June 24, 1976, Boston, Massachusetts, United States.
Severus was taken by the portkey to a port in Boston which is the capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and one of the oldest cities in the United States.
He had heard that Boston is considered the economic and cultural center of both the Muggle and magical regions and is sometimes unofficially referred to as the "Capital of New England".
Now he was at a major seaport located in Boston Harbor and adjacent to the city of Boston.
It is the largest Muggle and magical port in Massachusetts, as well as being one of the major ports on the east coast of the United States.
Boston Harbor was historically a point of entry for many magical immigrants and was also one of the reasons for the significant growth that the city of Boston had.
Severus looked around and saw a group of no more than 50 wizards and witches that seemed to be from all over the world, suddenly he felt very much at ease with his decision to come to the summer program, it was a unique opportunity as Hermione had told him.
Also in the harbor was the rest of the SWI student body who were mostly witches in their final years or graduates.
The witches were mostly wearing the SWI uniform, which consisted of a green skirt and black shoes, with a green Long Sleeve T-shirt.
Severus felt someone bump into his back just as he was about to approach the group of students who were not in SWI uniform and he guessed that just like him they were for the SCoP program
"Ouch, Oh, my head" a young girl was heard to say.
Severus turned and saw on the floor a young witch with emerald green eyes and blonde hair, which is sporadically arranged, with a large portion trailing the upper part of the nape of her neck.
"Are you all right?" asked Severus as he offered her a hand to lift her off the ground.
"This... Yes thank you, I didn't see you, sorry for bumping into you... I'm not used to such crowded places" said the young witch taking the hand offered by Severus to get up and making an extremely cute and innocent face that Severus believed could make anyone who saw her fall in love.
"Don't worry, I don't like crowds either, I'm Severus, by the way, Severus Prince, nice to meet you-"
"Freyja, my name is Jinlǜ Freyja, nice to meet you," she said quickly and excitedly taking Severus' hand by way of greeting.
"Oh, me too," Severus said with a smile as he looked at her a bit surprised by the young girl's sudden exalted greeting.
Freyja seemed to notice the awkward situation and quickly let go of Severus' hand blushing.
Freyja's expression became a little tense and she stammered, "Yes ... like this, I'm a little nervous about meeting new people, sorry about that."
Severus realized instantly that the young witch in front of him was worse than him socializing with other people.
"Don't worry Freyja, you just took me by surprise, are you by any chance for the SCoP summer program?" asked Severus seeing that the young Witch was not wearing the SWI uniform.
"Me? Oh yes, of course! I mean, yes, I'm coming from China to go through the SCoP program and then integrate into the institute as a student!"
"Then it looks like we'll be partners from now on, what do you say we join the rest of the students in the program?" said Severus pointing to where the group of witches and wizards he assumed were for the SCoP program just like them.
"This... yeah sure, I'd love to, I don't really understand how things are around here, it's all so new to me, if you could explain a little bit I'd be grateful," Freyja said shyly.
"Sure, whatever you need, from now on we are partners so don't hesitate to ask me anything."
"Really, thank you very much, Severus Prince."
"Just Severus is fine."
"This... thank you then Severus," Freyja said happily.
They both continued walking together through the harbor to where the group was that they assumed were students of the SCoP program, as they walked Freyja asked Severus all sorts of questions about the institute and other common-sense things that Severus couldn't understand how the young witch didn't know, he began to think that the young woman had never left her house or something, because all the knowledge she had was from books and she didn't seem to have experienced anything on her own, it was very strange.
As they caught up with the group, they could both see from there a large ship that had the shiny SWI school crest on it.
On the dock there were families saying goodbye to witches, people talking, walking, dragging cargo, some witches were even with their pets.
As Severus and Freyja were about to join the group, the student body present began to walk up the ramp and onto the deck.
Noticing this, they both decided to walk up the ramp along with the others.
After a while, Severus noticed that they were moving slowly because they appeared to be making a line that led to one of the tables at the end of the ramp where students were checking in and signing their names in large books.
Behind the tables sat several young women who couldn't have been more than thirty years old.
In the row, Severus and Freyja were standing in sat a young witch with straight blonde hair and light blue eyes that made her look quite beautiful, and Severus wondered if she might be a teacher.
Next to the tables were other rather beautiful young women as well who were smiling exaggeratedly as she quickly and enthusiastically indicated to the students who finished checking in at the tables which section of the ship they should go to.
The line moved, though not as fast as Severus would have liked, as the people around him were already talking to other people and didn't seem too interested in making small talk with him.
But luckily Freyja's curiosity and constant questions kept him quite busy and entertained.
When Severus and Freyja arrived at the table, the young woman quickly caught his attention.
Severus let Freyja pass first.
"What letter does your last name begin with, miss?" the woman behind the table was heard to ask Freyja.
"Uhm. Jinlǜ. J." Freyja smiled shyly, feeling a little nervous at how she stuttered in her answer.
Severus could only smile at the innocent, shy witch he had come across.
"It's alright Miss Jinlǜ, you can sign this book here," the woman pointed to the book in the middle of the table, and Freyja quickly signed her name under a signature that looked so much like a chicken scratch.
Severus wondered if anyone could read it or even understand that signature and name.
