Recaps

Shawn kept up the pretense that Tom was present while addressing Lucius’s report about stalled alchemical machine-tool research. On the way back to Hogwarts, Neville defied his grandmother Augusta and chose to follow Shawn, who said he would try to cure Neville’s parents.

• Lucius told Shawn that Borgin and Burkes needed a Potions Master to help their stalled alchemical machine-tool project, and Shawn promised to resolve the problem within a month.
• Shawn returned to the old house and spent the remainder of the holiday studying ancient scripts and practicing spells before September 1 arrived.
• Shawn traveled to King’s Cross with Purple Shadow and entered the crowded platform, where Augusta Longbottom stopped him to discuss Neville.
• Augusta accused Shawn of deceiving Neville and demanded that Neville stay away from him, but Shawn asked Neville whether he wanted to live with purpose.
• Neville stood up to Augusta, declared his faith in Shawn, and said he wanted to follow him; Shawn defended Neville’s right to choose before walking to the train, with Neville following.

Lucius chaired a Death Eater meeting, assigning tasks and managing demands while Voldemort remained in hiding. In the Albanian Forest, Voldemort evaded searching forces as Tom arrived to hunt for him after their connection was severed.

• Lucius reviewed Death Eater plans, including gaining control of the Floo Network and recruiting werewolves and the Greengrass family.
• Fenrir Greyback asked to meet Voldemort, and Borgin and Burkes demanded access to the Potions Master, but Lucius sent them away without granting either request.
• Voldemort possessed a viper in the Albanian Forest and spotted an approaching Auror squad as several groups searched the area.
• Voldemort considered abandoning his hiding place and sought help from his active soul fragment, while remaining wary of it.
• Tom Apparated to the edge of the forest after losing his connection to the main soul, then entered the forest to find Voldemort.

Shawn returned to Hogwarts with his friends, rode a Thestral-drawn carriage to the Castle, and captured Peeves after the poltergeist tried to pelt him with water. He carried Peeves toward the Great Hall, saying he needed him to do something, while Purple Shadow pecked at his hair in protest.

• Shawn boarded the Hogwarts Express with Neville and reunited with his companions, while Theodore's sister Gloria's eagerness to become a Death Eater amused him.
• Hermione, Draco, Harry, and the others shared holiday stories, and Shawn and Harry signed autographs for Ginny at the Twins' request.
• At Hogwarts Station, Shawn and his friends rode in carriages pulled by Thestrals, and Hermione explained that only people who had witnessed death could see them.
• Peeves threw a ball of water at Shawn near the Castle entrance, but Shawn suspended it, transformed it into an electrified cage, and trapped him.
• Shawn carried the protesting Peeves toward the Great Hall and told him he needed him to do something, while he reassured the angry Purple Shadow on his shoulder.

At the start-of-term feast, Shawn tried to reach the Grey Lady and recruited Peeves to help find her in exchange for permission and supplies to prank rule-breaking students. The sorting ceremony placed Luna in Ravenclaw and Ginny in Gryffindor, and Dumbledore introduced Gilderoy Lockhart as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor.

• Shawn followed the ghosts hoping to find the Grey Lady, but the Baron blocked him and she soon drifted away.
• Shawn offered Peeves a communication card and the chance to prank rule-breakers in exchange for help locating the Grey Lady, and Peeves agreed.
• Shawn released Peeves, who flew off excitedly and briefly disrupted the sorting ceremony.
• Luna Lovegood was sorted into Ravenclaw, where Hermione helped her find a place, and Ginny Weasley was sorted into Gryffindor.
• Dumbledore warned students to stay out of the Forbidden Forest and off the Fourth Floor, then introduced Gilderoy Lockhart as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor.

At the start of the school year, Shawn suspected Dumbledore had reopened the fourth-floor challenge to lure someone toward the Philosopher’s Stone, while he made new promises to the Hufflepuffs. He ended the evening learning that Astoria Greengrass had enrolled early because Draco’s father hoped Shawn could cure her blood curse.

