Severus Snape

Severus Snape is a male literary character who features in Harry Potter.

Biography

Severus Snape was a male half-Wizard who was born on 9 January, 1960 as the son of a pure-blooded witch named Eileen Prince and a Muggle named Tobias Snape. It was noted that his father was abusive whilst his mother neglected leading to Severus being uncared for which shaped his future life. During those years, he grew up in Spinner's End that was a shabby suburb in Cokeworth where he often saw his parents fighting with one another. Severus was said to had been an awkward child who had poor social skills where he struggled to make a good impression to others. During this time, he met Lily Evans whose family lived in the same town where he came to see that she had magical potential. As such, Severus became friends with her where the two came to bond quickly where he came to fall in love with her though she only saw him as a good friend. In those years, he came to develop nothing but contempt for Lily's older sister Petunia Evans for her disparaging comments about him.

Later on, he was admitted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where as a student he was Sorted into House Slytherin. During his first year, he was by Lily Evans side as they travelled to the school on the train. It was on the train that he met fellow students James Potter and Sirius Black. In that time, a disagreement erupted which Hogwart house was best with this resulting in a sense of antagonism between the three. Meanwhile, at school, he came to excel in the Dark Arts from an early age. At 11 years old, he knew more about curses and hexes than most of the 7th year students according to Sirius Black.

Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were also classmates of Severus. Around the same time, he also got acquainted with another notorious troublemaker; a Fifth year student by the name of Patricia Rakepick who not only was in the same house as his new school rivals, but also actively sought to mentor her younger schoolmates in the art of mischief-making without getting caught: While popular with many of their peers for her, she was, on the other hand, strongly disliked by most of the teachers for her excessive rebellious streak, frequent rule-breaking and the bad influence she was on her younger housemates. No less discontent with her behaviour than their professors were, Severus's mistrust in Rakepick ran deeper still; she was an avid advocate for the existence of the fabled Cursed Vaults of Hogwarts. While her claims were dismissed by the faculty of the day, young Snape, however, was not so certain; seeing her as uncommonly ambitious for a Gryffindor and, he recognised, far from stupid, he eventually came to question her motives and her intentions for the vaults, eventually coming to regard her as a danger to the school and all who resided at the castle. James and his group of friends were constantly at war with Severus throughout their school years. Severus's memories, recorded in the Pensieve, suggested that he was an introverted and studious individual, whereas James was arrogant, popular and athletic. Immediately upon meeting him, James disliked Severus for expressing a desire to be in Slytherin. James's big crush on Lily, and Severus's close friendship and unrequited love for her also heightened the tension between the two. One recorded memory in the Pensieve bore witness to James bullying him in the 1975–1976 school year, turning him upside-down to reveal his underwear in front of many students, including Lily. This action was proved to be very offensive and it increased the hatred between the two adolescents. In this accident, Lily came to Severus's defence, but this only made things worse: in a subsequent lashing out at James in an attempt to recover his lost dignity, Severus inadvertently called Lily a Mudblood. Lily refused to forgive him for it, even after his repeated apologies with this forever being Severus's worst memory.

Severus noticed that Remus kept disappearing during the full moon and once followed him past the Whomping Willow to confirm his suspicions. This act could have cost Severus his life, as had it not been for James going after him to stop him when he learned of Sirius' 'prank', he might have found himself all on his own and caught off guard by a fully-fledged werewolf. As it was, however, James did reach Severus in time and managed to save him just before he got to the Shrieking Shack while Remus was in his wolf-form. Albus Dumbledore swore Severus to secrecy, but the true nature of Remus was clear to Severus. By their seventh year, James had grown out of his immaturity and arrogance to the point that Lily agreed to start dating him, even though he never grew out of his hatred for Severus — according to Sirius, Severus had always been a 'special case' with James. Though it should be noted Snape's continued friendships with students who were trying to become Death Eaters did not help his relationship with the Marauders or Lily. Lily ended up marrying James, which only strengthened Severus's bitterness towards him. There was also some overlap between his school career and that of a younger student by the name of Jacob, yet another rule-breaker Snape came to severely dislike. During the later part of his magical education, the school was plagued by several dangerous curses unleashed upon the school by Jacob after he tampered with the fabled Cursed Vaults, which resulted in the death and injury of several of his peers, although he suffered no permanent injury himself.

Severus Snape eventually joined the ranks of Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters. His actions as a Death Eater are largely unknown, though he quickly became an important Death Eater in Voldemort's inner circle. He was the spy responsible for informing Voldemort about the prophecy foretelling his downfall. In early 1980, Snape eavesdropped on an interview for Divination Professor Sybill Trelawney and Albus Dumbledore at the Hog's Head Inn. In the course of the interview, Trelawney prophesied that at the end of July, a child would be born who would cause the destruction of Lord Voldemort (which prompted Dumbledore to hire her, partly for her own safety). At that time it was not clear who was meant by the prophecy. Two children of prominent wizarding families were born that year at the end of July: Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom. Albus reported at the Wizengamot trial of Igor Karkaroff that Severus had come to him and explained that he had been the one to overhear the prophecy, and reported it to Voldemort. However, Snape did not hear the entire prophecy, as the Hog's Head's barman and Albus' brother, Aberforth, caught him eavesdropping and threw him out.

Overview

Personality and attributes

In appearance, Severus Snape was a thin man with sallow skin, a large, hooked nose and yellow, uneven teeth. He usually dressed in flowing black robes which made him resemble "an overgrown bat". He had shoulder-length, greasy black hair which framed his face in curtains, curling lips and dark, penetrating eyes that resembled tunnels. As a Death Eater, he bore the Dark Mark on his left inner forearm.

A complicated, withdrawn person, Severus Snape's life was overwhelmed with many complex emotions that he never fully disclosed. At times, Snape could appear cold, cynical, malicious, bitter, and sarcastic. He had a commanding presence that exuded gravitas, authority, and control; like Professor McGonagall, he had the ability to keep a class quiet without effort. He tended to hold grudges and was extremely spiteful toward those whom he disliked. In particular, he disdained Gryffindor students, considering them to be arrogant and attention-seeking. Descriptions of his social interactions as a child suggest that he had poor interpersonal skills and that he may have suffered from depression.

In his youth, he had a deep love to Muggle-born Lily Evans.

Powers and abilities

He secretly was a member of the Order of the Phoenix where he served as a double agent for Dumbledore.

Notes

• Severus Snape was created by J. K. Rowling where he featured in the setting of the Harry Potter universe.
• In an intervew on Dateline, Rowling commented on the characters redemption, "I knew from the beginning what Snape was. Do I think he's a hero? To a point, I do, but he's not an unequivocally good character. Snape is a complicated man. He's bitter. He's ... spiteful. He's a bully. All these things are still true of Snape, even at the end of this book. But was he brave? Yes, immensely. Was he capable of love? Very definitely. So he's-- he's a very-- he was a flawed human being, like all of us. Harry forgives him--- as we know, from the epilogue, Harry-- Harry really sees the good in Snape ultimately. I wanted there to be redemption and I wanted there to be forgiveness. And Harry forgives, even knowing that until the end Snape loathed him unjustifiably. It's totally, totally unfair that he loathes him so much but anyway."

In other media

Films

• In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Severus Snape appeared in the setting of the live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Alan Rickman.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone: (1997)

External Links

• Harry Potter Wiki Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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