Severus Prince-Slytherin

"*You can curse and hex me as much as you like, Dumbledore, but you will never, and I mean NEVER, harm my children or my family again!*"
— Severus's declaration to Dumbledore upon his return

* Adult
* Teen
* Child

## Biographical information

### Born

9 January, 1960, Spinner's End, Cokeworth, Midlands, England, Great Britain

## Relationship information

### Family members

* Merlin Emyrs-Pendragon (née Emyrs) (maternal ancestor)
* Arthur Emyrs-Pendragon (maternal ancestor)
* Rowena Ravenclaw (maternal ancestor)
* Helena Ravenclaw (maternal ancestor)
* Ellison Snape (née Prince) (mother)
* Xavier Snape (father)
* Marvolo Prince-Slytherin (husband)
* Nathara Prince-Slytherin (daughter)
* Snowbell Prince-Slytherin (daughter)
* Alan Prince-Slytherin (son)
* Kya Prince-Slytherin (daughter)
* Aisha Prince-Slytherin (daughter)
* Skyler Falcon (daughter-in-law)
* Kiara Prince-Slytherin (granddaughter)
* Karone Prince-Slytherin (granddaughter)
* Andros Prince-Slytherin (grandson)
* Ursa Prince-Slytherin (granddaughter)
* Isabella Shapiro (daughter-in-law)
* Azula Prince-Slytherin (granddaughter)
* Rowena Prince-Slytherin (granddaughter)
* Helena Prince-Slytherin (granddaughter)

## Affiliation

### House

Slytherin

**Severus Tân Prince-Slytherin** (née **Snape**) (b.9 January, 1960) is an English half-blood wizard of Scottish ancestry; the only child and son of Xavier and Ellison Snape (née Prince), husband of Marvolo Prince-Slytherin, and the mother of Nathara, Snowbell, Alan, Kya, and Aisha Prince-Slytherin.

## Backstory and Early Life

Severus Prince-Slytherin (Originally Severus Snape) was born on the 9th of Janurary, 1960 to Xavier and Ellison Snape (née Prince). For most of his life, Severus was raised neglected by his mother, who only cared about being the perfect wife, and his father. One day, when he was eight years old, he went to the park and saw two girls playing on the swings. One of them had brown hair and the other had red hair.

He saw the redhead doing magic and recognized her as a witch. Although the other girl immediately started insulting the Red haired one, Calling her a 'freak'.

Once the girl left the park, Severus introduced himself and told the girl about her powers and the existence of magic. In return, the girl told him her name, Liliana, and he recognized her as the lost "L.J Selwyn". For the next three years, Liliana and Severus became best friends to the point of being like siblings. Liliana's older sister, who Severus later learned was named Petunia, grew jealous of Liliana's abilities and longed to be able to do magic like her.

## Hogwarts Years (1971-1978)

Severus attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as a student from 1971-1978 and was Sorted into Slytherin House, at that time led by Potions master Horace Slughorn. On the way to Hogwarts for his first year, Severus sat with Liliana Selwyn-Evans on the train. While on the train they met James Potter and Sirius Black. This encounter between the three of them revolved around a disagreement regarding what Hogwarts house was the best. This hostile first encounter would set the tone for the antagonism between the three of them for the rest of his life.

Sorted into Slytherin House upon their arrival at the school, classmates would later state that Severus excelled in the Dark Arts from an early age. At the age of eleven, he knew more curses and hexes than most of the seventh year students, according to Sirius Black. He was credited with creating a good number of popular spells like *Levicorpus*, *Liberacorpus*, *Muffliato*, and curses like *Langlock*, the Toenail Growth Hex, and his signature curse, *Sectumsempra*. He reportedly was friends with a group of Slytherins who later became his most trusted friends, including Avery, Mulciber, Bellatrix Black, Rodolphus Lestrange, Evan Rosier and Wilkes. Severus also had a friendship with Lucius Malfoy, who was a prefect during his first year and greeted him kindly when he was Sorted into the Slytherin House. Most likely the two had good rapport at Hogwarts (which could also be a reason why Narcissa Malfoy trusted Severus to take care of Draco Malfoy).

By his fifth year, Severus was dating popular and charismatic Marvolo Slytherin, much to the relief of his yearmates who have been trying to get them together for ages.

Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were also classmates of Severus. Around the same time, he also got acquainted with another notorious troublemaker; a Fifth year student by the name of Patricia Rakepick who not only was in the same house as his new school rivals, but also actively sought to mentor her younger schoolmates in the art of mischief-making without getting caught: While popular with many of their peers for her, she was, on the other hand, strongly disliked by most of the teachers for her excessive rebellious streak, frequent rule-breaking and the bad influence she was on her younger housemates.

