Recaps

At the Arcanus Circus in Hogsmeade, Death Eaters drugged the Hogwarts students and abducted Harry under the Imperius Curse. Zhang Xiao escaped their search and used a Fragrance-Tracking Technique to pursue Harry.

• Petunia Dursley picked up Dudley from Smeltings School so they could attend her lawn award ceremony and enjoy the organizers’ meal.
• Zhang Xiao and the Hogwarts students entered the circus’s free Hogwarts performance, where host Joseph welcomed them before the show began.
• An Imperius Curse compelled Harry to leave through a small door, and an airborne Draught of Living Death knocked the other students unconscious.
• Zhang Xiao concealed himself as Bellatrix and the Death Eaters searched for him, confiscated the students’ wands, and carried the captives away.
• After the Death Eaters left, Zhang Xiao escaped the tent and used a Fragrance-Tracking Technique to search for Harry.

Zhang Xiao tracked Harry’s trail to London and alerted Dumbledore through Aberforth, but Dumbledore received worse news and said they would have to change their plan. Petunia and Dudley were held in a dungeon while Vernon arrived at the empty venue where he expected to find Petunia.

• Zhang Xiao used the Fragrance-Tracking Technique, a Tracking Talisman, and the Compass to discover that Harry had traveled hundreds of li and was now in London.
• Zhang Xiao hurried to the Hog’s Head and told Aberforth that Death Eaters had abducted over a hundred young witches and wizards, including Harry.
• Dumbledore appeared through Ariana’s portrait, learned what had happened, and planned to go to London while notifying the Ministry and the Order of the Phoenix.
• Dumbledore’s portrait disappeared and returned with news from his original self, leaving him furious and forcing him to change the plan.
• Petunia woke in a dark dungeon and found Dudley unconscious beside her.
• Vernon left work early for Petunia’s award ceremony, but found the venue empty and could not discover where she had gone.

Voldemort used Petunia and Dudley as captives while Bellatrix performed a ritual that restored him to a living body. After rewarding Bellatrix with a magical hand, he ordered her to bring Harry Potter before him.

• Voldemort dismissed the Death Eaters’ concerns about using Muggle blood and ordered them to prepare the resurrection ritual.
• The Death Eaters brought Petunia and Dudley into the church, where they tortured Dudley and restrained Petunia.
• Bellatrix placed Voldemort’s infant-like body in a cauldron and added his father’s bone, her flesh, and Petunia’s blood.
• Voldemort emerged from the cauldron restored to life and gave Bellatrix a magical replacement hand.
• Voldemort ordered Bellatrix to carry out their plan and bring Harry Potter to him.

Greengrass used the Imperius Curse to control Fudge and traveled to Voldemort’s gathering, while Harry was kidnapped and brought before the Death Eaters. Voldemort tried to make Petunia attack Harry, but she freed him and turned against the Death Eaters.

• Harry, under the Imperius Curse, traveled from Hogsmeade through the Floo Network to the Pure-blood Home, while Mrs. Edgecombe reported the unauthorized connection and Fudge dismissed her concern.
• Greengrass controlled Fudge, issued ministerial orders, failed to obtain the Prophecy Orb, and left for the church after confessing his role in the Azkaban escape and Voldemort’s return.
• Harry broke free of the Imperius Curse and found himself bound in a church with Bellatrix, the Death Eaters, Petunia, and Dudley.
• Voldemort told Harry how Lily’s sacrifice and Dumbledore’s protection had kept him safe, then tried to persuade Petunia to stab Harry in exchange for sparing her and Dudley.
• Petunia asked for the knife, cut Harry’s bonds, and shouted at him to run before declaring that a daughter of the Evans family would never make a deal with the Death Eaters.

Harry used Zhang Xiao’s combat training to fight through Voldemort’s Death Eaters and rescue Dudley, but Voldemort overwhelmed him. Voldemort sensed Dumbledore, left the church, and ordered the Death Eaters to guard Harry, Petunia, and Dudley.

