Seventh Year
So far everything had gone according to Dumbledore's plans. Severus was installed as the new Headmaster of Hogwarts and the new regime under Voldemort had begun. Severus originally had no love of teaching (many of the students that he had taught in those early years were aware of who he was and what he had been called while he was at school and establishing his authority over them had been nearly impossible to do) but he had come to appreciate it. There was something incredibly satisfying in molding the minds of students in the hope that they might go on to do great things because of him. But what the Dark Lord had done to Hogwarts…that alone was enough to give Severus a burning desire to kill him. He had perverted the institution into something unrecognizable. Children were taught that Muggles were evil and that they would kill all the wizards and witches in the world if they were given half a chance, and they were taught that Muggleborns were trying to usurp the pureblood's place in the world and so they deserved to be killed, or made into sterile slaves so that they might see the glory of their masters reborn. It was disgusting. And disheartening. His Slytherins, the children that he had devoted his life to, were turning so easily with little regard as to what the outcome might possibly be. How do I fight this, Dumbledore? You told me to protect the students to the best of my ability, and I have managed to protect their bodies, but what about their minds? What use will saving the wizarding world be if it is to be populated by children such as these? I don't know. I don't know.