By breakfast the next morning, almost everyone in Hogwarts knew that something had happened in Umbridge's office. Nobody seemed to know what had actually happened, which allowed the story to improve each time it crossed another table.
According to one version, Percy had flooded the entire office and thrown Umbridge through a window. Another claimed that one of her kitten plates had become possessed and attacked her, while a group of third years seemed certain that Professor McGonagall had destroyed half the room during an argument.
Percy preferred that version.
The Ministry letter was inside his robes again. Flitwick had returned it after making a copy for Dumbledore. Percy knew the date without opening it.
Harry moved a piece of egg around his plate. Percy watched for a while, then pushed the toast nearer to him.
"You should eat."
"I'm not hungry."
"That's never stopped Ron."
Ron looked up with half a piece of toast in his mouth.
"Why am I involved?"
"It was the safest example."
Hermione put down her spoon. She had stayed up comparing the copied list with the band drawing, and there was ink on her thumb.
"Can we focus?"
"We have been focusing since yesterday."
"Poorly."
"Still counts."
Hermione ignored him and pulled a folded parchment from her bag. She kept it below the table so that the other students could not see the four copied phrases.
"The Ministry letter is important, but I don't think it is the main problem anymore."
Harry left his fork on the plate.
"The collection order."
"Yes."
Percy glanced toward the staff table before lowering his voice. Umbridge's chair was empty, but Professor McGonagall had looked toward it several times since breakfast began.
"If Umbridge needs Harry, why did she leave?"
"Dumbledore has challenged her order," Hermione said. "She might need someone else to sign it."
Ron frowned.
"Since when has that stopped her?"
"It hasn't," Hermione said. "But Dumbledore knows what she has been doing now. So do McGonagall and Flitwick, and if she tries anything inside Hogwarts, she cannot pretend that nobody saw it."
Percy looked toward the empty chair. The list had authorized collection, but Dumbledore had refused to let her take a student. He did not know which order her department would obey.
"Permission to take him from the school, then?"
"Possibly. That would be different from permission to collect a sample."
Harry looked down at his plate again.
"A warrant?"
Ron looked at Hermione.
"Do magical warrants exist?"
Hermione stared at him.
"I do not know what kind," Hermione said. "We should ask McGonagall before guessing."
"That government employs Umbridge. I don't think normal rules apply."
Before Hermione could answer, the doors to the Great Hall opened. Conversation across the room slowly faded as Professor McGonagall entered with Dumbledore and Professor Flitwick behind her.
Three people in dark Ministry robes followed them. The woman in front had short grey hair and a gold badge fixed to her chest, while the two people behind her wore the heavier robes Percy had learned to associate with Aurors.
One of them was Kingsley Shacklebolt.
Kingsley glanced at Harry. Harry straightened and lowered his hand from his scar.
The Ministry group stopped near the staff table. McGonagall already looked as if she had spent part of the morning arguing with them and would gladly continue until lunch.
The woman with the badge looked across the Gryffindor table.
"Percy Jackson."
Percy stayed where he was. Almost every student in the Great Hall turned toward him at the same time, which was a very good reminder that privacy did not exist in boarding schools.
He looked around at them.
"Bit public."
The woman did not react.
"Please come forward."
Percy stood, and Harry immediately stood with him. Hermione closed her eyes for a moment as if she had expected exactly this problem.
"I need to hear this too," Harry said.
The woman looked at him.
"You were not requested."
"I don't care."
Ron stood next, followed by Hermione. The Ministry woman looked at all four of them and released a slow breath.
"We will discuss attendance in private," Dorridge said. "Please come away from the tables."
Percy began walking toward her.
"That's funny."
She looked at him.
"What is?"
"You came into a school."
Quiet laughter moved across several tables. McGonagall's mouth tightened, although Percy could not tell whether she was irritated with him or trying not to smile.
Percy stopped in front of the Ministry group. Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood beside him until McGonagall motioned them toward the side door.
The woman removed a folded document from her robes.
"My name is Amelia Dorridge. I am a senior investigator with the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes."
Percy looked past her toward Kingsley.
"He seems a little overqualified for an accident."
Kingsley remained expressionless. Percy was beginning to suspect that Aurors trained specifically for situations involving annoying teenagers.
Amelia continued.
"Mr. Jackson, the Ministry has received evidence of repeated dangerous magical events connected to you."
"From Umbridge."
"Professor Umbridge submitted some of the reports."
"All of them?"
Amelia paused.
"Most."
Percy nodded.
"Good start."
