After doing a lot of planning, I finally decided to explore my surroundings. Severus' room or should I say my room now was as shabby as my attire. It was old, dusty, filthy and looked like it had never been cleaned which was probably true.

I don't know how Snape managed to live amidst this hovel, dusting my clothes for what they were worth. I make my way outside and see my mother sitting in a corner knitting clothes I presume.

She doesn't greet me and I don't greet her as I just leave the house through the door. This was a common occurrence in the Snape household.

Fortunately, Snape Sr. was not present and he had probably gone out to indulge in his daily vices. That was good as it gave me more time to prepare.

….

Once outside I look at the sky after a long time and I can't help but sigh as I take in the sight. Of course its the sixties now and pollution and its effects are clearly showing signs.

The sky is not the sky blue I was accustomed to but it was a rather dull gray color that was gloomy. My house now that I took a good look at it from the outside didn't look anything unique, it was a run of the mill one storey house that was made out of bricks which had several cracks running through them and a black roof with a chimney.

The town that I live in now is called Cokeworth and is located somewhere in the mid lands of England I guess as Severus dropped out of school early and didn't know much geography.

I take a walk through the town and notice that nearly every house looks the same with each being brick, terraced houses with chimneys and in a state of disrepair, some even worse than mine. Several streets are filled with houses like this making it quite easy to get lost here.

I read some signs here and there which tells me that I live somewhere on a street called Spinner's End. Not that it is of any significance but I am mentally making a map of everything in my surroundings.

I have a nearly impeccable memory now courtesy of my hard work in hell and I fully plan to exploit it. Noting down small details and never forgetting them is a must if I want to master magic as many fields of it require a sharp memory, an example of it would be Potions where I will have to remember the right way to mix formulas, ingredients and more.

By getting into the habit of recording everything I see, I can develop and improve my observational skills which are once again vital for research, future spellwork and even duels as the difference between victory and defeat at high level duels often come to the smallest of small details.

I need every little increase in skills as if I am to achieve my goal, everything I do must be perfect but with room to be more.

…..

As I walk through the town, I also notice that none of the people here look happy. I was not expecting it to be a happy park or something but almost every single person that I laid my eyes on had a dull resigned look on their faces.

I suppose it makes a bit of sense as the world was approaching the end of the sixties and entering the seventies which was not a very good time to live in.

Britain had also enjoyed an economic boom in the sixties like the rest of the world after things had settled down, with the effects of the war ending or something like that.

The seventies though was not a good time to be here in Britain as things were looking bleak. Manufacturing had increased, there was unemployment everywhere, one example being Tobias Snape himself.

There were strikes everywhere, mainly the garbage collectors which resulted in streets being littered with trash everywhere. Cokeworth was not an exception as it too was littered with trash everywhere.

If unemployment wasn't bad enough already, then another nail in the coffin was the inflation of prices. So now people were poor and were getting poorer or you could say that the prices were increasing too.

This made people angry and what do people do when they are angry and hungry (courtesy of being poor), they succumb to their base desires and show violence.

There were riots everywhere, kindness was less and the economy was simply put shit.

Of course not everything was so bleak and as every dark cloud has a silver lining, there were some positive developments like…..feminism and rise of punk style.

They are subjective at best and punks were everywhere, these punks were the product of an evolved form of afros. They sported mohawks and acted like a biker gang even though they were too poor to afford one so in the end they resorted to common mugging.

And as for feminism, I don't know what to say but one thing I am sure of is my mother ever standing up on her own now.

So….it can all be summed up as seventies were a shitty time to live in and they made Snape's life shit and now can make mine too if I don't act soon.

Well...that being said, I have finally reached the destination. The destination is a rather empty park near the outskirts of the town.

This was the park that Snape visited every time he had some free time. This park was perhaps the only place in this dreary town where there was greenery.

I move towards a tree that was on a mound, too short for a hill but it gave me a good vantage point.

