Fanfic / Nobody Cared

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Nobody Cared is a Harry Potter fanfic written by etherian. The original version can be read here on FanFiction.Net. An updated version, which also has some of the longer chapters split into parts, can be found here on Archive of Our Own.

Upon returning from shopping for his first year at Hogwarts, all of Harry's new supplies are destroyed by his uncle, and he is forbidden from going to Hogwarts. Professor Snape is assigned to collect Harry from his house when he doesn't make it onto the train to school. He doesn't expect to find Harry locked in a cupboard under the stairs, beaten and starved. Motivated by a vow he'd made to Lily not long after Harry was born, Snape decides that he has to take care of Harry, since it's obvious no one else will.

The author has also written a sequel one-shot, Nobody Cared: King's Island, set during the summer after the main story.

Nobody Cared provides examples of:

• Adaptational Early Appearance: At the Hogwarts Halloween party, Lupin is introduced, replacing McGonagall as the new Deputy Headmaster and Head of Gryffindor. This is two years earlier than his canon introduction as the Defense professor during Harry's third year.
• Adaptational Heroism: Lucius Malfoy is a much more heroic character than he is in canon. He did not join Voldemort of his own free will, but rather was forced into it by his father. He doesn't share Voldemort's ideas about pureblood superiority or take any joy in murder or torture. His claim that he only became a Death Eater because he was under the Imperius curse from canon is actually true in this AU. It was mainly his father who forced his actions using it. Ultimately, Lucius ends up being a key player in Voldemort's final defeat.
• Adaptational Villainy:
  • In canon, Hermione's parents are kind and supporting of their daughter. Here, they're outright abusive to Hermione and practically disown when she's revealed to have innate magic within her from her letter to Hogwarts.
  • Dumbledore is shown to be far more manipulative and uncaring than his canon counterpart.
• Adoptive Name Change:
  • After Severus adopts Harry, he has Harry's surname changed from Potter to Snape. From then on, Harry is always referred to as Mr. Snape while at school.
  • After being adopted by the Malfoys, Hermione has to undergo a Naming Ceremony to officially become part of the family. Her name is changed from Hermione Jean Granger to Hermione Iris Malfoy.
• Angry Collar Grab: Snape yanks Marcus Flint by the back of his collar when he catches him bullying Draco.
• Baby Be Mine: During their investigation, Lucius, Narcissa, and Severus discover that after disowning Hermione, the Grangers "adopted" a five-year-old replacement child, Araminta, who was not actually adopted. She was kidnapped from another family by an associate of Jean Granger's shady brother. Jean admits that she had the girl kidnapped rather than adopting a child in a legitimate way because the adoption process would take too long and people would ask too many questions about Hermione's disappearance.
• Back from the Dead: During the final battle against Voldemort, Hermione is killed. Once Voldemort has been destroyed by Anubis, Lucius pleads to the god to return Hermione. Anubis eventually agrees since she has an innocent soul and was tricked into being there, but requires another soul to take her place. Hermione is brought back to life once Anubis kills Dumbledore and judges his soul.
• Bewitched Amphibians: In the story Harry imagines, the Dark Man tricks the silly king into drinking a potion to turn him into a frog after the king achieves immortality and starts to abuse his powers.
• Bitch Slap: Lucius slaps George Granger with the back of his hand after George tells him that he thinks it's better to pretend Hermione is insane and away in an asylum than admit he "fathered something unnatural".
• Blood Magic: The Cruor mea cruor ritual involves the use of blood in tying together two unrelated people as biological parent and child. Seven drops of blood are needed from each participant and are added to a specific potion, which is drunk by the two at the end of the ritual. The ritual is banned due to it being considered blood magic; however, Severus performs it on himself and Harry in secret to prevent others from being able to block his adoption of Harry.
• Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: Draco calls the Weasley twins' special powers "wicked". Hermione retorts that they're "creepy". The twins respond that they're "wicked creepy".
