Recaps

After the students returned from Hogsmeade, Lucius Malfoy publicly condemned Fudge for deploying Dementors and endangering Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. His open letter left the students feeling vindicated and hopeful that an influential wizard had spoken up for them.

• Draco explained that Dementors had driven the armored trolls into a frenzy, and the students blamed Fudge for the danger.
• The group returned to Hogwarts, where Crookshanks happily ate the dried fish treats Draco had brought him.
• Ron told Ginny and the first-years about the Hogsmeade trip and the battle with the trolls.
• The next morning, the Daily Prophet published Lucius Malfoy's open letter accusing Fudge of endangering students and civilians and demanding that he leave office.
• Lavender, Parvati, Ginny, Neville, and Seamus praised Lucius's letter, and the mood at Hogwarts shifted from fear to anger and vindication.

Draco watched Hogwarts endure Snape’s harsh Defence Against Dark Magic lessons while Lupin was away, then offered Lupin a job after learning he expected to leave teaching. The chapter ended with Lupin stunned by Draco’s invitation.

• Harry caught the Golden Snitch, winning Gryffindor the Quidditch Cup and giving Wood a triumphant final match.
• Snape covered Lupin’s Defence Against Dark Magic lessons, assigned a lengthy essay on identifying and killing werewolves, and burdened the students with heavy homework.
• Hermione explained that Ministry rules and Dumbledore’s responsibilities meant Snape was the only available teacher to cover the subject.
• Lupin returned, canceled Snape’s werewolf essays, and taught the students about Hinkypunks.
• Draco asked Lupin what he planned to do after resigning, then invited him to work for him, leaving Lupin astonished.

Draco told Lupin he would offer him safety and work when he had to leave Hogwarts, then explained to Hermione that Lupin was a werewolf and promised to cover his Wolfsbane Potion. As Snape’s hints about werewolves grew more obvious, Draco advised Lupin to promise Snape he would leave Hogwarts after the school year, and Lupin agreed to speak with him.

• Draco personally offered Lupin a secure future while keeping his secrets, and Lupin said he would remember the offer.
• Draco told Hermione that Lupin was a werewolf and explained that Snape’s grudge against him dated back to their school days.
• Draco promised to hire Lupin, pay for his Wolfsbane Potion, and arrange for him to tutor Hermione after leaving Hogwarts.
• Snape repeatedly focused his Defence Against Dark Magic lessons on werewolves, prompting students to speculate about Lupin.
• Draco privately warned Lupin that Snape was laying the groundwork to expose him and advised him to promise to leave Hogwarts after the school year.
• Lupin accepted Draco’s advice and agreed to speak privately with Snape.

As Christmas approached, Professor Babbling invited Draco and Hermione to investigate an ancient magic site after Draco opened a mysterious box containing a magically enchanted key. Hermione accepted eagerly, and Draco agreed to join her.

• Hogsmeade reopened, and students celebrated as criticism of Fudge's Dementor policy intensified.
• Draco worked on developing his own combat magic while he and Hermione studied Ancient Runes.
• Professor Babbling stopped Draco and Hermione after their final Ancient Runes lesson and asked them to meet her over the holidays.
• Professor Babbling showed them a thousand-year-old runic box she had found in the Scottish Highlands, and Draco opened it by touching its oak-leaf clasp.
• Hermione recognized the object inside as a key resembling a Gringotts vault key, and Professor Babbling proposed returning to the ruins to investigate it.
• Hermione agreed to join Professor Babbling, and Draco said he would go too.

Draco, Hermione, and Professor Babbling set out by Thestral carriage to investigate ancient ruins in the Scottish Highlands. A huge black dragon attacked and split the carriage, leaving Draco and Hermione falling toward the ground as the dragon prepared to strike again.

• Draco and Hermione wrote home to say they would stay at Hogwarts for Christmas, then changed into expedition clothes Draco had prepared.
• Professor Babbling explained that the ancient key bore runes matching those in the ruins and might unlock a magical barrier around a thousand-year-old secret.
• Professor Babbling gave Draco the ruins’ coordinates in a Highland gorge as they traveled by carriage.
• A gigantic black dragon tore through the clouds and split the Thestral carriage with one claw.
• Draco caught Hermione as their half of the carriage fell, while Professor Babbling was pulled away with the frightened Thestral.
• As the dragon gathered its breath to attack Draco and Hermione, Draco shouted to Professor Babbling that they would meet her in the Highlands.

