How Is Snape Described In The Books: A Relatively Complete Compilation

How is Snape described in the books: a relatively complete compilation

Okay, so this is my attempt at gathering what we have regarding Severus Snape's appearance based on the HP books. It's long, since rowling loved obsessively writing about Snape's looks. It's likely I've missed something, but I hope not much. I didn't dive into what he's wearing or into his self-presentation, just his physical characteristics that are present in canon – people get stupid about that topic sometimes.

Disclaimer: body positivity/neutrality to everyone, I don't support JKR's lookism just as much as all of her other bigotry. Beauty is a deeply subjective concept, no features are objectively beautiful or ugly and none of them identify us as people. The way my imagination and your imagination recreate a picture from the identical textual description might be different.

Snape's nose is constantly described as "hooked":

○"Snape approached their table, stared down his hooked nose at the roots."

○"Snape stared down his hooked nose at Colin."

○"...as Snape swept by he looked down his hooked nose at it without comment" etc.

Altogether I found Snape's nose being called hooked 10 times in the series. There are places where we're shown it's rather big, but they aren't very definitive:

1) “Mr. Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape, and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people’s business.” – Marauders map, so basically bullies behaving like bullies;

2) "...hatred which had, if possible, intensified last year, when Harry had helped Sirius escape right under Snape’s overlarge nose" – Harry is very mad at Snape and the phrase is clearly used figuratively, not as a direct appearance description;

3)"In the very center of the group Harry saw the dark, greasy-haired head and prominent nose of his least favorite teacher at Hogwarts, Professor Snape" – "prominent" is a broader conception while referring to size, I'd say;

4) "[Tonks'] nose swelled to a beaklike protuberance like Snape’s" – again, the size is mentioned, but not through the words "big" or "large" or "long", and the form is given more empathis.

Undoubtedly it's supposed to be on the bigger side, but it does not, in fact, seem to be "abnormally" large. Making it straight should be a crime though – how can you make anything about that man straight?..

Snape's black eyes are often described glittering or sparkling, but also empty and cold:

○"They were cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels"

○"Harry forced himself to keep looking straight into those cold eyes"

○“But why not join the feast afterward?” said Snape, his black eyes glittering in the candlelight"

○"He glanced at Snape, whose black eyes glinted, and looked quickly away."

○"He didn’t care that Snape’s face had gone rigid, the black eyes flashing dangerously."

○"Harry blinked. Snape’s eyes gleamed."

○“Don’t lie to me,” Snape hissed, his fathomless black eyes boring into Harry’s"

Snape's eyebrows aren't described in detail, we don't known if they're bushy or thin, but he does that raising one up thing:

○“Yes,” said Harry. “Who’s going to be teaching me?” Snape raised an eyebrow."

And he raises two as well:

○"Snape looked back at her, his eyebrows slightly raised"

○"Snape raised his eyebrows and his tone was sardonic as he asked, “Are you intending to let him kill you?”

Snape's skin is constantly described as sallow – about 11 times through the books. Whatever that word means. Is it like... muted and dull coloured with yellow undertones? Cool!

It's also described as pale, or white due to strong emotions:

○"An ugly flush suffused Snape’s pallid face."

○"Snape was hanging upside down in the air, his robes falling over his head to reveal skinny, pallid legs"

○"Snape’s pale face, illuminated by the flaming cabin, was suffused with hatred just as it had been before he had cursed Dumbledore."

○"As Gryffindors came spilling onto the field, he saw Snape land nearby, white-faced and tight-lipped"

○"[Snape's face] was marble white and so still that when he spoke, it was a shock to see that anyone lived behind the blank eyes."

○"Snape’s sallow skin had gone the color of sour milk." (very poetic Harry, you should try writing poetry too)

Also idk what's an ugly flush (also: Harry saw the edge of Snape’s sallow face turn a nasty brick color, the vein in his temple pulsing more rapidly; a dull flush of color mounted the sallow cheeks as he looked at Lily), have never seen one in my life, but Snape's face canonically goes full red very quickly and this is the most important part of that meta don't forget about it folks.

