Recaps

After the Durmstrang ship left Hogwarts, Viktor Krum told Hermione Granger he wanted to stay, study, and one day change his school. Hermione began their picnic with a Muggle-made folding case, showing Krum that magic was not the only miracle.

• Viktor Krum watched the Durmstrang ship sink beneath the Black Lake as Hermione Granger stood beside him.
• Krum told Hermione that he preferred getting out into the world to remaining isolated aboard the ship.
• Krum said he wanted to experience Hogwarts exams and someday become Durmstrang’s headmaster, changing its rules to include picnics.
• Hermione took a Muggle-made picnic case from her beaded bag and unfolded it into a table, blanket, and chairs.
• Hermione explained that Muggle ingenuity was another kind of miracle, and Krum marveled at the case’s transformation without magic.

Krum decided to stay at Hogwarts for the N.E.W.T. exams and to learn from its students so he could bring new ideas back to Durmstrang. The picnic ended in laughter after Harry told Krum that Douglas Holmes required him to memorize Hogwarts: A History.

• Ron, Harry, and Ginny joined Krum and Hermione for a lakeside picnic and offered Krum snacks and Butterbeer.
• Harry asked Krum whether he had decided to stay for the N.E.W.T. exams, and Krum confirmed that he had.
• Krum said he wanted to learn from Hogwarts and reform Durmstrang, which Ron toasted by calling him its future Headmaster.
• Harry presented Krum with Douglas Holmes's annotated Hogwarts: A History and claimed he had to memorize the entire book, prompting laughter.

Harry went to Sirius’s Academic Affairs Office with Ron and Hermione to look up Tom Riddle’s Hogwarts records, following Professor Holmes’s advice to understand Voldemort as a student. Sirius produced a file Douglas had set aside for Harry, but warned that its truth might hurt more than Voldemort himself.

• Harry left the library with Ron and Hermione to search Hogwarts records for a way to defeat Voldemort.
• Harry told Sirius he wanted Tom Riddle’s student records, revealing that he knew Voldemort had once attended Hogwarts.
• Harry explained that Professor Holmes had told him to understand Tom Riddle as a student before facing Voldemort.
• Sirius found the file Douglas had set aside for Harry and warned him that the truth in it could be painful.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione examined Tom Riddle’s Hogwarts record and learned how exceptional he had been before becoming Voldemort. Harry refused to give up, deciding to begin by studying History of Magic, while Sirius resolved that Riddle would not destroy the school again.

• Harry opened the dossier and saw Tom Riddle’s photograph and record of outstanding grades throughout his Hogwarts years.
• Hermione and Sirius explained that Riddle’s talent and achievements were genuine, and Sirius warned Harry not to rely on luck or his status as the Chosen One.
• Ron despaired at the thought of matching Riddle, but Harry said he would not surrender because he had Ron and Hermione and understood what Riddle feared.
• Harry announced that he would start by revising History of Magic, and Hermione dragged Ron after him.
• Sirius returned the dossier to the filing cabinet and vowed that Riddle would not destroy the school again.

Voldemort studied Douglas Holmes’s books, hoping they would reveal the source of the power that had placed him under bloodline control. His experiments found nothing unusual in his blood, leaving him frustrated and unable to explain the bond.

• Voldemort denounced Holmes’s books as magical nonsense but admitted Holmes had demonstrated powers beyond his understanding.
• He told Lucius Malfoy he would decipher the books to uncover Holmes’s secrets.
• Voldemort ordered Lucius to bring a cauldron containing his unfinished bloodline-tracing potion.
• He added his blood to the potion and tried ancient spells to trace its origin, but the mixture revealed nothing abnormal.
• Voldemort smashed a silver knife in frustration and wondered whether the control came from his soul or a higher-dimensional contract.
• Lucius stood nearby with Voldemort’s dinner, watching his master approach a frenzy.

Lucius persuaded Voldemort to investigate DNA as a way to understand the constraints on Douglas Holmes’s blood, and Voldemort ordered him to secretly obtain testing equipment and manuals. He began studying Magic Apprentice and vowed to learn both magic and science to defeat Holmes, while Douglas remained unaware at Hogwarts as exam week approached.

