OOTP has an abundance of Snape notations so I am going to try and make this as quick and dirty as possible. The only things I will be poking in this one are points where my Severus noped off script or where I feel a brief agreement is necessary.

Asking Harry to read instructions out loud and identify what he missed; yes. Vanishing his potion despite the fact there were potions that were notably worse – depends on the verse! Mainverse Severus would; mainly because being extra mean to Harry is to his benefit right now when a good majority of the Slytherins in that class report to Death Eater parents. However, in AU’s where Severus (for whatever reason) is more aligned to himself or to Dumbledore, he’d actually vanish the worse ones. (Goyle’s, especially.) 

Vanishing potions that have no hope of being salvaged and assigning homework on how the potion should be composed and where one went wrong, as well as requiring a make-up period of said potion are common teaching tools Severus employs; with Harry there is usually purposeful humiliation involved as part of the deliberate displays he makes to show how anti-Potter he is. 

However in most other classes, this is usually little more than a teaching method and a protective countermeasure to keep students from melting cauldrons or causing similar upsets. If there is time enough, he may even allow them to work on their essays in class so they can observe students doing matters correctly and apply that to their writing. This teaching method is never employed by mainverse Severus in Harry’s lessons, but is liable to be utilized for rp purposes in divergent lines and verses.

When Alicia Spinnet turned up in the hospital wing with her eyebrows growing so thick and fast that they obscured her vision and obstructed her mouth, Snape insisted that she must have attempted a Hair-Thickening Charm on herself and refused to listen to the fourteen eyewitnesses who insisted that they had seen the Slytherin Keeper, Miles Bletchley, hit her from behind with a jinx while she worked in the library.

I had to really think about this one because I never really addressed it much. Back then it didn’t bother me, now I kind of tilt my head, once again, at the infinite wonder found in canon!Snape’s level of douchebaggery. Ultimately though my Snape is not much better, whoops. 

This one is a harmless thing by my Snape’s estimation; an easily reversible hex job is not getting his Keeper benched. Hate Quidditch though he does (and boy, does he.) Severus is aware of the importance of it to his students and frankly it keeps a lot of the meaner ones too busy to cause as much mayhem as they might otherwise be inclined toward. 

There may be factors involved here (be it Bletchley’s home life or something else) that affected the decision, but ultimately at the end of the day my Severus just would not be arsed to give enough of a damn over something harmless to make a public affair of it – he would, of course, address his Keeper privately afterward and stress he will not cover for him again, but other than a confidential meeting between himself and Bletchley my Severus is as lacking in fucks to give as the canon one here.

“Speaking of dogs,” said Snape softly, “did you know that Lucius Malfoy recognized you last time you risked a little jaunt outside? Clever idea, Black, getting yourself seen on a safe station platform … gave you a cast-iron excuse not to leave your hidey-hole in future, didn’t it?” Sirius raised his wand. “NO!” Harry yelled, vaulting over the table and trying to get in between them, “Sirius, don’t —” 
—[ cut ]— 
He and all the other Weasleys froze on the threshold, gazing at the scene in front of them, which was also suspended in mid-action, both Sirius and Snape looking toward the door with their wands pointing into each other’s faces and Harry immobile between them, a hand stretched out to each of them, trying to force them apart.

So all I have to say here is that – yes. My Snape is just as much of a dick as the canon one where Sirius Black is concerned. He would goad him, would engage in less than civil discourse – but he would not be unaffected by Harry’s position between them. In fact he would be keenly aware of it enough not to cast anything (which, I mean, canon Snape didn’t either, but there’s a point here so bear with me.) 

Severus is not going to be the one on the offense when there is a kid in the middle. Doesn’t matter if it’s a kid that genuinely annoys him or a kid he cares about, he has too many internal issues of his own to start a fight with a kid in the goddamn middle. This is one of the very few and rare occasions when Severus would act completely on the defensive, while making active efforts to guard the middle person even at risk to himself. There’s no real coverage of what would have happened had this become an actual fight and considering the epic levels of dick baggery canon Snape is capable of, boy howdy am I glad of it because I think my Severus would end up with salt for decades.

Snape’s worst memory I’ve covered in other metas kind of? Severus was bullied, but he gave as good as he got and he wasn’t alone. At least mine wasn’t – and that is an important distinction that needs to be understood. I feel like this piece is where Anti-Severus people and Anti-James people converge and clash and to me it’s – a glimpse of bad behavior on the ends of both parties. It neither condemns nor exonerates either of them in my eyes, so I tend to leave it alone for the most part as ‘a thing that happened’ that doesn’t need changing. Considering the way this scene polarizes people, I do have a page about it that can be glanced over as needed.

What is imperative to understand is that my Severus and canon Severus had very different school experiences. My Severus had people in his life, he did not walk every path alone. As a result he is, admittedly, better off than the canon portrayal and capable of responding to things differently which is why the only massive difference I have is Severus’ physical response to matters when he finds Harry in the pensieve.

