Recaps

Zhang Xiao told Malfoy and Lucius that he planned to stop East-West Trade, prompting Lucius to fear the consequences across the Wizarding World. In Diagon Alley, Fritz Dennis learned that the trade had been banned and that the magical leaves he needed for his potion were gone.

• Zhang Xiao asked Malfoy to watch the mood in their house and said he planned to stop East-West Trade.
• Lucius ended a phone call with Zhang Xiao, worried it could unleash upheaval across the Wizarding World.
• Fritz Dennis spent a Galleon to impress a waitress, then left after learning she was married.
• Dennis went to Slug & Giggs Apothecary to collect ten portions of magical leaves from the East.
• Giggs told Dennis that the Ministry of Magic had banned East-West Trade and that the leaves were gone, leaving Dennis shocked.

Dennis lost access to the eastern ingredients behind his Super Invigoration Draught and joined the growing protest against the Ministry’s trade ban. Greengrass persuaded Fudge that the East was weak and urged him to send a threatening letter, leaving the Ministry poised to escalate the dispute.

• Giggs told Dennis that the Ministry had cut off East-West trade, and that his prepaid ingredients were already purchased and could only be collected if the Ministry allowed them through.
• Dennis sought ginseng from the Potions Association, but its staff refused to allocate scarce supplies because Master Figor also needed them and the stock could make only a few dozen potions.
• Dennis hurried to the Ministry, where Bones addressed a large protest and asked the crowd to leave while the Ministry tried to communicate with the East.
• Fudge panicked over the protest, but Greengrass calmed him with a bank draft and argued that the East was too weak to resist Britain.
• Greengrass urged Fudge to send China a strongly worded warning letter, claiming Mahoutokoro’s records showed the country’s wizarding community had nearly been destroyed in a past war with Japan.

Fudge struggled to deliver his ultimatum to China, while Zhang Chengdao dismissed its threats and planned to redirect East-West trade through Hong Kong. At Hogwarts, Zhang Xiao enjoyed Hagrid’s Hippogriff lesson and prepared Christmas gifts before Dumbledore revealed that he had found an important lead on another Horcrux.

• Fudge sent his ultimatum through a circuitous chain of intermediaries until Lucius Malfoy delivered it to Zhang Chengdao, who dismissed it and planned to move the trading destination to Hong Kong.
• Hagrid brought Hippogriffs to Care of Magical Creatures, and Zhang Xiao, Hermione, Ron, and Malfoy approached and rode Buckbeak.
• Malfoy praised Buckbeak as the ideal of a new pure-blood aristocracy and said he would urge his father to keep a Hippogriff.
• Zhang Xiao considered Christmas gifts for his professors and settled on giving Professor McGonagall a Flying Motorcycle.
• Dumbledore sent Zhang Xiao a note and Phoenix Tail Feather revealing that he had found an important lead on another Horcrux.

Dumbledore brought Zhang Xiao by Phoenix fire to the wilderness near Little Hangleton, where they walked toward the Gaunt Shack, Voldemort’s birth mother’s home. Dumbledore explained how he traced the Horcrux and warned Zhang Xiao about the younger Voldemort’s clever defenses as they approached their destination.

• Zhang Xiao used Fawkes’s feather to travel by Phoenix fire to Dumbledore in the wilderness.
• Dumbledore said Zhang Xiao’s discoveries of other Horcruxes had helped him identify patterns and locate a promising route to Voldemort’s Horcrux.
• Dumbledore explained that Voldemort’s cave defenses relied on durable Inferi and potions because large-scale magic was difficult to sustain.
• Dumbledore described how young Voldemort used obstacles and an illusion to exploit wizards’ habit of moving anything blocking their path.
• Dumbledore identified the shadowy building ahead as the Gaunt Shack, the home of Voldemort’s birth mother.

Dumbledore and Zhang Xiao reached the Gaunt Shack to investigate the defenses Voldemort had left there. After Zhang used a recording of Harry speaking Parseltongue to drive away the snakes, they entered the house and prepared to explore further.

