Recaps

Draco, Hermione, and Nora were ambushed by a top-hatted witch and two concealed accomplices, but Draco swiftly defeated them and erased their memories. The attackers ended the chapter bound and gathered together as the old woman praised Draco’s skill.

• A top-hatted woman attacked Draco, Hermione, and Nora with a powerful spell, and Draco shielded them from the blast.
• The woman sent a gale of sand and stones at them, but the three defended themselves and Nora fired a Disarming Charm while Draco Apparated behind the woman.
• Draco disarmed and stunned the top-hatted woman, then erased her memories, but a concealed accomplice attacked him from behind.
• Draco blocked the ambusher’s spell and used Specialis Revelio to reveal two hidden attackers, who tried to flee.
• Draco stunned both accomplices and erased their memories, then used Accio and Incarcerous to gather and bind all three attackers.

Draco and Hermione rescued Nora Treadwell from dark wizards, and Nora revealed her research into Merlin’s stone pillars, which she called “Merlin’s Trial.” Hermione activated the trial with mallowsweet, lighting the stones and making the vines fall away, but what would happen next remained unclear.

• Draco summoned his family’s men to remove the unconscious dark wizards while Hermione recognized Nora Treadwell as a leading Merlin scholar.
• Nora warned that the attackers had targeted her research and identified the vine-covered stone pillars as Merlin’s Trial.
• Nora said mallowsweet could activate the trial and invited Hermione to test her theory.
• Hermione fetched a mallowsweet leaf and placed it on the vortex mark, causing the stone to glow green and the vines to fall away.
• Hermione asked Nora what they should do next after the stones lit up but nothing else seemed to happen.

Hermione, Draco, and Mrs Nora activated Merlin’s trial by lighting the three braziers, revealing a magical pavilion and Merlin’s apparition. Mrs Nora departed to investigate other trial sites, and Draco and Hermione returned to Hogwarts, where Hagrid told them that creatures in the Forbidden Forest were disappearing again.

• Hermione lit the tallest pillar’s brazier, causing the pillar to sink, and Draco suggested lighting all three pillars at once.
• Hermione ignited all three braziers, activating the stone formation and raising a vine-covered pavilion as Merlin’s apparition appeared.
• Hermione praised Mrs Nora’s research, and Mrs Nora confirmed her hypothesis before leaving to pursue clues at other Merlin Trial sites.
• Draco and Hermione said goodbye to Mrs Nora and headed back to Hogwarts, planning to visit Hagrid on the way.
• Hagrid told Draco and Hermione that mooncalves and bowtruckles had become scarce in the Forbidden Forest, and Draco joked that Voldemort might be drinking unicorn blood.

Draco, Hermione, and Hagrid investigated the disappearance of creatures in the Forbidden Forest and learned that poachers were capturing them. They rejected a plan to attack the poachers with the forest’s creatures and went to report the camp to Dumbledore.

• Draco, Hermione, and Hagrid entered the Forbidden Forest after suspecting poachers were responsible for the missing animals.
• Several Acromantulas told them that nine wizards had camped deep in the forest, burned grassland, and were capturing spiders and other creatures.
• Draco proposed uniting the forest creatures to attack the poachers, but Hagrid and Hermione rejected the plan as dangerous and potentially illegal.
• The three agreed to ask Dumbledore for help and hurried to his office.
• Hermione told Dumbledore that the poachers were near the centaurs’ territory in a northern gorge and that their leader used powerful Fire-Making Spells.

After reporting poachers in the Forbidden Forest to Dumbledore, Draco and Hermione shared a private moment before the ghost Richard Jackdaw interrupted them to ask for help. Jackdaw offered information about a page of an Ancient Magic book in exchange for help uncovering his death and clearing Anne’s name, then began explaining how he had stolen the page from Peeves.

• Dumbledore promised Hagrid he would contact the Ministry of Magic about the poachers, and Hagrid returned to watch the forest.
• Draco and Hermione went to dinner, then headed toward the Room of Requirement after their dangerous day.
• Draco kissed pudding from the corner of Hermione’s mouth, but Richard Jackdaw suddenly emerged from a wall carrying his own head.
• Jackdaw asked Draco and Hermione to investigate his death and clear Anne’s name, offering to reveal where an Ancient Magic page was hidden.
• Jackdaw explained that he had stolen the page from Peeves, and said he regretted doing so because he believed it had led to his death and Anne’s imprisonment in Azkaban.

