Severus Snape

[Severus Snape]

About Your Character
Basics

Full name: Severus Tobias Snape

Nicknames: Sev, Snivellus, and the Half-Blood Prince, from Lily, Potter, and myself respectively.

Ancestry: I'm proudly half Prince, a long line of purebloods. My father is a muggle.

Gender: Male

Age: 16

Birthday: January 9th, 1960

Sorted into: Slytherin, of course.

Who do you follow? Nobody in particular. Occasionally I follow some of my fellow Slytherins, but I mostly keep to myself.

Wand: Ash, 11 ½ inches, Dragon Heartstring Core

Personal

Sexuality: Why exactly is that any of your business? I'm straight, thank you very much.

Likes:
-Lily Evans
-Dark Arts
-Defense Against the Dark Arts
-Potions
-Intelligence
-Quiet
-Reading
-Sarcasm
-Good novels
-Well-written poetry

Dislikes:
-James Potter
-Sirius Black
-Idiots, see above
-Participating in sports
-Show-offs
-People who don't pay attention in class
-Potter's attitude towards Lily. She doesn't like you; can't you take a hint?

Strengths:
-Intelligence
-Potions
-Defense Against the Dark Arts
-Curses and hexes
-Resourcefulness
-Cunning

Weaknesses:
-Lily Evans
-Pessimism
-Low self-esteem
-Low tolerance for stupidity
-Lack of patience
-Socially awkward
-Temper
-Nosiness

Goals:
-Be successful. It doesn't matter as much what I do, as long as I am successful at it.
-Get at least 5 Os on my O.W.L.s
-Get back at Potter and Black somehow
-Win back Lily's friendship

Fears:
-Losing to Potter in a duel
- Lily and Potter together
-Lily discovering my feelings for her.

Tics, Quirks & Habits:
-Not particularly interested in personal hygiene. Contrary to popular belief, I do wash my hair now and then. But perhaps not quite as much as most people.
-When I'm curious or suspicious about something, I can become obsessive in my need to discover the truth about it.
-I don't eat much, but I don't get hungry too often either. I also eat very slowly.

Pet Peeves:
-Time being consumed by pointless things. I prefer it when I'm being productive.
-Physical contact with people I don't know well
-Stupid grammatical errors
-Excessively loud noises
-James Potter. Enough said.

Favorite sounds and smells:
-The smell right after it rains
-The sound of a gentle drizzle of rain
- The smell of Lily's hair
-The scent of vanilla
-The sound of Lily's laughter

Have you ever met a boggart? What does it look like?

Only once. In first year, I got lost on my way to a class and found myself in an empty classroom with a boggart. It appeared as Lily, telling me that there had been a mistake and she wasn't really a witch. Ironically enough, that was probably her worst fear at the time too. My boggart would be much different now. Almost definitely Lily's death.

Can you cast Patronus? What does it look like? What memory do you use?

I tried a few times, after I read about the technique. After practicing for a few hours I was successful. It was a porcupine. The memory I use is of sitting with Lily and talking next to the lake, without Potter or Black anywhere nearby. It wasn't a specific memory from a specific point in time; more of a collection of all the times we've talked peacefully like that.

((Author's note: I know that in the books, Snape's patronus is a doe. My theory is that it changed after they stopped being friends, so at this time it would still be what it was before.))

What is the worst memory Dementors bring forward?

There are a few. My father hitting my mother, and her crying out in pain, and then him turning on me. Lily, crying over her sister's lack of acceptance for magic. More recently it would be calling Lily a mudblood.

If you were to find the Mirror of Erised, what would you see?

An older version of myself, looking powerful, with Lily by my side. Not any defining characteristics that make me look powerful, but simply exuding confidence and knowledge.

Tell me a couple secrets about yourself: Nobody other than Lily knows about my parents or childhood. Most of the other Slytherins don't know I'm a half-blood. And absolutely nobody knows my feelings for Lily.

Personality: To most people, I probably seem rather unpleasant. It's not that I try to be nasty to people. I just prefer to be alone most of the time. I'm not the type to joke or join in on silly, superfluous games. I'm more focused than that. And if I appear rude when I wish to be alone, oh well.

I've never felt entirely comfortable with my fellow Slytherins. I can't imagine any other house I would be in, but sometimes the Slytherins seem almost as stuck-up and egoistical as Potter and Black. Then again, I have never been completely comfortable with anyone other than Lily Evans. She is the only one who seems to understand me, even if she questions my interest in the Dark Arts. Other than with her, however, I don't share my thoughts with anybody.

