Latest Posts by the-doe-prince - Page 3

i think my key issue with the sanitization of death eater characters is that it feels like people do not see their stories as tragic or empathize with the characters until we have a hc that's like "actually they were morally good the whole time!"

regulus black and severus snape are tragic characters and child soldiers no matter what side they were "really" on. even barty crouch jr, who may not have been groomed into being a death eater, is tragic when you spend a second to consider his relationship with his father. there are plenty of death eaters who we know are taking after their fathers in joining the cult. lucius malfoy, who was a prefect when the marauders enter hogwarts, most likely spread the death eater ideology, since the ideology is just a more extreme version/logical endpoint of what already existed in the wizarding world.

to me, these ideas are not headcanons, because they are heavily implied by the text. when jkr mentions malfoy in the deathly hallows that is not for no reason.

mallfoy's acceptance of snape and position of power are both highlighted in this sentence. we can infer that snape felt a sense of community for the first time in Slytherin. with malfoy as a prefect we can infer that the culture of Slytherin house lifted up bigots and those with an important family name.

this is a culture that breeds more bigotry. we know that Dumbledore did not step in to stop this cultural development in the 90s, after already seeing what it could do!!! so we can infer that he did not in the 70s. so a bunch of children were left alone in an echo chamber of hate. of course some of them became fanatics!!!

this doesn't mean they shouldn't be held accountable. but we cannot expect children to overcome cultural and political hegemony all alone. like.... that's just not how the world works. and it's tragic that children are fodder for fascist's wars, especially when the fact that the children were abused or neglected makes them more vulnerable to be fodder.

regulus and severus weren't treated as people, their humanity was denied by the fascist they served, bc that's how fascism works. exploring their characters as they are in canon, with full humanity, without needing to change their stories to see that humanity, is much more interesting to me. it is much more in the spirit of redemption and restoration.

Things that make me murderous: Snaters who are like “why didn’t Snape just grow up and get over it”, as if c-ptsd from a lifetime of abuse at home and school doesn’t cause damage to the mind and can’t just disappear the minute you turn 18. Untreated, unhealed childhood c-ptsd in adults is a nightmare. It is hellishly hard to function in society emotional stunting and anger issues are common. And it’s made so much worse by continuously being around triggers of your trauma.

THIS THIS THIS! I think the doe as a patronus fits Snape so well and Lily is only part of the reason that is, he fits the traits pretty well and is definitely a lot more feminine than masculine making a female animal work for his natural patronus. There’s no proof that his patronus changed or even that his love for Lily is romantic. I think the idea that the doe is his natural is more likely than it having been changed especially by the fact that he insults Tonks’s patronus for taking the form of Remus’s (would be a bit hypocritical if his had changed too)

going insane and i need to infodump about severus snape’s patronus being a doe for a second. i personally don’t think it changed, or lily necessarily influenced it- i think it’s always been a doe, casting the charm in dumbledore’s office was meant to show that he and lily were supposed to be viscerally aligned with each other and he knows he fucked it up and that’s why he’s spent almost two decades trying to atone for what he did. on a representative level, the doe symbolizes peace, protection, and innocence, and no three words could possibly represent severus snape more.

all he wants is peace: a peaceful life for himself, a peaceful world, a peaceful school. everything he’s ever done has been to create as much peace as possible. some of it can be considered misguided from a black and white moral standpoint, but it’s what created peace for himself. for example, aligning himself with the purist views of his housemates made him less of a target for bullying- he’s not a pure blood, and they’d know, and having powerful ambitious students on your side instead of alienating yourself from everyone means you have at least a semblance of protection from harm some of the time. he becomes a double agent for dumbledore to help bring about peace from voldemort’s reign. it might not have been peaceful for him per se, but it was still with the intention of peace in some form. he tries to give other people peace- he takes a vow with narcissa to protect her son because she’s crying and scared for him, and it gives her peace. he doesn’t throw draco under the bus to save his skin when voldemort accuses him of being the elder wands owner, giving draco and narcissa peace even if they weren’t aware. it’s either for himself, or for others.

he’s the most protective teacher at the school- would mcgonagall have thrown herself in front of three kids facing a wolfsbane-less werewolf? would flitwick take the burden of an unbreakable vow to protect draco malfoy from voldemort? would any of the DADA teachers have run towards the sound of a screaming woman? he consistently vows to protect everyone and everything he can. and, leading into his innocence, when he realizes he’s only been protecting harry for him to die, it breaks him.

he’s not necessarily innocent in that his hands are clean and he’s never done anything wrong in his life, but he’s innocent in that he’s naive. he trusted voldemort enough to be drawn into the death eaters, he trusted dumbledore enough to be manipulated into his bidding. it feels like he forgets that dumbledore screws him over constantly, dangles things in front of him and takes them away, makes crude assumptions, and has left him to fend for himself essentially their entire relationship. the times that dumbledore abandons him- physically, mentally, metaphorically- he gets very upset. like it’s new information to him that dumbledore treats him like shit. from an abuse perspective, he probably had to spend his childhood mentally erasing what his parents and home were like so he could feel safe and normal, so the constant ebb and flow/back and forth of his and dumbledore’s relationship is familiar to him. when dumbledore draws him back in with whatever method, he’s right back to behaving as dumbledore wants, doing what dumbledore wants, and believing what dumbledore believes. the times that he remembers that dumbledore doesn’t care that he let the guy who’s tried to kill him or assault go, or that dumbledore thinks he wants only lily saved because he desires her romantically or sexually, or that dumbledore has only been using harry and, by extension, him (as he’s been the one protecting harry) to play the long game of destroying voldemort are the times that he’s emotional in the books. he cries, he’s vulnerable, he raises his voice, he begs and he pleads and he defers. he doesn’t do that any other time, other than when he found harry watching his memories. he trusts and he forgives (or he forgets, or he feels safer pretending he doesn’t care what’s been done to him/how he’s been treated.) a doe is perfect for him. reducing it to something like tonk’s patronus being changed as soon as she’s in a relationship with lupin or that it’s only a doe because of lily evans completely erases his entire way of thinking and behaving and being.

also, in a self indulgent addendum, it’s a very feminine animal, and severus is consistently aligned with femininity. hermione calls the half-blood prince’s writing feminine. he wears his mother’s clothes as a child, and lupin encourages neville to dress his boggart as his grandmother. he’s quiet and docile and tries to be non-violent unless he’s pushed to his breaking point, and even then it’s screaming or crying or getting animated. he’s emotional and frequently painted as hysterical. he gets the “woman character treatment”: to the average viewer who doesn’t think about him long enough to understand otherwise, he only desires lily. the consensus is that he chases her, he only thinks about her in the context of attraction. the line about looking at her greedily is constantly understood to be lust, and not a desire for love or a desire for a peaceful relationship for once in his life (and a relationship that only ever seems to be platonic at that). he even backs off and all but disappears from her life when he’s asked to, while james (the one with the stag patronus, the classic triumphant male character) harasses her and pursues her and behaves in a way that makes his son decades later wonder if he forced lily into a relationship. he’s behaviorally aligned with what femininity in the eyes of misogyny is supposed to be. he keeps to himself, he’s quiet, he sacrifices every bit of himself for students and coworkers and superiors and expects nothing in return, he pushes his students to be the best they can. (i’d say nurtures with my whole chest, but as the narrative comes from harry, we can’t really be sure. in my view, his house won the house cup for several years in a row which was only interrupted by dumbledore awarding a fuck ton of points to his gryffindor prize pony, his classes are seen as high performing and advanced by even dolores umbridge of all people, he only tries to punish students albeit a bit violently after several attempts of getting them to understand why what they did was wrong, which seems to be pretty nurturing in comparison to what other teachers allow and do). whether he’s trans, or had been influenced more by eileen, or he was intended to be deeply complex and contradictory and that meant that he had to have these traits, or any other of the multitude of reasons for snape being an inherently feminine character, it’s there. his patronus wouldn’t be a stag, he wouldn’t be anything overbearing and he wouldn’t be anything aggressive. it doesn’t make sense with his soul and his personality and his life. the peaceful protective innocent/naive doe, however, does.

I have a lot of feelings about this scene. Because from Harry's POV at this point obviously Snape is the mean bully who's always picked on him for no reason and it's gratifying to see Sirius standing up to him and putting him in his place. And at this point in the story that's kind of what we as readers see too. BUT with the additional knowledge we gain about Snape throughout the rest of the story this hits so different.

Think about Snape, who spent years being tormented and humiliated by Sirius and who has carefully rebuilt himself from that, but who still has all the open wounds and trauma from it lurking just beneath the surface. Think about how he's so used to Sirius hurting and humiliating him that the second Sirius stands it's a reflex to grab his wand. And he's not just holding it. He's balled his fist around it - an obvious sign of stress from someone who usually masks it so well - because this isn't just another duel. This isn't even like facing Voldemort.

No matter that Snape is much older and more capable and more powerful now. When it's Sirius suddenly Snape is 15 again and all those memories and feelings of powerlessness and humiliation come rushing back.

something endearing about Snape

Something i’ve been kind of mulling over and thinking about in regards to Snape– and which I find frustrating, but endearing– is how… he is continually disadvantaged and disregarded by systems of power and persons of authority… but he chooses to work within their framework, anyways. 

Snape is Lawful-neutral, to his own detriment. Hear me out.

Like, as a student, he gets bullied. It’s 4 against 1, and he’d have a hard time picking them off if he wanted to go a more aggressive or lethal route. In any case, he tends to be reactionary, rather than necessarily going out of his way to find and attack them… So, he tries to get them expelled, because that would be a way to remove all 4 of his threats at once, and it’s not as if they don’t consistently break the rules… Shouldn’t people who break the rules and mistreat others be punished? So when he’s almost lead to his death at the Shrieking Shack, he appeals to the system of authority (of whom Dumbledore is the purveyor, in this case) with what he feels is a pretty airtight case against his bullies… 

…and he gets written off, and blackmailed into keeping his mouth shut.

If it were me, that kind of slap in the face would ensure i never respected another authority figure again in my life tbh. The Law and the gods that govern it would be dead to me. Anyways…

Being a werewolf does not inherently make Lupin a bad person. But being a good person does not make Lupin inherently safe. The point is: when you transform into a werewolf, you lose control of yourself, and that can result in you killing, maiming, or infecting other people. Lupin knows this. He’s known it for over 20 years,

As of 1993, there was this great new discovery: the Wolfsbane Potion, which helps to curb the effects of lycanthropy, right? It’s super expensive and super hard to make, but it’s an effective way to mitigate the more vicious effects of a transformation– it turns the drinker into a harmless wolf, rather than a werewolf, at the time of the full moon. A wolf, who is easier to control or subdue if one is confronted with it, and who seems to retain some semblence of control during the transformation (Lupin having described himself as curling up in his office during his transformations).

You may be thinking that wolfsbane potion is the closest thing to a preventative  that the Wizarding World has circa 1993, and you’d be right. It’s not a cure, and people who drink it can still infect others, but damn, it makes it way more manageable.

We know that Severus, on more than one occasion, goes out of his way to give Lupin his potion (whether Lupin continually forgets to take it, or purposefully “forgets” to take it as a small power play/intimidation game against Snape is up for interpretation). Either way, we know that Lupin regularly forgets to take the life-changing potion unless prompted, which kind of makes him out as reckless. A timebomb. 

