Chapter Summaries

Fudge set plans in motion to overturn Sirius Black’s case and control the public narrative, while Will and Dumbledore discussed Peter’s secrets and the risks of altering his memory. Dumbledore then began to explain the meaning of Obliviate.

• Fudge went to Hogsmeade with Barty Crouch and Scrimgeour, ordered the Aurors to protect Hogwarts, and reassured Barty that retired officials would take the blame for Sirius’s wrongful conviction.
• Fudge tasked Scrimgeour with finding flaws in the old case files and secretly searching for Peter, while Barty was told to manage the media and Fudge planned to liaise with Dumbledore.
• Fudge said the public only needed to believe the outcome, even if Peter and Sirius disappeared, and the three officials toasted their plan.
• Will gave Dumbledore a speech for Black and explained that exposing Peter could reveal secrets and that major Memory Charms risked harming Peter or leaving detectable traces.
• Dumbledore warned Will not to abuse the Memory Charm and asked whether he knew what Obliviate meant.

Will discussed the Memory Charm with Dumbledore, who explained how its power to alter memory could distort identity and had once helped lead him toward dangerous beliefs about Muggles. Will left the conversation thinking that creating a person from a body, memories, and a soul fragment might be possible, and that memory erasure was only part of the Cornerstone of Godhood.

• Will explained the history and widespread Ministry use of the Memory Charm to Dumbledore.
• Dumbledore said that wizards’ ability to erase and alter memories revealed how terrifying their power could be.
• Dumbledore recalled how he and Gellert had once believed wizards should rule Muggles, and how he later recognized that wizards and Muggles were alike.
• Will considered creating a person by giving a body memories and a fragment of a soul, and became intensely interested in the Memory Charm.

Will discussed the differences between wizards and Muggles with Dumbledore and criticized the wizarding world’s stagnation and entrenched power structures. He believed the world needed change but said he did not want to involve himself in wizarding politics, though he would share research that advanced society.

• Will told Dumbledore that powerful wizards were individually superior to Muggles, though ordinary wizards were not inherently nobler.
• Will argued that neither wizards nor Muggles would replace the other unless one group gained complete control over magic.
• Will described the wizarding world as stagnant, citing its isolation, concentrated political and economic power, poor organization, and resistance to progress.
• Will suggested that Grindelwald may have recognized the same problems and agreed that the wizarding world needed a revolution.
• Will told Dumbledore that he would not pursue politics but would contribute research that helped wizarding society progress.

Will assured Dumbledore that he sought knowledge and magical discovery, not power over others. Later, he erased Peter’s memories of himself to protect Peter from the Ministry’s investigation, leaving Peter with altered memories.

• Dumbledore warned Will that powerful wizards who sought to change the old order could become tyrants, and asked him what he hoped to achieve.
• Will told Dumbledore that he wanted to understand magic and the world, while social change should come from the wizarding community rather than a single powerful figure.
• Will told Peter that the Ministry was investigating the Dementors’ disappearance and Dumbledore planned to investigate Sirius’s case, making Peter’s position dangerous.
• Will drugged Peter’s grape juice, then cast Obliviate and carefully erased Peter’s memories of him.
• Will filled the gaps with altered memories so that examining or restoring Peter’s memories would not reveal what he had done.

Will and Dumbledore checked Peter’s memories to ensure he would not expose himself, while Black waited with Lupin at Hagrid’s Hut for Peter’s capture and the chance to clear his name. Black worried about how Harry would react when he learned the truth, and the chapter ended as Hagrid arrived carrying a vat of fish.

• Will and Dumbledore watched Peter wake, turn into a rat, and eat Ron’s Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans before leaving the dormitory.
• Lupin told Black that Fudge had visited Hogwarts after the Quidditch incident and that Dementors had been removed from the grounds.
• Lupin said Dumbledore expected Peter to be caught soon and planned to reopen Black’s case before the Wizengamot.
• Black asked Lupin what Harry would think when he learned that Black was his godfather and had not betrayed his parents.
• Hagrid arrived at his hut carrying a huge vat of wriggling fish.

