Recaps

William witnessed McLaggen get swallowed by a Mouthy Flower and learned that Harry had been made Gryffindor's Seeker after Neville's flying accident. The chapter ended with Harry flustered by Cho, while William considered him another rival for Cedric.

• McLaggen fed fertilizer to a Mouthy Flower, which swallowed him until Professor Sprout tickled it and made it spit him out.
• William identified a Puffapod and considered having Cedric make prank Pea Wands from its bean-shooting ability.
• William heard that Neville had flown out of control in Madam Hooch's class, prompting Harry and Malfoy to confront each other while the professor was away.
• Wood's secret that Harry had been chosen as Gryffindor's Seeker reached William and Cho, and Cho resolved to keep training with Cedric.
• The Weasley twins told Harry they were Gryffindor Beaters, and Harry became tongue-tied when Cho looked at him.

William sold Malfoy an enchanted ring, and Malfoy challenged Harry to a midnight duel. Ron accused Fred and George of betraying the family by selling to Malfoy, prompting George to reveal that the twins had been sending their earnings home and had increased Ron’s pocket money.

• Malfoy asked William for an enchanted storage ring, agreed to pay two hundred Galleons for one bearing the Malfoy family crest and Slytherin emblem, and mocked Harry.
• Ron told Malfoy that Harry would remain at Hogwarts as Gryffindor’s Seeker, and Malfoy challenged Harry to a midnight duel in the Trophy Room with Crabbe as his second.
• Fred offered Harry help with dueling spells, but Ron angrily accused the twins of selling to Malfoy despite his father’s feud with Lucius Malfoy.
• William and Cho explained that they sold goods to students without quarrels with them, including Slytherins, and Ron accused the twins of benefiting from the sales.
• George revealed that he and Fred had sent money home every month and said Ron’s increased pocket money came from their earnings.

After Ron argued with Fred and George, Harry and Ron planned to duel Malfoy that night, while the twins secretly decided to keep them from getting caught. William went to the forbidden area on the fourth floor and discovered Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville running toward him with Filch in pursuit.

• Harry urged Ron to apologize to Fred and George, then asked Ron what a wizard’s duel and a second were.
• Hermione warned Harry and Ron not to duel Malfoy at night, but they dismissed her and she ran off.
• William learned that Fred and George planned to secretly help Harry and Ron sneak around, while he refused to join them.
• William left the Ravenclaw Common Room at 11:40 p.m. and headed for the forbidden area on the fourth floor to take more of Snape’s potion.
• William heard a crash and Harry’s shout, then saw Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville racing toward him on the map with Filch following.

William protected Hermione and the other students from Peeves, then entered the forbidden area to retrieve potions and found Snape’s brewing instructions. He left extra enchanted keys as a gift for whoever attempted the challenge next.

• William stayed hidden and used magic to drive Peeves away after he dropped foul liquid on Hermione and the others.
• Hermione opened the locked door, and she and the others escaped Filch before discovering the three-headed dog, Fluffy.
• Hermione calmed Fluffy and received a parchment map from William, then led Harry, Ron, and Neville away.
• William entered the trapdoor passage, found Snape’s instructions for brewing the potion, and took the potions from the table.
• William enchanted a flying key with a Doubling Charm and a Fire-Making Spell before leaving it for the next dream chaser.

After Harry, Ron, and Hermione escaped the three-headed dog, Hermione deduced that it guarded a trapdoor and Harry suspected the package from Gringotts was hidden beneath Hogwarts. Later, William gave Hermione an owl for her birthday, and she happily admired her presents.

• The Fat Lady let Harry, Ron, and Hermione into the Gryffindor common room, where Hermione scolded the boys for breaking school rules and pointed out the trapdoor beneath the three-headed dog.
• Harry wondered whether the package from Vault 713 was hidden beneath the trapdoor and suspected Hermione and William had already explored below it.
• Hermione called for William outside the girls' dormitory, but he did not appear, and she returned to her bed without the map.
• William admired the brewing instructions Professor Snape had given him, while Hermione did not mention returning the map the next day.
• On Hermione's birthday, William gave her a spot-bellied eagle-owl named Rhaegal, and Anne gave her a collector's edition Magical Creatures stamp album.
• Hermione happily counted her presents and admired the album while Rhaegal hooted for a snack.

