A change of pace...

Paradigm Shift by Rock Lobster and hosted by fanfiction.net is a little ditty in the "Snape mentors Harry" realm that starts shortly after the end of Harry's 5th year (and is OOTP compliant). As most "Snape mentors Harry" fics go, this one follows the implication that the Dursleys are even more abusive than the audience has been led to believe by JKR. It's definitely not a stretch of my imagination, so when this author creates a scenario where Harry is legally emancipated from the Dursleys and cast out on his own 2 months before his 16th birthday, well his already shattered world completely crumbles and the only one competent enough to help is Snape. Admittedly, Snape takes a while to figure things out and gleen a clue about Harry's emotional plight. While we witness the very slow evolution, Harry has some interesting and gut wrenching adventures in the Muggle world as a stable boy and jockey for the local stables near Snape's home.

I think what drew me the most strongly about this fic, was the adept way that Rock Lobster, (who herself admits is way too old for HP, but can't resist, much like me,) manages to weave a completely plausible emotional journey for both Harry and Snape. In this story, Snape's family history is austere but not as horrific as we now know it to have been from books 6 and 7.

I remember when I finished book 5, thinking that poor Harry would never recover emotionally from losing Sirius. I was kind of let down in book 6, when he didn't have to grieve more deeply to unburden himself. This story filled the void of my unmet expectations.