Recaps

As Hogwarts prepared for the Yule Ball, Draco and the other students wondered whether Shawn Black would attend and who his partner would be. Shawn arrived with Hermione, stunning the crowd and leaving Viktor Krum visibly defeated.

• Krum taunted Draco about Harry’s absence, then continued searching for Hermione, while Neville reassured Draco that Harry was safe.
• Hannah asked who would be Shawn’s partner, and the students speculated before going outside for a snowball fight.
• Students and visiting delegations gathered in formal dress outside the Great Hall as McGonagall assembled the Champions and their partners.
• Percy told Penelope that Shawn had said he would attend, then pointed out Shawn arriving with Hermione.
• Hermione and Shawn descended the staircase together, drawing gasps from the crowd and prompting Krum to abandon his approach.

At the Yule Ball, Shawn learned that foreign Ministries of Magic were pressing England over his potion-dumping strategy and weighed how to keep the trade pressure from driving them toward the Double Serpent Society. He asked Dumbledore whether he would support an attack on France, and Dumbledore angrily challenged his plans for war.

• Shawn entered the Great Hall with Hermione and joined Dumbledore at the judges’ table.
• Fudge explained that foreign Ministries wanted restrictive trade clauses because Shawn’s potion-dumping strategy was draining wealth from their wizarding communities.
• Shawn considered how to preserve the strategy without pushing other countries into the arms of the Double Serpent Society.
• Shawn ordered food for Hermione after her hunger showed, while Dumbledore teased them.
• Shawn asked whether Dumbledore would support an attack on France, and Dumbledore condemned the prospect of war.

Shawn argued that swift action against disobedient Ministries would best deter opposition to the coming wizarding and Muggle prosperity plan, while Dumbledore hesitated over the prospect of war. At the Yule Ball, Shawn and Hermione became the center of the dance floor; far away in the United States, Alice accepted her grandfather’s grim instructions.

• Shawn told Dumbledore that seizing a few Ministries quickly would be the strongest deterrent, but Dumbledore drank and pondered rather than answering.
• Dumbledore opened the Yule Ball, and the Champions and their partners began dancing to the Weird Sisters.
• Shawn led Hermione onto the dance floor, where their smooth waltz drew a crowd and made them the center of attention.
• Krum left his partner and went to the bar, resentful as Shawn and Hermione danced.
• In the United States, Alice told Old Fawley she would not hesitate if the moment he described came, and he lamented that he had failed her.

Alice uncovered a report about Harry Potter and Sirius’s investigation in the United States, while the pair pursued the Scourers and their suspected ties to the Double Serpent Society. Harry and Sirius identified a possible Salem leader and hoped that capturing him would earn them help curing Sirius.

• Alice reviewed the report and decided to write the Chief a letter after learning Harry and Sirius had uncovered a secret.
• Sirius returned to the shack with a roast chicken, and Harry ate before resuming his investigation documents.
• Harry and Sirius investigated missing young wizards in New York and uncovered the Scourers’ history and their hatred of wizards.
• Harry marked several locations and told Sirius that capturing the suspected Scourer leader could earn them the Chief’s help in curing him.

At Hogwarts, Shawn deflected foreign leaders’ complaints about England’s trade treaty, alleged smuggling, and rumored war with France by claiming he had no authority. Maxime threatened to hire bounty hunters with France’s wealth, and Helena invoked American support, just as Purple Shadow arrived with a letter for Shawn.

• Sirius acknowledged that England’s wizarding world prospered under Shawn’s rule after witnessing hardships elsewhere.
• Karkaroff, Maxime, Helena, Niekosov, and Fudge approached Shawn in the Hogwarts gardens to discuss England’s policies.
• Karkaroff and Niekosov voiced support for Shawn, while Maxime and Helena demanded answers about France, the potion treaty, and smuggling into the United States.
• Shawn denied having any official power and challenged the women to provide evidence, while Fudge backed his remarks and denied that England planned to attack France.
• Maxime threatened to hire bounty hunters using France’s wealth, and Helena promised American support for France.
• Purple Shadow flew in carrying a letter as Shawn prepared to respond.

Shawn revealed that Purple Shadow’s toy was a genuine Philosopher’s Stone, created by Old Percy from fragments and magical creature souls, and left the visiting Headmasters stunned. After reading Alice’s letter, Shawn departed to prepare his forces for the coming new year.

