Chapter Summaries

Douglas demonstrated two unusual spells to Sirius in his office, using one to pin him to the floor and another to make a flying sofa harmless. He explained that the spells were inventions from his student days and that similar creations were layered throughout the Dungeon trials.

• Sirius teased Douglas for being petty, and Douglas used a spell to make Sirius's trench coat unbearably heavy and pin him to the floor.
• Douglas explained that the spell reversed the usual relationship between an object's mass and its magically increased gravitational burden, and Sirius gave up trying to counter it.
• Douglas lifted the spell, then demonstrated a protective charm by sending a sofa at Sirius, whose confidence let him deflect it as though it were weightless.
• Douglas explained that the protective charm depended on the recipient's confidence and magic, and said the Dungeon's overlapping trials contained many spells created by former students.
• Douglas recalled that the spells had been intended as rewards for younger students and that he had once speculated in The Quibbler about a hidden Hogwarts treasure.

Harry and the others investigated the darkness behind Ravenclaw’s stone door, discovering that it swallowed both magical and ordinary light. Luna warned them that Professor Holmes could be kind without being harmless, and the group decided to seal the entrance and explore elsewhere for a solution.

• Cho Chang cast Lumos through the doorway, but the light vanished, while Justin Finch-Fletchley’s quill and Neville’s sword passed through unharmed.
• Harry tested the darkness with a torch, which also went out, and the students suspected they would need a Hand of Glory to see through it.
• Neville argued that Professor Holmes would have provided a solution within the rules, and Harry proposed sealing the entrance and searching elsewhere.
• Luna endorsed Harry’s plan, then warned Ron that Professor Holmes might torment students even if he would not let them die.
• The students laughed at Luna’s assessment, and Ron eventually admitted she was right.

Dumbledore told Douglas and Sirius that the Ministry’s new Finance and Taxation Department had rejected Hogwarts’ annual asset report and demanded a compliant inventory by the end of November. Its questions about the Sword of Gryffindor and the Marauders Power Company’s Acromantula silk dealings left Sirius wondering whether they would have to dig up Godric Gryffindor to prove ownership.

• Sirius joked with Douglas in the Defense Against Dark Magic Office before Dumbledore arrived with the rejected report.
• Dumbledore explained that the Ministry’s professional audit team had failed Hogwarts’ report and required a resubmission by the end of November.
• Dumbledore showed Douglas and Sirius requests to document Peeves’ damage, value the Founders’ relics, and establish the Sword of Gryffindor’s ownership and condition.
• The audit also demanded details of Hogwarts’ arrangements and revenue sharing with the Marauders Power Company over Forbidden Forest resources.
• Sirius protested that the school could not prove the Sword’s history by questioning Godric Gryffindor and objected to the Ministry scrutinizing the company’s contract with Aragog.

Douglas explained that Fudge’s Ministry was using financial investigations of Hogwarts and its governors to raise funds and reform the wizarding world, a plan Douglas had helped devise. Sirius agreed to manage Hogwarts’ accounts, while Dumbledore suggested he could become the next headmaster and spoke of making more films.

• Douglas explained that Hogwarts’ Ministry subsidies made it subject to financial scrutiny, and Dumbledore said Fudge had sent the governors’ families requests for asset disclosures and cooperation with an investigation.
• Dumbledore said Percy had shown Fudge the results of exchanges with the American Ministry of Magic, which helped prompt Fudge’s actions.
• Sirius teased Douglas that his proposal for audits had come back to hit him, and Douglas admitted he had not expected the young reformers to target Hogwarts.
• Sirius volunteered to manage the paperwork and said he would bring in Academic Affairs assistants and accounting veterans to prepare Hogwarts’ books.
• Douglas praised Sirius and joked that he should become headmaster, and Dumbledore said he could take the role if he resolved the governors’ issues.
• Dumbledore said he wanted to retire early and make more films, including a commercial adventure film about the Deathly Hallows.

Sirius pressed Douglas to complete overdue reports while he and Dumbledore discussed keeping Tom’s presence at Hogwarts from Sirius until the danger had passed. Hermione halted the Detective Club’s dungeon exploration until after exams, while Tom continued his research and endured teaching basic Potions to younger students.

• Sirius demanded that Douglas submit his overdue reports in his own handwriting by Friday and left when he sensed Douglas and Dumbledore needed privacy.
• Dumbledore praised Sirius’s maturity, then asked Douglas when he would tell Sirius that Tom was at Hogwarts; Douglas said they should wait until everything was over.
• Harry and Ron told Hermione that Luna had opened a basement door by pressing thirty Stone Balls in order, but the darkness beyond swallowed all light.
• Hermione agreed that the group should investigate the earlier stages for clues, then ordered the Detective Club’s fifth-year-and-above members to stop exploring and study for exams.
• Tom pursued his Soul Toxin research after classes and taught basic Potions to first- and second-year students during the day.

Voldemort struggled to teach first-year students Potions after their poor exam results drew ridicule from Sirius and the Academic Affairs Office. After a disastrous Swelling Solution lesson, he was left fuming over how little authority professors had to discipline students.

• Voldemort learned that first- and second-year Potions scores had fallen to a five-year low, and Sirius mocked his teaching at an Academic Affairs meeting.
• Voldemort taught a joint Swelling Solution lesson to first-year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, but students mishandled ingredients and ignored his written instructions.
• Mr Miller added porcupine quills to a boiling cauldron, causing it to erupt and spray foul-smelling potion across the classroom.
• Voldemort scolded Mr Miller and deducted ten points from Gryffindor, the only punishment he felt the rules allowed.
• Voldemort sat in his office after class and complained to himself that teaching had become exhausting and professors had too little authority.

Voldemort searched Hogwarts’s dungeons for the supposed Slytherin treasure, hoping to see what Douglas’s former friends had made in Salazar Slytherin’s name. He found a crooked, garishly painted stone door and a sliding-block puzzle that left him mocking its portrayal of Slytherin.

• Voldemort recalled hearing about the fake Founder treasures and decided to investigate the Slytherin one.
• He questioned Flitwick and Professor Sprout, learned Douglas had made the treasures with friends from other Houses, and identified Edgar Prout as the likely creator of the Slytherin setup.
• Voldemort searched the lower dungeon levels and found a shabby stone door with a cartoon snake and an inscription about weighing gains and losses.
• He examined the sliding-block puzzle, which labeled Salazar Slytherin an “Ambitious schemer” and surrounded him with obstacles including the Wizengamot, school rules, allies, contracts, and public opinion.
• Voldemort sneered at the puzzle’s depiction of Slytherin and the creator’s avoidance of the word “Mudblood.”

Voldemort faced a sliding-block puzzle that required him to use the Muggle and Muggle-born pieces to free Salazar Slytherin, but he refused and repeatedly failed. After the puzzle reset, he decided to bypass it and teach Hogwarts students his own version of Slytherin’s power.

• Voldemort read the puzzle rules and tried to solve it by pushing the Muggle and Muggle-born blocks into corners, but the board jammed.
• Voldemort realized the small blocks were essential for moving the larger pieces and helping Salazar reach the Power Door.
• Voldemort refused to move the small blocks and tried to force a path using only the pure-blood pieces, but he could not progress.
• The animated snake mocked Voldemort after he exceeded the move limit, and the board reset.
• Voldemort abandoned the puzzle and decided to act as Slytherin’s heir, intending to teach the students searching for the Four Founders’ Treasure a lesson.