Severus, who is not only a virtuoso on the Dark Arts and all that it entails (and thus, academically, very informed on the dangers that (non-medicated) Werewolves pose), is also intimately and personally aware of the threat Lupin poses to a school full of children as well as the staff, because of his experience in the 70s. Snape brings all of this up to Dumbledore… 

…who repeatedly dismisses his well-founded and logical fears. 

Snape is still beholden to Dumbledore’s insistance that he keep his mouth shut. Which he does for most of the year. The very explicit parameters of the system are: do not tell anyone that Lupin is a werewolf. 

So, being the logical thinker that Snape is, he looks for (and finds) a way to achieve his desired outcome (informing people that Lupin is a werewolf) in a way that does work within those parameters. He can’t tell anyone outright that Lupin is a werewolf, but like… what if someone figured it out on their own?

Then we have Snape in the Shrieking Shack with the kids, Sirius, and Lupin. 

Harry, in the moment after Black disarmed them all, straight-up wanted to kill Sirius. He gets his wand back, and he is about to fucking murder this guy, until crookshanks sits over his heart.

Snape comes up the stairs to the 2nd floor of the shack, right? He’s wearing the Invisibility cloak. No one knows he’s there or hears him coming. He could have killed Sirius in an instant, without anyone knowing. He could kill Sirius AND Lupin if he wanted to, and dump the corpses on the ministry steps, and convince the minister that he had deduced that they were working together months ago. 

He could easily explain to the minister that he knew they were childhood friends, that Lupin started working at Hogwarts at the exact same time Black “wanted to infiltrate” Hogwarts, and that his speculations were dismissed. He could say all of this with the kids and Dumbledore to corroborate his story (since he arrives at the Shrieking Shack BEFORE the kids get the low-down on Pettigrew) and he would STILL get his order of Merlin (maybe 2?) But instead of killing them… 

…he disarms and restrains them. 

He’s like “Yeah, I’m handing you off to the Dementors, dickhead” but it’s important to remember… he disarms them, restrains them, and is willing to turn them over to the “authorities.” Even though, at this point, he whole-heartedly believes that 1. Black is a murderer, who killed like 23 people, and who broke out of wizard prison and 2. Lupin, a werewolf who has consistently not taken his potion and whom Snape believes has conspired to kill him in the past, is aiding and abetting said murderer… Severus Snape does not take the law into his own hands. He’s not about Vigilante Justice.

And… he gets disarmed, thrown against a wall, and almost ends up attacked by a werewolf for it later. heh

This is just up to the first 3 books, because i just finished re-reading them, but i’m certain there are more examples of these types of exchange in subsequent books. In any case, I love how the books have this consistent theme of “Harry distrusts authority, disrespects it, and challenges the system,” that’s all very good. 

But i also love that Severus Snape, the dude that everyone argues is super unfair, petty, spiteful, etc… attempts to use strategic thinking to operate within the paramaters of these systems, and tries to maintain respect for these systems, and consistently gets his ass handed to him for it. I love you, you lawful-neutral dumbass. 

I've always been bothered by the analysis that Lily didn't care about Severus. Not only because I love their friendship and ship them together, and also because I think it cheapens the relationship as a whole and makes things fall a bit flat. I do understand where people are coming from tho. She does defend James to him, and is implied to be physically attracted to him even while being friends with Severus (I disagree with her already having a full blown crush, but I do think she found him handsome), also she's pretty emotionless when he's trying to apologize, which leads people to believe she was only looking for an excuse to ditch him. Which I strongly disagree.

First off, I don't think they would've lasted that long if she didn't love him a lot (as a friend or as a crush that's your pick). Their friendship lasted 6 years, and JKR confirmed that a huge motivation for James, personally, bullying Severus was jealousy she felt of Lily's attention and affection, he saw Snape as a threat. Potter watched Lily all the time, hit on her all the time. Lily is described to have a temper. It is almost impossible to me to believe that James wouldn't have noticed that Lily was bothered by Snape and outright wanted him gone from her life, therefore rendering his motive for the bullying flat. We see he is even more cruel when Lily stands up for Severus, mocking him further (as we see on the train scene in Prince's Tale and in SWM), exactly because he believed that they both liked each other (romantically or platonically)

Also, a scene that sticks out to me is the one in DH when Lily is insisting for Severus to stop hanging out with Avery and Mulciber. If she was just looking for an excuse, wouldn't she have given the ultimatum then and there? She clearly didn't like them, thought they were cruel, and they hurt Mary, which is implied to be an acquaintance if not a friend of hers. Why stay as long as she did, "making excuses" for him to her friends as she says, if she didn't want the friendship anymore? Her lack of emotion when he's apologizing can be easily explained away by how angry she is. That scene didn't happen after days or weeks from SWM, it happened in the same day and she clearly didn't want to speak to him in the moment, it being the only scene in which he demanded her attention in a sense. In Lily's POV, that was this friend she had for almost a decade, her oldest friend, who had just turned on her for no reason, when she was trying to help him. A lot of people ignore how bad Severus is at expressing his feelings and telling her hard things about his life (as seen in him using euphemisms for his father's behaviour when we know that he was being brutally whipped), so it's very possible that he wasn't transparent with her about his insecurities or how bad the marauders' bullying affected him, so she never thought much of it. Might be a little insensitive, but hey, she was a 15 yo. It always seemed to me that he presented himself way more as a shoulder for her to cry on than the opposite.

Also, the memories that were given to Harry were not meant to show the pretty moments of their friendship, at least not in my interpretation. Yes, it had some cute moments to make clear to Harry that they were friends, but to me it was way more about showing Harry the conflict of Snape's life from the start, the Dark Arts and the DEs, which he was very tempted and interested by, and the Lily, who's a symbolism for Light in his life. She was the one pulling him away from them, warning him, and he wouldn't listen. That's why basically all their scenes have some sort of conflict. To show Harry how his entire life, he was in between those two sides being pulled back and forth, and when Lily's pull was gone, he headed straight in to the Dark Arts, and ofc, that didn't end well at all.

This got super long for no reason and it's prob very badly written but it was mostly a word vomit lmao I just rlly like them and yes they had their problems but most friendships do :( they would've worked it out in another universe...

THIS POST IS ACTUAL SO FUNNY AINT NO WAY THEY FR

A comprehensive compilation of why Severus Snape is an awful person that doesn’t deserve redemption, pity, or any kindness ever (not in any particular order):

- He is obsessed with the Marauders when they are younger, and tries to compare their antics to the actions of very real, blood supremacist, dark magic-using bullies that Snape was hanging out with and found amusing. (Edit: I’m adding that I’m not saying James and Sirius were right in their actions, I’m simply pointing that Snape wasn’t either. This post isn’t about the marauders, this is about Snape)

(DH, The Prince’s Tale, p673-674, Arthur A. Levine Books edition)

“‘They sneak out at night. There’s something weird about that Lupin. Where does he keep going?’ ‘He’s ill,’ said Lily. “They said he’s ill—’ “Every month at the full moon?’ said Snape. ‘I know your theory,’ said Lily and she sounded cold. ‘Why are you so obsessed with them anyway? Why do you care what they’re doing at night?’”

- Snape was very clearly trying to out Remus and actively trying to prove his case about knowing Remus was a werewolf. (More on this later)

-Calls Lily a mudblood, and then tries to excuse his actions. Then Lily says “...you call everyone of my birth Mudblood, Severus. Why should I be any different?” Snape says absolutely nothing to defend himself on this statement, so we can only assume that it is accurate and he commonly uses a slur to describe other students around him.

-We know Snape invented Levicorpus, which we later see James use. How do you think James learned it if not because Severus had used it on him or another student before? We even see Snape use Sectumsempra on James. Sectumsempra, aka the spell capable of cutting someone open and leaving them to bleed to death. This is the kind of experimentation Snape did with Dark Magic.

-Snape was willing to sacrifice the life of a BABY without a second thought until he discovered that the child was Lily’s. Even after this, he prioritizes Lily’s life and isn’t concerned whatsoever about the life of Harry, who at this time is less than a year old.

-If Voldemort had decided that Neville was the Chosen One instead of Harry, Severus Snape would still be a death eater. He didn’t think being a Death Eater was wrong in any way- it wasn’t until he was directly affected by a childhood crush did he reconsider. James and Lily Potter fought for the light because they believed in the light. Severus Snape fought against the dark because the dark had offended him. Had Voldemort gone after the Longbottoms instead, Snape would have lived and died as the most loyal Death Eater in history. Edit: I understand that we can say ‘if’ all day long. The point here I’m trying to make is that Severus Snape is only supporting the light side because it benefits him in this situation. I’m simply pointing out that he’s selfish by nature.

-The prophecy states that the child will be born to parents that have thrice defied the Dark Lord. So therefore Lily in some way defied Voldemort 3 other times. And only now Snape wants to save her? No. It has more to do with the guilt he’s feeling for telling Voldemort about the prophecy. It wasn’t her death that phased him as much as how he’d feel if he caused her death.

-Snape hates Harry simply for the fact that Harry looks like his father. Have you ever considered how Harry would’ve been treated if he’d been a girl that looked like Lily? Edit: I AM NOT INSINUATING ANYTHING PEDOPHILIC. I am making the point that when Harry come to school, Snape saw him and recognized his childhood bully, and instead of making the mature decision and not making judgments about Harry beforehand, he just assumes that Harry will be like his father was in school. If Harry had looked like Lily, Snape would’ve been more inclined to favor him the way he did Draco or Pansy. Not in a creepy way, just in a confirmation-bias kind of way.

-Severus snape once intended to publicly kill a student’s pet as punishment for getting a potion wrong. This pet was also a gift to Neville from his Uncle for getting into Hogwarts- something that his family didn’t think would happen because he wasn’t “magic enough”. So to him- Trevor is a reminder that he is a wizard and that his family is proud of him. Then Snape wants to kill him because Neville got a potion wrong, reinforcing the idea that Neville isn’t “magic enough”.

-When Snape covers for Lupin's class (told you we’d be back here), Snape taught the DADA class and made all the students write essays on how to kill werewolves so that Lupin would have to read these when he came back from going through an incredibly painful time.

-Snape did everything in his power to get Remus fired despite the fact that Remus had spent 16+ years pretty much homeless and without a job.

(OotP, Percy and Padfoot, p302, Arthur A Levine Books edition)

“‘I know she’s a nasty piece of work, though—you should hear Remus talk about her.’ ‘Does Lupin know her?’ asked Harry quickly, remembering Umbridge’s comments about dangerous half-breeds during her first lesson. ‘No,’ said Sirius, ‘but she drafted up a bit of anti-werewolf legislation two years ago that makes it almost impossible for him to get a job.’”

Edit: So let’s do some basic math here. This happens in Order of the Phoenix. The anti-werewolf legislation was written two years prior. This would’ve been during or around The Prisoner of Azkaban. Why would somebody randomly write a piece of legislation like this? Let’s just say that there was a teacher that was outed as a werewolf and people were not happy about it. That would give pretty good reason for someone to write a piece of legislation that would make it hard for a werewolf to get a job. Not just Remus. Every werewolf. Who outed Remus to the wizarding world at large? Severus Snape. So for anyone suggesting that what I wrote below is as good as fanfiction, maybe actually read the books and pay attention to smaller plot lines.

