what a perfect use of a beloved cliche! You made it so easy to recognize early on how wonderfully the story would end, and just settle in to enjoy every word and scene, delight in all your creative original elements, and laugh with pleasure as you introduce and elaborate all the charming absurdities. And yes, I want a copy of that picture too! With "Love, from Severus Snape" on it!
I love, love love Harry as a wandmaker - why does that career suit him so well? I dunno! But it's perfect! Especially as a "glass slipper".
Also, Harry's menagerie is terrific!! It suits him, both in canon and in this story, and of course lays the groundwork perfectly but unobtrusively for his fairy Albus-mother's transformation of him for the ball. Similarly, Snape's musing on his potions, present and past, is such a good way to work in the history and set the mood, but then when they become a key element in the end - wow! Well done, O Author!
I'm enthralled and deeply admiring at how wonderfully you wove canon and AU and original elements into the familiar story. It was awesome!