William finished brewing Amortentia and encountered Harry and Ron outside the girls’ bathroom, where a terrified voice came from inside. He smashed through the bathroom door and part of the wall to reach whoever was in danger.

• William skipped History of Magic to finish brewing Amortentia in the Room of Requirement.
• William noticed Professor Quirrell and Professor Snape moving near the forbidden corridor on the Marauder’s Map.
• William found Harry and Ron cheering outside the girls’ bathroom and accused them of spying.
• A terrified voice rang out from the bathroom, and William rushed inside with Harry and Ron.
• William cast Diffindo on the bathroom door, bringing down part of the wall, and entered through the dust.

A Troll cornered Hermione in a Hogwarts bathroom, but William rescued her and killed the creature with a powerful water-based spell. Professor McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrell arrived afterward, and Snape wondered how William had cast such a lethal spell while his thigh began to ache again.

• Harry threw rubble to draw the Troll away from Hermione, while Ron urged her to run.
• William trapped the Troll with Impedimenta, checked Hermione for injuries, and gave her chocolate as she recovered from her fright.
• The Troll broke through William’s barrier, so he used Rain Curtain Condensation to slice off its head and kill it with water daggers.
• Professor McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrell arrived, and Snape examined the Troll’s wound and questioned William’s power.
• Snape glanced at the frightened Quirrell, felt his thigh ache, and suspected someone had set him up.

William killed a Troll that attacked Hermione, while Hermione, Harry, and Ron covered up how she had ended up in the bathroom. After the professors rewarded the students, William began to suspect that Quirrell had secretly orchestrated the incident.

• McGonagall questioned Hermione, Harry, Ron, and William about the Troll, and Hermione claimed she had gone looking for it alone.
• William backed Hermione's account, said he had killed the Troll, and asked how it had entered the school.
• Snape challenged William over missing class and the Halloween Feast, but McGonagall rejected his unsupported accusations.
• McGonagall deducted five Gryffindor points for Hermione, awarded Harry and Ron five points each, and gave Ravenclaw fifteen points for William.
• William gave Harry, Ron, and Hermione chocolate, then heard Harry and Ron recount the night's events.
• William wondered how Quirrell had gone from fainting in the Great Hall to appearing near the fourth-floor forbidden corridor, and suspected he was hiding something.

Snape confronted Dumbledore about the Troll attack on Hermione, and learned that Quirrell had captured the Troll and lured it into Hogwarts. As November arrived, Ravenclaw prepared to face Hufflepuff in the season’s first Quidditch match, with William relying on his knowledge of their players and Cho marking Cedric.

• Snape accused Dumbledore of allowing the Troll into Hogwarts, and Dumbledore explained that a black-robed wizard had abducted a Troll from the Forbidden Forest tribe led by Gulugulu.
• Dumbledore identified Quirrell as the wizard who captured the Troll, while Snape suspected Quirrell might also have attacked Gringotts.
• Dumbledore told Snape that he was using challenges to train Harry and draw Quirrell toward something he had hidden, but refused to reveal what it was.
• Dumbledore gave Snape Fawkes's tears to treat the bite Fluffy had inflicted on him, after Snape had tried to force his way past the dog.
• The Troll incident faded from attention, and Ravenclaw intensified Quidditch training ahead of its first match against Hufflepuff.
• William drew confidence from knowing Hufflepuff's players and tactics from the time loop, while Cho prepared to stop Cedric from catching the Golden Snitch.

William, Hermione, Ron, Cho, and Cedric discussed the mystery of the fourth-floor obstacles and suspected Professor Quirrell after learning he had gone there during the Halloween Feast. As the Gryffindor–Slytherin Quidditch match began, Lee Jordan called Harry’s team Hogwarts’ “platinum generation.”

• Hermione and Ron showed William their animated “Potter for the Win” banner, and Hagrid brought snacks to the Ravenclaw stands.
• Hermione and Ron told William that Harry had seen Professor Snape trying to get past Fluffy on Halloween Eve, and Hermione questioned why Dumbledore had built the obstacles.
• William revealed that Professor Quirrell had also gone to the fourth floor that night, prompting Cedric and Cho to suspect him.
• William argued that Dumbledore would have discovered any wrongdoing by Snape during his ten years at Hogwarts, and Ron decided to tell Harry to focus on Quirrell.
• The Gryffindor team took the field, and Lee Jordan praised Harry as the youngest player in nearly a century before calling the team Hogwarts’ “platinum generation.”