Draco and Hermione escaped a black dragon by Apparating to a cave near ancient wizarding ruins, and Professor Babbling soon joined them unharmed. The three began exploring the fortress, where Babbling explained that a powerful master of Ancient Magic had once lived and worked, but their path was blocked by ice and rubble.

• Draco Apparated with Hermione just before the dragon destroyed their carriage, and Professor Babbling escaped the dragon's attack as well.
• Draco and Hermione found themselves in a cave overlooking seaside ruins and worried about whether Babbling had survived.
• Professor Babbling emerged from the cave unharmed and explained that the ruins' unstable space prevented Apparition, while her ancient key was a Portkey.
• Babbling told Draco and Hermione that the fortress had been the home and laboratory of an ancient master of Ancient Magic.
• The three approached the fortress to search for clues, but a wall of ice and fallen rubble blocked their path.

Draco, Hermione, and Professor Babbling explored the fortress ruins, where Draco and Hermione cleared obstacles and repaired a broken bridge together. Inside, they searched for hidden Ancient Magic marks and reached an arch-shaped wall bearing the same pattern as an Ancient Magic key.

• Hermione used Reducto to clear the rubble, and Draco dissolved the ice wall with Reparo.
• Professor Babbling challenged Draco and Hermione to cross a broken bridge, and they repaired it together with Reparo.
• Draco led Hermione across the restored bridge, and Professor Babbling explained the ancient murals depicting the Keepers of Ancient Magic.
• Draco cast Specialis Revelio around the hall, but found no hidden marks on the walls, floor, pillars, or statue.
• Professor Babbling led them to a patterned stone wall, and Hermione cast Specialis Revelio at it before Draco could.

Draco, Hermione, and Professor Babbling used an Ancient Magic passage to reach Gringotts, where Draco claimed access to Vault Twelve. A goblin took them by cart toward the vault, and the chapter ended as they sped through the underground tunnels.

• Draco revealed the hidden crystal passage with Ancient Magic and led Hermione and Professor Babbling through it to Gringotts.
• The group found a sleeping goblin, and Draco woke it by announcing that its big spender had arrived.
• The goblin recognized Draco, then asked for the vault key; Professor Babbling handed over the Ancient Magic key.
• The goblin took them to the cart platform and explained that Vault Twelve was an ancient private vault that had never been visited.
• Draco helped Hermione into the cart, and the goblin drove them at high speed through the underground tracks toward Vault Twelve.

Draco, Hermione, and Professor Babbling traveled through Gringotts to Vault Twelve and discovered a hidden vault beyond its sealed outer chamber. They entered the ancient vault, where Professor Babbling warned them about its magical defenses, and the three began exploring with no way to Apparate out.

• Hermione marveled at Gringotts’ underground caverns and defenses as the goblin driver boasted about the bank’s security, and Draco embarrassed it by mentioning the previous robbery.
• A goblin guard checked their destination, and the driver opened Vault Twelve with Professor Babbling’s Ancient Magic key.
• The driver shut the vault door after Draco, Hermione, and Professor Babbling entered, leaving them trapped in a chamber with no visible exit.
• Draco used Specialis Revelio to reveal a hidden door, then touched its Ancient Magic mark and transported the three into another space.
• Professor Babbling and Draco lit the dark vault and saw a forest of stone columns; Professor Babbling warned them about the ancient magical mechanisms and led the group deeper inside.

Draco, Hermione, and Professor Babbling uncovered an Ancient Magic guardian beneath the hidden vault’s icy floor and activated its mechanism. The statue summoned six stone warriors and sealed the three of them inside a magical barrier, leaving Draco to face the guardians to escape.

• Draco entered the blue-white magic, used Specialis Revelio, and revealed an armored swordsman beneath the ice.
• Hermione noticed the swordsman’s misaligned shadow, and Professor Babbling identified it as an Ancient Magic mechanism that had to be aligned with the statue.
• Draco aligned the shadow while Hermione and Professor Babbling stood back, causing the stone swordsman to rise.
• The swordsman summoned six more stone warriors, and the blue-white magic formed a barrier that trapped Draco, Hermione, and Professor Babbling.
• Draco pulled Hermione back and concluded that they had to defeat the statues to escape the barrier.