• Gilderoy Lockhart gave a humble speech at the feast, and Dumbledore announced that the fourth-floor challenge was open again.
• The Twins turned the school song into a chaotic performance, and Theodore carried away Colin Creevey after he tried to photograph Shawn.
• Cedric asked Shawn when he would deliver the promised basilisk, so Shawn offered the Hufflepuffs Acromantula meat and hot pot instead.
• Shawn returned to the Slytherin Common Room and learned that Astoria Greengrass had been chosen as the first-years’ Invisible Prefect.
• Draco explained that Astoria had enrolled early because his father hoped Shawn would help lift her blood curse.

Daphne and Astoria Greengrass asked Shawn to help cure Astoria’s blood curse, but he refused to act without a worthwhile bargain. Back in his dormitory, Shawn continued his research and weighed how the Greengrass family and Astoria might benefit him, while Draco took Shawn’s dedication to study as a cue to train harder.

• Daphne asked Shawn to help Astoria, but he refused to research a countercurse merely because Astoria was suffering.
• Astoria offered everything she could give without harming her family, but Shawn said it was not enough and left; Alice hinted that Astoria’s family would need to offer something of value.
• Daphne promised Astoria that their father would agree to Shawn’s terms, while Theodore blasted Daphne aside when she tried to stop Shawn.
• Shawn reviewed his knowledge of blood curses and considered using Astoria and Nagini as research subjects while gaining the Greengrass family’s support.
• Shawn ignored Draco’s attempts to speak and kept studying, prompting Draco to take his lackeys to the Charms Training Room to practice.

Lockhart introduced a practical Defense Against Dark Magic curriculum, using a Projection Orb to show students his encounter with Acromantulas. Shawn suspected the violent demonstration was a warning aimed at him and left the lesson more wary of Lockhart.

• Shawn led Draco, Theodore, and the others to Lockhart’s Defense Against Dark Magic classroom, where Lockhart had rearranged and decorated the room.
• Lockhart explained that students would learn through practical lessons and used a Projection Orb to show his past experiences with dark creatures.
• Lockhart’s projection showed Acromantulas feeding on a corpse, making many students retch before Lockhart’s orchid fragrance suppressed their nausea.
• Shawn resisted the fragrance with his magical energy, then cast a Bubble-Head Charm and realized he needed to stay alert around Lockhart.
• Lockhart used the Dancing Charm, the Impediment Jinx, and Petrificus Totalus to defeat the Acromantulas, while Shawn suspected the demonstration was a veiled warning to him.

Lockhart taught the students how to fight Acromantulas with precise footwork and efficient spells, while Shawn grew wary of the professor’s extraordinary skill and unfamiliar methods. Back in the Slytherin Common Room, Shawn found no tracking spells and remained unsure why Lockhart seemed to know so much about him.

• Lockhart explained Acromantulas’ weaknesses and demonstrated how to use footwork and familiar spells to defeat them efficiently.
• Lockhart made students follow the glowing steps under his control, and Shawn judged that the professor might be close to Legendary strength.
• Lockhart assigned the students to find implausible details in Break with a Banshee, and Shawn noticed that the projection sphere used modern runes and was newly made.
• Shawn left for the Slytherin Common Room, ignoring Draco’s invitation to practice flying with Harry, while Theodore and Alice followed him.
• Shawn searched himself and his belongings for tracking spells but found none, then asked Alice and Theodore what they thought of Lockhart.
• Theodore offered to kill Lockhart, but Shawn continued wondering whether the professor was a transmigrator whose guidance toward him was well-intentioned.

Shawn postponed his plan involving the Chamber of Secrets after Lockhart’s popularity and spider-fighting lessons disrupted it, and he let Theodore choose to keep sacrificing his vitality for greater magical power. The next day, Shawn learned that Ravenclaw students were sleeping in the corridor because their Door Knocker had become more demanding, and he began to understand why.

