5. New Powers.

# Malfoy Manor #

Dobby led me to the guest room, the room was perfectly maintained and decorated to host a guest anytime necessary.

The windows were covered by white curtains and a royal-sized bed was perfectly arranged in the center of the room.

"Master Severus, do you have any preference towards what type of clothes you would want to wear, sir?" Dobby asked, ready to flick his fingers.

House-elves can conjure clothes out of thin air, I knew their proficiency in wandless magic and how they used it, but elves needed to know what they were doing for the magic to work.

Due to their proficiency in wandless magic and lack of need for a wand, the magic used by elves was categorized under a type of elven magic as house-elves don't need to be trained in magic or thought how to use it, they are just born with magic in them.

They would advance magic with just their sheer will and intent but they were also caged by their lack of motivation to anything other than serving wizarding.

Most House-elves are mistreated yet they won't raise a finger against their masters unless they are free elves, it was like nature gave them a perk yet set a setback to balance it.

There is no concrete proof since when elves started serving the magical families but it was said that elves started serving ever since their first appearance along with wizards but many took advantage of their nature and mistreated them. Only a few elves like Dobby showed their disagreement towards their treatment yet due to their nature can't leave their family unless they are freed.

I spotted the difference between Dobby and the other elf that served the Malfoy since the first time I visited the manor.

The other elf that served Malfoys was subservient and was ok with the treatment from them but Dobby showed some resistance and clearly showed that he didn't want to serve the Malfoys but he still feared them.

I shake thoughts about the house-elves away for now.

But in the future, I might be able to use the resistance Dobby showed to my advantage.

"Dobby, I don't have a specific preference, so you choose something good but in black," I said

"Dobby not worthy, sir. Dobby only does what the master wants, dobby shouldn't choose. Dobby good elf," Dobby went mumbling franticly about how elves shouldn't have a choice or something.

"Dobby, stop," I said sternly.

He stopped and looked a bit frightened

"Dobby, I'm neither Lucius nor his father, I'm not even your master. I won't punish you. I don't know what to pick so I told you to pick," I said

"But, If Dobby do that, Dobby becomes a bad elf," he said

"Do you want to or not?" I asked.

He nods in yes, it seems he was still sane compared to other house-elves, who are mistreated by purebloods.

"There is it, I won't tell Malfoy. So, it is secret between us" I said.

I saw his light bulb-like eyes widen at my statement.

"Sir, won't tell master?" he asked in an excited voice.

"Yes, now leave. I need to get ready" I asked, Dobby disapparated from the room.

Honestly, the House-elves have many uses than just doing some household chores, pureblood aren't wise enough to truly see their worth.

I walked into the attached bathroom; it was honestly half the size of my former house.

I was honestly not surprised at the fact that it is this big as the Malfoy family was the richest pureblood in England, and they held the same status as the sacred 28 even though they weren't included in it.

I picked up a spare brush placed near the sink; I applied an ample amount of toothpaste on the brush.

I brushed my teeth and removed all my clothes to get into the shower.

I turned on the shower, I felt cold water touching my bare skin, I closed my eyes to just process the last 24 hours of my life.

I shivered as the cold water continued to wash over me.

My simple outing on Christmas turned into the death of my mother, even thinking about her hurts me, I remembered my childhood, the time I spent along with my mother in nights listening to her stories about Hogwarts, her instructions when I was ready to go for Hogwarts

"Remember Severus, I don't care what house you are in, as long as you can do what you want," she said before I boarded the train.

Since I wanted to be in the same house as my mother, I choose to be Slytherin.

This year, she gave me her books to use.

I wrote many new methods for brewing some existing potions, created a few new spells, and created counterspells to some curses.

My research was written in many of these books.

The gory scene from last night still plays in front of me, I knew it would haunt me but the effect it had on me isn't as prominent as I thought it would be.

The promise I made to my mother, I can surely become a powerful wizard but she wished me to be a great wizard, not the most powerful.

The greatest isn't always equal to the most powerful, I need to be something that mother would be proud of.

For example, Dumbledore is a great wizard, he is both feared and respected by many, even those who supported him or those who are against him, his name carries a certain weight.

Then there is Voldemort, who is said to be the most powerful by his followers but only a few of his followers truly respected him, all of his followers feared him. I knew this since I saw Malfoy senior's behavior towards Voldemort, he used Voldemort as an outlet to justify his actions.

I saw him teaching Lucius the importance of knowing when to back away.

Most Purebloods would abandon Voldemort the second it seems as if they were losing the war, they always made a calculated move.

Voldemort was an outlet for them to show their hate and disgust towards muggles.