-When Snape tells everyone that Remus is a werewolf, he’s not just telling students or their parents. He’s telling the wizarding world. Because of this, Dolores Umbridge wrote a law that made it almost impossible for Remus to find a job. So not only did he ruin Remus’s life. He ruined the life of Every. Single. Werewolf. in the UK.

-Neville Longbottom’s greatest fear is Severus Snape. Not the woman who tortured his parents into insanity, not the worst wizard of all time, not even any of his other followers. His TEACHER. And this is at an age where Neville doesn’t know everything about Snape and all he’s done. That speaks VOLUMES.

-Condones and takes part in bullying a CHILD when Hermione had enormous teeth EXTENDING PAST HER CHIN growing because of a hex, Snape says, “I see no difference.” After this, Hermione permanently modifies her teeth.

(HBP, Snape Victorious, p160, Arthur A Levine Books edition)

“‘I was interested to see your Patronus.’ He shut the gates in her face with a loud clang and tapped the chains with his wand again, so that they slithered, clinking, back into place. ‘I think you were better off with the old one,’ said Snape, the malice in his voice unmistakable. ‘The new one looks weak.’”

-Mocks Tonks when her Patronus changed when she fell in love with Remus despite the fact that his changed to match Lily’s.

-“Snape took the page bearing Lily’s signature, and her love, and tucked it inside his robes. Then he ripped in two the photograph he was holding, so that he kept the part from which Lily laughed, throwing the portion showing James and Harry back on the floor, under the chest of drawers…” She was laughing at her husband and son. People she loved dearly enough to give up her life and Snape took that and cut them out of it so he could pretend she was laughing for him. Her love in the letter was for Sirius who was the best man at her wedding and her good friend in the order. Snape took that so he could pretend her love was for him. This isn’t romantic. It’s creepy. Snape feels entitled to Lily’s love even though he’s done nothing to deserve it.

-The ONLY reason Snape protects Harry is that he’s under an obligation to by Dumbledore (who is blackmailing him, so Snape doesn’t have a choice). Snape isn’t doing it because he wants to. He’s doing it because if he doesn’t, Dumbledore could sell him out to Voldemort and he’d be killed.

-Again, when he kills Dumbledore, it’s not out of the kindness of his heart or his care for Dumbledore. It’s because he’ll be killed or severely punished if he doesn’t.

-Snape may have done good things, but it isn’t because he wants to. It’s because he doesn’t have a choice.

Essentially, at his roots, Snape is a self-centered blood supremacist who bullies people and only does good things when being threatened and emotionally abuses children because he can’t get over somebody he was attracted to in middle school and is perfectly fine killing adults and infants alike when it’s in his best interest.

I’d like to say that much of this is heavily borrowed or inspired by other writers on this app. I have tagged every user I have access to. However, if you see anything you have written on here or anything please feel free to message me or leave a comment. :)

@sadgaywerewolf @mrsmarymorstan @jamespotterwearsglasses @lance-the-kanto-dragon-master @coffeeinanebula @warmhappycat @pleurocoelus @madamebomb @thefingerfuckingfemalefury @whoopsrobots @harrypotterconfessions @beekeepermarycatherine @honeybadgersdontgiveashit @tonksnymphadora @barricadeponine @jadedlights07 @dobbysclothes @hogwartsandrec @kago-make-dean-some-pie @prongsmydeer @girlswillbeboys11 @siriusblaque @upsettingthedementors @marauders4evr @maxxiegalaxy @ghost-of-bambi

If Snape was using Occlumency to shield his mind from Voldemort, why didn’t Voldemort become suspicious that Snape was hiding something since he couldn’t penetrate his mind with Legilimency?

It’s because Snape did something far cleverer than merely “shielding his mind” from Lord Voldemort.

As one can make out from their interactions, Snape seemed to be the only Death Eater whom Voldemort ever had any modicum of respect for. You don’t merit Lord Voldemort’s esteem by being incompetent or stupid. Snape clearly earned his spot as Voldemort’s most revered servant by proving himself and being the asset that he was.

See, Snape never lied to Voldemort. Snape knew that Voldemort’s skill in Legillemency would immediately alert him to duplicity, so instead, Snape only told Voldemort the truth.

When Voldemort first returned, Snape justified his initial absconding from the Death Eaters by saying that he thought Voldemort had been vanquished in Godric’s Hollow. In The Prince’s Tale, we learn that this is actually true. Snape thought Voldemort had gone, and it was only Dumbledore who insisted that he would one day return. Later, he told Bellatrix that Voldemort forgave him for impeding him in his plot to purloin the Philosopher’s Stone because he did not know Voldemort was the mastermind behind the enterprise, and only thought that “unworthy” Professor Quirrell (whom Snape hated for getting the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher position) was trying to take the Stone for himself. Again, this turns out to be completely true.

Snape then spent 2 years “spying” on Dumbledore, and relayed what little he knew of the Headmaster’s activities to Voldemort. Dumbledore chose to keep Snape in the dark on most of his plots, which was actually (justifiably I might add) a source of great frustration for Snape. Then he killed Dumbledore just as Voldemort wanted.

Before the Battle of the Seven Potters, Snape gave Voldemort the correct date of Harry’s departure from Little Whinging. He correctly pointed out that Yaxley had been given a false trail, and truthfully divulged that the Order of the Phoenix distrusted the Ministry and the Auror office and wanted nothing to do with the institution. Re-read the scene from The Dark Lord Ascending in the books and pay close attention to the description of Voldemort’s body language. He hangs on to every word Snape says with great interest, and invites Snape to sit by his side. Meanwhile he ignores and then silences Yaxley (whom he shunts beside Dolohov), and expresses contempt for the Malfoys and Bellatrix by humiliating them. But Snape he holds in far higher regard, arguably valuing him more than anyone save for his beloved Nagini.

Voldemort was quite correct in recognizing Snape as an impressively talented and exceptionally intelligent wizard. He just never calculated that Snape’s cunning could be used against him. Even if Voldemort had decided to raid Snape’s mind, he would’ve found little of interest. Snape’s love for Lily Potter was already known to Voldemort (and he foolishly underestimated it, just as he did with Lily’s love for Harry), and the fact that he spent a great deal of time scheming with Dumbledore would not have perturbed Voldemort, but would’ve pleased him. That was literally the job that Snape was given; to earn Dumbledore’s trust and spy on him, and then relay his plans to Voldemort.

Snape’s deception of Voldemort is honestly one of the most underrated feats in the entire series, not necessarily because it was magically impressive (although it was), but because it was carried out so cleverly. As was made clear by his potion riddle all the way back in Philosopher’s Stone, Snape’s greatest talent was his cleverness, which so many wizards seem to lack. Hermione was quite right in recognizing Snape’s genius.

Snape fooled Voldemort with the truth, not with lies. That’s how he got away with it for so long.

Our Snapey has the brightest mind in the entire series, period. 🖤

Does anyone else find it ironic how the fandom clings to the idea that Snape is the biggest reason Sirius left Grimmauld Place in Order of the Phoenix...despite the Half Blood Prince stating that"Harry clung to this notion because it enabled him to hate Snape which felt satisfying..."

This feels satisfying to Harry because Harry believes that Snape doesn't care that Sirius is dead, but it isn't until 'The Prince's Tale' in The Deathly Hallows that we realise that this isn't true either.

One of the basic things you have to understand about Snape is that his hatred or dislike of people does not stop him from saving or trying to save people. This all starts from the turning point on the hill all those years ago, when Dumbledore humbles Snape into turning his selfishness into selflessness.

Snape asks for James and Harry's life too. And when Dumbledore tells Snape Harry must die, and states "how many people have you watched die?" Snape responds "lately only those I could not save."

Sirius is one of those people.

something endearing about Snape

Something i’ve been kind of mulling over and thinking about in regards to Snape– and which I find frustrating, but endearing– is how… he is continually disadvantaged and disregarded by systems of power and persons of authority… but he chooses to work within their framework, anyways. 

Snape is Lawful-neutral, to his own detriment. Hear me out.

Like, as a student, he gets bullied. It’s 4 against 1, and he’d have a hard time picking them off if he wanted to go a more aggressive or lethal route. In any case, he tends to be reactionary, rather than necessarily going out of his way to find and attack them… So, he tries to get them expelled, because that would be a way to remove all 4 of his threats at once, and it’s not as if they don’t consistently break the rules… Shouldn’t people who break the rules and mistreat others be punished? So when he’s almost lead to his death at the Shrieking Shack, he appeals to the system of authority (of whom Dumbledore is the purveyor, in this case) with what he feels is a pretty airtight case against his bullies… 

…and he gets written off, and blackmailed into keeping his mouth shut.

If it were me, that kind of slap in the face would ensure i never respected another authority figure again in my life tbh. The Law and the gods that govern it would be dead to me. Anyways…

Being a werewolf does not inherently make Lupin a bad person. But being a good person does not make Lupin inherently safe. The point is: when you transform into a werewolf, you lose control of yourself, and that can result in you killing, maiming, or infecting other people. Lupin knows this. He’s known it for over 20 years,

As of 1993, there was this great new discovery: the Wolfsbane Potion, which helps to curb the effects of lycanthropy, right? It’s super expensive and super hard to make, but it’s an effective way to mitigate the more vicious effects of a transformation– it turns the drinker into a harmless wolf, rather than a werewolf, at the time of the full moon. A wolf, who is easier to control or subdue if one is confronted with it, and who seems to retain some semblence of control during the transformation (Lupin having described himself as curling up in his office during his transformations).

You may be thinking that wolfsbane potion is the closest thing to a preventative  that the Wizarding World has circa 1993, and you’d be right. It’s not a cure, and people who drink it can still infect others, but damn, it makes it way more manageable.

We know that Severus, on more than one occasion, goes out of his way to give Lupin his potion (whether Lupin continually forgets to take it, or purposefully “forgets” to take it as a small power play/intimidation game against Snape is up for interpretation). Either way, we know that Lupin regularly forgets to take the life-changing potion unless prompted, which kind of makes him out as reckless. A timebomb. 

Severus, who is not only a virtuoso on the Dark Arts and all that it entails (and thus, academically, very informed on the dangers that (non-medicated) Werewolves pose), is also intimately and personally aware of the threat Lupin poses to a school full of children as well as the staff, because of his experience in the 70s. Snape brings all of this up to Dumbledore… 

…who repeatedly dismisses his well-founded and logical fears. 

Snape is still beholden to Dumbledore’s insistance that he keep his mouth shut. Which he does for most of the year. The very explicit parameters of the system are: do not tell anyone that Lupin is a werewolf. 

So, being the logical thinker that Snape is, he looks for (and finds) a way to achieve his desired outcome (informing people that Lupin is a werewolf) in a way that does work within those parameters. He can’t tell anyone outright that Lupin is a werewolf, but like… what if someone figured it out on their own?

Then we have Snape in the Shrieking Shack with the kids, Sirius, and Lupin. 

