Severus had returned home that day to show his mother what he got for his O.W.Ls, to which she smiled and ruffled his hair endearingly, telling him how she always knew he was very intelligent and would make the Snape family proud. But as he peered into her fathomless dark eyes, he wondered how their lives would be if she had married someone else. That, or simply went along with the betrothal contract most purebloods had used. Would he be a Malfoy, a Black (he initially cringed upon the thought) or even a Rowle?
But ultimately, Severus liked his would-be surname much better. He couldn't stop grinning whenever he thought of 'Severus Prince', his noble persona of justice and righteousness. Because as much as he was now 16 years old, he told himself there's nothing wrong in indulging of childish daydreams. In about 5 months he would be an adult and could finally claim the inheritance of his mother's family wealth, thus bringing back the glory of the nearly forgotten wizarding family.
He also fantasized about joining the ever-rising Dark Lord, to which he would try his best to work among the others and even imagining his possible status as the most trustworthy advisor within the powerful man's ranks.
The Dark Lord.
The Rogue Prince (the pun brought a smirk out of him).
He went to sleep with a wistful smile upon the thoughts of being pioneers to rebuild the wizarding world.
On 1st August, Severus went to Knockturn Alley to buy a second wand, just because he wanted to be prepared in case he was caught off-guard, resolute of not letting his ultimate humiliation to happen ever again. That and he also wanted to test his new spell on some of his prized objects without worrying about the Ministry catching him breaking the rules in his cottage.
The wizened man behind the counter, who Severus assumed was the wandmaker quirked his eyebrows upon seeing him enter the shop. He greeted the man with a nod and in return, the wandmaker simply pointed him to the shelves of wand cores and woods before going back to read his copy of the Daily Prophet.
Severus felt giddy out of sudden; he was to choose his own wand components? But how would he know which one was the best? The one he bought at Ollivander's was very good and he wouldn't trade it with anything else; if possible he wouldn't even mind if there was an exact copy of said wand.
But then he remembered about a passage in the History of Magic book he had read if he were to take the subject in his sixth year, which talked about an old practice of wizards and witches use their magical sense to pick the best material for their wand and so, Severus tried to channel his magical force and hoped it wouldn't be a fluke.
He immediately felt several pulls and focused on the strongest ones. When he opened his eyes, he was more than astounded over the woods and cores he had sensed. Curiously thinking over his selection, he brought them all to the man.
The wandmaker once again raised his eyebrows at the items he had placed on the counter before taking a breath, leaning against his stool as he spoke, "You do know you gotta pay a lot for this?"
Severus frowned. "Yes," he hissed impatiently. He already took quite an amount of money from the Prince family vault and sincerely hoped his mother wouldn't notice the huge number of Galleons he had withdrawn. He would make it up with his tutoring sessions and potion requests.
The man suddenly widened his eyes and grinned, "Yeah, reckon this may as well be worth it. Wait a moment." He then took the items and went to the room behind the counter to make the possible wands. Severus spent the waiting time by looking around the shop with his foot tapping the floor in boredom, briefly wondering what the Ministry would think of the establishment. Not that they ever did anything troubling to any premise in Knockturn Alley as seen with the Borgin and Burke's shop.
It took about twenty minutes for the wandmaker to be done, and Severus couldn't contain his excitement upon seeing four wands in the elderly man's gnarly hands.
"Try this one first; yew and thestral hair." He held out a handsome black wand to the boy, in which the latter gulped uneasily. He certainly had faced near-death thanks to the werewolf 'prank', but he also wasn't brave enough for that. In fact, he still had some nightmares about yellowing canine teeth and razor-sharp claws. He gave the wand a slight wave and some faint sparks shot out.
"Hmm, you're almost worthy of it," the man commented and Severus blinked. He was close to be brave upon facing death? It was certainly a thought in the future; he mused as he put it aside and took another wand. The beech wood and phoenix feather core was good enough; the elm wood and rougarou hair gave out a silver strand, and the blackthorn and basilisk horn (which was the most expensive core) sent thrills of both anticipation and dread all over him.
Thus, the four wands were tested and Severus really didn't know which to choose considering he was very fit to use all of them. The yew wand gave him the creeps however, so he asked the man to keep it for the time being in which he agreed.
Severus ended up paying about 50 Galleons for the four wands but it was a worthy investment as he held the beech wand which in his opinion was the best for his second wand. The 'illegal' spell experiments would be performed by the elm and he would use the blackthorn for any Dark Arts spells he wished to try out.
He returned home with the food from the Leaky Cauldron and his family ate in silence, barely minding each other much to his pleasure. When his parents had fallen asleep, he used the Prince Manor's pendant to get into the mansion and brought back a few items; including but not limited to: a slender goblin-made dagger, a small copy of the family tree's tapestry and a dragonhide-made wand holster.
The next day, he took the usual bus to Muggle London and was just getting out of the public transport when he heard a bark. Frowning, he turned around and saw a rather huge black dog lolling its tongue out and from the looks of it, was barking at him. Just what was its problem?