During the Gryffindor–Slytherin Quidditch match, Quirrell jinxed Harry’s broom while Snape tried to counter the spell. Hermione set Quirrell’s scarf on fire, Harry caught the Snitch and Gryffindor won, while William remained curious about what Quirrell was hiding beneath his scarf.

• Angelina scored twice for Gryffindor, but Slytherin used fouls to catch up.
• Harry’s broom began bucking wildly, and Hermione spotted Quirrell jinxing it while Snape tried to stop him.
• Hermione reached Quirrell and set his scarf ablaze, causing the crowd to rush to put out the flames.
• Snape extinguished the fire, and Quirrell ran toward the castle without removing his scorched scarf.
• Harry recovered, caught the Snitch, and Gryffindor won 220–100.
• William watched Quirrell through his binoculars, interested in what he was hiding beneath his scarf.

William and his friends discussed Nicolas Flamel and the object hidden by Dumbledore, then decided to offer a bounty for learning what Quirrell hid beneath his scarf. The chapter revealed that Voldemort’s face was on the back of Quirrell’s head and was badly burned.

• William reasoned that a powerful black-robed wizard had tried to steal something from Gringotts and wondered whether Quirrell was acting for him.
• Hermione showed Harry and Ron a book about Nicolas Flamel, and they concluded that Dumbledore might be protecting the Philosopher’s Stone.
• Hermione revealed that she and William had been invited to Flamel’s Christmas birthday party, making Ron envious.
• William, Cedric, and Cho decided to offer fifty Galleons to any student who discovered what Quirrell kept beneath his scarf.
• Quirrell gave Voldemort a burn potion, but Voldemort spat it out and angrily demanded to know why it tasted disgusting.

Voldemort pressured Quirrell to gather unicorn blood, herbs, and a hidden backup while plotting to obtain the Philosopher’s Stone. The next morning, Quirrell returned to the Great Hall, where Dumbledore expressed concern and Snape offered him Potions for his burns.

• Voldemort accused Quirrell of doubting him, then promised him eternal life if he secured the Philosopher’s Stone.
• Voldemort ordered Quirrell to gather more unicorn blood and retrieve a backup he had left at Hogwarts.
• Quirrell entered the Great Hall in a new robe, garlic, and scarf, drawing the students’ attention.
• Dumbledore urged Quirrell to let Madam Pomfrey treat his burns, but Quirrell refused to miss lessons.
• Snape offered to brew Quirrell Potions for his burns, and Quirrell accepted.
• Dumbledore and McGonagall discussed Trelawney’s injury and her request for a raise.

Professor Trelawney received a salary increase while William and the students turned Professor Quirrell into the target of escalating pranks. Quirrell endured the attacks without removing his turban, and the chaos continued as Christmas arrived.

• Dumbledore tripled Trelawney's salary after she used a workplace injury to ask for a raise.
• Quirrell ate William's experimental Rainbow Bubbles and was drenched and covered with creatures from the Black Lake.
• William and the others raised a hundred-Galleon bounty for revealing what was under Quirrell's turban, prompting students to launch increasingly elaborate pranks.
• Lee Jordan attacked Quirrell with golden dye and a Niffler, while Cedric made Pea Wands that students used to ambush him.
• Peeves joined the attacks, and Quirrell began wearing thick armor while still refusing to remove his turban.
• The students' campaign against Quirrell carried on until Christmas arrived.

William and Cedric set out with the others to catch a Merperson, while William described an unconventional wand design. They encountered Quirrell and Hagrid on the way, and left for the Black Lake as Hagrid headed back to the castle with a Christmas tree.

• Cedric brought William and the others outside to catch a Merperson, hoping to take some of its hair for wand cores.
• William proposed a wand with a polyethylene shell and an erbium-doped silicon dioxide core, which Cedric did not understand.
• The twins attacked Quirrell with snowballs, but his metal armour blocked them, and he said he would be leaving soon.
• William told the twins Quirrell would probably leave Hogwarts for Christmas, ending their hopes of continuing to attack him at school.
• Hagrid carried a fir tree toward the castle, warned the group to stay out of the Forbidden Forest, and told them about the Christmas decorations.
• Hagrid asked whether they had seen Harry, and Fred and George said Harry was in Potions Class with Snape.

