Recaps

Morris, an eleven-year-old orphan with memories of a life in the twenty-first century, received a mysterious letter delivered by a winged cat. After opening it, he told his roommate Scott he might not attend Northwood Comprehensive School after all.

• Morris reflected on his life at Ashley Children's Home and his plan to study hard until he was old enough to build a better future.
• Morris and his roommate Scott discussed their repetitive meals and Morris's place at Northwood Comprehensive School.
• A gust of wind blew open the loose dormitory window, and Scott said a winged cat had tossed an envelope inside.
• Morris examined the envelope addressed to him and opened it, finding a letter sealed with a coat of arms bearing a lion, eagle, badger, and snake.
• Morris told Scott he might not be going to Northwood Comprehensive School.

After receiving his Hogwarts letter, Morris accepted that he had been reborn in the Harry Potter world and used a magic circle to revive a dead black cat. The chapter ended with the undead cat in his arms as he told it to eat more.

• Morris read his Hogwarts acceptance letter and embraced the chance to explore an unfamiliar magical world.
• Morris retrieved the corpse of a starving black cat from the street and carried it to the orphanage storeroom.
• Morris drew a magic circle with red paint and placed the cat's corpse at its center.
• Morris chanted an incantation, and the magic circle revived the black cat as an undead creature.
• Morris felt drained and developed a headache, then welcomed the cat into his arms and urged it to eat more.

Morris confirmed that the Book of the Mage was real and continued studying its magic while living at the orphanage. He left Guantou behind a wall after a caretaker reminded him that cats were forbidden.

• Morris checked the Book of the Mage and saw the newly unlocked Undead Creature Transformation Magic Circle, relieved that it was not a delusion.
• Morris reviewed his difficulty constructing the Weakening Curse spell model while slacking off from weeding the orphanage yard.
• Scott pointed out Guantou facing a stray cat, which swatted the undead cat off the wall.
• Morris pretended Guantou was not his cat, but Guantou ran to him and climbed into his arms.
• A caretaker reminded Morris that cats were forbidden, so Morris tossed Guantou behind the boundary wall.

Morris met Minerva McGonagall at the orphanage, learned more about Hogwarts, and agreed to enroll. McGonagall then began asking Harold Green about Morris’s habits and behavior, while Harold struggled to accept the reality of magic.

• Morris recognized the orphanage’s manager, Harold Green, when he called him over in the yard.
• Harold told Morris that someone from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had asked whether he would attend.
• Harold introduced Morris to Minerva McGonagall, who explained that Hogwarts taught young witches and wizards to use magic and that Morris qualified for admission.
• Morris agreed to attend Hogwarts.
• McGonagall asked Harold about Morris’s everyday habits and behavior, and Harold tried to hide his nervousness after witnessing her use magic.

Professor McGonagall learned that Morris Black’s accidental magic had gathered animal and human corpses around his adoptive families, then took him to Diagon Alley to buy his school supplies. Morris experienced Apparition for the first time and arrived in a narrow alley, while Harold was left reeling at the revelation of magic.

• Professor McGonagall asked Harold Green about unusual events involving Morris, and Harold recalled that Morris had been adopted twice.
• Morris told Professor McGonagall that stray-animal corpses had appeared at both adoptive families’ homes, along with two homeless men’s bodies at the second home.
• Professor McGonagall explained that the incidents were likely accidental magic and reassured Morris that he would learn to control his magic at Hogwarts.
• Morris asked to see magic, and Professor McGonagall took him by Apparition to a narrow alley near Diagon Alley.
• Harold watched Morris and Professor McGonagall vanish, then sat in the reception room thinking about the wizard, the magical school, and the contract forbidding him from revealing magic.

Professor McGonagall took Morris to Diagon Alley to buy his school supplies, and Ollivander sold him a hornbeam wand with Thestral tail hair. After shopping, Morris became fixated on a human skeleton displayed in a secondhand robe shop and left wondering why it had affected him so strongly.

• Professor McGonagall revealed the entrance to Diagon Alley and explained that Hogwarts would pay for Morris's school supplies.
• Morris chose a hornbeam wand with Thestral tail hair at Ollivander's shop, and Professor McGonagall paid seven Galleons for it.
• Professor McGonagall advised Morris to buy his other supplies secondhand so he would have some pocket money.
• Morris and Professor McGonagall bought textbooks, glass phials, a telescope, brass scales, a cauldron, and other supplies.
• At a secondhand robe shop, Morris stared at a human skeleton and struggled to understand his intense fascination with it.

Morris returned from Diagon Alley with his Hogwarts supplies and accidentally demonstrated the Weakening Curse on Harold, leaving him unable to reverse it until the effect wore off. Harold became fascinated by the wizarding world, and Morris agreed to take him to Diagon Alley the next morning in exchange for pocket money.