The tree was tall and had leaves, that's the only thing that stood out and….well, I don't know what tree it is.

Once I reach the top, I can see the horizon of the little town of Cokeworth. It paints a dull picture, the same monotonous buildings and a mill or factory thats taller than all other buildings letting out dirty smoke.

It looks straight out of a dystopian movie or….one of those stock air pollution images from the internet, which is one thing that I sorely miss. All the world's information at my fingertips, now no more….

But I didn't come here to wallow in sorrow, I came here for a much more important endeavor. I came here to test my magic.

Snape tried out his magic here every time he came here. He could move small things and change the colors of flowers.

I look through his memories and try to emulate that feeling he felt when he used his magic. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, concentrating inside, trying to feel…..when suddenly I feel it.

It's hard to describe but something within me breaks and then my body feels warm, a comfortable type of warm, one where something is flowing within me.

I slowly open my eyes and lift my little hand for more focus. I shift my gaze towards a small rock and try calling it towards me.

I feel like I made a connection with something….but nothing happens. Feeling disappointed I am about to cancel my magic when suddenly I sense danger.

Instinctively ducking, I sense something zooming past the place where my head would have been.

I hear a loud thud sound as something collides with the tree trunk. Slowly but still cautiously, I rise and take a look at the place where the sound originated from and what greets me is a small boulder that lay beneath the tree.

The boulder if you could call it that was not very big like the one from Indiana Jones but it was big in the sense that you would be hard pressed lifting for long. As for the tree it collided with, it had a deep crack running from the place it was struck.

I let it all sink for a moment when I realised that it could have been me in place of that tree.

Well….magic is dangerous and it seems that I am out of touch.I can channel magic fine but as for redirecting it, things are a little shaky.

But its fine though, I was not expecting success on the first try so all I can do is put more hard work in.

…..

The sun is drowning in the horizon and I am still at the park. So far, after numerous attempts, I have somewhat got the hang of it and by 'it' I mean my magic.

Snape was a curious child, the scientific kind though not the cat kind. He tried all sorts of things too see what his magic could do and I did the same.

So far I have been able to lift things and move them around and pretty much do whatever Snape could do before I took over.

He too could lift things, change the color of things and even turn small things into something else. It didn't take me long to get back at his level because I was not learning from scratch, and was only getting used to my body and magic.

I can get the magic to flow within me easily enough and now I have likened it to the process of a tap.

I turn the tap on and I can use magic and I turn the tap off, I can't. I still don't have my wand so focusing is what I need to funnily enough 'focus' on.

Wands serve as a focus to channel magic but over time, it becomes a crutch. When your body gets used to something, newer methods will be difficult to learn.

Many wizards start learning wandless magic after they have used a wand hence the reason why it takes them a long time to master wandless magic.

That's why I don't plan on making the same mistake, if I have a good control over my magic by the time I attend Hogwarts, it will be easier for me to master the spells.

Just look at Tom Riddle who did exactly that, whether consciously or not, he had a pretty good control over his magic before he even attended Hogwarts. He subconsciously willed his magic, the accidental kind, to cause…..accidents.

Poor guy….Dumbledore burned all his toys, no wonder he resented that guy so much.

Anyway back to the matter at hand, I did try some spells but they didn't work and thats when you remembered that you need to make signs in the air too.

That cuts a lot of spells I wanted to try down the drain….

I could still get some spells to work like the lumos spell in which you have to perform a loop movement in the air.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

It didn't do much other than making my one finger light up or glow.

As for its counterpart the nox, you had to draw a cursive c in the air for it to work.

These two were the only ones I remembered as of now and for others, I would have to get some books.

But still it was a productive day and now that I had the hang of magic, I could begin my journey in it and reach my goal.

….

[Timeskip : 1 year later]

It has been a year since I became Severus and one thing I am glad about is being able to tell the time. Not being able to tell time does wonders to a man's sanity.

