Severitus
Severitus noun: a subgenre of Harry Potter fanfiction in which Severus Snape is the biological father of Harry.
Noun
Severitus (uncountable)
- A subgenre of Harry Potter fanfiction in which Severus Snape is the biological father of Harry.
- Arguably Snape's lifelong obsession with Lily in canon is more disturbing than the least imaginative and most derogatory Severitus conception, the drunken one night stand.2007 September 5, A. G. McDowell, “Re: The Future of Fan Fiction”, in alt.fan.harry-potter (Usenet)
- Unlike the other Severitus fanfics analysed in this chapter, there is not a simple progression from dislike to affection and family feeling.2011, Suzanne Passmore, "Rereading the Magical World of Harry Potter: Fanfiction as an Alternative Critical Modality", thesis submitted to the University of Western Australia, page 52
Origin of Severitus
In the early 2000s, a fan going by the pseudonym Severitus (presumably constructed from Severus + -itis) issued a challenge requesting fanfics with several specific elements, including Snape being revealed as Harry's true father. This became known as the Severitus Challenge, which was later shortened to Severitus, and came to refer exclusively to the paternity trope.
Questions about Severitus
- What does Severitus mean?
- Severitus means a subgenre of Harry Potter fanfiction in which Severus Snape is the biological father of Harry.
- What part of speech is Severitus?
- Severitus is a noun.
Words near Severitus in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Severitus (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “Severitus.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/severitus. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.