The entire Common Room was silent as everyone wondered who had dared to cross Rabastan and saved the mudbloods.
Rabastan himself was shocked as he saw the sudden shield which had formed between his spell and the mudbloods.
He looked around in anger, though he didn't showed it in his face he was pissed internally, inspecting everyone for the person who dared to defy his orders afterall he practically ruled Slytherin.
His eyes went over through everyone present and he spotted the wand which was only in one person's wand.
He looked only to be confused for a moment before the person's identity came to him. Avery did told him about how Snape changed his looks and had apparently inherited the Prince fortune when he explained his reasons of being late in the common room after the Great Hall since Rabastan had asked them to be early to see the action.
It seems Snape or Prince whatever as he didn't cared much about the half blood, wanted to defy his orders and was trying to save the mudbloods, still he would want an explanation from him before showing him his place.
"Snape or should I say Prince now, care to explain what this is going on?" he asked calmly with a hint of threat in his voice.
Severus for himself didn't seemed fazed by the threat at all, he knew the moment he will act will be the moment he will be involved in the situation, the matter would only escalate and will come to a confrontation "they are just first years Lestrange, it won't help them if you injure them permanently on their first day" he said in a bored tone but there was an emphasis in it which almost all of them in the Common Room had never heard in his tone before.
Rabastan narrowed his eyes, he knew what Snape was doing and if he had been a fool, he would have actually agreed on that.
"Do we really Prince, I knew that you had a soft spot for mudbloods but still we all had hoped that it will be over after the actions of the last term with your favourite mudblood but then perhaps it runs in blood?" he asked slowly to Snape and he was disappointed a little that Snape's calm composure didn't faded for a second.
Severus knew deep down that this fact would come sooner or later but he hadn't hoped Rabastan would throw it in the face of everyone, he might have been offended previously but he was at peace with it now as he had finally accepted that part about himself. He didn't said anything nor showed anything outwardly as he listened to Rabastan's monologue.
"But then again it should not be a surprise as they do say that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree huh Prince?, didn't your mother ran off with a filthy muggle disgracing her family and had you, guess you too are a mudblood lover like your mother" Rabastan finished and looking around he could clearly see that the people present were shocked by the news, it had never been an secret in Slytherin that Severus Snape was a halfblood but hearing about his family history was a surprise to half of them as the other half would have already have knew putting together the pieces after hearing his surname.
Severus had to applaud Rabastan for the way he presented him, a smooth talk and egging someone like only a Slytherin would do unfortunately Severus no longer needed anyone's approval, he was no longer a boy who would just agree on their every talk like before because he didn't wanted them to come after him.
"I suppose you are right on all accounts Lestrange, I am a half blood, my mother was a Prince and she married a muggle and everything what you said about me was also true, but I don't understand what you are trying to prove. If you want to goad me into acting recklessly then you have to do something better, these are insults used by children, honestly I thought you better but then again expecting anything from you would be a foolishness for me and let's say that I am not surprised by your juvenile actions" he drawled out in a bored tone ignoring the wide eyed looks from some of the Slytherins.
Rabastan eyebrows twitched at his insult and Severus was honestly amused at his actions.
"Release the shield Prince and let me teach the mudbloods a lesson for dirtying our noble house and I will let you go or face consequences if you want to protect these mudbloods" he said his voice grave and threatening.
Severus cocked his head slightly and looked at him "the shield will be there Lestrange and as for the first years, they have been sorted into the house. If you think you are right just because you have a wisdom that stepped from your noble lineage which is 800 years old, then how much do you think the hat should have which have been there for 1000 years, long even before your family?" he asked him calmly without an emotion in his tone.
Rabastan was clearly irritated now "and what do you think? do they belong in Slytherin" he asked his patience waning as he readied himself because this won't end without a fight between him and Prince and he sure was not going to underestimate Snape.
"I will say that it has never been upon us or the teachers Lestrange. It has always been upon a sentinent hat who sorts the students into the houses based upon the talents they possess or the house in which it believes they would become the best self of themselves" he replied to him calmly, he could literally feel the stares at himself and Rabastan, even the five of the first years were looking at him with respect and stars in their eyes.
Rabastan eyebrows twitched and he smiled cruelly "so I suppose we are at an impasse Prince" he said twirling his wand readying himself for the confrontation.
"It seems so, however know one thing Lestrange, if you want to do this then I hope you know that any resulting actions would be upon yourself, you aren't afraid of it I believe" as he asked him as he walked slowly from where he had been sranding to infront of the children, even though the space was less it was around ten steps of a distance between both of them.
