Chapter Summaries

Mo Fei and Tom learned how the Gaunt family had driven Merope away and heard Morfin reject the child she had carried. Tom recovered enough to continue their journey, and Mo Fei and Tom met Old Riddle after he mistook them for grain traders from London.

• Morfin Gaunt explained that Merope had used a Love Potion on Tom Riddle, then was abandoned and disowned, while Morfin and Old Marvolo were imprisoned after attacking Aurors and the Riddle family.
• Mo Fei asked Morfin what he thought of Merope's child, and Morfin called the child a bastard he would have killed with a Killing Curse.
• Tom broke down in tears, and Mo Fei comforted him before they returned to the inn.
• The next morning, Tom chose to meet Old Riddle despite his disappointment and resentment.
• Old Riddle invited Mo Fei and Tom to his manor, mistook them for chamber of commerce agents surveying grain supplies, and Mo Fei used the misunderstanding to start a conversation.

Mo Fei hypnotized Old Riddle to learn how he viewed Merope and Tom, and discovered that the Love Potion had left Old Riddle infertile. Tom struggled with the revelation that his mother had harmed an innocent Muggle and his father had always rejected him, so Mo Fei took him back to the inn.

• Old Riddle offered to show Mo Fei the grain stores and said he would trade grain for supplies rather than money.
• On the way, Mo Fei questioned Old Riddle about his former wife and child, then hypnotized him when he refused to speak openly.
• Under hypnosis, Old Riddle said he believed Merope had bewitched him, called Tom a monster, and claimed the Love Potion had left him unable to father children.
• Mo Fei explained that prolonged Love Potion use had altered Old Riddle's body because he was a Muggle, leaving him without physical desire for others.
• Tom was shaken by what he learned, and Mo Fei ended the visit and took him back to the inn.
• Tom asked Mo Fei whether he should have come on the trip, but Mo Fei could only sigh.

After learning that his Gaunt relatives had rejected him, Tom regained his composure with Mo Fei’s help and asked to revisit the family home. Mo Fei examined the house and considered defenses for his orphanage while Tom entered the graveyard, where he faced an unknown danger.

• Mo Fei helped Tom accept that his blood relatives had never intended to welcome him.
• Tom asked to return to the Gaunt family home to see where his mother had lived and what remained of the declining pure-blood family.
• Mo Fei accompanied Tom to the graveyard behind the house but found himself unable to reach him because of powerful magic.
• Mo Fei examined the Gaunt home’s magical features and drew conclusions about the purposes of it, Nicolas Flamel’s house, and Nurmengard.
• Mo Fei began designing defenses for his orphanage while Tom approached a place close to death.

Tom resisted casting the Killing Curse in the Gaunt family cemetery and left with Mo Fei, while the Horned Serpent absorbed a mysterious power and began transforming. Back at the orphanage, Mo Fei began renovations, and Grindelwald arrived to teach Tom magic as Mo Fei asked whether Tom’s recent emotional changes were caused by magic.

• Tom nearly cast the Killing Curse in the Gaunt cemetery but stopped himself after thinking of Mo Fei and the risks Grindelwald had described.
• The Horned Serpent caught a force that flew toward Tom, apparently receiving a mysterious power before Tom left the cemetery.
• Tom discovered that Mo Fei had been standing in the direction his wand had pointed, then joined him and left the cemetery.
• Tom and Mo Fei returned home the next day; Tom gained new insights into magic, the Horned Serpent began transforming, and Mo Fei started renovating the orphanage.
• Grindelwald arrived to initiate Tom into magic, and Mo Fei asked him whether Tom’s unusual emotional behavior was caused by magic.

Grindelwald explained how emotion and reason could shape spellcasting after identifying that Tom’s emotional breakthrough had changed his magic. Tom chose to combine both approaches, and Grindelwald began teaching him Occlumency to control his emotions.

• Grindelwald told Tom that a light-aligned spell driven by strong emotion had caused the changes in his magic.
• Grindelwald described the Emotion School and the Reason School, and asked Tom which approach he would follow.
• Grindelwald used his Heavenly Eye to examine Mo Fei’s renovations and saw that the orphanage was being transformed into a magical structure with benefits for its inhabitants.
• Tom decided to use emotion for some spells and reason for others.
• Grindelwald approved Tom’s choice and introduced Occlumency as a way to prevent his emotions from continually influencing him.

Grindelwald taught Tom a basic Occlumency technique and warned him about the dangers of magic involving memory. Meanwhile, Mo Fei reviewed the abilities that made his longevity possible and used his skills in the orphanage renovation, which remained underway.

