"Ravenclaw!"
Lal resisted the urge to cackle as she walked calmly to the Ravenclaw table. While she hated skirts, she loved the fact it allowed her to carry a 'small' handgun in a way no one would really notice. It was fully loaded and having it on her provided no small measure of comfort.
With the sorting over with, she mentally started making lists of what she would need to do in order to establish herself as someone who was not to be fucked with.
First she had to get used to being in Hogwarts again. Decades of abandoning her magical heritage in disgust and having to adjust to the curse had left several memories rather patchy at best. And having to deal with Dumbledore's idiocy all over again was almost certain to be quite grating.
The most she could remember of her initial foray into Hogwarts was that someone was trying to steal a stone, a few unicorns were killed, and she went through a ridiculously easy trap course with a possessed professor at the end of it.
Which reminded her...she needed to get back into the habit of double-checking her mental shields before she went anywhere near Snape and Dumbledore.
Viper had been quite incensed when they found out how bad her shields were... she had to pay quite a bit of gold for the Mist to create all new ones because her original mental shields were less than useless.
That wasn't to say she was helpless... years of being tormented by that damn spell had allowed her to detect whenever someone was trying to break in and she took inordinate pleasure in being extremely vicious about retaliating. It also gave her ample practice in learning Legilmency herself, though she rarely bothered with it.
'I wonder if my animagus form is still accessible...' mused Lal. It had been so long since she bothered with magic that she had almost forgotten half her skill set that had made her so dangerous to be around when she was motivated.
Mind made up, she decided to wait until the weekend before she snuck into the other entrance to the Chamber of Secrets to test out how much her actual skills had deteriorated.
Which gave her plenty of time to reacquaint herself with the idiocy of the magical fools who believed themselves wise because they could do a few fancy tricks with their sticks.
And just as she suspected, it was her own personal hell.
She was a military woman, so being around actual children was a complete nightmare for her.
At least she was able to get her stretches and early morning run in before breakfast. So long as she was at the table when the doors opened, the teachers couldn't stop her. After all, she never left the Ravenclaw tower before curfew was officially lifted.
Lal looked at the food on the table in disgust. Fatty, salty and overly sweetened...the only decent drink was water and there wasn't any coffee to be found. She grabbed a few fruits and made a note to head straight for the kitchens the second she got her schedule.
Flitwick noticed her, and was kind enough to give it to her a bit early.
"Professor, where are the kitchens?" asked Lal politely.
Best not to display any prior knowledge on where to find things.
Flitwick not only gave her directions, he also told her how to get in. Lal thanked him and headed straight for there.
She not only got a decent breakfast, she was also able to secure some healthy snacks and coffee in the mornings once she was done with her stretches.
She checked her watch, and walked straight to her first class. At least she wouldn't have to put up with the Slytherins as much.
Draco walked up to Lal, his intent fairly clear. Since she had managed to hide behind the latest Guns and Ammo when he came looking for her on the train (she switched it to Modern Mercenary after about an hour and had a lifetime subscription to both) so he never got a good look at her.
She was just glad that she was able to get some contacts. She hated wearing glasses...they were too easily knocked off, and she had been so busy that she forgot to acquire the potion that had fixed the issue last time.
Lal waited for Draco to come up to her before she said anything.
"Before you try to annoy me with an offer of friendship, cousin, I would like to remind you that your father is not here and I would hardly be impressed with a child who insists on hiding behind his daddy's skirts every time things don't go his way," said Lal without hesitation. "So if you genuinely want me to consider you a possible equal then you had best be prepared to put out a good showing, otherwise you'll just embarrass the house of Black."
Complete and utter shock, and she barely had to glance past her magazine to see the calculating look on Draco's face.
"What does that mean, cousin?" said Draco.
So he was aware that they were related to the Blacks.
Lal paused in her reading and looked at him. It was akin to facing down a mothering dragon with the way he flinched.
"I'm saying the only way I would even consider associating with you as a potiential ally or acknowledge the fact we're related in public is if you're willing to put in the effort and actually show you're capable of being your own wizard, rather than whining to Daddy every time things don't go your way. A true Slytherin would have the brains not to be sorted there after all, especially with the way the headmaster and the old cat favor the lions," drawled Lal. "At least in Ravenclaw they won't keep an eye on my actions too closely, especially if I read a lot."
Lal wanted to smirk at the dumbstruck expression on Draco's face, as if the concept of a Slytherin hiding their cunning and ambition behind the guise of a bookworm had never really occurred to him.
"Prove to me you don't need to hide behind your father's robes to get things done, and then we'll talk about being friends. I'm sure your mother would be thrilled at the change."
Draco left her alone, but there was a speculative expression on his face for weeks after.
Lal felt some satisfaction that her swift action with Draco resulted in the Slytherins leaving her alone. Those that didn't...well, there might be rules about fighting in the corridor but none of them mentioned an asskicking without magic involved.
When the first flying lesson came, she was stuck with the Gryffindors because she managed to catch a nasty cold and was too stubborn to visit Madam Pomphrey for some pepper up.
Lal rolled her eyes as her hand lashed out, snagging the hapless lion.
"Granger, chill. A broom is nothing more than the magical version of a bike," said Lal annoyed.
"A bike that hovers in the air!" she pointed out.
