Clarifications:
-"Person Talking"-
-(Person Thinking)-
-
[Jutsu and Spell]
(JC: Author's Notes)
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Let's get started
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-"I'm lost..."- Harry complained, as he buried his face in the table in his Living Room of his Trunk. -"How the hell am I going to explain it to them?"-
It was just yesterday when the incident with the Troll happened and how Harry's friends saw him do something impossible for any wizard.
Defeating a Troll using his hands and without using a wand...
-"It's official... I'm finishing..."-
Harry complained again. Obviously it would be extremely difficult to explain what happened there. Obviously there was an explanation, but it wouldn't be easy to believe. It's not like he could easily say: -"Hey! I was raised and trained by a person capable of destroying the world, while growing up in a world full of Demons, Angels, Fallen Angels and Gods"- Just by hearing half of it, they would already see Harry as if he were crazy.
And the worst thing is that if they really believed him, Harry didn't know if they would be able to keep the secret or quickly divulge it. The last thing he wants is for them to see him and his family as some kind of Gods or monsters.
Then Harry let out a sigh. -"I need to find a way to fix this..."-
Then suddenly Harry had an idea. So to speak, his friends already knew that he was keeping a secret; he could confirm that, but he wouldn't tell them until they could trust him. And he knew how to find out.
That plan involved his adoptive father. Harry knew that his father has the ability to read anyone like an open book; he would ask him to judge his friends and decide whether he should tell them or not. Although it would be very awkward if he couldn't tell them in the end; Harry honestly hoped that wouldn't happen.
Sighing and with a plan in mind, Harry decided to get out of his Trunk to go to breakfast.
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After leaving his room, Harry was already in the Slytherin Common Room, with a few more steps to go to the exit.
Like every morning, the students of the older years of Slytherin looked at Harry with hatred and disgust; as if his mere presence was annoying.
Harry rolled his eyes at that. Even with all the time he has been in the House and the points he earned, he is still an outcast in the Slytherin House. They hated him so much that they have frequently tried to break into his room and attack him behind his back, but they always failed in the attempt.
One of those people was the annoying Draco Malfoy, who on the first day proclaimed himself the leader of the Slytherins. The boy did not think twice before trying to make Harry look ridiculous, even if it meant hexing him behind his back and as always, failing miserably.
-(I still wonder why I decided to enter this house...)-
Harry let out an annoyed sigh just as he was about to leave the Common Room.
His walk stopped dead when something caught his attention. That something was three sixth-year Slytherins surrounding and bothering a first-year Slytherin, who was none other than Blaise Zabini.
Harry raised an eyebrow as he listened to the group in silence.
-"Look, he's just the son of the Black Widow."-
One of the older students mocked.
-"Hey, kid, is your mother as beautiful as they say?"- another older student asked Blaise, putting on a mocking smile. -"Because it must be worth dying just for her to spread your legs for you."-
-"She sure won't even do that."- The third said with a smile. -"Before that, you'll be possessed by a Love Potion and the next day you'll be dead."-
-"Ah, that's right. That Black Widow always does the same thing with every man she meets."-
-"Not before taking all his money."-
Before Harry looked on, the older students laughed while Blaise looked down, completely silent, clenching his hands into fists.
-"I still don't understand how the son of a murderer like you is allowed to attend Hogwarts."-
-"Surely his mother paid for his entrance with the money of her 'mysteriously' dead husbands."-
-"Yeah, how else would they admit a possible murderer?"-
Harry frowned as he watched the older students sneer for a long time while Blaise just stood there in silence.
He knew what the older students were talking about. One of his big jobs before entering Hogwarts was to research and study the policies and Magical Houses of the British Ministry of Magic; and one of the other Houses that caught his curiosity was the House of Zabini.
Although not part of the Holy Twenty-Eight, the House of Zabini was famous for its wealth and its connections with the magical government of Italy. All Harry knew about the House of Zabini was that not long ago they moved from Italy to England, for a reason that he was completely unaware of.
He also knew of the current leader of the House of Zabini: Biana Zabini or also nicknamed the Black Widow, because she was married seven times, and although all her husbands were healthy for a while, they later died in strange circumstances, leaving her with a lot of money.
They were rumors, but Harry did not know if she killed them or not.
Harry focused again on the scene, where it seemed the older students were already leaving.
-"Let's go, I'm tired of him"-
-"Yes. Let's go before they kill us and steal our money"-
And with that word, the three older students walked away laughing, leaving a silent Blaise.
-"Idiots..."-
Blaise muttered under his breath after the older students walked away a considerable distance.
-"It must be difficult, right?"-
When Blaise turned his gaze to the voice, he could see Harry approaching him.
-"What do you want, Potter?"- Blaise asked with a growl. -"Are you going to make fun of me too?"-
-"Never..."- Harry said calmly. -"I would never make fun of someone for their family background"-
-"So what do you want?"-
Blaise asked angrily as he sat down on one of the Common Room's armchairs.
-"I want to talk..."- Harry said, sitting in front of Blaise on another armchair. -"I saw how they treated you earlier; that was very rude to talk about you and your mother like that"-
-"Oh yeah? Well, it's not your problem, Potter, but..."- Blaise looked at Harry with a raised eyebrow. -"I'm surprised you're not making fun of me like the others"-
-"As I said before: I would never make fun of that kind of subject and much less let myself be carried away by rumors, which can be as false as true"- Harry said. -"That's why I always believe in the pure truth."-
-"Well, you're right..."- Blaise muttered. -"All that nonsense is false."-
-"So your mother didn't kill her husbands for their money?"-
-"Exactly!"- Blaise said with a growl. -"She would never kill for that reason..."-
-(She wouldn't kill for that reason...?)-
Harry thought, analyzing Blaise's words. Thanks to his Ninja training, just by seeing Blaise's behavior and expressions, he could conclude that he was telling the truth; but by mistake he also confessed something...
