As a Half-blood Wizard, Severus Snape's childhood could hardly be called happy.
Even after gaining the power of magic and entering Hogwarts, Snape still lived in misery.
Within Slytherin, he was not accepted by the inner circle because his father was a Muggle. It was an era when pure-blood ideology was at its height.
Outside Slytherin, some Gryffindors led by Harry's father, James Potter, took pleasure in bullying him.
During Snape's school years, though full-scale war had not yet broken out, the Death Eaters and wizards from other factions in the wizarding world were already locked in fierce opposition across all walks of society.
As the house that produced the most Death Eaters, Slytherin was practically irreconcilable with the other students led by Gryffindor.
All manner of humiliation and abuse came without warning...
A speck of dust from the upheaval of the age, falling upon Snape, weighed as heavily as a mountain.
And James Potter and the others, who had formed a grudge against him on the train to Hogwarts, attacked Snape for various reasons with a viciousness far beyond ordinary student conflicts.
Fortunately, his dearest friend from before he entered school—Harry's mother, Lily Evans—was like a beam of holy light that illuminated his heart.
No matter what setbacks he encountered, she gave him the resolve to keep moving forward.
Snape had never been someone who admitted defeat. Back then, he was ambitious and hungry for power. When faced with problems, he did not retreat; he found ways to solve them.
In his study of magic, he discovered that he possessed an exceptional talent for Dark Magic... This was perfectly normal. A more extreme mind often gave rise to a talent for emotion-based magic.
All the torment he had endured in life now became the long staircase that carried him