• Dumbledore showed Zhang Xiao the Riddle House across the valley, then guided him toward the Gaunt Shack.
• Dumbledore checked the path for magical traps and concluded that Voldemort had likely concentrated his defenses inside the shack.
• Dumbledore and Zhang Xiao found the shack filled with snakes, which Zhang drove away using a recording of Harry's Parseltongue.
• Dumbledore used his Deluminator to light the abandoned room and prepared to investigate Voldemort's remaining tricks.

Zhang Xiao and Dumbledore searched the Gaunt Shack for the Resurrection Stone Horcrux and uncovered an illusory door hidden by sophisticated magic. Dumbledore explained how the door reflected Tom Riddle’s lost ingenuity, then began trying to decipher its magic.

• Zhang Xiao and Dumbledore found no visible clues in the Gaunt Shack, so Dumbledore cast a net of light over the room.
• Dumbledore revealed an illusory door that Zhang Xiao could see with his ordinary eyes but not through his Dharma Eye.
• Dumbledore admired the door’s design and explained that young Tom Riddle had created it with inspired ingenuity before later returning three times to repair it.
• Dumbledore told Zhang Xiao that Tom had eventually become unable to match his former self, then encouraged Zhang to keep excelling.
• Dumbledore said the door was not designed to open and began examining its magic, reciting a riddle about a hidden place and eternal sleep.

Zhang Xiao and Dumbledore investigated the hidden door in the Gaunt Shack and worked out that its concealment depended on the boundary between day and night. As dawn’s sunlight struck the door and Dumbledore conjured a starry sky, the door finally began to change.

• Dumbledore explained that Voldemort’s complex magic could be understood by finding its underlying spells and identifying the back door he had left for himself.
• Zhang Xiao considered how the riddle’s references to day, night, and eternal slumber might reveal the hidden room’s mechanism.
• While searching the Gaunt Shack, Zhang Xiao noticed a deliberate hole in a window and guessed that a beam of sunlight might be needed to reveal the door.
• Dumbledore used his Deluminator to plunge the house into darkness, and they waited for dawn to send sunlight through the hole onto the door.
• When the sunlight alone caused no change, Dumbledore conjured a starry sky overhead, and the illusory door began to change.

Zhang Xiao and Dumbledore entered a hidden chamber and found Merope Gaunt lying beneath the Resurrection Stone, along with evidence that Voldemort had repeatedly used it. Zhang Xiao realized the scene was a trap tailored to exploit Dumbledore’s longing, and acted as Dumbledore began putting on the ring.

• Zhang Xiao and Dumbledore recognized the Pleiades Cluster in the stars, and the illusory door opened onto a field of dandelions.
• Zhang Xiao and Dumbledore found Merope Gaunt lying on a stone platform with the Resurrection Stone on her finger.
• Dumbledore revealed an inscription saying he had turned the Resurrection Stone many times, then reached for the ring despite Zhang Xiao’s warning.
• Zhang Xiao realized Voldemort had designed the chamber to prey on Dumbledore’s grief and suspected the curse would activate when the stone was turned.
• Dumbledore began slipping on the ring, and Zhang Xiao summoned his Thunderstruck Wood Wand as electric arcs spread across it.

Zhang Xiao fought Dumbledore in the hidden refuge, using talismans, Transfiguration, and a spear to overcome Dumbledore’s defenses. His strongest lightning-charged thrust failed to move Dumbledore, leaving Zhang Xiao badly shaken.

• Zhang Xiao’s Knockback Jinx failed to dislodge Dumbledore, who remained fixated on turning the ring.
• Zhang Xiao transformed his wand into a spear, strengthened himself with talismans, and charged Dumbledore at high speed.
• Dumbledore Apparated away and attacked Zhang Xiao with spells and transfigured creatures.
• Zhang Xiao froze the mire, hurled the ice at Dumbledore, and used the spear to launch himself into a lightning-charged attack.
• Dumbledore split the ice and withstood Zhang Xiao’s strongest spear thrust without moving, while Zhang Xiao was injured and stunned.