• Bring My Brown Pants:
  • Snape's Past Experience Nightmare reveals that he pissed himself in fright when he encountered Lupin in his werewolf form after being tricked by Sirius.
  • George Granger soils himself when Lucius jabs his wand at him while yelling at him and Jean about their abandonment of Hermione.
• Calming Tea: Snape often gives Harry a cup of tea when he wakes up from a nightmare or goes through a stressful event. He believes tea is a great way to heal from these experiences.
• Childish Pillow Fight: During their first night in the dorms together, Harry and Draco have a pillow fight that ends up covering much of their room with feathers. This later results in an argument between the two when they're forced to clean it up.
• Chores Without Powers: Part of Draco's punishment for making a mess in his dorm room and getting into a fight with Harry about it is cleaning up the dorm, including the bathroom, without using magic.
• Christmas Episode: Chapters 22 and 23 (Chapters 35 and 36 in the Archive of Our Own version) are a two-part Christmas special about Severus and Harry's first Christmas together. The first part focuses on their Christmas shopping and other preparations. The second part features their celebrations on the day of, as well as the Malfoys' Yule Ball.
• Circus of Magic: While in France, Lucius takes Draco, Harry, and Severus to see Le Cirque de Merveille, a magical circus where all of the performers are witches and wizards.
• Content Warnings:
  • Chapter 10 (Chapter 19 in the Archive of Our Own version) begins with a warning about a scene of realistic abuse and bullying.
  • Chapter 18 (Chapter 31 in the Archive of Our Own version) opens with a trigger warning about a scene with a description of child abuse within the chapter.
• Crash-Into Hello: Severus' mother and father first met at a bookstore when his father accidentally ran into his mother while both were carrying a pile of books. They quickly ended up in a relationship and later married.
• Crazy Cat Lady: Mrs. Figg is even more of a crazy cat lady than she is in canon. She has a large number of cats, ten are mentioned sitting around outside her house and an unspecified number are seen inside. The furniture in her house is all damaged from the cats' scratching and the inside of her house stinks of cats and litter boxes. She is also known for getting into long discussions about her cats, including gross stories the listener doesn't want to hear, such as describing their hairballs at length.
• Dead Person Conversation:
  • James and Lily appear in a weak ghostly form while Severus and Harry are performing the Cruor mea cruor ritual. They are unable to verbally speak to the living, but smile and nod to give their blessing of Severus adopting Harry.
  • In King's Island, James and Lily appear a second time to protect Poppy from Jonno. This time, they are able to speak, although it apparently takes a lot of effort. They speak with Severus and Lucius, who come to rescue Poppy, and tell them how to defeat Jonno.
• Death by Adaptation:
  • Not long after being arrested for his crimes, Vernon Dursley is found dead in the prison showers, having been beaten to death by the other prisoners.
  • Voldemort is killed not long after the students return from Christmas break. Severus and Lucius devise a way to destroy the Fiend that is all that remains of Voldemort using the Hourglass of Anubis. They summon the Egyptian god to judge Voldemort's soul, and Anubis is angered by Voldemort's attempt at escaping death. He is quickly destroyed.
  • After the battle against Voldemort, Anubis agrees to bring Hermione back to life in exchange for Dumbledore's life, since it was his fault that she was in the situation to be killed in the first place.
• Death Faked for You: Severus and Lucius, with the assistance of Detective Stanley, fake Hermione's death in the Muggle world in order to cover up her abrupt disappearance after her parents disown her and she comes to live in the Wizarding World permanently.
• Death in Custody: Not long after being arrested for his crimes, Vernon Dursley is found dead in the prison showers, having been beaten to death by other prisoners. It's made very clear by those who killed him that it was because Vernon was an unrepentant pedophile who bragged about his abuse of several children.
• Detect Evil: George has the ability to detect Dark Magic and evil by touching the source of the magic. This is how he was able to tell that Severus and Lucius were truly good and not just pretending. His twin, Fred, has the opposite ability; he can detect Light Magic and goodness through the same means.
