Chapter Summaries

Douglas and Lupin rejected Ministry escort and discussed how their trip to Italy could draw the Church’s attention toward werewolves they wanted eliminated. After learning of Piero’s personal grudge against werewolves, they left Rome by car for the Apennine Mountains to avoid magical surveillance.

• Douglas refused Piero’s order to provide an escort and challenged the Ministry over its treatment of werewolves.
• Lorenzo warned Douglas that Piero’s hostility stemmed from a werewolf killing his beloved aunt years earlier.
• Over a meal, Lupin realized Douglas had arranged for Marcus to promote the New Wolfsbane Potion and had lured Greyback to Italy to draw the Church’s attention to their enemies.
• Douglas said the Church likely believed he had come to sell the potion and did not know about his standing as a Wolfsbane Healer.
• Douglas and Lupin drove out of Rome toward the Apennine Mountains, avoiding the Floo Network and Apparition to reduce the chance of being detected.

Douglas and Lupin drove into the Apennine Mountains while Director Piero’s people followed them, then met Isabella Rossi at an abandoned Roman way station. Isabella gave Douglas a detailed map of the Ashen Claw Tribe’s territory and a mysterious silver whistle.

• Douglas told Lupin that their pursuers were following them and that they should stick to their plan.
• Lupin recognized the distant wolf howls as a warning and declaration from his own kind, and said they were nearing their target.
• Douglas and Lupin reached the ruined Roman way station and met Isabella Rossi.
• Isabella handed Douglas an updated map marking the Ashen Claw Tribe’s main territory and three backup shelters.
• Isabella gave Douglas an archaic silver whistle engraved with a wolf, then remarked that he did not recognize it.

Douglas and Lupin set out through the Apennine Mountains carrying a token that could help them negotiate with traditional werewolf tribes. After discovering Church hunters’ traps and patrols, they evaded them and followed a trail toward an abandoned mine once used by the Ashen Claw Tribe, where Lupin suddenly stopped.

• Isabella explained that the Moon Speaker’s whistle could suppress traditional werewolves’ bloodthirsty instincts and make them listen, then warned Douglas and Lupin about the Red Moon Brotherhood before Apparating away.
• Lupin detected Piero’s followers nearby, and Douglas stopped their vehicle when Lupin smelled silver and Holy Water ahead.
• Douglas and Lupin found werewolf traps made with silver nets and Holy Water, which Lupin identified as the work of the Order of Saint Benedict Werewolf Hunters.
• Douglas concealed the vehicle in a capsule, and he and Lupin avoided the patrols by taking an abandoned smugglers’ trail through the woods.
• Lupin used the map to guide them toward the abandoned mine area, which the Ashen Claw Tribe had once used as a refuge, then suddenly stopped Douglas on the trail.

Douglas and Lupin discovered a hidden Church facility in the Apennine Mountains where werewolves had been imprisoned and experimented on, then alerted Director Piero. Piero recognized the site as an illegal Adam Project laboratory and ordered it concealed, planning to use the discovery as leverage against the Church.

• Lupin sensed suffering beneath a mound, and Douglas used the Magic Radar to identify a magically sealed cave with defensive traps.
• Lupin opened the mound and found a rune-carved stone door, reacting with horror to signs that werewolves had been held alive inside.
• Douglas sent a paper crane to Director Piero, directing him to the site and implying that the Ministry should act against the Church.
• Piero arrived with Italian Aurors and learned from Douglas's message that the site contained evidence of a serious violation.
• Piero identified the door's defenses as a Church Holy Cage connected to prayer beacons and warned that forcing it open would summon werewolf hunters.
• Piero ordered the Aurors to conceal the site and recognized that the illegal Adam Project laboratory could give the minister leverage against the Church.

Douglas and Lupin were ambushed by the Holy Tribunal’s knights, led by a female knight who identified Douglas as a heretic and announced that his vacation was over. As the holy aura weakened Lupin, Douglas shielded him with a modified Insulation Charm, leaving them surrounded by the knights.

• Lupin sensed an ambush near the abandoned mining area, and Douglas trusted him and led them toward a steep ridge.
• The knights activated holy light nets and released blessed silver powder, trapping the pair and causing Lupin severe pain.
• A female knight led the encirclement and addressed Douglas as Heretic Douglas Holmes on behalf of the Supreme Holy See and the Holy Tribunal.
• Douglas mocked the female knight and said his vacation had only just begun.
• Lupin fell to one knee as the female knight intensified the holy aura, so Douglas cast a modified Insulation Charm around him.

