Recaps

Douglas concluded that Voldemort’s diary had probably been sent away by owl, but Dumbledore and Snape had not reached that conclusion and were still searching for answers. After the professors found Douglas asleep in his office, they learned he had no proof the diary was gone, leaving the danger unresolved.

• Douglas spotted a hunting owl and guessed that the diary had been sent away from Hogwarts by owl.
• Dumbledore erased Tom Cruise’s memories of having altered his own memories, then returned to the Great Hall with the Heads of House while Douglas went to sleep.
• Dumbledore sent his Patronus to summon Douglas, and the professors found him safe in his office.
• Douglas told Dumbledore and Snape that he thought they had already guessed the diary was gone, but admitted he had not found it and could not be sure it had left the Castle.
• Flitwick said he would search Ravenclaw Tower, while Dumbledore and the other professors arranged for the students to return to their Common Rooms.
• Snape worried that Douglas might be controlled, but Dumbledore said he trusted Douglas’s abilities and suspected his Occlumency would protect him.

Douglas told Percy that Voldemort had appeared at Hogwarts and warned him to report any Dark Magic objects with independent thought, then asked him to watch Harry for a diary or old notebook. The next morning, Hogwarts students prepared for the second monthly Defense Against Dark Magic exam, while Percy received a parcel and letters from Bill and Charlie for Douglas.

• Douglas reassured Percy that Voldemort had been forced to flee, told him to report suspicious Dark Magic objects, and asked him to keep an eye on Harry and any diary or old notebook that appeared around him.
• Douglas told Percy to make Fred and George write out a third more from memory the next day, despite having given them the night off detention.
• Students gathered for the second monthly Defense Against Dark Magic exam, anxious about the written test and practical stages.
• Errol delivered Percy a parcel and a letter explaining that Bill and Charlie had sent gifts and letters for Douglas because they could not send them directly to him.
• Percy stopped Fred and George from opening the parcel, and they offered to deliver it to Professor Holmes.

After receiving supportive letters and research materials from Bill and Charlie, Douglas felt cheerful and behaved more gently during the exams. He offered George and Fred a chance to join his Magical Artifact Research Group once their grades qualified, but the twins fled before raising the request they had been arguing over.

• Harry and Ron said the Defense Against Dark Magic exam felt easy because they had written the textbook out from memory, while Neville worried he had forgotten what he memorized.
• Douglas read Bill’s worried letter and Charlie’s letter, along with Bill’s Charm research notes and dragon tendon Charlie had collected for him.
• In the afternoon exam, Douglas sat at the front marking papers instead of pacing around and sighing behind students.
• During detention, Douglas told George and Fred their work had improved and that he would show their Transfiguration and Potions material to Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape.
• Douglas promised George and Fred access to his Magical Artifact Research Group after detention, provided their grades met his requirements, and said he would return the Marauder’s Map once the Castle’s recent incidents were over.
• George and Fred hesitated over who should speak to Douglas, then rushed out when he asked whether they needed a champion to talk to him.

The students sat their Defense Against Dark Magic exams, while Douglas adjusted the practical tests after they tried to avoid fighting Grindylows. Luna Lovegood then brought Douglas Tom Riddle’s Diary, which she believed was dangerous because it attracted Wrackspurts.

• Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students recognized that their exam papers had been exchanged, while Gryffindor and Slytherin representatives traded answers and discovered the papers were from the previous month.
• Douglas made the younger students fight Grindylows during their practical exam, and he changed the troll test’s grading after its stench made students vomit.
• Fourth-years competed against fifth-years, sixth-years faced a stretch of fog, and the seventh-years were relieved that Professor Holmes would not make their exam proceedings public.
• Luna Lovegood visited Douglas and handed him a cord-bound diary marked Riddle, which Douglas recognized as dangerous and treated cautiously.
• Luna told Douglas that the diary seemed surrounded by Wrackspurts and repeated, “Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain.”

Douglas learned that Luna had given him Tom Riddle’s Diary because it had asked about him and her father, then tested the artifact in his office. He provoked Riddle into revealing himself and considered ways to destroy the Horcrux, including a spell of his own design.

• Luna told Douglas that the Diary had called itself Tom Riddle, failed to answer her questions, and asked about Douglas and Xenophilius Lovegood.
• Douglas deduced that Voldemort had targeted Luna to investigate Xenophilius, praised her trust, and asked her to keep the Diary secret.
• Douglas sealed the Diary in a rune-inscribed stone box, taught his afternoon classes, and arranged for George and Fred to serve detention with Professor McGonagall.
• In his office, Douglas unbound the Diary and tried to contact Riddle, then wrote a story about Voldemort’s birth to provoke a response.
• Riddle denounced Douglas as a Mudblood and demanded to know how he knew so much, but Douglas ignored him and considered destroying the Horcrux with Basilisk venom, Fiendfyre, or his own spell.

