diplomatic success. The trip seemed to go smoothly until a major incident occurred that night.

• Will continued as usual over the next few days, while Dumbledore's departure from Hogwarts went largely unnoticed.
• Fudge and Claudiu Serbu toured the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary, where officials escorted them through its concealed breeding grounds.
• Fudge praised the sanctuary and celebrated the cooperation agreement with Romania as a diplomatic achievement.
• Fudge toured the dragon habitats, posed for photographs with the sanctuary, and sampled dragon meat at lunch.
• A major incident occurred during Fudge's trip one night.

A group of masked Dark Wizards attacked Cornelius Fudge at the British delegation’s guesthouse in Bucharest, killing his Auror bodyguard. Albus Dumbledore arrived and subdued the attackers, and Fudge recognized them as traitors.

• A group of masked Dark Wizards broke into Fudge’s quarters and killed the Auror guarding him.
• Fudge panicked and begged the attackers to spare his life, offering Ministry money and power.
• Dumbledore appeared and shielded himself from the attackers’ spells before binding them all in a metallic substance.
• Dumbledore closed the dead Auror’s eyes and apologized for arriving too late.
• Fudge recognized the unmasked attackers and accused them of betraying him.

Dumbledore saved Fudge from Death Eaters who planned to replace him and seize control of the Ministry of Magic. Fudge agreed to follow Dumbledore, while Yaxley learned that the mission had failed and Dumbledore was with Fudge.

• Dumbledore used Legilimency on a captured wizard and explained to Fudge that Voldemort had returned and the Death Eaters planned to impersonate him.
• Fudge, terrified and remorseful, promised to follow Dumbledore, who told him to keep the attack secret and said he would protect him.
• Yaxley waited for the Death Eaters assigned to abduct Fudge, insisting that their plan could not have failed.
• Yaxley sent Torin to investigate, and Torin returned to report that Dumbledore was with Fudge.

Dumbledore discovered Yaxley’s Death Eaters planning to attack Fudge and forced them to withdraw, while Will continued experimenting with Spell Fusion and attended Macnair’s Care of Magical Creatures class. The chapter ended with Macnair asking Will to come to his office after class.

• Torin reported seeing Dumbledore near Fudge’s inn, so Yaxley called off the mission and led the Death Eaters away.
• Dumbledore revealed that he had captured Torin, searched his memories, and followed him to Yaxley while keeping Will and Severus safe.
• Will’s attempt to reverse the Despair Curse produced comforting feelings but left its mental damage intact, and the spell’s components killed a test subject.
• Will used a Cold Charm, then knocked himself unconscious with a Sleeping Charm after the Clear-Headed Charm wore off.
• Macnair taught the class about Erumpents and their weaknesses, and Will correctly identified Wilfred Elphick as the first Wizard on record killed by one.
• Macnair awarded Slytherin three points and asked Will to visit his office after class.

Will told Macnair to stop interrupting his reading in class, then agreed to lend Fred and George 1,500 Galleons to help them open a joke shop in Diagon Alley. Fred and George accepted the loan and promised to repay 1,650 Galleons.

• Will told Macnair that he would inform the professor about Dumbledore's absence and ordered him to stop calling on Will in class.
• Will walked toward the High Tower and met Fred and George near the Black Lake.
• Fred and George explained that they wanted to open a shop for their prank products and showed Will their savings of 113 Galleons, 15 Sickles, and 5 Knuts.
• Will offered Fred and George a 1,500-Galleon loan at ten percent interest to fund the shop.
• Fred and George accepted the loan and promised to repay Will 1,650 Galleons.

Will came close to recreating the Happiness Charm after discovering its magical structure, while Lupin reflected on his gratitude to Will and his resolve to protect the children from Voldemort. The chapter ended as footsteps approached the Dungeon after Will’s latest experiment fell silent.

