Chapter Summaries

Zhang Xiao and the Weasleys attended Gilderoy Lockhart’s book signing, where Lucius Malfoy provoked Arthur Weasley into a fight. As the brawl escalated, Zhang Xiao used his wand to begin drawing a Thunder talisman.

• Zhang Xiao, Ron, Hermione, and Harry browsed Diagon Alley before joining the Weasleys and the Grangers at Flourish and Blotts for Lockhart’s signing.
• Lockhart turned Harry into a publicity mascot, announced he would teach Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts, and sent him back with a heavy collection of books for Ginny.
• Zhang Xiao greeted Draco Malfoy warmly, while Harry and Ron remained wary of him.
• Lucius Malfoy insulted Arthur Weasley and his family, and Arthur attacked him among the fallen bookshelves.
• Draco refused to interfere in the fight and vowed to remember the grudge against Ron.
• Zhang Xiao summoned his Thunderstruck Wood Wand and began drawing the Sky-Drawing Talisman, Thunder.

Zhang Xiao helped expose the hidden object in Ginny’s battered textbook after the Weasleys and Lucius fought in Flourish and Blotts. He retrieved the envelope from the book, only to find it contained Galleons instead of the diary he expected.

• Zhang Xiao used a startling magical technique during the fight, while Hermione asked him what it was and he said it was a secret family art.
• Lucius handed Ginny her battered textbook and left the shop with Draco, while Zhang Xiao noticed that the book bulged in the middle.
• Lockhart and the shop assistant held a prize draw, and Molly Weasley won a lifetime membership and discounts for Flourish and Blotts.
• Percy, Ginny, and Hermione realized the prize’s discount applied to the books the Weasleys had already bought that day.
• Zhang Xiao retrieved Ginny’s traded-in textbook from the back room and opened the envelope hidden inside, but found Galleons instead of the diary.

Zhang Xiao failed to find Tom Riddle’s diary, prepared for the new school term, and traveled with his parents toward King’s Cross. Their journey was interrupted when a fanatical crowd attacked their car, and Zhang Xiao realized the significance of the year and city.

• Zhang Xiao searched Ginny’s books for the diary but found only Galleons, then suspected Lucius had deliberately provoked the Weasleys and resolved to learn Parseltongue from Harry.
• Zhang Xiao fitted a cloud-gold sleeve to his wand and tested the refined tool before spending the family’s final summer evening dining and taking a photograph with his parents.
• Zhang Xiao asked Zhang Chengdao about his remarkable recovery from drinking, and his father recalled a wild drinking session with his martial family.
• Zhang Xiao, Zhang Chengdao, and Li Qingshu set off for King’s Cross through rainy London but were trapped by a protest crowd blocking the road.
• The crowd turned violent and battered the Rolls-Royce, so Zhang Chengdao told Zhang Xiao to defend himself and opened the car door, sending several attackers flying.
• Zhang Xiao prepared to act, then remembered that it was 1992 and they were in London.

Zhang Xiao fought off rioters during the 1992 London unrest until Zhang Chengdao and Li Qingshu rescued him and helped the family escape the crowd. Near King's Cross, they spotted Zhou and his wife being targeted by looters, and Zhang Xiao's parents left him to continue to the station while they intervened.

• Zhang Xiao recognized that the march had erupted into a riot and used his martial arts training to knock down dozens of attackers.
• Zhang Chengdao and Li Qingshu charged through the crowd, then Zhang Chengdao threw Zhang Xiao over it and caught him outside the press of people.
• Zhang Chengdao gave Zhang Xiao two Swift Travel Talismans so he could run to King's Cross Station with his parents.
• Zhang Xiao spotted Zhou and his wife sheltering by a wall as looters emerged from a shop and moved to rob them.
• Li Qingshu told Zhang Xiao to head to the station alone while she and Zhang Chengdao prepared to deal with the looters.

Zhang Xiao reached King's Cross to find Harry and Ron trapped outside the Hogwarts platform after Dobby blocked its entrance with a wall. He joined them in Arthur's flying Ford Anglia, and as the car followed the Hogwarts Express north, he enjoyed the view before falling asleep.

• Zhang Xiao used a Swift Travel Talisman to reach King's Cross, exhausted from the journey.
• Zhang Xiao's father told him that he and Zhang Xiao's mother had stopped looters and rescued a girl in the Chinese neighborhood.
• Zhang Xiao learned that Dobby had blocked the entrance to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters with a solid wall that magic could not move.
• Ron suggested flying Arthur's Ford Anglia to Hogwarts, and Zhang Xiao agreed because he wanted to try the flying car.
• Ron, Harry, and Zhang Xiao took off in the car and spotted the Hogwarts Express below them.
• Zhang Xiao admired the sunlit clouds, prayed nothing else would go wrong, and fell asleep in the car.

