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HPMOR Chapter Summaries
I really like Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality (HPMOR), and I often go back and re-read (or rather, re-listen to) chapters which I found particularly enjoyable or interesting.
However, I can't always recall which chapters had my favorite scenes, so I asked Claude Code to summarize each chapter in a single paragraph, explaining who does what, with whom.
I hope this is useful for you!
Chapter 1: A Day of Very Low Probability Harry receives a Hogwarts letter, and his parents argue about whether magic exists. When Harry calls for an owl to test the hypothesis, neighbor Mrs. Figg unexpectedly reveals she's known about magic all along.
Chapter 2: Everything I Believe Is False McGonagall arrives and levitates Professor Michael to prove magic exists, then transforms into a cat. McGonagall delays Harry's school supply shopping, fearing he'd cause chaos if left alone with magic books.
Chapter 3: Comparing Reality To Its Alternatives Harry and McGonagall enter the Leaky Cauldron where patrons recognize Harry Potter. McGonagall tells Harry the full story of Voldemort, the Death Eaters, and how his parents were betrayed and killed at Godric's Hollow.
Chapter 4: The Efficient Market Hypothesis Harry visits the Potter family vault at Gringotts with McGonagall. He realizes he could exploit gold-to-silver arbitrage, does a quick Fermi calculation on his inheritance, and wins a battle of wills to buy a magically expanded trunk.
Chapter 5: The Fundamental Attribution Error Harry visits shops with McGonagall and smuggles extra Galleons into his mokeskin pouch. At Madam Malkin's robe shop, Harry meets Draco Malfoy and they exchange mock flattery until Lucius Malfoy arrives.
Chapter 6: The Planning Fallacy Harry experiments with his mokeskin pouch in Diagon Alley, discovering its voice recognition limits. At Ollivander's, Harry learns his wand shares a core with Voldemort's and pressures McGonagall into revealing information about Voldemort's possible survival and the prophecy.
Chapter 7: Reciprocation Harry says goodbye to his parents at King's Cross and meets the Weasley family. On the train, he rants about Quidditch's broken game design, meets Draco Malfoy again, and shows him photos of the Moon landing to demonstrate Muggle power through science.
Chapter 8: Positive Bias Harry tracks down Hermione Granger on the Hogwarts Express and demonstrates "positive bias" through the 2-4-6 experiment. Neville Longbottom arrives searching for his lost toad, and Harry storms off to help using his Boy-Who-Lived status.
Chapter 9: Self Awareness, Part 1 The Sorting ceremony begins with Harry observing the Head Table. Hermione gets Sorted into Ravenclaw, Neville goes to Hufflepuff, and Draco lands in Slytherin. Harry places the Sorting Hat on his head and bombards it with questions.
Chapter 10: Self Awareness, Part 2 Harry's conversation with the Sorting Hat turns philosophical when he accidentally causes it to become self-aware. The Hat warns Harry he's "really, really" Dark Lord material, then shouts "SLYTHERIN!" causing mass panic before adding "Just kidding! RAVENCLAW!"
Chapter 11: Omake Files I, II & III The chapter presents various alternate Sorting scenarios including Ghostbusters parodies, the Hat exploding, Fred Weasley using ventriloquism, and Harry being Sorted directly into "the Headmaster's office."
Chapter 12: Impulse Control Harry endures questioning from Ravenclaws about his bizarre Sorting. Dumbledore delivers announcements, and Professor Quirrell introduces himself as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, switching between nervous stammering and confident lecturing.
Chapter 13: Asking the Wrong Questions Harry wakes up to find mysterious notes in his own handwriting with instructions for a "Game." He navigates Hogwarts corridors, stumbles upon Slytherins bullying Neville, and accidentally summons a pie to a bully's face when he says "Abracadabra."
Chapter 14: The Unknown and the Unknowable Harry reports a hidden Parseltongue message from the Sorting Hat to McGonagall, who is so stunned by his maturity that she rewards him with a Time-Turner. Harry uses it to execute his own prank from Chapter 13 and realizes the Comed-Tea works by sending causal arrows backwards.
Chapter 15: Conscientiousness Harry struggles with basic Charms while Hermione masters them instantly. McGonagall delivers a terrifying Transfiguration lecture about why you must never transfigure liquids, food, or living things.
Chapter 16: Lateral Thinking Quirrell combines all first-year Defense classes and declares he will teach "Battle Magic" instead of textbook nonsense. He plays "Who's the Most Dangerous Student in the Classroom," declaring Harry the most dangerous because his mental censors are off.
