Recaps

As O.W.L. exams approached, Harry endured Snape’s detentions and struggled to keep up with revision. After Snape brought him dinner in his Office, Harry fell asleep, and Snape opened the door to reveal Macnair waiting outside.

• Fifth-years studied intensely for their O.W.L.s while Will searched for ingredients for the Dream Potion.
• Snape criticized Harry’s failed Shrinking Solution and assigned him detention, while Strange refused to help him cheat.
• Snape praised Behrens’s potion and kept Harry behind after class to copy a long list of potion ingredients.
• After hours of copying, Harry grew hungry, and Snape brought him paella and juice.
• Harry ate the meal and fell asleep, and Snape opened the Office door to Macnair.

Scrimgeour resisted Umbridge’s interference while preparing to choose Aurors he could trust, and Fudge met with Lucius Malfoy to discuss Ministry business. Lucius reported to Voldemort, who ordered the Death Eaters to infiltrate the Hall of Prophecy as Will sat his O.W.L. exams.

• Umbridge criticized the Auror Office’s report, and Scrimgeour ordered her out of his office rather than risk giving Fudge grounds to remove him.
• Scrimgeour asked an older Auror whether he had chosen trustworthy people to follow him, and the Auror said they needed more time.
• Fudge welcomed Lucius Malfoy to his office and discussed their plans, pleased by the prospect of taking a share of the money Malfoy would give the Ministry.
• Lucius reported to Voldemort that the Department of Mysteries was vulnerable, and Voldemort ordered the Death Eaters to infiltrate the Hall of Prophecy.
• The Death Eaters celebrated the supposed removal of their spy, while Voldemort kept secret that Harry Potter had once read his mind.
• Voldemort noted that Will could not join the operation because he was sitting his O.W.L. exams, and wondered whether Severus had uncovered the truth about Potter.

Snape used Legilimency on Harry while Macnair watched, leaving Harry with no memory of the intrusion. As summer and exams approached, Will researched potion ingredients for a Dream Potion and wondered whether Transfiguration could bypass traditional trial and error.

• Snape told Macnair that Voldemort had ordered him to examine Harry's memories, then cast Legilimency on Harry.
• Harry woke from a doze during detention and, reassured by Strange, dismissed his lost time and unusual sleepiness.
• As summer approached, students in the High Tower studied for their exams.
• Will researched potion ingredients and their uses while trying to find components for a Dream Potion.
• Will wondered whether he could use Transfiguration to make a new potion instead of relying on tedious experiments.

Umbridge warned Fudge that Scrimgeour was reorganizing the Aurors, while Fudge remained focused on his suspicions about Dumbledore and the Romania attack. At a Ministry meeting, Fudge proposed taking equal control of Auror deployments, and Scrimgeour unexpectedly agreed as the meeting prepared to vote.

• Umbridge told Fudge that Scrimgeour was breaking up Auror teams, but Fudge dismissed her concern and asked about the Death Eaters.
• Umbridge admitted that her investigators, including Mr. Malfoy, had found no sign of Death Eaters.
• After Umbridge left, Fudge drank Firewhisky and questioned whether Dumbledore had staged the Romania attack to control him.
• Fudge summoned the department heads and Scrimgeour, then proposed that he share authority over Auror deployments and approve operations involving more than three Aurors.
• Amelia Bones and Ludo Bagman objected to Fudge's proposal, but Scrimgeour said he would follow the Minister's instructions.
• Fudge called for a vote, leaving the conference room in uneasy silence.

Scrimgeour reacted to Fudge taking authority from the Auror Office while Amelia Bones offered her support. At Hogwarts, Will demonstrated an exceptional Shield Charm, then agreed to consider helping the Werewolf Mutual Aid Association over the summer.

• Amelia Bones assured Scrimgeour that the Department of Magical Law Enforcement would support the Auror Office, and Scrimgeour decided he needed allies.
• Lupin tested his students' Shield Charms, and Hermione earned an Outstanding while Will perfectly deflected and rebounded a Stunning Spell.
• Lupin assigned an essay on the Shield Charm and asked Will to stay behind after class.
• Lupin asked whether Will could help operate on werewolves from the Werewolf Mutual Aid Association over the summer.
• Will weighed the request against his unfinished werewolf spells and agreed to help, delighting Lupin.

