Recaps

Zhang Xiao struggled to teach Neville the Disarming Charm and suspected that Neville had aphantasia, but encouraged him to keep practicing. After receiving the Potions Association’s reply that only first-maturity mandrake roots could make the potion to reverse petrification, Zhang Xiao turned his attention to Professor McGonagall’s upcoming Transfiguration Club meeting.

• Zhang Xiao coached Cho, Hermione, and the other second-years as they practiced spells, while he gave most of his attention to Neville’s difficulty casting them.
• Neville told Zhang Xiao he could not picture images in his mind, leading Zhang Xiao to suspect he had aphantasia and resolve to keep teaching him.
• The Azure Luan delivered a letter from the Potions Association, and Zhang Xiao worried about her growing listlessness before she settled down to sleep on his shoulder.
• Zhang Xiao learned that the potion to reverse petrification required mandrake roots harvested at their first maturity, ruling out the option of buying fresh juice from mature mandrakes.
• Zhang Xiao put away the letter and wondered what he would learn at Professor McGonagall’s Transfiguration Club.

Umbridge persuaded Fudge to send Hogwarts an official letter about the attacks, while Zhang Xiao, Harry, and Hermione visited petrified Ginny and then attended McGonagall’s Transfiguration Club. The club’s throne-making exercise began, and Zhang Xiao prepared to create a Dragon Throne.

• Umbridge read parents’ complaints to Fudge and suggested that wealthy pure-blood families wanted to meet with him about Hogwarts’s attacks.
• Fudge instructed Umbridge to send Hogwarts an official Ministry letter asking about the attacks and expressing concern for its students.
• Zhang Xiao, Harry, and Hermione visited Ginny in the Hospital Wing, where Ron and Mrs. Weasley worried about her condition.
• Zhang Xiao and Hermione discussed the fearful atmosphere at Hogwarts and wondered why the staff had not taken more effective action.
• McGonagall welcomed Zhang Xiao and Hermione to the Transfiguration Club and assigned the members to create luxurious thrones.
• Hermione transfigured a small pink throne, and Zhang Xiao drew his wand intending to make a Dragon Throne.

Professor McGonagall taught Zhang Xiao and the other young wizards how to use Transfiguration in combat and explained why it often failed against guarded opponents. After class, Zhang Xiao contacted his father through the Far-Seeing Mirror and heard a terrifying roar followed by a cry to bind something with dragon-binding chains.

• Zhang Xiao conjured an enormous golden dragon throne, which impressed the young wizards but proved uncomfortable to sit on.
• Professor McGonagall demonstrated how transfigured objects could attack in succession and taught the group about Transfiguration’s limits and defensive uses.
• Penelope revealed that she and Percy had practiced turning an opponent’s clothes into restraints, and Professor McGonagall explained that a wizard’s magical defenses could prevent such attempts.
• Professor McGonagall bound Cedric with a rope transfigured from his tie, then dismissed the young wizards after advising them to observe, practice, and think carefully.
• Zhang Xiao copied Hermione’s notes and contacted his father with the Far-Seeing Mirror, where he heard a dragon’s roar and someone shout for dragon-binding chains.

Zhang Chengdao discovered that Zhang Xiao’s advanced insights into Western magic had destabilized his mind, leaving Senior Azure Luan exhausted from helping him. He urged Zhang Xiao to slow down and strengthen his foundation before pursuing further knowledge.

• Zhang Xiao contacted Zhang Chengdao through the Far-Seeing Mirror and mentioned that Senior Azure Luan had become listless, but Zhang Chengdao ended the call amid a crisis involving a dragon.
• Zhang Xiao entered the Golden Book and Jade Register and found its mental landscape darkened and clouded.
• Zhang Chengdao explained that Senior Azure Luan had been using her ability to steady Zhang Xiao’s mind and had grown exhausted.
• Zhang Xiao told Zhang Chengdao about his recent discoveries concerning the wizarding spellcasting system.
• Zhang Chengdao warned that Zhang Xiao’s understanding had outpaced his foundation and advised him to slow down and focus on the journey.

Zhang Xiao thanked Azure Luan for helping steady his mind, then sought out Snape to learn Memory Magic so he could seal off part of his awareness. Snape explained the technique and questioned Zhang Xiao’s talent, while Zhang Xiao confidently claimed he had some.