• Lucius suggested using Muggle DNA research to investigate Douglas Holmes’s blood, and Voldemort considered the idea despite his contempt for Muggles.
• Lucius urged Voldemort to obtain the equipment and manuals without involving Muggles, and Voldemort ordered him to acquire them in secret.
• Voldemort insisted that he would handle his own blood samples and learn to operate the instruments himself.
• After Lucius left, Voldemort resumed studying Magic Apprentice and vowed to use what he learned to destroy Holmes.
• At Hogwarts, Douglas fed Wangcai a Galleon, sneezed, and wondered whether someone was studying his work before final exams began.

During Hogwarts exam week, Harry finished a written exam and Douglas Professor Holmes warned students about the practical Defense Against Dark Magic exam. Sirius delayed Ministry requests for Marauders Power Company’s restraint handcuffs so the company could prioritize its own supplies and retain control of its technology.

• Harry finished his exam on Medieval Wizarding Assembly Law while Ron worried he had answered basic questions incorrectly.
• Douglas Professor Holmes told Harry he had written “cut” instead of “squeeze” on a question about extracting Streeler venom, then promised special surprises for the practical Defense Against Dark Magic exam.
• Sirius told Lupin to put off urgent Ministry requests about the latest batch of Automatic Tracking Restraint Handcuffs.
• Sirius explained that he was delaying foreign buyers to keep demand high, secure enough stock for their own people, and protect the company’s core technology.

At Malfoy Manor, Lucius Malfoy used Voldemort’s demand for information about Douglas Holmes to gather gifts and intelligence from the frightened Death Eaters. Meanwhile, Voldemort struggled to understand Muggle books and technology as he searched for a way to control his body.

• At Malfoy Manor, Avery and the other Death Eaters waited nervously while Lucius told them Voldemort was conducting important magical research.
• Lucius announced that Voldemort wanted information about Douglas Holmes, including his books, past, preferences, and movements in the Muggle world.
• Avery and the other Death Eaters volunteered intelligence and gifts, while Lucius positioned himself as the channel to Voldemort and accepted their offerings.
• In his secret castle, Voldemort reread Magic Apprentice and puzzled over its references to systems, points, and bloodline purification.
• Voldemort studied the DNA analyzer and vowed to read every book he could find to learn how to control his body.

On the Hogwarts Express, Harry, Hermione, and Ron discussed the wizarding world's unnatural silence as Fred and George showed them protective gear from the Marauders Power Company and shared news about the pure-blood families. The chapter ended with Hermione suggesting that Voldemort’s followers were lying low, allowing Fudge to ignore his return.

• Harry complained that the Daily Prophet avoided serious news, and Hermione said Fudge could pretend the crisis did not exist by refusing to acknowledge it.
• Fred and George gave Ron an Anti-Prank Scarf and Hermione a Bad Mood Brooch, then said Sirius had prepared custom protective gear for Harry.
• Fred and George said Draco Malfoy had been ordered by Lucius to stay at Malfoy Manor and avoid provoking Harry.
• George reported that the Nott and Avery families were also keeping their children quiet, and Hermione connected their silence to the Daily Prophet's lack of coverage.

Fred and George prepared a summer work-and-exam agreement to persuade Molly to exempt them from chores, while Harry, Ron, and Hermione arrived at the station and parted for the holidays. Harry saw a frightened, diminished Draco Malfoy and left resolved to face what came next.

• Fred and George revealed that they had joined the Marauders Power Company's Research and Development Department and would return to work in Diagon Alley after one week.
• The twins presented their Weasley Truce Agreement, promising Molly that each would earn at least five Outstanding grades in their N.E.W.T.s if she approved their internship and exempted them from chores and revision.
• As the train arrived, Harry noticed Draco Malfoy standing alone, exhausted and afraid, and recalled that Lucius had told him to keep quiet and avoid trouble.
• Harry, Ron, and Hermione left the train and found Mrs. Weasley and Uncle Vernon waiting, while Draco hurried to Narcissa Malfoy.
• Hermione asked Harry whether this was only the beginning, and Harry said he was ready before inviting her to visit during the summer.