His mother didn't kill them for the money...
But she did kill them...
-"I see..."- Harry said calmly. -"It wasn't like that for the money..."-
-"Yes! She-"-
-"But she did kill them"-
Seriously, Harry interrupted him, leaving Blaise silent and surprised.
Blaise was in shock. -"Wh-What?"-
-"You said it yourself: 'She wouldn't kill for that reason'"- Harry repeated Blaise's words seriously. -"She didn't do it for the money, but she did kill them, didn't she?"-
Blaise didn't answer, he just stayed quiet and that's all Harry needed to know he was right.
Seeing that the conversation was getting to a more personal topic, Harry decided to create some privacy. He then raised his wand and cast a Charm.
-"[Muffliato]"-
Blaise looked at everything. Although he didn't know the spell, he still looked at Harry suspiciously.
-"What did you do?"-
Blaise asked with his eyes narrowed.
-"Relax, it's a spell to create an unidentifiable ringing in the ears of anyone who tries to listen to our conversation"- Harry explained, as he put his wand away. -"So you can talk to me with confidence about your mother"-
Blaise scoffed. -"And why would I talk about that with you?"-
-"Because I know how you feel"-
Blaise growled. -"No, you don't!"-
-"Yes I do"- Harry said. -"After all, the people who raised me are Ninjas."-
-"Ninjas?"- Blaise looked at him confused. -"Like the mercenaries of Japan?"-
-"Something like that; only they only accept jobs that strictly do not involve harming or killing innocents."- Harry explained calmly. -"But I'm not going to lie to you, they have killed before."-
He said that without being bothered by the fact that his adoptive parents killed people. He knew that those people were unpleasant beings who did or tried to do horrible things to innocent people.
Hearing that, Blaise became serious. -"And why are you telling me this?"-
-"Because your mother killed those men for a reason, right?"-
Blaise sighed, then nodded seriously. -"Yes... Because it was her job to eliminate them..."-
Harry looked at him curiously. -"Her job?"-
And then Blaise began to tell the true story.
The story explained that the House of Zabini, in their time in Italy, was not a normal Magical House, but a House of assassins who worked directly for the Italian magical government to eliminate dangerous criminals. And after a few years, the Italian Ministry of Magic noticed many Italian criminals moving to England easily due to corruption, and there were even some who joined the Dark Lord Voldemort. So the Ministry decided to send a branch of the House of Zabini to England to take care of the criminals.
That branch was composed only at first by Blaise's maternal grandparents, to later leave their only daughter in charge: Biana Zabini.
Like all professional assassins, they had many ways to do their jobs; from investigations, deception, blackmail and seduction. Biana Zabini took advantage of her great beauty to take charge of seducing male criminals, and then killing them.
But what she never expected was for those men to fall completely in love with her enough to ask her to marry them and leave all their property in her name if they died.
She had a job to do anyway; so she had to kill them no matter how it ended.
Harry listened to the whole story in shock and not detecting any lies. None of that information was in his research, but it was to be expected after not having bothered to investigate foreign Magical Houses.
-"I see"- Harry said, after the end of the story. -"Now it all makes sense"-
-"Yes. Maybe she killed them, but those men had committed many horrible crimes in Italy and even England; they deserved it"-
-"I would like to deny it, but you are right"- Harry let out a sigh. -"Even my father would do the same"-
Harry knew that his adoptive father preferred many more options than murder, but if it was necessary to get a horrible person off the face of the earth, he would not last.
-"So House Zabini is a House of assassins," Harry said. -"I would never have expected that."-
-"According to my mother, our ancestors were assassins who worked for the Italian government long before it became a Wizarding House. It was many years later that House Zabini was founded,"- Blaise explained. -"Since then, every member of the family has to be trained to be an assassin; even I am undergoing that training."-
Then an awkward silence completely invaded the room, which was broken by Blaise a few seconds later.
-"Well, now you know"- Blaise let out a sigh. -"What are you going to do with the information?"-
-"Nothing"-
Harry answered bluntly.
-"Wh-What?"- Blaise was surprised. -"Aren't you going to tell everyone?"-
-"Why should I do that?"- Harry remained calm. -"It would be very rude of me to do so"-
-"So why did you do all this?"-
-"You seemed upset by those idiots' insults"- Harry explained. -"I just wanted to help you with this conversation"-
Blaise looked at him confused. -"Help me...?"-
-"Yes"- Harry answered with a smile. -"I bet you feel better now after this conversation"-
-"Honestly... I feel better"- Blaise said. The truth felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. -"I've never told anyone about this."-
-"See, you must have been keeping that secret for too long."-
-"Honestly, I shouldn't have told you any of this."- Blaise said, then shivered. -"If my mother finds out, I'll be dead."-
-"Why don't you tell everyone?"- Harry asked. -"Maybe they'll look at you differently."-
-"Easy for you to say. You understand me because you're in the same situation, but it won't be the same for others."- Blaise sighed. -"It doesn't matter what the intentions or motives were; for some, a murderer will always be a murderer."-
Harry agreed with that. Taking someone's life was one of the worst atrocities that could exist; life was sacred and too valuable to be replaced. No one has the right to take another's life. Harry also knew that his father would feel the same way, knowing that he himself had killed people. And although those people were horrible and heartless beings, he knew that his father always felt guilty for his actions.