• Grindelwald explained how Tom could clear his mind through Meditation and cautioned him that memory magic could damage the soul.
• Tom began practicing the technique while Grindelwald watched over him.
• Mo Fei considered how his transcendent Martial Arts, cooking, and Medicine skills supported his health and potential longevity.
• Mo Fei used architecture, civil engineering, advanced Runes Mastery, Herbology, and farming to renovate the orphanage.
• Mo Fei planted symbolically significant plants at key locations to incorporate mystical effects into the renovation.

Mo Fei continued renovating the orphanage with elder trees, a star-based warning array, and components designed to be dismantled and recombined. Meanwhile, Tom advanced in magic under Grindelwald’s guidance and chose to develop Phosphorus Fire Burn along the rational path, leaving Grindelwald impressed by his understanding of death.

• Mo Fei reflected on Grindelwald’s tea-leaf reading, which had accurately predicted what Tom would wear, and focused instead on astrology and the stars.
• Mo Fei built a ritual array throughout the orphanage that would show him images before major events, and designed its rune-inscribed parts to be replaceable.
• Tom quickly learned the basics of his technique with Grindelwald’s guidance and showed him his improved Lumos spell.
• Grindelwald explained how Hogwarts guided young wizards through emotional and rational approaches, but Tom decided to pursue both paths from the start.
• Tom chose Phosphorus Fire Burn for the rational path and described how its ghostly flames foretold death, astonishing Grindelwald.

Tom demonstrated his immature use of Phosphorus Fire Burn, whose deathly nature impressed Grindelwald. Grindelwald warned Tom that studying death was dangerous, but Tom chose to continue for now and received his advice to treat death carefully.

• Tom used Phosphorus Fire Burn, and Grindelwald sensed a grave and remains within its strangely cold flames.
• Grindelwald judged that Tom had a rare affinity for death magic and could become a formidable wizard.
• Grindelwald explained how his own resonance magic and Dumbledore's control magic could make them exceptionally dangerous.
• Grindelwald asked whether Tom had truly considered the risks of pursuing death magic and developing emotion and reason together.
• Tom said he would continue for now because he was still young, and Grindelwald laughed before warning him not to profane death.

Grindelwald proposed that Tom learn magic by helping Director Mo Fei renovate the orphanage into a protective building. He explained how Hogwarts and wizarding homes were magically strengthened, then prepared to teach Tom spells tailored to the orphanage.

• Grindelwald told Tom that he had become proficient with Phosphorus Fire Burn and should study magic related to life, especially Herbology.
• Grindelwald proposed helping renovate the orphanage, confusing Tom, who knew Mo Fei’s construction work had proved too difficult for the children to assist with.
• Grindelwald asked Tom to observe Mo Fei’s work through Magic Perception, and Tom noticed faint traces of magic in the completed sections.
• Grindelwald explained that Mo Fei was turning the orphanage into a protective building, comparing the project with Hogwarts and wizarding family homes.
• Tom became eager to take part, and Grindelwald said they would learn specially tailored spells suited to the orphanage.

Grindelwald explained the magical principles behind Mo Fei’s star-guided runes and described how wizards could protect castles with charms. His suggestion that magic might eventually make a castle come alive left Tom and Mo Fei wondering whether Hogwarts had already reached that state.

• Mo Fei used potions to draw Ancient Runes on a platform outside his room, while Grindelwald explained their purpose to Tom.
• Grindelwald said the runes and the platform’s alignment with Sagittarius could draw in starlight and keep the magic from fading.
• Grindelwald explained that the focused starlight would shine into the quiet room and might strengthen Tom’s Meditation.
• Tom asked how a wizard would improve the design, and Grindelwald described using Starlight and Weather Charms to protect a castle.
• Tom asked whether a castle could come alive through years of magic, and Grindelwald suggested that it might before wondering whether Hogwarts had already done so.

Mo Fei finished renovating the orphanage with help from Grindelwald, who taught Tom about castle magic and reinforced the building. When the completed orphanage was bathed in moonlight and starlight, its protective magic made it imperceptible to many observers.

• Grindelwald explained castle magic and its protective charms to Tom while Mo Fei continued renovating the orphanage.
• Grindelwald helped Mo Fei refine the runes and complete the renovations in one month instead of two.
• Mo Fei expanded the orphanage, converted the stable into greenhouses, planted crops, and added unusual decorations and protective features.
• Grindelwald and Tom reinforced the orphanage's walls, and Grindelwald taught Tom the Hardening Charm.
• Mo Fei rearranged the interior and, with Grindelwald's help, added a basement where Tom established a laboratory.
• On the night the renovations were completed, many people could no longer perceive the orphanage beneath the moonlight and starlight.

