Chapter Summaries

Bell returned home with Shanna, where Elena teased him about his relationship with Hermione and demanded grandchildren. Elena prepared to take them to her sister’s wedding by Portkey, while Bell protested, and William remained behind amid the family’s political efforts to secure the next Minister of Magic.

• Bell arrived at his family’s castle, and Elena teased him about his honeymoon with Hermione.
• Shanna complained that Bell and Hermione spent every night together, prompting Elena to demand that Bell give her grandchildren.
• Elena explained that William was staying behind to pursue the Minister of Magic position for Snailey Wastod and handle work she had left to him.
• Elena took out a pocket watch and told Bell and Shanna to hold its chain so they could leave for the wedding.
• Bell refused to use the Portkey, recalling the unpleasant journey he had experienced when returning from Japan.

Bell explained why Portkeys caused an unpleasant sensation and proposed combining one with Side-Along Apparition to travel to the United States for Helena's wedding. After Elena hesitated over his plan, Bell offered to take everyone with him.

• Bell explained that Portkeys used an object's spatial afterimage to transport its holder and said he disliked the hooked sensation they caused.
• Elena asked how the family could reach the United States, and Shanna volunteered to fly her Flying Car there.
• Elena rejected Shanna's plan because flying into the United States without permission could be treated as an illegal intrusion.
• Bell suggested combining Side-Along Apparition with a Portkey, but Elena doubted they could reach their destination across such a distance.
• Bell reminded Elena that visiting Mars Base could improve her Side-Along Apparition, and she admitted she had been too nervous to go.
• Bell told his family to take his arm and said he would bring them all along.

Bell and his family arrived at the Magical Congress of the United States of America, where they registered as visitors from Britain and handed over their Wands for inspection. As they waited, Bell asked Shanna whether she had practiced the basic Curses he had instructed her to use.

• Bell followed the Portkey into the Transport Room and joined Elena and Shanna without attracting attention.
• Elena told the registrar that the family was from Britain and insisted he process their entry application quickly.
• The registrar confirmed Elena’s identity and learned that William Menethil had postponed his entry, then escorted the family to the Wand Inspection Department.
• The family handed over their Wands and waited, and Bell asked Shanna whether she had cast the basic Curses he had recommended.

After leaving the Magical Congress, Bell and his family arrived at Clara Jeslav’s villa, where she welcomed Bell and Shanna with far more enthusiasm than her daughter Elena. Bell learned that his aunt’s engagement ceremony would be held at the villa, and Clara explained why it would be a small gathering despite her elaborate decorations.

• Bell’s family retrieved their inspected wands and left the Magical Congress of the United States of America.
• Bell, low on magic after the long journey, had Shanna Apparate him, Elena, and herself to Clara Jeslav’s villa.
• Clara eagerly embraced Bell and Shanna while ignoring Elena, and Bell asked to go inside because he was tired.
• Bell asked whether his aunt’s engagement ceremony would take place at the villa, and Clara confirmed it would.
• Clara explained that the family had few connections in the United States and that she had avoided Britain because she feared its recent upheaval.

Bell and Shanna arrived early for Helena’s engagement ceremony, where Elena tried to fix Helena’s heavy makeup and Shanna ended up with a disastrous face of her own. Justin and his family arrived, and Helena eagerly prepared to introduce them to Bell and Shanna.

• Bell and Shanna reunited with their grandparents and found Helena getting ready for her engagement ceremony.
• Bell warned Helena that her makeup was too heavy, so Elena sat her down and took over applying it.
• Shanna woke Bell with makeup smeared across her face, and Bell wiped it off before taking her downstairs.
• Bell and Shanna arrived as Justin’s family waited in the preparation room, and Helena called them over to make introductions.

After Helena and Grandio’s engagement, Clara insisted on a grand wedding and kept the family busy with preparations. William, jealous of Bell’s carefree life and overloaded with work, dumped the Menethil Family’s American business problems on him, leaving Bell facing a towering stack of documents.

