A fanblog for Snape meta and author's notes on the fanfic "Lavender Brown, Severus Snape, and the Fangs of Fate" (mentoring and friendship, same rating as canon, no romance outside canonical Ron/Lavender). Original 7 books are canon, nothing else. Not here to talk about JKR or to bash characters.
It's finally gotten to the point where I have enough posts to want to give some sort of intro to the blog. Not to mention, I've now linked to this blog from AO3 — if you're coming from there, welcome! If you found me from Tumblr, also welcome!
About me: I don't really do "about me" sections; the closest I will get is this post about what often inspires my fanfic writing. It’s unusually overtly spiritual/religious for this blog. The things I talk about in it are very important to me, but I know they’re likely not why you found the blog, so I want to be mindful of that. Please feel free to send an ask if you want to hear more! (There will probably be Themes in my writing, because that tends to happen when something is foundational to you. I’ll try to be respectful and non-pushy.)
Fanfic writing: All of the below are suitable for all audiences who have read and enjoyed the Harry Potter books. (I.e. expect HP levels of violence or less, same with sexual content and language)
My main work is Lavender Brown, Severus Snape, and the Fangs of Fate, a platonic Lavender & Snape adventure where Lavender works to save Snape from Nagini (you can call it Fangs of Fate if you want, I just wanted to differentiate it from the silent movie that I discovered exists when I googled that title). It is also on AO3 and FF.net.
An Antidote to Amortentia is a platonic Valentine's oneshot with Snape & Lavender.
Cooking for New Year is a platonic Lunar New Year oneshot with Snape & Cho Chang.
Metas I've written:
The Sorting Hat, Severus Snape, and Slytherin Ideals
Severus Snape and Nettle Wine
The Silencing of Lavender Brown
Hogwarts Ghosts as Anti-House Symbols (feat. the Bloody Baron vs. Severus Snape)
"DON'T CALL ME COWARD!" as Grief Response
Textual analysis of "bottle fame, brew glory, stopper death"
Snape and Forms of Address
Is Snape a Good Teacher?
Lavender Brown's Family Background
Lavender Brown, the Invisible Girl
What to expect from other posts:
Shorter thoughts on Snape and some on other HP characters. (Sometimes "shorter" turns into article length; I'm trying to list original posts like that under "metas.")
Reblogs of other Snape fans' and other HP fans' excellent content, usually including some sort of commentary. (Sometimes this turns into article length as well. You have been warned.)
Lavender Brown, Severus Snape, and the Fangs of Fate now complete!
Finished at chapter 87, 159K! I'm still in shock, haha, it's strange; it's not like it should be a surprise, I've been working and planning for over a year, but still! First longfic done! O.O
You can read this platonic mentor fic on AO3 or FFN (and now you will have a finished narrative).
So, I decided as a sequel to this post and as part of my (and @wisteria-lodge's who I talked to about this) quest to understand wizard fashion, I collected all quotes referring to their school robes (and some that don't, but have implications™️ about their robes) to once and for all have the most definitive, book-canon image I could make for their school robes.
(Quidditch robes will be coming at a later date)
They aren't worn with trousers
I previously established that Hogwarts robes don't seem to be worn with trousers. Snape, Harry, and Ron are all implied to not be wearing trousers under their robes, along with everyone else:
James whirled about; a second flash of light later, Snape was hanging upside down in the air, his robes falling over his head to reveal skinny, pallid legs and a pair of graying underpants.
(OotP)
He got up and pulled on his jeans because he didn’t want to walk into the station in his wizard’s robes — he’d change on the train.
(PS)
Everybody except Harry was riotously happy and talkative as they changed out of their robes into jeans and sweatshirts
(OotP)
Below the robes, there will be a long undershirt/shift and modern underwear (explained in more detail in the post linked above).
The length
Hogwarts robes are long. They billow around the student's feet:
He [Percy] had already changed into his billowing black Hogwarts robes
(PS)
Their robes billowed and swirled around them as they splashed across the flooded vegetable patch to double Herbology
(OotP)
And cover your shoes, and are floor length:
Ron’s showing much too much ankle in his school robes
(HBP) - said by Molly.
Ron’s were a bit short for him, you could see his sneakers underneath them.
(PS)
Harry got to his feet, trod on the hem of his robes, and stumbled slightly.
(GoF)
It means students need to get used to moving in a floor-length garment and not step over the hems constantly — which is probably a struggle for first-year muggleborns.
