Before Lupin could take Percy to the hospital wing, Umbridge ordered the Ministry officials to stop him. Harry stood beside him. Dumbledore held the broken band in the cloth Harry had used to pick it up. Water ran between the floor stones.
Percy waited for the dizziness to pass. The band was gone, but he could feel too much water at once. He kept his eyes on Harry's shoes until the room stopped tilting.
He could feel every pipe in the castle, every glass of water, and every damp stone below the dungeons. Far below all of them, he could feel the Black Lake pressing against the foundations of Hogwarts.
Something moved beyond the lake current. Percy could not find Aequor's steady pull around it. Dumbledore examined a brass plate, then turned to Umbridge.
Umbridge adjusted her robes.
"Headmaster, I believe you heard my instruction."
"I did."
"Then there should be no confusion. Mr. Jackson will report to the Ministry for evaluation."
Dumbledore looked at her.
"No."
The answer came so calmly that several students looked at him in surprise. Umbridge blinked as if she had expected resistance, but not something so simple.
"Excuse me?"
"You may request an evaluation," Dumbledore said. "You may also send that request to the Board of Governors. What you may not do is remove one of my students from Hogwarts without the required authority."
"I represent the Minister for Magic."
"Then give me the name of the person who approved those devices for a room full of students."
Harry looked toward the nearest official. The man kept his eyes on the floor.
Umbridge's expression tightened.
"The devices were approved."
"By whom?"
"The Ministry."
"That was not my question."
Ron leaned toward Hermione. "He has asked that twice now."
"She still has not answered."
"Quiet," Hermione whispered.
Umbridge pointed toward Percy.
"That boy caused another magical incident."
Percy's temper rose.
"I was sitting down."
"You were the source of the resonance."
"You connected the things to my wrist."
"I was monitoring you."
"You nearly opened a hole in reality."
"Mr. Jackson!"
"I was sitting where you told me to sit."
Harry moved closer to Percy. He put a hand on his elbow as Percy swayed.
Dumbledore glanced at them.
Umbridge noticed and lowered her voice.
She spoke slowly enough for the officials to hear.
"You will report to my office tonight at seven," she said.
Percy folded his arms.
"For what?"
"Your disciplinary review."
"What rule did I break?"
Dumbledore waited for her answer.
Percy continued.
"I entered the class. I sat down. Then the band started pulling. The plates broke when that gap closed."
"They reacted to you."
"Then give the band to someone who will check it."
Professor McGonagall appeared in the doorway.
"An excellent suggestion."
McGonagall looked over the damaged room. She checked the students waiting at the door before she spoke to Umbridge.
"I assume these are the Ministry certified devices that were supposed to improve student safety."
Umbridge raised her chin.
"There was an unexpected interaction."
"There was an explosion."
"A minor one."
"Four students have cuts from broken furniture."
Nobody spoke after that. McGonagall looked directly at Umbridge, and Percy could almost feel the argument waiting between them.
"You will not install another one of these devices in my school."
Umbridge's voice became quieter.
"Your school?"
"The school where I am responsible for their safety," McGonagall said.
Dumbledore finally stepped between them.
"No more lessons today," Dumbledore said. "Professor McGonagall, help Professor Lupin get these students to Madam Pomfrey. Anyone who is cleared can return to their common room."
Umbridge reached for her clipboard, remembered it was broken, and left it on the floor.
"Professor Umbridge, I believe we should speak privately."
For once, she did not smile.
-------------------------------------------LINE BREAK---------------------------------------------
Percy did not return to Gryffindor Tower. Dumbledore had him brought to the hospital wing instead, where Madam Pomfrey spent fifteen minutes examining his wrist and another ten complaining about the Ministry.
Percy liked having someone who was willing to complain while she helped him.
"There is no permanent damage," she said.
"That's good."
"No thanks to whoever designed that ridiculous object."
"Also good."
She gave him a sharp look.
"Do you intend to treat everything as a joke?"
"Usually."
"I noticed."
Madam Pomfrey left to get another potion. Harry, Ron and Hermione stayed around Percy's bed, with Hermione already spreading several pieces of parchment across the blanket.
Percy stared at them.
"How did you get those?"
"I went back to the classroom."
"Hermione."
"What?"
"There was an explosion."
