Chapter Summaries

Clara Albert dreamed that Cedric Diggory died during the Triwizard Tournament’s final task, then woke on the morning of the task and tried to warn him. The events unfolded exactly as she had dreamed, and Cedric died, leaving Clara to collapse into darkness again.

• Clara watched Cedric enter the maze and saw him return with Harry Potter, only for the crowd to announce that Cedric was dead.
• Clara woke in the Hufflepuff dormitory on June twenty-fourth and realized the fatal task had not yet happened.
• Clara saw Cedric in the common room and later warned him to be careful before the maze task.
• Clara watched the final task repeat her dream: Krum and Fleur were eliminated, and Harry and Cedric returned together.
• Clara reached Cedric’s body and heard Harry say, “He’s back,” before darkness overcame her.

Clara repeatedly relived June 23, the day before Cedric’s death in the Triwizard Tournament, and tried every way she could think of to stop him from touching the Cup. Each attempt failed, leaving her trapped in the cycle and increasingly resigned.

• Clara woke on June 23 and remembered Cedric dying in the maze the following day.
• She left Cedric a warning note, but he mistook it for a prank, and she watched him die again.
• Clara warned Cedric face-to-face and sought help from Professors Sprout and McGonagall, but no one believed her.
• She tried sabotaging the maze, stealing the Cup, and restraining Cedric, but each attempt failed and she was punished for attacking him.
• Clara asked Cho Chang to warn Cedric, and he thanked her but still trusted the school and expected to talk after the tournament.
• After more failed warnings and interventions, Clara remained trapped in the repeating cycle, watching Cedric die again and waking once more on June 23.

Clara tried to keep Cedric from entering the maze and warned that someone had returned, but the competition went ahead and she died again. Back on June 23, she investigated Harry Potter’s history and learned that “he” was You-Know-Who, though she still did not know how he would return or why Cedric would die.

• Clara confronted Cedric before the maze, warned that the cup would kill him, and was taken away by Ministry Aurors.
• Clara told Dumbledore that someone was back and that Harry Potter knew; Dumbledore questioned her and increased security around the maze.
• The competition proceeded, Cedric entered the maze, and Clara died before waking again on June 23.
• Clara decided to investigate the warning instead of confronting Cedric and searched old newspapers with help from Rowle Collins.
• Clara read about You-Know-Who’s attack on the Potters and concluded that he was the one who had returned, but she still wondered how he was connected to Harry and Cedric’s death.

Clara sneaked out after dinner and discovered that someone was impersonating Mad-Eye Moody with Polyjuice Potion. After escaping into a hidden room, she recognized the impostor’s connection to the Triwizard Tournament and prepared to tell Dumbledore what she had witnessed.

• Clara left the Hufflepuff common room after curfew and became lost while trying to reach the library.
• Clara hid from Mad-Eye Moody and watched him transform into a nervous young man, then drink another potion and become Moody again.
• Clara fled from the impostor and entered a door that appeared in a blank wall, hiding inside a vast room filled with discarded objects.
• Clara saw the Mirror of Erised show her standing happily with Cedric and realized she wanted him to see her as well as survive.
• Clara connected the impostor’s Polyjuice Potion, his reference to his master, and the Triwizard Tournament, then wrote down what she had seen so she could tell Dumbledore.

Clara told Dumbledore that Fake Moody was impersonating the real professor and confessed that she was trapped in a repeating loop in which Cedric died. Dumbledore believed her and acted on her warning, but Cedric died again, and Clara woke to another reset.

• Clara waited outside Dumbledore's office and warned him that Fake Moody had used Polyjuice Potion and planned something involving the Triwizard Tournament.
• Dumbledore realized Clara knew details she had not witnessed and listened as she explained her repeated attempts to save Cedric across the loop.
• Clara offered to let Dumbledore examine her memories, but he believed her without using Legilimency and promised to investigate Moody and watch the tournament.
• Rowle gave Clara a bread roll, and she later watched Dumbledore inspect the Triwizard Cup before the maze competition began.
• Clara watched Krum and Phoebe leave the maze, then heard the cries signaling Cedric's death and fell into the familiar darkness.
• Clara opened her eyes in front of her owl, Banban, after the loop reset.

