Recaps

Will returned to Hogwarts after his time in Egypt and was welcomed by several concerned professors. He told Dumbledore about Ramesses II and the ritual, and Dumbledore identified Will’s arm mark as Dark Magic connected to the soul.

• Hobart gave Will a wallet containing several hundred Galleons and promised to take him to a winery in Germany over the summer.
• Will returned to Hogwarts with Snape, where McGonagall and Flitwick welcomed him and urged him to rest.
• Will spent the day with the professors, then went to the Hogwarts Kitchen for dinner.
• Dumbledore joined Will in the Kitchen and asked about his adventures in Egypt and the mark on his arm.
• Will told Dumbledore about Ramesses II, the ritual, and the Sand of the Heart, and Dumbledore examined the mark and suspected it was soul-related Dark Magic.

Will learned that the mark on his arm was tied to his soul and would require careful treatment, which Dumbledore planned to begin the next morning. Dumbledore privately worried about Will’s exceptional talent and influence, while the first examination ended with a promise of treatment and exemption from classes.

• Will agreed that Voldemort had sought immortality, and Dumbledore explained that the mark resembled the Dark Mark and would take time to remove.
• Dumbledore arranged to begin treating Will the next morning and told him that protecting his soul and life mattered more than studying.
• Dumbledore privately admitted that he had studied souls extensively and worried that Will’s genius and charisma could lead him to gather followers like Voldemort or Grindelwald.
• Dumbledore examined Will’s arm in the Hospital Wing while Snape and Madam Pomfrey stood by, and Will recoiled from the Cockroach Clusters Dumbledore offered.
• Dumbledore concluded that he understood the mark and promised to arrange treatments, with Will excused from classes during them.

Will returned to Hogwarts after being kidnapped in Egypt and reunited with friends who worried about his health. He spent the night discussing Transfiguration with the Weasley twins and arrived late to his first class of the new term.

• Will resolved to repay Nefertari by recreating the Ritual, though he still needed to learn Ancient Egyptian and had little time.
• Sylvia welcomed Will back, worried over his weakened appearance, and urged him to be more careful.
• George and Fred welcomed Will in the Room of Requirement and showed him their experimental prank sweets.
• Will suggested the twins make Fever Fudge and discussed their Animal Transfiguration Biscuits and Human Transfiguration with them.
• Will and the Weasley twins studied Human Transfiguration late into the night, and Will was late to his first class the next morning.

Will received a letter from Voldemort through Draco Malfoy and brought it to Dumbledore, revealing Voldemort’s plans for the Diary and the Basilisk. Will proposed infiltrating Voldemort’s forces, and he and Dumbledore agreed to put on a show to help him do it.

• Will chose Ritual Imprint after reaching LV3 in Ritual Studies.
• Draco Malfoy gave Will an envelope from Lucius and asked to join the High Tower; Will said he would discuss the request with its members.
• Will checked Lucius’s letter for magic and then read Voldemort’s orders to use the Basilisk to spread fear at Hogwarts and kill Harry Potter.
• Will brought the letter to Dumbledore, who learned Voldemort trusted Will and wanted to reward him with power and a way to gain a long life.
• Will suggested infiltrating Voldemort’s forces, and he and Dumbledore agreed to stage a show.

Will and Dumbledore arranged a staged Basilisk attack to build Voldemort’s trust while secretly using the incident to train Harry. Will gave Harry an unusual pair of glasses, and the next day a strange voice announced that a system was activating for him.

• Will proposed staging a Basilisk attack on Harry, and Dumbledore agreed to the plan.
• Will suggested giving Harry a small magical guide to help with his training, and Dumbledore listened as he explained the idea.
• A Bludger broke Harry’s glasses during Quidditch practice, and Fred and George brought him to Will for help.
• Will gave Harry an old pair of glasses that restored his vision, while Dumbledore revealed himself and said Harry had needed a new prescription anyway.
• As Harry worked to catch up on homework the next day, a voice announced that a system was activating for him.