"Thank you, now they will direct you where to go!" the woman said pointing to the helpers around the tables.
"I... this..." Freyja stammered as she looked behind her at Severus as if asking for his help in the situation.
Severus could only deny and smile at the young witch's awkwardness as he approached the table where Freyja was.
"Excuse me miss, she and I are coming together, if it's not too much trouble could you quickly sign in and go next to her?" said Severus to the woman behind the table.
Freyja nodded her head quickly as if affirming what Severus was saying.
"Very well, there should be no problem sir-"
"Prince, Severus Prince."
"Right, well, here Mr. Prince, sign and you may continue."
Severus quickly signed and thanked her, "Here you go, thank you, Miss-"
The woman looked at him for a few seconds and then replied with a smile, "Professor Ava Hale and I hope you have a good trip Mr. Prince, and you too Miss Jinlǜ"
"Oh I see, thank you very much then, Professor Hale, likewise to you," Severus said with a smile.
"Yes, thank you for everything professor," said Freyja tenderly.
After saying goodbye, Freyja and Severus were taken together to their assigned cabin on the ship along with the other students in the SCoP program.
Each student had his or her own cabin with a window and a thin door.
Some of the cabins had red knobs, and Severus could only assume that those were the ones that were occupied since no one else was trying to get into them.
Severus moved along with Freyja quickly down the corridor, peeking inside the windows of each booth.
When he was halfway down, he found two seemingly unoccupied cabins and decided to enter one while telling Freyja to take the other next to him.
Apparently, each cabin had room for three people, so it was likely that he would have to share a cabin with two other students and he guessed that Freyja's situation would be the same.
After a while of Severus arranging some of his things inside the cabin, the door to the room opened.
It was then that a young man walked in, Severus looked up and saw that it was a boy with short straight black hair, pale white skin, and dark brown eyes.
At first glance, Severus could tell that the young wizard in front of him practiced dark arts, as he was not even making an effort to hide the intimidating aura his body gave off and Severus was too well versed in the dark arts to know that this was due to some sort of dark magic.
Severus only uttered the word 'hello' as he waved his hand slightly, not really moving it from his lap.
'Does he practice dark arts? Interesting' Severus thought, no one knew what Severus was thinking at the moment...
The young man's expression was unchanging and he replied without giving it much thought, "The other booths are mostly full or have a problem or two, annoying?"
"Uh..." Severus looked at the young wizard, wanting to say something regarding why he thought he hadn't gotten a cabin, but he seemed to reconcile it and not touch that subject "Of course not,
there's no one else here, there's plenty of room, you can choose the bed you like," Severus said kindly without caring much about the aura the young man in front of him was giving off.
"Well, I'll trouble you then." said the young man nodding as he positioned himself on one of the beds in the cabin...
"I'm Severus Prince by the way, what's your name?"
The young man looked at him and replied without much trouble, "Hayato Sasaki".
"Nice to meet you Sasaki, are you from Japan?" asked Severus.
"Yes and likewise" answered Sasaki without much enthusiasm.
Severus did not insist anymore on conversing with the young man who clearly did not seem to be in the mood to talk, so he decided to finish settling in and leave the booth.
When he exited the cabin he again encountered Freyja who was apparently waiting for him in the hallway.
"This... I didn't know what to do and I didn't want to interrupt you so I decided to wait for you to finish" said Freyja embarrassed.
Severus just smiled.
"I was just about to give you a tour of the ship, do you want to join me Freyja?"
"Oh! Yes, great idea, what a thrill, I've never been on a ship before, have you ever been on a ship before Severus?"
"Well, no, I've never been outside the magical world of Britain before. I have no idea what the rest of the magical world will be like let alone a boat trip; In fact, I was just about to find out some things about how the boat works, it's said to have some very interesting ancient magical runes"
"Me too!, I've only been to a few parts of China, my father wouldn't let me go out much so it's a whole new experience," Freyja said excitedly and smiling.
"Mmmm I understand, then let's not waste time and see as much as we can!"
The two toured the ship together while talking comfortably with each other and asking questions to the staff inside.
After a good while, all the student body and staff seemed to have boarded so the ship finally set sail on its way to the island where the Salem Witch Institute was located.
Severus knew that the SWI has located on an island 300 km from the city of Salem, this was an island that Muggles considered uninhabited, but in fact, several witches had settled here many years ago and they had covered a whole part of the island with a magical barrier that prevented the entry of Muggles, eventually, these same witches created an organization and then formed the
Salem Witches Institute, which is the first magical institute in North America.
A short while after the ship beeped that it was going to set sail on its way to the island where the Salem Witch Institute was located, a person could be heard speaking throughout the ship.
A woman's voice sounded over the entire ship, but there was no speaker or Muggle technology, it was some kind of magic Severus didn't know about, but he already had some guesses.
"All right students, Salem Witches' Institute welcomes you aboard! This is Captian Taylor speaking, and I will be taking us to Salem Witches' Institute on this besutiful day!"
When the voice of the woman who was apparently the captain of the ship was heard, everyone remained silent until her voice continued to broadcast once more on the ship.
