Recaps

Brian discovered that Lucius Malfoy abused Dobby for wanting freedom and decided to free him. After Dobby confirmed his wish, Brian stunned him and Lucius, then carried them to a hidden corner of Knockturn Alley to begin acting on his decision.

• Brian healed some of Dobby’s injuries and confronted Lucius Malfoy when he demanded that Dobby punish himself.
• Lucius explained that Dobby was punished because he longed for freedom, and Brian recalled Draco Malfoy describing cruel games he had played on their house-elf.
• Brian asked Dobby if he wanted freedom, and Dobby admitted that he did despite Lucius forcing him to call himself a disgusting slave.
• Brian stunned Dobby, used magic to disable Lucius, and carried both of them to a screened-off corner of Knockturn Alley.
• Brian reflected that he had acted impulsively and decided to grant Dobby’s wish for freedom.

Brian staged Lucius Malfoy’s apparent dismissal of Dobby and used a nightmare to push Dobby toward claiming his freedom. Dobby woke to find Lucius posed with a glove, but a parchment covered his face before he could react.

• Brian revived Lucius, wrote a dismissal message, and arranged him on a haystack with a glove in his hand.
• Brian explained that a house-elf could end a contract by believing a wizard intended to dismiss them, and that the plan came from a house-elf’s nightmare.
• Brian woke Dobby, who dreamed that Lucius tortured him and insisted he was a slave even after death.
• Dobby resisted Lucius in the dream and used offensive magic before waking beside the posed Lucius.
• Dobby feared he had harmed Lucius in reality, then the parchment fluttered onto his face.

Brian helped Dobby escape Lucius Malfoy’s control, then asked the newly freed House-elf to buy two Dragon Eggs from Borgin and Burke. Dobby went to the shop, where Bok mistook the purchase for a warning from Lucius and decided to give the eggs away.

• Dobby freed himself with Brian’s glove and struck Lucius with powerful magic, while Brian shielded Lucius and treated his injuries.
• Brian erased Lucius’s memory of the incident, altered his appearance, and buried Lucius in a haystack before Dobby returned.
• Dobby realized Brian had helped him and asked how he could repay him, so Brian asked him to keep the incident secret and buy two Dragon Eggs.
• Brian gave Dobby money and explained which breeds and sizes to purchase; Dobby promised to use the shop’s mistaken impression that he still served the Malfoys.
• Bok saw Dobby arrive to buy the eggs and, believing Lucius was warning him about failing to report the kidnapping, decided to give the Dragon Eggs to Dobby without charge.

Brian received dark magical objects and a letter linking Lucius Malfoy with Borgin and Bok, then explained to Dobby how the letter could serve as evidence against them. At the Ministry, Arthur Weasley announced that the letter might give his department a chance to search a powerful pure-blood family.

• Dobby returned with two dragon eggs, a bag of dark magical objects, and a letter from Bok describing gifts to the Malfoy family; Brian recognized the items and letter as evidence against Lucius Malfoy and the brothers Borgin and Bok.
• Brian told Dobby that the letter could help punish Lucius Malfoy, and Dobby grew hopeful as Brian prepared to inform Arthur Weasley.
• Fred and George persuaded the dejected Lee Jordan to join them by the Black Lake, where Angelina was trying to speak with the merpeople.
• Hermione tried to get Harry to speak to Cho Chang, while Ron worried about his Herbology exam and argued with Hermione about romance.
• Arthur Weasley presented his colleagues with a letter and declared that it gave them a chance to search a powerful pure-blood family.

Draco Malfoy offered to fund Nimbus 2001 brooms for the Slytherin Quidditch Team in exchange for joining as Seeker and securing Terence Higgs’s departure. Marcus Flint accepted the arrangement, but Professor Snape summoned Draco and hinted that his parents were dealing with something more serious.

• Draco Malfoy visited Marcus Flint in the Slytherin Common Room and offered to join the team as Seeker.
• Draco argued that Slytherin had lost to Gryffindor because of the Seekers’ abilities and the team’s inferior broomsticks.
• Draco offered to buy Nimbus 2001 brooms for the entire team, and Marcus agreed to explain the arrangement to Terence Higgs.
• Professor Snape interrupted them, told Draco to come outside, and said Draco’s parents were probably not in any mood to think about Quidditch.

Snape told Draco Malfoy that Lucius had been arrested, and escorted him home at Narcissa’s request. Meanwhile, Brian received Arthur Weasley’s account of the arrest and helped Dobby interview for a paid position at Hogwarts, where Dumbledore offered him up to two hundred Galleons a month.

