The Severed Prince

Hounded

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 with indulging in 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 Borgin and Burkes' shop.