• Dudley charged the Death Eaters, grabbed Harry’s wand, and threw it to Harry, who cast Fumos to fill the church with smoke.
• Harry fought his way through the Death Eaters, stunning some and incapacitating two at close range while Petunia refused to leave without Dudley.
• Harry levitated Dudley and ran back toward Petunia, but Voldemort dispelled the smoke and destroyed their hiding pew.
• Voldemort revived the injured Rookwood and berated the Death Eaters for being defeated by Harry.
• Harry felt Voldemort’s murderous intent, but Voldemort looked toward Dumbledore, ordered the Death Eaters to watch Harry and his relatives, and flew away as black smoke.

Dumbledore faced Voldemort, who threatened to kill either the young witches and wizards taken in Hogsmeade or Harry and his family unless Dumbledore chose one group to save. Dumbledore divided the rescue efforts, and Zhang Xiao flew toward Harry’s location while the students remained hidden in a dungeon beneath Hogsmeade.

• Bellatrix disarmed Harry and bound him to a pillar while Harry held on to hope that Dumbledore had arrived.
• Voldemort confronted Dumbledore and gave him ten minutes to choose between saving the students in a circus tent or Harry, Petunia, and Dudley at the church.
• The younger Dumbledore organized a plan: Zhang Xiao would contact the Order of the Phoenix, Aberforth would notify Minerva, and Dumbledore would keep Voldemort occupied.
• Zhang Xiao used the silver Horadric Cube to fly toward Harry’s location after casting a Disillusionment Charm on himself.
• Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange discussed Rabastan’s Bone-Melting Soup in a dungeon beneath Hogsmeade as the imprisoned students began twitching their noses at its smell.

Neville, Hermione, Malfoy, and Ron awoke in a goblin-built dungeon with hundreds of kidnapped young wizards, while Rodolphus Lestrange appeared before them. At Hogwarts, the Heads of House set out to find the missing students, and Vernon sought help after realizing Petunia and Dudley’s disappearance might involve wizards.

• Neville woke in a cell with Hermione, Malfoy, and Ron, and discovered that his wand was missing.
• Hermione and Malfoy identified goblin patterns on the cell lock, and Neville concluded the dungeon had been built by goblins.
• Rodolphus Lestrange emerged through the goblin-made door, and Neville recognized him as one of the men behind the Longbottom tragedy.
• McGonagall, Flitwick, and Snape left Hogwarts to search for the missing young wizards while Sprout remained behind.
• Vernon suspected wizards had taken Petunia and Dudley, then called an old friend and begged for help rescuing them.

Vernon sought weapons to rescue his missing family while Sirius agreed to keep watch for them. In the dungeon, Rodolphus tortured Justin until Neville drew the Death Eater’s attention, then summoned a sword and prepared to fight.

• Vernon called Sirius and said his wife and child had disappeared, and Sirius agreed to keep an eye out for them.
• Vernon met a weapons dealer and offered all his money and cards to obtain the goods immediately.
• Rodolphus selected young wizards from the dungeon and plunged Justin Finch-Fletchley’s legs into the Bone-Melting Soup.
• Neville shouted an insult at Voldemort to divert Rodolphus from Justin, and the Death Eaters dragged him before the cauldron.
• Neville summoned an ancient-looking sword, took the opening stance of the Tai Chi Sword, and announced himself as Wudang-Neville Longbottom.

Neville and the captured students fought back against Rodolphus and the Death Eaters, while Hermione discovered how to open the goblin-made cells. As the students joined the battle, Dumbledore chose both options against Voldemort, and the Order of the Phoenix arrived at the church.

• Neville used his sword and Tai Chi techniques to evade spells, disarm a Death Eater, and attack the guards while buying Hermione time.
• Hermione recognized a goblin maxim on the lock and realized that Galleons would open the cell; Malfoy supplied the coins, and the door clicked open.
• Malfoy used pistols to distract the Death Eaters, while Ron freed the others and Cedric and Cho Chang joined the fight.
• The freed students helped turn the battle into a stalemate, leaving Rodolphus furious and focused on Neville.
• As Voldemort's hourglass ran low, Dumbledore declared that he chose both options, and Zhang Xiao and the Order of the Phoenix arrived at the church.

