Recaps

Harry, Ron, and Hermione traveled on the Hogwarts Express, discussed their pets and Professor Holmes, and traded insults with Draco Malfoy. Malfoy learned that Holmes was Harry’s maternal cousin, then left after bringing up a Prophet competition to guess the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

• Harry’s Sneakoscope whistled, and Hermione silenced it as Ron explained it had been his gift to Harry.
• The trio discussed Professor Holmes’s Niffler, Wangcai, and black dog while the sleeping Lupin shuddered at the mention of the dog.
• Hermione’s Crookshanks jumped onto Ron, who showed Harry that Scabbers had grown healthy after eating Professor Holmes’s pet food.
• Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle mocked Harry and Ron, and Harry and Ron taunted Draco about Dobby working for Professor Holmes.
• Hermione revealed that Professor Holmes was Harry’s maternal cousin, shocking Draco, who then changed the subject after noticing Lupin.
• Draco mentioned the Daily Prophet’s 500-Galleon competition to guess the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, then left as Ron vowed to stand up to him.

The train stopped in darkness as Dementors boarded, and Harry’s Wooden Plaque captured one before Professor Lupin and students drove the others away. Harry’s silver Patronus also repelled a Dementor, and he learned that the plaque from his maternal cousin had protected him.

• The Hogwarts Express slowed to a stop, the lights went out, and students used Lumos to illuminate the corridor.
• Hermione and Ginny returned to Harry’s compartment as Professor Lupin woke and warned everyone to stay where they were.
• A Dementor entered the compartment, and a white light shot from Harry’s chest, bound it, and pulled it into his Wooden Plaque.
• Seventh-year students used special Lumos spells to drive the Dementors down the corridor, while Percy and Penelope identified them as guards of Azkaban.
• A Dementor was shoved into Harry’s compartment, and Harry’s silver bird Patronus knocked it back as other students cast Patronuses and chased the Dementors away.
• Harry showed the others his hot Wooden Plaque and explained that his maternal cousin had given it to protect him, while Lupin advised him to keep it somewhere else.

Lupin recognized Douglas Holmes as the author of novels he admired and hinted that Holmes knew the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Meanwhile, Douglas created a secret passage between his home and Hogwarts, then hurried to the Great Hall as the Sorting Ceremony began.

• Lupin told Harry that he had read Professor Holmes's novels and said Holmes knew the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
• Percy and Penelope quietly agreed to help Harry while avoiding open opposition to the Ministry of Magic.
• Douglas worked with Sirius and Dobby to design and inscribe a secret teleportation passage between his home and his Hogwarts office.
• Douglas tested the passage with Sirius and Dobby, and Sirius returned home through the fireplace.
• Douglas sent Dobby back to study, changed his clothes, and headed for the Great Hall.

At the Hogwarts feast, students welcomed Douglas back while Peeves fled from him, and Dumbledore announced that Dementors were staying at the school. He reassured students about the train incident and said Hogwarts would investigate the missing Dementor.

• Peeves set off Filibuster Fireworks at the Great Hall entrance and joined the feast under the Bloody Baron's supervision.
• Students noticed Professor Lupin and Snape's hostile stare, while the Sorting Hat sang a new line about remembering Defense Against the Dark Arts professors.
• Romilda Vane was sorted into Gryffindor, but the hall's attention shifted when Douglas arrived and students applauded.
• Peeves shouted that the ghost killer had returned, fired his last Filibuster Firework, and escaped through a wall as the other ghosts scattered.
• Dumbledore told the students that Dementors were staying at Hogwarts on Ministry business and reassured them about the train incident.
• Dumbledore said Hogwarts would investigate the missing Dementor and asked students who knew what happened to report to their Head of House.

At the Hogwarts feast, Dumbledore announced new Dementor security measures and welcomed Douglas Holmes, Remus Lupin, and Rubeus Hagrid to their school roles. When students realized they had neglected their Defense Against Dark Arts homework, Hermione and Percy helped them catch up while the Weasley twins prepared to sell answer sheets.

• Dumbledore ordered Dementors to guard every school entrance and urged students skilled in the Patronus Charm and a certain kind of Lumos to help protect others.
• Dumbledore welcomed Douglas Holmes back as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and announced that Remus Lupin would supervise the supplementary classes.
• Dumbledore introduced Rubeus Hagrid as the new Care of Magical Creatures professor after his name was cleared, and Hagrid thanked Douglas.
• Students discovered that most had not done their Defense Against Dark Arts summer homework, so Hermione and Percy guided them through it.
• The Weasley twins hid in their dormitory with Gryffindor test papers and planned to compile and sell answers to their classmates.

