At the ministry everyone had watched in shock as Dumbledore gasped, clutching at his chest before keeling over in a dead faint. His pale features had taken on a grayish pallor convincing everyone he needed to be rushed to St. Mungoes. Unaware of anything happening at Hogwarts the healers pronounced his severe drop in magic as a tragedy and confined him to the hospital for the next six months.
Umbridge was officially declared the new Headmistress since Dumbledore's health was clearly too fragile to run the school any more. Fudge had completely ignored the healer's warning that the shock of loosing his long held job might kill him in his current state. He even made a parade about officially installing Umbridge as the Headmistress. As a result it came as quite a shock to both the media and the ministry delegates that neither the gates nor the wards of the school would open for any of them. The commotion at the gates drew the attention of the staff and the founders but when they saw Umbridge Godric lost his temper.
"What the hell is going on down there?" Godric grumbled as the four founders quickly approached the gate, trailing half the school and all three of their Heirs. Severus had finally been talked into accepting the adoption in exchange for the recipe for a potion that would eventually give him the gift of Parseltongue, much to the amusement of everyone present. The fact that this had happened in front of most of the school was simply icing on the cake as far as everyone but the potions master himself was concerned.
"I think its that pink toad with an entourage. What say you? Shall we go toad hunting?" Salazar asked evilly, easily loud enough that the idiots at the gate heard his comment.
"I suppose... and Rowena did give us permission to use lethal force if she won't take the hint," Godric said with feigned reluctance, instantly catching on to his friend's ploy.
"Could you first explain my recent lack of insanity to them so that I don't have to face down ridiculous calls for my imprisonment and execution?" Voldemort snarked in a perfectly aggrieved tone.
"I suppose so. Its not like we didn't bother to document everything, including the fact that you were tricked into using that ritual by one of your teachers," Rowena said with a mischievous thoughtfulness. "We did handle the curse once we were awake enough to do something about the essential attack on Sal's heir. Its not like we had a choice in letting him fall to the manipulative old goat at the time or go on that insane murder spree. Incidentally I'm tempted to charge Dumbledore not only with the attempted theft of Hogwarts out from under us but also the abuse he's knowingly subjected our heirs to."
"Oh, I'm insisting on it Ro. If the so called ministry won't do anything about it we'll just have to invoke our treaties with the various magical creatures. Its not like Voldemort's people will be a problem since we've healed him back to sanity in the first place and the loyalty oaths are still valid. Come to that... Tom? I need you to summon your servants so that I can give them all a once over. If you insist on keeping them than they have to be in a fit state to act as the servants they are. I presume you raided your father's secret chamber for the basics of whatever spell you came up with to bind them to your service? If so I'll need Sal to help me look them over and double check your spellwork to avoid conflicts," Helga said airily, getting a reluctant nod of agreement from the still grumpy Dark Lord.
"You can't! This is impossible!" Fudge spluttered incoherently.
"Some how we tripped an ancient spell or ward or whatever. To get out we had to remove the spellwork trapping the minds of the founders in a hidden tapestry cursed only to speak in rhymes. Waking them revealed that the school was nearly drained of magic so Lady Rowena Ravenclaw designed a chant that allowed the students to refuel the school. Once a certain amount of magic was absorbed into the school they were able to leave the tapestry they were trapped in and resume physical form. Between the refueling and breaking of some of the more detrimental enchantments they decided I needed my sanity back and tricked me into performing the necessary ritual," Voldemort explained sourly.
"Incidentally, his insanity wasn't accidental or rather it was accidental on his own part but not on the part of Dumbledore. The old goat who arranged to have him, a student at the time, find the book that held the dangerous and damaging ritual out of a sense of fear for the fact that our Tom was ready to surpass him before ever taking his NEWTs," Rowena pointed out scornfully. She despised people that acted like that having been the victim of similar attacks in her own youth simply because of her intelligence and the fact that she was a woman. She still remembered some of the beating she had been given for having the temerity to give the right answer when a male had gotten it wrong and people had died because they were being a pigheaded arse.
"Can you make him turn purple? I mean my uncle turns purple if he's angry for long enough or doesn't have an answer and he's the same shade of red as Uncle Vernon," Harry asked innocently. Everyone looked at Fudge who was indeed turning a furious shade of purple and looking like he wanted to strangle the smaller wizard if he could only get his hands on him through both gate and wards.