Harry, Ron, and Zhang Xiao flew toward Hogwarts in the Old Ford Car, enjoying the trip until the car began to fail near the castle. As the car veered away from Hogwarts to protect them during its crash landing, Zhang Xiao realized it was heading for the Forbidden Forest.

• Harry covered the sleeping Zhang Xiao with a blanket while he and Ron admired the scenery from the flying car.
• After Zhang Xiao woke, he opened the windows and conjured water, easing Harry and Ron’s heat and thirst.
• As night fell, Ron followed the Hogwarts Express toward the castle, but the car’s engine began to fail.
• Zhang Xiao urged Ron to land, but the car turned away from Hogwarts and Harry and Ron could not control it.
• Zhang Xiao realized the car was seeking a wooded area to cushion their fall, and saw that it was heading toward the Forbidden Forest.

After Dobby’s interference left Harry, Ron, and Zhang Xiao stranded in the Forbidden Forest, Zhang Xiao tried to summon help and discovered they were surrounded by Acromantulas. He used a Thunder Talisman against the spiders, but Ron woke, saw them, and immediately fainted again.

• Zhang Xiao checked on Harry and Ron after the car crashed; Ron had a likely broken arm, while Harry had a bleeding cut across his face.
• Zhang Xiao lit the dark forest, fired a signal flare, and blew Bird Sis’s whistle to try to summon help.
• Zhang Xiao realized the group was in Acromantula territory when countless spiders approached them.
• Zhang Xiao threw a Thunder Talisman at the Acromantulas, whose clicking grew louder after the thunderclap.
• Ron woke briefly, screamed at the giant spiders, and fainted again before Zhang Xiao could ask him to watch Harry.

Zhang Xiao fought off a swarm of Acromantulas with talismans, a spear, and a flaming sword while protecting Harry and Ron inside the battered Old Ford Car. When Dumbledore arrived, Zhang Xiao collapsed after asking him to repair the car.

• Zhang Xiao used Thunder Talismans and Fire Talismans to hold back the Acromantulas until his supply began to run low.
• Zhang Xiao placed the unconscious Harry and Ron inside the Old Ford Car and turned to face the enraged spiders.
• Zhang Xiao transformed his wand into a silver spear and used the Golden Light Spell and martial techniques to kill and wound the Acromantulas.
• Zhang Xiao transformed the spear into a Tang Hengdao, cast Incendio, and charged back into the swarm.
• Dumbledore arrived to find spider corpses and a wounded Zhang Xiao beside the car, with Harry and Ron unharmed inside.
• Zhang Xiao asked Dumbledore to restore the Old Ford Car and then lost consciousness.

After Zhang Xiao, Harry, and Ron were rescued from the Forbidden Forest, Dumbledore and the professors recognized that Hogwarts had failed to guide students facing an emergency. In the Hospital Wing, Zhang Xiao reviewed his mistakes and gains and resolved to prepare better ways to call for help, unaware that chaos had erupted outside.

• Dumbledore told the professors that Harry and Ron were safe and Zhang Xiao had survived the Acromantula venom, then explained that the students had been stranded by a blocked King's Cross passage.
• Dumbledore and McGonagall acknowledged that Hogwarts had failed the students by letting fear of school rules drive them into danger.
• Zhang Xiao woke in the Hospital Wing, inspected a powerful golden talisman, and found himself unexpectedly recovered from his exhaustion.
• Zhang Xiao recognized that he had misjudged the Flying Car's capacity and reviewed the combat experience and new techniques he gained in the forest.
• Zhang Xiao resolved to question assumptions from his previous life and find more reliable ways to call for help, unaware that chaos had broken out outside.

After recovering from the Flying Car crash, Zhang Xiao learned how the incident had stirred Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic. Back in the common room, he discovered that Malfoy had spent the summer learning Chinese and was ready to discuss wizarding attitudes toward Muggles.

• Zhang Xiao learned that Zhang Chengdao had claimed ownership of the Flying Car, sparing Mr. Weasley a Ministry inquiry, while Hogwarts organized a Forbidden Forest operation against the acromantulas.
• Zhang Xiao returned to his dormitory after a week in the Hospital Wing and caught up with Malfoy in the common room.
• Malfoy handed Zhang Xiao class notes, and Zhang Xiao realized Malfoy had learned fluent Chinese with a strong Northeastern accent.
• Malfoy explained that he had studied Zhang Xiao's letter over the summer and said he had found an answer to why Chinese people did not care about noble birth.
• Malfoy asked Zhang Xiao why his attitude toward Muggles differed so greatly from that of other wizards.

