Chapter Summaries

Draco discussed obedience, parenting, and the different paths children could take, then argued that studying and doing poorly at school both had their advantages. Trillian learned that Draco truly did not study, despite his abilities, and Hermione confirmed it.

• Draco told Trillian that children should choose when to obey and parents should avoid imposing their will unnecessarily.
• Hermione said studying could be enjoyable for children who liked it, while Draco warned that mastering magic was difficult for most people.
• Draco explained that wizardry was inherited through bloodlines, so Kraven could not become a wizard because he already had a vampire bloodline.
• Draco argued that studying offered social benefits, while people who struggled at school could focus on other pursuits and enjoy themselves.
• Trillian questioned how Draco could be powerful without studying, and Hermione confirmed that he did not study but still learned many things.

Kraven argued that freely available answer keys could help students of every ability, and Hermione reconsidered her view that teachers should confiscate them. Draco then explained that people could change part of their fate by setting their luck in motion, leaving Trillian and the others puzzled by his account of qi and the Heavenly Dao.

• Kraven argued to Trillian and Selene that answer keys helped students learn and made teachers' work easier.
• Hermione agreed that answer keys could help struggling students and proposed giving them out while monitoring their effects.
• Draco praised Hermione's changed view and said students should be free to choose while accepting the consequences.
• Draco told Trillian that people could alter part of their destiny by setting their luck in motion.
• Draco explained the Heavenly Dao and qi, then left Trillian baffled with his example of Kongming borrowing the east wind.

Draco explained how qi, fortune, and thought power worked, and why wizards could release qi while Muggles could only internalize it. Kraven began challenging the idea that focused thought could help people accomplish their goals.

• Draco described immortal cultivation, the decline of spiritual qi, and the role of sleep in restoring essence, qi, and spirit.
• Draco explained that qi circulated as luck, which could accumulate into the fortune of a child of destiny.
• Draco said wizards could release refined qi through their bloodlines, while Muggles could only internalize it to sustain their bodies and minds.
• Draco explained that Muggles could use thought power only if they believed without doubt, and said suspicion scattered their thoughts and qi.
• Trillian asked whether the people of Sakura Country could use their single-mindedness to accomplish their goals, and Draco declined to judge; Kraven began pointing out a flaw in the idea.

Draco explained how limited thought power, karma, and personal circumstances shaped people's fortunes, then discussed the consequences of harmful thoughts and good intentions. He ended by criticizing the motives behind news coverage and explaining that scammers thrive because people are easily deceived.

• Draco told Trillian that spiritual blessings were constrained by fate and karma, and joked that he was already entangled in her karma while trying to make her a witch.
• Draco explained that thought power could influence personal matters, while illness could also result from harmful surroundings such as polluted air, poor water, or people who caused distress.
• When Selene asked what someone trapped in bad circumstances should do, Draco said that wishing the suffering onto someone else was a harmful thought and that personal qi or magnetic fields could also be involved.
• Draco advised understanding the full truth before doing good deeds and said people had to bear the consequences of their actions.
• Draco criticized the purposes behind news coverage, and Trillian joked that journalism was devoted to deceiving people.
• Draco said scammers survived because fools existed, and Trillian praised his reasoning.

Draco explained how people could preserve their qi and gave the others his limited understanding of feng shui, including how a person's virtue affected whether they could benefit from a burial site's auspicious energy. The group ended up asking about the unfamiliar Old Master Ren, whose story Draco had just invoked.

• Draco advised the others to stay calm, avoid emotional extremes, and protect their qi from being drained.
• Trillian joked that she had preserved her qi by avoiding competition with Draco and benefiting from his powerful presence.
• Draco explained that feng shui concerned yin and yang dwellings and that a good ancestral burial site could supposedly help protect descendants.
• Kraven recalled that a wealthy blood-race family had hired a renowned feng shui master to choose a burial site but had continued to suffer misfortune.
• Trillian concluded that the family's lack of virtue had prevented them from benefiting from the site, and Draco agreed, citing Old Master Ren as an example.