Severus had his new beech wand in the arm holster he had brought back from the Prince Manor, though he didn't dare to use it unless he absolutely had to. Besides, the dog might be hungry but he didn't even have his breakfast yet.
"Go away, mutt," he grumbled but the canine still yipped at him. Passers-by gave him a frown and he never liked to be the center of attention, to which the damned dog seemed to know and relish over his exasperation. He really was going to be late for his work.
But as Severus peered at its face, he noticed some strange markings around the grey eyes and the light in them seemed almost human too. The barking didn't even sound as if it was threatened or angry, more of mocking if his ears heard correctly. An Animagus, perhaps? But why was it stalking him?
No matter, it was a thought for another time as he tried to make a plan on how to escape the dog's sight. That was when he noticed the telephone booth just across the street and next to the public library.
He grinned mentally and began walking to the zebra-crossing where a small crowd was waiting for the traffic to stop; watching from the corner of his eyes as the mutt ceased barking and followed him.
Perfect.
When the pedestrian light turned green, he joined the group crossing the road and as soon as he was on the other side, he dashed to the telephone booth, barely had enough time to close the door before the black dog could catch up to him. Said animal was baring its teeth dangerously as it tried to ram into the booth but Severus took no notice of it as he went on with the next part of his plan.
He called the Animal Control Department.
"Hello, is this the Animal Control?" he began, twirling the cord playfully all the while, "Yes, I'd like to report there's a rabid dog in front of the British Library. Yes sir, it looks so mad, had drool all over its face; I do hope you can come very soon as I'm getting so late for my job right now. Thanks." He hung up and stared at the dog, faking his fright.
Severus' eyes lit up as he saw the white truck appeared and two officers got out of the vehicle with two tranquilizer guns and a net. He jerked his head as soon as they made eye contact and watched gleefully as they headed toward the black canine who was still snapping at him without a care of its surroundings.
Of course, its superior hearing sense finally alerted it at the last minute and Severus almost laughed when it jumped in the air out of shock.
"He's getting away!"
'Oh no, you won't!' Severus thought as he quickly went out of the telephone booth and grabbed one of the tranquilizer guns before aiming it at the escaping dog, taking his time to make his shot and when it tried to weave through a crowd, he immediately released the trigger. He was more than happy when the dart hit the mutt's neck and the animal instantly fell over near the curb. The crowd was slightly startled about the sudden incident but the polite salutes from the officers had calmed them down and they went on with their activities.
"Wow, you sure did a nice shot right there," one of the officers praised Severus with a pat on his shoulder, "Fancy joining the cops?"
"Nah, just had lots of practice with darts," he grinned back and returned the weapon. "Thanks for the help, by the way!" He then headed to the library and smiled sheepishly at Mrs. Davis who raised her eyebrows upon seeing the expression in his face. "Something joyous happened, Mr. Snape?" she queried curiously.
Severus only shook his head as he started his work for the day with a spring in his steps.
The next two weeks went by with Severus practiced using his new wands and much to his delight, they were quite comparable to his first wand, which was hazel-made and had a dragon heartstring core. The elm one was especially delightful in testing his new creation, while the beech could easily pass off as a suitable replacement. He still hadn't tried using the memory spell on the blackthorn wand however, thinking it wouldn't do to use such lowly spells on its grandiose form.
On one of his breaks, he went out early to the old oak tree, smiling upon seeing its majestic form over the harsh sunlight. His fingers were twitching in eagerness to try out the spell and he looked around to make sure no one would notice him. As it was, he frowned when he saw a shade of red from afar; grimacing as the thought of Lily might witness what he would do entered his mind.
He decided to lean against the tree that faced the main street with arms folded, contently observing as her figure drew closer and when she stopped in her tracks, Severus raised his eyebrows as if bored. "Fancy seeing you here, Evans," he greeted solemnly.
"…What are you doing here?" she spoke skeptically.
"Can't I be with my oldest pal for a while?" he sneered while gently patting the oak tree's trunk. "Ah, just what I wouldn't do for it to be a real person; might be the most loyal thing I ever had in life." He shot her a particularly vicious glare, trying really hard to smother the awful feeling in his heart.
Lily's face turned a bright shade akin to her fiery hair, "Now look here…!"
"Perhaps I've already lost my Lily many years ago," he spat without much care to her response. "Gone by the time you became a Red."
He relished over the stunned expression she wore upon hearing the statement and silently watched as she ran back to her house in tears. He knew he was acting like a huge jerk but she really had it coming, didn't she?
No one would make Severus Snape-Prince to grovel over their feet, ever again. He turned back to the oak tree and began chanting his memory spell, whispering giddily:
"Finale memoria ostende mihi…"
A/N: Finale memoria ostende mihi = Show me your final memory (admittedly, I might have butchered the actual meaning since I used Google Translate XD)
What do you think of Severus' new wands?