His skin is described as greasy twice in the saga, but both times with not much credibility:

1) "Harry could see a vein flickering horribly on Snape’s greasy temple" – temple is the area of the face in close proximity to hair and we'll get there, although aren't Snape's "hair curtains" hiding the sides of his face, including temples? Is he wearing his it freaking braided or what? Overall, I'd say this is just another jab at his hair.

2)"Iwas watching him, his nose was touching the parchment,” said Sirius viciously. “There’ll be great grease marks all over it, they won’t be able to read a word" – Sirius can go fuck himself.

Harry does not comment that at any age there is acne or post-acne on Snape's face so I'd assume his skin isn't greasy. He has visible veins on his temples though (also no eyebags mentioned?? a crime).

Snape's lips are described as thin:

○“Now, now, Malfoy,” said Snape, though he couldn’t suppress a thin-lipped smile"

○"A muscle twitched unpleasantly at the corner of Snape’s thin mouth every time he looked at Harry"

○"The dungeon rang with the Slytherins’ laughter, and an unpleasant smile curled Snape’s thin mouth."

Characteristics of Snape's teeth got two mentions.

○"Snape’s uneven, yellowish teeth were bared." PoA

○“Ten o’clock,” whispered Snape, with a smile that showed his yellow teeth. “Poor Gryffindor ... fourth place this year, I fear ...” HPB

(Also I've literally always hc'ed that Snape is a stress smoker, and since Voldemort came back Snape just started to destroy his enamel with fervour so it coloured up more, everyone should share my headcanons i prove them so well!!!)

Snape bares his teeth some other times ("I wouldn’t bet on that,” Harry murmured, watching Snape baring his teeth"; "It was scary: Snape’s lips were shaking, his face was white, his teeth were bared) or smiles (not pleasantly let me assure you) and most times Harry doesn't comment on it. Actually, it's hilarious how the very first time Harry saw Karkaroff he thought "his teeth were rather yellow", man, do you wanna steal Hermione parents' job? Also yellow teeth are mentioned twice for Sirius in PoA (and no one dares to not notice Gilderoy's perfect teeth, of course, he asked me to mention it). So I'd say Snape has moderately imperfect teeth like a working class kid he is, otherwise Harry would've probably commented on that as much as on Snape's hair, hence almost every time we encounter him.

(but I'm totally headcanoning high canine teeth for him, Snape deserves the privilege of having some more vampirish vibe for free)

Severus' body type and face are described as "thin":

○"He was a thin man with sallow skin, a hooked nose, and greasy, shoulder-length black hair"

○Snape was hanging upside down in the air, his robes falling over his head to reveal skinny, pallid legs"

○"even Harry, who hated Snape, was startled at the expression twisting his thin, sallow face"

○"He had forgotten the details of Snape’s appearance in the magnitude of his crimes, forgotten how his greasy black hair hung in curtains around his thin face, how his black eyes had a dead, cold look (I fucking love that quote, have you forgotten his lesser crimes which are not looking the way you enjoy, Harry, after he committed bigger ones like murder? good god)

He isn't probably looking very thin, since that description mostly applies to his face. Rather logical, I mean he wears all those big flowy robes that make him look bigger.

Also Snape is average height like about 177 cm/5'10, he's shorter than Yaxley and Sirius, taller than "tall and slim" Narcissa, so somewhere in this range.

The fact that Severus has hunched posture is mentioned twice for a kid/teen!Snape:

○"He was on platform nine and three-quarters, and Snape stood beside him, slightly hunched, next to a thin, sallow-faced, sour-looking woman who greatly resembled him"

○"Round-shouldered yet angular, he walked in a twitchy manner that recalled a spider, his oily hair swinging about his face."

I didn't find any mentions in the books that adult!Snape had hunched posture. It is possible that, like many behaviors and habits, such as the way he speaks, moves, and perhaps writes, it had been deliberately changed by Snape himself.

His fingers are thin and long:

○Snape eyed Harry, tracing his mouth with one long, thin finger as he did so.

