[Special] Time for Revenge
Sirius woke up somewhat late the morning after the party.
After all, he had been the one insisting that the students should be allowed to celebrate in the Great Hall. And that meant he had also been the one forced to stay behind and supervise, making sure they didn't get too carried away, under the general agreement of the professors… who had very conveniently gone to bed early and peacefully.
Even so, as headmaster he still had work to do.
Something no one had bothered to tell him when he accepted the position.
A lot of work.
Especially considering the Triwizard Tournament was currently being held… or rather, the tournament of the three schools, because clearly there were far more than three wizards competing.
Every single movement happening on Hogwarts grounds had to go through him. From authorizing the Durmstrang ship and the Beauxbatons carriage to remain on the grounds, to approving requests for joint classes between students from the different schools.
After all, not every professor from the other two academies had been able to come. Durmstrang and Beauxbatons still had to keep functioning even without their headmasters present.
The door to the headmaster's office suddenly opened, making Sirius look up with tired eyes.
Then he snorted slightly in annoyance when he saw who it was.
Selene.
The woman stepped inside and, noticing his reaction, frowned.
"I know you don't like seeing me, and I don't exactly enjoy seeing you either. But technically I'm this school's social assistant now, so you'll have to deal with it. Or you could resign and switch places with Edward. I'm sure working with him as headmaster would be much more interesting," Selene said, her tone full of sarcasm and mockery.
"Look, I'm not even going to respond to anything you just said because I don't have the time. Besides, your husband is even busier than I am. I'd have to be insane to switch jobs with him," Sirius replied irritably, waving a hand dismissively.
"Tsk."
Selene clicked her tongue as she walked over and dropped a parchment in front of him.
"Sign it. It's for a field trip for the first and second years to visit Hogsmeade."
Sirius raised an eyebrow slightly.
"I thought only third-year students were allowed to leave the castle."
Even so, he signed the parchment without much concern.
"That's true. Which is why I said field trip. A lot of the students come from muggle families and don't really know much about magical villages. I want to show them a little more of that world," Selene explained while taking the parchment back and carefully putting it away.
"It'll also help them relax after all the excitement from the tournament and the competitions."
Sirius looked at her more seriously.
"Are you sure this is a good moment? The castle is currently full of foreign visitors… you know."
"It'll be fine. I asked Wanda to come with me," Selene replied calmly.
The moment Sirius heard that name, he relaxed immediately.
"Ah."
"Now get out of my sight," Sirius said, waving his hand dismissively, the usual way their conversations ended.
Selene rolled her eyes at the gesture, though a small amused smile soon appeared on her face. She glanced toward the door, then down at the floor… and finally back at Sirius.
"I'm leaving. By the way, just so you don't start complaining later; since Wanda is going with me, she'll be leaving Harry at the castle. The boys are supposed to look after him, but well… I think he was pretty upset this time about being turned into a baby."
"Wanda turned him into a baby?" Sirius asked with visible amusement.
He looked almost tempted to go see it immediately just to tease the boy a little. But when he glanced at the mountain of paperwork still waiting on his desk, he made an annoyed face.
As if she could read his mind, Selene looked at him from the doorway.
"Oh, don't worry. I'm sure you'll see him very soon."
Then she closed the door behind her.
Sirius raised an eyebrow as he watched her leave.
After that, he simply shook his head and went back to work, signing the last few documents left on the desk before going out to find his diaper-wearing godson.
Something that, honestly, he always found quite entertaining.
Especially since Harry couldn't complain too much in that form.
And that was a small victory for him after the boy had promised revenge.
"Mm?"
One of the portraits of former headmasters suddenly murmured while staring in a certain direction.
"What is it?" another portrait asked.
"I'm not sure… I thought I saw something. But perhaps it was just my imagination," the first one replied before returning his attention to Sirius.
Crack.
A sudden sound made Sirius pause mid-thought.
He turned slightly… and his eyes widened when he saw the enormous coat rack that had been standing there since Dumbledore's time, the one used for Fawkes to rest on, falling directly toward his head.
Sirius jumped to the side just in time to avoid it.
The coat rack slammed into the desk with a heavy thud, scattering several papers.
"What the hell…?"