When my Severus gets angry – properly, truly pissed off – he actually becomes eerily still. He doesn’t respond overly physically when he’s genuinely angry about something – he gets quieter, rather than louder, and his body motions are tightly coiled and kept close to his own body. With my Severus, Harry’s experience in breaching his pensieve would be a very different affair and it’s a point of divergence I actually love exploring, so feel free to hit me up.  

It was scary: Snape’s lips were shaking, his face was white, his teeth
were bared. { This piece stays accurate; feral and ashen is an accurate depiction of my Snape when thoroughly pissed } 

Rather than grab Harry and throw him so far from himself so hard he literally sends the kid sprawling, as seen in the book and film (he also shook him in the book) bellowing and throwing cockroach jars at walls, the banishment from occlusion lessons and his sight would have been delivered in one of his more silken tones, because Severus would not trust himself to speak much louder than a whisper. 

He would, verbally, seem to have composure – but his hands would be clenching repeatedly at his sides, his posture would be stiff and battle ready, and his expression would, again, be ashen and feral. He’d seem almost unhinged, but he would neither yell nor get too close to Harry, not trusting himself that angry anywhere near the object of his anger. He would, despite Dumbledore’s orders and his own awareness of matters, banish Harry from further lessons and proceed to ignore him in potions. 

He wouldn’t deliberately destroy Harry’s work, but as pointed out above, if there was just cause to be a dick, he would take it. Destroying work that is decent is something he would not do, mainly because most of these potions get used for other things and he wants to limit his own exposure to Harry; ensuring he has workable base potion means not having to set him detentions or make up periods and thus extend their time together.     

“You are on probation!” shrieked Professor Umbridge, and Snape looked back at her, his eyebrows slightly raised. “You are being deliberately unhelpful! I expected better, Lucius Malfoy always speaks most highly of you! Now get out of my office!”

I am not going to cover Snape vs Umbridge vs Padfoot In The Place It Is Hidden because Dumbledore covers that whole mess just fine for me. I am going to grab this little piece amid that whole debacle though because this is yet another reference to the relationship between Severus and Lucius – which we see from Deathly Hallows, started when Severus was first sorted into Slytherin and the princely pureblood politely welcomed the ratty looking halfblood brat. 

Severus’ relationship with the Malfoy family is one I feel deserves it’s own meta eventually, but what gets me here is the reminder that Lucius is still counted as the pinnacle of high society. The Ministry is desperate to keep the idea that Voldemort is back tamped down, and one of his top lieutenants is considered a grand recommendation to the estimation of Dolores Umbridge. It makes me wonder how things changed once Lucius was outed and dragged off to Azkaban, and how those who got in under his recommendation were affected in the wake of it. 

“Fools who wear their hearts proudly on their sleeves, who cannot control their emotions, who wallow in sad memories and allow themselves to be provoked this easily — weak people, in other words — they stand no chance against his powers! He will penetrate your mind with absurd ease, Potter!” “I am not weak,” said Harry in a low voice, fury now pumping through him so that he thought he might attack Snape in a moment. “Then prove it! Master yourself!” spat Snape. “Control your anger, discipline your mind! We shall try again! Get ready, now! Legilimens!”

I saved this for last, because training Harry in Occlumency is something my Snape acknowledges as one of his greater failings, come his main verse timeline. It is also something that he addresses differently in AU’s depending on the situation, but ultimately speaking there is no true good way for him to teach it with their relationship being what it is. 

Severus was learning the fundamentals of occlumency from the time he was a toddler. He was trained by his mother, and guided by loving hands and careful words. Occlumency, when taught properly, is an artform that is founded in trust – trust that he did not have time to build in Harry, which left him with limited options considering the fact that anything and everything he did had the chance of going directly to the Dark Lord. 

Albus Dumbledore did not teach Harry Occlumency because he had the risk of learning things that Voldemort may discover; so he opted to use his spy, who would have been at great risk if he went about matters in a fashion that appeared caring and nurturing toward the skill. Severus was in a tight spot and ultimately he chose an angle that he felt he could justify to the Dark Lord and could arguably defend against a potentially pissed off Albus. 

He chose to attack Harry’s mind relentlessly, because if there is one thing Harry Potter has proven with unflinching consistency it is that he will rise to a challenge and overcome it with alarming success, by luck and chance or by pure and genuine skill. To Dumbledore he would defend that there is no time to build a rapport with Potter after four years spent keeping him at bay and building as much ill will as possible. To the Dark Lord he would simply assure he is teaching the boy nothing useful, nothing that could properly defend against genuine intrusion. 