○Snape pointed a long yellow finger at Malfoy and said, “Explain.” – yellow can be a way to call sallow skin; a result of working with potions (Snape having potions stained fingers is not book canon, which is a shame) or smoking. Them being thin is noted once, but that goes cohesively with his thinness overall.

The star of the show – Snape's hair, ofc. It gets more attention than James Potter's charachter development. The fact that it's greasy appears in the books minimum 17 times + it's called oily 2 times and dirty once when he's a 9yo kid. People who comment on that, except Harry in his head, are Sirius, Peter through the Map, Fred and George in DH ("Maybe he is, maybe he isn’t, but the fact remains he can move faster than Severus Snape confronted with shampoo when he wants to"), kinda Ron with grinning on Sirius' comment. Actually it's not described as greasy in "Spinners End" and "The Dark Lord Ascending" (so it might as well be your ordinary oily hair with a tad of drama from people who dislike Snape).

It's black – obviously, shoulder-length or "long", which I assume is just a variation for shoulder-length. It's often forming "curtains":

○"Snape went quiet, though his eyes still glinted malevolently through his curtain of greasy black hair."

○"Snape looked around at him, his face framed between curtains of greasy black hair."

○"A sliver of a man could be seen looking out at them, a man with long black hair parted in curtains around a sallow face and black eyes."

At the hilltop scene they're described as straggling:

○"Snape was wringing his hands: He looked a little mad, with his straggling black hair flying around him."

as opposed to being lank before:

○"His hair was lank and greasy and was flopping onto the table".

He had it poorly cut when he was a kid:

○“Definitely,” said Snape, and even with his poorly cut hair and his odd clothes, he struck an oddly impressive figure..."

So as an adult he supposedly cared enough to regularly cut his hair up to Harry's (fashionable) standard. It also doesn't look "dirty", like Harry calls internally his hair when Severus is 9.

Well, as someone with naturally oily hair, depression and neurodivent sensory issues, I can say that if your hair loosely hangs in "curtains" covering/framing your face, you're probably not doing that bad with it! There are a lot of headcanons about why Snape has greasy hair, but honestly, I don't understand why would he need an exuse? Having oily hair doesn't make you unhygienic, that's ridiculous, and there are no signs that Snape (noticeably) neglects his hygiene. Hair types exist, and some of them just need extra-spesial care to look "socially acceptable" or whatever, but people have the right to not bother about it. Whether his occupation and/or upbringing and/or mental health problems affected it – maybe to an extent, but excluding just genetics or physical well-being from it is kinda weird. Let different hair types live and be pretty.

Snape's mom was thin, sallow faced and sour looking, and Harry thinks Severus resembles her greatly; while Severus' hooked nose was inherited from Tobias – "a hook-nosed man was shouting at a cowering woman, while a small dark-haired boy cried in a corner". Harry also does think Eileen isn't pretty since she's described as a "skinny girl; ...she looked simultaneously cross and sullen, with heavy brows and a long, pallid face" (so evidently that's not Harry's type aside from his prejudice to Snape. Harry's admiration towards Krum hadn't made Harry think he's attractive either. Just to remind you: "Viktor Krum was thin, dark, and sallow-skinned, with a large curved nose and thick black eyebrows. He looked like an overgrown bird of prey". Literally Snape's lost cousin).

Honestly, after going through those descriptions specifically, if I remove the evaluative vocabulary and the labels of ugly/nasty/unpleasant/etc., I don't really understand what exactly I should've found ugly? Snape is just not Harry's type of preferred visual, and on top of that they quickly developed a mutual dislike. Nevertheless, no one is obliged to transfer subjective ideas of the (author) protagonist to their own perception. Writing "ugly" after a characteristic doesn't make it "ugly".

That had been a long conclusion.

My short conclusion is that Severus Snape is a babygirl and Harry has poor taste (sorry, no hard feelings).

I saw a propt on insta and now this happpened

Ok, so I was scrolling on insta the other day and found this prompt about an autor who got sick or hurt or something and was about to d¡e.

Thing is that the characters on their book try to save them and the one who is more eager to help is the villain.

Now, that's great, but then my fanfiction-addict arse started to think.

