Chapter Summaries

William and Hermione welcomed Nicolas to Hogsmeade, where he discussed Newt and hinted that Professor Babbling might use William’s face to rise at Ilvermorny. Meanwhile, Harry secretly listened as adults discussed Black’s betrayal, and Fudge began considering how William might inherit Nicolas’s fortune.

• The twins gave Harry a map of Hogwarts for Christmas, while William and Hermione went to Hogsmeade Station to meet Nicolas.
• Nicolas arrived by Hogwarts Express to help repair and enchant the damaged train, then chose to stroll through Hogsmeade rather than go straight to the school.
• Nicolas told William that Newt had been released under surveillance and that Professor Babbling was doing well in the United States, possibly using William’s face to become Ilvermorny’s dean and deputy headmistress.
• Harry sneaked into Hogsmeade under his Invisibility Cloak and overheard McGonagall, Flitwick, and Rosmerta discuss Black’s closeness to James and his betrayal of Harry’s parents.
• Fudge spotted Nicolas outside and privately speculated that William might inherit Nicolas’s fortune, deciding to maintain a good relationship with him and reconsider Hagrid’s Hippogriff case.

William and Bobocha opened their Christmas presents, and William received an expensive wand from Phoebe and a mysterious Firebolt. Hermione and Anne arrived with anonymous gifts of their own, leaving the three of them unable to identify the sender.

• Bobocha tore into his presents, and William claimed Fawkes's feather for himself while letting Bobocha keep Fluffy's bone.
• William opened Phoebe's French wand and read her letter about a Thunderbird attacking Emerald Lake and striking Madame Maxime with lightning.
• William found an anonymous Firebolt among his presents and suspected it came from a wealthy female fan.
• Hermione and Anne arrived with their own anonymous gifts: Hermione had received a Demiguise-fur Invisibility Cloak, and Anne had received a Firebolt.
• William, Hermione, and Anne considered who could have sent the expensive gifts but could not identify the sender.

William and the girls tried to identify who had anonymously sent them expensive Christmas gifts, then learned Harry had also received a Firebolt and suspected Sirius Black. The group left the question unresolved as Ron changed his mind and agreed that the brooms should be checked.

• William, Hermione, and Anne failed to identify the sender of their gifts, and Hermione suggested selling the Firebolts before agreeing to keep them.
• William found a Christmas gift from Minister Fudge, who invited him to dinner to discuss the Hippogriff and hinted at introducing him to a distant cousin.
• William, Hermione, and Anne met Harry and Ron, and Harry revealed that he had received an anonymous Firebolt too.
• Hermione urged Harry to ask Professor McGonagall to inspect the brooms and suspected Sirius Black had sent them, while Ron initially insisted Harry should ride his.
• After learning that William and the girls had also received anonymous gifts, Ron changed his mind and agreed that Professor McGonagall should check them.

William attended a Christmas feast at Hogwarts, where Snape secretly poisoned the sherry. Professor Trelawney arrived, drank from Ron’s glass, and collapsed, leaving Snape to blame Sirius Black.

• Dumbledore hosted a Christmas feast with William, the professors, Nicolas, and Filch, and gave Snape a witch’s hat to wear.
• Snape secretly poisoned the sherry and urged William to pour it, but William avoided drinking and gave Hermione and Anne antidote.
• Professor Trelawney arrived after predicting danger at the feast, warned that thirteen diners were unlucky, and squeezed into a seat between William and Ron.
• Trelawney scolded William for missing Divination lessons, then softened after he reminded her of the sherry he had sent as a Christmas gift.
• Trelawney drank from Ron’s glass, collapsed into the turkey, and declared that the wine was poisoned.
• Snape denied responsibility and claimed Sirius Black had infiltrated Hogwarts.

Trelawney recovered from the poisoned wine and traded barbs with McGonagall during the Christmas feast. After McGonagall took the anonymously delivered Firebolts and Invisibility Cloak for inspection, William sent Picquery to search for the Thunderbird in France, then left Hogwarts with Hermione and Anne for Nicolas's estate.

• William gave Trelawney an antidote, and she regained consciousness and drank unpoisoned sherry.
• Trelawney claimed she had foreseen the danger at the feast, while McGonagall challenged her predictions and Dumbledore ended their argument.
• Harry and Ron left the feast, and Trelawney pocketed the remaining sherry before leaving.
• Hermione told McGonagall about the three Firebolts and an Invisibility Cloak sent anonymously, and McGonagall took them to inspect and dismantle.
• William told Mera Picquery that the Thunderbird had gone to Beauxbatons, and Picquery left to investigate.
• William, Hermione, and Anne boarded a carriage at Hogwarts to spend Christmas at Nicolas's estate.