"We will be setting sail at this time, so everyone had better have secured a cabin to stay in for the duration of the voyage! If not, you can contact the white and green-clad personnel aboard the ship to assist you with whatever you need. About halfway through the trip, our excellent cook, Miss Dorothy, will offer food and snacks for anyone who wishes to purchase something for the road. All students in the SCoP program must remain on board when we arrive, and a teacher will direct them where to go. Any other high school students will need to move on to their respective Colleges and dorms. Thank you and I hope you enjoy the trip!"
When Captain Taylor's voice quieted down, Severus and Freyja only had to wait a few moments before the ship sailed out of the harbor.
They both took the opportunity to quickly go to a nearby cabin where there was a large window, they both looked out the window, as the sea and the port on land receding filled their views, and only in a few moments the port on land was no longer visible and all that could be seen was only water.
For Severus this was his first experience on a boat, he took a deep breath, and looked beside him at Freyja who was extremely excited and fascinated with the journey.
Severus could only deny the excited witch, he began to envy how she took everything with such enthusiasm, and thinking about it he remembered Lily the first time he met her and he introduced her to magic along with various things of the magical world.
'She reminds me so much of her. Merlin, to think I'm thousands of miles away and I still remember her'
Severus said to himself as he sighed tiredly, he was hoping that this trip would help him clear his feelings and thoughts for Lily a bit.
As they both turned to continue touring the ship, they were bumped by a young wizard out of the blue.
"Bloody hell, don't you two watch where you're walking!" complained the young man who came up behind them and ended up bumping into them.
Severus could tell at a glance that the young man was very cocky, he had already dealt with many people like him and he wasn't interested in engaging in conversation with someone like that.
For the first time in a long time he had no pressure from anyone on his actions, he could decide what to do and who to be with without being judged or bothered.
In Slytherin, he never had much of a choice about who he hung out with, and it was something Lily could never understand, Gryffindor was not Slytherin.
Slytherin house was always isolated from the others, and only had themselves to rely on, so you were either supportive and part of Slytherin or you were isolated from everyone, and it never ended well for those who were isolated, least of all with the war going on.
"Well Excuse me...but my friend and I didn't move from our spot, so the one who wasn't paying attention while walking was you Mr-" said Severus with a piercing look.
"Mr?, PFF... hahaha" laughed the young man, while Severus looked at him with annoyance and Freyja hid behind his back.
"Is he mad?" whispered Freyja to Severus.
"I couldn't tell you for sure," Severus replied.
The young wizard in front of Severus and Freyja had blond hair, light blue eyes, and was of a similar height to Severus, he wore a white shirt with a red tie and a black sleeveless coat along with black pants and shoes.
"Merlin, who calls someone his own age by Mr, that's the funniest thing I've heard in a long time" the young wizard continued to laugh, while Severus and Freyja looked at him like he was retarded.
"O come on, don't look at me like that, you're the weird ones, not me," he said again when he saw the faces the two were giving him
"I'm Ethan by the way and in case you don't know you're the ones in the middle of the road cutting the others off by standing still"
"Well that's good to know. Come on Freyja let's get on with the tour, I'd rather we didn't get bumped by another Ethan for standing still," Severus said in a mocking tone.
Freyja just nodded from behind her back where she was still hidden.
Just as they were about to continue touring the ship, they both heard the young wizard from earlier again.
"Hey wait, wait you two, you didn't tell me your names, it's polite to say your name when someone else introduces themselves."
Severus stopped walking and turned to look at Ethan again.
"You can call me Prince, as for her, she doesn't seem to be interested in talking to you, now if you'll excuse us, we have a ship to sail" Severus replied and continued on his way along with Freyja, leaving the young wizard named Ethan behind.
Luckily for Severus, the young wizard didn't seem to insist anymore and let them continue on their way without saying anything else.
In the middle of the journey, they were making they crossed paths with several witches from the institute who apparently were from other schools within the SWI.
Time flew by and the ship was already more than halfway through the journey, so Severus decided to go back to his cabin to order and buy something to eat.
Freyja had no choice but to return to her cabin as well since she could not enter Severus' cabin.
Returning to his cabin Severus opened the door to find Sasaki lying there reading.
Sasaki didn't bother to say hello or turn around to see Severus, he calmly continued his reading as if nothing had happened.
"I'm about to order some food, are you hungry Sasaki?" asked Severus seeing that he probably hadn't even stopped reading since he entered the cabin.
Only then did Sasaki deign to look at him.
"I'm fine."
"Very well" Severus went on to ask for everything that caught his attention in the letter.
A few moments after he ordered the food, a young woman delivered to his booth what he had ordered, payment, and dismissed her with a thank you.
After eating, Severus decided to leave the cabin again.
To his pleasant surprise, Freyja was not waiting for him, which meant that she was still eating or had made new friends in his booth.
Severus didn't think very much about it and quickly set about studying the structure of the ship along with the magical modifications that had been applied to it for its operation.
He was impressed with the magic applied to it and was interested in studying them a bit.
A few hours later, the ship finally arrived at the island where the SWI was located.
Arriving at the magical port on the island, Severus was left waiting inside the ship as were all the other students who were there for the SCoP program.