AU. Modern Era. Harry Potter. With Severus Snape as the autor and Tom M. Riddle as the villain and them completly ooc.

Then everything kinda went crazy.

I imagined a scene were Sev wakes up in his hospital room, maybe in the middle of the freaking night and sees this person there, but like, he cannot make them out until they get closer and when they do he recognises Riddle asap.

Then, they both start talking. You know, the old, what are you doing here? How are you here?

Then Tom explains that he was the only one who got to this world, the others were probably still trying, but...

Point is, if Sev faded, so would the word he was creating. That would be until he finished the story.

Then maybe Tom tries to convince/threatens Severus so he would give him a good ending.

Severus says no and Tom kinda blows up.

Sev dosn't really react to the outburst, he knows this time is more bark than bite.

Tom pretty much plummets in the chair next to the bed and Sev explains to him that even though the story still lacked an epiloge, the last chapter was already sent to the editor and was pretty much irreversibly part of the saga.

There is silence, of course. Sev really needs to process the madness that is all that. Tom needs to come to terms with the fact that he is basically doomed.

Tom is the first one to speak.

"Can I at least know what will happen?" He sort of demands-pleads.

Severus answers with a sigh.

"I can tell you that the chapter ends with your plans ruined and you being taken by the aurors."

"Typical" the villain scoffs.

Severus chuckles, unable to stop himself and quite unconcerned about it.

Tom sighs. Then thinks about something else that has been nagging his brain for the past couple of weeks he has been there.

"Who am I here?" He blurts out of the blue, for Severus, at least.

"What do you mean?"

"Every person that is related somehow to you in this word is nearly a copy of someone in my world," he explains. "Sans me, apparently."

"Oh, that," Severus smiles. "No, you won't find anyone like you here. All the main characters in your home are based on people I know except you. You are the only one I fully created."

Tom opens his mout to reply but finds himself nearly speechless, not so much for what he was told, but because of the apparent warmth he was being addresed with.

Severus then frowned and pursed his lips. A painful grimace takes over hia face as realisation hits him. He closes his eyes and breathes deeply before looking at the man in front of him.

"I'm so sorry, Riddle."

Tom blinks before getting back his wits and replying with the most nonchalance he could muster. "It's not your fault you cannot change the end now," he said shrugging as a bonnus.

"Is not that," said the autor. "All the things I put you through without knowing..."

"If it wasn't you, it would've been someone else," replied the other.

"How so?" Now Severus was curious.

"It's complicated..." sighed the villain while leaning on the chair, a hand slightly pulling at his hair in exhaustion.

Getting the hint, Severus just nodded and dorpped the topic.

"And who are you? In the story, I mean..." asked Tom then.

"Oh! I'm Tobias Snape."

"The potion profesor?" inquired Tom with a frown. Both eyebrows arched at the answering nod. "You don't look like him."

"I guess not," chuckled the other.

"You don't act like him either," stated the man sitting on a chair, watching as the autor downrigth laughed at his last comment.

Then the man smiled sadly as he explained. "I guess the way I wrote the people in the book are the way I percieve the people in here."

The pause after that was tense and Tom could not help himself.

"Shit! You need therapy!"

Tom actually cringed at what he said and the expression on the other man's face. That until Severus burst out in damn giggles.

"I knew you were blunt, but...!" he tried to say beetwen chuckles.

"And who's to blame, huh?" replied the other, failing in supressing a smile.

"Who else have you met?" asked Severus suddenly.

Upon looking at him, Tom reached the insane conclussion that Prince was not worried, he just wanted to know.

"I think I met pretty much everyone." Whatever face he made after speaking must have betrayed his thoughts, if Princes' wince was to be considered. He shrugged before replying, reminding himself in his head that this person definitly knew what an asshole he could be. "Honestly, Lily is way more pleasant in my world. James and Sirius though...," he didn't try to hide the disdain in his voice. "I have never met someone so unpleasent, and that is saying something! You went too easy on them!" By that point, Severus was chuckling again.

Like this they spent hours, comparing people and stories of their worlds.