• Shawn asked Theodore whether he wanted his body rejuvenated, but Theodore refused because he wanted to keep growing stronger.
• Theodore demonstrated his powerful Killing Curse, and Shawn accepted his choice before leading him to the acromantula nest.
• Theodore killed acromantulas while Shawn stood guard, then Shawn went deeper into the nest to gather meat and warn Aragog to lie low.
• Shawn returned to Hogwarts with Theodore after butchering around a hundred giant spiders, then found he could not source the Sichuan chili he needed for hot pot.
• Shawn met Hermione at the Great Hall and learned the Ravenclaw Door Knocker had made its questions harder, forcing students to carry bedding in case they had to sleep in the corridor.
• Hermione told Shawn that Ravenclaw students had nearly finished the available mathematics, physics, and chemistry textbooks, and Shawn realized this might explain the Door Knocker’s behavior.

Shawn visited Ravenclaw with Hermione and persuaded the door knocker to stop using deliberately tormenting questions while keeping its year-based challenges. While Hermione went to find Cho Chang, Shawn explored the Common Room and noticed a strange, unseen radiance around Rowena Ravenclaw’s statue.

• Shawn asked Hermione about Cho Chang and invited her to visit Ravenclaw with him.
• Shawn found Ravenclaws camping in the corridor and listened as the door knocker challenged students with questions of varying difficulty.
• Hermione pretended to be ill so Shawn could speak privately with the door knocker, then Shawn convinced it to drop its malicious questions.
• Shawn led Hermione into the Common Room, where Ravenclaws began copying her feigned illness to try to get inside without answering.
• Hermione went to find Cho Chang while Shawn explored the Common Room and noticed an unusual, invisible radiance around Rowena Ravenclaw’s statue.

Shawn asked Cho Chang whether her family could help him obtain authentic Sichuan chilies, then dealt with the Little Badgers’ eagerness for spider meat. After Snape tried to make him practice Quidditch, Lockhart invited Shawn to help with a Defense Against the Dark Arts project, giving Shawn a chance to investigate the professor himself.

• Shawn asked Cho Chang about obtaining Sichuan chilies, and she offered to ask her father for help.
• After Shawn left Ravenclaw Tower, he saw students crying with onions and delivered spider meat to the kitchen for the Little Badgers.
• Shawn headed to the Library, then spent the next few days busy while the Little Badgers enjoyed the spider meat at dinner.
• After Potions, Snape challenged Shawn’s claim that he practiced Quidditch secretly and tried to take him to the pitch.
• Lockhart whispered something to Snape, who left in a hurry, then invited Shawn to assist with a Defense Against the Dark Arts project.
• Shawn accepted Lockhart’s invitation, intending to investigate him personally.

Grindelwald read Shawn’s letter about the Pure-blood Association and ordered Vita to begin guiding him ahead of schedule. Disguised as Lockhart, Vita met Shawn and began probing his family history, leaving her purpose unclear.

• Grindelwald decided Shawn was investigating the Pure-blood Association too impatiently and wrote to Vita, telling her to act ahead of schedule.
• Grindelwald sent the letter with Purple Shadow and warned the bird not to reveal his identity to Shawn.
• Vita, disguised as Lockhart, brought Shawn to her office at Hogwarts.
• Shawn noticed a wooden chest in the office and questioned Lockhart about her work, testing whether she was another transmigrator.
• Lockhart asked Shawn about his Black and Rosier family ties, then asked whether he knew the name Fei Ao Qin.

Shawn confronted the person posing as Lockhart and learned that the visitor was Vinda Rosier, who claimed to be his godmother and to have known his mother. Though Shawn suspected her story was tied to Grindelwald, he chose to play along and ended by asking how she had tracked him and the Acromantulas.