He smiled viciously and shot the first spell at me which was a stupefying spell, "stupefy" he roared out.
Severus calmly let the spell come to him and deflected it at the last moment. A skill he learned from his adult's self memories which was not taught till seventh year.
The defected spell was sent to the roof by a flick of his wand as Rabastan stopped firing and his grin got wider and he started to use more vicious spells.
His next spell was the reductor spell, "reducto" he spoke out with little force.
Severus grew alert, at this rate Rabastan will continue to use more dangerous spells in such closed area and that would be dangerous for the spectators or the children.
He immediately went to offensive as he decided his next move 'avis' he thought mentally as a flock of sparrows were conjured from the tip of his wand.
With a small jab of his wand, the birds rushed forward, propelled with incredible speed by his magical control over them and the little jab of his wand at the end boosting the speed.
One of the bird hit the reductor curse head on thrown by Rabastan. Severus had decided to used this spell mostly for this counter, the reductor and blasting curses were very deadly and powerful as they had the ability to kill someone with them if the user is skilled enough. However they had a major flaw, if a small object came in the path of the spell, the spell would act on the object disintegrating or blasting depending on their use, hence effectively blocking the person at recievers end.
Rabastan eyes widened as he started to cast the fire making spell, "incendio" he spoke up causing jets of fire to come from his wand.
And this was the exact mistake Severus had hoped he would make, just as the first jet of fire released and was going to burn down the sparrows Severus decided to use his next spell.
'Ventus' he thought inwardly as a strong wind started to blow out from his wand, Severus still only had used the minimum power needed to achieve what he had thought.
And just as he had expected the wind forced the flames back to Rabastan making him yelp suddenly due to the flame which struck his face.
In the situation Rabastan forgot to cancel his charm and the fire continued to burn his face due to the wind charm he had used, the dunce even though having his wand at his own hand didn't thought of cancelling the charm but Severus understood why he couldn't do it.
Despite what many may proclaim, even the greatest minds were fooled under rightful circumstances. The damage and pain Rabastan was receiving due to the flames would be painful and the rational part of mind didn't worked well in that kind of situations.
He fired a stunning spell as his body fall down on the ground and he got a clear look on his face.
His face was badly burnt off as 'Incendio' was a very powerful charm and Rabastan was no weak wizard, he had received his own charm's effects due to the wind spell but Severus had the belief that Madam Pomfrey could fix it easily in a single night.
Severus lowered down his wand and was going to turn when three more joined the fray.
Severus recognized them as Rabastan's year mates Benjamin Fawley, Theodore Bracken and Thorwin Rowle.
Rowle proclaimed out angrily "it's time you learn where you belong Snape" he proclaimed with anger.
Fawley didn't engaged into the talking and calmly cancelled the stunning spell on Rabastan while Rowle and Bracken were holding their wands out.
Rabastan stood up groggily as he took his wand and looked at him with hate in his eyes. He too would have looked at the same way if someone would have burned his face off.
His facial skin was burned completely and he looked horrible with black soot and his skin was looking red.
He spat out "you will pay for this Snape" he spoke to him as he looked at his three friends.
Severus sighed and spoke calmly "well it seems I must stop holding back to" he said looking at the four of them.
Severus had anticipated that and was the first to cast the spell as he wanted to finish it as early as possible.
'Bombarda' he cast adding some more power into the spell as Rowle casted a 'protego' infront of them.
But Severus was no fool and he hadn't wanted to cast the spell on them but instead on the ground infront of the shield.
The floor exploded with debris and dust and he saw students near moving or some casting shields and Severus immediately his next move, he had left the sparrows for a purpose.
He looked at the sparrows as he twirled his wand into the air and suddenly the sparrows which were flying were transfigured into the kunais he had seen in Alex memories about Naruto.
One by one the kunais were lodged deeply into the shoulders and back of Thorwinn Rowle, Benjamin Fawley and Theodore Brackenn as he shoot the rocks from the explosion on their shield by a small wave of his wand.
They all were groaning in pain and Severus decided to finish this. This was something he needed to do despite his moral dilemma. They needed to be showed an example otherwise they will never stop or only more challenges will come toward his way. He had to be ruthless and he couldn't hesitate at this moment.
He looked at the slightly pale and determined look at Rabastan's face and deflected his blood boiling curse at him to the roof before casting his final spell.