Chapter 17: Locating the Hypothesis Harry tries a Time-Turner experiment to factor large numbers but receives only a chilling note saying "DO NOT MESS WITH TIME." At flying class, Neville falls off his broom, and Harry uses his Time-Turner to resolve a House wand standoff. Dumbledore gives Harry a mysterious rock that belonged to his father.
Chapter 18: Dominance Hierarchies Harry clashes spectacularly with Snape over trick questions in Potions class, threatens to start a newspaper campaign, and escapes via closet using his Time-Turner. Harry blackmails Dumbledore into limiting Snape's bullying, and McGonagall confiscates Harry's unrestricted Time-Turner access.
Chapter 19: Delayed Gratification Draco interrogates Harry about his confrontation with Snape. Quirrell teaches Harry "how to lose" by having thirteen older Slytherins shove him around and make him beg for mercy while his classmates watch.
Chapter 20: Bayes's Theorem Harry confesses to Quirrell about his "mysterious dark side." Quirrell casts a spell showing Harry a breathtaking view of the stars from deep space. Dumbledore bursts in furiously and uses Legilimency on Harry, but Quirrell forces him to pay for Harry's Occlumency lessons.
Chapter 21: Rationalization Hermione worries she's "turning Bad" because she enjoys crushing Harry in every class. Harry meets Draco in a dungeon classroom and recruits him to study blood and genetics, naming their secret society "the Bayesian Conspiracy." Professor Trelawney starts delivering a prophecy before Dumbledore tackles her.
Chapter 22: The Scientific Method Harry and Hermione launch their first scientific experiment on magic, testing whether spell pronunciations actually matter. Harry meets Draco for their second Bayesian Conspiracy session, and Draco accidentally invents a terrifying hypothesis: what if magic itself is fading from the world?
Chapter 23: Belief in Belief Harry teaches Draco about genetics using a scientific test of blood purism. Draco's data on Squib marriages falsifies blood purist ideology. Draco punches Harry, hits him with a torture spell, and locks him in the classroom.
Chapter 24: Machiavellian Intelligence Hypothesis Draco confronts Harry about the torture hex incident. Harry reveals his master plan for the "Bayesian Conspiracy" and asks to borrow Draco's money for a plot against Rita Skeeter. Draco privately plans to learn all of Harry's methods and seize control.
Chapter 25: Hold Off on Proposing Solutions Harry theorizes that magic must come from an external "Source" created by ancient Atlanteans. Fred and George enlist a candy shop owner to help Harry, while Quirrell confronts Rita Skeeter on the street. Harry recruits Fred and George for Operation Discredit Rita Skeeter.
Chapter 26: Noticing Confusion The Daily Prophet publishes a fake story about Harry being secretly betrothed to Ginny Weasley. Harry discovers the wizarding world has no concept of stocks, corporations, or modern banking. Over lunch, Quirrell gives Harry a stolen diary belonging to Roger Bacon.
Chapter 27: Empathy Fred and George discover they pulled off their greatest prank ever but can't remember how because they Obliviated themselves afterward. Harry takes Occlumency lessons. Harry sets up an elaborate rescue where Neville confronts bullies tormenting Lesath Lestrange, but Lesath then screams for Harry to free his mother Bellatrix from Azkaban.
Chapter 28: Reductionism Harry and Hermione attempt dangerous Transfiguration experiments in an abandoned classroom. Harry succeeds at partial Transfiguration and brings the discovery to McGonagall and Dumbledore, who test it thoroughly in a safety-warded workroom. Snape bluntly rejects a student's crush on him.
Chapter 29: Egocentric Bias Hermione grows frustrated that her identity has been swallowed by her rivalry with Harry Potter. She visits Professor Quirrell to ask for command of the third army. Draco tries to manipulate Hermione into an alliance against Harry, but she outmaneuvers him.
Chapter 30: Working in Groups, Part 1 Harry, Draco, and Hermione launch their first three-way battle with Professor Quirrell's armies. Hermione's soldiers take dives on purpose, then rise from the dead to surround both armies, and Sunshine wins the first battle.
Chapter 31: Working in Groups, Part 2 Harry and Draco obsess over how Hermione won the battle. Hermione reveals her secret: she actually listened to her soldiers' ideas instead of trying to be a solo genius.
Chapter 32: Interlude: Personal Financial Management Dumbledore limits Harry to just five Galleons for Christmas. Harry drags Professor Quirrell through Diagon Alley to shop for presents, where Quirrell radiates such dark energy that the Christmas decorations wilt around him.
Chapter 33: Coordination Problems, Part 1 Students start wearing Dragon, Sunshine, or Chaos armbands and hexing each other in corridors. The final underwater battle takes place in Hogwarts Lake, where Zabini executes an elaborate triple-cross.