• Shawn drew his wand and demanded that Lockhart explain who he was and why he was investigating Shawn’s mother.
• Vinda Rosier emerged from the bedroom, and Lockhart climbed into a trunk, revealing that he had not been replaced by an impostor.
• Vinda introduced herself as the new head of the Rosier family and claimed she had promised Shawn’s mother to become his godmother.
• Vinda explained that Shawn’s mother had met Regulus at Durmstrang, given birth with Vinda’s help, and returned to Northern Europe after a house-elf stole Shawn.
• Shawn suspected Vinda’s account was a carefully arranged cover story connected to Grindelwald, but decided to keep acting as though he believed her.
• Shawn accepted Vinda’s invitation to call her Professor and asked how she had tracked his movements, especially his encounters with the Acromantulas.

Vita explained how she had tracked Shawn and warned him to guard his hair and other personal traces from magical misuse. After reviewing her investigation and criticism of his growing arrogance and impatience, Shawn reconsidered his conduct and realized he might have pushed Dumbledore too far.

• Vita invited Shawn to tea and told him the drink had no hidden meaning, though he remained wary of her.
• Vita showed Shawn an alchemical Tracking Device and explained that she had used a sample of his hair or blood to locate him.
• Vita warned Shawn about magical threats involving bodily traces and said she would teach him both to wield power and to understand the wizarding world.
• Vita presented her investigation into Shawn’s actions and criticized his poor control, arrogance, impatience, and disregard for life.
• Shawn reflected on his conflicts and past behavior, then grew frightened that he had already crossed Dumbledore’s limits.

Shawn agreed to study under Vita, who explained how she planned to evade Voldemort’s curse on the Defense Against the Dark Arts position. She assigned him music lessons as well as magical training, and Shawn left carrying a seven-string harp while imagining how to turn it into a lightning weapon.

• Shawn thanked Vita for correcting his arrogance, and she scheduled concealed lessons for Tuesdays, Thursdays, and weekends.
• Vita explained that she would evade Voldemort’s curse by monitoring a daily potion and arranging for Lockhart to confess to his crimes when she left Hogwarts.
• Vita suggested that Dumbledore could avoid the curse by assigning an intelligent Fantastic Beast to the Defense Against the Dark Arts post and creating a separate class.
• Vita told Shawn that learning an instrument and music theory would cultivate his refinement and improve his control of charms.
• Shawn chose a Purple Crescent Seven-String Harp and imagined creating a Thunder Harp with Lightning Charms as its strings.

Shawn discovered Goyle’s strong talent for fire spells and began planning to assess and develop the students’ magical abilities. Back in the dormitory, he worried about recruiting Snape to help build the Alchemy Machine Tool, then heard Draco boast that he had beaten Harry in a Golden Snitch contest.

• Shawn found Goyle and Crabbe waiting outside the office and asked them about their spell progress as they walked back to Slytherin.
• Goyle demonstrated a powerful Incendio that engulfed the corridor, and Shawn extinguished it with Finite Incantatem before repairing the damage.
• Shawn coached Goyle on controlling Incendio and asked Alice to gather information about students’ spell skills so he could organize balanced squads.
• Shawn considered how to persuade Snape to help build the Alchemy Machine Tool, then studied the music theory material and public-speaking book Vita had given him.
• Draco returned to the dormitory with a new-model broomstick and told Shawn that he had beaten Harry in a contest to catch the Golden Snitch.

Shawn boosted his flying talent and raced around Hogwarts on Draco’s Nimbus 2001 with Purple Shadow. Suspecting Snape had summoned him for a reason, he flew to the professor’s office after curfew.

