Chapter Summaries

The first-year students arrived at Hogwarts and were sorted into their houses, with Anna Grindelwald’s name shocking the hall and drawing Dumbledore’s attention. The Sorting Hat placed Anna in Slytherin, and Dumbledore began the welcoming feast.

• Professor McGonagall led the nervous first-years into the Great Hall and explained that the Sorting Hat, not an entrance exam, would decide their houses.
• James Potter was sorted into Gryffindor, followed by Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius, who also joined Gryffindor.
• Severus Snape was sorted into Slytherin, and Lily was sorted into Gryffindor.
• Professor McGonagall announced Anna Grindelwald’s name, and Dumbledore recognized the surname and studied her as she approached the Sorting Hat.
• The Sorting Hat considered Anna’s qualities, asked which house she wanted, and ultimately sorted her into Slytherin.
• Dumbledore welcomed the new students and announced the start of the feast.

Anna struggled to control the emotions stirred by seeing Dumbledore, then welcomed the support of Riley Charles and his fellow Acolytes at Hogwarts. Her conversation with Lucius Malfoy ended with her revealing that she was a Half-blood, shocking the Slytherin Death Eater faction.

• Anna suppressed the love, guilt, and resentment stirred by meeting Dumbledore at the High Table.
• Riley Charles welcomed Anna and offered help from himself and the other Acolytes’ children, whose families supported her.
• Lucius Malfoy recognized that Riley’s group had been aligned with Grindelwald’s side and questioned Anna about her family.
• Anna told Lucius she had no contact with the Grindelwald family and then revealed that she was a Half-blood.
• Lucius lost his composure at Anna’s revelation, while the prospective Death Eaters reacted with shock.

Anna publicly rejected Pure-blood supremacy and mocked Voldemort’s followers for placing themselves above other people, bringing her faction into open opposition with them. Lucius Malfoy restrained his anger and offered a veiled threat, while Dumbledore watched the confrontation and recalled investigating Anna’s surname.

• Anna argued that blood status did not make wizards superior and called the supremacists’ beliefs arrogant.
• More than a dozen Slytherins, including Lucius Malfoy, stood up in anger as the Great Hall fell silent.
• Snape recognized Anna’s speech as a forceful rejection of Voldemort’s beliefs, while Riley Charles’s group welcomed her defiance.
• Lucius suppressed his anger, told Anna he hoped she would enjoy her future at Slytherin, and signaled his followers to remain calm.
• Anna cheerfully told Lucius to call her by her first name, and Dumbledore relaxed after the clash subsided.
• Dumbledore recalled secretly visiting Nurmengard after seeing Grindelwald’s surname in the Book of Admittance.

Dumbledore wondered about Anna’s connection to Gellert Grindelwald and sensed ancient protective magic in the Hogwarts school song. In Slytherin’s common room, Anna’s arrival deepened the split between Riley Charles’s faction and Lucius Malfoy’s followers, and Riley called her and Snape back before they went to find their dormitories.

• Dumbledore reflected on Anna’s resemblance to a Grindelwald and decided to question the Sorting Hat about her.
• Anna sensed ancient protective power in the Hogwarts school song and suspected Voldemort had compromised it.
• The Slytherins returned to their common room in three divided groups, with some neutral students leaning toward Anna.
• The fifth-year Prefect gave “Pure-blood” as the password, and Lucius Malfoy warned the new students to choose their side.
• Narcissa Black urged everyone to sleep, and Riley called Anna and Snape back as they were about to find their dormitories.

Anna refused to give Riley Charles and the other students the Butterfly Mark before they came of age, but promised to mark them in their seventh year if they still trusted her. Snape questioned why he could not receive one either, and Anna said she respected his choice and would not give him the mark even after they graduated.