Chapter 34: Coordination Problems, Part 2 The final battle ends in a historic three-way tie at 254-254-254. Quirrell delivers a speech about how the wizarding world nearly lost to Voldemort because they were too divided to unite. When the generals reveal their wishes, Harry requests Hogwarts play Quidditch without the Snitch, causing an actual riot.
Chapter 35: Coordination Problems, Part 3 Quirrell privately lectures Harry about his public opposition to the "Light Mark" idea. Quirrell interrogates Blaise Zabini, who confesses that Dumbledore orchestrated the battle's tie. McGonagall warns Hermione that Dumbledore asks too much of children.
Chapter 36: Status Differentials Harry returns home for Christmas break and joins his parents for Christmas Eve dinner at the Grangers' house. Harry grows furious watching Hermione's parents fail to recognize her brilliance, finally exploding at them before Hermione drags him away.
Chapter 37: Interlude: Crossing the Boundary Quirrell shows up at Harry's window on Christmas Eve, having bypassed Dumbledore's wards. As a Christmas gift, he takes Harry outside and casts the starlight spell for over an hour.
Chapter 38: The Cardinal Sin Harry buys the Quibbler at Platform 9.75 and discovers absurd headlines. Lucius Malfoy confronts Harry about why Harry maneuvered Draco into working with Hermione. Lucius delivers a threat: if Draco comes to harm, Lucius will dedicate his life to vengeance.
Chapter 39: Pretending to be Wise, Part 1 Harry visits Dumbledore's office and advises him that Professor Quirrell's request to bring a Dementor onto school grounds is likely a distraction. Dumbledore and Harry have an intense debate about death and the afterlife, with Harry declaring his intention to find immortality for everyone.
Chapter 40: Pretending to be Wise, Part 2 Harry and Quirrell share expensive Chinese tea while Quirrell criticizes Harry for telling Dumbledore about his conversation with Lucius Malfoy. Harry asks Quirrell about the afterlife, and Quirrell describes his investigations into supposed communications with the dead.
Chapter 41: Frontal Override Harry lures Draco and Hermione into chasing him across the outside walls and icy rooftops of Hogwarts using gecko-inspired climbing gloves. When Hermione slips and nearly falls off a roof, Draco instinctively grabs her arm, then drops her to win the battle, becoming known as "the heir of Slipperin."
Chapter 42: Courage Harry and Draco stage a dramatic fake fall from the Hogwarts roof as an apology to Hermione. Remus Lupin catches Harry and later shares stories about James, Lily, and the Marauders.
Chapter 43: Humanism, Part 1 First-year students practice the Patronus Charm with Remus Lupin, but Harry fails completely. When a Dementor arrives at Hogwarts, Harry tries using a memory of the stars, but the Dementor forces him to relive his parents' murder.
Chapter 44: Humanism, Part 2 After Dementor exposure leaves Harry in a terrifyingly empty state, Dumbledore plans to fake-kill McGonagall to shock Harry back. Hermione rejects that idea and instead kisses Harry, which snaps him out of his dark trance.
Chapter 45: Humanism, Part 3 Harry realizes that Dementors aren't creatures of fear but rather symbols of Death itself. He casts the Patronus Charm while channeling humanity's defiant promise to defeat death forever, producing a blindingly bright human-shaped Patronus that completely destroys the Dementor.
Chapter 46: Humanism, Part 4 Harry shares sodas with Dumbledore and Quirrell after destroying the Dementor. Quirrell offers to claim he ate the Dementor. Harry gives Hermione a sealed note with the Patronus secret, then deduces that Dumbledore deliberately leaked the prophecy to Voldemort through Snape.
Chapter 47: Personhood Theory Harry teaches Draco to cast the Patronus Charm, producing a glowing Blue Krait snake. Harry argues that hatred of Muggleborns is poisoning Slytherin House. Draco discovers Harry is a Parselmouth and declares Harry must be the true Heir of Slytherin.
Chapter 48: Utilitarian Priorities Harry spirals into worrying that wizards may have accidentally made chickens or plants sentient. In the library, Hermione tells Harry that Ron confronted her about kissing a "Dark Wizard." Harry refuses to teach Hermione the true Patronus secret because the unusual appearance would reveal something strange.
Chapter 49: Prior Information Harry waits by a carriage drawn by Thestrals and joins Professor Quirrell for a trip outside Hogwarts. Quirrell deduces that Harry is a Parselmouth, then transforms into a bright green snake, revealing himself as an unregistered Animagus.
