Recaps

Zhang Xiao returned to Hogwarts after riding Norbert and racing a Muggle pilot, then faced a reprimand from Professor McGonagall and a private conversation with Dumbledore. After displaying unusually effortless magic in the Headmaster's Office, Zhang wondered whether drinking too much had strengthened his abilities.

• Smith returned to the airport shaken by his encounter with Zhang Xiao riding Norbert, but his friend assumed he was distressed about his wife and took him for a drink.
• Professors found Zhang asleep on Norbert and escorted the dragon back to Hogwarts, while McGonagall noticed Norbert barely moved his wings around him.
• McGonagall scolded Zhang and Hagrid for keeping Norbert at Hogwarts, but Dumbledore explained that the Ministry had treated the Muggle pilot's sighting as a minor breach and would issue only a warning.
• Dumbledore dismissed McGonagall, Snape, and Hagrid, then spoke privately with Zhang as the portraits celebrated his dragon ride and Phineas Nigellus praised him.
• Zhang effortlessly summoned an armchair and lemonade, prompting Dumbledore to admire his magic and Zhang to wonder whether drinking had improved his abilities.

Dumbledore lectured Zhang Xiao about responsibility and self-restraint, then revealed that Zhang Chengdao had secured a legal permit for Norbert. Zhang received a punishment to clean a corridor alongside other students, and afterward realized he had blacked out during his drunken dragon ride.

• Dumbledore told Zhang Xiao that power required restraint and that he had to take responsibility for his actions.
• Zhang Xiao argued that the strong should set their own principles rather than submit to arbitrary rules, calling this the Dao.
• Dumbledore told Zhang Xiao that Zhang Chengdao had used his influence to obtain a permit for Norbert, who had to remain at his previous size.
• Dumbledore sentenced Zhang Xiao to clean the corridor outside the Slytherin Common Room three times a week without magic, alongside Harry, Ron, the Weasley Twins, and other students.
• After leaving Dumbledore's office, Zhang Xiao recalled that he had blacked out during his drunken dragon ride.

Zhang Xiao dealt with the aftermath of riding Norbert and kept watch for signs of the basilisk while trying to draw out Harry’s unusual childhood magic. Harry eventually revealed that he had spoken to a boa constrictor, leaving Hermione alarmed and Zhang Xiao convinced he had uncovered Harry’s Parseltongue.

• Snape gave Zhang Xiao a sick note, and Zhang Xiao later went to mop the corridor as Dumbledore had ordered.
• Malfoy revealed that Zhang Xiao had ridden Norbert, and Slytherin students attacked the hard-line pure-bloods with Minor Jinxes after they deliberately dirtied the floor.
• Zhang Xiao visited Hagrid to deliver Norbert’s dragon-keeping permit and measure the young dragon for a custom saddle.
• Zhang Xiao remained anxious about the basilisk and gathered Malfoy, Hermione, Ron, and Harry beside the Black Lake to discuss childhood magical abilities.
• Harry described his hair regrowing overnight and his sudden appearance atop a school chimney, then revealed that he had spoken to a boa constrictor at the zoo.
• Hermione turned pale at Harry’s story, while Zhang Xiao realized he had finally learned that Harry could speak Parseltongue.

Hermione revealed that Harry’s ability to speak to snakes was Parseltongue, and Zhang Xiao reassured him that he might have inherited it from Voldemort instead of being Slytherin’s heir. Zhang Xiao recorded Harry saying “open” and tried to use the recording to open the Chamber of Secrets, but nothing happened.

• Hermione told Harry that Parseltongue was an ability associated with Salazar Slytherin, alarming him that others might believe he was Slytherin’s descendant.
• Zhang Xiao suggested Harry had gained Parseltongue from Voldemort, cheering Harry and reassuring Hermione.
• Harry tried speaking Parseltongue to a snake, then agreed to teach Zhang Xiao and Hermione simple words.
• Zhang Xiao used a Whirling Jade Disc to record Harry saying “open.”
• Zhang Xiao played the recording at the entrance in the abandoned bathroom, but the Marble Pillar did not move.

In October, Zhang Xiao read about a dream-entering art and learned that the Daoist Order had a technique for revisiting his own past. He activated the Dream-Returning Technique to investigate the events he could not remember, but the chapter ended before he saw what happened.

