Title – Notitia
Rating – G
Pairings – None
Summary – Of all things said about Severus Snape, being oblivious was not one of them.
Author – Mistress DragonFlame
Notes – This is a quick one-shot; take it as it is. Title is the Latin base word for 'Notice'.

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Severus Snape was the Spymaster for Albus Dumbledore, the Potion's Master of Hogwarts, and the Head of Slytherin. He took his duties very seriously. He was a very strict, hard man, not prone to excess laughter, or to taking delight in the small things children do as the other professors seemed to. And while his teaching methods were not the favorite of any student, he was very good at what he did, both inside the classroom and out of it. He might not have been a spy in years, but that did not mean his skills had deserted him. In fact, it was one of his spying skills that allowed him such success as a teacher despite his harsh demeanor.

He noticed things.

If a child was about to add the wrong ingredient to his potion, Severus noticed, and corrected.

It took more skill than a lot of people realized to maintain a classroom as hazardous as Potions. Severus was very proud of his record of no permanent harm coming to any of his charges while under his supervision, something that almost all of his predecessors could not claim.

If there was bullying occurring, where one child was constantly harassed by their peers regardless of the house, he made the appropriate actions to help the child-though he corrected Slytherin within the common room if not in the open.

If a child of his House—and sometimes, even children not in the house of snakes—was having family difficulties, whether financial or physical, Severus noticed and corrected what he could, or arranged for others to intervene as appropriate.

And then Harry Potter entered Hogwarts.

Severus noticed first that Potter was the very last student to receive his Hogwarts letter. Most letters were sent out at the end of June and received no later than at the beginning of July, so that parents had more than enough time to prepare for the coming school year. Potter had to have his delivered in person on the 31st of July.

Severus noticed the odd behavior of his former colleague, correctly deduced why, and acted accordingly to avoid suspicion from the Dark Lord while still trying to derail his plan.

Severus noticed that while the brat Potter was in a coma in the Hospital wing, he received a near constant flood of visitors and gifts... from Hogwarts. Not a single visit, gift, or even letter, came from outside of the walls of the school.

Severus noticed that Lockhart couldn't do even the most basic spells before the school year even started, realizing the fraud for what he was long before any other member of the staff. He also noticed the youngest Weasley seemed to waste away before his very eyes, and told McGonagall, though—as usual—she brushed his concerns aside at the time, and were forgotten when he was proved correct.

Severus noticed when the spawn of his most hated enemy once again ended in the hospital wing after defeating the Basilisk, he received some truly outrageous gifts and visitors, but nothing came from the home he returned to at the end of each year. Even though Severus himself wrote a letter to the Muggles that detailed the perils the boy stupidly faced.

Severus did notice that he never even got a response.

Severus sent a letter to the child's home, once again, when that murderous mutt escaped Azkaban, stating that extra care should be taken in response to the new threat. The tracking spell he placed on the letter told him it was delivered, and then destroyed, unopened. He was about to visit the home in question, when he was told that the brat had run away like the little idiot he was, before being found in Diagon Alley.

Severus noticed the brat's shocked face when his name was read from the goblet, and the reluctance in every step as he made his way to the room with the other champions. As a teacher of the host school, he was aware of the pending challenges, how dangerous they could be to fully grown wizards-besides a half grown boy. He voiced his concerns, but was disregarded as usual.

He also noticed a particular smell from Moody, something on his breath that tickled a part of Snape's brain but he couldn't quite place it. He also noticed small quirks that didn't seem like something the old paranoid bastard would do-rumors of preforming one of the three forbidden spells on his students, having the will to perform the Cruciatus at all-and when his boomslag skin disappeared, his hackles were raised even more. There were very few potions that used it, after all, and only one that left a particular odor on the user's breath...

Severus Snape had noticed all these things, all these small things, that most would not.

But he did not see beyond the face of his most hated person in time, and then Voldemort rose again. Now he had to play his part as a spy once again, so those small things went uncorrected.