(The scene where Harry stepped on his robes is when he's called up as a Triwizard Champion — so in a moment of high stress, he might step on his robes)
(Another note, not all robes are floor length. Dumbledore is often described as wearing "full-length wizard robes", meaning they are floor-length, but some characters have robes that leave their shoes visible for Harry to describe)
The collar
Hogwarts robes are cut similarly to some men's dress robes. This makes sense, the way school uniforms are formal-looking and a person unfamiliar with the culture could think a dress suit and a school uniform look similar.
In some trepidation, Harry opened the last parcel on his camp bed. It wasn’t as bad as he had expected, however; his dress robes didn’t have any lace on them at all — in fact, they were more or less the same as his school ones, except that they were bottle green instead of black.
(GoF)
We know robes come in different cuts and not all are considered "dress robes" and it isn't just a matter of color & fabric (though it is that too. Dress robes tend to come in nicer fabrics such as velvet. (Dumbledore is practically always wearing dress robes)):
Like her father, Luna was wearing bright yellow robes, which she had accessorized with a large sunflower in her hair. Once you got over the brightness of it all, the general effect was quite pleasant. At least there were no radishes dangling from her ears.
[…]
“You look smart. I told Daddy most people would probably wear dress robes, but he believes you ought to wear sun colors to a wedding, for luck, you know.”
(DH)
Pansy Parkinson in very frilly robes of pale pink was clutching Malfoy’s arm.
(GoF)
There was just no getting around the fact that his robes looked more like a dress than anything else. In a desperate attempt to make them look more manly, he used a Severing Charm on the ruff and cuffs. It worked fairly well; at least he was now lace-free, although he hadn’t done a very neat job, and the edges still looked depressingly frayed as the boys set off downstairs.
(GoF)
“Yes, my tiara sets off the whole thing nicely,” said Auntie Muriel in a rather carrying whisper. “But I must say, Ginevra’s dress is far too low-cut.”
(DH)
And we know, thanks to Draco, a high collar on a black robe is considered formal dress robes cut for men:
Malfoy was in front; he was wearing dress robes of black velvet with a high collar, which in Harry’s opinion made him look like a vicar.
(GoF)
And Hogwarts robes have a similarly high collar that keeps it's shape:
Turning up the collars of their robes against the chilly September air
(OotP)
This collar is wide enough to be pulled on like a dress over their heads:
Madam Malkin stood Harry on a stool next to him, slipped a long robe over his head, and began to pin it to the right length.
(PS)
And for Hermione and Marriatta to hide their faces in:
They heard the lock slide back and Hermione emerged, sobbing, her robes pulled up over her head
(CoS)
and Marietta gave a wail and pulled the neck of her robes right up to her eyes
(OotP)
But it still needs to keep its form (as mentioned before).
We know there are no buttons, since Harry mentions buttons on other outfits, but not on his school robes:
“Now then,” said Slughorn, returning to the front of the class and inflating his already bulging chest so that the buttons on his waistcoat threatened to burst off
(HBP)
The beaded bag containing all of their possessions (apart from the Horcrux, which Harry was wearing around his neck) was tucked into an inside pocket of Hermione’s buttoned-up coat.
(DH)
Nor do they have laces, since Harry would probably mention fiddling with them or tugging on them if they were there.
So I concluded the collar is held in place by a single small metal hook/clasp like this:
That is swen onto the robes themselves.
The belt
The billowing, loose-fitted robe is held in place with a sturdy belt:
Harry tucked the sword and the Sorting Hat into his belt, Ron took hold of the back of Harry’s robes
(CoS)
That can hold wands, swords, etc, easily.
This belt is the only thing that gives the robes their shape, as the only things that Madam Malkin seems to be tailoring/adjusting are the sleeves' hems and the length of the garment:
Madam Malkin stood Harry on a stool next to him, slipped a long robe over his head, and began to pin it to the right length.
(PS)
So, there is a lot of access fabric, and the robes aren't tailored to the body. They are barely tailored at all, which explains why all students are expected to get them; they are very simple, very simple garments.
The Pockets
Their school robes come with multiple large pockets. They are either actually big, or they are enchanted to make them big, as when Harry is wearing his school robes, he puts everything in his robes' pockets.
His wand:
Harry took off his black school robes, removed his wand from his pocket
(GoF)
Choclate Frogs:
Harry felt in the pocket of his robes and pulled out a Chocolate Frog, the very last one from the box Hermione had given him for Christmas. He gave it to Neville, who looked as though he might cry.
(PS)
His knife:
“Sirius’s knife!” said Harry, and he pulled it out from inside his robes and slid it into the crack between the door and the wall.