Jackdaw explained how he died while exploring a dangerous cave in the Forbidden Forest, and Draco and Hermione agreed to investigate after learning Anne had been sent to Azkaban on false testimony. The chapter left them committed to uncovering the truth behind Jackdaw’s death and clearing Anne’s name.

• Jackdaw told Draco and Hermione that he had found a hidden cave through a page about Ancient Magic, invited Anne to explore it, and died there when she failed to appear.
• Draco questioned Jackdaw’s motives for sending two students into a cave that had killed him, then agreed to help if Hermione wanted to go.
• Hermione agreed to investigate for the sake of the truth and the person who might have been wrongfully accused.
• Jackdaw revealed that Apollonia had falsely testified that Anne murdered him, and Anne had been convicted and sent to Azkaban.
• Hermione condemned Anne’s conviction without physical evidence or proper investigation, while Draco explained how the Ministry had favored a pure-blood witness over a Muggle-born witch.

Draco and Hermione followed Richard Jackdaw into the Forbidden Forest to find the cavern and uncover the truth behind his death and Anne's fate. After fighting off a smaller spider, they encountered a giant one blocking their only known path.

• Hermione resolved to investigate the cavern with Draco and Jackdaw, who guided them into the Forbidden Forest.
• Jackdaw described the route's landmarks, including an arch of roots and rocks, a waterfall, and a still lake.
• Draco detected and burned a hound-sized spider, and Hermione knocked it into a rock with Depulso.
• Jackdaw said he had encountered no danger on his previous visit, so the group proceeded more cautiously.
• Draco and Hermione found a giant spider blocking the path, and Jackdaw told them it was the only route he knew.

Draco talked a giant spider into retreating by arguing that its offspring had attacked first and invoking his reputation for killing Voldemort. He, Hermione, and Jackdaw continued toward the cave, and Draco teased Hermione by asking for a kiss.

• Draco confronted the giant spider and argued that its child had attacked him and his companions first.
• Draco invoked his name and his killing of Voldemort, then urged the spider to leave rather than risk its life over one offspring.
• The spider backed away and disappeared into the forest, leaving Draco, Hermione, and Jackdaw unharmed.
• Draco, Hermione, and Jackdaw continued toward the cave, encountering no more spiders along the way.
• Hermione praised Draco for resolving the danger, and Draco asked her to thank the hero with a kiss.

Draco, Hermione, and Jackdaw followed the clues to a hidden lake in the Forbidden Forest and found the stone birdbath beside the rock wall. Jackdaw said the password would open a passage there, leaving Draco and Hermione ready to try it.

• Hermione burned away the webs sealing the twisted archway, and the group followed Jackdaw to a waterfall.
• Hermione delighted in the Puffskeins by the dry riverbed, while Draco teased her about keeping one and offered her animal feed.
• Hermione fed the Puffskeins, then reluctantly left them behind as Jackdaw led the group onward.
• The three reached a secluded lake deep in the Forbidden Forest, where Draco spotted the birdbath Jackdaw had described.
• Jackdaw pointed out the rock wall opposite the birdbath and said that speaking the password would open the passage.
• Draco and Hermione examined the wall by wandlight.

Draco and Hermione opened a hidden entrance, where Ranrok’s goblins ambushed them. Draco destroyed all three with a fire dragon spell, and Hermione rebuked him for killing them; the chapter ended with Draco kissing her cheek and Jackdaw pretending not to notice.

• Draco opened the spiral stone wall, revealing an entrance blocked by solid rock.
• Three goblins serving Ranrok ambushed Draco and Hermione, and their lieutenant ordered the others to attack.
• Draco unleashed Fire Dragon Attack, burning all three goblins and their weapons and armor to ashes.
• Hermione confronted Draco for killing the goblins, while Draco said they had threatened her and agreed to be less impulsive next time.
• Draco called Hermione “wifey” and kissed her cheek, while Jackdaw tried to ignore them.