• Disabled in the Adaptation: In King's Island, it's revealed once Sirius' name is cleared and he is freed from Azkaban, he had completely lost his mind and retreated into his animagus form. He becomes a permanent patient at St. Mungo's. It's considered unlikely he will ever be a functional person again.
• Doorstopper: The fic clocks in at 385,357 words, with 40 chapters in the main story plus a sequel one-shot.
• Dramatic Shattering: Severus slams his teacup down against its saucer, causing both to shatter, out of rage while arguing with Dumbledore over multiple issues caused by Dumbledore's manipulations.
• Driven to Suicide: In King's Island, it's revealed that Bellatrix killed herself after Voldemort's apparent defeat eleven years earlier, since she didn't see a reason to live without him.
• Ear Ache: Mrs. Weasley drags Ron out of Dumbledore's office by his ear after he gets suspended from Hogwarts.
• Education Mama: Hermione's mother, Jean, has been incredibly hard on her about her education since she was very young. Hermione was forced into music lessons, etiquette classes, and more for most of her life prior to going to Hogwarts. Jean read Hermione classic novels starting from when she was a baby, and when Hermione got older, they were all she was allowed to read. Jean did not care about Hermione's education in all subjects, though. Any areas that she thought would be useless in Hermione securing a wealthy, high-class husband were to be ignored and Hermione was prevented from studying them. When Jean found out Hermione was a witch, she practically disowned her, calling her a disappointment and a failure for ruining all of the plans Jean had for her life.
• Embarrassing Old Photo: Severus mentions how James used to tell everyone at the Order meetings about Harry as a baby. Harry asks if James would show off photos of him naked in the bath. He runs off in embarrassment when Severus confirms that he did.
• Excrement Statement: Dean Thomas pees on Hermione after he, Seamus, and Ron attack her and leave her lying on the ground.
• Eye Colour Change: When Harry is woken up in the middle of dreaming a vision of Voldemort's actions, his eyes are maroon, like Voldemort's, instead of his usual green. This is the first warning sign that Harry is at least somewhat possessed before he casts unknown magic at Snape.
• Fingore: The news article about Algernon Torrance's arrest after he attacked multiple Slytherin students in dangerous "pranks" mentions that one of his victims was Blaise Zabini, who'd had all of his fingers turned around backwards and was still in the infirmary recovering from the damage.
• Girls Love Stuffed Animals: Invoked. One of the only interests of Hermione's that her mother encouraged was her large collection of stuffed animals, because it was her belief that girls are supposed to like stuffed animals.
• A Glass in the Hand: Lucius clenches his hand too tightly around the brandy glass he'd been holding out of anger when Severus tells him that Dumbledore knew Quirrell was possessed by Voldemort when he hired him.
• God in Human Form: The Big Bad of King's Island is Jonno Laufeyson, the Norse god Loki in disguise.
• Gotta Have It, Gonna Steal It: Hermione has a history of stealing books from libraries and secondhand stores because her mother wouldn't let her buy them and she felt that she needed to have them. This attitude carries over to when she, Harry, and Draco want a very expensive ingredient to make a specific potion, she encourages Harry to steal it for them from Snape's supplies.
• Got Volunteered: When Lupin takes the job of replacing McGonagall as Deputy Headmaster, Dumbledore also forces him into the position of being the Gryffindor head of house and the substitute Defense professor against his will. He didn't want to take either of these other jobs and is run ragged by the work of all three.
• Happily Adopted:
  • Severus adopts Harry not long into the school year after discovering the severe abuse he suffered from the Dursleys. The Dursleys were more than willing to sign away their custody of Harry without any complaint. To prevent any challenges from the Ministry, Severus brews the Cruor mea cruor potion, which makes it so that a child becomes biologically related to a new parent, and administers it to Harry while claiming to have had an affair with Lily to anyone who could challenge the adoption. Harry is ecstatic to be adopted by Snape and never has any issues with his new family.
