But Snape is right about his future if he hadn't accepted the Mark. He'd be mopping the floors at St. Mungo's while people who flunked Potions sneered at him.

What exactly *were* his alternatives?

A very good story, and if Snape learned a taste for power, it was to gain enough to avoid his father's fists and those jolly Marauders. He learned that love didn't count when there was a rich pureblood in sight, as far as Lily was concerned.

Exactly what did he have?

Good story. And despite the fact that Tobias Snape is one of those characters you’re primed to hate, the old guy proved more insightful than I expected.

Great story! Thanks for sharing

I have to admit, I agree with Tobias in regards to "better to live in poverty than be a fascist thug"

I really liked this, it fits in with my head cannon of Severus's family life for sure.

How have I not listed this as a favourite story already? It's one of the most brilliant little character studies for Snape I've ever read, and it's also filled with a sense of place and time.

Thanks for this story! Very well written too, and I like the discussion of communism/capitalism and the idea that Tobias knew so much about the magical world.

Excellent. You've wonderfully captured what most don't about where Snape grew up. Love the fact that Toby's a bit more informed than most make him and has something to say about it all. Snape seems perfectly in character at this age - caught between two worlds. Great work.

oh I like that, a lot. Choices, consequences, wow. And it works really well either as a standalone or as a backstory for your other stories. Thank you!

Beautifully written. I do always love it when Severus is written to speak like a Manc. It's simply fascinating that you've written Tobias to understand so much of wizarding propaganda. Certainly sheds more light on the honest relationship he and Eileen must have once had.

It's so sad to see what prefaced the even greater misery we know is to come.

This was really evocative. Thanks for posting it.