Dumbledore stepped forward before the conversation became any less useful. His expression was calm, but Percy had already learned that this did not mean he was relaxed.
"Perhaps we should continue this discussion somewhere more private."
Dorridge looked at the students still listening. She folded the document before answering.
"Agreed."
---------------------------------========[LINE BREAK]=======-------------------------------------
They moved to an unused classroom near the Great Hall. Dumbledore, McGonagall and Flitwick entered with Percy, while Harry tried to follow directly behind them.
Amelia raised one hand.
"Mr. Potter is not part of this assessment."
Percy looked back at Harry, then at Amelia.
"He is now."
"No."
"You have a Ministry document that calls him a bloodline catalyst."
The room became silent. Amelia's expression changed only slightly, but Kingsley looked toward her immediately.
Percy continued before she could recover.
"So either you know what I'm talking about, or Umbridge is doing things your department doesn't know about."
Kingsley looked at Amelia again. This time, she noticed.
"Where did you hear that term?"
"Her office."
"You entered Professor Umbridge's private office?"
Percy pointed toward Dumbledore.
"Technically, he did."
Dumbledore adjusted his glasses.
"The office contained an unstable magical anomaly."
Amelia stared at him.
"A what?"
Flitwick stepped closer.
"An opening that removed pieces of the desk," Flitwick said. "It followed the movement of our containment spell."
For the first time since entering Hogwarts, Amelia looked genuinely alarmed. Her eyes moved between Flitwick and Dumbledore before settling on Percy.
"You found one inside the castle?"
"Found is generous," Percy said. "It came to us."
Kingsley finally spoke.
"Where is Umbridge?"
Nobody answered immediately. Amelia looked at him with a small frown.
"She returned to the Ministry last night."
"I know."
Kingsley's voice remained calm.
"Where is she now?"
Amelia folded her arms.
"Her office, I assume."
Kingsley waited. Dorridge reached for another paper instead of answering.
"You don't know."
Amelia turned toward him.
"Mr. Jackson, this is not relevant."
"It seems pretty relevant."
McGonagall stepped forward before Percy could continue. Her voice remained controlled, but there was very little patience left in it.
"Professor Umbridge conducted unauthorized experiments involving students, ancient magic and an unknown entity beneath Hogwarts. I would consider her present location extremely relevant."
Amelia looked toward Dumbledore.
"Is that accurate?"
"Yes."
Dorridge looked down at Umbridge's report. She turned two pages and asked Flitwick where he had recorded the classroom damage.
Harry spoke from the doorway.
"So you didn't know."
Everyone turned. Harry had entered anyway, with Ron and Hermione directly behind him.
Amelia looked irritated.
"Mr. Potter."
"You didn't know what she was doing."
Amelia did not answer. Harry took the copied parchment from his pocket and placed it on one of the desks.
Amelia read the four lines.
Coral fragment.
Resonant conduit.
Bloodline catalyst.
Full siphon threshold.
Her eyes remained on the final phrase for several seconds. When she looked up again, her attention went directly to Harry.
"Where is the original?"
"Dumbledore has it."
"And the catalyst?"
Harry pointed at himself.
"Apparently me."
Kingsley's face remained calm, but his eyes hardened. Amelia looked toward Dumbledore again.
"I need to see every document you recovered."
"You will."
She nodded once.
"Then the Ministry assessment is suspended."
Percy blinked.
"That was easy."
Amelia gave him a tired look.
"Your situation has changed."
"It changed yesterday."
"The Ministry did not know that."
Percy touched the sore place on his wrist. He had told Umbridge about the moving water before she put the band on him.
"Because your Ministry employee didn't tell you."
"Professor Umbridge does not work for my department."
"But she uses your Ministry whenever she wants something."
Dorridge held her gaze for a moment, then asked Kingsley to bring the original request from outside.
Amelia folded the copied document and placed it inside her robes. Her movements were faster now, and most of the official calm had disappeared.
"We need to return to the Ministry."
Kingsley did not move.
"No."
She looked at him.
"Excuse me?"
"We should verify Umbridge's location first."
"Shacklebolt."
"She requested two Aurors for this visit. She also requested that we carry a Class Seven restraint package."
Percy's head turned toward him.
"A what?"
Kingsley looked at him.
"Magical restraints designed for unstable adult wizards."
McGonagall's expression changed immediately.
"You brought those into Hogwarts?"
"They are still outside the grounds."
Amelia stared at Kingsley.
"Why was I not told?"