As all the students from the other SWI Colleges got off the ship and headed to their respective Colleges, the remaining group was approached by a tall, blonde, light blue-eyed woman who was in her late 40's, but despite her age, Severus had to admit that she was very beautiful and to make matters worse, the woman's face looked extremely familiar, but he still couldn't quite place her.
"Alright, students of the SCoP program, my name is Helen Stacy, I am the dean of Salem College of Potions and I will be the one measuring your performance along with the professors throughout this summer, now everyone follows me into the facility." Said the tall, blonde and beautiful dean.
Severus now knew why she sounded familiar, Helen Stacy was a renowned potioneer in the magical world, she had made great contributions with unique and amazing creations.
She was one of the reasons why Severus was so interested in this program. Ever since he learned that she was the Dean and Potions Mistress of SWI, he knew that he could learn and improve a great deal under her tutelage.
Severus' ability to innovate in potions was undoubtedly unique and she was one of the most experienced and capable people when it came to potions innovation.
Once the Dean said those words she turned around and started walking.
The students from the SCoP program wasted no time and followed behind her quickly.
When Severus got off the boat and saw the island they were on, he was surprised by the dense forest in the surrounding area.
After a walk to the SCoP facility.
Dean Stacy spoke again, "Alright students, I'm going to give a brief introduction!"
"At first SWI was formed by witches from all over the world as a refuge, then it became an organization and eventually became a magical institution for witches only, until a few years ago male wizards were not allowed in, but as time went by the institution allowed SCoP to integrate both witches and wizards in its later years."
"Salem Witches High School does not offer extracurricular classes. It specializes only in 7 compulsory subjects that are divided into 7 colleges for each."
"SWI is separated into a total of 7 colleges: SCoA(the school of Alchemy) - SCoT(the school of transfiguration) - SCoE(the school of enchantments) - SCoH(the school of herbology) - SCoV(the school of Flying) - SCoD(the school of defense) - SCoP (the school of potions)"
"Each College has its own staff and Dean, and specializes in one subject, which means that each witch can choose which school to enter depending on the subject she is most interested in"
"Even though each College has a specialization in its own subject, students will have to take all the compulsory subjects corresponding to the 7 schools in the same way."
"SCoP is the only school in SWI that accepts male students in their sixth and seventh years. This is because it is the most internationally outstanding school within the institution and it is also where the best and most renowned potioneers from all over the world usually come from. SCoP has gained worldwide fame as the best potions school in the world for many years now, thus being the dream of many talented wizards and witches to attend this school."
"Due to the great interest shown by wizards and witches from all over the world in attending SCoP, SWI has made an exception to the witch-only rule that the magical institute had and has allowed only SCoP for a few years now to admit both witches and wizards with great potential and talent in potion making, thus making SCoP the only school that allows male wizards into SWI."
"But to get into SCoP, the wizard or witch must go through the summer program that the college does every year, and usually the summer program is very advanced for young wizards. Wizards and witches who participate in this program are usually about to enter their seventh and final year of magical education or even have already completed their magical education and are graduates with a major in the field of potion-making who are looking to further their knowledge in potion-making through the program."
"For all those students who have not completed their magical education and participate in the SCoP summer program, they will have the possibility to finish their studies at SCoP depending on their performance in the program"
"That's all students, I hope I have clarified some doubts, the building in front is where you will be doing the program and in it, you will find on the third floor the rooms that correspond to you with your name and last name on a plaque next to each room, I wish you the best of luck and any questions you can talk to the staff of the building"
When the Dean finished the introduction of the Salem Witch Institution, all SCoT students headed off to settle into their designated dormitories.
Severus as well as the others was on his way to find his dorm when he was called personally by the Dean.
"Mr. Prince, wait a moment please."
"Yes, Ms. Dean?" asked Severus stopping and turning around to find out why she was calling him.
"Come with me to my office for a moment, there is something I would like to discuss with you."
"Well, I..." Severus wanted to ask if he could go to his dorm first and then go to his office, but the Dean wouldn't let him finish.
"Don't worry, no one will take your dorm away from you Mr. Prince, nor will it magically disappear, I promise."
"Right..., I'll follow you then" Severus replied shrugging his shoulders and sighing as if giving up at the Dean's clear refusal to postpone their talk for later.
"Very well, follow me this way," said the Dean as she started walking towards her office in the SCoP building.
Once they both entered the office, the Dean went behind her desk and sat down as she directed Severus to sit in the chair in front of her desk, "Have a seat, Mr. Prince."
Severus walked over to the head desk and sat where she indicated.
Once seated, Severus noticed that on the desk was a small silver plaque with the Dean's ID: Helen Stacy, P.M., Dean SWI., SCoP.
Severus knows that Helen Stacy is an exceptional potioneer, at the age of only 20 she had already published several articles in the Quarterly Potions Journal and soon after she managed to modify and improve one of the most recognized potions in the magical world, the Polyjuice potion.
She recreated and improved the potion by using and adding new ingredients in the brew so that it could be consumed continuously so that one could continue to be transformed for as long as one wished by taking a new dose before the effects of the first dose wore off, something that was previously not possible since with the original Polyjuice potion one could not take more than three doses in a row or the wizard would suffer side effects in his or her body.