• Bell spoke with Grandio Justin at the engagement ceremony, which Lim helped make a success with the family’s head chef duties.
• Clara refused to let Helena and Grandio elope for their honeymoon and insisted that Helena’s wedding be held a month later with a grand celebration.
• William resented Bell’s apparent romantic and leisure-filled life, while Bell denied his father’s accusations about Penelope and Fleur.
• With the family elders occupied by wedding preparations and William overwhelmed, William assigned Bell the troublesome matters from the American Wizarding World.
• Sally Teal delivered a nearly meter-high stack of documents requiring Bell’s decisions.

Bell reviewed reports of trouble facing the family’s businesses in the United States and decided to postpone the problems he was not ready to handle. When he learned that someone had attacked a family breeding farm and injured three staff members, his reaction made Sally uneasy.

• Bell questioned Sally about the family’s accumulated reports and learned that Wizard groups were behind trouble at its stores.
• Shanna offered to have Little Bear bite the troublemakers, but Bell decided to put the store problem aside and learn more first.
• Bell proposed allowing competitors to imitate the family’s Flying Cars until Sally explained that they sold lookalikes to damage the family’s reputation.
• The table suddenly shattered, and Sally raised a Shield Charm before realizing there was no sign of an attack around them.
• Bell read that someone had attacked a family breeding farm and lightly injured three staff members, then asked Sally whether this happened often.

Bell learned that his grandparents’ cautious decisions had contributed to the Menethil Family’s difficulties expanding in the American Wizarding World. He ordered Sally to investigate the American wizard groups and, after hearing how his father’s earlier attempt had backfired, learned more about the groups blocking the family’s progress.

• Bell discovered that his four elders were the root of the family’s current problem and destroyed the unread reports with a Breaking Curse.
• Bell ordered Sally to gather detailed information on American gangs, especially their relationships with one another.
• Sally asked what Bell intended to do, and he proposed exploiting divisions between the groups to break their blockade.
• Sally explained that William and the other family elders had tried that approach before, but it had united the American wizard groups against them.
• Sally told Bell and Shanna that the Magical Congress and wizard groups held the most power in America, and that many groups engaged in gray or black-market activities.

After hearing Sally’s explanation, Bell decided the Menethil Family would confront the American mob rather than withdraw from the market. He prepared to act with Shanna, who eagerly anticipated fighting, and called Sebas for support.

• Bell concluded that the conflict with the American mob could only end with the gangsters defeated or the family withdrawing, and chose to fight.
• Bell told Shanna to train in real combat and let Little Bear protect her if she faced danger.
• Shanna eagerly urged Bell to take her to fight the bad guys.
• Bell called Sebas on his Personal Terminal to begin making preparations.
• Sebas expected trouble after Bell called for help on his first day in the United States.

Bell asked Sebas how many Action Team members the Menethil Family could spare, and learned that 150 were available because the family’s enemies had been weakened and the family’s businesses had entered a calm period. With Europe’s magical families likely to unite against the Menethils eventually, the chapter left Bell’s plan to subdue or withdraw from the American Wizarding World looking well timed.

• Bell asked Sebas how many Action Team members could be spared, and Sebas said around 150 were available.
• Sebas explained that the deaths of prominent members of opposing Pure-blood Families had left those families too occupied to challenge the Menethils, while others feared provoking the family that had killed Voldemort.
• Fudge learned that the Menethil Family had defeated Voldemort, stopped trying to undermine them, and secretly asked William for peace in exchange for promises.
• William decided to pursue the Minister of Magic position, intending to use Fudge’s cooperation to deal with Scrimgeour.
• The Menethil Family’s rise made it Europe’s uncrowned magical power, but William expected rival families to join forces against it once they recovered.
• Bell’s plan to subdue the American Wizarding World or withdraw from it would let the Menethil Family focus on threats in Europe.