Douglas took Tom Riddle’s Diary into the Forbidden Forest and destroyed it with lightning, then preserved its remaining dark magic as evidence. He left to deliver it to Dumbledore, while two centaurs arrived to investigate the blasted clearing.

• Douglas sealed the Diary in a stone box, flew into the Forbidden Forest, and opened it in a clearing during a storm.
• Tom Riddle appeared as a weak phantom, then vanished as Douglas’s light exposed him.
• Douglas struck the Diary with lightning, destroying it and silencing Riddle.
• Douglas examined the damaged Diary, preserved its remaining dark magic, and packed it away as evidence.
• Hearing hoofbeats, Douglas flew off to deliver the Diary to Dumbledore, and centaurs Bane and his companion arrived to investigate.

Douglas brought a battered Diary bearing Tom Riddle’s name to Dumbledore and explained how Luna Lovegood had received it and how it had offered him power in exchange for opening the Chamber of Secrets. He said he had rejected the Diary’s promises, while Dumbledore examined it and listened to his account.

• Douglas tried several sweets as passwords at the Headmaster’s Office, and the stone beast opened after he guessed Wife Cake.
• Douglas entered the office and showed Dumbledore the battered Diary, which Dumbledore recognized as likely connected to their search.
• Douglas explained that Luna had received the Diary by owl, exchanged messages with it, and handed it to him after it asked about him and her father.
• Douglas told Dumbledore that the Diary identified itself as Voldemort and offered him Dark Magic, immortality, and command of the Death Eaters if he released the basilisk from the Chamber of Secrets.
• Douglas said he had rejected the Diary’s offers and praised Dumbledore as the greatest wizard.

Douglas told Dumbledore that he had destroyed Tom Riddle’s diary and the soul fragment inside it after refusing its offer of power. Dumbledore explained why he connected the diary to the story in The Quibbler, leaving Douglas to conclude that Voldemort had sent a note about the story while possessing Tom Cruise.

• Douglas recounted how Tom Riddle appeared from the diary, called him a Mudblood, and was destroyed along with the diary by Douglas’s spell.
• Dumbledore praised Douglas for resisting Tom’s temptations and destroying the diary’s powerful protective enchantments.
• Dumbledore questioned whether Douglas’s story in The Quibbler was based on Tom Riddle, but Douglas’s reaction dispelled his suspicions.
• Dumbledore explained that Wool’s Orphanage was real, that he had brought Tom Riddle into the wizarding world, and that Tom was both Salazar Slytherin’s heir and a half-blood.
• Dumbledore revealed that he had found a note at Xenophilius Lovegood’s home asking about Tom Marvolo Riddle, and Douglas inferred that Voldemort had written it while controlling Tom Cruise.

Douglas and Dumbledore discussed the diary, Voldemort’s soul, and how to prevent the Chamber of Secrets from being opened again. The next morning, Douglas failed to appear at Hogwarts, and Luna’s worry about the Dark Magic item she had given him brought all four Heads of House to his office.

• Dumbledore concluded that the diary might contain a school-age version of Tom and said he needed time to investigate the possibility that Voldemort had split his soul.
• Douglas asked whether Tom Cruise’s memories could be restored, and Dumbledore explained that doing so was dangerous and could damage the boy’s memories.
• Douglas took the diary back to study and suggested that Luna receive a Hogwarts Special Contribution Award and Ravenclaw points for her actions.
• Douglas did not appear for the morning run or challenge practice, and Luna found that she could not open his office.
• Luna told Professor McGonagall that she had given Douglas a dangerous Dark Magic item and had not seen him since, prompting all four Heads of House to gather outside his office.

The Hogwarts professors feared Douglas was confronting Voldemort inside his sealed office, while Harry, Ron, and Hermione decided to reach him through the Staff Room. Snape urged the professors to trust Douglas, leaving his colleagues unsettled by his defense of him.