Will visited Hagrid, Lupin, and Black, who agreed to let him read the Black family’s books. Meanwhile, Scrimgeour and Barty Crouch uncovered serious flaws in Sirius Black’s case and divided their efforts between finding Peter and tracking the Christmas Dark Wizard.

• Hagrid brought fish for the Thestrals and praised Will for caring for them.
• Black offered Will access to the Black family’s book collection, and Will accepted.
• Ministry employees retrieved the original records from Sirius Black’s case and delivered them to Scrimgeour and Barty Crouch.
• Scrimgeour and Barty found that the case lacked proper investigation, reliable evidence, and complete magical analysis.
• Scrimgeour assigned most of his Aurors to find Peter while the rest investigated the Christmas Dark Wizard, and Barty planned to alert the press once Peter was found.

Will developed the Werewolf Venom Curse from Wolfsbane Potion research and tested it on Lupin during the full moon at Hogwarts. Lupin transformed while retaining control, proving the curse worked, though Will remained dissatisfied and planned further Ancient Runes research with Professor Babbling.

• Lucius told Voldemort that Fudge had mobilized Ministry personnel to search for Peter, and Voldemort ordered him to ask Will what was happening and support him if needed.
• Will told Lupin that he had converted the Wolfsbane Potion’s effects into a stabilized curse and asked him to test it before the full moon.
• Lupin cast the Werewolf Venom Curse before the full moon and transformed in a protected Hogwarts Tower while Dumbledore, Snape, and the other professors watched.
• Lupin remained calm as a Werewolf and nodded to the gathered professors, confirming that Will’s curse had succeeded.
• Will’s work with Professor Babbling on Ancient Runes remained unfinished, and Will was not satisfied with the result.

Will sent Lucius Malfoy instructions to stay out of his plan and alerted Cornelius Fudge that Ron Weasley’s rat Scabbers might be Peter Pettigrew. Fudge ordered Aurors to investigate and promised Will the Order of Merlin, Third Class, while Will considered the award useful for building his reputation and maintaining appearances with Voldemort.

• Will read Lucius Malfoy’s letter asking about the Peter Pettigrew plan and offering assistance.
• Will wrote back to Lucius Malfoy, confirming the plan and telling him to stay uninvolved and avoid suspicion.
• Will sent Cornelius Fudge a report explaining why he suspected Scabbers was Peter Pettigrew in Animagus form.
• Fudge replied that he had ordered Aurors in Hogsmeade to investigate and said he would recommend Will for the Order of Merlin, Third Class.
• Will burned Fudge’s letter and considered the medal a useful reward and a way to build his reputation while appearing to follow Voldemort’s orders.

Harry and Ron were summoned by Professor McGonagall after she asked where Scabbers was, then disobeyed her order to stay in her office and went to the High Tower. There, they found Aurors, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Lupin, and Rufus Scrimgeour surrounding a struggling Scabbers.

• Snape mocked Harry and Ron's failed potion and deducted points from Gryffindor while praising Will Behrens's technique.
• Professor McGonagall took Harry and Ron to her office and asked Ron where Scabbers was, then ordered them to stay there for their safety.
• Harry persuaded Ron to sneak out under the Invisibility Cloak and investigate the High Tower.
• Harry and Ron saw Aurors guarding the High Tower and spotted Dumbledore, McGonagall, Lupin, and Rufus Scrimgeour gathered around Scabbers.

Harry and Ron witnessed Scabbers transform into Peter and learned that the rat had been hiding in the Weasley home for years. Dumbledore summoned them to his office, where they found Sirius Black and were told they would hear the truth behind the long and sorrowful story.

• Scabbers transformed into Peter, and Scrimgeour subdued him while Harry and Ron watched under the Invisibility Cloak.
• Harry and Ron fled, and Ron vomited before spending the day pale and dazed.
• Hermione accepted Ron’s apology, and Neville told Harry and Ron that Sylvia and Hermione were organizing support for Luna against Ravenclaw bullies.
• Professor McGonagall sent Harry and Ron to Dumbledore’s office after dinner.
• Harry and Ron found Hagrid, Lupin, and Sirius Black in the Headmaster’s Office, where Dumbledore asked Remus to explain the truth.