Barty Crouch Jr. resisted Douglas's attempts to keep him fed and make him study, but hunger and his loyalty to Voldemort drove him to eat and write an essay. As he analyzed Magic Apprentice, he became convinced that Douglas had hidden advanced magical theories in his novels and began studying them seriously.

• Barty Crouch Jr. refused the meal brought by a House-elf, which warned him that Douglas would force-feed him and extract his memories if necessary.
• The House-elf told Barty that he would receive no more than water unless he wrote an analytical essay about the magic circuits in Magic Apprentice.
• Barty Crouch Jr. persuaded himself that he needed to survive so Voldemort could rescue him and hear his explanation, then ate the meal.
• Barty Crouch Jr. began writing an essay criticizing Magic Apprentice but noticed similarities between its spell model and Ancient Runes.
• Barty Crouch Jr. concluded that Douglas had concealed advanced magical theory in his novels and began studying them as forbidden texts.

Barty Crouch Jr. devoted himself to studying Douglas’s novels in the cave, believing their theories could help prepare Voldemort’s return. At Holmes Manor, Douglas explained how Percy’s report had fueled a Hogwarts corruption scandal and revealed that he was using Barty as a researcher—and hoping to reshape his faith.

• Barty Crouch Jr. told the Stone Basin that he would study Douglas’s novels and write papers uncovering their magical secrets for his master.
• Sirius Black complained about a Daily Prophet article accusing the Hogwarts Academic Affairs Office director of abusing his authority to force students to buy products from his company.
• Lupin explained that Percy’s report on Hogwarts exams and commercial encroachment had supplied reporters with material, while Douglas noted that the scandal had also boosted automatic quill sales.
• Lupin and Bill Weasley questioned whether Barty might discover dangerous magic in Douglas’s books, but Douglas said Barty’s judgment could test whether their theories were magically feasible.
• Douglas revealed that he hoped Barty’s inability to find answers in Dark Magic would distort or collapse his devotion to his master, and Bill joked that this was worse than killing him.

Harry returned to Privet Drive and learned that Vernon treated Sirius’s company as a valuable business partner, largely because Douglas Holmes had introduced them. The chapter ended with an author’s holiday homework question about what determined the force of Harry’s impact after a broom dive.

• Vernon brought Harry home in a new car and told him to keep Hedwig from attracting the neighbors’ attention.
• Petunia handed Vernon a business letter from Marauders Power Systems Incorporated, and Vernon explained that the company did business with Grunnings.
• Harry teased Vernon about accepting a letter from Sirius, and Vernon insisted Sirius was a legitimate entrepreneur whose company had been referred by Douglas Holmes.
• Vernon praised Douglas’s manners and urged Harry to learn etiquette, while Harry revealed that he had taken compulsory etiquette lessons that term.
• The chapter ended with a multiple-choice physics question about the force of impact from Harry’s dive on his Firebolt.

Harry returned to the Dursleys’ home and mocked Vernon’s demands by demonstrating vampire manners taught by Valerius. After Vernon and Petunia reacted with alarm, Harry greeted Dudley, who felt relieved that Harry still looked thin and hoped their maternal cousin favored him more.

• Harry told Vernon and Petunia that Valerius, a centuries-old vampire, had taught him the manners they demanded.
• Harry performed a formal noble salute, wished Vernon that he liked the manners, and carried Hedwig’s cage and his trunk upstairs.
• Vernon shouted after Harry, while Petunia screamed at the mention of vampires and hurried Vernon inside when a neighbor looked over.
• Harry greeted Dudley, who shrank back because Douglas had conditioned him to fear his cousin.
• Dudley noticed Harry was still thin and felt satisfied, imagining their maternal cousin preferred him.

Harry returned to the Dursleys for the summer and found comfort in the familiar household squabbling, but Dobby arrived with a message that he had to stay there. Dobby gave him a powerful protective coat from Mr. Black, then hinted that he had forgotten to mention something about it.