Draco explained feng shui, unusual building layouts, and how spirits and ancestors might affect the living. He left Trillian convinced she should pay her respects to her ancestors, while discussing how nobody was truly idle.

• Draco explained the dragonfly skimming the water grave and described unusual buildings designed around feng shui beliefs.
• Hermione asked whether Hogwarts ghosts carried harmful yin qi, and Draco said their presence had not harmed the living.
• Trillian concluded her ancestors might have protected her, but Draco warned that they needed money and connections in the underworld to help her.
• Trillian decided she should pay her respects to her ancestors after Draco explained that even ghosts might need to bribe officials.
• Draco argued that nobody was truly idle, and Trillian complained that some people could earn money much more easily than others.

Draco, Trillian, and Kraven discussed work, reincarnation, and the possibility that every kind of living thing—and even objects—might long for human form. The conversation ended with Draco suggesting that cherished objects such as cars could develop spirituality.

• Draco argued that working too hard could burden coworkers and joked about having to work hard at home, prompting Hermione to pinch his thigh.
• Kraven and Trillian discussed how people plant trees for practical reasons, and Kraven joked that some trees were planted because they were not yet grown enough to sell.
• Draco compared wage slaves to Ox-Head and Horse-Face and described how people spend their lives waiting through one stage after another.
• Draco argued that wage slaves might choose reincarnation because ghosts could not remain idle in the Underworld or depend forever on descendants for spirit money.
• Trillian joked about reincarnating as Hermione, and Draco suggested people might instead become animals, plants, rocks, or even objects.
• Draco said that cars and other objects could gain spirituality from people's care, and Trillian asked whether they really had souls.

Draco explained how fate, feng shui, accumulating virtue, and study could shape a person's fortunes, while Trillian and Hermione questioned what virtue meant. He began tracing the history of the Chinese character for virtue, leaving his explanation unfinished.

• Draco explained that virtue and study could compensate when fate and feng shui could not improve someone's destiny.
• Hermione asked Draco to define virtuous conduct and virtue, and he admitted he could only offer a vague explanation.
• Draco wrote the Chinese character for virtue, prompting Trillian to ask about China and whether charging admission could prevent littering.
• Draco and Trillian discussed littering, corruption, and how people's choices shaped their conduct.
• Draco said the character he had written was a later form and began showing its original form.

Draco explained the Dao, virtue, righteous qi, and the different costs of success through righteous and evil paths to Hermione, Trillian, and Selene. He ended by saying that the apparent increase in evil came from bad news spreading farther through modern communications.

• Draco explained that following the Dao meant letting things be as they should and doing what people ought to do.
• Draco described virtue as upright conduct and intentions, and said good deeds should not be done merely to accumulate virtue.
• Draco told Trillian that retaliating against someone who harmed her involved karmic entanglement rather than simply creating evil karma.
• Draco explained that people could succeed through righteous or evil paths, but keeping their gains required rightful preservation, which was easier after righteous success.
• Draco said the balance between righteous and evil people shifted over time and that communications made evil seem more prevalent because bad news traveled farther.

Draco explained how resentment, reading, and cultivating virtue shaped people and their relationships, while Selene and Trillian considered his ideas. Hermione challenged his claim that people associated because they gained something from one another.

• Draco and Kraven discussed how conflict attracted attention and how believers could turn fiercely hostile when their interests were threatened.
• Kraven noted that people remained subject to others even in the relatively free Americas, and Selene said the Death Dealers squad would be different, except in its attitude toward werewolves.
• Draco explained that resentment could worsen a household over time.
• Selene asked what role reading played, and Draco said understanding principles helped people control their emotions, avoid deception, and accumulate virtue.
• Draco described self-cultivation and influencing others to follow the right path as forms of virtue, then said people gained good things from their relationships.
• Hermione objected that people could associate without gaining anything and simply enjoy a quiet conversation.

Draco, Hermione, Kraven, and Trillian debated education, teacher-student relationships, and how people on evil paths could retain power. The chapter ended with Draco suggesting that average students had their own benefits.