Douglas welcomed Remus Lupin as the new leader of Hogwarts’ morning runs and explained how the runs helped students withstand Dementors. After Lupin led the students around the Black Lake and they watched the sunrise, he was moved by the beauty of the morning.

• Douglas told Dumbledore that he had trapped a Dementor inside a wooden Patronus to protect Harry, and Dumbledore said the Ministry would not reclaim it.
• Douglas introduced Lupin as the professor in charge of morning runs and urged students to join, noting that last year’s runners had not fainted when Dementors attacked the train.
• Lupin registered the students who attended and dried the dew along their route with a wandless fireball, earning their applause.
• Lupin led the students on a run around the Black Lake alongside Douglas and kept pace with him.
• Douglas stopped the run at sunrise, and Lupin watched the golden light fill the grounds and remembered his friends in the Shrieking Shack.

Douglas learned that Sirius was worried about Lupin, while Harry and Ron mocked Draco at breakfast before the Weasley twins tried to sell exam answers. Hermione revealed that the twins’ parchments were only timetables, and Ginny explained that their supposed answers were last year’s questions; the twins continued selling them as Percy stayed quiet.

• Douglas invited Lupin to breakfast, but Lupin declined, and Sirius asked Douglas whether Lupin was all right.
• Harry and Ron taunted Draco about his failed duel, his fear of the Dementor, and his flight from the Forbidden Forest until Hermione warned them that Snape was coming.
• Fred and George offered Harry and Ron parchment rolls advertised as Professor Holmes’s exam answers, but the rolls contained their new timetables.
• Hermione said she had discussed her crowded timetable with Professor McGonagall and shut down Ron’s questions about it.
• Ginny told Harry and Ron that the twins were selling last year’s questions as exam answers, and said Percy would not report them to their mother.

Harry and his friends read newspaper coverage of Douglas Holmes’s return as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, including a false claim that he was an impostor. Douglas welcomed the fifth-year Ravenclaws and urged them to work hard for their OWLs, leaving them unsure how to respond because his words differed from last year.

• Hermione read the Daily Prophet’s reports praising Douglas Holmes as the first Defense Against the Dark Arts professor in decades to serve a second year, while Harry and Ron discussed finding old news about Sirius Black.
• Hermione and Harry read The Quibbler’s claim that the Ministry had replaced Douglas with an impostor, and Harry dismissed it after Cedric Diggory explained Polyjuice Potion.
• The fifth-year Ravenclaws argued over whether Eddie Camille would remain class representative, and Eddie could not answer them.
• Douglas greeted the students and urged them to give their best in their final push toward the OWLs, using words different from last year’s lesson.

Douglas gave Ravenclaw students a tricky Defense Against Dark Magic exam, then caught Gryffindor second-years using a crude answer key. He suspected the Weasley Twins had organized the cheating and planned to tell Bill about it.

• Douglas kept Eddie Camille as Defense Against Dark Magic class representative and gave Ravenclaw a start-of-term exam with deliberately confusing questions.
• The Ravenclaw students struggled to notice that Douglas had scrambled the answer choices, and none questioned whether the paper contained mistakes.
• Douglas began the Gryffindor second-years' exam by naming Ginny class representative and noticed several students copying memorized answers.
• Douglas recalled how he and Bill had once sold tiered exam answers, then formed the Magic Study Group after their scheme was exposed.
• Douglas concluded that the Weasley Twins were behind the Gryffindor cheating and decided to tell Bill about them later.

Hogwarts students debated the new morning-running program, while Hermione urged Harry and Ron to use school activities and personal connections to recruit members for their club. George and Fred signed up and continued selling their dubious answers, then warned their classmates that Snape was causing trouble in Potions.

• A notice announced Professor Holmes and Professor Lupin’s year-long morning-running program, with house points and advanced spell lessons as rewards and severe penalties for absences or quitting.
• Students who had been volunteered promoted the program and gathered sign-ups, while George and Fred recognized their sales pitch as familiar.
• Hermione told Harry and Ron to join the runs and recruit members through activities; she said she had split herself into three and asked them to sign her up.
• Harry planned to ask his maternal cousin to advise their club, and Hermione suggested asking Percy to teach members exam skills.
• George and Fred signed up for the runs, continued selling their answers around the Hufflepuff table, and drew the attention of second-years who planned to expose them later.
• George and Fred warned the Gryffindor table to be careful in Potions because Snape had reprimanded both Gryffindor and Slytherin students that morning.

Douglas taught his sixth-year students the Patronus Charm and revealed his original Patronus Charm of Intelligence-Lowering Mist. Later, Harry arrived at Douglas’s office and saw Sirius in dog form, recalling Professor Trelawney’s ominous prediction.

