Mun Note: This is based on Severus as of the age of thirty, and through canon events. It’s listed chronologically.
On his right ankle is a Celtic weave of four letters in black ink – E, S, L & D. This is the first tattoo Severus ever obtained, put together by Eric Avery and Lucas Mulciber with highly complex and slightly illegal magic that causes unique effects. The bearer of the tattoo alone can call up it’s hidden capabilities, which cause the letters to shift individually to reveal first the country in which the owner’s letter is presently located, and later, one of five states of being:
Healthy, Stressed, Drunk, Endangered, and At Risk.
While Stressed tends to be the default state unless the individuals happen to be happy, Drunk can also mean poisoned – anything that affects the blood system, so it’s the first true warning sign something isn’t right. Endangered means they may be injured, or simply that the adrenaline is high, while At Risk means they are actually hurt, and possibly dying.
When the four bearers of this matching piece were twenty, they learned what happens when one of them dies – the letter in latent state stays black. However when the magic is activated to reveal location or state, the letter turns grey and does not move until it returns to the knot and fades back to black.
That same summer in which Severus received his tattoo from Eric and Lucas, he went to a muggle tattoo parlour and got three bird silhouettes done on the top of his foot to represent the people not already on his skin – Lily, Lucius and Narcissa. He deeply regretted the location, and to this day will state it hurt like a bitch to get done.
At his front are three slashes – one at his collarbone just under where his high neck coat lies, one across his sternum and one across his stomach – clearly deep gash scars. These are from the sectumsempra he cast on himself the year that his mother died, which Destin was lucky enough to heal before they stole Severus’ life.
When he was seventeen, he and Lucas both got their ears pierced; three at the top, and both lobes as a celebration of graduation. Both Severus and Destin also got their noses done. When he was eighteen, Severus got the Dark Mark and a month later, a Nordic protection symbol against blood poisoning inked onto his left hip. ( Above his right hip is a scar that looks rather like a stab wound, though this occurred later in his life. )
Nineteen marked snake bites. Piercings along his spine followed the death of his father in a mark of liberation when he was twenty. All of which were removed and concealed, though spelled to remain workable once he came to work at Hogwarts (however, many of these are still in use in AU’s.)
There’s a scar along his left shoulderblade that has barbed wire and thorns etched in black ink around it, and these twist together into a tribal like flower that blooms over the blade itself. It’s specifically an asphodel lily, which he had done in a Muggle parlour on the first year anniversary of the Potter’s deaths.
The symbolism is deliberately in reference to both James and Lily, as well as himself and his role in both their deaths as he came to properly understand the dissonance between wanting to save Lily and not her husband and son. It serves as a reminder to himself of a multitude of guilt, and most especially of his oath to Lily herself.
Over time his Dark Mark gained scar tissue around it, that the discerning observer will recognize as a result of the flesh beneath it having been almost surgically cleaved through. This was explained to the Dark Lord as part of his arrangement with Dumbledore – it would be easier for him to appear to be on the side of light if he were not a properly marked Death Eater and it was believed the mark was flesh bound. Naturally, being tied to Severus’ magical core, it immediately reset itself once the flesh grew back.
In truth, this was something Severus did while still in active service, with the intent of blaming an auror if he was ever found out – it was a vain attempt to stop the call and break free of the Dark Lord that failed miserably. He tried it again after the Dark Lord’s demise and it’s regrowth convinced him Dumbledore spoke truly of Voldemort’s inevitable return.
And lastly, there’s a scar on his calf from his misadventure with Fluffy the Three Headed dog. This is the sum total of Severus’ scarring prior to the rise of Voldemort – in the second war he gained additional scars as a result of his service to the Dark Lord, particularly as a result of the betrayal of Eric Avery and the torture he endured in order to prove his own loyalty.
This is a well kept secret that not even Dumbledore was made aware of, though rp’s have had it come to light in the past. This event in particular took place during the 1995 school year and resulted in boils and lacerations across his back that left behind scar tissue that looks something like the result of 40 cigar burns and three days worth of flogging.
Severely Archived 