• Zhang Xiao turned the third-floor bathroom entrance into a trap-filled minefield while the castle endured days of rain and illness.
• Malfoy recovered from a cold with Snape’s Invigoration Draught and admitted that Harry was his rival in flying.
• Hermione told Harry and Ron that she could not make them enchanted shoulder bags until at least seventh year, while Malfoy treasured his own extension-charmed bag.
• Zhang Xiao read a tale about an official who entered dreams and asked Zhang Chengdao whether the Daoist Order had a spell that could reveal his missing memories.
• Zhang Chengdao sent Zhang Xiao a talisman containing the Dream-Returning Technique, and Zhang Xiao activated it in the Room of Requirement.

Zhang Xiao’s Returning Dream Immortal Journey ended when he heard a mysterious bell, and Zhang Chengdao found a Dragon-Tiger Mountain record describing the same phenomenon. Zhang Xiao was warned not to investigate the memory further, while Zhang Chengdao planned to consult his father.

• Zhang Xiao followed the dream path back to the memory of riding Norbert and watched himself use Wind-Summoning while drunk.
• A solemn bell rang as Zhang Xiao watched his past self wave his wand, shattering the dream world and ending the spell.
• Zhang Xiao contacted Zhang Chengdao, who searched the Dragon-Tiger Mountain Sect Records after hearing about the bell.
• Zhang Chengdao read that a Returning Dream Immortal Journey had once been broken by a bell and that a disciple who secretly pursued the hidden truth had burst apart and died.
• Zhang Chengdao told Zhang Xiao not to investigate the memory again and said he would ask his father about the danger.

Zhang Xiao learned that his missing memory had been sealed by his spirituality to protect him, and he told his parents that he had used a wand to perform Wind-Summoning while riding Norbert. The chapter left him waiting for his talisman investiture as golden light extended 2.8 inches beyond his body.

• Zhang Chengdao told Zhang Xiao that his memory had been sealed during a spiritual awakening because remembering it could harm him.
• Zhang Chengdao explained that the bell Zhang Xiao heard was his spirituality manifesting to warn and awaken him.
• Zhang Chengdao joked about Zhang Xiao’s drunken behavior, and Li Qingshu scolded him over the Far-Seeing Mirror.
• Zhang Xiao told his parents that he had ridden Norbert and used his wand to summon fierce winds, astonishing them because he had never learned Wind-Summoning.
• Zhang Xiao ended the call, studied his trembling wand, and waited for his talisman investiture to answer his questions.
• Golden light appeared around Zhang Xiao’s hand and extended 2.8 inches beyond his body.

On Halloween, Zhang Xiao dressed as Lam Ching-ying and learned the Hogwarts ghosts were attending Nearly Headless Nick’s deathday party. Curious about the gathering and the secrets the ghosts might know, he set off to visit it with Malfoy, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, insisting he would not cause trouble.

• Hermione explained that Muggle-born students had gradually influenced Hogwarts’ Halloween celebrations, while Zhang Xiao showed off his Daoist costume at the feast.
• Zhang Xiao learned the Hogwarts ghosts had gone to Nearly Headless Nick’s five-hundredth deathday party and decided to visit it.
• Malfoy eagerly joined Zhang Xiao, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed after noticing them leave the feast.
• Zhang Xiao packed away his genuine Daoist magical artifacts and led the four young wizards toward the ghosts’ party.

Zhang Xiao used an Eastern memorial offering at Nearly Headless Nick’s deathday party, and the incense stirred Moaning Myrtle’s memories of her mother and childhood. Myrtle fled the banquet, wanting to go home after fifty years as a ghost.

• Harry, Ron, Hermione, Malfoy, and Zhang Xiao attended Nearly Headless Nick’s ghostly deathday party and toured the crowded Underground Classroom.
• Moaning Myrtle approached Zhang Xiao, and he set out incense, food, and other offerings for her while the surrounding ghosts watched.
• Zhang Xiao’s offering filled Myrtle with memories of her mother, her Hogwarts years, and the bullying that preceded her death.
• Myrtle realized she had forgotten that someone missed her and rushed away, wanting to see her mother again.

Zhang Xiao tried to help Hogwarts’s ghosts taste food and, with instructions from Zhang Chengdao, performed a sacrificial ritual for them. The ritual triggered a vast, ancient presence, leaving Zhang Xiao beneath a star-filled sky.