Douglas Holmes fought off Agnese Vieri and the knights of the Order of Saint Sebastian, then escaped with Lupin. Agnese recognized his magic as Grindelwald’s, and Piero arrived with Italian Aurors to challenge her unauthorized operation.

• Agnese Vieri identified Douglas Holmes and offered him a chance to surrender and face the Holy Tribunal.
• Douglas raised a gale, torrential rain, mental shock, and lightning to break the knights’ formation and destroy their barrier.
• Douglas used Apparition to escape with Lupin as Agnese recognized the magic as Grindelwald’s.
• Piero arrived with Italian Aurors and accused Agnese of conducting an unannounced military exercise within their jurisdiction.

Piero confronted Agnese over the Church’s unauthorized attack, but she dismissed the Ministry’s authority until he threatened to expose the Adam Project and the Holy Cage. Meanwhile, Douglas took the shaken Lupin to a hidden catacomb refuge and opened a concealed passage.

• Piero accused Agnese and the Order of Saint Sebastian of violating secrecy laws and deploying offensive magic without authorization.
• Agnese insisted that God’s authority outweighed mortal law and said the Ministry’s memory modification squads were responsible for protecting secrecy.
• Piero threatened to give the Cardinal a report on the Adam Project, the Holy Cage, and werewolves whose deaths had been falsified.
• Agnese and her knights departed in holy light, leaving Piero furious with the Church’s violations of Italian territory.
• Douglas brought Lupin to an abandoned catacomb beneath Naples and gave him a potion to counter mental magic.
• Douglas tapped a skull’s eye socket to reveal a hidden underground passage, and Lupin joked about Hufflepuffs’ secret entrances.

Douglas deduced that the Church’s attack had been a test connected to the Adam Project, while Piero uncovered evidence that the Church was secretly turning werewolves into super-soldiers. The cardinal ordered Agnese to begin a more horrifying stage of the project.

• Douglas told Lupin that the Church had tried to capture and test them, and suspected the cardinal behind the attack was an old acquaintance.
• Piero learned that the Adam Project involved taking werewolves under the pretense of treatment, then pressured Gianluca into revealing its sealed records.
• Piero read that the project’s ritual killed or mentally destroyed most subjects and aimed to create super-soldiers, and he connected its experiments to Douglas’s past investigation.
• Agnese reported her failure to the cardinal, who revealed that her knights had served as bait to test Douglas.
• The cardinal showed Agnese a werewolf being drained on an altar as a knight absorbed its heart and began transforming.

Douglas explained to Remus Lupin why they should not involve Dumbledore or interfere in the Italian Ministry of Magic’s conflict with the Church, then returned with him to the ambush site to search for clues. He found signs that the Adam Project’s testing grounds were nearby and wondered what had happened to the Ashen Claw Tribe.

• Remus Lupin urged Douglas to notify Dumbledore about the Church’s Holy Shield and Adam Project, but Douglas revealed that Lupin carried residue from the Sacred Word Mark and said they were in Italy.
• Douglas described the Italian Ministry of Magic’s centuries-long fight against the Church, including the Church’s failed 1888 brainwashing ritual and its defeat by Grindelwald.
• Douglas explained that the Church was using Muggle genetic engineering to create creatures capable of killing wizards, then said they should focus on the Dark Lord and Fenrir Greyback instead.
• Douglas Apparated with Lupin back to the valley where the Holy Shield Order had ambushed them, arguing that the enemy would not expect them to return so soon.
• Douglas searched the site and found a strangely growing aconite with golden light on its petals, suggesting the Adam Project’s testing grounds were nearby.
• Douglas looked toward a cave and questioned what had happened to the Ashen Claw Tribe and why the Church had ambushed them there.

Douglas and Lupin investigated the emptied mine and discovered evidence that Italian Ministry of Magic Aurors had cleaned the scene. Douglas deduced that the Ministry had staged events to draw him into a conflict with the Church, and Lupin suspected Miss Rossi Isarabe had helped lure the Ashen Claw Tribe to him.