The fundamentals and necessities are dropped, however, as frequently and firmly as possible in the hopes that something may stick with Potter and afford him an edge. It’s not ideal and frankly there’s a lot about it my inner Severus is galled by, but barring AU’s there’s no winning here. He will breach Harry’s defenses  and he will see things Harry doesn’t want him to; the major difference, the only true and genuine difference, would be that he would permit Harry limited use of a pensieve in most AU’s; not enough to shake the urgency of keeping Severus out, but enough to grant a sense of security that certain matters will remain private. Mainverse would only afford this in the case of a plotted divergence, honestly – and for the arguments of:

Dumbledore: He needs a reason to keep Severus out, so refusing him a pensieve is necessary.

Voldemort: Any weapon to be found is a weapon to be used; Severus of course reporting only that Harry is an empty headed teenager, and relaying harmless drivel as needed.  

Goblet of Fire was the first book to come out after I had started roleplaying Severus, and was my first experience in really duking it up against canon; as years have passed things have become more and more refined, and as I grew with Severus I systematically went back and changed what was and was not acceptable; a lot more is okay now, but there’s still a lot that needs addressing.  

Professor Snape was forcing them to research antidotes. They took this one seriously, as he had hinted that he might be poisoning one of them before Christmas to see if their antidote worked.

Severus does in fact utilize this method of teaching. Naturally all demonstrations are done only with potions whose outcomes he has full faith in; he will, however, use some scare tactics with those that will notably fail. This is entirely to ascertain students pay full attention to a course that could save their lives in a pinch. 

Obviously, he ensures there are antidotes on hand and he never places the students at actual risk. It is also worth noting that he never uses their pets, despite canon evidence to the contrary. This is a line he would never cross, because it borders on the kind of abuses he is actively against; so while Canon!Snape will have Neville use a potentially dangerous poison on his toad, my Severus would never go to such a length to get a point across.

“Malfoy got Hermione!” Ron said. “Look!” He forced Hermione to show Snape her teeth — she was doing her best to hide them with her hands, though this was difficult as they had now grown down past her collar. Pansy Parkinson and the other Slytherin girls were doubled up with silent giggles, pointing at Hermione from behind Snape’s back. Snape looked coldly at Hermione, then said, “I see no difference.” Hermione let out a whimper; her eyes filled with tears, she turned on her heel and ran, ran all the way up the corridor and out of sight.

LMFAO I remember how salty this made me when I first read this scene and now, years later I’m honestly just laughing because I pretty much deleted it from my memory bank and forgot it happened. Now I’m just – I get why it was done this way and my salt levels are minimal. 

Canon Severus is a dick – my Severus plays a very particular role that involves incredibly careful balancing. Mine is more likely to sarcastically remark that Miss Granger knows her way to the hospital wing than he is to cease the spell damage himself, unless one of his AU’s are in place. In which case he’d just reverse the spell himself seeing as it is well within his capabilities to do so. 

He’s not likely to ridicule her on account of the size of her teeth; my Severus never insults a student based on appearances. I don’t care what Canon!Snape does, that’s not my Severus. He will belittle on account of grammar, spelling, overall understanding, intellect and at times a notable lack of logic and common sense. He will not level insults on account of blood status, culture, appearance or genuine disability. Only with Harry, does he insult on account of parentage – and this is deliberate and easy subterfuge. 

“I’ll talk to you after my lesson, Karkaroff,” Snape muttered, but Karkaroff interrupted him. “I want to talk now, while you can’t slip off, Severus. You’ve been avoiding me.”

The relationship between Igor Karkaroff and Severus Snape is honestly very telling of Severus’ ability to maintain a grudge. Karkaroff continues to treat Severus as someone whom he can turn to – someone he believes shares his fear in the pending return of the Dark Lord. He comes to Severus in distress and refuses to let the man escape him, addresses him in an informal and familiar fashion; by contrast, Severus is dismissive of Karkaroff’s alarm, makes active efforts to avoid him and deliberately creates distance by referring to him by surname only, as one would a colleague with whom they are unfamiliar or simply not close with. 

The best part about this though is the fact that even to the Dark Lord this behavior would be completely defensible. Karkaroff is showing open cowardice, confessing that he will be running from the Dark Lord’s return – Severus staunchly claims he will remain in the last post the Dark Lord ever gave him, while simultaneously showing little distress. It displays loyalty – when in fact much of Severus’ bitterness stems from the fact Karkaroff tried to throw him under the bus; this kind of gambit doesn’t sit well with Severus for though he became a spy, he never did anything that would endanger people he cared for. It galled Severus’ sense of loyalty, so naturally, he gave Karkaroff the cold shoulder going forward. 

“Karkaroff wanted to talk to Snape, he says Snape’s been avoiding him. Karkaroff looked really worried. He showed Snape something on his arm, but I couldn’t see what it was.” “He showed Snape something on his arm?” said Sirius, looking frankly bewildered.