"It came as a separate instruction from Umbridge's office. I kept the package outside until we could check it with you."
"I did not."
A cold feeling settled in Percy's stomach. He already knew whose name would be on the request.
"Umbridge."
Kingsley nodded.
"Her signature was on the order."
Amelia turned toward the door.
"We are returning to London now."
Dumbledore raised one hand.
"I believe that would be unwise."
Amelia stopped.
"Why?"
Dumbledore looked toward Percy. Percy understood what he wanted and closed his eyes.
Water filled Hogwarts in hundreds of small places. It moved through pipes, sat inside cups and cauldrons, and remained in thin layers of damp beneath the older parts of the castle.
Percy spread his awareness outward. For a few seconds, he found nothing unusual.
Then he felt an empty point.
It was not inside Hogwarts.
He pushed farther and found another.
Then a third.
Percy's eyes opened.
"There are more."
Hermione went still.
"More of the things from the threshold?"
Percy nodded.
"Three that I can feel."
Harry stepped closer.
"Where?"
"One is near the lake."
Percy closed his eyes again and searched for the second. The signal was weaker, but he could follow it through streams outside the grounds and through the old water below Hogsmeade.
"The second is somewhere outside Hogwarts. I can't tell exactly where."
"And the third?"
Percy followed a weak pull beyond the local streams. It reached the sample connection from his wrist, then scattered into more movements than he could separate.
He felt water running through a dense network of pipes. He could not see where they were.
Percy opened his eyes.
"It could be London," Percy said. "That is where she took the sample. I cannot locate those pipes from here."
Nobody spoke for several seconds. Kingsley was the first person to move.
"We need to contact the Ministry."
Amelia took out her wand.
"I'll use the Floo Network."
"No."
Percy said it louder than he intended. Amelia looked at him with clear irritation, but he pointed toward the fireplace before she could argue.
"The thing in Umbridge's office moved through her wards. It didn't walk through the castle. It used the magical connection."
Hermione looked from the fireplace to the ward drawing.
"The Floo Network is another connected magical system."
Amelia looked toward the fireplace.
"You're saying it could travel through it?"
"I don't know," Percy said. "That's the problem."
Dumbledore nodded.
"Keep this fireplace closed while we check," Dumbledore said. "Contact the Ministry by a separate method. I will not connect the school to the network again yet."
Amelia clearly disliked the restriction, but she did not argue. Instead, she turned toward Kingsley.
"Send a Patronus."
Kingsley raised his wand, and a silver lynx formed in front of him. It waited silently as he gave it the message.
"Find Tonks. Tell her to locate Dolores Umbridge. Do not approach her alone, avoid all Ministry experimental wards, and do not use the Floo Network."
The Patronus ran through the wall and disappeared. Percy watched it go with more interest than he intended.
"That's useful."
Kingsley looked at him.
"Have you learned the Patronus Charm?"
"No."
"But you can move water across the grounds."
"Some of it," Percy said. "It depends what is blocking it."
Kingsley nodded.
"Strange world."
Percy stared at him.
"You're a wizard."
Kingsley considered that.
"Fair."
===================--------[LINE BREAK]---------======================
The first reply arrived twenty minutes later, and it did not improve the situation. Tonks could not find Umbridge anywhere inside the Ministry.
The second message was worse. Umbridge's office had been emptied during the night, including every file, piece of equipment, coral fragment and sample connected to Percy's case.
Amelia read the message twice before lowering it.
"She planned this."
They waited in Dumbledore's office. He asked Harry to stay because the collection order named him, and asked Hermione and Ron to give their own accounts of the classroom incidents.
Percy sat near Fawkes while Amelia sorted through the messages. The phoenix watched him closely, and Percy watched it back with equal suspicion.
Amelia placed the latest message on Dumbledore's desk.
"Professor Umbridge signed out of the Ministry at eleven forty last night."
"Destination?" Dumbledore asked.
"Not recorded."
McGonagall looked toward Amelia.
"How convenient."
Amelia continued reading.
"She removed six sealed containers from a Department of Mysteries storage area. She also took three portable ward anchors, one extraction frame and two charged power cells."
Hermione leaned forward.
"What was inside the containers?"
"The storage office has not replied yet," Dorridge said.
Ron frowned.
"How do you not know what you keep in your own building?"
Amelia gave him a tired look.
"The containers were signed out under sealed records. I have asked the officer responsible to open those records for this investigation."
Ron thought about it.
"Ask him to hurry," Ron said.
Harry looked toward the message.
"Did she take anything else?"