No less discontent with her behaviour than their professors were, Severus's mistrust in Rakepick ran deeper still; she was an avid advocate for the existence of the fabled Cursed Vaults of Hogwarts. While her claims were dismissed by the faculty of the day, young Severus, however, was not so certain; seeing her as uncommonly ambitious for a Gryffindor and, he recognised, far from stupid, he eventually came to question her motives and her intentions for the vaults, eventually coming to regard her as a danger to the school and all who resided at the castle.

James and his group of friends were constantly at war with Severus throughout their school years. Severus's memories, recorded in the Pensieve, suggest that he was an introverted and studious individual with a kind and gentle heart behind closed doors, whereas James was arrogant, popular and athletic. Immediately upon meeting him, James disliked Severus for expressing a desire to be in Slytherin. James's big crush on Liliana, and Severus's close friendship with her also heightened the tension between the two.

One recorded memory in the Pensieve bears witness to James bullying him, turning him upside-down to reveal his underwear in front of many students, including Liliana. Liliana came to Severus's defence, but this only made things worse: in a subsequent lashing out at James in an attempt to recover his lost dignity, Severus inadvertently called Liliana a Mudblood. Liliana refused to forgive him for it, even after his repeated apologies. This would forever be Severus's *worst memory*. Liliana and the Marauders were later confronted by the Slytherins and some of the Professors, who scolded them for their actions toward Severus.

Severus noticed that Remus kept disappearing during the full moon and once followed him past the Whomping Willow (after being tipped off on how to do so by Sirius Black) to confirm his suspicions. This act could have cost Severus his life, as had it not been for James going after him to stop him when he learned of Sirius' 'prank', he might have found himself all on his own and caught off guard by a fully-fledged werewolf. As it was, however, James did reach Severus in time and managed to save him just before he got to the Shrieking Shack while Remus was in his wolf-form. This event lead Severus to be traumatized of werewolves. Albus Dumbledore swore Severus to secrecy, but the true nature of Remus was clear to Severus. Severus snapped at the Headmaster and laughed, a hollow, cold, and empty sound that sent chills down everyone's spine. He then started ranting about how Albus let the Marauders get away with everything, and cared nothing for him or any of the other students. After returning to the Slytherin common room, Marvolo and the rest of their friends offered the traumatized teen support and comfort, who couldn't be more grateful to have friends.

The next day, Severus looked at Liliana and stated that he wanted nothing more to do with her and repeated her words to him; "*You've chosen your path....I've chosen mine.*" This left Liliana in stunned disbelief that she was being dropped as his friend. Severus then turned his back on Liliana and never spoke with her again unless necessary.

By their seventh year, James had grown out of his immaturity and arrogance to the point that Liliana agreed to start dating him, even though he never grew out of his hatred for Severus — according to Sirius, Severus had always been a "special case" with James. Liliana ended up marrying James, which only strengthened Severus's bitterness towards him. Right after the end-of-year feast, when the Slytherins returned to the common room for their last few minutes in Hogwarts, Marvolo proposed to Severus, who tearfully accepted. The common room erupted in cheers and applause as the two lovers shared a kiss and hug.

### First Wizarding War (1978–1980)

#### Marriage

Sometime after graduating from Hogwarts in 1978, Severus and Marvolo married, the wedding took place sometime between the summer of 1978 and the autumn of 1979, with Lucius serving as Mavolo's' best man. Xavier refused to attend the wedding, and Severus had little to no contact with his father from that point on.

#### Life in hiding and motherhood

Severus became pregnant in the autumn of 1979 at the same time as Liliana. Around the same time, Sybill Trelawney made a prophecy in front of Albus Dumbledore, predicting that "*the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches*" and would be "*born to those who have thrice defied him*" The first part of the prophecy was overheard by Severus's friend, Regulus, who had since become a Death Eater. He loyally reported what he had heard to his master, but became horrified when Voldemort came to believe that Liliana's son was the subject of the prophecy. It was the threat to Liliana that led Regulus to change sides, warning Dumbledore of the Dark Lord's plans, and vowing to do anything to keep the woman he loved safe. It was Regulus's continuing devotion to Liliana, that made Dumbledore certain of his double agent's true loyalties.

The Prince-Slytherins went into hiding while Severus was still pregnant. Their first child, a daughter, Nathara Azula Prince-Slytherin, was born on 16 June 1980. The couple were so happy to have a child of their own, naming Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy as her primary godparents, Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange as her secondary godparents, should anything happen to Severus and Marvolo. There was a special lullaby that Severus always sang to Nathara to calm her down when she was a baby: "All is Found".

