Recaps

William inspected Akali's Mystery Shop as Cedric's new wand shop drew crowds and the twins asked whether to fulfill the Ministry of Magic's orders for defensive gear. He hesitated to supply the Ministry because Death Eaters had infiltrated it, leaving the decision unresolved.

• Cedric opened his wand shop with Akali's Mystery Shop's backing, and a crowd of customers gathered as he used theatrical wand-selection tactics to sell his wares.
• William left the wand section after Cedric promised customers two of William's autographs with every purchase, then inspected the busy joke-product department.
• William encountered Penelope demonstrating a joke product and saw Hermione directing House-elf team leaders on inspecting deliveries during the war.
• George told William the Ministry had ordered five hundred Shield Hats and matching gloves, while Fred asked whether they should also supply the Ministry's order for super-defensive cloaks.
• William worried that Death Eaters inside the Ministry might get hold of the powerful defensive cloaks, and considered supplying the Order of the Phoenix instead.

William worked with the Ministry to control sales of protective gear, while Ginny’s curiosity about Amortentia led to a public argument with Ron over her dating life. The chapter ended with Mrs. Weasley revealing that Ron had failed four O.W.L. subjects and earned no O grades.

• William agreed to work with the Ministry, which restricted super protective cloaks to the Auror Office under Kingsley’s control.
• Anne, Luna, and Ginny discussed Amortentia, and Anne explained that she had seen William brew it for customers and Hagrid.
• Ginny admitted she was dating Dean Thomas and confronted Ron for spreading rumors that she had dated five boys.
• Ginny claimed she had wanted Amortentia for Ron, then left with Anne and Luna while the twins demanded payment from Ron for his purchases.
• Mrs. Weasley caught Ron making a rude gesture and told him that he and Harry had received their O.W.L. results.
• Mrs. Weasley scolded Ron for earning no O grades and failing four subjects.

Harry told William that Draco Malfoy had visited Borgin and Burkes and might have become a Death Eater, but William ordered him to leave the investigation to Snape. William then went to Gringotts with Hermione and Anne, where he prepared a secret way to reach Bellatrix’s vault without alerting Voldemort.

• Ron and Harry received their exam results, while Hermione earned eleven Outstanding grades and Anne worried about keeping the Stark family’s record.
• Harry told William that Draco had gone to Knockturn Alley, threatened Borgin over an unavailable item, and recoiled when Madam Malkin touched his left arm.
• William warned Harry against investigating Draco and told him to trust Snape and Dumbledore; Harry agreed to focus on learning magic.
• William took Hermione and Anne to Gringotts and considered the danger of leaving his gold in the goblins’ care.
• William had placed a Vanishing Cabinet in his own vault so he could secretly enter Bellatrix’s vault and approach Voldemort’s Horcrux.

William returned to Ottery St Catchpole and continued preparing safe houses while spending time with Hermione. After Dumbledore revealed why Voldemort had kidnapped Ollivander and Fortescue, William planned to lure Voldemort with a fake Elder Wand, then carried Hermione inside as she called for help.

• William strengthened his home's defenses and worked on the safe houses he had acquired.
• Hermione finished her bath and joined William on the balcony, where they talked about Babbling's proposed shop logo.
• An owl brought Dumbledore's reply, which said that Fortescue knew about the Elder Wand and Ravenclaw's Diadem.
• William and Hermione concluded that Voldemort had taken Ollivander and Fortescue to find the Elder Wand, believing Grindelwald possessed it.
• William proposed having Gregorovitch make a fake Elder Wand to deceive Voldemort.
• William carried Hermione into the room while she shouted for Anne to help, but Anne shut her window and complained about the noise.

William and his friends boarded the Hogwarts Express amid heightened security, public attention, and reporters eager to question him about Minister Bones. After taking up his Head Boy duties, William was invited to Slughorn’s gathering and went to brief the Prefects.

• The Ministry of Magic deployed Aurors to protect the students at Platform 9¾, where Muggle reports brought Scotland Yard officers to investigate them.
• William arrived with Hermione and Anne, drew attention from students and reporters, and said he supported Minister Bones before Tonks chased the reporters away.
• Tonks told William she was helping guard the station and would later patrol Hogsmeade with other Aurors; William joked that he would copy the Ministry’s refusal to give raises.
• William, Hermione, and Anne boarded the Hogwarts Express, where Slughorn invited them to a gathering scheduled after William’s patrol.
• William accepted Slughorn’s invitation and went to the Prefects’ carriage to give orders as Head Boy.

