Recaps

Brian followed a herd of Unicorns through a forest filled with Fantastic Beasts, while his compass transformed into a tiny owl. He reached a widening path and encountered a melancholy man in a magical painting, whose words were answered by the compass owl.

• Brian checked his robe, accepted a scrap of sleeve from the little Unicorn, and watched his compass become a white owl that only hooted.
• Brian discovered a river flowing through the sky and saw Golden Snidgets take flight from a tree.
• Brian continued through the forest, spotting strange creatures and greeting three Bowtruckles along the path.
• Brian reached a widening path and met a melancholy man inside a magical painting.
• The compass owl spoke in a deep voice, saying, “Yes, it's been a long time.”

Brian spoke with a nameless portrait guarding a doorway after his compass transformed into an owl and flew into a painting within the portrait. The portrait let Brian pass after he answered a riddle, then revealed a face identical to his.

• Brian discovered that the compass owl could speak, but the portrait said they did not know each other.
• The owl lunged for the portrait's golden apple and vanished through an opening inside the painting.
• Brian questioned the portrait, who admitted he knew nothing about the doorway or the place but had invented his greeting to sound mysterious.
• The portrait said Brian could pass if he answered a question and showed him a glowing sheet bearing the name Brian.
• Brian answered the riddle, and the portrait's face became clear, revealing that it looked exactly like Brian.

Brian returned through the enchanted painting to his Hogwarts room, where his Book and Compass Owl fought over the Alchemical Snake. The next morning, the owl brought Book a warm Food Stone, giving Brian what he needed to learn the Ancient Magic for breaking the seal.

• Brian questioned portrait Brian about his identity, then stepped through the enchanted painting and was sent back to his room.
• Brian returned to normal size as he emerged from Book's open trunk, then stopped the Compass Owl from attacking the Alchemical Snake.
• Brian told the Compass Owl to get along with the snake, but it rejected the food he offered.
• Brian woke the next morning to find the Compass Owl holding a warm Food Stone, which could help him learn the Ancient Magic for breaking the seal.
• Brian thanked the owl, closed the window, and asked where it had found the stone.

Brian’s Compass Owl mistook a student’s toad for prey, leading him to Neville and the discovery that Neville had misplaced the Gryffindor passwords. After returning the toad to its owner and reporting another toad to its teacher, Brian was invited to visit Professor Flitwick’s ensemble.

• Brian found Compass Owl holding a toad and rescued it, then encountered Neville being tormented by Peeves while searching for something.
• Brian scared Peeves away by claiming the Bloody Baron was coming and helped Neville practice a fiercer expression.
• Brian returned the toad to Neville, who explained it was not Trevor and that he had lost a note containing the Gryffindor passwords.
• Harry arrived with Neville’s friends, said they had found the passwords in Trevor’s mouth, and hurried Neville back before curfew.
• Brian took the unidentified toad to Professor McGonagall, who identified it as a member of Professor Flitwick’s ensemble.
• Brian apologized to Professor Flitwick for Compass Owl carrying off the toad, and Flitwick invited him to visit the ensemble.

Brian demonstrated Muggle drumming to Professor Flitwick and the students, then recognized a Hufflepuff student's missing wand as the one Compass Owl had found. After learning about the wizarding band Mischievous Goblin, Brian woke the next morning to Compass Owl bringing home another living creature.

• Brian played the drums for the Ravenclaw students and impressed them and Professor Flitwick.
• Brian recognized the Hufflepuff student's description of his missing wand as matching the wand Compass Owl had brought home.
• Brian told the student the wand was at Hogwarts lost and found, and Professor Flitwick let him go collect it.
• Professor Flitwick gave Brian a record by Mischievous Goblin, and Brian listened to it in the bath.
• Professor Flitwick told Brian that Mischievous Goblin had broken up after lead singer Stubby Boardman went deaf from a turnip hitting his ear.
• The next morning, Compass Owl returned with another living creature, whose squeaking nearly deafened Brian.

Brian brought Ron Weasley’s runaway rat, Scabbers, back to Hogwarts and discovered Ron was in the Hospital Wing after eating hallucinogenic mushrooms with Fred and George Weasley. The three redheads were strapped to their beds and convinced they were potatoes, while Madam Pomfrey treated them.