After another reset brought Clara back to November 24, she chose to let Cedric enjoy his happiness with Cho and kept her plans with Rowle. She brought Dumbledore the woolen socks she had promised him and began telling him what was happening, saying they had six months.

• Clara sent her unfinished letter to her parents with Banban and watched the snowy Hogwarts grounds from the Owlery.
• Clara met Cedric, congratulated him on Cho agreeing to attend the Yule Ball with him, and returned his premature Christmas greeting.
• Clara agreed to go to Hogsmeade with Rowle after lunch, then left to visit Dumbledore and keep her promise.
• Clara presented Dumbledore with the crookedly knitted socks, and he recognized that she had spoken to him about something important before.
• Clara told Dumbledore they had six months, and he invited her to explain everything without delay.

Clara told Dumbledore that earlier attempts to prevent Cedric’s death had failed and resolved to enter the maze to discover what happened. Dumbledore agreed to help her prepare, promising to make an amulet that would transport her to Cedric when he was in danger, and vowed to protect her parents.

• Clara recounted her repeated returns to June 23 and explained that Cedric died even after Dumbledore controlled Fake Moody and checked the Goblet of Fire.
• Clara reasoned that she needed to witness events inside the maze and insisted she would enter it to learn the truth, even if she could not change the outcome.
• Dumbledore agreed not to dissuade Clara and said he would keep Fake Moody under watch while trustworthy Hogwarts professors helped her prepare.
• Dumbledore described an ancient amulet that could transport Clara to Cedric’s side once when his life was threatened, and said he would make it and arrange special training for her.
• Dumbledore warned Clara that using the amulet could expose her to Voldemort and leave her unable to return, then promised to protect her parents.

Clara went to Hogsmeade with Rowle, bought a silver-white Yule Ball robe, and reflected on how she wanted to live the days before June twenty-fourth without regrets. After seeing Harry Potter at the Three Broomsticks, she decided she should get to know him, though not that day.

• Clara reassured Rowle that her meeting with Dumbledore had concerned protective magic, then went with her to Hogsmeade.
• Rowle urged Clara to try a silver-white dress robe, and Clara bought it after deciding she would wear it to the Yule Ball.
• At the Three Broomsticks, Rowle pointed out Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley sitting by the fireplace.
• Clara stared at Harry and thought about how he would soon witness Cedric's death and face You-Know-Who in the graveyard.
• Clara stood to get another Butterbeer and told Rowle she should say hello to Harry another time.

Clara began special combat training with McGonagall, Flitwick, and Snape, learning how to combine Transfiguration, Charms, and movement to survive attacks. After enduring Snape’s intense practice session and earning his rare praise, she left for the Hospital Wing with a bleeding shoulder.

• Dumbledore arranged Clara’s special training timetable, removing her from regular classes while she studied with McGonagall, Flitwick, and Snape.
• McGonagall taught Clara combat applications of Transfiguration, and Flitwick trained her to cast while moving and combine shields with evasive maneuvers.
• Snape demonstrated the Imperius and Cruciatus Curses, spared a rat from the Killing Curse after Clara objected, and began attacking her with nonverbal spells.
• Clara dodged Snape’s spells, transfigured jars into sparrows to distract him, and combined the distractions with a compact Shield Charm to escape his line of attack.
• Snape blasted apart Clara’s cover and continued the exercise until she collapsed with a cut on her shoulder, then told her she had some talent.
• McGonagall arrived, sent Clara to the Hospital Wing, and ended the session while Snape warned that their next training would continue.

Clara began joint combat training with Harry in the Room of Requirement after Dumbledore explained that Harry’s scar connected him to Voldemort. They practiced defensive spellwork together, and Clara revealed Snape had already been training her with relentless nonverbal attacks.

• Clara received a letter from Dumbledore asking her to meet him on the Seventh Floor the following Tuesday.
• Dumbledore introduced Clara to Harry in the Room of Requirement and explained that Harry’s scar pain could let him sense Voldemort’s intense emotions.
• Dumbledore said Harry needed to learn to defend himself and the connection, so he would train alongside Clara with Flitwick, McGonagall, and Snape.
• Flitwick had Clara and Harry practice combining Disarming Charms and Shield Charms, correcting Harry’s oversized shields and directing them to cover each other.
• After the exercise, Harry asked Clara about her training, and she told him Snape had attacked her with nonverbal spells from her first lesson.

