thebewitcher

[thebewitcher]

I’ll never stop being shocked by how some people excuse the fact that Severus was stripped, humiliated, and nearly murdered as a teenager by pointing to the fact that he later became an adult with a difficult personality. Like, do these people not understand the basic concept of cause and consequence? Do they not grasp how trauma shapes a person?

It’s astonishing how casually they erase the violence he endured in his formative years—systematic bullying, public humiliation, attempted murder—and somehow believe it’s justified or irrelevant just because he grew into a bitter, emotionally damaged adult. As if that personality came out of nowhere. As if social isolation, poverty, neglect, and abuse don’t leave a mark.

And what’s worse is that these same people will turn around and offer endless compassion to other characters whose traumas are more palatable to them. The fandom bends over backwards to defend their favourites, but when it comes to Severus, suddenly trauma doesn’t matter. Suddenly it’s all his fault.

This isn’t just about character interpretation, it reflects a broader issue in how society treats trauma survivors, especially those who are lower class, emotionally repressed, or don’t perform their pain in a way that’s comfortable to others. Severus was a working-class kid in a hostile environment, with no safety net, no support system, and no institutional protection. And to this day, people are still blaming him for how he turned out, rather than the structures and individuals that failed him and harmed him in the first place.

That’s not just bad reading comprehension. That’s a complete lack of class consciousness and emotional honesty.

[thebewitcher]

eileen <333

[thebewitcher]

Propaganda I’m not falling for:

– Severus Snape as a confident man who’s got everything under control

– Severus Snape as a cold, caustic type who never loses his temper or composure

– Masculine Severus Snape

– Severus Snape as some kind of aloof male lead straight out of a cheap dark romance novel

– Severus Snape as emotionally mature

– Severus Snape not getting jealous at the drop of a hat because of his unresolved insecurities

– Severus Snape being able to control himself when something triggers him due to his deep-rooted trauma

– Severus Snape as some posh upper-class guy

– Severus Snape acting like a middle-class Londoner in the muggle world instead of the scrappy working-class kid from the slums that he actually is

– Buff, muscled Severus Snape instead of the scrawny stick of a man every elderly lady would tell to eat more

– Severus Snape as a functional adult

– Severus Snape knowing how to manage his emotions

– Severus Snape falling for someone who isn’t another dysfunctional little freak just like him

– Severus Snape’s trauma being written as a source of mystery instead of what it really is: just deeply pathetic

– Byronic Severus Snape

– Severus Snape as a character out of a Brontë novel

– Severus Snape without episodes of uncontrolled rage

– Severus Snape as some sexualised version of Edward Cullen instead of the scrawny, rabid alley cat he truly is.

[thebewitcher]

We don't talk enough about the fact that Severus saved Dumbledore's life. Imagine what the fuck would've happened if Albus had randomly and quickly died before HBP. Harry would have no information about Horcruxes and where to find them, also no-one would know about the one in Harry himself. It would've been such a huge mess, Voldemort would take the power a year earlier than in canon, and they'd probably lose the war, disoriented and unprepared. The person who didn't let all this happen is Severus Snape – because he knew Dark Magic and could use his knowledge to save lives.

Albus was indeed fortunate, extremely fortunate to have Severus.

[thebewitcher]

You can love Snape, but as a fan, I think it't undeniable that he had mouldy underwear and was so neglected that he likely overlooked many hygienic habits in childhood and adolescence, maybe even later on. You lot treat the fact that he was extremely poor and suffered the consequences as something that could never possibly have happened to the precious one lol

I have a whole ass meta on why him being unhygienic is not just "deniable", but highly unlikable and inconsistent with how he is portrayed. you are welcome.

also, the idea that all people who grew up in significant poverty are automatically unhygienic as adults is ridiculous and disgusting. saying this as a person whose mom grew up in Snape-like conditions.