Sirius stared at the object in confusion.
Why the hell would a simple perch for a phoenix be that heavy?
He stood up from his chair and looked down at the fallen piece of furniture. Then he frowned when he noticed the broken leg.
The wood looked… eaten away.
In fact…
It still seemed to be melting slowly.
Sirius stepped closer and noticed a small vial lying nearby.
"This is…"
Before he could pick it up, another noise caught his attention.
He looked up.
A chandelier had come loose from the ceiling.
And it was falling straight toward him.
Sirius jumped aside just in time to avoid it as the object crashed into the floor in an explosion of metal and shattered glass.
"Why the hell is there a chandelier in the headmaster's office?" Sirius shouted while staring at the mess.
But at the same time a strange sense of déjà vu hit him.
It was exactly like Halloween.
When those little brats had gotten revenge on him for scaring them.
"Oh… no."
Sirius immediately pulled out his wand.
"Those dolls again?"
"Eh, Black. Isn't that a baby over there?" said former Headmaster Dippet from his portrait. from his portrait.
"A baby?"
Sirius turned toward the direction the painting was pointing.
On top of a tall shelf, a baby dressed in a small red dragon outfit was staring directly at him.
In his tiny hand he was holding…
a red wand.
"Harry? How did you get up there?"
Panic crept into Sirius's voice as he hurried toward him.
But before he could reach the shelf, Harry tapped it with his wand.
Every book on the shelf suddenly flew straight toward Sirius.
The wizard started taking hits while continuing to move forward without stopping.
He wasn't worried about the books.
He was worried about Harry.
In that state the boy was far more fragile than usual.
And if he happened to fall…
he could really get hurt.
But when Sirius finally reached the shelf, surrounded by books still smacking into him while he tried to push them away with his hands…
He realized Harry was no longer there.
"Harry… come on, this isn't the time for revenge. You can do that when your body isn't so susceptible to injuries," Sirius said while looking around the office, searching for the baby Potter.
Suddenly, a childish laugh echoed through the room.
Sirius spun around quickly, but there was no one there. The laughter seemed to come from different parts of the office, bouncing between the walls.
"Harry… you're honestly terrifying," Sirius muttered, sounding slightly nervous.
A moment later he felt something bump against his shoe.
He looked down…
and his eyes widened when he recognized the small sphere covered in glowing runes.
Sirius didn't even have time to react.
The sphere exploded.
Luckily it didn't seem to be a real bomb. Instead, it burst into a cloud of green powder that covered both him and much of the office, coating him from head to toe.
Several portraits of former headmasters were splattered by the colored dust as well. Even some of the documents Sirius had worked so hard to sign ended up covered in green paint.
Though, to be fair…
they hadn't been that hard to sign. Sirius usually signed whatever was in front of him without reading too carefully.
"Alright, I surrender, Harry. Can we leave this for later when your mother gives you your normal body back?" Sirius said while looking around, still worried Harry might end up hurting himself.
Suddenly, a nearby cabinet slowly opened, catching his attention.
It was the cabinet where Dumbledore used to keep the Pensieve.
Sirius quickly looked toward it while preparing his wand to grab Harry.
But before he could take a step, something wrapped around his feet.
Sirius crashed to the floor.
Chains.
They had appeared on the ground, probably after the explosion.
Several more spheres rolled toward him.
Then they exploded.
Some released more chains that completely pinned him to the floor. Others burst into new clouds of colored powder that covered him even further.
Within seconds Sirius ended up looking like a walking rainbow…
completely tied to the floor while coughing through clouds of colored dust.
"Harry… cough… I surrender… cough," Sirius shouted.
Meanwhile, Harry was sitting right on top of the Pensieve cabinet, watching him with a tiny smile of revenge on his small face.
He kept dropping more spheres from his hands, pulling them out of a small pouch strapped to his waist.
All while wearing his little red dragon costume.
The same one his mother had made him wear that morning to take an absurd number of pictures.
Harry watched his godfather struggle for a few more seconds…
but decided he still deserved a little extra punishment.
He pulled out his red wand again.
But with his clumsy baby hands, one of the spheres slipped and fell straight into the Pensieve.
Harry tilted his head.
He looked down into the silvery liquid inside the basin.