• Purple Shadow played with the Philosopher’s Stone, shocking Maxime, Helena, Fudge, and the other Headmasters.
• Shawn demonstrated that the stone could turn snow to gold, then tossed it back to Purple Shadow and left Fudge to handle the guests.
• Maxime and Helena abandoned their claims and left to report Shawn’s possession of the Philosopher’s Stone, while Niekosov hurried away to seek benefits for Russia.
• Shawn checked Old Percy’s work in the Underground Limestone Cave, then assigned combat missions to Wenge, Carrow-er, Daniel, Abernathy, and his other commanders.
• Shawn discussed plans with Vita and prepared to make trouble as the new year approached.

After Britain displayed its Philosopher's Stone, protests broke out in France and other wizarding countries as people demanded affordable potions and the freedom to move to Britain. In London, foreign-born residents organized a petition urging the Ministry and Lord Black to use military force to bring their relatives to Britain.

• Fudge displayed Britain's Philosopher's Stone to foreign representatives and demonstrated its power to turn stone into gold.
• French witches and wizards marched on Lionheart Street, demanding stable prices, higher wages, freedom to leave, and access to cheap potions.
• Maxime urged Morris to investigate the march and reassure the public, but Morris dismissed the protest and revealed that the Double Serpent Society had approached him.
• Witches and wizards in the Leaky Cauldron discussed restrictions and anti-British measures in their home countries.
• Jack called on the crowd to petition the Ministry and Lord Black to use military force to bring their relatives to Britain, and the group surged into Diagon Alley.

Shawn traveled to the United States and infiltrated Ilvermorny as Professor Ford Graves to obtain the Snakewood Wand, while Harry and Sirius tracked down the leader of the Scourers in New York. The chapter left Shawn teaching at Ilvermorny as a concealed squad followed Harry and Sirius, with events in New York nearing a crisis.

• Fudge and Lucius dismissed Amelia Bones's concerns about the petition outside the Ministry, while Barty Crouch Sr. briefed her on the possibility of war and its implications for legislation.
• Shawn ordered Alice to return to New York and oversee the fight against the Scourers, then studied Ilvermorny's staff and students as he planned to seize the Snakewood Wand in disguise.
• Harry and Sirius found Salem, the latest leader of the Scourers, working as the kindly head of an orphanage and decided to abduct her for information.
• A concealed squad followed Harry and Sirius, recognized their plan, and decided to send Alice a warning.
• Shawn, disguised as Professor Ford Graves, taught Ilvermorny students about the Severing Charm and demonstrated how a wizard's will could alter a spell.

Disguised as Professor Ford, Shawn investigated Ilvermorny’s defenses around the snakewood while learning that Deputy Headmaster Fontana feared an imminent attack. After sending orders to his subordinates, Shawn flew after the thunderbird to begin his plan; in England, Wenge received a message announcing that the operation was starting.

• Shawn taught a lesson on the Severing Charm and explained how students could develop magical willpower by identifying their strongest emotions.
• At lunch, Shawn learned from Jimmy that Gais and other Horned Serpent students were proposing a wizarding city modeled on England’s.
• Shawn approached the guarded snakewood and spoke with Deputy Headmaster Fontana, who revealed that he feared Shawn Black might raid Ilvermorny and that Gais had urged him to surrender the relic and befriend Shawn.
• Shawn concluded that Fontana’s uncertainty about the Twelve Auror families could become an opportunity, sent mission instructions to his subordinates, and flew after the thunderbird.
• In England, Wenge received a vibrating Communication Card, declared that the operation was beginning, and went to join the Wizarding Army members training at the castle.

Harry and Sirius joined Abernathy’s forces as they launched an assault on the Scourers’ headquarters beneath the Charging Bull Statue in New York. Harry waited outside while the first strike began, with the chapter ending before the battle’s outcome was known.

• Harry read Draco’s explanation of the golden egg’s clue and discussed preparing for the underwater task with Sirius.
• Darnell told Harry and Sirius that the operation against the Scourers was about to begin, but warned them to stay out of the fighting.
• Abernathy led trench-coated wizards through the snow toward the Scourers’ entrance at the Charging Bull Statue, while another force followed under the Fawley family’s servant.
• The wizards sealed off the area from Muggles, sent scouts inside, and began moving their forces through the hidden entrance.
• Darnell stopped Harry from joining the first strike, explaining that the force aimed to destroy more than half of the Scourers’ fighting strength at once.

Abernathy and the Acolytes fought the Scourers’ monstrous fusion of Obscuri in New York, then used the Hallow battle array to bind it and capture Salem. The battle devastated Wall Street, and upheavals were also taking place in France, Italy, and other regions.

