NTH DEGREE NO.1

NTH DEGREE is where I step aside and make a crazy extrapolation. Basically, I take Galadriel Waters' concept of 1st and 2nd degrees and turn them on their heads. There's not much to the rules of NTH DEGREE...very little canon is required for support, in fact it's no good only if something in canon specifically makes it impossible. Think of it sort of like a really difficult concept in math -- you might not be able to prove it true, but you can tackle it from the other end and see if anything proves it false....

Remember when Harry and Ron are joking about something being so unlikely that it would be just as likely for Snape to adopt Harry? Well, adoption is out of the question, since Harry's about to turn 17. However, this got me to think about whether Snape could be related to him..... Could he?

Well, the name Snape is nowhere to be seen in the extended Black family tapestry, and this is understandable -- Tobias Snape is a Muggle. But Eileen Prince was/is a witch, so I'm a bit surprised not to see Prince somewhere in the Black family tapestry. I mean, all the "pureblood" families are intermarried, right? Of course, it's not entirely complete, but it could be that Eileen Prince was not a pureblood, either...perhaps she was even a Muggle-born! Could Tobias Snape or Eileen Prince be related by blood to the Evanses? If so, this would add to my theory that Severus and Lily knew each other before attending Hogwarts and that they could have been friends before their falling out in fifth year....

So, what does this imply about Severus and Harry for the future? If they are indeed relatives could they ever treat each other as family? Could Severus ever recognize Harry as an individual instead of a cookie-cutout of his father, James? Could Harry ever come to terms with Severus' feelings and actions? Quite a tall order, I'm sure.

Harry wants a family, and I think JKR will let him survive this and have a family. Sure, he could end up marrying Ginny, and Ron could marry Hermione. With the Weasleys and Grangers, Harry would have instant family, but I still wish Harry had a living blood relative besides Petunia and Dudley! Sadly, I fear that if Severus proved to be related in some way, Severus and Harry would remain estranged.