Chapter Summaries

Lin Ze woke in 1981 as a newly recruited Auror, just a month before Voldemort’s downfall, and began navigating an office riddled with fear and Death Eater sympathizers. After Scrimgeour warned him about suspicious colleagues, Lin Ze silently anticipated their coming arrests.

• Lin Ze regained memories of his former life and realized he had been recruited into the Auror Office in September 1981, near the end of Voldemort’s reign.
• Rufus Scrimgeour confronted Lin Ze over his patrol report and warned him to stay alert after several Hit Wizards died or disappeared.
• Lin Ze told Scrimgeour that the suspected activity near Diagon Alley had been an illegal potion-ingredient dealer, not a Death Eater.
• Scrimgeour warned Lin Ze to keep his distance from Bodo Crabbe and his associates, then sent him back to patrol Diagon Alley.
• Lin Ze recognized Crabbe and Evan Goyle as Death Eater sympathizers and privately predicted that they would be arrested after Voldemort fell.

Lin Ze, a newly recruited Auror, wandered through a deserted Diagon Alley and recognized Severus Snape before an explosion brought him rushing to Knockturn Alley. He stunned one of three Death Eaters attacking a Ministry employee and faced the other two.

• Lin Ze bought ice cream at Florean Fortescue's and heard how badly the war had hurt business.
• Lin Ze saw Severus Snape leave Flourish and Blotts and head toward Knockturn Alley, recognizing him as a Death Eater working undercover for Dumbledore.
• An explosion marked by the Dark Mark drew Lin Ze toward Knockturn Alley, where three Death Eaters were attacking a Ministry employee.
• Lin Ze stunned one Death Eater and confronted the remaining two, identifying himself as an Auror named Lin Ze.

Lin Ze fought three Death Eaters in Knockturn Alley, discovered that combat improved his spellcasting, and captured them. He left George Harper to explain himself to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

• Lin Ze dodged two Death Eaters' spells and disarmed one with a fast Nonverbal Spell.
• Lin Ze stunned a Death Eater retrieving his wand, then defended himself against the last Death Eater's attacks, including a Killing Curse.
• Lin Ze's magic surged during the fight, and he prevented the Death Eater from Apparating away.
• Lin Ze petrified the last Death Eater before he could finish casting the Killing Curse and put magical handcuffs on all three captives.
• Lin Ze identified the injured wizard as George Harper and told him to explain himself when the Department of Magical Law Enforcement arrived.

Lin Ze captured three Death Eaters and secretly took a memory from Harper, while Dorcas Meadowes warned him that Crabbe and Goyle had been asking about his patrols. He resolved to build influence and leverage in the Ministry, then learned his weekly pay would rise by two Galleons.

• Lin Ze pressured Harper into agreeing to look up travel information after rescuing him from the Death Eaters.
• Dorcas Meadowes arrived with Hit Wizards, praised Lin Ze, and ordered the Death Eaters and Harper taken to the Ministry.
• Meadowes warned Lin Ze that Crabbe and Goyle had been asking about his patrol schedule and route.
• Lin Ze revealed that he had extracted a memory from Harper and planned to gather secrets to strengthen his position.
• Lin Ze returned to his small South London flat and received notice that his weekly pay would increase from ten Galleons to twelve.

After Lin Ze’s arrest of three Death Eaters made him a celebrated Auror rookie, colleagues warned him that his actions had drawn him into the Ministry’s political divisions and angered the powerful Selwyn family. Lin Ze remained unconcerned, viewing the Selwyns as future prisoners of Azkaban, while Crabbe and Goyle wondered whether his notes threatened them.

• Scrimgeour praised Lin Ze for single-handedly arresting three Death Eaters and said the department head had taken notice of him.
• Ben Frick told Lin Ze that Ministry officials were praising him and betting he would be transferred to work with Barty Crouch.
• Frick explained that Lin Ze had been associated with Crouch’s faction after arresting three Death Eaters, making Lin Ze wary of being drawn into politics.
• Bodo Crabbe pointed out that one of the arrested Death Eaters was a Selwyn, whose family backed Voldemort and held influence in the Wizengamot.
• Lin Ze thanked Crabbe, made a note in his notebook, and continued his work, confident the Selwyns would soon be bound for Azkaban.
• Evan Goyle asked Crabbe whether Lin Ze had written down his name, and Crabbe dismissed the concern without conviction.