Will agreed to help a small number of werewolves become ordinary people again while keeping his larger plans secret, then began putting his June 1996 arrangements in motion. As the O.W.L. exams approached, the High Tower students studied intensely, with Cedric helping Ron and the others prepare.

• Will warned Lupin that only a few werewolves could be changed back and that the process would be painful, then accepted Lupin's grateful thanks.
• Will returned to the High Tower, reflected on his years at Hogwarts, and began writing a letter to set his plans in motion.
• The fifth-year students prepared anxiously for their O.W.L. exams, with Hermione reviewing her notes, Draco relying on meals from Anco or Astoria, and Harry studying Potions.
• Cedric demonstrated Charms spells for Ron, Seamus, Neville, and the others before going to ask Will about Potions.
• Ginny reminded Ron and the others that Will's achievements in Potions were why he seemed to have an easier time.

As the O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s approached, Will gave his friends an improved Draught of Living Death so they could sleep before the first exam. He walked Sylvia back to her common room beneath the moon, and they made the journey in silence.

• McGonagall announced the exam timetable and warned students against using cheating aids.
• Students across the High Tower spent the final week revising, while Will went about his days as usual.
• On the night before the exams, Will brought his improved Draught of Living Death to the High Tower and gave a vial to each friend.
• Will reassured Hermione that she should sleep instead of studying late, and encouraged Cedric and Draco about their futures and exams.
• Will gave Sylvia the last vial, then accompanied her to her common room through a moonlit corridor without either of them speaking.

Will excelled in his O.W.L. Charms and Transfiguration exams, impressing the examiners with his speed and skill. As the remaining exams continued, he received a message from Dumbledore on Saturday morning.

• Will finished the Charms theory exam in forty-five minutes, startling the other students and making Hermione rush through her paper.
• Will performed the Charms practical for Professor Marchbanks, making a toad waltz as it turned orange and shrank to half its size.
• Will finished the Transfiguration theory exam in under an hour and earned lavish praise from Professor Tofty during the practical.
• Will and Hermione sat their Ancient Runes exam on Friday, then prepared for Monday's Potions exam.
• Will received a message from Dumbledore on Saturday morning.

Will visited Grindelwald with Dumbledore, secretly received a roll of parchment, and learned to cast and control Fiendfyre. The visit ended with Will concealing the parchment and giving no sign that anything had happened.

• Dumbledore took Will to visit Grindelwald at Nurmengard after discussing Will’s O.W.L.s.
• Grindelwald slipped Will a roll of densely written parchment while Dumbledore fetched his Coke.
• Grindelwald taught Will about Fiendfyre and asked him to practice the spell in a teacup.
• Will summoned black Fiendfyre, shaped it into a small silver-scaled snake, and Grindelwald extinguished it.
• Dumbledore and Will left at sunset while Will kept the parchment hidden in his robes.

Will read a mysterious parchment, burned it, and continued his O.W.L. exams, impressing examiners with his Potions skill. After finishing his fifth-year exams, he left the Castle as Scrimgeour received a solemn-looking wizard at the Ministry of Magic.

• Will read a parchment on the High Tower, burned it, and studied the Complete Guide to Potion Ingredients.
• Will finished his Potions theory paper quickly, and the examiners accepted his unconventional answers about the Draught of Living Death.
• Will brewed the Draught of Living Death for the practical exam, impressing the examiners with his precise method.
• Will excelled in Care of Magical Creatures, earned an O in Astronomy, and handed in his History of Magic paper.
• Will walked out of the Castle as Scrimgeour let a solemn-looking middle-aged wizard into his office.

Scrimgeour secretly positioned Auror squads for a plan while Fudge controlled their deployments. Fudge then ordered every available Auror mobilised, leaving Scrimgeour behind to guard the Ministry as Kane escorted Fudge away.