Chapter 50: Self-Centeredness A mysterious whispering voice (Harry using Time-Turner and invisibility) corners Padma Patil and delivers a creepy lecture about spreading rumors about Hermione. When Hermione discovers what Harry did, she screams at him that Quirrell is "sucking him into darkness."
Chapter 51: The Stanford Prison Experiment, Part 1 Harry takes a sleeping potion and meets Professor Quirrell at Mary's Place. Quirrell reveals he wants Harry's help with something "extremely treasonous and illegal" involving someone in Azkaban. Harry guesses it's someone named Black, but Quirrell reveals the target is Bellatrix.
Chapter 52: The Stanford Prison Experiment, Part 2 Harry and a Polyjuiced Professor Quirrell Portkey to the stormy North Sea above Azkaban to break out Bellatrix Black. They descend through the prison's corridors until they reach the lowest level where Harry finds Bellatrix, greeting her as "my dear Bella."
Chapter 53: The Stanford Prison Experiment, Part 3 Harry, disguised under the Cloak of Invisibility, pretends to be the Dark Lord possessing his body to convince Bellatrix to escape with him. A disguised servant creates a decoy corpse, and they all turn invisible and leave.
Chapter 54: The Stanford Prison Experiment, Part 4 Harry and Quirrell continue their escape through Azkaban with Bellatrix. When an Auror named Bahry intercepts them, Quirrell engages in a terrifyingly one-sided duel. Quirrell attempts the Killing Curse on Bahry, but Harry's Patronus leaps in front to block it.
Chapter 55: The Stanford Prison Experiment, Part 5 Harry nearly loses himself to Dementation but fights through to recast his Patronus. Director Amelia Bones arrives with a full DMLE response team and locks down Azkaban. Harry swears an oath to someday end Azkaban.
Chapter 56: The Stanford Prison Experiment, Part 6: Constrained Optimization McGonagall's Patronus cat appears demanding to know where Harry is, and Harry lies that he's in Mary's Place restaurant. Harry realizes his "dark side" holds his terror of death, so he mentally embraces it to face Dementors without his Patronus. Amelia Bones authorizes the Dementors to enter Azkaban and Kiss Bellatrix on sight.
Chapter 57: The Stanford Prison Experiment, Part 7: Constrained Cognition Harry commands the Dementors to stop and threatens to destroy them. Dumbledore searches the prison and looks directly into Harry's cell but somehow fails to spot him. Harry begins a partial Transfiguration on Azkaban's wall.
Chapter 58: The Stanford Prison Experiment, Part 8 Harry cuts through Azkaban's metal wall using partial Transfiguration. Quirrell wakes up and improves Harry's Muggle escape device with Unbreakability Charms. When Azkaban's wards disable their broom's flying magic, Harry hits the ignition on the solid-fuel rocket he strapped to his Nimbus.
Chapter 59: The Stanford Prison Experiment, Part 9: Curiosity Harry fires up his rocket-assisted broomstick to escape Azkaban. Harry Portkeys them to a foreign beach where a healer examines Bellatrix. Dumbledore tells Amelia he suspects someone is using a Time-Turner and fears Harry may already have been kidnapped.
Chapter 60: The Stanford Prison Experiment, Part 10 Quirrell wakes Harry in a dark warehouse after the Azkaban breakout and delivers a bleak lecture on human nature. Harry confronts Quirrell with long-suppressed questions about why he called Harry a killer on the first day of class and what causes the sense of doom between them.
Chapter 61: The Stanford Prison Experiment, Part 11 Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape race to retrieve Harry from Diagon Alley after Bellatrix escapes. They debate whether Harry or Voldemort orchestrated the breakout. Dumbledore concludes this is Voldemort's signature cunning and announces he's reconstituting the Order of the Phoenix.
Chapter 62: The Stanford Prison Experiment, Final Harry sets up an elaborate chain of Slytherin students to deliver an encrypted note through a Time-Turner. Dumbledore announces that Voldemort has returned and that Harry can never leave Hogwarts again. Fawkes stays perched on Harry's shoulder in silent protest against Dumbledore.
Chapter 63: The Stanford Prison Experiment, Aftermaths Harry returns to Ravenclaw with Fawkes on his shoulder and sends the phoenix to Hermione. Neville announces he will hunt down and kill Bellatrix after graduation. Lesath Lestrange kneels before Harry in tearful gratitude, pledging his life as a servant.
Chapter 64: Omake Files IV, Alternate Parallels This chapter presents parody crossovers reimagining other fictional universes through a rationalist lens, including Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Twilight Sparkle, Naruto, Hamlet, Aladdin, and The Matrix.