[thebewitcher]

since it's exam time

[thebewitcher]

From Student to Staff: The Adults Who Watched Him Break, Then Welcomed Him Back

Severus Snape didn’t just return to Hogwarts as a professor. He returned to a castle full of ghosts—not the ones who drifted through walls, but the ones who once looked through him. The ones who had titles, robes, and responsibilities. And Merlin, the way they smiled when he came back.

These weren’t strangers. These were his former teachers. The ones who watched him unravel—slowly, painfully, obviously. They saw the weight—emotional bruises no child his age should have been burdened with. They noticed the robes that hung too loose, the way his voice softened into nothing, the eyes that dulled year by year. And then, as if memory had been Obliviated, they greeted him with polite nods and teacups.

Let’s name them. Let’s drag the velvet curtain back. Let’s ask what they refused to.

🧙‍♂️ Albus Dumbledore — The Grand Strategist of Silence

He saw everything. The twinkle in his eye? That was calculation. Dumbledore knew Severus’ pain. Knew his background. Knew the Marauders were brutal, and knew exactly how Hogwarts worked for boys who didn’t shine the right way.

And what did he do? Nothing.

Not until the prophecy.

Not until Severus—broken and desperate—came crawling with regret.

Only then did Dumbledore offer protection. And even then, it wasn’t mercy. It was strategy. It was cost-benefit arithmetic.

He kept Severus close, yes—but not out of trust. Out of necessity. And in that same chessboard logic, he raised Harry the same way. A pawn to be protected, yes, but only until it was time to be sacrificed.

Severus recognised it all too well. The same cold detachment Dumbledore had shown him as a man—keeping him close, not out of care, but for utility—was now being applied to Harry. Despite the tangled mess of resentment and reluctant protection he felt toward the boy—born of Lily, shaped by James—Severus could see the pattern. He could see the purpose.

He saw through it: "You've kept him alive so that he can die at the proper moment. You've been raising him like a pig for slaughter!"

Two lives. One broken young, the other burdened late. Both groomed to serve, both shaped for sacrifice—and in the end, perhaps, both meant to die on cue.

And when the war ended, Dumbledore offered Severus a position—not because he sought to make amends, but because it served a purpose. Severus had returned to spy, initially under orders, a reluctant shadow caught between masters. And once the mask was worn long enough, Dumbledore simply let it stay.

As if a professorship could heal years of sanctioned cruelty. As if being called "Professor" would cleanse the memory of being a punchline in the corridor.

⸻

🧪 Horace Slughorn — The Collector of Potential

He loved talent. But only when it glittered.

Slughorn praised Severus’ brilliance in Potions—called him promising, sharp. But he never once shielded him.

He didn’t invite him to the Slug Club. Not until Severus’ name meant something. Not until his mind could decorate a shelf.

Slughorn’s affection was conditional. You had to be charming. Presentable. A legacy. And Severus? He was none of those things. Just a poor boy with a hungry mind and no surname to flaunt.

And perhaps that is why, years later, Severus held nothing but quiet disdain for him. Because if anyone should have noticed what was happening in the shadows of Slytherin House, it should have been its Head. Not McGonagall. Not Dumbledore. Slughorn.

He should have seen it first. And yet—he didn’t.

Slughorn used him on parchment, but never sat beside him in reality.

⸻

🐈‍⬛ Minerva McGonagall — Sharp-Eyed and Selectively Blind

Minerva loved her lions. James Potter was golden in her eyes—brave, brilliant, bold.

She watched him torment Severus in broad daylight. She called it mischief. At best, she scolded. At worst, she said nothing.

She taught Severus Transfiguration. She saw his talent. But she never once stepped in when he was dangling upside down in a public corridor.

And years later? She called him Severus. Perhaps it was meant as respect. Perhaps it was all she had left to give. But even that name, spoken in her steady voice, must have tasted hollow.

Because if I were Severus, I don’t know what I would feel beneath the careful nods and professional courtesy. Not really.

Respect? Yes. She was formidable, fair—in her own way. But also a bystander. A witness to pain who never raised her wand.

