I received a record 47 reviews for my last chapter which is 11 more than any previous high number- I should threaten to kill characters more often :D, but I want to thank everyone who reviewed both my constant reviewers who always take the time to review and the new ones who have left me a review recently- Thank You. However with those reviews I was very neglectful to replying to them I think I only thanked about thirty but hopefully I will do them all.
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Chapter Twenty Nine
Anton stared frantically at his Salamander trying desperately to process the thoughts and panic rushing through his mind, the coldness of Pyra was beginning to seep into him and he almost hit himself at his own stupidity. With a mix of anger and fear for his familiar he summoned as much fire as he possibly could, it poured from his body like an immense wave.
The power surged into Pyra through every pore, as much fire as Anton could possibly excel, he could feel the fire swirling around him, his eyes burned red with fury as he deliberated who would have dared to do this.
Slowly, painfully slowly Pyra's scales began to turn a pale yellowy white, it was bad but it was far better than the blue, her eyes didn't open however, she stayed perfectly still in his arms.
Anton didn't know how long he spent kneeling on the floor holding Pyra and channelling fire from his body and into her.
Something rolled along the floor next to him, he almost didn't realise what it was until it was too late, it was roughly the size of a fist and the glass canister was vibrating across the floor.
Anton dived for the fireplace still clutching Pyra, his foot knocked the pot of floo powder into grate and Anton's fire kindled some of the less frozen wood.
'Headmasters office!' he choked out.
The ice bomb exploded just as Anton was flooed away.
--
Anton fell out of the hearth in the Headmasters office still a ball of flame, he doused most of it almost instantly to avoid causing any harm to anything but he kept the flames surging through his hands and into Pyra.
The door of the office burst open and Dumbledore swept inside, he took one look at Anton who was on his knees clasping Pyra with a look of utter vehemence and appeared to understand instantly.
'My quarters,' Anton growled out 'it's filled with ice bombs.'
--
Within five minutes Professor's McGonagall and Snape had been called to Dumbledore's office and had been told what had happened, Anton was understandable furious with what had happened and it was only Pyra's need for his heat that meant he did not immediately set out to find the culprit.
'Anton, would you prefer to remain here while we check on your quarters?' Dumbledore enquired.
Anton shook his head and rose to his feet adjusting his grip on the semi-conscious baby salamander. His eyes were red with fire and strips of fire clung to his hair and clothing which had only partially withstood the extreme temperatures on it, fire proof was one thing but the articles were now covered in burns and holes, Anton stood tall though sparing no time for his appearance.
'I'm coming' he fumed 'I will see whoever did this is punished.'
'Now is not the time to find vengeance,' Dumbledore said smoothly 'we instead need to know exactly what happened.'
'I'm coming Headmaster.'
--
The four teachers went quickly to the third floor and Anton's quarters. Dumbledore spoke the password and the mirror let out a stream of cold air.
'Anton I want you to remain outside,' Dumbledore told him standing in front of the doorway.
'But they're my quarters,' Anton said his voice edged with anger.
'It was not a request,' Dumbledore replied calmly observing Anton carefully behind his half moon glasses 'I still have need of a Defence teacher for the remainder of the term. I have allowed you to come when I would have preferred you to remain in my office but you are not coming inside.'
'Don't worry Lukyen we won't go prying into your cupboards without you,' Snape said dryly.
Anton scowled at Snape and thought of his salamander who was fast asleep in a magical fire in Dumbledore's office, she had been a pale red when Anton had left her and nowhere near her usual colour.
Anton shifted unhappily as the three teachers disappeared inside his quarters, he didn't have to wait long before they remerged their robes crystallised with ice and shivering. They all immediately cast warming spells on themselves.
'So,' Anton said unnecessarily 'did you find any evidence of foul play?'
Snape glared at him and shook the black folds of his robes out shaking some of the ice off.
'We have a serious problem to address,' Dumbledore said his face once more showing uncustomary anger as he ignored the water dripping of his clothes 'a direct attempt was made on the life of one of teacher, someone was allowed to get close enough to cause what could have been a lot of damage.'