She was also credited with creating several other potions that allowed the wizard to change or modify only a specific part of his body for an extended time of up to 7 hours.
The basis of the potions were the same as the Polyjuice potion and their effects were very similar, but she managed to do something completely new by creating a potion that allows a specific effect on a specific area or part of the body seven times longer per dose than the time provided by the Polyjuice potion per dose.
The only flaw with these potions was that only one potion of this type could be used at a time, so one could only modify one part of the body and then one had to wait for the effect to wear off before being able to modify another part of the body with the use of another potion.
But for Severus, this woman's achievements were outstanding, being able to modify a potion as ancient, difficult, and unique as the Polyjuice was certainly something to take into account.
Dean Stacy gave him a welcoming smile as he sat down.
"I must assume you already know who I am given my previous introduction and presentation, and if not there is also the plaque on the table that gives me away, still I would like to introduce myself again now that we are in private, I am Helen Stacy and I must say Mr. Prince your creativity and innovation in modifying/improving the potions in your potions book are brilliant."
"I am Severus Prince madam and I thank you very much for your compliment but this..., it is just some simple and unimportant things, nothing for which I deserve so much credit."
"Oh! Simple and unimportant you say?"
"Well, I... you know, it's just some of the obvious little modifications I've been applying to the potions I usually sell, I mean see, to see if they could be sold in the future when I'm a professional brewer, no big deal," Severus said with a little shrug, he believed the Dean was just trying to motivate him with some compliments.
"Mmmmm I understand, So what you're trying to tell me is that what has all my colleagues and potions instructors in such a tizzy state is nothing more than something simple and obvious!? Because I assure you that none of them have been this excited about enrolling a student at the institute since you sent out these 'little enhancements' as you call them!"
"This... I... cough cough well, I don't know what to say" Severus shrugged showing that he was a bit embarrassed and lost, he also snorted in disbelief that someone could be so excited about something as basic as some simple improvements to the potions in the Hogwarts book, he didn't think there was anything so impressive about doing that.
He could understand if that was enough to prove his abilities and be accepted into the SCoP program, but he didn't expect it to be that big of a deal, he's been making improvements to potions since the second year and no one showed that much interest or amazement, so he couldn't understand how abnormal it was to do that.
"Well Mr. Prince, you don't have to say anything else, just from seeing your expression and behavior I can safely say that your teachers and management at Hogwarts didn't show or give enough/deserved interest in your brilliant and obvious abilities in the branch of potions."
"Well, in fact, Professor Slughorn has always mentioned that I have a lot of talent and a great ability in potions brewing, I have received a lot of compliments from him" Severus began.
"It's just that the professor prefers those who follow to the letter the instructions given by the potions book for proper brewing and is not very supportive of students experimenting on their own in his subject until they are professionals at it, something I was not always willing to follow."
"Oh I see, Potions Master Horace Eugene Flaccus Slughorn, I have had the pleasure of meeting your professor on the odd occasion, and I can say that he is a great potioneer as well as he is a professional, although he tends to be a bit biased to choose to surround himself with people of great influence and success who tend to excel in their fields, so he tends to choose the easy route to the hard route, whereas you Mr. Prince, you are different, you not only stand out but you stand out to the point of being very different from the model of influential and successful people that he wants to surround himself with."
"Yes, I can agree with you on that, I remember that in the first years I used to go to the Club of the Eminences that he founded, where he gathered the most outstanding, intelligent or famous students of the different generations, I only joined because he invited me and because it was said that the great majority of the members of this Club would have important roles in the Magic World, but already in my fourth year I stopped being interested in the environment or better said, I didn't fit in among those sophisticated people."
"Believe me Mr. Prince when I tell you that not all of us are made to be brilliant minds and seek fame for it, some of us prefer anonymity, but you must remember that sadly it is not always possible"
"I understand, I will keep that in mind, thank you, madam."
"Very well, now let me ask you something before I dismiss you," said the Dean more seriously and stared at him as if seeking to decipher Severus.
"This... yes, of course, tell me" Severus replied a little confused and worried, perhaps it was his improper sale of unlicensed potions over the years.
'If only I hadn't opened my mouth anymore, stupid that I was, please Merlin, let it be nothing to do with that' Severus thought to himself.
"Well, Mr. Prince, you are only sixteen years old, and yet in your application you showed us that you can innovate and improve upon potions already known and widely used in the magical world, as well as showing that you completely understand recipes to the point of going beyond the already established recipe, modifying the exact brewing time in each one, along with the ingredients and preparation, achieving that not only the potions have the same effect they were originally meant to have, but also increased the effect and safety in the brewing, also decreased the consumption of ingredients and the time it takes to make it, making the potion much simpler, cheaper and more effective than the original."
"Yes... well, you could say that," Severus said rather surprised at all the assessment she had already made of him with just a few of the improvements he had made to the potions.
The dean leaned forward slightly staring at him with her light blue eyes, her features were serious but also tended to appear pleasantly excited.
"And if I didn't mishear, you said a few moments ago that these improvements were just some of the small and obvious modifications you were applying to the potions in the Hogwarts textbook, which leads me to ask you. What and how much more have you done Mr. Prince if you say that what you showed us is only a small part of it?" finally asked the clearly excited Dean.
