By evening, the castle felt hollow. Students whispered in corners. Professors spoke in tight, controlled tones. Percy was escorted back to Gryffindor Tower under official watch.
The sight of the band on his wrist spread faster than wildfire. Ron swore loudly enough to earn a reprimand from a passing prefect. Hermione went pale. Harry's eyes went dark.
"She can't just suppress you," Ron said.
"She already has," Percy replied.
He tried again, just a flicker. A call to the lake. Nothing. It was like shouting underwater. Hermione crouched beside him, examining the band carefully. It's not purely restrictive," she whispered. "It's siphoning."
Percy looked at her sharply. "Siphoning?"
"Yes. It's redirecting excess resonance. Feeding it into something."
Harry's head snapped up. "Into what?"
Hermione swallowed. "I don't know."
But all three of them thought the same thing. The wards, or worse. That night, the Black Lake did not sleep. Without Percy's stabilizing pull, the water churned faintly beneath the surface.
The Ministry enchantments pressed down in rigid geometric patterns, tight grids of containment. Ley lines bent unnaturally under their weight. Energy compressed. Misaligned. The seal beneath the lake strained.
And far below it, the absence stirred. Not violently, curiously. It had felt Percy's surge earlier. It had felt the suppression. Balance had shifted. And imbalance was invitation.
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.
He felt the band hum again. She was testing it, watching his reaction. He forced his expression blank. The lake felt farther than ever. Another crack came that afternoon. Not dramatic, not explosive, subtle.
Professor Flitwick's classroom windows frosted over in the middle of a warm day. Charms misfired. Feathers dropped mid-hover. A levitation spell inverted briefly, slamming a desk to the ceiling before correcting itself.
Flitwick's tiny face tightened.
Across the castle, greenhouse soil liquefied without warning. A staircase shifted two feet to the left and refused to move back. In the library, a section on Ancient Runes fell from its shelves simultaneously.
Hermione froze mid-sentence. "That's a pressure cascade," she whispered.
"What?" Ron asked.
"The wards are compressing natural flow. The seal beneath the lake used to flex with Percy's connection. Now it's rigid."
Harry looked at Percy. "Meaning?"
"Meaning," Hermione said, voice tight, "something has to give."
It gave at sunset. Percy was sitting by the common room fire, staring at his wrist, when the hum changed pitch. Higher, sharper. He stiffened. The fire dimmed suddenly.
The air grew thin. Somewhere below the castle, stone groaned.
Harry stood instantly. "You feel that?"
Percy nodded slowly. "For the first time since yesterday."
The lake was not quiet anymore. It was pushing. Not at him. Against something. The hum of the band intensified. It was pulling harder. Siphoning faster.
"Umbridge is feeding it somewhere," Hermione breathed.
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.
Not distant. Not beneath the lake. Right against the barrier. Testing it. Like fingers pressing against glass. The wards above strained visibly, faint pink lines shimmering across the ceiling like a cage.
Then, a sound like tearing fabric, far below. Percy gasped. The lake roared back into his senses. Not fully, but enough. Something had slipped through. Not large, not whole, but present. Cold flooded the castle corridors. Torches flickered blue. Umbridge's voice echoed magically through the halls. "All students remain where you are!" Her tone had lost its sweetness.
Percy looked up slowly. "It's inside." Harry didn't ask what, he already knew. Another crack split the air. From the direction of the lower dungeons. Stone dust drifted from the ceiling. The band on Percy's wrist pulsed violently. And then, it stopped humming. Not because it failed, but because it had filled. Somewhere in Umbridge's office, something had just completed a circuit. Percy felt the lake surge once, wild and uncontained.
And from deep beneath the castle, a shape moved in the dark. The absence. And it was climbing.
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Whoops forgot to publish yesterday lol