Chapter Summaries

Su Ming brought Hermione to Hogwarts’ Ancient Magic trial ground, where they met the Watchers of the Secret Vault. He tried to bargain with Professor Percival Rackham for Hermione to learn Ancient Magic, but the chapter ended before Rackham answered.

• Su Ming and Hermione entered the starry underground hall where the Ancient Magic trial would take place.
• Hermione questioned whether Ancient Magic required a rare natural talent, and Su Ming suggested that mastering negative emotions might awaken it.
• Professor Percival Rackham appeared in a portrait, and Su Ming introduced him as Isidora’s former teacher and a Watcher of the Secret Vault.
• Su Ming offered to take Rackham and the other Watchers’ portraits to the surface if Rackham taught Hermione about Ancient Magic.
• A'San objected to Su Ming’s offer, and Su Ming dismissed him while telling Hermione to imitate his way of brushing off unreasonable people.

Su Ming and Hermione impressed Hogwarts portraits with Hermione's supposed accomplishments, then Su Ming attempted to teach her about Ancient Magic through emotion-powered rings. The chapter ended with Hermione wearing all ten rings and reacting with a blush and trembling.

• A'San argued with Su Ming, drawing the attention of the other portraits, including former headmistress Neoph Fitzgerald.
• Su Ming introduced himself and Hermione with an exaggerated list of titles, and Hermione demonstrated her power by summoning a giant Patronus resembling Su Ming.
• The portraits were astonished, and Su Ming claimed Hermione was an immortal twenty-three-year-old who had become Minister of Magic at sixteen.
• Su Ming said they had come on behalf of the Ministry to discuss Ancient Magic and sealed emotions, while Professor Rackham questioned whether Hermione could use Ancient Magic.
• Su Ming created ten emotion-powered rings and had Strangle put them all on Hermione's fingers, leaving her blushing and trembling.

Hermione used ten Power Rings to detect Ancient Magic and proved she could learn it, while Professor Rackham gave her his notes. Su Ming criticized Rackham and the other professors for hiding the danger posed by Isidora instead of seeking help, leaving Hermione ready to study and test Ancient Magic.

• Su Ming placed ten Power Rings on Hermione, and she recovered from the strain and learned to use them.
• Hermione used a violet ring to reveal the nearby ley line of Ancient Magic, confirming that she met the requirements to learn it.
• Professor Rackham directed Hermione to his Ancient Magic notes, and she summoned them and thanked him.
• Professor Rackham admitted he had regretted keeping Ancient Magic from the Ministry, and Su Ming blamed the professors’ secrecy for their deaths at Isidora’s hands.

Su Ming and Hermione learned the fate of the ancient transfer student and Professor Fitz, then persuaded the four Hogwarts portraits to let them retrieve the sealed emotions. They descended toward the vault, where Su Ming planned for Hermione to use her Power Ring to absorb the energy.

• The four portraits explained that the transfer student and Professor Fitz had defeated an evil goblin but died sealing the overflowing emotions beneath the North Atlantic.
• Su Ming criticized Hogwarts professors for repeatedly handling dangers alone instead of seeking help from the Ministry of Magic.
• The four Masters opened a hidden staircase and gave Su Ming and Hermione the password, "Always Pure," for the magical traps.
• Su Ming promised to return the portraits to Hogwarts and told Hermione to try absorbing the emotional energy with her Power Ring.
• Su Ming and Hermione descended hundreds of meters, found that the traps had failed, and prepared to illuminate the vault with Lumos.

Hermione and Su Ming reached the underground vault containing Isidora’s sealed emotions and found the ancient seal weakening. Su Ming instructed Hermione to carefully draw out the negative emotions with her ultraviolet Power Ring while he watched over her.