For four years, the family lived happily in Slytherin Castle, then, Severus discovered that he was pregnant with their second child. Sometime during the year of 1984, Severus gave birth to another daughter, Snowbell Lilly Prince-Slytherin.

## Employment

After the downfall of Voldemort in 1980, Severus decided to apply for Potions Master at Hogwarts. His application was accepted and he surprised his entire family when the school year started. Nathara had enough confidence to go onto the Hogwarts Express after Severus declared this. During his daughter's first Potions class, he allowed her and Aurora to sit together and talk without consequences. This attracted the attention and jealousy of one of his students, Skyler Falcon.

Following Voldemort's fall, Severus did everything he could to protect his husband and children, even trusting Dumbledore, regardless of the fact that the former favored his childhood bullies. He fabricated the fact that he believed Voldemort to be dead as an alibi for still loyal Death Eaters, but in truth, he and Marvolo had discussed Voldemort and knew he would inevitably return, henceforth the most important reason why he applied as a teacher: to ensure from the shadows the safety of Harry Potter, who Liliana had died protecting.

This would bring him into conflict with fanatical Death Eaters like Peter Pettigrew. Bellatrix Lestrange, who served as one of Severus's spies. loyally reported everything that the Dark Lord told her to Severus, who she considered a brother. He and his Slytherin friends from school founded a secret order that involved some of them using a fake Dark Mark and pretending to be blood supremacists in order to fool Voldemort.

## Disappearance

In Nathara's sixth year, Severus disappeared mysteriously but had written a letter to Nathara, telling her that he was safe. He relocated to a cottage hidden deep in the Forbidden Forest under a Fidelius Charm, with himself being the Secret-Keeper. While there, he and the rest of his allies finalized their plan and destroyed the soul pieces in Voldemort's horcruxes. Severus reclaimed his ancestor's diadem, and on May 2nd, 1997, he returned to Hogwarts, but was surrounded by Dementors before he could reunite with his daughters. Aurora and Nathara found him and cast powerful Patronus charms to ward off the dementors, much to the shock of the Death Eaters posing as professors. He hugged his daughter close and followed her and Aurora to Ravenclaw Tower.

Following the Final Battle, Severus and his family were back together again. He continued teaching Potions, but retired after Snowbell graduated from Hogwarts. Following his retirement in 2001, Severus returned to Slytherin Castle with Marvolo.

## Later life

Nathara's daughter, Kiara, was born on his birthday, with his daughter saying, "Happy Birthday, Mummy. To both of you,". A year after his first granddaughter, Kiara, was born, Severus learned that he was pregnant with his third baby. A few months later, Severus gave birth to a son, Alan Severus Prince-Slytherin, and in the following two years, two more daughters, Kya Raine and Aisha June Prince-Slytherin.

## Physical appearance

"*...he most likely valued other qualities within himself.*"
— J. K. Rowling on why Severus was so poorly groomed
Severus Snape was a thin man with sallow skin, a large, hooked nose and yellow, uneven teeth. He usually dressed in flowing black robes which made him resemble "*an overgrown bat*". He had shoulder-length, greasy black hair which framed his face in curtains, curling lips and dark, penetrating eyes that resembled tunnels.

The younger Severus had a "*stringy, pallid look*", being "*round-shouldered yet angular*" and with a "*twitchy walk that recalled a spider*", as well as "*long oily hair that jumped about his face*."

Severus had a strong, authoritative presence. He spoke in a soft, contained voice most of the time, except during the occasional instances when he lost his temper.

After marrying Marvolo, his hair became soft and silky and he got his nose fixed. His skin gained color and he seemed more relaxed, even opting to wear colors such as green, dark blue, and white.

## Personality and traits

"*Don't push it. I've heard Severus can turn very nasty.*"
— Severus's infamous temper described by Ronald Weasley

A complicated, withdrawn person, Severus Prince-Slytherin's life was overwhelmed with many complex emotions that he never fully disclosed. At times, Severus could appear cold, cynical, malicious, bitter, and sarcastic. He had a commanding presence that exuded gravitas, authority and control; like Professor McGonagall, he had the ability to keep a class quiet without effort. He tended to hold grudges and was extremely spiteful toward those whom he disliked. In particular, he disdained Gryffindor students, considering them to be arrogant and attention-seeking. Descriptions of his social interactions as a child suggest that he had poor interpersonal skills and that he may have suffered from depression.