Lal eyed the girl's broom, and then her own. She kicked off enough to hover for a few minutes with no issue, before landing.
"Swap brooms with me."
"Why?" asked Hermione.
"Because I've just demonstrated that my broom isn't nearly as temperamental as Longbottom's, thus still has the standard safety charms. Grant you, these do look like they're overdue for replacement but at least I've proven mine is still reasonably safe to use. And if that doesn't convince you, I do know the cushioning charm. The worst you'll get from the ground is a minor bruise or sprained limb," replied Lal bluntly.
Hermione considered this for a moment, before silently swapping brooms with her. Neville was still too shaken from the impromptu flight to even consider getting on another broom.
Lal had to hide a smirk when Granger reluctantly got into the air.
Lal could tolerate the girl in small doses...but her morals were ridiculous and she needed to learn that not everyone appreciated the way she got on her high horse about them.
Neville seemed to follow her around after class hours like a puppy when he realized underneath her rough exterior she was the nicest person in school.
Lal had zero hesitation convincing Neville to join her after classes to do light jogging around the lake in order to get him in shape. He might be huffing and puffing, but he would see results sooner or later.
Lal stared Snape down. The man had found an excuse to drag her into detention, and it was clear he was starting to debate on whether to treat her like her father...who even Lal would admit from the pensieve memories she had seen of the man was a total prick who needed a kick in the ass...or as an extension of Lily, who Snape had been in love with but had the woman he cared for taken from him by the man he absolutely loathed.
Lal hadn't argued, as she would rather get this annoyance over with.
If nothing else, she could use her limited skill over Mist to project the man's slow and very painful demise...which would happen in short order if he proved he was going to be a liability. It wouldn't take much either...she knew how to make a home-made bomb and setting it so that it exploded from underneath a cauldron he was used to brew a volatile potion would be more than enough to insure his departure from the living.
Snape shivered from where he was grading papers, only occasionally looking up to insure the "Potter brat" was still scrubbing cauldrons as ordered.
He had to admire her efficiency...she was already half done and it hadn't been more than twenty minutes already into the hour-long detention. She would pick up a cauldron, take the scrub brush and with ruthless determination had it spotless enough to suit even his demanding standards within a few minutes of hard scrubbing.
When she finished with her task, she waited for him to take notice of this fact and allow her to leave early.
However that was not in the cards, as Snape was determined to be his usual dickish self.
It took all of a second for Lal's patience to snap...but then again she had never been very patient with wizards or their arrogance after the war.
Snape stared down the muzzle of the gun being held expertly by an unamused female dragon with all the warmth of the arctic in her eyes.
"Let's get one thing straight asshole. I don't care about your justified hatred of James Potter or the fact you still harbor feelings towards my mother, despite the fact James' petty jealousy of her original relationship with you caused the rift that made her run to him. I also don't care about your justified dislike of werewolves or Sirius Black. If you keep taking out your childhood grudge out on me, I will make you regret it in short order and this is the only warning I'm going to give you in regards to pissing me off. Do. Not. Fuck. With. Me. I can murder you and not lose a lick of sleep about it at night, and there's no way the magical courts would be able to pin it on me because they know shit about muggle methods of killing," said Lal perfectly blunt and dead serious.
Snape tried to regain control over the situation with a sneer.
"Do you really expect me to be fooled by your little toy, Potter?" he spat.
"Oh good, I get to demonstrate how much of a threat I am," purred Lal.
Thanks to the silencer on the gun, no one heard it go off and clip Snape's ear.
The man paled, realizing that the 'toy' was in fact very much the real thing and Potter was not messing around. She was as cool as a seasoned Auror and definitely knew how to use the gun in her hand.
"It's amazing what six and a half years of military academy can do for one's ability to use a fire arm, isn't it...professor?" said Lal, with an unhinged gleam in her eyes. "Especially when it comes to getting a little early start on sniper's training and a vault full of gold that can easily give me access to a plethora of all sorts of fun toys to take someone out with."
Snape felt the spectre of death lingering over him, even as a chill ran down his spine.
There was absolutely no mercy. No hesitation in explaining in clear words that she would end his life without qualm. The expression in her eyes made him more terrified than facing down an irate Dark Lord in his prime when he was the one who had failed an important mission.
The Dark Lord would have tortured him, made him plead for mercy and if he were extraordinary lucky he might get out more or less alive, if praying to a god he no longer believed in that the pain would end soon.
This girl though...she would kill him without remorse or a second thought in the matter if he crossed her, and it wouldn't even be personal. In her mind, he would be nothing more than an annoyance, a mere obstacle in her way that needed to be removed with an efficiency that utterly terrified him to his core. He wouldn't even have a chance to beg for his life...she would straight out put a bullet in his skull if he got in her way.
Snape would be privately happy later that despite the utter terror he had been in at that moment, that he didn't void his bowels at the sight of her gaze.
Dear gods...what the hell had turned the innocent babe his precious Lily had given birth to into this demonic dragon from hell?!
(Lal's expression when she found out that her impression on the man who once made her school life...and potion's class in particular...an utter headache was now terrified of her to the point he ran the risk of pissing himself when faced with her full ire? The only way to describe her reaction was to say that the Black blood ran truer in her than it ever did her father...her grandmother Dorea would have been proud.)