'Sectumsempra' he casted nonverbally with a little slash of wand with very little malicious intent so that the lacerations won't go deep and he won't be in much trouble.
Everyone in the Slytherin common room stood stunned as Severus white spell which was a curse ripped the robes of Rabastan and Rabastan felt down with a thud. Blood started to pool out of his chest which sported now a wound which seemed like to be caused by a sword.
Severus walked down calmly knowing that Rabastan would survive the curse if it was cured in time.
He reached Rabastan whose face looked pale and his breaths coming along slowly now. Blood was pooling around him and most students were now panicking.
Rabastan eyes widened with fear and panic when he saw Snape hovering above him but was surprised inwardly when he saw Snape twirling his wand silently.
Everyone in the common room saw Rabastan chest wounds closing magically as Snape trailed his wand above Rabastan.
Just as his wounds closed, Rabastan Lestrange blacked out completely.
Severus looked at the three of Rabastan friends and who had decided to interfere between them, they too were in no good condition judging as they had a kunai lodged into their shoulder and back and the amount of blood on the floor.
He looked at the pale face of Maximus Ranver "Ranver, I hope you take them to the infirmary and get them treated. Lestrange surely could do well with a blood replenishing potion. Also ask your fellow prefects to show these first years their dorms, I hope they won't have a problem" he spoke calmly, his tone betraying nothing.
Ranver nodded his hand as Severus saw the fear in his eyes.
Severus turned and walked to his dorm ignoring the green faces or looks at him.
He climbed the stairs leaving an entire common room stunned with his actions.
He didn't noticed the anger in a blonde's eyes nor did he saw the curiosity and the glint in the eyes of a raven haired witch.
Severus reached his room and immediately closed the doors as he started to cast the wards. His wards were pretty dark by nature and only one person in the common room knew how to get past it.
He dropped his cold mask as regret and shame filled him, he never wanted to harm someone like that but it was something which was extremely necessary to be done if he wanted others to fear him slightly and respect him. In Slytherin respect was mostly gained by fear. He didn't regretted what he had done to save the children as he will do it once again in a heartbeat but he wondered if there was any other way to have Rabastan back down.
He knew his actions would have consequences but he had let all of his worries into the backside of his mind. At this moment he didn't cared for anything.
He just hoped that his gamble and reckless actions would pay afterall he had decided to not mope around like his adult self. He couldn't sit back now and wait for better future when there are things which needed to be done and taken care off.
It was around 12 in the night when he felt the wards being tresspassed.
He kept his wand in the hand even though he had given the secret to undo his wards to only one person, he can't be sure when he had pulled such an act today.
The door unlocked and he lowered his wand seeing the blonde head peaking through the door.
Narcissa walked in as she looked at the new room of Severus. In Slytherin after the OWLs every student was given a single room of their own where they could study peacefully.
"So care to explain about what you did there?" Narcissa asked him dryly as she looked at him.
Severus looked at her pale face as he took a seat at the couch which he had transfigured earlier.
Narcissa joined him on the couch as he answered slowly "you know perfectly well what I did, you were there Narcissa" he finished as he looked at her.
Narcissa was not amused though "I saw perfectly what you did but did you forgot the part where I warned you not to do anything stupid" she asked dryly.
Severus sighed, he knew Narcissa had only his best interests in mind, he might have suspected upon anyone other than her who spoke like they cared upon him. Their friendship was something he cherished dearly with all his self.
"What's done is done Cissa, besides we both know it could have gotten worse" he said in a small voice looking at her.
"I know, you know I hate these stupid house politics sometimes" she said as she sighed tiredly.
Severus gave a small laugh at her words "me too" he too chimed in.
"Tippy" Severus suddenly called out and a Hogwarts elf appeared infront of them. She was wearing a clean towel with Hogwarts crest on its chest.
"Kind Master Severus, what can Tippy do for you?" the elf asked eagerly with her blue golf ball like eyes shining.
"Can you bring some hot chocolates and some apple juice for me and my friend" he spoke calmly.
The elf nodded and popped back and he turned to only see the amused glint in Narcissa's eyes.
"Kind Master Severus huh?" She mimicked what Tippy had said to him.
Severus glared at her amusedly "knock it out Cissa" he said playfully looking at her.
Narcissa laughed softly, "how did they even know you? because as much as I knew, you didn't knew where the kitchen is" she enquired him with a raised eyebrow.
"In the last day of the term I found the kitchen and ate there. I may have complimented them about the food and their efforts and asked for a free elf if they knew someone and they might have supplied me one and hailed me as a kind master" he said slowly as Narcissa looked at him amazed.
