The Tale of Severus Snape

Children were forced to grow fast in those times. By the time he was three, Severus was already helping his Grandmother cook in the kitchen. Even though his father was quite young, his Grandmother was well into her fifties, having had Tobias very late in life, and needed all the help she could get. The young child was fascinated by the way she could turn just a few ingredients into amazing dishes that tasted so delicious. He learned all about spices and what they would do to the flavor of food. In secret he learned about those same spices from his mother and the potions that could be made from “muggle” plants. Oh yes, he knew what a muggle was and all about magic, his mother informed him as soon as she could. She was the type that needed to have someone know that she was somehow better than those around her; even if the only person she could tell was her son. He was a prodigy when it came to potions, by age five he was already creating his own in the backyard. He got in trouble quite a few times for changing the neighbor’s hair different colors by pouring his potions in their tea when they visited. After the first time, his mother always kept an antidote handy as Severus was a headstrong child. I do believe there are still a few blue cats running around on Spinner’s End to this very day.

And at age six, the world would change for Severus once again. An accident at the paper factory left Tobias with a broken leg and Grandfather at the edge of death. It probably would have been better for the family if the accident had killed him instantly. He lay in a coma for almost two months before he succumbed to death. The funeral was paid for by the factory, but the medical bills were not. The accident had destroyed the last of the working machinery and the owner was forced to go bankrupt. The bills were piling up, creditors knocking, and with Mr. Snape in the grave and Tobias out of work until his leg healed, life was hard. Too hard for some. Only two months after the death of her husband, Mrs. Snape followed him to the grave.