Severus was a repressed, solitary man with few friends, the only friends he had were Bellatrix, Narcissa, Lucius, Rodolphus, Rabastan,. In his early life, he was insecure, vulnerable, and yearned to be part of something better. As a child, the bleak normality of working-class suburbia compounded with his neglectful Muggle father inspired in him a contempt for ordinariness. Severus's bitterness and resentment towards the world was exacerbated even more by the relentless bullying he endured in school, causing him to shut himself in even more. Severus was not a prejudiced individual, but was rather against Muggles, presumably because of his sour experience with both his father and Petunia Evans, but held no ill-will towards Muggle-borns. The foundation of him scolding Liliana Selwyn-Evans by calling her Mudblood was to not appear weak in front of his classmates than actual supremacist. He also deeply regretted this as it was what ended his friendship with Liliana, but knew she would not listen to reason and cut her out of his life. He defended Hermione Granger when Phineas Nigellus Black called her Mudblood, his manner of speaking in this instance being uncharacteristically explosive and filled with more emotion than he normally displayed.

Ultimately, it was Severus's past and his love for Marvolo Prince-Slytherin that defined his inner being. His love for Marvolo Prince-Slytherin, became most noticeable by his Patronus; a Basilisk, just like Marvolo's. He and Marvolo went into hiding at the same time as Liliana and her husband while he was still pregnant with Nathara. It was only a few days after he'd given birth and the attack on the Potters, that he learned of Liliana's death.

## Magical abilities and skills

"*Severus knew more curses when he arrived at Hogwarts than half the kids in seventh year.*"
— Severus's proficiency for the Dark Arts

Severus Prince-Slytherin was an extremely powerful and skilled wizard, showing proficient talent and great knowledge in many different areas of magic. He had an encyclopaedic knowledge and proficiency in potions, was incredibly talented in Legilimency and Occlumency, and was also the only Death Eater capable of producing a Patronus.

* **Magical mastery**: Even at a young age, Severus was a gifted wizard, having knowledge of deep secrets of the wizarding world that he would usually relay to his best friend, Liliana Potter. In addition, Sirius Black, a known rival of his, claimed that Severus knew more about the Dark Arts than half of the seventh year's at Hogwarts, which speaks for his seemingly encyclopaedic knowledge of magic. He was proficient in creating many useful spells used by the Death Eaters and even his rivals. He was also proficient in altering the formula for potions, resulting in an easier and more efficient way to produce them, which enhanced Harry Potter's proficiency in Potions to the point of easily surpassing even the results of Hermione Granger. His magical prowess was so great as a teenager that his bully and rival, James Potter would never have taken him on in a one on one fight unless he was backed up by his three other talented friends. As an adult, Severus had became an incredibly powerful and skilled wizard and acknowledged by his fellow professors and Lord Voldemort for his great prowess. He proved capable of effortlessly defeating the likes of Harry Potter and also holding his own against the extremely powerful witch Minerva McGonagall, who was capable of surviving a duel with Voldemort himself.
* **Love**: Severus was one of the only people in Voldemort's inner circle who was capable of feeling unconditional love. He felt sisterly love with Liliana Selwyn-Evans as a child and maintained his devotion to her until his death. Despite their differences in beliefs about many things, Severus felt nothing but absolute love for Liliana even though she never extended her reciprocity beyond friendship. Severus was devastated by Liliana's death and expressed suicidal desires. However, so great was his love, he forced his way past them and spent seventeen years in constant danger in order to protect Liliana's son and ensure that her sacrifice was not in vain. Indeed, Severus's Patronus was a basilisk, just like Marvolo's, showing that his love for him was far stronger than his loyalty to anyone except his family. Due to this, Severus was the only one who was able to cast a Patronus from the age of 11. Furthermore, his insight into the nature of love was evident when teaching Love Potions, as he was able to distinguish between the obsessive love caused by love potions and the genuine, unconditional love that most people felt for each other.

"*Severus had directed his wand straight at James; there was a flash of light and a gash appeared on the side of James's face, spattering his robes with blood.*"
— Severus cursing James Potter with *Sectumsempra*
* **Dark Arts**: Severus had a passion for the Dark Arts from a young age, and was especially talented with curses, or so some believed. According to Sirius Black, Severus was "*up to his eyeballs in the Dark Arts*" when he was at school. However, they had an age-old rivalry which could have influenced Sirius's words. When he was still a student, Severus was already talented enough that he was capable of creating new dark spells, as most of the spells he created were curses, hexes, and jinxes. As an adult at least, Severus was capable of performing the Killing Curse, one of the Unforgivable Curses that required a considerable level of magical skill, using the curse to kill Dumbledore on his orders.