Severus swallowed hard and took a deep breath, he was not at all prepared to be approached by the Dean with so much interest and excitement.
He was feeling a bit overwhelmed, there were many things he had never considered or even thought about properly before that were now starting to make sense, he cursed himself for being so blind.
The Dean seemed to quickly realize his inappropriate behavior and enthusiasm, she calmly resumed her seat, cleared her throat, and spoke again, "Forgive me for my enthusiasm, you have no reason to answer for not wanting to, after all, these are private matters that only concern you."
"No, no, don't worry madam, in fact, I am very flattered, I was just overwhelmed and a bit surprised by the analysis and interest you showed in something I have been doing since my second year"
When Severus mentioned that, the Dean who had already regained her composure, was taken aback.
"Second? the second year? are you telling me that you have been making the improvements to the potions since your second year?" asked the Dean clearly astonished, but also quite suspicious of the credibility of what he was saying, she couldn't believe that was true, a 13 year old capable of understanding, modifying and improving a recipe was simply insane.
She had known bright, genius, and talented young people who could understand and brew extremely difficult potions at 12 and 13 years old even some at 11 years old, but only followed step by step the recipe in the textbook, never modifying, creating, or improving them, maybe they had ideas of how to do it, but they were just ideas, they could not carry out such ideas at that age, only at the age of 15 or 16 they started to do such things and most of them fail.
Now, the young man in front of her tells her that his first improvements in potions were at the age of 13, which is not something believable.
"Correct, in fact, one of the five enhancements I sent them to enroll me in the SCoP program was done by me at the end of my 2nd year at Hogwarts" Severus stated confidently.
"Mr. Prince, it's not that I think you're lying, it's just that you must understand that it's a little hard to believe that a young boy of only 13 could perform such a thing, if true, you could be quite the pioneer and eminence as in the youngest potioneer wizard to perform a successful potion enhancement in the magical world."
"EH?" Severus had never thought of that, again he cursed himself for being so carefree and not thinking of things that could have clearly benefited him to have a better life.
'By Merlin, what good does it do me to be so smart if I can't see or understand the simplest things in life afterward, to think I always gloated so much at thinking I was so superior in mind to others, especially when I compared myself to those ridiculous marauders, seems it's time to reconsider who is the ridiculous one when I couldn't even take advantage of my many talents while they did of theirs, damn, this has got to change' Severus thought and chided himself.
"I can assure you madam that what I am telling you is the absolute truth, it is not to seek merit or anything of the sort, indeed, if you did not tell me such a thing, I would never have found out or even put it into my head that it was anything worth mentioning," Severus said.
"I understand and if it is as you say, you really deserve the credit you deserve for such a feat at such a young age, and if I were to add to that the improvements you have made which from what I have seen have not been published or patented yet by you, I could assure you that you would be all the rage in the whole magical world once all this comes to light" the dean mentioned enthusiastically but Severus could also sense that she was up to something when she said that.
"Well, to tell you the truth, at the moment I'm not looking to draw much attention from the magical world, later on, I could surely make use of this, but for now I'm fine."
"I see, and I understand that you don't have the need to draw the attention of the magical world now, but you can certainly go about privately validating with the MACUSA what you say so that you can then openly and smoothly expose your accomplishments whenever you want"
"Yes, I agree with you on that, but what could MACUSA do to validate whether or not what I say is true, the only thing I can really prove is that I made the improvements but not when I made them."
"Well, there are several ways you can validate what you say, although most of these methods are currently not allowed to be used, there are still some that can be implemented as long as the wizard they are used on agrees."
Severus nodded, "Something like a pensieve?"
At Severus' accurate answer, she looked at him more closely, as if she were looking at a bug under a microscope. "Indeed. If you already know what it is, you should also know that there aren't many pensieve in the magical world, as they are extremely rare and usually difficult to acquire. Just out of curiosity, have you seen any?"
When Severus heard her ask that question he understood his mistake in answering so simply about the pensieve, any normal wizard would not have said such a magical object as they are rare and not usually talked about much even in textbooks, so it was strange that he would think of this as a first choice.
And the truth was that Severus had never seen a pensieve in his life, he only had knowledge of these from his memories of the Harry Potter canon where Dumbledore's pensieve is shown at Hogwarts, so he automatically assumed that Dean Stacy might be referring to the use of one, but he didn't think about what it implied that he knew about it.
"No madam, I've never seen a pensieve in person, but I've heard and read of them and figured it might be the most viable option to validate what I'm saying without having to make use of some illegal object or magic."
She looked at him carefully for a few moments as if analyzing his response and only spoke again after a few moments when she seemed satisfied, "You impress me, mr. Prince, any other wizard would have told me many other less orthodox or logical methods such as using Legilimency to prove what you say, which would not be viable since it is frowned upon in the public eye for a wizard to enter the mind of another"
"I actually thought of that option madam, but a pensieve allows more than one person to see the truth, while Legilimency does not unless more than one Legilimens see my mind, which would not be viable as you say"
"Impressive and very true, lucky for you, the Magicongress has an ancient pensieve in the Department for Magical Security, it is not usually used, but if I personally submitted an application they should allow you to use it to validate your story," the Dean said with Assurance.
