The broken pieces of the silver band remained on the classroom floor. Nobody moved to pick them up, and the thin layer of water around Percy's shoes slowly spread between the stones.
Percy stood beside Harry while his strength returned. For several days, the band had forced his connection with the lake into something narrow and painful, but now the connection was open again. It was almost too open.
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 was moving beneath it, and it wasn't Aqueor. Professor Dumbledore entered the classroom and stopped beside the remains of one of the brass dampeners. He bent down, examined the broken metal for several seconds, then looked toward 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."
"Today, you represent a woman who installed experimental devices in a classroom full of children."
A few students tried very hard not to smile. Percy glanced at Harry and saw the same effort on his face.
Umbridge's expression tightened.
"The devices were approved."
"By whom?"
"The Ministry."
"That was not my question."
Percy looked toward Harry again. Harry was staring at Dumbledore with an expression that was dangerously close to admiration, while Ron leaned toward Hermione.
"I think he's enjoying this."
"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!"
"Professor," Percy corrected.
The room became silent. Percy had no idea why he had said it, and judging by Harry's face, Harry was trying not to laugh hard enough to injure himself.
Professor Dumbledore's mouth moved slightly.
Umbridge saw it.
That made things worse.
"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?"
Umbridge stopped. Hermione looked down quickly, but not before Percy saw the small smile she was trying to hide.
Percy continued.
"I entered your class when I was told to. I sat where I was told to sit. I didn't use magic. Your machines broke themselves."
"They reacted to you."
"Then maybe don't connect experimental machines to people."
Professor McGonagall appeared in the doorway.
"An excellent suggestion."
Umbridge turned as McGonagall stepped into the room. McGonagall looked at the broken dampeners, the damaged furniture, and the pieces of silver scattered across the floor, and her expression became colder with each thing she saw.
"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?"
McGonagall did not answer. She did not have to.
Dumbledore finally stepped between them.
"Classes are cancelled for the remainder of the afternoon. Professor McGonagall, please arrange for the students to return to their common rooms."
Umbridge looked ready to argue again. Then Dumbledore turned toward her, and whatever she saw in his face made her stop.
"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 decided that he liked her more every year.
"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."
"Which is why everyone was looking at the explosion instead of the papers on Umbridge's desk."
Ron looked impressed.
"That's actually quite clever."
Hermione ignored him and placed one piece of parchment in front of Percy. She had copied only four lines, but they were enough to remove what little humour remained from the room.
Coral fragment.
Resonant conduit.
Bloodline catalyst.
Full siphon threshold.
Percy's expression changed.
"I've seen the coral."
Harry looked at him.
"Where?"
"Her office. When she first put the band on me. There was a piece on one of the shelves. 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 is probably connected to Aequor. The conduit was the band."
"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 nodded. When the band had suppressed him, it had not only blocked his power. It had also collected part of his connection to the sea, and Umbridge still had that sample.
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."
Nobody corrected him. They had stopped doing that months ago.
Hermione lowered her voice.
"When Voldemort attacked you, part of his magic became connected to you. We already know that. You can sense him, you have seen through his eyes, and you can speak Parseltongue."
Ron shifted uncomfortably.
"Where are you going with this?"
"Voldemort is the last known heir of Salazar Slytherin."
Silence settled over the room. Percy understood first, and the idea made the words on Umbridge's parchment feel much worse.
"So Harry has magic from an old Hogwarts bloodline inside him."
Hermione nodded.
"Not his bloodline. His magic."
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 slowly nodded. That was worse, because ignorance had never stopped Umbridge from using something dangerous.
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."
Hermione used several spells to examine the envelope before giving it back. Percy broke the seal and unfolded the letter.
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 finished reading and handed the letter to Harry. Three days was not much time, especially when the Ministry clearly expected him to arrive without asking too many questions.
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.
The Black Lake appeared in his mind as a huge network of movement and pressure. He could feel fish, plants, the Giant Squid, the merpeople, and Aequor deeper below.
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 empty point moved through Hogwarts, but it did not use the corridors.
It followed the lines of magic inside the castle.
Percy understood what those lines were a moment later.
"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."
The trio went to report this to Dumbledore, and Dumbledore did not allow them to go alone. This surprised nobody except Ron, who had apparently been expecting him to allow four students to investigate an unknown breach in reality with no adult supervision[1].
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?"
"Because people like her know how much everyone likes them," 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[2].
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 has learned to remain stable outside the primary threshold."
Hermione looked around the room.
"Because of the dampeners?"
"Likely."
Percy walked slowly around the desk. The empty line reacted to him and changed direction.
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 studied it.
Hermione saw it too.
"It's learning the spell."
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."
Hermione moved toward the desk and began looking through the papers. Most of them were useless Ministry reports, but then she stopped.
"Professor."
Dumbledore looked over.
Hermione was holding a small document that had been hidden below the others. At the top was a Ministry seal, and below it was a list of 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 took the paper. His eyes moved toward his own name, and his expression changed before he said anything.
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 we were right."
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 examined the ink.
"Recently."
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 already knew the answer.
"The Ministry."
McGonagall nodded.
Hermione looked back at the document in Harry's hand.
"She's getting permission."
"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.
"She's not getting permission," he said.
"She's getting the last thing she needs."
----------------------------------------------LINE BREAK------------------------------------------------
Far below Hogwarts, where the old pillars rested beneath black water, Aequor opened its golden eye. The seal trembled as pressure moved through the cracks around it.
For the first time since its creation, something passed through the seal without force. It was not a body, but a thought.
A small part of an intelligence that had spent centuries with no light, no sound, and no world moved through the fractures Umbridge had created. It followed the paths she had built and learned from everything it touched.
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
You could also leave a comments (please)
p a t r e o n . c o m / Reader004 (remove space)
For, like, 6 bucks a month (2 cups of instant noodles)
or you could donate and support me for like 3 bucks a month (Like, a cup of instant noodles)
[1] That was my terrible attempt at a joke by the way. Also, YAAAYYYYY!! I'M BACK AFTER [INSERT ARBITRARY AMOUNT] BILLION YEAR!!! I will make it a habit to update more by the way. Okay, that's enough of my BS wasting your time. Back to the interesting shenanigans!
[2] (Insert [AMAZING WORLD OF GUMBALL] reference here)