"I asked McGonagall to get our notes back. Those pages were beneath them. She let me copy the list before she gave the originals to Dumbledore."
Ron looked impressed.
"That's actually quite clever."
Hermione spread out the copy. Percy read four lines and stopped trying to joke.
Coral fragment.
Resonant conduit.
Bloodline catalyst.
Full siphon threshold.
Percy's expression changed.
"I've seen the coral."
Harry looked at him.
"Where?"
"I saw it in her office during detention. On a shelf beside the papers. I thought it was decoration."
Hermione nodded and pointed toward the second line. The words made more sense now than they had before the lesson.
"The coral may be connected to the lake. The band might be the conduit. We need to ask Flitwick which marks match."
"Was," Ron said.
"Yes. That probably helps us."
Percy did not feel relieved. Destroying the band had stopped Umbridge from using it again, but it did not remove everything she had already taken from him.
"She still has the energy she took from me."
Hermione became quiet.
Harry looked between them.
"The vial?"
Percy had seen the outward marks glow as the band pulled at him. Umbridge's list suggested that she had collected what it drew away. He could not tell how much.
Ron pointed toward the third line.
"Then what's a bloodline catalyst?"
Nobody answered immediately. Hermione pulled another page closer and looked at it for several seconds before speaking.
"I've been thinking about that."
Ron groaned.
"Those words never lead anywhere pleasant. Especially not from you. No offense."
"The seal below the lake was not made by one form of magic," Hermione said. "The old text described several forces working together. Sea magic was one of them."
"Percy," Harry said.
"Yes."
Hermione continued.
"Then there was magic connected to the old wizarding families. I originally thought it meant Hogwarts itself. Now I'm not sure."
Percy looked at Harry. Harry noticed immediately and frowned.
"Why are you looking at me?"
Percy remembered the voice above the lake.
Lightning child.
You carry fracture within you.
He sat straighter.
"Hermione."
She had reached the same conclusion.
"I don't know," she said quickly. "It is only a theory."
Ron looked between Harry and Hermione.
"What theory?"
Hermione hesitated.
"The entity reacts differently to Harry."
Harry frowned.
"Because of my scar?"
"Possibly."
"Voldemort."
Ron looked at the door. Nobody else was close enough to hear.
Hermione lowered her voice.
"Your scar reacts when Voldemort is near," Hermione said. "And you told us about the dreams. We know there is some connection. We do not know exactly what it carries."
Ron shifted uncomfortably.
"Where are you going with this?"
"The old account Dumbledore showed us names Voldemort as Slytherin's descendant."
Percy looked down at the list. He wanted to say more about the connection and could not find a safe way to begin.
"You think the scar could make their device react as if Harry had that family magic?"
Hermione nodded.
"Possibly. It would be reading a connection, not his family."
Harry stared at the parchment.
"And if Umbridge's device only needs a magical signature..."
"Then you might qualify," Hermione finished.
Ron stood up.
"No."
They looked at him.
"No," he repeated. "Absolutely not. We are not letting the pink nightmare take Harry's blood for some ancient underwater door."
Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Thanks, Ron."
"You're welcome."
Percy looked at Hermione.
"Does Umbridge know?"
"I don't think she knows why Harry might work."
"But she might know that he does."
Hermione nodded once. Harry folded the copy, keeping his own name inside it.
Madam Pomfrey returned carrying a bottle.
"Drink."
Percy looked at it.
It was purple.
"What is it?"
"Medicine."
"That doesn't answer anything."
"It answers everything necessary."
Percy drank it. It tasted like somebody had boiled a shoe and then decided the shoe needed seasoning.
His face twisted.
Ron smiled.
"Good?"
Percy handed the bottle back.
"I've had poison that tasted better."
Madam Pomfrey froze.
Hermione covered her face.
"We are discussing that later."
Percy watched her leave.
"Probably shouldn't have said that."
"Probably not," Harry said.
A knock came from the window. All four of them turned as an owl struck its beak against the glass a second time.
Harry opened the window. The bird flew inside, dropped a thick envelope onto Percy's bed, and immediately left again.
The envelope carried a red Ministry seal.
Ron frowned.
"That was fast."
Hermione picked it up carefully.
"Don't open it yet."
"Why?"