• The Charging Bull Statue exploded, and a stitched troll made from countless Obscuri emerged with the fourth Salem at the center of its face.
• The stitched troll slaughtered Acolytes and devastated the streets while white and black mists joined the battle, and a Fawley servant warned Abernathy that Muggle helicopters were coming.
• Abernathy ordered the Acolytes to form the Hallow battle array, which struck the monster with a silver spear before its silver threads suppressed and bound it.
• Harry fought alongside the Acolytes while Sirius guarded him, and Abernathy extracted Salem from the monster and ordered her taken to England for interrogation.
• The chapter reported that enormous upheavals were also taking place in France, Italy, and other regions.

The English Wizarding Army broke through the concealment barrier around Lionheart Street, while French wizards and the Ministry of Magic quickly surrendered. England and its allies launched a worldwide blitzkrieg, with the main force gathering around the Vatican in Italy as battle threatened to begin.

• The English Wizarding Army shattered Lionheart Street’s barrier and occupied the streets as French demonstrators welcomed them.
• Daniel, disguised as a waiter, arrested Minister Morris and confiscated his wand.
• French businesses raised white flags, and the Werewolf Legion reported that the French Ministry of Magic had surrendered before its troops transformed.
• Daniel learned that England and its allies had deployed more than ten thousand wizards across several fronts, with the main force concentrated in Italy.
• The allied forces surrounded the Vatican, blocked its communications, and prepared for battle.

Tom Gaunt, disguised as Shawn Black, held the Church's forces in a standoff while Grindelwald fought Hephis, buying time for the operation at Ilvermorny. As Soya attacked England, the real Shawn prepared hidden reinforcements and waited for a subdued thunderbird to arrive.

• Tom Gaunt, disguised as Shawn Black, faced Pope Edward in St. Peter's Square while their forces maintained a tense standoff.
• Grindelwald fought Hephis in the sky and overwhelmed him, while Edward hesitated to join the battle without reinforcements from Soya.
• Edward proposed that both sides withdraw, but Tom ignored him and kept the standoff in place.
• At Ilvermorny, Deputy Headmistress Fontana evacuated the students and activated the school's defenses as the Aurors left to protect Congress Headquarters.
• The real Shawn, disguised as Professor Ford, learned that Soya had attacked England and relied on two thousand hidden reservists to counter him.
• Shawn continued waiting at Ilvermorny, expecting reinforcements led by the thunderbird he had secretly subdued.

Shawn’s Thunderbird flock attacked Ilvermorny with a vast thunder pool, forcing Headmaster Fontana to activate the four House statues’ protective magic. The shield held for a time, but cracks began appearing in the statues, while the people hidden near the Back Mountain still had not acted.

• Clouds gathered around Ilvermorny as multiple Thunderbirds arrived and formed a thunder pool around the castle.
• The Thunderbirds’ lightning shattered the castle shield, and Fontana realized Shawn had turned the school’s Thunderbird companion against them.
• Fontana activated the four House Sorting statues, which formed a powerful milky-white shield against the lightning.
• Shawn judged that the statues’ shield would last only about ten minutes and wondered when the people near the snakewood would act.
• A Kopuch Gnome warned Fontana that cracks had begun appearing on the four statues.

Shawn used the Thunderbirds’ lightning to break the restrictions around Ilvermorny’s Back Mountain and draw out the Double Serpent Society. As Elder Awen and the society’s fighters emerged, Shawn retrieved the Snakewood Wand and found himself surrounded as a greater Thunder Tide gathered overhead.

• Fontana lowered Ilvermorny’s defenses and withdrew the professors, while Ross redirected the lightning away from the school and toward the Back Mountain.
• Shawn ordered the Thunderbirds to bombard the Back Mountain’s magical restrictions, then used Playing Cards and Parseltongue to awaken the snakewood tree.
• Members of the Double Serpent Society emerged through the white jade railing and attacked, but Elder Awen’s Crystal Staff deflected their spells and the lightning.
• Awen crushed the Thunderbird carrying the Snakewood Wand, and Shawn revealed himself, summoned the wand, and began healing the injured Thunderbird.
• More Double Serpent Society members emerged and transformed or sacrificed themselves to surround Shawn as the other Thunderbirds gathered a greater Thunder Tide overhead.

Shawn fought Awen’s enormous Human Beast War Soldier army at Ilvermorny while the Thunderbirds battered the Hurricane Barrier overhead. As Shawn’s battle shook Mount Greylock and threatened the school and nearby town, Awen held back and waited for him to reveal his remaining plans.

