Over the years Lily Evans had become a spectator to my training, never joining but always watching.
Every day after school since that day Lily would come to the park, and if she did not find me there she'd come over to where I lived and almost beg me to show her more magic. I never asked how she found where I lived, I honestly did not want to know.
She was a silent observer, asked questions when she needed to, very specific questions that got me thinking about my methods. It was through those questions that I found a way to better use my magical powers and better hone my already good enough skills. I was thankful, but that was not something that I was about to tell her any time soon.
Eileen seemed to take a liking to Lily as well, brightening up whenever she'd come over. She'd serve these delicious biscuits and milk and tell her about Hogwarts. Lily would soak it all up, munching her biscuits and drinking her milk. It was a brilliant sight, something that I had started getting used to before I knew it. The only time Lily wouldn't be over was when Tobias was at home. Even with the years going by since the night I shot him to the ceiling and then through the table, the man did not change. Almost made me wish that Eileen did not alter his memories of that night and the subsequent 'fightbacks' of mine with a spell. Would have loved to see his face whenever he looked at me and remembered what I had done to him. I could imagine the look of fear in his eyes, and it made my day just a little better.
Early in the middle of July, I woke to the sound of a crash and a pained cry.
I rushed downstairs to find Eileen on the ground, Tobias standing over her with an extended arm. He was clutching some kind of paper in it, but that was not my priority right now.
"Step away from her!" I shouted and the man turned on his heels and pinned a glare on me.
"You will NOT be going to the magic school! I will not have my son learning that devilry!" the man roared.
"And for that, you're hurting your wife?" my eyes narrowed on the man in anger.
"I will do as I please with my wife, boy! Who are you to tell me otherwise?!"
The man took a step towards me, but stopped, eyes widening in shock and soon fear.
"You will do no such thing to my mother" I hissed, a hand slowly rising. The man was lifted off the floor and immediately began choking.
Like a snake, slowly coiling around and squeezing the life out, I thought. My magic coiled around Tobias, squeezing harder and harder. The man's face was becoming ashen, eyes bulging and tears streaming out. A little more and we'd be rid of this man, forever!
"Severus stop!" Eileen's voice was weak yet strong enough to reach me. I stopped squeezing, turning my eyes to the fallen woman. She looked at me, begging me with her gaze. I cursed silently.
"You are alive only because of your wife you bastard!" I growled out, swiping my hand hard. Tobias went flying, crashed into the wall and slowly slid down to the floor. He had passed out on the floor.
I rushed over to Eileen, who had yet to get up. She was bleeding from her forehead, which only added to my anger.
"You should have let me finish him off" I muttered, tearing off the sleeve of my shirt and dabbing her forehead with it.
"You didn't need to tear your sleeve" Eileen muttered softly.
"It was an old shirt don't worry" I soothed her, tending to her forehead. It wasn't a deep cut thankfully. "Why was he angry this time?"
"Your letter came" Eileen answered, her mood brightening slightly.
Confusion clouded me for a moment before I realised what she meant. I turned to Tobias, who was still passed out and saw him still clutching the paper in his hand. He raised a hand and the paper flew out of his hand to mine. The paper was crumpled, but after smoothing it out the contents were clear to read.
"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" was the title written in bold under what I assume was the school crest. Under it on the written in smaller and not bold letters was written, "Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)"
"Dear Mr Snape, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July. Yours Sincerely, Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress."
I looked up from the letter and saw the excited look on Eileen's face. But I did not share that excitement.
"I can't go" I muttered and her face fell, "I can't just leave you here with him."
Over the years Eileen and I had come to something of an understanding and worked on our relationship. Neither of us forced anything, but we both made an effort to connect.
Eileen's face softened and she reached out and cupped my face with both hands.
"I have survived with this man for eleven years" she said lovingly and I wanted to point out that I had a hand in that too, "I can survive seven more. This is your future, your chance to make a difference in your life. Do not let it go by for me, okay?"
I stared her in the eyes, my emotions coiling and uncoiling inside me like a serpent before I sighed and relaxed into her hands.
"I will… consider it."
Eileen smiled, though it quickly turned to a frown when there was a knock on the door. My eyes shifted to the door then at Tobias, still passed out and drooling.
"You take care of him and I'll see who it is."
Eileen nodded, shakily standing up on her feet. She stumbled but grasped onto my shoulder before she fell.
"I'm okay" she assured me when I looked at her with worry. She raised a hand and her wand flew into it. I waited a moment, the knocking becoming incessant by that point, watching Eileen float Tobias' body up the stairs before I went to open the door.
It was Lily Evans, face flushed with excitement and a letter in her hand.
"Sev I made it!"
A two-hour train ride from Cokeworth to London later, we were where we needed to be.
"Are we certain this is the place?" asked Mrs Daisy Evans, Lily's mother, "I don't quite feel right here". She had accompanied her daughter who wanted to go to Diagon Alley with Eileen and me. Her father could not join since he had work, and her sister simply said no.
I couldn't blame her. The pub looked like an old broken-down shop front on Charing Cross Road.
But Eileen had a conspiratory smile on her face when she turned to us three. "Trust me, this is the way."
I did not know why but I had the sudden urge to laugh at that. I didn't of course, but I wanted to.
She took my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze before leading the way into the pub. It was certainly not as it seemed from the outside.
It was larger inside the pub, with a bar and a large dining room with several tables. There was a stair by the bar as well, handsome and made from wood.
"The place has been spelt to discourage muggles from entering" Eileen explained to Mrs Evans, Lily and I.