Nicolas determined that Ravenclaw's Diadem had been ruined by ten thousand years of accelerated aging caused by Ravenclaw's time magic, rather than by Voldemort making it a Horcrux. He said repairing it might be possible if he and William unlocked the second section of the Book of Alchemy, leaving them needing to obtain Slytherin's Wand.

• William assisted Nicolas as he examined Ravenclaw's Diadem, but Nicolas concluded that he could not repair it with his current abilities.
• Nicolas used a silver instrument to show how the diadem had dulled and rusted through the power of time.
• Nicolas explained that Ravenclaw had used Prehistoric Mysteries to make the diadem endure ten thousand years of aging within a thousand years.
• Nicolas said the diadem was likely already useless when Voldemort found it, so its damage had nothing to do with its becoming a Horcrux.
• Nicolas explained that the second section of the Book of Alchemy contained methods for making the Deathly Hallows and might reveal how to repair the diadem.
• William realized that they still needed to obtain Slytherin's Wand to unlock that section.

William learned that Nicolas needed all three Deathly Hallows to unlock the Book of Alchemy, then returned to find Hermione asleep over her work. Hermione proposed using a Time-Turner to restore Ravenclaw’s Diadem, leaving William considering how to obtain one and where he would sleep.

• William reflected on the Book of Alchemy, the missing Holy Grail, and the mysterious guidance that had led Nicolas to the book.
• William found Hermione asleep at her desk, covered her with his coat, and finished writing her defense of Hagrid.
• William carried Hermione to his bed and told her that the Diadem had been repaired, but Slytherin’s Wand was still missing.
• Hermione worried that relying on Tom was unsafe and suggested using a Time-Turner to restore the Diadem.
• Hermione fell asleep before William could answer, and he removed her Time-Turner before realizing she had taken his bed.

William and Hermione spent a snowy morning at the manor with Anne, while William studied how to make a Flying Cloak. Hermione suddenly realized that Black might have escaped the Dementors’ search in a way connected to the dogs.

• William and Hermione found the manor buried in snow, ate breakfast, and went to wake Anne, who had hidden under her quilt with three cats.
• William studied the Book of Alchemy’s complicated instructions for making a Flying Cloak, which required a Dementor and a Lethifold.
• Hermione and Anne built snow figures while William fished through a hole in the frozen lake.
• Anne worried that Dahei might be cold and suggested searching for him in the Forbidden Forest on the Firebolt.
• Hermione stared at Anne’s snow dog and realized how Black might have escaped the Dementors’ search.

As rumors spread about Black’s escape from Azkaban, Hermione deduced that Dahei was Black in his Animagus form. William agreed, and the group decided to warn Dumbledore.

• Black became famous as the Death Eaters’ leading figure after escaping Azkaban, while Rita and Fudge spread competing theories about how he had escaped.
• Hermione argued that Black was an unregistered Animagus who could turn into Dahei, citing the dog’s presence when Dementors pursued them in France.
• Anne questioned why Dahei had protected them from a Werewolf, but Hermione pointed out that his unusual ability to fight it suggested he was no ordinary dog.
• Hermione connected the anonymous Christmas gifts, including her Invisibility Cloak and Harry’s Firebolt, to Black’s identity.
• William praised Hermione for solving the mystery, then put away his fishing gear and proposed that they warn Professor Dumbledore.

Hermione told Dumbledore that Sirius Black was an unregistered Animagus, and Lupin admitted he had known about the secret. Lupin’s account of Peter’s Animagus form led William to suspect that Ron’s rat Scabbers was Peter Pettigrew, prompting Dumbledore to summon Ron and the rat.

• Hermione told Dumbledore that Sirius Black had been appearing as a black dog, and Dumbledore said they needed more direct evidence to convince Fudge.
• William suggested asking Lupin, who had been Black’s close friend, and Dumbledore summoned him through the Floo Network.
• Lupin admitted he had known Black was an unregistered Animagus and apologized for keeping it secret, explaining that he had been afraid to confess his past mistakes.
• Lupin revealed that James, Black, and Peter had also become Animagi, with Peter turning into a rat called Wormtail.
• William connected Peter’s rat form with Scabbers’s unusual longevity and behavior, and suspected that Scabbers was Peter Pettigrew.
• Dumbledore summoned Minerva and told her to bring Ron Weasley and Scabbers, warning that the rat might be the supposedly dead Peter Pettigrew.