• Will went to the Ninth Floor to prepare for another attempt to transform the Happiness Charm.
• Lupin watched the full moon, remembered how Will’s surgery had freed him, and resolved to protect Will, Harry, Hogwarts, and the Wizarding World.
• Will’s test subject died, but Will realized he had briefly succeeded in reversing the charm and had seen the Happiness Charm’s magical structure.
• Will took another prisoner from the Dungeon and began constructing the Happiness Charm in the subject’s brain, aiming to make it bring genuine happiness rather than control minds.
• The subject made strange laughing and crying sounds before falling silent, and footsteps approached the Dungeon as Bellatrix and the remaining prisoner cowered.

Will perfected the Happiness Charm’s magical structure on Bellatrix and spent several days turning it into a spell. While Hogwarts professors concluded that Will was missing, he reached Charms LV6 in the Laboratory.

• Will abandoned Spell Fusion after it produced an imperfect Happiness Charm that left a test subject mentally damaged and dead.
• Will directly constructed the Happiness Charm’s magical structure on Bellatrix, examined her memories, and recorded the perfected design.
• Will kept Bellatrix as a test subject while he worked to convert the magical structure into a castable spell, skipping classes and remaining in the Laboratory for days.
• Hogwarts professors told Dumbledore that Will was missing after he returned to the school.
• Will completed a new spell and reached Charms LV6.

Will considered five powerful Charms bonus abilities while Bellatrix watched him in the Laboratory. At Hogwarts, Dumbledore learned that Will had been missing for five days and feared that Gellert had taken him, then vanished in a flash of flame.

• Will reviewed the five bonus abilities offered after reaching Charms LV6, while the injured Bellatrix watched him.
• Dumbledore returned to Hogwarts pleased that he had secured Cornelius's cooperation against Tom.
• Professor McGonagall told Dumbledore that Will had been missing for five days despite searches throughout Hogwarts.
• Dumbledore recalled Gellert's growing bond with Will and worried that they had gone off together.
• Dumbledore vanished in crimson and gold flame, leaving the gathered professors behind.

Dumbledore searched for Will and learned that Grindelwald had not taken him. In the Laboratory, Will chose the Meme Bonus Ability to develop his magical system, then returned to the High Tower exhausted and collapsed as the others found him.

• Dumbledore confronted Grindelwald at the Tower, but Grindelwald said he had not seen Will and urged Dumbledore to trust him.
• Will considered the new Bonus Ability options and chose D. Meme to expand his Primordial spell system.
• Will sensed that the Happiness Charm had joined his system, then was overwhelmed by exhaustion.
• Will locked Bellatrix in a cell, transformed into a Phoenix, and Apparated to the High Tower.
• Snape, Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, Professor Sprout, Lupin, Sylvia, Harry, and Neville emerged from the Vanishing Cabinet as Will collapsed on the sofa.

After Will collapsed from exhaustion, Madam Pomfrey confirmed he needed rest, and Sylvia stayed by his side. Once he woke in the night and headed for the Kitchens, Will reflected on how his Charms ability could spread his Origin Spells before spotting a menacing figure in the corridor.

• Madam Pomfrey told the gathered professors and students that Will was exhausted but had no serious injuries, and allowed Sylvia to visit him alone.
• Sylvia watched over Will as he slept, worrying about the dangers he faced while protecting her and the Wizarding World.
• Madam Pomfrey reminded Sylvia to make sure Will rested after his discharge, then let her stay with him quietly.
• Will woke after midnight, cast a Clear-Headed Charm, and decided to go to the Kitchens for food.
• Will considered how his Charms ability could spread his Origin Spells throughout the Wizarding World, then saw a menacing figure at the end of the corridor.

Will told Snape he had transformed the Water of Despair into a Happiness Charm, then demonstrated it after they shared a midnight meal. Snape relived his early friendship with Lily and wept as the memory ended.

• Snape confronted Will in the corridor about exhausting himself, and Will revealed he had reversed the Water of Despair into a Happiness Charm.
• Will and Snape went to the Kitchens, where Will ate a lavish meal while Snape questioned whether his claim was true.
• Will created a wooden house in the underground kitchen, had Snape recline on a sofa, and cast the charm on him.
• Snape relived meeting Lily as a child and cherished their early friendship until Lily challenged his friendship with Mulciber and Avery.
• The memory cut off, and Will saw tears slide from the corners of Snape's eyes.