It was a bit outputting meeting someone for the first time with that person already aware of every little detail of your life. Even more so when said person did not run away.

Eventually, they didn't have anything else to talk about, and Tom still had to go back to his world. Severus could read it in his eyes, the moment Tom was readying himself to go, to give him some parting words before leaving.

"What if...?" Asked Severus suddenly. He licked his lips, overly conscious of the attention Tom was giving him. "What if I could give you a way out?"

"But you said you can't change the story," replied Tom, confused.

"I also said that the epiloge is still unfinished." Severus started tangling his fingers on the blancket draped around him, nerviously trying to think of anything that could-. His face lit up with a smile. "I cannot make you win, but I can make you scape."

Tom clenched one fist, hope swelling in his chest while he tried to keep it down.

"There is nowhere for me to go, Prince."

"Call me, Severus," blurted out the other without thinking while reaching for the notebook and pen on the bedside table oposite where Tom was sitting. "And you are rigth, there's nowhere in your world you can go, that's why you will start anew in whatever world you choose."

Tom's mind was spinning. He had already accepted the fact that he was done. Now he may had a way out, but it felt surreal, too easy. Heck! He didn't even had that much hope before reaching the building they where in. Besides... "I could only make it here because you were about to pass!"

"I can make another way. You know I can," said Severus, frantically scribling with his pen. "A portal that will take you wherever you wish to go, where noone will ever be able to follow..."

Tom tried and failed in speaking a couple of times.

"Prin- Severus," amended, remembering the other's words a while ago. "Why are you doing this?"

Severus finally left his notes in favor of the man sitting next to him. The dejected and confused expression he found told him more than anyone could belive.

Riddle was not expecting to be helped. He probably never did.

Of course he never did! Severus was well aware of the reason- of the reasons Riddle had to not trust him or anyone else, really.

Severus smiled warmly at Tom. "Did you know you were always one of my favorites?"

Tom watched unable to reply, as Severus' hand tangled briefly in his hair (too briefly).

That's how, in the end of the story, Tom was able to open a portal to a world unknown to any other person in his. Noone knew how he did it and the reserch was lost forever, a last tiny victory for the nearly convict.

Severus stayed a week to be checked. His 'magical' recovery was on every news you'd find.

When the time to leave came, the nurse told him about his family in the lobby.

Lily must have gotten out of work early.

Walking to meet her, he was disconcerted by the lack of red hair in his view.

He looked around, willing the universe to free him of the posibility of Lupin being the person offering him a ride home.

"Ready to go?" asked a voice behind his back.

He turned so fast that the world lost focus for a second before he met the eyes of the man leaning agaist the wall, already carring a bag with severus' belongings.

"Riddle?" he whispered desbelieving.

"Call me Tom," answered the other with a half smile.

Severus huffed a laugh while aproaching him, leaning in to retrive his bag. The other swung it over his shoulder and out of his reach, walking towards the exit so the autor would follow.

"Don't think that I'm not happy to see you," started Severus. "But why are you in this world again?"

They made it to a car. Tom retrieved the car's key from his pocket and Severus chose to adress that later.

"You tell me," snarked the ex-villian while putting Severus bag on the back of the car.

"I wrote for you to go wherever you wanted to go," Severus tried to explain and understand himself.

Tom only hummed blandly and opened the door of the car for Severus to get in.

He then walked around the car and got in himself, settling in the driver's sit and igniting the engine.

"I wanted you to start again where you cuold enjoy your life... wher you could be-" he cut himself, feeling sad all of a sudden. Did he fail Tom?

"I know," Tom interrumped his depressing thoughts.

Severus looked at him, only to be met with a small, yet warm smile.

They got to a red ligth and the car stopped. Tom reached out and, hesitanly interlaced his fingers with Severus'.

Marveling at the sight that were their hands togethet, Severus was finally hit with realisation.

He looked at Tom and smiled openly at him.

The light changed to green and Tom let go of Severus while asking for directions. They had to get home.

Tags

AU harry potter Severus Snape ooc alternative universe tom marvolo riddle Writing promt modern era

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nuttyhatter

5 months ago

So...