Every Death Eater had the sign burned into him by the
Dark Lord. It was a means of distinguishing one another, and his
means of summoning us to him. When he touched the Mark of
any Death Eater, we were to Disapparate, and Apparate, instantly,
at his side. This Mark has been growing clearer all year. Karkaroff’s
too. Why do you think Karkaroff fled tonight? We both felt the
Mark burn. We both knew he had returned.

Reading back through things, these scenes in particular jumped out at me as strange; then it occurred to me that the branding of Voldemort’s followers might not have been commonly known. The more I thought about this the more it made sense that ancient and noble pureblooded lines would toady to a halfblood and allow him to place such a mark on their skin; the meaning of the mark itself and the sheer depth of it’s dark magic was not revealed to them until it was too late.

The branding was a secret even among themselves so it would make sense that only those deep within the ministry’s law enforcement division would be aware of this commonly shared mark against Voldemort supporters. It still seems strange that Sirius, a member of the Order was unaware though – and even more unlikely he wouldn’t say something against Snape if he knew the truth here. 

Then there is this scene in which the Minister himself seems blatantly unaware of the Dark Mark and what it means; to be fair to Fudge he wasn’t Minister at the time of the first war and it is possible that the information concerning the marks was kept hush hush through escaped Death Eaters still within the Ministry fold and the obvious gag orders that the Ministry likes to hang on to; the Ministry and the wizarding world in general love to hide their errors rather than learn from them, so rather than make this information public knowledge, they buried it along with what they believed was the last of the Dark Lord. 

And since Fudge is desperate to keep his seat, he likely did not pass this information on to anyone who might know better than he exactly what ‘Dumbledore and his staff are playing at.’ Severus took a gamble in revealing his arm to the Minister, and it was a gamble that ultimately failed. Nevertheless it tied, later, to his convincing position as Voldemort’s spy in Dumbledore’s court. 

“Mr. Crouch!” Harry shouted. “From the Ministry! He’s ill or something — he’s in the forest, he wants to see Dumbledore! Just give me the password up to —”
—[ cut ]—
“Didn’t you hear me, Potter?” Harry could tell Snape was thoroughly enjoying himself, denying Harry the thing he wanted when he was so panicky.

This is an excerpt I cannot agree with, on several separate counts. The first being the fact Harry is in clear and genuine distress, and Severus – for all his deliberate efforts to keep the boy at bay – is still very much sworn to protect him, and is therefore keeping a level eye open for danger.

Secondly, seeing as Harry is being used as bait for someone clearly out to harm him, the last thing Severus is going to ignore is Harry in enough distress to plead with him.

Lastly is the fact Severus does not need to verbalize to legilimize; something evidenced as early as the first book in Harry’s conviction that Severus could read minds. He would see full well that something is amiss, when Harry’s mind bleeds open like a stuck pig on the best of days. 

Albus attends to matters regardless – the notable difference between Canon!Snape and my Severus on this front is that when Harry comes rushing at him, after initial questioning he would, in fact, escort Harry to the Headmaster – canon continues uninterrupted, but this small divergence may grant Harry pause in roleplay scenarios and I’m always happy to create AU’s based off small divergences like this one. Alternatively, it could merely be something reflected on much later or just forgotten; nevertheless, the fact remains my Severus acquiesces to Harry’s needs when the situation is clearly dire.

In the film, Severus keeps Barty pinned to his chair and looks about ready to kill; in the book itself his role in keeping Barty down is minimal – however he and Minerva were both present when the minister administered the Dementor’s Kiss and thus made it impossible for Crouch to testify. 

Severus absolutely would have kept Barty pinned – and while this would be something he would defend as maintaining his role under Dumbledore, the fact of the matter is Severus knows Barty’s strengths and he knows the war will be easier won without him factored in. Keeping him for the Minister and the dementors was calculated and could have ended badly if Fudge were anything less than the coward Severus anticipated him to be. 

This is an important note because it is an active point in Severus’ thinking that differs from Albus; Severus is ready and willing to fight fire with fire and whittle down the followers of the Dark Lord as needed to ensure the war is won. He does not hesitate to kill or do worse for his side and this is very much in line with his internal sense of justice and vengeance. Severus is a violent man who is unafraid of violent means to his personal ends and it is important that this is not overlooked.

Prisoner of Azkaban was when I first picked up Severus as a character, and it was absolutely because it was the very first time a book had ever made me so angry in my whole life. I’d adored Severus in books one and two – then the third book came out and it just jarred me completely, enough so that I decided to write him myself! And now, nearly eighteen years later, here we are.

Many of my reasons for changing things have changed – in part because of the release of more books and information, in part because Alan Rickman’s performance redeemed a lot of things and I was able to just point and say I’m more like Movie!Snape when that came about. I’m going to try and cover both my original thinking, how it altered with new information and at which points the canon falls more to the film adaptation with my Severus.