Draco, Hermione, and Professor Babbling defeated waves of stone warriors in the secret vault before its magic separated Draco from the others. Alone in the inner vault but connected to Hermione by the Two-Way Mirror, Draco followed a trail of energy to another ice trap and faced three statues.

• Draco dodged the stone leader’s sword and destroyed it, then he, Hermione, and Professor Babbling worked together to defeat the other six warriors.
• More stone warriors kept appearing until the vault’s blue-white magic contracted and teleported Hermione and Professor Babbling to the outer vault, leaving Draco alone inside.
• Draco used the Two-Way Mirror to speak with Hermione and Professor Babbling, then refused to leave the inner vault because its entrance might close permanently.
• Draco followed wisps of energy to another ice trap, where three statues appeared; he aligned their shadows and prepared for their attack.
• The far-right statue teleported toward Draco, but he blocked its sword with Protego and destroyed it with Stupefy.

Draco, Hermione, and Professor Babbling reached the heart of the secret vault and uncovered memories explaining its Ancient Magic trials. Their discovery was interrupted when Ranrok forced his way into the chamber and confronted Draco.

• Draco destroyed successive waves of stone statues and opened the final Ancient Magic doorway.
• Draco entered the hidden chamber, where Hermione and Professor Babbling were transported to join him beside an ancient Pensieve.
• Professor Babbling used a memory vial to reveal Percival Rackham and Charles Rookwood discussing the vault and its trials.
• Hermione realized the vault was a trial ground built by Rackham, and Professor Babbling said Ancient Magic had chosen Draco.
• Ranrok entered the secret chamber with goblin guards, and Draco challenged the goblins over their security before Ranrok mocked him as Lucius's arrogant son.

Draco, Hermione, and Professor Babbling confronted Ranrok over the key, the Pensieve, and Vault Twelve’s ancient magic. Ranrok’s attack triggered the vault’s ultimate protection, and a giant guardian emerged and swung its sword at him and his group.

• Ranrok demanded the vault key, the ancient magic legacy, and the Pensieve’s memories, then knocked the goblin driver unconscious for enforcing Gringotts’ rules.
• Draco warned Ranrok that Dumbledore would come for him, but Ranrok dismissed the threat and demanded the vault’s treasures again.
• Professor Babbling cast Stupefy, but Ranrok blocked it and counterattacked with ancient magic that shattered the Protego barrier raised by Draco and Hermione.
• The shock wave triggered Vault Twelve’s protection mechanism, and an enormous magical guardian rose from the water around the Pensieve.
• Ranrok recoiled in fear as the guardian raised its sword and swung at him and his group.

Draco, Hermione, and Professor Babbling escaped Ranrok and the collapsing vault through a doorway of ancient magic. After discussing Ranrok’s power and the goblin rebellion, Draco brought them to Hogsmeade at Christmas.

• Ranrok and his subordinates attacked the giant guardian, which drove them back toward Draco, Hermione, and Professor Babbling.
• Draco spotted a secret doorway, but Professor Babbling stayed to admire the guardian until its sword nearly struck her and triggered the vault’s collapse.
• Draco used the Summoning Charm to pull Hermione and Professor Babbling to him, and the three escaped through the doorway just before the vault collapsed.
• Professor Babbling identified the guardian as Rackham’s ultimate defense and explained that Ranrok led the goblin rebels.
• Draco explained that Ranrok borrowed ancient magic through his armor, while Draco himself could resonate with it.
• Draco transported Hermione and Professor Babbling to Hogsmeade at Christmas.

Draco and Hermione spent Christmas night in Hogsmeade and found that The Three Broomsticks had only one room left, so they booked it together. While they warmed up with Butterbeer and read the news, Madam Rosmerta described how the Malfoy family had made the area safer.

• Professor Babbling returned to Hogwarts to organize materials about Ancient Magic and brief the headmaster, while Hermione chose to stay in Hogsmeade with Draco.
• Draco and Hermione went to The Three Broomsticks to find a room, where Madam Rosmerta welcomed them and offered Butterbeer and fruit.
• Madam Rosmerta told them that only the attic room remained and warned them against staying at the Hog's Head, so Hermione agreed to share the room with Draco.
• Draco asked Madam Rosmerta for recent copies of the Daily Prophet, and she told them that Lucius had moved Dementors away from villages and schools and increased Ministry patrols.
• Madam Rosmerta noted that the Malfoy family had gained public goodwill and reconsidered the benefits of Draco's ten-percent stake in The Three Broomsticks.

