Lupin accompanied Percy back to Gryffindor Tower. A Ministry official followed them to the portrait and stayed outside. Percy waited for Lupin to leave before trying to pull his sleeve over the band.
Ron saw it anyway. He swore, then helped Percy loosen the cuff. Hermione asked if the metal hurt. Harry went to check whether the official was still outside.
"She can't just suppress you," Ron said.
"She already has," Percy replied.
Percy tried to move water in an emptying glass. Nothing happened. Hermione crouched beside him and followed the lines around the band.
"Some of these marks point away from you," she said. "I think it sends something out."
Percy looked at her sharply. "Siphoning?"
"That is what the pattern suggests. It may redirect the connection instead of only blocking it. Flitwick needs to see it."
Harry's head snapped up. "Into what?"
Hermione swallowed. "I don't know."
They took a drawing of the band to Lupin. He promised to pass it to Flitwick and ask Dumbledore to challenge the restraint order.
That night, water moved below the lake's flat surface.
The Ministry seals lit one after another along the corridors. At each light, the water stopped in the pipes, then struck forward again.
Below the pillars, something pressed against the gate. The dome bent upward before the current pulled it flat.
The next day, Umbridge escalated. Educational Decree Thirty-Two appeared before breakfast.
All extracurricular organizations are hereby suspended pending Ministry review.
The Gryffindor table erupted. "Quidditch?" Ron choked.
"Study groups?" Hermione demanded.
"Unauthorized gatherings," Harry muttered darkly.
Umbridge entered the Hall moments later, flanked by officials. Her smile was radiant. "Such passionate young minds," she trilled. "So easily excitable." Her gaze drifted to Percy.
The band vibrated as Umbridge passed. Percy put his hand under the table. He watched her leave before showing Hermione where the metal had grown cold.
That afternoon, frost appeared on the Charms windows.
A feather fell during a levitation exercise. A desk rose too fast and struck the ceiling. Flitwick ended the lesson and moved everyone into the corridor.
He asked them to leave their wands inside their bags.
Sprout sent students out of a greenhouse when water rose through the soil. A staircase stopped short of its landing. In the library, books fell from one whole section at once.
Hermione found Percy outside Charms. "It is happening in more places."
"What?" Ron asked.
"Flitwick's drawing showed the same blocked current in two corridors," she said. "Now those seals are lighting up together."
Harry looked at Percy. "Meaning?"
"There may be nowhere left for the pressure to go."
At sunset, Percy sat by the common-room fire. The band made a high, thin sound. He pulled his hand away from the arm of the chair as the fire dimmed.
A vibration moved through the floor. Ron called the prefect on duty.
Harry stood instantly. "You feel that?"
Percy nodded slowly. "For the first time since yesterday."
Percy felt a current again, then lost it. The band tightened against his skin with each pulse.
Hermione held the drawing beside his wrist. "The outward marks are lighting up."
The castle shook. A low crack echoed through the foundations. Students screamed. Percy doubled over, the band flaring silver. And for one violent second, he felt the absence.
Percy felt pressure beyond the water, close enough that he pulled his hand against his chest. Pink lines appeared across the ceiling.
A tearing sound came from downstairs. Percy felt the lake return in broken bursts. Cold spread through the room. Someone at the doorway called out that the corridor torches had turned blue.
"All students remain where you are!" Umbridge's voice sounded through the castle.
"There is another opening," Percy said. "Closer than the lake."
Harry shut the portrait entrance. Dust fell from the ceiling as a crack sounded below them. The band flashed, then went silent.
Percy waited for the next pulse. It did not come. He could still feel something moving through the lower routes.
Far below, the opening reached past the gate. Something moved into the dungeon corridor.
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Whoops forgot to publish yesterday lol