(OotP)
The Mauraders Map:
“Mischief managed!” The map went blank at once. He folded it carefully, tucked it inside his robes
(PoA)
He folded the map and tucked it inside his robes.
(PoA)
And even the Invisibility Cloak on occasion:
There was a knock on the door. Harry hastily stuffed the Marauder’s Map and the Invisibility Cloak into his pocket.
(PoA)
The pockets have a lot of space.
And there are multiple pockets per robe (it seems):
“No idea,” said Harry. But Ron was examining Harry’s robes. All the pockets were hanging out.
(CoS)
The Sleeves
Contrary to popular interpretations, the sleeves are not wide, as they can be rolled up or pushed up to their elbows, and they stay there:
Harry felt a lurch of fear. He wasn’t ready. How could you make a dementor less frightening? But he didn’t want to ask for more time; everyone else was nodding and rolling up their sleeves.
[…]
They all retreated, backed against the walls, leaving Neville alone beside the wardrobe. He looked pale and frightened, but he had pushed up the sleeves of his robes and was holding his wand ready.
(PoA)
Which implies they are tighter around the wrist at least, but not overall tight. As they are large enough for Ron to slip his wand into:
“Now, don’t forget, it’s Locomotor Mortis,” Hermione muttered as Ron slipped his wand up his sleeve.
(PS)
If the sleeves were very tight, Harry would mention it. He would also mention if the sleeves were particularly wide, which is why I think the sleeves look something like this:
Tighter around the wrist to allow pushing them up to the elbows or be rolled up, but wider above to make them look like a robe, but not super billowy, so they don't get in the way.
The color
Hogwarts robes are black:
pointed face was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes.
(PS)
Harry took off his black school robes
(GoF)
Harry noticed that Ron kept moving his prefect’s badge around, first placing it on his bedside table, then putting it into his jeans pocket, then taking it out and laying it on his folded robes, as though to see the effect of the red on the black.
(OotP)
And they look the same for all houses. In the books, there is no house indicator on a person's robes beside their prefect badge if they have one or a scarf/rosette.
In PoA, when all the students are in identical sleeping bags, Harry can still tell the house and year of the speaker:
“It’s very lucky he picked tonight, you know,” said Hermione as they climbed fully dressed into their sleeping bags and propped themselves on their elbows to talk. “The one night we weren’t in the tower. . . .”
“I reckon he’s lost track of time, being on the run,” said Ron. “Didn’t realize it was Halloween. Otherwise he’d have come burst- ing in here.”
Hermione shuddered.
All around them, people were asking one another the same question: “How did he get in?”
“Maybe he knows how to Apparate,” said a Ravenclaw a few feet away. “Just appear out of thin air, you know.”
“Disguised himself, probably,” said a Hufflepuff fifth year.
(PoA)
In CoS, Harry doesn't know Myrtle is a Ravenclaw; that information is from tertiary canon and not the books. This implies there is nothing on their robes to give them away.
Harry can tell who's from what house because he recognises students' faces/voices and knows what house they are in, not because their robes have a marking of their house — they don't. The fact that he tends to know other students years often, supports this:
The following day, two more girls asked him, a second year and (to his horror) a fifth year
(GoF)
“Hold it!” said Hermione, throwing out an arm and halting a passing fourth year, who was attempting to push past her with a lime-green disk clutched tightly in his hand.
(HBP)
He knows random students' year, not just house. He just recognises them because Hogwarts is a small school.
Shoes
They don't have school shoes. Shoes are not mentioned in the school supply list before first year. They wear socks with their shoes of choice:
He and Ron took off their jackets and pulled on their long black robes. Ron’s were a bit short for him, you could see his sneakers underneath them.
(PS)
narrowly missing Hermione, it burst at Harry’s feet, sending a wave of cold water over his sneakers into his socks.
(GoF)
and laced up Goyle’s boatlike shoes.
(CoS)
Fabric
Since Hogwarts is in Scotland, where it is cold, the material is kind of important. We know the material is sturdy enough to hold the high collar in place (as mentioned above).
And we know it isn't silk and is warmer than that:
They were shivering, which was unsurprising, given that their robes seemed to be made of fine silk, and none of them were wearing cloaks.
(GoF)
Though, not that warm:
The temperature dropped with every step they took. As Harry shivered and drew his robes tightly around him
(CoS)
(Nor does it seem to have warmign charms)
As Harry always puts on a cloak when he's cold.
