The Half-Blood Prince

A blog created for Severus Snape |ProSnape, obviously | (she/her) | bisexual | INTJ | Slytherin | Pro Lily, I ship Snily | fanfic writer, I do headcanons | my inbox is always open, drop some prompts or just random asks | wand is blackthorn, dragon heartstring, 11” and rigid | pic by LiaBatman on DeviantArt | UK |

[thehalfbloodsev]

Hi! It seems that some people believe that Malfoy should have gotten a redemption arc rather than Snape. Your thoughts?

Hiya! Well, first of all I think a character getting a redemption arc does not negate another character getting a redemption arc, if that makes sense. So even if Malfoy got a redemption arc, Snape would still be able to get one. And besides that, I am convinced Snape had to get a redemption arc. Harry Potter has a very intricate storyline and the characters are very rarely two-dimensional. Dumbledore was a good character up until the seventh book but he was pretty two-dimensional. Snape was a good character (not a good person, the two things aren’t interchangeable) up until the seventh book (hints laid out in the other books aside, considering one may miss them unless aware of the redemption arc) but he was incredibly two-dimensional. You could probably draw the similarities between Dumbledore’s character development and Snape’s here: they’re like two sides of the same coin. Whilst Dumbledore’s character was “tainted” with “evil” (thus destroying the pure, good vibe around that character), Snape’s character was infused with good (his tragic story that helped us understand why he is like he is, his redemption, and ultimately his good deeds). Does that mean Dumbledore became a bad person and Snape a good one? Absolutely not. The way I see it, if you take white paint and you put droplets of black in it, it’s going to become grey. In the same exact way, take black paint and put white in it. You still end up with grey.

Malfoy started as an annoying kid and became increasingly dangerous as he grew up. However, from the sixth book onwards, we can see he undergoes a huge character development (which is fuelled by Lucius getting arrested and his fear for Voldemort). At the end of the book, Malfoy is pretty much repentant. Yes, we didn’t walk that path with him like we did to some extent with both Albus and Severus, but we have to consider that their redemption arc/character development happened in the span of years and years, and we read about it in a few pages/chapters. This is also why for some people it is less “important” than all the other books and chapters in which for example Snape was portrayed as the arsehole. Malfoy’s redemption arc is -not unimportant- but irrelevant to the main storyline (also happened mainly after Voldemort died, thus not affecting the war, whilst Snape’s redemption arc was the core of the war and affected the way it turned out immensely). And it starts with the war, but it probably took Draco years and years of self-reflection to truly be repentant and become a better person.

So in my opinion, Draco did get a redemption arc. Did he deserve it more than Snape? No, I don’t think so at all. I don’t think you can tell who deserves a redemption arc and who doesn’t. It’s never black and white and you can’t weigh an evil action and pile it up with the rest of the “bad deeds” and see if you deem the other pile (the good ones) high enough to erase the bad in someone. Nothing is gonna erase the evil that Snape committed. Nothing is gonna erase the evil that Draco committed. That is why The Dark Mark will never go away completely. However, to grow and become a better version of oneself and stray away from that kind of ideology to never go back to it is a redemption arc. You can’t apply cancel culture to a fictional story. That is because obviously in the real world if someone joins that kind of cult they would be cancelled. And even if they were repentant I don’t think anyone would ever want anything to do with them ever again. But in the world of Harry Potter there is war, everyone has done questionable things and then done other things that were incredibly noble and selfless and helped the war. In a situation like that, a person’s moral compass doesn’t work in the same way and the standards change. Just like murder is still murder, but everyone understands murder when Molly Weasley kills Bellatrix. Of course she did it. And everyone can explain why and “forgive” her. So why apply the standards of your moral compass to a world where those standards are obsolete?

[thehalfbloodsev]

I was scrolling past and noticed your profile pic and I gotta ask who made it???? Because I love it.

