Heya. It's me again, obviously. It looks like it's going to take a little longer than expected to complete the changes, since I've decided to wipe about half of it out, and replace it...

'Nyways, here's the new/old/improved/whatever chapter.

An anonymous reviewer pointed out that I may have accidentally ending up stating that Ravenclaw was the house with yellow and black. Now I feel like an idiot.

But don't worry, I'm not that stupid. Iggy was originally a Hufflepuff, but I decided he suited Ravenclaw better, and forgot to change that bit. I hope all your inner Potter freaks are satisfied. :)

I also realised no one was in Slytherin... That makes me mildly sad, but I suppose none of them were really all that cunning, at least not to the point where Slytherin would be their house. Ah well, maybe some other time.

Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride or Harry Potter. There. I said it.

A Warm Enough Welcome

'Students!' A tall man with a long white beard stood up. We, that is, me, Fang and Iggy, were standing to the side with Professor McGonagall. 'This year, we are fortunate enough to have with us three new fourth year students, who have just transferred here. Please make Maximum, Fang, and Iggy welcome, as well as the first years.'

'Ascher, Fang!' McGonagall called out. We had agreed that me and Iggy were siblings, and Nudge was our cousin, and Fang was a friend. Fang stepped forward, and sat down, putting on the hat.

Silence.

'GRYFFINDOR!' the Hat yelled. I blinked, and did a double take. The HAT was talking. Fang leapt down, took the Hat off, and joined the red and gold table, where the four boys we'd met earlier, Sirius, Peter, Remus, and James, were sitting.

'Ride, Iggy!'

'RAVENCLAW!' The table decked in blue and bronze cheered.

'Ride, Maximum!'

Well, well, well. What do we have here? A human-avain hybrid, huh? Well, let's see. You're not smart enough for Ravenclaw, just not right for Hufflepuff, so is it Slytherin or Gryffindor?

Please. Put me in Gryffindor with Fang. I thought hard, ignoring the fact that it'd practically called me stupid.

If you're sure then...

'GRYFFINDOR!' I smiled, took the Hat off, and went to join Fang.

-o-o-o-o-

'Ride, Nudge!' McGonagall called. I tensed.

'HUFFLEPUFF!' Hmm... I wasn't sure if this was good or bad.

'Max? Max?' Sirius whacked me gently. 'Max?'

'Oh, what?' I blinked, coming out of my reverie.

'We've been congratulating you. Congratulations on getting into Gryffindor.'

'Oh, right. Thanks.' I smiled, and looked at Nudge, who was grinning, albeit nervously. She looked my way, and waved. I waved back, feeling a stupid grin grow on my face.

-o-o-o-o-

'Hi, Max.' I turned, and saw Lily walking towards me. I smiled sheepishly.

'Hey, Lily. Could you help me out? I don't know where the Gryffindor tower is, let alone the girls' dorms.'

'Sure. This way.' She led me up several flights of stairs, and eventually we reached a painting of a fat lady.

'Password?' the fat lady trilled.

'Gillyweed.' Lily replied, then turned to me. 'You'll have to memorise all the passwords, they change about once a week.' The portrait swung open, and we entered the Gryffindor common room. I waved to Fang, who had just entered, and continued up the stairs, following Lily to the dorms.

'Oh, you're with me.' she said, upon entering. She pointed to a four poster bed with my stuff next to it. I jumped onto it, revelling in the springyness.

-o-o-o-o-

After unpacking, I went down to the common room, and saw Sirius, Remus, James, Peter, and Fang sitting in various chairs around the fireplace.

'Max! Fang gave us permission, so...' James trailed off dramatically, and I narrowed my eyes at Fang.

'Maximum Ride, we, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, James yada yada yada, blah blah blah, something, something else, you're an honourary Marauder unless we feel like kicking you out.' Sirius said.

'Hey, how come my name got cut off?' James demanded.

'How come mine wasn't in there at all?' Peter whined.

'Anyway, your brother Iggy can be an honourary Marauder. Nudge can be too, if she wants.' Sirius interrupted.

'You didn't give me a choice.' I pointed out, but not really caring. I would've joined.

'Fang said you would want to anyway.' Peter squeaked.

'Fang knows me too well.' I replied. They all laughed. 'What do you do, anyway? As the Marauders, I mean.'

'Well, we prank Slytherins.' Sirius said.

'And we raid the kitchens!' Peter piped up.

'And we prank Slytherins some more.' James added.

'And we just generally do whatever we feel like.' Remus finished. 'Like this.' He pointed his wand at Sirius and flicked it. Sirius' feet grew larger and larger. Remus flicked his wand again, and Sirius' feet went back to thier normal size. Sirius glared at Remus, and flicked his wand, turning Remus' hair electric blue. I raised my eyebrows.