My assumption is that Hogwarts robes are made of wool. Wool is a natural fibre that has been common for clothes since humans started making them, basically. It's great at insulation and regulating body temperature (both in warm and cold climates), breathable, and durable. It should be washed by hand, though, as they wash it with magic, it's probably alright. In addition, I believe they wear an undershirt/shift under their robes, which means there isn't skin contact and won't need to be washed often.
The cloak
The robes come with a black winter cloak:
4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)
(PS)
They have a high collar fastened with a silver clasp/pin:
their cloak collars turned up against the wind.
(OotP)
Yeah, Hogwarts cloaks have a high collar that can be turned up, not a hood. Harry mentions hooded cloaks a lot — Hogwarts robes/cloaks do not have hoods.
It has pockets like the robes:
"Hermione looked very cross indeed and stuffed her box of badges back into her cloak pocket."
(GoF)
It is long (floor-length) and billowy:
their socks and the hems of their cloaks soaked and freezing
(PoA)
Drawing their cloaks more closely around themselves
(GoF)
Hermione bundled up Crookshanks in her cloak
(GoF)
As Hermione keeps Crookshanks in it, and the hems reach the floor like the robes.
Other Accessories
They have Hogwarts house-themed accessories such as scarves, gloves and rosettes:
Three-quarters of the crowd was wearing scarlet rosettes, waving scarlet flags with the Gryffindor lion upon them
(PoA)
Hermione and Ginny sat down opposite them wearing red-and-gold scarves, gloves, and rosettes.
(OotP)
She [McGonagall] was wearing a Gryffindor scarf, but tore it from her throat with shaking hands as she strode toward them, looking livid.
(OotP)
walking down to the Quidditch pitch with Ron, Ginny, and the others. It was almost unbearable to turn away from the mass of students streaming out into the sunshine, all of them wearing rosettes and hats and brandishing banners and scarves
(HBP)
Students and professors both own these items. Maybe there is a shop in Hogsmead for them, though, I'm pretty sure some of them are homemade by students.
Prefect badges:
and Harry noticed a shiny red and gold badge on his chest with the letter P on it
(PS)
A large P was superimposed on the Gryffindor lion. He had seen a badge just like this on Percy’s chest on his very first day at Hogwarts.
(OotP)
A boy [Tom] of about sixteen entered, taking off his pointed hat. A silver prefect’s badge was glinting on his chest.
(CoS)
And Quidditch captain badges:
“Wow, I remember when Charlie wore one of these,” said Ron, examining the badge with glee. “Harry, this is so cool, you’re my Captain — if you let me back on the team, I suppose, ha ha. ...”
(HBP)
Along with any other jewellery or accessories, students make or buy for themselves. (Such as Luna's radish earrings or Parvati's butterfly hairpin)
The Hat
They have a pointed black wizard hat that comes with their uniform:
2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
(PS)
They seem to be wearing it in the opening feast:
Through the forest of pointed black Hogwarts hats, Harry saw a long line of scared-looking first years filing into the Hall.
(CoS)
It was a sea of pointed black hats; each of the long House tables was lined with students, their faces glimmering by the light of thousands of candles, which were floating over the tables in midair.
(PoA)
But it is optional most of the time. Though we do see them wear it:
A boy [Tom] of about sixteen entered, taking off his pointed hat. A silver prefect’s badge was glinting on his chest.
(CoS)
“Maybe I’ll skive off Divination,” he said glumly as they stood again in the courtyard after lunch, the wind whipping at the hems of robes and brims of hats.
(OotP)
So the hats are black, pointy, and have a brim (unlike the movie version we see). I headcanon that in British public school fashion, the hats are mandatory for the start of term and end of term feasts, along with a few other occasions and optional the rest of the time.
Aesthetics
AKA, the style - how does all of this come together?
Since Harry doesn't think the robes look like anything other than robes (not vicar robes like Draco's dress robes, nor a dress like Ron's dress robes) it means they look unmistaknly like something Harry would think of as wizard robes — which means they look like 1980s Hollywood wizard robes since this would be Harry's frame of reference. In general, the Wizarding World fashion seems to be 19th century, doing a Renaissance fair, if we want to give the style a name. Which leads to a garment that look like this:
For what Hogwarts robes probably actually look like in the books. Sleeves that widen out (though, not as much as the image, probably), a lot of fabric only kept in a shape thanks to a belt, reach the floor, collar held up by a single small metal hook — and wouldn't look like a dress to 11-year-old Harry, but like wizard robes.