Zhang Xiao broke Dumbledore’s Shield Charm, but Dumbledore recovered from the Resurrection Stone’s influence before their duel could continue. Dumbledore handed Zhang the ring to seal away, and the two restored the Gaunt Shack before leaving.

• Zhang Xiao shattered Dumbledore’s Shield Charm with the Bright Silver Spear, and Dumbledore drew the Sword of Gryffindor and blinded him with a Flash Spell.
• Zhang Xiao fled while throwing talismans, but Dumbledore regained his senses and stopped with the Resurrection Stone ring in hand.
• Dumbledore gave Zhang the ring, and Zhang sealed it in a Jade Box and stored it in his Heaven and Earth Bag.
• Dumbledore repaired the damage around the Gaunt Shack, then placed a bouquet in Merope’s hands as Zhang reflected on her story and the elder Riddle.
• Dumbledore and Zhang left the shack, agreeing that it had been an eventful day.

After recovering from his fight with Dumbledore, Zhang Xiao spent the last afternoon of term with his friends at Hagrid’s Hut and devised a way to restart East-West trade by bypassing the pure-blood middlemen. The chapter ended with the young wizards looking forward to celebrating Christmas at Zhang’s home.

• Zhang Xiao recovered in the Hospital Wing and reflected on how badly Dumbledore had outmatched him, despite Zhang Xiao managing to exchange a few blows.
• Zhang Xiao joined Harry, Ron, Malfoy, Hermione, and Hagrid at Hagrid’s Hut, where Hagrid worried that the Ministry might execute the Hippogriff after a student had staged an attack.
• Zhang Xiao explained that extremist pure-bloods had targeted Hagrid to pressure him over the suspension of East-West trade, and he had given their warning letter to Dumbledore.
• After hearing that traders and makers were suffering from the trade stoppage, Zhang Xiao planned to let them buy goods directly from the Daoist Order in Hong Kong, cutting out the pure-blood middlemen.
• Zhang Xiao and the Four Little Ones parted at the castle, agreeing to meet the next day for Christmas at Zhang’s home.

As the Hogwarts students traveled home for Christmas, Zhang Chengdao and Li Qingshu prepared an extravagant holiday celebration for their son’s classmates. Zhang Chengdao secured a giant Christmas tree after confronting a racist salesman, while Vernon Dursley drove home hoping to spend a normal Christmas with his family.

• Hermione explained that first-years crossed the frozen lake in boats to honor Hogwarts’s founders, embarrassing Malfoy, Harry, and Ron.
• Zhang Chengdao and Li Qingshu planned a British Christmas feast and decorations, deciding to add substantial Chinese dishes for their many guests.
• After shops failed to provide a large enough tree, Zhang Chengdao confronted a racist salesman and obtained a nearly ten-meter fir, which he carried away with magic.
• Vernon Dursley drove through London traffic, reflected on his love for Petunia despite the trouble Harry had brought, and hurried home for Christmas.

Vernon and Petunia celebrated winning a Surrey garden award while discussing Harry’s godfather, Mr. Black. On the way home from Hogwarts, Zhang Chengdao warned Zhang Xiao that worsening omens in China might signal instability in the [Heavenly Court], which could disable his teleportation talismans.

• Vernon and Petunia recalled how Mr. Black had won their favor by presenting Vernon with a lucrative order for drills.
• Petunia revealed that the Dursleys had won Surrey’s Most Beautiful Lawn and Garden Award and might compete for a ten-thousand-pound London prize.
• Zhang Chengdao told Zhang Xiao that the Fourth Martial Uncle could roughly divine Horcrux locations but could not pinpoint them or Voldemort.
• Zhang Chengdao reported worsening omens and a near-thousand-year-old jiangshi that Daoist Order disciples had trapped and burned with true fire.
• Zhang Chengdao explained that the [Heavenly Court] enabled long-distance teleportation, so its instability could render Zhang Xiao’s Great Shift Talismans useless.