Amelia read the final line and stopped. Percy did not like the way she looked toward Harry afterwards.
"A genealogical focus."
Hermione stood.
"What type?"
"Pre Statute."
"What does it do?"
"It identifies inherited magical signatures."
Harry's face lost colour. Percy looked from him to Amelia.
"So she can find Harry."
"Possibly."
"That's not reassuring."
"It was not meant to be."
A silver jackrabbit entered through the wall and stopped beside Kingsley.
It carried Tonks's voice.
"Kingsley. We found something. Umbridge used a Ministry carriage permit at five twenty this morning. The destination was listed as Hogsmeade."
Everyone in the office became still. The Patronus continued speaking.
"She never arrived at the village checkpoint. The carriage was found empty north of the station."
The lynx disappeared. Ron looked around the office with growing concern.
"So she's here."
Hermione shook her head.
"She came here."
Percy stood and moved toward Amelia.
"Where was the carriage found?"
Amelia opened a regional map and placed it on the desk. She pointed toward a road north of Hogsmeade.
Percy's eyes moved immediately to the narrow stream beside it. He followed the line across the map until it disappeared toward the mountains.
"Water."
Harry stepped beside him.
"She used the stream?"
Percy followed the branch farther. One of the smaller channels eventually connected to the Black Lake through an underground passage.
He looked up.
"That branch reaches the old passage under the school," Percy said. "We should check there."
---------------------------------------------------------[Break]-=+-=_=_+==__-===-=-+__+[1]
They reached the shore before noon. The sky was grey, and a cold wind moved across the surface of the Black Lake while clouds gathered around the mountains.
Percy stood closest to the water. Dumbledore, McGonagall, Flitwick, Kingsley and Amelia spread out behind him while several other teachers secured the path back toward the castle.
Harry had been ordered to remain inside.
He had reacted badly.
Percy wanted Harry beside him, but he had seen the collection order. He told him to stay with Lupin. Harry asked whether Percy would listen if their places were reversed. Percy had no good answer.
Percy stepped into the lake until the water reached his knees. His connection opened almost immediately, and the pressure of the whole lake entered his senses.
Aequor was moving.
Fast.
Percy felt the current change direction around the pillars. Something had entered the route below them.
He took another step.
"There is someone in the lower passage."
Dumbledore moved closer to the shore.
"Are you certain?"
"I can feel movement there. I cannot tell who it is."
"She's not alone."
Amelia raised her wand.
"Who is with her?"
Percy searched for the shapes below. He found three human bodies moving near one of the old passages.
Then another presence appeared behind them.
Percy flinched and almost lost the connection. Kingsley noticed immediately.
"What?"
"There's another empty point."
"Near Umbridge?"
Percy shook his head.
"Following her."
The water suddenly pulled away from the shore. Everyone drew their wands as the surface became completely still.
Percy felt a pressure change below him. A pulse moved through the lake a second later and struck his senses hard enough to make him stumble.
Dumbledore caught his shoulder.
"Percy?"
For half a second, Percy could no longer feel the lake. When his connection returned, the water felt wrong.
He stared toward the centre.
"She turned something on."
A familiar voice came from behind them.
"What?"
Percy turned and saw Harry, Hermione and Ron running down the hill. McGonagall's face became furious before they even reached the shore.
"Potter!"
Harry did not stop.
"She's after me!"
"Which is precisely why you were told to remain inside!"
"She tried to get me in the school too!"
McGonagall looked ready to answer, but Percy felt the pressure below the lake change again. A thin pull moved through the water and pointed directly toward Harry.
Percy's eyes widened.
"Get back."
Harry stopped.
"What?"
"Get back!"
The lake exploded upward. A column of black water rose high above the shore as something silver shot out of it.
It was a chain.
The links crossed the distance toward Harry with enough force to break stone. Blue runes burned across the metal as Percy threw both hands forward.
A wall of water struck the chain from the side. The impact forced it away from Harry and into a shield that Dumbledore had created around the students.
The chain wrapped around the shield.
Its runes activated.
Cracks appeared across the golden surface.
Dumbledore's expression changed.
"Move!"
Kingsley fired a spell into the chain. The magic disappeared into the metal without leaving a mark.
Flitwick tried another spell with the same result. The runes became brighter each time they absorbed more magic.
Percy felt something familiar inside them.
"It's using my power!"
The pull matched the band closely enough that Percy recognized it. Water moved along the links even when he tried to turn it away from Harry.
The chain pulled against Dumbledore's shield. Another crack spread across it.