• Awen revealed that he had surrounded Shawn with Human Beast War Soldiers and suicide attackers, making magical teleportation too dangerous, while a water-type Legendary Wizard remained hidden nearby.
• After healing the Thunderbird, Shawn changed into his Hunting Attire, summoned Kunikuzushi as the Seven-String Thunder Harp, and faced Awen.
• Awen retreated as his varied Human Beast War Soldiers charged, and Shawn and his Playing Card formation unleashed a storm of spells against them.
• Shawn’s silver Yinglong Patronus and the battle’s shock waves shook Mount Greylock and collapsed part of Ilvermorny’s rear mountain wall, forcing Fontana and the professors to defend the school.
• Awen strengthened the Hurricane Barrier against the Thunderbirds’ lightning and watched Shawn fight, while Bose Yidong searched for reinforcements and found none.
• Residents in the town below watched the summit erupt in purple light, heard Shawn’s melody, and feared that the world was ending.

Alice prepared to sacrifice herself to aid Shawn, but his voice reassured her that he was safe. As Shawn battled the Double Serpent Society at Mount Greylock, Awen prepared to unleash the Coiled Serpent Cross while Soya struggled against Dumbledore in England.

• Alice knelt inside a magic array and prepared to stab herself with a dagger to help Shawn if he fell into danger.
• Shawn contacted Alice in her mind, told her he was safe, and she cleared the array and Apparated away.
• Shawn transformed into a white Yinglong and tore through the waves and Human Beast War Soldiers, while Poseidon pursued him and Awen realized Shawn was using the battle to exhaust their forces.
• Awen tried to summon reinforcements, but Edward did not respond and Soya was occupied fighting Dumbledore and a Wizard Legion at Hogsmeade.
• Awen ordered Poseidon to keep Shawn trapped for half a minute while he activated the Coiled Serpent Cross.

Awen and Poseidon unleashed the Double Serpent Cross’s devastating attack on Shawn, seemingly destroying him and much of Ilvermorny. The chapter ended with Awen and Poseidon searching the crater and asking whether Shawn was dead.

• Poseidon used a blue Wish-Power Collector to trap Shawn in seawater and lock down space.
• Awen sacrificed his surviving soldiers and poured his own magic and life force into the Double Serpent Cross pendant, summoning a monstrous two-headed serpent.
• Shawn tried to escape the seawater cage and raised several defenses, but the Twin Serpents’ energy attack engulfed him and blasted a huge pit into Mount Greylock.
• The attack badly damaged Ilvermorny, and Fontana realized that the four House Sorting Statues had shattered.
• Awen and Poseidon searched for Shawn, uncertain whether he had survived.

After surviving Awen’s attack at Ilvermorny by escaping through a Vanishing Cabinet, Shawn led the victorious forces back to England and honored the fallen. As the Double Serpent Society held back rather than counterattack, Shawn realized they still intended to stake everything on the Life-and-Death Arena.

• Awen reassured Poseidon that the Life-and-Death Arena might still give them a way to kill Shawn.
• Shawn’s allies won the battle overall, destroying the Scourers’ source of Obscurus troops and striking Double Serpent Society supporters in France, while England’s forces retreated as enemy reinforcements arrived.
• Shawn escaped Awen’s Serpent Coiling Cross through a Vanishing Cabinet that he had prepared in advance, though the attack destroyed one of the pair.
• Shawn built a cemetery for the fallen wizards, oversaw their burial, compensated their families, and spent three days and nights paying his respects.
• Percy told Shawn the Double Serpent Society had not counterattacked and seemed to be restraining its forces, leading Shawn to conclude they still wanted the Life-and-Death Arena.

Edward prepared to confront Soya while weighing his need to keep the Double Serpent Society’s factions in check. In England, a jubilant celebration filled Hogsmeade, where Harry, Draco, Neville, and Gais toured the city before crowds gathered at the Throne Palace to see Shawn Black.

• Edward ordered Joseph to take a priest’s post in Lotte Town, then decided he could not break with Soya because of Awen and the others.
• England celebrated its victory with purple decorations, free food and drinks, and crowds honoring the Wizarding Army and Wizarding Police.
• Draco led Harry through Hogsmeade while Narcissa and Sirius worried about the boys’ closeness.
• Neville showed his recovered parents around Hogsmeade, while Gais Fontana toured the city with her grandfather.
• Crowds passed the Throne Palace, where Shawn Black stood on a dais as soldiers, officials, war heroes, and bereaved families gathered for the ceremony.