There is also a notable timeline change with my Severus and this was in part because I forgot the specifics and in part because I chose a time frame that made the most sense to me and my interpretation. As mentioned in the preface to this meta extravaganza, if something about this change is important to your portrayal of your character please feel free to hit me up so we can discuss plotlines and AU’s!

And on a final note: I actually wrote up Goblet of Fire first, because I knew this one was going to be long; please note that Severus would not poison a student’s pet or place the student themselves at risk, but would absolutely take points if someone aided a situation that the student in question ought to have figured out for themselves. See the GoF post for more on Severus vs Students and Antidotes.

“Possibly no one’s warned you, Lupin, but this class contains Neville Longbottom. I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult. Not unless Miss Granger is hissing instructions in his ear.”

This though, is something Severus would do, for multiple reasons. The first is making it abundantly clear that passing answers will never, ever be tolerable. The second being that Severus will call it out every time, and will in fact inform all staff members that this is behavior that has occurred so they can keep an eye out for it – there is absolutely nothing Severus despises more in a student then the refusal to learn by experience. The third is that once you have been caught cheating, both you and the individual who helped you are going to be on his shitlist for a very long time – and this stands true no matter what house you are from, it simply portrays itself differently according to your house. 

Snape was in a particularly vindictive mood these days, and no one was in any doubt why. The story of the boggart assuming Snape’s shape, and the way that Neville had dressed it in his grandmother’s clothes, had traveled through the school like wildfire. Snape didn’t seem to find it funny. His eyes flashed menacingly at the very mention of Professor Lupin’s name, and he was bullying Neville worse than ever.

And here we have our very first major and massive divergence. Because yes, Severus was absolutely infuriated with Remus Lupin – but not for the reasons everyone supposes. First of all, he was absolutely appalled by the fact he had been a student’s boggart – but we’ll get to that in a minute. What offended Severus here was the fact a vision of himself was placed in drag in front of students and this was considered utterly laughable. He knew that this was an unprofessional act and that it was a direct shot on him in the ways the children were unaware of and it angered him. 

However, and here we jump into divergence, the fact he was a student’s boggart would be cause for deep pause and consideration. Now originally I simply determined that my Severus would ignore Neville – not being particularly mean or particularly kind, but not doing anything to aggravate the fear further either. My staunch reasoning was that Severus was an exacting and demanding teacher, and a bit of a bully, but even he had lines which he would not cross.

As more information was released, and I determined for myself how bad Severus’ home life was, I knew he would still be an ass – but he would not torture a student who actually feared him enough for a boggart to assume his shape. Severus’ number one fear in life is becoming like his father; a man with no principles on who he hurts, a man who harms women and children indiscriminately, a man who enjoys seeing smaller people cower. As skewed as his view on his father was they were the sort that would keep Severus from getting worse with Neville following this event. 

I maintain the stance that Severus began to ignore Neville pointedly after this; not exacerbating the situation but not making obvious efforts to alleviate it either, because he did still have his role to play. Neville would be sat far from Hermione in class after this – too far for her to possibly help him with anything. However, he would also be positioned clear of the Slytherins and sat with someone who was averaging marks as high as Hermione and Draco’s in a subtle effort to keep him in line in class. 

This would not be too far out of character for him by Slytherin estimation; Slytherins know what he is like outside of the classroom. They know him to be a professor that can be relied upon and whom both they and the older students can turn to for just about anything. That Snape is a boggart is utterly laughable to them, but knowing him as they do they also know its not something he would likely stand well. So while they would likely continue to make fun of Neville, they also would note that Severus was in his own way, uncomfortable belittling him too harshly. Some may take it to their minds to make up for the deficit, while others may try to point out that Snape is not so bad, depending on their natures. Regardless, Severus himself would be very distinctly distant with Neville after this, rather than openly targeting him. Unless, of course, one of his AU’s is in place, in which case he would take active measures to alleviate the fears. 

“Professor Snape has very kindly concocted a potion for me,” he said. “I have never been much of a potion-brewer and this one is particularly complex.” He picked up the goblet and sniffed it. “Pity sugar makes it useless,” he added, taking a sip and shuddering. “Why –?” Harry began. Lupin looked at him and answered the unfinished question. “I’ve been feeling a bit off-color,” he said. “This potion is the only thing that helps. I am very lucky to be working alongside Professor Snape; there aren’t many wizards who are up to making it.”

I have a lot of headcanons concerning Wolfsbane in particular, which my ass will eventually post separately or we will be here all day. What I need to stress here is that wolfsbane is not something one can just succeed in making easily, it takes a great deal of practice – even for someone as skilled as Severus – to get right consistently. Severus was making wolfsbane well before Remus was appointed – mainly because he was experimenting with it as early as 1985. 