Harry, in the moment after Black disarmed them all, straight-up wanted to kill Sirius. He gets his wand back, and he is about to fucking murder this guy, until crookshanks sits over his heart.

Snape comes up the stairs to the 2nd floor of the shack, right? He’s wearing the Invisibility cloak. No one knows he’s there or hears him coming. He could have killed Sirius in an instant, without anyone knowing. He could kill Sirius AND Lupin if he wanted to, and dump the corpses on the ministry steps, and convince the minister that he had deduced that they were working together months ago. 

He could easily explain to the minister that he knew they were childhood friends, that Lupin started working at Hogwarts at the exact same time Black “wanted to infiltrate” Hogwarts, and that his speculations were dismissed. He could say all of this with the kids and Dumbledore to corroborate his story (since he arrives at the Shrieking Shack BEFORE the kids get the low-down on Pettigrew) and he would STILL get his order of Merlin (maybe 2?) But instead of killing them… 

…he disarms and restrains them. 

He’s like “Yeah, I’m handing you off to the Dementors, dickhead” but it’s important to remember… he disarms them, restrains them, and is willing to turn them over to the “authorities.” Even though, at this point, he whole-heartedly believes that 1. Black is a murderer, who killed like 23 people, and who broke out of wizard prison and 2. Lupin, a werewolf who has consistently not taken his potion and whom Snape believes has conspired to kill him in the past, is aiding and abetting said murderer… Severus Snape does not take the law into his own hands. He’s not about Vigilante Justice.

And… he gets disarmed, thrown against a wall, and almost ends up attacked by a werewolf for it later. heh

This is just up to the first 3 books, because i just finished re-reading them, but i’m certain there are more examples of these types of exchange in subsequent books. In any case, I love how the books have this consistent theme of “Harry distrusts authority, disrespects it, and challenges the system,” that’s all very good. 

But i also love that Severus Snape, the dude that everyone argues is super unfair, petty, spiteful, etc… attempts to use strategic thinking to operate within the paramaters of these systems, and tries to maintain respect for these systems, and consistently gets his ass handed to him for it. I love you, you lawful-neutral dumbass. 

Reading Snape through a queer lens

It’s funny how the years shape your opinions, and no matter how hard I try, I can never shake the idea of Snape as being queer – whether he’s gay, or bi, or genderqueer, or whatever…there’s something ‘different’ about Snape that makes me love him through a queer lens.

And for me, the most joyous moment is when Sirius calls him Lucius’ lapdog – because the implication and insinuation in that is so strong for anyone who has an awareness of what boarding school could be like in the 20th century.  

So, it’s a full admission from me when I say that I’ve always read Snape through a queer lens – but I have, at times, read his relationship with Lily as being heteronormative, and subsequently taken it as read that he coveted a sexual relationship with her.

As I get older, that reading has made me more and more uncomfortable.  I understand where the ‘nice guy’ criticism comes from – which, in fairness to JK, wasn’t such a trope when she wrote the books, and I don’t think she was aiming for.

But Snape’s ‘desire’ for Lily absolutely reduces his character from being someone powerful and interesting to well, a character who is a little pathetic – pining after someone who had no reciprocal interest, and who had clearly moved on.  

So, let’s break down the heteronormative reading:  

-  Firstly, Snape and Lily are boy-meets-girl which is prevalent in our culture.  

-  Secondly, Voldemort reveals that Snape desired Lily.

-  Thirdly, the way Snape reacts to Lily over James – particularly his possessiveness, and also:  “The intensity of his gaze made her blush.”  

The first can potentially be dismissed; we know for a fact that Lily is some variation of heterosexual, as she marries and has a child – but we know nothing about Snape’s sexuality. 

The second can definitely be dismissed because the whole point of Voldemort’s character is that he doesn’t understand love.  Interestingly, Snape must be presenting as some variation of heterosexual or bisexual for this to be credible to Voldemort.  Furthermore, we see throughout the series that Snape consistently lies to Voldemort.  

The last can be interpreted in a few ways; it could be a young teenage boy wrangling with his feelings…but it could be a young teenage boy who realises that he’s got competition for his best friend and a boyfriend will always rank more highly than a friend.  The contrast of ‘he fancies you’ versus ‘I’m your friend’ is quite interesting.

And it’s here that the message is rather mixed – for a man who devotes his life to honouring Lily’s name, he doesn’t explicitly choose Lily; he wants to associate with Mulciber and Avery at the same time.  For a 15 year old with raging hormones, he throws himself down the path of power…which follows his obsession with James, Sirius et al, who routinely strip him of his power.  He doesn’t, at any point, attempt to woo Lily.  

When Lily closed the door on Snape, he walked away.  Canon doesn’t state that he sent her flowers, or wrote her letters, or hung about outside her house; it rather suggests that they left each other alone with no further contact.

So when Snape goes to the hill and begs Dumbledore to keep Lily safe, he isn’t doing it because he thinks that slaughtering her family will mean that the path is clear for him; he does so because:

-  Lily is the only person in the Potter family who matters to Snape; if she hadn’t been at risk, he wouldn’t be defecting.

-  James was his schoolyard bully.  When James is long dead in the 90s, Snape still hasn’t moved on from how he was treated – Snape’s hardly likely to request a pardon for him…he’d probably be pleased if he was murdered.

-  Harry was the baby in the prophecy.  It’s not that I think Snape cares particularly either way about Harry – but that he believed that if Voldemort wanted to murder Harry, he wouldn’t be in a position to prevent it.  I think he felt Lily could be spared, whereas Harry couldn’t. 

You can read Snape’s acquiescence to Dumbledore’s suggestion to save the entire Potter family in two ways – either he sees it’s the only way to save Lily and accepts it, or he genuinely hasn’t thought any further than, “Lily must stay alive.”  I rather subscribe to the latter, which makes it an incredible scene of selflessness and selfishness in one swoop (which is Snape all over; a mass of contradiction).  

Our reading of Snape is distorted, because we read Snape-the-Spy.  We don’t see any sign of Snape’s true character (which would probably have been present in his post-school Death-Eater years) – instead, we meet him when he seems to despise his occupation which he’s forced into, and he socialises with people who are useful to the cause, as opposed to who he wants to.

As it stands, we can categorically state that Snape doesn’t appear to move on from his love for Lily – but we don’t know how much of this is love or coveting of Lily, and how much is due to his role as a spy.  We only have to look at Lucius and the way Voldemort treats Draco and Narcissa to see the dangers of having a family when you’re embroiled in warfare; Snape would be bringing a partner or a family into a war.  

…so I think sometimes we fall back on thinking that Snape has spent 15-20 years crying over Lily, when actually, he hasn’t flaunted a relationship with anyone for fear of them being toyed with by his enemies as a way of reaching him.  

For me, reading Snape as non-heterosexual helps to clear the path slightly.  If we assume that he wasn’t interested in Lily sexually, the story is tilted slightly differently – and Snape’s story becomes one of guilt.  Sirius tells us in OotP that many wizarding families followed Voldemort because his true thoughts weren’t apparent until it was too late, and I think Snape’s childhood, where his Muggle father seemingly dominated his magical mother, caused him to believe the two worlds should be separate.  

We don’t learn much about Avery and Mulciber, although Snape doesn’t appear to have a particularly close relationship with them post-school.  The rest of the Death Eaters present as varying degrees of insane, with the Malfoys being notable exceptions – and it would be credible to suggest that Lucius groomed Snape for his own ends, suggesting a bit of a power imbalance in their relationship.

However, we also see how Snape isn’t – despite Dumbledore standing up for him, and it not being proven until GoF that Snape was a Death Eater – really trusted by anyone on the side of the light.  It’s easy to see how Snape, who was bullied and almost murdered by a group of boys who were subsequently groomed into the Order, wouldn’t have aligned himself with any group they were in or with Dumbledore.

So that leaves, in his entire shabby life, Lily.  Her death stunts him emotionally because it turns out that she was the only person who seemed to like him for who he was.  Yet, he ignored her warnings, followed the wrong path, and was implicated in her death (committed by those he was aligned to).  He tried to make amends, but it was too late – which is the story of their friendship.  

Lily became an emblem of the path he should’ve taken and somewhat perversely, when Lily dies, Snape “becomes” Lily.  With Lily’s love for Harry keeping him safe in Surrey, Snape’s love for Lily causes him to take up the role of protector at Hogwarts.  Snape also assumes her patronus (or what we’re led to believe is her patronus), which is strongly coded as feminine – suggesting that it’s transformed, and isn’t his natural patronus.  

Somewhat ironically, when Snape leaves his own path and takes on Lily’s preferred route, he becomes everything she’d have been impressed by: a teacher, Head of House, and ultimately, Headmaster – and he gained the prestige and power he coveted as a youth. 

We start the story knowing that James and Lily were an item long before we discover that Snape and Lily had a friendship.  When we finally discover James and Snape didn’t like each other, and Lily and James ended up together, we assume that Snape treats Harry badly because James got the girl.

But that’s a huge reduction.  Snape doesn’t hate Harry because he’s James and Lily together; Snape hates Harry because he’s James.  We see throughout the series that Snape is the only character who refuses to acknowledge any amount of Lily in Harry (until, arguably, his dying moments).  Snape hates Harry because he looks exactly like the boy who tortured him for 7 years, and because he perceives Harry to be an arrogant rulebreaker, in the same way that James was.  

So no, I don’t think Snape was pleased that James and Lily ended up together, but not particularly because he was jealous.  Instead, it was the idea that he lost his best friend to his school bully – and that his own actions helped to push her that way. 

And that reads a whole lot more neatly to me than Snape coveting a relationship with Lily. 

Of course, you don’t need to read Snape through a queer lens to draw these conclusions; he could well have been heterosexual and either had a crush on Lily whilst they were friends but grew out of it, or he could’ve been heterosexual and not interested in Lily at all.  But if you read Snape as a celibate heterosexual, you do end up drawn down the Nice Guy path. 

Instead, Snape’s ‘pure of heart’ patronus rather suggests that he was genuine in his feelings, which points to him regretting the death of his childhood friend, rather than him feeling as if he friendzoned and missed out on a relationship that was somehow owed to him – and a queer lens rather helps to clarify that stance.  

No but seriously why is Lily’s patronus so unnecessarily gendered?

JKR said this in a interview in 2007:

Question: James patronus is a stag and lilys a doe is that a coincidence? J.K. Rowling: No, the Patronus often mutates to take the image of the love of one's life (because they so often become the 'happy thought' that generates a Patronus).

I’m assuming it was Lily’s patronus that changed not James because he already had a stag animagus at 15 and the only other person we know both their patronus and animagus form is Mcgonagall and they are both cats. So if Lily's patronus changed to be “the image of the love of her life” why is it a doe not a stag? How is a doe the image of James? Snape's patronus is apparently the "image of lily" and it appears as a doe instead of a stag to match his respective gender. What is going on?

(also guys im looking for a watsonian reason. I know the real answer is JKR's adherence to the gender binary)

Severus Snape is such an awful person. I don’t understand how people can like him after everything that he’s done. Remember the time he gave an eleven-year-old child a pig’s tail because the child’s FATHER said something that made him mad? Wait. Never mind. That was Hagrid.