Harry was immediately shoved behind two protective mates who glared at the enraged minister. The imp snickered before deciding to tackle his two mates and send the three of them tumbling, starting a playful wrestling match, confident that the founders would keep them safe on Hogwarts grounds.
"Brat! This is not the mumph! Oh, you'll pay for that!" Severus snarked, getting a face full of robes while Harry tried to pin a growly Voldemort. The two pronged tickle attack had Harry shrieking in delighted laughter as both of his mates happily subdued him.
"Aurors! Arrest them!" Fudge ordered finally coming out of his spluttering fury long enough to start taking action. The accompanying Aurors exchanged a glance, shrugged and slammed into both wards and the wrought iron gates only to be tossed backwards by the magic in both.
"That was not wise," Salazar informed him with a deadly calm as the frivolity fell away from the four founders like a shed cloak. As the founders had changed in that instant so to did their heirs. A glance from the resigned Aurors noted that Harry, Severus, and Voldemort were back on their feet, wands ready to cast anything that was needed.
"He is the minister of magic!" Umbridge squawked in outrage at what she perceived was blatant disrespect and in subordination.
"There was no ministry until well after we were sealed away," Godric said in an ugly tone. "We do not recognize the authority of a ministry who will try to use and abuse children much less one who would try to forcibly take our heirs."
"It appears that school will not be taking breaks until this is sorted. I'll go inform the house elves that the apprentices need to stay on the grounds," Helga said in a disappointed tone clearly aimed at the ministry idiots.
"Do you want me to ask the defense club to help the prefects?" Harry asked wickedly. "We got really good at dodging the pink toad and her helpers since no one wanted to fail their OWLs or NEWTs and her helpers sometimes threw curses at us. None of us wanted to be writing in our own blood even though she made me do it nearly every night. Its why I had so much trouble keeping up with my school work."
That sent the fox among the chickens as the Aurors turned on Umbridge in a righteous fury, both having children inside the school. They may not have known what a blood quill was but every magical understood how important and powerful blood was. For all they knew the bitch had forced their children into a blood signed slavery contract.
"Ah, yes, I'd almost forgotten about that," Salazar said darkly all four founders focusing their individual fury at the despicable witch just outside the wards. Umbridge squeaked and stammered something about having permission and the authority to do what she liked.
"Do you want her on the grounds of Hogwarts or can we have first go?" one of the Aurors asked the founder, glaring at the Senior Undersecretary and supposed current Headmistress of Hogwarts.
"You have children or relatives among the apprentices?" Salazar asked shrewdly.
"Yes sir," the second Auror answered curtly.
"I am the Headmistress of Hogwarts, the Ministry's High Inquisitor, and the Senior Undersecretary. You have no right to threaten me!" Umbridge said imperiously.
"The useless writ of authority that was in your desk is null and void now that we're free dear Dolores. The moment our boys removed the rhyming curse on the tapestry we were trapped in all authority reverted to us as the original owners of the school since we aren't actually dead. The magic couldn't tell that until the very powerful curse locked away our minds and souls whereas our original bodies are dead. Its a side effect of making the school so powerful so quickly and able to respond better to attacking armies to protect the students. In point of fact if the magic of the school hadn't been so weakened to the point that the wards nearly fell you would never have survived using such barbaric methods on our apprentices!" Rowena Ravenclaw practically snarled at the woman.
"As it is every single student you harmed just earned the rest of their education free of charge even if we have to drain our own remaining vaults dry to do it!" Helga agreed emphatically.
"I, Godric Leon Gryffindor, do hereby declare blood feud for the harm of magical children under my care against Dolores Jane Umbridge and the standing Ministry of Magic!" Godric declared defiantly. The shock wave of magic that came from that declaration shuddered through the entire British Empire and half of Europe.
"You can't do that!" Fudge protested weakly. Both Aurors striped out of their official over robes and dropped them in the dirt at the coward's feet with a sneer.
"We formally resign from ministry employ," the first one spat angrily as they turned to the founders.
"Lords and Ladies we would petition entrance onto the grounds of Hogwarts," they said simultaneously, using the old formula from the stories they had heard as children.
Hogwarts cautiously extended her magic to check these men, sharing the results with her four parents and their heirs, her siblings. It was a joint decision of the eight that granted the two entry. The ministry employees who had sat on the sidelines watching exchanged a glance and left, trying to decide who they should side with, leaving Fudge and Umbridge shouting about their own importance. Word would quickly spread through the magical community what had happened and before they even got back to the Ministry there were people calling for the heads of the two.