Chapter Summaries

After the Ministry revealed that Peter Pettigrew had escaped Azkaban by using his Animagus form, Tris explained the difficult transformation to curious Hogwarts students. When Dumbledore announced that Dementors would guard the school, Tris condemned the Ministry’s decision but saw an opportunity to collect rare materials from them.

• Theodore asked Tris whether he knew how to become an Animagus, and Tris described the long, complicated process.
• Tris warned the students that Animagi could not choose their animal forms, and the group lost interest in learning the magic.
• Tris reasoned that the Ministry had identified Peter’s Animagus ability by comparing him with other Azkaban prisoners.
• Dumbledore announced that Dementors would be stationed around Hogwarts to stop Peter from entering the school.
• Tris realized that Dementors could provide rare alchemical and potion ingredients and considered collecting some.

Tris secretly left Hogwarts to lure an Elite Dementor away from its companions and test his magic. He bound it with a chain of purple flame, leaving its fate unresolved.

• Tris used Shadow Magic to leave the castle unseen while the others slept.
• Tris drew one of the Dementors toward him by releasing faint traces of emotion.
• Tris led the Elite Dementor away from the others and toward the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
• The Elite Dementor sensed Tris's malice and tried to flee, but an unknown force bound it as Tris reached for it with a chain of purple flame.

Tris captured and refined a Dementor, obtaining rare materials for his planned magical devices. Two masked wizards arrived after he left, saw a vision of his dark magic, and decided he was their target.

• Tris used the Shadow-Binding Spell and Soul-Eroding Evil Fire to restrain and torture a Dementor.
• Tris killed the Dementor and obtained a dementor finger bone and a Deathly Chill Crystal.
• Tris stored the materials and returned to Hogwarts Castle to sleep.
• Two masked wizards examined traces of the dark magic and saw a vision of Tris refining the Dementor.
• One masked wizard concluded that Tris was their target and accused an esteemed white wizard of lying.

Tris learned that a Dementor had vanished and that suspicious wizards had been spotted near Hogwarts, but he set the mystery aside. A Ministry investigation into illegal Animagi exposed journalist Rita Skeeter and then turned its attention to Hogwarts after Sirius registered as an Animagus.

• Ron told Tris that a Dementor had gone missing and that Ministry officials had encountered unidentified wizards near Hogwarts.
• Tris briefly wondered who the wizards were, then returned to his training and let the question go.
• Students treated Lockhart as a clown and looked forward to Halloween and the coming Quidditch matches.
• The Ministry's nationwide search for illegal Animagi uncovered Rita Skeeter, who could transform into a beetle, prompting debate over her punishment.
• Sirius registered his Animagus identity and revealed he had learned the transformation as a student, leading the Ministry to investigate whether current Hogwarts students were also Animagi.

Tris attended the Ministry’s Animagus testing at Hogwarts, where Professor McGonagall argued that the youngest students did not need to be tested. After she singled Tris out as the only likely exception, he noticed the wizard testing Ravenclaw watching him strangely.

• Ron and Harry told Tris they were upset about missing the Halloween Feast’s Skeleton Dance Troupe while attending Nearly Headless Nick’s Deathday Party.
• Tris planned to finish his homework and seek help from his brothers so he could buy more Magic Spirit Potion ingredients in Hogsmeade.
• Tris arrived at the Great Hall and saw Rufus Scrimgeour overseeing the Ministry’s Animagus tests.
• Students from the older years and then the younger years were tested, but the Ministry discovered no Animagi.
• Professor McGonagall asked Rufus to spare the first- and second-years and suggested testing Tris alone.
• Tris noticed the wizard assigned to Ravenclaw staring at him with an unusual look.

Rufus tested Tris for the Animagus transformation, and Tris’s unusually strong magic caused a rare reaction to the potion. After Fieck touched Tris’s shoulder, Professor McGonagall challenged him over what he had done.

• Dumbledore persuaded Rufus to test only Tris rather than the other first- and second-year students.
• Fieck took over the testing from the tired Charles and gave Tris a pale pink potion before casting the spell.
• Tris’s body glowed faintly silver, and Rufus explained that the reaction signaled unusually powerful magic.
• Fieck praised Tris and patted his shoulder, prompting Tris to suspect he had done something.
• Professor McGonagall angrily asked Mr. Varga what he had done.