I remembered my dream that I hoped when I went to Hogwarts, I neither wished to be the most powerful nor join the death eater, I just wished to learn magic and hoped for a happy family, such a childish dream.

Hogwarts changed everything, it changed me. Gone was the boy who dreamed of a happy family, only my revenge mattered to me for a long time.

A partial reason for my decision to join death eater was revenge against the potters' gang and a place that would let me learn dark arts.

But this year's incident cemented my decision on joining the death eater if my mother didn't die, I still remember Dumbledore made me swear an oath to save his Gryffindors.

That day I let my emotions take over, excited at finally having evidence that could have led to potter and his gang getting expelled, I didn't care if they can't continue their education, they had to pay for what they did.

Just because I said that I preferred Slytherin to Gryffindor didn't give them the right to mess with me.

I wasn't someone who would sit back and let them get away with it.

I retailed. I caused them the same pain they caused me.

I wanted them gone, they used the excuse of dark arts for their behavior against me.

Why was it their business if I learned dark arts or not? This cycle towards revenge changed me.

I started projecting my hate of my muggle father and potter on other muggle-born and Gryffindors.

I didn't even know the functioning of Slytherin house when I boarded the train and when said those things to them, I was only referring to the motto the Slytherin house represented not some blood purity, that is why I wanted Lily to enter Slytherin since I didn't know how the Slytherin treated half-bloods and muggle-born.

I was by no means innocent when it came to my treatments towards other muggle-born but I was justified for my wish to see Potter and his gang get expelled for their actions against me, it was my personal view and I didn't care how others saw their actions.

That day, I foolishly believed black and entered whooping willow to only encounter a werewolf, I knew Lupin was a werewolf so I wanted to just collect some kind of evidence and leave the place but I didn't expect to encounter a fully transformed werewolf, I didn't know it was a full moon.

I wasn't foolish enough to put my life at risk for some evidence.

Potter came to save his friend's skin from getting expelled for a murder.

I knew Potter only saved me to save his friend as not a day go by, he was back on trying to hex me.

He never cared for my life as the old manipulator put in his argument with me, if he truly didn't want to kill someone then he wouldn't have hexed people to suffocate on soap bubbles.

We all were taken to Dumbledore; he had the audacity to thank the Potter for saving a fellow student when they tried to use other methods that could have killed me.

He gave black a little warning and let him go, he came up with a bullshit reason like

"I didn't punish Mr. Black as that would raise questions on why he was punished and that would lead to an investigation," he said.

Black knew it was a full moon, he wanted to kill me yet he gets away with just a slap on the wrist.

I didn't give two shits about the investigation, if black and his friend were expelled then they should be, what if one of them was innocent, but that didn't stop him from joining his friends when they can't take me on.

Lupin wasn't some saint, just because he was a werewolf didn't change my view on him.

He helped his friend when they can't take me on, a wonderful 4 against 1 scenario.

Dumbledore directed the blame on me, shitty old bastard.

"You shouldn't have listened to Mr. black. You knowingly entered the willow. I need you to swear an oath that you wouldn't speak about Mr. Lupin being a werewolf and tonight's event."

I had to swear the oath that day.

He forced me into making an oath, the old bastard lost all respect I had for him.

He let the potter talk as if he was some hero who saved me, I didn't even get to give my side of the story.

His indifference towards my life cemented my decision to join the death eater if the headmaster of Hogwarts didn't care about my death, then why should I fear the consequences of joining the death eater.

Even if I don't join death eater now, I would never fight for Dumbledore.

As I continued to shower, I thought went back to the strange occurrence that happened after I killed my father.

Something changed in me, I first noticed this when I used Occlumency, the barriers I put up were different from the normal, and then when I entered the cemetery, I felt an odd sense of familiarity there.

It was not magic that I felt, it was different from it.

I had a deeper understanding of magic than other people of my age group due to my interest in research of magic, which helped me in creating Spells.

The magic that wizards or witches use is based on the intent and will, once the magic is manifested in a certain person it won't manifest again in the same wizard or witch, so what I am experiencing isn't magic.

I thought about Obscurus but I debunked the theory as only younger wizards or witches are able to manifest Obscurus due to them constantly repressing their magic to hide it but I never had to hide my magic.

Something changed inside me, I can feel it but I can't get a grip on what it was.

I turned off the shower and got out of the bath, I stood in front of a mirror inside the bathroom.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror, lanky body frame, hair that covered the front of my face, they weren't greasy as I just shampooed, unusual paleness, and a hooked nose.

I touched the hooked part of my nose; it was caused due to an injury that broke my nose.

The injury happened when my father pushed me towards a wall, mother tried to fix it with an episkey spell but it wasn't perfect, since then my nose had a hook.

