Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and can't get money for this, but I can make him into a Mafia Prince.

Warning: Some chapters (the ones including pranks) might not be appropriate to read at work. Laughter may ensue leading your co-workers to see you as even more insane than they previously thought.

Chapter 18: The Pranks Begin

Saturday morning dawned and it seemed as if the whole student body was gratefully taking the chance to sleep in except for a few creatures of habit that rose in spite of themselves. And two of these early risers were currently making their cautious way from their dorms to the vast grounds surrounding the school. They still weren't quite sure if they were breaking any school rules by going out onto the grounds so early in the morning but they had been at Hogwarts for almost a week and couldn't stand to walk The Path inside stone walls for yet another morning. They longed to do it out in the open even though they would still have to hide themselves from prying eyes; they wanted the freedom that came from being out in the elements and seeing the sun rise.

Their secretive journey ended in a secluded grove of trees near the lake and joyfully the two youngsters fell into position and let the natural movements of the Path take over their body. From the beginning of The Path until the end it was almost as if they ceased to exist, or rather became part of everything surrounding them as their awareness increased through the joining of mind and body in meditation. With a faint smile touching his eyes at the end Harry turned to Blaise.

"Good morning," he murmured softy before launching out with his foot at his companion.

With the ease that comes from training with one another Harry and Blaise blocked each others attacks and countered with their own. Then with a fist, a foot, and a feint Harry had Blaise right where he wanted her. He flipped over his friend using her own body as a projection point; his hands firmly grasping her shoulders as he threw his agile body overtop her head, forcing her to bend backwards so that her feet flew out from under her as gravity betrayed her. But Harry had misjudged trying out this new move and as Blaise fell onto her back her head and arms tangled with his legs as he tried to plant his feet into a landing. Down they both went, breathing heavily, neither inclined to get up at the moment.

"Dammit Harry," Blaise finally gasped out, "next time you try some shit like that wait until Sensei is there to help you with it and don't involve me in it."

Giving a smirking grin Blaise couldn't see Harry nimbly jumped to his feet and gave a hand down to help Blaise up. It had been difficult on them not being able to practice sparring for the past week as they hadn't found a room they could safely use without getting caught that would also suit their training needs. They spent the next few minutes stretching various parts of their bodies and checking for any sore spots resulting from their screwed up falls before easing into a slow jog about the lake that would take them back up to the castle. Neither noticed the lone figure watching them from the parapets of the castle.

Unknown POV

While they were ensconced in the grove of trees not even the high view from the castle parapets had allowed him to spy on Harry and Blaise, but now he watched their every movement with a calculating gaze as the two youths jogged easily about the lake and used the alone time to talk where prying ears couldn't hear. Of all the students in Hogwarts these two worried him the most. Perhaps it was what was and wasn't known of their families or perhaps it was the shocking placement of the golden-boy-who-lived into Slytherin house that made it difficult to categorize these two students. Then there was their ability to seemingly cut themselves off from their surroundings and show almost no emotion at all. If you looked hard and quick enough the reactions were there, not completely hidden though time itself would take care of that, but even if you spotted the emotions you had to take the time to decipher them and had no way of knowing if the analysis was correct. They were good students as well from their performance in classes so far, they seemed to already know the first year magics at least, and it had been noted that they had yet to break any rules even inadvertently. It was surprising how much they seemed to know and how well they adapted to the wizarding world. For both were new to this world as far as he knew, their presence had never been noted in any places wizards and witches congregated and the presence of Harry Potter would have been well noted. Harry Potter and Blaise Zabini were enigmas. They would have to be watched and more known about them before any further moves were made.

End POV

… … … … …

By seven Harry and Blaise had made their way back to the dungeons and to the showers where they made it seem as if they were just preparing for the day. A few other students were beginning to join them in the various morning rituals that took place though many of their house mates didn't look to be stirring any time soon. Harry didn't see how some people could sleep past eight or even until noon, they missed the best times of the day. They missed the dawn when it seemed as if the shadowy world was being reborn of crystal dewdrops and the quiet peace of early morning. Harry finished brushing out his dark, silky hair and expertly secured the long hair back in a black band to keep it neat and out of his face. A quick look in the mirror satisfied Harry that everything was in order. His black pants weren't wrinkled and fell neatly over the tops of his soft-soled boots where a knife was hidden and the sleeves of his soft black shirt were just loose enough that he could pull his wand in a heartbeat yet they weren't so loose as to get in the way. After tucking his necklaces down the front of his shirt so they wouldn't be seen Harry smirked and left to find Blaise in order to head to breakfast, with his dark looks people would be saying he was the epitome of Slytherin.

There was the usual disturbance created by the owls flying in to deliver packages during breakfast and Harry relieved Ciara of a letter and package before feeding her some bacon and sending her off to the Owlery. Other than that breakfast passed pretty peacefully, or at least it did until near the end when the Great Hall was fuller of students all talking merrily about their first week. That's when the Duo of Mayhem struck. It was a gradual prank and most of the students remained oblivious to it until the teachers started to make some noise. Even Dumbledore looked a bit put out. The reason was noticed by the Ravenclaws first among the students, or at least the smell reached them first.