"I understand and thank you, but I would not want to bother you with such a request, I know it is a luxury item in the magical world and it will not be easy to have access to it,"
Severus said knowing that it was not as easy to get permission to use the pensieve as the Dean made it seem, few were the wizards who had the chance to see one let alone use it.
Her light blue eyes shot up her forehead, she seemed surprised by the response, but then replied rather impressed and excited, "Oh, I see you're not missing anything, mr. Prince. You are right, it is not something that just any mage is allowed to use, but if I ask for it personally along with a good argument as to why I need it, I can assure you that it will be no problem for me to get the pensive for you for one day, but for that, I must first make sure that what you say is the truth. do you understand?"
"I understand, you want me to allow you to use Legilimency on me, to see the exact moment when I successfully enhance for the first time a potion that already existed, so that I can make sure that what I say is the truth and then ask for the pensive from the Magiconreso," Severus said.
"You seem to have understood everything, it's easy to talk between intelligent people, we don't have to beat around the bush, so how about my proposal Mr. Prince/"
Shrugging his shoulders and sighing, Severus replied, "I have no problem with what you propose, in fact, it makes things much easier for me and I have nothing against you using Legilimency as long as I only see that specific moment and nothing else, I like my privacy after all."
Severus could see a slight smile form on Dean Stacy's face when he answered that.
"You can rest assured, once I see the exact moment you first performed a successful enhancement on a potion I will leave your mind instantly."
"Very well, then let's wait no longer, but before we begin, how did you know that I knew Occlumency?" asked Severus.
Severus knew that she had proposed using Legilimency on him, only because he knew Occlumency, otherwise she would not have made such a proposal.
This was because if one knew Occlumency he could prevent another from reading his mind to a certain extent, or he could make the one seeking to read his mind only see unimportant things from his daily life, therefore, a wizard who knows how to use Occlumency can show specific moments of his life, making the Legilimens not have to search through his entire mind for what he wishes to see.
In short, Severus would show her the exact moment he first improved a potion while she was using Legilimency on him.
But Severus' doubt was how she knew he was an Occlumen, he never mentioned it to her, only his mother and Dumbledore knew he was an Occlumen.
"Well, the truth is I just assumed," said the Dean shrugging with a smile.
"How can you assume someone is an Occlumen, I don't recall giving any clue about it as to why you would assume that."
"Indeed you did mr. Prince."
"Eh?" Severus was very confused at this point, he could have sworn he never mentioned anything to give away that he was an Occlumen.
"Seeing what a brilliant young wizard you are, it was to be expected that you would know Occlumency as the Prince family was known not only for their potion-making abilities but also for keeping their recipes hidden through Occlumency."
Severus was stunned at what he said because he knew it was true.
The Princes were always renowned for being great potioneers, but they were also known for their great skill as Occlumens.
"I must say I had my doubts at first if you were also an Occlumen like your ancestors, after all, you have not long been a part of the Princes, given that if I remember correctly the letter we received at the time to enter the program was submitted by Severus Tovias Snape and only a few days ago it was amended to Severus Prince, confirming your identity as a Prince and probably the heir."
Severus cursed himself again for being so careless, he was supposed to be smarter and more capable after soul-bonding, not that he would become more distracted.
'Merlin definitely hates me or all these things wouldn't happen to me' Severus grumbled to himself.
"Regarding that Ms. Dean, I would like to ask that for a while my identity not be revealed to the British Ministry of Magic, I know that to join the program it was mandatory to update my background, but I don't think it's necessary to inform the Ministry or the Magicongress yet"
"Don't worry, I figured you would have your reasons for not mentioning anything in your name and surname update so suddenly, that's exactly why I didn't mention it before"
"I thank you then for the inconvenience."
"It's no bother, as you said, we all like our privacy, I'm not one to intervene, it's already a lot for me to be asking for authorization to use Legilimency on you."
"Well, but that's more for my benefit than yours."
"But it doesn't take away from the fact that I'm doing it on a whim and enthusiasm to have as a student a young wizard who at the age of 13 successfully improved a potion on his own" smiled the Dean as she winked at him in amusement.
Severus was a little embarrassed, but quickly pulled himself together, "Right, so I guess we're even then, even so, you said you still had doubts about whether he was an Occlumen when you saw he was a Prince a short time ago, what was it that removed your doubts then?"
"Oh, well that's because I remembered that a few years ago there was a small announcement about a young potioneer named Eileen Prince marrying a muggle named Tobias Snape, and then there was also an announcement saying that she had given birth to a male child who is no doubt you."
Severus choked a little at that information but let it go and thought what could that have to do with what he asked her, what she was saying didn't answer his question.
"Yes, I am her son but I don't know what that has to do with it, I doubt knowing that would have removed her doubts," Severus said.
"I had the pleasure of meeting your mother and it was in the same program you are in now."
"You met my mother?!" asked Severus very perplexed and intrigued, he knew very little about his mother's past as she refused to tell him about her life or family, she only bothered to teach him magic but never talked to him about her private life.
"That's right, it was the last summer vacation we would have before we started our seventh school year, she was coming from Hogwarts and I was an SWI student at SCoT."