• Riley Charles and the others asked Anna to give them the Butterfly Mark, saying they understood its ideals and wanted to support the new world.
• Anna warned them that underage wizards could not receive the mark and asked whether their parents knew and whether they understood their decision.
• Riley explained that the group had discussed the matter, that their parents knew, and that the Kennedy incident had convinced them to contribute to the new world.
• Anna reassured Riley and Hettie that the mark was only a symbol and a means of communication, then promised to mark the group in their seventh year if they still trusted her.
• Snape asked Anna why she would not give him the mark, and she explained that she trusted their parchment contract and would respect his choice by never marking him.

Anna and Snape parted for the night after discussing the trust binding them, while Dumbledore discovered Anna’s hidden middle name and learned more about what the Sorting Hat had seen in her mind. The chapter ended with the Hat warning that beneath Anna’s admirable ideals, she was cold and empty within.

• Anna told Snape she trusted him because they shared the burden of changing their fates, then wished him good night.
• Anna went to her Slytherin room and reminded herself not to indulge in something she could not touch.
• Dumbledore asked the Sorting Hat what it had seen in Anna’s mind, and the Hat urged him to examine her full name.
• Dumbledore used Aparecium on Anna’s acceptance-letter signature and revealed that her name was Anna Albus Grindelwald.
• The Sorting Hat praised Anna’s compassion and ideals but described her inner self as barren, cold, and silent.

Anna handled important Grindelwald Manor documents during breakfast at Hogwarts and navigated the divide between her supporters and Lucius Malfoy’s faction. She then visited Lily at the Gryffindor table, reassuring her that she was safe in Slytherin.

• Snape found Anna reviewing enchanted documents at the Slytherin table, and Dumbledore watched her work through breakfast.
• Anna returned the completed documents to Grindelwald Manor and stored the papers that needed more consideration.
• Anna exchanged polite greetings with Lucius Malfoy while the Slytherin table remained divided between their factions.
• Anna noticed Lily at the Gryffindor table, and Snape declined to go with her.
• Anna teased Lily by pretending to be upset, then laughed and reassured her that no one in Slytherin dared bully her.

Anna, Lily, and Snape made it to their first Transfiguration lesson, where Anna admired Professor McGonagall in her tabby cat form. James Potter and his friends arrived late, and the story left them beginning class under McGonagall’s stern watch.

• Anna and Lily left breakfast with Snape to find their first classroom, while James Potter suggested using his family's Invisibility Cloak to get back at Anna.
• Snape guided Anna and Lily to Transfiguration, where Anna chose a seat near the tabby cat on Professor McGonagall’s desk.
• Anna explained to Lily that she wanted to read useful books in the library and preferred wild cats to house cats.
• James Potter, Sirius, Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew arrived late, and McGonagall transformed from a tabby cat to reprimand them.
• Professor McGonagall began the students’ first Transfiguration lesson.

Anna impressed Professor McGonagall in Transfiguration before Dumbledore summoned her to the Headmaster’s Office to look into the Mirror of Erised. The mirror showed Anna’s manor filled with people she knew, but not Anna herself.

• Anna turned a match into a silver needle, earning Slytherin five points, and Lily and James Potter’s group also completed the transformation.
• Professor McGonagall told Anna that Dumbledore was waiting for her in the Headmaster’s Office.
• Anna entered the office and agreed to look into the Mirror of Erised.
• Anna saw a gathering at Grindelwald Manor, where Dumbledore and her father were fighting Voldemort, but she could not find herself in the mirror.

Dumbledore questioned Anna about her origins, and she revealed that Grindelwald created her alchemical body and that her soul entered it by chance. His disapproval of the forbidden magic behind her creation made Anna question whether she had any place in the world, and her distress triggered another magical outburst.

• Dumbledore tested Anna with the Mirror of Erised and asked about her unknown parents after hearing her mention her father.
• Anna told Dumbledore that she was born in a laboratory at Nurmengard and that her father was Gellert Grindelwald.
• Anna explained that Grindelwald had created her body but had failed to create a soul; her soul had entered it by chance through the River Styx.
• Dumbledore objected that creating an alchemical body was forbidden Dark Magic, and Anna took his words as confirmation that she should never have existed.
• Anna broke down as doubts about her identity and place in the world overwhelmed her, and her magic surged into another outburst.

