Title: From Severus to Sherlock - A Character History
Series: Sherlock!Wizardverse
Fandoms: Harry Potter/BBC!Sherlock
Pairings: Drarry
Author: TorchwoodTimelord (outline); Lady Bryan (fic version)
Beta: None
Legal: We don't own the characters created by Ms. Rowling or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Or stuff controlled by the BBC.

MISC: This was originally a rough character write up for the backstory of Sherlock Holmes/Severus James Potter Malfoy for the Sherlock!Wizardverse. It has been reformatted and slightly rewritten into this fic-like version for all to enjoy. This is an abridged version from what exists in hardcopy notes, and spans from his birth and childhood (briefly) to after The Reichenbach Fall, leading into the original Sherlock!Wizardverse fic, "John, I'm a Wizard". This, like the rest of the Wizard!Verse, has been cross-posted to AO3.


On January 5th, 1933 in the wizarding district of Venice Sherlock Holmes was born.

That was, of course, not the name given to him by his parents. He was properly christened Severus James Potter-Malfoy on the day of his birth. Named for one of the bravest men his parents had ever known. Well, that's the story they tend to tell.

He was an odd child. He kept to himself, mostly. Adored animals of all sorts, and took an early interest in the muggle sciences. He and his family moved to London, England before his second birthday. He continued his mostly quiet childhood bouncing between the family homes of Grimmauld Place and Potter-Malfoy Manor in Wiltshire.

At age eleven he began his education in earnest at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the rolling hills of Scotland. Young Severus had the dubious honor of having been the first Malfoy at Hogwarts to be sorted into a house other than Slytherin. A proud Ravenclaw, Severus threw himself into his studies. His affinity for the muggle sciences gave him a slight advantage in the study of potions and Herbology. His powerful lineage gave him a natural ability for dark magic as well as charms and defense. Like his older brother, Scorpius Mycroft, he excelled in all his subjects save one. Divination. Though this had been due mainly to a lack of interest in the subject from the start rather than lack of ability.

His years at Hogwarts were, in and of themselves, uneventful save for the near weekly arguments with his professors and weekend detentions. It had not been until his final year, at his birthday in January of 1950. Severus turned seventeen, and had come of age before the end of his 6th year. At seventeen, young witches and wizards come of age, and as such are no longer restricted by the laws concerning under age uses of magic outside of clearly defined situations (school and minor uses at home). Seventeen is also the age when young wizards and witches are able to inherit, not only material goods and wealth, but magical abilities and power as well.

For Severus, this was both a time of celebration... and shame. In addition to losing the under age restrictions, and receiving a significant boost in his magical ability and power (he was the child of the most powerful wizard in the world, and the second most powerful in Europe after all) he received what was known as a Creature Inheritance.

As a result, the once calm and calculating Ravenclaw lost control of his magic. His once kind, but outspoken disposition became cold and hateful. He became a Creature, an Other. A rare and beautiful force of raw, wild magic and the primordial forces of nature. When the clock struck midnight, chiming in the first hour of his seventeenth year, his magic flared out of control. His body began to snap and bend, changing against his will and before his very eyes. Without realizing what was happening to him, he had destroyed half the Hogwarts library, where he'd been studying long after curfew. When the wave of power had subsided, those who came to see what the commotion had been took him to the hospital wing for immediate attention.

o0o

Severus had awoken on a cot in the hospital wing of the ancient castle, quite surprised to see his elder brother sitting beside his bed. Scorpius Mycroft, no longer a student, had been waiting calmly for his younger brother to wake. Severus panicked, unsure of where he was. Not understanding why Scorpius had come.

The elder Malfoy brother had seen his distress and reached his hand out to calm him. Quietly, Scorpius told him everything that he knew. Everything the medi-witch had been able to tell him when he had arrived, the first to respond to the letters from Hogwarts to the Potter-Malfoy family. He had already sent word, after his arrival, to their parents to notify them that their second born was alright. The library... not so much.

When Scorpius had left that evening, Severus could not shake the feeling that something deeply troubled his brother. Something he was unwilling to share.

Severus spent the next few days under observation due to the medi-witch's notice that Severus had begun using wandless magic as he slept. A magical ability that could pose a danger to the other students in his dormitory if left unchecked.

Eventually he was allowed to return to Ravenclaw tower, and back to his classes the day after. Aside from his height, the physical changers to Severus were not immediately observed.

Though he had always thought of himself as quite fit, his form a little stocky, but not enough to note it. After his sudden growth spurt, however, he had become much more slender.

Severus attributed this to the fact that his height had changed and thus the weight distribution must invariably do the same so that he would be proportionally sound. The only problem he saw with this had been the need not only for longer sleeves and trousers, but that he needed to have his clothes taken in quite a bit at the waist and chest.

Over the following months he discovered greater dexterity. This was found by accident, as he had not been paying as close attention as he should have during Potions, and had unconsciously developed a new method for cutting peony root with far less trouble. Following this he found he had become faster in hsi mad dashes to reach classes on time. This, of course, he attributed to his height difference as well. Having longer legs meant a larger stride. In turn this helped him to cross distances more efficiently and with less effort. Severus had, unfortunately, neglected to note that aside from the physical changes there were significant emotional and psychological ones as well.

Where he had previously been warm and polite, kind and considerate, he was now distant and cold. Openly hostile to those he came into disagreement with. Students in his own house often remarked how different he had become. Critical of others to the point of callousness and insult.

His behavior had become so different, so suddenly, that his younger sister Lily, a Gryffindor 5 years his junior, had written home to their parents to tell them of the changes she had noticed. This was, of course, near the end of his sixth year.

Shortly before final exams, Severus found himself pulled from school for the weekend and taken to St. Mungoes, where he had been met by his elder brother and his birth-father, Harry. Diagnostic spells were cast and charms were done for everything from hexes and curses to accidental side effects of potions and worse, drugs.

Severus thought it all ridiculous, but to appease "mummy" he had sat through it all with a straight face. he had not been hexed, nor had he been cursed. He refused potions unless otherwise necessary, such as to ease the pain of a broken leg after an encounter with a griffin in Care of Magical Creatures classes. He had never bothered with drugs for the sole purpose that it would upset "mummy" and would likely result in his removal from school.

By the time he had been released back to his family, the medi-witches had at last discovered what had caused the sudden changes in the young man. Discretely they had asked to speak with Harry alone. His elder brother managed to coax him out of the office with the promise of a meal. When Harry met them in the lobby an hour and a half later, Severus noted the surprise in Harry's face of the information he had been given... but also a burden he could not quit process fully at that point in time. Severus had tried to get an answer, but was told he must wait until after exams. It wasn't anything serious, and it wasn't going to kill him.

Not wanting to cause a scene, Severus agreed to wait and his brother had taken him back to school.

He threw himself into his studies, having lost the weekend to do so, and completed his exams confident that he had passed them all. His final evening at the school before they would all be sent home for the summer break was spent at the end of term feast. However, a curious exchange took place on his way to the Great Hall. he had been approached by the Divination professor and his head of house. Luna Longbottom, second wife of his Herbology professor, Neville Longbottom. She had smiled at him and asked after his parents. he said they were fine, and she patted him on the shoulder. Then, she spoke of hedgehogs in jumpers. Severus, unsure what to make of her words, asked her to clarify. She had laughed and told him the most ridiculous of things before bidding him a fond farewell and left for the feast.

When his sister had found him shortly after, a look of confusion mixed with horror upon his face, she asked him what had happened. He told her of Mrs. Longbottom's peculiar comment of hedgehogs and jumpers, and then he told her what the woman had said next...