Bell prepared to attack the American Mafia and led the Special Operations Team to the Thunderbird Wings headquarters after half a month of planning. The operation was ready to begin, with Goodwin in command.

• Bell ordered the Special Operations Team to enter the United States gradually over the next half month and told Sebas to prepare the plan.
• Bell refused Shanna's request to begin fighting immediately and found her other important work to keep her occupied.
• During the preparations, the Menethil Family pulled back while American Mafia groups planned to drive it out of the United States.
• At midnight, Bell and the Special Operations Team gathered near the Thunderbird Wings headquarters, and Goodwin confirmed that everyone was present.

Bell prepared to raid Thunderbird Wings by concealing its headquarters behind mist and planning a fast breach of its powerful Defense Barrier. He revealed a handful of dark green pebbles as he prepared to break through the barrier.

• Goodwin excitedly reunited with Bell and asked what the operation would do next.
• Bell told Shanna to distribute the Mist Potions she had brewed, and the Action Team spread mist around Thunderbird Wings' headquarters.
• Bell explained that they needed the mist to conceal their barrier and keep other American gangs from discovering the raid.
• Bell ordered Goodwin to notify the perimeter team that strong winds would soon arise and to activate their barrier once he broke the enemy's.
• Bell pulled a handful of smooth, dark green pebbles from his clothes.

Bell attacked Thunderbird Wings’ headquarters with a meteor shower that shattered its barrier, then unleashed towering Hellfire while the Action Team charged the gang’s remaining Wizards. After Bell named the attackers the Burning Legion, he decided to establish one.

• Bell infused dozens of Pebbles with Magic Power and sent them through space toward Thunderbird Wings’ barrier.
• The Pebbles struck as flaming meteors, broke the barrier, and left Thunderbird Wings’ Wizards badly hurt and trapped by an Anti-Apparition Jinx.
• Bell raised a pale golden barrier around his allies as more than twenty towering Hellfire emerged from the meteor craters and attacked the gang.
• Shanna led the Action Team’s charge, causing Thunderbird Wings’ formation to collapse further.
• Lausanne Medrano demanded to know who was attacking, and Bell answered, “The Burning Legion!” before deciding to establish one.

Bell’s forces overwhelmed Thunderbird Wings and captured most of its surviving wizards, then continued raiding American Mafia groups through the night. The other groups suspected the Menethil Family but could not identify a force capable of destroying ten headquarters in one night.

• Bell called for Thunderbird Wings’ wizards to surrender, and several dozen laid down their wands.
• Three Thunderbird Wings wizards continued fighting and were killed despite their desperate resistance.
• Bell ordered his forces to clear the battlefield and continue their planned operations.
• Bell’s team raided ten Mafia groups overnight, capturing more than five hundred wizards while suffering injuries of their own.
• The remaining Mafia groups noticed the attacks but hesitated to unite, unsure who had carried them out and doubtful that the Menethil Family could be responsible.

Bell captured many Wizards in raids against small gangs and recruited the prisoners as slave soldiers for the Menethil Family by killing a defiant Wizard to frighten the rest. After sleeping through the day, Bell woke to a call from Hermione and asked her what time it was.

• Bell gathered the uninjured and lightly injured prisoners and offered them a chance to serve the Menethil Family instead of being sent to the mines.
• A prisoner challenged Bell and threatened that Wizards across the United States would rise against the Menethil Family.
• Bell killed the prisoner with the Killing Curse, frightening the others into silence.
• Bell left his subordinates to manage the prisoners and went to sleep after working through the night and morning.
• Hermione called Bell in the evening, and he woke groggy, asked her what time it was, then sank back onto his bed.

Hermione misunderstood Bell’s exhaustion and vague explanation as evidence that he had been unfaithful while in the United States, then learned he had fought alongside a huge group of American Wizards. The chapter ended with Hermione trying to deny that she had cried after realizing her mistake.