• Douglas gave Dobby half of the Galleons Dobby had brought back, but Wangcai took all the coins.
• Sirius asked Douglas to lend him gold so he could send Remus presents, and Douglas agreed in exchange for choosing items from the old Black family home.
• Douglas taught the sixth-years the Patronus Charm and demonstrated his Intelligence-Lowering Mist, which made opponents struggle to cast dark magic.
• Douglas graded summer homework while Sirius watched the scenery as a dog and Dobby worked on an essay assignment.
• Harry visited Douglas’s office, saw Padfoot, and remembered Professor Trelawney’s prediction that a sinister great dog was an omen of death.

Douglas went to the Great Hall after George and Fred were exposed for selling fake Defense Against Dark Magic answers, only to discover that Percy and the professors had planned to use the incident to control troublesome students. He learned the Heads of House expected him to arrange detentions, while Snape pressed him about how he would punish the twins.

• Harry told Douglas that George and Fred had sold fake answers and that Professor McGonagall wanted his opinion on their punishment.
• Douglas entered the Great Hall and found the professors cheerful while George and Fred stood surrounded by students.
• Percy explained that he had helped Professor McGonagall turn the twins' scheme into a plan to deduct points and make them earn them back.
• Percy gave Douglas a list of troublesome students, including Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, whom the Heads of House wanted assigned detentions to avoid clashes with the Dementors.
• Snape asked whether Douglas would make George and Fred clean toilets for a year, and Douglas corrected him that his past punishment had lasted three months.

Douglas proposed creating an evening detention room supervised by Lupin, and the four Heads of House expanded the punishment system to include copying textbooks and magazines. The new arrangement was announced to Hogwarts, while Lupin found it eased his conflict over Sirius and Harry noticed the twins’ unusual despair.

• Douglas questioned George and Fred about their answer-key scheme, and Snape mocked their clumsy methods before the other professors stopped him.
• Douglas proposed that Lupin supervise an evening detention room, and Lupin agreed while asking Douglas to cover for him when his health required leave.
• Snape offered to help Lupin, and Douglas proposed textbook-copying or memory-writing as detention punishments.
• The four Heads of House added four academic periodicals to the punishments, with students copying an issue for each point they lost.
• Lupin privately felt that the detention system could help protect Harry and eased his struggle over whether to tell Dumbledore about Sirius.
• Professor McGonagall announced the revised detention rules to the Great Hall, while Harry noticed George, Fred, and their complainants looking terrified and despairing.

Douglas enforced new penalties for students who tried to cheat on the Defense Against Dark Magic exam, then went with Harry, Ron, and Hermione to check on Hagrid after Draco Malfoy was injured in a Hippogriff lesson. The chapter left Douglas concerned that Hagrid’s lesson had put inexperienced students in danger.

• Douglas deducted ten points from the students who had tried to cheat and assigned them copying punishments.
• George and Fred tried to report other prospective customers, but Douglas privately warned them that he would make them copy the Complete Guide to Magical Items, so they tore up their list and asked for textbook copying instead.
• Douglas learned from Percy that a student had been hurt during Hagrid’s first Care of Magical Creatures lesson and hurried to check on Hagrid with Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
• Harry explained that Draco Malfoy had insulted Buckbeak after the Hippogriff bowed, and Buckbeak had cut Draco’s arm.
• Douglas worried that Hagrid had exposed students with no experience to dangerous creatures, recalling a similar reckless lesson by Professor Kettleburn.

Douglas visited a distressed Hagrid after Draco Malfoy was injured by a Hippogriff during Hagrid’s first lesson, and helped him sober up before insisting that Hagrid take responsibility for student safety. Hagrid revealed that the Hippogriff facing possible punishment was Buckbeak, whom Douglas had named Little Grey, and Douglas recalled that the Ministry might sentence him to death.

• Douglas cleared the alcohol fumes from Hagrid’s hut and gave him Hangover Potions Pills to sober him up.
• Harry, Hermione, and Ron tried to reassure Hagrid that Malfoy had caused his own injury, but Douglas told them that Hagrid was responsible for keeping students safe and said he would speak to Mr. Malfoy.
• Hagrid worried that the Ministry of Magic might sentence Buckbeak to death for injuring Malfoy.
• Hagrid explained that Buckbeak was Little Grey, the Hippogriff Douglas had named after visiting him as a newborn, and that the creature only allowed Douglas to use that name.
• Douglas remembered that the Ministry had intended to kill Little Grey in the original story, before Hermione rescued him with a Time-Turner.