"*Excuse me. But I believe I am the Potions master at this school.*"
— Severus to Gilderoy Lockhart
* **Potions**: Severus was extremely adept in the art of potion-making and worked as the Potions Master at Hogwarts for about fifteen years. His prowess at potion-making extended beyond simple execution from formally documented recipes accepted and followed by the general public. When he was still only a student, he would alter official instructions with his own variations, which usually resulted in quicker and more efficient results. He was capable of brewing highly complicated potions such as Veritaserum, Wolfsbane Potion and the Mandrake Restorative Draught. Severus was also able to identify Polyjuice Potion by smell and produce fake Veritaserum that seemed real enough to fool Dolores Umbridge (though Umbridge was not portrayed as being particularly intelligent with practicality). In addition, Severus used an unidentified golden potion to help slow a curse that was slowly killing Dumbledore.

"*Your defences must therefore be as flexible and inventive as the arts you seek to undo.*"
— Severus teaching sixth year Defence Against the Dark Arts
* **Defence Against the Dark Arts**: Though Severus had a zest for dark magic, he possessed outstanding knowledge and abilities in protecting from it. His encyclopaedic understanding of the dark arts may have contributed to this. Severus taught the class at N.E.W.T level to such an effect that even Harry Potter could not help but be enchanted by his knowledge. Severus effectively "assisted" the 1992 duelling club, and understood the need for students handling pragmatism as well as theory in the subject. Severus's speciality in DADA was particularly in the area of counter-curses. In fact, his abilities in countering curses were so great that he was able to temporarily save Dumbledore (himself an expert on the subject) with wand enhanced incantations and a potion simultaneously from a "*curse of extraordinary power*", Dumbledore noted that he was only able to (temporarily) survive due to Severus's expertise. He was also able to prevent the curse that Katie Bell was inflicted with when she touched the necklace on Borgin and Burkes from spreading any further, saving her life. Severus had also developed effective counter curses for his own dark charms, such as the magic he used to heal Draco from the effects of *Sectumsempra*.

"*We are going to see how well you resist. I have been told that you have already shown aptitude at resisting the Imperius Curse.... You will find that similar powers are needed for this.... Brace yourself, now.... Legilimens!*"
— Severus using the Legilimency Spell on Harry Potter

* **Occlumency and Legilimency**: Severus's unerring ability to conceal his thoughts and feelings from external penetration proved to be crucial for him. His skills in Occlumency was so great that for seventeen years, he managed to hide facts; it was his mastery of hiding his mind that made both sides distrust him. Severus was also very skilled at Legilimency; Harry Potter often felt as if Severus had the ability to read minds even before learning what the art was. Severus used Legilimency on Harry constantly, while attempting to teach him Occlumency in their private lessons and later used it to effortlessly deflect Harry's spells and curses. Despite his skill in Legilimency he was may have been unable to read Draco Malfoy's thoughts when the latter was a relatively inexperienced Occlumens (though Draco may have only believed that he was able to block Severus). Since Voldemort was considered history's greatest legilimens and was unable to ever read Severus's mind, despite being in the same room with him on many occasions, Severus could be history's greatest occlumens, with the possible exception of Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald, both of whom proved able to also deflect Voldemort's Legilimency. Considering how Voldemort would have detected Severus resisting penetration, Severus would've had to be careful only to block certain thoughts from him while allowing Voldemort to only see what would reinforce his belief in Severus's loyalty.

"*Severus stepped forward, waved his wand, and the snake vanished in a small puff of black smoke.*"
— Severus performing the Snake-Vanishing Spell
* **Transfiguration**: Severus was highly accomplished with transfiguration, given his proficiency with Conjuration and Vanishment, two very difficult and advanced branches of this field. He was talented with the vanishing of physical matter, as shown when he vanished Harry Potter's failed Draught of Peace potion in 1995 with the Vanishing Spell and when he vanished the snake that Draco Malfoy summoned in 1992 with the Snake-Vanishing Spell. He also successfully conjured ropes with the Incarcerous Spell to bind Sirius Black and Remus Lupin in the Shrieking Shack in 1994. He also transfigured the whirlwind-shaped fire that McGonagall launched at him shortly before the Battle of Hogwarts into a great black snake.

"*From the tip of his wand burst the silver basilisk: she landed on the office floor, slithered once across the office and soared out of the window. Dumbledore watched her glide away, and as her silvery glow faded he turned back to Severus, and his eyes were full of tears and shock.*"
— Severus conjuring a corporeal Patronus

* **Charms**: Severus was highly talented in charms as he not only could use basic to advanced charms without fail, such as levitation, disarming, summoning, banishing, locking doors, repairing, illuminating, igniting, creating water, shielding and stunning, but he was even able to cast the incredibly difficult Patronus Charm, conjuring a corporeal doe Patronus. He was also able to write instructions on a blackboard with a single flick of his wand.