'What strikes me as odd,' McGonagall stated 'is that they struck when Anton was not in his lodgings.'
'Whoever did it assumed I would be,' Anton said his anger spiking 'they may have assumed I hadn't left my quarters when the truth is I've been in my office and the Hospital Wing all evening.'
'They were ice bombs,' Snape said carefully 'whoever was responsible knew that Lukyen's an elemental they specifically chose those.'
'That is indeed a grave thought Severus,' Dumbledore agreed his eyes glinting with anger.
'Can we ask the portraits to see if they saw who it was?' Anton enquired irritably tapping his foot.
'No Anton,' Dumbledore shook his head 'we found the remains of a frozen owl near the window you had left open, there was an opened package attached to its leg with an ice bomb still in it, I believe this was how the assailant delivered their message.'
Anton swore softly and tugged without thinking on one of the holes on his robes sleeve that the fire had burnt through, it had been quite a few months since he had last worn clothes in such bad condition. Dumbledore appeared to notice the damage to his clothes because he frowned and said,
'I don't think it will possible for you to regain the use of your quarters for at least a couple of days, they need to be properly cleared of the magical ice, that will take a lot of very powerful spellwork, also there will then need to be spells to get rid of water damage and the rest,'
'This means I'm stuck with the clothes I'm wearing,' Anton grimaced muttering a few reparo's under his breath, 'but I think I left some clothes with Sirius, I'll have to go and get them.'
'Security will have to be tightened Albus,' Professor McGonagall said hastily 'this cannot be allowed to happen again.'
'Quite so Minerva,' Dumbledore nodded his head 'security on all teachers living areas will have to be rechecked and made stronger.'
'Does anyone mind if I spend tonight at the house?' Anton asked not mentioning the name of the house and thinking of how late it now was.
'That would probably be best,' Dumbledore permitted 'we don't know if this person is foolish enough to try again so soon after a failure. And the nights after I'm sure you can spend in the guest quarters until your own are habitable.'
'What shall I do with Pyra?' Anton said anxiously 'I can't take her out the fire now and it would probably be best if she stayed in it for at least the rest of the night.'
'Don't worry Anton,' Dumbledore said 'she'll be quite alright in my office and there are spells to stop the fire spreading, it's not likely she'll wake again.'
'Well if there's nothing more we can do tonight,' Snape said already moving 'I believe I will get back to the potion I was preparing.'
McGonagall gave her own reasons and left moments later, Dumbledore turned to Anton looking grim.
'Rest assured we will find out who did this,' he promised.
'I have no doubt of that headmaster,' Anton affirmed 'they will definitely be held accountable for their actions.'
--
Pyra was curled up in the flames when Anton checked on her, she looked comfortable and when Anton placed his hands into the fire and gently stroked her head she let out a couple of little snorts before going still once more. Anton stood up straight and looked to Dumbledore.
'Do you mind if I come in for second period, I don't have a lesson first?'
'I'm sure we can manage breakfast without you,' Dumbledore granted 'enjoy the time with your godson.'
Anton gave the older man a strained smile before walking into the fireplace and dropping his handful of floo powder.
--
He emerged from the grate in No.12 Grimmauld Place to hear laughter emanating from the kitchen, he walked slowly over to the door and pushed it open, Teddy was standing on a kitchen chair next to the stove with an apron securely tied round him while Sirius stood over him stirring the contents in a silver pot, from the brown substance all over Teddy's face and visible pyjama sleeves he suspected it was chocolate.
As he watched, Sirius dipped a spoon into the mixture and quickly put the contents into his mouth with a cheeky grin in place.
'Um yummy,' his godfather teased.
'No Pa'foot!' Teddy exclaimed with horror 'this is for A'ton!'
'What's for me?' Anton asked smiling.
'A'TON!' Teddy yelled in delight his face shining with excitement 'your back!'
Anton went over and scooped his godson of off the chair and into his arms to screams of delight.
'We're making hot chocolate,' he informed Anton with an expression of seriousness 'but Siwius is eating it all.'
'Is that right,' Anton said bemusedly as he looked over at the marauder who smiled guiltily.