Eileen led the way once more, telling us about the Leaky Cauldron. She greeted the man behind the bar, possibly a friend of hers and the man smiled back, and took us to the back of the establishment.
"And now" she drew her wand and tapped a few bricks on the wall before us. The wall went in a small hole first but slowly formed a large archway. "Welcome, to Diagon Alley!"
I was struck with a sense of awe as I entered, the archway closing once Mrs Evans and Lily stepped in. I wished I could see from every angle, just so I could look at all the shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping.
"We'll need to get money from the bank. Fair warning, the bank is run by goblins and they take offence very easily" Eileen explained, laughing when Mrs Evans let out a squeaking "Goblins?!"
Gringotts was an imposing snow-white multistoried building made of marble. Our, as in mine and the Evans girls', first encounter with Goblins happened right at the gates of the bank. Two of them stood guard decked in what looked like scarlet and gold armour and spears in hand at the base of marble steps that led to burnished bronze doors.
Goblins were unsettling to look at, yet at the same time, it made sense that they wouldn't look human in my mind. They were short and fair-skinned, with long fingers and feet, dome-shaped heads, a pointed nose and pointed ears that leaned back.
The doors opened when we got close and we walked in. The goblins did not so much as blink in our direction. The doors led to a small entrance hall and another set of doors, these too flanked by two goblins. These looked to be made from silver.
Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.
Lily read the inscriptions on the silver doors, looking at Eileen for answers.
"Gringotts is a highly secured place, filled with enchantments, hexes and curses to protect the money that wizards have entrusted them. Anyone trying to steal them would meet a gruesome end" Eileen paused, "and there are rumours that dragons guard the vaults too."
Lily and her mother paled at the information.
A vast marble hall awaited us on the other side of the silver doors, long counters stretching along its length with doors leading off to what looked like underground passages with many goblins sitting at them.
It was not unpleasant to deal with the Goblins as I found out. They were curt but never outright rude. Lily and her mother went to a separate counter while Eileen and I went to a separate one, both counters exchanging money for coins.
"How did you manage to keep these things away from Tobias' eyes?" I whispered asking Eileen when she took out the money. The woman simply smiled and ruffled my hair.
With coins in hand, we moved to our next destination, Flourish and Blotts. The bookshop was filled to the brim with books. Shelves upon shelves lined the walls from ceiling to floor, books of all shapes and sizes. We bought the books without much of an issue, mine coming from second-hand sources since we'd need to find other things to buy. I did not mind it. If I got lucky, there would be notes in those books for certain spells that would help me get better with my spells.
We next bought stuff we'd need for potions before stopping for lunch at a small shop. And then came the moment that I personally had been waiting for all day, the wand shop! Even though I was confident that I didn't need a wand to cast spells, it was still exciting.
The shop on the other hand was not so exciting to look at.
It was narrow and shabby. "Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C." I read the peeling letters of gold. Perhaps it was just the design that made the words look like it was peeling off.
The display consisted of a solitary wand lying on a purple cushion, black as night. The shop was tiny and empty, except for a single spindly chair in the corner. Thousands of narrow boxes were piled right up to the ceiling of the tiny shop, and the whole place had a thin layer of dust about it.
"I don't see anyone" Mrs Evans commented, face scrunched up in displeasure. "Perhaps they're on a lunch break."
"Not quite, madame" a voice from the back startled us all. A man walked up from the shadows of the back of the shop, his hair long, silver and flowing. His eyes were wide, and pale and shone like moons through the gloom of the shop.
"Hello, Mr Ollivander" Eileen greeted with a smile.
"Ah, Mrs Eileen Snape, Hawthorn Wand with Unicorn Hair Core, perfect for healing spells" The man went on and Eileen's smile grew wider.
"You remember that?" Lily asked, amazed and curious.
"I remember every wand I've sold young lady" the man answered with a half smile. "Why don't you come forward and we shall see what wand chooses you."
'Wand will choose me?" Lily asked as she stepped forward.
"Why of course! A Wand is very much a living thing, with a mind of its own and loyalties as well" Ollivander went on.
Lily looked was struck with wonder, even more so when a tape measure sprung up and began measuring her 'wand arm' as Ollivander out it.
A few boxes were brought forward for the girl and when she found the right one, orangeish sparks flew from the tip of it like fireworks.
"Willow with a Phoenix feather core, eleven inches. Such wands are rare Ms Evans, and only select those with the greatest potential. You have a long way to go my girl and this wand will take you there the fastest. I am eager to see what the future holds for you."
Lily returned Ollivander's smile, then smiled at her mother and then at me. I returned the smile before taking a step forward. As instructed I raised my 'wand arm' and the man began bringing boxes to the front.
"Curious" Ollivander would mutter after each wand he'd swipe from my hand, his eyes growing wider and what I assumed more excited. At some point he went to the very back of the shop, coming back with a narrow black box. The moment he was close enough, the box burst open and the wand inside flew out and into my hand. Immediately I felt a surge of warmth wash over me and silver sparks flew from the tip of the wand. It was an impressive wand to look at, slick and black with strange engraving on the part that I was gripping.
"Elder with Dragon Heartstring core, thirteen and a half inches. Rare thing, but very tricky to master. Wands like those contain powerful magic, and will abandon you if you are not stronger than it. But it chose you, rather eagerly I must say" The man was smiling, chips of wood from the box embedded into his cheek. He was bleeding slightly but he did not seem to care. "Wizards who are paired with such wands are often marked out for a special destiny. Young Mr Snape, I await eagerly to see what the future holds for you."