The bitterness would have settled in strange places. Not hatred. Not fury. Just that sharp ache that lingers when someone could have helped—and chose not to.

As if calling him by name could erase the silence that came before it.

⸻

📚 Filius Flitwick — Gentle, Brilliant, Absent

Flitwick was kind. Clever. Charms master of immense skill. The sort of professor whose praise felt like sunlight.

And yet—he kept to his corner. He didn’t speak up.

Severus wasn’t just a good student. He was exceptional. The sort of student whose talent should have lit up the classroom like a Lumos Maxima—quiet, focused, effortlessly precise. The kind of brilliance that doesn’t need to shout because it radiates.

He invented spells. Created incantations from scratch. If anyone in Charms class should’ve stood out like a blinking sign under a spotlight—radiating silent brilliance from the back of the room—it was him. You didn’t need him to speak to notice. You just had to be looking.

Surely Flitwick noticed. How could he not?

But maybe noticing brilliance wasn’t the same as seeing pain. Maybe house loyalty got in the way. Maybe the politics of Slytherin versus Gryffindor made it easier to stay silent.

Perhaps he thought it wasn’t his place. Perhaps no one ever taught the professors how to reach past a student's wandwork and into their wounds.

And so, in the silence between spells, a boy learned that even kindness could be hollow.

⸻

🌿 Pomona Sprout — The Kind Bystander

Warm, earthy, nurturing. That was Sprout’s image. A Hufflepuff’s dream.

But she, too, looked away.

Maybe she frowned at what she saw. Maybe she clucked disapproval over tea. But she never interrupted the hierarchy.

Not when Severus slouched through corridors like a shadow. Not when he withered a little more each autumn.

She believed in fairness—but not enough to fight for it.

⸻

🏥 Madam Pomfrey — The Healer Who Didn’t See

Out of all the professors, Madam Pomfrey may be the one I find myself most curious about. Not because she was cruel—she wasn’t. Not because she was blind—she couldn’t have been. But because if anyone should have noticed—it was her.

She could spot a fractured rib with a glance. She healed Quidditch injuries between spoonfuls of broth. Her hands were warm, her wards comforting.

And yet… she didn’t notice Severus returning each term thinner, paler, greyer?

No trace of curiosity when he flinched at loud spells? No quiet pause when he walked too carefully, too lightly—as if even the castle floors might punish him?

Did she not see the hex marks? The magical burns? Did she really miss the boy who never sought help unless he was near collapse?

Or perhaps... he hid it too well. Perhaps he wore silence like a second robe. Perhaps he'd already learned that pain, when visible, only made you more vulnerable. That vulnerability made you expendable.

But still—she was a healer. She would have known the signs. Malnutrition. Exhaustion. The long-term magical residue that clings to a child who’s been hexed too often.

Pomfrey, as matron, was in a position to notice it all—if he had come to her. But maybe he didn’t. Maybe he couldn’t. Maybe he knew better than to hope.

We know his home life wasn’t gentle. Tobias Snape, his father, was a drunk—furious, unkind, loud enough to silence the whole house. We weren’t shown every bruise or every scream, but we were shown the aftermath.

So when Severus came back each September—robes loose, eyes dimmed, voice flat—surely, surely she must have seen something. Anything. A flicker of concern. A whisper of doubt.

To be fair, we cannot fully blame her. Hundreds of students passed through her care. She healed what was asked, tended what was brought. Perhaps she was simply overwhelmed. Perhaps she assumed someone else would act.

But still… I can’t help but wonder.

She offered pepperup potions to those with sniffles. She wrapped bandages around bruised Gryffindors.

But Severus? The boy who never asked, who needed most?

She offered rest to others.

But not to him.

⸻

They all had eyes. They all had wands. They all had duty—but they wore it like a decorative cloak, not a vow.

And oh, how one wonders. How could they not see the bruises? The shoulders pulled too tight? The voice too low?

How could a castle brimming with portraits, portraits that whispered and staircases that listened, miss the slow crumbling of a child?

Perhaps they did see. Perhaps that’s what makes it worse.