All the anger and stress Anton had been feeling had vanished the second he had entered the room containing two of the most important people to him.
'Yes,' Teddy nodded his head as Anton set him back on the chair 'but I'll forgive him 'cause he let me stay up late, but I had to stay up to say hello, but Siwius said I had to go to bed when you did come.'
'Sirius is very right,' Anton said smiling again 'but I'm sure he'll let you stay up to drink some of this hot chocolate you've spent so long making.'
Teddy beamed.
--
Ten minutes later the three of them were sitting at the kitchen table with Teddy overjoyed with being allowed to stay up, though Anton suspected Mrs Weasley wouldn't approve of the amount of sugar he was drinking before he went to bed.
'So do you know who did it?' Sirius asked curiously.
Anton shook his head frowning 'I have a few suspicions but nothing that can be proved.'
Sirius looked thoughtful for a moment before saying 'you have to be more careful Anton, this isn't a random attack, they know you, how you work, everything.'
Anton stared miserably into his mug before a thought occurred to him,
'Where's Lupin I thought he was spending most of his nights here?'
Sirius smirked 'he's got a date with Tonks.'
'No way!' Anton laughed 'well they're certainly going faster than last time.'
Sirius raised his eyebrows and glanced over at Teddy who was asleep in Anton's lap.
'Will it be odd when there are two of him.'
Anton choked on the hot chocolate he'd just drunk, he coughed loudly and stared at Sirius through streaming eyes.
'You know?'
Sirius looked pleased at having guessed correctly and said 'it wasn't hard, his father was a werewolf and he was a close friend of your fathers hmmm.'
'Teddy didn't know his parents, if Tonks and Lupin do have him again then it will be for all intents and purposes a different child, different experiences, and different DNA, we had to change it.'
'Through the rules of fate we can't say anything,' Sirius recited.
'I think that would be best for now anyway,' Anton murmured 'we still have so much to sort out to prevent the world devolving to evilness.'
'No doubt if we said anything however inadvertently we'd be disciplined,' Sirius deliberated 'maybe when this is over and the future has been changed maybe we'll be able to say then.'
Anton nodded in agreement 'there is nothing I would like more than seeing Teddy get to know his parents.'
--
Anton tucked the covers in around Teddy's now scourgified body, the small boy turned sleepily and rubbed his face with his hand, Anton placed a small kiss by his green hair and looked around the room. It had certainly gained a lot of possessions in the short time Anton had been away, toys and games were everywhere and the nightlight glowed pleasantly illuminating the room.
'I promise Teddy that this time it will be different,' Anton said softly 'no more fighting, you'll get the childhood you truly deserve.'
--
Anton woke to the smells of breakfast the next morning, he was surprised that he had slept so soundly and he trailed down to the kitchen his stomach rumbling.
Lupin was present at the table reading the newspaper, he looked tired but certainly pleased with himself, Teddy was on the chair next to him his face covered in soggy cereal and milk while Sirius was at the old stove flipping pancakes.
'A'ton!' Teddy shouted spilling milk on the table 'I wanted to come and wake you up but Pa'foot and Moony wouldn't let me.'
'I'm very glad they didn't,' Anton smirked dropping into the chair 'because then I would have had to tickle you.'
'Nu uh,' Teddy shook his head grinning broadly.
'Yeh huh,' Anton replied jumping from his chair in a burst of energy and grabbing the squirming five year old who shrieked loudly.
'Hey,' Sirius protested dropping the last pancake onto a large plate 'I made pancakes so sit down.'
Anton reluctantly but Teddy back down and went back to his seat waiting for the breakfast to arrive at the table.
'Dumbledore firecalled,' Sirius told him as he placed the platter in the centre of the table.
Anton looked at him with interest 'what did he say?'
'That you probably won't be able to get back into your rooms until Monday at the earliest.'
Anton scowled 'at least it's Friday, but I had hoped to get some work done over the weekend, but a lot of it was in my living room.'
'You can always stay here,' Sirius offered.
'Thanks but I want to keep an eye on Umbridge she's already given Harry one detention, I'm sure she's already got Fudge drafting an educational decree to stop me doing it again.'