And because I couldn't help myself, I took some old artwork of the golden trio and drew the robes and cloaks according to the aforementioned evidence on them like dress-up dolls:
(This is a quick sketch and the prefect badges aren't accurate to the books except for their color and the fact that they exist. Also, the cloak's collar is turned down, because it gives some flare to an otherwise not very interesting outfit and they did say "their cloak collars turned up against the wind", so I think it's canonically plausible)
oh yeah, -- said Sirius sarcastically. -- listening to Snape’s reports, having to take all his snide hints that he’s out there risking his life while I’m sat on my backside here having a nice comfortable time . . . asking me how the cleaning’s going —
Today is the one-year anniversary of my platonic mentor longfic Lavender Brown, Severus Snape, and the Fangs of Fate! I'm working on a new chapter to share later on, but I just wanted to say how grateful I am to have come this far (over 130K?!) with all of you. You have been such an enormously encouraging audience. I could never have anticipated such a lovely, kind response, especially to such a niche story, and it has been such a joy to be able to share it with you.
If you are part of a Discord server which I have left, please know that I look back on the server with fondness and I still want to hear from you! 🫶 Discord feels to me like a constantly ongoing large party, and every now and then I suddenly decide it would be more helpful for me to not be at the party currently. But rest assured I will be delighted if you say hi outside it!
severus would be the one to introduce chinese new year to the staff because they probably saw/heard cho chang talking about it/seen red envelopes and severus is like "yeah thats a tradition every year for older people to give money to unmarried people so mostly children"
the next day, all of them chased him around the castle to give him red envelopes— even though they were heavy because galleons aren't paper currency but
"FOR THE LAST TIME MINERVA YOU GIVE IT TO CHILDREN NOT ME"
"YOU ARE UNMARRIED AND THE YOUNGEST AMONG THE STAFF"
for a week the students tried smuggling him red envelopes (absolutely bribed by the other teachers btw)
y'all ever think hogwarts has a lion dance performance in the great hall?
Here's a one-shot fanfic I wrote for Lunar New Year as it winds to a close! Had to live up to the blog title, haha. Features Mentor!Snape and Cho Chang (platonically, as per usual for this blog). Also features my attempt to explain how Cho Chang started being called Cho on Hogwarts campus, despite it being more commonly a last name. Feel free to leave feedback, in a kind way — this is my first time publishing fanfic...
~~
Cho wasn’t her first name, to begin with. Of course it wasn’t. But it was still hers and had always been, since before she was born, since her mother, Cho Subin, had left her Pureblood Wizarding family in Korea, married Edgar Chang of the British Isles, and informed him that their children would take her family name as well as his. Edgar hadn’t taken much persuading. His parents, who had worked hard to retain at least some of their identity as a Chinese Wizarding family in Britain, were at first inclined to view this change of name as an incursion, but Edgar felt that history would see he was ahead of his time. He had his way in the end.
When their daughter was born, Edgar and Subin filled out the birth certificate with a space between “Cho” and “Chang.” A space, not a hyphen; a space to give enough room to be completely Korean and completely Chinese.
The quill that addresses Hogwarts letters and minds Hogwarts enrollment does not often err, but it had trouble with spaces. At eleven years old, “C. Cho” found to her surprise that half her name had been forgotten. She explained by owl post that her family name was “Cho Chang,” not “Cho.” The letter back was addressed to “Miss Cho Chang.” Surely all was well.
But all was unfortunately not well, as she discovered when her full name was called as “Chang, Cho!” during the Sorting Hat ceremony. A Slytherin or a Gryffindor would have refused to respond to the wrong name. A Hufflepuff would have gone with it to make sure no one felt upset. This girl, in a sort of appalled hilarity, wanted to see how far the situation would go for reasons of social science — surely someone would realize “Cho” was actually a family name? The Hat instantly put her in Ravenclaw.
~
Cho hadn’t felt strongly about her real given name, but she was actually beginning to like the current state of things. People throughout her life had continually forgotten about the Korean part of her surname, as though she weren’t the daughter of the first witch to span Eurasia in solo broom flight. With “Cho” working as a given name, people at Hogwarts didn’t overlook it the same way. Besides, Cho Chang — tomboy and girly girl, emotionally driven Ravenclaw — liked being unexpected and having secrets.
Cho passed unremarked through class after class until roll call in Potions. Professor Snape read her name aloud, paused, and gave her a keen and searching glance. But he went on marking names. Perhaps it had been a fluke.