Draco and Hermione activated an ancient teleportation circle and entered a cavern beneath the mountain, leaving Jackdaw behind. They found a vast canyon and an Ancient Magic door with a mechanism Hermione began to examine.

• Draco explained that he had created the Fire Dragon Attack by combining modern magic with techniques from the Ancient Magic book.
• Jackdaw said he could sense Ancient Magic leaking from Draco, and Draco hid the book in his System Space to prevent Ranrok’s followers from detecting it.
• Draco and Hermione stepped onto the teleportation circle while Jackdaw stayed behind because he could not use it.
• Draco and Hermione explored the cavern, passed a swarm of bats, and reached a canyon above the Forbidden Forest.
• Draco and Hermione found an Ancient Magic door beside the cliff, and Hermione recognized its floating blue orbs as part of a magical mechanism.

Draco and Hermione explored deeper into the underground passage, avoided a cavern full of spiders, and used Draco’s broom to bypass obstacles. They crossed a chasm and continued onward, with Hermione eager to stop and investigate the bookshelves they passed.

• Draco cleared a webbed passage, and he and Hermione entered a cavern swarming with spiders.
• Draco spoke to the spiders’ leader, and the spiders let him and Hermione retreat without attacking.
• Draco took out a broom, and Hermione rode in front of him as they flew through the passage.
• Hermione opened another stone door by striking its three gems with magical sparks.
• Draco flew them straight across a bottomless chasm, bypassing the magical challenge’s platforms.
• Hermione spotted bookshelves on platforms along the way and repeatedly asked Draco to stop.

Hermione and Draco explored the ruins where Jackdaw had died, restoring a broken bridge and discovering his remains in a vast hall guarded by enchanted statues. Draco collected Jackdaw’s bones and wand and repaired an Ancient Magic book with a missing page, leaving them to face the hall’s guardians and whatever secrets lay beyond.

• Hermione collected rare books from dusty shelves, then persuaded Draco to help her activate the runic archway’s mechanism.
• Hermione triggered the gemstones, and restorative magic rebuilt the ruined bridge while she watched in amazement.
• Draco and Hermione flew into a magnificent domed hall and found Jackdaw’s skeleton, his wand, and a page of Ancient Magic notes.
• Draco summoned Jackdaw’s bones and wand into a sack, and he repaired the Ancient Magic book with the page Hermione had found.
• Hermione recognized the hall’s armed statues as likely guardians that had attacked Jackdaw, and Draco remarked that Jackdaw had died trying to claim something that was not his.

Draco and Hermione destroyed the stone statues, opened an Ancient Magic portal, and survived a flood by crossing a submerged bridge under magical protection. They reached a grand circular hall and looked out from its entrance platform.

• Hermione smashed the stone statues with spells while Draco watched, and they continued deeper into the hall.
• Draco and Hermione connected with the Ancient Magic spring and entered the portal to a new cavern.
• A flood surged toward them on a ruined stone bridge, and Draco protected them with the Bubble-Head Charm.
• When the water submerged them, Draco's Ancient Magic shield expanded around both of them, and they crossed the flooded bridge safely.
• Draco and Hermione passed through an archway and a heavy stone door into a grand circular hall.

Draco and Hermione reached the Map Chamber, where Percival Rackham appeared in a mirror and instructed them to place their Ancient Magic book on a pedestal. The book activated a detailed magical map showing the locations of the Keepers’ trials, and Rackham explained that the trials would guide a worthy inheritor of Ancient Magic.

• Draco and Hermione entered a circular hall filled with towering mirrors and found that the room seemed to distort the scenery reflected within them.
• The four mirrors activated, and Percival Rackham appeared in the third mirror, greeting them as the first people to find the Map Chamber in a long time.
• Rackham asked Draco to place the Ancient Magic inheritance book on the glowing pedestal, and Draco levitated it into place with Depulso.
• The pedestal activated the enormous floor mirror, which displayed a detailed three-dimensional map of the Scottish Highlands, Hogwarts, and the surrounding area.
• Hermione examined the map and wondered whether it was a form of spatial folding and magical projection, while Rackham described it as a reflection of the land’s magical essence.
• Rackham explained that the four Keepers had established trials across the magical world for a worthy inheritor, and Draco promised Hermione he would have her back once he was invincible before Rackham’s image dimmed.