But he knew that those actions were sometimes necessary. As he once said: -"Sometimes we have to do the wrong things, for the right reasons."-
-"Same here, I know what other people think, no one seems to like me."-
Blaise lowered his head sadly.
-"What are you talking about?"- Harry smiled at him. -"I like you."-
Blaise was surprised. -"Really?"-
-"Yes."- Harry replied with a smile. -"With the little time we were talking, I could see that you are a good person and very nice."-
-"Even if I am part of a family of assassins?"- Blaise asked with a raised eyebrow. -"And I'm trained to be one?"-
-"The family that raised me are Ninjas"- Harry answered with a shrug and a soft smile. -"I was also trained to be one; we're literally in the same situation"-
-"So..."- Blaise became uncomfortable and embarrassed. -"Are we... Uh... Friends?"-
The truth is that he had never had a friend. No child had approached him due to fear of rumors and no Magical House wanted to be associated with the Zabini House due to the same situation.
-"I don't know"- Harry then smiled at him. -"Do you want to be my friend?"-
-"Well, I..."- Blaise then became embarrassed. -"I never had a friend"-
-"Well, let's not talk about it anymore!"- Harry said with a smile, grabbing Blaise with a shoulder hug. -"From now on you and I will be friends"-
-"R-Really?"-
-"Yep"- Harry said with a smile. -"And as my friend, I invite you to have breakfast with me and the others."-
-"Is that okay?"- Blaise asked nervously. -"W-What if they don't like me?"-
-"Relax, they will like you."-
Harry smiled at them, then undid the spell he put on and dragged Blaise towards the exit of the Common Room, heading straight to breakfast in the Great Hall.
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...
When the Slytherin duo arrived at the Great Hall, Harry quickly dragged Blaise to the Ravenclaw table, where his friends were gathered.
Seeing Harry approaching, the group was about to greet him, but they fell silent when they noticed Blaise standing next to him. The group gave Harry questioning glances, while Blaise was nervous from the silence and stares.
-"Blaise will be joining us today, since he is now my new friend."- Harry said as he sat down at the table with Blaise. -"I hope they treat him well."-
In an instant, silence enveloped the group. Everyone was waiting for Blaise to say something, but he was too nervous to say anything. Then Harry had to nudge him to cheer him up.
-"I... Er... Nice to meet you, I'm Blaise Zabini..."-
Blaise greeted nervously as he raised his hand in greeting.
Seeing his friends silent, Harry gave them a look that clearly said "Don't stay silent and say hello."
-"Er, nice to meet you Blaise, I'm Neville Longbottom"-
Neville greeted with a nervous smile.
-"I'm Hermione Granger"-
Hermione greeted him with a friendly smile.
-"I'm Susan Bones, nice to meet you"-
Susan smiled at Blaise.
-"And I'm Hannah Abbott"-
Hannah smiled at him too.
-"I'm Tracey Davis"-
Tracey greeted in a friendly manner.
-"Daphne Greengrass"-
Daphne said coldly, being the only one who looked at Blaise with distrust.
Blaise was still nervous, and the look Daphne was giving him didn't help.
-"Well, since you know each other, let's start having breakfast"-
Harry said, putting on a tense smile, wanting to break the tension in the environment.
They slowly began to eat breakfast, the atmosphere still awkward and tense. Wanting to break this, Harry started to strike up a conversation with everyone. As the conversation went on, the tension and awkwardness slowly decreased, with everyone talking to each other about trivial things. Even Blaise began to feel part of the group.
Harry smiled slyly at the result. Not only had he broken the tension, but he was also able to distract the group from asking about what happened with the Troll yesterday.
-"Uh... Harry?"-
Susan suddenly asked.
Harry answered absentmindedly. -"Yes Susan?"-
-"Er... Can you explain to us what happened with the Troll yesterday?"-
-(Shit...)-
Harry cursed with wide eyes, receiving questioning looks from the group, but only one was surprised.
-"Are the rumors true?"- Blaise asked surprised. -"You defeated a troll?"-
-"Oh, please!"- Harry was shocked and angry. -"How do rumors travel so fast!? That happened yesterday!"-
Harry is sure he will never understand the "Hogwarts Rumor Network".
-"Believe it or not, Harry, everyone already knows about the accident"- Hermione said, then began to tell what she heard in the Ravenclaw Common Room. -"I heard some Ravenclaws talking and analyzing how you were able to defeat a troll"-
-"The Gryffindors were talking about it all morning in our Common Room"- Neville added. -"Many say it's incredible and that you should have ended up in Gryffindor, and others, like Ron Weasley, say it's all a lie and that you're just a fame seeker"-
Harry rolled his eyes at that. The last thing he wants is to seek attention.
-"Hufflepuff was talking about it too"-
Hannah added, joining the conversation.
-"Yeah"- Susan nodded. -"But they were more worried about how those rumors would affect them"-
-"It's the same in Slytherin, but they split into two factions because of their different opinions"- Tracey said, then began to explain. -"The older years don't believe those rumors at all, saying things like: 'No half-blood would be able to do that' or 'Only Purebloods are able to defeat a Troll' and things like that"-
-"But for the younger years it's different"- Daphne said. -"Whether they believe it or not, they've started to think better things about you and have started to recognize you as a Slytherin. Malfoy doesn't like that at all; he thinks he's losing the power of the Slytherin House"- Then Daphne smiled mockingly. -"As if I have it"-
Harry hearing that, turned his gaze to the Slytherin table and saw Malfoy red with fury as he looked at a group of 2nd year Slytherin students talking to each other; surely talking about the rumor.