Mo Fei's transformation of the orphanage awakened the part of his soul bound to it, revealing that his system drew on belief and inspiration. The orphanage's changes unsettled seers and blocked Dumbledore's protections, and he arrived to witness its final transformation.

• Grindelwald sensed the orphanage's change and suspected Mo Fei could alter fate.
• Tom felt a close connection to the orphanage as he slept beside the Horned Serpent, while their shared power flowed into it and nourished the elder tree.
• Mo Fei sensed magic passing between Tom and the orphanage, and the exchange seemed to purify Tom's aura.
• Mo Fei learned that his system was a manifestation of his divided soul and that trust and skills came from human belief, while the Light of Spirituality came from inspiration.
• Diviners across the world sensed a mysterious change, and the centaur seer in Hogwarts' Forbidden Forest looked up at the stars and made a decision.
• Dumbledore lost his ability to sense his protections around the Mo Orphanage, Apparated there, and watched the transformation's final stages in silence.

After the orphanage mysteriously transformed, Dumbledore visited Mo Fei to investigate, suspecting that another wizard might be behind the changes. Mo Fei revealed that he had caused them himself and challenged Dumbledore’s assumptions about Muggles, leaving Dumbledore stunned by the mention of Nicolas Flamel.

• Dumbledore watched the orphanage’s transformation disappear and wondered whether Grindelwald was using Mo Fei to make plans in London.
• Mo Fei and Tom exercised the next morning before Dumbledore arrived and asked Mo Fei to explain the orphanage’s changes.
• Dumbledore sensed the orphanage’s new magical atmosphere and told Mo Fei that the Ministry of Magic had been busy, while concealing that he had removed records of the changes.
• Mo Fei said he had transformed the orphanage himself and accused Dumbledore of underestimating Muggles while claiming to believe in equality.
• Mo Fei compared Dumbledore’s assumptions with Nicolas Flamel, leaving Dumbledore speechless.

Mo Fei explained to Dumbledore why he wanted to reshape the orphanage and build a parallel world for wizards who could not adapt, challenging Dumbledore’s cautious approach to the Acolytes and the future of wizarding society. Dumbledore considered the proposal before Tom asked him how to study Permanent Transfiguration, and he began outlining Hogwarts’ Transfiguration curriculum.

• Dumbledore questioned how Mo Fei had met Nicolas Flamel, and Mo Fei said Nicolas had taught him without revealing how they were introduced.
• Dumbledore asked whether Mo Fei had designs on the wizarding world, and Mo Fei restated his vision for creating a parallel world.
• Mo Fei challenged Dumbledore to consider how the wizarding world would address the Acolytes’ ideology and the ambitions it inspired after Grindelwald was defeated.
• Dumbledore argued that stronger confrontation could worsen the conflict, then fell silent to consider Mo Fei’s criticism.
• Tom asked Dumbledore how to learn Permanent Transfiguration, and Dumbledore explained the stages of Hogwarts’ Transfiguration studies and the skill’s prerequisites.

Dumbledore taught Tom and Mo Fei how Transfiguration alters reality and explained that Permanent Transfiguration creates lasting results by rebuilding an object from its smallest particles. The lesson ended with Tom having heard the explanation, though he had not fully grasped the underlying ideas.

• Dumbledore expanded the classroom to demonstrate how Transfiguration could alter space, then explained that the Undetectable Extension Charm was a limited application of the same principle.
• Dumbledore described Transfiguration as using magic to redirect natural processes and said that transformations required ongoing magic because reality resisted changes that contradicted its logic.
• Dumbledore used the example of turning iron into a biscuit to explain how conflicting properties could intensify reality's correction and drain the caster's magic.
• Mo Fei understood Transfiguration as a way of opposing reality and connected Dumbledore's control as a Magic Master to his ability to create things that differed from it.
• Dumbledore explained that Permanent Transfiguration pulverized an object into particles and recombined them into a new form, which could endure because its creation followed reality's logic.

Dumbledore explained why Permanent Transfiguration and becoming an Animagus were difficult in different ways, prompting Tom to consider how emotion and reason shaped magic. The conversation ended with Dumbledore keeping his own Animagus status secret, while Mo Fei wondered whether he could transform at all.

