Recaps

Harry admitted that fear of his approaching death had overwhelmed him, leading him to attack Snape and refuse to apologize. In the Hospital Wing, he told Will how terrified he was of losing his remaining time with friends, and Will began comforting him.

• Professor McGonagall told Harry that Gryffindor had lost fifty points and ordered him to apologize to Snape, but Harry refused.
• Madam Pomfrey found nothing physically wrong with Harry and instructed him to rest in the Hospital Wing for two days.
• Will visited Harry, who explained that Snape's insult had triggered the anxiety he had been carrying since learning he was going to die.
• Harry told Will he feared that any day might be his last and that he would never see his friends again.
• Will used Emotion Weaving to calm Harry and told him that being afraid was normal.

Will comforted Harry after Dumbledore told him he was destined to die, then revealed that he was studying Soul Studies to find a way to save him. Will left Harry resolved to face his fate and went to dinner with Slughorn, who asked about Harry.

• Will told Harry that his fear was normal and offered to use a Memory Charm, but Harry refused and said he had to face his destiny.
• Will revealed that he was studying Soul Studies, including the field that covered Horcruxes, to find a way to help Harry.
• Will told Harry he had kept quiet because he would not make him wait for death, and Harry was deeply moved by his friend's efforts.
• Strange urged Harry to trust Will, and Harry promised to take care of himself and repay Will if he could.
• Will went to Slughorn's office for dinner, where Slughorn asked how Harry was.

Will told Slughorn that Harry carried a fragment of Voldemort's soul and asked him for everything he knew about Tom Riddle. Slughorn gave Will a memory of his past conversation with Tom, leaving Will pleased that he had completed Dumbledore's task and no longer owed him anything.

• Will told Slughorn that Harry was emotionally unstable and carried a fragment of Voldemort's soul.
• Slughorn panicked when Will called Voldemort Tom Riddle and asked him what he had told Tom about Horcruxes.
• Slughorn praised Will's magical ability and said he believed Will would surpass Tom.
• Slughorn extracted his memory and placed it in a vial for Will.
• Will accepted the memory and thought he had completed Dumbledore's task and owed him nothing more.

Will persuaded Slughorn to stop wavering and support the fight against Voldemort, then revealed his Felix Charm and impressed Slughorn with his accomplishments. The chapter ended with Will preparing to ask Slughorn to do several things.

• Will urged Slughorn to choose a side and reminded him of his former students, including Lily, prompting Slughorn to break down in grief and regret.
• Will comforted Slughorn and used the Felix Charm, giving him the sensation of Felix Felicis without a potion.
• Slughorn praised Will, compared him favorably to Tom, and lamented that Severus had such an outstanding student.
• Will told Slughorn that he had completed Potion Transfiguration in his first year and developed the Felix Charm during his fourth year while competing in the Triwizard Tournament.
• Slughorn asked Will about his research, and Will said he had told him these things because he wanted him to do a few things.

Will asked Slughorn to oversee Worple’s account of Behrens’s biography and have it printed by summer, promising that events would make the wizards believe it. Meanwhile, Dumbledore reviewed the Order’s wartime operations and Ministry developments before deciding to visit the Ministry of Magic.

• Will told Slughorn to arrange for Worple to write Behrens’s biography and finish the manuscript by May for a summer release.
• Will assured Slughorn that the Wizarding World would believe the book once reality proved its claims, and planned to defeat Voldemort and become its savior.
• At 12 Grimmauld Place, Moody reported that two interceptions had gone smoothly, while Lupin described stronger coordination with the Aurors and praised Charlie’s work with a Green dragon.
• Dumbledore agreed that Charlie could learn from Lupin and later take on a suitable role in the Order of the Phoenix.
• Dumbledore read Amelia Bones’s report on Ministry affairs, including plans to investigate the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers and reorganize wartime supplies.
• Dumbledore decided to visit the Ministry of Magic within the next day or two.

Ludo Bagman attended the Ministry's announcement about the Magical University and traveled with a group of wizards to Austria. At Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy rallied Pure-blood students to act for the returned Dark Lord, then began to explain what he expected them to do.

• Ludo Bagman worried that the Magical University project could attract a Death Eater attack and planned to ask Minister Scrimgeour for a Floo Powder network near the construction site.
• Dumbledore arrived at the Ministry meeting, and Scrimgeour seated him beside himself, leaving Ludo unable to raise his request.
• Scrimgeour announced the Ministry personnel bound for Austria, and Ludo answered reporters' questions before leading wizards to the International Floo Network room.
• Draco Malfoy entered a classroom packed with Pure-blood students and blamed the Ministry and Dumbledore for their loss of status.
• Draco announced that the Dark Lord had returned and urged the students to demonstrate their loyalty through action.
• When a Slytherin asked what they should do, Draco rebuked him and began to give the group instructions.