Harry learned that the Glasses he had received contained a mentor called Strange, who began teaching him magic after choosing him alone. Will explained that the Glasses were a creation of his, Dumbledore, and the Sorting Hat, then warned Harry to keep them secret; later, Will asked his friends to consider Draco Malfoy joining them.

• Strange introduced himself to Harry as a former Hogwarts student and traveling wizard whose consciousness had been placed in the Glasses.
• Harry told Ron and Hermione about Strange, but neither of them could see or hear him when they tried the Glasses.
• Harry took the Glasses to Will, who urged him to keep them and learn from Strange while guarding their secret.
• Strange helped Harry with Potions, research, and Charms practice over the following days.
• Will gathered his friends and asked what they thought about Draco Malfoy joining them.

Will persuaded the High Tower members to accept Draco Malfoy as a probationary member under strict rules, then welcomed him to their first gathering. The chapter ended with Harry unexpectedly offering Draco advice during Charms practice.

• Will explained that Draco would join the High Tower for a three-month trial period, with members monitoring his behavior.
• Will told Draco the rules, including treating everyone equally and facing immediate expulsion if he broke them, and Draco agreed.
• Draco arrived at the High Tower that evening as a probationary member and received a chilly, awkward welcome from the others.
• During nonverbal Charms practice, Draco failed to levitate a feather, and Harry surprised him by suggesting his wrist was too stiff.

Will continued studying Human Transfiguration and, under Professor McGonagall’s supervision, transformed his whole body into an eagle. As he adjusted to the unfamiliar form and examined himself with Wizard’s Sight, he noticed something different.

• After Draco joined the High Tower, Will had him help build an additional floor with Charms.
• Over three weeks, Will studied Transfiguration and struggled to understand the Animagus transformation and the idea of a wizard’s true self.
• Professor McGonagall told Will that his difficulties came from an incomplete understanding of the Animagus and offered to supervise a full-body transformation.
• Will transformed into an eagle and found the altered vision, body, and voice deeply uncomfortable.
• Will gradually adjusted to the eagle’s body, then used Wizard’s Sight to examine himself and noticed something different.

Will completed Human Transfiguration under Professor McGonagall’s supervision and learned how Animagus transformations differ from changing the self through Human Transfiguration. After noticing the transformation’s effect on Professor McGonagall’s magic structure, he decided to find an Animagus to study, with Peter Pettigrew in mind.

• Will struggled to sense his magic after Human Transfiguration, then changed back after an hour.
• Professor McGonagall explained that Transfiguration could mean changing the world or changing the self, and that transformed wizards still possessed magic.
• Professor McGonagall demonstrated casting Incendio while transformed into an eagle, explaining that many wizards believed they had lost their magic because they could not sense it.
• Will noticed that Professor McGonagall’s magic structure changed during her Animagus transformation and questioned whether his research was on the right track.
• Will decided to find an Animagus to study and thought first of Peter Pettigrew.

Will arranged for Voldemort to make Peter Pettigrew obey him, intending to use the rat as a cooperative test subject. He finally confronted Scabbers outside the High Tower and revealed that he knew his identity.

• Will wrote Professor Riddle that he had entered the Chamber of Secrets, planned to deal with Harry Potter, and wanted Peter Pettigrew as a test subject.
• Will sent Draco Malfoy to deliver the letter to Lucius Malfoy, who could pass it on to Voldemort.
• Voldemort replied that Pettigrew would obey Will unconditionally and assist with whatever actions he needed.
• Will waited for Scabbers to leave the High Tower, then sat beside the rat and studied the magic flowing through his body.
• Will called Scabbers by his real name, Peter Pettigrew, and the rat froze.

Will forced Peter Pettigrew to serve as his spy and Animagus research subject, using Voldemort’s letter and threats to secure Peter’s cooperation. After studying Peter’s transformations, Will ordered him to find an opportunity to attack Harry Potter and considered how to stage a grand show for Voldemort.