• Hermione illuminated the cavern and inspected the goblin skeletons left from the battle that had sealed Isidora’s emotions.
• Hermione and Su Ming followed traces of Ancient Magic to a vast cavern, where they saw a floating stone sphere held within damaged sealing rings.
• Hermione sensed Isidora’s lingering consciousness calling to her, but Su Ming interrupted her and warned that the sphere might be a trap.
• Su Ming told Hermione to draw out the energy slowly with help from his Cloak, and Hermione activated all ten of her Power Rings.
• Su Ming directed Hermione to use the ultraviolet Power Ring to extract the negative emotions first.

Hermione used the Power Rings to draw and store the chaotic emotional energy from the sealed sphere, with Cloak helping separate it. Afterward, she and Su Ming met at The Three Broomsticks, where someone joined their table and expressed interest in visiting Azeroth.

• Hermione resonated with the emotional energy and carefully drew it from the sphere into her Power Rings while Cloak cleaned the energy along the connecting thread.
• Su Ming waited as Hermione and Cloak worked, while Strangle went searching for bones to gnaw on.
• Su Ming and Hermione reached The Three Broomsticks, where Madam Rosmerta welcomed Su Ming and gave him a free Butterbeer.
• Hermione asked whether she had become stronger, and Su Ming confirmed that her ten Power Rings had greatly increased her power.
• As Su Ming suggested taking Hermione to Azeroth, a figure sat across from them and said they were interested in visiting too.

Su Ming and Hermione met the rejuvenated Grindelwald and Dumbledore, who discussed Hermione’s use of emotional energy and warned her to remain rational. The two former wizards left before Hogwarts professors could recognize them, and Su Ming noticed Flitwick approaching.

• Grindelwald and Dumbledore appeared young again, and Su Ming recognized them at the tavern.
• Dumbledore greeted Su Ming and explained that he and Grindelwald had returned from an island in Kalimantan.
• Grindelwald discussed Ancient Magic and praised Hermione’s talent, while Hermione explained that Su Ming had helped her obtain emotional energy.
• Grindelwald warned Hermione that emotions were powerful and dangerous and that she should stay rational when using them.
• Dumbledore and Grindelwald Apparated away, surprising the bar owner, and Su Ming noticed Professor Flitwick approaching.

After a late-night gathering, Su Ming took Hermione to Azeroth for a holiday and planned to visit Darkmoon Island. Their plans changed when they discovered Khadgar and Jaina had both disappeared.

• Hagrid drank too much and tearfully insisted on sharing a toast with Harry while Severus looked furious.
• Su Ming took Hermione through a teleportation portal to GM Island and offered to bring her to Darkmoon Island’s circus.
• Hermione agreed to sneak into the amusement park and asked whether it had go-karts and animal-taming shows.
• Su Ming asked Adjutant to contact Khadgar, but she could not reach him.
• Adjutant reported that Jaina had also vanished from Kul Tiras and Stormwind City.

Su Ming and Hermione investigated a world where all humans had vanished, finding Darkmoon Island eerily deserted. They discovered Fortuneteller Sayge hiding beneath a table, and he asked Su Ming for help.

• Su Ming ordered the Adjutant to scan for survivors and investigate with technology after the initial scan found no humans.
• Su Ming and Hermione reached Darkmoon Island and found its performers missing, with only animals left behind.
• Su Ming spotted a Gnoll hiding under a table and realized the people who vanished had classified Gnolls as beasts.
• Su Ming introduced himself to Fortuneteller Sayge, who recognized him as a Human Champion and asked for help.

Su Ming questioned Seg about the Darkmoon Faire’s disappearance and heard that enormous hands had seized everyone and vanished into the sky. The account raised suspicions of a deception or altered memories, and Su Ming realized a larger game had begun.

• Su Ming asked Seg when and how the Darkmoon Faire’s people disappeared, then offered him chocolate.
• Seg said he hid beneath a table while enormous hands descended from a split in the sky and carried everyone away.
• Su Ming said he believed Seg had not willingly helped the attackers but remained unsure whether his memories had been altered.
• Hermione noted that Seg’s description did not fit what they knew about Strange Hands.
• Su Ming considered that another faction might be impersonating Strange Hands or that Seg had been deceived, and concluded that the game had begun.