Chapter 65: Contagious Lies Harry explains to Hermione why phoenixes endorsing someone doesn't change public opinion. Harry demands a thirty-hour sleep cycle so he can train more. Quirrell proposes an elaborate scheme to stage a fake Dark Lord return with Bellatrix playing along.
Chapter 66: Self Actualization, Part 1 Harry refuses to go along with Quirrell's plan to have someone impersonate the Dark Lord. Meanwhile, Harry trains in Transfigured metal weights with Neville and Cedric Diggory.
Chapter 67: Self Actualization, Part 2 The three armies clash in the upper reaches of Hogwarts. Harry and Neville ambush the Sunshine Regiment as the "Grey Knights of Chaos" wearing chainmail under their robes and firing real Stunning Hexes. Hermione crashes into a wall attempting to fly as "Super Hermione."
Chapter 68: Self Actualization, Part 3 Hermione wakes up furious after Harry and Neville defeated her entire 24-soldier army with just two Legionnaires. Quirrell announces he's transferring soldiers from Chaos Legion to rebalance the armies. Hermione goes to Dumbledore, who tells her she should be grateful to walk in Harry's shadow.
Chapter 69: Self Actualization, Part 4 Hermione follows a mysterious phoenix's fiery reflections through Hogwarts corridors until she stumbles upon three Slytherin bullies tormenting a Hufflepuff boy. She single-handedly takes down all three older students. Hermione and Tracey Davis found the Society for the Promotion of Heroic Equality for Witches.
Chapter 70: Self Actualization, Part 5 S.P.H.E.W. has expanded to eight members. Quirrell interrogates Hermione about whether she has true ambition. Dumbledore emerges and debates whether heroes can be taught or are simply born.
Chapter 71: Self Actualization, Part 6 S.P.H.E.W. patrols Hogwarts looking for bullies but finds none. Daphne corners Millicent and accuses her of being a seer. Professor Snape offers a seventh-year named Rianne fifty Galleons for a task involving Hermione Granger.
Chapter 72: Self Actualization, Part 7: Plausible Deniability Harry loans Hermione his invisibility cloak so she can spy on bullies. A mysterious note leads the heroines to ambush a seventh-year Slytherin, but the trap turns out to be set for them instead. At lunch, Draco Malfoy shocks everyone by helping Hermione up after she's tripped.
Chapter 73: Self Actualization, Part 8: The Sacred and the Mundane S.P.H.E.W. faces their most dangerous fight yet when three senior students ambush them with Hannah as hostage. Susan Bones stuns everyone by defeating all three bullies single-handedly, later revealed to have been Nymphadora Tonks using Polyjuice.
Chapter 74: Self Actualization, Part 9: Escalation of Conflicts Harry confronts Quirrell about his failed prediction that Slytherin wouldn't attack Hermione. Forty-four students in white robes ambush the eight heroines, but Tracey performs a terrifying fake Dark ritual that ends with all the bullies stripped naked and glued to the ceiling.
Chapter 75: Self Actualization, Part 10: Responsibility Snape orders the older Slytherins to stop their schemes. Harry and Hermione bond over how everyone thinks they're dating and hash out their conflict. Snape publicly disbands S.P.H.E.W., but Quirrell intervenes by awarding Hermione 100 points.
Chapter 76: Interlude with the Confessor: Sunk Costs Rianne Felthorne meets Snape in a hidden cavern for their final session. Snape, unusually vulnerable, reflects on his ruined life and his decades-long obsession with a woman he never confessed his feelings to. When Rianne asks for a kiss before losing her memories, Snape obliges.
Chapter 77: Self-Actualization, Part 6: Surface Appearances Harry bypasses Dumbledore's security measures and confronts him about Snape breaking their anti-bullying agreement. Dumbledore takes Harry to his secret memorial room. Quirrell meets Snape in the Forbidden Forest and blackmails him. Hermione encounters a sinister black-cloaked figure who warns her that Lucius Malfoy wants to destroy her.
Chapter 78: Taboo Tradeoffs, Prelude: Cheating Parents attend a mock battle. Harry brews a potion from acorns that releases blinding purple sunlight. Hermione defeats Draco in an intense duel, publicly humiliating the Malfoy heir. Draco writes Hermione a formal challenge to a secret midnight duel. The next morning, Aurors arrive to arrest Hermione for the attempted murder of Draco Malfoy.
Chapter 79: Taboo Tradeoffs (Part 1) Aurors arrest Hermione in the Great Hall after Draco accuses her under Veritaserum of attacking him with a Blood-Cooling Charm. Harry screams that she's been False-Memory-Charmed. Dumbledore reveals he suspects Voldemort's spirit is possessing people and commandeers the Marauder's Map to search for "Tom Riddle."