Shawn addressed the celebrants, reminding them that England’s prosperity had been hard-won, then withdrew from public life after the three-day Celebration. He inspected the restored Underground City and discovered a rippling gateway that the familiar unicorn emerged from.

• Shawn watched the Celebration and France’s surrender ceremony proceed courteously, as England had already achieved its strategic goals.
• Shawn gave a brief speech urging the wizards to remember the war and work together to make wizards great again.
• The Celebration lasted three days, and Shawn disappeared afterward, leaving Harry unable to ask the Chief for help treating his godfather.
• Shawn explored the restored Underground City, where repaired magical arrays had revived its infrastructure and illuminated its tunnels.
• Shawn entered the cavern at the city’s heart and saw a rippling archway, from which the familiar Spiral Horn unicorn poked its head.

Shawn entered Helga Hufflepuff’s hidden realm and found her tomb, where a message preserved in her bones recounted the Founders’ later fates and directed him to the Chamber of Secrets. The message ended with Hufflepuff’s wish that he treat all life with kindness.

• Shawn followed a unicorn through an ocher archway into a lush realm filled with wildlife and a herd of unicorns.
• The unicorn led Shawn to a cabin marked with Hufflepuff’s crest, where he found Helga Hufflepuff’s Crystal Coffin and a portrait of her.
• Shawn searched the cabin and found no clues, then took out Slytherin’s Snakewood Wand beside the coffin.
• Ocher light formed a badger, and Helga’s recorded message addressed Shawn as a successor and told him not to speak.
• Helga recalled that Salazar had sought godhood, Rowena had died after plotting against her daughter, and Godric had been killed by his own antics.
• Helga told Shawn to open the Chamber of Secrets and asked him to treat all life with kindness.

Shawn listened to Helga's final message and learned how her efforts to protect Hogwarts and pursue power led her into the war against the Double Serpent Society. After leaving the Secret Realm, he Apparated to the Chamber of Secrets to investigate the key Helga had hidden there.

• Helga stored Salazar Slytherin's records and wand in the Chamber of Secrets, then studied his research to develop her own methods of gathering faith and advancing toward the divine realm.
• As the war worsened, Helga built the Underground City and brought fantastic beasts, including unicorns, to the Forbidden Forest.
• Loki betrayed Odin and his allies, and Odin died; Salazar asked Helga for help against the Double Serpent Society.
• Helga joined the final battle, drove back the Double Serpent Society, and died after sealing Asgard and hiding its key in Slytherin's stone statue.
• Shawn reflected on Helga, Salazar, and Loki, then left the Secret Realm and Apparated to the Chamber of Secrets.

Barty Crouch Sr. inspected the immense arena being built for the coming Legendary Life-and-Death match, while Voldemort secretly assessed whether it could trap a Legendary Wizard. Barty Crouch Jr. returned to Hogwarts in disguise after visiting the site with Voldemort.

• Barty Crouch Sr. inspected the construction of the Quidditch stadium and the arena on the Hebrides, where England and the Double Serpent Society were combining resources.
• Barty Crouch Sr. sensed a resentful gaze, while Voldemort and Barty Crouch Jr. watched the construction site from beyond the Anti-Apparition Jinx.
• Voldemort assessed the arena's strength and ordered Barty Crouch Jr. to return to Hogwarts without compromising the next stage of their plan.
• Barty Crouch Jr. Disapparated to the Forbidden Forest, drank Polyjuice Potion, and changed into a freckled young wizard in Gryffindor uniform.
• Barty Crouch Jr. slipped into the returning Hogwarts crowd and heard students discussing the competition and Shawn's projection screen.

Shawn discovered Slytherin's hidden chamber and claimed the weapons and books left there, then stocked the chamber with a legacy for future generations. By February, Harry and Draco were practicing underwater for the Five-Wizard Tournament's second task, hoping the Chief would attend.

• Shawn used the Snakewood Wand to open the passage inside Slytherin's statue and found a chamber containing two books, a note, a metal wand, and a spear.
• Shawn identified the spear as Odin's Gungnir and the transforming metal wand as Thor's Mjolnir, then took both weapons.
• Shawn learned that Helga Hufflepuff had written the books on gathering faith and reaching the Divine Realm, while the note warned readers to beware Loki's descendants.
• Shawn left copies of his magical research, charms, alchemy instructions, and Galleons in the chamber alongside the original books as a legacy for future generations.
• In February, Harry and Draco surfaced from underwater training in the Black Lake, and Draco reminded Harry that the Chief had promised to attend the second task.
• Harry cast a Warming Charm on Draco, while Draco privately doubted Harry's hopes for the Chief's plans.