• Will showed Peter the Dark Mark letter and ordered him to help kill Harry Potter and spy on his movements.
• Will threatened to expose or harm Peter unless he cooperated with experiments on his Animagus transformations, and Peter gave in.
• Will observed Peter changing between human and rat forms and recorded details about Animagus transformation.
• Peter told Will that Harry often seemed to talk to himself, and Will ordered Peter to find or create a chance to attack Harry when he was alone.
• After Peter scurried away as a rat, Will considered how to stage a grand show for Voldemort.

Will prepared to secretly use a Transfigured Basilisk to attack Harry, while Harry and his classmates faced Moody’s practical combat exercise on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Harry began the survival challenge near Ron, with Hermione and Neville starting elsewhere.

• Will planned to use a Transfigured Basilisk against Harry and hoped to learn Transfiguration from Dumbledore afterward.
• Snape criticized Harry’s potion, docked Gryffindor points after Hermione defended him, and ordered Harry to clean the classroom without a wand.
• Moody took the second-year students to the Forbidden Forest for a two-hour combat exercise, where they had to survive and remain within the marked boundaries.
• Harry drew starting position eight, Ron drew nine, Neville drew fifteen, and Hermione drew twenty-three before they headed to their separate locations.

Harry, Ron, and Neville navigated Moody’s forest survival exercise, where Neville defeated a Slytherin with the Flying Stone Charm and Malfoy avoided a fight with them. The exercise ended with about half the students surviving, including Harry, Ron, Neville, Hermione, and Malfoy.

• Harry followed Strange’s warnings through the Forbidden Forest and took out several students with well-aimed spells.
• Harry and Ron found Neville facing a Slytherin, but Neville knocked the student unconscious with repeated Flying Stone Charms.
• Moody praised Neville and carried the unconscious student toward the Hospital Wing.
• Malfoy arrived with Crabbe and Goyle, advised Harry, Ron, and Neville to leave before others came, and departed without attacking them.
• Harry, Ron, and Neville avoided other groups, encountered Will and Sylvia, and stayed hidden until the exercise ended.
• Moody gathered the surviving students, including Hermione and Malfoy, and reminded those who had been eliminated to write their essays.

Dumbledore met Will after Defence Against the Dark Arts and explained that Harry needed to earn support by building his reputation. Will agreed to help stage a dramatic event, then underwent another treatment that caused unbearable pain in his soul and knocked him unconscious.

• Will and his friends reached the High Tower, where Dumbledore praised Neville's progress and asked Will to come with him.
• Dumbledore told Will that Harry needed to win people's support, and Will agreed to help create a stirring event in which he would appear to kill Harry.
• Dumbledore said Malfoy would serve as evidence of the staged murder and warned Will to keep him from learning too much.
• At the Hospital Wing, Dumbledore began another treatment, and Will felt intense pain in his soul before passing out.

Dumbledore treated Will’s soul-corrupting mark and revealed that Ramesses II had designed it to kill him after decades. After recovering, Will resumed his studies and research into Animagus transformation, leaving him searching for knowledge about the soul in a book at home.

• Dumbledore removed part of the mark on Will, leaving him unconscious for three days as Snape and Madam Pomfrey monitored his treatment.
• Dumbledore explained that Ramesses II’s mark would slowly corrupt Will’s soul and likely kill him after fifty or sixty years, and advised him to pause Animagus training while he recovered.
• Will rested in the Hospital Wing, while Dumbledore planned to use the pause in Will’s training to strengthen Harry’s reputation and gain Voldemort’s trust.
• After recovering, Will returned to classes and research, observing Peter Pettigrew’s Animagus transformation in the Room of Requirement.
• Will recalled a book about souls, “Soul Transplant—The Talking Goat,” and decided to seek it at home.

