The Stubborn Old Headmaster
by Teddylonglong
All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.
COMPLETELY AU! Partly OOC! Dumbledore bashing!
It is my story, and I intend to write it the way I want it. If you don't like it, don't read it.
Reviews are very welcome, as they inspire my muse. Thank you so much for your kind reviews for the previous chapter!
At dinner, Harry anxiously watched the students, eagerly waiting for them to drink their pumpkin juice. However, everyone was listening intensely to Minerva, who was explaining that from point onward Professor Riddle would be the new headmaster of Hogwarts, while she was going to be his deputy headmistress.
"I'm sure many of you are wondering what is going to happen with the second school building, which we were able to break the old charms that were hiding it until just a few weeks ago. Well to answer your question, beginning in September it will house the Hogwarts Primary School, and Professor Gryffindor will be the headmaster, and Professor Lupin, who is going to become a teacher at the primary school, will act as his deputy headmaster."
Seeing that everyone was listening intensely, Minerva continued, "Professor Sirius Black will remain our permanent professor for Defence Against the Dark Arts. Professor Riddle has kindly been able to remove the curse, which for many years hindered our Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers from staying on their position for longer than a year, so that we hope to have filled this position for many years to come."
While everyone was clapping their hands enthusiastically, Harry couldn't help shifting impatiently in his seat.
"Harry, what's wrong?" Poppy asked surprised, giving the child a concerned look.
"Ah nothing; um... I'm just a bit hungry," Harry lied hesitantly, noticing that Severus was observing him in clear amusement.
A few minutes later, many students greedily reached for their glasses, gulping down the cool pumpkin juice with devour, and Harry couldn't help giggling, when their heads, one after another, transformed into parrots' heads.
After dinner, Bill and Charlie, who had wisely waited to drink, knowing that their mischievous twin brothers had sent Harry a whole box of strange potions, searched the boy out. "Harry, thanks to your prank we're thirsty. Could you please ask your house elf to bring something to drink for us? We can't go to the kitchen, because on the first night back at Hogwarts we always have to return to the common room immediately after dinner."
"Ah, of course, I'm sorry about that," Harry apologized profoundly and quickly called Teddy, glad when his friend arrived instead of his mother or father. "Hey Teddy, are you feeling better?" he asked concerned, noticing that the small elf looked very pale, his cheeks were feverishly flushed, and he had a runny nose.
"Yes, Teddy is buch better, sorry Master Harry," Teddy replied hoarsely.
"Sorry, Teddy, could you please ask some of the older elves to put something to drink into the common rooms tonight? And then I want you to go back to bed immediately. Come back to me when you're back to full health. Until then I won't call you anymore," he told the small elf in a stern voice that would have made Poppy proud.
"Thanks a lot, Harry," Bill and Charlie said gratefully and quickly left the Great Hall.
Only now did Harry notice that all teachers had remained seated at the head table and had been eagerly observing his conversations with the Weasley brothers and with Teddy.
Harry quickly sat down again, averting his eyes to the floor. 'Oh no, what have I done?' he thought, horrified. 'Are they all angry at me now?' he hesitantly thought to Severus.
'No Harry, I believe they were admiring how well you solved the situation,' Severus replied calmingly, before he gave his colleagues a pointed glare, sneering, "Do you all have to stare at Harry?"
"Yes Severus, if your godson thinks he has to prank hundreds of students when they've just returned to the castle, he has earned himself a multiple glare," Tom replied, smirking.
"Well, young headmaster, it's a pity that Harry isn't sorted yet. I would like to award house points for a prank well done like that," Godric countered, grinning at the boy.
'Thanks Professor Gryffindor,' Harry thought to the man, while the teachers rose from their chairs to retire for the evening.
ハリーと頑固な校長先生
The next few weeks passed uneventfully until Easter, when Neville was allowed to stay at Hogwarts together with Harry over Easter. Minerva was just having a meeting in her office together with Severus Snape, Pomona Sprout, and Filius Flitwick.
Suddenly, Pomona chuckled and whispered to her colleagues, "Listen to the kids, it's too funny."
The two seven-year-olds were playing in the adjacent living room of Minerva's and Harry's quarters.
"Harry, do you think we could go to the kitchen and see if we can get two carrots that we can give to the Easter bunny?" Neville asked hesitantly.
"All right," Harry answered thoughtfully. "Maybe we should get some pumpkin juice for him as well."
"Oh, yes, that's a good idea – he'll certainly be thirsty. Can you call a house elf or do we have to go to the kitchen?" Neville asked eagerly.
"Teddy?" Harry called, slightly flinching in surprise when a house elf popped up directly in front of him, bowing so deeply that his ears slapped over Harry's face.
