Chapter 7: Capsize the Mind

Severus shook his head. The thoughts and memories that he had run his piercing eyes through, when he had gazed into Harry Potter's mind, were threatening to vomit their way back out. He felt positively disgusted by what he had seen. He stood, and grabbed his own personal Potions ingredients.

As he set about making a Draught of Wellbeing, he began to sweat. That was wrong. He never sweat when making potions. Ever. He hated perspiration. It positively disgusted him. He ignored the slick droplets and worked for a solid half hour, his sleek, black hair latching to his sticky face. He threw the final ingredient, a Bay Leaf, into the cauldron.

Severus sat down, puffing. That potion, usually taking several hours to properly prepare, had taken him less than forty-five minutes. It would taste disgusting, and the calming effects would probably be temporary, but he had already accepted this. He just needed a quick solution, a small fix of this drug, just so he could sort through the memories he had plucked from Harry's mind. He waited, waving his wand at the potion when it was ready; a cool, melancholy dark blue by the time he had poured it into a glass. He chugged it down, The effect was as instantaneous. It felt as if he had slept for hours. He straightened. It was time to begin. He walked over to his desk, and snapped his fingers. A small house elf, raggedy in appearance, appeared, looking up at her master with wide, brown eyes.

"Master Severus called for Mimzy? How can Mimzy serve the master?" He sighed. He really hated when she called him that. It reminded him of his childhood. Hearing those two words, followed by a loud squeal, and a crack echoing throughout Snape Manor. Mimzy had spent half of her House Elf life black and blue from Tobias Snape's savage, unprovoked beatings. Severus had hated it, but knew it was the only thing saving him and his mother from a beating.

His father was an intimidating mammoth of a man. Almost seven feet tall, he had long, grey hair, once a fine ebony. He had incredible strength, and was widely considered the strongest man in their hometown of Falkirk. They were widely respected, The Snape Family, and they were known for their bloodthirsty ways. Severus had inherited several things from his father, his brutality, his hair, and, most prominently, his wit./P

Severus shook all thought of his father from his mind, and turned to Mimzy. "Mimzy, please bring my pensieve to the office. And a soft drink, please." He needed the sugar.

"Will that be Pepsi, sir?" Mimzy asked.

"No. Bring me... a Sprite, please."

"Yes, Master." Mimzy cracked away, and returned a minute later with a large dish, and a six-pack of Sprite. She waited to be excused, and vanished when she got the affirmative.

Severus sighed, and cracked open a can. He drained it, and shuddered. If any of his students, or god forbid his coworkers, found out about his love of soft drinks, his life would just end. He tapped his wand to his cranium; emanating a small groan as he felt the memory slowly, painfully writhe out of his skull. He pushed the tip of his wand into the smooth liquid in the dish. He cracked his neck, feeling the vertebrae click, and pushed his head slowly down.

Severus was cramped. He tried to stand, and smashed his head off of a shelf. He roared in pain, and fell against the door. He opened it, and stood out. He looked around, taking in the cheap, flowery patterned wallpaper and the horrible grey shag carpet. He shuddered. The decor was terrible. He walked into the nearest room, and stood, horrified by the sight.

Harry was lying in a kneeling position on the ground, with his head tucked under his arms. His large, grey T-shirt was pulled off and lying on the floor. Red welts, cuts and fresh bruises decorated their way up from the base of his spine, and continued all the way to his neck. Standing tall over him, was a fat man with a walrus moustache.

He had a long, supple stick in his hand, possibly bamboo. He swung, once, twice, three times at the boy's back. Harry sucked air through his teeth, which where yellow and stained. He tried not to let out a massive scream. He failed."Shut up, boy!" The walrus roared, bringing down the cane on the back of the shaking figure before him.

The small boy yelped, and passed out. The walrus picked up Harry's prone body. He stormed out of the living room, walked over to the cupboard, which Severus had just stumbled out of, and opened the rickety wooden door. He tossed the child into the dark space and walked into, what Severus assumed, was the kitchen.

Severus peered into the cupboard, and saw the unconscious form of Harry Potter. He was quivering and sobbing quietly. The slats of wood let in enough light to illuminate the severe wounds on the boys back. The scars and blood faded to nothing, and he felt the next memory begin.

He was standing in a school playground. The air was filled with laughter, screaming, and the rumble of footsteps. He turned, only to see Harry running at top speed away from a small gang of boys. The gang caught up to Harry around the bins, and grabbed him. The collar of his too large shirt cutting into his neck, and hindering his escape. He fell to the ground, and they all began kicking at him. Harry was punted around for around twenty second. When the last boy stamped on his face, Harry's nose gushed red , and his glasses snapped. The boys ran off, laughing. Harry ran to the toilets, crying silently.

Severus felt his anger bubble. There was one more memory. He had a feeling that this one was not going to be fun. He felt the whole memory fade. What he saw next horrified him.

Harry lay naked on his bed under the stairs. He was soaked in what Severus suspected was his own urine. He was crying and cut deeply all over his body. The wounds were clearly infected, leaking yellow and black pus all over the sheets. Clearly the boy was in agony. Severus closed his eyes, and fell from the memory. He collapsed, panting furiously. He stood, shook himself, and stalked out of the room. He was going to murder Albus Dumbledore.

AN; If anybody wants to drop in an idea, PM me. Reviews are all read, answered and appreciated. Thanks to my beta reader, and brand new co-writer Ravenous Oranges. We both hope that the story will be even better now.