William took charge of the Prefects, assigned patrols, and encountered Ginny being harassed by Zacharias Smith. As Slughorn tried to bring William and Ginny to a gathering, the train shook, and William warned that it was under attack.

• William led the Prefects' meeting, assigned patrol duties, and explained new registration rules for absent students and visitors at Hogwarts.
• William paired Neville with Hannah for patrol, assigned Cho and Anne together, and began inspecting the train's compartments.
• William and Hermione found Zacharias Smith pestering Ginny for details about the Ministry battle, and Hermione deducted five Hufflepuff points after Ginny hexed him.
• Slughorn invited William and Ginny to his compartment gathering, but the train shook violently and William announced that someone was attacking it.

Avery led Voldemort’s secret attack on the Hogwarts Express, trying to keep Stark occupied while capturing Slughorn. As the train approached, Nott rallied his Trolls and Orcs to kill the wizards aboard, especially Stark.

• Avery recalled how Malfoy had taken the blame for the failed Department of Mysteries plan, and how Voldemort had chosen him to command the train attack.
• Voldemort had told Avery that he would keep Dumbledore occupied and ordered him to capture Slughorn while distracting Stark.
• Avery warned Meka Nott that even an army of Giants and dragons had failed to kill Stark, despite Nott’s confidence in his family’s Trolls and Orcs.
• Avery learned that Nott’s grandfather had created the Pure-Blood Directory’s list of twenty-eight families, and he encouraged Nott by promising Voldemort’s reward for killing Stark.
• As the Hogwarts Express drew near, Nott rallied his Trolls and Orcs to kill everyone aboard, especially Stark.

Inferi, Trolls, and Orcs approached the Hogwarts train, and William organized the students before leaving to face the army alone. He left Hermione and Slughorn to protect the train as Nott spotted William standing on the tracks.

• Students saw an army of Inferi and Trolls approaching the train, and panic spread through the carriages.
• William ordered students back to their compartments and told Slughorn to protect them instead of fleeing.
• William used magic to pull panicking students back into their compartments and told Hermione that the Dementors might attack later.
• Hermione agreed to guard the train and keep Slughorn from running away, while William kissed her forehead and vanished.
• Nott spotted William standing alone on the tracks with a wand and sword as the army advanced.

William confronted Nott’s force of three hundred Trolls and Orcs with thirty enchanted knight statues and an Abraxan. The battle left Nott’s army shattered and William charging through its ranks.

• Nott mocked William for facing the army alone and believed the overwhelming numbers would kill him.
• William summoned thirty knight statues prepared by Professor McGonagall and brought from the Safety Watch.
• The statues fired highly accurate volleys of arrows, killing many Orcs and striking Nott before the enemy could close the distance.
• Nott ordered the Trolls and Orcs to throw their spears and javelins, destroying four statues, while William deflected the weapons with a conjured shield.
• William charged on his Abraxan and cast spells that killed Trolls, carved a bloody path through the force, and broke its formation.
• William looked back at Nott with a grin that left him chilled.

William fought Nott’s Trolls and Orcs alone while Inferi stopped the Hogwarts Express and attacked it. A Death Eater’s assault on Hermione ended when Anne intervened and declared that she would protect her.

• William realized the Trolls and Orcs would not flee when their companions died, so he vanished and charged at Nott.
• The Inferi jammed the Hogwarts Express on the tracks and swarmed over its defenses, frightening the students inside.
• Hermione gained the upper hand against Avery, but he unleashed Fiendfyre in the train corridor.
• Hermione forced the Fiendfyre down and turned it toward the Inferi, though the flames burned a hole in the train wall.
• Anne tripped Avery with Glisseo, struck him with a stone carriage door, and kicked him while vowing to protect Hermione.

William helped the students repel an overwhelming attack by Inferi and Dementors, then led the survivors to Hogwarts. At Hogsmeade Station, Snape learned that Harry Potter was missing.