• Snape told Draco that Lucius had been arrested by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and instructed him to pack so they could go home.
• Brian received Arthur Weasley’s letter describing the joint operation against Lucius and the likely fine, and made copies for Dumbledore and Dobby.
• Dobby celebrated Lucius’s impending punishment, while Brian explained that Hogwarts was hiring House-elves and that Dobby could apply.
• Dumbledore offered Dobby one hundred and eighty Galleons a month, then raised the offer to two hundred when Dobby stared in shock.
• Brian removed Dobby’s hats and checked on him after white smoke rose from his head, and Dobby said the offer had frightened him.

Dobby secured a job in Hogwarts’s House-elf Department and celebrated his new freedom with Brian and Dumbledore. Brian then encountered Harry, Ron, and Hermione with Dobby, while Draco Malfoy angrily demanded to know why Dobby was there.

• Dobby accepted a Hogwarts House-elf Department job paying sixty Galleons a month and learned he could open an account at Gringotts.
• Dumbledore served Brian and Dobby phoenix cocktails, and Dobby became tipsy while discussing his plans to save worn-out socks.
• Brian sobered Dobby and offered to show him Hogwarts, and Dobby said he hoped to see Harry Potter.
• Harry, Ron, and Hermione met Brian and Dobby in the entrance hall after passing Snape and Draco Malfoy.
• Hermione, Harry, and Ron greeted Brian and met Dobby, who stared at Harry, before Draco shouted at Dobby from a distance.

Draco Malfoy insulted Hermione, and Dobby defended her before refusing Snape’s attempt to take him to the Malfoy Manor. Snape attacked Dobby after Dobby called him a Death Eater, but Brian stopped the spell, and Dumbledore assured the students that Snape was not a Death Eater.

• Draco Malfoy called Hermione a Mudblood, and Harry and Ron drew their wands to demand an apology.
• Dobby blasted Draco backward and declared that he was a free elf who would not return to the Malfoy family.
• Brian and Snape argued over the incident, and Brian deducted ten points from Gryffindor and ten from Slytherin.
• Dobby called Snape a Death Eater, and Snape fired a spell at him before Brian caught and crushed it.
• Snape hurried away with Draco, while Brian took Dobby to his office and the students began questioning Dobby about Snape.
• Dumbledore appeared and assured the students that Snape stood on the side of justice and was not a Death Eater.

Brian learned that Dumbledore wanted Harry, Ron, and Hermione to help with research into wishes, then prepared to leave for the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary with Hagrid and Professor Kettleburn. The chapter ended with Brian finding two Hagrids in the hut’s basement, as one tore the other’s head off.

• Dumbledore teased Harry, Ron, and Hermione about wanting to learn Snape’s past, then urged them to judge matters for themselves; he also welcomed Dobby to work at Hogwarts.
• Dumbledore told Brian he wanted Harry, Ron, and Hermione to help with a research project about wishes and Dementors.
• Brian saw Dobby off and brought his packed suitcase to Hagrid’s Hut before the planned trip to the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary.
• Brian recalled that Alchemical Snake had been buried in a greenhouse pot to recharge until spring, with a magical time capsule buried beside it.
• Brian opened the basement door and saw one of two Hagrids savagely pull the other Hagrid’s head off.

Brian and Hagrid prepared to visit the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary, but Professor Kettleburn revealed that his Chimera’s unusual attraction to a nanny goat would keep him from joining them. He explained how Brian could still locate the sanctuary and gave him a special ring, leaving the trip possible without Kettleburn as their guide.

• Hagrid showed Brian a collapsible Teething Stick made to resemble himself and planned to give it to Norberta.
• Brian told Hagrid that Professor Kettleburn had been missing for days, and they went upstairs when they heard him return.
• Professor Kettleburn said he could not accompany them because his Chimera had gone into heat over a nanny goat.
• Brian asked how he and Hagrid could find the Unplottable Romanian Dragon Sanctuary without Kettleburn.
• Professor Kettleburn joked about Dragon Dung Perfume, then gave Brian a gold ring that would help him find the sanctuary.

Brian and Hagrid arrived at the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary and discovered that a Gold Ring revealed a forest hidden by an illusion, along with a Common Welsh Green dragon. The dragon carried Targaryen, who had just won a bet by getting the unruly Pudding to cooperate through her mysterious method of “sincerity.”

