"What if ... ?" scenarios
I really want to know what else was in that pensieve but I guess for canon it would be the meeting with Dumbledore when Snape begs him to save Lily and her family, followed by the conversation where he agrees to protect Harry on the condition that no one ever knows.
I would say that Lily either told Dumbledore the truth so someone is aware of it in the worst case scenario or Snape starts getting a hunch. After delivering the prophecy and putting Lily in danger, he hadn't had the opportunity to properly digest the whole thing but after Lily's death, he starts thinking about when they were intimate with each other, when she claimed to be pregnant, when she and Potter started dating and when she gave birth.
Most Severitus fics have this trend of Lily having prepared a charmed letter which would be delivered after a certain amount of time passes (Harry reaches a certain age) or after her death but I think it is more fun if Severus figures it out himself. Afterwards the thought consumes him and he may try magical means to confirm his fears or prove them wrong. I think a mix of both, Lily confessing the truth to Dumbledore but asking him to keep it secret and Severus figuring it out himself would be quite fun.
Harry would definitely seek out his godfather and Sirius getting involved would definitely add to the drama. I love drama 😁
Okay, I just thought of a scenario that I think would change the events of the Marauders' Era without changing Snape as a character:
What if James or Sirius were gender-swapped? So instead of James Potter, you get Jamie (Jacqueline? Jackie?) Potter, and instead of Sirius Black, you get Siri (Sirona?) Black.
They would seem less harmless and if they hung out with Pettigrew and Lupin all the time I could see people automatically pairing those two together with them or just teasing them. Female pranksters would probably be seen as more malicious than males so I could see their hobbies not being seen in a positive or forgiving light.
I think that would change Snape as a character, especially if James is the one you gender swapped. After all, the main reason his bullying was so vicious and persistent was due to jealousy over Lily. Of course, a female character could be similarly jealous, especially if she had romantic feelings for Lily, but the competitive nature and how it plays out just isn't the same with a mixed sex dynamic. Males have very specific ways of being cruel toward (or intimidated by) other males… the same is true for females against females.
If you believe (as I do) that the Marauders' (especially James's) bullying had a profound impact on Snape and the choices he made, you can't change the nature of that bullying without it having a ripple effect. Whether that's Snape making different choices or the same choices for different reasons, it would still change who he is both short-term and long-term.
I think it would change major events and decisions in his life, but I don't think it would change Severus's character, simply because I don't believe James's character would necessarily change (I'm using James as you brought him up).
There are certain traits that a character has that define them that are beyond behavior; I don't doubt that Jacqueline's behavior would change due to both her biological chemistry being different and her upbringing as a girl. However, there are values that can translate over to Jacqueline from James; without this, Jacqueline is a completely different character, as opposed to being a female James. I'll list what I can, it may change as I think more on it.
- James has a strong dislike for Slytherin, something which is gender-neutral.
- James is combative and is willing to put people down if he doesn't respect them, and he'll bully people out of amusement. Generally, boys and girls manifest this differently, but the overall sentiment is gender-neutral.
- James has a disregard for authority when it suits him, which is also gender-neutral.
- James loves Sirius as his own family. I believe this point could drastically shift Jacqueline's storyline if it manifested as romantic love.
- James is a competitive athlete, and since Quidditch is a unisex sport, Jacqueline would probably still play Quidditch.
I totally get that, and I agree with your points, though I still think gender is a profound factor, one that would significantly change both characters (Severus and James). I see that both in how they'd relate to each other, and what they'd take away from those experiences.
Of course, this also depends on what we mean by "changing someone's character", which you and I might be interpreting differently. For my part, I'm not suggesting that Severus's core traits would be transformed, but we're shaped by our choices and experiences, especially when we're young. Some of Severus's most defining moments were SWM, joining Voldemort, losing Lily, and the responsibility he felt for her death. Change any of that, and his character might be quite different than the one we know from canon.
To me, the interesting question is whether that version of his character would be better or worse. As lovely as it is to imagine him redeeming himself for other reasons, it took something extreme (the prophecy/Lily's life being threatened) for him to see the error of his ways. If that hadn't happened, which it wouldn't have if James had been a girl, what reason would he have had to switch sides?
A lot of fanfic writers (yourself included) circumvent this by giving him a do over/the benefit of hindsight, which is an awesome trope. But if you take that self-awareness out of the equation, have everything play out in real time while also changing that key motivational element (threat to Lily)? It's fascinating to imagine how that might've shaped him in both the present and the future, especially if he'd chosen to stay on Voldemort's side.
This was conceived as a Comedy fanfiction.
IF What if Tobias Snape's was a Technician, and Snape's specialty was not chemistry (potions) but "chemical engineering"?...
Title-I'm not greasy, I'm volatilizing.
Tobias Snape, a diligent Technician, and Eileen Snape, a witch who specializes in making magic potions. The couple's son dreams of revolutionizing the magical world he will one day visit.
“The Order of Merlin in the wizarding world, the Nobel Prize in the Muggle world… I will create a Snape Award that surpasses both of them!”
“What if Tobias had a stable job...”really wanted to imagine how happy was.