Severus has a goal to make wolfsbane a potion that is more readily available and affordable, by making the ingredients more common and the procedure slightly less complicated. Severus lost his mother to an illness that could have been cured had they been able to afford her medicine; he knows intimately well the vicious cycle of poverty and health care – which is all the worse for werewolves who need money to afford what keeps them safe, but can not obtain jobs because they are not safe. So naturally, the wolfsbane potion was something he latched on to as something to improve upon. I will link additional wolfsbane headcanons up here when I get to them.

“Please, sir,” said Hermione, whose hand was still in the air, “the werewolf differs from the true wolf in several small ways. The snout of the werewolf –” “That is the second time you have spoken out of turn, Miss Granger,” said Snape coolly. “Five more points from Gryffindor for being an insufferable know-it-all.”

“Detention, Weasley,” Snape said silkily, his face very close to Ron’s. “And if I ever hear you criticize the way I teach a class again, you will be very sorry indeed.”

NO OFFENSE BUT HE HAS A POINT. Here’s the thing with Hermione – she is 150% that kid with all the answers who always has their hand up in class and Severus is 150% that teacher that deliberately picks someone else. Because he knows she knows the material, but this isn’t her class. This is a class with 20+ other kids and he needs to guage who else knows the material, which Hermione makes impossible as she gets older because rather than taking the hint when she is ignored, she blurts out the answer. 

I’m sorry but I don’t fault Severus at all for how firmly he ignores her in class or for punishing her when she speaks out of turn; love her though I do, I was her, and frankly I know from being her how much of a prick I was in class and how admirable teachers who refused to put up with my know it all bullshit actually were. Bless their faces, frankly, I needed to be knocked down a few pegs, a lot. I will defend Severus’ position against Hermione til I am blue in the face on this particular point, frankly.

“You will each write an essay, to be handed in to me, on the ways you recognize and kill werewolves. I want two rolls of parchment or, the subject, and I want them by Monday morning. It is time somebody took this class in hand. Weasley, stay behind, we need to arrange your detention.”

“Did you tell Professor Snape we haven’t covered them yet?” Lupin asked, frowning slightly. The babble broke out again. “Yes, but he said we were really behind he wouldn’t listen –” “– two rolls of parchment!” 154 Professor Lupin smiled at the look of indignation on every face. “Don’t worry. I’ll speak to Professor Snape. You don’t have to do the essay.” “Oh no,” said Hermione, looking very disappointed. “I’ve already finished it!”

“And did the headmaster tell you the circumstances in which your father saved my life?” he whispered. “Or did he consider the details too unpleasant for precious Potter’s delicate ears?" 

"Have you been imagining some act of glorious heroism? Then let me correct you – your saintly father and his friends played a highly amusing joke on me that would have resulted in my death if your father hadn’t got cold feet at the last moment. There was nothing brave about what he did. He was saving his own skin as much as mine. Had their joke succeeded, he would have been expelled from Hogwarts.”

I already covered this in another meta, but here is the thing. I do not fault Severus for setting this essay; and the fact is 90% of the class did not finish it. We know Hermione did, and as Draco was consistently on par with her in grades it is possible he also completed it. There may have been Ravenclaws who completed it. Either way it ties in to Remus’ release from Hogwarts staff and is something I have abjectly refused to change not because Severus is an asshole but because Severus will never put the safety of his students second. 

What is more, gag order. But that, too is covered in the other meta I have linked in on this section; I’m just covering this because both points are important, although I have written them up already.

In the book, Severus is unconscious and hovered down the tunnel by Sirius, who keeps smacking Severus’ head against the stone roof. In the film adaptation, Severus comes bursting out of the tunnel just as Remus transforms, and promptly uses his body to physically shield Ron, Harry and Hermione. In both, he is more interested in seeing Sirius Kissed than he is in what might be the truth.

Severus is a grudge holder of that I will not deny – and he absolutely would prefer to see Sirius kissed than have him walk off scott free yet again. So this stays true – mainly because yeah, sadly, my Severus is just as angry as canon Severus over how much bullshit Sirius Black can get away with. Nevermind that thirteen years in Azkaban for crimes he did not commit should have been enough – it takes him two years of Sirius being free to accept that, but he does eventually accept it in his own way. That though is for the OOTP meta. 

In this, I go 100% with the film adaptation because it says a lot about Severus that is completely in line with how I write him. Protecting students at risk of his own life against the very werewolf that nearly killed him when he was their age is completely and utterly a perfect display of how my Severus works, so in this Alan Rickman redeemed a scene I otherwise wrote off, admittedly. 

There is, however, one scene that does get completely redone or otherwise omitted and that is Severus losing his goddamn mind for several pages on the Minister for Magic when Sirius Black escapes. I’m sorry, but no – that does not fit my portrayal at all. 

Now admittedly this was originally because this was back when I was still writing Severus as a pureblood and my offense was to the fact he would never lose his decorum around the Minister for Magic, he was raised politically and he fucking knows better. Emotional displays are not his forte. He is more likely to be deathly silent and to hiss at Albus after the Minister is gone than he is to have an immature tantrum around the most respected government official in his neck of the wizarding world. 