Draco and Hermione read news about Ranrok at the Three Broomsticks before two hostile men confronted Draco. Draco disarmed one and humiliated the other, driving them from the pub after warning them not to threaten him.

• Draco pointed out a newspaper report about Ranrok to Hermione while Madam Rosmerta discussed the trouble he caused.
• A top-hatted man and his burly thug entered the Three Broomsticks and demanded that Draco come with them.
• Draco disarmed the thug, summoned his wand, and refused to return it unless the man slapped himself.
• The top-hatted man ordered his companion to leave, and Draco tossed the thug’s wand into the snow for him to retrieve.
• When the top-hatted man threatened Draco, Draco cast Locomotor Mortis, forcing him to stumble away from the spell and flee the pub.

Draco subdued the men who threatened Hermione and made the top-hatted man promise not to target them again. Back in the Three Broomsticks, Hermione worried that Draco would ruin his future for her, but he reassured her and the pub teased them about getting married.

• The top-hatted man threatened Hermione, so Draco Apparated outside and immobilized his burly subordinate with a spell.
• Draco held his wand to the top-hatted man's neck until he promised never to target Draco or Hermione again, then ordered him to take his subordinate and leave.
• Draco returned to the Three Broomsticks, where Hermione admitted she had feared he would kill the man and never come back.
• Draco embraced Hermione, promised he would not cross that line, and said he would not risk their future together.
• Madam Rosmerta and the pub's customers teased the pair about marrying and kissing, leaving Hermione scarlet with embarrassment as Draco pulled her close.

Draco and Hermione retreated to their room after the customers teased them, shared a tender moment, and returned downstairs for food. Madam Rosmerta identified the men they had confronted as wanted Dark wizards, leaving Hermione wondering how they dared show themselves in Hogsmeade.

• Draco teased Hermione in front of the customers, and she fled to their room in embarrassment.
• Draco followed Hermione upstairs, apologized for teasing her, and said they would eventually have to be open about their relationship.
• Hermione told Draco she had worried about him and asked him not to act so impulsively again, and they kissed beside the fire.
• Draco and Hermione returned downstairs, where Madam Rosmerta served them Christmas treats and Butterbeer.
• Madam Rosmerta identified Victor Rookwood and Theophilus Harlow as notorious Dark wizards wanted by the Ministry.
• Hermione asked how the wanted men had dared come openly into Hogsmeade and provoke Draco.

Madam Rosmerta agreed to give Draco a ten-percent stake in the Three Broomsticks in exchange for his promised protection and a month without dividends, leaving Hermione unsure whether the deal counted as freeloading. After signing the contract, Draco and Hermione left the pub and were drawn toward a Christmas variety show that invited couples onto the stage.

• Madam Rosmerta explained that Fudge's failure to protect Hogsmeade had left shopkeepers vulnerable to Dark wizards, and Hermione blamed him for neglecting his duty.
• Draco proposed taking a ten-percent stake in the Three Broomsticks without paying gold upfront, offering to forgo the first month's dividends instead.
• Madam Rosmerta accepted Draco's terms, and they signed a contract granting him the stake while Hermione privately struggled to decide whether he was freeloading.
• Madam Rosmerta gave Draco and Hermione hot Butterbeer and Christmas treats, and they left the Three Broomsticks to stroll through Hogsmeade.
• A variety-show performer invited couples to try a united-heart magic circle, and the surrounding crowd pushed Draco and Hermione toward the stage.

Draco and Hermione shared a bed at the Three Broomsticks after dazzling the crowd with their magic, and Hermione eventually let him hold her. The next morning, Draco kept her pinned in his arms while she tried to get up.

• Draco and Hermione joined a magical performance, where Draco shaped the spirit flames and stardust into an elaborate heart that amazed the audience.
• Draco pinned a glow-in-the-dark badge to Hermione's lapel, and they returned hand in hand to the Three Broomsticks.
• Hermione hesitated to share the small bed, but Draco persuaded her to lie beside him.
• Draco reached for Hermione in the night and called her "Wifey," and she protested before settling into his arms.
• The next morning, Hermione tried to escape the duvet, but Draco held her close and complained when she tried to move.

