By the end of the week, students had to stop at Ministry checkpoints between lessons. New notices appeared on every board. Percy read them beside Hermione.
Educational Decree Twenty-Eight:All faculty lesson plans must be pre-approved by the High Inquisitor.
Educational Decree Twenty-Nine:Unauthorized discussion of "mythic entities," "interdimensional structures," or "cosmic imbalance" is strictly prohibited.
Educational Decree Thirty:Students exhibiting "abnormal magical resonance" are subject to evaluation and containment.
Hermione read the last word twice. She reached for Percy's sleeve.
"She's targeting Percy."
"All of us," Ron said. Harry checked the corridor behind them. Percy waited until the Ministry clerk at the next checkpoint had looked away before moving on.
Umbridge began with the staff. She observed Professor Flitwick and loudly suggested his "encouragement of creative magical expression" may be contributing to instability.
She interrupted Professor McGonagall mid-lecture and informed her that "transformative magic must remain within Ministry safety thresholds."
She smiled sweetly at Professor Snape and remarked that "Potions capable of amplifying magical output may require regulation."
Even Hagrid was not spared. She stood outside his hut, nose wrinkled, declaring his "influence over hybrid creatures deeply concerning."
Flitwick asked for written reasons. McGonagall continued her lesson until Umbridge raised her voice. Dumbledore requested copies of each inspection report, which Umbridge supplied a day late.
Umbridge ordered more stability enchantments over the old wards. Flitwick objected to the plans. The Ministry workers continued before he had finished checking their effect on the water routes.
Hermione compared their positions with the drawings Percy had helped her make.
"These cross the return current," she said. "Flitwick marked the same place in his report."
Ron blinked. "That sounds bad."
"It stops water getting back to the pillars. We need him to check the new section too."
Percy felt water pressing against the new seals. It moved in short bursts instead of one current. Harry looked toward the window.
"It's quieter again."
"Yes," Percy said softly.
"That's the problem."
Umbridge took over a Defense lesson after suspending Lupin's practical exercises for review. She handed out Defensive Theory for a Civilized Society and ordered them to read.
"No dueling today," she said. "Write down the approved reporting procedure."
Harry broke his quill. Percy reached for a spare, then stopped. Ink trembled in every bottle on the desk.
"Remain seated," she said sharply.
The tremor deepened. The windows rattled.
Hermione looked toward the new seal beside the door. "Professor Lupin needs to see this."
A line appeared in the air above Umbridge's desk. Percy could not see the wall through it.
Several students gasped.
Umbridge stood slowly. "This is precisely the hysteria I have been addressing."
The line widened. A piece of the desk disappeared. Percy felt water strike the Ministry seal and turn toward the classroom. Ink bottles broke along the front row.
Water burst through a seam in the wall and struck the ceiling. Students pushed back from their desks.
"Sit down!" Umbridge shrieked.
Percy stood and tried to turn the water away from them. More came through the floor. Harry opened the classroom door. Marks appeared above Hermione's wand.
Ron pulled Neville and Seamus toward the door. The Ministry seal crackled above them. Percy tried to hold the water against the opening.
The current kept turning back. He pushed harder. Water lifted around his arms, and he lost track of the stream behind him.
It struck Umbridge and threw her against the wall. Her clipboard broke. At the same moment, water closed across the opening above her desk.
Percy stood among overturned desks. Water hung around his hands. He looked at Umbridge, then at the students still waiting by the door.
Harry stepped toward him carefully.
"Percy."
The water trembled.
Hermione's voice cut through sharply.
"Release it."
Percy lowered his hands. Water fell onto the floor and ran under the door. Umbridge pulled herself up against the wall.
"You attacked a Ministry official."
"I stopped a breach," Percy said, voice unsteady.
"You assaulted me."
"There was an opening above your desk," Percy said. "The water hit you when I tried to close it. I did not mean to do that."
She brushed water from her sleeve.
"You lost control."
Percy could not deny it. He looked at the broken clipboard beside her feet.
Umbridge turned to the class, voice sweet again. "You see, children? This is what happens when unstable magical individuals are permitted unchecked influence."
Harry stepped forward immediately. "He saved us."
"Did he?" she asked softly. "Or did he endanger you further?"
Her gaze bored into Percy. "Educational Decree Thirty-One," she said crisply. "Mr. Percy Jackson is hereby placed under Ministry Magical Observation."
Ron shouted for Lupin. Hermione stepped between Percy and the officials until one told her to move. Harry kept his wand raised, but Percy shook his head at him.
Umbridge smiled. "Until we can determine whether you are a danger to this institution," she said sweetly, "you will refrain from any magical exertion."
"You can't suppress him," Hermione snapped.
"Oh, I can," Umbridge replied lightly.
She flicked her wand. A silver band closed around Percy's wrist. He grabbed it with his other hand. The current he had felt beneath the floor stopped reaching him.
Harry stepped forward, fury blazing. "Take that off."
Umbridge's smile widened. "Mr. Potter, one more outburst and you will join him."
The officials led Percy into the corridor. Lupin reached them at the stairs and demanded to see the order. Behind him, students kept moving out of the flooded classroom.
Percy could feel only a faint pressure through the band. He could no longer find the return current.
That evening, Umbridge examined a second silver band in her office. The one on Percy's wrist had been made from the same pattern.
"It cut the connection," she said. She placed the spare beside copies of the temple script. Then she dipped it into a vial of dark lake water.
It pulsed. Then stilled.
She lifted it out and inspected the lines along its inside edge. "Let us see what else it can direct."
A kitten on the nearest plate went silent. The water in the vial moved toward the band.
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