Then as more information was released I had to laugh even harder because no, an exonerated spy is not going to be having a temper tantrum around a man who could have his ass in Azkaban faster than you could fucking well sneeze. Severus is still a very political animal, but this is something he was groomed into with the help of the purebloods around him, and eventually with the help of Albus Dumbledore who needed his spy to play his role with exactitude and poise. 

Will he lose his shit in a contained way in private with Albus? Yes. Will he lose his shit in front of the Minister for any reason ever? Hell no. Hardcore scrap heap for like, three – four pages of Snape, sadly. Again this is where Alan Rickman’s sheer level of chill tends to be redeeming, as it’s more in line with my Severus who when angry, is a tightly coiled ball of well contained fury and violence as opposed to Canon!Book Snape who is a wild ball of off the wall crazy and screaming. 

NOTABLE TIMELINE CHANGE:  “Sirius Black showed he was capable of murder at the age of sixteen,” he breathed. “You haven’t forgotten that, Headmaster? You haven’t forgotten that he once tried to kill me?”

This is altered for multiple reasons. There are multiple posts across my blog from the timeline of Severus to the breakdown of the gag order surrounding this moment that make it clear in my portrayal this event occurred when the Marauders and Severus were in third year. Now, here’s why. 

At sixteen years old Severus is dead right in the fact Sirius is capable of murder. It’s not a joke at sixteen – in fact at sixteen Sirius could reasonably have been tried as an adult in a crime that lead to a death. It is even reasonable to believe Remus would have been culled for his participation – for being a dangerous wizard killer. At sixteen this is so sinister it changes everything about Sirius into something much darker – and while some people might like that, for me I can’t truly abide by it. 

At thirteen it’s easier to see this as meant harmlessly – to scare Severus or at the very least chase him off for good. It’s less likely to be a weaponization of Remus, or a deliberate attempt on Severus’ life because frankly at thirteen it’s easier to see the immediate good result than the long term bad ones. Thirteen we’re angry enough to think of horrible things happening to people but we’re not entirely as responsible when we go forth and do them; thirteen year olds are horrible little shits and that’s a fact, but they are rarely cold hearted murderers.

At sixteen, you certainly can be.

I prefer thirteen because it works better for my overall timeline of how Severus’ story went and also because it ties in better with associated stories that go with this. Severus wasn’t alone, after all, he had friends among purebloods who were bound to notice something strange about Remus. With Lucas, it is easier at thirteen for Severus to swear him into not killing Remus or reporting him to those who would, than it ever would be at sixteen when Lucas’ feelings toward werewolves are less family conditioning and are more a personal vendetta for example.

This is one of those things people may want to talk to me about for their own interpretation of characters, but with mine this is how it is unless there is an AU involved.  

Ultimately in book one, nothing changes, but certain points support my chosen divergences and others are simply important to expand on.

“Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you? No wonder he’s looking so nervous, that’s Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but he doesn’t want to – everyone knows he’s after Quirrell’s job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape.”

Something I have already established on my blog is the fact that Albus and Severus took great pains to develop a persona for Severus from the very beginning. However as this is more a throwaway mention in the timeline of Severus Snape ( CTL+F 1981 ) I have decided this is a good time to elaborate on what that means.

Having sworn to conceal the best of Severus and needing the young man ( no more than three years older than seventh years, whom he attended school with up until their fourth year! ) to be able to exercise control in the classroom while simultaneously balancing in the precarious position of an exonerated Death Eater who turned spy, Albus utilized both the school ghosts and portraits to perpetuate a rumor that he applied for the DADA position in an act of rebellion toward the ministry. 

This bit of subterfuge was important on multiple fronts. Severus, upon his arrest, was subsequently fired from his position in the Department of Intoxicating Substances. After his exoneration, he was offered his position back – however, he was sworn to serve Albus, who had no desire to let the young man slip out from under his direct control. Severus was not yet counted as truly trustworthy, after all – Albus being perfectly aware that Severus’ allegiance changed only because someone he cared for was in danger. 

Part of the agreement of standing in Severus’ defense was that Severus would work for Hogwarts once all was said and done. However, he held a lucrative career at the Ministry and one with a great deal of upward mobility; there needed to be a reason to turn that down and rebellion against the Ministry for firing him in the first place was a perfect cover for this. It also showed a loyalty to Dumbledore as opposed to the government, which helped assuage Order members with varying levels of doubts.   

By applying for Defense Against The Dark Arts, he appears to have some dark inclinations despite being an apparent spy; being denied shows that Dumbledore does not fully trust him – and while this may appear to be detrimental the fact is Albus was preparing for Voldemort’s return from day one. Severus needed to appear to be someone who was still corrupted, and with time, as someone corruptible but ultimately, Dumbledore’s. It’s all in the long game, really. 

