The Potions Master: Take Two
By: TheFifthCharmedOne
Disclaimer: No, I don't own Harry Potter, or the splendid Instagram post that inspired this.
Summary: In which there was no Wizarding War, so Lily and James were never murdered, Harry writes home to his mum and dad to tell them about his first week at Hogwarts. Naturally, when they learn about Snape, they take matters into their own hands.
Harry Potter was not a famous boy.
He wasn't known as the Boy Who Lived, or the Chosen One, or Scarhead, or any of those nicknames because no one had a reason to give them to him.
He walked through the halls of Hogwarts with his humble strut, and the professors that had taught his parents often spoke of the equal combination of Lily and James's genes that produced him.
You look just like your father, but you got your mother's eyes. Harry could count on all of his fingers and toes how many times he'd heard that. In fact, one of the only differences between Harry and his parents was that he'd been sorted into Slytherin, instead of Gryffindor.
So when he walked into the Potions classroom for the first time, he was a bit surprised to discover that Severus Snape, his mum's former best friend and dad's childhood rival, was teaching the course.
"Potter!" Snape's voice oozed derision, and Harry just barely kept himself from rolling his eyes. He straightened his green and silver tie and met the professor's gaze.
"Yes, Professor?"
"What's the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"
"There isn't one." Harry replied. "They're the same plant."
Snape blinked, clearly surprised by Harry's correct answer.
"Tell me, where might I find a bezoar?"
"In the stomach of a goat, though I'm not sure why you'd be disemboweling an animal when you can just purchase one already packaged for you at Diagon Alley." His fellow Slytherins snickered behind him, despite the fact that Harry was disrespecting their Head of House.
"Five points from Slytherin for backtalk." Snape said, clearly thrown by Harry's Potions knowledge. Harry shrugged. "One more question: how might I make a Draught of Living Death?"
"Add the powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood." Harry said casually. "Aren't you going to ask questions to the rest of the class?" he added.
Snape cast him a vicious glare, but turned his attention to his actual job: teaching.
Dear Mum and Dad,
Well, first, I got sorted into Slytherin. Sorry, dad. I tried to get the Hat to put me in Gryffindor, but it wouldn't budge.
Second, mum, did you know that Snape teaches at Hogwarts? He's the Potions Master – from what you, dad, and Sirius told me he should be in Azkaban, right? Weird that Dumbledore hired him. He tried to embarrass me in front of the class by asking me really complex questions, but the joke was on him because I got all of them right. (Thanks for that extra tutoring by the way.)
Yeah, Hogwarts is as amazing as you both told me, and I've made a few friends in all the houses. Ron Weasley in Gryffindor, Cedric Diggory in Hufflepuff, Cho Chang in Ravenclaw, (she's really pretty, and a year older than me) and Draco Malfoy, also in Slytherin. It's weird to think that one bloke tried to destroy this place because he had archaic beliefs.
Not to say that some people don't still believe in blood purity. Draco's dad thinks pure-bloods are the best, but Draco doesn't care all that much.
Anyway, I have to work on my fifteen inch essay for Snape – Dad, what exactly did you do to make him hate you so much - so I'll write you guys next week.
Love you,
Harry
Lily Potter stood in front of her kitchen window, cleaning dishes the Muggle way, when she saw Harry's snowy owl, Hedwig, flying in from the west.
"Oh, James! Harry's written to us!" she cried out, and both James and Sirius came running in to read the letter over Lily's shoulder.
"Slytherin? Damn, the hat's gone barmy! I thought he'd be Gryffindor for sure!" Sirius exclaimed.
"Hasn't stopped him from making friends though." Lily smiled at James, who curled his fingers around her waist. "He's got your extroverted attitude."
"And your incredible potions knowledge." James said, pecking her quickly. "God, Snivellus really needs to learn to let things go."
"He's the one who was a bigoted asshole." grumbled Sirius. "I don't blame you for breaking contact with him at all, Red."
Lily laughed, but the smile quickly turned sad. Despite everything, Sev had been a wonderful friend to her at one point, and her chest tightened at the thought of him tormenting her son just because he couldn't move on.
"Oh, I need to send Harry the Map now that he's at school!" James said jovially, grinning. "He'll get into all sorts of mischief!"
"James!" Lily scolded. "He's there to learn, not to pull pranks."
"Aw but Lils, pranks were the best part of Hogwarts." James whined, and Lily rolled her eyes. She walked toward the stairs and pointed at the two former Marauders threateningly.
"If I get a letter from Dumbledore because Harry's acting out, I'll make both of you pay."
James grinned and blew her a kiss.
Upstairs, Lily's own owl, Hera, greeted her with a soft hoot. Her mate and James's owl, Zeus, was asleep under his wing. Glancing around the room at their pictures of Lily and James's wedding, Harry as a baby, and their whole little family out for an evening when Harry was still a child, she couldn't resist the urge to sit down at her makeup table and write out a letter.
Dear Severus,
I've just heard from Harry about his first week at school, and I had to say something.
LEAVE MY SON ALONE.
I will not stand for you treating him like he is less than any other student simply because of our shared past. There was never a choice between you or James, no matter what you've cooked up in your head. I never had those kind of feelings for you, and I'm sorry that yours are unrequited, but there is no reason for you to treat my son unfairly because of it.
He is one of your students – he's even in your House – and if I hear anything else about you mistreating him or any other student, I will write to both Dumbledore and the Ministry to get you sacked and your Mastery revoked at the same time.
Don't test me, Sev.
It's been fifteen years. Grow up.
Sincerely,
Lily Evans-Potter
"You're so sexy when you're mad." James crooned into Lily's ear, and she snuggled into him. "Hedwig's gone, but I didn't send the Map. You're right, he's not there to be the next Marauder."
Lily smiled widely and kissed her husband.
When Hera flew in from the Hogwarts owlery the next morning, Severus Snape's heart, shriveled and broken thing that it was, leapt in his chest. Perhaps Lily had finally considered forgiving him?
The beautiful red and brown tawny owl bit him on the nose, as if to rebuke him for the thought, and flew off with a strong flap of her wings.
Severus read the letter, and he felt eyes on him as he did.
Lily's eyes stared at him from James Potter's body, and Severus felt emotion clog in his throat.
For what was likely the thousandth time in his life, he resented himself and his choices.
He clenched his fists so hard around the parchment that it tore slightly, and the ink bled through onto his hands.
Needless to say, Snape never mistreated a student again after that.
A/N: This was quite fun to write, actually. It helped clear up my writer's block and really made me think about what would've happened if Voldemort hadn't gained power in the 1960s and 1970s, and how Harry's character would be different if he was raised by his parents.
I always felt that Harry exhibited more of a Slytherdor personality – part Slytherin and part Gryffindor – but in his first year the Slytherin side was definitely more present. I also don't think the Hat just wanted to put Harry in Slytherin because of Voldemort's horcrux. I honestly believe that he would've done well in Slytherin if the story had been told differently.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed! Please comment/review!
-Charmy
P.S. For anyone that's waiting on the sequel to "When They Think of Me (They Think of You)", I promise it's a work in progress. I haven't abandoned it and I won't, it's just been a little harder to work on of late.
P.S.S. I have a lot of other stories in the works, and you can find information on some of them on my profiles on both AO3 and .