Zhang Xiao and his family hosted the Grangers, the Weasleys, Sirius, and the Malfoys for Christmas at their London home. The guests gathered in the villa’s enchanted garden, while the adults set aside their rivalries for the day.

• Zhang Xiao and Zhang Chengdao welcomed the Grangers, and Hermione explored the garden before settling down to read in its pavilion.
• Sirius and the Weasley family arrived, and Ron introduced Bill and Charlie to Zhang Xiao and Harry.
• Percy’s strained relationship with Fred and George became clear when the twins explained their quarrel over his Ministry job and loyalty to the Ministry.
• Ginny blushed and ran away after greeting Harry, leaving Harry and Ron confused about her feelings.
• Lucius and Narcissa arrived with Draco, and Lucius, Arthur, and Sirius agreed to a one-day truce before everyone entered the garden together.

At a Christmas gathering at Zhang Xiao's large home, the guests discussed wizarding customs and the history behind their holiday celebrations. Bill described his dangerous work as a Curse-Breaker, leaving Zhang Xiao fascinated by the secrets hidden in Egypt's pyramids.

• Ron was astonished by the size of Zhang Xiao's home, while Harry asked why some wizards remained poor if magic could build them larger houses.
• Arthur explained that the Weasleys valued spiritual richness over material wealth, and Lucius pointed out that the Ministry and the International Statute of Secrecy also mattered.
• Lucius and Arthur explained that wizards originally celebrated the Sun God's Birthday Festival, but called it Christmas to preserve secrecy as more Muggle-born wizards joined their community.
• Zhang Chengdao shared Chinese New Year customs, and Malfoy secretly resolved to cut his hair repeatedly during the first lunar month to test the superstition about maternal uncles.
• Bill told Zhang Xiao that Curse-Breakers had discovered hundreds of Egyptian pyramids, many hidden underground, and described how pharaohs used magic to conceal their bodies and try to cheat death.
• Bill explained that Curse-Breakers studied ancient magic and devised ways to break it, a dangerous job that demanded great magical talent and knowledge.

At a lively Christmas gathering, Zhang Xiao watched the guests celebrate together before finding Percy drunk and alone at the Waterside Pavilion. Percy revealed that he had feigned ambition and estrangement from his family so he could rise within the Ministry of Magic and protect the Weasleys, and Zhang Xiao erased his memory of the confession.

• Zhang Xiao watched Lucius, Arthur, Mr. Granger, and the others drink and drunkenly propose daring plans for dragons and other magical beings.
• Fred and George set off Zhang Chengdao's two specially made crackers, which blasted them with lightning and left their faces covered in ink.
• Zhang Xiao noticed Percy was missing and found him drunk at the Waterside Pavilion.
• Percy told Zhang Xiao he had acted power-hungry since third year to climb the Ministry ranks and protect his family, even if it meant siding with the Dark Lord.
• Percy declared himself the bravest Weasley before collapsing, and Zhang Xiao cast Obliviate to erase his confession.

Zhang Xiao proposed a House-elf service company to the Weasleys and sent unusual Christmas gifts to Hogwarts staff. The chapter ended with Professor McGonagall taking his modified flying motorcycle for a noisy ride into the sky.

• Zhang Xiao asked Arthur and Molly Weasley to discuss his plan for a House-elf service company, explaining that about eighty wild elves were willing to exchange work for payment.
• Zhang Xiao invited Molly to manage the company, but she worried that the Dark Lord might soon return and said she would consult Dumbledore about the Order of the Phoenix and the elves’ potential help.
• Glove Lady connected Zhang Xiao’s video-game gifts and discovered that playing Mario brought her a new feeling of happiness.
• Professor Flitwick enjoyed his mood-changing Auspicious Cloud, Snape began testing Zhang Xiao’s Chinese potion ingredients, and Dumbledore read the swordsmanship book Zhang had given him.
• Professor McGonagall climbed onto the flying motorcycle Zhang Xiao had bought and Sirius had modified, then blasted through her office window and into the sky.