In short: Severus never had an interest in teaching anything. Not DADA, not Potions; he was strong armed into the job and made the most of it. As time carried on and it became clearer and clearer that the DADA position was impossible to hold for more than a year, Severus’ apparent persistence could be seen as a desperation to leave Dumbledore’s sphere of influence if spun as such; there were many reasons for planting this seed all of which helped create a man with one foot in the shadow and the other lodged firmly in Dumbledore’s court.

“You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potionmaking,” he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word — like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. “As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don’t expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses…. I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death – if you aren’t as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach.”

It is important to note that Severus had the same management over a classroom as Minerva McGonagall; a woman with far more experience than he, a woman with a wider sphere of respect and a far more venerated age. Yet like her, his control over a classroom is absolute and mentioned on multiple occasions throughout the series. 

I bring this up because it falls in line with things I have said about how he manages Head of House duties, injured students in particular and honestly just students in general. ( CTL+F viciously protective ) Severus is an exacting taskmaster, and he demands perfection. He grows increasingly frustrated the more dangerous a student appears to be to themselves and others and this makes him volatile. Nevertheless, his control over his classrooms is absolute; and he believes this to be in part because of the intimidation he uses, which is why he makes no effort not to utilize it.

I also love this scene because it shows that as much as he hates teaching, Severus cannot resist a poetic lecture when it is available; this honestly helps him pinpoint those who seem the most likely to excel in his class, based on how raptly they pay attention to the careful lauding of an art to which he is so deeply dedicated.

He pushed the door ajar and peered inside – and a horrible scene met his eyes. Snape and Filch were inside, alone. Snape was holding his robes above his knees. One of his legs was bloody and mangled. Filch was handing Snape bandages. “Blasted thing,” Snape was saying. “How are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once?" 

It is so important to me that Severus goes to Argus rather than to Poppy or Albus after being attacked by Fluffy, and let me tell you why. 

Nobody respects Argus Filch. Even Hagrid refers to him as a sneakin’ Squib to his face when he tries to give the trio detention for being out of dorm after hours:

“No it won’, Filch,” said Hagrid shortly. “They’re with me, aren’ they?”
“And what difference does that make?” asked Filch obnoxiously.
“I’m a ruddy teacher, aren’ I, yeh sneakin’ Squib!” said Hagrid, firing up at once.

Frankly rules are rules, and while Hagrid’s offense is fair, the fact he slammed Argus with a slur says a lot to me about how Squibs are treated, even by the good guys. Then there is Severus, who was ordered by Albus to keep an eye on Quirrell – which included dealing with the traps in the event they may be breached. And upon injury he does not seek out Poppy or Albus, but rather Argus.

Argus, who is gruff and unrefined and surrounded by magic he cannot use. Argus who is bitter and angry and unlikely to cloy Severus with pity and concern, but aid him in doing what needs to be done with little argument. Argus who, consistently, works alongside Severus and who maintains something almost like a respectful relationship with him. 

Maybe it’s because they’re both the bitterest, most despised people in the school, but honestly the fact Severus trusts Argus and doesn’t write him off as useless for his Squib status says a lot about how his mindset has changed when it comes to prejudice.   

"Snape’s refereeing?” he spluttered through a mouthful of mud. “When’s he ever refereed a Quidditch match? He’s not going to be fair if we might overtake Slytherin.”

People who only watched the movies won’t know that Severus went above and beyond to protect Harry after Quirrel’s stunt at the first Quidditch match. Severus hates Quidditch and abhors flying on brooms. However, despite Albus himself being at this particular match, Severus did all in his power to be as close to Harry as possible in order to keep an eye on him. Up until this point, Severus had never before volunteered to referee a match. 

I am of the opinion that Hooch allowed this because she knew two things: One, that Severus Snape was the professor with the most capability for deflecting Dark hexes in mid-flight and thus keeping her students safe during the game and two, that she was fully aware of how viciously protective of students Severus himself was, because after twelve years of working with him it’s rather hard to miss. I don’t feel Albus had any involvement in this choice and his arrival at the game was as much a surprise to Severus as it was everyone else. 

Hermione let out a great sigh and Harry, amazed, saw that she was smiling, the very last thing he felt like doing. “Brilliant,” said Hermione. “This isn’t magic – it’s logic – a puzzle. A lot of the greatest wizards haven’t got an ounce of logic, they’d be stuck in here forever.”

Severus chose a challenge not magical in nature but strictly logical – and Hermione’s reasoning is precisely why. He is a deeply creative thinker with a highly analytical mind and honestly his poetic test proved that in a way that further spurns my belief in the asphodel theory. It’s precisely the sort of complex and nigh impossible to translate brilliance he would resort to – he is always speaking in double meanings, after all.