Because silence isn’t always ignorance. Sometimes, it’s a choice. Sometimes, it’s self-preservation masquerading as neutrality. Sometimes, it’s indifference dressed as decorum.

And still—they looked away.

Severus Snape returned to Hogwarts as a man.

But once, he was the boy they failed.

And they seated him at their table as if none of it ever happened.

[thebewitcher]

'Out. Of. My. Classroom.'

This one has been sitting in my drafts for a hot minute before I figured out the colors. I wanted to draw a big ✨cape✨ on Snape. He's also very done with the Potter spawn.

My Ko-Fi

[thebewitcher]

Severus is not a romantic hero, and honestly, that whole concept bores me to death when I see it in some fanfics, it completely pulls me out of the story. The confident, chivalrous Severus, in full control of the relationship and radiating self-assurance, is not the Severus I know. The Severus I know grew up in a fucking slum and has no clue how to form healthy connections with people. He gets triggered by the slightest compliment because he thinks people are mocking him or just saying things to be polite. His self-esteem is in the gutter, and he’s constantly messing things up because he needs at least ten years of therapy before he can engage in any kind of emotionally healthy relationship.

So yeah, death to the Byronic hero version of Severus Snape, and please, more pathetic antiheroes straight out of an Irvine Welsh novel, because that’s what actually suits him.

[thebewitcher]

This initially was a post talking about the "Snape followed Marauders around!" take, but grew into a meta on why Severus didn’t have a "theory" that Remus was a werewolf before the Prank, and how the Prank could've possibly gone overall.

The idea that Severus was spying on Marauders is inherently funny to me, because they had a Map that geolocated him. How would he be able to "spy" on people who always saw where he was? They also had an Invisibility Cloak, which basically makes a perfect kit both to spy on people, and to prevent others from spying on you.

In a train scene (admittedly that's not very indicative, since it's their first interaction with not yet established dynamics; still, it's James who listens to snily conversation and struts in, when Severus leaves the conflict as soon as Lily tells him to) and during SWM (much better example: we see that Severus is deeply immersed in his studies and doesn't see a thing around – at least that's Harry’s impression, while Sirius stares at him during OWLs by his own admission, and reacts to him like a dog to the rabbit; James notices Severus the moment he stands up from the bushes he read in, and decides to harass him for fun), it's James and Sirius who pay extra attention to Snape, and not otherwise.

"But he figured out that Remus was a werewolf!". Did he?

This scene takes place a few days after Severus almost got killed by a werewolf – the Prank had happened "the other night". The fandom widely believes Severus had known about Remus being a werewolf and still went to the Shack, which is based solely on Lily's words about "his theory". But he PRESENTS the arguments to Lily basically from scratch! "There is something weird about this Lupin, where does he keep going", really? Yes, she "knows his theory" – and he could tell her about it yesterday or even today in the morning! I am not into "genius Lily" interpretation, but I also don't think she was exceptionally unintelligent, and dismissing Severus' reasonable arguments with changing the topic is not how one would react to something they had been considering for a long time. Lily brushes away what Severus says – he isn't able to convince her.

Not to mention that she doesn't connect Severus sneaking to the Shrieking Shack, and Potter of all people "saving" him, with the werewolf Remus theory (even tho she most likely was aware of the lunar phase, since she'd study Astromony and possibly Divination)!! She says "whatever's down there" about what Severus could encounter in the Shack. Therefore Severus obviously didn't tell her about Remus spending full moons there even as an assumption, much less as something he had seen happening, before he was silenced and couldn’t share it! Could he have theories he didn't share with her? Sure. But the only reason the fandom assumes he knew about werewolf Remus are Lily's words about "his theory" in the first place. Lily is either dumber than Goyle, or she had heard "werewolf Remus" theory vaguely, not long ago, and without any connection to the Shack. Lily says Severus is obsessed with the Marauders – well, they bully him, and a few days ago literally tried to kill him! And he hints on that to his best friend howewer he can in his situation!