• Zhang Xiao left the Golden Book and Jade Register training ground after thanking the room and its moving training dummy.
• Zhang Xiao thanked Azure Luan for helping him overcome his impatience, and she gave him a small fruit before falling asleep again.
• Zhang Xiao considered how to relax while staying in the Slytherin Common Room during the attacks.
• Zhang Xiao visited Snape’s office and asked him to teach Memory Magic, claiming Dumbledore had told him Snape knew it.
• Snape explained how Memory Magic could seal part of one’s awareness, and Zhang Xiao said he believed he had a talent for it.

Zhang Xiao began practical memory-magic training with Snape, but his family pendant disrupted the first attempt. He then successfully built a mind palace modeled on his former home and stood at the bedroom door, wondering whether his wife and daughter would be there.

• Snape praised Zhang Xiao's talent and agreed to begin practical memory-magic training.
• Zhang Xiao's pendant flared with golden light and roared with the images of a tiger and dragon, forcing Snape to release his wrist.
• Zhang Xiao warned Snape that some of his memories were sealed and that probing them could be fatal.
• After checking for further problems, Snape helped Zhang Xiao enter the swirling realm of his mind.
• Zhang Xiao shaped his mind palace into his former home and hesitated before opening the bedroom door.

Zhang Xiao explored his mind palace, revisited memories of home, and sealed away his understanding of the spell system to ease the strain on his mind. Snape brought him back to the underground office and warned him not to give plug-in gifts again.

• Zhang Xiao examined the mind palace’s recreation of his home, felt the pain of missing his family, and left the bedroom.
• Zhang Xiao discovered shelves of memory books, sealed an embarrassing book, and resolved to fill new shelves with imprinted books.
• Zhang Xiao locked away a dangerous memory that held his understanding of the spell system, making his mind feel lighter but leaving him unable to recall its contents.
• Snape ended Zhang Xiao’s mind palace session and warned him not to stay there too long until he had mastered the magic.
• Snape gave Zhang Xiao a Wakefulness Potion, then showed him a cabinet and told him not to give gifts with plugs next time.

Zhang Xiao studied basic spell theory to rebuild his magical foundations after blocking part of his cognition, while uncovering signs that his abilities had once been far greater than he realized. The school’s peace was interrupted by news that Professor Kettleburn had been taken to St Mungo’s, as Hagrid urgently summoned Zhang Xiao to his hut.

• Zhang Xiao planned to strengthen his foundations and master the Void-Clarity Mirror after imagining four stages of his power.
• Zhang Xiao asked Hermione for her first-year notes, and she agreed after he said Professor Flitwick had advised him to revise.
• Zhang Xiao studied spell theory in the Library and wondered whether he had blocked a cognition that let him move objects within a small area.
• Zhang Xiao’s spell skills improved over the next fortnight, while Zhang Chengdao told him that hostile people were placing objects at key locations near him.
• Hagrid sent Zhang Xiao an urgent letter inviting him to the hut, and Draco told him that Professor Kettleburn had been taken to St Mungo’s after drinking liquor steeped with part of a Troll.

Zhang Xiao visited Hagrid and learned that Professor Kettleburn had been hospitalized after drinking a dangerously prepared troll liquor that proved unexpectedly effective. He helped Hagrid plan lessons for his temporary Care of Magical Creatures post, then questioned the house-elves about who else had visited Hagrid’s Hut.

• Zhang Xiao played Frisbee with Fang using a talisman and asked Hagrid about Professor Kettleburn.
• Hagrid said Professor Kettleburn was recovering at St. Mungo’s after drinking troll liquor, whose powerful effects had attracted the hospital staff’s attention.
• Hagrid told Zhang Xiao that Dumbledore had asked him to teach Care of Magical Creatures temporarily, and Zhang Xiao suggested lesson plans centered on Norbert and popular beasts.
• Hagrid said Norbert had killed and eaten all the chickens, making Zhang Xiao suspect something was amiss.
• Zhang Xiao visited the house-elves and asked who else had recently visited Hagrid’s Hut.

Zhang Xiao learned that a tall wizard in a black robe had visited the hut, then grew concerned about Rita Skeeter’s report criticizing Dumbledore. A notice announcing a Duelling Club excited the students, and Zhang Xiao and his friends gathered in the Great Hall for its evening meeting.

• Rainwater told Zhang Xiao that a tall wizard in a black robe had visited the hut while Rainwater watched the moon, and Zhang asked the house-elves to report if the stranger returned.
• Zhang asked Malfoy whether he was going home for Christmas, and Malfoy said his father had told him to stay at Hogwarts.
• Zhang read Rita Skeeter’s article questioning Dumbledore’s handling of the attacks and suspected the Ministry of Magic had approved it to undermine him.
• Harry and Ron celebrated the announcement of a Duelling Club, while Hermione reminded them that their training was meant to help them protect themselves.
• Zhang, Malfoy, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and other students gathered in the Great Hall for the Duelling Club’s evening meeting.