Su Ming accepted Seg’s request to rescue the Darkmoon Faire’s missing members, who had been taken by enemies from a rift in the sky. He left Darkmoon Island with Hermione for Stormwind City, while she questioned why Strange Hand had not simply rewritten the world.

• Su Ming demanded that Seg swear by Agamaggan, and Seg knelt and repeatedly invoked the Boar God until Su Ming said he believed him.
• Seg explained that he had joined the Darkmoon Faire after traveling from the Dragon Isles and wanted Su Ming to rescue its people, who had been taken by enemies from the sky.
• Seg said he would not eat the animal performers and conjured water and bread, which made Hermione wonder about the magic she could learn in this world.
• Su Ming considered whether the missing people had been taken to the Shadow Realm and accepted Seg’s quest for later.
• Su Ming and Hermione headed toward the portal to Stormwind City, collecting carnival toys as they went, and Hermione questioned why Strange Hand had not overwritten the world.

Su Ming took Hermione from Goldshire to Stormwind City, choosing not to risk entering the Shadow Realm without clues or a deposit for Gnoll Seg’s quest. He let Hermione loot the abandoned bank while he considered searching Stormwind Keep or the Mage Quarter for clues about Khadgar and Jaina.

• Su Ming praised Hermione’s theory that the kidnappers needed the missing people for some symbolic purpose, then decided they would explore Stormwind instead of heading into the Shadow Realm.
• Su Ming and Hermione used the Teleportation Portal to reach deserted Goldshire, where Strangle and Black Bean Sprout found no one in town.
• Su Ming led Hermione north to Stormwind City and explained the statues, including why Khadgar had one and why Su Ming had refused his own.
• Su Ming tore open the Stormwind bank vault and encouraged Hermione to take whatever she wanted, while he stayed by the door and considered where to search for clues about Khadgar and Jaina.

While Hermione collected toys from the Stormwind City Bank, Su Ming and the Adjutant investigated signs of hidden survivors and identified a Night Elf Druid disguised as an owl. Su Ming exposed the owl and called for it to come down, leaving the Druid panicked in the tree.

• Hermione found a mechanical squirrel in the bank, and Su Ming told her she could take any toys she liked.
• The Adjutant reported signs of intelligent life in Stormwind City but said surveillance could not reach many parts of Azeroth.
• Su Ming explained that an ordinary bird should respond to his divine blessing, so the owl’s failure to approach suggested it was not an ordinary bird.
• The Adjutant spotted a Moon Presence emblem on the owl and identified it as a Night Elf Druid.
• Su Ming called to the owl and revealed his identity, and the startled Druid flapped frantically in the tree.

Su Ming concluded that the people missing from Stormwind City were hiding in animal costumes and narrowed his search to the Hunter's Guild. He took Hermione to Old Town to choose a mount while the investigation continued.

• An owl Druid fled after Su Ming decided not to pursue or kill him, and Su Ming expected someone who spoke human language to investigate.
• Su Ming reasoned that the missing people might be disguised as animals and identified two bear specimens as possible hiding places.
• The Adjutant learned that Su Ming suspected the bear specimen at the Hunter's Guild because the one at the Gilded Rose Inn was empty.
• Su Ming invited Hermione to choose a mount, and they flew to the stable in Old Town.

Slade Wilson discovered Amber Gilne hiding inside a bear specimen after an attack made the people of Stormwind City disappear. Amber explained how she survived, and Slade began questioning her about the invisible enemies.

• Slade used Strangle to bring the bear specimen to the stable and exposed Amber hiding inside it.
• Amber identified herself as a newly trained Stormwind Intelligence agent and recognized Slade as Marshal Windsor's comrade-in-arms.
• Slade gave Amber food and drink and asked whether she had seen the enemy.
• Amber said everyone vanished suddenly and that a chill of being watched had led her to hide inside the bear.
• Slade concluded that Amber's instinctive attempt to evade a stalker had saved her from the attack, and Amber asked for more food to prepare for the enemies' return.