• Hermione held back the Inferi while the students faced hundreds of Dementors, and Harry and the others failed to cast Patronuses.
• William returned to the train, rallied the students, and combined their magic into a gigantic sea eagle Patronus that drove off the Dementors.
• The battered train reached Hogsmeade Station, where the shaken students praised William and he organized the Prefects to count everyone.
• Snape arrived to lead the first-years, and William gave him the completed roll showing that Harry Potter was missing.

Snape searched for Harry after Ron admitted that Harry had taken the Invisibility Cloak to spy on someone, while William and the students proceeded to Hogwarts. At the feast, William found Professor Trelawney arguing with Professor McGonagall, and Harry was still missing.

• Ron confessed to Snape that Harry had taken the Invisibility Cloak and left the train to spy on someone.
• Snape docked fifty points from Gryffindor and went to search for Harry while William returned to the other students.
• William told Cho, Hermione, and Anne that Harry was probably hiding in a Slytherin compartment and that Snape had gone to find him.
• The students underwent security checks at the school gates before entering the Great Hall.
• William saw Professor Trelawney arguing with Professor McGonagall at the feast.

Trelawney and McGonagall argued over Firenze’s place at Hogwarts, while William tried to avoid choosing between their Divination classes. At the start-of-year feast, Dumbledore announced strict wartime rules and introduced William’s Campus Today map, which would track students’ locations and alert staff if anyone left the school.

• Trelawney demanded that McGonagall dismiss Firenze and pressured William to choose her Divination class, but McGonagall defended the students’ right to choose.
• Hagrid and Dumbledore returned as the argument intensified, and Flitwick led the young wizards into the Great Hall.
• The Sorting and feast began with fewer students than usual, while the young wizards noticed that Snape and Harry were absent.
• Dumbledore welcomed the students and announced that Hogwarts would be closed off, with departures requiring multiple approvals.
• Dumbledore introduced Akali’s Mystery Shop’s Campus Today map and instructed students to check in at their locations, with Prefects responsible for daily oversight.

Dumbledore appointed Slughorn as Potions teacher and Snape as acting Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, while Harry arrived at the Great Hall injured after Malfoy broke his nose. Later, Dumbledore and Snape discussed Voldemort’s worsening condition and Draco Malfoy’s role in Voldemort’s plan to punish his parents.

• Dumbledore introduced Slughorn as the new Potions teacher and announced that Snape would temporarily teach Defence Against the Dark Arts.
• Snape brought Harry into the Great Hall with a broken nose, while Malfoy mocked him to the Slytherins.
• Snape gave Dumbledore a potion and estimated that Voldemort had only five months left to live without an antidote.
• Dumbledore told Snape to keep Voldemort alive, both to protect Snape and because Voldemort’s body contained Harry’s blood.
• Dumbledore criticized Snape for humiliating Harry, and Snape defended his actions by pointing out that Harry had foolishly been caught spying on Malfoy.
• Dumbledore and Snape discussed Voldemort’s plan for Draco to kill them, with Snape explaining that the task was meant to punish Lucius and his family.

Dumbledore asked Snape to guide Draco away from Voldemort’s plans and unintended victims, and told Snape that he had saved himself and grown into a noble man. The next morning, William heard Hogwarts students gossiping about Harry, Snape, and Malfoy while he handed out timetables and checked sixth-years’ O.W.L. results.

• Dumbledore told Snape that Draco was in danger and asked him to find out what Draco was planning and offer him help.
• Snape doubted Draco would trust him, but Dumbledore urged him to guide the boy and keep him from being corrupted by Voldemort.
• Dumbledore praised Snape for saving himself and said Lily would be glad to see how much he had grown; Snape silently wiped away tears.
• William heard students spread rumors about Harry’s injuries, Snape, and Malfoy as he headed to breakfast.
• William handed out timetables and checked that sixth-year students’ O.W.L. results qualified them for their chosen N.E.W.T. courses.

William reviewed students’ career plans and N.E.W.T. subject choices, then accompanied Cho to Professor Sprout’s practical lesson at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Sprout announced that she would teach the seventh-years to use magical plants to protect Hogwarts, themselves, and their homes.