Dumbledore is a complex character. Some put him as a hero, some as a villain. Both are good, honestly.

I think my favorite representation so far is from "Falling Apart", a Severus Snape centric fic.

And, I'm pretty much a Snape fan.

I'd like a bit of a more friendly relationship between them, but not the mentor-apprentice kind. More like, two very exhausted adults, one too old who thinks he knows everything, one too young, who knows too much and is done with life.

And, please listen here, Severus calls Albus 'Wulfric'.

Imagine, Severus just coming from a meeting and Dumbledore asking in an overly happy manner 'How are you, my boy?', even though Severus told him not to call him that.

'Very well, Wulfric. You?'

'All is well, Percival.'

'Just peachy, Brian.'

All the time. Alone, with Order memebers around, other memebers of staff or in front of Hogwarts' children. He would do it in front of Voldemort if he had the chance.

Imagine, Severus calling Dumbledore 'Wulfric' the same way the headmaster calls Voldemort 'Tom'.

Tags

harry potter hogwarts Severus Snape albus dumbledore pro severus snape pro snape albus percival wulfric brian dumbledore

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nuttyhatter

3 months ago

More feral Severus Snape?

Like, I already proposed a Severus that goes back in time and chooses to turn his back to the WW, but now I feel more like getting a Snape that takes a look around, realizes he's back, takes a deep breath, rolls up his sleves, cracks his neck and goes...

"Very well... Bring it on."

A bit like "Falling apart", but with a bit more crack, maybe?

He just doesn't give a fuck, he's got no more shits to give about what's going on. His goal is to have a quite, paceful and solitary life, but he concludes that, with the war going on, he won't get it.

So, he goes around with a single goal in mind. He does consider leaving Hogwarts altogether, but decides to stay just to freeload on the castle while he applies to take his OWL's and NEWT's earlier. He wants a life, after all.

The werewolf pranck? He laughed at Sirius face.

The lake incident? He blocked the levitating spell and punched Potter in the face.

Lucius trying to recruit him? Bleached Hair got a middle finger.

Slughorn trying to talk to him (a weak half-meaning attempt that was more insulting than anything)? An eyebrow raised and no words.

Detention? Ha! Sure... Who do this dumbasses think he is? (A student, Sev... They think you're a kid). He's got no time! He has a Dark Lord to stop!

And when Dumbledore wants to "speak" with him - read: Interrogate him on his latest activities that are getting him out of the castle and into the forest and Hogsmade (and all over Diagon and Knockturn Alley, plus many other places, though Albus doesn't need to know that) -, Severus speaks circles around the old man.

He's tired and angry, and can't stand people anymore, and he is going to get out of there and fix things so he won't have to ever put up with any of them again.

Tags

AU kinda harry potter hogwarts marauders Severus Snape albus dumbledore pro severus snape Writing promt pro snape

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nuttyhatter

1 year ago

Red Riding Hood

I'm quite sure most people on tumblr have already read of a story with Red Riding Hood falling for the wolf and what not, but has anyone ever found one about the wolf finding this child alone in the woods and thinking: Why are you ALONE in a forest full of wild animals and monsters?!?! Where are your parents?!?!?

Then the wolf realises that the girl is being neglected to a practically critical point and decides to adopt her or perhaps the little girl starts following the nice man that took her to visit her granny safely and knows where to find the best and juiciest berries.

Anyways, eventually there is a missing report filled not by the girl's parents but by Hood's grandma. And of course, noone would even think abount getting into the deep part of the forest. Cue to bounty hunter, a.k.a The Woodman, who takes the job mainly on principle (granny is not exactly a wealthy woman) an goes looking for the girl.

He finds her and tries to make her go with him when he is suddenly attacked by this huge creature who then turns into a man an treathens to maim him if he even DARES looking at his little Hood the wrong way.

Woodman tries to explain himself and tells him that the girl's grandma is worried beyond words.

Wolf hesitates before looking at his little girl who smiles gleefuly only thinking about visiting her grandma.