Draco and Hermione learned that the Ancient Magic trials would test Draco’s character and that he had to face them alone. After Rackham marked the first trial near Hogwarts and vanished, they returned to Jackdaw with his remains, allowing the ghost to understand his death and begin to pass on.

• Rackham warned Draco that power could turn protection into control, and urged him to treat Hermione as an equal walking beside him.
• Hermione defended Draco, and Draco promised her he wanted to grow stronger so they could face the future together.
• Rackham told Draco that each Ancient Magic trial had to be faced alone, then marked the first trial at an ancient tower north of Hogwarts.
• Draco and Hermione used the teleportation array to return beside the lake, where Jackdaw had been waiting.
• Hermione explained that Ancient Magic stone guardians had killed Jackdaw in the Chamber of Secrets, and Draco showed him his bones and wand.
• Jackdaw understood what had happened and began to grow transparent, prompting Draco to ask whether he was leaving without dealing with the matter.

After Jackdaw vanished, Draco and Hermione planned to bury his remains beside the lake, but Scrope revealed that Jackdaw had deceived Apollonia Black and that she had engineered his death and framed Anne. Hermione was left horrified by the truth about Anne’s wrongful imprisonment.

• Jackdaw declined Draco’s offer of a headstone and vanished after thanking Draco and Hermione for uncovering the truth.
• Draco and Hermione agreed to bury Jackdaw beside the lake, but Draco heard a noise in the bushes and confronted the hidden figure.
• Scrope emerged and identified himself as Apollonia Black’s House-elf, insisting that Apollonia had also been a victim of Jackdaw’s deception.
• Scrope said Jackdaw had used Apollonia’s connections and resources, abandoned her for Anne, and driven her toward madness and hatred.
• Scrope revealed that Apollonia lured Jackdaw into a trap that killed him, then fabricated evidence to send Anne to Azkaban.
• Hermione was horrified that Anne had been punished despite knowing nothing about Jackdaw and Apollonia’s affair.

Draco and Hermione flew Scrope to Apollonia Black’s private cave so he could prove his account about Jackdaw and Anne. During the flight, Scrope experienced unexpected kindness from Draco and revealed that Apollonia had cut off his ear as punishment.

• Draco doubted Scrope’s story and asked him to lead them to Apollonia’s private cave.
• Draco produced broomsticks and persuaded the frightened Scrope to ride with him while Hermione flew beside them.
• Scrope marveled that Draco treated him normally and quietly thanked him during the flight.
• Hermione noticed Scrope’s mutilated ear and asked how he had lost it.
• Scrope explained that Apollonia cut off his ear after he broke one of her favorite vases, and he called her merciful for sparing his life.

Hermione learned that Scrope considered Apollonia Black kind despite her mutilating him, and her view of Draco warmed as she compared his treatment of the house-elf. The trio reached a hidden cave, where Draco used toast to activate Apollonia’s strange octopus mural mechanism.

• Scrope told Hermione that Apollonia Black had cut off one of his ears, yet he remained eternally grateful to her.
• Hermione reconsidered Draco after contrasting his casual kindness toward Scrope with Apollonia’s cruelty.
• Draco, Hermione, and Scrope flew over a marsh and passed safely above dangerous Rockback Mud Monsters.
• The trio entered a cave where Hermione recognized an octopus mural and pedestal as part of a mechanism.
• Draco placed a slice of toast in the pedestal’s recess, and a tentacle on the mural fed it into an eye-shaped hole.

Draco and Hermione entered Apollonia Black’s hidden study, where they found her diary and letters that supported Scrope’s account of Richard Jackdaw exploiting her. They resolved to clear Anne’s name, while Scrope begged them to keep Apollonia’s misdeeds private.