• Lupin found that Silent Dust had blocked his senses and detection spell inside the abandoned mine.
• Douglas identified gray residue as enchanted volcanic ash used by the Italian Ministry of Magic's Auror Office to control explosions.
• Douglas concluded that Ministry personnel, not the Church, had cleaned the mine and that the Church's attack was a consequence of a larger setup.
• Douglas reasoned that the Ashen Claw Tribe had been manipulated into seeking him as an ally, using his New Wolfsbane Potion as bait.
• Lupin connected Douglas's theory to Miss Rossi Isarabe, who had notified the Ashen Claw Tribe.

Douglas and Lupin pieced together how Lorenzo Dino used Isabella and the Church’s attack on the Ashen Claw Tribe to trap Douglas in a conflict and expose the Church’s actions. Douglas decided not to follow Dino’s plan, and the Magic Radar revealed signs of life in a passage deeper in the mine.

• Douglas explained that Isabella likely served as an unwitting pawn and that the Ashen Claw Tribe had been safe when she first contacted them.
• Douglas concluded that someone had staged the cleaned-up massacre site and leaked news of his arrival to set up an ambush by the Holy Shield.
• Lupin identified Lorenzo Dino as the person with the authority and motive to arrange the operation.
• Douglas said Dino was using them to expose the Church and end its centuries-long cold war with the Werewolves.
• Douglas chose to pursue their original goal and use the mine’s Magic Radar, which detected signs of life in a narrow passage below.

Douglas and Lupin followed the Magic Radar through the abandoned mine and found a badly wounded old man hidden beneath the passage. Douglas stopped the man from killing himself, then identified him as a werewolf.

• Douglas and Lupin followed the radar to a point beneath the mine passage.
• Douglas cast “Bore Tunnel, Enter Well,” opening a shaft and creating a pool to cushion their fall.
• Douglas and Lupin jumped down and found a wounded old man in a brightly lit passage.
• The old man raised his wand to his temple, but Douglas used the Finger-Flick Technique to knock it away.
• Douglas told Lupin that the old man was a werewolf.

Lupin and Douglas calmed the dying werewolf Aldo and told him that the new Wolfsbane Potion could cure werewolf toxin. Aldo recalled how the Ashen Claw Tribe had treated its members as brothers and family, leaving Lupin shaken by the words.

• Lupin revealed his werewolf presence to reassure Aldo, while Douglas gave him an improved Calming Draught.
• Douglas showed Aldo the Moon Speaker's token and introduced himself as Douglas Holmes from Hogwarts.
• Aldo recognized the Holmes name and demanded to know whether the new Wolfsbane Potion could save werewolves.
• Lupin confirmed that Professor Holmes's potion could eradicate werewolf toxin at little cost, and Aldo broke down in relief.
• Aldo told Lupin and Douglas that the Ashen Claw Tribe had welcomed him and treated its members as brothers and family.
• Lupin was overwhelmed by Aldo's words about brothers and family.

Lupin remembered how Peter’s betrayal had destroyed his family and filled him with regret, but Douglas’s kindness and the New Wolfsbane Potion gave him renewed hope. He emerged from his memories with deeper sympathy for Aldo and returned his attention to the mine passage.

• Lupin recalled his friendship with James, Sirius, and Peter, then remembered Peter’s betrayal and the deaths of James and Lily.
• Lupin regretted failing to discover the truth sooner and wondered whether his friends and Harry might have been spared.
• Seeing the empty Calming Draught bottle, Lupin recognized Douglas’s help and the New Wolfsbane Potion as a source of hope.
• Lupin looked at Aldo with understanding, seeing a fellow werewolf abandoned to suffering and left without support.
• Douglas gave Lupin time to process his memories, and Lupin eventually refocused on the mine passage and those around him.

Douglas and Lupin questioned Aldo about the Church-style siege that drove the Ashen Claw into the mines, uncovering signs that the attackers had deliberately let some of the dwarves escape. Douglas found that the Holy Light wounds seemed to come from imitation power, leaving the true nature of the attack unresolved.

• Douglas and Lupin urged Aldo to recount the attack, and he described armored knights and black-robed priests who drove the Ashen Claw toward the deepest mine tunnels.
• Aldo said the attackers repeatedly held back from killing the dwarves, and he escaped alone after being wounded by Holy Light and a Purifying Flame Charm.
• Aldo revealed that the siege lacked an Anti-Apparition Jinx, allowing him to Apparate while Chief Marco ordered the tribe to flee to backup hideouts.
• Aldo explained that he hid in the abandoned mine to avoid leading the Church to the other survivors, where he lived on fungi, water, and dried meat.
• Douglas examined Aldo's wounds and concluded that the Holy Light was pure but lacked a foundation, making it seem like an imitation of sacred power.