"So now you are the saviour of the house elves too, huh?" she playfully mocked him.
"They might consider me as such" he replied with a smirk.
"So you have a personal house elf now" Narcissa asked him curiously as this would explain the healthy look of Severus.
"No I have two, I got Riley through the Hogwarts elves contacts and I bought another one called Dobby from Lucius" he said calmly.
Narcissa asked skeptically "a Malfoy elf?"
Severus nodded "yes Lucius wanted something made by me and I bought Dobby from him as my compensation" he said evading the fact that Lucius wanted a untraceable potion to slowly kill his dad.
"Besides Dobby is too eccentric, I only keep him around for experimentations upon them" he said to her.
Narcissa was curious and alarmed "what type of experiments you are performing Severus. I hope they aren't something illegal?" she asked him concerned.
"No nothing illegal, I was just trying them to teach some wizard magic and to see how they could perform magic without a wand" he answered hurriedly as he explained what he had been doing in his free time.
"Okay" Narcissa said with a relieved sigh as Tippy popped at the moment with a tray and some glasses of hot chocolate and apple juice.
Severus thanked her as she popped back.
"You know, I think I might love drinking hot chocolate and juices every night now as I can order Tippy to bring it to me" Narcissa pointed out to Severus as she took a sip of chocolate.
Severus replied with a "hmm" as Narcissa asked him with a sigh "you know Severus your actions today will have consequences and I fear that the news if leaked outside the house or known to other people, you may suffer consequences" she said with worry as she scooted closer to him.
Severus didn't denied her as it was the norm between them.
"I know Cissa there might be many things which my actions could lead to. Either Lestrange parents would threaten me or take action on me, either they would be over Lestrange that he was defeated by a half-blood like me or Lestrange will not tell them due to the shame. It might be so that even the Dark Lord would hear of it and he might tell others to harm me or even more intrigued by me and ask me to join them. There are many things which could happen" he said with a tired sigh.
"You aren't afraid" Narcissa asked him worriedly.
"No not at all. It is true Cissa that we could not achieve everything in life that we hope but giving up hope even before trying is foolishness. All my life I wanted to be recognised for my talents and achievements by others and even more so I tried so hard to fit in with others for protection and the power. And now I have finally decided that the others were not worth it, besides what useful will the power be if you didn't earn it" he spoke slowly as his eyes turned wistful.
Narcissa's eyes widened at his proclaimation. Severus Snape was not a man of words but instead of extreme emotions and yet her friend had gone and completely changed over himself and now he looked finally peaceful and contended with himself. It was a complete 180 degree change from his previous self.
"They are not worth it Cissa, I have finally let go and decided to see how much I could achieve. All my life I had relied over my brain to survive, for the first time I had listened to my heart today, let's see how far it takes me" he said with a smile.
Narcissa looked at him strangely "you know I think you're doing good for yourself" she finally spoke.
Severus eyes widened slightly at her words "you really think so?" he asked her.
"I do besides you look the happiest now and what friend would I be if I didn't support you when you are happy in something" she said with a pout.
Severus smiled at her and leaned on her shoulder, Narcissa let him and he smelt strawberry and vanilla.
He looked at her from the side of his eyes as she drank her chocolate.
"You know Cissa, you are my best friend and if you ever need my help in anything you just have to ask me once" he said to her with conviction surprising Narcissa.
"I will" she spoke as both of them enjoyed the comfortable silence.
"You know I am trying on a potion this summer which helps in awakening certain magical traits in your blood if your bloodline have one. I think if you take it, there is a high chance that you may awaken your metamorphogus trait if it is completed" he said after five minutes of silence, well technically it was the ritual which gave him the idea and he had been studying the procedures and ingredients of the ritual with more detail.
Narcissa posture stiffened and Severus removed his head "really?" Narcissa looked at him with a bewildered gaze.
Severus nodded and Narcissa squealed and hugged him tightly.
"I will take it when you complete the potion, I want you to hold the potion for now" she said to him, she wasn't surprised that he had plans to create such a potion and she knew that he will also complete the potion. The boy had always been a high genius, it was a shame for him that he wasted his potential on people who were not worth it. His words had however given her a baseline of an excellent idea.
"Tell me more about this potion" she asked him as he started to explain his new potion which he was trying to invent.
Both of them completely lost the track of time, one in rapt attention while the other in enthusiasm never knowing the closeness developing deeper between them.