Zhang Xiao took a break from training, then used Nicolas Flamel’s cube to create a pair of magical turbojet devices for a Flying Motorcycle he planned to give Professor McGonagall. He left the chapter celebrating his successful invention of the Wind-Fire Wheels.

• Zhang Xiao’s family watched their guests depart, and Zhang Chengdao and Li Qingshu urged him to rest from his constant training.
• Zhang Xiao spent two days playing games, which eased his sense of urgency and gave him a fresh insight into what made games enjoyable.
• Zhang Xiao demonstrated how Nicolas Flamel’s cube transformed materials into a working M1911, and explained its mechanical transformations to his parents.
• Zhang Xiao told Zhang Chengdao and Li Qingshu that he was modifying a Harley-Davidson Motorcycle as a gift for Professor McGonagall.
• Zhang Xiao repeatedly tried to transform the cube according to his turbojet designs, then successfully made two magical devices that sucked in wind and expelled fire, naming them Wind-Fire Wheels.

Zhang Xiao returned to Hogwarts after his holiday as the Ministry of Magic relaxed its search for the escaped Death Eaters, while his parents warned him of an approaching calamity. As term passed, Fudge discovered that East-West traders had moved their business to Hong Kong and ordered Hit Wizards to crush the market.

• Zhang Xiao's parents said they would return home on January first, warned him that divinations pointed to a great calamity, and took several Horcruxes to help locate the remaining ones.
• Zhang Xiao returned to Hogwarts, where Ron described Percy's quarrel with the Weasley family and the students began a new term.
• Third-year students faced growing O.W.L. pressure as Trelawney's standing declined, Snape taught lessons about werewolves, and Hermione, Zhang Xiao, and Neville excelled in class.
• Fudge celebrated the Ministry's political gains and believed Dumbledore had resigned as president of the International Confederation of Wizards to save face.
• Greengrass told Fudge that East-West traders had moved to Hong Kong, leaving the pure-blood families' investment in removing Dumbledore at risk.
• Fudge agreed with Greengrass to send the Ministry of Magic's Hit Wizards to Hong Kong and crush the new market.

Yaxley led a team of Hit Wizards to raid the Daoist Order’s exchange in Hong Kong, but Zhang Chengdao summoned two Yellow Turban Warriors to defend it. The warriors charged through the attackers’ spells, leaving Yaxley and Alex to realize the exchange was far stronger than they had expected.

• Yaxley brought more than thirty Hit Wizards to Kowloon Walled City to destroy the exchange and seize its traders.
• Dennis recognized Yaxley as the official who had mocked him, then feared arrest when the Hit Wizards blocked Apparition.
• Yaxley’s team stormed the exchange, captured its traders, and set buildings ablaze as Alex watched.
• Zhang Chengdao asked Li Qingshu to record the confrontation, raised an earthen platform, and summoned two Golden-armored Warriors.
• The Yellow Turban Warriors charged into the Hit Wizards, shielded themselves from spells, and overwhelmed Alex’s magic.

Zhang Chengdao defeated Yaxley’s force and warned the Ministry of Magic to stay out of the East. Fudge faced the fallout while Voldemort approved Umbridge’s plan to exploit and remove him.

• The Yellow Turban Warriors broke free of the Hit Wizards’ traps, defeated them, and bound the surviving fighters.
• Yaxley unleashed Fiendfyre, but Zhang Chengdao extinguished it with Weak Water, confronted Yaxley, and ordered him to warn the Ministry against provoking the Daoist Order.
• Yaxley reported the defeat and the captured Hit Wizards to Fudge, while Greengrass revealed that Mahoutokoro had concealed the Easterners’ power and their slaughter of a powerful Japanese family.
• Fudge prepared to blame Yaxley for the unauthorized attack, and Yaxley realized the Minister was abandoning him.
• Umbridge told Voldemort that Fudge had become useless, and Voldemort authorized her and Barty to begin their plan to squeeze every last bit of value out of him.