• After learning what Voldemort's diary was, the four Heads of House found signs of life in Douglas's office but could not enter through his protective spells.
• Snape went to find Dumbledore, while Sprout and Flitwick examined Douglas's protections and students gathered outside the office.
• Snape returned and mocked Harry, who insisted that Professor Holmes needed help; McGonagall deducted ten points from Gryffindor and sent the students away.
• Hermione told Harry and Ron she knew a way into the Staff Room and wanted to warn Douglas, and the boys agreed to help her.
• Snape stopped the professors from breaking into Douglas's office, arguing that Dumbledore had told them to trust Douglas and that they could interfere if he was fighting Voldemort.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron warned Douglas that the professors had surrounded his office, but Snape tested Douglas with questions about hot pot ingredients and concluded he was not under Voldemort’s control. After the students left, Harry remained worried about Douglas and the diary, so the three decided to seek answers from Luna Lovegood.

• Douglas woke to find Harry, Hermione, and Ron in his office, and they warned him that the professors were outside.
• Douglas opened the main door, where Snape confronted him and tested him by asking what potion used hot pot ingredients.
• Douglas identified the ingredients as part of a hot pot base recipe, and Snape lowered his wand after his Legilimency failed.
• The professors discussed a diary Luna Lovegood had given Douglas, while McGonagall reprimanded the students for not reporting their concerns and took five Gryffindor points.
• Douglas awarded Hermione, Harry, and Ron five points each for warning him, and they left the office.
• Harry remained suspicious, so Ron suggested asking Luna about the diary, and the three headed to the Great Hall to look for her.

Douglas examined the damaged diary with the other professors, then spent detention refusing Harry’s request for a blessing unless Snape gave one first. He coached Hermione through the Stunning Spell and began questioning the Weasley twins when they returned to complain about Snape.

• The professors found only traces of magic in the diary after Douglas’s spell had badly damaged it, and McGonagall said they needed to secure the Chamber of Secrets.
• Harry asked Douglas to touch him so he could collect a professor’s blessing before his Quidditch match, but Douglas demanded that Snape bless him first, making Harry back down.
• Douglas offered to help Hermione practice spells, then had her spend nearly an hour trying to hit him with the Stunning Spell while he taught her about aim, timing, and controlling its power.
• George and Fred returned to detention and told Douglas that Snape had made them write out the Potions textbook from memory and had insulted Douglas’s teaching.

Douglas reprimanded Harry, Hermione, and Ron for breaking into his office and warned them to trust their professors instead of trying to investigate danger themselves. He sent them away with two-foot-long self-criticisms, and the three left frustrated that they had learned nothing from their attempted investigation.

• Douglas made George and Fred address Snape as Professor Snape, then dismissed them and asked Harry, Hermione, and Ron to stay behind.
• Douglas questioned the three about their identities and condemned them for entering his office to investigate him.
• Hermione and Harry explained that they had gone to Douglas's office, while Ron claimed they had saved the door.
• Douglas pointed out that their attempt to trick Voldemort would likely fail, urged them to focus on learning, and ordered each of them to write a two-foot-long self-criticism.
• Harry, Hermione, and Ron left angrily, then discussed whether they should apologize to Snape and realized their investigation had accomplished nothing.

Douglas posted house score sheets and a daily O.W.L. countdown to motivate his students, then attended the Gryffindor–Slytherin Quidditch match. At the stadium, Hagrid revealed Douglas’s past tactical advice to Gryffindor students, while Douglas chatted with Hufflepuff players and remembered meeting Cedric Diggory’s father.

• Douglas compared Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff theory scores, pushed students to improve, and made those who had scored zero memorize and rewrite the paper.
• Douglas posted monthly house score sheets and a countdown to the O.W.L.s, making students anxious about their exams.
• Douglas went to the Gryffindor–Slytherin Quidditch match and spoke with Hagrid, Hermione, and Ron, who praised Harry’s playing.
• Hagrid told a group of Gryffindor students that Douglas had once advised Charlie on tactics and team management, and Hermione warned them to keep the story secret.
• Douglas joined the Hufflepuff players, discussed tactics, and met Cedric Diggory, who said his father Amos knew Douglas.
• Douglas recalled helping Amos claim a Tebo near Ilkley Moor and joked to Cedric that he regretted giving up the chance to taste its meat.

Gryffindor defeated Slytherin after Harry Potter caught the Golden Snitch, while Douglas investigated a bewitched Bludger and secretly slowed Harry’s fall. In the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey discovered that part of Harry’s forearm bone was missing, leaving Hermione to suspect the Bludger had been cursed.