After Anna suffered a magic outburst following her meeting with Dumbledore, Snape hurried to the Hospital Wing and gave her the Soul Stabilizing Potion. He left her drawing in her magic again, though she remained unconscious and fragile.

• Lily and Snape heard that Anna had been taken to the Hospital Wing after a magic outburst, and Snape rushed there with the potion North had given him.
• Snape found Dumbledore remorsefully speaking beside Anna, who lay unconscious with chaotic magic still surging around her.
• Snape poured the Soul Stabilizing Potion into Anna's mouth, and the magic slashed his hand before Anna instinctively began drawing in her unruly magic.
• Snape brushed away Anna's tear as Madam Pomfrey prepared to treat his bleeding hand.

After a magical outburst left Anna unconscious, she woke in the Hospital Wing and wondered whether the blood in her hair belonged to Grindelwald. Lily and Snape visited her, and Lily told her Dumbledore had left Hogwarts while Snape stayed behind with her.

• Anna remembered meeting the god of death at her parents’ grave in her previous life and promising to live a good life.
• Anna woke in the Hospital Wing, cut off a bloodstained lock of hair, and stored it in a crystal vial.
• Lily and Snape arrived, and Lily urged Anna to rest while Snape scolded her for wasting her strength.
• Lily told Anna that Dumbledore had left Hogwarts, Slytherin students had waited outside the Hospital Wing, and Gryffindor students had blown up cauldrons in Potions Class.
• Lily left Anna alone with Snape, who refused to explain his Potions notes because Anna had already learned from the Prince family.

Anna told Snape that the Mirror of Erised showed the people she cared about in the future, but not herself, and realized she feared she might not remain in this world. Gellert Grindelwald arrived and reassured her that she was wanted and would always be his family, while Snape left the Hospital Wing still suspecting she was hiding something.

• Anna and Snape exchanged questions about her magical outburst and his injured hand, but neither revealed everything.
• Anna told Snape that the Mirror of Erised showed many people she cared about, including people from the future, but not herself.
• Anna realized that her contract with death made her fear she could not stay in this world, which explained why she had excluded herself from the mirror's future.
• Gellert Grindelwald arrived with Dumbledore, checked Anna for lasting harm, and reassured her that she was not forbidden and would always be his family.
• Dumbledore asked Snape to leave and return the next day, and Snape departed while wondering what Anna was hiding.

Snape returned to the Slytherin Common Room after Anna’s magical outburst, while Grindelwald and Dumbledore visited her in the Hospital Wing. After Anna secretly listened through her Two-Way Mirror, the two men walked by the Black Lake and discussed Anna’s origins and her leadership of the Acolytes.

• Snape told the Slytherin students that Anna was recovering and needed two more days in the Hospital Wing, then returned to his dormitory.
• Dumbledore apologized to Anna, who said her magic had run wild because she had been thinking too much.
• Anna asked Grindelwald how he had left Nurmengard, then urged him and Dumbledore to talk in the Headmaster’s Office while she rested.
• After the men left, Anna used her Two-Way Mirror to listen as Dumbledore invited Grindelwald to walk by the lake.
• Dumbledore asked whether Anna had been born from Grindelwald’s obsession, and Grindelwald said he recognized her as a person with a life of her own.
• Dumbledore challenged Grindelwald over letting eleven-year-old Anna take over the Acolytes and risk ending up imprisoned like him.

Grindelwald explained to Dumbledore that Anna was leading the Acolytes toward peaceful coexistence between wizards and Muggles, and defended her choices at Hogwarts. After Dumbledore asked why Grindelwald had named her Anna, Grindelwald ended the conversation and returned to Nurmengard; two evenings later, Anna visited Dumbledore and met Fawkes.

