A/N: I don't own Harry Potter

This is for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Assignment # 8 Foreign Exchange - Task #8. Academy of Unseen Arts (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina): Write about learning Dark Magic.

Writing Club November

Angel's Archives: 11- Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein - write about someone having an epiphany

Film Festival: 5 - (genre) drama

Lyric Alley: 18 - Yeah, well, payback is a mother fucker

Word count: 736

Warning: Contains animal death, bigotry, dark Severus

The book was old, of that much, Severus was certain. He'd found the tome entirely by accident. He'd been trying to hide from Potter and Black, for the fifth time this week, when the book had nearly fallen on his head. Normally the library stacks were one of the safest places for him to hide. He was fairly certain Black couldn't read and Potter wouldn't bother.

He picked up the book and studied it. The cover was made of leather of some sort, most likely cowhide, but Severus would be willing to believe it was something rarer. There was no title on the cover. Instead only an etching of a skull. He shivered slightly glancing around to see if anyone was nearby.

Seeing no one, he gently opened the book and read the words splashed across the front page; The Moste Dangerous of Spells. A smile spread across his face. He knew what kind of book he now possessed, one of ancient magics, of Dark Magic. He quickly slid it into this school bag and hurried from the library. Thankfully, Potter and Black had given up looking for him and he was able to get back to his own dorm in peace.

"Lucius," he hissed seeing the older boy in the common room. Lucius looked up from the homework he'd been writing.

"Yes, Severus?"

"I want to show you something, something amazing."

Lucius blinked. "It had better not be another picture you've drawn of that Mudblood girl," he commented dryly. Severus growled. He hated hearing his friend call Lily names. Maybe he was making a mistake showing him the book?

"It's not. It's something else, something much more suited to Slytherins like ourselves," he replied standing up a bit straighter, as if trying to demonstrate just how much of a Slytherin he was. He knew his housemates didn't care much for him because of being a Half-blood. Lucius nodded following Severus to his dorm. The room was empty. Severus pulled out the book.

"I found it in the library," he stated before Lucius could even ask the question.

"Amazing, I've heard of this tome, but never managed to see it in person. How...?"

"I don't know, Lucius. I was hiding behind the shelves and it nearly fell on my head, like it was meant for me," Severus answered.

"There's rumors about a Dark Lord rising, Severus. Maybe this is a sign."

"More blood purity nonsense."

"You may see it as nonsense, we see it as power. Don't you want power?"

"Yes," Severus whispered thinking about everything he could do with power, everyone who had ever hurt him. He thought about the revenge he could inflict on Potter and Black.

"Then this is the first step, this book of Dark Magic, go ahead, try one of the spells. It looks like Higgins left his stupid rat in our dorm again."

"I hate rats," Severus replied drawing his wand and opening the book. There were a few more harmless hexes, one that merely knocked a person out to have the awaken without a memory of the event. He doubted rats even had memories. Instead, he settled on a spell that would split the rat open leaving it to bleed to death. He really hated rats. He waved his wand, said the incantation, and felt the temperature in the room plummet. He could feel the power surrounding him, heard the rat squeal as it was pulled asunder.

"Amazing," Lucius whispered watching Severus. "No one would ever doubt your purity with power like that. What else can we do?" he asked. Severus smiled at the raw power building around him.

"I always hated Higgins himself," he replied finding another spell and erasing the image of Higgins' family in the photograph next to the bed, leaving nothing more than a black frame. "Think he'll notice?"

"I have no doubt he will, Severus. Remind me never to find myself on your bad side," Lucius stated already thinking Severus would make a powerful ally if he could find a way to use him, to convert him to the side of the Dark Lord. Severus continued reading through the tome, mentally deciding which spells and hexes he would try against Black and Potter given the chance. The idea of them both laying on the ground, their tongues removed from their mouths, made him smile wider. He was powerful now, and didn't powerful corrupt wonderfully?