Draco rallied a group of Hogwarts students to secretly support the Dark Lord, following Will’s instructions while concealing their allegiance. After Will praised him and clarified his true task, Draco sensed that Will’s power was becoming more apparent.

• Draco told the students that the war had begun and urged them to take responsibility, then proposed coordinating with the Dark Lord from inside Hogwarts.
• When an impatient student interrupted him, Draco used Levicorpus to hoist him upside down before lowering him and laying out three tasks: find secret passages, hide their Pure-blood beliefs, and await his orders.
• The students dispersed quietly, and Pansy Parkinson gave Draco a note asking him to meet her that night; Draco had no interest in becoming closer to her.
• Will revealed he had been present and praised Draco for following his instructions, then told him to focus on gathering students who supported the Dark Lord’s side.
• After Will vanished, Draco sensed that the mist around Will was clearing and that his true power was about to be revealed.

Draco took comfort in his Tower Medal while Will investigated a curse and developed a plan to create a soul through the Trinity of soul, magic, and flesh. On the full moon, Will turned the priest in Louisiana into a Wizard and altered his memories, leaving the priest convinced that the Wizard God had blessed him again.

• Draco recalled that the High Tower would shelter him, then declined Pansy's invitation because he could not attend.
• Will studied the curse infecting a Dark Wizard and found that it followed a stable path through the victim's magic structure.
• Will reasoned that a body part with flesh and a magic structure but no soul might be used to cultivate a soul.
• Will traveled to Louisiana on the full moon and used a Werewolf to transform the praying priest.
• Will altered the priest's memories so that he believed the Wizard God had given him the seed of magic, a wand, and knowledge; other blessed people received the same treatment.

Will tested whether Werewolf Venom could create a Magic structure in a limb without a soul, while Harry resolved to study and become useful despite Strange warning him away from Soul Studies. The chapter ended with the Sorting Hat growing dissatisfied with Dumbledore over Harry.

• Will rebuilt a Dark Wizard’s severed arm from flesh taken from his leg, then had a Werewolf bite him and watched a Magic structure emerge in the soulless limb.
• Will’s frequent absences from class went unchallenged because the professors agreed he no longer needed their lessons.
• At dinner, Hermione teased Ron about his abilities, while Harry stayed quiet and said he was going to the Library.
• Harry told Strange he wanted to stop waiting helplessly and study so he could help Will and fight the Death Eaters.
• Strange rejected Harry’s request to study Soul Studies and offered to help him choose books on combat magic instead.
• The Sorting Hat sighed in Dumbledore’s office and grew dissatisfied with how Dumbledore was handling things because of Harry.

The Sorting Hat worried that Dumbledore’s plans would put Harry at risk and hoped Will would have time to help. At Malfoy Manor, Voldemort ordered Lucius and Yaxley to train foreign wizards, gather information on officials’ and academics’ families, and pressure Snape to make progress; Will continued studying forbidden knowledge at Hogwarts.

• The Sorting Hat reflected on Harry’s growth and resolved to cover for Will while hoping he could achieve a breakthrough in soul studies.
• Voldemort reprimanded Lucius about Snape’s lack of progress and Draco’s late reports, then assigned Lucius and Yaxley to train foreign wizards as organized Death Eater units.
• Voldemort ordered Lucius to compile addresses and family details for senior Ministry officials and prominent academics before the school year ended.
• Voldemort told Lucius to warn Snape that he would face consequences if he remained unsuccessful, then dismissed Lucius and Yaxley.
• The Sorting Hat hoped Harry and Will would be given more time as Will studied a notebook of forbidden knowledge in his tower study.

Will returned to Snape’s Defence Against the Dark Arts class, where students were assessed on dueling with nonverbal spells. The lesson continued with Neville facing Goyle, whose attack Neville dodged before sending a desk into the air.

• Snape summoned Will to his office and told him to attend the afternoon Defence Against the Dark Arts class.
• Snape announced that students had to duel using only nonverbal spells or write an eight-inch essay.
• Draco defeated Ron with two Expelliarmus spells after blocking Ron’s Stunning Spell, and Snape awarded Draco three points to Slytherin.
• Neville dodged Goyle’s nonverbal Stunning Spells and raised his wand, causing a heavy oak desk to fly into the air.

Neville defeated Goyle with a powerful barrage of summoned objects, and Will Behrens later overwhelmed Harry in a classroom duel. Snape declared Will the winner and reminded Harry to write his essay.