• Dumbledore explained that Permanent Transfiguration required destroying and reconstructing an object, and that mistakes could make the result useless or dangerous, especially when living things were involved.
• Tom asked why books called becoming an Animagus Transfiguration’s most difficult advanced application, and Dumbledore explained that its challenge lay in exposing one’s inner self to magic.
• Dumbledore described the lengthy Animagus ritual and warned that hesitation could cause transformation failures, which he linked to the origin of werewolves.
• Tom connected Dumbledore’s explanation to Grindelwald’s distinction between emotion-driven and reason-directed magic, then wondered whether the same approaches applied across other subjects.
• Tom asked whether Dumbledore could become an Animagus, but Dumbledore called the answer private; Mo Fei suspected that Dumbledore might be unable or unwilling to transform.

Mo Fei, Dumbledore, and Grindelwald began preparing a plan to transform the relationship between wizards and Muggles, while Nicolas Flamel gathered powerful wizards to explain the danger facing their world. The gathered Magic Masters mocked Nicolas’s sudden concern, leaving him to press on with his proposal.

• Dumbledore asked when Mo Fei’s plan would begin, and Mo Fei said preparations could start now while Grindelwald would determine the right moment.
• Mo Fei proposed that Hogwarts teach young wizards a more accurate understanding of Muggles, and Dumbledore accepted the need to improve Muggle Studies.
• Nicolas Flamel invited Magic Masters from across the world to his home, prompting concern and speculation within the Wizards’ Council.
• The Wizards’ Council chose not to interfere, and the Ministry of Magic allowed foreign wizards to enter Paris.
• Nicolas told the assembled wizards that the Wizarding World’s mysteries were shifting toward Muggles and warned that this could threaten the future of Magic Masters and their living environment.
• Lissandra and another elderly wizard mocked Nicolas for raising the issue, while the other Magic Masters laughed.

Nicolas Flamel proposed that powerful wizards create a world that would support wizarding life and help them advance, with magical schools serving as key nodes. The wizards began considering their roles, while the dying Jeremy recognized how their different specialties could make the plan work and asked Nicolas where he intended to create the world.

• Nicolas Flamel argued that a world built for wizards could inspire legends and help them take another step forward.
• A witch questioned why the wizards needed Nicolas, but the group recognized that creating a world required his alchemical skill.
• Nicolas asked Jeremy how long he had to live, and Jeremy said he had come to say goodbye but had seen a suitable area beside the kingdom of death.
• Nicolas explained that the plan needed a seer, a location, and further preparation, and proposed that the wizards become headmasters of magical schools.
• The wizards made no commitments and departed in secret, while Jeremy stayed behind and deduced how their life, death, warding, alchemy, and other magic could fit together.
• Jeremy asked Nicolas where he planned to carve out the new world.

Nicolas Flamel told a death-studying Magic Master that Mo Fei, a Muggle whose advice inspired the idea, might be God's Chosen. The two considered creating a wizarding world in the Land of Shadows, while the Magic Master grew more intent on meeting Mo Fei before his own dangerous death.

• Nicolas Flamel explained that Mo Fei had suggested creating a world for wizards within the shadows and might be favored by fate as God's Chosen.
• The Magic Master questioned whether God's Chosen could exist, but listened as Nicolas described what ancient texts said about them.
• The Magic Master recalled that his apprentices had failed him, including a young woman who abandoned magic and left with a Muggle.
• After receiving Nicolas Flamel's message, the Magic Master buried the Black Swamp and considered ways to die without unleashing death magic on the world.
• Nicolas Flamel explained that the Land of Shadows could offer wizards a fitting home, though they would need to breach its barriers and face the Queen of Shadows.
• The Magic Master accepted that the idea might give wizards hope and became more determined to meet Mo Fei.

Dylan discussed Nicolas Flamel’s plan with him and Perenelle, then left to find Mo Fei on foot as organizations failed to uncover details about the secret meeting. Meanwhile, Tom continued his combat training with Grindelwald at the orphanage, struggling to distinguish dangerous spells from harmless ones.

• Perenelle told Dylan she supported Nicolas’s plan and would help by providing logistical support.
• Dylan left Nicolas and Perenelle’s home and set out on foot toward Mo Fei’s location in London.
• Wizards in international organizations tried to learn what Nicolas and the other Magic Masters had discussed but found no concrete information.
• Grindelwald taught Tom to conserve his strength by dodging or ignoring nonlethal attacks while defending against dangerous spells.
• Tom struggled to distinguish Grindelwald’s Knockback Jinx from the Disarming Charm when Grindelwald cast them in quick succession.