And paused.
His tiny head moved slightly in curiosity.
Then he pointed his wand.
The Pensieve slowly lifted into the air in front of him.
At the same time, the remaining sphere shot toward Sirius and exploded into another orange cloud that covered him even more.
But Harry wasn't looking at that anymore.
His attention was completely focused on the memory beginning to form inside the Pensieve.
A scene appeared on the silver surface.
There was his father.
James Potter was holding a baby in his arms, completely wrapped in blankets. Behind him stood Lily, lying in bed with an expression of absolute exhaustion.
She seemed deeply asleep.
Perhaps after a truly exhausting childbirth.
The vision seemed to be shown from Sirius's point of view, as he watched the scene in front of him.
"Look, Sirius. He's healthy. He's perfect," James said with a wide, foolish grin.
"Lily is completely exhausted from the delivery. You have no idea how loudly she screamed."
A small growl came from Lily.
Even though her eyes were still closed, she clearly seemed to have heard every word.
That made James immediately lower his voice.
"Lily and I thought you should be the first one to see him… since you'll be his godfather."
"What? Are you crazy? Me?" Sirius said in surprise.
But the happiness in his voice was impossible to hide.
"Of course. Who else?" James replied casually. "It's a bit of a shame for Wormtail and Remus… but we'll have more children later so they can be godfathers too."
"You're insane if you think that," Lily's voice was suddenly heard.
She didn't open her eyes.
But she was clearly listening to the entire conversation.
"Well… only if we end up having more," James said with a smile toward his wife.
"We'll see," Lily murmured before drifting back to sleep.
James looked so happy he couldn't stop smiling while staring at the baby.
"His name is Harry. Harry James Potter," he said proudly as he uncovered the baby's face.
It was the same face Harry had now.
Just much smaller.
Harry watched the memory without blinking, afraid that if he did it might disappear.
"That's a great name," Sirius said softly while waving his hand in front of the newborn's face, trying to get his attention.
The baby could barely open his eyes.
But he managed to open them just a little.
And looked toward Sirius.
"Look, Harry. This is your godfather," James said with a goofy smile. "Sometimes he's a bit of an idiot… but if anything ever happens to me, all you have to do is find him."
James looked at Sirius seriously for a moment.
"Think of him as me in another body. He'll protect you from everything."
"Of course I will," Sirius replied immediately.
"I swear it. Even if I have to give my life."
"Of course he will," James added, looking at his friend with deep respect. "I can guarantee it. He's never left my side."
Sirius smiled faintly.
"If you two keep going like this, the next thing will be the two of you having a baby together," Lily muttered, barely opening her eyes with a teasing expression.
"Of course not. He's not my type," Sirius replied jokingly.
James first looked at his wife with mild reproach…
and then at his friend with annoyance.
"Do you want to hold him?" James asked.
"Of course I do."
James handed him the baby.
Sirius held him with extreme care.
He looked at Harry's face.
Even though it was only a memory… Harry could clearly feel the care and affection with which Sirius was holding him.
"Hello, Harry… hello," Sirius said softly.
The baby could barely keep his eyes open.
The scene slowly changed.
Now Sirius was holding Harry carefully while looking at him with a small smile.
And the memory faded.
Harry kept staring at the Pensieve for a few more seconds.
Even though he was a baby now… something in his chest felt strangely warm.
Harry was still sitting on top of the cabinet, wand in hand, unusually quiet after watching the memory.
Then suddenly…
Two hands appeared beside him.
And grabbed him.
"Got you."
Sirius lifted him up, holding him carefully under the arms, still completely covered in colorful paint.
"You can really tell you've got James's blood running through your veins… that idiot was also an expert at ridiculous revenge," he said with an amused smile.
Sirius looked directly into his face.
He noticed Harry staring right back at him.
"What?"
Harry didn't answer.
He couldn't.
After all… he was still a baby.
So he simply raised his tiny wand.
And fired a shower of colorful sparks straight into Sirius's face.
"Ouch! Hey! Cut that out!"
Sirius jerked his head back while still holding him, trying to avoid the sparks exploding against his face, careful not to drop him by reflex.
But Harry just smiled.
And kept shooting sparks at his face.