  • After being disowned, Hermione ends up being adopted by the Malfoy family, who had previously been her sponsors in the magical world. She is very excited to be a part of their family since from the start they had shown more love and care for her than her birth family ever had. While Draco has a few issues with no longer being an only child, these are quickly resolved and the two get along well.
• I Have Many Names: Jonno Laufeyson, who is actually Loki in disguise, is mentioned as having many names when James tells Severus and Lucius who he is.
• I Have No Son!:
  • Hermione's father's family disowned him after he married her mother. Her father's family are very wealthy and influential members of the upper class, while her mother's is not. They were against the marriage because they felt their son was marrying too far below his station and that Jean was only marrying him for money.
  • In a letter a month before Christmas, Hermione's parents disown her for being a witch and therefore a disappointment. Jean believes that Hermione has wasted all of her potential by going to Hogwarts, while George is so unsettled by anything magical that he's been having health problems. They write in their letter that she shouldn't bother ever returning to them and that they're sending the rest of her belongings to Hogwarts for her.
• Infant Sibling Jealousy: In an adoption-related variation of the trope, Draco experiences bouts of jealousy after his parents adopt Hermione, following her birth family disowning and abandoning her. He admits that he knows his feelings are silly and that his parents still love him, but he still has concerns about no longer being an only child and Hermione possibly getting more love and attention than him.
• Jaw Drop: Lavender Brown's jaw drops in surprise when Snape abruptly slams her textbook closed using a spell and quizzes her on a difficult topic about the material they're studying.
• Lighting Bug: In King's Island, Harry, Draco, and Hermione catch fireflies in jars to use as lights in their bedrooms.
• Lonely Funeral: The only people at Albus Dumbledore's funeral are Severus, Harry, and Aberforth. Aberforth didn't want all of the attention that would have come with having a large funeral for his brother. The only reason he invited Severus was because he was obligated to give him a vial of Albus' memories. Harry came along without being invited.
• Manipulative Bastard: Dumbledore is constantly manipulating people into doing what he wants behind the scenes because he believes he knows best in all situations. He has kept Severus from going against him for over a decade by implying that he could get Severus thrown in Azkaban at any time when he did not actually have that ability. He only allowed Lupin to study at Hogwarts, despite being a werewolf, because he wanted to groom a spy to infiltrate the wild werewolf packs and bring them into his alliance. He convinced James to turn over all of his assets to Dumbledore, who sold it all to provide funds for the Order, leaving only enough of the Potter fortune for Harry to afford tuition at Hogwarts. Harry's life is probably his most in-depth manipulation, with every aspect planned out far in advance, including Harry's own death, which Dumbledore planned to occur before Harry turned seventeen.
• The Matchmaker: Lucius and Narcissa have tried for years to set Severus up with their various female friends and acquaintances, to no success. It's later revealed that Severus and Poppy had secretly been together for a long time and were hiding it due to fears of Voldemort's return.
• Mercy Kill: The only times Severus killed Muggle children while working for Voldemort was when he couldn't secretly help them escape. He would kill them quickly and painlessly so that they wouldn't be forced into prolonged torture at the hands of the other Death Eaters.
• Momma's Boy: Notorious bully Marcus Flint has a reputation for being an extreme Momma's Boy among the other Slytherins. He and his mother write letters to each other constantly about everything going on in their lives. He also mocks Hermione for her parents not writing to her and blames her for this.
• Naming Ceremony: Not long after being adopted by the Malfoy family, Hermione has to go through a Naming Ceremony to officially become part of the family. These ceremonies are performed by many old families, although they all have family-specific variations to the ritual, and are usually performed for newborn babies to bring them into the family magic and be blessed by their ancestors. In the case of an older adopted child, they must pick a new name to signify joining their new family. Hermione becomes Hermione Iris Malfoy.
• Nasal Trauma: Snape's Past Experience Nightmare reveals that after he was rescued by James from almost being killed by Lupin in werewolf form, Snape punched Sirius in the nose hard enough to break it and spray blood everywhere.