• Kane told Scrimgeour that the Auror teams had been selected, and Scrimgeour reminded him to keep the squads out after their assignments.
• Arthur Weasley asked Scrimgeour for Aurors to deal with Chinese Chomping Cabbages attacking Muggles, and Scrimgeour sent Z Squad with Arthur to seek Fudge's approval.
• Scrimgeour reflected that he had sent the selected squads out under authorised assignments so they could await his orders.
• Umbridge told Scrimgeour that Fudge wanted every available Auror mobilised, and Fudge arrived to insist on the order himself.
• Scrimgeour agreed to guard the Ministry while Kane escorted Fudge and Umbridge away, exchanging a glance with Kane before the door closed.

Fudge and Lucius Malfoy brought Aurors to Hogwarts to suspend Dumbledore as Headmaster, accusing him of failing to protect the school. As the reporters documented the confrontation, the story shifted to the Ministry of Magic, where Scrimgeour faced a mysterious silver-eyed young man.

• Fudge gathered Aurors and joined Lucius Malfoy, who said the Board of Governors unanimously supported removing Dumbledore.
• Fudge and the Aurors arrived at Hogwarts, attracting students and reporters.
• Lucius presented Dumbledore with the Board's order suspending him and listed alleged failures under his leadership.
• Fudge declared Dumbledore unfit to serve as Headmaster while reporters photographed the scene.
• At the Ministry of Magic, Scrimgeour faced a silver-eyed young man whose presence baffled him.

Will Behrens brought Scrimgeour to witness the Ministry of Magic being overrun by Dark Wizards and traitorous former colleagues. The chapter left Scrimgeour in the atrium as Ministry officials struggled against the attackers.

• Scrimgeour confronted Will Behrens in his office and suspected someone powerful was impersonating a fifth-year student.
• Will deflected Scrimgeour’s Petrificus Totalus with Protego and paralyzed him.
• Black-robed wizards burst into the office, but they failed to notice Will or Scrimgeour before leaving.
• Will freed Scrimgeour, concealed them both, and transported them to the Ministry atrium.
• Scrimgeour saw Ministry officials fighting a losing battle against Dark Wizards and their former colleagues.

Voldemort and the Death Eaters invaded the Ministry of Magic while Fudge and the Aurors were absent, leaving Scrimgeour and Will hidden among the attackers. Will offered Scrimgeour an Unbreakable Vow as an alternative to a doomed fight, and the chapter ended with Scrimgeour facing that choice.

• Dark Wizards emerged from the fireplaces and overwhelmed the Ministry's defenders while Scrimgeour realized Fudge had left with the Aurors.
• Will kept Scrimgeour hidden and restrained him from fighting without a wand as the Ministry fell into chaos.
• Voldemort arrived, declared his return, and ordered the Death Eaters to let the remaining Ministry defenders become sacrifices.
• Voldemort and the Death Eaters headed toward the Department of Mysteries, while Will revealed himself and returned Scrimgeour's wand.
• Will offered Scrimgeour a choice between fighting Voldemort and dying or making an Unbreakable Vow so Will could save the Ministry and Scrimgeour could challenge Fudge.

Will forced Rufus Scrimgeour to swear an Unbreakable Vow in exchange for help stopping Voldemort and protecting the Ministry of Magic. After the vow was sealed, Will transformed into Scrimgeour’s likeness and prepared to make his move.

• Will rejected Scrimgeour’s attempt to bargain and pressed him to accept the Unbreakable Vow.
• Scrimgeour agreed, and the Gray-Robed Wizard witnessed the vow as Will bound Scrimgeour to obey his orders and keep their discussion secret.
• Will examined the magical mark left by the vow, while Scrimgeour privately resolved to die rather than break it if necessary.
• Will told Scrimgeour he was making his move and transformed into an exact copy of him.
• Scrimgeour noticed that the Gray-Robed Wizard had disappeared as the disguised Will explained that it was a little Transfiguration.

Will, disguised as Scrimgeour, devastated the Death Eaters on the Ministry's eighth level with amplified magic. Voldemort arrived after apparently retrieving the prophecy orb, and Will prepared to face him.