-"And what do the rumors say exactly?"-
Harry asked, after looking away from the Slytherin table.
-"They vary"- Blaise answered. -"From when you defeated the Troll by yourself, to where they say you tamed it and took it to your magical realm in another dimension"-
Harry just looked at him with a confused and surprised blink.
-(Although it's not impossible for that to happen either...)-
Harry thought that after analyzing it. He was sure that his adoptive father would be able to do that.
Leaving that aside, he had explanations to give.
-"Listen"- Harry began. -"I'd like to tell you what happened yesterday, but I couldn't; not for now"-
Tracey looked at him curiously. -"Is bullying something so important?"-
-"Very important"- Harry said. -"It's not something so simple to tell just anyone"-
-"Don't you trust us, Harry?"-
Hermione asked with a frown, but Harry could see a gleam of sadness in her eyes.
-"No, I trust you"- Harry said, then sighed. -"The thing is that it's a delicate subject that also involves my family"-
-"When you refer to your family..."- Susan began curiously. -"Are you talking about your adoptive family?"-
-"Yes"- Harry nodded. -"I can't talk about that subject, not without my parents' permission"-
-"And is there a way to get that permission?"-
Neville's question caused Harry to smile. -"And that's what I wanted to tell you. My family will come to Hogwarts for the first Quidditch match. My father will decide if you are trustworthy enough to know the truth"-
Tracey worried. -"And do you think he considers us trustworthy?"-
-"Of course"- Harry said with a smile. -"If I trust you, he will too"-
Daphne looked at him with a raised eyebrow. -"And if not?"-
-"Eh, he will surely erase your memories of everything related to the Troll incident and you will never be able to remember anything related"-
Harry's calm answer caused the group to remain silent and even pale.
Hannah looked at him surprised. -"It's a joke, right?"-
-"Ehh... Nope!"-
Harry laughed after answering.
The group could only look at him and shake their heads at his attitude. Afterwards they just went back to breakfast and started talking about different topics.
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...
It had been a week since Blaise joined the group and Harry explained the situation regarding the Troll accident on Halloween. In just that time, Blaise has already become comfortable with the others and is already considered one of the group.
Harry yawned as he entered the Slytherin Common Room; a little later than usual as he continued with his training routine. But suddenly, all the tiredness disappeared from his body as he witnessed a strange scene in the common room.
Many students were piled up, whether they were from the lower or upper years; something very rare at this time of the morning. They were all grumbling and grumbling angrily, but that wasn't what was strange.
But all of those students were covered in bright pink paint…
Harry also noticed Snape yelling and scolding an embarrassed Gemma Farley, the current Slytherin Prefect, who was also covered in paint.
He could only blink at the strange scene. -(What the hell happened?)-
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...
-"I swear I'll make the guy who did that suffer"-
Blaise said that with a very, very angry growl.
-"If you hadn't gotten up early, that wouldn't have happened to you"-
Tracey said that, still finding it funny to remember Blaise covered in bright pink paint.
Blaise just growled again upon hearing that. Just this morning he woke up earlier than usual to go out to do his assassin training and unfortunately he was a victim of that incident.
Currently the group of wizard friends were having breakfast at the Hufflepuff table. And everyone already found out about the incident in the Slytherin Common Room. Apparently, someone placed a paint bomb at the entrance of the Slytherin Common Room, which quickly went off when the first students came out.
-"I still don't understand what happened"-
Hannah said, still thinking about the situation that the Slytherins of the group told them.
-"It was a joke; that's what happened"-
What Harry said caught the attention of the whole group.
-"How do you know?"-
Hermione's question caused Harry to smile.
-"I can recognize a joke anywhere"- Harry said proudly. -"Even I've made jokes"-
-"So you know how to make jokes?"-
Blaise's question also came with a look at Harry with narrowed eyes, believing that he was the one who made the joke.
-"Hey, before you blame me, it wasn't me, I swear"- Harry declared. -"If it had been me, it would have been a more elaborate prank; instead of pink paint I would have used a paint that changes color constantly and that wouldn't be so easy to remove, even with magic"-
Harry smiled evilly just imagining making those pranks. For some reason, the group felt a chill when looking at that smile.
What he and the others didn't know, is that in another world where the Supernatural existed, on an island where Ninjas live, there was a particular father who felt proud for some reason.
-"Now that we talk about it"- Susan said, causing the group to look at her. -"I think they played a prank on us too"-
-"Yes. Someone put itchy powder on the furniture in our Common Room"- Hannah explained. -"Everyone who sat on it ended up falling. Susan and I were saved, but there were still a lot of people scratching their butts that day"-
Hannah smiled for a moment remembering that. Even though it was her House, she couldn't help but find it funny.
-"Now that I think about it,"- Hermione had now spoken. -"Strange things happened in the Ravenclaw Common Room, too."-
Daphne looked at her, confused. -"Strange?"-
-"Yes. There was one time when many books in our personal library were vandalized"- Hermione said angrily. -"Whenever there was a book, a stinking gas came out of it"-
Hermione was not only angry about what they did with the books, but because she was one of the secret victims.
-"Obviously those pranksters were or were the same people"-
Harry said after analyzing the facts.
-"But who?"- Blaise asked. -"Who would be able to play pranks on three different houses?"-
-"I think I know who they are..."-
Neville spoke after thinking about it for a while.
