Spring Equinox

Chapter 9

They spent some more time in Hogsmeade after lunch, with Susan, Daphne and Ginny spending some time with their dorm mates as well, leaving Harry with Hermione and Luna only. Minerva returned to the castle to prepare the 'coup' and have all the formal announcements ready for Harry and Susan to read out.

The youngsters returned to Hogwarts way before dinner. Harry wore his official robes, the ones bought only a day earlier, and so did Susan. Minerva handed them the official declaration of taking control and they both read it several times to make sure everything would go as smoothly as possible.

Minerva was already sitting at the head table when they entered the great hall. "Lord Potter, Lady Bones, please join us here," she invited them.

"Students should sit at their house tables!" Umbridge insisted.

"Of course, Dolores, but the owners of the castle should sit at the head table," Minerva explained calmly.

Umbridge didn't seem to understand but didn't want to make a scene either. The Minister had already called her and admonished her for acting in ways that enraged his voters. She didn't need another conflict at the moment.

Harry and Susan sat at Minerva's side, where Dumbledore would normally sit. His ornate chair had been replaced with two regular ones just before dinner. They waited for the hall to fill and then Minerva stood up and attracted the attention of the students.

"I have important news for all of you," she started. "As some of you may know, Hogwarts is a private school, founded by two great wizards and two great witches. According to the Hogwarts Charter, the school is to be handled by the heirs of the founders. If the heirs are unable or unwilling to do so, then control is to be passed to a board of directors that would decide on all important matters instead of the owners."

She waited for her words to be understood before going on.

"The heirs had been unknown for many generations, and even if one or two could be found, all four were needed to control the school. I'm now glad to announce that the heirs have been found and are now joining forces to take control of the school back where it belongs."

This brought some excited murmurs. Minerva waited for it to calm down.

"It is well known that the Bones are the heirs of Hufflepuff and the Potter are the Gryffindor heirs. As it happens, a recent visit to Gringotts revealed the two other heirs, who are practically one person. The Ravenclaw line had disappeared for many generations from the magical world, but it actually squibbed out, producing a magical person only a generation ago. The Slytherin heirs were believed to be the Gaunt family. Their last offspring died almost fifteen years ago, after confronting a toddler, when the killing curse rebounded on him. By our laws, that toddler, now a young man, has inherited that line by right of conquest. You all know this young man, whose mother was found out to be the descendant of Ravenclaw. Let me present to you the heir of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Slytherin – Lord Harry James Potter!"

Most students seemed too stunned to react, yet the Weasley twins started cheering and clapping their hands, and were soon followed by most of the students. Even some Slytherins cheered, although none of Malfoy's cronies.

Harry stood up and bowed a few times, acknowledging the cheers. He let the cheers go on for a short while and then lifted his hand, signaling the end of cheering. It stopped at once. Although some were still clapping, no sound was heard.

"I think I should let Lady Bones speak first," Harry said.

Susan stood up, looking a bit nervous. While Harry had already faced some audiences, this was her first time, yet she was determined to do it right.

"I, Susan Bones, heir of Huffelpuff, am now married to Lord Harry Potter. As I trust him with other subjects, I also trust him to handle the Hogwarts matters for me and I give him all the rights he needs to handle this responsibility."

She turned to Harry and saw his approval, also sensing Hermione and Daphne telling her 'Well done!'

"Thank you, my dear," Harry said to her and helped her sit down again. He turned back to the great hall. "As heir of the founders, I hereby take control of Hogwarts, dismissing the board of governors. Hogwarts is a private school. As such, it needs no Ministry intervention. I thank Undersecretary Umbridge for her efforts at school. Her services as inquisitor are no longer needed. If she likes, she may apply to continue as DADA teacher. Depending on her credentials, we may consider keeping her in the staff."

As expected, the toad was unable to keep her mouth shut at this stage. It was a wonder she didn't say anything earlier. "Quit that nonsense, Potter! You'll serve detention with me to the end of this year for your lies!"

Minerva stood up. "If Lord Potter needs to serve any detentions, these will only be with me!"

Harry smiled at her and then turned his gaze back to Umbridge. His smile turned predatory. "Dolores, you'll find that all I said is true. Hogwarts, please tie this woman to her chair and shut her mouth!"

As soon as he finished talking, Umbridge was tightly tied to her chair and her mouth gagged, not too delicately.

"It looks like she's not going to apply for that post, after all," Harry said, as if thinking loudly, making all chuckle, except for some Slytherins.

"Now, as the ministry no longer has a saying in managing this school, I declare all the educational decrees set this year as void and null. Hogwarts, please remove that litter from your walls!"

One could clearly hear the framed decrees falling on the floor outside the great hall, their glasses shattering and their frames breaking, and then a sweeping sound, as the debris was whisked away.

"And last, all new perfect roles set by Umbridge are removed and all points taken or given by her or her helpers are reversed."

This brought almost as much cheering as sacking Umbridge.

"I think the house elves had worked hard to make us a fine dinner. We should now eat it and remember to thank them whenever we see them."

Harry sat down. He sensed his wives congratulating him one by one. Susan only patted his arm shyly, yet he could feel she was proud of him.