The Order of the Phoenix fought a vastly larger group of Death Eaters to rescue Harry, Dudley, and Petunia, while Dumbledore and Voldemort faced off elsewhere. Vernon arrived as Petunia died and opened fire with a machine gun, devastating the Death Eaters who had surrounded the remaining fighters.

• Voldemort sent a signal into the sky as Dumbledore urged him to let the young wizards settle their own affairs before they fought.
• Zhang Xiao and fewer than ten members of the Order arrived at the church and began battling more than eighty Death Eaters to protect Harry.
• Moody was overwhelmed and Kingsley fell, leaving the Order’s remaining fighters in danger as Zhang Xiao prepared to unleash his full power.
• Dudley asked Petunia whether Vernon would save them, and Petunia told him to hold on because Vernon would come.
• Vernon burst into the church in a Land Rover, found Petunia dead, and opened fire on the standing Death Eaters with his Minimi Light Machine Gun.

Vernon’s gunfire devastated the Death Eaters inside the church, while Zhang Xiao saved Petunia and fought the survivors. As Bellatrix unleashed a killing curse at Zhang Xiao, Voldemort revealed Dumbledore’s hidden sword and prepared to strike him with a surprise.

• Vernon fired a Minimi into the Death Eaters, killing nearly ten and wounding several before the drum ran empty.
• Zhang Xiao healed Petunia with a Red Pill and dittany, then told Harry to get the family away when he could.
• Zhang Xiao drew a longsword, used his enhanced speed to attack the Death Eaters, and deflected their spells while Tonks was hit by a Stunning Spell.
• Bellatrix filled the church floor with spikes and fired Avada Kedavra at Zhang Xiao.
• Voldemort attacked Dumbledore, who drew the sword of Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat and promised to give him a shock.

Dumbledore fought Voldemort with the Sword of Gryffindor and discovered how a sword could defend while a wand attacked, while Zhang Xiao tried to hold off the Death Eaters inside the church. Zhang Xiao intimidated them long enough to tell Harry and the other survivors to run, admitting he could not keep fighting.

• Dumbledore changed his clothes and wand into a plain robe and a wooden staff, then used a flash of light and the Sword of Gryffindor to wound Voldemort.
• Voldemort unleashed magic that froze time briefly and destroyed the ground around him, but Dumbledore kept deflecting his spells with the sword.
• Dumbledore realized the sword could defend while the wand attacked and resolved to keep Voldemort occupied so Zhang Xiao could act without interference.
• Zhang Xiao faced the Death Eaters' unpredictable barrage, then transformed the Horadric Cube into a handgun and shot a fallen Death Eater.
• Zhang Xiao's display frightened the Death Eaters into holding their fire, and he told Harry, Arthur, Molly, Lupin, and the other survivors to run.

Zhang Xiao led the rescuers to St. Mungo’s, but Sirius was left behind with Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley. Vernon stayed to protect them from the Death Eaters and, despite their torture, rose again to face them, leaving his fate unresolved.

• Zhang Xiao urged the rescuers to escape to St. Mungo’s, and Sirius discovered that transforming into a dog made his cursed wound heal.
• McGonagall praised Neville for risking himself to save Justin, and the young wizards cheered him.
• Sirius found he could not Apparate with the Dursleys, so Vernon volunteered to cover their retreat.
• Sirius used a Levitation Charm to carry Petunia and Dudley away while Vernon fought the Death Eaters with a machine gun and grenades.
• Bellatrix tortured Vernon with the Cruciatus Curse, but he resisted and fired at the Death Eaters until their spells overwhelmed him.
• Vernon recalled his love for Petunia and Dudley, then rose again and shouted that they could not kill him.

After Vernon died protecting Petunia and Dudley, Harry learned why Petunia had mistreated him and why she had saved him at the church. At Vernon’s funeral, Dudley was approached by a priest who offered him a chance to take revenge on wizards.

