Snape Headcanons
Quote from mmlf on October 11, 2022, 1:12 pmThat last headcanon should be a story, Wisp! That would be a fascinating dynamic to see: Snape being in debt to someone , especially someone as manipulative as Lord Voldemort. I think it was either Professor Horace Slughorn or Professor Dumbledore who spoke of the student Voldemort attracting many different kinds of people. I'll bet they were people who needed protection, and few people needed protection more than Severus Snape!
I agree! Great idea for a story! Lily really would be heartless, it would be fitting.
Quote from Naaga on April 14, 2023, 4:02 amI heard a headcanon that Severus Snape's middle name was actually Severus given by Eileen and he had a generic muggle first name given by his father.
His hatred of his father led to him rejecting that muggle first name and using his middle name Severus for his given and official name.
What are your thoughts about this?
There is a story in which his name is Richard Severus Snape.
Do you have the name of that story, @celaenaisabel ?
Quote from mmlf on July 18, 2024, 5:30 amDo you have the name of that story, @celaenaisabel ?
Not sure if it's the same one, but "A Difference In the Family: The Snape Chronicles" by Rannaro is a fairly long series detailing Severus' life from birth to death.
Severus is named "Richard Severus Snape" to compromise between Eileen and Tobias' wizarding and muggle heritage.
It's a favourite of mine.
Quote from BitterBrit on July 18, 2024, 9:37 amQuote from mmlf on July 18, 2024, 5:30 amDo you have the name of that story, @celaenaisabel ?
Not sure if it's the same one, but "A Difference In the Family: The Snape Chronicles" by Rannaro is a fairly long series detailing Severus' life from birth to death.
Severus is named "Richard Severus Snape" to compromise between Eileen and Tobias' wizarding and muggle heritage.
It's a favourite of mine.
This is the one I am talking about.
I really love it when I write an HP/Snape fanfic, and headcanon just unintentionally springs out.
The other day I was writing a story, and suddenly there's Eileen Prince's estranged older brother right there. (I've decided to name him Bassianus.)
Quote from Ghost on March 13, 2024, 10:32 amQuote from cometis on March 13, 2024, 10:06 amQuote from Ghost on March 13, 2024, 10:04 amQuote from cometis on March 13, 2024, 9:52 amJK Rowling said that the reason Snape doesn't wash his hair is because he values his other talents. I think the following process took place before Snape came to that conclusion.
Below are my headcanon guesses.
Snape is used to not being able to take a bath and doesn't mind. > But now that he has come to Hogwarts, he can take a bath and do laundry. > He has to buy things like shampoo and soap that suit his body on his own. > He doesn't have the money for that, and would rather use the money he lacks. I'll buy more books and medicine.>No matter how much I fix something, people who don't like it look at me with hate, but people like Lily and Lucius who don't have any prejudice about themselves don't say anything.>Then, I focus more on studying than taking care of my appearance.
Although he was used to not bathing, people who were not prejudiced against Snape did not particularly request such a thing. In addition, Alan Rickman said that the more the Marauders taunted Snape, the more he locked himself up. In reality, many people who are confined do not take care of themselves, so it seemed like Snape's lack of self-care went through this process.
One thing I found interesting within the books is that while Harry and the gryffs are always making fun of Snape about his har...not once is he ever described as smelly or dirty. So, he clearly does shower/bathe.
I truly do wonder if Snape's hair is that bad or if the gryffs are being jerks. Either way, I do truly love your hc and agree with it to an extent.
I also wonder what adult Snape could've been like if Hogwarts had been a place of acceptance and if the marauders had just left him alone.
In Korea, there are old and new translations, but in the old translation, it only says that Snape had old robes, messy hair, and gray panties when he was a student. The In the new translation, Snape is described as pale and 'dirty', like a plant grown in the dark, and wears stained panties....... The translator is a fucking bastard.....
But in my opinion, adult Snape takes care of himself. The fact that he shaves beard is proof that he soaps face. And as for not washing their hair, I don't think it's strange because I often see European and American men who wash their hair less often and their hair gets greasy. In the UK, the water is particularly bad because it is lime water.
:0 ooh! I always find it really interesting and cool to see how Snape and his mannerisms are translated in different languages. The change of his last name is also really cool. My two personal fave ones are Severus Rogue and Severus Snow.
Lime water could def be the cause. I also think one cause could be the potions fumes and the fact that he teaches in a closed room in the dungeons, surrounded by fumes, and im willing to bet it gets pretty humid which would, in turn, cause his hair to get kinda gross due to being exposed to that all day.
I agree!
