This is a great story! I really like that you let the story be it's own and did not stick to the "canon" outline. Most stories end up trying to stick close to canon and make Snape out of character by him not telling Harry things that I think he would insist on him knowing, just because it is easier. I thought it was very interesting that Snape caring about Harry is what ends up being the thing that not only frees Sirius but potentially saves his life as well. I can't say that I love Tonks/Snape but it worked in this story. And I love the end, every time I read a Severitus story I always want Snape to be the one to kill Tom, I think it is exactly what would happen. But everyone gets stuck on the prophecy and it never happens. I just think that with everything that Tom has done to Snape he would want him dead more than Harry. Really good read!

i keep wondering about the Potter inheritance; no longer his presumably and yet James may have known about harry - or been infertile as some stories have had him ? Or nineteenth century inheritance practices might apply ie a child born to two married people is the son/daughter of the husband regardless.

I binged this over the course of about 3 days and I enjoyed every second of it. I especially loved how realistic you portrayed the development of Snape and Harry’s relationship; it was heartwarming all around. Sparks joy!

I am sad about Godric & Salazar.
Strange, eh?
Your Severus Snape is an admirable father & man.
I like how he mentored everyone around him.
I also like your Ron, Draco and Neville — their characters
evolved and learned. Very well done.
Your Albus Dumbledore was sort of a benign putz.

Your Ron Weasley is much better than canon. He actually learns from his mistakes!

Did Lupin know back in 1980-1981 that the baby Lily gave birth to was not fathered by James Potter? Are the senses of a werewolf heightened enough to ID a sire?

Moreover, did Lily Evans tell James Charlus Potter before she married/bonded with him?

If not, did Lily Potter ever tell James after Harry was born?

I think someone (Lily) put a glamour on the baby to make him look like James Potter. The glamour held due to Harry’s rare metamorphmagus gift. Did Lily or James know that Baby Harry could morph? Tonk’s ability was active from early childhood. What about Harry’s first 15 months? I’m shocked Poppy, Tonks and Severus all seem to believe that infant Harry voluntarily made himself look like James and NEVER ONCE reverted to his true Base Form? Yeah right…. I doubt it.

Note: I don’t think your AU Albus Dumbledore was even aware that young Harry Potter had the rare metamorphmagus ability. Otherwise, Albus would not have stashed him in the Muggle world with Petunua — unless it was Albus back in 1981 who locked down Harry’s very rare & very visible Gift and perpetuated the YOU LOOK JUST LIKE JAMES POTTER façade with some form of glamour.

FACT:

• Harry Potter (ages 1.4 — 11.2 years never used his
metamorphmagus ability except unconsciously to
hide any extreme bruising, physical injuries and to
grow his hair one time after Petunia had shaved
him practically bald. Your AU Harry did not ever
realize MAGIC existed and that he could (and did)
control his appearance. Since his morphs were
always driven by pain, fear or desperation, Harry
was consumed with placating his abusers and
avoiding any escalation. It’s odd though…. Why
didn’t your AU Harry wish to see clearly and thus
morph his eyes? Your AU Harry is shown to have
been too oppressed, exhausted and starved to have
“discovered” his magic — unlike the orphan Tom
Riddle.

• Did James Charlus Potter blood adopt Lily’s son, making him a Potter? Gringotts cwould know. Or, Severus can do a blood test.

• How did your AU Harry Potter inherit the Black Family gift of Metamorphmagus? Did Sirius ORION Black blood-adopt his Godson in 1980/81? Or, could Lily Evans have carried the rare recessive magical gift if she was descended from a squib of the Black Family?

• How did your AU Harry Potter also inherit the Gaunt family gift of Parseltongue? It’s bad science to believe that Harry Potter was a Parseltongue because he was Tom Marvolo Riddle’s Horcrux. Genetic gifts do not pass except through blood inheritance. Also, the incomplete Horcrux trapped in baby Harry’s scar on 10/31/1981 was infinitesimal. Harry’s Horcrux 0.19531% of Voldemort’s Soul

Other deductions;

Did Lily Evans perhaps carry the recessive ability to speak Parseltongue? Perhaps Lily had a squib ancestor of the Gaunt, Slytherin or other magical line of snake speakers line?