In general, Cho wasn’t very good at school. Several of the other Ravenclaws had begun wondering why she was in their House, not in a mean way but in a speculative way, because Cho got names and dates and words and numbers all mixed up when you had to say them just right, especially under the pressure of a class. But though her verbal knowledge faltered, her hands were always sure. Cho had a physical memory like no other. Every broomstick maneuver, every swish of the wand in Charms, every Potions recipe — if she did it in the real world once, she’d remember it forever. In Potions class, all the numbers and words went with physical objects she could feel in her hands, but History of Magic was hopeless, and she knew she’d never take Arithmancy. Charms still had the word problem; why did it have to be “Wingardium Leviosa,” anyway? The whole thing felt arbitrary.
Aside from flight lessons, Potions was fast becoming her refuge. When she was cutting up roots or stirring her cauldron, she felt like she was home with her father, working in his kitchen. Her mother wasn’t much for cooking, but her father loved it. In the kitchen, he’d throw his natural caution and Slytherin-trained polish aside and start making things, a manic gleam in his eye. He’d taught himself to make not only the Chang family’s traditional magic-infused food, but all the dishes his wife missed from Korea, unfamiliar magical components and all. Cho often missed his Transforming Tteokbokki in Transfiguration class. She’d been allowed to help with the nonmagical elements, but her father was scrupulous about underage magic.
The skills Cho had learned, though, and all the watching she had done, meant that even Professor Snape’s eyebrows rose slightly at her potion-making aptitude. Snape was silent in approval, but so had Cho’s father been, so it didn’t bother Cho. Sometimes Snape sent a particularly hapless Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw to “work with Miss Cho Chang” in an effort to prevent catastrophe.
Cho’s classmates noticed that Snape always used, as they thought, Cho’s full name, and that he said almost nothing to her at all. “He must really hate you,” they whispered. Cho snorted inwardly.
Marietta Edgecombe was the only one who figured it out. “What’s your actual first name?” she asked. “I know it’s not Cho. Snape’s too — correct — to be using your full name all the time.”
Cho told her. “Promise you won’t tell,” she added. “I want to see how many other people figure that out. So far, it’s only you and Professor Snape.”
Marietta promised, and she never did.
After Potions one day, where she’d stayed (as usual) to help tidy up and spend just a little longer in a place that felt more like home, Cho asked, “Professor? How did you know my first name’s not Cho?”
Snape said only, “I knew your father at school.” But two pairs of dark eyes narrowed in shared amusement at the picture of Edgar Chang ever giving his daughter “Cho” as a first name.
~
The weeks went on. At age eleven, Cho was not yet considered pretty. Rather the reverse. One day Snape heard someone loudly talking in the hall about how "awful" someone looked, with their "greasy black hair" and their "unsettling black eyes" and their "weird skin tone." They had left out his nose this time, he noticed. He was used to this sort of thing, and it didn’t bother him, but he started making his way quietly to the door, hoping to sneak up on the offender and watch them jump. It was one of the few perks of being a teacher.
A second voice was hotly retorting, “If you’re not careful, you’ll find out what ‘black eyes’ really mean!” Well, that was unusual. Snape opened the door. One child, the first speaker, whirled in fear and fled as Snape called out a ten-point deduction over her head. The other child, Miss Cho Chang, was looking at him with — was that gratitude?
Snape was not used to extending sympathy. What he said was, “Not British enough for them, are you,” with a little sneer. But the sneer was directed down the corridor at the retreating offender, and when Miss Cho Chang said, “No, sir,” with a rueful smile, it didn’t take Legilimency to infer her thoughts: You and me both, sir. For some reason, Snape wasn’t offended. He supposed he must be going soft.
~
Lunar New Year came around, but the Great Hall stayed gloomily normal in decor, and everyone was wearing black. It all felt wrong. Cho had dreamed about her father’s New Year life-fortifying yi mein and magic-renewing tteokguk until she thought she’d go insane. Her parents had sent her the recipes by owl, but Cho had nowhere to prepare them. By following Fred and George Weasley, she’d found the Hogwarts kitchens, but the house-elves wouldn’t let her cook, and they seemed unable to make anything but depressingly nonmagical British food. They did give her ingredients, but the magical ones were missing, and so was a workspace. It was a true marker of her desperation that she decided to ask Snape to use the Potions lab.
Cho had never expected him to say yes. She certainly hadn’t expected him to contribute ingredients or supervision. She didn’t know she wasn’t the first Chang to make Severus Snape a dish of magical yi mein, an experience which would make anyone want to try the newer family recipes. Nor did she know that Edgar Chang’s knack for combining the magical and the tasty was envied by potion-makers across the British Isles. All she knew was that she had shown Snape the recipes to show she wasn’t doing anything crazy, and his eyes had flicked over them and come up to rest thoughtfully on her face, and he had said, “Six o’clock Tuesday evening, Potions classroom. You may use my essence of immortality peach and heavenly bamboo extract.” As she thanked him and left, he added, “In future, Miss Cho Chang, bear in mind that most potion-makers do not show others their family recipes.”