• Grindelwald told Dumbledore that Anna was bringing wizards and Muggles together through the Acolytes and that he was proud of her.
• Dumbledore questioned whether Anna was too young for the responsibility and asked if Grindelwald knew she had confronted Voldemort’s followers at the Hogwarts feast.
• Grindelwald urged Dumbledore to trust Anna and suggested he speak with the young people who had chosen to follow her.
• Dumbledore asked Grindelwald why he had given Anna her name, but Grindelwald cut off Anna’s Two-Way Mirror and left for Nurmengard.
• Two evenings later, Anna visited the Headmaster’s Office, where Fawkes perched on her shoulder and Dumbledore told her that the phoenix liked her.

Anna visited Dumbledore, who said he would support her and help if needed. She asked to call him Daddy, and he agreed, leaving them with a new secret family bond.

• Anna admired Fawkes and asked Dumbledore why he had summoned her.
• Dumbledore told Anna he had spoken with her father and would not stop what she was doing, offering his advice and help.
• Anna asked to call Dumbledore Daddy and, after he hesitated, described her lonely childhood to persuade him.
• Dumbledore agreed that Anna could call him Daddy in private, and she promised to keep it secret.
• Anna hugged Dumbledore good night, and after she left, he wondered whether this was a chance for redemption and thought of Ariana.

Anna considered the Acolytes’ plans for the Dawn Archipelago and the alliances they needed, then noticed someone on a nearby slope as she left the Owlery.

• Anna sent two letters by owl, including an account for her father of her conversation in the Headmaster’s Office.
• Anna reflected on the Acolytes’ fight against Voldemort and the need to learn more about Horcruxes.
• Anna reviewed the Dawn Archipelago’s research centers and the effort to develop a small alchemical teleportation array.
• Anna considered launching two commercial districts and recruiting respected wizarding families to help shield the archipelago from Ministry pressure.
• Anna thought about approaching Abraxas Malfoy, then spotted someone on a slope as she turned to leave.

Anna found Severus Snape practicing flying alone and joined him, helping him overcome his fear and steady his broom. They flew above Hogwarts together, where Snape quietly agreed that the moon was beautiful.

• Anna discovered Severus Snape holding a battered flying broom in a secluded clearing and asked to try it.
• Anna flew briefly, then offered Snape a new broom and persuaded him to practice with her rather than call Lily or Harry Potter.
• Snape struggled to fly, and Anna coached him to relax and not be afraid.
• Anna steadied Snape’s broom until he could control it himself, and they flew high above Hogwarts.
• Anna admired the full moon, and Snape softly agreed that it was beautiful.

Anna and Snape discussed research into the Wolfsbane Potion, including Anna’s theory that werewolf symptoms came from a special virus. After visiting the Hogwarts kitchen for a late-night snack, they saw three people peeking through the door as Anna prepared to leave.

• Anna asked Snape about the progress of the Wolfsbane Potion research, and he said there was no lead on preventing werewolves from transforming.
• Anna explained that tests supported her theory that werewolf symptoms came from a special virus, and she discussed recruiting werewolves into the Acolytes.
• Anna and Snape went to the Hogwarts kitchen, where the House-elves served Anna her preferred fruit, cakes, and lemon honey water.
• Anna learned that Borg had told the House-elves about her tastes, then continued discussing the potion with Snape over their snack.
• As Anna prepared to leave with cakes, three people peeked furtively through the kitchen door.

Anna and Snape left the kitchen after James asked whether she had seen Remus, and she kept Remus’s whereabouts secret. The next day, Snape managed to fly while Anna watched over Lily, then Anna startled him by asking when he would court Lily.

• James, Sirius, and Peter entered the kitchen looking for Remus, whom they believed was in the Hospital Wing.
• Anna and Snape prepared to leave, but James asked Anna whether she had seen Remus; she said she had not seen any other first-years and left without revealing his secret.
• During Flying Class, James impressed Madam Hooch with his flying, while Snape learned to hover and Anna kept close watch over Lily.
• Anna landed beside Snape after Lily had gained confidence on her broom, and the two rested in the shade while watching Lily fly.
• Anna asked Snape when he would start courting Lily, and Snape objected that Lily was only eleven before Anna pointed out that they were all eleven.