LiaBatman on DeviantArt :)

[andreannaness]

HP-Walking the Plank proposed skin process

[loquaciousliterature]

“Dudley nearly smiled, then lumbered from the room. Harry heard his heavy footfalls on the graveled drive, and then a car door slammed.”

I LOVE a good character arc with moral growth! Dudley’s change in book 7 was so heartwarming and one of the things I missed most in the films.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*  ✧･ﾟ

More HP Comics          Patreon! 

[deathdaydungeon]

Snape: can I teach DADA

Dumbledore: over my dead body

Snape: odd requirement but ok

[thehalfbloodsev]

Your headcanons about Severus and Lily's children? Particularly how Sev interacts with them *heart eyes*

Thank you @troo-kidd :)

- When Lily told him she was pregnant, Severus stared at her, unable to form any coherent words. He was terrified, terrified he wouldn’t be good enough for Lily’s child, terrified he’d be like his father.

-At first Lily was worried, thinking that perhaps Severus didn’t want to have children. But then, almost as soon as tears started to well up in her eyes, she remembered Severus’ abusive father. She hugged him and kissed him, wiping away the tears on his cheeks and reassuring him that he would be a great father.

-Severus was overprotective of Lily throughout her whole pregnancy. She would give her more than five potions a day, claiming one was for pregnancy vitamins, one for her nausea, one to avoid any problem or miscarriage... he would cook dinner and give her a dirty look if she did as much as try to go shopping when she was at her eighth month.

-The boy was born on the 10th of October, and Severus had spent the whole day pacing the corridor at St. Mungo’s, worried sick. He got to hold her hand in the last hour, and he wiped off the sweat from her forehead, quietly reassuring her. When he got to hold his baby he instantly fell in love with him, unable to understand how he had been capable of creating such a beautiful thing.

-The first year was a nightmare. Severus was completely inept at understanding why the baby was crying, and though he actively tried, Lily was much better. Severus would then scurry away and prepare some potions to help with the baby’s needs, so that he wouldn’t feel too useless.

-The boy turned out to have his hair and Lily’s eyes and freckles. He was, later on in life, a very quiet boy, a bit shy, though he really wanted to start Transfiguration, as it was the field of magic he was most interest about.

-When the boy was three Lily got pregnant again. It wasn’t as though they had talked about having another child, but Severus knew that although Lily was worried they would end up having a bad relationship like hers and Petunia’s, she didn’t want their boy to be alone. And Severus... well, Severus was desperately wishing for a daughter.

-it turned out that Lily was indeed pregnant with a daughter. Severus was overwhelmed with joy, and this time he was more relaxed around Lily, less worried about her pregnancy, but still overly protective. He’d look after their boy so that she wouldn’t have to, he’d go shopping and he’d cook and clean.

-their girl was born in June, and she looked exactly like her mother. Severus was glad their children hadn’t taken up his worst features, and he couldn’t have wished for better. His daughter was very lively and sweet, just like her mother. This time around Severus was much more skilled at caring for a child, and his daughter seemed Sev’s weak spot as well as hers, to the point where her first word turned out to be “Dad”. Lily was filled with joy in seeing her husband so happy and caring, his usual detached demeanour and usual coldness completely gone whenever he was with them.

-When their boy went to Hogwarts he was put in Slytherin. Severus was a bit worried, even though Voldemort had been defeated, but it turned out that the climate in Slytherin house had changed for the better. His son was happy to be there, and he was very skilled in Transfiguration, but alas, not very good as a Potioneer. Severus was mildly disappointed when his son appeared bored at his attempt at teaching him potions at home, but Lily convinced him that there were still subjects in which he excelled.

-His daughter was sorted into Gryffindor, and unlike her brother, she loved Potions. Severus was over the moon when he saw how good she was, and they would talk about it for hours, locked in the lab, experimenting.

-His daughter would often hug him, and Severus couldn’t help but spoil her. He loved his son very much, but he had a very close relationship with Lily, like he did with his daughter.