William, Cedric, Fred, and George trapped a Merperson to take her hair, but were surrounded by her tribe and faced the chieftain’s demand that Cedric marry her. Elsewhere, a runaway broom struck Malfoy, and Hermione recognized it as William’s and rushed to find him.

• William and the others lured a Merperson through a hole in the Black Lake ice, stunned her, and Cedric cut off all her hair.
• A crowd of Merpeople surrounded the four wizards, and their chieftain called the unconscious Merperson a princess and asked if Cedric planned to marry into the tribe.
• Cedric asked William for a way out, while William joked that marrying the Merperson would give Cedric access to the lake’s creatures and materials.
• At the castle, Malfoy mocked Ron’s family, and Ron charged at him before Snape intervened.
• A flying broom narrowly missed Snape but struck Malfoy, and Hermione recognized it as William’s broom and hurried toward its source with Harry and Ron following.

Professor Quirrell took a Nimbus 2000 collision to protect the Dark Lord’s face while William and his friends escaped the Merpeople on the Black Lake. The group returned to the castle soaked, having learned that the old chieftain’s trident could control the lake.

• Quirrell removed his bulky outfit and tried to avoid a collision with the speeding Nimbus 2000 by turning his head, but the broom struck him and Snape stepped on him as the crowd rushed past.
• William summoned the Nimbus 2000, and he, Cedric, Fred, and George flew away from the Merpeople.
• The elderly Merpeople chieftain used his trident to melt the lake ice, raise waves, and send columns of water after William’s broom.
• William dodged the attacks and escaped to the castle with the others, while the chieftain sent a wave crashing onto the shore and soaked Snape and the crowd.
• William told Cedric, Fred, and George about ways to dive underwater, including Gillyweed, and identified the trident as a likely source of the chieftain’s power.

After the Christmas feast, William and Hermione traveled from Hogwarts to Nicolas Flamel’s manor aboard a giant golden toad submarine. As they explored the Black Lake, they found a painted mermaid whose image seemed to come alive, and William heard a mysterious song.

• Quirrell disappeared after being found traumatized, while Snape demanded punishment for William and the others; Dumbledore settled the dispute with the Merpeople’s chief.
• The next day, William and Hermione left Hogwarts by presenting their golden invitations, which transformed into a giant golden toad.
• A House-elf named Mercury welcomed William and Hermione aboard and explained that he would guide the toad to Nicolas’s manor.
• The golden toad leaped into the Black Lake, turned transparent underwater, and carried William and Hermione past the lake’s strange scenery.
• William and Hermione saw a rock painted with Merpeople chasing Giant Squids, and William heard a beautiful song as the mermaid in the painting seemed to come alive.

William and Hermione witnessed a witch draw power from the Merpeople’s ritual, then fled when the chieftain ordered them captured. The chieftain’s trident forced their toad craft into the lake bed, shaking the Slytherin Common Room above.

• William and Hermione watched a witch emerge from a vortex, briefly draw the Ravenclaw Bronze Ring toward her, then absorb most of the light from the Merpeople’s tails.
• The witch departed through the vortex, and the Merpeople chieftain recognized William and ordered the gates shut and the Grindylows after him.
• Mercury guided the toad through waterweed, where Grindylows seized it, but the toad fired Stunning Spells and broke free.
• The chieftain used the trident’s magic to force the toad down onto the lake bed, stirring silt and sending a violent clang through the Slytherin Common Room.
• Professor Snape and the young wizards looked up as the Black Lake’s water rippled above them.

William and Hermione escaped a pursuit by the Merpeople chieftain, but their damaged transport toad smashed through the Slytherin Common Room skylight and flooded it. After they reached Devon, Mercury failed to repair the toad, and a mysterious old man arriving on a giant bird was struck by lightning and fell.

• A giant toad carrying William and Hermione struck the Slytherin Common Room skylight, and the Merpeople chieftain’s attacks shattered it, flooding the room as Malfoy and Snape fled and called for help.
• William and Hermione escaped from the toad after it crashed on the Devon coast, and Hermione drank a potion to recover from seasickness.
• Hermione blamed William for provoking the Merpeople by cutting their hair, while William denied responsibility and promised it would not happen again.
• Mercury tried to repair the toad with an electric welding torch, but its Ancient Runes-powered core defeated him, and the toad broke down completely.
• A giant bird carrying an old man arrived overhead, and lightning struck the man before William could warn him not to stand so high up.

