Chapter Summaries

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.

Douglas’s strict teaching methods led Hogwarts to introduce monthly exams for fifth and seventh years, while he accumulated enough system points to unlock the Shop. He discovered that he could spend 10,000 points to remove his unidentified curse, which would take effect in seven months, and ended the chapter considering the choice.

• Harry used his Potions lessons to criticize Slytherin students who were preparing potion ingredients alongside him.
• Douglas returned poor test papers to the fourth and fifth years and scolded them for leaving written questions unanswered.
• Professor McGonagall held a staff meeting where Douglas explained his teaching and question-setting methods, prompting discussion of changes to Hogwarts learning.
• Hogwarts announced monthly exams for fifth and seventh years from late January through May and allowed them to use the Magic Practice Study Room until ten at night.
• On February 1, Douglas checked his system and found that his accumulated points totaled 10,017, enough to unlock the Shop and remove his curse.
• Douglas browsed the Shop’s costly offerings, then stared at the system’s notice that the curse was removable for 10,000 points.

Douglas removed his curse and prepared to open the Chamber of Secrets, while Hogwarts students faced increasingly intense exam preparations. At Hagrid’s Hut, Harry revealed that he could speak to snakes, and learned that Parseltongue was rare and associated with Salazar Slytherin’s descendants.

• Douglas removed the curse, saw the countdown vanish, and decided to focus on earning points at Hogwarts.
• Douglas’s exam slogans and study routines unsettled students, and he postponed the Defense Against Dark Magic practical exams because of a Quidditch match.
• At Hagrid’s Hut, Harry told the others that a boa constrictor had spoken to him at the zoo.
• Douglas, Hagrid, and Hermione explained that Harry’s ability was Parseltongue and that it was usually inherited, often by Slytherin’s descendants.
• Harry worried that he might be descended from Slytherin, and recalled that the Sorting Hat had wanted to place him in Slytherin.

Harry discovered that he could speak Parseltongue, and Douglas revealed that Voldemort had been Hagrid’s classmate, Tom Marvolo Riddle. Hagrid recalled Tom’s past and began to reconsider what had happened to Aragog, while Douglas hinted that Hagrid might soon clear his name.

• Douglas transfigured a chopstick into a golden snake, and Harry unknowingly spoke Parseltongue when he told it to turn around.
• Douglas confirmed that Harry spoke Parseltongue and said that Tom Marvolo Riddle was Salazar Slytherin’s only living descendant.
• Douglas revealed that Tom Marvolo Riddle was Voldemort, and Hagrid recalled that Tom had been Head Boy and connected him to Aragog.
• Douglas comforted Hagrid by saying Dumbledore thought he might soon clear his name, then asked him to call Voldemort Tom.
• Ron realized that Hagrid had been classmates with Voldemort, and Hermione pointed out that Ron was classmates with Harry.

Douglas took Harry to Dumbledore to learn whether his Parseltongue was connected to Voldemort, after reassuring him and sending Ron and Hermione away. They arrived just as Fawkes was reborn, and Douglas joked about cooking the phoenix, prompting the newborn chick to hide from him.

• Hermione raised the possibility that Harry's Parseltongue connected him to Voldemort, and Harry feared he had caused his parents' deaths.
• Douglas sent Ron and Hermione back to school, then led Harry away from Hagrid's Hut to see Dumbledore.
• Douglas used a list of sweets to get the stone gargoyle to open the way to the Headmaster's Office.
• Douglas and Harry found Dumbledore watching Fawkes burn up and be reborn from his ashes.
• Douglas joked about making phoenix-flavored beggar's chicken, and the newborn Fawkes covered himself with ashes when Douglas approached.

Douglas brought Harry to Dumbledore after discovering that Harry could speak Parseltongue, and Dumbledore explained that Voldemort had passed the ability and some of his magic to Harry. Dumbledore reassured Harry that his choices mattered more than abilities or traits, and Harry left the discussion accepting that he belonged in Gryffindor.

• Douglas told Dumbledore that Harry was a Parselmouth, and Dumbledore tested and confirmed Harry spoke Parseltongue.
• Dumbledore explained that Harry's Parseltongue came from Voldemort, who had unintentionally transferred some of his magic to Harry when he gave him his scar.
• Harry worried that the Sorting Hat had sensed Slytherin qualities in him, and Dumbledore asked Douglas about his own Sorting; the Hat accused Douglas of wanting to take it apart.
• Douglas explained that he had asked to be placed in Hufflepuff, and Dumbledore contrasted his choice with Harry's choice to avoid Slytherin.
• Dumbledore told Harry that choices revealed who people were more than their abilities, and Harry concluded that he was a Gryffindor because he had chosen that house.

Douglas proposed using a magically modified radio to record Harry speaking Parseltongue commands, so they could open the Chamber of Secrets without exposing Harry to danger or revealing his ability to the Ministry. Harry began translating Douglas’s prepared phrases while Dumbledore and Douglas discussed whether Dumbledore could understand Parseltongue.

