Chapter - 35 : Shadows of Trust part - 5

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(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)

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"Yeah George, shows what we know - they out-pranked us!"

Neville's parents had both attended Hogwarts, it was more in hope than any expectation that he asked the next question. "Do you know who the marauders were?"

"Sorry Neville, all we know of messrs padfoot prongs moony and wormtail is their wonderful pranking legacy."

"We've not been able to find out anything else about them."

"Well, that ends my interest in the mini-marauders. The last thing I need is another name."

Padma was finding she loved teasing her friends, and couldn't resist this opportunity. "I don't know Harry, the thought of a nickname is quite appealing."

Hermione seamlessly joined right in. "Yes, we could call you something like budgie!"

Padma immediately caught where Hermione was coming from and played right along. "Oh, that would work. He's so colourful and chirpy, Harry really couldn't be called anything else."

"You could even claim it's your goblin sense of humour." Hermione then emulated Padma in giggling at Harry's pretend pout.

Neville was enjoying the teasing amongst his friends but let out a sigh at his perceived fate. "If we're going with a bird theme, I suppose that means I'm a tit then?"

Padma was first to spring to his defence. "Oh no Neville, I see you more as a Robin. Proudly displaying your Gryffindor red and ready to defend your territory."

Neville was blushing at that but had a suggestion of his own to make. "Well, I think Padma should be called Dove. We have them at the manor and they have such a sweet and gentle nature."

Hermione was smiling at her two now blushing friends, she had a question of her own though. "That sounds great but what about me?"

Harry, Padma and Neville all spoke as one - 'Owl!'

It was left to Harry to offer up an explanation. "Owls are birds associated with wisdom, certainly fitting for you. In goblin mythology, the owl is revered as the goddess of all birds. You really couldn't be anything else."

Hermione's blushes now clearly outshone her friends as the twins had a good laugh at their expense. "Okay, scrap the mini-marauders. Messrs budgie, owl, robin and dove shall henceforth be known as the order of the aves!"

That had everyone chuckling before Fred got serious. "Guys, what has Ron got to do to lift the prank. It's getting embarrassing watching him."

Harry suddenly wasn't so forgiving. "He deliberately fired that disgusting curse at Hermione, that's going to take at least an apology."

Both twins were nodding in agreement with that condition, thinking it more than fair.

Harry though wasn't finished. "My friend Padma is a beautiful young witch. Our entire year group watched as slugs popped out her mouth and ran down her chin. I think nothing less than a public apology is going to do for that."

Again Fred and George thought this was a fitting and fair resolution to the problem, they also knew that their younger brother would never carry it out. Ron could probably be persuaded that mumbling sorry to Hermione in private was the right thing to do, but there was no chance of him doing the whole public thing. "Harry, I'm so glad you don't do pranks."

"Yeah, you would put me 'n Fred out of business!"

"As I said guys, goblins don't do pranks. That doesn't mean I won't help Owl, Robin and Dove with any little projects they might have."

Both twins groaned before George replied. "Harry, only you could class pranking Snape as 'a little project!' "

-oOoOo-

Monday morning brought the now usual spectacle of Ron Weasley playing 'searching for seconds'. He'd arrived this morning armed with a four foot pole with a hook-like appendage fashioned onto the end of it, only to discover that once more Hogwarts was smarter than he was. Yet again the food began disappearing from his extended reach when the magical castle thought he'd eaten enough.

Fred and George at least managed to deflect some of the attention away from their younger brother by making a very public apology to Neville. That they performed this task in their own inimitable style was a given. Both were on their knees in front of the younger Gryffindor, seamlessly switching between bowing and apologising.

"Forgive us oh great prankster..."

"We knew nothing of your prowess when committing our diabolical deed..."

"Had we but known we were in the presence of pranking royalty..."

"We would never knowingly prank a member of the order of aves..."

"Forgive us o' mighty one..."

The twins had timed it to perfection, these were the last legible words to leave either of their mouths before they began braying and grew donkey ears. It took Neville three attempts to accept their apology because he was laughing so hard, this was greeted with a round of applause before everyone returned to their breakfast.

The hall was in a buoyant mood for a Monday morning, the arrival of the Daily Prophet changed that. The story had finally broken!

If ever a front page newspaper headline was designed to cause outrage amongst its readers, Harry thought this was it. The article then went on to proclaim its horror - on behalf of their readers of course - that the saviour of their world no longer even called himself Harry Potter. Their young hero now answered to the name of Crow. The newspaper then explained how this travesty had occurred - the boy-who-lived had been raised since that fateful Halloween inside Gringotts by the goblins!

The Prophet had no answers to offer its readers as to how these unprecedented circumstances had evolved, just question after question they were demanding answers to.

Why had the Ministry of Magic stood back and allowed this abnormality to happen to their favoured son?

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Welcome to the world of our fanfic! Your support is the heartbeat of this story, allowing us to craft new adventures and explore deeper character arcs. With over 55 chapters ahead, becoming a patron gives you exclusive access to bonus content and the chance to influence the narrative's direction.

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(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)

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