-When she was in her fifth year, Severus got to meet her boyfriend, a Ravenclaw. He narrowed his eyes, looming over the poor boy, staring at him and studying him, ultimately deciding that he wasn’t good enough for her. The boy was too scared anyway, and he left her.

-She was very upset about it, and cried for days. All she wanted was her father’s approval, and he had just scared him to the point where he had left her.

-Lily told Severus he had been too harsh with the boy, and that their daughter was now very hurt. Severus pursed his lips, knocking on his daughter’s door and closing it behind him. She was laying on the bed, her eyes swollen and red. Severus felt awful.

- «Forgive me. Hurting you was never my intention. I was just trying to protect you» he said in the end, and she pursed her lips like he used to do.

«If you hadn’t scared him, he would-»

«No, he wouldn’t. Had he really cared about you, he would have stayed. He doesn’t deserve you» he said sternly, though his eyes were sad. He had indeed messed up, and he didn’t want to see her hurting over some stupid brat who didn’t deserve one little inch of her, he wanted her to find the right person.

-She looked at him, surprised, and in he end, she was happy her father was so protective of her. She hugged him tightly, and he kissed the top of her head, closing his eyes as he held her.

-When his son brought home a Slytherin boy with brown hair and blue eyes, nervously introducing him as his boyfriend, Lily smirked smugly, as she had seen it coming for ages, and she smiled at her son, taking his hand and reassuring him that to them, it didn’t matter.

-Severus simply stared at the brown-haired boy, and after having decided that he was enough for his son, he simply nodded. He didn’t care who his son loved, as long as the boy was enough for him.

-The next boy his daughter brought home was a Hufflepuff, and he seemed very shy and kind. Severus decided he seemed good for her, and she smiled at him, her eyes glistening as she hugged him. Severus scowled, not liking that public display of affection that probably made him look like an idiot in front of the Hufflepuff boy, but deciding to let it go.

[thehalfbloodsev]

43, 38, 26 pls :)

Thanks @statutorycake ^^

43: Sexiest person that comes to my mind right now

-I wouldn’t know, for me sexy is a mix between personality, cleverness, sense of humour and appearance. Off the top of my head I’d say Benedict Cumberbatch.

38: Childhood career choice

-I wanted to be an actress. I still do.

26: My biggest pet peeves

- people who chew with their mouths open; random strangers who sit next to me on the bus; people who walk slowly on the sidewalk, taking up the whole space, people who talk to me when I have my headphones on, expecting me to hear them; invasion of personal space... unfortunately, they’re too many.

[misandristabbacchio-remade-deac]

me, banging pots and pans together outside of antis’ houses at 3 a.m.: ENOUGH WITH THE SNAPE APOLOGIST THING YOU ALL KNOW GODDAMN WELL WHAT YOU’RE REFERENCING AND YOU NEED TO FUCKING STOP

[lord-rickman-deactivated2019030]

When i meet a person and find out..

They are a Pro-Snape as well.

Me:

[pottersir]

harry immediately after discovering tom riddle’s diary absorbs ink: hello magical book my name is Harry Potter and my age and address and credit card information and password is

[itskarmawitch-deactivated201912]

Draco: Mudblood

Lucius: Mudblood

Tom Riddle: Mudblood

“Misunderstood! Product of his environment! Needs love!”

Bellatrix: Mudblood

Pansy: Mudblood

“Pffft! Such a badass feminine icon.”

Snape: Mudblood.

[falsel0ve-in-reallife-blog]

Reblog if you want a bunch of “have you evers” and “would you rathers” in your ask box right now.

[thehalfbloodsev]

Please do ^^

[anondracomalfoy]

Whether or not you wanna admit it, Peter Pettigrew was a Marauder–the map reads Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. Not Moony, Padfoot, Prongs, and Karen Gillan as Lily Evans.

[thehalfbloodsev]

Sure thing @half-blood-princess-gryffindor :)

History of Magic was quite boring already, but that day it was just unbearable. Severus huffed, his face resting in his palm, his black eyes scanning lazily the room and fixing on the blackboard. Of course, he knew everything about that subject. It had taken him less than one year to finish the whole load of History of Magic, seeing as Binns was remarkably slow in everything he did.