"Oh sorry, Master Harry, Teddy forgots Teddy no bow. What cans Teddy does for Master Harry and Master Harry's best friend?"
Harry frowned. He didn't like Teddy call him Master, but decided to let it go and ordered two carrots and a glass of pumpkin juice. Both popped up on the table within seconds.
"Where should we put them?" Neville asked as he looked around the mess they had made of Minerva's living room. They had been playing with Harry's train set for hours, and beside the train set there were lots of small toy cars, Lego blocks, Playmobil animals, and other toys littered on the floor.
Harry frowned. "Just next to the Easter baskets Aunt Minerva made with us this morning? They can stay on the table, can't they?" he asked anxiously.
"Oh, I think so. Where else should we put them? Your Uncle Severus said we should clean up, otherwise the Easter bunny won't come, right?"
"Yeah, he said so, but look, we have more pressing things to do. We must make signs for the Easter bunny, so that he'll be able to find the food and pumpkin juice." He ran over into his own room and returned with a bunch of parchments and crayons. "Here, let's make arrows on a few pieces of parchment, from the door over there along the book shelf, and…" He gestured around the room.
"All right," Neville said agreeably and started to draw large arrows before he cut them out. "Hmm, we need spello-tape to attach them, Harry, do you have some?" he then asked, looking around again.
Harry shook his head. "It's all right; give them to me," he answered, taking the arrows from his friend. Then he attached them one after the other to the wall and the book shelf with the Sticking Charm they had learned from Remus last week.
"Wow, cool," Neville said in awe. "I still can't do that spell."
"Well, I practised a bit," Harry replied uncomfortably, blushing at the attention.
"All right, now we only need two signs one over there and another there." Neville thought aloud while pointing where they still needed signs, "and then the Easter Bunny won't be able to miss his food."
In the meantime, Harry had drawn a picture of an Easter bunny and placed it beside his Easter basket. "Here, that's for the Easter bunny too," he said pleased and proudly glanced at the picture.
ハリーと頑固な校長先生
In Minerva's office, the teachers had cast a Silencing Charm around themselves so that the children would not hear their laughter. "Why does the Easter bunny need signs to find food that is placed on the table?" Filius Flitwick asked in apparent amusement.
Minerva groaned as an answer, and Severus replied instead. "Normally, Harry doesn't make a mess; in fact, if Minerva didn't want people to know that he was there, normally people wouldn't be able to tell that Harry lived there just from looking around the living room, except whenever Neville is here. The two of them make such a mess that you can't put a foot into the living room. Harry never plays in his own room; he always wants to be close to Minerva, so the two of them don't either. Anyway, believe me, the Easter bunny does need the signs," he finished his explanation, smirking.
"And Severus told them that the Easter bunny wouldn't come if they didn't clean up, which they didn't. What are we going to do, Severus? Will the Easter bunny come?"
"What's the Easter bunny going to bring them?" Pomona Sprout asked, curiously.
"He'll bring chocolate eggs and hide them, so that they have to search for them," Minerva answered, smiling in anticipation of her son's happy face.
"Maybe you could make him hide the eggs here in your office, leaving a note for them that the room was too untidy to hide eggs?" Pomona suggested.
"Or just leave a message, giving them a deadline to clean up and telling them that the Easter bunny would come once more tomorrow night?" Filius suggested.
Minerva shook her head. "No, but…"
"I know what I'm going to do," Severus interrupted his friend. "As I am the Easter bunny, I will do it like this: I will hide the eggs in the living room and then place a Charm on them so that they will stay invisible until the room is cleaned up to a certain level. Will that be agreeable?"
Everyone agreed to Severus' suggestion, and they adjourned their meeting since it was time to head to the Great Hall for dinner.
ハリーと頑固な校長先生
Pomona and Filius left the office to head for dinner, while Minerva and Severus entered the living room just in time to hear Harry say eagerly, "Neville, we should go to bed straight after dinner, so that the Easter bunny can come early."
"Yeah, that's right," Neville answered, sounding very serious. "The Easter bunny will only come when we're asleep."
Minerva and Severus had to try hard not to laugh at the signs leading through the room. "Now, it's time to go to the Great Hall for dinner," Minerva reminded the excited boys.
"Oh Mummy, look, what we've prepared for the Easter bunny," Harry shouted excitedly. "Do you think he will find the pumpkin juice and the carrots?"
"If he is able to read, then he'll surely find his food," Severus replied, smirking. "However, as I told you, he will only come when you clean up your toys; he won't come to such a messy room."
Harry gave the teacher an anxious smile. 'Oh, dear Easter bunny, please come. See, I'm so tired now, I can't possibly clean up tonight,' he thought, hoping that the Easter bunny might hear him.
