I waited until the feast was over before I made any further comments. James Potter having decided to get into a conversation with the other Gryffindors surrounding us when I made no attempt to reply to any more questions.
My eyes trailed over the Slytherin table, my first and likely easiest base of support. Given the only requirement, I needed there was a good, by their screwed up standards, family name.
Hufflepuff would, as funny as it were, be the toughest. I had a good feeling their only requirement for letting me gain a foothold would be genuine friendship and sanity.
And I am pretty sure one of those has been emptied out of me.
Which left Ravenclaw and Gryffindor as the middle options. But really, I was getting ahead of myself.
Idly giving the staff table one final glance, my mind connecting most of the wizards and witches there with faces, I should've had no place remembering. The last time I'd so much as read Harry Potter, was quite frankly in the centuries-ago department.
So really, it was a miracle I remembered as many as I did. The only face I couldn't recall being one of the blondes on the far side. The only blonde's coming to mind been Draco Malfoy's future father, and his narcissistic wife. Which given they also happened to be over at the Slytherin's table firmly put them out of the running.
When Dumbledore gave the okay to make way for our dorms, Minerva Mconoggal's orders already filtering through the Gryffindor table. I immediately grabbed hold of James Potter's shoulder and started pushing him in the other direction.
"Not to be a buzzkill, but we may be going in the wrong-" I clamped a hand over his mouth.
"Unless you're offering me your invisibility cloak, I recommend shushing for the time being."
His eyes unsurprisingly widened at the words. Though to my surprise, he did keep quiet.
Just as we were about to leave the foothold of the Gryffindor's table, my eyes found themselves attaching onto and lingering on a certain Hufflepuff on the table over. With a very bad (read cursed) odor.
Ignoring the fact the likely Marauder was somehow already derailing canon for me, I made to grab me an honest to god werewolf.
All I am saying is, if you're going to gift wrap me a powerful creature, I wasn't going to say no.
He, of course, whined and complained, but given he probably has never had a friend, he went along with me and Potter rather willingly.
Idly glancing towards the staff table again, I was surprised to see Dumbledore staring straight at me.
Naturally, I put up my fingers in a big ol' W to him. Rather amused to see his expression break the slightest. My thanks of gratitude probably didn't sit too well with him.
With another grin, I turned back to Remus Lupin and offered to be the friend of a lifetime to him.
Admittedly failing to mention the fact said lifetime wasn't guaranteed to be very long.
"I think Dumbledore's staring at you,again," James whispered inconspicuously.
I shrugged. "Pretty sure he's just eyeing your cloak."
"But I am not even wearing it!"
"Of course not, he wouldn't be able to look at you if you were now would he?"
After a moment of thought on the matter, Remus asked what cloak we were referring to.
"A family heirloom." "One of the Deathly Hallows," James and I answered respectively.
Dumbledore did a double-take on that one.
With the grand hall finally clearing, I and my unfortunate group of suicidal wizardsfinally made our way to the entrance itself. My last target finally coming into sight, the Slytherin having made a genuine attempt to avoid us the moment he realized I was more or less scouting for my future dark wizards-
"What!?" James and Remus questioned respectively, one admittedly more amused than the werewolf.
Did I say that out loud? Whoops.
Still, my hand promptly reached out and grabbed Severus Snape by the scruff of his cloak. A few of the Slytherins surrounding him reacting without a wasted beat, though to his (and my) surprise, they felt he was a welcome sacrifice if it meant leaving the rest of them alone. Given the knowing looks, they sent him.
Either that or I was really bad at reading people.
"What is the meaning-" Severus started to complain.
"James." I remarked easily. The Gryffindor in question idly shook his head in slight amusement before he clamped a hand over the Slytherin's mouth.
"Thank you."
And with that said, Snape's indignation ignored, I promptly started walking my new posse towards their new designations in life and home for the foreseeable future.
Every dark lord, after all, needs a base.
And whats a better base than the Room of Requirement Plot-devices?
Who knows, might even be able to ask the current dark lord living there for advice!
"WHAT!?"
I really need to stop doing that.
Hopefully, Dumbledore didn't hear thatone. But knowing my luck, he was probably going to be waiting for us there anyway.