Harry washed up after a humiliating mishap, then joined Professor McGonagall in finding Ron. In Dumbledore’s office, the adults suspected Ron’s rat Scabbers was Peter Pettigrew, but their spell failed to reveal an Animagus.

• Harry sang and practiced confessing to Cho in the bathroom, then fell repeatedly when Professor McGonagall knocked at the door.
• Professor McGonagall told Harry that his singing and confession had been terrible, asked about unusual events in the dormitory, and warned that Black might return.
• Professor McGonagall told Ron that his parents wanted him to visit Charlie, and asked whether he had a pet to bring; Ron said he had Scabbers.
• Harry, Ron, Professor McGonagall, and Ron’s parents’ group met Dumbledore and Lupin in the Headmaster’s Office, where Lupin said Scabbers might be Peter Pettigrew.
• Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and Lupin cast a spell on Scabbers, but the rat did not transform.

During the Christmas holiday, William helped Hermione study and work out a lighter timetable while the Wizarding World praised her for identifying Black as an unregistered Animagus. The holiday ended with William, Hermione, and Anne returning to Hogsmeade, where Tonks shared patrol information and was left to pay for a mountain of sweets.

• William tutored Hermione in the third-year Ancient Runes curriculum, and Hermione planned to drop Muggle Studies and use the freed time to study with him.
• Fudge credited Hermione with helping solve Black's escape, and Rita published articles praising Hermione while attacking the Ministry's failure to identify Black as an unregistered Animagus.
• William used Apparition to bring Hermione and Anne back to Hogsmeade, where they met Tonks shopping at Honeydukes.
• Tonks complained about being an eternal trainee, reported that Moody had retired, and told William about Hogsmeade's coming curfew and the lack of detection spells in the Forbidden Forest.
• William promised to pay for Tonks's snacks, then left with Hermione and Anne; Tonks was stuck with a bill of fifty-eight Galleons.

William returned to Hogwarts and learned that Dobby had quit his latest job, so he offered him work with Akali's Mystery Shop. Dumbledore also asked William to brew the Wolfsbane Potion for Lupin, and William left after raising his suspicions about Scabbers and Peter Pettigrew.

• Fawkes summoned William to Dumbledore's office when he returned to Hogwarts.
• Dumbledore explained that Dobby had left his job at the Hog's Head after shaving the hair off Aberforth's favorite goat, then lost another job at a retirement community.
• William offered Dobby work involving Akali's Mystery Shop.
• Dumbledore asked William to brew Wolfsbane Potion for Lupin because Snape's potion was making Lupin ill, and William negotiated access to Professor Sprout's greenhouses.
• William told Dumbledore that Scabbers seemed suspicious, and Dumbledore said that if Peter was alive, the truth could be deadly.

William introduced Dobby as his new employee and proposed building a House-elf delivery service to expand Akali's Mystery Shop. He left the meeting with his friends poised to launch a logistics company that could replace owl post and grow beyond their shop.

• William told Cho and Cedric that he had received a Firebolt and introduced Dobby as his new employee.
• William gathered Hermione, Cedric, Cho, and the twins in the Room of Requirement to discuss the Wizarding World's slow delivery methods.
• William proposed hiring House-elves to deliver Akali's Mystery Shop orders within an hour.
• Dobby said he knew more than twenty unemployed House-elves who could be hired for deliveries.
• William outlined plans to expand the service to other shops and build a large logistics business.

William persuaded Hermione, Fred, and George to establish a paid package-delivery service employing House-elves, with wages, uniforms, and training. The group named the new business Kiki's Delivery Service, leaving its launch ahead.

• Hermione argued that House-elves deserved wages and protections, while Fred and George claimed they preferred working without pay.
• William convinced the twins that House-elves hired for deliveries should receive wages instead of food and lodging, and proposed paying them the same rate as owl deliveries.
• William explained that Apparition would let House-elves make enough deliveries to earn a living, and Dobby happily accepted the proposed pay.
• William proposed a 996 work schedule and required House-elves to wear clean uniforms, then arranged for Mars to train them for two months.
• Hermione asked what to call the shop, and William named it Kiki's Delivery Service.