After the Ministry of Magic’s raid in Hong Kong, Dumbledore forced Fudge to publish a public apology and brought his ministerial career to an end. Barty Crouch Jr. and Umbridge then moved to accelerate their plan to restore the Dark Lord.

• Zhang Xiao watched Zhang Chengdao’s recording of a Yellow Turban Warrior and trained in the Room of Requirement.
• Zhang Chengdao worried that the Ministry might retaliate against Zhang Xiao and decided to return to Dragon-Tiger Mountain with Li Qingshu to support him.
• Fudge drafted orders to suppress negative reporting about the Hong Kong incident, but Dumbledore confronted him with the East’s protest and demanded an apology.
• Fudge resisted Dumbledore’s demand to apologize publicly, then pleaded to pay compensation before agreeing to publish a front-page apology in the Daily Prophet.
• Barty Crouch Jr. and Umbridge recognized that Fudge’s apology meant the end of his Ministry career and decided to speed up their plan to restore the Dark Lord.

Zhang Xiao reviewed his magical progress and the balance between Eastern and Western magic, then found Malfoy using a Chinese New Year hair-cutting custom to curse Harry and Ron. Malfoy invited Zhang Xiao to a circus in Hogsmeade, and the mention of its fireworks made Zhang Xiao uneasy.

• Zhang Xiao visited Glove Lady, watched her play Muggle video games, and told her how much the outside world had changed.
• Zhang Xiao examined the black book Spelllessness and the white Wordless Book in his Mind Palace, then reviewed his understanding of dark magic and memory magic.
• Zhang Xiao left the Room of Requirement satisfied with his progress and noted that only the Golden Cup and possibly Nagini remained among the Horcruxes.
• Malfoy cut off strands of his hair to bring bad luck to Harry and Ron, and Zhang Xiao watched the pair suffer a series of mishaps.
• Malfoy invited Zhang Xiao to a circus and fireworks display in Hogsmeade, and Zhang Xiao felt a sudden jolt of unease.

Zhang Xiao investigated a sudden premonition as Hogwarts students grew excited about the Arcanus Circus coming to Hogsmeade. Petunia learned that her lawn had won an award, while the students prepared for the approaching Hogsmeade weekend under Snape’s threat of a Potions test.

• Zhang Xiao felt a fleeting palpitation and questioned Malfoy about the Arcanus Circus after spotting a photograph of Nagini in its advertisement.
• Malfoy described the circus as a famous traveling attraction, and Zhang Xiao considered whether it posed any danger to Hogsmeade.
• Fred and George reported that preparations for the circus were underway in Hogsmeade, while Dumbledore told McGonagall he looked forward to the performances.
• Petunia received a call telling her that her lawn had won Greater London’s Best Lawn Award, and Vernon excitedly planned to attend the presentation with her.
• Hogwarts students eagerly discussed the circus, but Fred and George refused to sell the secret passage’s location to younger students.
• Snape threatened his students with an antidote-brewing test before the weekend, and the class paid unusually close attention as Hogsmeade weekend approached.

Zhang Xiao accompanied Harry and their friends to Hogsmeade, where they enjoyed the Arcanus Circus festivities as its show began. In the Ministry of Magic, Greengrass used the Imperius Curse on the disgraced Fudge.

• Zhang Xiao gave Harry a protective talisman and told him to keep it close as they headed for Hogsmeade.
• The students arrived in Hogsmeade, bought Arcanus Circus souvenirs, and watched magical performances in the square.
• A gong sounded, lanterns lit up, and the Arcanus Circus tent appeared as the old man announced the show’s start.
• Fudge feared Susan would arrest him after he lost office, and Greengrass entered his office and cast Imperio on him.