• Douglas showed Dumbledore a parchment of possible Parseltongue commands and suggested recording Harry’s translations with his multifunctional Magic Radio.
• Harry volunteered to enter the Chamber, but Douglas argued that revealing Harry’s Parseltongue to Ministry officials could make him a target and undermine their effort to clear Hagrid.
• Dumbledore agreed that Harry should stay safe and keep his ability secret, and asked him to translate the phrases on the parchment.
• Douglas cast a soundproofing charm around Harry and turned a teacup into a snake as Harry began recording the grandiose Slytherin commands.
• Dumbledore asked Douglas how he knew he could understand Parseltongue, and Douglas admitted he had only bluffed Harry.

Dumbledore explained to Douglas that Voldemort might have created seven Horcruxes and that they would need to destroy them before they could defeat him. After Harry confirmed his Parseltongue recording was normal, Douglas discussed plans to deal with the basilisk and asked Dumbledore how to handle any Slytherin legacies they might find.

• Dumbledore told Douglas about Horcruxes and suggested that Harry might be connected to the story of Slytherin's Half-Blood Prince, but asked him to keep the matter secret.
• Harry finished recording his Parseltongue, and Dumbledore confirmed that nothing was wrong with it before sending him to dinner.
• Douglas told Dumbledore they would wait for Fawkes to regrow, then have him blind the basilisk and ask the Ministry and Lucius Malfoy to attend.
• Douglas recommended that Hagrid raise more roosters, while Dumbledore became engrossed in Celestina Warbeck's song on Douglas's radio.
• Dumbledore traded the radio's recording plate for a mithril one, and Douglas asked how to handle any Slytherin manuscripts or other legacies found in the Chamber of Secrets.
• Dumbledore replied that Salazar Slytherin was a Founder of Hogwarts and the first Head of Slytherin House.

Harry told Ron and Hermione that Professor Holmes and Dumbledore knew the Chamber of Secrets existed and suspected its entrance was in Moaning Myrtle’s Bathroom, then proposed entering it himself to control the Basilisk. As summer approached, the school delayed action until students left, and Harry shared a risky plan to capture the Basilisk while seeking Voldemort and answers about what he had transferred into Harry.

• Harry told Ron and Hermione that Professor Holmes had assigned them two feet of self-criticism and described his meeting with Holmes and Dumbledore about the Chamber of Secrets.
• Hermione found an account of the Chamber in Hogwarts, A History, and the three discussed Slytherin’s heir, the Basilisk, and the likelihood that Parseltongue could open the entrance.
• Harry, Ron, and Hermione considered investigating the Chamber themselves, but Neville interrupted them while seeking help with his Potions homework.
• Dumbledore and the Ministry of Magic agreed to wait until the end of term to act against the Basilisk, while Harry grew impatient and devised a plan to capture it.
• Hermione and Ron criticized Harry’s plan as risky and incomplete, and Harry explained that he wanted to find Voldemort in the Chamber and ask what he had transferred into him.

Hermione agreed to help Harry prepare to face the Basilisk, while Douglas focused on teaching advanced magic to students preparing for their OWLs. Harry struggled through Hermione’s demanding training plan, which she had designed to keep him from acting rashly.

• Hermione agreed that Harry could go to the Chamber of Secrets if he followed her preparations, and Ron insisted on being included in the plan.
• Hermione brought Hogwarts: A History to Douglas, who supplied dictionaries to help her investigate its mysterious passage and urged her to focus on exams and spell practice.
• Douglas used a Boggart disguised as a Dementor to train five students in the Patronus Charm, but only one managed to produce silver mist.
• Harry struggled to learn Hermione’s advanced spells while studying for exams and attending extra Quidditch training, and he made Ron practice with him.
• Hermione felt relieved that her plan was slowing Harry down and believed it let her protect him without betraying their friendship.

As Hogwarts prepared for final exams, Douglas encouraged George and Fred to study by promising them a book about magical items, then closed his practical classroom so students could attend the Quidditch final, where Cedric led Hufflepuff to victory over Gryffindor. On the first day of exams, Douglas reunited with the Wizarding Examinations Authority examiners, who recalled his own exceptional N.E.W.T. performances and hoped his students would join the Auror Office.

• Douglas promised George and Fred the Complete Guide to Magical Items if they earned at least Exceeds Expectations in every subject, prompting the twins to study and seek Percy's help with a study plan.
• Douglas closed his practical classroom for the Quidditch final, and Cedric caught the Golden Snitch to give Hufflepuff a fifty-point victory over Gryffindor.
• Cedric congratulated Harry after the match, while Oliver Wood praised Harry's potential and George and Fred remarked on Oliver's strained reaction.
• As exams neared, Harry paused his spell training to revise, relieving Hermione, and the Hogwarts final exams and O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. exams began on June 1.
• Douglas greeted the Wizarding Examinations Authority examiners, and Professor Marchbanks and Professor Tofty recalled his N.E.W.T. performances as another examiner hoped his students would become Aurors.