• Hermione and Draco tried to persuade Scrope to enter the secret chamber, but he stayed outside, terrified of disobeying Apollonia’s old orders.
• Hermione read Apollonia’s diary and concluded that her betrayal and pain did not justify mistreating the innocent Anne.
• Scrope told Draco and Hermione about letters hidden in a false drawer compartment, and they found love letters followed by requests for access to restricted ancient-magic research.
• Hermione tested a letter with her wand and saw Jackdaw’s ghostly blue magic, strengthening the evidence that Scrope’s account was true.
• Draco and Hermione agreed to focus on clearing Anne’s name, and Scrope knelt to beg them not to reveal Apollonia’s wrongdoings.

Draco and Hermione decided to send Jackdaw’s bones and letters to the Ministry and bury him, then flew back toward Hogwarts together. Draco’s bold, affectionate antics left Hermione flustered, though she kept the broom steady.

• Draco reassured Scrope that they would reveal the truth without smearing Anne, and he and Hermione agreed to bury Jackdaw’s bones.
• Draco planned to send Jackdaw’s bones and the letters to the Ministry, then gave Scrope his broomstick for the return journey.
• Draco mounted Hermione’s broom with her and persuaded her to fly them back to Hogwarts.
• Once they were airborne, Draco turned to face Hermione, wrapped his arms around her waist, and rested his chin on her head.
• Hermione protested Draco’s dangerous position and his embrace, but she continued flying steadily toward Hogwarts.

Draco held Hermione close on their flight back to Hogwarts and demanded a kiss before letting her go, leaving her flustered enough to flee ahead on her broom. Though she insisted she was escaping her feelings rather than Draco, Hermione stopped beside the castle, still overwhelmed and unsure why she had paused.

• Scrope led Draco and Hermione to Hogwarts, then Apparated away as soon as they landed.
• Draco kept Hermione in his arms and asked her for a kiss before he would release her.
• Hermione gave Draco a quick kiss on the corner of his mouth, and he let her go.
• Hermione flew toward Hogwarts Castle without looking back, while Draco followed and called after her.
• Hermione hovered beside the castle instead of landing near Gryffindor Tower, her heart still racing.

After flying back to Hogwarts together, Draco and Hermione visited the Room of Requirement for a late-night meal. Draco taught Hermione to use chopsticks, leaving her flustered by his closeness as they shared the food.

• Hermione waited outside Hogwarts for Draco, and they flew together to a secluded tower entrance.
• Draco and Hermione went to the Room of Requirement and summoned tossed rice noodles and sweet mung bean soup.
• Hermione struggled with the chopsticks, so Draco moved beside her and guided her fingers as he taught her to use them.
• Hermione quickly learned to handle the chopsticks, though Draco's touch and closeness left her blushing.
• Draco praised Hermione, and the two ate their late-night snack together in a peaceful atmosphere.

Hermione enjoyed the meal Draco had prepared and blushed as she imagined a future in which he kept their home while she worked at the Ministry. They returned to discussing Apollonia, Jackdaw, and Anne, and Draco ended the conversation by teasing Hermione.

• Hermione noticed the noodles and mung bean soup tasted homemade, and Draco admitted he had prepared them for her.
• Draco called himself her future househusband, and Hermione shyly admitted that the idea sounded nice.
• Hermione imagined coming home from work to Draco and a warm, peaceful home, then Draco teased her about blushing.
• Hermione and Draco agreed that they had been too quick to believe one side of the story.
• Hermione said Apollonia had been hurt but had committed real crimes, Jackdaw deserved his fate, and Anne alone was innocent.
• Draco took Hermione's hand and praised her good taste, prompting her to mutter that he was always like this.

Hermione learned from Draco that house-elf enslavement was an ancient system concealed by wizard-written history, and she resolved to stop eating Hogwarts food and establish S.P.E.W. Draco showed that he understood her, leaving Hermione overwhelmed by her feelings for him.

• Draco reassured Hermione that he wanted her heart to hold only him, and she changed the subject to house-elves.
• Hermione recalled how she had believed house-elves served willingly until Scrope’s story made her question their treatment.
• Draco explained that wizards had conquered house-elves for their household magic and that Hogwarts elves worked constantly in the kitchens.
• Hermione decided she could no longer eat Hogwarts food, and Draco offered to cook for her.
• Hermione announced that she wanted to establish S.P.E.W., and Draco acknowledged the society and warned that it might struggle to make substantive change.
• Draco told Hermione he understood her, leaving her unable to speak.