Chapter 4: Reviewing and Planning

-Great Britain, England, 18 June 1976.

-Severus's room at The Leaky Cauldron, London.

For Severus Snape or Darth Vader, he still couldn't decide by which name he felt more comfortable with.

But for now, he would go with the name Severus.

He knew that he was not in complete control of all his actions now.

It would take time for his body to adapt to both souls along with his memories and feelings.

His body will probably now automatically react more to the characteristics of his soul as Severus Snape, but gradually both souls will shape and form Severus' body to suit the characteristics of both, making a new Severus, both in soul and body.

'Alright, let's start by reviewing and planning what to do next' Severus said to himself as he got up from the bed he was in and stretched his body.

'First of all, why was my soul as Snape being devoured by the dark side?' wondered Severus unable to comprehend the reason why that had happened.

He had concluded as Vader that this wave in the Force had been caused by him as Severus, but he as Severus had done nothing that could cause such a stirring in the Force.

"Strange, very strange..." Severus murmured thoughtfully.

'Hmm... I didn't do anything as Severus to provoke the dark side of the Force like that, something else must have happened...'

'...There may have been a great event in the Force that I as Snape was not aware of...' thought Severus.

He had already realised that wizards on this planet unlike the Jedi or the Sith, do not use their bond and connection to the Force to communicate and use it, they had no real awareness of the Force or 'magic' itself.

Wizards use their magic wands, which are powerful weapons but also affect Force practitioners a lot since it is the Wand that acts as an intermediary between the Force and the wizard.

They only focus on the use of the wand and the different types of spells, leaving aside the connection with the Force, in fact, wizards do not really make use of the Force.

Severus knew that there were no exercises to help wizards control the Force, so they never had to meditate or strengthen their minds to withstand the wear and tear of using the Force.

They just use the wand and focus on using or creating new spells or other things.

It was interesting for Severus to discover two galaxies with separate civilisations that make use of the Force in such different and unique ways.

The Jedi and Sith connect with the Force through many exercises and training that allow them to do so.

Meanwhile, wizards use their wands to call upon the Force and only focus on the spells they want to cast, not their connection, which gives them an advantage as they don't have to worry about losing their connection or exhausting themselves quickly, they just had to think of the spell along with their correct wand movement and that's all.

No doubt the wands are powerful and allow their users to do many things that the Jedi and Sith could not do even if they knew the necessary "magic" tricks.

But this is only because the wand reduces the mental and physical effort that the user must use to call upon the Force, and this is also one of the reasons why few wizards are able to use "magic" without a wand, as they have no real connection to the Force, and it is very difficult for them to use it without a wand.

Wizards cannot have a connection to the Force "by magic", it takes meditation, sweat, determination, and constant hard work.

For Severus the wand was powerful..., but it was also a crutch.

"Hmm..., in case it wasn't some strange phenomenon of the Force, there's only one option left..." muttered Severus.

"A curse...!" he concluded with half-closed eyes at the thought of that possibility.

'Yes, that could be a possibility, but it is almost impossible for me to think of a curse of such magnitude, something that would make the Force react in such a way is not a simple curse, it would have to be a magic of such a high degree that only a wizard like Voldemort or Dombuldore could do it. Such dark magic that would make that happen... ' Severus thought.

'...Voldemort maybe..., but why would he do that to me... and especially why would he use such a unique and powerful magic on someone so insignificant...?, no, it doesn't make sense...'

'... Unless he was testing the result of such magic on me... it's a possibility, but I can't conclude anything with my current knowledge, besides, Voldemort shouldn't even know that I exist yet...'

'... For now, I only know that I may be at great risk, one that I do not know of...' Severus shook his head annoyed and frustrated at not knowing what could have caused such a thing.

He doubted it was Voldemort or any other wizard of his level, he was more likely to think it was some strange phenomenon in the Force that had caused it all, but still, he had to be careful.

'By Merlin... better forget about this for now and concentrate on my current situation, which is complex enough as it is,' Severus grumbled internally.

'I must say it is fortunate that I returned from Hogwarts a few days ago and decided to leave my home to come to The Leaky Cauldron, and rent a room to stay in,' sighed Severus as he recalled the recent events he had been through.

'Pathetic... Sad..., but so pathetic of me.'

'Even with two souls and all the experiences of both, it doesn't stop hurting like before what happened...'

He as Snape hadn't wanted to stay at home because of the recent loss of his parents and the supposed betrayal of Lily Evans.

'Luckily I was smart enough to not torture myself anymore, getting away from my home and Lily who was by James' side, coming to The Leaky Cauldron and renting a room with my savings to get away from my torments and refresh my mind' Severus thought proud of his previous good decision.

Otherwise, who knows how he would have ended up at home.

For Severus, home was a constant reminder of his dead parents and his unhappy childhood, so many emotions together could overwhelm him.

'Now I just have to plan what I'm going to do in the future on this planet and for that I have to understand the current situation I'm in' Severus concluded.

'Hmm, if I remember correctly when the second half of my fifth year at Hogwarts began, Potter seemed to have lost a bit of interest in picking on me and making my life at Hogwarts a living hell, probably because I no longer had the attention of Lily Evans'.