William saw Hagrid’s Niffler lesson, gave him a defense statement for Buckbeak’s hearing, and asked where to find Lethifolds for a potion ingredient. Hagrid warned him that Lethifolds were not found in Britain and hinted that Anne was keeping a secret from him.

• The Ministry offered fifty Galleons for information about Black, while Aurors investigating black dogs shut down the Mermaid Feast and Fang was sent to stay with Fluffy.
• Hagrid taught Care of Magical Creatures with Nifflers, and Cho’s Niffler won the coin hunt.
• William gave Hagrid his defense statement for Buckbeak, and Hagrid thanked him through tears.
• William asked Hagrid where he could find Lethifolds, claiming Dumbledore needed Lethifold sashimi for a potion for Lupin.
• Hagrid said Lethifolds lived in the tropics or possibly Albania, warned William not to go there, and complained that he could barely face Roy after promising to watch over William, Hermione, and Anne.
• Hagrid began to mention a secret about Anne but stopped, leaving William wondering what she had done.

William asked the Fat Lady about Black’s Halloween attack and concluded that Peter Pettigrew had infiltrated the Weasley family as a rat. The chapter ended when Anne emerged from the Restricted Section, saw William, and ran back inside.

• Wood argued with Professor McGonagall for Harry’s Firebolt, but she refused to return it until she had ruled out danger.
• William gave up asking for his own Firebolt and asked Professor McGonagall where to find the Fat Lady.
• The Fat Lady told William that someone inside the Gryffindor Common Room had pushed open the door and let Black in on Halloween.
• William concluded that Peter Pettigrew was the mole, had faked his death, and was hiding among the Weasleys as a rat.
• Anne came out of the Restricted Section, saw William, and ran back inside.

William discovered that Anne and Gabrielle had taken two Thunderbird eggs, and that Anne was secretly raising one as Silver Wing. He warned Phoebe that the other egg might be with her at Beauxbatons, but Madame Maxime answered through the Sound Transmission Conch instead.

• William caught Anne, Ginny, and Luna sneaking out and followed them to their secret base.
• Anne revealed a half-grown Thunderbird named Silver Wing, which she said she and Gabrielle had taken from Werewolf Island.
• William realized the Thunderbird that had gone to Beauxbatons was likely searching for the stolen eggs.
• William contacted Phoebe and warned her to check whether Gabrielle had left the other egg with her.
• Madame Maxime took over the conversation and addressed William as Stark.

William learned that Madame Maxime planned to see him over the summer and spend the next school year at Hogwarts, while he and Hermione discussed Anne’s Thunderbird and the possibility of restarting the Triwizard Tournament. William also told Hermione he intended to search the Forbidden Forest for Black, whom he suspected had escaped with Peter’s help.

• Madame Maxime confronted William over his absence and the stolen Abraxan, then said she might spend the next school year at Hogwarts and warned him to stay alive until they met again.
• Hermione learned Anne had a Thunderbird egg, and she and William agreed to return the chick to its mother until Anne could provide it with a suitable space.
• William told Hermione that the International Confederation of Wizards would discuss Arya and that they might have to attend its meeting.
• Hermione speculated that the schools might restart the Triwizard Tournament, which had last been held in 1792, and questioned whether it was safe while Black remained at large.
• William told Hermione he suspected Scabbers was Peter and planned to ask Aragog’s Acromantulas to search the Forbidden Forest for Black.

Hufflepuff crushed Slytherin, while Harry caught the Snitch after Malfoy distracted himself by chatting with him, sparking a brawl and point deductions. William kept busy with Acromantula business, Hermione’s studies, and bringing Wolfsbane Potion to Lupin, but Snape tried to make him take an extra cauldron off his hands.

• Hufflepuff defeated Slytherin decisively, and Gryffindor later beat Slytherin after Malfoy distracted himself chatting with Harry, who caught the Golden Snitch.
• The Gryffindor and Slytherin teams brawled after the match, and Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall deducted points from them.
• William asked Aragog to search for Dahei while Acromantula products and Snape’s venom antidote brought them profits.
• Hermione advanced her Ancient Runes and curse research, while Anne imagined riding Silver Wing after it grew up.
• William brought Wolfsbane Potion to Lupin, but Snape warned him about Lupin and asked him to sell an extra cauldron of the potion.