blood bound

chapter 3: changes

Umbridge was grumbling at the incompetence of the students and muttering about trouble makers as she worked on grading the never ending homework pile in her office. She found the pink tones and soft meowing of the painted cats soothing as she worked. Her soothing environment shattered as a cackling Peeves flew through the wall behind her, her, and shooting upwards in the center of her desk, scattering everything in the process.

"How dare you!" Umbridge screeched as she shivered from the cold of the ghost passing through her lifting her wand to cast a spell, only to freeze as she saw what was in the ghost's grimy paws.

"Who's the disgustingly cute kitty?" Peeves cooed maliciously at one of her favorite display plates as he carelessly juggled it in one hand.

"Put that down!" Umbridge practically roared in absolute fury.

Peeves considered her for a moment before tossing it like a Frisbee strait into the wall and snatching the next one causing the ministry spy to dive for the safety of under her desk. He kept going until the room was a veritable storm of flying and shattering plates, laughing madly all the way as they made a symphony of destruction. When they were all destroyed and she finally poked her head out to look around and wail in despair over her precious display plates he floated over in front of her.

"Toadsy needs remembering that Hoggywarts is alive and Hoggywarts will always protect the children. Naughty toadsy for torturing children inside Hoggywarts," Peeves taunted before flying away cackling and diving through the woman and the floor beneath her.

"All of the ghosts will be banished from the castle first thing in the morning! Such treasonous disrespect will not be tolerated!" Umbridge said, fuming. "And once the Minister hears about this I will happily be able to tear this crumbling ruin down about their treasonous ears!"

Hogwarts listened to the witch's ranting in amusement as she shuffled around trying to collect the shattered bits of her cat plate collection. She had stood for over a thousand years and no under powered petty vindictive witch with barely enough power to cast a decent lumos would change that. As the threats got more vindictive and creative Hogwarts became less and less amused with her.

When the pink one started to blame one of her favorites and threatening to do them irreparable harm the castle silently unlocked the long hidden enchanted armory and sent Peeves there along with every other ghost in the castle. She directed them to take up arms and usher the remaining students to their dorms, setting up guards to protect them and sending Peeves himself to protect the hospital wing. They were all instructed to keep out of sight unless the vile woman acted against the students. If she cast a single spell to harm a student they were ordered to kill her and make absolutely certain she stayed dead. Threatening her was one thing, threatening her favorite human residents and the other children was quite another.

In the infirmary Madam Pomfrey quietly approached her two sleeping patients and tried not to wake them as she cast her diagnostic spells. Satisfied by the readings she had received from Severus she did her best to visually check Harry, no longer trusting the spells to report his health accurately. Finding nothing she prepared to sneak back into her office when her eyes snagged on Severus' left arm clutched tightly by the sleeping living vampire and realized something had changed. Frowning her eyes moved from the brand to Harry's famous scar and back again before it clicked. The tattooed snake was now wrapped around a nearly identical lightning bolt making her wonder what had happened to cause that and worry over what Voldemort might do to the Potions Master when he next saw him.