Will spent a restful afternoon with the High Tower group after Harry’s Quidditch victory, while keeping up his soul research and recovery. The group considered several students seeking to join, rejecting Colin Creevey and beginning to discuss Seamus Finnigan.

• Will shared Osmanthus Cake with the High Tower group as they watched fireworks by the Black Lake and celebrated Harry’s Quidditch win.
• Harry credited George and Fred with helping him catch the Golden Snitch, and Malfoy unexpectedly complimented Harry’s performance.
• Will reflected on his soul treatment, his limited research, and his plans to resume Animagus work after recovering.
• Hermione listed seven students who had asked to join the High Tower, and Will rejected Colin Creevey’s request over his secret photography.
• The group discussed Seamus Finnigan’s application, and Harry, Ron, George, and Fred supported him.

The High Tower considered new members, accepting Seamus, Luna Lovegood, Michael Corner, and Hannah Abbott while rejecting Pansy Parkinson and Daphne Greengrass. After afternoon tea, Malfoy asked Will to speak with him alone.

• Hermione presented Luna Lovegood’s nomination, and Will approved it after the group discussed her character.
• Hermione introduced Michael Corner and Hannah Abbott, whose nominations also passed.
• Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Sylvia objected to Pansy Parkinson joining, while Malfoy said neither she nor Daphne Greengrass was suited to the High Tower.
• Will rejected Pansy Parkinson’s and Daphne Greengrass’s nominations, leaving Seamus, Luna, Michael, and Hannah as the new members.
• After afternoon tea, Malfoy asked Will to talk with him alone.

Will learned that the Greengrass family had ordered Daphne to get close to him, and he considered using Voldemort’s influence to gain access to Pure-blood secrets. He then brought a Vanishing Cabinet to the High Tower, creating a direct route between it and Hogwarts Castle.

• Malfoy told Will that the Greengrass family had pressured Daphne to approach him because of his connection to Voldemort.
• Will realized Pure-blood families had begun targeting him and considered exploiting their interest for useful knowledge and magic.
• Will praised Malfoy’s progress in the High Tower as other Slytherins increasingly sought to join the society.
• Owls delivered an old cabinet to the High Tower, where Will identified it as a Vanishing Cabinet.
• Will explained that Professor Flitwick had provided the cabinet pair and placed one on the High Tower’s third floor, with the other near the Room of Requirement.

Lucius delivered Voldemort’s letter to Will and was ordered to bring more Potions, while Voldemort urged Will to act against Harry sooner. Will showed the letter to Dumbledore, and several nights later Peter Pettigrew followed Harry through the Vanishing Cabinet into the Room of Requirement, where Will confronted him.

• Voldemort ordered Lucius to deliver a letter to Will and bring him more Potions.
• Will read Voldemort’s warning and decided to discuss his impatience with Dumbledore.
• Dumbledore explained that making Horcruxes had made Voldemort more reckless, then asked the Sorting Hat to teach Harry and scheduled another treatment for Will.
• Harry studied with Strange in the High Tower while Scabbers lingered nearby.
• Harry entered the Vanishing Cabinet, and Scabbers followed him to the Room of Requirement, where Will faced Peter Pettigrew in human form.

Will expanded the High Tower with an Undetectable Extension Charm while Hermione worried that the magic was illegal. He then planned his next move involving the Chamber of Secrets and Peter Pettigrew, as Harry continued his lessons and prepared unknowingly for the Basilisk.

• Will directed the High Tower members to clear the room, then cast an Undetectable Extension Charm that more than tripled its interior space.
• Hermione warned that extending a building with the charm violated Wizarding World law, but Sylvia reassured her and Ron wondered whether the Weasley house had been altered illegally too.
• In the Room of Requirement, Will reprimanded Peter Pettigrew for weak intelligence and instructed him to separate Ron from Harry while keeping his identity hidden.
• Will decided he would soon visit the Chamber of Secrets and considered how to let Harry face the Basilisk without interference from Hogwarts professors.
• Harry worried about meeting a Basilisk, then continued his classes, tending Mandrakes in Herbology and turning a stone into a rooster in Transfiguration.
• Professor McGonagall assigned an essay to students whose roosters failed, while Strange told Harry his rooster needed more practice crowing.