Harry became interested. -"Who?"-
-"It was the Weasley twins: George and Fred Weasley"- Neville said. -"They are known pranksters; at least they are in Gryffindor"-
Then Neville turned his gaze to the Gryffindor table, or more specifically to two people. When the group also turned their gaze to the same place, the first thing they saw was two red-haired boys very identical to each other.
Just by seeing the mischievous smiles of the red-haired twins, the group quickly concluded that they were the pranksters.
-"Well, although it is the first time I see them, it is very noticeable that that duo are pranksters"-
Hannah gave her opinion on the prankster twins.
-"I have a doubt"- Hermione said, while looking at the twins. -"Who is George and who is Fred?"-
Clearly she was not the only one who had that doubt.
-"I, um..."- Neville let out a sigh, after having thought about it. -"I honestly don't know"-
For him, and for many, it was difficult to tell the twins apart and even more so when they purposely exchange their names just to confuse them more.
-"That doesn't matter"- Blaise said. -"What matters now is how to get revenge on those two."-
He was still angry about the prank this morning.
-"I would recommend you not to do it."- Neville advised. -"Those two are very well known for their pranks and those who have tried to get revenge have had to suffer even worse pranks."-
-"Are they that good pranksters?"-
Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow.
-"Very good indeed. I know because all of us first years in Gryffindor are their guinea pigs for their pranks..."- Neville suddenly blushed in embarrassment. -"One time they left a bunch of custards in the Common Room and told us all that we were free to eat whatever we wanted. I ate one thinking it was normal, but when I ate it it made me talk like a canary for an entire hour!"-
The group was shocked to hear that. Now that sounded like a very good joke.
-"Well, that's not right."- Susan opined. -"But it doesn't sound so bad"-
-"But that's not the bad part"- Neville shivered. -"The twins later told me that that prank had failed, they told me that I should have turned into a canary!"-
Although he was embarrassed by that prank, he was grateful that it had failed.
-"Eh..."- Blaise was surprised to hear Neville's story. -"Then I'll have to think of a good plan"-
Tracey smiled. -"Yes, unless you want to become a canary"-
-"You can rest easy Blaise"- Harry said with a smile. -"I'll take care of it"-
-"Are you sure, Harry?"-
Hermione asked worried that her friend was also a victim of the redheads' pranks.
-"Very sure"- Harry said confidently. -"Those two dared to play a prank on my friends, that will cost them an even worse prank"-
Tracey looked at him curiously. -"And do you have a good joke to play on them?"-
-"I have some ideas..."-
Harry admitted to them, while slowly an evil smile formed on his face.
-"For some reason, I feel sorry for those two"-
Daphne opined with a shiver at seeing Harry's smile.
-"Yeah..."-
Blaise also agreed sanely like the others.
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...
The next day, everything was a normal day of classes; well, almost normal. The strange thing about the day was the attitude of a particular wizard from Slytherin.
Harry, from morning until now, has been different; only very few, like his friends, were able to notice it.
That different state was the small and undetectable smile that seemed to never disappear from his face. To some it seemed like a normal smile, but the group of friends could feel the malice in that smile; that alone made them shiver. Not even in class Harry stopped smiling, making the teachers confused and even afraid to feel a bit of evil in that smile.
Now currently, at dinner, with the group of friends sitting at the Hufflepuff table; something strange, since they rotated every day, they were supposed to sit at the Gryffindor table today, but Harry, who at that moment widened his smile, stopped them and asked them to sit at the Hufflepuff table.
They asked the reason, but he did not answer them and only pushed them to the certain table.
Since then, Harry has been quiet, it was not until halfway through dinner that he suddenly raised his hand with three fingers extended, only to then start counting.
-"In three... Two... One..."-
Suddenly the noise and shouts came from a particular table.
-"What!?"-
-"What's going on!?"-
The group, along with the rest of the student and faculty, turned their gazes to the said table, being the Gryffindor table. There, the students were moving away from a particular spot on the table; or rather, they were moving away from two particular redheads.
The redheads in just a matter of seconds began to inflate, and then the two ended up like giant balloons that began to float. And they would continue to rise if it weren't for the ropes that literally magically appeared and stopped them in mid-air. And the last thing everyone witnessed was how the Weasley twins lit up in numerous lights, as if they were Christmas lights.
The students looked at everything in silence and the teachers looked on in shock.
Until what...
-"What-?"-
One of the twins spoke, but quickly shut up upon noticing something.
His voice was ridiculously and hilariously high-pitched!
And that unleashed chaos...
-"Pfft-!"-
-"Hahahahahaha-!"-
-"Hahahahahaha-!"-
-"Hahahahahaha-!"-
Each and every student laughed uncontrollably as they looked and pointed at the twins.
While the teachers were still in shock and others were calling for calm and silence, including Professors McGonagall and Snape.
But there was one group of students in particular who weren't laughing, but instead were staring at the possible cause of that prank.
-"Harry"- Neville began slowly. -"Did you...?"-
-"Were you the one who did that...?"-
Hermione finished for him in the same way.
-"Yep!"-
Harry answered them cheekily, then let out an almost evil chuckle.
It was easy for him to make the joke and then he had to put it in the twins' food, timing it well so that the effect would happen halfway through dinner.
To do the final step, he needed to get into the kitchen and alter the food. It was easy to find; the kitchen was located directly below the Great Hall, down the stairs that lead to the Hufflepuff Basement, there was a corridor where there was a painting of a bowl of fruit, which was actually the entrance to the kitchen and to get in you need to tickle the pear, then it will squirm, laugh and then transform into a green doorknob, thus revealing the entrance.