Snape repeatedly experienced the Happiness Charm to revisit memories of Lily, while Will considered the charm’s dangers and tested it on himself. Snape emerged from the memories, thanked Will, and asked to learn the charm after Will refined it.

• Snape realized he could not relive the charm’s memories by remembering them and hurried to Will to ask him to cast it again.
• Will worried that the Happiness Charm could trap people in memories and decided it needed safeguards before wider use.
• Will cast the charm on himself and revisited memories of study, Dorothy, Sylvia, and friends without wanting to remain in them.
• Snape woke from the charm, thanked Will, and called him the finest student he had taught and the one he was proudest of.
• Snape asked Will to teach him the charm, and Will agreed after he had refined it; they left the Kitchens together.

Will recovered in the Hospital Wing while Madam Pomfrey forbade him from studying or attending class. A conversation with Cedric led Will to reflect on the wizarding world's lack of higher education and consider how he might rally people around a new idea, just as Dumbledore arrived.

• Will brought Sylvia breakfast, but Madam Pomfrey ordered him to rest and put away his papers.
• Cedric visited Will and told him how worried the High Tower students and professors had been during his disappearance.
• Cedric said his father wanted him to work at the Ministry, while he preferred Quidditch or teaching; Will advised him to follow his own dreams and warned him about Fudge's Ministry.
• Will considered how the wizarding world's lack of higher education and separation from Muggles hindered its development, and thought about rallying people around him.
• Cedric encouraged Will to pursue whatever future he wanted, and Dumbledore entered the ward.

While recovering in the Hospital Wing, Will told Dumbledore that he had developed the Happiness Charm by transfiguring the Water of Despair and asked him to review it for possible restrictions. After studying Will’s work, Dumbledore used the Legendary Wand and found himself seeing his sister.

• Cedric visited Will in the Hospital Wing, then left for Charms as Dumbledore arrived and cast a Secrecy Charm.
• Will explained that his experiment involved transfiguring the Water of Despair, and George and Fred briefly brought him food before returning to class.
• Will revealed that he had created the Happiness Charm and asked Dumbledore to review it and help determine restrictions.
• Flitwick, Lupin, Sylvia, Cedric, Hermione, Neville, Draco, Michael, Macnair, Snape, and other visitors crowded the ward before Madam Pomfrey sent them away.
• Dumbledore studied Will’s parchment throughout the day, used the Legendary Wand, and saw his sister; Fawkes later heard him sigh.

Voldemort suspected that he had accidentally revealed Yaxley’s mission through Harry Potter’s eyes and might himself be the informant. He used Legilimency on the detained Death Eaters, then killed an innocent man to serve as a scapegoat while he considered how to separate his mind from Potter’s.

• Yaxley reported the failed operation to Voldemort and said he had detained everyone involved.
• Voldemort recalled seeing through Harry Potter’s eyes while assigning the mission and suspected that he himself had leaked the information.
• Voldemort ordered Yaxley to bring the detained Death Eaters to the Conference Hall so he could examine their memories.
• Voldemort used Legilimency on the Death Eaters and accused one man of being Dumbledore’s spy.
• Voldemort killed the man despite knowing he was not the traitor, then ordered the others to clean up and remember what happened.
• Voldemort left to consider how to separate his mind from Harry Potter’s.

After leaving the Hospital Wing, Will discussed his Happiness Charm with Dumbledore, who renamed it the Dream Charm and sent him to work with Snape on the Dream Potion. That evening, Will found Snape lost in a serene memory in his office.

• Madam Pomfrey discharged Will, and he went to Dumbledore's Office to discuss the Happiness Charm.
• Dumbledore explained that the charm made people relive their happiest moments, renamed it the Dream Charm, and urged Will to research the Dream Potion with Snape.
• Dumbledore told Will that he had become allies with Cornelius and described his efforts in Romania to make Fudge recognize the Death Eaters as a threat.
• Will ran experiments in the Room of Requirement and attended dinner at the High Tower, where Cedric and Michael Corner remarked that Snape had been unusually quiet and had taken few House Points from Gryffindor.
• Will entered Snape's office and found him immersed in a distant memory; Snape eventually opened his eyes and asked why Will was there.