• Never Learned to Read: Neville wasn't sent to primary school or educated by his family as a child because his family thought he was a "worthless squib". As a result, he arrives at Hogwarts unable to read anything above books intended for very young children and can barely write. Professor McGonagall was supposed to teach him after his illiteracy was discovered, but she ends up being too busy with her other duties. Hermione and her friends teach Neville during their study groups, and he improves quickly.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!: Dumbledore had Harry sent to live with the Dursleys after his parents' deaths because he believed that growing up in a loveless environment would make his magic power stronger in case Voldemort returned and didn't think the Dursleys would engage in the outright abuse that they did. After the incident in the Hall of Prophecy, an Unspeakable confirms that Harry has a Fiend attached to him, which is the remnants of Voldemort after his first defeat. The Unspeakable says that if Harry had grown up in a loving family, the Fiend wouldn't have been able to get into his mind and Voldemort never would have had an opportunity to return, making Voldemort's return entirely Dumbledore's fault.
• The Nicknamer: Fred and George tend to call their friends (and some enemies) by nicknames. Draco is "Short Dragon", Hermione is "Bookworm", and Dumbledore is "Dumbles". Harry gets called a couple of different names, usually "Little Snake".
• Parental Substitute: Snape takes a somewhat fatherly role to all of the Slytherin students, more so than the other heads are to their own houses. He sets strict rules and guidelines, makes them eat a healthy, balanced diet, and comforts them during difficult times. He takes on an even stronger parental role to Harry once he's sorted into Slytherin, which ultimately ends with him adopting Harry.
• Pariah Prisoner: After being arrested for his crimes, Vernon Dursley is so disliked by the other inmates that they kill him in the showers. The reason for their hatred was not only that Vernon was charged with raping multiple young boys, but that he bragged about it to the other prisoners and was completely unrepentant.
• Past Experience Nightmare: The night after Lupin comes to Hogwarts, Snape has a nightmare of when he was almost killed by Lupin after being tricked into going to where Lupin was hiding out during the full moon by Sirius.
• Pedophilia Is a Special Kind of Evil: During Snape's investigation of the Dursley family, he discovers that Vernon Dursley raped at least three boys under the age of ten and was never caught. Vernon also tried to molest Harry, but Harry's magic protected him. Snape tips off the police who come to arrest Vernon on Halloween. Snape mocks Vernon by saying he would probably be killed in prison since prisoners hate pedophiles, which would end up coming true as Vernon dies this way only months later.
• Percussive Therapy:
  • Snape throws a pillow and then uses a spell to cut through it after returning to his quarters from a particularly stressful day.
  • Snape throws a jar of dried cockroaches at the wall in his classroom after reading the letter in which Hermione's parents cruelly disown her for being a witch and mention replacing her with an adopted daughter.
• Portmanteau:
  • Harry refers to the hypothetical version of Dumbledore who gets turned into a frog as "Dumblefrog".
  • Severus refers to Dumbledore as "Dumblearse" while ranting about Dumbledore putting the students in danger and how they have little recourse to stop him.
• Psychic Link: Firenze casts Mind Lock on Severus and Harry, which connects their minds, allowing them to experience each other's thoughts and memories for the duration of the spell. This is done so that Firenze can safely heal Harry of the psychic damage inflicted on him by Voldemort.
• Puppy-Dog Eyes: Lavender Brown attempts to make herself look pitiful and puts on a puppy-dog eyes act to try to avoid punishment from Snape for not knowing the answer to the question she was quizzed on. It doesn't work.
• Relationship Gone Public: In King's Island, Severus and Poppy reveal that they've been in a Secret Relationship for eight years and had been hiding it out of fear of Voldemort's return. Not long after they make their reveal, the two get married.
• Replacement Goldfish: Hermione's parents adopt another daughter to replace her after disowning her for being a witch. It's later revealed that Araminta was not actually adopted, but was kidnapped from her previous parents by Jean's brother, who'd been running an adoption and kidnapping scam using her and other children for many years.