Clara endured intensive training with Harry and several professors while Rowle suspected her growing closeness to Harry and noticed Cedric’s attention toward her. Harry asked Clara to be his Yule Ball partner after Cho Chang and Cedric had both chosen other partners, and Rowle immediately began planning Clara’s outfit and appearance.

• Rowle confronted Clara about her battered appearance and time with Harry, but Clara explained that they were training with professors.
• Cedric greeted Clara in the common room, and Rowle remarked that he seemed to look at Clara with more interest than before.
• Harry asked Clara to be his Yule Ball partner after Cho Chang had turned him down, and Clara agreed to go with him as a friend.
• Clara told Rowle about Harry’s invitation, and Rowle dragged her to the dormitory to plan her dress, jewelry, hairstyle, and shoes.
• Clara protested that she was only going to a dance, but she gave in and tried on the silver low heels Rowle chose.

Clara attended the Yule Ball with Harry, while Cedric went with Cho Chang, the girl Harry liked. Clara and Harry danced awkwardly, then shared desserts and talked about their unrequited feelings as Cedric and Cho danced together.

• Rowle styled Clara for the ball, and Harry met her beneath the Christmas tree before they joined the Champions and their partners.
• McGonagall led the opening dance, where Clara and Harry struggled through the waltz while Cedric and Cho danced smoothly.
• After the dance, Clara spoke with Cedric, who left to join Cho when she waved to him.
• Harry and Clara sat together with cake and discussed when they had begun liking Cho and Cedric.
• Clara told Harry she felt grateful to see Cedric happy, and she suggested he might still have a chance with Cho by having a nice dream.

After the Second Task, Hufflepuff students began calling Clara a traitor for her friendship with Harry and her private lessons with Snape. Cedric defended her, but Clara remained focused on her secret training and went to Snape’s lesson.

• Clara stayed in the dormitory during the Second Task, then learned that Cedric had tied with Harry and surfaced with Cho Chang.
• At the Hufflepuff celebration, Cedric asked Clara if she was well, and she congratulated him.
• Hufflepuff students began calling Clara a traitor, while Rowle grew angry at the rumors and tried to comfort her.
• Zacharias Smith and Eddie Carmichael criticized Clara in the common room, and Cedric confronted them and defended her.
• Clara left to attend Snape’s lesson, telling Cedric she did not care about the accusations.

Clara trained with Snape and accepted apologies from Zacharias Smith and Eddie Carmichael after Cedric pressured them to retract their insults. Cedric called her his friend, and Dumbledore invited her to his office to share encouraging progress.

• Clara arrived two minutes late to Snape’s dungeon training and endured two hours of practice against spells from multiple directions.
• Clara returned to the Hufflepuff Common Room, where Zacharias Smith and Eddie Carmichael apologized for calling her a traitor and criticizing her lessons.
• Clara warned the two boys not to insult her again, and they hurried back to their dormitory.
• Cedric revealed that he had secured their apology by threatening to report their words to Snape, and Clara thanked him.
• Cedric asked Clara to call him by his first name and said they were friends; she agreed and called him Cedric.
• Clara found a letter from Dumbledore inviting her to his office after training the next day to discuss encouraging progress.

Clara met Sirius Black in Dumbledore’s office while collecting the completed amulet meant to protect Cedric from Voldemort. She and Dumbledore planned to obtain Cedric’s blood without telling him, and settled on giving him a biting book as the means to draw it.

• Clara left training, accepted dinner from Rowle, and went to Dumbledore’s office, where she met Sirius Black.
• Dumbledore showed Clara the finished amulet and explained that it still needed her blood and Cedric Diggory’s blood.
• Clara rejected involving Cho Chang and proposed giving Cedric a difficult-to-open present so she could collect his blood while treating a cut.
• Dumbledore fashioned a little-finger ring designed to collect a drop of blood, and Sirius questioned Clara about her willingness to risk hurting Cedric to protect him.
• Dumbledore found a defensive manuscript that bites the first person to open it and suggested Clara give it to Cedric; Clara agreed but noted she would need a better excuse than a thank-you gift.

Clara gave Cedric a biting book so Gabriel could collect a sample of his blood, then left him with Cho Chang. In Snape’s Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, he taught Clara to attack decisively, and she practiced Stupefy, Reducto, and Sectumsempra.