• Draco told Shawn that Snape planned to watch his Quidditch practice the next day, prompting Shawn to spend his remaining points raising his flying talent to level 5.
• Shawn borrowed Draco’s Nimbus 2001 and showed off his speed and aerial control in the dormitory, flying alongside Purple Shadow while Draco, Goyle, and Crabbe watched.
• Shawn wondered whether Snape had a private message for him and sped out of the Slytherin common room with Purple Shadow, startling the students there.
• Shawn’s passage knocked Filch down in a corridor, and Filch set off after the unseen flyer with Mrs. Norris.
• Shawn reached Snape’s office and sent Purple Shadow back to sleep after promising to take it to the Quidditch Pitch the next afternoon.

Shawn visited Snape after seeing him leave the previous evening and learned he was brewing an incomplete ancient Resurrection Potion. Shawn persuaded Snape to work with the Pure-blood Association by revealing its search for the Resurrection Stone, then fled after disrupting Snape’s office with broom tricks; the next morning, he resumed supervising Slytherin study.

• Shawn asked Snape about the golden potion, and Snape identified it as an incomplete ancient Resurrection Potion.
• Snape warned Shawn to avoid Lockhart and his territory, then refused Shawn’s offer of work until Shawn mentioned the Pure-blood Association’s search for the Resurrection Stone.
• Snape agreed to contact Lucius and assist the Pure-blood Association, while Shawn implied he might gain access to the Resurrection Stone.
• Shawn demonstrated his broom flying inside Snape’s office, scattered potion ingredients, and escaped before Snape could catch him.
• Snape cleaned the office, burned a vial containing potion residue, and returned to researching the Resurrection Potion.
• The next morning, Shawn appeared on the platform in the Slytherin Common Room to supervise morning study.

Shawn reviewed students’ spell progress and instructed Alice to arrange future team duels, then went to Vita for special tutoring. After playing a piano piece that stirred Shawn’s imagination, Vita gave him a Magic-Limiting Bracelet and said she would teach him Imperial Arts.

• Shawn reviewed the students’ spell results, noted Astoria’s and Ginny’s talents, and asked Alice to organize groups for future team duels.
• Alice told Shawn that Ravenclaw students wanted to buy science equipment, and Shawn said the Board of Governors would fund the school’s purchase while students continued focusing on magic.
• Shawn went to Vita’s office after breakfast and listened as she played an emotionally stirring piano piece.
• Vita gave Shawn a Magic-Limiting Bracelet to help him train his control over magic and spells.
• Vita told Shawn that she would teach him Imperial Arts during the term.

Vita began teaching Shawn the arts of leadership and political control, then advised him on how to make Headmaster Dumbledore less wary of him. The chapter left Shawn with a practical strategy: appear to be the kind of subordinate Dumbledore preferred in public while keeping his private self separate.

• Vita outlined a yearlong curriculum on leadership, power, and political scheming, using the takeover of the Austria Ministry of Magic as a case study.
• Vita taught Shawn to project calm authority, use rhythm and emotion in speeches, and anticipate events as though everyone were pieces on a chessboard.
• Vita gave Shawn a magical picture book to train his gaze and prepared him lunch, which Shawn accepted after noticing her sincere care.
• While reviewing his notes, Shawn recognized that he had relied on instinct to lead and that Vita’s instruction clarified what he still needed to learn.
• Shawn asked how to make Headmaster Dumbledore less wary of him, and Vita advised him to act publicly like the sort of subordinate Dumbledore liked.

Shawn planned to use his efforts to clear Sirius’s name to demonstrate love, while Dumbledore agreed to support Barty Crouch Sr.’s proposal to revive the Fivewizard Tournament ahead of schedule. After encountering Crouch outside the Headmaster’s Office, Shawn went in to speak with Dumbledore.

• Shawn decided to pursue clearing Sirius’s name as a way to show Dumbledore that he cared for his family.
• Barty Crouch Sr. proposed holding the Fivewizard Tournament next year, and Dumbledore agreed to support it.
• Shawn imprisoned Peter Pettigrew in a Fiendfyre birdcage in his private chamber and left him food and water.
• Barty Crouch Sr. told Shawn he had discussed reviving an international tournament with Dumbledore before leaving.
• Shawn inferred that the tournament was being brought forward and climbed the stairs to knock on Dumbledore’s office door.

