Severus Snape stared over the classroom after the students had left. The boy had performed a perfect advanced pain-numbing charm. The kind of charm one only learnt with lots of practice.
He had tried to read the students mind, unobtrusively of course, just trying to catch some glimpses as to how the sixth year would know that particular spell so well.
He had not managed to gather even a single thought from the boy. His mind was shielded completely, not letting any random thoughts drift out. His mental defences were impressive, worthy of a Master of Occlumency.
Severus Snape did not see the classroom anymore. He knew, without proof, without Legilmency, where that kind of abilities came from.
The boy was an outsider, a loner. Very clever. Talented. And his future was already decided for him.
Severus Snape didn't see the classroom anymore. His thoughts went back in time to another boy, about twenty years ago. So similar.
Severus Snape shook himself. There was nothing he could do. The boy would have to find his own path. After all, nobody had helped him all these years ago either.
Maybe the boy would some day realise that his own choices were what mattered, were the only thing that mattered in the end, and no one else could make these decisions for him.
That no matter what the circumstances, no matter how much others pressured you and how impossible it seemed, each man was the master of his own fate.
Maybe. The boy would have to learn that lesson on his own. If he lived long enough. Maybe he would make the right choice then. Just like he had.