• Brian caught Scabbers, warned the Compass Owl not to bring back any more rats, and set out to return the rat to Ron.
• Professor McGonagall told Brian that Ron was being treated in the Hospital Wing after eating something he shouldn’t have, and gave him a birdcage for the owl.
• Brian asked Professor McGonagall whether an Animagus could speak human language while transformed, and she said there was no known case of one doing so.
• Madam Pomfrey refused Brian’s request to visit Ron but let him see Ron, Fred, and George strapped to their beds and shouting that they were potatoes.
• Madam Pomfrey explained that the Weasley brothers had eaten hallucinogenic mushrooms in sweets invented by the twins, and she poured a potion over their hair to treat them.

Brian learned how Fred and George had turned Percy, Ron, and themselves into potatoes with a new sweet, then met Sybill Trelawney at a Hogwarts dinner celebrating magic’s return. Trelawney gave Brian an ominous but vague prediction, while Snape remained unable to use magic and absent from the feast.

• Percy told Brian that Fred and George had tricked him, Ron, and themselves into believing they were potatoes, forcing Percy to take them to the Hospital Wing.
• Penelope Clearwater flirted with Percy in the library, and Brian noticed Madam Pince listening with interest.
• Hogwarts staff and students attended a lavish dinner, where Brian met Sybill Trelawney and heard students debate her skill as a Seer.
• Trelawney predicted that Brian would witness the passing of life, but Professor McGonagall interrupted her and reassured Brian.
• McGonagall explained that the dinner celebrated the return of magic, and Brian thought of Snape, who still could not use magic.

Brian learned the Ancient Magic spell Erasure from Book and discovered a ritual that could help him contact an Ancient Magic House-elf. After realizing his Muggle friends’ letters could not reach Hogwarts, he decided to go home for Christmas.

• Brian woke with knowledge of Erasure and used the spell to make peppermints vanish.
• Brian learned that Erasure could affect magic, thoughts, emotions, and even memories, and realized he could remove the seals he had placed on Snape and the stone snake.
• Book showed Brian notes for a forty-nine-step ritual that could let someone sense and speak with an Ancient Magic House-elf.
• Brian considered returning to the Muggle world and realized he had not received replies from his friends because their letters could not reach Hogwarts.
• Professor Burbage told Brian that his friends’ letters were likely waiting in his mailbox, so Brian decided to go home for Christmas.
• Professor Burbage asked whether Brian would still keep his promise to model clown makeup for her class.

Snape surprised the Gryffindors by taking no House points during Potions, prompting Harry, Ron, and Hermione to fear he had found a way past Hagrid’s three-headed dog. Brian knew Snape’s improved mood came from Brian removing the seal on him, then prepared to model for Professor Burbage’s Muggle Studies class.

• Hermione warned Ron to stay calm in Potions, while Harry and Ron agreed Harry should not challenge Snape.
• Snape mocked Ron about potatoes, but instead of deducting points he made Gryffindor choose potion ingredients last.
• Harry, Ron, and Hermione wondered in the library whether Snape’s good mood meant he had found a way past Hagrid’s dog.
• Brian revealed that he had removed Snape’s seal the previous night, and Snape had been forced to finish his mushroom soup after Professor Sprout stopped him leaving the Great Hall.
• Hermione rushed off with Harry and Ron to warn Hagrid, while Brian soothed Madam Pince and left to model for Professor Burbage’s class.

Brian visited Professor Burbage’s office and learned about her connections to his Muggle school and her books on Muggle life. Their conversation ended when a supposedly spent Portkey boot exploded, leaving Brian outside the Hospital Wing.

• Brian found that Professor Burbage’s office reminded him of his Muggle school, and he discovered that she corresponded with his former teacher, Mr. Phelan.
• Professor Burbage told Brian that she wrote popular books under the names Traveling Muggle and Can't Do Magic.
• Professor Burbage showed Brian discarded objects that had once served as Portkeys for students traveling to Hogwarts.
• Brian noticed that a boot Portkey was still glowing and warned Professor Burbage to put it down, but it exploded when she looked inside it.
• Brian stood outside the Hospital Wing and reflected on the Portkey’s explosion.

Brian filled in for Professor Burbage and taught the students about coordinating Muggle clothes. He explained that clothing should suit the occasion and profession, and the lesson ended with him comparing an appropriate outfit to a suitable wand.