'I know you're probably tired of hearing it,' Lupin said folding the paper up 'but you need to be more careful around ministry workers, they've got a large amount of power and they're desperate to see Dumbledore shamed.'
--
When Anton arrived back at Hogwarts it was already well into first period, he was wearing dark jeans and a black shirt that he'd left at Sirius's house, it was more smart-casual than smart teacher wear but it was all he had at the moment. The second he had stepped out of the fireplace into Dumbledore's office he saw the aged man dropping small bits of meat to Pyra who was still surrounded by fire but was standing up and lunging at the falling snacks with all the joy that a baby salamander could possess.
When she saw Anton she let out a delighted yap and hurled a flame ball at him which he took to be a greeting, her skin was very close to its original fiery red and her eyes were bright, she looked none the worse for having nearly being killed the night before. But every so often she would shake and shiver slightly proving she still wasn't up to true form.
'Anton I trust you are well rested and you enjoyed your time with your Godson?' the headmaster asked.
'Yes it was good to leave the castle last night,' Anton replied 'it helped not being here when I felt so angry.'
Dumbledore nodded gravely as if he had expected this response.
'Kingsley and Tonks are inspecting your quarters, if there are any clues available rest assured that they will be the ones to find them.'
'Thank you, but if you'll excuse me I need to get to me next lesson.'
'Of course, I'm sure Pyra will be pleased to escape my stuffy office.'
Anton smiled 'thank you for looking after her,'
'My pleasure Anton, my pleasure.'
--
Anton found teaching went very quickly that morning though it appeared that information had quickly circulated in Hogwarts because everyone knew that something had happened the previous evening that had something to do with Anton and his quarters but the details were still luckily unknown.
Pyra spent all of his lessons huddled in a magical fire next to his desk sleeping, occasionally she would wake up gaze uninterestedly around the classroom and decide she'd prefer sleep to listening to Anton teach.
That night when Anton entered the Great Hall for dinner he saw a familiar looking Ministry seal attached to a decree which as being stuck to the wall outside, it didn't take long for Anton to discern that it gave permission for Ministry officials to hold detentions for students. Anton couldn't help but feel some apprehension as to what this was opening the doors to.
--
A knock sounded hesitantly at his office door after dinner,
'Come in!' Anton called.
The door opened and Harry stepped in, Anton observed his face as his younger self gazed with interest around his less than conventional office taking in the pillar of wind and the other unusual aspects.
'Hi Harry,' Anton smiled 'come to fulfil your detention.'
Harry pulled a face 'Yes Sir,'
Anton's face went grave, 'Harry you must know we are all in danger here.'
Harry's face looked confused so Anton pressed on.
'The Ministry has spies everywhere and they're all waiting for us to mess up so they can make us pay for it, every single teacher is watching what they are doing, none of us are safe at the moment.'
'But Professor,' Harry said 'I don't understand, I was only telling the truth.'
'It doesn't matter,' Anton replied resignedly 'we know Voldemort's back but the Ministry are refusing to except that, the truth will come out and when it does we won't have to play these stupid games with the Ministry, but until it does we need to keep a low profile. I know that you aren't happy with doing that but by making a stand now you're only going to make things worse for yourself.'
'But Professor!' Harry sounded outrage this time 'why should I have to listen to Umbridge making up lies!'
'Because none of us have any choice,' Anton answered calmly 'we're all at risk, Harry please trust me, drawing further attention to yourself will only led to one great big heap of trouble.'
Harry didn't look happy but he nodded his head,
'Right then, lets get on with the actual detention.' Anton said his tone more upbeat 'I think we'll leave this boring room and go somewhere far more interesting.'
Anton jumped up from his chair and was at the door in seconds 'Come on Harry we have an appointment at the Room of Requirement.'
--
Anton thought it was worth it just to see the expression on Harry's face as he took in the fighting room that Anton had required from the room, it was actually very similar to how it had been when he had run the DA.
'Whoa,' Harry breathed.
Anton smirked 'shall we get started then?'
I couldn't kill her, I like her too much.
Hope you liked it Luv SpikyStar