'Nice.' I said, to both of them as Remus fixed his hair.

'Yeah, we know.' Sirius said, and both Sirius and Remus smirked at me.

'You'll thank us all, someday.'

-o-o-o-o-

I walked around, trying to get a feel for the place, when I bumped into a boy with greasy black hair.

'Hey, watch where you're going, mudblood.' he snapped.

'And who are you?' I hissed.

'Severus Snape.' he replied in a superior tone.

'Well, Severus Snape, I suggest you never insult me or my bloodline ever again!' I would've punched him, but he pointed his wand at me.

'Petrificus totalis.' he said almost lazily, and I froze, and fell to the ground. He flicked his wand with a nonverbal, and I shot up into the air, like I had been yanked up by an invisible rope. I wanted to scream, but I really kind of couldn't...

'Snape.' a commanding voice rang through the hall. 'Don't you have better things to do?'

My eyes flicked towards the sound of the voice, and I saw a girl, older than me by at about two years. A Slytherin.

'Black.' Snape hissed back. 'What do you want?'

'Playing with mudbloods again? Really, can't you find yourself a better hobby? Come on, Rodolphus has something to show us... Well, not so much you, but Malfoy finds you useful.' A sneer ripped across her features, and I felt jealous. I wish I could sneer like that.

-o-o-o-o-

Nudge sat in the Hufflepuff common room, feeling alone and left out. Iggy, Max, and Fang were all in different houses. In Hufflepuff, she had no friends, and she could hear the girls in her dorm gossiping about her. Tears threatened to spill as she stumbled out of the Hufflepuff common room. She didn't know where she was going, she just knew she was leaving.

She walked down the stairs, and down some more, until she didn't know where she was.

'Hello. Nudge Ride, right?' Nudge looked up, startled. She saw a boy with long platinum blonde hair. He smiled at her.

'Who are you?' she asked.

'Lucius. Lucius Malfoy.' the blonde boy replied. 'What's the matter? Why are you crying?'

'Well...' Nudge told him everything, and he listened. He cooed comforting words, and she was under his control.

-o-o-o-o-

Later that day, at dinner, I sat down with the Marauders, feeling accepted and not so out of place and mutantish.

'Hey.' I said.

'Hi, Max.' Fang smiled one of his rare smiles at me. The world spun.

'Hmmm mracs.' Sirius mumbled through a mouthful of food. The other Marauders smiled, and the weirdest feeling settled over me. I smiled, genuinely, and Fang shot me a freaked out look.

'Max. You're smiling. It's weird.' he said.

'Shut up.'

-o-o-o-o-

After dinner, I told them about my encounter with Snape, and the girl who Sirius told me was his cousin Bellatrix. The Marauders had decided to help me get revenge.

I waited outside the Slytherin portrait, apparently alone. But in reality, Sirius, Remus, and James were waiting under James' invisibility cloak. Peter had somehow landed himself in detention, and Fang wasn't a good enough wizard, and the cloak could only fit so many people. Sure, as it was, they could barely fit, but three was still easier to fit than five.

Finally, Severus, or rather, Snivellus, arrived. He spotted me, and sneered, drawing his wand. I drew mine. I didn't know much, so the boys would do the actual spells, while I just waved my wand, looking superior. Heh. That totally worked for me.

I waved my wand. Snivellus sprouted yellow hair all over his face. I held back a giggle. I waved my wand again, and his greasy hair was suddenly streaked in red, blue, and yellow.

He flicked his wand right back, looking enraged, and I felt something cold slither around my neck. I touched it. It was a snake. I shivered. I waved my wand, hoping that they would get the message and get rid of the snake. They did, as well as conjuring a lion tattoo onto Snivellus' right cheek. I snorted with laughter, then gave in and collapsed, laughing. He scowled, and left, leaving me nearly choking with laughter.

-o-o-o-o-

'Well.' I said, later that night. We, Sirius, Remus, James, Peter, Fang, and me, were sitting in the common room, recounting the hilarity.

'Yes, well.' Sirius said. 'You do realise that none of that is actually going to come off for, how long again?'

'A few days. Maybe a week or two.' James grinned. I grinned back.

-o-o-o-o-

I lay in my bed, thinking. I thought of everything that had happened today.

'Max?' Lily asked.

'Yes?'

'Do I want to know what they did today?'

'Snivellus hexed me, so we jinxed him.' I grinned.

'He hexed you?' She sounded angry.

'Yeah, so?'

'He should've known better!' Lily hissed. 'That wasn't fair!'

'We got him back, though.'

'I thought he had more common sense than that!'

'Lily. It's over. Forget it.'

'You're right. I'm sorry.'

'Sorry?'

'Never mind.'