While I saw some people headcanoning Snape as for Italian/Romanian roots before, I lean towards a headcanon that he might have (even very, very distant from like medieval or pre-medieval even times) Nordic roots. Mostly because etymology of his last name as a word derives from the Old Norse (and also present in modern Icelandic) word “sneypa” meaning pretty much “(to) disgrace, shame, dishonor” (which on its own… brings me to mind some random thoughts of where said surname might come from. Said ancestor being a traitor of sorts, perhaps?)
I’d even much lean towards to those older times, perhaps some of his great grandpas being a Viking staying on the British Isles after one of the invasions/raids happening on the span of 8th-11th century and happening to marry an Anglo-Saxon woman. Hell, even the modern studies show that 3-4% of people living on British Isles nowadays presumably yield Norwegian Viking ancestry.
Quote from Waldemar on September 17, 2024, 5:44 pmWhile I saw some people headcanoning Snape as for Italian/Romanian roots before, I lean towards a headcanon that he might have (even very, very distant from like medieval or pre-medieval even times) Nordic roots. Mostly because etymology of his last name as a word derives from the Old Norse (and also present in modern Icelandic) word “sneypa” meaning pretty much “(to) disgrace, shame, dishonor” (which on its own… brings me to mind some random thoughts of where said surname might come from. Said ancestor being a traitor of sorts, perhaps?)
I’d even much lean towards to those older times, perhaps some of his great grandpas being a Viking staying on the British Isles after one of the invasions/raids happening on the span of 8th-11th century and happening to marry an Anglo-Saxon woman. Hell, even the modern studies show that 3-4% of people living on British Isles nowadays presumably yield Norwegian Viking ancestry.
I think both are possible, if the Nordic roots are on his father's side (because surname) and the Italian/Romanian roots are on his mother's
Quote from The Gestalt Prince on September 17, 2024, 6:26 pmQuote from Waldemar on September 17, 2024, 5:44 pmWhile I saw some people headcanoning Snape as for Italian/Romanian roots before, I lean towards a headcanon that he might have (even very, very distant from like medieval or pre-medieval even times) Nordic roots. Mostly because etymology of his last name as a word derives from the Old Norse (and also present in modern Icelandic) word “sneypa” meaning pretty much “(to) disgrace, shame, dishonor” (which on its own… brings me to mind some random thoughts of where said surname might come from. Said ancestor being a traitor of sorts, perhaps?)
I’d even much lean towards to those older times, perhaps some of his great grandpas being a Viking staying on the British Isles after one of the invasions/raids happening on the span of 8th-11th century and happening to marry an Anglo-Saxon woman. Hell, even the modern studies show that 3-4% of people living on British Isles nowadays presumably yield Norwegian Viking ancestry.
I think both are possible, if the Nordic roots are on his father's side (because surname) and the Italian/Romanian roots are on his mother's
Whereas it is possible, and in that combination it could make sense too, I personally lean towards more so a theory of his mother (at least in the most recent ancestry) was of Irish/otherwise Gaelic descent. Her name (Eileen) is essentially most commonly seen in Ireland and is an anglicized Gaelic name “Eibhlin”, which by the way means “the strong/desired one”.
Not sure if it was ever confirmed or referred to head-on in canon, but I personally believe that both Severus’ and other wizards’ Latin and Etruscan/Greek names might not always come from a specifically Romanesque ancestry as much as… the tradition and certain closer contact with Latin on day-to-day basis running amongst those of pure and half blood. For the same reason Albus, Minerva, Draco, Lucius, Filius, Bellatrix, Cornelius or Dolores might yield names with exactly that kind of roots. Wizards use Latin in spell incantations and for naming them, so I always kind of naturally assumed that some of them might’ve chosen to name their kids to signify their wizard roots.
And by that, I can also add that I personally headcanon Eileen might’ve had pretty good intuition, maybe even divination/legillimency skills to a degree that allowed her to predict Severus’ personality on at least basic traits level. Severus pretty much means “stern/austere” in Latin, and that already feels to me as something much less… random or working as just a general meaning a random good quality parents in many cultures gave with the intent of the child to hold, too. However, Severus holds a rather… harsh, very defined and specific name of rather negative connotation which none of the other characters named above (besides Dolores to a smaller degree) have. It’s rather uncommon to my knowledge in Anglo-Saxon cultures and more so remind me of some traditional names in tribal Slavic (and Polish tribes as a more tight and defined group that I have knowledge of) cultures where negative sounding names were given before the child reached an age where they could finally receive an official, actually meaningful name that fit their personality traits or good qualities (having an intent of working as a “deception towards any potential evil spirits preying on children). It’s almost as if Eileen already had a “feeling” about her son, of what his personality will turn out to be and thus giving him something “justice”, or perhaps gave him a “protective” name that just turned out to actually suit him.