Minerva bent aside to whisper in his ear, "The aurors are searching her office now. They seemed to be quite eager to look for any incriminating evidence. She hasn't made any friends among them either."

As usual, some owls flew in, bringing the evening mail, which was normally much less than in the morning. This time, there was a multitude of owls, all seemed to be carrying red envelopes and all going directly to the bound and gagged toad.

'Hogwarts, please raise a silencing ward around Umbridge, but let enough sound out so that everybody can hear the howlers,' Harry commanded in his mind.

'Done, my Lord,' he sensed the reply.

Harry also erected a shield between himself and Umbridge, to prevent the howlers from burning his robes. It wasn't a moment too soon. The owls started swooping down, dropping the red envelopes in front of Umbridge and flying away as soon as they could. The red envelopes burst into life one by one, screaming at Umbridge for reinstating the equinox celebrations, demeaning their daughters and endangering them with unwanted pregnancies. Even parents who had boys were furious for giving their children the wrong view on relations between the genders. Each letter exploded after shouting its message, blackening Umbridge's face and her robes.

The wards worked well, enabling the students to hear everything without making their ears ring. This was not true of Umbridge, who just looked shocked out of her mind, being unable to move or act in any way.

If this was not enough, a team of five aurors stepped into the hall soon after the last howler exploded and walked directly to her. "Madam Umbridge, you are under arrest for holding in your possession several blood quills which are illegal to own or possess except for very specific purposes, none of which has anything to do with school matters."

She was unable to even respond, although she tried to look indignant and intimidating. Harry instructed Hogwarts to release the toad after the aurors had taken her wand, and she was promptly escorted out, to the cheers of most students.

Dinner became a very happy event for most. Only a few Slytherins seemed somewhat disappointed, but not too much.

Minerva grabbed Harry's arm as soon as he finished eating, not giving him a chance to slip away. "You need to visit the Hospital wing now."

Harry groaned but said nothing. Hermione joined them silently as they left the great hall.

Poppy wasn't happy to see Harry coming in. "What now, Potter?"

Minerva answered in his stead. "My husband didn't think he needed your attention, but I believe you should have a look at him. We may need to press charges against Umbridge if you find this to be what I think it is."

She grabbed Harry's hand and let Poppy examine it. Poppy gasped at the sight. "How many times did you write this?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. I had many detentions with her, each time for about three hours, writing all that time. You can estimate how many times it was."

"The school logs have records of each detention," Minerva noted.

Poppy exchanged a dark glance with Minerva. "You should have come to me after the first time," she said sternly.

"Umbridge explicitly forbade it."

"Did you know about this?" Minerva asked Hermione.

She looked down. "I knew, and I tried to help him, but he didn't want to involve you, not believing it would do any good. He feared it would only lead to your removal from your position."

"I need to document this," Poppy said. She brought a camera from her office and took several pictures. She then smeared an ointment which burned quite a bit and covered it with a bandage.

"Come in the morning for another application of this. It should make the scar disappear in two or three days."

Once he was treated, Minerva urged him to return to his soul mates. "I want to spend some time with my friend here," She said.

Harry found his other wives waiting for him in their apartment. Luna was already wearing only a flimsy nightgown which was practically transparent, while reading a book. The others didn't wear much either. All seemed eager to start the night's activity.

Daphne gave him a vial. "This will help you cope with all of us. It looks like none wants to give up her share."

Harry wasn't sure if this was something he could do each night, but was still glad to cooperate. Soon all six were sharing the enlarged bed in his room, their clothes left on the floor. When Minerva came in, all six were already asleep in a heap. "Teens!" she sighed with a tender smile, before undressing and settling at their side.

The morning papers also reached Voldemort in his hideout. While the Equinox Celebration was of no interest to him, reading about Potter's bonding was. If nothing else, it could give him some more options to catch that brat and finish him for good. He was greatly disappointed when finding no names in the article.

"Wormtail!" he called.

A very frightened rat returned two hours later. His master wouldn't like the news he had.

"There is some ancient magic protecting the identity of underage spouses. It is like the fidelius charm, in a way. The only reason Lord Potter's name was mentioned is because he had been emancipated last year, when he was forced into the Triwizard competition."

Wormatail was glad it was only a short "crucio" this time. He hadn't mentioned the other piece of news, that of Harry marrying the old professor. It just seemed a mistake.

The Monday morning papers brought some more news. "Hogwarts reclaimed by the Founder's Heirs" was the main title. A secondary title, almost as big, stated, "Minister under investigation. Umbridge arrested."

Not many details were given in any of these articles. Only a simple explanation of how Harry Potter became Slytherin's heir when The Dark Lord was killed by his rebounding curse was added. The other heirs were not mentioned by name.

Harry was pleased about this and so was Hermione. Yet they didn't have time to dwell on it. The OWLs were looming ahead and neither Hermione nor Daphne would let other things come in the way of their studies. Despite his reluctance, Harry found that studying along with Hermione, Daphne and Susan proved very beneficial, especially since Ron was no longer distracting him. Each of the girls had a slightly different view on things and each was smart in a different way. He really liked studying with them. Well, he liked spending time in their company for any reason, really.