Discussion: Severus Snape - Hero or Villain?

(Warning - this discussion will contain spoilers for the Harry Potter series, including Deathly Hallows)

We all know him. Severus Snape, the Hogwarts potions teacher. Reading the series for the first time, you probably thought he was an unfair git. On the HP & THBP you were probably shocked by his 'betrayal' of Dumbledore and found a new hatred for him. Then you read HP & TDH, felt sorry for him and allowed him to become a heroic figure, apparently important enough for Harry to name one of his poor old kids after him (I mean Albus Severus? Really Harry? Poor kid will be bullied forever). But is that all there is to Snape's story? Even JK Rowling herself doesn't know whether he is a hero or villain at this point.

Let's begin with Neville. Neville, whose parents were tortured into insanity by Bellatrix. The poor kid, at 11 years old has had to get through a lot of shit already. His parents are permanently hospitalised and have no real idea of who he is, he was brought up by his Grandmother, who let's be honest is a total BAMF but is still really strict and does not understand Neville and his relationship with his parents all too well. Growing up he was also stressed about being a squib and I imagine there was a lot of pressure on him to be like his talented parents. In many ways Neville is shown to be similar to Harry, both could have been the chosen one, they both lost their parents, and Snape seems to hate both of them with a deadly passion. Although there is a reason for Snape to hate Harry (more on that later), it's never really clear why Snape hates Neville so much, other than the fact Neville is not very good at potions. There is literally no possible way that Snape could NOT know what happened to Neville's parents, and you might think he would pity Neville a little or perhaps even feel guilty about it. But no. Snape just does his usual Snapey thing (i.e. be a dick to young children who have done literally nothing to deserve his hatred). At one point in the series, Snape threatens to kill Neville's toad, and is disappointed when Hermione helps Neville to prevent this by brewing the correct potion, and removes house points even though they brewed it correctly. Not only is Snape being unfair and torturing a boy who already has low self-esteem, his sadistic side is clearly shown as he wants the pet to die! Snape is a shitty teacher, that much is clear. Furthermore, in HP & TPOA we find out from his boggart that the thing Neville is most afraid of is, guess what...Snape! You'd think that after having his parents tortured his biggest fear would be the Cruciartus Curse (which we know seriously upsets him from HP & TGOF) or Bellatrix. But no, what he is most scared of is Snape, suggesting we don't fully know the emotional damage Snape caused Neville over the series. When Snape finds out about this, he has an opportunity to redeem himself and try and be nicer but instead he gets even more mean. How did this guy manage to keep his job again?

Neville is not the only student Snape bullies. Let's take Hermione as another example to prove that Snape is a dick to all kids apart from his precious Slytherins (favouritism much? Gods, this guy is so corrupt I literally can't). I won't go into as much detail here, but the worst Snape/Hermione moments are obviously when Draco's curse make her teeth grow and Snape cruelly tells her 'he sees no difference', causing her to cry (and Draco receives no punishment? smh). Comments like this could severely impact a young person's self esteem. Another example is when he calls her something along the lines of an 'insufferable know it all', which again I think causes her to cry. Honestly I know Dumbledore had his reasons but he should seriously think of all the kids Snape has bullied over the years.

Now the big one: the Lily thing. In the last book we find out from his memories that Snape loved Lily so much he came back from the dark side and he has secretly been helping Harry throughout the last book. We also find out that he apparently loves Harry and is mean to him because he hates the James side of him. So let's discuss this! I'm gonna put it out there, Snape does not truly love Lily. He has a fascination and obsession with her, that is not truly love. I saw a tumblr post that said Snape's patronus being the same as Lily's shows his obsession, whereas James' patronus of a stag compliments Lily's doe instead of imitating it, therefore showing James and Lily are a better fit together. Snape's heartlessness is shown when he asks Dumbledore to take care of James and Harry only after Dumbledore prompts him to, and only as an afterthought. Another reason Snape would never have ended up with Lily is when he calls her 'mudblood' after she tries to help him. He is an ungrateful and prejudiced person. Finally, if Snape had really loved Lily he would have thought about what she would have wanted, and would she want her orphaned son to be brutally bullied? NO. If Snape truly loved her he should have put the differences between him and James aside, and at the very least given Harry a safe education and treated him fairly.

Despite all this, Snape had good points. He died for the cause, he was loyal to Dumbledore and willing to put his life on the line. Harry would almost certainly have not succeeded without him. Perhaps it was his home life and a result of he himself being bullied at school that turned him into a horrible person. I personally conclude that Snape was a hero but that he is still a horrible person who should not have been allowed to teach and to be honest his death was a blessing. What are your thoughts? Did this change your opinion of Snape? Let me know!

#harrypotter #jkrowling #discussion