'Ha, I always knew he liked her and that's why he focused on messing with me to get her attention, but as much as I'd like to think that James bloody Potter isn't going to cause me any more trouble now that Lily Evans isn't talking to me, I know he's still going to be a pain in the arse.'

Potter and his group of bullies would always ambush the young Snape, whenever his fellow Slytherin students left him alone in the long dark corridors of Hogwarts or even outside in the grounds.

'That's going to be a nuisance for years to come..., well, there's always the option of killing him...' Severus smiled in amusement at the thought, even though he knew he wasn't going to do it.

Though if they did bother him it probably wouldn't go well for them.

"Hmm maybe not kill them..., but a person can live without an arm or two," Severus muttered with a slight smile.

'Putting that aside, Potter and his group are not my main concern, no, the most important thing at the moment is Voldemort and his followers, the death eater...'

'...My housemates in Slytherin, especially those I tend to spend most of my time with, such as Rosier, Mulciber, Avery, Lestrange and Wilkes, were actively seeking to recruit me to join the ranks of the Dark Lord alongside them...'

It was an outcome that Snape had always been trying to avoid at all costs, not because he didn't agree with Voldemort's ideas before, but because he loved Lily Evans too much and he knew that she would never accept him if he joined the death eaters.

'Lily was a muggleborn, so it would be a betrayal to her if I joined the blood purists who sought to subdue mudbloods and muggles,' Severus recalled with a weary sigh.

He had even gone so far for Lily as to refuse the Malfoy's invitation to their annual winter ball at their Christmas break... only to find that by the end of the year all his efforts had been in vain.

But now that Severus understands things better, he is truly grateful to Lily Evans from the bottom of his heart.

If it wasn't because he didn't want her to hate him, it's quite sure that he would have gone to that ball in the Christmas holidays of his fifth year along with all the blood purists and death eaters, being even closer than ever to being a death eater.

"Well..., who would have thought that my bloody obsession would result in anything good," Severus mocked himself.

Today Severus was really thankful that he refused at the time, otherwise, he would be in even bigger trouble now, for now, he would just push all those bad thoughts out of his mind.

For him it was an annoyance to know that a part of his being was so fragile and flimsy.

"Ha, just like this body," Severus muttered with a sarcastic smirk.

'But if I can train a group of small farmers to fight and defend themselves with sticks, I can put this weak body of mine in form as well as my mind,' Severus said to himself earnestly.

A little tired of thinking, Severus decided to leave his room since it was breakfast time and he was starting to get hungry.

He just showered first and then left his room in the Leaky Cauldron.

He then went to the tavern and ordered a full breakfast as it was included in his rent.

"Rob, a full breakfast" Severus ordered without much emotion to the old man bartender at the tavern.

"Good morning Severus, coming right up!" he greeted and replied calmly to the old tavern keeper.

A few seconds later...

"Here's your full breakfast Severus," said Rob handing him his breakfast quickly.

"This..., if I remember correctly the full breakfast included in the rent is half of what you gave me," asked Severus a little confused by the huge amount of food Rob gave him.

Although he wasn't really complaining, Severus didn't have much money and usually used all his savings for the materials he used to brew the potions he made, neglecting much of his personal hygiene or nutrition.

All the money he had was earned from the potions he sold at Hogwarts to students and he usually used that money for his clothes, school supplies, books of interest, and daily necessities, plus more materials to brew and sell more potions.

"The extra is coming from me. You're getting paler, taller, and thinner with each passing year..., you must eat more or you're going to disappear at any moment" Rob commented jokingly but he actually meant it, he just didn't want to anger young Severus.

"This..." Severus didn't know what to reply, he had no relationship with the old man, he used to be just another customer all these years, maybe Rob did it because of the bad state he came to the pub in yesterday after seeing Lily and Potter.

'Apparently, the old taverner felt a bit sorry for my condition, well... he seems to be a nice man, at least he cares a bit about my health...'

"I am truly pathetic" muttered Severus quietly to himself.

"Did you say something?" asked Rob as he heard Severus mutter but didn't get to hear what he said.

"No, nothing, but there was really no need to..." replied Severus before Rob interrupted him.

"Come on come on, don't say anything, and eat. Oh yes, I forgot, Severus, here, this is your mail, it arrived today with the owl," the bartender and owner of the Leaky Cauldron told him.

The owls could not enter the rooms as they had no windows, so they left newspapers, objects and letters for the landlord to deliver unless it was something the owl had to deliver personally, in which case, it would wait until the tenant came out.

"I see..., thank you, Rob," Severus nodded and thanked, but this surprised the owner, who raised an eyebrow at the young Severus' thanks.

Severus didn't usually talk much to anyone, he was very dark, cold, dry, and lonely.

He usually just nodded his head when spoken to unless he had no choice but to answer, ask or request something and even though he sounded as cold as ever now, the fact that he was thanking him was something new in the years they had known each other.

Not giving much thought to the bartender's surprise, Severus grabbed his breakfast along with the correspondence that had arrived and then took a seat in a secluded corner where he always sat in the Pub.