Zhang Xiao explained to Malfoy why wizards should still see themselves as human, then helped arrange the arrival of Slytherin’s new broomsticks. The chapter ended as Malfoy prepared to reveal the thirty-two brooms to the Great Hall.

• Zhang Xiao told Malfoy that magical power did not change their human roots, and Malfoy said he needed more time to understand.
• Zhang Xiao and Malfoy agreed that the Nimbus 2001 broomsticks would arrive the next day, ahead of Slytherin’s Quidditch tryouts.
• Malfoy recorded the moment in a black notebook, declaring that he was documenting the beginning of a new Slytherin.
• Thirty-two owls carried broomstick packages into the Great Hall, where Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Wood realized Slytherin had acquired a large fleet of expensive brooms.
• Zhang Xiao used magic to lower the broomsticks into place, and, after Dumbledore nodded, encouraged Malfoy to go ahead.

Malfoy announced that the Azure Luan Society had donated thirty-two Nimbus 2001 broomsticks to Hogwarts, earning widespread praise. After Dumbledore arranged for the brooms to be distributed and postponed the first Quidditch match, Zhang Xiao noticed a new timetable entry for emergency safety training with Professor Snape.

• Zhang Xiao encouraged a nervous Malfoy to imagine the audience as curly-haired baboons before he spoke at the podium.
• Malfoy announced that the Azure Luan Society and several families had donated thirty-two Nimbus 2001s, with an equal share for every house.
• Students and professors cheered the donation, and Ron, Harry, Wood, Fred, and George celebrated the prospect of better Quidditch equipment.
• Dumbledore thanked the Slytherins, endorsed fair competition, and postponed the first Quidditch match so students could get used to the new brooms.
• Zhang Xiao rejected proposals for more donations, then spotted emergency safety training with Professor Snape on the changed timetable.

Zhang Xiao settled into Hogwarts’ new timetable, impressed Professor McGonagall with his advanced Transfiguration questions, and accepted an invitation to her club. Lockhart’s disastrous Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson left the students furious, while the chapter ended with Emergency Safety Training scheduled for the next morning.

• Zhang Xiao practiced Transfiguration with his class and asked Professor McGonagall how to transform objects more quickly and fluidly.
• Professor McGonagall praised Zhang Xiao’s progress and invited him to join the Transfiguration Club, which he accepted.
• Lockhart made his students act out a scene from Travels with Trolls, casting Zabini as his admirer after Zhang Xiao refused to volunteer.
• Malfoy went to the Hospital Wing with sore hands, while Harry, Ron, and other students complained about Lockhart’s lesson.
• Zhang Xiao noticed that Emergency Safety Training had been added to Tuesday morning’s timetable as a joint class for all four houses.

Professor Snape began the new class with a timed test meant to reveal how the students would react to danger. He tested Ron by conjuring an Acromantula, then confronted Malfoy over an answer suggesting he would join a Dark Wizard’s plot.

• Harry, Ron, Hermione, Malfoy, and Zhang Xiao bickered on the way to class about the attack by Acromantulas and what Zhang Xiao had done.
• Snape entered the classroom and gave the students ten minutes to answer a test about their instincts in dangerous situations.
• Zhang Xiao, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Malfoy answered the test according to their own instincts and reasoning.
• Snape conjured an Acromantula from Ron’s desk, causing Ron to faint, and Hermione used a Reviving Potion to wake him.
• Snape questioned Malfoy about why he had answered that he would join a Dark Wizard’s plot if he could not contact a professor.

Snape mocked the students’ answers until Harry’s defiant choice and uncovered green eyes triggered Snape’s grief over Lily. Zhang Xiao shielded Snape from the class as he broke down, and the chapter ended with Snape dismissing the students and leaving.

• Malfoy defended his choice to join the Evil Forces, and Zhang Xiao teased him about his answer.
• Snape criticized the students’ parchments, mocked Hermione for combining answers, and ridiculed Harry’s choices.
• Harry shouted that he would rather die than submit to a powerful Dark Wizard, and Snape froze when he saw Harry’s green eyes.
• Snape remembered Lily’s death, broke down crying, and whispered her name as the students watched in confusion.
• Zhang Xiao transformed desks into curtains and muffled the room, then admitted to Snape that he knew a little.
• Snape regained his composure, warned Zhang Xiao not to spread rumors, dismissed the class, and hurried away.