Anyway a lot of things can happen in a year and they did. First and ever important, my magic has grown over the year and by that I mean that I have an edge over people in certain fields of magic, mainly the mind arts and well...potions.

After Tobias went 'missing', my mother started getting better and she started talking more, making me good food and last but not least she even started smiling sometimes.

Of course, she still wasn't going to win any awards for parenting but now she was trying to be a parent at least.

[Flashback]

It had been a month since Tobias disappeared and there were still no signs of him. My mother after experiencing a brief period of confusion had started to get her wits back together.

It started with small gestures like cleaning the house, my room and then she started talking to me, initiating conversations and other small things.

And now she approached me once again and said, "Severus….I have to tell you something.."

She had a hesitant and scared look on her face so I tried reassuring her, "What is it that you want to tell me Mother?"

She flinches at the last word and taking a deep breath says, "I am so sorry Severus for being such a terrible mother to you….I- I never protected you or even comforted you….You had to endure so many things and I just stood by not doing any thing…...blah blah blah….."

I internally rolled my eyes as I listened to her, I could see where this was going but it was annoying dealing with this.

"...So I know it will be very difficult for you to forgive but all I ask is that you give me one more chance to…..one more chance to be a mother for you…" She ends as her face forms a nervous expression filled with hope.

She finally finished after pointing out obvious things she hadn't done as a mother. Honestly, I think Eileen would have been a good mother had it not been for Tobias. She probably couldn't handle or process her husband changing so drastically after revealing her magic.

So she started denying reality most of the time and thus turned into what she is today. A sad tale but what she wouldn't have known was that Tobias would have turned out the same even if she hadn't revealed her magic as doing so only gave him something to blame his failures on.

I also a theory that she might have taken secret magic vows and they probably backfired when her husband didn't acknowledge them.

Anyway I don't really see her as my mother but I could humor her as its beneficial for me if she is a good mother rather than what she was before which was a burden and besides its the least thing I could do for her, not like I was some angsty teenager who would have said something like, 'Its too late for this, mother..' or something edgy.

I look her in the eyes and say, "It's alright Mother, I don't blame you…..I forgive you and I will be a good son to you too."

'I internally cringe as I say those sugary words'

Her eyes widen as soon as I finish and she pulls me into a tight hug. I just hug her back as her tears trickle down my shoulder. It is quite awkward but I let her hold on to me.

"Thank you Severus….for granting me this chance. I promise that I will be a good mother to you from now onwards."

…..

And thats how I got my mother to love me….

After all that drama, she did make efforts to be a better mother and I exploited it. I asked her to teach me about magic, she was reluctant at first saying it was dangerous and explained stuff about the magical world and told me that I would learn it when I went to Hogwarts.

Naturally, I wasn't willing to do that so I showed a little of what I could do and she was really surprised. She praised me and called me a prodigy and then she agreed to teach me some basic stuff and promised me to teach advanced things if I learnt the basic ones properly.

And so began my lessons in magic. Since I showed such good control over my magic, Eileen taught me a technique developed by our family, the Princes.

Speaking of them, I learnt that they were a noble family with a lineage that can be traced back to 800 years where it originated from. They were a branch family of another long extinct noble house and were specialized in making potions.

According to Eileen, the Prince family had been at the peak of their power somewhere in the middle of the 16 century but suffered a heavy blow during the witch trials.

Being a family specialized in potions, they were discovered quickly and many were killed with only a few people surviving.

From then, the Prince House transformed from a neutral pureblood house to a muggle hating one. Over years after generational brainwashing, it was obvious why Eileen's parents hated her for marrying a muggle.

Well, they are dead now and they were kind enough not to remove Eileen from the family tree even after she married a muggle. Perhaps they still loved their daughter or maybe seeing how she was the last Prince and that the line would die out if they removed her, they decided not to.

But it doesn't matter anymore and now I will inherit the Prince House and its fortunes which is not much but still better than the weasleys I guess.