• Moaning Myrtle shed rare Ghost Tears after tasting Zhang Xiao’s offering, and Nearly Headless Nick explained that the tears marked a recovered memory.
• The Fat Friar and the other Hogwarts ghosts begged Zhang Xiao to help them taste food, so he called Zhang Chengdao for advice.
• Zhang Chengdao recommended a sacrificial prayer and explained that he and Zhang Xiao’s mother were occupied by a disturbance involving something restless beneath the Forbidden City.
• Zhang Xiao conjured a stone basin, lit a fire with a Fire Talisman, and recited Zhang Chengdao’s prayer while the ghosts waited in line.
• A thunderous presence descended as Zhang Xiao finished the prayer, and he opened his eyes to find himself beneath a star-filled sky.

Zhang Xiao let Hogwarts’ ghosts taste food, fulfilling the lingering attachments of many who then faded away. The next day, news that he had supposedly “killed off” a third of the school’s ghosts caused an uproar.

• Zhang Xiao served the ghosts food, and they wept with joy at tasting it again.
• Zhang Chengdao and the Old Celestial Master noticed the strange disturbance in the sky and credited Zhang Xiao with it.
• Peeves and the Hogwarts ghosts drove off visitors who demanded daily feasts, then the remaining ghosts bowed to Zhang Xiao in gratitude.
• Malfoy recorded the ghosts’ tribute and declared that Slytherin should lead other races and creatures.
• Many ghosts faded away after their attachments were fulfilled, and Zhang Xiao realized that about a third of Hogwarts’ ghosts had disappeared.
• Zhang Xiao left the banquet hall with Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Malfoy, and the next day the school erupted over his supposed ghost-slaying feat.

After Hogwarts students mourned the ghosts who had found release, Dumbledore helped them honor the ghosts and redirect their attention. He then announced that the grand Common Room was officially open.

• Ghosts spread stories about their departure and Zhang Xiao’s role, prompting Hufflepuff students to grieve the Fat Friar’s loss.
• Dumbledore considered how to address the students’ sadness and decided to give them another topic to discuss.
• At lunch, Dumbledore explained that the ghosts had longed for release and asked the students to stand and pay their respects.
• The students bowed their heads and offered silent farewells to the ghosts.
• Dumbledore announced that the grand Common Room was officially open.

Hogwarts students eagerly anticipated the new Grand Common Room, which the professors had created to encourage interaction between the four Houses. Zhang Xiao reached its entrance and discovered a sleeping Stone Dragon that knocked back anyone who rushed past it, leaving students to figure out how to enter.

• After Dumbledore announced the Grand Common Room, Hogwarts students excitedly discussed how it would change their school life, and Zhang Xiao saw Percy agree to make his relationship with Penelope public.
• During Charms, Professor Flitwick described the professors' efforts to create the room, then dismissed class early so the students could see it for themselves.
• Professor Flitwick told Zhang Xiao that the Charms Club would meet on Thursday and praised him for proposing the Grand Common Room.
• Zhang Xiao found marble staircases leading to the second floor, where a Stone Dragon guarded the entrance to the Grand Common Room.
• A student rushed toward the door, and the Stone Dragon flicked its tail to tumble him back as Zhang Xiao wondered how to pass without waking it.

Zhang Xiao fought the Stone Dragon guarding Hogwarts’ grand Common Room and entered a magical world created by Dumbledore and the professors. After the students explored its forests, caverns, sea, and grassland, they were ushered back to the Dining Hall, and Zhang Xiao prepared to start his small Duelling Club.

• A sixth-year Ravenclaw used the Disillusionment Charm to pass the Stone Dragon, then Zhang Xiao challenged it directly and parried its claw with a timed Shield Charm.
• Zhang Xiao cracked the dragon’s tail with a shock wave and distracted it with a horned serpent made from a curtain, then entered the Common Room through a vine-covered passage.
• Zhang Xiao discovered a vast magical landscape with elves, dwarves, merpeople, lions, and house statues, as students poured in and explored.
• Malfoy claimed he had led the students past the dragon, but Harry, Ron, and Hermione revealed that they had lured it away while Malfoy supported them.
• At closing time, professors and alchemical creatures made the students leave the Common Room, and Zhang Xiao got ready to begin his small Duelling Club.

Students turned the Stone Dragon challenge into a test of skill until Luna Lovegood passed it with a riddle and walked away without entering the grand Common Room. Zhang Xiao then joined Professor Flitwick’s Charms Club meeting, where Penelope praised his spellwork and Flitwick called on him to share his experience.