Chapter 80: Taboo Tradeoffs, Part 2: The Horns Effect The Wizengamot convenes to try Hermione Granger. Dumbledore alone speaks in Hermione's defense. Lucius Malfoy demands blood debt and rallies the Wizengamot to vote for ten years in Azkaban. As Hermione looks to Harry with desperate, pleading eyes, he plunges fully into his "dark side."
Chapter 81: Taboo Tradeoffs, Part 3 The Wizengamot votes to recognize Hermione's blood debt to House Malfoy. Harry counters by invoking a debt House Malfoy owes House Potter, then threatens to destroy Azkaban entirely before Hermione arrives there. McGonagall has Hermione swear a service oath to House Potter. Harry then marches up to the Dementor, shouts "BOO!" at it, and terrifies it.
Chapter 82: Taboo Tradeoffs, Final Dumbledore forces Harry to view a Pensieve memory where Dumbledore chose not to pay ransom for his brother Aberforth, who Voldemort then tortured to death. Dumbledore reveals he burned Narcissa Malfoy alive afterward. Harry retreats and finally admits that "human beings can't live like that" when it comes to pure utilitarian calculus.
Chapter 83: Taboo Tradeoffs, Aftermath 1 McGonagall calmly announces that Hermione is fine and resting with Madam Pomfrey. The Board of Governors will vote on whether to continue the battle games. Lucius Malfoy has withdrawn Draco from Hogwarts permanently.
Chapter 84: Taboo Tradeoffs, Aftermath 2 Hermione wakes in the infirmary. McGonagall offers to lock away her traumatic memories, but Hermione refuses. Harry explains the Asch conformity experiment and warns her that nearly everyone now believes she tried to murder Draco. Quirrell pressures her to flee to Beauxbatons.
Chapter 85: Taboo Tradeoffs, Aftermath 3: Distance Harry lies on the Ravenclaw tower roof staring at the stars. A phoenix appears and calls Harry to fly to Azkaban and destroy the Dementors, but Harry refuses because he has "other things to do" first. The phoenix vanishes in flame and does not return.
Chapter 86: Multiple Hypothesis Testing Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, and Harry discuss the prophecy. Mad-Eye Moody challenges Harry to land one hit on him. Harry uses six hours of Time-Turner loops and finally stuns the legendary Auror. Moody reveals his theory that Professor Quirrell is actually David Monroe.
Chapter 87: Hedonic Awareness Harry brings Hermione chocolate in the library and offers "positive reinforcement." When Harry admits he's been secretly teaching Draco Malfoy science since October, Hermione explodes with betrayal. The conversation spirals into catastrophe when Harry tries to address whether he's in love with her.
Chapter 88: Time Pressure, Part 1 Filch staggers into the Great Hall covered in blood, gasping that a troll ate Mrs. Norris. Harry realizes Hermione is missing and demands help searching. Susan Bones hexes Hagrid and Ron Weasley petrifies Neville to let Harry escape.
Chapter 89: Time Pressure, Part 2 Harry arrives to find Hermione lying in a pool of blood with her legs eaten by a troll. One twin summons the Sorting Hat, which produces Godric Gryffindor's sword. Harry Transfigures a boulder inside the troll's mouth and acid in its brain. Hermione whispers "Not your fault" and dies.
Chapter 90: Roles, Part 1 Harry sits vigil outside the storeroom where Hermione's body is being kept after casting a Cooling Charm to preserve her. He unleashes a brutal speech blaming McGonagall's rigid policies for making students too afraid to help. Quirrell offers to teach Harry dangerous magic but warns McGonagall that Harry must be kept out of the Restricted Section.
Chapter 91: Roles, Part 2 Snape confesses he was the one sending notes to Hermione about bully fights. Harry's Muggle parents arrive at Hogwarts, and Harry drops his "little boy" act to explain the whole insane plot. Harry reveals he has a "dark side" and that he killed the troll himself.
Chapter 92: Roles, Part 3 Lesath Lestrange intercepts Harry and apologizes for not volunteering to fight the troll. Meanwhile, Quirrell storms into McGonagall's office demanding to know Harry's mental state, warning that Harry could become dangerous enough to destroy countries.
Chapter 93: Roles, Part 4 Harry receives letters from his parents. McGonagall gives a speech in the Great Hall where she publicly apologizes to the Weasley twins and offers her resignation as Deputy Headmistress. The chapter ends with the revelation that Hermione's body has gone missing.
Chapter 94: Roles, Part 5 Flitwick wakes Harry at dawn. Dumbledore reveals that Hermione's body has gone missing and the wards claim Professor Quirrell killed her. Harry demands Neville be immediately evacuated from Hogwarts as the obvious next target.