Douglas reviewed Hagrid’s Care of Magical Creatures lesson plan and advised him on making the classes safer and more suitable for students. The chapter ended with Hagrid learning that Harry’s amulet had captured a Dementor and promising to keep it secret.

• Douglas criticized Hagrid’s dangerous lesson plan and recommended a classroom code of conduct and advance study of the creatures.
• Hermione agreed to draft rules based on Muggle zoo visitor guidelines, while Douglas praised Hagrid’s expertise with magical beasts.
• Harry told Douglas he wanted to start a Hogwarts Magical Detective Club to investigate mysteries, including Sirius’s case.
• Hagrid objected to involving Harry in investigating Sirius, but Douglas explained that Dumbledore had assigned the task and argued Harry could handle it.
• Harry revealed that his Protective Amulet had caught a Dementor, and Douglas asked Hagrid to keep the secret from the Ministry of Magic.
• Hagrid promised to stay quiet, while Douglas redirected Harry’s question about where the Dementor had gone.

Douglas helped Hagrid and the students draft safety rules for Care of Magical Creatures lessons and advised Hagrid to prepare for student emergencies. After directing Harry and his friends to speak with Professor Lupin about Sirius, Douglas learned that he still had to design the Defense Against Dark Magic challenges in the Chamber of Secrets.

• Douglas helped Hagrid, Harry, Ron, and Hermione draft student safety rules and additional duties for Hagrid as a professor.
• Hagrid recalled seeing a black dog and a stag in the Forbidden Forest years earlier, while Douglas realized he meant Sirius and James.
• Douglas advised Hagrid to study defensive and healing magic and told him to join the students for morning runs.
• Douglas encouraged Harry and Hermione to ask other professors about Sirius and recommended they speak with Professor Lupin.
• Professor McGonagall gave Douglas the Chamber of Secrets Renovation Plan and explained that his Defense Against Dark Magic challenges were the last ones to be designed.

After returning to Gryffindor Tower, Harry, Ron, and Hermione speculated that Professor Holmes and Sirius Black might have switched identities, while Hermione’s reminder about homework ended the party. Douglas then visited Draco Malfoy in the Hospital Wing and persuaded Madam Pomfrey to let him in briefly, while discussing Hagrid’s teaching and the possibility that Malfoy’s injury could threaten Hagrid’s post.

• Professor McGonagall escorted Harry, Ron, and Hermione back to the Gryffindor Common Room, where George and Fred hosted a Back-to-School Bash before their detentions began.
• Ron told Harry and Hermione that Professor Holmes had referred to Sirius Black by his first name, and Hermione proposed several theories involving Dumbledore, Black, and Professor Holmes.
• Harry decided to test Padfoot the next day and continue investigating Black, while Hermione’s sudden realization about unfinished homework brought the party to a halt.
• Douglas went openly to the Hospital Wing to check on Draco Malfoy and explain that Malfoy’s injury might be used to get Hagrid dismissed.
• Madam Pomfrey let Douglas visit Malfoy for five minutes and told him to help Hagrid if he could.

Douglas visited Draco in the Hospital Wing and pressured him into forgiving Hagrid and the Hippogriff, Little Grey, in exchange for preserving his class representative positions. Draco agreed to write his father and planned to leave the Hospital Wing the next morning.

• Draco pretended his injury was severe until Douglas mentioned that he might miss the Defense Against Dark Magic class representative selection.
• Draco realized Theodore Nott could take his position and declared that he would be well enough to attend classes the next day.
• Douglas praised Draco for supposedly forgiving Hagrid and Little Grey, then mocked him when Draco questioned the assumption.
• Draco agreed to forgive them and promised to write his father asking him not to pursue the matter.
• After Douglas left, Draco decided the deal was worthwhile and planned to leave the Hospital Wing and tell his father what had happened.

Douglas informed Lucius Malfoy that Voldemort would return and Dumbledore had prepared for it, then caught up with Bill and helped Hagrid prepare to meet the students. The next morning, Hagrid revealed he knew Remus Lupin’s secret and claimed he had always kept it.

• Douglas told Sirius that Draco would have received the Defense Against Dark Magic Class Representative position regardless, and warned Lucius in a letter that Voldemort would return and Dumbledore had made preparations.
• Douglas called Bill, explained that Fred and George had sold answers to his exam, and told him Percy had arranged for them to stay safe; Bill asked for amulets.
• Douglas spoke with Lupin about activities to help students get to know Hagrid, then went to wake Hagrid for the morning run.
• Hagrid told Douglas he knew Remus Lupin during school and had always kept his identity secret, prompting Douglas to warn him not to reveal it to students.