• Students practiced Disillusionment Charms and devised ways to pass the Stone Dragon, while Fred and George sold a guide to the challenge.
• Luna Lovegood stopped outside the Stone Dragon’s attack range, stumped it with a brainteaser, and left without entering the Common Room.
• Malfoy asked to join Zhang Xiao’s Dueling Club, and Zhang Xiao welcomed him.
• Zhang Xiao and Hermione arrived at Professor Flitwick’s Charms Club meeting with several top students and club members.
• Penelope demonstrated her refined nonverbal Diffindo and praised Zhang Xiao’s skill, prompting Flitwick to ask Zhang Xiao to share his experience.

Zhang Xiao struggled to explain his intuitive approach to spellcasting to the students, then learned they studied advanced theories he had never read. After the gathering, he secured Professor Flitwick as the Duelling Club’s faculty adviser, and Flitwick offered to tell him how he became world duelling champion.

• Zhang Xiao cautiously suggested that direct thoughts might replace some specific spellcasting procedures, leaving the students confused while Professor Flitwick led their applause.
• Hermione told Zhang Xiao that advanced spellcasting theories appeared in a series of books he had never read.
• Professor Flitwick explained that Dumbledore, Nicolas Flamel, and Newt Scamander had helped create the Grand Common Room using advanced applications of familiar magic.
• Zhang Xiao asked Professor Flitwick to advise his Duelling Club, and Flitwick signed the club parchment.
• Professor Flitwick asked Zhang Xiao whether he wanted to hear how he became the world duelling champion.

Professor Flitwick told Zhang Xiao how he won the wizarding dueling championship after forgetting most of the spells he had mastered, only to cast them instinctively. He explained that Zhang Xiao was already approaching a deeper understanding of magic and urged him to keep attending the Charms Club as he forged his own path.

• Flitwick showed Zhang Xiao a photograph of himself as the new wizarding dueling champion and explained how his early struggles led him to charms.
• Flitwick told Zhang Xiao that he had mastered over a thousand spells before entering the tournament and reaching the final.
• On the day of the final, Flitwick realized he had forgotten more than half of his spells and entered the arena in despair.
• When his opponent attacked, Flitwick instinctively cast spells and won the championship.
• Flitwick told Zhang Xiao that mastered magic had become part of his thoughts and body, reassured him that he was not wrong, and advised him to keep attending the Charms Club.

Zhang Xiao reflected on his unusual progress in magic and concluded that spells and gestures anchored young wizards’ thinking, so he should learn through orthodox methods before transforming spells in his own way. After Flitwick praised Zhang to Dumbledore, the Headmaster decided to seek a more suitable gift to help him.

• Zhang Xiao devised a rough ranking of magical skill and realized he had advanced from a beginner to a quasi-magic-god level through an unusual path.
• Zhang Xiao concluded that incantations and gestures anchored young wizards’ magic and that advanced spells could disrupt their developing patterns of thought.
• Zhang Xiao decided to learn new magic through orthodox methods before adapting it to his own approach.
• Flitwick sent Dumbledore a Patronus praising Zhang’s early grasp of spelllessness and predicting his great potential.
• The portraits in the Headmaster’s Office discussed Zhang’s abilities, and Dumbledore decided to consult an old friend about finding him a helpful gift.

Zhang Xiao helped an anxious Draco Malfoy prepare for his first Quidditch match by giving him a lucky charm. As Slytherin and Gryffindor prepared to face off on new Nimbus 2001 brooms, Zhang Xiao left to handle the reporter Rita Skeeter and Dobby so the match could proceed without interference.

• Zhang Xiao found Malfoy awake before dawn, anxiously studying Quidditch techniques.
• Zhang Xiao took Malfoy to an empty classroom and gave him an Eastern Golden Talisman, telling him it would bring good luck.
• Malfoy worried that the charm would compromise Slytherin's victory, but accepted it after Zhang Xiao compared it to other players' lucky charms.
• Students and staff gathered for the highly anticipated Slytherin-Gryffindor match, with both teams using Nimbus 2001 brooms.
• Zhang Xiao left the Slytherin team before its captain's pep talk to ensure Rita Skeeter reported fairly and Dobby did not interfere with the match.

Before the Quidditch match, Zhang Xiao confronted Daily Prophet reporter Rita Skeeter and demanded fair coverage of Slytherin, then settled in to watch the match begin. Rita feared his influence but decided to prepare two versions of her article and choose between them later.

• Zhang Xiao met Rita Skeeter in the Daily Prophet's box and refused her interview, freezing her Quick-Quotes Quill.
• Zhang Xiao silenced the room and warned Rita to write objectively and fairly about Slytherin, then destroyed the miniature typewriter hidden in her handbag.
• Rita Skeeter feared Zhang Xiao's influence but decided to write two articles and choose which one to publish after the match.
• Madam Hooch started the Quidditch match, and Zhang Xiao watched the fourteen players take off.