• Douglas advised Cedric and the Hufflepuff team to focus on playing well as Gryffindor and Slytherin began their match.
• Douglas noticed a Bludger repeatedly pursuing Harry despite George knocking it away, but he found no sign of Dobby or another culprit.
• Gryffindor caught up with Slytherin, and Harry caught the Golden Snitch after taking a Bludger hit to protect it from Draco Malfoy.
• Douglas slowed Harry’s fall with a spell, then left while the Gryffindors gathered around Harry.
• Madam Pomfrey told Harry that part of his forearm bone was missing, and Hermione wondered whether the Bludger had been cursed.

Douglas caught Dobby in the Hospital Wing after Dobby had attacked Harry and warned him to leave Hogwarts. Douglas revealed that he had stopped the danger connected to the Chamber of Secrets, then left Harry and Dobby to talk.

• After checking Harry's location with the Marauder's Map, Douglas hid in the Hospital Wing and waited for Dobby to arrive.
• Dobby visited Harry and wiped his forehead, but Douglas stunned him and tied him up before he could escape.
• Douglas explained that he had suspected Dobby was behind the Bludger attack and asked Harry to question him.
• Dobby warned that Hogwarts was in danger, and Douglas identified the Chamber of Secrets as the threat and said he had already stopped the plan to open it.
• Douglas freed Dobby and left him and Harry alone, after telling them not to discuss anything that should remain secret.
• Dobby praised Douglas as a good man, while Harry told him that Douglas had defeated Voldemort before.

Douglas arranged a hot pot on the Astronomy Tower for the first snowfall, then turned a snowball fight into a contest by creating a Snow Monster for the students to defeat. The students attacked the monster, which defended itself, and the fight was still underway.

• Douglas announced that Hogwarts would hold first-semester final exams in five core subjects during the second week of December, and Snape threatened failed students with vegetable-preparation practice.
• Professor Sinistra invited Douglas to meet her atop the Astronomy Tower for hot pot, and Douglas sent Dumbledore a note inviting him as well.
• Douglas inspected the fifth- and sixth-year practical classrooms, then found students having a snowball fight outside the Castle.
• Douglas created a Snow Monster from snow and offered its two runic wooden plaques to whoever defeated it, requiring students to attack only the monster and not fight over the prize.
• George and Fred led the students in attacking the Snow Monster, which intercepted spells with snowballs and snow walls while dodging across the snow.

Students fought Douglas’s Snow Monster, eventually weakening it with water and mud, then had to clean the grounds before Filch let them into the Castle. Later, Douglas prepared to attend a hot-pot gathering in the Astronomy Tower with Hogwarts professors.

• Students cleared snow from the Castle grounds, weakening the Snow Monster, while Douglas watched and then stopped controlling it.
• George and Fred tried to trap the Snow Monster, but a Ravenclaw student discovered that water could pierce its snow defenses, and the students brought it down with water and mud.
• The Snow Monster collapsed, and its rune-inscribed plaques went to a Hufflepuff first-year and a Ravenclaw third-year.
• Filch ordered the muddy students to clean themselves and the Castle roads, allowing them to use as much magic as they wanted.
• George and Fred asked Douglas about joining his research group, and he said they would need to meet his grade requirements first.
• Douglas packed cola and headed to the Astronomy Tower, where he met Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout on their way to a hot-pot gathering.

Douglas hosted a hot-pot gathering with Hogwarts professors before exam week, while students across the four Houses prepared together for their end-of-term tests. The exams began in the second week of December 1992, leaving Douglas unimpressed by the students’ anxiety.

• Professor Sinistra welcomed Douglas, Minerva, and Pomona to the Astronomy Tower, where Douglas shared cola and dragon meat hot pot with the professors.
• Dumbledore eagerly drank the cola, and Septima Vector mixed hers with Nettle Wine while the professors ate and talked late into the night.
• Students in all four Common Rooms studied for exams, with older students tutoring younger ones and Hufflepuffs offering hot pot to students who answered questions correctly.
• In the second week of December 1992, the end-of-term exams began, with professors using house-specific papers and practical tests that challenged some older students.
• Douglas watched the nervous students and thought their exams were nothing compared with having to take report cards home for Christmas.

Douglas prepared for a Christmas Eve lecture and book event at Flourish and Blotts, while Percy helped Slane organize it. As the crowded event began, Douglas spotted Rita Skeeter among the reporters and worried that her presence would cause trouble.