• William rejected Lisa Turpin’s request to join advanced Ancient Runes and advised Michael Corner to consider work as a Curse-Breaker at Gringotts.
• Hermione and Anne arrived after Anne overslept, and William found no newspaper report about the attack on the Hogwarts Express.
• Cho urged William to keep Ravenclaw’s Quidditch team intact for a fourth consecutive championship, but William argued that they should select promising new players.
• Professor Sprout took her students to the edge of the Forbidden Forest and explained that they would learn to plant magical plants for protection.

Professor Sprout taught the students how to handle and plant Whomping Willow saplings as defensive guardians, while Hagrid introduced Giant Grubs and highly venomous Horned Serpents in Care of Magical Creatures. The students fled from Hagrid’s snakes, leaving William amused by the danger of the graduating class’s lesson.

• Professor Sprout quizzed the students about Whomping Willows, and Cho and William earned points for Ravenclaw with their answers.
• Professor Sprout gave the students saplings to plant, and William calmed his with Divine Finger while the others were battered by theirs.
• The students went to Hagrid’s Hut, where Hagrid showed them Giant Grubs and explained that they produced syrup for Honeydukes’ butterfly honey candy.
• Hagrid revealed Horned Serpents and assured the frightened students that they were safe because their seller had never received a bad review.
• The students ran from the highly venomous snakes, while William enjoyed the dangerous lesson.

Hagrid told William and Cho that Aragog was gravely ill and wanted the Acromantulas moved, while students learned about Harry’s unusually successful Potions lesson. Harry’s marked textbook revealed its former owner’s name: the Half-Blood Prince.

• Hagrid explained that Aragog was dying and asked him to find the Acromantulas a new home away from the Forbidden Forest.
• McLaggen hid a snake in his pants, was bitten, and howled that it was broken.
• William and Cho heard that Slughorn had awarded Hermione Felix Felicis for brewing the Draught of Living Death.
• Harry said he had followed handwritten instructions in an old textbook to brew the potion successfully.
• Harry showed the group the inscription identifying the book as belonging to the Half-Blood Prince.

Harry excelled in Potions by following the notes in the Half-Blood Prince’s textbook and became eager to learn the owner’s identity. William recognized the book as Snape’s, leaving Harry stunned to discover that the wizard he had imagined as a genius was the professor he disliked.

• Harry followed the Half-Blood Prince’s instructions and brewed the Draught of Living Death exceptionally well, finishing second in class.
• Harry, Ron, Anne, Hermione, and Ginny speculated about who had written the notes, while Harry defended the Prince against Ginny’s suspicion that he was a Death Eater.
• Hermione noticed that several ingredient-preparation methods in the book resembled techniques William had taught her.
• William examined the handwriting and told Harry that the book belonged to Professor Snape.
• William explained that the handwriting and the method for crushing Sopophorous Beans were characteristic of Snape, while Harry refused to believe the Half-Blood Prince was his hated professor.

Harry rejected William’s claim that Snape was the Half-Blood Prince and decided to investigate the name and the book’s history. Meanwhile, William explained the Prince family connection to Hermione and wondered whether Harry would uncover Snape’s childhood ties to Lily, while Slughorn’s prizes stirred excitement across the other years.

• Harry noticed that the textbook was published fifty years earlier and planned to search school records and old newspapers for a student named Prince.
• Harry persuaded Ron to stay late with him in the library to help investigate the Half-Blood Prince.
• Hermione told William that the book might have belonged to Snape’s mother, and William identified her as Eileen Prince.
• William said he would not tell Harry about Snape and Lily’s past, though he expected Harry might discover that they had lived near each other in Cokeworth.
• Slughorn offered valuable prizes in Potions classes: Anne won Baruffio’s Brain Elixir and gave it to Luna, while other students competed for a Dream Come True Potion and Slug Club invitations.
• The seventh-years finally had their first Potions Class on Thursday.

Slughorn introduced several unusual potions to his seventh-year class, with William identifying the mysterious Future Water. The class learned that the potion could reveal glimpses of the future but carried dangerous mental and physical risks.