Will met Luna, who encouraged him not to worry about Wrackspurts, then prepared to carry out a plan involving Harry and Weasley. He and Dumbledore finished preparing a lifelike Basilisk for the next day’s performance.

• Luna told Will that Wrackspurts were muddling his thoughts and reassured him that his plans would go smoothly.
• Will gave Peter Pettigrew a Draught of Living Death and ordered him to make Weasley drink it.
• After Peter left, Will sent a message to Dumbledore using an enchanted paper crane.
• Will met Dumbledore in a hidden classroom and inspected the lifelike Basilisk Dumbledore had created for the next day.
• Dumbledore said he would visit the Ministry of Magic and offer Fudge a few suggestions while Will handled the performance.

Draco Malfoy encountered a hooded stranger and a giant snake in Hogwarts, but the stranger petrified him and continued toward the abandoned classroom. Harry Potter emerged from the classroom and came face to face with the stranger and snake.

• Draco Malfoy left the High Tower through the Vanishing Cabinet and headed toward the Kitchens for apple juice.
• Draco heard footsteps and a strange rustling in an empty corridor, then followed a hooded stranger and a giant green snake toward the abandoned classroom.
• When Draco accidentally made a noise, the stranger cast Petrificus Totalus on him and continued on without finishing him off.
• Harry Potter stepped out of the abandoned classroom and saw Draco lying motionless, with the hooded stranger and giant snake nearby.

Harry fought Voldemort’s basilisk in the corridor, struggling to evade its attacks while Strange guided him. Voldemort disarmed Harry, leaving him helpless as the basilisk approached, and the chapter ended at a critical instant.

• Strange warned Harry that the hooded figure had a basilisk and told him not to look into its eyes.
• Harry tried spells against the basilisk, but its scales resisted most attacks and its blows wrecked the corridor.
• Strange guided Harry’s dodges and urged him to target the basilisk’s mouth and eyes, while Harry burned its mouth with Incendio.
• Harry’s strength and magic waned, and Voldemort disarmed him with Expelliarmus.
• The basilisk approached helpless Harry as Malfoy remained frozen nearby.

Harry killed the basilisk with the Sword of Gryffindor but was petrified by its dying gaze. Malfoy discovered that Will Behrens had unleashed the creature on the Dark Lord’s orders, while Will escaped through the room holding the Vanishing Cabinet.

• The Sorting Hat brought Harry the Sword of Gryffindor as the phoenix circled above him.
• Voldemort blocked the approaching students with spells, and Harry charged the basilisk to keep it away from Hermione and the others.
• Harry drove the sword into the basilisk’s mouth and killed it, but its dying gaze petrified him.
• Harry’s shattered glasses sent a spell that cut Voldemort’s hood, and Malfoy saw Will Behrens beneath it.
• Professor Flitwick extinguished the flames, and Will threatened Malfoy before escaping through the Vanishing Cabinet room.

Harry lay rigid beside the slain Basilisk, and Hogwarts students believed he had died fighting it. In the Hospital Wing, Dumbledore asked Malfoy to explain what he had witnessed.

• Will arrived to find Harry and Malfoy lying beside the dead Basilisk, and Hermione and Ron rushed to Harry.
• Dumbledore arrived and lifted Malfoy's petrification; Malfoy said Harry had killed the Basilisk with the Sword of Gryffindor.
• Snape examined Harry while McGonagall ordered the area sealed and the students evacuated.
• Rumors that Harry had died spread through Hogwarts, leaving students grieving in their Common Rooms and the Hospital Wing.
• Dumbledore asked Malfoy to tell them what he had seen.