Harry knew, thanks to his Senseis, that the Hogwarts kitchen was run by House Elves. And that worried him, since he didn't know if the Elves would allow him to alter the twins' food.
But it was a pleasant surprise when the Elves knelt before him upon noticing his presence, while calling him by various nicknames such as: Messiah of Magic or Blessed by Magic.
Harry at that moment wanted to ask the reason for that, but he put it aside. There was a joke to be made.
It was also a surprise when the Elves offered to help him by putting the altered food directly for the twins, without even asking if it posed a danger to the students or not.
Harry didn't know whether to worry about that last one...
But the good thing is that everything went well.
While Harry remembered how he made the joke, his group just looked at him in shock.
-"Wow..."-
Susan murmured in surprise.
-"You're amazing, Harry!"-
Neville looked at his friend in admiration.
Hermione remained silent and didn't know what to think. On one hand she wanted to scold Harry for making that joke, and on the other she found it all a little funny and was a little grateful to him for teaching the twins a lesson.
In short, Hermione was in conflict with herself.
-(Uff~, Harry is becoming a bad influence on me)-
Hermione snorted in annoyance, but couldn't help a small smile from forming on her face.
-"Remind me never to prank you..."-
Hannah commented with a shiver.
-"You weren't lying"- Blaise looked at him in surprise. -"You sure are good at pranks..."-
-"And evil at the same time..."-
Tracey added in surprise.
-"Yes..."-
Daphne agreed and for some reason, looked with a blush at Harry, who continued to laugh evilly.
While they were having their conversation, the Weasley twins were having theirs, which was heard by everyone because it was sharp.
-"Brother, it seems we have a rival"-
One commented, giving a smile to his brother.
-"Yes, and a very good one"-
Even though they wouldn't admit it, they thought the joke was very good and very funny. Not forgetting to add that it was giving them ideas for future jokes.
-"And this new joker dared to play a joke on us..."- One of them put on a big mischievous smile. -"Do you know what that means, brother?"-
-"Oh yes!"-
The other twin smiled back at his brother.
The next thing the twins would say would completely silence all the students, make the teachers pale as ghosts, and make Harry smile maliciously.
-""Prank War!""-
...
.....
....
...
A week... A week passed since the most infamous and terrible thing happened at Hogwarts school. So bad that it made the lives of the students, as well as the teachers, a living hell.
Something that the teachers have prayed for a long time that would never happen, but apparently, none of that seemed to work, since the Prank War had begun...
The Infamous Weasley Twins Vs The Mysterious Pranksters. Many will think that none of this would affect the rest of the students, like the teachers; but they are wrong.
The Weasley twins, not knowing who or who the mysterious pranksters were, had no other option but to play merciless pranks on the 4 Hogwarts Houses. Throughout the week there was chaos in all four houses, whether it was paint bombs, stink bombs, magically altered sweets and many other pranks that would traumatize many students, as well as teachers; who had to clean up the mess of each prank.
While the Mystery Prankster, that is Harry, only targeted the twins. Every time they pulled a prank, Harry would return it twice as badly, but that did not stop the twins.
Harry also included his only baron friends in the Prank War: Neville and oh Blaise. At first they refused, but after much insistence, they agreed. And each one contributed greatly in the creation of the pranks.
Thanks to Neville and his great knowledge in Herbology, many magical plants were used with perfect effects for pranks. One of the funniest pranks included a small carnivorous plant, which grew in the twins' breakfast and began to bite them all over the face.
And Blaise contributed a lot thanks to his training as an assassin. It was easy for him to sneak in to listen to the password to the Gryffindor Common Room, then sneak in at night and prank the twins while they were sleeping.
From then on, Gryffindor House had to change the password daily.
Pranking also helped Neville and Blaise emotionally. Blaise slowly began to open up to others and Neville finally began to have that much-needed trust.
And so the week at Hogwarts went; some enjoyed it and others hated it with all their being, and no one honestly knew if this Prank War was going to continue for another week.
But there was a group of girls who were already tired of these pranks and wanted it to stop.
And that brings us to Sunday lunch at the Ravenclaw table…
-"Guys, please stop this stupid war"-
Hermione asked, or rather pleaded with her baron friends.
-"Yes"- Hannah said. -"This is already a torture for all of us"-
Susan agreed. -"If they keep this up, Hogwarts will be destroyed or the teachers will get a stress attack"-
Then the group turned their gaze to the staff table. The teachers were tired and exhausted; it was noticeable that they had a very, very difficult week.
-"I'm sorry girls, but this war won't end until some of the two sides surrender and I don't plan on giving up"- Harry said seriously, not wanting to end the Prank War. -"That would hurt my pride as a prankster"-
Returning to the Ninja Island in another world, the same father from before felt proud again for some reason.
-"Yes"- Neville said. -"Besides, they were the ones who started it"-
Blaise agreed. -"We won't finish until those two redheads give up."-
-"And is there a way to change his mind?"-
Daphne asked tired and angry of these jokes.
-"""No!"""-
The boys shook their heads with their arms crossed.
Then Tracey, who was sitting next to Harry, suddenly grabs his hands in hers and she gave him one of her best cute looks.
-"Harry, please, these pranks are annoying us all"- Tracey said tenderly. -"Can you stop it, for me?"-
Harry's eyes widened comically as he blushed slightly.