Harry stepped backward.
Percy forced the water around the links to freeze. Thick ice locked the chain in place for less than a second before the metal started cutting through it.
Hermione raised her wand.
"Reducto!"
Her spell struck the ice and shattered it. The explosion pushed the chain sideways instead of feeding more energy into the runes.
Percy understood immediately.
"Again!"
He froze another section. Hermione broke it with the same spell. Kingsley and McGonagall directed their spells at the ice farther from Harry. Ron pulled Harry back beneath the shield.
They stopped attacking the metal directly. Instead, every spell struck the ice and water around it, forcing the chain farther from Harry without giving the runes anything useful to absorb.
Percy smiled despite himself.
"Got you."
He pulled at the lake.
A heavy current struck the chain from the side and snapped it tight. Something below the surface moved suddenly, and Percy felt one of the humans lose their footing.
"She's holding it."
Harry stared at him.
"Umbridge?"
"Maybe."
Percy pulled harder. The chain moved toward the shore one metre at a time, dragging something large through the lake.
A rectangular metal frame finally broke through the surface. Umbridge was attached to it with both hands locked around a control bar, while two soaked Ministry workers surfaced beside her.
Percy almost laughed.
Umbridge's pink robes were ruined, her hair was stuck across her face, and the expression she gave him suggested that this was somehow his fault.
"Stop!"
Percy continued pulling.
"That's usually what people say here."
"Release the apparatus!"
"No."
"You have no idea what you are doing!"
Percy looked at the chain wrapped around Dumbledore's shield.
"I understand the important part."
Umbridge raised her wand. Kingsley immediately pointed his own at her.
"Don't."
She froze.
Amelia stepped into the shallow water.
"Dolores."
Umbridge looked at her, and for the first time that morning, her confidence slipped.
"Amelia."
"Step away from the device."
"You do not understand."
"I understand enough."
"This is Ministry work."
"No. It isn't."
Umbridge's face hardened.
"The Minister authorized my investigation."
"Not this."
"The Minister understands the danger Jackson represents."
Percy's expression changed.
"So this is still about me?"
Umbridge gave a short laugh and looked toward Harry.
"You really think you are the centre of this?"
Harry raised his wand.
"I'm standing right here."
"Exactly."
Umbridge's hand moved.
Percy saw it first.
"Harry!"
She slammed her palm against the control bar.
The chain activated.
Harry cried out as the runes turned green. They did not pull his body at first, but Percy saw light being drawn from his chest and into the links.
Kingsley caught Harry before he fell. A second colour moved inside the green light, darker and heavier than Harry's own magic.
Percy saw the darker light pull from the direction of Harry's scar.
The scar.
He feared he knew what might have remained there after Voldemort's attack. He could not check it while the chain was pulling.
The chain carried both magical signatures into the extraction frame. Every rune across the machine turned green at once.
Far below them, something answered.
Aequor roared.
The sound moved through the entire lake and into the ground. Water struck the shore in heavy waves as cracks spread through the stones beneath Percy's feet.
Umbridge looked down at the control panel.
"What?"
Percy turned toward the centre of the lake.
"No."
A perfectly straight black line appeared across the water. The lake separated around it, not because something physically pushed the water aside, but because the space beneath it had stopped behaving correctly.
The empty point that had followed Umbridge reached the frame.
Then it entered the chain.
Percy felt the change immediately. The chain stopped pulling Harry's magic toward Umbridge and began pulling Harry himself toward the lake.
Kingsley wrapped both arms around him.
"Potter!"
Harry's shoes scraped across the stones. Ron grabbed Kingsley from behind, Hermione grabbed Ron, and McGonagall caught Hermione around the waist.
Percy tried to take control of the water around the chain.
Nothing happened.
The thing inside the metal had changed how the connection worked. Percy could still feel the water, but it no longer responded where the black influence touched it.
Umbridge stared at her controls.
"I didn't do that."
Percy looked at her.
"I know."
The chain pulled harder. Harry moved another metre toward the lake before Dumbledore raised his wand.
Golden fire struck the links.
For the first time, the metal cracked.
The black line widened. Percy could see the far shore beside it, but no water through its center.
Something looked through.
Percy could not see a face or an eye. Still, every instinct in his body told him that the presence was watching Harry, then him, and finally Dumbledore.
Pressure filled Percy's head. His legs weakened, and he dropped to one knee while the lake began to shake around him.
A meaning entered his mind.
OPEN.
Percy pushed himself upward.