• Harry settled into his bedroom at the Dursleys and reflected that the ordinary life there reassured him despite Voldemort's return.
• Dobby appeared with food and a suitcase, then told Harry that Sir and Mr. Black required him to remain with the Dursleys while they worked to save the world.
• Harry protested that he should not be left behind while Voldemort was back, and Dobby showed him a gift from Mr. Black.
• Dobby explained that the Guardian-series All-Weather Tactical Protective Coat could protect Harry from spells, conceal him, and teleport him in an emergency.
• Harry eagerly put on the coat, and Dobby guiltily admitted that he had forgotten to tell him something.

Harry discovered that the trench coat’s magical functions could only be unlocked by completing Muggle junior high school courses, and Sirius’s letter explained that Vernon Dursley would supervise him. The chapter left Harry dreading Douglas’s summer homework more than Voldemort.

• Dobby explained that Harry had to pass one summer course to unlock each function of the trench coat.
• Harry found a stack of Muggle junior high school textbooks in his suitcase and learned that the assigned homework covered a full set of courses.
• Dobby gave Harry a letter from Sirius, who explained that Harry had to stay on Privet Drive for safety and that the textbooks were meant to build his knowledge.
• Harry read that Sirius had arranged for Vernon Dursley to supervise his studies through a business agreement involving Grunnings.
• Dobby left, and Harry buried his head in his pillow, despairing over the summer homework Douglas had assigned.

Harry learned that Sirius and Mr. Holmes had persuaded Vernon to supervise his Muggle studies in exchange for a lucrative business deal. The Dursleys began to see Harry as a source of wealth, while the summer agreement left him facing strict study requirements.

• Vernon summoned Harry and told him to sit down, startling him with his unexpectedly restrained manner.
• Vernon explained that Sirius and Mr. Holmes had arranged a summer homework supervision agreement with him.
• Vernon said that supervising Harry's studies for at least six hours a day and keeping him from magic would earn him a £100,000 contract.
• Vernon revealed that the Marauders Power Company might also fund his own parts-processing company if Harry's grades satisfied them.
• Petunia and Vernon looked at Harry as a valuable source of money, while Dudley watched him fearfully.

Harry learned that Vernon agreed to help enforce his summer study schedule because he respected Douglas Holmes’s business sense and wanted to protect the Dursley family’s financial future. Vernon immediately ordered Harry to begin mathematics lessons and threatened to lock him in the cupboard if he disobeyed.

• Harry questioned why Vernon would cooperate with wizards despite his past hatred of them.
• Vernon explained that he trusted Douglas Holmes because Holmes followed ordinary rules, handled business professionally, and had legal approval for his dealings.
• Vernon praised Holmes and criticized James Potter, angering Harry when he insulted Harry’s father.
• Vernon said he had accepted the agreement for the Dursleys’ future as well as for Harry’s education.
• Vernon ordered Harry to start Cambridge Junior High School mathematics immediately and threatened to contact Holmes or lock Harry in the cupboard if he slacked off.

Harry and Dudley were made to study under the Dursleys’ supervision after Mr. Holmes arranged a sponsored education program for Dudley. Meanwhile, Bill Weasley resigned from Gringotts and arrived in London to begin his new role with Marauders Power Company.

• Uncle Vernon ordered Dudley to join Harry in studying, and Aunt Petunia insisted he accept the sponsored weight-loss and intellectual development package.
• Harry and Dudley sat down with their schoolwork after Uncle Vernon threatened to call Mr. Holmes to tutor them in person.
• Bill handed over his Gringotts keys and signed his resignation agreement despite Ragnok’s objections.
• Bill defended his decision to join Douglas and Marauders Power Company, telling Ragnok that freedom mattered more than gold.
• Bill traveled from Egypt to Griffin’s Nest, where the security emblem confirmed his identity and welcomed him home.

Bill returned to the Marauders Power Company after resigning from Gringotts and found Fleur Delacour waiting in his office. She became his archaeological assistant, and he and Douglas toasted to freedom.

• Bill visited the Marauders Power Company, where Fred and George tested antigravity boots and George fell safely after one malfunctioned.
• Bill rode the Boggart-powered lift to the Archaeological Research Department and found Fleur dusting a cursed Aztec mask in his office.
• Fleur told Bill she had applied to become his assistant so she could improve her English and help him face danger.
• Bill welcomed Fleur aboard, but Douglas interrupted them and teased her about her English.
• Douglas and Bill shared Firewhisky and toasted to freedom.