• Neville struck Goyle with summoned books, tables, chairs, and stools until Goyle fell unconscious, then apologized.
• Snape declared Neville the winner and sent two students to take Goyle to the Hospital Wing.
• Snape called Harry up to duel Will Behrens, and Harry warned that he might hurt Will because his control had been poor.
• Harry attacked Will with a series of spells, but Will deflected or neutralized them with ease.
• Will reflected Harry's final Disarming Charm, which struck Harry and nearly knocked his wand from his hand.
• Snape declared Will the winner and reminded Harry about his essay.

Will attended Snape’s Defence Against the Dark Arts class, then discussed the danger of his Death Eater ties with Snape in his office. Snape urged Will to withdraw, and Will asked Snape to agree to a condition before he could feel at ease.

• Snape praised Will after he defeated Harry in a duel, then continued the lesson, where many students earned essays for speaking incantations aloud.
• Will followed Snape to his office and discussed how his research kept him too busy to attend classes regularly.
• Snape told Will that Voldemort was dissatisfied with his progress and warned him to leave before Dumbledore closed in.
• Will agreed to find a way out but urged Snape to end his undercover work and prepare to fake his death.
• Snape refused to leave, saying his work concerned his generation’s grudges, and Will insisted that he agree to a condition.

Will secured Snape’s promise to stay out of danger and discovered that a severed arm was growing a new soul. He then secretly treated Scrimgeour by cutting off his cursed arm, turning him into a werewolf, and nurturing a replacement arm, leaving Scrimgeour groggy after waking.

• Will persuaded Snape to stop using the Dreamless Sleep Charm and promise not to get involved if matters worsened.
• Will found that the test subject’s severed arm had begun healing and could be controlled as a new soul formed in it.
• Will told Scrimgeour to arrange a trip to America to conceal his treatment from Dumbledore.
• Will rendered Scrimgeour unconscious and performed the operation, removing his arm, transforming him into a werewolf, and nurturing a new arm’s soul.
• Scrimgeour woke in pain and groaned as Will explained that the reaction was normal.

Will, disguised as Scrimgeour, led the Ministry Aurors in a raid on the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers, accusing it of illegal potion trafficking and ties to Dark Wizard attacks and Death Eaters. Vice President Rock Rowle tried to escape through the Floo Network, but Aurors and Death Eater potioneers clashed on the stairs as he fled toward another fireplace.

• Will told the recovering Scrimgeour that his treatment had removed the curse but would leave him with temporary headaches, dizziness, and weakened abilities, and offered to handle the society.
• Will, disguised as Scrimgeour, arrived with Kane and a team of Aurors and ordered them to take over and search the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers.
• The Aurors subdued the society’s members in the hall, while Will announced Emergency Order Number Seventy-Three and ordered a thorough search.
• A young Wizard warned Rock Rowle that the Aurors had arrived, and Rowle grabbed his Wand, parchment, and potion bottles before trying to flee with him.
• Rowle blasted apart a stair railing, and Death Eater potioneers attacked the Aurors, allowing Rowle to escape toward a fireplace connected to the Floo Network.

Will, disguised as Scrimgeour, captured and killed Rock Rowle after discovering his ties to the Death Eaters. He ordered the society sealed and its members registered, then found a list of Potions scholars and their families that might serve his plans.

• Rock Rowle tried to escape through the Floo but found Scrimgeour waiting with the Floo Powder.
• Rock Rowle attacked Scrimgeour with the Killing Curse, but Will stopped him, searched his memories, and killed him.
• Will told the arriving Aurors that Rock Rowle had supplied potions to the Death Eaters and sabotaged Ministry supplies.
• Will ordered the Aurors to seal the building, secure its records, register the society’s potioneers, alert the Daily Prophet, and arrange care for the injured.
• Will found a list of Potions scholars, their families, and their travel habits, collected on Voldemort’s orders, and considered how to use it.

Scrimgeour forced the creation of a Ministry Logistics Department to control wartime supplies, then collapsed from the effects of his treatment. Will met Grindelwald to discuss a plan involving the Saints and Professor Dumbledore, and Grindelwald said its success depended on preventing the Phoenix from Apparating.

• Scrimgeour overruled the department heads and ordered the Logistics Department to oversee supplies during the war.
• Scrimgeour returned to his office and collapsed, while Kane tried to help him rest.
• Will told Grindelwald about the Saints’ networks across Europe and their renewed activity.
• Will explained his plan to Grindelwald, who agreed to help if Will could stop the Phoenix from using Apparition.