But wouldn't Severus notice signs of Remus being a werewolf? Well, no-one else does, so why should he? Yet again, Lily, who literally lives with Remus, is completely unaware. Supposedly so are all the other students except Marauders. If the Gryffindors didn't connect Remus' secret with lycanthropy, then why Severus, who was a Slytherin, would? Seeing how much Lily resists the idea that the Remus could be a werewolf, I think it's just a pretty unimaginable scenario for them. Even when the thought crosses their mind, they brush it off.

All Snape "following" the Marauders ideas comes from this part in PoA:

"He has his reasons … you see, Sirius here played a trick on him which nearly killed him, a trick which involved me –’

Let's start with Sirius and Remus being people who give this information, which already in an indicator. We know that Remus' "Quidditch-centric" explanation of the victim resenting their abuser in bullshit. He also lies about animagi James "risking his life" while pulling Snape out of the Shack. So the first question is how much we can trust what those two fuckers, both prejudiced to Snape and whitewashing their own shitty behaviour, have to say.

Sirius implies it would "serve Snape right" to be killed because he was "sneaking around, trying to find out what we were up to". A strong suggestion as for one of the stalkering Map creators. But also "sneaking around" and "trying to find out" doesn't even necessarily imply "following"!

To sneak around means 1. To move around (some place) in a quiet, sneaky, inconspicuous, or furtive manner.

2. To move past or attempt to move past someone or something in a sneaky, furtive manner so as not to be noticed.

This is exactly what Severus does during SWM. Harry mentions four whole times that Severus looks at his papers attentively, is sitting in the dense bushes, slouches. He isn't "spying" on anyone. He makes himself less noticeable. And honestly, that kind of sneaking around seems way more plausible to me than a bullying victim somehow spying on the bullies who have invisibility and a GPS locator. Would Sirius dehumanise this behaviour? Well, I don't think Sirius who saw Snape as his prey needed a valid reason to dehumanise Severus, frankly.

Would Severus try to get the Marauders expelled, or spy on them occasionally? Most likely yes, but the success of his spying is more than questionable – and wanting your bullies out of the school (especially since Severus was right and they did illegal, dangerous things, that deserved way more than exclusion) is very reasonable. Especially since we know that typical school punishments weren't able to stop them, and they kept being bullies. Trying to report more serious behaviour to school authorities is you suspect they engage in it is a logical step. And "trying to get us expelled" can apply even to Snape reporting the things Marauders publically and openly did to adults. We know they weren't above using illegal hexes, after all.

"Severus was very interested in where I went every month" is just Lupin's assumption, since Severus wouldn't share that with Remus – and we know how Lupin's unbased assumptions on Snape usually are. The time frame of this "interest" isn't even specified, nor are the reasons (see my previous point).

Next, Remus says Severus saw Pomfrey leading him to the Shack. How am I supposed to imagine that?

1 The Marauders (Sirius) spied on him, when he was hanging around and spying on Remus, through the Map. If Severus was spying, he wouldn't need Sirius' "help" – he'd see how Poppy opens the Shack with pressing the knot himself. Severus didn’t, therefore we can conclude he didn't even see Remus entering, which is again, questionable efficiency (or maybe he saw it and didn't plan to go after Remus, but then something in Sirius' behaviour rather than the information about the Willow changed his mind).

Severus could go to the Shack the next full moon, with Sirius telling Snape about the Willow during the month; or that very same night, which I think is plausible, since Sirius is impulsive. If that's the case, Severus wouldn't even have the time to process new information – and he wouldn't have enough data to conclude Remus is a werewolf. It also tracks with Lily, Severus' best friend, being completely unaware of Remus being connected with the Shack.

