Chapter Summaries

Lily and the narrator visited Snape in the Hospital Wing, then James, Sirius, and the narrator followed Remus on a full moon night and discovered he entered a passage beneath the Whomping Willow. James tried to follow but was thrown into a branch, and the chapter ended with Madam Pomfrey treating him and chasing the others out.

• Lily and the narrator visited Snape, who refused to thank the narrator for saving him.
• James proposed following Remus on a full moon night, and Sirius and the narrator agreed.
• The three friends watched Remus collect a potion from Madam Pomfrey and leave Hogwarts Castle.
• Remus stopped the Whomping Willow and disappeared into a hollow beneath it.
• James charged at the Whomping Willow, which flung him onto a branch and fractured his arm.
• Sirius and the narrator visited James in the Hospital Wing, where Madam Pomfrey later chased them out.

After Remus returned from the Hospital Wing with fresh injuries, James and Sirius planned to follow him on the next full moon. That night, the narrator found Slytherins abusing Peter and fought them, then challenged Snape for standing by; Peter quietly thanked her before leaving.

• Remus concealed the cause of his new injuries from James, who claimed he had been hurt while exploring.
• James, Sirius, and the narrator discussed Felix Felicis and agreed to follow Remus on the next full moon.
• The narrator discovered Avery and Evan tormenting Peter while Snape watched, and she intervened when they hurt his hand and took his candy.
• The narrator knocked the Slytherins unconscious and confronted Snape about letting Peter be bullied.
• Peter returned to thank the narrator quietly before disappearing down the corridor.

As final exams approached, Peter was assigned by the system to revise with Lily despite not needing to study. He endured an awkward library session with Lily and Snape, and left eager for exams to be over.

• Students crowded the library and common room to prepare for finals, while Peter watched Lily answer questions and joked with Mary about being overlooked.
• During History of Magic, James asked to borrow Peter's notes, and Peter admitted he never took notes or revised; James and Sirius then borrowed Remus's notes instead.
• The system told Peter to choose a revision partner, and he reflexively selected Lily, prompting a daily two-hour study session.
• Peter went to the library and revised with Lily and Snape, whose silence toward him continued after their earlier unpleasant experience.
• Peter distracted Snape with candy so he would speak to Lily, then hurried away as soon as their revision session ended.

After the exams and end-of-term feast, the narrator chose Lily for the holiday event and arranged to visit her family. On the train, the narrator gave Snape a backup address at the Leaky Cauldron in case he needed to get away from home.

• The narrator celebrated passing Flying Class with an A while James and Sirius planned to spend the holidays together.
• At the end-of-term feast, Sirius said he would not go home, and James invited him to stay at his place; the narrator declined because of holiday plans.
• The system prompted the narrator to choose a holiday companion, and the narrator picked Lily before asking to visit her house.
• Snape lost affection when the narrator asked Lily about visiting, and Lily welcomed the narrator to come see her and Petunia.
• The narrator gave Snape a note with a vacant room at the Leaky Cauldron as a possible refuge, and Snape accepted it after protesting.

Merlin met a polite, hooded Slytherin stranger at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour and realized he had approached her deliberately. Unsettled by him, she left without agreeing to meet again.

• Merlin collected her purchases from Knockturn Alley and put away her cloak before stopping for ice cream.
• A hooded stranger recognized Merlin as a Hogwarts student and asked to sit with her.
• Merlin recognized him as the cloaked student she had briefly used to hide from Lily, and he confirmed he was a Slytherin.
• The stranger asked Merlin to guess his house, spoke politely, and mentioned that he had seen her hurry toward the Slytherin Common Room.
• Merlin noticed he had not touched his dessert, ended the conversation, and left when he called her Miss Merlin.

Snape returned to Spinner's End with Lily, while Merlin visited the Evans family and learned that Lily had gone to check on Snape after he missed their meeting. Merlin rushed out to find them when Lily did not return by noon.