• Sirius and Dumbledore returned to the church, where Sirius blamed himself for failing to save Vernon, and Dumbledore restored the ruined building before placing Vernon in a coffin.
• Zhang Xiao grieved Vernon’s death, while Dumbledore explained that Muggles’ resistance to magic had prevented Sirius from Apparating with Vernon.
• At Vernon’s funeral, Harry asked Petunia why she had hated him, and she confessed her jealousy of Lily, her fear of Harry’s accidental magic, and her grief over losing her sister.
• Petunia told Harry that she had saved him at the church because she had lost her mother that night too.
• As Dudley mourned at Vernon’s grave, the priest revealed himself as a member of a group opposed to inhuman creatures and asked Dudley whether he wanted revenge.

In the week after the Hogsmeade church incident, Zhang Xiao reflected on how the tragedy changed the students and watched the political fallout force Cornelius Fudge from office. Malfoy told him that Barty Crouch had become the new Minister for Magic.

• Zhang Xiao read reports of Fudge's disgrace and reflected on the changes the church incident had brought to the students.
• Harry trained desperately, Ron stood by him, and Hermione shifted her focus from earning twelve O's to learning unfamiliar subjects.
• Cedric and Malfoy practiced more intensely, while Neville became a celebrated hero and began teaching Tai Chi to groups of young wizards.
• Malfoy told Zhang Xiao that Fudge had been forced out as revelations about his failures and links to the Death Eaters emerged.
• Malfoy revealed that Barty Crouch was the new Minister for Magic.

Zhang Xiao considered Barty Crouch’s appointment as Minister for Magic while Dudley agreed to train with Edward Shaw alongside attending school. At Crouch’s inauguration, Dumbledore verified his identity, then hurried back after learning Crouch’s first decree would relight the Goblet of Fire.

• Zhang Xiao discussed with Malfoy why Barty Crouch might make a capable Minister and wondered whether Barty Crouch Jr. remained a danger.
• Dudley told Edward Shaw he wanted to attend Smeltings to fulfill his father’s wish and stay with his mother, and Edward allowed him to continue school half-days while training at a church.
• Edward Shaw told Dudley to meet him at the church next to Smeltings at noon the next day and revealed his name.
• Dumbledore watched Barty Crouch take the oath and pass through the Thief’s Downfall before receiving his Letter of Appointment.
• Dumbledore learned that Crouch’s first decree was to relight the Goblet of Fire and hurried back to the Ministry of Magic.

Barty Crouch proposed reviving the Goblet of Fire as a worldwide tournament to strengthen young wizards, winning thunderous applause from the Wizengamot. At Hogwarts, Harry struggled with classmates’ questions and mockery about his ordeal, while Zhang Xiao worried that his parents sounded exhausted when he reached them by Far-Seeing Mirror.

• Barty Crouch condemned the Wizarding World’s fear of the Death Eaters and argued that young wizards needed to learn to fight.
• Crouch conjured the Goblet of Fire and proposed a worldwide tournament, using the upcoming Quidditch World Cup to gather magical representatives from across the continents.
• The Wizengamot erupted in applause after Crouch announced his plan to expand the Triwizard Tournament beyond its original three schools.
• Hogwarts students traded stories about their time in the underground cells, while Harry grew dejected whenever classmates asked what he had experienced.
• Malfoy rebuked students who mocked Harry and hid behind Zhang Xiao after provoking them.
• Zhang Xiao contacted his parents with the Far-Seeing Mirror and asked whether something had happened at home after hearing their weary voices.

Zhang Xiao learned that savage, unintelligent demons were appearing unpredictably across China, while his parents investigated a wave of deadly incidents. After discussing Voldemort’s return and the Horcruxes with them, Zhang Xiao learned that the Daoist Order had located the remaining Horcruxes and began considering how to recover the one hidden near Gringotts.