ハリーと頑固な校長先生
After dinner, Severus and Poppy accompanied Minerva and the two boys back to Minerva's quarters, knowing that the two boys together were like a hurricane in contrast to the normally quiet boy Harry was when he was alone. "So, I heard something about you were going to bed at seven o'clock?" Minerva asked, glancing at the two boys.
"Um… eh… Ah, but I think I have changed my mind," Harry answered in a small voice. 'It's much too funny when Aunt Poppy and Uncle Severus are here as well, and maybe I can get a small glimpse of the Easter bunny,' Harry thought.
"No, I don't think so," Severus contradicted sternly. "You will take a bath and go to bed now."
"Look, the Easter bunny can come any time after it becomes dark, and it's already getting dark. When he sees that you're still awake, he'll probably go away," Poppy added.
The two boys grudgingly allowed Minerva to take them to the bathroom, while Severus showed Poppy the preparations the boys had made for the Easter bunny. When Harry and Neville were dried up and put to bed, Severus sat between their beds and told them a story about the Easter bunny before Minerva tucked them in, telling them once more they needed to sleep quickly, so that the Easter bunny could come.
Much too excited to sleep, Harry got up every fifteen minutes, making sure that the Easter bunny hadn't come yet. Slightly disappointed he made his way into the living room, where Minerva, Poppy, and Severus were drinking tea. "Aunt Minerva, do you think the Easter bunny likes pumpkin juice? Would it be better to put something else out too?"
"No, sweetheart, I'm sure that he'll like pumpkin juice. Now, go to sleep, Harry," Minerva answered, giving the child a kiss on the forehead.
"All right, but I'll come every fifteen minutes to check if he was here, all right?"
"Okay, sweetie, do that," Poppy replied, chuckling, from her experience knowing that Harry would be fast asleep in ten minutes if not earlier.
Five minutes later, double snoring could be heard from Harry's room, and the three teachers grinned mischievously at each other. Thirty minutes later, Severus stood up and began to hide the chocolate eggs throughout the room, while the two women kept advising him where to put the next one. Finally, Severus placed a Charm on the eggs, so that they would only become visible when the room was cleaned up, while Minerva put a Charm on a small parchment that she put between the boys' two Easter baskets:
Dear Harry and Neville,
This room is too messy and too dangerous for me. I can hurt my legs when I try to move around. But I'll give you another chance, and I'll come back when you've cleaned up the room properly in an adequate time.
The Easter bunny
ハリーと頑固な校長先生
Minerva woke up to a small figure climbing into her bed. "Mummy, it's horrible. The Easter bunny went away because he could get hurt in our mess, and he left a message we should clean up really good and quickly, but how do I know if it's already too late?"
Minerva had to try hard to hide a giggle and pulled the upset boy close. "It's all right, Harry, I'm sure it'll be quickly enough if you start cleaning up immediately. You have to clean up anyway if you want Aunt Poppy and Uncle Severus to come and eat the Easter cake together with us this afternoon."
"Ah, all right," Harry said, slightly consoled, and scrambled out of Minerva's bed to start cleaning the living room. When he was finished, Minerva and Neville were still sleeping. 'They are too lazy, but I'm bored and I'm getting hungry,' Harry thought, deciding to wake Neville up.
Neville was still tired and cranky that Harry had woke him up. "Why did you have to wake me up so early?" he mumbled after Harry, who hurried back into the living room.
"Because the Easter bunny was here!" Harry shouted back, looking in awe at the colourful chocolate eggs, while he ran around the room, trying to find all of them.
ハリーと頑固な校長先生
The next mentionable event was Harry's eighth birthday. Apart from all the Hogwarts teachers, Neville, Bill, Charlie, Ginny and the Weasley twins came over for a huge birthday party in the Great Hall.
After a large breakfast, during which they devoured huge parts of the cake in form of the Hogwarts primary school building, everyone headed out for a Quidditch match of the teachers vs. children. Since the beginning of the summer holidays, Harry had been talking about the game that he wished to take place on his birthday. Happy circling over the Quidditch pitch, he looked for the Snitch. 'I just have to catch it before Uncle Severus does,' he thought, and indeed forty minutes later he managed to catch the golden ball that struggled to escape his grip.
However, the teachers had managed to get so many goals that the game ended 160:160.
"Oh, can we play just one more game?" the children asked immediately, and everyone agreed. This time, Harry feverishly searched for the Snitch and managed to end the game after only twenty minutes with a score 150:60.
Finally, everyone returned back to the Great Hall, so that Harry could unwrap his presents. However, as soon as he picked up a large present that was wrapped in dark blue paper, he was whisked away in the blink of an eye.