He carefully laid his quill on the desk and sighed as he leaned back on his chair, only then noticing that Lily, next to him in that desk at the far end of the classroom, was staring at him, smiling slightly.

«Bored?» she whispered with a grin, resting her hand on his now.

Severus glanced at her, nodding ever so slightly and giving her hand a light squeeze. Her fingers were very cold, as his were. Binns’ classroom wasn’t only dull, it was also the coldest after the Potions’ classroom, especially in January.

Lily edged her chair closer to his, raising her head to glance at the Professor, who was continuing to talk in his monotonous, steady voice, completely unaware that half the students were asleep, and the other half wasn’t paying the tiniest shred of attention to his lecture.

Severus lazily watched her, his eyes roaming on the few freckles on her cheeks and on the bridge of her slightly pointed nose, then his gaze fell on her full lips, and he felt a warm sensation in the pit of his stomach.

She smirked as she made sure Binns wasn’t watching them and cuddled next him, nuzzling his collarbone, her arm wrapped around his thin frame.

Severus wrapped his own arm around her shoulders, keeping her close so that her body heat could warm him as much as his could warm her.

«I want it to be summer, Sev. So that we can go to the park, and be alone. And you’ll be seventeen in three days, and then I’ll be seventeen by the end of the month, and we’ll be able to do so many things…» she whispered, her breath tickling his neck.

Severus smiled and planted a soft kiss on the top of her head, his hand reaching to the deep red locks as he ran his fingers through her hair, absentmindedly playing with it as he relished in her presence.

He found himself glancing at the other side of the room, where a livid James Potter was clutching his wand, jaw grounded and a look of pure loathing in his eyes. Severus smirked at him, knowing how much Potter had hoped Lily would sit with him that day, when she had passed the middle of the classroom, but she hadn’t stopped nor acknowledged his presence at all, sitting next to him instead without any hesitation.

He kept staring at him, then he slowly reached to her chin with his forefinger, raising her head until she was looking at him. Then he made sure Potter was still watching him and he kissed her, fingers buried in her soft, wavy hair, until she raised her hand to cup his face and kissed him back.

Oh, kissing Lily could get even better when he knew he was making James Potter go insane with anger.

—————————————————————

Hope you liked it! Tell me if you want more/drop different prompts ^^

[linda-belcher]

everyone should reblog this with the only personality assessment that matters: your favorite disney princess, favorite color, favorite superhero, and favorite season

[thehalfbloodsev]

Sure thing @half-blood-princess-gryffindor :)

History of Magic was quite boring already, but that day it was just unbearable. Severus huffed, his face resting in his palm, his black eyes scanning lazily the room and fixing on the blackboard. Of course, he knew everything about that subject. It had taken him less than one year to finish the whole load of History of Magic, seeing as Binns was remarkably slow in everything he did.

He carefully laid his quill on the desk and sighed as he leaned back on his chair, only then noticing that Lily, next to him in that desk at the far end of the classroom, was staring at him, smiling slightly.

«Bored?» she whispered with a grin, resting her hand on his now.

Severus glanced at her, nodding ever so slightly and giving her hand a light squeeze. Her fingers were very cold, as his were. Binns’ classroom wasn’t only dull, it was also the coldest after the Potions’ classroom, especially in January.

Lily edged her chair closer to his, raising her head to glance at the Professor, who was continuing to talk in his monotonous, steady voice, completely unaware that half the students were asleep, and the other half wasn’t paying the tiniest shred of attention to his lecture.

Severus lazily watched her, his eyes roaming on the few freckles on her cheeks and on the bridge of her slightly pointed nose, then his gaze fell on her full lips, and he felt a warm sensation in the pit of his stomach.

She smirked as she made sure Binns wasn’t watching them and cuddled next him, nuzzling his collarbone, her arm wrapped around his thin frame.