But he DID remove a kid’s bones from his arm and later tried to wipe two kids’ memories. How could anyone forgive THAT? Shoot, I forgot. That was Gilderoy Lockhart.

Remember the time Snape made Neville sleep in the hallway when an alleged mass murderer was on the loose INSIDE THE SCHOOL? What a fucking dick. But shit. Someone just told me that was McGonagall.

Remember when Snape treated Hermione like shit because he thought she broke Draco’s heart by showing interest in Harry? Wow, what an asshole. Yikes, I’m wrong once again. That was Molly Weasley when she thought Hermione broke Harry’s heart by showing interest in Viktor Krum.

But Snape scarred a girl’s face when she gave the Order of the Phoenix information about the Death Eaters! Can you tell me he isn’t a terrible person now? Ugh, why do I keep forgetting things? That was Hermione Granger scarring Marietta Edgecombe’s face for giving Dolores Umbridge information about Dumbledore’s Army.

Wait, I have it. The absolute worst things Snape ever did. HE SEXUALLY ASSAULTED A FELLOW STUDENT FOR FUN. FOR A LAUGH. “BECAUSE HE EXISTED.” AND WHEN HIS CRUSH INTERVENED, HE TOLD HER HE WOULD CURSE HER IF SHE DIDN’T GO OUT WITH HIM. HE ALSO TOLD HER HE WOULD LEAVE HER FRIEND ALONE IF SHE WENT OUT WITH HIM. HE EVEN COMPARED HIS CRUSH TO A SNITCH FOR HIM TO CATCH, WHAT AN OBJECTIFYING MISOGYNIST. AND HE ATTEMPTED TO MURDER THAT SAME KID TOO. Wait…wait. Are you really telling me that I’m wrong here too? Okay, you’re right. You’re right. It was James Potter who sexually assaulted the kid and treated his crush like shit and Sirius Black who attempted to murder him. And guess who that kid was? Severus Snape.

“But Snape joined the Death Eaters! He was mean to his students!” Both of these things are true. However, they do not discount all the good Snape did, especially because the bad the other characters here did doesn’t seem to discount the good they did.

I’m rereading OOTP right now and I find that scene between Severus and Sirius in the kitchen to be highly relevant in the context of Severus as a feminine-coded character (and Sirius as a representation of toxic masculinity). Sirius is very outwardly aggressive in this scene in a conventionally masculine way, while Severus weaponizes his sarcasm and wit in a way that could be thought of as a more “feminine” form of defence. While Harry describes Sirius’s voice as getting progressively louder and angrier, he describes Severus’s voice as “soft” in contrast (as he usually does, which is also interesting in the context of Severus as a feminine man/GNC character). Sirius gets up and tries to intimidate Severus physically, and Severus grips his wand inside his pocket in a way that reminded me of a victim of domestic violence preparing to defend herself against her abuser.

I’m not sure how much of this was intentional considering how rigid JKR’s views on gender have unfortunately turned out to be, but I can’t help but read Severus as a feminine character, especially since he’s meant to act as a stand in for Lily in the same way as Sirius acts as a stand in for James. It’s very easy to read Sev as gender non conforming and/or LGBTQ, although given JKR’s own views it’s doubtful she meant for us to read him that way (but fuck her, she’s a massive transphobe, the characters are ours now, we can do what we like with them).

Note to self, start checking your inbox regularly. These changes to Tumblr are killing me because the notifications when I get messages or asks are hit-or-miss at best.

Anyways, this is such a great observation! I'm only just learning about coding and that that is even the term for it from reading about it from other Snape bloggers like @idealistic-realism00, @raptured-night, and @professormcguire since I only took the required English courses both my undergraduate years and beyond that my major was in sociology.

So, I'm not really any kind of expert but I do have a lot of personal experience from being biracial and queer myself just with learning to read between the lines and find representation for myself where I can and I think that is the case for a lot of people from less represented, marginalized backgrounds. We have a certain instinct for these things so even without any kind of formal study we sort of know the "codes" (for better or worse depending on what the author's intent is and if it's a negative dog-whistle or something more positive to get around censorships of the time) if that makes any kind of sense.

For me, I always saw Sirius and Snape as two sides of a coin. There were some very obvious parallels and contrasts between them and this really goes to that in a lot of ways for me. Both Sirius and Snape are two men who made pivotal choices in their youths that very much define them and have led to a great deal of internalized guilt and impacted their behaviors as adults. Both Sirius and Snape find themselves confined to their childhood homes at different points, Sirius at Grimmauld Place with Kreacher and Snape at Spinner's End with Peter Pettigrew (both Kreacher and Peter are characters that also are known for betraying Harry and costing him someone he loves at different points and making a turn around in regards to Harry because of kindness or mercy he showed to them).

Where Sirius made the choice to make Peter the Secret Keeper with only James, Lily, and Peter knowing and it ultimately led to the death of the Potters and him being sentenced to twelve years in Azkaban, Snape also unwittingly delivered part of the fated prophecy that led to Voldemort targeting the Potters. Most interesting for me is that Snape's friendship with Lily and Sirius's friendship with James could be read as either platonic or a case of unrequited romantic feelings. There is the observation in SWM made by Harry that while Sirius was clearly a looker who attracted the attention of girls, his attention was fully on James and not on those admiring glances. So, when looking at Sirius's relationship with James through a comparative lens to Snape's with Lily they could be platonic friends or both Sirius and Snape could have had romantic feelings for their best friends while, ironically enough, Sirius had to watch James fall for and succeed in winning over Lily just as Snape had to do the same.

In the case of Snape and Sirius there is also a degree of regression and arrested development stemming from trauma (and both men at different points make the clear mistake of seeing Harry as a stand-in for James as a result of said trauma). Where Sirius spent twelve years in Azkaban able to hold onto his sanity against the Dementors in part because he knew he was innocent and the truth of what happened was a deeply unhappy thing for him, Snape spent decades in Dumbledore's service at Hogwarts (a place with its own unhappy associations for him having found it was not a refuge from life at Spinner's End with Tobias as he had hoped but another place where he would be bullied relentlessly, overlooked by his Head of House and housemates for being a poor half-blood with no status, subject to institutional failures resulting from yet more adult authority figures in his life not protecting him, groomed by Voldemort's followers and responsible for alienating his closest friend as a result) teaching children when clearly he does not have the temperament and, courtesy of his role as a spy, concealing his own truths and intentionally not allowing people to know the best of him. In a sense, both men had a negative public image that ran counter to the full truth about them and both of them died without being able to see those misconceptions vindicated (Sirius died still presumed by the Ministry and general public to have been the traitor who turned his friends over to Voldemort and murdered innocent people and Snape died knowing he had delivered information to Harry that would lead to his death and unsure of the outcome of the war with everyone thinking him a coward and murderer).

There's just, a LOT of parallels there between the two when you start to unpack them as characters. Even the fact that they both came from domestic dysfunction and unhappy home lives. It makes their mutual antagonism all the more of a tragedy because if not for Sirius's prejudice (which is arguably more understandable given his family and their long tradition of being sorted into Slytherin) against Slytherins and antagonism of young Snape on the train and the years of bullying and bad blood that followed, these two men had the most potential to understand each other. Alas, they do not, but it is their likenesses that makes their differences in how they clash all the more interesting because, as you noted, there are stark differences there. Sirius is all overt masculine energy; hot-headed and physically imposing while Snape is more strained, the ice to his fire.

Most striking to me was always the difference in how little respect Sirius showed to Snape's body while he was unconscious (further demonstrating how little Sirius has changed from the teenage boy who once stood with James and exposed Snape to laughing schoolmates) versus how Snape conjured a stretcher while still under the impression he was the one responsible for betraying the Potters (and the death of Lily). In that way, we get to see how Snape has developed as a person away from his past choices and learned from them. He may still regress, as he does quite plainly when forced to return to the Shrieking Shack and is confronted by Sirius and Remus there, but he isn't quite in the full state of arrested development as Sirius (but given his circumstances in Azkaban that isn't entirely surprising either; there is a tragedy to Sirius's character for all that there is as much of a darkness as there was in Snape during his time as a Death Eater and the fact so many Marauder apologists who double as "Snaters" refuse to acknowledge that outside of romanticizing the angst of it all while vilifying Snape is quite possibly an even greater tragedy, imo) which is why Sirius's death came in part due to his inability to move beyond his past and find it within himself to treat Kreacher with a modicum of understanding or empathy (in addition to his desire to be part of the action again and recapture his lost youth when it was him and James in the Order together) while Snape's death came only after he had to reconcile with the fact his original raison d'être for becoming a spy (to protect Harry for Lily as penance) ran counter to what was needed to defeat Voldemort for good and he still chose to stay the course instead of pursue his own agenda and act on his own self-interests.

In short, Sirius's death was partly due to the fact he couldn't move beyond the past. While Snape's death came as a result of the fact he had grown enough as a character to set aside his past motivations and see things through because he had become someone who conjured stretchers even for hated enemies and risked his life to save all those who he could save (including Sirius and Remus).

Thanks for the ask and I'm so sorry it took so long to respond but it gave me even more to think about. The masculine vs. feminine coding just adds an extra element to Snape and Sirius's dynamic when it was already interesting to me and I've always had a lot of thoughts about how those two were written with so many parallels and points of contrast. Love this ask!

There's something very moving about Snape making Harry watch his most vulnerable moments. His most shameful and painful memories. Including his Worst one. That's the same man who went hysterical when Harry invaded his privacy in OotP... and at the end of DH, either those memories slip by mistake, or he trusts Harry, or he really wants to confide to him about what happened, or he decides that's the price to pay for his absolution and/or his final mission. Regardless, here you have the man who holds so dear to his privacy -- a spy -- and he is giving his dearest secrets to the boy he hated yet had to protect. So, was it an accident? Was it an utilitarian strategy born at the last moment? Or did something change in Snape in his last year, when Harry was away?

I have a lot of feelings about this scene. Because from Harry's POV at this point obviously Snape is the mean bully who's always picked on him for no reason and it's gratifying to see Sirius standing up to him and putting him in his place. And at this point in the story that's kind of what we as readers see too. BUT with the additional knowledge we gain about Snape throughout the rest of the story this hits so different.

Think about Snape, who spent years being tormented and humiliated by Sirius and who has carefully rebuilt himself from that, but who still has all the open wounds and trauma from it lurking just beneath the surface. Think about how he's so used to Sirius hurting and humiliating him that the second Sirius stands it's a reflex to grab his wand. And he's not just holding it. He's balled his fist around it - an obvious sign of stress from someone who usually masks it so well - because this isn't just another duel. This isn't even like facing Voldemort.

No matter that Snape is much older and more capable and more powerful now. When it's Sirius suddenly Snape is 15 again and all those memories and feelings of powerlessness and humiliation come rushing back.

Everyone Dreams of Going to Hogwarts

Every fan of Harry Potter has indulged in the fantasy of waiting for an Owl to deliver the fateful letter that will declare your future as a witch or wizard at Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry. Every one of us old or young had dreamed of riding the train at Kings Cross Station, taking the boats across the black lake and seeing the castle for the first time, of having dinner in the great hall, of finally figuring out where you belong in the world and it just feeling right. They fantasize about seeing their common room for the first time finally feeling that warm sense of belonging and meeting the friends that you will keep for the rest of your life. Every single one of us had fantasized about meeting our professors, exploring the grounds and discovering our latent potential. It’s a comfort for many of us and happy place to go in our minds to escape reality.