Draco and Hermione spent the morning flirting before discussing how to protect Hermione’s parents from the dark wizards. After Draco received Professor Babbling’s letter about checking for traces of Ancient Magic at Hogwarts, they ate breakfast at the Three Broomsticks and prepared to return to school.

• Draco kissed Hermione and agreed that using a Memory Charm could help deal with the dark wizards.
• Draco secretly wrote home asking for someone to protect Hermione’s parents.
• Draco received a letter from Professor Babbling asking them to check a map for traces of Ancient Magic when they returned to school.
• Draco and Hermione ate breakfast at the Three Broomsticks and stepped outside to head back to school.
• Draco stopped suddenly as they were about to return to school.

Draco and Hermione overheard Ranrok and Victor Rookwood plotting to obtain the power of Ancient Magic, then investigated Professor Babbling’s map and discovered a portal beneath the Restricted Section. They activated it with a nearby wellspring of magic and stepped through.

• Draco and Hermione followed Victor Rookwood into a hidden meeting, where they heard Ranrok threaten him over his failure to capture Draco and obtain Ancient Magic.
• Hermione realized Victor Rookwood might be descended from the Rookwood who guarded the Ancient Magic ruins.
• Draco and Hermione found Professor Babbling’s warning letter and used Specialis Revelio on her map, revealing a faint magical trace in the Restricted Section.
• Draco and Hermione found a dormant portal underground and activated it by resonating with a wellspring of magic.
• Draco and Hermione entered the glowing portal and disappeared.

Draco and Hermione explored an ancient magical temple, using a rune orb to activate bridges and defeating its stone guardians. They crossed toward the next level while joking about their combat skills and whether Hermione needed Draco as a bodyguard.

• Draco and Hermione descended through a portal and opened an Ancient Magic door into a temple suspended in darkness.
• Hermione struck a rune orb with Expelliarmus, causing a magical bridge to appear after Draco tried to span the gap with a folding ladder.
• Draco used Depulso to smash two club-wielding statues together, and Hermione used Accio to destroy the remaining guardians.
• Draco disarmed an axe-wielding statue and sent its weapon back into it with the Summoning Charm, then Hermione copied his tactic against the other statue.
• Hermione activated another rune orb and crossed the bridge toward the next level as Draco teased her about having a personal bodyguard.

Draco and Hermione explored the Athenaeum, where the Pensieve revealed Ancient Magic being used to restore a dying village. The Book of the Keepers explained the dangers of abusing Ancient Magic and the existence of trials, but their details were missing, leaving Draco as the only known way to access them.

• Draco and Hermione entered the Pensieve chamber, where the Book of the Keepers vanished into a spatial rift.
• Draco and Hermione viewed a memory of Rackham using Ancient Magic to bring rain and restore a barren village, then saw a girl they suspected was Morgana.
• The book returned to Draco, and he used his system to decipher that the chamber was the Athenaeum, built by four Keepers to pass down Ancient Magic.
• Draco told Hermione that Morgana had abused Ancient Magic by extracting human emotions, and that anyone seeking to inherit it had to pass trials whose details had been torn from the book.
• Hermione reasoned that a Keeper or a would-be inheritor had removed the trial details, while Draco argued that only he could serve as a medium for accessing the trials.
• Draco put the book in his spatial pouch and left with Hermione to find food.

Draco and Hermione learned that Rookwood’s Ashwinder faction had attacked a Hogsmeade patrol and went to investigate. Draco rescued an old woman from two Ashwinders, then ordered his subordinates to take the unconscious men away for possible recruitment.

• At lunch, Draco teased Hermione about whether their future children would inherit his ancient-magic constitution, flustering her.
• An owl brought Draco a report that unidentified Dark wizards had attacked the Hogsmeade patrol and injured two people.
• Draco and Hermione found Tom badly wounded, and Draco healed him with a potent healing potion.
• Tom and another guard identified the attackers as Rookwood’s newly gathered Ashwinder faction.
• Draco stunned two Ashwinders who were threatening an old woman, and Hermione comforted her.
• Draco erased the attackers’ memories and ordered his subordinates to take them away under the family rules, with recruitment in mind.