• Fred and George tried to persuade Angelina to skip Snape’s Potions class, but George changed the subject when she nearly hit Fred.
• Brian arrived in Professor Burbage’s place, wearing a suit and carrying a box of Muggle objects, and asked the class what his outfit was for.
• A Ravenclaw boy and a Hufflepuff girl answered Brian’s questions and earned points for their Houses.
• Angelina asked why Muggles had so many kinds of clothes, and Brian demonstrated how inappropriate clothing could look by conjuring a pink dress onto himself.
• Brian told the students that clothes were an important tool for Muggles and that people should dress appropriately for their profession and occasion.

Brian taught Hogwarts students how Muggles used tools and suitable clothing, guiding them through dressing people for a fishing trip. The students began drawing outfits and choosing unfamiliar objects to identify, with Angelina Johnson trading a useless coin box for a worn calculator.

• Brian showed the class a fishing rod, explained how Muggles used it to catch fish, and asked what a fisherman should wear.
• Angelina Johnson suggested protective fishing clothes, and Brian led the students in drawing warm outfits that would keep insects away.
• Angelina showed Brian her outfit, added a bucket hat and shoulder bag, then chose a brass coin box from the object box.
• Brian explained that the coin box was a broken Muggle magic prop, disappointing Angelina, who had hoped it was an elegant accessory.
• Fred and George offered Angelina sweets for the coin box, but she chose a worn calculator instead, and Brian called it an external brain for some Muggles.

Brian’s Muggle Studies lesson descended into comic misunderstandings before he corrected the students and took a commemorative photograph with them. That night, after the photograph made him famous as Brian in the pink dress, he began glowing with Ancient Magic.

• Fred and George told Sika Brown that a coin box let magical Muggles cheat shop assistants, while Angelina threatened them for spreading nonsense.
• Brian corrected the students’ mistaken drawings and explained what the Muggle objects were actually used for.
• A student from a Muggle family asked about a dental mirror, and Brian awarded Gryffindor two points for the question.
• Brian transformed the students’ robes into work clothes for a group photograph, while Fred, George, and Angelina tried to persuade him to wear a dress.
• Professor Burbage asked Brian for a copy of the photograph, which left him famous among students as Brian in the pink dress.
• Unable to sleep, Brian noticed his body glowing with the light of Ancient Magic.

Unable to sleep after briefly glowing and sensing that he could communicate with the lights of Ancient Magic, Brian visited the Room of Requirement to question his portrait. The portrait appeared at last, and Brian asked whether the experience was connected to something he regretted.

• Brian stopped glowing, changed into warm robes, and went to the Room of Requirement to find his portrait.
• On the seventh-floor landing, Brian caught Fred, George, and Lee Jordan sneaking out and assigned them detention for breaking their promise.
• Brian entered the magical-creature forest and found the golden foal, but hurried on to look for his portrait.
• Brian woke the sleeping portrait and asked why he had been able to communicate with the lights of Ancient Magic.
• The portrait reacted eagerly and asked Brian whether he had encountered something he regretted.

Brian visited Honeydukes and Zonko’s Joke Shop to find something that would make him feel regret, hoping to communicate with the Ancient Magic House-elves. He left Honeydukes with sweets and arrived at Zonko’s as two black-robed customers offered Mr. Zonko a nose-changing sweet.

• Brian asked Mrs. Flume for sweets that caused regret, then bought Fighting Marshmallows, Bullet Popping Candy, and Chocolate Frogs.
• Brian recalled the portrait’s explanation that regret could let him communicate with Ancient Magic House-elves, and learned that the ritual worked by making its participant regret the effort spent on it.
• Brian failed to recover his regret after accepting the students’ teasing about his pink skirt, so he went to Hogsmeade seeking outside help.
• Brian entered Zonko’s Joke Shop and saw two black-robed figures offer Mr. Zonko a sweet that gave someone a potato nose.

Brian caught Fred and George Weasley sneaking into Hogsmeade and agreed to keep their secret in exchange for learning the route through the passage beneath Honeydukes. As they walked through the tunnel, Brian asked the twins about their regret-inducing sweets, which he needed for his research into ancient magic.

• Brian recognized Fred and George Weasley in Zonko's shop, and Mr. Zonko vouched for their visit and their joke merchandise.
• Brian agreed not to report the twins if they told him where the secret passage was and notified him before future trips to Hogsmeade.
• Fred and George gave Brian sweets that made people feel regret, and Mr. Zonko gave him a Nose-Biting Teacup.
• Brian and the twins entered the damp underground passage beneath Honeydukes while the shop's owners were distracted.
• Fred and George explained that their regret-inducing sweets had begun as an attempt to make a sweet that stopped people from feeling regret, but their experiments had not worked as intended.