(As an aside, I think Sirius either discussed how to enter the Shack loudly with someone (like Peter, who is suspiciously the only Marauder never mentioned in relation to the Prank), knowing with the help of the Map that Snape was listening, to "punish" him for sneaking around; or goaded Severus, saying that he himself had entered the Shack, but Severus would be too much of a coward to try it. Because I don't think that Remus would refer to Sirius just directly telling Snape about the Willow as a "trick" and say Snape would "of course" try it; nor do I think Severus would call it an "amusing joke". Also, Remus saying "of course Snape tried it" implies he himself didn't think Severus had known he was a werewolf)

2) Snape accidentally saw Poppy and Remus crossing the Hogwarts grounds. Whether Severus connected it to the Shack, or to Remus' "secret", we can't know. Those would've been his private thoughts, Remus and Sirius could only make assumptions. I kinda think that the wording "had seen me crossing the ground" is implying noticing rather than spying, but that, like all the information on the topic, is vague enough.

3) Remus is just pulling things out of his ass like he does sometimes, and makes theories based on nothing. It also would make sence, since Snape went to the Shack to get the Marauders expelled (at least that's the only explanation I can think of, unless Sirius told him something specific about what's inside and not just how to enter the Shack), and he'd know school authorities allow whatewer Remus does, if he saw him with Poppy. We don't know what information he had, so there is space for speculations. Maybe he thought the other Marauders did something not allowed in there (be was correct then, btw).

TL;DR: Snape most likely didn't have a theory that Remus was a werewolf before the Prank – at least nothing in the books points towards it, whatever little spying he could do on the Marauders with them having the stalking Map and the invisibility Cloak was reasonable in his situation, and all the "Snape spied on the Marauders" information is vague and comes from biased sourses, unlike the dynamics we see in Snape's (objective and only possibly biased with Harry's narration, just reminding) memories.

[thebewitcher]

I heart my dead wife

[thebewitcher]

The fact that Severus had his PoA mental breakdown with a head trauma (or even several, considering he got a "nasty", bleeding cut after hitting the wall hard enough to lose consciousness, and then Sirius also banged his bleeding head against the ceiling multiple times) ruins my day.

He had the most awful fucking year, the most stressful fucking day, literally brimming with triggers, and he is in physical pain on top of that, why would he lose it?

[thebewitcher]

Sirius' in The Prank can't be considered attempted murder because there was no intent to kill Snape. I don't think Sirius wanted to kill him, just play a prank on him, so it can't be seen as something that serious.

False. There doesn’t need to be premeditation for something to be considered attempted murder. In fact, it’s precisely attempted murder because there’s no premeditation or malice aforethought in the action. If the victim had died, instead of premeditated murder, it would likely be classified as reckless homicide, for example. So, starting from that basic premise, what you’re saying is absolute nonsense, because the very charge itself is based on the lack of intent.

Furthermore, even if your defense strategy were based on claiming that Sirius was completely innocent because it never crossed his mind that Severus could be harmed (which is absolutely unbelievable, but sure), you’d have to prove this to the judge beyond any reasonable doubt. And considering Sirius’ history of harassment, abuse, and violence against Severus—along with the aggravating factor that he always went after him with a numerical advantage—it would be pretty damn hard to convince anyone with half a brain that it was just an “innocent prank.”

And if, on top of that, the victim’s prosecution lawyer were even a quarter as much of a ruthless bitch as I can be, they’d be putting down a deposit on a flat in central London just with the commission from the psychological damages compensation they could secure if they played their cards right.

[thebewitcher]

Little tidbit I made the mistake of painting the painting on one layer... I have regrets.

[thebewitcher]

So we are supposed to hate Severus for:

1) daring to prioritise himself as a teenager and a young adult, closing his needs for emotional and physical safety and acceptance while being continuously abused and systematically disadvantaged, instead of caring about discrimination of other people; then deflecting at the unforgivably late age of 20 and eventually becoming so selfless it's literally unhealthy;

2) not leading a pedagogical revolution in Hogwarts as the most disadvantaged member of the staff, and having his weak sides/making some unprofessional comments as a teacher while being under insane psychological pressure;

3) having emotions;

and a bunch of made up things he never did.

[thebewitcher]

[thebewitcher]

huuuu gwumpy sneep,,,,