And Wolf doesn't want to part from Hood, but he wants her to be her happiest, so he mentally prepares himself for the moment he has to let her go and allows Woodman to lead the way to granny's.

Woodman is kinda shocked, kinda confused when the Wolf scoops the little girl and carries her most of the way, chatting and laughing with her until she asks to walk so she can look for bugs on the way.

He sees the sadness in his eyes the moment the girl is distracted and a pang of sympathy stirres in his chest at those pretty green eyes filled with sorrow and loneliness.

But then they make it to granny's. That woman opens the door, looks at the Woodman, the Wolf and Hood, the later with her little hand in the shifter's big one, all smiles and sunshine as if she hadn't disappeared for MONTHS, and drags the three of them into her house, practicaly shoving snacks and hot chocolated in front of them because her little grandaughter had never before been so happy and relaxed with anyone else above her own age (if even). In short, if this wolf/man of a shifter was her family of choice, then she'll bake extra brownie.

And maybe some cake... that should be enough to feed the blushing woodman sitting next to the happy wolf.

Tags

found family red riding hood shifters shapeshifter little red riding hood retelling Red riding hood and the wolf

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nuttyhatter

1 year ago

Hi, I may or may not delate this later, but I wanted to rant about the werewolf incident between Snape and the marauders and its honest sheer idiocy. And I mean Idiocy on everyone's part.

First, Sirius. What the fuck is wrong with you, man? What made you think that it would be a good idea?! Are you really going to say that you thought Snape would not get gravely hurt? That he could not end up dead or cursed like your friend? You know, the one you outed?!?

Now, Snape. What kind of rubbish crossed your mind when you decided that doing what one of your bullies said was a good idea? What made you think that going to a supposedly haunted house in the middle of a full moon nigth was ok? In Hogwarts, the castle next to a forest full of creatures and deadly plants. This boy suspected that something was happening, and I've read that he had already started to figure out Lupin's problem. So why did he go!?!?

And Dumbledore. Did you really think that detention was a good way to deal with near murder? I'm not talking about it being sufficient, though it wasn't. I'm saying that there were a bunch of very traumatised teenagers rigth in front of him and he didn't do anything, or at least, nothing that had been explicitly mentioned. I'm talking about some kind of counseling and a better eye on them. Things had clearly gone too far, but you take one and punish him in quite an inefficient manner and don't specifically tell him why; take the other and threaten him into silence, then tell him that he owes a life debt; praise the other for his heroic actions (which perhaps was right but, idk, just hope he didn't do it in front of Snape just when he was dragged out of the shack, that would hace been too soon. Also, I've seen people writing Lily using James' saving Snape's life as proof of the later being unfair and the former being good, which only points to Potter not knowing when to keep his mouth closed...); and lets not forget about the werewolf whose secret was reveled by one of his friends and was nearly pushed to kill someone, did Dumbledore do something for the boy not to mentally collapse?

Just, it was all handled so badly.

Sirius felt way more guilty about revealing Remus nature than nearly killing someone. He kept talking about how much of a pest Severus was and seemed to pretty much think he truly deserved what he got. I don't think Sirius was a bad person, he was screwed, the place he grew up ensured that, but he had other people, he had the chance to learn and was capable of emphaty. But I don't think it really hit home what he nearly did.

James must truly have felt like a hero and what he did was brave, but bragging about it was degrading for Snape and a remainder for Lupin, not to mention the fact that the question of what he had saved Snape from, was dangerous territory for Remus.

Snape was nearly killed and then left alone to deal with it with no kind of support or compensation. I understand the need to keep things secret, but the life debt thing was going too far.

It's just that I get they were kids, only 15, but they had or should have had enough awareness to think trough what they were doing.

Dumbledore had a lot on his plate, and again, I don't think he was bad, but he screwed up.

Honestly, is there a fic where Severus thinks something like 'nah, no way I'm going there, I don't care if they think I'm a coward, I'm not that stupid' and then goes to bed to wake up the next day with nothing happening?

Tags

hogwarts marauders Severus Snape albus dumbledore feel free to correct me werewolf incident things just were so stupid it makes no sense to me it's simply too much

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