"Ugh," a cry came from the Gryffindor table next, "what is that bloody stench. Smells like it's coming from the teacher's table."

It was unmistakably the twins that had spoken up. By then the smell seemed to have permeated the rest of the room and some students were turning green and fleeing the Great Hall. The teachers were also quickly getting up but Dumbledore decided to calmly wave his wand and try to dissipate the smell instead.

Unfortunately for the teachers the pranksters had planned for someone to try and use some form of magic to get rid of the smell and had taken the time to research counter measures. The fumes from the dung bombs suddenly became visible in a riot of colors anywhere from shit brown to a sickly puke green. Frantically the teachers tried to wave the fumes away from them when they became visible but anywhere their skin touched the now apparent scent trails it was dyed that color, leaving the teacher's skins splotchy as well as emitting a faintly disgusting odor. By then almost everyone had left the hall so Harry and Blaise followed, silently slipping away as the teachers tried to get things under control. As they passed through the doors they stepped over the Weasley twins who were waiting right outside rolling on the ground, clutching their sides and howling with laughter.

"T-th-the t-t-teach-ers gg-got pra-anked," they were laughing, barely able to get the words out, "the-their s-sk-skin…D-dumb-dumble-dore…"

A few more steps down the hall Peeves was laughing just as hard in his cackling way and Harry and Blaise were just in time to see the poltergeist fall heavily out of the air and onto a suit of armor. The ancient suit of armor crashed inwards with a loud clanging sound and Peeves ended up rolling on the floor much like the twins until the armor magically repaired itself and began bludgeoning Peeves with it's club, the suit of armor standing opposite it joining in happily. For a moment Peeves kept laughing, still not having been able to regain control of himself, until one suit of armor rammed a spear through him and the other brought a club down on his head. Then the poltergeist managed to stop laughing and turned himself into his spectral form and zoomed away cursing nastily.

Harry and Blaise had almost made it to the steps that they could take to lead them to the library when angry shouts echoed from the Great Hall. It seemed Fred and George had finally been heard laughing outside the doors.

"FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY!" McGonagall was yelling at the twins, who suddenly stopped laughing and went rigid; Snape was also standing nearby leering menacingly down upon the hapless troublemakers.

That was a position Harry and Blaise didn't want to be in. Both Heads of houses were incensed and combined with their green and brown blotched skin they looked both frightening and absolutely hilarious.

Quickly they continued on up the steps, faintly hearing as the twins' vehemently protested their innocence and swore on all they held sacred that they had not pulled the prank. When they could no longer hear anyone near them Harry turned to Blaise with a devilishly-rakish grin.

"We'll have to make it up to the twins somehow since they're taking the rap for our prank even though they were the ones dumb enough to stick around and laugh. Not that we'll tell them we were the ones that pulled the prank though since they are conveniently playing scapegoat for us. Hopefully they'll get out of it if their wands are found clean of the trigger spell."

They ran the rest of the way to the library, not even slightly winded after running up so many stairs, to pick up a potions book before heading back down to the Slytherin common room and holing up in a corner to read their letters and open the package. Quickly Harry slit open the coded letter from his father and automatically translated it as he read, Blaise reading one from her father as well.

Dear Harry,

It sounds like you are getting along at school pretty well. Trevor says he is glad you aren't having trouble learning the spells and sternly warns that you had better keep up with your studies. When am I going to hear from that school that you are being a troublemaker? It only took you two weeks, not counting the Chauvez incident, when we enrolled you in public school and that was without the use of magic. Things are quiet here so far. Among the men there is no suspicion that you are anywhere but a boarding school in France and among our known enemies there is no knowledge that you are anywhere but home. I dislike being so far from you if you should need help. Take care of yourself and Blaise and make sure to have at least one other weapon on you besides your wand. Though I would prefer for you to be fully outfitted I know it might be hard to be so at school. I miss you Harry.

Love Dad.

Harry gave a soft smile that was quickly gone from his face just as immediately as it had come. He missed his father as well though it would have been much worse had Blaise not come to Hogwarts with him. He also knew that no matter how far away he was from his dad that if he needed help Manuel would find someway to get to him. It was part of the laws of a father's love. Trevor was the same way with Blaise. It was enough to make any child feel secure and safe. Tucking the letter away in his pocket Harry and Blaise turned to the package and eagerly slit the tape that had been used to close it. On top was a simple message scrawled in Manuel's handwriting: If you get caught I had nothing to do with this! Trevor charmed the package but he doesn't know what is going in it.

Inside laid every pranksters dream kit to the perfect Halloween night. Yet the best was hidden near the bottom with another note: New toy from the labs. Tiny charges, not enough to do much damage but enough for a shock. Problems: too small for a decent fuse but magic can probably circumvent that. Carefully taking out the packets Harry and Blaise surveyed the tiny, silver paper wrapped pellets and grins crossed their faces. This was going to be much better than any elementary school prank they had pulled and the year had only just begun.