For the witches and wizards of the Wizarding World that childhood fantasy is their reality. They too wait with bated breath for their letters. They too fantasize about finally feeling that “at home” feeling, the feeling that you finally belong to something bigger and more wonderful than their wildest dreams. The chance to prove themselves. The chance to start over for many, the chance to leave their sometimes abusive homes for a place that finally actually feels like home to them. Harry was one of those people. Dumbledore was one of those people. Hermione, Ron and even Neville all find this sense of belonging sooner or later. They all find their forever home at Hogwarts the way we all dream.

Now imagine being Seveurs Snape.

You live in a house with a father that doesn’t understand you and screams and yells at you and your mother on a daily basis and you feel so alone in the world. You have one peer who appreciates in you the magic that allows you to rise above the squaller and cruelty in which you live. You have one friend who sees you for who you are and appreciates that about you truly, while being forced to inhabit a world that not only doesn’t understand you but is actually often openly hostile to you. Hogwarts, you beleive, will be your escape from this hell, and best of all you get to take this wonderful friend with you. You are being whisked away to a fairy tale castle where dreams come true and you will finally feel safe and finally feel a real sense of home. You stay up all night all week waiting by the door in the early morning for the letter that is finally going to change your life. You pour over it with your best friend, going over every aspect of this incredible opportunity in your mind over and over. You’re planning how you’ll make the most of it. You finally let yourself look forward to something, to open your heart to something, to dream of something. Your greatest hearts desire to this moment is finally coming true.

Then you get on the train.

And the hell begins before the first day has ever even started. Your friend is angry at you for something entirely out of your control, and even though you make up destiny has deigned that on this day you will meet the person that will destroy any hope you ever entertained of Hogwarts being a home at all. His name is James Potter. His partners in the crimes which will forever change your life are Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius Black. From the moment you meet you are ridiculed by them, physically abused by them, and the worst part is from this day forward it is never going to end.

Your best friend is put not just in a different house but in the house that hates your house the most, and from this day forward you will forever have a strain on the only true friendship you’ve ever had. From this day forward you will have to meet them either in secret or at least in private to avoid angering both your houses at best and facing ridicule at worst. The moments you stole with this friend in the muggle hell will ironically be the only moments of peace you’ll truly have with them. Not only that, but they are sorted into the same house that 4 of your worst tormentors reside in.

But it’s even worse. Because although at home you can escape form your father and potential school bullies by hiding yourself away in some nook or cranny, making yourself scarce, staying out late at night in the woods or just being as quiet as possible; you will never be able to escape the torment that now awaits every day. You have classes with them, you run into them, you see them trying to take away the only friend you have every day. And it doesn’t even end there, now they have a tracking device that you don’t know about, but somehow they manage to find you no matter where you hide. No matter where you go they are somehow always there. No matter who you talk to, they all act like you’re crazy. Because none of the other professors or students know about the marauders map they find you strange for jumping at every blow of the wind. Because they don’t know about the map they don’t believe you at all when you try to explain that somehow James Potter and his gang seem to pop up conveniently every single place you go to hide and they even blame you for trying to figure out how to protect yourself. They tell you you’re bringing it on yourself for being too weird or too jumpy or too nosy. Even your best friend in the world is starting to doubt you. You feel like you’re going insane.

So you try to have your tormentors expelled. You try so hard to figure out something, anything that will end the days on end of suffering and abuse. But you’re the weird kid. You’re the ugly kid. You’re the emo goth kid. Nobody gives a shit about you and you know it. You know you’re on your own. You’re a half blood, so the the people in your house who were supposed to have your back ignore you at best and tease you about it at worst for letting Gryffindor students get the best of you. Any hope you had of Hogwarts being your home has been destroyed.

So you try to follow James and The Gang around. Yes everyone sees you as creepy for this, becusse you don’t have a map that magically tells you where they will be at all times. You have to go about it the old fashioned way. You hide behind bushes, you peak around corners. Yes everyone finds you creepy now on top of everything else, but it’ll be worth it if you can finally enjoy what was promised to you at age 11, a home. You’ll finally be able to breathe.

But no. Instead what happens is your tormentors figure out that you know that they are putting the lives of students in danger by wandering the grounds with a werewolf against the wishes of the headmaster. You know that if you can just prove it that the torment will be over, but what you don’t know is that they are one step ahead of you, and for the unimaginable crime of trying to thwart them; they are going to plan to inflict a dangerous illness of lycanthropy on you at best, maul you to death at worst. You are close to both your proof and your death when one of them gets cold feet at the last minute and decides he doesn’t in fact want to go to prison.

You think “maybe it’s finally over now”, “maybe everyone will see now that they are cruel, that this is what they’re really like”, “maybe I’ll finally get a moment of peace, maybe Dumbledore and Lily will finally beleive me”. But no. Of course not. Because remember, you’re the weird emo Slytherin kid and your life is secondary. It always has been. Dumbledore swears you to secrecy to protect one of your tormentors, so you get no justice for the attempt on your life. Because Dumbledore had forbidden you to speak about your traumatic experience of almost being murdered, your best friend doesn’t beleive you at all and instead blames you for sneaking around. They don’t even give you the chance to defend or explain yourself. Instead you’re made out to be the creepy bad guy who wants to destroy the Potter Gang out of jealously.

Worst of all you secretly suspect that your best friend has a thing for the person who makes your life a living hell every single day. You see the stolen glances and the way they look at each other, the way she is never totally on your side. You tell yourself that this is all in your head, that Lily would never betray you that way. That all the hours you spent dreaming of Hogwarts together will mean more than a crush. But oh, sadly you are very wrong there too.

Not even a few months after attempting to take your life your abusers are back at again. Remorseless as ever they hunt you down like dogs and follow your every footstep. You haven’t a moment of peace even to do your normal school work. The only place you are safe is your common room, and even then you can’t let your guard down.

Then one day it happens.

The little pieces of happiness that you’ve managed to tuck away from yourself are cruelly ripped away. They manage to find you again. The torment us as usual. They all gang up on you, each taking a go for their own amusement. They fling you on your back, force you to vomit, force you to listen to their emotional abuse while they make a go at hitting on your best friend, and the torment does not end there. Now they are picking you up off the ground and taking off your clothes. Now on top of every other humiliation they have amused themselves by sexually humiliating you in front of everyone in your class including your closest ally. Every part of you is on fire inside and out and the depth of horror and hurt inside you is so big you don’t know what to do with the feeling. Then your friend finally steps in. But now you’re so hurt and angry that it’s bursting out of you in the worst possible ways.

Now the worst thing finally happens.

You call your best friend a slur; something you know will hurt them more than any other thing, because you’re destroyed, because you’re angry at them for letting it get this far, because you’re humiliated and because you’re tired of not being held in a higher regard than the person who has ruined your life; because you’re sick of their moralizing and their pitty.

Now you’ve lost the only person you’ve ever really felt close to. Now you’ve lost any human sympathy forever.

And it’s not over yet. Now you’re upside down again. And this time they aren’t content with exposing the rest of your body for the world to see. Now they are out for blood, and the revenge they have settled on is Sexual Assault. They remove your underwear to expose your most private parts to the world and there is nothing you can do about it. Nowhere you can go. No one who cares. No one who will come to your rescue.

Snape must have felt so hopeless it’s a wonder he didn’t try to end his life. People have done so over much less.

Hogwarts was never truly a home for Severus Snape. Even in adulthood he works in the place that was the site of innumerable traumas and heartaches. Everyday he faces trigger after trigger of the worst day of his life, while protecting the progeny of the only person he ever felt close to and the person who cruelly ripped away any chance he had at normal life. This is why I feel for Severus Snape so much in every scene. He is confronted every day with the worst memories a person can endure yet he chooses to be brave anyway. He chooses to do the right thing anyway. He puts other people’s well-being first anyway. He chooses the side of the light beyond all that had conspired to make a sociopath out of him. He holds a place in his heart for love and he protects that love with his entire being. Platonic love is just as powerful as romantic love and Severus Snape is the perfect example of this. A person even in the worst circumstances can still make the most difference in the world, can still choose to be their own person and make their own choices. Even when the world is wholly against him, Severus Snape is the pinnacle of integrity.

This is why he’s my favorite character. He’s the bravest character in the narrative, but he’s also the character with the most integrity.

The Marauders map becomes a really creepy concept when you remember it was made by a pack of bullies who loved to torture, torment and humiliate their victims. If you were their target, there would be no escaping them. They could find you whenever they wanted. You would have nowhere to hide.

I will never get over the fact that Lily didn't even ask Severus for his side of the story for Sirius' prank / attempted murder through a uncontrollable Lupin transformed into a wolf. Lily doesn't even worry about Severus, telling him outright that he should be grateful for James' intervention, trusting people more than a version of her friend she's known since she was little. Then having the nerve to say that at least the Marauders don't use black magic... Tell me Lily, magic that isn't black magic is free from any danger ? Hanging someone upside down while smothering them with soap and pulling down their underwear in front of everyone, is that less serious just because it's not black magic ? No, but seriously... I have nothing against the fact that Lily wasn't a fountain of virtue, but in reality, she was just downright an asshole. We're talking about a girl who smiled at Severus' humiliation and took the opportunity when he insulted her, clearly without meaning it, after a horrible moment, to verbally humiliate him and give up their friendship.

Something that bothers me upon re reading the aftermath of Snape’s Worst Memory is how little it actually focuses on Snape’s trauma and suffering. I touched on it briefly in the past but Harry’s thoughts and discussion afterwards centre around how he is sad that his father was actually an arsehole. Sure there are brief moments of him empathising with Snape but really the narrative arc is: Harry is shook to see James being a prick, Harry mopes over it, He talks to Sirius and Lupin who reassure him with a very bias narrative and then continues to adore and praise his father. 

At no point does he think there might be at least some validity to Snape’s present hatred, instead he later uses it to blame Snape for Sirius’ death. Once again there is minimal recognition of Snape’s trauma and why he is the way he is and lets not even discuss how little regard Harry seems to have for Snape’s privacy, his only regret being that he got caught sneaking into the pensieve not that you know.. it was morally wrong. There is not attempt at apologising, at no point does Dumbledore or anyone else say “What you did was incredibly wrong” it is just brushed aside.

It feels very shallow to have Harry witness Snape being bullied by his father only to have him go right back to seeing him in the same adoring and unrealistic light and to have zero acknowledgment or empathy for Snape save for a few pages post memory and then claim this is “Harry seeing his Dad in a clearer light”.

Some subtle clues in text that Severus Snape felt ashamed of being a DE in past.

#1. Goblet of Fire - The Egg and the Eye

‘Course Dumbledore trusts you,’ growled Moody. ‘He’s a trusting man, isn’t he? Believes in second chances. But me – I say there are spots that don’t come off, Snape. Spots that never come off, d’you know what I mean?’

Snape suddenly did something very strange. He seized his left forearm convulsively with his right hand, as though something on it had hurt him.