• Morris arrived at the orphanage with his school supplies, and Harold eagerly inspected the magical items in his suitcase.
• Morris cast the Weakening Curse on Harold, who collapsed and could not get up.
• Morris admitted he did not know how to undo the curse, and Harold gradually recovered about thirty minutes later.
• Harold asked about magic and Diagon Alley, and Morris offered to take him there in exchange for pocket money.
• Harold agreed to drive them to Diagon Alley the next morning.

Morris and Harold traveled to Diagon Alley, where Harold discovered the hidden magical world and Morris brought him to Gringotts to exchange pounds. The goblin explained that Muggle-born Hogwarts students could exchange only up to fifty Galleons per year.

• Morris and Harold set out for Diagon Alley, but neither of them knew its exact location.
• Harold drove to Charing Cross Road, and Morris guided him into the Leaky Cauldron and through the hidden entrance to Diagon Alley.
• Harold explored the magical street with Morris, who asked him for money and explained that they needed to visit Gringotts.
• Morris asked a goblin to exchange Harold's pounds, and the goblin said the service was reserved for Muggle-born Hogwarts students and limited to fifty Galleons a year.

Morris returned to Diagon Alley with Harold and tried to find the skeleton he had seen in a secondhand robe shop, only to learn its owner was Ezra Frick in Knockturn Alley. Cautious about going there, Morris instead headed to a pet shop to buy an owl for sending letters.

• Morris exchanged Harold’s five fifty-pound notes for Galleons and took him shopping in Diagon Alley.
• Morris found the skeleton missing from the secondhand robe shop and learned that it belonged to the shopkeeper’s son, Ezra Frick.
• The shopkeeper gave Morris Ezra Frick’s address: a basement at 21 Knockturn Alley.
• Morris decided not to visit Knockturn Alley with Harold and told him the alley was dangerous.
• Morris and Harold entered a pet shop so Morris could buy an owl for sending letters.

Morris went to the pet shop with Harold to choose an owl and bought a dying great grey owl that had been cursed by a Dark wizard. He left the shop with Harold after telling Mr. Granger that he planned to turn the owl into grilled bird, then revealed he could bring it back to life as an undead creature.

• Morris chose a healthy snowy owl before noticing a sickly black great grey owl in a cage.
• The shop assistant told Morris that the great grey owl had been cursed and had only two days left to live, but Morris bought it for ten Galleons.
• Morris returned to Harold and met Mr. and Mrs. Granger, whose daughter was also starting at Hogwarts.
• Morris startled Mr. Granger by saying he would turn the dying owl into grilled bird, then hurried away with Harold.
• Harold asked whether Morris would really grill the owl, and Morris explained that he could bring it back as an undead creature.

Morris brought the dying owl Harold Green gave him back to the orphanage, but found it dead the next morning. He used an Undead Creature Transformation Magic Circle enhanced with his own blood to revive it, and the owl awakened as an undead creature.

• Harold gave Morris his business card and asked him to show him the owl if Morris managed to revive it.
• Morris returned to the dormitory with the owl, while Scott speculated that Harold Green was Morris’s father.
• Morris examined the owl and decided to prepare the transformation spell, but found it dead the next morning.
• Morris carried the owl’s body to the storage shed and set up an Undead Creature Transformation Magic Circle.
• Morris used the Blood Extraction Spell to add his blood to the circle, then placed the owl’s corpse at its center.
• The owl awakened with pale blue flames in its eye sockets and gently touched its beak to Morris’s fingertips.

Morris discovered that his undead owl Yanhua could hide in his shadow, then invited Harold to see the resurrected bird. The chapter ended with Harold staring at Yanhua’s burning blue eyes as Morris offered him a chance to touch the owl.

• Morris learned that Yanhua could enter and leave only Morris’s shadow, and that complete darkness trapped him inside.
• Morris ate chocolate cake with the children and called Harold after lunch to tell him the owl’s problem was resolved.
• Harold arrived at the children’s home and followed Morris to the courtyard to see the owl.
• Morris explained that the owl had died and been brought back to life, then showed Harold Yanhua’s spectral blue flames.

Morris showed Harold that he could transform dead animals into undead creatures, but warned him that people could not be resurrected. After Harold left, Morris wrote a letter to Ezra Frick about a skeleton and planned to send it with Yanhua once the rain eased.