Lin Ze unsettled Crabbe by making him think his notebook contained incriminating notes, while secretly recording evidence of corruption among Ministry workers and Aurors. After reading that Aurors were investigating suspicious magic in Godric's Hollow, Lin Ze realized there were twenty-seven days left before the Potter family's disaster.

• Crabbe, tormented by thoughts of Lin Ze's notebook, dragged Goyle to confront him.
• Lin Ze showed Crabbe harmless notes about patrols, food, and errands, leaving Crabbe embarrassed as nearby colleagues snickered.
• After Crabbe and Goyle left, Lin Ze checked his hidden notes identifying Crabbe, Goyle, and Seymour Parkinson as collaborators aiding Death Eaters.
• Lin Ze read a report of suspicious magical fluctuations in Godric's Hollow and counted down twenty-seven days until the coming tragedy.

After enduring Crabbe’s humiliation, Lin Ze searched Diagon Alley for Barty Crouch’s missing suitcase and found it hidden behind Madam Malkin’s. He checked it for magic and opened it, leaving its contents unrevealed.

• Crabbe brooded over how to get even with Lin Ze, while Goyle suggested ambushing him and was warned off.
• Lin Ze spotted a notice offering fifty Galleons for a black leather suitcase containing important documents and decided to search for it.
• Lin Ze patrolled Diagon Alley for several days, trying the Summoning Charm before finding nothing but assorted objects and a garden gnome.
• On the fourth day, Lin Ze found a dusty black suitcase hidden beneath a torn tarpaulin in an alley behind Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions.
• Lin Ze checked the suitcase for magical traces, found no Dark Magic, and opened it.

Lin Ze returned Barty Crouch’s missing briefcase, though its documents had been ruined, and secured the promised reward. He then resumed collecting secrets at the Ministry, leaving with a third vial containing evidence against Aideli Badun.

• Lin Ze found shredded, sodden documents in Crouch’s briefcase and brought it to the Ministry of Magic.
• After waiting nearly two hours, Lin Ze met Crouch, explained where he found the case, and was promised fifty Galleons.
• Crouch questioned Lin Ze about how he had found the case, but let him leave after scrutinizing his answer.
• Lin Ze returned to the Auror Office, decided not to investigate the ruined documents, and counted the two vials he had collected so far.
• Lin Ze spoke with Aideli Badun in the break room and secretly collected a third vial documenting Badun’s help forging customs papers for a suspected Death Eater.

Lin Ze collected a fifty-Galleon bounty, drawing envy in the Auror Office as Crabbe plotted to find dirt on him. After studying Auror procedures, Lin Ze saw a way to access Ministry records and began considering how records awaiting destruction could help him.

• A clerk delivered Lin Ze the fifty-Galleon bounty for recovering Crouch's box, and Frick congratulated him while Crabbe watched resentfully.
• Crabbe told Goyle to have his cousin Malcolm investigate Lin Ze's background for exploitable weaknesses.
• Lin Ze read Harper's borrowed Auror procedure guide and found that Aurors could access other departments' records with proper authorization.
• Lin Ze asked Frick which Ministry departments regularly destroyed records and learned that they handled disposal through the Department of Administrative Affairs while deciding what to destroy themselves.
• Lin Ze realized sensitive documents might pass through the Records Management Office before destruction.

Lin Ze bought new clothes with his Auror pay, then learned his girlfriend Olivia Delatour had come looking for him after he ignored four letters. Olivia confronted him about his silence and fear for his safety, and the chapter ended with her hugging him.

• Lin Ze spent some of his fifty Galleons on new clothes and showed them off at the Auror Office.
• Frick told Lin Ze that a tall blonde witch in a dark green cloak had asked about his patrol schedule.
• Olivia Delatour arrived at the office and confronted Lin Ze for failing to answer her four letters.
• Olivia explained that she had feared for Lin Ze's safety after hearing about the deaths in the Auror Office.
• Lin Ze apologized and promised to answer her letters, and Olivia hugged him.

Lin Ze reunited with Olivia at the Auror Office, where she confronted him for failing to answer her letters. Her father, Mr Delacour, arrived and questioned Lin Ze about their relationship and his neglect, then demanded to know how he would make amends.