Lockhart attempted to restore his reputation by demonstrating his duelling skills, but Snape quickly sent him flying. Professor Flitwick took over the lesson and chose Zhang Xiao to demonstrate a real duel.

• Lockhart introduced the Duelling Club and brought Snape and Professor Flitwick onstage as assistants.
• Lockhart challenged Snape to demonstrate high-level duelling, but Snape's spell sent him flying and tore his robes.
• Lockhart tried to claim he had let the spell hit him deliberately, then handed the lesson over to Flitwick.
• Flitwick explained that duelling was a refined art that tested a wizard's abilities.
• Flitwick invited Zhang Xiao onto the stage to demonstrate a duel.

Zhang Xiao duelled Professor Flitwick at the Dueling Club, and Flitwick exposed the gap between Zhang’s textbook-perfect casting and his own masterful technique. After Flitwick urged him to show his real ability, Zhang released the power of cognition and prepared to continue the duel.

• Flitwick explained the difference between a formal duel and real combat, then faced Zhang Xiao onstage.
• Zhang fired a barrage of spells, and Flitwick effortlessly redirected them away from the students.
• Malfoy, Neville, Harry, Ron, Cedric, and Hermione noticed that Zhang was using incantations and broader gestures than before.
• Flitwick caught Zhang with a precisely timed spell, and Zhang narrowly escaped by flashing with golden light.
• Flitwick urged Zhang to show his real ability, and Zhang released the power of cognition before declaring, “Cognition-release!”

Zhang Xiao and Professor Flitwick held an intense duelling demonstration, with Flitwick teaching the students through their exchange and helping Zhang improve his defensive timing. After testing himself against Flitwick, Zhang activated his Golden Light Cognition Release and revealed his strongest form, Full Release.

• Zhang Xiao used a sweeping Red Charm and Levitation Charm combination to restrict Flitwick’s movement, while Flitwick explained their tactics to the students.
• Flitwick counterattacked with unpredictable spells, and Zhang learned to parry at precise moments instead of maintaining a Shield Charm.
• Snape and Professor McGonagall protected the students as Zhang and Flitwick continued duelling, and the audience watched their exchange with growing excitement.
• After Zhang grew tired, Flitwick stopped attacking; Zhang rested, bowed to him, and asked to test an untried technique.
• Zhang entered Golden Light Cognition Release, then transformed into his strongest form, Full Release, as Harry, Ron, and Malfoy watched.

Zhang Xiao collapsed from exhaustion after using the Golden Light Spell and Void-Clarity Mirror, and Madam Pomfrey confirmed he was not seriously hurt. Meanwhile, Lockhart began confiding in Tom Riddle's Diary, which encouraged his ambitions.

• Zhang Xiao's power surged as he prepared to act, but he collapsed when the combined strain of his spells overwhelmed him.
• Flitwick caught Zhang Xiao, and Madam Pomfrey later diagnosed him as exhausted in the Hospital Wing.
• McGonagall told Lockhart to keep quiet, while Snape gave Zhang Xiao another diluted Draught of Living Death.
• Lockhart returned to his office in a fury and took out the Diary he had used to practice his signature.
• Lockhart wrote to Tom Riddle that he wanted to think more about the offer, and Tom praised his choice while privately recoiling from Lockhart's flattery.

Tom Riddle recalled how Lockhart had taken possession of the Diary and repeatedly humiliated him by filling it with signatures and love notes. Though Tom devised plans to use Lockhart and the basilisk to regain his body and drive Dumbledore away, Lockhart’s vanity kept derailing them; the chapter ended with Lockhart reconsidering Tom’s proposal.

• Tom remembered how Lockhart’s endless signatures and romantic lines had altered the Diary and forced Tom to speak in a saccharine tone.
• Tom planned to use Lockhart’s hunger for fame by having the basilisk attack students so Lockhart could resolve the crisis and trust the Diary.
• Lockhart refused to enter the girls’ bathroom, so Tom found another underground route to the Chamber of Secrets.
• Lockhart put purple sunglasses on the basilisk to prevent its gaze from killing anyone, and Tom decided to use the attacks to drive Dumbledore out.
• Lockhart criticized Tom’s warning message for lacking suspense, but later reconsidered Tom’s proposal, prompting Tom to praise him despite his disgust.

Zhang Xiao woke in the Hospital Wing after sleeping for ten days and reflected on his recent battle and the need to strengthen his foundations. Rainwater visited him, explained why he wanted to serve Zhang Xiao, and was sent to stay with the other House-elves in the kitchen.