• Rock–Paper–Scissors: Harry and Draco play rock-paper-scissors to alleviate their boredom while waiting outside the room where Professor McGonagall's hearing is being held. They end up making their own version of the game called "Dragon, Blast-ended Skrewt, House Elf", which involves making noises and acting like the chosen creature. This results in Snape leaving the hearing to scold them for being too loud.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: In the in-universe book series, Warlock Solomon Adventures, Veldimina the Hag was trapped inside an enchanted crystal in a cave by the titular Solomon. She is freed by a group of unaware Muggles who remove the crystal from the cave, allowing her to rejoin the Big Bad, Lord Singe.
• Secret Relationship: In King's Island, it's revealed that Severus and Poppy have secretly been in a relationship for eight years. They kept it a secret out of fear of Voldemort using it to hurt them. Once Voldemort is defeated, they reveal their relationship to the world and quickly get married.
• Series Continuity Error:
  • Snape thinks about the Order of the Phoenix's meetings from the first war before going into a Flashback about how he met Harry as a baby. During this, Lupin is mentioned as being at the meetings and that he was always nice to Snape. Later on, Lupin mentions that he was never in the Order and Snape remarks how Lupin was never at any meetings.
  • Hermione mentions that Professor Vector took her to Diagon Alley to get her school supplies because her parents were out of the country at the time. Later on, Hermione's parents having gone with her to Diagon Alley to get her school supplies is a significant event, as it is what turned her parents against the Wizarding World and eventually against their daughter entirely.
• Shout-Out:
  • Snape compares the drawing Harry made of Voldemort to Dorian Gray's hidden portrait.
  • Harry compares Snape's vault at Gringotts to Aladdin's cave.
  • Mrs. Figg refers to Sirius Black as a "Peter Pan", since she sees him as a child who never truly grew up.
  • Harry compares his time at Hogwarts to Alice in Wonderland.
  • Snape describes the book Quirrell wrote, Living With Vampires: A Practical Guide to the Undead, as more akin to Dracula than an actual informational text.
  • Snape's bookshelf includes several real-world books, which Harry takes an interest in. Specifically mentioned are The Hardy Boys, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and The Old Man and the Sea; the last of which Harry ends up reading while waiting for Hermione and Draco to arrive to go to the Deathday party.
  • Hermione's parents once had an argument that began over whether her mother should take Hermione to see Madame Butterfly, with her father concerned that it was too adult. This argument led to both of her parents admitting they were ready to give up on Hermione due to her being a witch.
  • Hermione is holding her copy of Pippi Longstocking when she thanks Narcissa for her new bedroom at Malfoy Manor.
  • Draco receives a book of Charles Dickens' stories as a Christmas gift and immediately sets about reading A Christmas Carol.
  • Severus reads The Jungle Book to Harry and an excerpt from the book is included in his dialogue.
  • Two of the stores mentioned on King's Island are Madame Mim’s Dropped Stitch and Thranduil’s Wands & Staffs.
  • The Big Bad of King's Island is Jonno Laufeyson, Loki in human form. His appearance is based on the Marvel Cinematic Universe iteration of Loki.
  • In King's Island, Harry, Hermione, and Draco play a magical version of Mouse Trap (1963).
• Show Within a Show: Draco is a fan of the book series Warlock Solomon Adventures, which is about a heroic warlock who is trying to defeat the vampire lord, Lord Singe. He quickly gets Harry into the books as well. The two discuss the events of the most recent book while waiting for Professor McGonagall's hearing to be over.
• Smart People Know Latin: Lupin has a tendency to randomly speak in Latin, especially when frustrated or angry, showing that he's too intelligent and sophisticated to resort to swearing. Snape is capable of understanding him and replies in Latin on occasion.
• Soap Punishment: Madam Pompfrey uses a spell to wash Goyle's mouth out with soap after he calls Hermione a "mudblood".
