Cunning, Resourceful and Slytherin

[snarkypotions]

Who: snarkypotions & all the [SLYTHERINS]
Where: Slytherin Common Room
When: Afternoon, October 15th. One hour after [THIS] post.
What: Snape gathers the serpents together and gives them a welcoming speech.
Rating: PG

Comments

[snarkypotions]

When hands rose into the air, Snape silently resigned himself to a long hour, mentally sparing an annoyed thought for Dumbledore, thinking that if only the Headmaster hadn't decided to try this little project of this, he himself wouldn't have to be here explaining Hogwarts from the ground up.

"Yes, Mr. Lelouch?"

[snarkypotions]

The current situation, Snape thought to himself with some irritation, was that a brilliantly idiotic, barmy old codger had somehow managed to create a spell that damaged the space and time fabric from what he had managed to piece together. And then only left a single letter behind to explain it as he disappeared off to places unknown, presumably (hopefully) to fix this mistake of his, leaving Snape and the other professors who were not the professors that Snape knew and trusted to handle the multitude of students who were not truly wizards and witches.

"What I can divulge is only based on speculation based on the Hogwarts and the wizarding world that I knew before being brought here like the rest of you. If that speculation would be enough of an explanation for you, I can continue. If not, then I would suggest that you wait for the Headmaster's return to ask these questions. And no, before you ask, I do not know when he will bestow his presence upon us."

[arrests]

Having stationed himself in a quieter, darker corner, Rolo continued to listen as his gaze shifted to each other member of the house. While his expression remained carefully neutral, he was still inwardly feeling just as uncomfortable as he had earlier in the day. This world was so foreign, so strange, and so far from home. And he'd never before cared for things like schooling when it had only been a vehicle through which he could maintain his cover as Lelouch's brother. Now, he cared even less, especially given that he was meant to learn in order to fight a battle against some unnamed enemy.

Defend the school, the letter had said. He didn't care enough about the school to desire protecting it. It wasn't Ashford. And this place didn't include his brother...

At least, that was what he had thought as until he caught sight of a familiar looking figure raising their hand with a question. Lelouch- So his brother was here. That changed things significantly. Now he had a reason to fight. There was something here he needed to protect and by

[snarkypotions]

As he answered Lelouch's question, Snape didn't miss the movement of another one of his charges. Instead of remarking on it or even showing that he was even aware of the other boy having some sort of connection to Lelouch, Snape simply continued offering the information asked of him and waited to see what would happen next.

[arrests]

It wasn't until after Lelouch finished his questioning that Rolo shifted his attention back to Snape. The information was quite a bit to digest in one sitting. Dark "wizards" focused on pure bloodlines (which reminded him heavily of the nobility and the royalty, much of which he and Lelouch had just been opposing in their own world), time-space distortions, magic. If he didn't know better, he might have thought it was some dream.

But at least Lelouch seemed alright, so different from how he'd been on the battlefield over Tokyo. Maybe Lelouch was feeling better, no longer bothered or burdened by that girl. That would be something they would have to discuss later.

For the time being, pulling the hand gripping his cellphone from his pocket and letting it dangle at his side, Rolo tried to think of any other information they might need. In this strange new world, "magic" would be necessary in order to fight for the school, but what kind of magic was still a bit confusing. There had been so many books in his trunk, some for subjects

[snarkypotions]

When the younger boy's hand finally went up, Snape slowly and deliberately turned his attention towards him, eyes flicking over him once to see if he could gauge anything about the boy aside from how focused he seemed to be on the other boy. Interesting.

"To be a truly versatile fighter, all of them." And more importantly, not only having a strong knowledge and grounding in the core subjects, but knowing how to combine all of them together with the right power, timing and skill to attack and defend and counterattack. "But if you simply wish to be able to show some proficiency in dueling, Defense Against the Dart Arts," Here, he nodded over at Lucius, the Head of that department. "And such higher level classes as 'Intermediate Hexes & Jinxes' and 'Advanced Counter-Magic'. Taking Professor Batman's 'Self-Defense' class would not be remiss either."

He narrowed his eyes slightly.

"But, your name and year?"

[stubborn_throes]

Rose was listening intently, taking thorough, exemplary notes in her head as the newly drafted students began to voice their inquiries. Much of what she herself found herself curious about was being addressed--the nature of the spell, combat...Her mind drifts towards this "Dark Wizard" Snape had spoken of. The piquing of her curiosity was instantaneous, and one with a keen eye might have noticed her body shift ever so slightly, into a sort of mystified, interested lean forward. Who could this wizard be? What are his true motives? How is he going to use this spell to his benefit? Most of all, what is it that makes him "dark"? However inquisitive she was feeling about this matter, there was little doubt that a looming black cloud like this would be considered anything but a touchy subject; If nothing else, not something to be discussed while making her first impression

[snarkypotions]

Slytherin House was known for its large contribution towards the Dark Lord's ranks, and with strangers being brought in from what appeared to be countless different worlds, Snape was on high alert when he mentioned the dark wizard, almost immediately noticing her interest. Perhaps it didn't say much, after all, people would naturally be curious, but Snape was always more willing to play it safe rather than giving others the benefit of the doubt.

"Yes, Miss...?"