• Your AU Harry Potter inherited his mother’s green eye color and his biological father’s dark silky hair, large nose, etc

We don’t know if the PRINCE FAMILY had blood-bound gifts. If I were to make a supposition, the PRINCE FAMILY might have been gifted in Potions. In JKR canon Eileen Prince Snape was very PROFICIENT at potions and taught her son. She was not an especially powerful witch and suffered years of physical abuse from and ultimately was killed by her Muggle husband. If there were other rare or powerful bloodline gifts in the Prince family, they either did not manifest for Eileen or were never discussed.

I don’t recall if anyone has ever tried to argue that the abusive alcoholic Tobias Snape could possibly have descended from a dormant squib line — perhaps Romany, Mediterranean or Middle Eastern. It is possible and maybe even likely given Severus Snape’s abilities.

Severus Tobias Snape was raised in the Muggle world but was acknowledged as a Half-Blood. — the half-Blood Prince.

QUESTION: Did all of Snape’s proficiencies, including his mastery of several very rare abilities, come only from his Prince ancestry and hard work?

SEVERUS TOBIAS SNAPE:

• genius potions brewer - natural affinity
• very powerful Occlumens
• self-taught spell crafter
• fully adept at silent casting
• powerful enough to Fly without a broom
• deadly fast and accurate duelist
• AU Snape: partial metamorphmagus

FURTHER QUESTIONS:

If Lily Evans (and Hermione Jean Granger) were true muggleborns who had no magical antecedents even dormant squibs, a geneticist would conclude that the ability to perform “Magic” is tied to a single inherited dormant gene — random but rare spontaneous mutation can activate and de-activate the gene.

I find it far more likely that the ability to do magic is a recessive inherited trait in all humans. When two bloodlines carrying the Magical Gene cross, you get a witch or wizard. A double dominant cross will produce a strong Wix BUT Inbreeding weakens the genetic expression of Magic and can lead to the gene going dormant.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT….

Nice, they casually dismissed it and then it proved wrong. Though there's other ways Snape could defy Voldemort three times. Especially since he turned to Dumbledore and spied on him. Not to mention other things he might not have though about before Harry was even born that defied him. Even if indirectly.

Much like how Sirius probably knows about Severus and Harry yet still went after Pettigrew and sent the firebolt.

what? I don't think house elves are troubling for the readers? I think we mostly think about why exactly they enjoy doing what they do. Why they maybe became bonded in the first place and how. But trouble? Eh idk.

Tonks is a consummate actor.

hah this is completed but if it was up to me Lockheart would see that Snape dealt with the Basilisk and try to take credit only to be fucked.

Also Avada Kedavra pretty sure it doesn't work on Basilisk, Dragon, Nundu's etc. Otherwise it wouldn't require 100 fully grown wizards to take down 1 Nundu. They could just AK the rampaging one and be done with it.

pffft. When Severus finally learns that all parents have no clue what they're doing at first and in most cases still don't as things change.

Canon Tonks already went for Moony who is the same age as Snape. So it's not a big leap from one to the other at all. Just her meeting a much nicer Snap well before she meets Moony.

So many feels. I like how almost immediately accepting Snape is while at the same time still slips up and has to stop and think. The imperfection in the interactions makes it feel more. His admittance to the reason why he was harsher early on since they didn't have that many interactions yet for an 11 year old just desperate for a parent still feels right for Harry's quick acceptance with no real reluctance towards the situation.

Pretty sure Slughorn would've put a lot of effort into Snape considering the amount he seemed to have put into Lily. Then again he might've been distancing himself from any of the noted death eater leaning students by that point with how he hid from everyone when Voldemort came back.