"No."
The presence shifted toward him.
OPEN.
His hands shook, but the water around him began to rise.
"No."
The black line widened again. Percy could feel the seal below the lake breaking one layer at a time.
OPEN.
Percy looked toward Harry and then toward Umbridge's extraction frame. The machine was still connected to the chain, and every part of it was trying to contain far more energy than it had been designed to hold.
An idea formed.
It was not a good idea.
He looked at the machine again. The links were already cracking under Dumbledore's spell. If he could break the frame, the chain might stop pulling Harry.
"Hermione!"
She looked toward him.
"The frame takes magic, right?"
"Yes!"
"Can it control how much?"
"I don't know!"
Percy stepped backward into deeper water.
"Good enough!"
Then he threw himself into the lake.
Water closed above his head, and the noise from the shore disappeared. The chain became clearer from below, running through the dark water toward the extraction frame and then deeper toward the old seal.
Percy reached the machine.
Umbridge stood in the shallows above him. Percy saw her through the water as he put both hands against the lower frame.
Percy forced every drop of water inside the machine to move at once. Metal bent around his fingers as the runes flickered.
The frame tried to absorb his power.
Percy let it.
Then he gave it more.
Blue marks turned white. Metal cracked beside Percy's fingers. Above him, Umbridge let go of the control bar.
Percy pushed harder.
The frame exploded.
The shock wave crossed the lake and threw Percy backward. The chain shattered near the surface, and Harry dropped onto the shore as broken metal rained into the water.
Percy spun through the darkness until he managed to stop himself. His vision blurred, but he could still feel one unconscious Ministry worker sinking nearby.
He reached out and pulled the man upward with a current.
Then the water below Percy became cold.
The water no longer felt warm or cold. Percy pulled his legs away from the place where the feeling stopped.
Percy looked down.
Far below him, the threshold was still open.
A shape stood on the other side.
A narrow shape stood beyond the opening. Its upper edge bent toward him, almost like a head. Percy did not stay to see whether it could form a face.
It raised one arm.
Percy felt something touch his thoughts.
This time, it was not a command.
WHY CLOSE?
Percy stared into the opening without answering. The shape moved closer, and another crack appeared across the seal.
Golden light suddenly crossed the depths.
Aequor struck the threshold.
The impact shook the lake so violently that Percy was thrown sideways. The shape pulled back while Aequor's enormous golden eye turned toward Percy.
Aequor stayed in front of the gap. Percy felt its current urge him upward, away from the opening.
The meaning entered Percy's mind.
TOO LATE.
Percy looked toward the seal. The crack was wider than it had been before Umbridge began her experiments, and pieces of the old magic were already beginning to fail around it.
The extraction frame was destroyed. The chain was broken, and Harry was no longer connected to the machine.
None of that had repaired the damage.
The chain had drawn something through Harry's scar. Percy did not know how much the presence had taken, but it had reached Harry without touching his body.
Percy pushed himself toward the surface.
When he broke through the water, he took a deep breath and heard several people shouting at once. Kingsley was helping Harry away from the shore while Amelia and Flitwick pulled Umbridge from the remains of her machine.
Dumbledore was not looking at any of them.
He was staring at the centre of the lake.
Percy reached the stones. Dumbledore helped him out of the water and kept a hand on his shoulder. Harry came closer under McGonagall's watch.
"Did we stop it?"
Percy looked back at the lake.
The surface was calm again, but he could still feel the fracture below it. The crack was slowly growing even without the machine.
He shook his head.
"We stopped Umbridge."
Harry looked toward the lake. Percy felt another brief pressure against the damaged part of the seal.
"It doesn't need her anymore."
________+_+_+_+_+_--=-+_=_+-+-=-+-=_=-+_=_=_=_+_+_=_=-=-+_=_=-==--+-_---_-=-=-=+__+_++_-=+-==-+__+-==-_=_+_+_++_-=-=_++__+_+-=-=-==--=-=-=_+_+-=
SHES DEAD (or is she? ro si ehs? ehs or si? ?ehs si ro)[2]
Give me all your stones, yummy yummy stones! mmmmm...
(SHAMELESS PLUG) Another reminder that you can just get 5+ chapters in advance for 6 buck a month (SGD, that would be like 4 bucks in USD)
p a t r e o n . c o m /Reader004 (remove spaces)
[1] Does anyone even care about these?
[2] Jkjk ofc shes not dead ye- I mean, uh, Wowtheweathersurelooksnicetodayhuh? *Innocent Whistling*