Snape answered the Dark Mark’s summons and learned that Voldemort was hiding in a secret location after Holmes disrupted the Death Eaters’ plans. A Portkey brought Snape to a brightly lit hall, where he saw Voldemort in a bizarre posture.

• Snape secured his office, removed his ring, and went to Malfoy Manor in response to the Dark Mark.
• Lucius Malfoy questioned Snape about whether Holmes had exposed the Death Eaters who had been present when Voldemort returned.
• Snape explained that Holmes suspected the Dark Lord might have called out names to mislead him and recommended taking no action.
• Lucius revealed that Voldemort was not at Malfoy Manor and used a Portkey hidden in an Encyclopaedia Britannica volume to take Snape to him.
• Snape arrived in a vast, candlelit hall and saw Voldemort in an extremely bizarre posture.

Voldemort studied Muggle molecular biology to understand what Douglas Holmes had done to him, then pressed Snape about Douglas’s unusual Potions practices. Snape recalled Douglas’s treatment of valuable ingredients and felt his resentment rise.

• Snape arrived to find Voldemort studying Muggle textbooks on genetics and molecular biology.
• Voldemort questioned Snape about whether Douglas had studied science while at Hogwarts.
• Snape described Douglas as disrespectful of traditional magical theory and fond of experimenting with new inventions.
• Voldemort clarified that he wanted to know about Douglas’s unorthodox practices in Potions.
• Snape remembered Douglas cooking precious medicinal ingredients like vegetables, and his resentment surfaced.
• A postscript presented a multiple-choice question about Fred and George’s underwater-burning firework and gave the previous question’s answer.

Snape described Douglas Holmes’s irreverent use of potion ingredients for cooking, explaining why he had refused to admit Douglas to Advanced Potions. Voldemort sympathized with Snape but then pressed him for information beyond Douglas’s culinary antics.

• Snape told Voldemort that Douglas had used potion cauldrons and valuable ingredients to make hot pot and medicinal cuisine.
• Snape described Douglas roasting ingredients into concentrated elixirs, causing an explosion, and having students taste ingredients in Potions class.
• Lucius recognized the foods Snape described and swallowed, while Voldemort struggled to respond to Snape’s furious complaints.
• Voldemort told Snape he understood the torment of dealing with Douglas and compared it to performing a symphony beside someone using a whoopee cushion.
• Voldemort questioned Snape about what else made Douglas troublesome, saying the stories about cooking did not provide the information he wanted.

Snape explained Douglas Holmes's Improved Wolfsbane Potion by inventing a story about his use of Muggle knowledge and pharmaceutical machinery. Voldemort interpreted Holmes's public activities as disguises for secret research, while Snape concealed how little he knew about Holmes's real intentions.

• Voldemort questioned Snape about how Holmes had developed the Improved Wolfsbane Potion and where he had learned about bloodlines and biological structures.
• Snape claimed that Holmes had learned from Muggles and described his trip taking Hogwarts students to visit a pharmaceutical factory.
• Voldemort concluded that Muggle precision and reproducibility had enabled Holmes to improve the potion, and declared Holmes's other activities a disguise.
• Snape told Voldemort that Holmes had introduced Muggle ideas such as morning runs, management studies, and an Academic Affairs Office.
• Snape admitted he knew little about Holmes's work behind the scenes, and Voldemort fell silent as Lucius waited in fear.

After Snape reported on Douglas Holmes’s Muggle science and management ideas, Voldemort decided those topics were a distraction and convinced himself that Holmes’s real power came from the rules and systems in his novels. He sent Snape back to Hogwarts to investigate Holmes’s writing and ideas, then began studying Magic Apprentice himself.

• Voldemort reconsidered Snape’s report and suspected that Holmes had deliberately drawn his attention toward science and management.
• Voldemort studied the popular novels in his library and concluded that Holmes might be imposing a fictional system of magic on the real world.
• Voldemort ordered Snape to return to Hogwarts and observe Holmes’s stories, writings, notes, and conversations to uncover the source of his power.
• Snape and Lucius left by Portkey, while Voldemort reverently opened Magic Apprentice and resolved to decipher Holmes’s secrets.