"*With a tingle of horror, Harry saw in the distance a huge, bat-like shape flying through the darkness towards the perimeter wall.*"
— Severus flying without support

* **Flying**: Severus was a very capable flyer on a broomstick, as during the Battle of the Seven Potters, he was not blasted off his broom and knowledgeable enough in the rules of Quidditch to take over the position of referee at least once. However, in one of Severus's memories, Liliana was laughing as he attempted to mount a bucking broomstick, so perhaps he was not always a good flyer. Later on, Severus was also capable of Unsupported flight. The only other known wizard that was able to do this was Lord Voldemort himself (who is likely to have passed down this skill to Severus personally). In 1997, he used this skill to escape from Hogwarts after his duel with Minerva McGonagall.

"*Professor McGonagall moved faster than Harry could have believed: her wand slashed through the air and for a split second Harry thought that Severus must crumple, unconscious, but the swiftness of his Shield Charm was such that McGonagall was thrown off balance.*"
— Severus duelling Minerva McGonagall

* **Duelling**: Although he rarely engaged in duels, Severus was shown to be a highly capable duellist. During his days as a Death Eater he likely had to fight against aurors and members of the Order of the Phoenix. He was able to hold his own against the extremely powerful Minerva McGonagall (who was capable of duelling Voldemort along with Kingsley and Slughorn) during their brief duel, before she forced him to hide behind a shield of armour. He then fled when Pomona Sprout and Filius Flitwick arrived to assist. He assisted in a duelling club in 1992 with Gilderoy Lockhart, effortlessly defeating him with a single spell, though, as Lockhart was an unskilled wizard, this was not such a great achievement. Severus also easily overwhelmed Harry Potter during his escape from the Battle of the Astronomy Tower and defeated him without much effort, using Legilimency to read Harry's attempted moves and countered them all before they could be cast. Severus participated in the Battle of the Seven Potters, joining the Death Eaters's side (though secretly attempted to protect the Order), and survived unharmed. Contrary to the vicious duelling styles of other Death Eaters, Severus preferred using defensive spells and only used aggressive magic when facing a weak opponent, such as Lockhart, or when his foe grew frustrated and started making mistakes. Severus was never known to battle a Death Eater or ally to Voldemort (which would've blown his cover) but no one ever dared raise a wand against him (even the notoriously powerful Bellatrix Lestrange) and showed fear towards him, indicating they must have seen him display remarkable duelling skills.

"*You dare use my own spells against me, Potter? It was I who invented them — I, the Half Blood Prince! And you'd turn my inventions on me, like your filthy father, would you? I don't think so...no!*"
— Severus revealing Harry Potter his talent with spell invention

* **Spell creation**: As a student at Hogwarts, Severus was very inventive with new spells. Some of the spells he created were *Sectumsempra*, *Langlock*, *Muffliato*, *Levicorpus* and its Counter-jinx *Liberacorpus*. The last two somehow became common knowledge around the school. It is unknown what thoughts and techniques Severus put into his creations.

"*BANG! Thin, snakelike cords brust from the end of Severus's wand and twisted themselves around Lupin's mouth, wrists, and ankles*"
— Severus conjures ropes non-verbally

* **Wandless and nonverbal magic**: Severus was highly skilled at using non-verbal spells, from the most basic uses (such as instruction-writing on blackboards and cleanups) to the most advanced (such as combat curses). Severus was also skilled at performing wandless magic, such as rope conjuring, counter-jinxing and memory extraction. (Although memory extraction does not require explicitly the use of a wand, relying instead on direct eye contact, conjuring and counter-jinxing are more often depicted to take place with the help of a wand.)
* **Alchemy**: Intimately connected with Potion-making among other things, Severus had great respect for the field of alchemy, believing it was as much about gaining intellectual wealth as the physical one. Deeming it more advanced than his usual lessons, to the point where he initially asked Jacob's sibling if the latter was joking when they asked whether he would be willing to teach alchemy to themselves and the visiting Beauxbatons student, insisting that he would only ever consider giving lessons on the subject to a select few of his very best students, such as Penny Haywood. Displaying a fair amount of knowledge on the topic, he was able to host a private lesson and give Jacob's sibling, Penny Haywood and Aurélie Dumont a lecture on the philosophy, history and teachings of the subject, as well as its objectives.