• Will used an amplified Water-Making Spell to flood the Ministry floor and smash the Death Eaters at the front.
• Several Death Eaters attacked Will, but he intercepted their spells with a flock of birds and set the water ablaze.
• Scrimgeour watched from under an invisibility spell and worried that Will was a mad wizard after seeing the devastation.
• Voldemort emerged from the lift unharmed and praised Scrimgeour's power.
• Will recognized that Voldemort had likely obtained Trelawney's prophecy and raised his wand to duel him.

Will fought Voldemort in the Ministry hall, using powerful spells that forced Voldemort to defend himself and revealed Will as a serious rival. Voldemort began chanting an ancient incantation as the hall grew cold and the smell of rot spread.

• Will sent the surviving Ministry employees toward Scrimgeour and blocked Voldemort’s Killing Curse with rising stone.
• Will turned the hall’s rubble and debris into a storm of steel needles that pierced a Death Eater before Voldemort countered with Fiendfyre.
• Will cast a powerful scarlet Fire Serpent that battled Voldemort’s black Fiendfyre snake, making Voldemort wary of his strength.
• Voldemort began chanting an ancient incantation as the heat faded, the temperature dropped, and a smell of rot filled the hall.

Will fought Voldemort while disguised as Scrimgeour, using a chain of Killing Curses and a blinding Lumos to disrupt him. Their spells collided and formed a dark-gold Magic Core, which erupted just as Voldemort lowered the hall’s ceiling to shield himself.

• Will fired a chain-amplified Killing Curse that killed several Death Eaters and forced Voldemort to retreat.
• Voldemort summoned skull-shaped shadows and sent them at Will, who cast Lumos to blind everyone in the hall and escape their path.
• Will dropped a chandelier toward Voldemort, but Voldemort blasted it apart and struck back with purple snakes and shadow-stained lightning.
• Will’s amplified Confringo collided with Voldemort’s spells, creating a dark-gold Magic Core as black mist enveloped many Death Eaters.
• Voldemort pulled the hall’s ceiling down as a barrier, but the Magic Core exploded in dark-gold ripples before Will could move everyone away.

Will rescued Scrimgeour and several Ministry employees from the Ministry explosion, then healed a gravely wounded wizard and revealed his overwhelming power to Scrimgeour. He challenged Scrimgeour’s plan to die rather than serve him and argued that he could control the Ministry without his help.

• Will used a silver flame to transport Scrimgeour and several Ministry employees away from the destructive shock wave.
• Will healed a Ministry wizard with powerful blood-replenishing and healing magic, convincing Scrimgeour that he had genuinely saved the man.
• Will told Scrimgeour he knew he planned to kill himself and revealed that he had read Scrimgeour’s thoughts.
• Will questioned whether Scrimgeour would entrust England’s wizarding population to Fudge or Harry Potter.
• Will told Scrimgeour he could control the Ministry and decide who became a hero, traitor, or casualty without relying on him.

Will urged Scrimgeour to become Minister for Magic and help him transform the stagnant wizarding world, arguing that Muggles were advancing far faster than wizards. After Scrimgeour considered Will’s ambitions and his own doubts, Will transported everyone to the Ministry of Magic.

• Will offered Scrimgeour a choice between trusting him and helping reform the Ministry or taking his own life to protect the wizarding world.
• Will challenged Scrimgeour’s prejudices about Muggles and described the wizarding world’s stagnation and his vision of a new era.
• Scrimgeour wondered whether Will Behrens could truly achieve his ambitions, given his apparent age and magical power.
• Will reflected that uniting people through truth and progress could advance his goals, including research into transforming werewolves.
• Will used his wand to transport everyone to the second floor of the Ministry of Magic.

Will Behrens and Rufus Scrimgeour fought the Death Eaters attacking the Ministry, and Will demonstrated the power of his Transfiguration before pursuing the fleeing forces. Scrimgeour chose to work with Will while keeping the Unbreakable Vow marks hidden, and Will left him to continue his original goal.