The Ministry publicly revealed Peter Pettigrew’s betrayal, overturned Sirius Black’s wrongful conviction, and restored his name and rights. The chapter ended with the Wizengamot dropping all charges against Sirius and charging Peter with his crimes.

• Harry left Dumbledore’s office with Ron, amazed to learn that Sirius was his godfather, and asked Strange how Dumbledore had discovered their earlier spying.
• The Daily Prophet reported that Peter had betrayed the Potters and hidden as a rat, while praising Minister Fudge and describing Sirius as a wronged hero.
• Hermione realized Ron’s rat had been Peter, while Ron became distressed by the newspaper coverage and left the Great Hall.
• The Wizengamot summoned Sirius and formally cleared him, restored his legal rights, and awarded him an Order of Merlin, Second Class.
• The Wizengamot charged Peter with murder, fraud, and the other crimes previously blamed on Sirius.

Sylvia confronted Will about his motives for helping Fudge and realized he was using a Time-Turner, while Will continued researching joy magic for his Patronus problem. The chapter ended with Harry reminding Will that Lupin was waiting for him to work on the Patronus Charm.

• Sylvia questioned Will about helping Fudge, and he admitted that supporting Black would help Lupin and Harry while earning him access to the Black family's Book Repository.
• Sylvia noticed Will's dark circles and inferred that he was using a Time-Turner to attend conflicting classes, warning him to get more rest.
• Will reflected that he had until summer to investigate the Patronus Charm, search Black Manor for information on the Hour-Reversal Charm, and study Avada Kedavra.
• Will searched Hogwarts' Library for books about joy magic but found little concrete information about how to collect and store joy systematically.
• Harry found Will in the Room of Requirement and reminded him that Lupin had sent him to help with Patronus research.

Will tested his unusual Patronus Charm against Harry’s Boggart Dementor, discovering that its gray-black form drained joy and seemed to infect the Dementor. Harry’s remark about happiness thinning out gave Will the idea to try summoning Santa Claus.

• Will asked Lupin and Harry to help him test his Patronus Charm against Harry’s Boggart Dementor.
• Will’s silver-white Patronus mist repelled the Boggart, but its later gray-black stages clung to it and absorbed the joyful energy of Harry and Lupin’s Patronuses.
• Lupin and Harry cast their Patronuses together, and Will stopped his spell after Lupin warned him that it was creating an emotional vacuum.
• Lupin gave Will and Harry Chocolate Frogs and said that storing joy was almost impossible.
• Harry said Will’s Patronus had made his happiness feel thinner, prompting Will to consider summoning Santa Claus.

Will replenished his joy by casting the Patronus Charm over a remote Muggle village, but a Ministry of Magic Auror Squad arrived before he could finish. The Aurors spotted the village shrouded in black mist and halted to investigate.

• Will chose an isolated Scottish village and cast the Patronus Charm to drain the residents' joy.
• The gray-black mist stripped joy from the houses and fed it to Will through their magical connection.
• Several Aurors on Broomsticks approached the village while discussing their patrol for the so-called Christmas Dark Wizard.
• Dalton noticed the black mist over the village and signaled the Aurors to stop.

Aurors Dalton, Emily, and Benjamin investigated a strange fog in a village, where Will incapacitated them by draining their happiness. After Dalton woke in a cave and was taken to St. Mungo's, Scrimgeour ordered a search of the Scottish Highlands for the Christmas Dark Wizard.

• Dalton, Emily, and Benjamin descended toward a village shrouded in dark magic, where the fog filled them with fear and painful memories.
• Will's black fog overwhelmed Benjamin and then the other Aurors, draining their happiness and leaving all three unconscious.
• Will checked the Aurors, confirmed they were alive, and left them with gold after deciding the effects would not cause permanent harm.
• Dalton woke in a cave with his Wand nearby and wondered whether he could use the gold before being taken to St. Mungo's.
• Scrimgeour grew furious over the attack and ordered the Auror Office to search the Scottish Highlands for Will.