• Zhang Chengdao and Li Qingshu told Zhang Xiao that demons were appearing in scattered places across China and killing without reason, despite the [Heavenly Court] remaining mostly stable.
• Zhang Xiao recounted Voldemort’s kidnapping scheme and Vernon’s death, and his parents concluded that Voldemort’s behavior suggested someone else had devised the plan.
• Zhang Xiao suspected Umbridge may have joined forces with Barty Crouch Jr. to orchestrate Voldemort’s scheme.
• Zhang Chengdao told Zhang Xiao that the Daoist Order had extracted the souls from the Horcruxes and could destroy them using the soul-binding tablets.
• Zhang Chengdao shared that the remaining Horcruxes included a living creature, one near Zhang Xiao’s school, and one somewhere around Gringotts in Diagon Alley.
• Zhang Xiao considered whether the Diagon Alley Horcrux was in Bellatrix Lestrange’s vault or another family’s vault, then decided not to tell Dumbledore an unconfirmed guess.

Dudley entered Edward Shaw’s church and learned that he was being recruited as a witch hunter, while Zhang Xiao received a summons from Dumbledore after Snape praised him in Potions class. Zhang Xiao headed to the Headmaster’s Office, where the reason for the summons remained unknown.

• Dumbledore reflected on a note before turning his attention to Fawkes and the photographs in the phoenix’s nest.
• Dudley saw that Edward’s Small Church had appeared overnight and was assigned to volunteer there each afternoon.
• Edward led Dudley into a hidden underground chamber, showed him the witch hunters’ weapons and holy-fire torches, and explained their ranks and mission against the Others.
• Edward told Dudley that entering the church meant he would see the real world, then declared that the witch hunters defended ordinary people from vampires, werewolves, and wizards.
• Edward decided that Dudley’s training should begin by getting him into better shape.
• Zhang Xiao received Dumbledore’s note in a beef pie, endured Snape’s praise during Potions class, and went to the Headmaster’s Office.

Zhang Xiao met with Dumbledore to plan how to find and retrieve Voldemort’s suspected Horcrux, Hufflepuff’s Cup, from Gringotts. After rejecting several risky approaches, Zhang Xiao began to form a new plan.

• Zhang Xiao visited Dumbledore’s office, where Phineas Nigellus joked that he should become Headmaster and Dumbledore playfully offered to retire.
• Dumbledore created a model of Diagon Alley and Gringotts, then explained why he believed Hufflepuff’s Cup was hidden in the bank.
• Dumbledore told Zhang Xiao how he traced the cup’s disappearance to Tom Riddle, Hepzibah Smith, and the house-elf Hokey.
• Zhang Xiao proposed controlling goblins with the Imperius Curse, but Dumbledore explained that Gringotts’s protections, including the Thief’s Downfall, made the plan impractical.
• Dumbledore rejected a direct assault on Gringotts because it would undermine order in the Wizarding World.
• Zhang Xiao recalled heist stories and announced that he might have a good idea.

Zhang Xiao proposed assembling specialists to help retrieve Hufflepuff’s Cup from Gringotts, and Dumbledore recognized a remarkable fit between Zhang’s roles and people from his past. Dumbledore sent Fawkes with a feather to invite someone out, then contacted old allies, while Newt received a visit from a floating black glove.

• Zhang Xiao suggested recruiting planners, technical support, an expert infiltrator, and muscle for the Gringotts vault heist, and Dumbledore called the proposal excellent.
• Dumbledore reflected on the Golden Cup, Tom’s Horcrux, and his past, then sent Fawkes with a tail feather to bring someone out if he agreed.
• Zhang Xiao wondered whether Dumbledore’s decision was connected to what he had seen in the Mirror of Erised, but Dumbledore disappeared from Hogwarts.
• As spring arrived, Hogwarts remained peaceful, Harry’s spirits improved, and Zhang Xiao noticed that Snape seemed troubled.
• Nicolas Flamel read Dumbledore’s invitation and agreed with Perenelle to meet him in Diagon Alley.
• A floating black glove appeared behind Newt, and he recognized it as a sign from Dumbledore.