• Spared by the Adaptation: After Voldemort's defeat, Quirrell is left alive after Voldemort's Fiend is removed from his body.
• Stress Vomit: Harry vomits all over himself after having to recount the nightmare vision he had of Voldemort in Quirrel's body killing a unicorn and drinking its blood.
• Surprise Party: In King's Island, the adults arrange a surprise party for Harry's twelfth birthday. They invite all of his friends from Hogwarts out to their beach house on the island. The kids play games on the beach and have cake and ice cream.
• Talking to the Dead: On the way to Dumbledore's funeral, Severus stops by Harry's parents' graves so that Harry can visit them for the first time. Harry tells them how much he misses them and that he's happy being Severus' son now.
• Tampering with Food and Drink: Dumbledore keeps sherbet lemons that are laced with Veritaserum and calming potion, which he gives to students in his office when questioning them. He doesn't tell them that the candies are drugged, but some people have been able to figure it out anyway.
• Tears of Joy: Hermione cries tears of joy after being given her own bedroom at Malfoy Manor, showing that she is being officially accepted into her new family.
• Title Drop: Near the end of King's Island, Harry's narration includes the phrase "Nobody Cared" (capitalized for emphasis) when referring to the fact that over the course of a year, he has gone from being an abused and neglected child to part of a loving family.
  From the boy that Nobody Cared for he was now a normal little boy.
• Toothbrush Floor Scrubbing: Snape threatens to make Harry, Draco, and Hermione scrub the floor of the Great Hall with toothbrushes if he finds out they're involved in any of the Weasley twins' pranks.
• The Tooth Hurts: Draco has one of his front teeth blown out by a piece of exploding prank candy that was put in the Slytherin candy bowl at the Halloween party. The "prankster" turned out to be Dean Thomas' cousin, who was trying to hurt as many Slytherins as possible in retribution for Dean being expelled.
• Too Unhappy to Be Hungry: When Snape doesn't arrive to eat dinner in the Great Hall the evening after he adopts Harry, Harry becomes concerned that something bad has happened to him. He is so worried that he doesn't eat anything and only drinks a bit of juice.
• Translator Microbes: There exists a spell that can translate any text into a language the caster can read. In a Flashback, Lucius shows the spell to Severus while explaining a book of elemental magic to him.
• Troubled Fetal Position: After throwing up outside the Ministry building, Harry hides inside a hedge in embarrassment and sits on the ground with his arms wrapped around his knees, rocking back and forth.
• Trying Not to Cry: Draco forces himself not to cry or let his temper get the best of him while Marcus Flint mocks him and his family for his father turning his back on Voldemort. He's right on the verge of crying when Snape shows up to punish Flint.
• Unconventional Wedding Dress: In King's Island, Poppy wears a bright red dress for her wedding. The idea of her wearing a white dress is brought up; however, she decides not to since she is not a virgin. Additionally, Narcissa says white doesn't suit her anyway.
• Wake Up Fighting: Waking up from his Past Experience Nightmare, Snape casts a blasting spell that ends up hitting and breaking his wardrobe, luckily missing Harry, who was trying to wake him up.
• Water Wake-up: Prefect Billock shoots a water spell at Harry and Draco to wake them up when they oversleep and almost miss breakfast.
• We Used to Be Friends: Lupin drifted away from the rest of the Marauders after the incident when he nearly killed Snape after Snape was tricked into going to where Lupin was hiding out in werewolf form. He regrets a lot of the pranks they pulled as a group and had started to see the other three as being mean-spirited. They never had the opportunity to make up due to James and Peter's deaths and Sirius being sent to prison.
• Younger Than They Look: Poppy Pomfrey is much younger than people think she is, being only seven years older than Severus, while many think she's at least twenty years his senior. This is deliberate on her part. She has used a glamour to make herself look older since she came to work at Hogwarts because she wanted to be taken more seriously than she would have been as a young woman who'd recently graduated from school herself.