Shawn explained to Dumbledore that advancing Muggle communications technology would eventually expose the wizarding world, and argued that students needed to learn Muggle science. Dumbledore then pressed him on how he would protect wizardkind and whether his methods were too radical, leaving Shawn poised to answer.

• Dumbledore offered Shawn milk tea secretly laced with a truth serum that bypassed Occlumency, but Shawn’s magical energy neutralized its effects.
• Dumbledore questioned Shawn about making Ravenclaw students study Muggle mathematics, physics, and chemistry.
• Shawn warned that phones, cameras, and connected networks would make the International Statute of Secrecy impossible to maintain, and said students needed to understand Muggle technology.
• Dumbledore recognized the danger Shawn described but remained concerned that Shawn’s upheaval could harm wizardkind before the threat arrived.
• Dumbledore asked how Shawn would respond if the future of wizardkind were his responsibility and whether his approach to the four houses was too radical, and Shawn began an impassioned reply.

Shawn argued that the wizarding world needed reform to survive Muggle technological progress, and Dumbledore agreed to consider his ideas while warning him not to deliberately break the International Statute of Secrecy. Shawn then asked Dumbledore to help clear Sirius’s name and arrange a visit to Azkaban.

• Shawn urged Dumbledore to lead the wizarding world through reforms and develop both magic and technology before Muggles’ communications networks spread.
• Dumbledore asked when Muggle communication devices would become widespread, and Shawn estimated that smartphones would be common within ten to fifteen years.
• Shawn explained that his Muggle magic performances could gradually prepare Muggles to accept extraordinary phenomena, but Dumbledore said he still opposed deliberately using magic in their world.
• Shawn asked Dumbledore to reopen the investigation into Sirius’s imprisonment, arguing that his uncle was not a traitor.
• Phineas objected to Shawn defending Sirius, but Dumbledore silenced him and explained that Sirius had refused his earlier attempt to help.
• Shawn asked Dumbledore to arrange a visit to Azkaban so he could speak to Sirius in person.

Shawn arranged with Dumbledore to visit Sirius at Christmas and revealed what he knew about Voldemort, while Dumbledore privately wrestled with the choice of how to deal with him. Back in his dormitory, Shawn tested his resistance to potions and began to suspect that his system was alive.

• Dumbledore promised to arrange a Christmas visit for Shawn to see Sirius in Azkaban.
• Shawn told Dumbledore that Voldemort had tried to recruit him, that he hoped to find Horcruxes, and that the returned Dark Lord was a Horcrux; Dumbledore apologized for using a potion to question him, and Shawn accepted his apology.
• After Shawn left, Dumbledore reflected on his burden and went to Nurmengard with Fawkes to seek more of the new prophecy.
• Shawn tested Veritaserum and a Hallucinogenic Potion, finding that his Occlumency countered the first while an unexplained purple-black shimmer appeared as the second's effects vanished.
• Shawn wondered whether his system was alive, then changed into Quidditch robes and headed for the pitch.

Harry watched Draco’s Quidditch training while Shawn joined the Slytherin team and began testing the Beaters. Shawn left Draco with a chance to keep the Seeker position and ended by sending a Bludger toward teammate Aymock during practice.

• Harry ate the lunch Draco had brought while watching him train, and Shawn invited Harry to spend Christmas at his house.
• Draco told Shawn that Purple Shadow had flown off to the Forbidden Forest, and Shawn said Draco would keep his Seeker spot if he performed well in two inter-house matches.
• Shawn gathered the Slytherin players, explained his focus on teamwork and tactics, and ordered Marcus and Terra to hit Bludgers toward him.
• Shawn used his heightened senses and flying skill to strike Marcus’s Bludger toward Aymock as Aymock carried the Quaffle.