Dumbledore brought Zhang Xiao to meet Grindelwald, Nicolas Flamel, and Newt Scamander as they assembled a team for a secret operation. Zhang realized he might have been included merely as the team’s token decoration.

• Grindelwald reread Dumbledore’s letter and considered leaving Nurmengard to help him.
• Zhang Xiao and his friends discussed Voldemort’s plans, and Malfoy speculated that a prophecy might explain Voldemort’s interest in Harry.
• McGonagall summoned Zhang Xiao to Dumbledore, who admitted that arranging Grindelwald’s release was complicated by Aberforth’s opposition.
• Dumbledore took Zhang to meet Grindelwald, Nicolas Flamel, and Newt Scamander at Flamel’s house in Diagon Alley.
• Zhang greeted the group and realized that, among their planning, technical, and field skills, he might be the token decoration.

Zhang Xiao and the old wizards planned to learn Gringotts’ vault defenses by depositing money, while Grindelwald and Dumbledore argued over the future of the Wizarding World. Dumbledore proposed preparing Muggles for its eventual exposure through a novel, and revealed that he intended Hermione Granger to write the story of Harry Potter.

• Zhang Xiao suggested depositing money at Gringotts to uncover the defenses of its single-digit vaults, and Nicolas Flamel agreed to arrange it with Perenelle.
• Grindelwald challenged Dumbledore about whether wizards should hide from Muggles, arguing that their growing power would eventually lead to war.
• Zhang Xiao rejected Grindelwald’s plan to rule Muggles and said the East would oppose it, while Dumbledore affirmed that Zhang’s opposition could thwart Grindelwald.
• Dumbledore explained that Grindelwald had seen a possible future in which the Wizarding World perished, but said that future was not inevitable.
• Dumbledore proposed telling the Wizarding World’s story in a popular Muggle novel to reduce fear when magic was exposed.
• Dumbledore named Hermione Granger as the intended author, and he and Zhang Xiao revealed that the story would be Harry Potter.

Zhang Xiao and Perenelle went to Gringotts to arrange the Flamel fortune’s safekeeping, while Dumbledore’s group discussed making a story to reduce fear of the unknown. The chapter ended with Zhang Xiao asking whether adding him would qualify Perenelle for a single-digit vault.

• Zhang Xiao was shaken by the possibility that the Harry Potter books reflected real events, but Dumbledore explained that his planned story would feature Harry Potter, not Zhang.
• Newt defended Dumbledore’s idea of easing fear through a story, then Dumbledore sent Zhang Xiao to meet Perenelle and prepare for the Gringotts operation.
• Perenelle greeted Zhang Xiao in her enchanted carriage and told him she was eager to join the operation; Zhang Xiao summed up their goal as getting rich.
• Perenelle arrived at Gringotts and asked Bogrod to place the Flamel fortune in a single-digit vault, but Bogrod said she did not qualify to take one over.
• Zhang Xiao stepped forward and asked Bogrod whether adding him would change the decision.

Zhang Xiao and Perenelle traveled with Bogrod into Gringotts to reach a Single-Digit Vault, and Zhang Xiao learned how the bank protected its depths. After the Thief’s Downfall stripped away ordinary magic, Zhang’s Golden Light Spell still worked, while Perenelle used a potion to recover; the cart then approached the Eternal Mist.

• Bogrod recognized Zhang Xiao as the heir to the Celestial Master and granted him access to a Single-Digit Vault.
• Bogrod led Zhang Xiao and Perenelle through Gringotts’ underground tunnels in a specially enchanted cart and described the bank’s protections.
• The cart passed through the Thief’s Downfall, which nullified magic and left Zhang Xiao drenched, but his Golden Light Spell activated on its own.
• Perenelle drank a pale-blue potion after emerging from the waterfall, and Bogrod used hot air to dry Zhang Xiao’s clothes.
• Bogrod showed Zhang Xiao and Perenelle the remains of failed vault robbers and warned them to stay quiet as the cart approached the Eternal Mist.