Severus Snape

You may see it drawn HERE.

Severus was the big hit of the Magic Convention Cruise!
All the magicians were amazed and impressed with his levitation trick!

Watch it being drawn HERE!

I'm having computer problems with the heat, but Severus was counting on me to give him a proper holiday! How could I let him down? I'm giving him my holiday.

You may watch it being drawn HERE!

Werewolves. I believe that Severus' antipathy to werewolves was due to something he believed to be Remus’ betrayal. Remus had never tormented him. That would have meant a great deal Severus, as a lonely teenager. There are two times we read about Severus following someone and spying on them for his own ends. One is Lily, in the playground, (which naturally implies more such incidents.) The other is his spying on the Marauders.

The books speak of him hiding in the bushes, watching Lily with hunger. He was not a predator, but despite everything, despite planning and cunning, he was something much more innocent. He wanted a friend.

I believe it was in the same spirit that he watched the marauders. It is true, he was amongst a gang of Slytherins, who nearly all turned out to be Death-Eaters, but they were Slytherin. They were the powerful rich old families, pure-blood, wanting for nothing. The demands put on the neglected boy we see on the train must have been enormous, and they would have had to be hidden, must be demonstrated immediately even as they were developing.

How lonely he must have been, would have been, even had Sirius, James and probably others, not tormented him while their followers jeered.

He would have noticed Remus with them, shabby and poor as himself, another boy who would have been an outcast. He would have seen the apology in Remus' eyes, the awkwardness, the inability to prevent his friends, the disinclination to participate. Intrigued, he would have watched, noticed the illnesses, the absences, perhaps scratches and minor wounds. In his mind he would have conjured sympathy in Remus - not pity, but possibility of understanding, fellow-feeling, even... even friendship.
( cut for 728 words )

There are many Severus'. And each Severus has his own canon. In that of my Severus, I have made certain choices. It is certainly due to the influence of my friend's story that I have taken these positions. Since it was written the Snape-shaped hole appeared. This delighted me.

Voldemort is the only other person in the books who is mentioned as flying, and when they learn of it everyone is amazed. He is in the habit of arbitrarily punishing and rewarding. Snape had killed Dumbledore, the only person who Voldemort feared. In my world, it is not only Headmastership of Hogwarts he is granted, and a seat at the Dark Lord's right hand, but the gift of flight.

It has been argued, when I mentioned this in the Voldemort writing, that the Dark Lord was not inclined to give or to share knowledge or skills. I think, however that he was capricious, and it pleased him to act with benevolence as well as cruelty. 'A Merciful Lord,' he said, and perhaps he wanted to prove himself a generous one also. He would want to bear positive attributes, to show himself that he was a wise and good leader of men. If he had been a hard and vicious man always, I do not think he would have gained power and followers from the high old families.

It is true, he punished his followers, either with immediate Crucio, as with Thorfinn, or with long-term elaborate harm such as turning Draco into a murderer in vengeance against Lucius. Nevertheless, I believe that the service Severus rendered him, of that he believed Severus rendered him, was significant enough to warrant significant reward.

In my canon, Severus is aware of what price he paid for his gift. He knows it is blood money or meant to be blood money. On the one hand, when he flies he thinks of Dumbledore, of killing him. On the other hand, flight is wonderful, and the physical feeling is free, the control and solitude - all are at once triumphant and peaceful even in the midst of war. It is a beautiful miracle. It is another tool in an array of personal tactics. It allows him to... escape, to literally rise above. Wonder and horror.

( cut for length and more prosaic details )

words: 1019
warnings: none

You can watch it being painted brush-by-brush HERE

Sev has used his potions to make his special polishing materials for his precious beloved wand. And there he is, cradling itin his Slytherin-decorated room. In love.

In response to 00sevvie's response to my Severus and Voldemort post.
00sevvie is a brilliant name, by the way. I am all admiration.

I hope I've answered some of your questions. Again - its really too long for comments. And again, I ramble on and on and on... I love to talk about Snape.

( cut for 2500 words of rambles )
He is the perfect adjutant - capable, with nothing to lose and nothing to gain. To want - anything - is to be cheated, to lose. From Voldemort's point of view, love can turn to hate, belief can turn to a feeling of betrayal. Severus is useful. Usefulness does not fail. Usefulness is what he gains from Dumbledore, why he serves him as well, and there are the years of use teaching and perhaps spying on his young charges during the time in which Voldemort was vanquished. Usefulness is what he gains from Voldemort. That is why he is valued by Voldemort, because it is pure and it is hunger, even terror that he will fall into nothingness.

What joy, you ask? Memory. And the things he always loved. Spells, potions, Slytherin House, learning, understanding from wizards. The hope for a fleeting, momentary look or hand of approval, praise, trust. A striving for redemption through service, penance through work.

There was something that amazed everyone, a skill unprecedented that caused even Voldemort's enemies to exclaim in admiration. He was a brilliant wizard - the most advanced in decades. He really had power, and advanced magic. He had won awards at school, feared none but Dumbledore. His accomplishments were extraordinary. None of these elicits comment from his enemies, save one. Voldemort could fly.

There is no mention of anyone else flying unaided in the books. This was something remarkable, something he must have developed on his own. He was not a generous man; not one to instruct, to teach, to give; not one to take on protégés, to mentor or aid his followers or recruits. There is no mention of phalanxes of Deatheaters pursuing anyone freely through the air. Yet Voldemort taught Snape to fly.
( Cut for 900 words of wild justification of my own position, writing Snape and Voldemort )
But that did not happen. Voldemort took Snape under his almost literal wings, branded his arm, taught him, used him, valued him. Snape was, in my world, Voldemort's man as surely as he was Dumbledore's. Janus, I named him - the embodiment of contradictions, he who held good and evil, light and darkness, past and future, all simultaneously within himself. With sincerity.

Title: Slytherin Dream
Author: janus
Pairing: Severus Snape/Harry Potter
Rating: G
Challenge #271: Snape and the Four Founders.
Word Count: 100
Warnings: None

Severus sat, his lap full of books, five years old, able to read. Though these were beyond him, he could stretch his abilities. His father was off on a job. His mother was telling stories in a low intense voice, bony hand clutching his arm.

Later he dreamt. Tall, looming, Salazar made everything hum with his power, strength of will, vision, confidence. All his concentration bent on the boy. Dark green robes festooned in draped snakes. He gave Severus one. Almost a scarf, it curled cold silver, nestling about his warm neck. Slytherin. It hissed to him, a comfort.

I have thought about Snape's hair. It is greasy. It is black. It is shoulder-length. Snape is not handsome and he 'has better things to worry about than whether his hair has bounce.' (the_iscariot - though I may not have remembered the wording perfectly.)

( cut for musing about Severus' hair. 489 words. )