• Brian and Hagrid traveled by Floo to the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary and waited on a mountain summit.
• Brian found that wearing his Gold Ring made the forest disappear, while taking it off brought the forest back; touching Hagrid shared the same vision.
• A Common Welsh Green emerged from the hidden landscape, and Hagrid spotted Targaryen riding on its back.
• Targaryen told Charlie Weasley she had won their bet by getting Pudding to behave within a week, then explained she had done it with sincerity.
• Charlie asked Targaryen what she meant by sincerity, since Pudding still glared at him and bit him when he approached.

Targaryen and Charlie responded to a distress signal from Brian and Hagrid, who had encountered Inspector, an adult Norwegian Ridgeback. After Inspector fled from Targaryen, Brian brought out the dragon eggs and money pouch he had brought for her.

• Targaryen received a distress signal from Brian and Hagrid at the mountain where a dragon had swallowed Seka Gale, and flew there on Pudding while Charlie prepared the rescue broomstick.
• Inspector confronted Brian and Hagrid, but Hagrid recognized Norberta's scent on her and tried to approach her.
• Targaryen arrived with a Common Welsh Green, and Inspector fled with Brian's transfigured blanket after recognizing her.
• Targaryen explained that she had cursed Inspector to make meat taste like dragon dung, then Brian opened his suitcase and floated out two dragon eggs and a money pouch.

Brian returned the stolen dragon eggs and money to Targaryen and Charlie Weasley, then traveled with them and Hagrid to find Norberta. The group reached the edge of another dragon’s territory, where Brian discovered that he could hear Targaryen’s unusual dragon-like vocalizations.

• Brian returned the two dragon eggs and the money pouch, and Targaryen and Charlie Weasley thanked him with enthusiastic hugs.
• Hagrid learned that Brian had been carrying dragon eggs, and Targaryen told them where Norberta had recently been seen.
• Brian, Hagrid, Targaryen, and Charlie traveled on Pudding and a rescue broomstick toward the area near Norberta’s reported location.
• Charlie explained the sanctuary’s dragon habitats and its rules about researchers riding dragons.
• Targaryen brought Pudding down near Kate’s territory, and Brian asked about the growl she had made.
• Brian imitated Targaryen’s dragon-like sounds with a duck’s quack, amusing Pudding.

Brian discovered he had a talent for Dragon Language while Targaryen explained how she communicated with Pudding. When the furious Welsh Green Carter approached after smelling her stolen eggs, Targaryen and Pudding prepared to distract her while Brian tried to calm her with a spell.

• Brian imitated Dragon Language, and Targaryen scolded Pudding before explaining that a few dragon words could convey a long conversation.
• Targaryen told Brian about her family’s dragon-taming history and encouraged him to learn Dragon Language, while Brian spotted Carter flying toward them.
• Charlie recognized Carter and realized she had smelled the Dragon Eggs, and Targaryen warned that the enraged mother might attack them or even harm her own children.
• Targaryen took the Dragon Eggs and planned to draw Carter away with Pudding while Charlie carried Hagrid and Brian to safety.
• Brian drew his wand and prepared to try a spell to calm Carter as the Welsh Green closed in.

Brian saved Carter's egg from her rampage and traveled with Targaryen, Charlie, and Hagrid toward the Underwater Passage to return another egg to its mother. Along the way, Targaryen considered recruiting Brian for the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary, while Brian accidentally ate a real tadpole.

• Brian placed Carter's egg on her tongue, calming the Welsh Green and allowing her to return to her territory with her child.
• Targaryen praised Brian's magic and considered recruiting him for the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary; Brian reflected on ancient magic and mentioned that Hogwarts was seeking a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
• Targaryen asked about Hogwarts pay, then led the group toward the Underwater Passage to return the remaining egg to Phoebe, a Romanian Longhorn.
• Targaryen offered the group fruit tadpoles, and Brian ate three before discovering that one contained a real tadpole; Charlie and Hagrid reacted differently to the experience.
• Brian complained about Hagrid's unusual food and recalled that Hagrid had collected plimpies the merpeople discarded after tying knots in their legs.

Brian, Targaryen, Charlie, and Hagrid traveled through an underground tunnel to an underwater observation station to return a dragon egg to Phoebe and later find Katherine and Norberta. As they reached the water, a Romanian Longhorn appeared and speared several plimpies with its horns.

