The Magician’s Nephew – Chapter Summaries

Here is a chapter by chapter summary of The Magician’s Nephew. It doesn’t cover every part of the book, but does cover the highlights.

1. The Wrong Door
   Polly and Digory meet each other at the bottom of the garden. It is the wettest and coldest summer in years. Polly and Digory decide to go exploring in the roof space in their row of houses. When they open the door, they realize that they haven’t gone far enough along, and come out in Uncle Andrew’s study.
2. Digory and his Uncle
   Digory’s uncle explains what happened to Polly; how it was done, and a few other little bits of information. Digory decides he must go after Polly and help her return to London.
3. The Wood Between Worlds
   Digory finds himself in the Wood Between Worlds not knowing who he is or what he is doing there. Then he meets up with Polly, and they both remember. After Digory tells Polly what he knows about what happened, the decide to try and explore other worlds.
4. The Bell and the Hammer
   Polly and Digory f’ind themselves in a world that seems to be very old. After exploring for a while, they come across and enchanted room full of what seem to be wax people. Against Polly’s wishes, Digory strikes the bell in the middle of the room, but it doesn’t seem to do anything.
5. The Deplorable Word
   Queen Jadis tells Digory and Polly how her world came to be like it is. She then asks them questions about how they came to be there and what their world is like. Queen Jadis demands to be taken back to their world with them, but the kids decided this wasn’t a good idea and tried to escape.
6. The Beginning of Uncle Andrew’s Troubles
   The kids find themselves back in Uncle Andrew’s attic with the witch who leaves after Uncle Andrew. Polly goes home but agrees to come back to help with the witch as soon as she can. Meanwhile, Uncle Andrew is stuck being the witch’s slave as she attempts to take over the world.
7. What Happened at the Front Door
   Uncle Andrew returns from London with the witch. Digory comes up with a plan to return the Witch to the Wood Between Worlds. Meanwhile, Polly is stuck in her room for two hours because her parents where not happy with her answers about where she has been. When the witch reappears outside the house, she is being followed by several police men and a crowd of on lookers.
8. The Fight at the Lamp Post
   With the police unable to stop the witch, it is up to Polly and Digory to return the witch the the wood. They successfully transport the witch to the wood, but discover they have some unexpected visitors. After getting into another pool, they find themselves nowhere.
9. The Founding of Narnia
   With the Witch and Uncle Andrew trying to steal their rings, Digory and Polly had to be on their guard. But at the same time, they are trying to enjoy the sound of the music all around them. After a few startling discoveries about where they were, Digory decides he must to talk to the stranger.
10. The First Joke and Other Matters
    While Digory, Polly, and the Cabbie talk to Strawberry about seeing Aslan, Uncle Andrew gets chased in the other direction by some of the animals. Strawberry agrees to take Digory to see Aslan, and Polly, and the Cabbie follow along behind him.
11. Digory and his Uncle are Both in Trouble
    While the animals are trying to figure out what Uncle Andrew is, Digory had makes it to Aslan. Digory admits to being the reason the witch was there, and Aslan decides that the Cabbie and his Wife would make a great first King and Queen of Narnia.
12. Strawberry’s Adventure
    Digory agrees to go to the lands beyond the edge of Narnia and bring something back for Aslan, and Polly decides that she would go with him. After agreeing to help the children in their quest, Strawberry undergoes a major transformation, and is renamed Fledge.
13. An Unexpected Meeting
    When they make it to the garden, Aslan tells them about Polly. Fledge waits outside because they feel that Digory is the only one allowed to go in. Once Digory has gotten what he has come for, he sees the witch and runs for the edge of the garden. The witch tries to convince Digory to take it for himself, and she almost succeeds, until she says to leave Polly behind.
14. The Planting of the Tree
    Aslan finally has a chance to deal with Uncle Andrew, but all he can do for him is to put him to sleep until all the other matters are dealt with. It is time for the Coronation of the new King and Queen of Narnia. After that, Aslan grants the one thing Digory has wanted ever since they had come into Narnia.
15. The End of This Story and the Beginning of All Others
    When Uncle Andrew, Polly, and Digory arrive back in London, they discover that their adventures in Narnia have taken no time at all. Polly fetches the rings from Uncle Andrew’s attic room, so they can be disposed of as Aslan has told them, and Digory goes to see his mother with the present Aslan presented him with before they left Narnia. And here ends this story, but begins all others.