• Harold touched Yanhua and asked Morris whether the undead owl was evil, and Morris explained how the transformation worked.
• Harold asked if magic could resurrect people, and Morris cautioned him against getting his hopes up before saying goodbye.
• Morris returned to the dormitory during a downpour and found writing paper and envelopes in Scott's drawer.
• Morris wrote to Ezra Frick at 21 Knockturn Alley to ask about a skeleton, then asked Yanhua to deliver the letter after the rain.
• Guantou came in through the window and splashed Scott, so Morris promised to buy him cake the next day.

Morris practiced meditation and magic, noticing that Hogwarts spells worked differently from those in the Book of the Mage. Ezra Frick replied that the skeleton Morris wanted was not for sale, leaving him unable to buy it for now.

• Morris meditated and told Scott that the practice improved his concentration and spellcasting.
• Scott went out, and Morris practiced Lumos before wondering whether Hogwarts magic and the Book of the Mage used different systems.
• Morris examined his spellbook while Guantou and Yanhua tussled on Scott's bed.
• An owl delivered Ezra Frick's letter, in which Ezra refused to sell the skeleton Morris had asked about.

Morris spent most of his savings ordering a Crup skeleton from Mr. Frick, only to receive a box of loose bones and no species guide. He and Scott assembled the fragments into a malformed skeleton, and Morris’s attempt to animate the bones with the Undead Creature Transformation Magic Circle failed.

• Morris decided to buy a Crup skeleton and sent Mr. Frick thirty Galleons with a request for a basic species introduction.
• Two days later, Morris received a wooden box full of bone fragments and a bottle of adhesive, but no guide.
• Scott visited Morris, showed him a five-pound note he had found, and helped assemble the bones into a crooked, incomplete skeleton.
• After Scott went to bed, Morris tried to animate the bone fragments with the Undead Creature Transformation Magic Circle, but nothing happened.

On the way to Hogwarts, Morris practiced meditation and tested his newly unlocked Wailing Curse on himself before reaching King's Cross. He entered Platform Nine and Three-Quarters and boarded the Hogwarts Express with Guantou.

• Harold drove Morris and Guantou toward King's Cross, and Morris meditated during the journey.
• Morris tested the Wailing Curse on himself, enduring piercing mental howls that faded after about ten seconds.
• Harold dropped Morris off near the station, where Morris thanked him and continued alone.
• Morris found the entrance to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters and recognized Mr. and Mrs. Granger from Diagon Alley.
• Morris passed through the dividing wall, saw the Hogwarts Express, and boarded with his luggage and Guantou.

Morris searched for a seat on the train to Hogwarts, avoided a hostile compartment, and met Lee Jordan, Fred Weasley, and George Weasley. His surname briefly alarmed the twins, and Guantou stunned them by performing a perfect split on command.

• Morris left Draco’s compartment after Draco’s companion refused him a seat and Draco insulted his robes and cat.
• Morris found a seat with Lee Jordan, Fred Weasley, and George Weasley, then introduced himself as Morris Black.
• Fred and George reacted nervously to the surname Black, but Morris explained that he came from the Muggle side.
• Lee Jordan praised wizarding cats, and Morris claimed Guantou was clever enough to perform acrobatics.
• Morris ordered Guantou to do the splits, and the cat obeyed, leaving Lee, Fred, and George dumbstruck.

On the train to Hogwarts, Morris demonstrated a powerful wandless curse that stunned a toad, surprising Lee Jordan, Fred, and George. He pretended he could not repeat the magic, and the group wondered whose toad had wandered into their compartment.

• Lee Jordan told Morris about Hogwarts and the houses, while Fred and George offered him Ton-Tongue Toffee and invited him to join their prank club.
• A nimble toad appeared in the compartment and evaded Lee Jordan, Fred, George, and Morris as they tried to catch it.
• When the toad leaped toward him, Morris cast the Wailing Curse without a wand, leaving it twitching on the floor.
• Lee Jordan, Fred, and George questioned Morris about his wandless spellcasting, and George explained that only powerful, experienced wizards could usually cast without wands.
• Morris faked a failed attempt at wandless magic, then asked whose toad it was.

Lee Jordan picked up Neville Longbottom’s missing toad, Trevor, and was mistaken for bullying Neville until Hermione Granger helped clear things up. Neville shared Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans with the group, but Morris Black got only foul-tasting ones.

• Lee Jordan picked up Trevor and was holding him when Neville Longbottom arrived looking for his toad.
• Neville saw Trevor in Lee Jordan’s hand and thought Lee had hurt him, but Lee returned the toad and tried to reassure him.
• Hermione Granger arrived, accused the older students of bullying Neville, then listened as Fred Weasley and George Weasley’s antics prolonged the explanation.
• Hermione apologized for the misunderstanding, and Neville thanked the group for helping him find Trevor.
• Hermione recognized Morris Black from a pet shop in Diagon Alley and reminded him that he had ignored her.
• Neville bought Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans and shared them, but Morris received flavors like bogey and mud.