Its a good thing Tobias isn't here anymore as Eileen can reclaim the Prince vault and I will become the heir. She has to do this manually as she married a muggle and wizarding laws state that the fortunes from the wizarding family will go to the muggle one only if it is acknowledged by that family.

Now that he isn't here that law is not applicable as Eileen decided to change her name and take back the Prince one so now I am Severus Prince and am the heir apparent for the noble House of Prince and all its properties.

Coming back to the topic of my learning, the technique that Eileen wanted to teach me was a simple one and it was basically telekinesis but instead of the mind, you use magic and mind too but that was during the later stages. It was developed by a former Head of the Prince who had lost his hands in a duel.

He was a Potions Grandmaster and after losing his hands, he didn't want to give up making potions so he developed a technique called Dominator's touch.

This technique was one with broad applications. It didn't have much attack power but what you could do was lift and move objects with magic and mind once you are proficient in occlumency.

This move allowed him to continue making potions and seeing how successful it was, he decided to pass it down.

This technique was thus passed down but then arose a new problem, the technique was too difficult for anyone to master if they were not proficient in occlumency. And thus this technique was modified to suit the young members and had the same function but used magic instead and was not as effective.

This technique does seem similar to what a person with good control over magic can achieve but it is not as it expands your senses and you don't need a focus like a wand or even pointing your finger at something to use it.

But the easier method made it useless as magic reacting with ingredients was not a good thing to do and was risky but the original version was still good and even expanded your senses within the range which was about room sized.

Eileen learnt both versions and taught me the easier one first and I quickly grasped it due to my good control. I requested her to teach me Occlumency but she refused. I did get her to teach it though after I acted sad.

"Occlumency is an obscure branch of magic but a highly useful one."Eileen said as she began teaching me.

"It is the magical defence of closing one's mind to ward against legilimency which is the magical act of looking through a person's mind."

"I am now going to teach you the very basics of Occlumency. Remember it and practice it well. Only after you have mastered the basics will you able to progress further."

"Can't we do it in a faster way, Mother?" I asked.

"No, Severus. Occlumency is an art that requires patience. You can learn faster if I attack your mind constantly and force your defenses to manifest but I am not confident in my Legilimency acumen and I might cause your mind permanent damage so you will learn this the slow and steady way. Alright?"

"Yes, mother"

"Very good. Now let's get started, the first step is to clear your mind. Close your eyes and focus, make your mind blank and empty. It will be hard to have no thoughts but you will become better as you keep practicing."

I do as she says and close my eyes, and in seconds, my mind is 'blank and empty' just like she asked.

I open my eyes and nod in her direction.

She sighs and says, "Severus, don't be hasty...you should try harder…."

She looks into my eyes and recites the incantation, "Legillimens"

After a few seconds, she breaks eye contact and exclaims, "But...how, this should have taken years…"

Well she was right about that as I indeed take 'years' or at least I think so when I was in the void, it was hard to tell.

I just shrugged to show her that I didn't know anything. She once again praised me and after that, she increased the intensity of each session.

Bit by bit I made progress in occlumency and soon I was at a level far beyond any kid my age. I asked Eileen how well I would do if faced with an attack and from what she told me, I got to know that I am very strong in some aspects but weak in others, by weak she meant in comparison to the ones I was strong in.

Overall she concluded that I was really gifted in occlumency and could reach a high level by my 20s. Currently, I can form basic shields and can detect any intrusions in my mind. I can suppress certain thoughts to give off a false impression about myself if they are just browsing through my surface thoughts.

Also since I have formed my mind palace which is apparently at an advanced level of occlumency, I can protect my memories better and it is also much easier to detect whenever somebody is entering my mind.

Eileen is not very skilled in legilimency so I don't know how well I will fare against the likes of Dumbledore or Voldemort but I am satisfied with my progress.