"SCoT, you mean you weren't a student at SCoP?" Severus asked being increasingly confused.
Severus knew that the Dean had studied at the Salem Witches Institute and he was convinced that she had been a student at the Potions College in Salem.
But now she was telling him that she an internationally recognized potioneer who had studied at the best Institute for potioneers, was actually not part of the potions school but was part of the Salem College of Transfiguration, now that he did not expect.
"Right and the truth is my major was always transfiguration, but I loved everything to do with potions, so I decided to try to do the SCoP summer program, I had nothing to lose by trying and being part of an SWI College it was easier for me to get into the program than other students."
"I must say that is very telling, it would never have occurred to me that you were actually better at transfigurations than potions as a young man, after all, you are an eminence among potioneers"
"You flatter me Mr. Prince, but the truth is that part of my success as a potioneer is due to your mother."
"Eh? my mother? I don't know much of the truth about my mother's past, but I do know that she was a great potioneer with a lot of talent but I'm sure she never put much effort into it, she wasn't a lover of study or rules in general, that's why she put everything aside and married a muggle"
"And you're not wrong, if I remember correctly, her mother hated having to attend the SCoP summer program. I just know that her family forced her to go and she had no say in that decision."
"I see and so why is my mother one of the reasons for your success?" asked an increasingly interested and intrigued Severus to hear what the dean had to say about his mother.
"Well, first you have to know that my talent in potions was not comparable to other genius students like your mother, I was quite envious of your mother and all those with great talent in potions" began the Dean.
"One day I was disappointed with the results I was getting in the program and your mother noticed, Eileen had already proven to be a genius in the subject by taking the program with ease. When I was already thinking about giving up and putting aside my passion for potions and dedicating myself to my true talent which was transfigurations, your mother came up to me and comforted/motivated me, she was... how to say... fleeting" said the Dean smiling as she remembered those moments.
Severus listened more and more attentively to the story, he was delighted to learn about his mother's past, he had known her so little and at her worst.
"She proposed to help me and I happily accepted her proposal. By Merlin, if I wouldn't have regretted accepting her help" laughed the Dean confusing Severus.
"You must understand that your mother was a genius and a very good person, but she was lousy at helping or teaching others, she was too fleeting as I said before, she couldn't concentrate on one thing, she wanted to do everything at once and then she didn't end up finishing anything, she was quite a character," she told him as she looked at Severus smiling and shaking her head as she remembered and told what happened.
Severus could only laugh as he understood a little of what the Dean meant, he knew that his mother was very disorganized, she never remembered things and lived in her own world, those were some of the things that his father kept complaining about, unlike his mother, his father was very organized and liked everything to be done in a specific way, Severus was never going to understand how she married that man, they were so different.
"So we spent some time together, in this time I got to know your mother quite a bit and I don't know if we became friends, but good companions. I envied her way of being so free and happy, since I always looked for perfection and organization in everything, and transfiguration was perfect for that, while the positions require a little more ingenuity and creativity, otherwise you reached a point where you were stuck without being able to advance since you can't always follow the textbooks."
Severus nodded at that, he knew better than anyone the importance of being dedicated, organized, and perfectionist when it came to brewing potions, but to really improve and progress as a potioneer, what was needed was creativity, ingenuity, and talent.
"All in all, your mother managed to cheer me up and motivate me, but she certainly didn't help me improve as a potioneer, she was a disaster to dedicate her time to anything and that included me, but one day she gave me a brilliant idea, an idea that to this day has served me to be the potioneer that I am."
When the Dean said that, Severus focused on listening very carefully to what she was going to say, he was very intrigued as to what his mother could have said to help her so much.
"This... what did she say to you?" asked Severus not holding his intrigue.
"Well she told me that if I was so good at transfigurations to just make use of them in potions, that I should use my talent and knowledge in transfigurations to create potions related to them, that a good potioneer must have talent, but that also all talent can be used to make great potions as long as one puts dedication, ambition, and effort into it."
"{"You may not be creative in making potions but you certainly are when you are in transfigurations, use that and see how it works for you, I'm not promising anything, but you can certainly use your ideas in transfiguration to make potions, I don't know just saying"} was what Eileen Prince told me back then and I must say it was quite a success, those simple and nonsensical words opened a whole new path for me," said the Dean smiling as she finished her story.
Severus froze, in fact, he could understand perfectly what she was saying, he just still found it hard to process everything, it was sad to know that someone as free and happy as his mother ended up with a man who mistreated her and judged her every day for being a witch.
"Thank you, now I understand everything a little better, it's good to know about my mother's past, did you keep in touch with her after that?" asked Severus hopeful that he knew more.
"The truth is sadly no when the program ended your mother went back to Britain and even though I kept some contact by letters with her for a while, after graduation she moved away from the whole magical world, she never answered my letters again and we never saw each other or spoke again, the little I knew about her afterward was that she had married a Muggle and had a child, nothing else"
"I understand, thanks anyway for everything, it's good to hear about her, good, I have no more doubts, shall we start now then?"
Before the Dean could say anything, the office door suddenly opened and a young woman started shouting.
—-
Hello people.
Here are the specific values of the coins in 1976:
1 Gallon = 17 Pounds
1 Pound = 2 Dollars