I decided to change the hook of my nose as it reminded me of my father and my past with his abuse. I stared at the sink for a bit and then swung my head on it, my nose hit the sink.

*crack* a crack formed on the sink.

"Aavo!! " It was too painful.

"Accio" I summoned my wand and cast "Muffliato" around me.

"Aaaaaavo!!, I shouldn't have done that"

I pointed my wand carefully at my nose, I positioned it such that it won't turn back into a hooked nose.

I cast 'episkey' on the nose.

I looked at my reflection

"Well, that didn't make me look any different"

If I need people to follow me, I had to change the way I looked. The lanky frame doesn't truly speak of anything near intimidating and authoritarian.

A person needs charisma to make people follow, it wasn't just about how someone looked, it was about the presence the person carried around him.

I can never create a presence of friendliness around me, but I can make myself someone who could give them protection, a symbol of power and authority.

I looked at my shadow that was projected on the opposite wall, I extended my hand towards my shadow due to a strange impulse to touch, it was the same strange feeling that I felt during my time at the cemetery.

I felt a strange connection to the shadow.

I was about touch the wall but my hands went right through the wall, I was beyond shocked, My HAND went right through the wall.

My freaking HAND went through the wall.

I quickly pulled my hand back in panic, after calming down for a bit I tried to do it again but this time my hand didn't go through the wall.

I didn't understand why it went through the wall just a second ago but not now.

I thought for a few seconds then it hit me, my hand didn't go through the wall instead it went through my shadow.

I tried again I put my hand through my shadow, this time it went through.

I tried to go through the shadow but as I moved further into the shadow, the lesser the width of the shadow became, so it was difficult for me to move further into the shadow.

I wasn't able to see anything as it was just dark and extremely cold.

I pulled back from the shadow.

I didn't understand what happened to me, I just randomly got this power.

I picked up a brush and threw it towards the shadow, but it didn't go through it.

I didn't give up though, I picked it up and threw the brush again at the shadow but this time I wanted it to go through it, just as I thought it went through.

It must be somehow connected to my intent.

I never heard about these kinds of powers in the wizarding kind, I brainstormed for any instance where someone manifested these kinds of powers or someone mentioned powered individuals other than wizards.

After a few seconds, I finally remembered Mr. Evans mentioning some powered individuals, they were called "Mutants".

I closed my eyes and tried to remember the conversation that I had with Mr. Evans who wanted know to if Lily is really a witch or not.

"So, tell me, Severus. Is lily really a witch? does Hogwarts really exist?" he asked.

"Yes, sir. She is a witch. When lily is eleven, she will get a letter from Hogwarts" my ten-year-old self replied.

"It seems she isn't mutant, Rose. No one will come after her, she will get to go to school" he said to Mrs. Evans

"What if she was? I hope you wouldn't have treated her differently. Or-" she warned him

"No, I wouldn't have treated her any differently. It is just that there are so many bad rumors and myths about them. People don't like them and I don't want others to find out if she was one." Mr. Evans said.

"But they don't like witches either" Mrs. Evans countered.

"Yes, but she will be safe in that boarding school, where she will be able to learn magic and be around people like her," Mr. Evans said

"Sir, who are these mutants you are talking about?" my younger self asked hesitantly.

"You see, Severus. There are some people who have power but not much is known about them, people call them mutants. They have extraordinary powers like flying, cool laser and making fire out of thin air" Mr. Evans said childishly, clearly trying to change the tense topic surrounding mutants.

My younger self didn't understand it but now that I recall it, he was trying to cover the fact that people hated mutants.

Then, I thought it was a sighting of some wizards or witches but as I grew up I came to know that other powered people existed.

I don't know what changes I have gone through, outwardly I looked the same but something felt different about myself.

Why is my life getting complicated? First, I killed my father then I find out I got some powers. Powers, which I don't have any understanding of.

If I made a note in mind of the powers that I might have.

1)Death. since felt something strange yet familiar feeling near the dead bodies.

2)Shadows. My hand through my own shadow.

3)Odd feeling about my body; I don't know what it is but just some kind of gut feeling.

But this was not enough to truly conclude, how these powers work?

It wasn't a big surprise to me that muggles hated powered individuals, after all, they hunted wizards and witches due to their paranoia before the statute of secrecy.

I don't know much about these mutants, neither Lily nor her parents knew much about these mutants.

There wasn't much information about them on the news.

Since there isn't much information on them, they must be either hiding or they are hunted down. Both options are a reason of concern.

Great, now I have to deal with an old manipulator, a manic who is hellbent on a war against muggle, and muggles hunting people with powers.

My day keeps getting better and better. I thought sarcastically.