Will discovered that Snape had used the Dream Charm only once and urged him to eat, while Snape revealed the Death Eaters had assigned him to watch Dumbledore and investigate Harry. Voldemort had deliberately spared Will from that task so he could rest before a future operation, and Will left for the Room of Requirement still considering how to alter the charm without attracting Dumbledore’s suspicion.

• Will corrected Snape, explaining that the Happiness Charm was actually a Dream Charm, and Snape agreed it should be restricted and placed in the Restricted Section.
• Snape reassured Will that he had used the charm only once and had not become lost in its illusions, then ate food Will had arranged for him.
• Snape told Will that the Death Eaters had asked him to watch Dumbledore and investigate Harry.
• Voldemort instructed Lucius to deliver the assignment to Snape instead of Will, saying Will deserved to rest before a future operation and should avoid Dumbledore’s investigation into the spy.
• Will left Snape’s Office and considered using the Origin System to revise the Dream Charm, but worried that Dumbledore would notice.
• Filch encountered Will on patrol, greeted him warmly, and watched him head back to the Room of Requirement.

Will tested a modified Summoning Charm on Neville and confirmed that he could alter spells taught through the [Origin] system. He began planning to replace the old system with the new one, while Neville struggled to understand what Will had done.

• Snape docked Gryffindor forty-seven points over two days, while fifth- and seventh-years received heavy exam homework.
• Ron and Seamus failed Professor McGonagall’s Vanishing Spell test and were assigned extra essays and a retest.
• Will asked Neville to demonstrate the modified Summoning Charm, which Neville had mastered and used to summon an apple.
• Will altered the spell’s magic structure and incorporated the change into the [Origin] system.
• Neville tried the Summoning Charm again, but the apple veered off course and fell, confirming Will’s modification affected the spell he had learned.
• Will told Neville the spell had been modified, leaving Neville bewildered by the gap between their abilities.

Will confided a secret to Neville before joining his friends in the High Tower Common Room. At his career-guidance meeting, four Heads of House debated which subjects he should pursue, and Snape and McGonagall began to argue.

• Will asked Neville to keep his secret, and Neville agreed without hesitation.
• Will and Neville went to the High Tower Common Room, where Ron and Seamus begged Hermione for help with their Transfiguration paper and Draco mocked Ron.
• Will reviewed herbs for transforming the Dream Potion while students read the career-guidance appointments on the noticeboard.
• Will arrived at Snape's office for career guidance and found Snape, McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout waiting to advise him.
• Snape and Flitwick urged Will to focus on a few subjects, while McGonagall argued that he should pursue twelve Outstanding grades, prompting an argument with Snape.

The Heads of House debated Will’s future before he chose Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures as his electives. Snape gave him a reference book to help develop a Dream Potion, while Scrimgeour struggled with the fallout from a mole in the Aurors and headed to the Minister’s Office.

• McGonagall urged Will to pursue twelve Outstandings, while Snape argued that Will should focus on Potions and Flitwick praised his talent for Charms.
• Sprout reminded the professors to let Will choose, and Will declined to take every elective, choosing Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures.
• Snape gave Will a thick 1899 guide to potion ingredients so he could search for ingredients for the Dream Potion.
• Scrimgeour reflected on Fudge’s criticism and his efforts to investigate the Aurors after discovering a mole among them.
• Scrimgeour, exhausted from working through the night, went to the Minister’s Office to meet Fudge.

Fudge appointed Umbridge to assist with the Auror Office’s investigation into a suspected mole and keep watch on Scrimgeour. Scrimgeour left the Minister’s Office furious and began considering how to retaliate against Fudge’s interference.

• Fudge berated Scrimgeour for failing to uncover a mole in the Auror Office quickly enough.
• Fudge summoned Umbridge and named her as Scrimgeour’s assistant in the investigation.
• Scrimgeour agreed to hand the investigation over to Umbridge after saying he needed rest.
• Umbridge urged Fudge to rein in Scrimgeour, and Fudge ordered her to monitor him.
• Scrimgeour left the office and decided that Fudge could not blame him for responding ruthlessly.