Chapter 95: Roles, Part 6 Quirrell finds Harry walking invisibly near the Forbidden Forest. Quirrell casts his star-viewing spell one final time and warns that Harry's plan to resurrect Hermione could threaten the solar system itself. Harry declares he would be honored to be the first person who truly cared, and Quirrell offers to help.
Chapter 96: Roles, Part 7 Remus Lupin takes Harry to Godric's Hollow, where Harry sees the statue of his parents and visits their ruined house. At the graveyard, Harry discovers his family's motto: "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death," along with the Deathly Hallows symbol.
Chapter 97: Roles, Part 8 Harry attends a debtor's meeting at Gringotts with Lucius and Draco Malfoy. Draco builds a case that Dumbledore orchestrated everything. Lucius signs Harry's contract returning the Potter wealth, promising House Malfoy will do anything for Harry if he brings proof to convict Dumbledore.
Chapter 98: Roles, Final Draco sneaks into Daphne Greengrass's room and casts a full corporeal Patronus to invite her to join "the Silvery Slytherins." Harry and Draco publicly announce that House Malfoy has returned House Potter's money. New Educational Decrees include mandatory student groups and nine Aurors stationed at Hogwarts.
Chapter 99: Roles, Aftermath Ten days after Hermione's death, the first dead unicorn is discovered in the Forbidden Forest.
Chapter 100: Precautionary Measures (Part 1) Filch drags Draco and others into the Forbidden Forest for detention with Hagrid to find whatever's been killing unicorns. They encounter a dark figure feeding on a dying unicorn. It's actually Professor Quirrell drinking unicorn blood to survive.
Chapter 101: Precautionary Measures, Part 2 Harry destroys trees in the Forbidden Forest in a rage. A centaur named Firenze attacks him with a spear. Quirrell appears, hits the centaur with stunning hexes disguised as Killing Curses, and memory-charms him. Filch gets sacked after Veritaserum reveals he deliberately sent Draco into the forest hoping something bad would happen.
Chapter 102: Caring Harry visits a dying Professor Quirrell in the infirmary, bringing him a Transfigured unicorn. Quirrell explains the true nature of the Horcrux spell in Parseltongue, revealing it only transfers memories, not a continuous soul. Quirrell mentions the Philosopher's Stone.
Chapter 103: Tests Professor Quirrell has suddenly improved enough to give first-years their surprise Ministry Defense exam. The exam turns out to be hilariously easy. Quirrell gives Hermione a "Dreadful" grade for failing "the only important test" she faced that year.
Chapter 104: The Truth, Part 1: Riddles and Answers Harry attends the final Quidditch match and receives a mysterious Time-Turned note telling him to help "the watcher of stars" in the forbidden corridor. He finds Professor Snape guarding a door and Professor Quirrell collapsed nearby. Harry analyzes the suspicious timing and realizes Quirrell orchestrated everything. Harry turns around to find Quirrell standing healthy with a gun pointed at him. "Hello, Lord Voldemort." "Hello, Tom Riddle."
Chapter 105: The Truth, Part 2 Professor Quirrell reveals himself as Tom Riddle (Lord Voldemort) and holds Harry at gunpoint. Quirrell reveals the Philosopher's Stone can make Transfigurations permanent and thus enable true resurrection of Hermione. With hundreds of student hostages at stake, Harry reluctantly agrees to help.
Chapter 106: The Truth, Part 3 Harry screams at the sight of a giant three-headed dog. Quirrell kills it with Avada Kedavra, then reanimates it as an Inferius. Harry realizes the centaur from the Forbidden Forest must also be dead, killed and turned into an undead puppet.
Chapter 107: The Truth, Part 4 Harry and Professor Quirrell descend through Dumbledore's obstacle course guarding the Philosopher's Stone. Quirrell demonstrates terrifying power at every turn. Harry suggests the room might be designed to delay Voldemort long enough for a Dementor ambush.
Chapter 108: The Truth, Part 5: Answers and Riddles Professor Quirrell brews a potion while answering Harry's questions about Halloween 1981. He reveals he intended to create Harry as a copy of himself. He explains he invented an improved Horcrux with over 107 anchors hidden in volcanoes, the ocean depths, and on the Pioneer 11 probe.
Chapter 109: Reflections (1) Quirrell leads Harry into the final chamber where the Mirror of Perfect Reflection stands. Harry proposes that Quirrell Confund himself into believing he is Dumbledore who has just defeated Voldemort. The self-Confunded "Dumbledore" successfully retrieves the Philosopher's Stone, but the real Dumbledore appears within the Mirror.