• Olivia hugged Lin Ze at the Auror Office and asked about the three Death Eaters he had defeated.
• Olivia gave Lin Ze Belgian magical chocolates and reproached him for not writing to her for a month.
• Mr Delacour arrived, and Olivia introduced Lin Ze as her boyfriend.
• Mr Delacour said Rufus Scrimgeour had praised Lin Ze's skill but challenged him over ignoring Olivia's letters.
• Lin Ze admitted he was at fault, and Mr Delacour asked how he intended to make amends while Olivia tried to defend him.

Lin Ze attended dinner with Mr Delacour and Olivia, where Mr Delacour challenged his choice to work as an Auror and offered him a stark choice about his career and relationship. Olivia confronted her father for trying to make that decision for them, leaving the dinner in a tense argument.

• Lin Ze arrived at Mr Delacour's London residence and was welcomed by a House-elf before joining Mr Delacour and Olivia for dinner.
• Mr Delacour asked Lin Ze about his Hufflepuff background and praised his work as an Auror, then warned him about the dangers facing Aurors in Britain.
• Lin Ze defended his choice to protect the public despite the risks and joked about the Auror Office's latest talking points.
• Mr Delacour said he did not object to Lin Ze dating Olivia but feared for her safety while Lin Ze remained an Auror.
• Mr Delacour offered Lin Ze the choice of resigning and moving to France with Olivia or staying an Auror and ending their relationship.
• Olivia objected that she had persuaded Lin Ze to become an Auror and argued with her father over his attempt to dictate their future.

Lin Ze defended his relationship with Olivia by arguing that France was not safe and that fleeing Britain would make him appear cowardly. Mr Delacour approved of him but hinted that Lin Ze had other sources of intelligence, while Lin Ze discovered that Olivia had known her father planned to test him.

• Olivia argued with Mr Delacour after he gave Lin Ze the choice of resigning and moving to France or breaking up with her.
• Lin Ze rejected Mr Delacour’s two choices and cited secret Death Eater activity in France to challenge the claim that it was safer than Britain.
• Lin Ze told Mr Delacour that leaving Britain would mean abandoning his principles and would make Olivia’s boyfriend seem like a coward.
• Mr Delacour approved of Lin Ze, questioned how he had obtained French intelligence, then left them alone and told Olivia to give Lin Ze French soap.
• Olivia admitted that Mr Delacour had planned to scold Lin Ze, and Lin Ze accused them of setting him up together.

After dinner at the Delacour home, Lin Ze learned that Olivia’s father had tested him to judge whether he could protect her, and he promised to visit her in France in a month. Back at his shabby lodgings, Lin Ze worried about money and received a brief summons from Barty Crouch for the next morning.

• Lin Ze questioned Olivia about her father’s behavior at dinner, and she explained that he had tested Lin Ze while genuinely worrying about her safety.
• Olivia told Lin Ze that her father and Scrimgeour had trained together, but said their connection had not led to Lin Ze’s recruitment into the Auror Office.
• Lin Ze promised to visit Olivia in France in about a month, and Olivia kissed him goodbye before returning to her father.
• Lin Ze returned to his leaking attic apartment and lamented that his pay and bounty money were not enough to afford better lodgings.
• A barn owl delivered Barty Crouch’s brief letter summoning Lin Ze to his office at nine the next morning, and Lin Ze eventually fell asleep after worrying about what Crouch wanted.

Lin Ze met with Crouch, who dismissed a Death Eater’s complaint against him and warned that his growing prominence at the Ministry could be dangerous. Crouch offered him three career paths, but the chapter ended before Lin Ze learned the details of the third option.

• Lin Ze went to Crouch’s office, where Crouch told him that Selwyn had complained about excessive force during his arrest.
• Crouch revealed that he had dismissed the complaint and warned Lin Ze that his recent exploits and personal life had made him a topic of conversation at the Ministry.
• Crouch offered Lin Ze the choice of remaining an Auror with two assistants or transferring to the Records Management Office.
• Lin Ze asked about the third document, and Crouch explained that it concerned a three-month International Auror Joint Training Program held in Northern Europe.

Lin Ze considered Crouch’s three career options while gathering information about Seymour Parkinson after Barney Flume asked him to investigate the canteen’s budget cuts. Ben Frick then warned Lin Ze that Crabbe and Goyle were planning to frame him, and admitted they had caught him eavesdropping.