• Will appeared beside Scrimgeour in the Ministry's second-floor hall and killed or captured the Death Eaters there with Transfigured white ravens and animated robes.
• Will told Scrimgeour to cover the marks left by their Unbreakable Vow and vanished to confront the Death Eaters on the third floor.
• Will found the third-floor Death Eaters retreating and killed the few left behind to cover the evacuation.
• Will returned to the ruined seventh-floor hall and realized Voldemort and the others had escaped through another Floo Network route.
• Scrimgeour rested among the Ministry staff he had saved, while the staff and Amelia Bones regarded him with newfound respect.
• Will told Scrimgeour that he had made his choice and instructed him to keep pursuing his original goal until Will contacted him.

Dumbledore accepted the Board of Governors' decision to leave Hogwarts, but secured Professor McGonagall's role as acting headmistress. As Fudge celebrated the outcome, an Auror reported trouble at the Ministry of Magic, and an explosion cut off Ludo Bagman's message.

• Scrimgeour heard a sharp crack that no one else seemed to notice and worried about hiding the marks on his hand.
• Lucius and Fudge confronted Dumbledore in the Great Hall, and Dumbledore said he would leave if the decision truly came from the Board of Governors.
• Dumbledore accepted the decision and named Professor McGonagall to perform the headmaster's duties during his absence.
• Fudge agreed to McGonagall's appointment, while the students protested Dumbledore's departure.
• An Auror alerted Fudge that something had happened at the Ministry of Magic, and an explosion interrupted Ludo Bagman's message through a Two-Way Mirror.

After a message reported a Death Eater attack on the Ministry of Magic, the Great Hall descended into panic as Fudge and the Aurors prepared to return. While the students dispersed and worried about their families, Will went to the High Tower and cast the Hour-Reversal Charm.

• The Two-Way Mirror carried a garbled warning about Death Eaters and an explosion at the Ministry of Magic, alarming the Great Hall.
• Dumbledore left with Fawkes to go to the Ministry, while Kane urged Fudge to lead the Aurors back and defend it.
• McGonagall escorted Kane and the Aurors toward the Floo Network, and she directed the students to clear the Great Hall.
• Will asked Draco to take over his prefect duties, then went alone to the top of the High Tower as the students comforted one another.
• Will looked over the Hogwarts grounds and cast the Hour-Reversal Charm.

Dumbledore arrived at the damaged Ministry and helped Amelia Bones transport the wounded to St. Mungo’s. He questioned Scrimgeour about his fight with Voldemort, and Scrimgeour began explaining how an ancient spellbook had led him to Origin Spells.

• Dumbledore appeared in the ruined Ministry atrium and confirmed its location with Fawkes.
• Amelia Bones told Dumbledore that the Floo Network was disabled and asked him to help move the seriously wounded.
• Dumbledore took injured Ministry workers to St. Mungo’s, then returned to question Scrimgeour about stopping Voldemort.
• Scrimgeour recounted that Voldemort had gone to the Department of Mysteries to reclaim something and that he had fought the Death Eaters and Voldemort.
• Dumbledore found Scrimgeour’s memories vivid and genuine but wondered how his spells had become so powerful.
• Scrimgeour said he had discovered an ancient spellbook in the Ministry’s Book Repository that described Origin Spells.

After returning to Hogwarts, Will concealed the Unbreakable Vow marks on his arm and waited with the High Tower students as the Ministry announced Voldemort’s return and Rufus Scrimgeour’s role in repelling him. With Fudge impeached and Scrimgeour poised to become Minister, Harry declared that a new war had begun; a paper crane then arrived beside Will.

• Dumbledore questioned Scrimgeour with Legilimency, worried that Will and Snape had not reported in, and left St. Mungo’s to deal with Voldemort’s return.
• Will returned to Hogwarts, used magic to make the Unbreakable Vow marks on his arm look like ordinary skin, and rested with the others in the High Tower.
• Hermione and the students discussed the Daily Prophet’s report blaming Fudge for driving Dumbledore out before the Ministry was attacked by Death Eaters.
• The Ministry announced that Voldemort had returned, Scrimgeour had fought him off, and officials had impeached Fudge ahead of an August ministerial election.
• Will said Scrimgeour was practically guaranteed to become Minister, and Harry stated that a new war had begun.
• A paper crane flew through the window and landed beside Will.