• Targaryen led the group through a magically elastic tree entrance, where Hagrid got stuck before he and Charlie fell safely into the tunnel below.
• Brian and Targaryen were flung into the air by the rebounding tree trunk, and Brian slowed their fall with a spell.
• The group rode a transport cart through the tunnel and sang the Hogwarts School Song before Targaryen explained their plan to leave the egg near Phoebe's territory.
• Brian saw plimpies fighting beneath the transparent ceiling, and Targaryen silenced him when a shadow darkened the water.
• A Romanian Longhorn thrust its glowing golden horns into the water and skewered the entangled plimpies.

Brian, Hagrid, Charlie, and Targaryen visited the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary, where Phoebe reunited with her Dragon Egg and they found Norberta and Katherine resting together. The chapter ended when a Beautiful Fishbird cleaning Katherine’s teeth revealed the ring Old Bud had lost years earlier.

• Targaryen retrieved Phoebe’s Dragon Egg while Phoebe hunted, and a startled silver-throated long-tailed tit left droppings on her hand.
• Targaryen explained that Old Bud had lost his original arm after climbing into Katherine’s mouth to study the Beautiful Fishbird, and later lost his prosthetic during an anti-poaching operation.
• Phoebe found her Dragon Egg and celebrated with a dance that scattered the wild boars impaled on her horns.
• Brian, Hagrid, Charlie, and Targaryen found Old Bud watching Norberta and Katherine as a Beautiful Fishbird cleaned Katherine’s teeth.
• A golden ring appeared on the Beautiful Fishbird’s beak, and Old Bud recognized it as the ring he had once worn.

Hagrid feared that Norberta had forgotten him after six months apart, but Old Bud suggested that a distinctive childhood food might restore her memories. Brian and Hagrid set out to catch Plimpies for the unusual soup Hagrid had fed Norberta as a youngster.

• Targaryen realized that dragon saliva had caused the Rescue Ring Prototype to resonate with dragon gums and recorded the discovery.
• Charlie found Hagrid assembling a Teething Stick for Norberta and warned him that she might not remember him.
• Norberta and Katherine finished cleaning their teeth, then flew away before Hagrid could approach them.
• Old Bud explained that human-raised dragons might remember strongly flavored childhood foods, and Hagrid recalled feeding Norberta his unusual Plimpy soup.
• Brian conjured a fishing net, and he and Hagrid prepared to catch Plimpies for Norberta.

Brian and Targaryen brought a huge catch to the institute, where Targaryen explained the risky family ritual that could teach Brian Dragon Language. The chapter ended with Hagrid contradicting himself about whether he could make a dish from their haul.

• Brian, Targaryen, Hagrid, Charlie, and Old Bud gathered around a hundred kilograms of Plimpies and Water Snails before returning to the Underground Research Institute.
• A middle-aged researcher showed Brian and Targaryen a clam that constantly opened and closed, then decided to eat it.
• Targaryen offered to teach Brian Dragon Language through her family’s eight-day Cultivation Ritual and warned him about its strange possible failures.
• Targaryen described an ancestor who emerged late from the ritual with an imaginary dragon friend, and Brian illustrated how the ritual could create logical contradictions.
• Hagrid told Brian he could make a complicated Plimpy and Water Snail dish but also said it was not possible for him to make it.

Hagrid and Charlie returned to Hogwarts to collect the Seasoning Eggplants needed for Hagrid’s ritual to reunite with Norberta, while Brian joined a party at the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary. The next morning, Brian met Targaryen beside an artificial pool, where she told him to take his clothes off.

• Hagrid and Charlie left for Hogwarts to retrieve Professor Sprout’s Seasoning Eggplants, which were needed for Hagrid’s ritual for Norberta.
• The researchers celebrated Brian’s recovered windfall with a welcome party, where Brian learned to drink through his nose.
• Brian discovered that Book had painted his face after he left it and the Compass Owl shut inside his suitcase, and he promised Book dragon-made gifts to make amends.
• Targaryen met Brian beside the artificial pool the following morning and told him to take off his clothes.

Brian began an eight-day Dragon Language ritual, but his unusual magical protection prevented the ritual paint from entering his skin, so Targaryen switched to an oral potion. As the ritual progressed, Brian’s hearing and voice changed, while Targaryen’s attempts to get close to baby dragons kept failing.

