Disclaimer: you guessed it: Don't own anything.
Summary: Severus finds shelter in a tree hole from the rain when a strange man suddenly appears before him.
Warning: Staring contest up ahead.
This chapter might seem a bit strange at first. But it will clarify in the next one. (Or at least I hope it will.)
Chapter 3: Lesson of power
It had started to rain again.
The scrawny little boy with the black hair looked around, sseking shelter under some trees. His feet had brought him to the park at the lake. He shifted his weight to the other leg, scanning the area for suitable places to wait out the rising storm.
It was cold for August and he shivered slightly. Not wanting to stay in the middle of the pathway, he went over the meadow towards an especially large tree near the water, its leaves rustled in the upcoming wind.
Severus was sure the storm will worsen soon. He went around the tree and found with relieve a huge gap in the old wood large enough for him squeeze inside of the trunk.
He sat in here for hours, watching the rain and thinking about his mom and dad. He did not want to cry anymore, although he felt like it. He wanted to be strong. He wanted to understand what had happened and what horrible things he had done. He did not want to be a monster.
He leaned his face against the wood which was oddly warm and dry. He snuggled against the wooden walls slowly taking comfort in the tree's embrace.
His clothes had dried nearly immediately after entering the gap and no drop of the pouring rain found his way into the hole. It was nice and cozy and it felt so warm. He closed his eyes.
His mommy was laughing down on him: "Come here, Severus." She held a rucksack out to him. His father next to him ruffled his hair, smiling: "Now come or we will be late for the game. We want to eat some hot dogs before it starts, don't we?"
Severus stared at him in bewilderment. Aren't they mad at him? Was his daddy still taking him to the game today?
His father looked concerned: "Something wrong, my boy? Don't you want a hot dog? Maybe an ice cream?"
Tears filled Severus' eyes: "Daddy, I won't be bad. I promise."
His father hugged him: "My sweet son, what happened? Of course you are not bad. You are always good. You know I am proud of you. You know what, you get a hot dog and an ice cream."
His mother came from behind, hugging him as well as his father: "Darling, don't cry. You must have had a bad dream. Everything is all right now. Don't cry, Severus."
Thunder growled. All three looked up to the blue sky, wondering.
His father turned his gaze at him and asked with a much higher alien voice: "How can someone cry whilst sleeping?"
Severus woke immediately, his heart drumming against his chest. Right in front of him was a man with crimson eyes peering down at him. His body blocked the entrance of the tree, allowing almost no light to pass by. His dark hair and black clothes stood in contrast to his deadly pale skin shimmering blue where the veins hid like spiders under the surface. But the most frightening part were the red eyes. Those piercing red eyes.
Severus stared back in those pools of blood, feeling to drown in them.
"So? What is a young wizard like you doing out here in the middle of a storm late in the evening? Hm?" The man eyed him curious.
Still looking into the stranger's eyes he answered mechanically: "My parents kicked me out because I am a monster."
He did not thought it possible but the stare of the man intensified. He seemed to look right into his soul.
"Ah. So you used magic for the first time. But to use it to repair some rubbish from that Muggle.", the man sighed, "Serves you right to get slapped in the face, boy."
Severus titled his head in wonder: "What's a Muggle?"
The man paused for a minute, finally he answered: "Muggles are scum. They can't use magic like we do. That's why they are scared and call us monster. They instinctively feel that we are highly superior. Your father is a Muggle."
My father is a Muggle? "What about my mother?", the last sentence speaking out loud, still looking into those red pools, he suddenly noticed a glimmer of wonder in the man's eyes or was he just imagining it? Was it his own wonder he saw?
Suddenly he remembered his oldest memory. He could not walk or talk, he had been a babe back then. His mother had looked at him, smiling and holding her index finger to her mouth. She then took out a wooden stick. He had wondered what it was back then and wanted to grab it, thinking his mother will give it to him to play with. But instead she had waved it through the air and small animal shaped lights flew from its top and danced around him. He had laughed at the funny sight. The vision, that had been so clear just a moment ago, faded.
The man was staring intensely at him.
Was he using magic right now?
"Hm. She is definitely a witch. But not a good one if she lets herself getting beaten by a Muggle.", the man stated, seeming a bit annoyed.
"But doesn't that mean, if she was a good witch, she would not have been hurt by a Muggle?", doesn't that mean, if he was strong enough, no one could hurt him?, Severus thought.
The man smiled slightly and stated: "Yes. Only the strong ones can protect themselves and not even that, child. They can do so much more. And magic is the key to such power. After all: magic is might."
Severus thought for a moment. What this stranger had said seemed logical. He did not understand everything. He did not know about might nor about Muggles. Hell, he did not even know what the word scum meant. But what he did know, was that the stronger team always wins. His father had said so. So why shouldn't the stronger person always win too? Being deeply in thought he did not realize that he still stared into the mans eyes, who was still meeting his gaze, but seemed to see right through him like he did not recognize him at all. Surely he had greater things on his mind. Great things only a wizard could understand.
"How can I learn magic?"
The man seemed to have just awaken from a dream, but focused on him quickly.
"You will attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for seven years starting at the age of eleven."
"And there I will learn to read minds like you do?"
"No. You will only learn the basics there... After you graduated from school, come and find me and I will teach you truly powerful magic."
Severus was excited. He will learn magic, he will be powerful. He can prove he is not a monster.
"What is your name?", he asked the man.
The man grinned at him: "Oh, you will know who I am by the time you graduate."
"You already know my name, don't you?"
"Yes. I always know.", the man shifted his weight," Until then, young wizard."
And suddenly, Severus was alone once more. He glanced out of the tree hole. But in the moment he looked searching through the rain, he already knew the man was gone.
He leaned back against the warm wood, thinking of a school of magic, of power and of the stranger with the blood red eyes.
Sorry for the delay. I caught a cold and all my brain cells had to focus on my studies. I hope the chapter is all right. I don't really like it but I still wanted to finish it.
If you wondered why Sev accepted being a wizard without question. Well, he is only six and his father is a strict person. If he says the sky is green, the sky will be green for little Sev.
But this will change soon.
See ya around ;)