After Snape broke down, Hogwarts filled with rumors, while Zhang Xiao’s efforts helped separate Slytherin’s Azure Luan Society from its pure-blood extremists. Hagrid invited Zhang Xiao and Harry to visit Norbert and the nearly ready pigs, but Zhang Xiao suddenly sensed an evil presence in the castle.

• Zhang Xiao refused to tell the other students why Snape had cried, and Ron, Malfoy, Hermione, and Harry eventually stopped pressing him.
• Rumors about Snape spread through Hogwarts, prompting Professor McGonagall to punish students for gossiping about him.
• Zhang Xiao noticed that students from the other houses were befriending Slytherins in the Azure Luan Society while shunning the pure-blood extremists.
• Hagrid invited Zhang Xiao and Harry to visit him and Norbert the next afternoon, and mentioned that the pigs were nearly ready.
• Zhang Xiao felt a strange, evil presence, shuddered, and fixed his gaze on a spot in the castle.

Zhang Xiao sensed a terrifying presence he believed might be the Basilisk and concluded he needed to prepare for the Chamber of Secrets threat. He planned to visit Hagrid and make preparations in the abandoned girls' bathroom on the third floor.

• Hagrid noticed Zhang Xiao was shaken, and Zhang Xiao excused himself by claiming he had remembered mistakes in an essay.
• Zhang Xiao returned to the Slytherin Common Room, lit a fire, and asked Yunbo to bring him hot chocolate.
• Zhang Xiao reasoned that the presence might be the Basilisk and wondered whether the Diary had returned to Hogwarts.
• Zhang Xiao concluded Dumbledore likely did not know the Chamber's location or the Basilisk's presence, but had been investigating the attacks.
• Zhang Xiao decided to visit Hagrid the next day and prepare in the abandoned girls' bathroom on the third floor.

Zhang Xiao rigged the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets and joined Professor Flitwick’s Charms Club after learning Finite Incantatem. Later, he and the other young wizards saw Gilderoy Lockhart leaving Hagrid’s cabin.

• Zhang Xiao visited the abandoned girls’ bathroom, sent Moaning Myrtle to spy on Dietrich Wiggins, and found no sign that the Chamber of Secrets had been opened.
• Zhang Xiao set Weasley-twin gadgets and talismans around the suspected entrance to ambush whoever opened it.
• Professor Flitwick taught Finite Incantatem, and Justin accidentally knocked him off the Auspicious Cloud with his wand.
• Professor Flitwick invited Zhang Xiao to join the Charms Club, and Zhang Xiao accepted.
• Bird Sis handed out little fruits to the young wizards in the Common Room while Zhang Xiao let them enjoy her company.
• Zhang Xiao and several young wizards saw Gilderoy Lockhart leaving Hagrid’s cabin.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Zhang Xiao visited Hagrid, met the growing Norbert, and heard Hagrid admit that he had brought Aragog to the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid apologized to Zhang Xiao for the Acromantulas there and revealed that Aragog had been blamed for a student’s death fifty years earlier, leaving Zhang Xiao to suspect Hagrid had been made a scapegoat.

• Lockhart advised Hagrid about keeping water demons out of a well, and Hagrid criticized Lockhart’s claims after he left.
• Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Zhang Xiao visited Hagrid, who showed them Norbert; Zhang Xiao stopped Norbert from biting him and then petted the dragon.
• Hagrid told Zhang Xiao he had brought Aragog to the Forbidden Forest and found him a mate, leading to the spread of Acromantulas.
• Hagrid revealed that Aragog had been blamed for a student’s death fifty years earlier and that the accusation had led to his expulsion from Hogwarts.
• Zhang Xiao reasoned that Aragog could not have caused the death and suspected Hagrid had been expelled to serve as a scapegoat.

Zhang Xiao tested whether shouting a spell in Chinese could change its power and discovered that it made his Disarming Charm much stronger. The presence he had sensed still had not returned, and he left the training session eager to investigate his discovery further.

• Hagrid apologized to Zhang Xiao, warned Aragog, and said Aragog promised to keep his descendants in line.
• Hagrid told Zhang Xiao that Dumbledore had renewed the alliance with the centaurs, who had to protect young students in the Forbidden Forest in return for their independence.
• Zhang Xiao found no sign of the lurking presence when he checked his traps and asked Moaning Myrtle to watch the Washroom.
• Zhang Xiao returned to the Room of Requirement, tested different ways to draw his wand, and recorded how verbal and nonverbal Disarming Charms affected his wooden dummies.
• Zhang Xiao shouted the Chinese phrase “Hand it over!” through a megaphone and blasted a dummy apart, then recorded that casting in his native language seemed to increase the spell’s power.