"*He knelt over Malfoy, drew his wand, and traced it over the deep wounds Harry's curse had made, muttering an incantation that sounded almost like song. The flow of blood seemed to ease; Severus wiped the residue from Malfoy's face and repeated his spell. Now the wounds seemed to be knitting.*"
— Severus healing a wounded Draco Malfoy

* **Healing magic**: Severus was also very skilled with healing magic, as he reduced the effects of the Curse on Marvolo Gaunt's ring on Albus Dumbledore which allowed him to survive for at least a year and saved Katie Bell's life by preventing any further spread of the cursed necklace in her body. He also healed Draco Malfoy's wounds with *Vulnera Sanentur,* a healing spell and counter-curse, after Harry Potter recklessly used the *Sectumsempra* curse on him and seriously injured him. His knowledge in healing was such that Dumbledore once quoted to Harry that Severus was more experienced in healing against Dark magic than Poppy Pomfrey was. He also successfully brewed the Mandrake Restorative Draught in the 1992–1993 school year, which cured all the victims of petrification that year.
* **Apparition**: Like most accomplished adult wizards, Severus could apparate successfully at will. He disapparated away from Hogwarts after the Battle of the Astronomy Tower in 1997 from beyond the Hogwarts gates.
* **Intellectual giftedness**: Severus's logic and deductive reasoning skills were such that he helped protect the Philosopher's Stone by creating an obstacle, which was based on logic rather than magical skill. According to Hermione Granger, many powerful wizards have a blind spot in regards to logic.
* **Teaching skills**: Despite his unpleasant nature and strained relationship with many of the Hogwarts students outside Slytherin, Severus was nevertheless a relatively effective teacher as the Potions Master and was one of the few teachers at Hogwarts who could keep a class quiet with minimal effort, with some students like Percy Weasley and Hermione Granger able to achieve O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s under his teaching, despite Severus only allowing students with top grades to do Potions in the NEWT level. His teaching skills were also effective enough for him to be respected by most of the other professors until he killed Dumbledore, pass Dolores Umbridge's inspection of him and for Voldemort to make him Headmaster of Hogwarts. Additionally, while Harry did not learn much from Severus due to their mutual dislike of each other, the instructions Severus wrote in his Copy of Advanced Potion-Making were effective enough to make Harry improve his own performance in Potions in his sixth year, suggesting that Severus would have been more respected as a teacher if he was less unpleasant and used these instructions more.
* **Acting skills**: Severus was an extremely adept actor, as he flawlessly succeeded in hiding his true allegiance to Albus Dumbledore from the Death Eaters, even able to fool Voldemort himself completely to the point of the latter having complete trust in him to such an extent that after he killed Dumbledore, Voldemort was fully willing to make him Hogwarts' Headmaster. Severus's skill in acting allowed him to keep his motives dubious in the eyes of both friend and ally alike. This makes Severus likely the most accomplished actor and spy in wizarding history.
* **Poetry**: A skill that Severus possessed but did not make very much mention or display of, Severus was capable of fluidly crafting his words in a way that could often befuddle the reader. His only known composition was the logic puzzle that he used as part of his defences of the Philosopher's Stone. Since this poem showed Severus's logical thinking, it was obviously one of his own creations. Severus's other possible works, if they exist, remain unknown.
* **Indomitable willpower**: Severus, despite his personal demons, possessed immense willpower and bravery, being a respected hero of the Second Wizarding War and having great respect from both Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter (the latter of whom would go so far as to declare Severus to be "the bravest man [he] ever knew"). Hence, in spite his sister-like love for Liliana Potter and being aware of her intense disapproval for the Dark Arts, Severus refused to relinquish his interest for the practice nor abandon the approval of his Slytherin friends for her. As such, despite the extremely dangerous and seemingly impossible task of bringing down the most powerful Dark wizard of all time, Lord Voldemort, Severus refused to back down from it and resolved to faithfully execute Dumbledore's many complex and intricate plans to bring down the Dark Lord, with him valiantly working as an undercover agent for the Order of the Phoenix for sixteen years and steadfastly spying on the Death Eaters, with this ultimately ensuring Voldemort's defeat at the hands of Harry. Severus's willpower and determination also allowed him to persistently apply for the Defence Against the Dark Arts post for fifteen years (despite Dumbledore repeatedly refusing him the job) and to completely master the notably difficult skills of Occlumency and non-verbal magic, both of which required high amounts of mental strength.
* **Love**: Despite not showing it, Severus has an indomitable amount of love in his heart and has displayed it in many different ways; the brotherly love he felt for his housemates, the romantic love he felt for Marvolo, and the maternal love he felt for his children.