So Tuesday night found Cho humming softly to herself, combining ingredients with a practiced deftness beyond her eleven years, only needing to consult the recipes to see what to do with the magical ingredients Snape had provided. Snape himself was marking essays in the corner. He mostly ignored Cho, only making his presence known by an occasional sniffing noise.
Marietta was looking for Cho, who hadn’t been seen at the Great Hall for dinner that day. At last, she tiptoed into the Potions dungeon to a very unusual scene. Snape and Cho were slurping noodles from two bowls, not talking or looking at each other, but with intense focus on eating the food. Other bowls beside them held soup. It was very strange to see, almost as strange as the fact that the dungeon was full of an incredibly delicious smell, instead of its usual foul fumes.
Marietta backed away slowly, but Cho saw her and waved her forward. Marietta looked at Snape. Snape, without looking up from the noodles, conjured a third set of bowls; was that a smirk at one corner of his mouth? It was hard to tell with all the noodles.
~
A few mornings later at mail time, the whole Great Hall was surprised to see Snape receiving a red-and-gold package. Even more shockingly, he seemed to be trying not to smile. “What’s going on?” asked Angelina Johnson, at the Gryffindor table. “Those are Gryffindor colors — he hates everything Gryffindor!”
“It must be a prank,” said Fred at once. “I wish I’d thought of it. Did you —”
But George was shaking his head. “He’s not looking at us at all,” he said in disappointment. “It almost looks like — but it can’t be — what would that have to do with Ravenclaw?”
Over at the Ravenclaw table, the girl known as Cho Chang grinned.
imagine an asian!severus snape in hogwarts around lunar new year, never really receiving any red envelopes (we call those 'angpaos') during his student years because most are unfamiliar + who can he tell?? lily probably used to but not in the little red packets (but she did use red paper for it and probably drew the design on herself with yellow/gold paint)
i can imagine him as a teacher telling his coworkers about it one night at a little not-work-related staff gathering and then when the next lunar new year came around they all gave him angpao and he had no choice but to accept it even though he's clearly trying to reject it because he's not exactly a kid and if they're unmarried (looking at you albus) they're handed out at weddings
oh man, imagine severus also GIVES angpaos to the students (who celebrate it)
purebloods and other students who dk the customs/traditions are also interested because its snape after all, why would he have anything remotely gryffindor-colored
asian!severus HCs 🤝 cho chang and all the other asian kids at hogwarts
Happy Lunar New Year to this excellent set of headcanons from @boomiyah and also to my first published fanfic above! (Although it is no longer the Year of the Snake it is always the Year of the Snape around here 😉)
Here's a sneak peek into the Lavender Brown & Snape fanfic I'm working on; this is a shorter chapter that works as a Valentine's one-shot. Snape helps Lavender learn safe dating in the wizarding world (it's kind of like Severitus, with Snape as a mentor/father figure, but with Lavender instead of Harry). Takes place a little after Snape and Lavender survive the Battle of Hogwarts; Snape isn't actually still a professor but Lavender calls him that out of habit.
Note that 1) Snape and Lavender are platonic 2) Lavender is not a full werewolf but still needs one dose of Wolfsbane a month to manage symptoms (this will all be explained in the main fic) 3) this fic is suitable for all audiences who read the Harry Potter books
~~
Snape looked up as the door jingled. “Miss Brown,” he said. “Wolfsbane Potion, I presume?”
“Yes, but never mind about that right now,” Lavender said. “Professor, I’ve found my soulmate!” Lavender’s eyes were shining strangely above her bright pink muffler, and Snape noted with annoyance that she had bounced in forcefully enough to knock askew the “Consulting Potion-Maker” sign on the door.
“Is that so,” remarked Snape drily, decanting some Wolfsbane Potion into a stone chalice. To his expert nose, it didn’t smell quite right. The usual ingredients were all there, but there was a faint note of something else.
His lack of enthusiasm was lost on Lavender, who went on, “Oberon is so tall and handsome — we’ve been writing by owl, I finally met him this morning, and we’re already engaged…”
Snape’s hands stilled on the chalice. Lilies. That was the intruding smell. It hadn’t been there before Miss Brown came in… engaged this morning, did she say? He got out another chalice and swiftly poured the whole contents of a small bottle into it. Lavender was saying, “…so I’ve really got to go, Oberon and I have a wedding to plan, so if I could just have that potion —”
“You should drink this first,” said Snape, holding out the second chalice.
