Descendant of Merlin (Severus Snape) Book 1: Anger and Awe

Odd Encounter

~The lovely new cover for this book has been so graciously provided by the always lovely SamanthaWilde! Many thanks are due to her.
Let me say that this is a Harry Potter fanfic so I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters or places. It is set (beginning in 1985) after the Mauraders have finished school and before Harry starts school. Harry would be around five at the beginning of this.

All that aside, this series is not written with younger readers in mind. While this first book is fine for those in their early teens, the next books grow more mature in various ways and are more suited for (roughly) ages 16 and up. Read if you like, but you have been warned. ~

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ANGER and AWE are not merely words alluding to the allure of always adapting alliteration. For one with an astute mind, anything they cannot understand or grasp conjures two emotions; anger and awe. Anger that the thing has bested them and also Awe that the thing has bested them. From these two emotions a kind of strange fascination grows, and, given enough time and rigorous study, can become something quite like love...

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My name is Isabella Marie Fellstone, and I'm a witch. In fact everyone in my family is. I'm a pureblood, and I'm quite proud of that fact, but I don't discriminate against those who aren't lucky enough to be from an all magic family. I'm a chaser on the Slytherin quidditch team at Hogwarts. Slytherin hasn't lost a game in five years, and we've just continued that streak by destroying Gryffindor. And just in time for Winter Holidays too.

I walked back up towards the castle that serves as my school from the quidditch pitch feeling very pleased with myself and how the match had turned out. It was a long game; it took our seeker nearly eight hours to catch the snitch. I can still barely feel my fingers.

I smiled as my best friend Lynx practically tackled me from behind. Her squeal told me she was proud of the 140 points I'd earned. I laughed as I looped arms with her, and soon we were joined by our favorite guy, Allistor. Even he seemed impressed which is rare.

"Great game, Fellstone!" he greeted with a friendly smile. I wrapped my arm around his waist and pulled him and Lynx to me happily. They were the greatest friends I could ask for.

Allistor is from a very old pure blood family, and his parents are huge blood-purists. They love me beause of my blood status, but Lynx is a different story. Allistor's parents tolerate her well, but her grandmother is a muggle so they look down on her.

"Thanks Alice!" I beamed earning a low growl from Allistor. He despises it when people call him Alice, but I've taken a liking to pushing his buttons as of late. A light coating of snow dusted the ground, and Allistor took this as an opportunity for payback.

He quickly grabbed a handful of snow and dropped it down the back of my robes before running for the castle laughing hysterically. I shrieked in outrage and ran after him. Lynx just died laughing and ended up rolling on the snow with glee completely covering her robes with the fine powder.

I lost track Allistor down a dark corridor so I trudged up to my dorm on half-dead legs. Riding a broomstick for eight hours straight is exhausting in every way imagineable. There was a celebratory party going on in the Slytherin common room for the team. I promised I'd be right back and went down to my dorm to change into dry robes.

Dressed warmly I slipped back up to the party where I was shaken and pulled and jostled from all the people congratulating me. I loved the after parties almost as much as I love playing quidditch itself. This time, however I was too tired to pay much attention. I could tell most of the team was, but at least there was a fire going and food being passed around.

It wasn't long before Lynx and Allistor found me. I shot Allistor a light-hearted glare at which he laughed and handed me a hot butterbeer. I gulped it down greedily and took a pastry from a tray as it floated by.

"That was a bloody brilliant game!" cheered Lynx with a bright smile. She was gorgeous in her normal muggle clothes, but the school robes hid her perfect womanly figure and even took away some of the beauty from her light blonde hair. She had secretly fancied Allistor since third year, and I had the strong suspicion he fancied her too. They would make a cute couple, I had to admit.

Allistor is a full head taller than both Lynx and I, and his eyes are a grey-blue that can be hard to look away from sometimes. When he's upset you can see flecks of green in them. I agree with Lynx that they are gorgeous, but Allistor isn't my type, if I even have a type.

"Everyone was on the edge of their seat. I think I even saw Snape stand up as Giovani lunged for the snitch!" Lynx continued animatedly. Gregory Giovani is our seeker. He isn't the best Slytherin has ever had, but he gets the job done.

"I'm afraid I did get a bit taken with the excitement of the moment," droned a deep velvety voice from behind me and just to my left. I jumped and spun in time to see Professor Snape practically materialize from the shadows of the corner. It gave me chills.

"Professor!" I gasped in surprise. He had started teaching at the beginning of my third year at Hogwarts, and I had never seen him in our common room for any reason whatsoever. Needless to say it was a shock to see him now.

My reaction made him lift an eyebrow with a look of bored contempt. I quickly recovered and smiled softly. Most students didn't fancy Professor Snape much. He frightened them. Not to mention most believed he was a supporter of He-who-must-not-be-named. He was intimidating, that's for sure, but I trusted Dumbledore's judgment.

"Yes," he said slowly as if speaking to a mentally impaired child, "You did well. It was a good game. I trust you will spread my thoughts to the rest of the team." With that he strode past my friends and me; his robes billowing famously. I watched as he cut straight through several groups of students without seeming to notie the dirty looks he was receiving.

"Well, that was strange," Lynx commented perplexed. I nodded with a slight laugh.

"I think he just complimented me," I said incredulously.

"It's Snape, how can you tell?" asked Allistor. We all laughed then, our voices joining in the low roar that filled the common room.

"That was completely creepy how he just showed up like that! I had no clue he was there!" Lynx said throwing her hands in the air expressively. She casually let her hand fall on Allistor's shoulder, and I saw a faint smile come to his lips.

I wasn't sure if I'd call Snape creepy, but he did tend to appear at the strangest, and often the most inconvenient, times...

The party lasted about another half hour before it started winding down. I headed on to my dorm. Lynx and I shared a room which was sectioned off from the other rooms. All the dorms were connected by doorways, but had walls to add extra privacy. I had heard that the guys had four to a room but that their rooms were a little bigger. It didn't matter much to me. I was happy the way things were.

~And so it begins! I'd love to hear everyone's opinion, but I'm not one to push for comments and all that so my only request is that you enjoy the story I have in store for you :) ~