Varga tried to escape Hogwarts using a Portkey, but Dumbledore stopped him, leaving him gravely injured. Before losing consciousness, Varga revealed that he had placed an irremovable mark on Tris, and Rufus discovered that Varga was truly a Ministry official rather than an impostor.

• Varga activated a Portkey in the Great Hall, but Dumbledore interrupted the magic and pulled him back, costing him his right shoulder.
• Professor McGonagall evacuated the students and treated Varga while Tris, his brothers, and Harry remained behind.
• Varga told Professor McGonagall that he had placed an irremovable special mark on Tris and suggested Dumbledore might be able to remove it.
• Varga implied that people outside the Ministry were involved, prompting Percy to demand to know what they wanted with Tris.
• Rufus asked Professor McGonagall to cast a Forced Reversal Spell to check whether Varga was an impostor, but the spell revealed no disguise.
• Varga identified himself as Fieck Varga, leading Rufus to conclude that the Ministry had been infiltrated.

After Varga was taken away, Dumbledore and McGonagall discovered that his tracking mark had been placed on Tris’s soul and might be dangerous to remove. Tris recognized it as a wisp of soul fire that he could eliminate himself, then returned to the Slytherin Common Room, where his friends questioned him.

• Rufus took Varga away after Varga refused to reveal who had sent him, and McGonagall demanded a follow-up investigation.
• McGonagall and Dumbledore found no magical mark on Tris’s body and concluded that the difficult-to-remove mark was on his soul.
• Tris recognized the mark as isolated soul fire that could let Varga’s accomplices track him, and knew he could consume or burn it away.
• McGonagall asked Tris why Varga had attacked him, and Tris truthfully said he did not know.
• Tris accompanied the Weasleys to check on Ginny, then returned to the Slytherin Common Room, where Blaise and the others asked what Varga had done to him.

Snape told Tris that Varga had died after Veritaserum triggered a fatal poison, then gave him a healing spell for Sectumsempra wounds. Tris continued seeking Voldemort’s Horcruxes and watched the Slytherin-Gryffindor Quidditch match begin, only to discover Harry was riding a Nimbus 2001.

• Snape told Tris that Varga had died when Veritaserum activated a poison that quickly destroyed his insides.
• Snape revealed that he had found Quirrell’s severed hand, then sent Tris away with a parchment bearing the Reawakening Charm, which Tris memorized before burning.
• Tris learned that Tom Riddle did not know where the Gaunt family home was, leaving him unable to locate the Ring there.
• Tris attended the Halloween Feast, saw Dumbledore’s Skeleton Dance Troupe, and noted that Harry and Ron went to the Deathday Party.
• Draco trained for the Quidditch match against Gryffindor, and Theodore passed along Tris’s warning that he should not fixate on Harry.
• When the match began, Tris saw that Harry was riding a Nimbus 2001 and suspected Sirius had bought it for him.

After Gryffindor beat Slytherin, Tris researched the Gaunt family and learned that their ancestral estate had been sold, leaving him unable to find their current home. He decided to ask Dumbledore for help and approached him in the Great Hall, hinting that he had found something in Hogwarts Castle.

• Harry caught the Golden Snitch and won the Quidditch match for Gryffindor, while Tris learned the others had concealed Harry's new broom from him.
• Sirius told Tris he had joined the Hogwarts Board of Governors as its thirteenth governor before he and Remus left Hogwarts.
• Tris investigated the Gaunt family and discovered they had squandered their fortune and sold their ancestral estate, with no record of where they moved.
• Tris decided to ask Dumbledore for help finding the Gaunts and approached him in the Great Hall.
• Tris told Dumbledore he had found something by accident in Hogwarts Castle, and Dumbledore suggested they talk somewhere else.

Tris gave Dumbledore Ravenclaw's Diadem, and Dumbledore exchanged it for the Deluminator before beginning to explain the evil magic surrounding the relics. The chapter ended as Dumbledore started telling Tris about Herpo the Foul and the danger connected to the objects.