• George, Fred, and Ron chose to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas, while Percy and Ginny planned to go home.
• Slane sent Douglas a poster announcing his Christmas Eve lecture and book event at Flourish and Blotts, and the Daily Prophet soon publicized it.
• Douglas modified a quill to sign books automatically and arranged for Percy to help Slane prepare the venue.
• Douglas traveled to Diagon Alley, where a crowd gathered around him before he reached Flourish and Blotts.
• Douglas and Percy reviewed the packed event schedule and watched Slane organize the reporters.
• Douglas recognized Rita Skeeter speaking with Mr. E. Limos and learned that the Daily Prophet had added a press conference and sent extra reporters.

At a press event, Douglas Holmes countered Rita Skeeter’s insinuations and revealed his plans for a novel about an unregistered Animagus witch whose beetle form hinted at Skeeter’s secret. He invited Skeeter to consult on the book, leaving her eager to speak with him privately after the signing.

• Douglas delivered a lengthy speech before answering reporters’ questions about his novels and writing process.
• Rita Skeeter accused Douglas of using memory magic to steal stories, and he answered with jokes and remarks about his Muggle novels and the Statute of Secrecy.
• Skeeter asked whether Douglas’s next novel would be based on Dumbledore or McGonagall, and Douglas instead described an unregistered Animagus witch who fought for her country.
• Douglas suggested the witch could take the form of a beetle and invited Skeeter to consult on the novel, making her realize he knew her secret.
• Skeeter tried to move the discussion into private, while fans objected to her becoming the novel’s consultant.

After his book signing, Douglas silenced Rita Skeeter’s planned slander, sent Christmas gifts and letters, and celebrated Christmas at Hogwarts with festive magic. He ended the feast watching the students and professors enjoy the enchanted Great Hall.

• Douglas warned Rita Skeeter not to publish false claims about him, and she erased her notes.
• Douglas bought and sent Christmas presents and letters to friends, professors, and the children at the Orphanage, then spoke privately with Professor McGonagall.
• Douglas received gifts on Christmas morning, including a book from Snape, while Snape found Douglas’s recipes for potion-based hot pot and hid them away.
• George and Fred opened their Hogwarts exam reports and complained about their Potions marks.
• Douglas transformed himself into a festive God of Wealth, then turned the Great Hall’s falling snow into gold coins as Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall added their own enchantments.

At the Christmas feast, Harry turned Draco Malfoy’s taunt against him, and Douglas spent Christmas with the Weasleys before returning to Hogwarts. As the new term began, Douglas reminded his fifth-years to stay calm as their OWLs approached and gave them a practice test.

• Draco Malfoy mocked Gryffindor’s Potions grades, but Harry pointed out that Draco’s insult also demeaned Professor Snape, prompting Draco to flee the Great Hall.
• Douglas visited The Burrow for Christmas dinner, discussed the Weasley children’s grades and interests with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and declined their invitation to visit Bill in Egypt.
• Douglas received a sweater from Mrs. Weasley and Christmas presents from his friends, including dragon hide shoes from Charlie.
• The students returned to Hogwarts and rushed to finish their homework when they realized the new term began the next day.
• Douglas told his fifth-year students that only 150 days remained until their OWLs and gave them a six-foot practice test based on past exam material.

Douglas taught the second-year Gryffindors to banish Boggarts and tested them one at a time. Neville defeated a Boggart shaped like Snape, while Parvati forgot it was a Boggart and failed the challenge.

• Douglas explained the Riddikulus spell and had the students practice its pronunciation before bringing them into the classroom individually.
• Neville faced a Boggart that took Snape's form and cast Riddikulus, making Snape look drunk and stumble back into the chest.
• Douglas congratulated Neville and advised him not to tell anyone about the Boggart Snape.
• Parvati faced a Boggart mummy, forgot it was a Boggart, and used other spells to evade it.
• Douglas transformed the mummy's bandages into spider legs and told Parvati she had failed the challenge.

Douglas led his students through a Boggart challenge, where Seamus, Harry, and Hermione faced their fears while Ron failed to cast the spell properly. After class, the students traded stories about their fears, and Ron decided to find leverage against George and Fred so he could prank them.

• Seamus turned the Boggart into a mouse and then a rattlesnake, so Douglas sent it back into the chest and praised him.
• Ron panicked at the sight of a giant spider, failed to keep it transformed, and received chocolate from Douglas after he intervened.
• Harry turned the Boggart's Voldemort into a tiny snake-bodied creature whose oversized face dragged along the floor.
• Hermione cried when the Boggart impersonated Douglas and threatened her, then ran out after Douglas gave her chocolate.
• Douglas assigned homework, and the students shared their fears; Ron learned George and Fred had feared their mother and vowed to find something to use against them.