Lavender looked at it suspiciously. “What’s this?” she asked.
“Antidote to Amortentia.”
Lavender recoiled slightly. “But — but I’m truly in love!”
“Then the antidote will not change anything,” Snape said smoothly.
Slowly, unwillingly, Lavender reached across the counter and took the chalice. She gulped down its contents. The next moment, her face crumpled. “I never thought he’d do this,” she whispered. “I did fancy him. Not the way I did five minutes ago, but… I thought he loved me. I would have loved him, too, if he hadn’t… if he hadn’t…”
Snape turned slightly so as not to see her tears and looked out the door instead, which he had had frosted with something akin to Foe-Glass so as to see new customers as they approached. His gaze sharpened. “Do you know the man coming down the corridor?”
Lavender, who had just finished drinking the Wolfsbane chalice in a bid to have something, at least, go to plan, looked over her shoulder and suddenly vaulted over the counter. Snape began filling a particularly evil-looking goblet with a clear liquid, as calmly as if Lavender had not just hidden behind a barrel of dried nettles. He took his time about it as the door jingled again.
The young man who entered glanced hastily around the room, but before he could turn to go, Snape advanced upon him, holding the foul-looking goblet. “Going so soon, Oberon?” he asked silkily.
“I — how did —”
“Perhaps you wish to have a taste.” Snape extended the goblet. Oberon stood rooted to the spot as Snape continued softly, “I think I would enjoy seeing you feel exactly as you ought for the thoughts with which you darkened my doors. Go on. Drink.”
Oberon shook his head violently.
“No? Then take my advice” — Snape was very close now, and his voice dipped into a low snarl — “never bother Lavender Brown again.”
As Oberon wrenched the door open and flung himself down the corridor, Snape raised the goblet he was still holding in a mocking toast. Then he drank deeply.
“What are you doing?” asked Lavender in shock. She had gotten out from behind the barrel.
Snape paused, and a rare look of mischief passed over his face. “This is water.” He took another sip.
“Oh,” said Lavender, and she started laughing rather giddily, stopping at last with a hiccup. “I’ve been so stupid, really… accidentally drinking love potion, honestly…”
Snape set the goblet down. He suddenly looked furious. “Miss Brown. I did not teach you to be so foolish as to think that being subjected to a potion against your will is in any way your fault. Did you pay no attention to potion theory? The power and the responsibility lie in the hands of the one who holds the bottle, do I make myself plain?”
“Yes, sir.” Lavender looked up. “Then — could I get a bottle of antidote? To carry with me?”
“That would be wise, I believe. Unfortunately, I have used the last of my stocks.”
Lavender’s face fell.
“That being said,” continued Snape, “I have some time before my next appointment, and the antidote comes together quickly. If you’ll crush these yellow sweetbriar leaves, we can begin work…”
Thus, for the first time since she had left school, Lavender found herself making a potion again. She was doing better at the work than she had usually done at Hogwarts. That might have been partially due to the way Snape had put himself in charge of actually combining ingredients. He gave Lavender all the tasks that required chopping things and grinding them into powder, and if that was because he knew she wanted an outlet for her anger towards Oberon, he gave no sign. They worked mostly in silence, Snape occasionally giving instructions or mentioning some way to detect love potions and their effects. He was not free from caustic remarks (“Thirds, Miss Brown. What part of thirds means a half and two quarters?”), but they seemed to burn less than they had in class. When the antidote was finished, he wrote the instructions on a scrap of parchment and gave it to Lavender with the bottle. “In case you should need to make more,” he said. She thanked him, and he continued, “I assume you’ll come by next month, then. Send an owl if Oberon gives you any trouble.”
“Yes, I will. And, sir? Thank you for telling me about love potions. With Mum being a Muggle and Dad not with us, no one told me about the wizarding versions of these things.”
Snape bent his head slightly in acknowledgement.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, Professor,” Lavender said, and she hurried out. Snape sank into the chair behind the counter, leaned back, and shut his eyes. He let out a long breath.
Then he took out a fresh piece of parchment and began: To the Ministry of Magic. I am writing to request your support of a ban on the sale of love potions, such as Amortentia… He was still writing when the next customer arrived.
Happy Valentine's Day! Bringing back the first glimpse of Snape & Lavender I ever published — some things have changed in Fangs of Fate (for one thing, Lavender got much better at Potions), so now this is an AU, but I'm still fond of it.