• Snape felt uneasy as he approached Spinner's End, and Lily accompanied him despite his insistence that he was fine.
• Lily suggested Snape could go to Diagon Alley instead of returning home, but he chose to enter his house alone.
• Merlin arrived at the Evans home and gave Petunia gifts and Chinese food, then noticed Lily was worried because Snape had missed their morning meeting.
• Lily went to check on Snape, and Merlin explained Snape's family situation to Petunia while they prepared lunch.
• When Lily had not returned by noon, Petunia became anxious, and Merlin ran out to look for her.

Snape’s parents’ latest argument erupted into uncontrolled magic that injured Merlin, Lily, Snape, Tobias, and Eileen. As Merlin urged Eileen to divorce Tobias, she collapsed into Lily’s arms, leaving Eileen’s response uncertain.

• Snape tried to leave home with Lily while Tobias and Eileen argued, but Tobias insulted Lily and Snape recognized his own resemblance to his father.
• Eileen’s magic went out of control, sending debris through the house and injuring Merlin, Lily, Snape, Tobias, and Eileen.
• Merlin shielded Lily from Eileen’s magic, then asked Eileen whether she regretted leaving the Prince family and marrying Tobias.
• Eileen admitted she could not return to the Prince family, and Merlin urged her to divorce Tobias for everyone’s sake.
• Eileen seemed ready to respond, but Merlin staggered and collapsed into Lily’s arms.

After recovering from the attack, the narrator left St. Mungo’s with Lily and Petunia and returned to Hogwarts for her second year. She saw Thestrals because she had witnessed death, and her memories of Sirius’s death and the Dementors’ effects caused Sirius to leave in anger.

• Petunia and Lily visited the narrator in St. Mungo’s, where Eileen gradually opened up and shared potion knowledge with her.
• Lily told the narrator that Severus had been moving his books out of the family home, while Tobias remained unconscious in an ordinary hospital.
• James and Sirius met the narrator after the holiday, and she evaded James’s questions about how she had been injured.
• James told the narrator that he had accidentally blown up his family’s backyard while practicing Quidditch.
• On the way to Hogwarts, the narrator stroked a Thestral, and Sirius asked how she could see it.
• The narrator remembered witnessing Sirius’s death and experiencing the Dementors’ despair; Sirius left after her favorability toward him decreased.

Regulus Black was sorted into Slytherin and struggled with his family's expectations as he watched Sirius enjoying life in Gryffindor. After meeting a girl he had encountered before, he finally came face to face with Sirius, but the girl’s teasing sent Sirius storming away, and Regulus forgot to ask her name.

• Regulus was sorted into Slytherin, where Narcissa urged him to uphold the Black family’s reputation.
• During the feast, Regulus watched Sirius laughing with his friends and wondered how he could be happy despite disappointing their mother.
• Regulus tried to approach Gryffindor after the feast but was redirected by a Slytherin classmate.
• A Gryffindor girl recognized Regulus and told him she had smiled for him because she knew he wanted to smile.
• Sirius confronted Regulus, but the girl claimed Regulus had come to see her, and Sirius stormed away.
• Regulus said goodbye to the girl and realized he had forgotten to ask her name.

Merlin avoided the system's suggested replies when Regulus wanted to ask about Sirius, then watched James and Sirius make the Gryffindor Quidditch team. The chapter ended with Sirius vowing that they would beat Slytherin in their next match.

• Merlin spoke with Regulus, then Sirius warned her that Regulus would likely inherit the Black family and marry a pure-blood woman.
• James eagerly attended Gryffindor Quidditch tryouts and impressed the team captain with his flying and scoring.
• James and Sirius made the Gryffindor team, with James as a Chaser and Sirius as a Beater.
• James celebrated with Merlin and offered to take her flying, but she refused and congratulated him before slipping away.
• Merlin mentioned looking forward to the November match, and Sirius declared that Gryffindor would defeat Slytherin.