During the Quidditch match, two Bludgers went out of control and attacked the players, but Yunbo found seven house-elves nearby and stopped them. After the match resumed, Zhang Xiao hurried to the Hogwarts Kitchen.

• Zhang Xiao watched the fast-paced match between Slytherin and Gryffindor as rain fell over the stands.
• The Bludgers began flying erratically and attacking players, while Professor McGonagall struggled to protect them from the stands.
• Fred took a Bludger hit to save Angelina, and George was struck while trying to rescue Fred; Professor McGonagall caught the twins with magic.
• Zhang Xiao summoned Yunbo, who searched for house-elves and found seven nearby.
• Yunbo and the other Hogwarts house-elves stopped the Bludgers, and Madam Hooch called them back to her.
• Madam Pomfrey treated Fred and George, Lockhart was prevented from helping, and the match resumed before Zhang Xiao hurried to the Hogwarts Kitchen.

Zhang Xiao learned that seven starving house-elves had come to Hogwarts after Dobby asked them for help, and he promised to give them a better future. After settling them near Hagrid’s cabin, he returned to the still-unfinished Quidditch match and wondered how to solve the house-elf problem.

• Zhang Xiao questioned the seven outsiders and learned they had come because Dobby had written to them.
• The elves explained they had gone without food for three days and were forbidden by their dead master’s order from actively obtaining food for three years.
• Zhang Xiao had the Hogwarts elves feed them and, seeing the elves’ hope, vowed to give them a better future.
• Zhang Xiao settled the elves near Hagrid’s cabin, where Hagrid agreed to prepare their meals.
• Zhang Xiao returned to the Quidditch Pitch, where Harry and Malfoy were still competing as the match continued into the dark.

Zhang Xiao imagined starting a house-elf housekeeping agency while watching Malfoy and Harry’s Quidditch match end in an unprecedented draw. The celebration ended when news arrived that Ginny Weasley and Colin Creevey had been attacked.

• Zhang Xiao considered creating a house-elf agency for wild house-elves and chose Mrs. Weasley as its potential manager.
• Malfoy and Harry caught the Golden Snitch at the same time, with the score tied at 1,080 to 1,080.
• Madam Hooch consulted both captains, and Slytherin and Gryffindor agreed to end the match in a draw.
• Lee Jordan announced the result as the students and reporters celebrated the historic match.
• Harry and Malfoy were treated in the Hospital Wing, where Snape gave them a weakened Draught of Living Death.
• The students learned that Ginny Weasley and Colin Creevey, both first-years, had been attacked.

After Ginny Weasley and Colin Creevey were petrified in another attack, Dumbledore and the professors investigated the melted camera and questioned the attacker’s motives. Zhang Xiao sought a way to obtain a cure and invited people to join his planned Duelling Club.

• Harry and Malfoy hid in their hospital beds as Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and Madam Pomfrey arrived with the petrified Ginny Weasley and Colin Creevey.
• Dumbledore found that Colin’s camera had melted and suspected the attacker had used distinctive dark magic, but he could not explain the motive.
• Zhang Xiao investigated the attack, worried about the basilisk’s unexplained choice to petrify its victims, and decided to strengthen himself and his friends by starting a Duelling Club.
• After the attack spread fear and rumors through Hogwarts, Zhang Xiao wrote to the Potions Association offering any price for mature mandrake juice or a restorative potion.
• Zhang Xiao sent invitations to the people he had selected for his club.

Zhang Xiao assessed the Dueling Club members’ spell skills and dueled Cedric to demonstrate combat techniques. He planned to teach the group Nonverbal Spells, the Shield Charm, and the Stunning Spell as the school remained dangerous.

• Zhang Xiao gathered ten invited students from the four houses and assessed their abilities with the Stunning Spell, Shield Charm, and Petrificus Totalus.
• Zhang Xiao challenged Cedric to a duel while the other club members watched.
• Cedric opened with a feint and a rapid barrage of spells, trying to disrupt Zhang Xiao’s rhythm.
• Zhang Xiao dodged Cedric’s attacks and silently cast the Disarming Charm, sending Cedric’s wand flying.
• Cedric praised Zhang Xiao’s silent casting and asked him to teach the technique, and Zhang Xiao agreed while setting goals for the club.