• Brian discovered that one of the seven marks on his chest had disappeared, and Targaryen found that the ritual paint would not absorb through his magically protected skin.
• Targaryen explained that Brian could take the ritual potion orally if he demonstrated exceptional skill in Charms and Transfiguration, and Brian transformed a tiny ball of water into five dragons.
• Brian swallowed the altered potion, climbed into the sealed Dragon Egg with food and the Book, and began the eight-day ritual as Targaryen agreed to care for his owl and visit each morning.
• On the third day, Targaryen told Brian that Carter and Phoebe had begun incubating their eggs and explained that Nine-Dragon Strength was a dragon supplement.
• On the fourth and fifth days, Targaryen celebrated Brian’s article and tried using dragon saliva to approach baby dragons, but the plan failed; she also told Brian his hearing would become stronger and controllable.
• By the seventh day, Brian had gained control over his enhanced hearing and developed a wider vocal range, while Targaryen considered trying dragon urine or feces after her other approaches failed.

Brian completed the dragon ritual, gaining enhanced Dragon Language comprehension and a powerful sense of smell, while Gilderoy Lockhart arranged his autobiography launch and revealed he would teach at Hogwarts. The chapter ended with Flourish and Blotts receiving news that Managing Emotions Starting Today had sold out.

• Brian broke out of the artificial dragon egg and confirmed that the ritual had given him an unusually informative sense of smell.
• Brian and Targaryen tested his new Dragon Language abilities, and he correctly answered her question.
• At Flourish and Blotts, Gilderoy Lockhart planned the launch of Magical Me and announced that he would become Hogwarts’s Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
• A shop assistant interrupted Lockhart’s meeting to report that every copy of Managing Emotions Starting Today had sold out and customers were still ordering more.

Lockhart tried the magical book “Managing Emotions Starting Today,” enjoyed its flattering vision of becoming Hogwarts headmaster, and decided to uncover its anonymous author. Meanwhile, Brian’s fragrant mallow allergy led to rainbow hair, and he learned that Hagrid had been hospitalized with minor burns and had lost his hair.

• Lockhart read “Managing Emotions Starting Today,” saw a vision of students and professors praising him, and resolved to discover Fragrant Mallow Achoo’s identity.
• Brian suffered an intensified allergy to fragrant mallow pollen, took Targaryen’s potion, and ended up with rainbow-colored hair.
• Old Bud told Brian that Hagrid was being treated for minor burns and that Charlie was caring for him.
• Brian visited the institute hospital, where Targaryen showed him a dragon receiving dental work for its honey-induced cavities.
• Brian found Hagrid bald and asked how he and Charlie had been attacked on their way back.

Brian, Charlie, and Targaryen brought the bound Hagrid to meet Norberta, hoping she would recognize him from a shared meal. Brian spoke with Katherine in Dragon Language, but Norberta answered in an obscure dialect, leaving the reunion unresolved.

• Hagrid explained that Charlie had given Katherine a medicine-filled jelly boar, and Brian learned Hagrid had been burned bald when Katherine defended herself with fire.
• Brian and Targaryen warned Charlie about Hagrid’s recklessness around dragons, and Brian explained the second of Hagrid’s Laws.
• Brian, Charlie, and Targaryen bound Hagrid and floated him to Norberta’s cave to keep him from rushing at her.
• Targaryen explained to Brian that dragons spoke different dialects, and Brian approached Katherine to ask her to summon Norberta.
• Brian addressed Katherine by her full name, and she called Norberta from the cave, though neither Katherine nor Brian understood Norberta’s words.
• Norberta emerged and stared toward the bushes as she spoke in her difficult dialect, while Hagrid struggled to respond through his sealed mouth.

Brian watched Hagrid reunite with Norberta while Katherine withdrew into her cave, then the story shifted to Sirius and Lupin discussing Sirius’s schooldays and Lupin’s refusal to teach at Hogwarts. Sirius ended by inviting Lupin to help pick up Harry and the Weasley boy, and by remembering he owed the boy a pet.

• Norberta recognized Hagrid, and Katherine retreated into her cave after Norberta warned her off.
• Norberta bit Hagrid’s head without hurting him, and Brian explained how Hagrid had once offered her his mouth as a home.
• At 12 Grimmauld Place, Sirius told Lupin he wanted to find out whether a Ravenclaw girl had once fancied him, and Lupin joked that she might have tried to poison him with chocolate.
• Sirius encouraged Lupin to teach at Hogwarts, but Lupin said he had refused Dumbledore’s offer because he did not want to endanger students.
• Sirius invited Lupin to help pick up Harry and the Weasley boy the next day and said he still owed the boy a pet.