Chapter Summaries

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.

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.