Douglas left Lupin in charge of the morning runs and warned him to keep Hagrid from revealing too much, while arranging to discuss how Lupin could help Harry. Over the following week, classes and practical lessons continued, and Snape relentlessly deducted Gryffindor points from Harry before assigning him detention with Lupin.

• Douglas told Lupin to supervise Hagrid and suggested they discuss helping Harry, leaving Lupin to wonder when he was expected to find free time.
• Douglas taught first-years about dark creatures and tested older students, while a guide to the Defense Against Dark Magic practical classes circulated and seventh-years were allowed to alter the challenges.
• Draco Malfoy recovered from his injury and celebrated being reappointed as both Defense Against Dark Magic and Potions Class Representative.
• Snape deducted points from Gryffindor and Harry during Potions, mocked Harry, and penalized him when Neville made a brewing mistake.
• Snape ordered Harry to report to Lupin for detention at eight that night, while Harry suspected Lupin was keeping his distance despite his attempts to be friendly.

Oliver Wood recruited Harry and the Weasley twins for Quidditch practice, while Lupin discovered that Douglas had captured Sirius in his Animagus form. A photograph of Scabbers helped Lupin realize that Sirius had switched places with the traitor they had been searching for, and the two old friends reunited.

• Oliver Wood stopped Harry, George, and Fred after their morning run and persuaded them to train for Quidditch.
• Lupin visited Douglas’s office and found Sirius tied up as a black dog beside the fireplace.
• Douglas revealed that the dog was Padfoot, and Lupin lowered his wand and asked Sirius why he had disappeared.
• Douglas showed Lupin a newspaper photograph of Scabbers, leading Lupin to suspect that the rat was the traitor and Sirius had switched places with him.
• Sirius admitted he was sorry, and Lupin embraced him after they shared a laugh.

Douglas, Sirius, and Lupin discussed how to clear Sirius’s name, while Hogwarts announced Harry’s new Charon Detective Agency and drew interest from students. Professor McGonagall discovered Sirius in Douglas’s office, shielded Douglas, and summoned Dumbledore.

• Douglas explained to Lupin that he had secretly given Ron’s rat a potion and that the Ministry would be difficult to persuade to reopen Pettigrew’s case.
• Sirius told Lupin how he had escaped Azkaban and joined Douglas, and Lupin apologized for having once suspected him.
• Douglas asked Lupin to give Harry and the others crucial information as they investigated the truth about Sirius and Pettigrew.
• A notice announced the Charon Detective Agency, led by Harry with Hermione and Ron as vice presidents, and students from every house crowded around Ron with questions.
• Professor McGonagall entered Douglas’s office, saw Sirius, and raised her wand to protect Douglas while accusing Sirius of controlling him.
• Professor McGonagall sent a silver cat Patronus to notify Dumbledore and warned Sirius not to harm anyone at Hogwarts.

Professor McGonagall learned that Sirius had been framed by Peter Pettigrew, who was still alive and hiding as the Weasley family's rat, Scabbers. Dumbledore arrived at Douglas's office, where Douglas tried to keep him from seeing the fireplace, and McGonagall reminded him they had more urgent matters than tea.

• Professor McGonagall confronted Sirius and rejected Douglas's claim that Peter Pettigrew had been the Potters' Secret Keeper.
• Sirius revealed his Animagus form, and Douglas explained that Sirius had escaped Azkaban after seeing Pettigrew at Hogwarts.
• Professor McGonagall realized Pettigrew was likely Scabbers, the Weasley family's pet rat, and Sirius recounted the truth about the betrayal.
• Professor McGonagall put away her wand and angrily asked why Sirius had not spoken sooner, then acknowledged that the Order had wrongly suspected Lupin.
• Dumbledore arrived at Douglas's office and praised the runic concealment spell on the door, while Douglas blocked his view of the fireplace and directed Dobby to make tea.
• Professor McGonagall sternly told Dumbledore that they had not summoned him to drink tea.

Douglas’s plan to expose Pettigrew and clear Sirius’s name won McGonagall’s guarded approval, while Harry, Ron, and Hermione launched the detective agency’s application test. Douglas then criticized Ravenclaw’s weak exam results and began teaching defensive spells.

• McGonagall challenged Douglas over Pettigrew’s danger, then agreed to his plan while insisting Pettigrew be watched and eventually tried by the Ministry.
• The group agreed to keep the plan secret and focus first on clearing Sirius’s name.
• Harry, Ron, and Hermione handed out the detective agency application test, and Hermione revealed Percy would secretly screen and mark the answers.
• Douglas rebuked his Ravenclaw class for its poor exam results, assigned self-reflections and error analysis, and started a lesson on defensive spells.