Chapter Summaries

Douglas told Harry that Voldemort had returned to life and stopped him from rushing off to fight, warning him that he was not ready. He sent Harry back to focus on Hogwarts’ final exams, which began the next day.

• Wangcai returned to Douglas, who rewarded him with a Silver Sickle.
• Harry learned from Douglas that Voldemort had returned to life and demanded that they go after him.
• Douglas rebuked Harry for wanting to fight Voldemort before he was prepared, and Harry gave up his plan to rush out.
• Harry told Douglas that Moody had acted differently toward him and asked him strange questions, and Douglas recognized the difference between the real Moody and Barty Crouch Jr.
• Douglas returned Harry’s wand and told him to focus on his exams, which began the next day.

Douglas sent Harry away with a challenge to beat fifteen-year-old Tom Riddle in his exams, then used Voldemort’s captured wand and a tracking device to locate him. Douglas, Bill, Sirius, and Remus gathered at Holmes Manor, where Sirius reported that European officials were urgently seeking defensive products after Karkaroff fled.

• Douglas told Harry he would reveal more if Harry earned excellent exam results and urged him to surpass Tom Riddle academically.
• Harry accepted Douglas’s challenge and left the office determined to defeat Riddle through his grades.
• Douglas used Voldemort’s captured wand and a drop of his blood to locate him with an upgraded Magic Radar.
• Douglas and Bill traveled by Floo Powder to Holmes Manor, where Sirius and Remus joined them.
• Sirius told the others that European officials were asking about advanced defensive products and suggested Voldemort’s return had reached powerful pure-blood families.

Douglas revealed that the enormous snake he had brought back from his fight with Voldemort might once have been human and explained the irreversible Blood Charm that transforms its victims into beasts. He left the snake’s current condition uncertain, but said Voldemort valued the unusual state of its soul.

• Douglas told Sirius to strengthen security for the Marauders Power Company's core staff, especially the Twins, and Sirius promised to protect them.
• Lupin reported that werewolf leaders across Europe were interested in Silvermane Academy after Greyback’s exposure and the academy’s students helped with the Triwizard Tournament.
• Bill asked Douglas about his fight with Voldemort, and Douglas revealed a huge sleeping snake in a cage.
• Dobby told Douglas that Winky had returned to Mr. Crouch and that he felt lonely as the House-elf Rights Protection Association’s only remaining member; Douglas reassured him.
• Douglas explained that the snake, Nagini, might have been a person afflicted by a Blood Charm that eventually erases a victim’s humanity, and said Voldemort valued its soul’s unusual condition.

As the visiting schools departed Hogwarts after the Triwizard Tournament, Neville received an invitation to study at Durmstrang, while Hagrid and Madame Maxime arranged to stay in touch. Viktor Krum remained behind, and Madame Maxime hinted that Pheobe should also remain to learn about British magical graduation examinations.

• Durmstrang students invited Neville to spend a month at their school next year, and Neville gratefully accepted while noting he might not be able to leave Hogwarts.
• Madame Maxime promised to write to Hagrid and said she might visit Hogwarts for next year's competition in Egypt.
• Viktor Krum stayed behind as Durmstrang's ship departed, and the new headmaster told him to bring honor to the school.
• Madame Maxime noticed Krum had stayed and suggested that Pheobe needed a deeper understanding of British magical graduation examinations.

Pheobe accepted Madame Maxime’s offer to remain at Hogwarts for final exams and hurried to tell Bill Weasley. The chapter ended with Bill inviting her on a dangerous-area investigation of the Castle while Douglas teased them.

• Madame Maxime offered Pheobe the chance to stay at Hogwarts as an exchange student and take the final exams, and Pheobe eagerly accepted.
• Pheobe found Bill beneath the Castle’s portico and told him she was staying; Bill welcomed the news and offered to show her around Hogwarts.
• Douglas joined Bill and Pheobe, mocking Bill’s claims of expertise and describing the Castle’s traps, ghosts, and secret passages.
• Bill proposed investigating Hogwarts’ dangerous areas, and Pheobe challenged him to lead the way.
• Douglas teased Bill about finding Pheobe attractive, and Bill insisted that wisdom and necessary violence helped him survive ancient tombs.

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.