Brian followed Fred and George into their Room of Requirement workshop, where they showed him their joke inventions and the Regret Candy he had come to buy. After struggling to catch the escaped candy bees, Brian trapped them in a water-shaped hive and prepared to try one.

• Brian and the twins exited the Honeydukes passage through the One-Eyed Witch Statue and went to the Room of Requirement.
• Fred and George invited Brian into their workshop, where they demonstrated a Bubble Canary and a Word-Forgetting Quill and gave him a commemorative certificate.
• The twins revealed that their Regret Candy consisted of tiny golden candy bees that had escaped from their jar.
• Brian tried several methods to catch the candy bees, then lured them into a hive-shaped ball of water and trapped them in the jar.
• Fred urged Brian to try a candy bee, promising it would remind him of the greatest regret of his life.

Brian ate the Weasley twins’ Fanged Fruit and experienced strange memories of himself in a medieval witch-hunt and flying on a broom, then paid them to make stronger sweets. He returned to the empty portrait, ready to test whether it could withstand fire, and the golden-apple hand appeared again.

• Brian ate a Fanged Fruit and saw a memory of himself and a witch named Minnie being burned at the stake, only for them to reveal that the witch-hunt had been staged.
• Brian ate more Fanged Fruit and saw himself and Minnie use magic to clear the villagers’ memories after the staged burning.
• Brian ate the remaining sweets and saw a brief memory of himself flying freely on a broomstick through thick fog.
• Brian paid Fred and George fifty Galleons to make more potent Fanged Fruit, and they gave him a gold top hat that the little unicorn wanted.
• Brian conjured a ball of fire before the empty portrait, and a hand holding a golden apple appeared in it.

Brian received a Golden Apple from his portrait and later shared it between the Compass Owl and the Book, triggering transformations and revealing an ancient ritual. The Compass Owl became a flying broomstick, while Brian studied the ritual that could give nonliving things independent consciousness.

• Brian’s portrait gave him a Golden Apple and asked for a mirror as a Christmas present; Brian conjured one and learned the portrait had several homes connected by the Floo Network.
• Brian fed golden apples to the unicorn foal and carried fresh apples to the unicorn herd, which returned pears using magic.
• Back in his room, Brian’s Book and Compass Owl competed for the Golden Apple, and the apple split its golden light evenly between them when Brian offered to divide it.
• The Compass Owl transformed into a long, silver-white flying broomstick, and Brian formed a powerful connection with it.
• The Book revealed an ancient ritual for giving nonliving things simple consciousness by using erasure magic to make them forget what they were.

Brian cared for his three magical children while Hogwarts saw winter mishaps and rumors about Quirrell. The chapter ended with Brian introducing the stone soldier, wooden tree, and sapphire dragon to Hagrid, whose attention fixed on the little dragon.

• Brian declined Madam Hooch’s attempt to recruit him for professional Quidditch, claiming he had three young children to raise alone.
• Students went winter fishing on the Black Lake, caught colds, and suffered Madam Pomfrey’s bitter Pepperup Potion; Brian won a staff game of spotting them.
• Brian questioned Quirrell about the jar of potion he carried, while Quirrell called it a homemade nutritional potion.
• Brian noticed that Hagrid and Professor Kettleburn had been acting furtively and went to Hagrid’s Hut with his three children.
• Brian introduced Hagrid to the stone soldier, wooden tree, and sapphire dragon, and Hagrid stared in fascination at the dragon.

Brian obtained a young unicorn’s shed horn and used its blood to animate three objects that had dreams: a stone soldier, a little tree, and a sapphire dragon. At Hagrid’s Hut, the dragon reacted to something beneath Hagrid’s bed, and Hagrid concluded that it had sensed Norbert’s egg.

• Brian watched the young unicorn shed its horn, saw its blood make nearby plants rapidly grow and wither, and accepted the horn when the unicorn gave it to him.
• Brian’s ritual failed on most objects, but it animated a stone into Stone Soldier, a piece of wood into Little Wooden Tree, and a sapphire into Little Sapphire Dragon.
• Brian learned that the three objects had come alive because each had dreamed of becoming something more, and he discovered he could sense their thoughts through touch.
• At Hagrid’s Hut, Brian explained the little creatures’ origins, while Hagrid admired Little Sapphire Dragon and asked what kind of dragon it was.
• Little Sapphire Dragon repeatedly roared silently at the boards beneath Hagrid’s bed, and Hagrid said it had sensed Norbert before he hatched.