• Draco advised that people who succeeded on evil paths should avoid greed, return to the righteous path, or support righteous people so they might be spared if they fell from power.
• Kraven and Draco argued that students needed broad education as well as specialization, while Hermione explained why subjects without exams might be neglected.
• Draco argued that the existing education system was the most reasonable option available after generations of refinement, and Trillian accepted his point.
• Kraven and Trillian described teacher-student relationships as largely practical, and Trillian concluded that average students were the most overlooked at school.
• Draco smiled and told Trillian that being an average student had its own benefits.

Kraven explained how vampire workers’ descendants rejected exhausting work after education exposed them to other possibilities, while Draco argued that conflicts among the lower classes came from competition over scarce resources rather than any inherent tendency to harm one another. The chapter left the group considering how pressure to support families could push people to take income from others.

• Draco described the advantages of being an average student and reflected on the difficulty of maintaining balance in relationships.
• Kraven recounted how vampire workers sent their descendants to school, where education changed their outlook and made them resist unhealthy work.
• Kraven explained that powerful families monopolized respectable jobs, leaving many young people at the bottom to become good-for-nothings rather than accept exhausting labor.
• Draco and Kraven used workers paid by the weight of harvested crops to show how scarce income and family responsibilities could lead people to take from others.
• Draco concluded that conflicts among the lower classes stemmed from competition over interests, as people at the top also harmed one another for profit.

Draco and the others discussed work, family roles, and how blunt advice could damage relationships. The conversation ended with Draco arguing that people should avoid comparisons and express difficult truths in ways others could accept.

• Kraven questioned whether wealthier people should share more with the poor, and Draco challenged him to consider who had made the wealth.
• Selene suggested that families have fewer children, but Draco argued that people should retain the freedom to choose whether to have children.
• Kraven explained that population growth and shrinking territory left many vampires and Werewolves without work, and Draco said they were often out of options rather than simply slacking off.
• Draco discussed how parents could help children recognize a father's contributions and described how household conflicts could make spouses distant.
• Draco advised that honest criticism should be phrased from the listener's perspective and warned against turning conversations into arguments over who was right.
• Draco argued that parents should avoid comparing their children with others, since people tend to notice others' strengths and their own child's flaws.

Draco discussed family conflicts, bad habits, and judging people by one's own experience, while Hermione revealed that he loved making bets and keeping people in suspense. The conversation ended with Trillian lamenting how difficult it was to know when to tolerate others and when to intervene.

• Draco advised Selene to help family members with their bad habits rather than resent them, and said people had strengths as well as flaws.
• Trillian asked Hermione what faults Draco had, and Hermione said he loved making bets, keeping people in suspense, and acting indifferent.
• Draco explained that people should not readily believe others' praise or criticism, since judgments could reflect their interests.
• Draco distinguished habits from things people were forced to do, and Trillian joked that stealing others' achievements was her daily habit.
• Draco said people should avoid meddling in other families' affairs but act when needed, leaving Trillian to complain that finding the right balance was difficult.

Draco explained how market involution could benefit people who lay flat and argued that they and overworked laborers shared interests. The discussion ended with Draco warning Trillian against joining social circles that encouraged people to divide into opposing camps.

• Kraven continued recounting how young vampires lay flat in large numbers, disrupting the lower ranks and prompting vampire leaders to launch propaganda against giving up.
• Draco explained that family circumstances and limited parental resources often pushed young people toward conventional career paths, and he discussed the risks and narrow profits of farming.
• Kraven and Draco described how merchants, wholesalers, retailers, and food processors took shares of agricultural profits while farmers bore production risks.
• Draco told Trillian that striving and moderate involution could expand supply and lower prices, allowing people who lay flat to buy necessities cheaply.
• Draco argued that people who lay flat also sought work and fought for other laborers, and Trillian recognized that they need not be enemies.
• Draco warned Trillian against social circles that fostered antagonism between people and groups.

Draco, Kraven, and Trillian discussed why lying flat could be reasonable, while emphasizing that people should keep doing something meaningful and families should accept one another. Kraven then explained that Victor restarted the Werewolf hunts to control population growth and redirect vampire internal conflicts, leaving Selene to realize that vampire leaders had deliberately sustained the feud.