William, Hermione, and their friends rode Newt Scamander’s Thunderbird, Frank, after Nicolas sent Newt to collect them. Newt explained that the Merpeople were people, not creatures to capture, and challenged the children to reconsider how they had treated them.

• Newt arrived on Frank to pick up William and his friends after Nicolas reported that William’s toad had gone wrong.
• William and Hermione wrapped themselves in blankets as Frank carried them through the cold night sky.
• Newt explained that he had rescued Frank from smugglers in Egypt and that he planned to take another smuggled magical creature to Romania.
• William recounted how he and his friends had encountered the Merpeople at the Black Lake.
• Newt explained the Wizarding World’s changing definitions of a being and said Merpeople and Centaurs qualified as people.
• Newt told William and Hermione that the Merpeople had not attacked them because they were strange, but because the children had acted wrongly by capturing them.

Newt explained that magical rituals drew on unseen powers and that Merpeople worshipped Siren, whom they believed guided ghosts to the Underworld as Death’s servant. After William recounted the wizarding tale of Death and the Three Brothers, Mercury revealed that his great-grandfather had told him a completely different version.

• William told Newt about the ritual he had witnessed in the Merpeople’s village, and Newt explained how rituals called on powers from a special realm in exchange for offerings.
• Newt identified the Mermaid Statue as Siren and said Merpeople believed she lived on a distant island and guided ghosts into the Underworld for Death.
• Mercury asked whether Newt meant Death from the Three Brothers, prompting William to explain the tale from The Tales of Beedle the Bard to Hermione and Newt.
• Mercury said the story he had heard from his great-grandfather was completely different from old Beedle’s version.

Mercury told the story of Death’s gifts to the Three Brothers, and William wondered whether his Ravenclaw Bronze Ring and other legendary items were real. As the group neared Nicolas’s manor, a Niffler stole alchemical objects from Newt’s belongings, including a coin that startled William.

• Mercury recounted how Death gave the eldest brother a potion-brewing cauldron, the second a wisdom-bestowing wreath, and the youngest a finger bone that could control time.
• The eldest brother used his cauldron to make an immortality potion and cure villagers for gold, but a poor villager stole the cauldron and killed him.
• The second brother killed his wife and child to experience death, then took his own life after the wreath blew away and his knowledge vanished.
• The youngest brother used the finger-bone ring to avoid Death for years, then let time advance and welcomed Death when he was ready to die.
• William wondered whether his Ravenclaw Bronze Ring and the other gifts were real, while Hermione dismissed the stories as invented versions.
• A Niffler tried to steal from William, pulled Bobocha from his pouch, and was restrained; Newt identified its spilled valuables as Nicolas’s alchemical items, and William recognized a Victoria’s Secret commemorative coin.

William and Hermione arrived at Nicolas Flamel’s estate, where Newt calmed a Romanian Longhorn that had escaped from his case. The reunion ended with Nicolas showing Newt a sensational Rita Skeeter article accusing him of being a traitor and an unfaithful lover.

• William and Hermione flew toward Nicolas’s estate on a Thunderbird, but a Romanian Longhorn attacked them as they approached.
• Newt recognized the dragon as Balerion, who had escaped from his case, and calmed him by facing him without a wand.
• William and Hermione gave Nicolas birthday presents, while Perenelle welcomed Bobocha and fed him dried fish.
• Nicolas showed Newt Rita Skeeter’s article, which accused him of spying for Dumbledore and abandoning a pregnant Seraphina Picquery.
• Newt swore at the accusations and insisted that Picquery’s child had nothing to do with him.

Rita Skeeter published a scandalous story about Newt, while Nicolas Flamel took William aside to explain the mysteries surrounding Siren, Death, and Mercury. Nicolas began his account with the story of Death and the Three Brothers.

• Rita Skeeter targeted Newt with a newspaper story alleging he had abandoned Seraphina Picquery and hinting that her child was his.
• Newt went to his room to check his suitcase and draft a letter demanding that Rita apologize.
• Perenelle took Hermione to her room, while Nicolas led William around the estate.
• Nicolas reassured William that Albus could repair the damage to the Slytherin Common Room and said he wanted to speak with him privately.
• Nicolas brought William inside, played Schubert’s Death and the Maiden, and began his story with Death and the Three Brothers.