• Clara gave Cedric a manuscript on defensive magic, and its first bite let Gabriel seal a bead of his blood inside Clara’s ring.
• Cho Chang arrived, and Cedric let her bandage his finger while Clara left for Snape’s lesson.
• Snape told Clara that survival against a Dark wizard required taking the attacker down, then demonstrated Stupefy, Reducto, and Sectumsempra on training dummies.
• Clara struck the dummies with Stupefy and Reducto, then repeatedly cast Sectumsempra until she severed a dummy’s left arm.

Clara completed the amulet with Dumbledore, who prepared one petal for Cedric and warned her that the rewinding could end at any time. As Clara continued training and faced rumors spread by Rita Skeeter, Cedric received his tournament robes, and Clara's bracelet reacted to the amulet hidden in them.

• Clara endured Snape's exhausting training, then gave her blood to complete the amulet with Dumbledore.
• Dumbledore fitted one amulet petal onto Clara's wrist and planned to sew the other into Cedric's tournament robes.
• Dumbledore warned Clara to protect herself and Cedric because the rewinding could stop without warning, then left to investigate Barty Crouch's absence from the Ministry.
• Rowle brought Clara letters inspired by Rita Skeeter's rumors linking her romantically to Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory, and Clara burned them rather than respond publicly.
• Dumbledore arranged tournament robes for all four Champions, and Cedric opened his Hogwarts gift as Clara's bracelet glowed in response to the other amulet petal.

Clara learned that the Third Task would be a maze, then was summoned to the Forbidden Forest after Barty Crouch disappeared and Viktor Krum was attacked. Her resemblance suspicion linked Crouch to Fake Moody, and Dumbledore revealed Crouch had a son also named Barty Crouch, officially recorded as dead in Azkaban.

• Cedric told the Hufflepuffs that the Third Task was a maze filled with magical creatures and spell obstacles, with the Triwizard Cup at its center.
• Snape summoned Clara to the Forbidden Forest on Dumbledore's behalf and warned Cedric not to celebrate too soon.
• On her way, Clara learned from Harry that Crouch had disappeared and Krum had been attacked.
• Dumbledore explained that Harry had found Crouch delirious in the forest before Crouch vanished and Krum was jinxed.
• Clara said Crouch's photograph reminded her of Fake Moody and asked whether Crouch had a son or brother.
• Dumbledore revealed that Crouch's son, Barty Crouch Jr., was officially recorded as dead in Azkaban, then asked Clara to keep the events secret.

Voldemort ordered Barty Crouch Jr. to watch Clara Albert after suspecting she was behind Dumbledore’s growing vigilance. Clara discovered Fake Moody’s identity through Dumbledore’s Pensieve, and Dumbledore warned her that the Goblet of Fire still appeared unaltered.

• Voldemort told Barty Crouch Jr. to keep Clara under observation without alerting her.
• Fake Moody questioned Clara about her private lessons, and Snape warned her that Moody and Voldemort might suspect she knew too much.
• Clara went to Dumbledore’s office, accidentally entered a Pensieve, and saw Barty Crouch Jr. in a memory.
• Clara told Dumbledore that Fake Moody was Barty Crouch Jr., and Dumbledore confirmed his identity and explained his reported death and escape from Azkaban.
• Dumbledore said Voldemort’s forces did not know about Clara’s amulet, planned to reduce her lessons, and reported that the Goblet of Fire showed no sign of tampering.

After finishing her O.W.L.s, Clara prepared for the Third Task while hiding from Cedric that she planned to follow him into the maze. Dumbledore and the others briefed her on their plan to stop Barty Crouch Jr. and gave her a locating badge in case the Triwizard Cup transported her and Cedric away.

• Clara completed her Charms practical with a perfect performance, then spent the evening before the Third Task speaking with Cedric.
• Clara lied that special tutoring would keep her from watching Cedric compete, and left when Dumbledore summoned her to his office.
• Dumbledore explained that McGonagall, Snape, and Sirius would intercept Barty Crouch Jr. before the competition, while Aurors guarded the grounds.
• Dumbledore gave Clara a badge with a locating charm to use if the cup transported her and Cedric somewhere unexpected.
• Dumbledore reassured Clara that she was not alone and said he believed she would bring Cedric back.