Morris arrived at Hogwarts with the first-years and crossed the lake by boat, where he spotted a gaunt, black winged horse in the night sky. The chapter left him watching the creature as the Hogwarts journey began.

• Lee Jordan felt an eerie chill when his hand brushed Guantou, while Guantou quietly watched him.
• Morris left Guantou and his trunk on the train, then joined Hagrid and the first-years at Hogsmeade Station.
• As Morris followed the group, Yanhua emerged from his shadow and flew toward Hogwarts to meet the local owls.
• Hagrid led the first-years down a forest path and across the lake in wooden boats; a huge shape moved beneath Morris's boat.
• Morris noticed large moving shapes in the sky and saw a gaunt black winged horse with white pupils flying nearby.

Morris befriended a Thestral and flew around Hogwarts before returning to the first-years. Professor McGonagall caught him arriving on the creature and warned him about the danger as Hagrid led the students closer.

• A Thestral approached Morris's boat, let him stroke its head, and carried him into the night sky.
• Morris asked the Thestral to show him around and waved at Fred, George, and Lee Jordan from beside their carriage.
• The Thestral returned Morris to the Black Lake after the first-years had reached shore, and he flew to the top of the castle steps.
• Professor McGonagall confronted Morris about riding a Thestral and told him not to do it again.
• As Hagrid and the first-years approached, Professor McGonagall told Morris she would deal with the matter separately and led him away.

Morris Black waited with Professor McGonagall, met the other first-years, and entered Hogwarts's Great Hall for the Sorting Ceremony. After the Sorting Hat struggled to read his empty mind, it placed him in Ravenclaw.

• Professor McGonagall reprimanded Hagrid for failing to notice Morris was missing from the new students.
• Hermione Granger questioned Morris about how he had arrived ahead of the group, but Professor McGonagall interrupted them.
• Morris entered the Great Hall and became absorbed in watching the Hogwarts ghosts.
• The Sorting Hat could not read Morris's mind and called him an idiot before sorting him into Ravenclaw.
• The Weasley Twins and Lee Jordan looked regretful as Ravenclaw applauded Morris.

Morris Black joined Ravenclaw and spent the welcoming feast asking about Hogwarts’ ghosts. After learning how many ghosts lived at the school, he tried to touch Nearly Headless Nick but his hand passed through him.

• Morris watched Harry Potter get sorted into Gryffindor, then enjoyed the feast and desserts with the Ravenclaws.
• Morris met Cho Chang and Marietta Edgecombe and told them the Sorting Hat had called him an idiot.
• Morris questioned a ghost about his death, and Cho and Marietta warned him that many ghosts were not quite right in the head.
• Nearly Headless Nick told Morris that Hogwarts had sixty-eight ghosts, many of whom rarely appeared before the living.
• Morris tried to touch Nearly Headless Nick’s head, but his fingers passed through the ghost, who explained that the living could not touch ghosts.

Morris met Nearly Headless Nick, considered Dumbledore’s warning about a dangerous fourth-floor corridor, and entered the Ravenclaw Common Room. He and Kyle Chesterfield both volunteered for the only private dormitory, leaving Robert Hilliard to decide how to choose between them.

• Cho Chang warned Morris that prolonged contact with ghosts could make him ill, and Nearly Headless Nick confirmed that brief contact was harmless.
• After Dumbledore warned the students to avoid the fourth-floor corridor, Morris wondered about it but decided not to investigate yet.
• Robert Hilliard led the first years to Ravenclaw Tower, where they gained entry by answering the eagle knocker’s question.
• Morris explored the common room, picked up a book titled “How to win the heart of a fellow wizard,” and put it back.
• Robert announced that one male first year could have a private dormitory, and Morris and Kyle Chesterfield volunteered for it.
• When Robert proposed a contest to choose between them, an older student called Cyril jokingly shouted “Duel!”

Morris won a private Ravenclaw dormitory room by transforming a teapot into a detailed statue of Rowena Ravenclaw, then settled in and reunited with his pets. The chapter ended with Guantou sulking over Yanhua’s ability to hide in Morris’s shadow.

• Robert held a Transfiguration contest between Morris and Kyle, and Morris created a miniature statue of Rowena Ravenclaw with impressive detail.
• Kyle conceded, so Robert gave Morris the single room in dormitory seven and offered to help him if he ran into trouble.
• Ravenclaw students questioned Morris in the common room before he went upstairs to his room and unpacked.
• Morris realized his cat was missing, then watched Yanhua bring Guantou through the window after flying around Hogwarts with it.
• Morris soothed the angry Guantou, then changed into his pajamas and went to sleep.