• Tris showed Dumbledore Ravenclaw's Diadem, and Dumbledore identified it as a Hogwarts founder's relic like Salazar Slytherin's Locket.
• Dumbledore and Tris discussed the other founders' relics and the possibility that Voldemort had also found Helga Hufflepuff's cup.
• Dumbledore explained that the Sword of Gryffindor could serve as a special wand as well as a weapon.
• Tris gave Dumbledore the Diadem, and Dumbledore gave Tris the Deluminator in return.
• Tris asked about the evil magic affecting the Diadem and Harry's unusual sensitivity to it, so Dumbledore began explaining Horcruxes by telling him about Herpo the Foul.

Tris learned that Dumbledore still did not know how many Horcruxes Voldemort had made, then tested the Deluminator and discovered it could draw him into a magical Mirror World. He left the experiment with a headache and reduced magical energy, realizing the device’s powerful abilities came at a high cost.

• Tris discussed Voldemort’s Horcruxes with Dumbledore, who admitted that an old friend still refused to tell him how many there were.
• Tris suggested Voldemort hid objects in places that held personal meaning, and Dumbledore agreed as he studied the Diadem.
• Tris entered a reinforced Room of Requirement and found that its runes absorbed the magic from his Stupefy spell.
• Tris clicked the Deluminator and entered a Mirror World, where he moved instantly and transformed objects by thought.
• Tris returned to the room when the Mirror World collapsed, noticed he had spent about a tenth of his magical energy, and decided he would need more Magic Spirit Potion.

Tris and the Weasley family traveled to Egypt for Christmas in Sirius’s heavily modified flying Ford, while Nymphadora stayed behind amid an Auror Office investigation. They settled into their temporary lodging and learned Bill would only be free to join them for Christmas Eve dinner.

• Tris experimented with the Deluminator Dumbledore had given him and suspected it had powers beyond those he could access through Shadow Magic.
• Nymphadora was kept busy by questioning and inspections after a mole was discovered in the Auror Office, while Arthur enjoyed his unexpected free time.
• Sirius revealed that he had modified the Ford to reach five hundred miles an hour and expanded its interior into a private-jet-like cabin.
• Sirius drove the Weasley family, Harry, Remus, and Tris to Egypt in the flying car, thrilling the group while Tris remained unimpressed.
• The group arrived at their Egyptian lodging and learned Bill could only join them for dinner on Christmas Eve.
• Harry told Tris that he looked like Bill, though he thought Tris was better-looking.

Harry and the others explored Cairo’s Heliopolis Secret Market, where Sirius explained the history of ancient magic and Merlin’s role in establishing modern wand-based magic. Tris was abducted in a sudden magical attack, and Percy realized the Ministry had used him as bait.

• Sirius, Remus, Arthur, Harry, Tris, and the Weasleys entered Heliopolis Secret Market, where Remus described Egypt’s widespread wandless magic.
• Sirius told the group that ancient magic had been more powerful but dangerous, until Merlin perfected and spread the modern magical system.
• A stranger grabbed Tris and vanished with him before the others could react, while two spells struck the spot where he had stood.
• Kingsley Shacklebolt and Snape appeared and assessed the abduction, while Molly demanded to know what had happened to Tris.
• Percy recalled the Ministry’s magical mark on Tris and accused the others of using him as bait.

Tris was kidnapped by masked wizards who said they served Varga and demanded to know where he had hidden the Philosopher's Stone. They believed Dumbledore had given the Stone to Tris because he had acquired ingredients for the Magic Spirit Potion.

• Tris was transported to an almost empty house, where six masked wizards awaited him.
• Tris recognized that Snape was secretly watching nearby and reasoned that his captors were not Voldemort's followers.
• The masked wizards confirmed that they were comrades of Varga and took Tris's wand and money pouch.
• Their leader said they had kidnapped Tris because they believed he had the Philosopher's Stone.
• Tris questioned their claim, but the leader argued that Tris's purchase of ingredients for the Magic Spirit Potion proved Dumbledore had given him the Stone.

Tris was questioned by masked wizards about the Magic Spirit Potion and the Philosopher’s Stone, then escaped using a silver device as an attack struck the room. Rufus Scrimgeour and more than thirty wizards surrounded the masked group and ordered them to surrender.