If by chance, however small it may be, I am attacked by someone proficient in legilimency, I have a counterattack or a 'trump' card prepared just in case. I am not sure if it will work but it is the only thing I have got.

It even has a condition for it to work. The condition for it to work is that my mind should first be able to detect the intrusion. Once the condition is fulfilled, it will trigger a memory or rather a chain of memories of my time in void which is pretty long.

Legilimency involves navigating through memories so when a legilimens is doing that, they need to 'hop' from memory to memory using a sort of 'link' to navigate but when all they get is an empty void filled with nothing, they will have no 'link' to grab onto and will have to wander aimlessly just like me in the void.

Of course there are still chances of them being able to see past this but it won't be immediate and will definitely take time during which I, hopefully, would have escaped their control.

Another thing to look out would be compulsions, or someone attempting to change my mind or put thoughts into my head but I am confident in dealing with this one as I have organized my mind well within the mind palace and also vividly remember my own memories.

So this is how much I have progressed in occlumency and as for legilimency, Eileen didn't teach me because she herself is not any good at it and also the Ministry doesn't permit anyone learning it. Only those who are certified teachers can teach it.

Of course this law is bullshit like many other laws passed by the Ministry. Many pureblood families still teach their kids legilimency but it is not common now as it requires a great deal of discipline and the inbreed brats don't have that.

Eileen only taught me the incantation which is 'legilimens' and told me how to initiate it.

I have tried it out many times now and can plant thoughts into people's heads, read their minds obviously and sort through or look through memories although not too proficient in this one. I don't know how to get past defenses though as the target I have been practising on doesn't have any form of mental defences.

Now after learning the mind arts, I received training in potions and Eileen taught me how to brew some basic ones that are learnt during the first year like the cure for boils, the forgetfulness potion, the antidote to common poisons and even the pompion potion which turns the consumer's head into a fucking pumpkin.

Potion brewing required keen concentration, a calm kind and dexterous hands. I possessed all three courtesy of occlumency. The dexterous hands though was something that I worked hard and now it has become a conditioned reflex.

Potions can't be made without magic and since I didn't have a wand, Eileen helped me with that part.

Soon I will have to go Diagon Alley for some shopping and I will try to convince Eileen to get me a wand early, shouldn't be too hard as she still feels guilty and will listen to me if I ask her enough, maybe even a house elf but those are plans for later.

Summer is approaching and a chance to meet Lily has finally arrived.

----------------------------------------

[POV change]

Location: In an abandoned mill

Waking up to find himself in chains attached to a wall was the first indicator that something was wrong.

Tobias opened his eyes as he scanned the room he now found himself in. It was dirty and old with cobwebs hanging around the edges and dust everywhere.

'Where am I ?' he thought. 'Did I drink too much...but this never happened before.'

*tap* *tap*

He heard the sound of tapping and looking around for the source, he found a person sitting on a table at the far corner of the room. The person's face was hidden due to the darkness and what little light shone on him showed that the person was just a….boy.

The figure advanced revealing the face to be a familiar one. It was his son !

"Boy...What have you done to me? Where am I?" he asked but his son didn't answer instead he just stretched his arms and moved closer.

"Well hello there….father, now that you are awake, we can begin.."

"What are you saying boy, release me now."

"Nope~..Sorry father but I can't do that. You see I needed a test subject to….well test my magic on and I decided on you."

"M-magic !?...you are a witch too!"

"No...thats incorrect, the correct term is wizard but that doesn't matter now. Listen I don't have time to deal with your issues now, I have get back home by dinner so I will be quick. You being gone has more pros than cons for me, in fact, I don't see even one con with you being gone so for now you will be my test dummy."

'What was he saying ?' Tobias thought as a feeling of dread enveloped him. Just before he could retort, the boy grabbed his head and looked into his eyes.

"Legilimens"

And then Tobias felt his head splitting..

"Aaaaaahh" he screamed as the pain was too much.