Severus wrapped his own arm around her shoulders, keeping her close so that her body heat could warm him as much as his could warm her.

«I want it to be summer, Sev. So that we can go to the park, and be alone. And you’ll be seventeen in three days, and then I’ll be seventeen by the end of the month, and we’ll be able to do so many things...» she whispered, her breath tickling his neck.

Severus smiled and planted a soft kiss on the top of her head, his hand reaching to the deep red locks as he ran his fingers through her hair, absentmindedly playing with it as he relished in her presence.

He found himself glancing at the other side of the room, where a livid James Potter was clutching his wand, jaw grounded and a look of pure loathing in his eyes. Severus smirked at him, knowing how much Potter had hoped Lily would sit with him that day, when she had passed the middle of the classroom, but she hadn’t stopped nor acknowledged his presence at all, sitting next to him instead without any hesitation.

He kept staring at him, then he slowly reached to her chin with his forefinger, raising her head until she was looking at him. Then he made sure Potter was still watching him and he kissed her, fingers buried in her soft, wavy hair, until she raised her hand to cup his face and kissed him back.

Oh, kissing Lily could get even better when he knew he was making James Potter go insane with anger.

—————————————————————

Hope you liked it! Tell me if you want more/drop different prompts ^^

[thehalfbloodsev]

Snape’s wand meta

Snape’s wand is not described in the books, and based on his personality I have outed the options I think are most suitable to him.

“As a rule, dragon heartstrings produce wands with the most power, and which are capable of the most flamboyant spells. Dragon wands tend to learn more quickly than other types. While they can change allegiance if won from their original master, they always bond strongly with the current owner.

The dragon wand tends to be easiest to turn to the Dark Arts, though it will not incline that way of its own accord. It is also the most prone of the three cores to accidents, being somewhat temperamental.”

This is what Ollivander wrote about the Dragon Heartstring core. I think it is the fittest for someone like Severus, as we know that he mingled with the Dark Arts (though he might have changed ways as in use of the Dark Arts, he’s always been fascinated by them, and never truly left them), and he’s certainly temperamental, being prone to anger and strong pent-up emotions, which are usually suppressed either by his reserved personality or by Occlumency.

“Blackthorn, which is a very unusual wand wood, has the reputation, in my view well-merited, of being best suited to a warrior. This does not necessarily mean that its owner practises the Dark Arts (although it is undeniable that those who do so will enjoy the blackthorn wand’s prodigious power); one finds blackthorn wands among the Aurors as well as among the denizens of Azkaban. It is a curious feature of the blackthorn bush, which sports wicked thorns, that it produces its sweetest berries after the hardest frosts, and the wands made from this wood appear to need to pass through danger or hardship with their owners to become truly bonded. Given this condition, the blackthorn wand will become as loyal and faithful a servant as one could wish.”

I headcanon Severus’ wand as made of blackthorn. The similarities between him and the blackthorn bush are startling: wicked thorns, but sweetest berries after the hardest frosts. After having gone through the most difficult time of his life, being a double agent, seeing Lily die, having to protect Harry Potter for years, having to lie to everyone, not having any meaningful relationship, or one, and having to kill that person, Severus was not only changed and repentant, but also one of the bravest men in the history of literature. Surely, Severus has gone through a lot of turmoil, and I can only imagine how strong the bond between him and the blackthorn wand must be.

Wand length: Ollivander mentioned that wizards and witches with “stronger” and “greater” personalities tend to have longer wands. I headcanon it as 12”.

I think his wand would be rigid. If you can’t bend something, at some point it breaks: that’s what happens with Severus, who is known to be stubborn: no matter how much Lily tries to dissuade him (bend him) from the Dark Arts, it takes the threat of her life to break him and make him change completely, and forever. He’s not gonna change afterwards, because now his beliefs are ever so strong, and he will not be dissuaded from them.

Hence, for me Severus’ wand is made of Blackthorn, core is dragon heartstring, 12” and rigid.