• Draco and Kraven explained that lying flat could protect people from exploitation, while noting that it did not guarantee work or make people competitive with experienced workers.
• Draco described why employers, peers, elders, and society opposed lying flat, and Kraven discussed parents’ expectations and the harm of making excessive demands on children.
• Draco said families should help their children where possible, otherwise let them choose their own path, and accept that they might lie flat for a while.
• Draco clarified that lying flat did not mean giving up completely, and advised people to find activities that kept them engaged with life.
• Kraven said Victor resumed the Werewolf hunts to limit both populations and divert tensions within the vampire race, despite the casualties the hunts caused.
• Selene realized that vampire leaders had deliberately perpetuated generations of bloodshed and hatred to keep their own race stable.

Kraven explained how he came to oppose the vampire elders and conspired with Lucian, while Draco and Selene challenged his motives and the dangers of replacing one ruler with another. Selene declared she wanted Lucian dead, and Kraven aligned himself with her, relying on Draco Malfoy’s backing.

• Kraven recounted how he questioned vampire hatred of werewolves, recognized the clan’s propaganda and exploitation, and began plotting against the vampire aristocrats.
• Kraven admitted he wanted power for himself and might still need an enemy to keep his people united; Draco argued that selfish rulers and regime changes could also create opportunities for the oppressed.
• Kraven revealed that he had contacted Lucian and joined the Death Dealers to undermine the three elders, but the plot had failed.
• Selene confirmed that Lucian had cut off the tattoo and given it to Kraven, then said she wanted Lucian dead; Kraven declared they were on the same side and invoked Draco Malfoy as their backer.
• Draco argued that internal suffering made people turn to whoever offered survival, while Kraven lamented that firearms had made rebellion nearly impossible.

Draco discussed marriage, dating expectations, and showing affection with Trillian and Hermione before calling it a night. He left the study with Hermione and found Michael asleep on the sofa while Soren watched him.

• Trillian and Draco discussed marriage as a personal choice and warned against pressuring others or stirring up conflict between men and women.
• Draco advised people to state what they wanted in a partner while considering what they could offer, and said couples should avoid showing off their affection.
• Trillian teased Draco and Hermione about dating up or down and displaying affection, while Draco insisted that embracing Hermione was only physical communication.
• After Hermione grew sleepy, Draco waved his wand to clear the table and left the study with his arm around her.
• Draco saw Soren staring at Michael on the sofa and called to him; Michael opened his eyes and looked toward Draco and Hermione.

Hermione and Draco discussed the vampire and Werewolf conflict before joining Kraven and their companions at the elders’ castle. Selene confronted Victor over the truth about her family, and Kraven said a witness could prove Victor had killed them.

• Draco persuaded Hermione to stay in bed instead of showering, and they discussed whether vampires and Werewolves could reconcile.
• Draco and Kraven traveled to the elders’ castle with Hermione, Selene, and Trillian after breakfast.
• Selene told Victor she wanted the truth about her family despite her loyalty to him.
• Kraven accused Victor of taking Selene’s family from her and challenged him to answer who killed them.
• Kraven named Tanis as a witness, but Victor dismissed him as an exiled traitor.

Kraven exposed the contradictions in Victor’s accusations, and Selene became convinced that Victor had killed her family. When Victor ordered the hall seized, Draco and Hermione disarmed the Death Dealers with magic, leaving the vampires stunned and Victor weighing his options.

• Kraven challenged Victor’s account of Selene’s family’s murder, but Victor accused him of treason and defended the Werewolves as the killers.
• Selene rejected Victor’s denials and concluded that he had murdered her family after learning that her people had been removed from the hall.
• Victor ordered Kahn and the Death Dealers to seize Kraven, Selene, Draco, and their companions, declaring that none of them would leave alive.
• Draco and Hermione cast Disarming Charms that tore the firearms from the Death Dealers’ hands and scattered them across the hall.
• The Death Dealers lost their formation and hesitated to approach the wands, while Victor and the others reacted with shock to the display of magic.