Hogwarts: I am Snape

Chapter 6 Prince

Despite struggling to breathe due to being choked, Snape's distorted laughter still burst forth uncontrollably.

He threw his wand aside, raised his head, and smashed it down on the man's nose.

A sharp, teeth-grinding crack.

"what……"

The man screamed in agony as blood gushed out, staining his face and clothes red.

"You—you're asking for it!"

A look of disbelief and terror flashed in the man's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a more surging anger.

Fists rained down on Snape.

However, Snape whimpered even more frantically, gripping the man's shoulders tightly with both hands, wrestling with him until he fell to the ground.

The two bodies rolled on the floor, making thumping sounds.

In the struggle, Snape bit the man's neck, his teeth digging deep into the flesh.

"Ah...hh..."

The man roared in pain, grabbing Snape's hair with both hands, trying to pull him away.

But Snape, like a predatory beast, held on tightly and wouldn't let go.

A thick, hot, and metallic liquid rushed into Snape's mouth and nose.

The taste of blood filled his mouth, burning every nerve in his body, as if igniting an inextinguishable flame.

"Woo...Woo..."

The man's movements became increasingly weak, and the color drained from his face.

Snape finally spoke.

The man tried desperately to stop the wound on his neck with one hand, his legs twitching helplessly on the floor, a terrible wheezing sound coming from his throat, and his dark eyes filled with pleading.

The flames are about to go out.

The woman huddled in the corner, staring in terror at the two people on the ground, covering her mouth with her hands, her eyes filled with tears.

Suddenly, as if she remembered something, she rushed upstairs in a panic.

When she reappeared in the living room, she was holding a stick.

She found the wand, which had become somewhat rough due to lack of use.

"Huh...huh..."

Snape knelt to one side, his chest heaving violently, blood dripping from his chin onto the floor.

The woman's face was ashen. She tremblingly raised her wand and pointed it at the two people on the ground, a hint of determination and fear flashing in her eyes.

The dim yellow light was a bit dazzling.

A dazzling green light flashed.

Tobias Snape stopped moving.

……

Eileen's face grew even paler.

She slumped to the floor, motionless for a long time, staring blankly at everything.

It seemed she waited until the last warmth had almost dissipated before opening her hoarse voice:

"Go back to your bedroom."

Snape dragged his heavy body, his hands numbly gripping the stair railing, each step of the climb extremely difficult.

As darkness gradually fell, he sat alone in his pitch-black bedroom.

Before returning, he only wanted to find a reason to never come back; after opening the door, he thought about teaching Tobias a lesson; during the fight, he also wanted to hurt him without any regard for the consequences.

But in that instant, he thought Eileen's wand was pointing at him.

His mind was a jumble of thoughts, one moment he was thinking of the lively firecrackers during the Spring Festival, and the next he was thinking of the statues in Godric Valley covered in snow at Christmas.

He thought of the figure lying face up on the Hogwarts Astronomy Tower one moment, and the Malfoy family of three huddled together in the ruins of the final battle the next.

He even thought of Merope Riddle, staggering towards the orphanage on New Year's Eve... Snape didn't know how he fell asleep, or even if he had fallen asleep at all.

The next morning, when he opened his eyes, he felt his mind was completely blank, as if a thin mist had dissipated. He seemed to be just himself again.

On the bedside table, he saw his magic wand.

After cleaning up, he hesitated before going downstairs.

The living room was exceptionally tidy.

The stains on the floor and walls had disappeared, and the place looked cleaner than I remembered, as if nothing had happened last night.

Eileen sat on a wooden chair, mending clothes as usual in the early morning sunlight.

Her wand lay to the side.

Hearing the creaking sound of someone coming down the stairs, Eileen looked up; her hair seemed to have been combed.

"I'll go make you something to eat."

"No, I can do it myself."

Seeing that she was about to get up, Snape quickly walked towards the kitchen.

"I'm serious, I'll do it myself."

He toasted some bread in a frying pan, cut some hard cheese, and served it on a tray.

"Hmm... Mom, let's eat something together."

Eileen picked up a slice of toast and took small bites.

“You’ve gained weight.” She looked up and examined Snape closely for a moment.

Snape noticed that her fingers were rough and calloused, as if she had endured years of hard labor.

“I have an uncle,” Eileen suddenly said, “your great-uncle.”

Seeing that he didn't speak, she continued, "Charlan Prince. You haven't seen him—"

“No, you don’t need to go to him,” Snape interrupted her. “After school starts, I will go to the headmaster—Dumbledore—and ask him to arrange a job for you at the school.”

"But--"

"—He will agree. I will talk to him."

"Xia Lan—she passed away when you were five years old."

"He... um...?"

In the morning light, a touch of color seemed to appear on Eileen's pale face.

She continued in one breath: "After I ran away from home—with a sack of Galleons—and married him, I never had any contact with Charania again."

"Until you were five years old, a Ministry of Magic employee came and told me he was dead."

"Xia Lan donated the magical instruments, the house, and some of her personal belongings to the St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries and Sicknesses."

"But in his will he said, 'Even if I don't want to admit it, you are the last Prince,' and he chose to leave the Prince family's underground vault in Gringotts to me..."

Snape was a little confused: "Have you been to see it all these years?"

“No,” Eileen said calmly.

"Why not?" Snape asked blankly, having no idea that his family had a vault in Gringotts.

“He doesn’t like magic.” This time, she said it in a normal volume.

"Does he know about this?" Snape suddenly became curious.

Eileen shook her head gently: "The Ministry of Magic staff came while he was away."

Snape wasn't particularly concerned about this, after all, he knew that the Weasleys' vault was empty enough for the goblins to hold a ball inside.

As for the Prince family, they are neither one of the Twenty-Eight Sacred Clans nor any other prestigious family, so what can they possibly hope for?

Eileen seemed to sense his thoughts and said softly, "I think there might be some gold inside. Let's go take a look tomorrow."

“Okay—” Snape replied casually, picking up the empty plate with one hand and taking the sewing tools from the table with the other. “—Stop with this and take a break.”

(End of this chapter)