• Lin Ze left Crouch’s office intending to use his three days to investigate the career options before choosing one.
• Barney Flume asked Lin Ze to dig up dirt on Seymour Parkinson, who had cut the canteen’s ingredient budget by thirty percent.
• Lin Ze agreed to look into Parkinson’s actions and learned the budget cuts had stopped the canteen from serving baked snails.
• Ben Frick told Lin Ze that Crabbe and Goyle were planning a frame-up involving the Logistics Office.
• Frick revealed that Crabbe and Goyle had caught him eavesdropping after he accidentally knocked over a flowerpot.

Lin Ze investigated Malcolm Crabbe’s role in a planned frame-up and connected the plot to the Logistics Office and Parkinson. As he prepared for the next night’s patrol, Malcolm was already moving confiscated contraband for the scheme.

• Frick told Lin Ze that Goyle had questioned him and hinted that the Crabbe cousins knew he had been listening.
• Lin Ze advised Frick to act normally and realized that framing him would require help from the Logistics Office, where Parkinson worked.
• Malcolm Crabbe retrieved confiscated contraband from Warehouse Three under pressure from his cousin Bodo, who planned to plant it at Lin Ze’s workstation.
• Harper reported Malcolm’s visit to Warehouse Three and provided Lin Ze with copies of supply allocation records.
• Lin Ze linked Parkinson, Malcolm, and Warehouse Three in his notebook and anticipated an eventful patrol the following night.

Lin Ze found a Dark Mark badge planted along his patrol route and faced Bodo Crabbe’s accusation that he possessed contraband. Malcolm Crabbe claimed he had seen Lin Ze hide the box, but a shopkeeper challenged the story by confirming Lin Ze had been wearing a gray coat, not his Auror uniform.

• Lin Ze began his patrol early, prepared for Crabbe’s attempt to frame him.
• Lin Ze found a wooden box containing a Dark Mark badge near Madam Malkin’s shop and avoided touching it.
• Bodo Crabbe arrived with Hit Wizards and accused Lin Ze of possessing Dark Magic items.
• Malcolm Crabbe claimed he had seen Lin Ze hide the box while wearing his Auror uniform.
• Lin Ze asked witnesses what he had worn, and the ice cream shopkeeper said he had been wearing a gray coat.

Lin Ze exposed Crabbe’s attempt to frame him and hinted that he knew Malcolm had taken something from Warehouse Three. He left Diagon Alley with evidence against Malcolm and plans to continue investigating Logistics, Parkinson, and others before Voldemort fell.

• Lin Ze used patrol regulations and the false witness’s mistake to ridicule Crabbe’s accusation in front of the crowd.
• Lin Ze questioned Malcolm about his unauthorized presence in Diagon Alley and warned Crabbe to explain the failed operation to Mr. Crouch.
• Lin Ze hinted that he had secured what Malcolm left at Warehouse Three, leaving Malcolm shaken and Crabbe demanding to know how Lin Ze knew about it.
• After leaving, Lin Ze admitted to himself that his confidence had been an act and that the confrontation had tied Malcolm to him as an informant.
• Lin Ze reviewed evidence of misconduct involving Logistics and Parkinson, felt the fourth tiny glass bottle in his pocket, and headed to the Leaky Cauldron for food.

Lin Ze discussed Ministry intelligence and his career plans with Barty Crouch, then surprised Scrimgeour by saying he wanted to transfer to the Records Management Office. Meanwhile, Dorcas Meadowes reconsidered Lin Ze’s suitability for the Auror Special Response Team after hearing how he had handled Crabbe.

• Scrimgeour overheard Lin Ze and Crouch discussing French Ministry corruption and Crouch’s plans to reform the justice system.
• Lin Ze declined a place in an international Auror training program because he wanted to remain at the Ministry and work in the Records Management Office.
• Crouch agreed to arrange Lin Ze’s transfer if Scrimgeour approved it, then asked whether Crabbe had been troubling Lin Ze.
• Scrimgeour confronted Lin Ze about his rapport with Crouch, and Lin Ze joked that it was because he made decent tea.
• Meadows heard reports that Lin Ze had outmaneuvered Crabbe and decided his fighting ability and sharp mind could make him a strong deputy for the Auror Special Response Team.