## Relationships

### Parents

**Liliana Selwyn-Evans**: "*Doesn't your dad like magic?*"
**Snape**: "*He doesn't like anything, much.*"
— Severus regarding his father's horrible personality
Severus never regarded the place where he grew up as a home. Rather like Voldemort and Harry, Hogwarts was his real home. It is likely that he suffered neglect as a child. His parents seem to have had a dysfunctional, even abusive relationship. This troubled, lonely childhood is strongly suggested to have accounted for his severe demeanour, depression, sadness, bitterness, and bouts of rage, as seen later in his life, which were tamed after his marriage and entering motherhood.

Despite having a father who disliked the wizarding community, Severus was quite skilled with magic before he even received his Hogwarts letter. Sirius Black would later remark that, when they first arrived at school, Severus knew more curses than many of the seventh-year students. It does seem that he had a slightly better relationship with his witch mother. During his school years, he nicknamed himself the "Half Blood Prince". In addition, it is quite likely Ellison gave her son most, if not all of his school things. His sixth-year Potions book was, according to Harry, at least fifty years old.

### Liliana Selwyn-Evans

Snape's friendship with Liliana Selwyn-Evans was probably the only thing that truly brought joy to his life. He first met Liliana at a very young age, recognising her as a witch one day as she and her sister Petunia played in the park near his house; she had flown off the swings and made a flower grow from a sprout. Longing to escape his humiliating home life, Snape immediately sought to make her his friend. Despite the fact that Liliana came from a Muggle family, he never truly saw her as being one of them because he was so smitten with her.

They spend time talking about magic and the wizarding world. Liliana even asked if being Muggle-born mattered in the Wizarding world. Snape responded that it did not matter at all. In 1971, the two of them were accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and continued a close friendship up until around their fifth year, despite being sorted into different houses. Snape was very disappointed that they were not in the same house and forlorn because of it.

**James Potter**: "*There you go, you're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus —*"
**Severus Snape**: "*I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!*"
**Liliana Selwyn-Evans**: "*Fine. I won't bother in future. And I'd wash your pants if I were you, Snivellus.*"
**Severus Snape:** "*You know what? I will, but you try being an orphan with no parents or someone to care for you. You both still have someone who loves you, what about me?*"
**Liliana Selwyn-Evans:** "*....What?*"
— The unpleasant end of Severus and Liliana's friendship
During this time, Severus began hanging out with people who were thought to embrace Dark Magic and pure-blood supremacy, which put a huge strain on their friendship. Liliana was offended by many of the views that Severus was beginning to adopt and disliked the qualities that his new classmates were bringing out in him. Given time over again, Severus would never have done many of the things he did, but at the time he did not truly understand her aversion. He was so insecure and blinded by his attraction to the Dark side that he imagined she would find it impressive if he became a real Death Eater. Ironically, Severus might have grown to love Liliana romantically (he certainly loved her as a friend) if she had not been prejudiced Dark Magic so much, and been drawn to bullies. When Severus called Liliana a "Mudblood" in a moment of humiliation, it was the last straw for Liliana. When she later asked him if he still intended to become a Death Eater and he did not deny it, she proceeded to sever all ties with him, until he snapped that she never listened to him and stormed off. The next day, he dropped her as a friend once and for all.

### Marvolo Riddle

**Marvolo Riddle**: "*Severus Tan Snape, son of Xavier and Ellison Snape (née Prince), will you marry me?*"
**Severus**: "*Yes!! Yes, a thousand times yes! Of course I will!*"
**Marvolo Riddle**: "*Thank goodness, I was afraid you'd say no.*"
**Severus**: "*Of course no, silly! I love you...*"
— Marvolo's proposal

Severus's relationship with Marvolo started off as a relatable friendship; as both of them were in Slytherin together. Both of them had many things in common, they were both half-bloods, descendants of Hogwarts founders (Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin), and were victims of bullying.

When Severus married Marvolo, he gained more happiness than he could've ever imagined. When their parents died, the couple offered each other comfort and when their first two children, Nathara and Snowbell, were born, it made Severus love Marvolo all the more because he gave him a family of his own.

### Aurora Pikeman

Severus was Aurora's bond-mother due to Aurora and Nathara's bonding ceremony. He cares for her as if she were his own daughter and to show that he would do anything for her happiness, he and Marvolo cleared her parents, Star and Sirius Pikeman, of all charges and released them from prison.

### Nathara Prince-Slytherin

Severus loves his biological children as much as he loves Aurora, unconditionally. His loyalty and unyielding love for his family is what fuels his drive, and he knows Nathara treats and loves Aurora like a sister, part of the reason why he encouraged the bonding ceremony. He hated to leave his girls, but it was necessary for the defeat of both Albus and Voldemort.

They have a close maternal relationship, and like his daughter, is willing to help anyone who needs it, no matter who it is.