-"O-O-okay"- Harry said embarrassed and nervous. -"I'll stop the war"-
-"What!?"-
Neville and Blaise screamed in surprise upon hearing that.
Back to Ninja Island again; the father from before felt that there was another poor fool who fell for the infamous trick known as "puppy dog eyes".
-"So will you give up?"-
Tracey asked as she and the other girls smiled.
-"No, but we'll end it another way even better"- Harry said with a smile, then looked at the boys. -"Guys, come on, I have a plan."-
She then walked away with the boys, to leave the Great Hall.
-"What's planned?"-
Susan asked, curious about what Harry was planning.
-"I don't know," Hannah said. -"But if that ends the joke war, that's fine by me!"-
-"By the way, Tracey."- Hermione looked curiously at the aforementioned, and she wasn't the only one. -"What did you do to make Harry agree?"-
-"It's a trick my mom always uses on my dad to make him do what she wants,"- Tracey explained. -"My mom says it's a trick women use on men when they're in their stubborn moments."-
-"Sounds like it's a very useful trick,"-
Daphne opined at the useful trick.
-"Yeah,"- Hermione said. -"Maybe we should all learn them; boys always have their stubborn moments."-
Tracey smiled. -"Sounds like a good idea"-
Meanwhile, the boys for some reason felt that their lives were going to get more complicated than before.
...
.....
....
...
The Weasley twins: Fred and George Weasley, headed to their table for dinner while looking around alert for any possible pranks.
When dinner appeared, the twins took a good look at it, since the mystery pranksters also liked to alter their meals, but what they saw was a kind of note for each one.
They wasted no time and read the note.
It's time to end this war. Let's meet in the kitchen at night after curfew.
Signed: The Mystery Pranksters
After finishing reading the short note, the twins looked at each other.
-"Do you think it's a trap?"-
Fred asked his brother, or was it George? The truth is, no one knows.
-"I doubt it"- The other one said. -"It would be too obvious"-
-"Or maybe that's what they want us to think and fall into their trap"-
After thinking about it for a while, they finally decided to go to the meeting.
...
.....
....
...
Right on time, the twins were already in front of the painting of a bowl of fruit.
The two had no trouble sneaking out of their Common Room to head here. It was easy for them to evade Filch, his cat, and the professors who roamed the halls at night, all thanks to a particular magical map that helped them greatly in their pranks.
Without further ado, they tickled the pear, who squirmed and laughed, then transformed into a green doorknob.
And then the twins entered the kitchen.
The Hogwarts kitchen is a gigantic, high-ceilinged room with five tables identical to those in the Great Hall; they are also in the same position. There are large amounts of pots and pans stacked around the stone walls, presumably on counters or stoves, and a large brick fireplace at the other end of the hall from the door.
As always, whenever the twins came over for a snack, the House Elves were there doing their job, which they seemed to love so much. But then, what caught their attention was the small rectangular table in the middle of the room, where there were already 3 people sitting.
The twins were surprised to recognize who they were. It was easy, since those three people were famous for belonging to the weirdest group that ever existed in Hogwarts.
Harry Potter-Uzumaki, Neville Longbottom and Blaise Zabini.
Then the twins quickly figured out that those three were those mysterious pranksters.
And they just laughed at that.
-"I can't believe it, brother!"- One of the twins said between laughs. -"Our prankster rivals are the great Harry Potter and his friends!"-
-"Yeah! I didn't see that coming!"-
After some laughs, the twins sat at the table, right in front of the young pranksters.
-"Thanks for coming"-
Harry spoke calmly.
-"No problem"- One of the twins said. -"Although we were hesitant to come in case it was a trap."-
-"But it seems we were wrong."- Said the other. -"So why did you call us? Do you plan to surrender?"-
-"No."- Harry shook his head. -"I called you to make a truce."-
-"And why should we make a truce?"-
-"Let's be honest."- Harry ventured. -"If we continue with this war, we might destroy the school."-
-"Besides, almost all the students would hate us."-
-"That also includes the teachers."-
Both Neville and Blaise added respectively.
-"Eh, that makes sense."-
-"Right, right."-
The twins agreed with what they said.
-"Fine, we accept."-
The twins accepted simultaneously, causing Harry to smile.
-"Fine, and to celebrate the pact."- Harry gave them an evil smile. -"How about one last prank?"-
-"Sounds perfect to me"- Said one of the twins. -"What are you thinking?"-
The three first years smiled, then began to tell about the prank.
...
.....
....
...
Monday of the following week was relatively normal; something rare when there is a Prank War going on at Hogwarts. Since the war began, it was normal to have a prank first thing in the morning and even at breakfast, but for some reason, none of that happened, to everyone's relief.
Like every morning at breakfast, in the Great Hall the students were at their respective tables; not all of them because it was very early in the morning.
At the staff table, not all the teachers were there either. Currently there was Headmaster Dumbledore, the four heads of the Hogwarts Houses, and Gamekeeper Hagrid.
But suddenly, all that normality vanished when the entire staff table was engulfed in a smoke bomb.
The curious and alarmed students looked at the scene, but then turned into confusion when the smoke dispersed. Everything was as before, the only thing that changed was that the teachers switched places with others.
-"What is this!?"-
He suddenly shouted from "Professor McGonagall." The students looked at her in surprise as they heard her voice was masculine and silky like a particular Potions Professor.
-"Albus! What's going on!?"-
"Professor Snape" shouted in a high-pitched and strict voice, as he looked at "Dumbledore" for answers.
-"Hey, I'm not Albus"-
"Dumbledore" he said in a feminine voice.