Su Ming questioned Amber’s condition while Hermione explored Stormwind’s stable and chose two Nightblade Panthers. He showed Hermione how Azeroth mounts became whistles, leaving her stunned by a kind of magic that did not exist in her world.

• Su Ming let Amber eat while he assessed her as a possible source of information and concluded that her behavior showed her mind had not been controlled.
• Su Ming considered why the enemy had targeted Azeroth but found too few clues to understand their motives.
• Hermione asked Su Ming which of two Nightblade Panthers she should choose, and he told her to take both.
• Su Ming summoned his Thousand Gold Horse with a wooden whistle, rode it briefly, and dismissed it back into the whistle.
• Hermione questioned how a living mount could become a whistle, while Amber treated the process as ordinary.

Su Ming considered the strange rules of Azeroth after Hermione pointed out how bizarre mounts and conjured food seemed, but kept his suspicions to himself. As the group headed toward Stormwind Keep to investigate the vanished residents, Amber learned that Su Ming held an honorary ducal title and grew uneasy at his carefree attitude.

• Su Ming reflected on Azeroth's mounts and conjured food and water, then gave Hermione dried fish and told her to feed and store the mount.
• Amber asked Su Ming whether they were going to rescue everyone and praised him, but he deflected her by asking why she had called him a Duke.
• Amber explained that Su Ming had inherited an honorary title through Khadgar and that the official documents were still with him.
• Su Ming strolled along Stormwind City's canal toward Stormwind Keep, admiring the city and its banners.
• Amber watched Su Ming and his cheerful Mage companion remain relaxed and grew anxious about his apparent lack of urgency.

Su Ming waited in Stormwind Keep for Azeroth’s missing survivors, using his banners to direct them to him while inviting Yrel to join a mahjong game. Yrel told him about her campaign to reclaim Argus, and Su Ming warned her that a new enemy had appeared on Azeroth.

• Su Ming sat on Stormwind’s throne with Hermione and Amber and decided to wait for the survivors to find them.
• Su Ming sent Strangle to display his Justice Reigns Supreme plaque and Act on Heaven's Behalf banner at the castle.
• The Adjutant reported that Draenor was unaffected by the disappearances and that Yrel’s forces were fighting on Argus, so Su Ming invited her to Stormwind.
• Yrel arrived, greeted Hermione and Su Ming, and explained that she had attacked Argus to reclaim her people’s ancestral home.
• Su Ming invited Yrel to play mahjong and told her that a new enemy had appeared on Azeroth.

With most of Azeroth’s leaders missing, Su Ming waited at Stormwind Keep for reliable information while playing mahjong with Yrel, Amber, and Hermione. He left the Eredar on Argus and expected the Druids’ leader to arrive, believing the missing people were still alive.

• Yrel joined Su Ming, Deathstroke, Amber, and Hermione for mahjong and asked why Stormwind Keep was nearly empty.
• Su Ming told Yrel that people across Azeroth had disappeared but withheld what he knew about events in other worlds.
• Yrel offered to bring her expeditionary force, but Su Ming rejected the idea because ordinary soldiers would be useless against the Strange Hands.
• Su Ming explained that he was waiting for the Druids’ leader to bring definite intelligence and said he would not recall the Eredar from Argus.
• Yrel and Su Ming discussed the missing Khadgar and Jaina, and Hermione suggested that Jaina might have escaped.

Jaina Proudmoore escaped her mirrored cell and navigated a chain of strange cubes while hiding from grotesque monsters. Trapped in a dark cave with her totem unresponsive, she searched her belongings for another way to contact Deathstroke and found something that surprised her.

• Jaina recalled how countless hands had abducted her from Karazhan and imprisoned her in a mirror cube.
• Jaina used ice magic, stealth, and Blink to escape her cell and pass through a larger mirrored wall into another cube.
• Jaina fled pursuing monsters and hid in a cave while trying unsuccessfully to contact Deathstroke with her spider-carved totem.
• Jaina stayed calm, conjured food and water, and searched her belt pouch for another way to activate the totem.
• Jaina found something in her pouch that made her smile.