Quite upsetting to read, but you've really handled the delicate situation very well. And I like how you've portrayed Snape, as a good man essentially. As this is only a one shot i'd love to think that afterwards Snape paid a visit to the Dursleys and threatened them with something nasty unless they laid off Harry.

This was an interesting twist on the traditions “Snape and Harry hate each other” concept. You kept Snape very much in character, particularly in describing him as “swooping” in on the students and needling them so that he had an excuse to take points away. I can easily see him being irritated and nasty like this, particularly at Harry.

However, the change in the middle, when Snape realizes that Harry has been abused, is also believable. Though Snape is rather a wanker, I think he’s shown us that he does care about his students. He protected Harry in PS/SS, so it’s very believable that he would protect him here, especially if he identified with him, like he does at the end. That was a nice twist there, tying the two boys’ stories together and implying that they really aren’t that different from one another.

I really liked how you opened the story with Snape’s internal dialogue. It shows the reader immediately exactly how he’s feeling, and it is a great contrast with his feelings for Harry at the end. It also shows how initially superficial Snape is; he bases his judgment of Harry on his feelings towards Harry’s father, mother, and celebrity status. Then later, when he realizes that Harry has been abused, he starts to question that judgment, and in the end, compares Harry to himself rather than James, and realizes that they have much more in common than he previously believed.

Altogether an excellent story, and one that I much enjoyed reading!


Author's Response: Thank you so much for the lengthy review! I wish I had time to write more than that, but I'm late and must be off... but really, thank you for your analytical comment - it was muchly appreciated =)