• Slughorn welcomed the students to his newly decorated classroom and credited William with persuading him to return to Hogwarts.
• Elena Kaslana identified Amortentia and described the foods she smelled in its steam.
• Lynn Belock identified a Sex-Change Potion and revealed how it could be used to change someone's sex.
• Ivan Hals identified Beautification Potion and gave Slughorn chocolates from his mother, which Slughorn discarded after misreading her wish for him to live to a hundred.
• William identified the bubbling multicolored potion as Future Water, and Slughorn warned the class that it could reveal the future but might cause poisoning or severe mental problems if brewed or taken improperly.

In Slughorn’s first Potions class, he taught the students to brew a weaker Elixir of Life and explained its limits and ingredients. He hoped William might someday make a Philosopher’s Stone, while the class began brewing the potion.

• Slughorn offered William Future Water to win his interest, then announced that the class would brew an Elixir of Life.
• Judy Crouch asked whether the potion granted eternal life, and Slughorn explained that only Nicolas Flamel’s Philosopher’s Stone could make a truly life-extending Elixir.
• McLaggen asked about Flamel’s recipe, and Slughorn said the students lacked the Philosopher’s Stone, which Flamel had made alone in six hundred years.
• Slughorn explained that the students’ version could extend life temporarily, but repeated use caused resistance, and he said Muggles could drink it too.
• The students began brewing the Elixir of Life while Slughorn privately hoped William could make another Philosopher’s Stone.

William brewed the Elixir of Life with ease, won Slughorn’s Future Water, and avoided his party invitation by citing Quidditch duties and confidential Ministry business. After the Ministry fined the Flint family and announced the Hogwarts Express attack, worried parents began contacting students, while the Patils’ parents sought to sell dubious potions that William rejected.

• William brewed the Elixir of Life flawlessly in class, and Slughorn praised him and awarded him a vial of Future Water.
• Slughorn invited William to a party, but Cho helped him decline by reminding him of Ravenclaw’s Quidditch plans and four-championship goal.
• William told Slughorn that the Ministry would fine the Flint family 182,000 Galleons for hoarding medicine and attempting to monopolize supplies.
• The Daily Prophet reported the Ministry’s fine and revealed that the Hogwarts Express had been attacked, prompting worried parents to send students letters.
• Lyanna wrote from Venice asking William to look after Anne and Hermione, while the Patils’ parents discussed selling Indian potions with him.
• William rejected the Patils’ parents’ cow-urine-and-Ganges-water potions and suggested they market them in New York instead.

After Death Eaters murdered Hannah Abbott’s mother, students continued leaving Hogwarts, while those who remained tried to make sense of the war and William’s role in it. Professor McGonagall redirected their political debates with piles of homework, and Saturday’s Quidditch tryouts revealed how badly withdrawals and graduations had weakened the houses.

• The Death Eaters attacked the Abbott family after Hannah’s father refused to serve the Dark Lord, and Hannah disappeared after learning her mother had been murdered.
• More students withdrew, while Hogwarts students formed political discussion circles and proposed a European magical union with William as a second Dumbledore.
• Professor McGonagall called the professors together and assigned students so much homework that their debates and free time stopped.
• Cho struggled with advanced classes and resented Harry’s repeated requests for Apparition tutoring, while William took over tutoring her after Cedric left.
• Ravenclaw held orderly Quidditch tryouts under Cho, while Slytherin and Hufflepuff gave up on the term and Gryffindor faced major losses among its starting players.

Harry promised Professor McGonagall that Gryffindor would win the Quidditch Cup, then began tryouts with a weakened team and pursued a clue to the Half-Blood Prince’s identity. Meanwhile, William watched the chaotic tryouts with Hermione and learned that the Ministry planned to blame the Death Eaters for a nuclear plant disaster near Mahoutokoro.

• Harry promised Professor McGonagall that Gryffindor would win the Quidditch Cup, then told Ron the team would hold new tryouts and assured him he could earn the Keeper position.
• Harry showed Ron an old newspaper photograph of Eileen Prince and said he would investigate her family to learn who the Half-Blood Prince was.
• William, tired after answering Tonks’s summons to fight Death Eaters attacking a Muggle village, watched Anne’s Gryffindor tryout with Hermione and Luna.
• Harry’s inexperienced tryouts descended into chaos as students collided on their brooms, while Anne warmed up for her chance to play.
• Hermione told William that a nuclear plant near Mahoutokoro had exploded and that the Ministry planned to blame the Death Eaters and rally other countries against them.