[stubborn_throes]

"Lalonde," she clarified for him that she was indeed the person who had texted him an hour prior. Her lips curled at their ends into a polite smile, embellishing respect upon the tone of her voice to the wizard of many years. He was really everything she had expected and more, at least on the count of one archetype. Watching him in action, addressing the young wizards, was as flipping through the pages of an intriguing novel; a character coming to life before her

Sorry for the delay, had to check for the answer to this XD

[snarkypotions]

While the tone and wording of her question was more... elaborate than what Snape expected of a student, he refrained from showing any reaction to it aside from frowning slightly, more due to the question itself, rather than the person asking it.

"Unfortunately, I do not know the answer to that. One would hope that the Headmaster, in all his infinite wisdom, had the foresight of taking that into account so as to not further upset the fabric of time, but I cannot say until he tells us so himself."

And from the irritation in his tone, it was clear that Snape was not pleased with Dumbledore for this lack of information, even if it was nothing new.

[notist]

It was halfway through the proceedings of the House meeting that Light felt it necessary to raise his hand from the arm-rest of the leather sofa. Having remained silent since his interruption of Lelouch, attentive during Rolo's question and Lalonde's, frankly, captivating theory of temporal displacement, it seemed no one else was actually going to ask the most obvious question of all or had considered the lengths needed to go to in order to strengthen protective measures.

His eye caught Snape's and, unknowingly, the thoughts waiting to be read in his mind by the Legilimency he had no preparation for or knowledge of, were fiercely bright; the notion of having to kill people was an unpleasant one, but he had already sentenced so many useless members of society to death that he wasn't above cutting a swathe through anyone who tried to get their hands on him for a second time, L or not. He needed to return home safe and sound in order to continue with his business - anyone that tried to hurt him would face a brand of magic vicious enough

[snarkypotions]

To say that Snape was surprised by the thoughts that he saw in Light's head would be an understatement. The clinical way he thought about death and removing people who got in his way, the way he tried to plot out ways so as to be able to escape the blame should suspicion turn on him, the ability to kill people immediately... It reminded him of the Dark Lord, and that most definitely did not sit well with Snape. What, exactly, had Dumbledore done?

Yet, despite all that, nothing in Snape's tone or body language gave away what he had gleaned from the other's mind. Nor was there any hint that he was already planning on going to the library to place tracking spells on all the books on poisons and move some more books into the Restricted Section. Or to his private collection, now there was a thought.

"I trust that you heard my answer to Mr. Lelouch's question earlier, Mr. Yagami?"

[notist]

"Yes, sir, I did - you mentioned a Dark Wizard. May I ask though, who is he and what exactly has he done?"

Looking around the other Slytherins for a supportive consensus, he shrugged innocently.

"We could all imagine an evil figure looming over the castle, but that doesn't give us much to go on if we're expected to fight him. Is there anywhere we can read up on his strengths and weaknesses, if only to make us feel that much more self-assured in what we're putting effort into learning?"

An apologetic smile hinged on the edges of his lips.

"Forgive me, sir, but how are we to know we're even on the right side of this war?"

[snarkypotions]

There was no immediate reply. Instead, Snape took his time studying the boy in front of him before his gaze slowly shifted to the rest of the students, noting their interest in the question as he deliberately made eye contact with all of them, trying to gauge where some of their sympathies may lie. Not telling them about the Dark Lord was, of course, out of the question, but his problem lay with what to tell them and how much to tell them. Besides, simply referring to him as 'You-Know-Who' also was not going to work, which meant that he would have to use the Dark Lord's chosen name.

Something he had never, ever done. And with good reason. A Death Eater only ever referred to the Dark Lord like that if one wished to die a very painful death at his hands. Chances were that word of him calling the Dark Lord by that name would get back to him, and he would pay, but hopefully the Dark Lord would be understanding

[seeingeyespit]

Though Terezi was standing at the back of the group and had yet to really ask any questions, she was definitely noticable. For one thing, her gray skin and orange horns made her stick out in the small crowd of humans. For another, her habit of wearing a wide, open-mouthed grin at all times was showing off her many extremely sharp-looking teeth.

And, of course, it was impossible to catch her eye because she wasn't looking at Snape when he spoke. Her eyes were hidden behind her red shades, of course, but though she had pointed her nose in Snape's direction at the beginning of the speech, she was busy evaluating the rest of her housemates by the time he reached the end.

After listening to several questions, Terezi finally turned her full attention back to Snape. Back straight, both hands on her cane and grin in place, she waited for a lull in the discussion to giggle--not loudly, but audibly enough to get her a little attention

[snarkypotions]

The shades, Snape thought to himself, would eventually prove a bit of a problem should he ever wish to use Legilimency on her without her knowledge, but there would always be ways around them if need be. Such as enforcing dress codes or some other rubbish of that sort. Perhaps Lucius could be roped into helping if he presented it correctly, but that was neither here nor there.

"We are. Your point, Miss...?"

Her question was indeed an odd one, but her appearance at least pointed as to why she had asked it.

[seeingeyespit]

"Sooooo," she said, drawing out the word in that way that only obnoxious preteens could, "humans all have the same blood, don't they? Bright candy red."

Human adults, Terezi knew, were generally less dangerous than troll adults. But that didn't mean Snape wasn't someone to be cautious around, so Terezi held back the enthusiasm she would normally have in her tone when on the topic of her favorite color.

Of course, even with that effort she sounded terribly eager to learn about this.

[snarkypotions]

There was the slightest frown at that question and her eagerness, but Snape showed no reaction beyond that. "Before I answer that, your name?"

And what was she? Please, dear Merlin, don't tell him that he'll have to worry about his charges' throats having been slit the next morning.