Poll: What would Snape do if he survived Nagini?
Mh, I think he would first fake his death, aided alongside Fawkes like @ghost said. Sadly, people find out, and he's taken to Azkaban to await trial.
After he successfully got a pardon (which he hates because Harry Potter actually spoke for him), he returns to Hogwarts for a couple more years until he retires to the cottage in the countryside to become a grumpy senior. There, he has the odd flirty relationship with a Muggle or two - and only those because he doesn't like rehashing his past.
One long summer with slow news, he decides to give therapy a try but it didn't do anything for him (as he doesn't believe in it). So he quit.
Likewise, upon reading about a failed plot to overthrow the government in the Daily Prophet, he considers becoming a Dark Lord to show people how to do it effectively. But in the end, it's too much of a bother to implement the plan. He did put his notes behind a glass vitrine in the living room to commemorate the day he almost became a Dark Lord. During his last visit, Harry Potter actually commented on the weird parchment. Potter regularly visits, but his visits aren't welcome, by the way. A sign at the front of his cottage says so: "Potters unwelcome"
Quote from Dark Angel on August 21, 2023, 3:15 pmQuote from Ghost on August 21, 2023, 9:03 amI chose other.
My HC goes like this:
As he lay in the shrieking shack, bleeding out and barely alive, Fawkes appeared. He used his tears to close the wounds then transported Snape to a little cottage in Japan in a flash of brilliant light.
Before he died, Dumbledore contacted an old friend he had met while traveling. He told her that his dearest friend might be in need of help after the war and a safe place to stay. So, together they planned that should Snape be near death, Fawkes would heal his injuries as much as possible and transport Snape to her location.
She spends weeks getting him back on his feet. He looses his voice, but he never planned on using it again anyways, the last year having been the straw that broke the camels back and destroyed his desire to be close to anyone ever again. The scars that litter his throat are nasty, but he doesn't seem to care much. After all, he was never seen as anything less than repulsive, so what's one more defect in his appearance?
As he's lived his life under someone else's thumb, he isn't sure how to live for himself. The woman, having been told by Dumbledore prior about Snapes need to live for someone else/purpose, suggests that, perhaps, becoming the village witch might be something he could do.
Now he lives his days in a small cottage, tending to his garden, inventing and brewing, reading and helping the odd person. While he's physically mended, mentally he's still a wreck.
The people of the village try to befriend him, but he simply refuses, scared that they'll either abandon him when he makes a mistake (lily) or end up hating him (Minerva, Pomona, Filius), or even end up dying (Charity, Albus). He's now too tired and too scared to let anyone in.
His self esteem has never been lower. Having been bullied his entire life and then having to endure the extreme level of hatred everyone had for him for the entire year has made him internalize the belief that he is a disgusting monster that deserves to be alone, and that anyone who clames to be his friend is lying and will eventually end up turning their backs on him the moment he makes a mistake. The only thing keeping him going is his job as the village witch and Fawkes who has decided to become his new familliar.
I've got more but I didn't wanna make this post too long lmao.
This actually has fanfic potential and recently@zain shared an interesting Tumblr post that also featured Fawkes coming to Snape's rescue.
And don't hesitate to elaborate on your headcanon, I personally love reading long posts. 😊
I actually write fanfic and have been wanting to get back into it, so...maybe it'd be a good idea to hunker down and write this.
So, the rest kinda goes like this:
McG finds out that snape's alive. She's notified by the old lady cus the old lady was hoping the presence of an old friend might help get him to lower his walls.
She was wrong.
Being a natural leginimens, snape can read her mind and knows how she truly feels. Logically, he knows she truly is sorry and means no harm, but emotionally he truly believes she's here to finish him off.
So, he says to her, using sign language (I imagine there's a spell to translate. I also like the idea of snape using sign language instead of pen and paper.) That he's not stupid, that he's not gonna fall for her lies again and that he doesn't need anyone, etc. Basically he just unloads on her.
She's saddned but is determined to help him. So, it's gonna be a fic where Snape very slowly heals. But he never completely heals cus I feel that sometimes some wounds are forever. You know? Sorry if the explanation is crap. The story will be much better.
@ghost that definitely sounds good and I do get the part with not all wounds healing completely. A fairytale happy end wouldn't really suit Snape.
@zain I love this! You truly should contemplate turning this into a longer oneshot! Attempting to become a Dark Lord but dropping the plan because it's too much hassle and the "Potters unwelcome" although Potter seems to be let in quite often is pure gold
Someone finds him close to death and attempts to hurriedly port-key his body to St Mungo's. They are in a rush due to all the chaos and assume he's already dead, so it goes wrong but no one notices. He ends up in the HP version of the 'backrooms', where he spends the next however long attempting to escape with the help (or not) of other people stuck there and initially wishing that he had died. At least, based on my game! ; D
Severus wakes up at St.Mungo's but as soon as he's able to, he leaves.
With the Dark Lord gone and with having effectively died, there is nothing that ties him to the wizarding world anymore. His duty was completed, debt was repaid.
He goes on a leisurely journey across the coasts of the U.K., stopping at smaller seaside towns for a couple of days or weeks to sample local cuisine, take in the vibes, and maybe write a postcard or two to the Malfoys.
Celeriac soup in Aberdeen, Cullen Skink in Lerwick, fish and chips in Ayr, cod fillet with mustard sauce in Stornoway... the world is full of delicious foods he never had the chance to enjoy.
Up until now.
I picked fake his death but I think the dude would also "retire" somewhere else too. The man is a wizard who can do some pretty nutty stuff, the world is his oyster. Honestly I could see him just traveling and checking the world out. We don't really get to see much of his thoughts but I always wondered if he got stir crazy. He's practically spent all his life on an island and a castle, did he wonder what was out there on the main continent of Europe? Did he want to see what they're doing in the far east, middle east, oceania, americas?