• A masked wizard accused Tris of taking the Magic Spirit Potion, but Tris pretended not to know about it.
• Tris claimed the Philosopher’s Stone was hidden at Hogwarts, and the masked wizards discussed whether Diamond A could verify his story.
• Tris revealed a silver device and vanished despite the room’s Anti-Apparition Charm and protections against ordinary Portkeys.
• Spells blasted through the room’s walls and overwhelmed the masked wizards’ defenses, knocking one of them to the ground.
• Rufus Scrimgeour arrived with more than thirty wizards, surrounded the group, and warned them not to resist.

Tris watched from the Deluminator’s Mirror Shadow World as Rufus and a group of Ministry wizards fought the Dark Wizards who had abducted him. The attackers partly escaped after a strange gemstone disc vanished with its bearer, and Moody concluded that Tris had disrupted their plan.

• Tris realized Dumbledore had secretly placed a Magical Mark on him, allowing the rescuers to locate him.
• Rufus, Moody, Arthur, Lupin, and the other Ministry wizards confronted the six remaining Dark Wizards, who resisted arrest.
• A Blood Mist wizard held off Rufus and Moody while a bone-magic wizard fought Lupin, Arthur, and an Egyptian Ministry expert.
• A Dark Wizard activated a gemstone disc, but its rainbow light vanished and the disc’s bearer disappeared before it could reach the ground.
• The Blood Mist wizard escaped as bats, the bone-magic wizard broke through the Ministry’s attacks, and another Dark Wizard fled while the rest were captured or subdued.
• Moody said Tris had interrupted the Dark Wizards’ plan and noticed a faint reflection on the ground.

Tris stopped the Dark wizards from escaping by pulling the wizard with the gemstone disk into his Shadow Mirror World, then learned that Dumbledore had prepared a way to erase Varga’s magical brand from his soul. After discovering the disk enabled long-range Astral Teleportation, Tris decided his abduction had earned him a valuable prize.

• Tris suspected the Dark wizards were about to use a special transportation spell and dragged the wizard holding the gemstone disk into his Shadow Mirror World.
• Tris stunned the wizard, took the disk, and used Legilimency to investigate it while the battle continued outside.
• Snape gave Tris a parchment from Dumbledore with a spell to recite every few hours to erase Varga’s brand within several days.
• Tris learned that the gemstone disk enabled Astral Teleportation, a powerful but conspicuous and demanding form of travel.
• Tris concluded that his abilities let him overcome the spell’s main drawbacks and considered the Star Chart Disk a massive windfall.

After deducing that Voldemort may have told an unknown group of foreign Dark Wizards about his resistance to mental magic, Tris returned to Britain with the Weasleys and contacted Nagini to advance his plans. Near the end of the holiday, Dumbledore arrived at the Burrow and took Tris, Harry, and Ron by Portkey to help test a theory.

• Tris reasoned that Voldemort was the likeliest source of the Dark Wizards’ knowledge that Legilimency would not work on him, though he doubted they were Death Eaters.
• Worried that Tris might be targeted again, Molly took the Weasleys back to Britain after two more days in Cairo.
• At the Burrow, Tris continued training and contacted Nagini in Indonesia to bring forward a plan he had meant to delay.
• Harry and Ron spent the last days of the holiday copying Tris’s finished homework before Dumbledore unexpectedly visited the Burrow.
• Dumbledore invited Tris, Harry, and Ron to help test a theory, and they took hold of a metal plate to travel by Portkey.

Dumbledore led Tris, Harry, Ron, Sirius, and Remus to the Gaunt family’s former home, which he suspected held something that could help defeat Voldemort. After Sirius used the Patronus Charm to dispel the house’s chilling Dark Magic, Harry sensed an unsettling presence inside, and Dumbledore said they had found the right place.

• Dumbledore brought the group to the Gaunt family’s last residence and explained its connection to Voldemort and the Riddle family.
• Dumbledore revealed that he suspected one of the two houses in the valley held something they needed to defeat Voldemort when he returned.
• Remus opened the Gaunt house and raised a shield against the icy Dark Magic spilling from within.
• Sirius cast the Patronus Charm, which protected the group and dispelled the chilling presence.
• Harry entered the house, sensed an uncomfortable feeling like the one in Sirius’s house, and Dumbledore said they had found the right place.