Douglas deduced that the attack on Aldo’s tribe had been staged to draw him in, and learned that a mysterious cloaked witch had visited Marco beforehand. He began treating Aldo’s injuries with unfamiliar tools and acupuncture, successfully weakening the corrupting energies in his body.

• Douglas examined the bloodied insignia and concluded that the attackers had staged the destruction of Aldo’s tribe to lure him.
• Douglas asked Aldo about anything unusual before the attack, and Aldo recalled a cloaked human wizard who had met privately with Marco.
• Aldo asked Douglas to save the survivors, and Douglas promised to try while first treating Aldo’s wounds.
• Douglas applied a dark green ointment to Aldo’s curse-scorched skin, dissolving the dead tissue into black smoke.
• Douglas inserted silver needles throughout Aldo’s body and used a technique called Purify the Source and Restore the Origin to draw out the harmful energy.

Douglas healed Aldo, disguised their magical traces, and Apparated with him to the Ashen Claw Tribe’s empty old base. Aldo recognized that Isabella’s map revealed secret fallback shelters known only to the chief and elders, and demanded to know who had given it to Douglas.

• Douglas removed the Holy Light traces from Aldo and restored some of his strength with a potion.
• Aldo urged Douglas and Lupin to rescue Chief Marco and the Ashen Claw Tribe, and Douglas used Mirage to confuse anyone tracking them.
• Douglas checked the mine tunnel for danger and Apparated with Aldo and Lupin to the Ashen Claw Tribe’s old base.
• Aldo panicked at how thoroughly the base had been cleaned, but Douglas suggested the tribe had relocated and showed him two maps.
• Aldo recognized the secret fallback shelters on Isabella’s map and asked Douglas who had given it to him.

Douglas, Aldo, and Lupin searched Ashen Claw’s fallback refuges using Isabella’s map and found signs that the tribe had reached two locations before moving on. They headed toward a core refuge, where the chapter left them facing an abandoned mining district.

• Aldo identified an abandoned sulfur mine as the most likely refuge, and Douglas led the group there.
• The three found traces of recent habitation at the sulfur mine, and Aldo concluded that Ashen Claw had passed through safely.
• Aldo pointed them toward an ancient cave at the Edge of the Black Forest, where they found signs of a brief skirmish and another abandoned refuge.
• Douglas reassured Aldo and led the group toward the map’s core refuge.
• The group crossed a ridge and reached a desolate, long-abandoned mining district.

Aldo led Douglas and Lupin through the Ashen Claw Tribe’s hidden mine stronghold, where guards initially challenged them. After Aldo introduced the visitors, Marco welcomed them and led them inside the refuge.

• Aldo guided Douglas and Lupin through the maze-like mine tunnels toward the tribe’s innermost refuge.
• Two young guards sprang out at the entrance and aimed a spear and bow at the visitors.
• Aldo identified himself and introduced Douglas as Professor Douglas Holmes and Lupin as a visitor who had come to help.
• One guard ran to fetch Marco, while the other stayed on watch until the tribe’s leader arrived and recognized Aldo.
• Marco greeted Aldo, shook Douglas’s hand, and led the group deeper into the mine.

Douglas and Lupin met with Marco in the Ashen Claw’s hidden shelter, where Douglas learned that Isabella Rossi was Marco’s sister and heard how Marco became a werewolf and joined the tribe. Marco explained that Isabella had sought Douglas’s help after the tribe was devastated by the Order of Saint Benedict Werewolf Hunters, and that he had asked Douglas to find a way for the whole tribe to survive.

• Douglas and Lupin entered the Ashen Claw’s cave shelter, and Marco offered them hot soup in his temporary command post.
• Douglas asked Marco how he knew Isabella and why she had shared the tribe’s secret fallback locations with him.
• Marco revealed that his full name was Marco Rossi and that Isabella Rossi was his sister.
• Marco told Douglas and Lupin that a werewolf bit him when he was a child, and he left his family after an early transformation exposed him.
• Marco explained that Isabella had secretly supported him and the Ashen Claw with medicine and intelligence over the years.
• After the Order of Saint Benedict Werewolf Hunters nearly destroyed the tribe, Isabella contacted Marco about Douglas’s improved Wolfsbane Potion, and Marco asked Douglas for help saving the entire tribe.