Will drained joy from nearly twenty Scottish Highland villages to draw Santa Claus out, and Santa appeared on Christmas Eve to ask why he had done it. The chapter ended with Will facing Santa in the snow, poised to answer.

• Will reviewed three Aurors’ memories and learned that a Christmas Dark Wizard had been attacking Muggle villages and leaving gold behind.
• Will used the third-stage Patronus Charm to drain joy from a small village, then flew between more than a dozen villages, leaving gold behind.
• Will waited in a forest near a Muggle village as midnight passed and wondered whether Santa Claus would answer the artificial scarcity of joy.
• A sleigh drawn by flying reindeer arrived, and Santa Claus climbed down to meet Will.
• Santa asked Will why he had created the joy vacuums, and Will nodded without answering.

Will met Santa Claus, who revealed that he had once been Saint Nicholas and agreed to teach Will the Ancient Magic of joy. As Santa Claus explained how to create an emotional core, Will saw something that stunned him.

• Will asked Santa Claus to teach him Joy Magic, and Santa Claus invited him into a gingerbread house.
• Santa Claus revealed that he had once been Saint Nicholas and asked Will to show how he had created his unusual Patronus.
• Will demonstrated his Patronus, and Santa Claus recognized that it arose from tragedy and that Will needed joy.
• Santa Claus agreed to teach Will Joy Magic if Will promised to bring joy to the Muggles he had compensated.
• Santa Claus warned Will about tampering with time and began explaining Ancient Magic and the emotional core of joy.
• Will gained Ancient Magic LV1, and a faint light in his eyes let him see something that stunned him.

Will learned that Santa Claus was a magical phenomenon sustained by people’s belief and Christmas traditions, and he suspected Ramesses II had undergone a similar transformation. After Santa Claus departed to deliver presents, Will resolved not to respond to magic without certainty and kept the lesson on the core of joy.

• With Wizard's Eye active, Will saw that Santa Claus and his Reindeer were made of magic, and Santa Claus explained that Will's magical affinity had drawn him close.
• Santa Claus taught Will ancient magic until around three in the morning, then left to deliver presents before dawn.
• Watching Santa Claus's Sleigh vanish, Will realized that collective belief and Christmas traditions sustained Santa Claus as a magical phenomenon after Saint Nicholas had died.
• Will suspected that Ramesses II's immortality had also been shaped by his sacrifices and later people's impressions of him, and he remained determined to take revenge.
• Holding the sheet showing the core of joy, Will strengthened his resolve never to respond to magic unless he was absolutely certain.

Will focused on improving his stamina while continuing his research into ancient magic and the Joy Core. In Hogsmeade, Fudge publicly praised him for providing a crucial lead and announced that his nomination for the Order of Merlin, Third Class, had been submitted.

• Sylvia noticed that Will was resting more, spending time with friends, exercising, and using his Time-Turner less often.
• Will trained his stamina, reflecting on the dangers of magic and resolving to keep earning abilities through the system.
• Will and Sylvia went to Hogsmeade, where Fudge arrived with Aurors and officials alongside the newly honored Black.
• Fudge warmly thanked Will for his information, praised him to reporters, and announced his Order of Merlin, Third Class nomination.

Will and Sylvia spent a day in Hogsmeade, where Will kept thinking about Magic and annoyed Sylvia. Sirius Black joined them and began discussing the family books with Will.

• Will and Sylvia left after dealing with reporters and walked through Hogsmeade, discussing Will's Order of Merlin and whether Muggles saw the same stars as wizards.
• Fred and George gave Will a loud-quacking rubber duck and handed him prank sweets, while Sylvia bought a picture-drawing Quill and sweets.
• Will and Sylvia shared Butterbeer at The Three Broomsticks, where Sylvia grew annoyed that Will was distracted by thoughts of Emotion Magic.
• Sirius Black joined them, asked after Sylvia's father and grandfather, and said he had spent the morning with Harry before bringing up the family books.