Chapter 110: Reflections, Part 2 Dumbledore confronts Quirrell inside the Mirror of Erised. Dumbledore admits he allowed Snape to hear the prophecy and knowingly sacrificed James and Lily. Dumbledore attempts to trap Voldemort outside Time, but Quirrell tears the Invisibility Cloak from Harry and vanishes, causing the trap to banish Dumbledore instead.
Chapter 111: Failure, Part 1 Voldemort laughs triumphantly after Dumbledore's defeat. They walk to a graveyard where Voldemort regenerates his true body using blood and ancient Greek chants. Harry casts his Patronus directly into Hermione, sacrificing some of his own life force to restart hers. Voldemort creates a Horcrux using Hermione's body but screams in agony when something goes wrong.
Chapter 112: Failure, Part 2 Harry's attempted gun assassination fails when Voldemort blocks all three bullets with a wall of dirt. Voldemort summons the Death Eaters using a severed arm with the Dark Mark. Thirty-seven Death Eaters arrive and surround the naked, shivering Boy-Who-Lived with wands trained on him.
Chapter 113: Final Exam Voldemort gathers his thirty-seven Death Eaters in the graveyard, revealing he has resurrected Hermione and killed Dumbledore. Voldemort forces Harry to swear an Unbreakable Vow not to destroy the world. He announces an elaborate kill plan and gives Harry sixty seconds to reveal any unknown powers.
Chapter 114: Shut Up and Do The Impossible, Part 1 Harry, facing execution by Voldemort and thirty-seven Death Eaters, buys time while secretly Transfiguring spider-silk threads from his wand. He loops the nearly invisible threads around every Death Eater's neck before Transfiguring them into razor-sharp carbon nanotubes. Harry yanks the pattern tight to decapitate all thirty-seven Death Eaters, then hits Voldemort with a Stunner.
Chapter 115: Shut Up and Do The Impossible, Part 2 Harry casts an incredibly powerful Obliviate on Voldemort to erase his entire life. He Transfigures the mindwiped Dark Lord into a small emerald ring that Harry wears on his pinky finger. Harry stages the crime scene to make it look like Hermione killed Voldemort.
Chapter 116: Aftermath: Something to Protect Harry's scar starts bleeding during the Quidditch Cup final, and he screams that Voldemort has returned and is killing Death Eaters. McGonagall's Patronus confirms Dumbledore is unreachable. Harry begs McGonagall not to cancel the Quidditch match because it was "Professor Quirrell's last plot."
Chapter 117: Something to Protect: Minerva McGonagall McGonagall addresses the Great Hall with devastating news: Dumbledore is trapped outside Time, Voldemort is dead again, and thirty-seven Death Eaters were found dead. Harry watches as Draco's face crumbles upon hearing his father is among the dead. The Sorting Hat proclaims McGonagall "HEADMISTRESS!"
Chapter 118: Something to Protect: Professor Quirrell Oliver Habryka delivers Professor Quirrell's funeral eulogy. Harry privately admits he's glad Voldemort/Quirrell isn't entirely gone, the emerald on his hand glowing as he silently vows to someday teach the trapped soul how to be happy.
Chapter 119: Something to Protect: Albus Dumbledore Harry receives Dumbledore's wand and two letters explaining he has inherited the Line of Merlin Unbroken. Amelia Bones arrives expecting to be regent but learns Harry is the true heir. Harry deduces that "Sirius Black" in Azkaban is actually Peter Pettigrew. Harry reveals he has the Philosopher's Stone and announces plans to heal all wizards from death and old age.
Chapter 120: Something to Protect: Draco Malfoy Harry visits a grief-stricken Draco and confesses everything: that Voldemort was a half-blood, that Harry himself killed Lucius and the other Death Eaters. Harry offers Draco the choice to end their friendship or start fresh. McGonagall travels to Sydney and casts a memory-restoration spell on "Nancy Manson," revealing she is Narcissa Malfoy, alive and hidden.
Chapter 121: Something to Protect: Severus Snape Severus Snape arrives at McGonagall's office, resigns his position as Potions Master, and recommends the next Head of Slytherin be nothing like him. Snape clears the air with Harry about Lily and accepts Harry's offer of forgiveness. Snape steps into the Floo fire whispering an unknown destination, and that was the last anyone ever heard of him.
Chapter 122: Something to Protect: Hermione Granger Harry sits on his new secret rooftop office at Hogwarts. Hermione arrives from St. Mungo's, now sporting unicorn-based superpowers. Harry gives Hermione the Cloak of Invisibility, a personal Time-Turner, and reveals the Wizengamot has made "Granger" a Noble House. Hermione swears an oath of friendship to Harry across their crossed wands.