• Tom suppressed his hatred of Lockhart, flattered him, and offered to share an interesting plan.
• Zhang Xiao woke in the Hospital Wing and learned from Rainwater that he had been asleep for ten days.
• Zhang Xiao reviewed lessons from his fight and resolved to shore up his magical foundations.
• Rainwater explained that he had refused Dumbledore’s offer to stay at Hogwarts because he wanted to look after Zhang Xiao and learn House-elf skills.
• Zhang Xiao sent Rainwater to the kitchen to stay with the other House-elves, then prepared to attend to something more important.

After recovering from his duel with Professor Flitwick, Zhang Xiao learned that students regarded him as Hogwarts’ strongest student and felt proud of the changes he had inspired. He brushed off their praise, copied Hermione’s notes, and settled down to study in the Grand Common Room.

• Zhang Xiao examined the increasingly stable book in his mind cottage and found new material about how casting gestures could strengthen subconscious suggestions.
• Zhang Xiao hurried through a checkup with Madam Pomfrey and headed to the Dining Hall.
• Malfoy, Harry, Ron, Cedric, Hermione, and Parkinson told Zhang Xiao that students admired his duel with Flitwick and considered him the strongest student at Hogwarts.
• Zhang Xiao downplayed his skill, copied Hermione’s notes with Geminio, and left the group’s questions behind.
• Zhang Xiao watched Slytherin students study harder, then flew to the Grand Common Room’s beach and began reading his copied notes.

As Christmas approached, Zhang Xiao learned about the limits of Transfiguration, watched students worry over the weakened Azure Luan, and faced another dreaded lesson with Lockhart. Lockhart unveiled a new lesson featuring pictures of jiangshi, leaving Zhang Xiao stunned.

• Professor McGonagall explained at the Transfiguration Club that dark magic could boost power but usually corrupted wizards and impaired their ability to perform advanced Transfiguration.
• Zhang Xiao learned from his father that Azure Luan was exhausted from using her innate ability and needed time to recover, while Hogwarts students showed concern for her.
• Malfoy gave Crabbe and Goyle Puking Pastilles to help them avoid Lockhart's class, but they swallowed the sweets before learning what the lesson involved.
• Lockhart announced that the class would study creatures beyond those in his books, then revealed pictures of jiangshi on the blackboard.
• Zhang Xiao recognized the jiangshi as resembling those from Jiangshi Sir and stared at Lockhart's unexpected choice.

Lockhart used a moving picture of a hopping jiangshi to teach an unexpectedly popular Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson, presenting invented folklore as practical advice. The young wizards left eager for his next class, while Zhang Xiao worried about what Lockhart might teach them next.

• Malfoy recognized the jiangshi’s clothes as Qing official robes, and Zhang Xiao struggled to explain the picture’s origins.
• Lockhart followed Tom’s advice to change the students’ opinion of him and chose to teach about Eastern monsters instead.
• Lockhart described jiangshi as blood-drinking creatures like vampires, then taught the students to hold their breath and use garlic and the Bubble-Head Charm to avoid them.
• Hermione asked whether jiangshi were vampires with another name, and Lockhart awarded Gryffindor five points before claiming they were different creatures.
• The students eagerly took notes and applauded Lockhart after class, while Zhang Xiao recognized that much of the lesson was nonsense and worried about what Lockhart would show next.

Lockhart used Tom’s advice to win over his students, then Tom drew him toward a plan involving a powerful spell. As Christmas approached, Dumbledore discussed a way for students to contact their professors and arranged for a complicated gift to be sent to Zhang Xiao.

• Lockhart celebrated his successful lesson with Tom, who became furious when Lockhart took credit for the plan.
• Tom suggested that Lockhart teach defensive spells and offered to show him a rare spell that could improve his magical abilities.
• The young wizards spread stories about Zombie, and Zhang Xiao hid in the Room of Requirement to paint and study moving portraits.
• Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel discussed the difficulty of making a device that would let students contact their professors.
• Nicolas agreed to send Dumbledore a complicated item for Zhang Xiao, whom Dumbledore called the finest Slytherin he had ever met.

Zhang Xiao and Draco Malfoy celebrated Christmas at Hogwarts, opening gifts from their friends and teachers, while Lucius prepared to meet anxious former followers at Malfoy Manor. The chapter ended with Lucius warning Narcissa that no one could risk betraying Voldemort if he returned.