I try to keep my emotions bottled up, only releasing them when I'm alone or, rarely, with Lily. But my temper often gets the best of me. I often find myself berating idiots or taking revenge on Potter when he torments me. But when I feel sadness, nobody knows. I'm good at keeping that to myself.

I am always looking for new things to preoccupy my mind. Lately, that has included my studies, thoughts of revenge on Potter, and Lily. I have also been studying the art of creating new spells, specifically dark ones.

I am generally a pessimist, which shapes my view of life as a whole. Even if you are happy for a while, bad things will always come again. There is no such thing as eternal happiness, and nobody can possibly be completely content with the quality of their life. Everybody has problems, and everybody always wants more, myself included.

Looks

Distinguishing Features: Probably my hair (long, black, greasy), my nose (long, hooked), and my skin (pale.)

Not-so-distinguishing features: I have been told by Black that I 'move like a spider.' I'm uncertain as to whether he was sincere about that or simply mindlessly insulting me.

Appearance: I have long, almost pure black hair, which is always greasy even right after I wash it. It's shoulder-length; I've never bothered with haircuts. Potter would probably say another notable feature of mine is my nose – 'abnormally large,' as he would say. Long and hooked. My eyes are pure black, which seems to suit me more than any of my other features. My skin is particularly pale and sallow, due to lack of sunlight. I am taller than the average, and very thin and bony. I usually wear Slytherin robes, of course. When I'm in Muggle clothes, I don't really have anything decent, so anything goes.

Place of Birth: Spinner's End, England

Immediate family: My mother, Eileen Prince, a pureblood witch, and my father, Tobias Snape, a muggle. No siblings.

Extended family: I've heard I have an aunt, uncle, and cousin on my father's side, but I've never met them. I don't know anybody on my mother's side, either.

Other important people: My ex-best friend, Lily Evans. I would do anything for her, and I sincerely regret losing her friendship. James Potter and Sirius Black are also 'important' people in my life, but in an entirely different way. Not a day goes by that they don't find some new way of harassing me.

Pets: None.

History:
The first memory I can recall is of my mother doing magic. Just simple magic – washing dishes. But I was young, and my mother didn't use magic that often around my father, so I was very impressed. I made her tell me everything about the wizard world.

My second memory is of my father hitting my mother, and her crying afterwards. I remember being confused about why they hated each other. I'm not at all confused about that now. I know that my father is a vile pig of a man who expects others to suit his desires and cater to his whims. Like my mother does.

Throughout my childhood, I tried to stay out of the house as much as possible. I never really had any friends, but I enjoyed watching people. When I wasn't in school (the local muggle elementary school), I spied on them from behind bushes and in trees – basically any hiding place I could find. I learned a lot about people simply from that, although it didn't really help my own social skills at all. I found the way people interacted fascinating, and it wasn't like I had anything better to do. My schoolwork was easy and unengaging.

In particular, I used to watch two girls. From listening to them talk to each other, I learned their names were Lily and Petunia. I started watching them all the time when I was 9 years old, for one simple reason: I had seen Lily do magic. She didn't even seem to realize it yet, but she was very skilled. So I watched her experimenting with her magic almost every day, until one day I decided to reveal myself. After all, it wouldn't do to have a witch not know about her powers at all.

That particular confrontation didn't end well. Apparently she took 'witch' as an insult. I was basically heartbroken, after having planned that day for weeks. But we talked again, and I told her about the wizard world, which opened the door into the first and only friendship of my life.

Over the next year and a half, I spent as much time as I could with Lily, teaching her everything I knew about magic and the wizard world. Then we got our Hogwarts letters. Of course we were both thrilled, but Petunia was very upset. I still don't understand why she couldn't just feel happy for her sister. I know that Lily is still upset over the loss of her sister's friendship.

On the train to Hogwarts, Lily and I met James Potter and Sirius Black. They were obviously hostile to me from the beginning, though I can't begin to imagine why. But that sparked enmity that has lasted four years so far and shows no signs of dying down.

Throughout my school years, I have grown more interested in the Dark Arts, to the dismay of Lily. I've found myself acquainting myself more with my fellow Slytherins, although I would hardly count any of them as friends. But I thought I would never betray Lily. Until I called her a mudblood after O.W.L.s last year. Now she refuses to speak with me. That is the one thing in life I regret most, more than anything else, and the one thing I want more than anything is to regain her friendship.

((App copied from an app for Severus I did on another site... all credit for the template goes to s1.zetaboards.com/MayhemAndMagic/))