Moody laughed. ‘Get back to bed, Snape.’

‘You don’t have the authority to send me anywhere!’ Snape hissed, letting go of his arm as though angry with himself.

(See, he feels ashamed of having that Dark Mark, he feels “angry with himself” for being a DE in the past.)

#2. Deathly Hallows - The Prince’s Tale. (although HBP’s timeline)

“Information,” repeated Snape. “You trust him … you do not trust me.”

“It is not a question of trust. I have, as we both know, limited time. It is essential that I give the boy enough information for him to do what he needs to do.”

“And why may I not have the same information?”, asked Snape.

‘I prefer not to put all of my secrets in one basket, particularly not a basket that spends so much time dangling on the arm of Lord Voldemort.’, said Dumbledore

‘Which I do on your orders!’

( He felt he deserved to know about the information because he was a true Order member at heart. He doesn't want to associate with Voldemort at all but he has to do it only because Dumbledore wants him to spy on Voldemort. He does not want to “dangle on the arms of Voldemort” even as a spy. He wants to completely dissociate himself from DEs.)

#3. Deathly Hallows - Sacking of Severus Snape

‘I was under the impression,’ said Snape, ‘that Alecto had apprehended an intruder.’

‘Really?’ said Professor McGonagall. ‘And what gave you that impression?’

Snape made a slight flexing movement of his left arm, where the Dark Mark was branded into his skin.

‘Oh, but naturally,’ said Professor McGonagall. ‘You Death Eaters have your own private means of communication, I forgot.’

( He is so ashamed of having that Dark Mark that he just merely hints at it in a very subtle and physical way rather than acknowledging it with words. Up till that point, he was answering in words.)

These are three of the instances that indicate how much Severus Snape, after change of sides, loathed to be even associated with Voldemort and his Death Eaters, to a point where he felt ashamed to acknowledge his Dark Mark! He merely hinted at his Dark Mark, in a very subtle and physical way, rather than flaunt it using words. How much Severus didn’t want to “dangle on the arm of Lord Voldemort” even as a spy but he didn’t really have much of a choice, did he? —

“Well, you don’t just hand in your resignation to Voldemort. It’s either a lifetime of service or death”.

To Severus, a third option - being a double agent spy pretending to be Voldemort’s supporter whilst actually secretly working against him - was presented by Dumbledore, which he agreed to do not once but twice (1st war and 2nd war).

But Severus was a human, afterall. Even the pretense of supporting the evil could be very taxing and it’s evident from the above three instances. You feel sorry for this man but you also know that he was, afterall, paying the price of his own terrible mistake that he commited around couple of decades back as a teenager. You feel sorry for him, but you also feel appreciative of the fact that this man was willing to do and sacrifice anything and everything to atone for his mistake, that he never made excuses or ever backed off from the difficult road of atonement, and in the end, paid even the ultimate price — his life.

the most accurate snape quote i’ve ever read by someone on a forum: “Risking himself to save others is the pattern of a man who believes in a good beyond himself, his own interest, his own loves and hates. For those who believe Snape can only be motivated by revenge- keep in mind- he had his chance at revenge on Black when Black was unconcious after the Dementors attack. What did he do? He conjured a stretcher and delivered him to Pomfrey for medical attention, in sharp contrast to Black’s own recent treatment of the unconscious Snape, dragging him and bumping his head into things. Snape changes over the course of his lifetime. Snape never becomes a nice person. He does become a good one.”

I was reading the Wizarding World article about the Patronus Charm, and found a couple of interesting things…

It’s described as “a pure, protective magical concentration of happiness and hope“ and that producing a Patronus is “generally considered a mark of superior magical ability“.

“In some cases a witch or wizard may choose to produce an incorporeal Patronus deliberately, if he or she wishes to disguise the form it generally takes.”

This is something that I can absolutely imagine Snape doing. We only see him using his Patronus twice, and these two times the appearance of his doe was needed, first to guide Harry to the sword and then to Dumbledore. But what about in POA, when Dementors were roaming the school grounds, and Lupin, who may have known the origins of his Patronus was around? I can see him using the less efficient version of his Patronus, both in case someone may have recognized it (or just because Snape and a doe, doesn’t really fit with his wannabe vampire reputation), or to even save himself from the pain of having to see Lily fly off to save him against the darkness of the Dementors.

“It may be that a true and confident belief in the rightness of one’s actions can supply the necessary happiness. However, most such men and women, who become desensitised to the effects of the Dark creatures with whom they may ally themselves, regard the Patronus as an unnecessary spell to have in their arsenal.”

Rowling uses here the example of Umbridge, who can obviously procude a Patronus while not being a “pure of heart” person, to show that people who “questionable morals” are also able to use this charm. But what I find the most interesting is the second part, about Dark Wizards being desensitised to the Dementors. Does this mean that they barely feel the cold and depression that the Dementors bring with them? Maybe because they don’t have as many pure happy memories to feed from? And what does it mean for Snape? He is a practitioner of Dark Magic, thus is a Dark Wizard, maybe not to the extent that Bellatrix is for example, but still. Does that make him less affected by Dark Creatures, so Dementors?

“The Patronus represents that which is hidden, unknown but necessary within the personality.”

“For it is evident […] that a human confronted with inhuman evil, such as the Dementor, must draw upon resources he or she may never have needed, and the Patronus is the awakened secret self that lies dormant until needed, but which must now be brought to light…”

Isn’t this a perfect metaphor of Snape’s use of his Patronus? Of his secret, the biggest of the whole series, slowly cultivated for seven books? In the end, it was his love for Lily, symbolized by his doe Patronus, that was brought to light exactly when needed, and that enabled another (Harry) to fight off the darkness (Dementors/Voldemort).

And lastly, there’s this:

“The form of a Patronus may changed during the course of a witch or wizard’s life. Instances have been known of the form of the Patronus transforming due to bereavement, falling in love or profound shifts in a person’s character.”

I kept that last part in the quote because I think that all three examples here can apply to Snape, which I find very interesting. But what intrigues me the most, is what the article isn’t saying. After this quote, Rowling uses Tonks’s Patronus as an illustration, and not Snape’s. Of course Tonks’s Patronus is the most explicit one to have changed, or in fact the only one we know of for sure.

Other Patronuses are mentioned throughout the article, Umbridge’s, Remus’s, and there’s mentions of cats, horses and dogs as corporeal Patronuses. But nothing about the most important Patronus in the story, Snape’s doe.

My theory has always been that Snape’s Patronus was simply always a doe. Two people can have similar Patronuses, it’s both written in the article again, and we have the example of McGonagall and Umbridge (I always found it amusing that McGonagall’s “biggest rival” shares the same Patronus, at least same species).

“However, every Patronus is as unique as its creator and even identical twins have been known to produce very different Patronuses.”

Meaning that Snape’s doe would have differed from Lily’s. In what way, we don’t know, but it wouldn’t have been a perfect copy. A doe Patronus uniquely belonging to Snape, that would represent him, and not her. And this, I love.

“Snape hated Harry because Harry looked like James.” Okay. Let’s dig into this. Because it’s not a matter of, “Your dad bullied me and I’m getting back at him by being hateful to you.” It’s more complex and insidious than that. When Snape knew James as a teenager, Snape was “twitchy, like a spider.” He stuttered. He knew he could be under attack at any moment, and he was powerless: poor, with no social clout, unattractive, generally disliked. After James died, Snape was trapped back in the place where he’d been bullied, trying to be an authority figure to kids only a few years younger than him who’d watched him being bullied and assaulted. It must have been incredibly hard, but he did it. When we see him ten years later, he no longer stutters. He can keep a classroom quiet with a soft voice. He’s in control. Then, suddenly, there’s this face in the crowd again, the one his instincts associate with danger. He has to fight the automatic response to take cover or defend himself when he passes Harry in the halls. He’s twitchy again, his nerves are raw, it’s uncomfortable all the time. And then he gets face-to-face with him in class. And it’s like the clock has turned back and he’s a teenager again. Only, he’s managed to take all the things he’s fought so hard for with him: he doesn’t stutter, he can clearly say all the insults he ever wanted to; he’s the one with the power, with social standing behind him. And so all the things he would’ve liked to say to James come pouring out: the carefully created insults, the disdain. And the laughter of the Slytherins feeds the dark places in his soul. And then Harry leaves, and he hates himself. What is wrong with him? He knows this isn’t James, it’s not helping anything to treat him like this. He’s going to stop. He will just ignore the boy and get on with his life. But it never lasts. His control slips, and he says one thing, and then it snowballs, and he’s lost all that hard-won control he’s fought for all his life. He’s acting like a teenager again, and he hates it. He despises himself for it. But he won’t let anyone know his weakness. Better that everyone thinks he is petty enough to loathe the boy for no good reason than that they know how his control crumbles at a touch. So he sneers and insults him to other teachers and gets on with his self-loathing. He’s used to it, after all. And he does his best to protect the boy, to keep him alive despite all the idiot does to undo his efforts. But every time, he ends up screaming at the kid like he’s crazy. Maybe he is crazy. Normal people don’t feel out of control like this, for no reason. Just because a kid looks like his dad. So, yes. Harry looks like James, and Snape hates him for it.

The entire point of Snape’s character is to show that someone socially unpleasant and physically unattractive, someone mean, petty and vindictive can also be brave, self-sacrificing, devoted, brilliant and morally righteous, where it counts the most. That behind all the snark and bitterness there’s a story, that explains where his pain and prickliness comes from. That your caricature villain Death Eater has hidden depth and can be a man who has laid his life to right the wrongs he committed. That’s a moral lesson of revealing his true alliances, for God’s sake. That there’s a line between being dark, twisted, bitter and unfair and being actually evil. And you should not confuse the two. Harry’s greatest power is the power of love and when he names his child after Snape, he shows that Severus Snape, as he was, IS worthy of appreciation, worthy of love. This is a message the books carry.

Snape isn’t responsible for Lupin losing his job

Let’s look at the timeline:

The Shrieking Shack drama.

Lupin turns into the werewolf.

Harry, Ron and Hermione are in the Hospital Wing.

Harry and Hermione use the Time Turner.

Snape has a meltdown in front of Cornelius Fudge and Dumbledore.

In the morning Snape tells Slytherins that Lupin is a werewolf.

Harry talks to Lupin who’s been fired.

A lot of people think that Lupin was fired because Snape told his secret. But Lupin was actually fired because he betrayed Dumbledore’s trust—multiple times, as a student and as a teacher.

Lupin knows it himself:

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“I sometimes felt guilty about betraying Dumbledore’s trust, of course ... he had admitted me to Hogwarts when no other headmaster would have done so, and he had no idea I was breaking the rules he had set down for my own and others’ safety. He never knew I had led three fellow students into becoming Animagi illegally. But I always managed to forget my guilty feelings every time we sat down to plan our next month’s adventure. And I haven’t changed ...”

»

Lupin betrayed Dumbledore’s trust as a student when he was roaming around Hogwarts and Hogsmeade as a werewolf.

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“That was still really dangerous! Running around in the dark with a werewolf! What if you’d given the others the slip, and bitten somebody?”

“A thought that still haunts me,” said Lupin heavily. “And there were near misses, many of them.