• Zhang Xiao and Draco woke on Christmas morning to hundreds of presents and shared Mrs. Weasley's homemade fudge.
• Zhang Xiao opened gifts from Harry, Hermione, Ron, Hagrid, and the professors, while Draco received a mocking figurine from Harry.
• Zhang Xiao picked up a small parcel bearing Albus Dumbledore's name.
• Lucius and Narcissa discussed the gathering of cloaked visitors at Malfoy Manor and the danger of Voldemort's return.
• Lucius told Narcissa that no one could bear the consequences if Voldemort discovered they had betrayed him.

Lucius gathered pure-blood families to sign a petition to remove Dumbledore, while Zhang Xiao spent Christmas at Hogwarts and discovered that Dumbledore’s silver cube enhanced Transfiguration. After the holidays, lessons resumed and the students anticipated Lockhart’s announced Duelling Club meeting.

• Lucius told the assembled families to sign a petition removing Dumbledore, and they agreed out of fear of Voldemort’s return.
• Zhang Xiao opened Dumbledore’s gift and found a silver cube with a note saying it might help him advance in Transfiguration.
• Zhang Xiao and the other Hogwarts students celebrated Christmas together, and Malfoy enjoyed spending the holiday with friends.
• Zhang Xiao discovered that the cube could supply the inner workings of objects he transfigured, such as an alarm clock, and suspected Nicolas Flamel had made it.
• After the holidays, Zhang Xiao resumed his studies and continued experimenting with the cube as Lockhart’s lessons improved.
• Lockhart announced another Duelling Club meeting, and the students debated whether he would redeem himself or embarrass himself again.

Lockhart transformed his image and staged a new Duelling Club demonstration with Percy, using Tom’s advice to make himself seem mysterious. After Lockhart effortlessly deflected Percy’s spells and won the crowd’s admiration, Tom’s diary began restoring his power.

• Lockhart made a theatrical entrance, apologized for his previous duelling performance, and told the students he had regained his former skill.
• Lockhart announced that Snape and Flitwick would not assist him and asked for a student volunteer, while Zhang Xiao decided to stay and watch.
• Percy volunteered to duel Lockhart, despite Penelope urging him to come down.
• Lockhart dodged Percy’s nonverbal Disarming Charm and effortlessly knocked aside Percy’s next spell, drawing the attention of Zhang Xiao, Snape, and Professor McGonagall.
• As the students admired Lockhart, Tom’s diary moved and absorbed black vapour, restoring some of Tom’s power.

Zhang Xiao hit a bottleneck in his Golden Light Spell training, made plans to exercise, and tried to learn more about the basilisk from Lady's Glove. As the mandrakes neared maturity, another attack petrified an entire class and Professor Binns, while a threatening message announced that the Chamber of Secrets had been opened.

• Zhang Xiao concluded that physical conditioning might help him break through the Golden Light Spell bottleneck and asked the Room of Requirement for a gym, which led him to Lady's Glove instead.
• Zhang Xiao gave Lady's Glove a Walkman and promised to bring gym and film projection equipment, then asked whether she knew where the attacker came from.
• Lady's Glove warned Zhang Xiao that the basilisk might be only one of Hogwarts' many buried secrets, prompting him to question how much he could trust her.
• During Herbology, Malfoy said the mandrakes were nearly mature, and Zhang Xiao realized Tom would grow stronger rather than flee when the petrified students were revived.
• Zhang Xiao sent Draco to get him an excusal note, but Professor McGonagall rushed into the greenhouse and ordered Professor Sprout to take the students to the Great Hall.
• Professor McGonagall revealed that an entire class and Professor Binns had been petrified, and students learned that the blackboard bore a bloody threat from the Heir of Slytherin.

As panic spread through the Great Hall after the attacks, Zhang Xiao considered the Chamber of Secrets’ history and summoned House-elves to gather information. He left the students behind under the Invisibility Cloak, determined to end the chaos, while Lockhart and Tom waited for their plan to unfold.

• Draco told Harry, Ron, and the others that the last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, a student had died.
• Hermione described the legend that Slytherin had built the Chamber to release a monster against Muggle-born and half-blood students, while Zhang Xiao privately questioned the legend’s accuracy.
• Professor Flitwick sealed the Great Hall doors with protective spells, and Zhang Xiao summoned Yunbo and Rainwater to retrieve Harry’s Invisibility Cloak and ask the ghosts to watch over students outside.
• Zhang Xiao refused to let Harry and the others accompany him, told them to stay safe, and set out alone to end the chaos.
• Lockhart waited in a corridor with Tom’s Diary in his pocket, and both he and Tom anticipated that their plan would soon succeed.