Brian discovered Hagrid’s hidden basement, where Hagrid and Professor Kettleburn were raising Norbert, and learned that Hagrid planned to send the dragon to the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary. The chapter ended when Ron arrived with news from his brother and realized that Brian, Hagrid, and Kettleburn were there, while Harry and Hermione waited above.

• Brian entered Hagrid’s magically expanded basement and found the restless dragon egg, Norbert, alongside supplies for raising a dragon.
• Brian warned Hagrid that Hogwarts was no place for Norbert, and Hagrid explained that he wanted to send him to the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary rather than the Welsh one.
• Hagrid revealed that Ron, Harry, and Hermione knew about Norbert, and Professor Silvanus Kettleburn arrived and confirmed that he knew Charlie Weasley at the Romanian sanctuary.
• Ron came down with Charlie’s reply that the sanctuary would take Norbert when he was two months old, then froze upon seeing Brian, Hagrid, and Kettleburn while Harry and Hermione waited above.

Brian and Professor Kettleburn reassured Hagrid after Hermione revealed that Norbert would be sent to the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary, then Brian helped Hermione understand that her blunt honesty came from courage. The chapter ended with Hermione facing Harry and Ron after nearly crying, while Brian wished her sweet dreams.

• Hagrid brought Ron downstairs, and Harry and Hermione joined them after Ron announced that Norbert had hatched into a mutated dragon.
• Brian introduced the Little Sapphire Dragon, the miniature Whomping Willow, and the Stone Soldier to the children, while Hermione asked about the dragon’s origins.
• Hermione explained that Norbert would be sent to the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary in two months, upsetting Hagrid until Brian and Professor Kettleburn reassured him with a story about Norbert’s exceptional abilities.
• Brian escorted Harry, Ron, and Hermione back to Hogwarts, and Harry and Ron tried to comfort Hermione as she blamed herself for upsetting Hagrid.
• Brian spoke with Hermione about Gryffindor courage, telling her that her willingness to state difficult truths was courageous and that she could learn when to use it.
• Brian turned Hermione toward Harry and Ron, who had come looking for her, and wished her sweet dreams.

Brian sought the professors’ advice after repeatedly failing to produce a corporeal Patronus, and Professor McGonagall suggested he stop imposing expectations on the spell and try a more substantial target. The group went to the Black Lake to test her theory, borrowing a Grindylow from Professor Quirrell, who declined to join them.

• Brian discussed his Patronus practice with Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout, and Burbage in the staffroom.
• Professor McGonagall suggested that Brian might be forcing his Patronus into a particular form or lacking confidence, and advised him to let it emerge naturally.
• Brian thanked the professors and asked to demonstrate the spell; McGonagall proposed that the Training Dummy might be too insubstantial to provide a suitable target.
• The professors and Brian headed for the Black Lake, taking Victoria sponge cake and an extra portion for Professor Quirrell.
• Professor Quirrell brought them a Grindylow in a jar and declined Brian’s invitation to join them, claiming he had a lesson.

Brian practiced the Patronus Charm by the Black Lake and produced a gigantic silver Giant Squid, which drew the lake’s own squid out of the water. The professors returned to Hogwarts, where Brian noticed the snowman had concealed a stone pillar, renewing concern that someone inside the school was plotting against Harry.

• Brian and several professors went to the Black Lake, where he practiced the Patronus Charm on a Grindylow.
• Brian’s Patronus grew into a vast silver lake that took the form of a Giant Squid, and Hogwarts’ Giant Squid broke through the ice to reach it.
• The real Giant Squid threw ice and ink across the lakeshore before diving back into the lake with Brian’s former car, and Brian’s colleagues advised him not to cast there again.
• The professors discussed Brian’s new title, “Brian the Invincible,” and Professor McGonagall explained that a Patronus could be kept invisible while delivering a message.
• At the courtyard, Professor McGonagall buried a parsnip that insulted Slytherins, and Brian reflected on the inherited hostility between Gryffindor and Slytherin.
• Brian melted the snowman covering a stone pillar, and Professor McGonagall vowed to find who had built it as Brian remembered that someone at Hogwarts intended to harm Harry.