After learning that the Ministry had concerns about Hogwarts, Douglas proposed partnering with the Wizarding Examinations Authority to publish a question-and-revision series for O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. students. Dumbledore agreed to suggest the plan to Fudge, while Douglas intended the partnership to buffer Ministry interference and left its success uncertain.

• Douglas told Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall that the Ministry suspected Hogwarts was too much under Dumbledore's influence and might try to bring the school under its control.
• Professor McGonagall defended Hogwarts, while Dumbledore said he did not believe Fudge would interfere and noted that Fudge had deferred to Hogwarts over the Basilisk.
• Douglas proposed that Hogwarts professors and the Wizarding Examinations Authority publish Seven Years of N.E.W.T.s, Five Years of O.W.L.s, using past exam questions and practical requirements to guide students' revision.
• Professor McGonagall questioned whether the series would amount to cheating, but Douglas argued that it would build on the success of Monthly Exams and use the Authority's question bank to reduce professors' workload.
• Douglas asked Dumbledore to propose the partnership to Fudge, and Dumbledore agreed while saying the Authority's choice had to be respected.
• Douglas planned to use the project as a buffer against Ministry interference, with Hogwarts professors retaining control over how the questions were taught.

During the final Defense Against Dark Magic OWLs, Douglas observed his students and discussed the value of practical training with Professor Tofty. After exams ended, Harry seized the chance to pursue the Chamber of Secrets, persuading Ron to help draw the professors there while he sought answers from Voldemort.

• Douglas watched Shirley perform counter-curses and defensive spells during her practical exam, while another examiner praised a student's silver hummingbird Patronus.
• Professor Tofty commended Douglas's students and his practical classrooms, and Douglas explained that theory and practice should inform each other.
• After the final Ancient Runes exam, the Wizarding Examinations Authority staff left Hogwarts, and Douglas summoned class representatives to help mark papers.
• Harry remembered his plan to enter the Chamber of Secrets and took Ron under the Invisibility Cloak while Hermione was away.
• Harry told Ron to alert the professors by claiming he had entered the Chamber, so they would go after the basilisk while Harry followed them into the Chamber.
• Harry explained that he wanted to find Voldemort and learn why he could speak Parseltongue, leaving the basilisk for the professors to handle.

Harry and Ron sneaked toward Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom to investigate the Chamber of Secrets, but their disagreement over Professor Holmes’s safety and a locked door stalled their plan. Filch and Mrs. Norris arrived, leaving the boys hiding under the Invisibility Cloak as Ron realized Harry had treated him as a backup.

• Harry and Ron discussed using Harry’s break-in to lure the professors into action, and Ron worried that Professor Holmes might be in danger because of the Defense Against the Dark Arts curse.
• Harry told Ron he had heard the basilisk speaking Parseltongue before and believed Professor Holmes had sealed the Chamber after discovering the monster.
• Ron tried and failed to unlock the bathroom’s padlock with Alohomora, and Harry’s loud attempt drew Filch and Mrs. Norris toward them.
• Harry revealed that Hermione had made his training schedule to keep him from seeking the basilisk, and that he had stopped her from telling Ron so Ron would keep training with him.
• Ron pulled Harry under the Invisibility Cloak as Filch passed, then felt hurt that Harry had included him only as a backup.

Harry and Ron tried to break into the Chamber of Secrets but discovered the bathroom door was a trick, and Douglas caught them. Douglas took Harry’s Invisibility Cloak and brought the boys to his office, where the Weasley twins identified a magical link to the broken lock.

• Harry and Ron used an axe from a suit of armor to smash the lock outside Moaning Myrtle’s Bathroom, but Harry ran into the door and could not get inside.
• A linked lock broke in Douglas’s office, prompting him to check the Marauder’s Map and hurry to the bathroom.
• Douglas sent Filch away, exposed Harry beneath the Invisibility Cloak, and showed Ron that the bathroom door opened outward without the broken lock being necessary.
• Douglas took Harry’s Invisibility Cloak and ordered Harry and Ron to wait outside his office while they thought about their actions.
• George and Fred told Douglas the broken lock bore a Transfiguration Charm and was linked to something else, so Douglas took two points from Gryffindor and awarded one to Slytherin.

Douglas punished Harry and Ron for trying to reach the Chamber of Secrets, then used Harry’s sock to hide Voldemort’s Diary. The chapter ended with Douglas sending the boys away and warning them not to ask more questions.

• Douglas rewarded the class representatives, gave them house points, and asked Hermione to stay behind.
• Douglas summoned Harry and Ron, deducted thirty points from Gryffindor for each of them, and challenged their reasons for pursuing the basilisk.
• Harry defended his actions by warning that the basilisk and Voldemort threatened Hogwarts, but Douglas told him and Ron to consider their mistakes.
• Douglas assigned Harry and Ron five-foot self-reflections to complete under Hermione’s supervision and give to Professor McGonagall.
• Douglas gave Harry Voldemort’s Diary and told him to put a sock inside it, then sent Harry and Ron away when Hermione recognized the Diary.