• Hermione asked Bell why he looked so exhausted, and he said the people in the United States had been too enthusiastic.
• Hermione assumed Bell had slept with many people and angrily demanded to know how many.
• Bell admitted that a little over a thousand people had been involved, then clarified that most were men and that he had fought them all together.
• Hermione broke down in tears, and Bell tried to reassure her that he had prepared carefully and faced no danger.
• Hermione realized Bell had meant he had fought American Wizards, not been unfaithful, and claimed her tears were sweat.

Bell prepared for the next operation against the American Mafia by planning to use prisoners as expendable fighters, while making clear that he did not trust them. He ordered Goodwin to prioritize the Special Operations Team’s safety and prepare to retreat if the prisoners turned against them.

• Goodwin told Bell that restrictions had been placed on the prisoners' Wands to prevent Side-Along Apparition.
• Goodwin questioned whether the prisoners could be trusted, and Bell explained that they could not be trusted without Forced Contracts.
• Bell said he planned to use the prisoners because nearly twenty Action Team members had been injured and the coming operation would be more dangerous.
• Bell reassured Goodwin that he valued the Special Operations Team and did not want any of them to die.
• Bell ordered Goodwin to watch the prisoners, leave the fighting to them, and retreat immediately if they turned against the family.
• Bell explained that if the operation failed, the family would evacuate the United States and hold his Aunt's wedding in Britain instead.

Bell returned the prisoners’ Wands, killed those who considered resisting, and forced the survivors to join the Menethil Family’s operation in exchange for freedom and rewards. The prisoners were sent to their targets, while two Skull and Bones guards debated a strange fog outside their headquarters.

• Bell used Legilimency on the prisoners and struck down several with Diffindo when he sensed thoughts of rebellion.
• Bell warned the remaining prisoners to obey orders and promised freedom, wealth, and glory for meritorious service.
• Menethil Family Action Team members supervised as the prisoners boarded Flying Cars and headed to their assigned locations.
• A Skull and Bones patrolman noticed fog gathering outside the group’s headquarters.
• His companion dismissed the concern and argued that another surprise attack was impossible.

A Skull and Bones patrol Wizard spotted the approaching fog and raised the alarm, exposing Bell’s assault before it could begin as a surprise attack. Bell ordered a direct assault, and Shanna’s Mad Bear shattered the headquarters’ barrier and unleashed a devastating cursed breath.

• A patrol Wizard dismissed his detective companion’s warning and fired a signal into the sky after deciding the distant fog was growing thicker.
• Bell saw the signal expose the attackers and ordered his forces to breach the defense barrier and attack without hesitation.
• Shanna threw Mad Bear at the barrier, and the giant creature struck it with its Curse Breath until it shattered.
• A blackish-purple beam split through Skull and Bones headquarters, destroying buildings and turning Wizards in its path to ash.
• The cursed ground spread from the impact, and more than a dozen Wizards who stepped on it were afflicted as others fled.
• Bell explained that Mad Bear’s Corrosion Curse was a basic curse that could be worn away by countering it with Magic Power.

Bell led an attack on Skull and Bones, using Mad Bear to destroy its Defense Barrier and force the captives into battle. With their presence exposed and time running short, he selected more than a dozen gang headquarters and launched his remaining Hellfire Stones across the United States.

• Bell ordered the captives to attack Skull and Bones after Mad Bear's Corrosion Curse destroyed its Defense Barrier.
• The captives and Mad Bear overwhelmed Skull and Bones, but the battle's Magic Power fluctuations alerted nearby forces.
• Bell ordered Skull and Bones' captives to join his campaign against other gangs or face death, and threatened those who tried to flee.
• Bell studied a map of the United States, used Arithmancy to choose more than a dozen gang headquarters, and divided his remaining Hellfire Stones among them.
• Bell sent the Hellfire Stones streaking across the night sky toward their targets, allowing their trails to be seen.