Chapter 254: Summary of Volume Four

Explain the overall setting

The title of Volume Four is "Harry Potter and the Moment," "HarryPotterAndTheMoment." This is a pun: "the moment" refers both to the small device invented by the Ministry of Magic (translated here as Moment Device) and to the frozen moment of spacetime itself (translated here as that instant)—the instant when the TARDIS exploded.

In fact, many well-read readers will easily recognize that the narrative logic and structure of this volume are stitched together from the original fourth book and the Doctor Who film "The Day of the Doctor." From the very first moment we noticed that Little Barty and the Tenth Doctor were played by the same actor (David Tennant), the elements to be stitched were already determined; the rest was simply a matter of adjusting according to the outline.

In this volume, the Ministry's plan (led by Scrimgeour and Old Barty) is to reopen the Triwizard Tournament, use Rita to build Harry's public image, and lure Voldemort into action (if Voldemort does not act, Harry will gain immense popularity, making it easier to politically isolate him later); then Harry, the Doctor, and Dumbledore will devise a way to deal with Voldemort.

Voldemort already knows this plan, but he has no intention of killing Harry (because he now knows Harry is a Horcrux). He has laid three threads: First, he long ago sent Rodolphus to continental Europe to rally the Death Eaters under his command (he spread the claim that Grindelwald was the first Dark Lord, and many accepted this, so Harry and Krum have been cross-server chatting, speaking of the Dark Lord while meaning entirely different people); he also tried to persuade or control Grindelwald to assist him (but Grindelwald would rather die than harm Dumbledore). Second, he used Antonin to organize a force to pressure Hogwarts, elevate Snape, and simultaneously weaken Lucius's power (to prevent a minister from overshadowing the ruler); but because Sirius intervened, Antonin failed to recruit anyone, and Sirius signaled his own men to act cautiously and avoid pointless deaths—so the Battle of Hogwarts exerted zero pressure. Third, Voldemort himself feigned an attack on Harry while actually confronting Dumbledore; his plan assumed he would acquire a powerful new wand, Dumbledore would be distracted protecting Harry, Dumbledore might be preoccupied with Hogwarts, and if fortune favored him, Grindelwald might even help—these factors combined would give him a great advantage, and even if he failed, his followers could resurrect him via a Horcrux. But after the freeze, his main soul survived, yet the Horcruxes could no longer resurrect him. According to Voldemort's plan, he would have killed Dumbledore, seized control, and kept Harry alive as mere entertainment—but now, everything has gone wrong. Voldemort's three threads have all failed.

Dumbledore and the Doctor's plan has been repeatedly explained in the text; no further elaboration is needed.

Yanayev's plan also has two threads, but before explaining his plan, his situation must be clarified. Reborn Yanayev knows the Soviet Union desperately needs major reform, but he has almost no usable power—those who support his rise to power are all vested interests; any reform would immediately cost him his position. So Yanayev's strategy is to temporarily avoid mentioning reform, prolong the Soviet Union's survival, then turn against the wizarding world: launch two purges to ensure all wizards are his loyalists, then deploy them into the military under the guise of magical warfare cooperation, gradually seizing control of the armed forces—only then can he truly begin to purge the internal enemies. All hot wars are mere cover; what matters is that he needs an excuse to intervene in the military and a group of people who can help him control it (namely, the wizards).

Yanayev's experiences and plans will henceforth only be conveyed through hidden foreshadowing and volume-end summaries, as detailed exposition in the main text risks censorship.

In this volume, Yanayev's first thread is Little Barty and his team, whose mission was completed perfectly: they eliminated Britain's two strongest wizards, destroyed the TARDIS—the Ministry's most costly invention—and buried all its cutting-edge power (the core force, the Auror Office, had already been wiped out by Voldemort's hand). Now, the British wizarding world is reduced to only two factions—the Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix—who will easily clash at any moment. Moreover, the original timeline's victor, Harry Potter, has already been indoctrinated with pro-Soviet ideology. Beyond that, destroying the timeline prevented the Death Eaters from interfering with his plans and eliminated any possibility of other time-travelers or reincarnators appearing—this explosion was an absolute windfall.

The second thread is Vaskov and Renata, designed to draw the White House's attention. Vaskov knows part of the truth, but Renata knows nothing—she truly believes she is competing to bring glory to her country. The White House notices Renata's rivalry with Harry and learns of the Ministry's plan; they suspect the Soviet Union is trying to suppress internal conflict (if Harry performs poorly or is overshadowed, Voldemort will lose his reason to act). Without knowing the full strategy, they decide to oppose the Soviets by sending someone to aid Harry—Donald Fontroy is clearly the best choice (he has trust, is cunning, and has strongly requested the assignment).

Donald brought his trusted aide, Elena, to the competition. He had no plan—just going with the flow—with the goal of courting Hermione and helping Harry; if Luo He showed any signs of interest, he would send Elena to seduce Ron fiercely. In the end, he achieved nearly all his goals.

Ge Xuan made a deal with Yanayev. He doesn't particularly like Donald, nor does he like Yanayev (the first time-traveler naturally dislikes later ones; Donald claims to be from the same era, but Ge Xuan himself is now nearing the time before his own time-travel). Moreover, Zhang Qiu (whom he has deep feelings for—he raised her himself) caused chaos through time-travel last year, leaving him anxious. He agreed to destroy the River of Time and provided some theoretical support, primarily to prevent Zhang Qiu from continuing to use time-travel to cause trouble, secondarily to let her use the Zhengyi Jiangsheng Weimeng Lu to collect and store vast amounts of temporal energy—Ge Xuan believes he may need this energy someday.

Explaining Ge Xuan's true background and experiences here might take too long; a spin-off volume will cover it later.

In my opinion, the first four volumes together form the highest-quality portion of this novel. Readers dissatisfied with the subsequent plot may unilaterally declare the story concluded here. Moreover, Rowling's original foreshadowing is exceptionally clever; when rereading the source material, I often feel a deep familiarity and am struck by brilliant moments. In writing this novel, I have done my best to emulate this technique. I recommend readers reread Volumes 1–4 while waiting for updates—it may offer a completely different reading experience.

Another reason I lack confidence in the subsequent plot is that Voldemort has already departed. Although making Voldemort the final boss in fanfiction is a lazy shortcut, he is undeniably a deeply ingrained antagonist. Yanayev (or Ge Xuan) and Harry are merely on opposing sides; they must constantly compromise, and it may be difficult to capture the satisfying thrill of pure good-versus-evil conflict.

After learning Yanayev's plan, Harry faces three problems: First, the Death Eaters must be fought, but not for too long or too fiercely; second, Britain lacks powerful wizards capable of deterring foreign powers; third, now that the ceiling has been lifted, foreign wizards are advancing, while Britain still must fight.

Volume Five will be lighter and more everyday, depicting Harry happily finishing school while resolving the Death Eaters (in stark contrast to the oppressive tone of the original).

Volume Six will be handed over to readers for creative input, detailing how Harry (or Snape) becomes a powerful enough wizard to replace Dumbledore as Britain's deterrent.

Volume Seven will shift to a broader perspective, depicting how Harry seeks to raise the wizarding world's ceiling (since the Death Eaters who imposed the limit are gone), and how he negotiates with Yanayev (or Ge Xuan) within the wizarding world (avoiding the Muggle world to prevent censorship).

Volume Eight will follow the format of the Fantastic Beasts films, changing the protagonist to tell how, years later, a wizard succeeds in fulfilling Harry's goals under his long-term planning.

If you are dissatisfied with this outline and wish to offer suggestions or add content, you may post comments here or join the reader group.