The Stubborn Old Headmaster

35

Let's tell Professors Riddle and Snape," Blaise replied, urgently, "quickly."

"You tell them and I flash to Teddy and rescue him; otherwise it might be too late," Harry replied, transformed into his phoenix form, focusing on an image of Teddy, and flashed away.

He found himself in a small stone room that looked to be a dungeon. 'Where's Teddy?' he wondered, feverishly looking around, before he noticed his friend hanging from the wall in chains. 'Oh no,' Harry groaned, terrified. 'How can I get him out of those chains?' He transformed back into his human form and stood right in front of Teddy.

"Hold on, Teddy. I'll try to get you out of here," he whispered, before he waved his wand at the chains, trying several spells that he knew in vain.

"Oh, little Harry Baby has come to the rescue," he suddenly heard a high, babyish voice and spun around to see a witch with long, black hair, who laughed an evil smile and pointed her wand at him.

The witch cast the Cruciatus curse at him, before he knew what was happening, and Harry fell to the floor, thrashing around in pain. It seemed to take ages, before the curse was lifted, when a different voice cast an Expelliarmus spell.

"Harry, are you all right?" he heard his father's voice that was laced with utmost concern.

"Yes," he whispered, pointing at Teddy.

Severus pointed his wand at Teddy, making the chains vanish in the blink of an eye, while Tom threw different spells at an unmoving Bellatrix Lestrange, who remained, unmoving, on the floor.

"Harry, do you think you can flash back home?" Tom asked urgently, causing Harry to nod.

"No, he can't," Severus contradicted, firmly. "He was under the Cruciatus curse for who knows how long. I'm going to apparate him to Hogsmeade, provided that it's possible to apparate out of here. Maybe you could come and take Harry home from there." He scooped the child up into his arms and tried to apparate to no avail.

"They put Apparition wards up," Tom realized. "I'll flash you all."

While Tom transformed into his phoenix form, Harry thought to him, 'Uncle Tom, take Dad and Teddy, I'll flash myself to my room.' He transformed as well and flashed straight into his own room at Hogwarts. An instant later, the three others arrived next to him.

"Wait a moment," Severus told them and hurriedly left the room, only to return two minutes later carrying several phials in his hands. He presed a phial against Harry's lips, motioning for him to swallow, before he turned to Teddy and gently applied a healing salve on the sore spots, where the chain had cut into his skin.

"Are you all right?" Harry asked in concern, causing Teddy to return a grateful smile.

"Yes, Harry, thank you so much for rescuing me," Teddy replied, seemingly relieved.

"Well, you have to thank Dad and Uncle Tom. I couldn't get the chains off you," Harry corrected him, sighing. "Thanks for coming after us, Dad and Uncle Tom."

"I'm glad Lestrange only used the Cruciatus on you and not the killing curse," Severus replied dryly. "Harry and Teddy, are you feeling well enough to return to the Great Hall? I believe that everyone, who got to know about your little adventure, will be anxiously awaiting your return."

"All right," Harry and Teddy replied simultaneously, and the four hurried down to the Great Hall.

ハリーと頑固な校長先生

Fortunately, the attack on Teddy seemed to be an isolated incident, and even by the time Harry set up the foundation to enable elves to attend school in the summer, everything remained peaceful. Harry agreed with the headmasters of Hogwarts and the primary school that for the next few years, two elves each year should be allowed to enter the primary school, from where they would automatically move to Hogwarts just like their magical human classmates. However, the rules, which Harry set up with Minerva's, Severus' and Tom's help, stated that the elves, who wished to enrol at Hogwarts, had to attend the primary school before being admitted to the Hogwarts main school. On one hand, they wanted to ensure that the elves had a certain amount of knowledge when they became first years, and on the other hand, their human classmates would probably have lesser prejudices against elves and be more at ease to accept them the younger they were.