"There may be a tracking charm."
Percy stared at her.
"It's a letter."
"It's the Ministry."
"Fair point."
Madam Pomfrey called Flitwick to check the envelope. He found no active spell on it and stayed while Percy opened it.
Mr. Percy Jackson,
By authority of the Office of the Minister for Magic, you are ordered to attend a formal magical safety assessment at the Ministry of Magic on Monday, 17 February, at nine o'clock in the morning.
The assessment concerns recent uncontrolled magical events at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Failure to attend may result in compulsory Ministry action.
Percy handed the letter to Harry. The Ministry wanted him there in three days. He looked at Flitwick, who asked to take the letter straight to Dumbledore.
Ron looked at him.
"Compulsory action sounds friendly."
Harry read the letter.
"They're trying to scare you."
"They're doing a decent job."
Hermione examined the seal again.
"Monday is three days away."
Percy looked toward the window. He was about to answer when the lake shifted far below them.
Something cold moved through the water.
Percy's body became still.
Harry noticed immediately.
"What?"
Percy raised one hand.
"Quiet."
Ron opened his mouth, but Hermione pulled him back before he could speak. Percy closed his eyes and let his awareness spread outward.
He moved through the water pitcher beside his bed, then through the pipes behind the walls. From there, he followed the water down through the castle and into the streams beneath Hogwarts.
He felt the stronger current beneath the lake and several smaller disturbances. He recognized Aequor's pull around the pillars. Beyond it, one small point returned nothing when he tried to follow the water.
Then he felt something else.
A small empty point was moving through the castle.
Percy's eyes opened.
"It's inside the castle."
Nobody moved.
Harry spoke first.
"What is?"
"The thing from the threshold."
Hermione went pale.
"How?"
"I don't know."
"Where?"
Percy closed his eyes again. The point moved from one stretch of pipe to another without crossing the water between them.
At each pause, a Ministry seal flashed in his memory.
He opened his eyes and pointed toward the corridor.
"It's using Umbridge's network."
Harry grabbed his wand.
"Where is it going?"
Percy followed the sensation upward. It moved through one section of the castle, crossed another line of Ministry wards, and then stopped.
He opened his eyes.
"Her office."
Madam Pomfrey sent for Dumbledore. He brought Flitwick and asked Percy to show him where the current stopped. Harry, Hermione, and Ron followed under Flitwick's instruction to stay behind him.
Professor Flitwick joined them instead. The small professor moved quickly through the corridors with his wand already drawn, while Dumbledore walked beside Percy.
"Do not attempt to interact with it."
Percy looked at him.
"I wasn't planning to."
Dumbledore gave him a knowing look.
Percy sighed.
"I was only slightly planning to."
"Mr. Jackson."
"I won't touch it! I swear!"
They reached Umbridge's office and found the door locked. Flitwick examined it, then gave a quiet sound of annoyance.
"Three locking charms."
Harry frowned.
"Why does she need three?"
"Maybe she expects us to come looking," Percy said.
Flitwick removed the charms. The door opened, but nobody was inside.
The office looked normal at first. Pink walls surrounded them, moving kittens stared from decorative plates, and stacks of Ministry documents covered the shelves.
A sweet smell filled the room.
Percy hated it immediately.
Then he felt the cold again.
"There."
He pointed toward Umbridge's desk. A thin line of darkness ran across its surface.
Hermione stepped closer.
"It looks like a crack."
"No," Percy said. "It's the opposite."
The line did not damage the wood. The wood simply stopped existing wherever the line passed, like a fold in reality[1].
Flitwick raised his wand.
"Nobody approach."
The crack moved. Harry stepped back as it crossed one of the Ministry documents and removed several letters from the page.
The ink was not burned or erased.
It was gone.
Dumbledore's expression became serious.
"It is holding its shape here, away from the opening at the lake."
Hermione looked around the room.
"Because of the dampeners?"
"Likely."
Percy shifted to see past Flitwick. The line changed direction. He stopped moving.
He stopped.
A pressure entered his mind. There were no words and no voice, but the feeling was clear.
Recognition.
Then it moved away from Percy.
Toward Harry.
Harry froze.
The crack widened.
Percy felt the lake surge.
"Harry, move!"
Harry jumped aside. The dark line crossed the place where his hand had been a moment earlier.