»

Lupin himself admits that there were many near misses. He’s extremely lucky that he didn’t infect or kill anybody. If he had, if others had found out about him, Dumbledore would have been finished as a headmaster.

«

Lupin’s face had hardened, and there was self-disgust in his voice. “All this year, I have been battling with myself, wondering whether I should tell Dumbledore that Sirius was an Animagus. But I didn’t do it. Why? Because I was too cowardly. It would have meant admitting that I’d betrayed his trust while I was at school, admitting that I’d led others along with me ... and Dumbledore’s trust has meant everything to me. He let me into Hogwarts as a boy, and he gave me a job when I have been shunned all my adult life, unable to find paid work because of what I am. And so I convinced myself that Sirius was getting into the school using dark arts he learned from Voldemort, that being an Animagus had nothing to do with it . . . so, in a way, Snape’s been right about me all along.

»

Lupin knew Sirius was an Animagus. It was crucial information. Everyone—including Dumbledore, Snape and Lupin himself—believed it was Sirius who had betrayed the Potters. Lupin was (again) extremely lucky that it turned out it was in fact Pettigrew.

The Ministry and Dumbledore did their best to protect Harry, but the whole army of Dementors was helpless against Animagus Sirius. Lupin himself is disgusted with what he did.

That betrayal is even worse, because Lupin being a teacher in the same year Sirius is on the loose is probably not a coincidence. Dumbledore must have asked the person he trusted and who knew Sirius very well. Dumbledore hoped that Lupin would have some information about Sirius and help protect Harry; being a good DADA teacher was a pleasant bonus. But Lupin failed to do the very job he was hired for.

Lupin managed to deceive Dumbledore and Snape who were both skilled in Legillimency. What’s more, during the first war Lupin probably was trying to convince other werewolves / spying for Dumbledore just like during the second war, so probably he knew at least a little Occlumency. The thing is, Lupin was hiding something the whole year (that he knew Sirius was an Animagus) and Snape saw some clues that Lupin wasn’t entirely honest. Lupin admits it too.

So let’s get back to the timeline:

Dumbledore wants to know what happened in the Shrieking Shack. He’s heard the children’s account, but he must want to hear the story of the three adults involved in the incident: Snape, Lupin and Sirius. Lupin is obviously unavailable.

We know he talks to Sirius:

«

“Last night Sirius told me all about how they became Animagi,” said Dumbledore, smiling. “An extraordinary achievement — not least, keeping it quiet from me.

»

He tells Harry this in the morning, after Lupin has left. The conversation probably took place when Sirius was arrested, after the Shrieking Shack incident but before the rescue. Lupin was in his werewolf form at that time, somewhere around Hogwarts.

The most disapointing thing for Dumbledore must be the fact that it is Sirius, not Lupin, who tells him all about Lupin’s first betrayal as a student. That also reveals Lupin’s second betrayal—that he didn’t tell Dumbledore about Sirius’ ability, even though he believed him to be the traitor.

Dumbledore must be determined to hear Lupin’s account. So as soon as the night ends and Lupin turns back into his human form, Dumbledore has a conversation with him. We know it happened because when Harry talks to Lupin, Remus has already been fired. The only way it could happen is that the Headmaster fired him personally.

Of course Snape couldn’t fire Lupin personally, he was just a teacher, he had no power to do so. The only way Snape could have had Lupin fired was to tell the Slytherins about Lupin (which he did), inform the school governors himself or have the students (like Draco Malfoy whose father was a governor) inform their parents and then wait for the governors to force the Headmaster to fire Lupin. However, there was too little time for that. Alternatively, he could have just told the Slytherins about Lupin, thus manipulating Dumbledore and forcing him to fire Lupin. BUT (1) Snape is very loyal to Dumbledore and it would be surprising if he went behind his back and endangered his position as the Headmaster; (2) there’s no indication that Dumbledore is mad at Snape. He certainly would be if Snape forced him to do something he didn’t want to do.

But Dumbledore is mad at someone else.

«

“Well — good-bye, Harry,” he [Lupin] said, smiling. “It has been a real pleasure teaching you. I feel sure we’ll meet again sometime. Headmaster, there is no need to see me to the gates, I can manage...”

Harry had the impression that Lupin wanted to leave as quickly as possible.

“Good-bye, then, Remus,” said Dumbledore soberly. Lupin shifted the grindylow tank slightly so that he and Dumbledore could shake hands. Then, with a final nod to Harry and a swift smile, Lupin left the office.

»

"Mad" is perhaps too strong, Dumbledore is rarely outraged. He’s disappointed. He isn’t emotional (neither "Oh, that horrible Snape, what did he do to my precious Lupin?" nor "Oh, you horrible Lupin, you’ve almost eaten my precious Harry Potter!"), he assesses the situation rationally. He’s rather cold. Whatever he’s said to Lupin earlier has made Remus embarrased. Lupin wants to leave as quickly as possible when Dumbledore has come to avoid further embarrasment. He knows he screwed up and he knows that Dumbledore knows it too.

We know about two conversations. But there was another adult involved in the Shrieking Shack incident, someone who Dumbledore trusts more than Sirius (whom up until that night he believed to be a traitor and a murderer) and Lupin (who let him down at least once by forgetting to drink his potion and by not staying behind in the Shrieking Shack, thus almost killing a few people, including Harry Potter—and that’s just the tip of the iceberg). Snape. However, although it’s logical for that conversation to take place, we don’t know when it could happen. After the Shrieking Shack incident Dumbledore talks to Sirius, so he couldn’t talk to Snape then. Then he suggests the children use the Time Turner. Then Snape has a meltdown and is probably too unstable to hold a rational conversation. Then finding Lupin could be a higher priority than talking to Snape since Dumbledore already knows most of what happened, Snape is biased and wasn’t present or was unconscious for the most part and Lupin right now is a danger to students and Hogsmeade villagers (including Dumbledore’s own brother).

Another thing that is worth mentioning is that Snape kept Lupin’s secret for over 18 years, including two years when he was a faithful Death Eater and Lupin was a member of the Order of the Phoenix. Snape is also deeply loyal to Dumbledore. It would be illogical for him to betray Dumbledore like that and to face no consequences for that. So, logically, Dumbledore must have given him some sort of green light, even if it was just a mild sugestion that it was up to him now.

To sum up, the adjusted timeline looks like this:

The Shrieking Shack drama.

Lupin turns into the werewolf.

Harry, Ron and Hermione are in the Hospital Wing.

Dumbledore talks to Sirius and finds out about Lupin’s first and second betrayal.

Harry and Hermione use the Time Turner.

Snape has a meltdown in front of Cornelius Fudge and Dumbledore.

At dawn Dumbledore finds Lupin and talks to him. Lupin quits / is fired.

Dumbledore talks to Snape, probably implying that he isn’t bound to keep Lupin’s secret anymore.

In the morning Snape tells Slytherins that Lupin is a werewolf.

Harry talks to Lupin who’s been fired.

Lupin got himself fired all by himself by keeping crucial information from Dumbledore and endangering students, including Harry Potter.

Snape is responsible for ruining Lupin’s reputation but not for Remus losing his job.

Snape isn’t responsible for Lupin being unable to have a job afterwards, because Remus has already had this problem.

«

He let me into Hogwarts as a boy, and he gave me a job when I have been shunned all my adult life, unable to find paid work because of what I am.

»

Somehow his empleyers knew about his condition or quickly figured it out. If Lupin had been discriminated all his adult life, it wasn’t because of Snape.

He worsens Lupin’s situation, but it’s been already bad. His situation, his prospects don’t really change after that. They were bad, now they’re slightly worse.

A reasoning behind the stolen photo

I’m not gonna lie, it surprises me that this bit is seen with so much contempt by so many people. Specially because it’s the reasons are so clear. This scene happens after Dumbledore’s death (at least that’s how it’s implied in the text, since all the other memories are in chronological order):

He took part of a letter and half of a photograph, both from Lily. And he’s crying. He was a complete mess after killing Dumbledore, the only person who really knew him, and that’s very clear in the rest of the text:

It’s even referenced in the Cursed Child (bless Scorpius Malfoy for being the only person who stopped to think about how he must have felt then).

So, he’d just had to kill his only friend (so to speak, the only meaningful relationship he had in which he could be himself), was completely alone, hated by the very people he was trying to protect, knowing that all this would lead to the death of the person he swore to keep safe, that he would be the one to tell him that, that he hardly had hope of coming out of this alive…

He was looking for strength. A reminder of why he had to keep going on, to keep fighting. He went to Grimmauld Place, even if it was a huge risk, looking for comfort and he found it in a letter and picture of his best friend… Honestly, thinking this is stalker behavior is such a reach I can’t even process…

Thinking about Snape’s patronus being a doe.

Thinking about how Snape’s patronus was not another stag to compete for the doe’s affection. It was another doe, a fellow doe.

Thinking about how Snape’s patronus might have been something else before. A bat maybe? But it changed to a doe.

Thinking about how Snape loved Lily. Probably at one point it was infatuation, a crush. Do we have to limit it to just unrequited love though? The platonic love wasn’t unrequited. I don’t think Lily stopped thinking of Severus as a friend, even to her dying breath. Childhood best friends just don’t leave you like that.

Thinking about Severus Snape promising to be Dumbledore’s right hand man. Thinking about Severus Snape at his first Order meeting, sitting awkwardly alone, apart from everyone. No one in his life ever showed him how to be good. Except one person.

Thinking about Severus Snape trying to emulate Lily Evans as he tried to choose the right. Trying to remember the way she stood up for what she believed in. Failing over and over and over again. Making snide remarks, throwing out slurs, physically harming those he disagreed with. Every time with Lily’s voice in the back of his head, reprimanding him. Knowing he could never do right by her. But always trying again. Always.

Thinking about Severus Snape realizing slowly and all at once how wrong his youthful ideas about muggles and wizards had been. How stupid he was for believing them in the first place. Wishing he could go back, choose better, try again. Knowing he can’t. Remembering Lily. Working harder to fix things. Still failing in the little ways that make all the difference.

Thinking about Severus Snape, a decade into his service, casting a patronus, expecting to see his little bat, and seeing her. Well, not her, but her patronus. A doe. His patronus. A doe.

Thinking about how Severus Snape’s patronus is a doe because he worked to become the friend he betrayed. To pay back his debt, to make things right however he could. To protect her son. Her son who he hated because he was the exact replica of Severus’ own childhood bully. But still her son. Her eyes. He had to protect her eyes, the eyes that were still watching, still disapproving.

“Look. At. Me.”

hey . my boyfriend and i saw you across the bar and we're really digging your vibe

I have been analysing some of Snape’s scenes recently and when I was looking at his very first line in the books, I noticed something that I never really seem to see people point out.

“What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?” - The Philosopher’s Stone, The Potions Master

We all know that this scene can be interpreted as “I bitterly regret Lily’s death” but let’s focus more on asphodel.

In the past, asphodel was said to be used as a remedy for venomous snake bites.

What was Snape killed by again? Ah yes, a venomous snake bite. His death was foreshadowed all the back in his very first line of dialogue.

Snape could’ve survived Nagini’s bite if he simply had some asphodel but…

His Lily died a long time ago.