-"That would be me, Severus; I mean, Minerva"- said "Professor Sprout" in an old voice, then rubbed his non-existent beard. -"It seems they made us change shapes"-
-"Ahh, I've become small!"-
"Professor Flitwick" shouted in a deep voice.
-"And I'm big!"-
"Hagrid" shrieked in alarm.
The teachers continued to shout and ask what had happened, under the attentive and surprised gazes of the students. And after a few seconds, the students quickly deduced what happened.
The teachers had transformed into others and vice versa...
-"Pfft-!"-
Many students had to cover their mouths to avoid bursting out laughing, while others closed their mouths with all their might.
What they saw was incredibly comical, and the fact that the voices hadn't changed didn't help at all.
Without further ado, the students couldn't hold back any longer and started laughing out loud.
-"Hahahahahahaha-!"-
-"Hahahahahahaha-!"-
-"Hahahahahahaha-!"-
-"Hahahahahahaha-!"-
Obviously the loud laughter caught the teachers' attention and it must be made clear that there was one teacher who didn't like the situation at all.
-"When I find out who did this, I'll have them clean the potions cauldrons for the rest of the year"- Professor Snape shouted, who now transformed into Professor McGonagall. -"With their own tongues!"-
The students were scared for a moment and turned pale upon hearing that, but they still found the situation funny.
-"Oh, come on Severus"- Professor McGonagall spoke, who now looked like Snape. -"It's not that big of a deal"-
-"It's not that big of a deal!?"- Snape shouted. -"Do you know how embarrassed I'm feeling right now? Not you of course; you got the better of it"-
Professor McGonagall put on her classic stern look; something rare and funny to see when she looked like Snape.
-"I don't like this either, Severus! This is very annoying for me too!"- McGonagall shouted angrily. -"Your robes are uncomfortable and too black! And your hair, oh my gosh, is too greasy! Seriously Severus, you have to fix your hair!"-
The students were sure they had never seen her so angry as she was now.
-"We didn't start talking about hair. I'm sure I feel a hair between my teeth"- Then Snape gave her his classic mocking grin, something rare to see when she looked like Professor McGonagall. -"Hairball problems, Minerva?"-
Then the two began to argue under the watchful eyes of the laughing students.
-"I have to say that he or the ones who caused this are talented people"- Dumbledore said, who now looked like Professor Sprout. -"But changing the subject, Pomona! You have to tell me where you buy your robes, they are very comfortable"-
-"No problem, Albus"-
Professor Sprout smiled, who now looked like Dumbledore.
-"I have to admit that I feel sorry for you, Hagrid"- Professor Flitwick squealed, who now looked like Hagrid. -"Being big feels uncomfortable. It's hard to fit in with this size!"-
-"I have to say the same about being small, Professor Flitwick"- Said Hagrid, who now looked like Flitwick. -"My legs are so short that they don't even reach the floor."-
While the teachers discussed the situation and the students laughed, they never noticed a particular group sitting at the Gryffindor table. In that group, the girls shook their heads and the boys smiled triumphantly.
-"Well, gentlemen,"- Harry spoke to the twins. -"It was a pleasure working with you."-
-"Same here!"-
-"It was a pleasure for us too to have worked with great pranksters like you."-
The twins were also pleased to have worked with Harry.
-"Maybe we could do future pranks together again."-
-"Yes. It's still a while until the end of the year, we can do many pranks in the future!"-
Neville and Blaise said, having enjoyed doing the prank with the twins.
The twins nodded simultaneously. -""Sounds good to us!""-
The pranksters then began to talk about future pranks together in front of the girls' eyes.
-"I..."- Hermione shivered as she heard some of those jokes. -"I think we released a monster..."-
-"Yeah..."-
Hannah and Susan said, who were in the same situation.
-"By the way, Harry"- Tracey looked at the aforementioned with curiosity. -"Why did you also attack Weasley and Malfoy?"-
Harry smiled maliciously, then looked at his other two victims.
-"Why am I wearing Slytherin robes!? And why is my hair now blonde!?"-
Ron shouted angrily and upset, who now looked like Draco Malfoy, while the Gryffindors around him laughed at him.
-"I'm a redhead now! When my father finds out about this, he'll have those responsible expelled!"-
Malfoy also shouted angrily, who now looked like Ron Weasley. Not even the Slytherins could help but laugh at him.
Harry laughed at the situation of the two. -"Ah, that. I played the prank on Weasley as revenge for what he did to Hermione on Halloween."-
Hermione, hearing that, could only shake her head, but couldn't help but smile.
Daphne looked at him curiously. -"And Malfoy?"-
-"For constantly bothering me."-
So breakfast continued even with the people transformed into others, since no one was able to reverse it; not even McGonagall, who was a specialist in Transfiguration.
They even asked Dumbledore for help, who was a powerful wizard and a former Transfiguration teacher, but he said he couldn't without even trying. The teachers didn't know if he was telling the truth or if he let them stay like that because he thought it was funny.
With nothing else to do, the affected teachers and students had to stay like that all day and still have to do their classes.
That was a happy day to remember for the students...
For the affected teachers and students too, but not in a happy way.
TO BE CONTINUED!!!
**************************************
Author's Notes
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[Muffliato] Comes from the English word [Muffle] Meaning: [To muffle a sound].
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Upcoming chapters (Spoilers):
Chapter 8 - Visit and Quidditch
Chapter 9 - Settling Scores and the Mirror of Erised
Chapter 10- Uzumaki Christmas
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