Dumbledore raised his wand, and a sphere of golden light formed around the crack. Flitwick added another layer of magic around it.
The crack twisted inside the barrier. It did not attack the spell.
It moved along the inside of the light. Each turn matched a turn in Flitwick's wand.
Hermione saw it too.
"It is following your wand," Hermione said.
Dumbledore's expression changed.
"Professor Flitwick."
"I see it."
Both professors changed their magic. The sphere collapsed inward and forced the crack into a smaller space.
For a moment, it remained.
Then it vanished.
Every plate on Umbridge's wall shattered at once.
Ron stared at the broken kittens.
"Tragic."
Nobody laughed. Percy was looking at Harry instead.
"It went for you."
Harry nodded slowly.
"I noticed."
Flitwick kept a shield over the desk. When he had checked the papers, Hermione pointed out a list beneath the inspection reports.
"Professor."
Dumbledore looked over.
Dumbledore lifted it for them to read. A Ministry seal stood above several names.
Percy.
Harry.
Hermione.
Several teachers.
Each name had notes beside it.
Percy's entry read:
JACKSON, P.
Primary resonance source.
Sea alignment confirmed.
Hermione's read:
GRANGER, H.
Secondary linguistic resonance.
Mental compatibility uncertain.
Harry read his own name below Hermione's. He held the edge of the paper while Dumbledore kept the rest flat.
POTTER, H.
Bloodline resonance detected.
Ancient magical signature confirmed.
Catalyst compatibility: 87%.
Nobody spoke.
Ron moved closer.
"What does that mean?"
Hermione's voice was quiet.
"It means she tested him too," Hermione said. "We do not know how she got that number."
Harry continued reading. Another line had been added below his name.
COLLECTION AUTHORIZED.
Percy felt something cold settle in his stomach.
"Collection?"
Flitwick's expression hardened.
Dumbledore took the paper. For several seconds, there was no trace of his usual warmth.
"When was this written?"
Hermione pointed to a date beside the seal.
"Yesterday."
Percy looked around the office.
"Where is Umbridge?"
Footsteps sounded outside. Professor McGonagall entered, and the tension in her face answered the question before she spoke.
"Headmaster."
Dumbledore turned.
"What has happened?"
"Professor Umbridge has left the castle."
Harry looked toward the open door.
"Where did she go?"
McGonagall held up another letter.
"She departed by Floo Network eleven minutes ago."
Percy looked at the fireplace.
"The Ministry."
McGonagall nodded.
Hermione looked back at the document Dumbledore held.
"Is she asking for approval?"
"No," Percy said.
Everyone looked at him. Percy could feel the Black Lake again, and the pressure below it was stronger than before.
Umbridge had spent days forcing the seal, testing it, measuring it, and collecting parts of Percy's power. Now the thing beyond the threshold had learned how to move through the wards she had built.
It had also learned something else.
It wanted Harry.
Percy looked at the final words on the page.
Full siphon threshold.
In progress.
"The list says collection is already authorized," Percy said.
"We need to find out what she went to collect."
----------------------------------------------LINE BREAK------------------------------------------------
Below the lake, Aequor held its position between the pillars. Pressure crossed the damaged seal.
A smaller disturbance passed through one of the damaged lines. Aequor turned toward it, but it had already reached the route above.
It followed the Ministry network into the castle. At each junction it paused, then moved along a path it had touched before.
It learned names.
It learned magic.
It learned fear.
Then it found the strongest fracture of all.
A boy with another soul's magic attached to his own.
Far above, Harry Potter touched his scar. It did not hurt, and that frightened him more than pain would have.
Something on the other side had finally noticed him.
This time, it knew how to get closer.
_____________________________________________________________________________
The End?
Or not? (Definitely not)
As a side note, I'M BACK BABYYYY!!!
So I may have had a FEW personal issues to solve. As a side note, I completed my internship! yayyy! And all my issues are solved for the next 6-7 weeks, after which I will have exams (Again). Oh, how I hate exams. How are yall's days going?
Oh yeah, a reminder that you can read up to... 5 or more (depending on how busy I am) chapters ahead on my P A E T RRRRR E A A Eon
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[1] (Insert [AMAZING WORLD OF GUMBALL] reference here)