Severus Snape

Template:HP character Severus Snape (born January 9, c.1958) is a fictional character in the Harry Potter series of novels by J. K. Rowling. His first appearance was in the book Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, published in 1997.

Snape attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from c. 1969 to c. 1976, was appointed Professor of Potions, and Head of Slytherin house, in c. 1981.

His physical appearance is that of the classic villain: thin, "hook-nosed" and having "long, greasy hair", clad in forbidding black robes "like an overgrown bat".^[HP1] Harry Potter intensely dislikes and distrusts Snape for his chequered past and the animosity Snape displays towards him.

In the Harry Potter films, the character is played by actor Alan Rickman.

Background

Severus Snape was born to Tobias Snape, a Muggle, and Eileen Prince, a witch, making him a half-blood wizard. The youthful Snape is described as having a "stringy, pallid look", being "round-shouldered yet angular", having a "twitchy" walk "like a spider" and "long oily hair that jumped about his face". As a first-year student at Hogwarts, according to Sirius Black, he knew more hexes and curses than most seventh-years, while his bookish demeanour and unattractive appearance made him an outsider and an object of scorn. Harry learns that Snape was rather unpopular and isolated in his teens, and had a fascination with the Dark Arts. Snape's classmates included James Potter and Lily Evans (Harry's parents), Sirius Black (Harry's godfather), Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew.

Harry comes to suspect that Snape suffered neglect by his parents, when he sees three memories during botched lessons in Occlumency given to him by Snape. In the first, a boy is crying in a corner while a hook-nosed man shouts at a cowering woman. In the second, a teenager is sitting alone in a dark bedroom shooting down flies, and in the third a girl is laughing while a scrawny boy tries to get on a bucking broomstick.^[HP5]

At school, Snape suffered relentless teasing and bullying at the hands of Harry's father James Potter and his godfather Sirius Black, much as Dudley Dursley and Draco Malfoy bullied Harry. Discovering this causes Harry to question his previous hero-like view of his father. In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry learns that Sirius tried to trick Snape into meeting a werewolf, Lupin, which could have led to his death had James not warned him of the danger. Snape believed that James was involved in the plot and only finally warned him out of fear of expulsion from Hogwarts. Nevertheless, Albus Dumbledore suggested that Snape is still influenced by the power of this debt to James. Sirius tried to explain James's bullying by claiming that Snape's interest in the dark arts naturally offended James, who hated the subject, and claimed that James, though an idiot at age 15, grew out of it.

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Severus Snape in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Much of Snape's disdain for Harry seems to stem from this constant rivalry and strife with Harry's father, James. Snape invented a number of spells, one or more of which James learned and used against him in public during their fifth year. Snape was hung upside down in mid-air, humiliated while other students watched. Harry's mother Lily defended Snape while James was tormenting him, professing her detestation of James, whom she would later marry. Harry only discovers this information by sneaking a look at some of Snape's own memories placed in the Pensieve during Occlumency lessons.

Sirius tells Harry that Snape belonged to a gang of Slytherins at school, including Bellatrix Black, Rodolphus Lestrange, Avery, Wilkes and Evan Rosier, who all involved themselves in the Dark Arts and became Death Eaters. Snape himself became a Death Eater, but at some point before Voldemort's first defeat, he also became a member of the Order of the Phoenix.

In an interview, J. K. Rowling stated that Snape had been loved, but did not specify by whom, or the nature of the love. Rowling has also said, in a response to a rumour that Luna Lovegood is Snape's daughter, that Snape does not have a daughter.

Personality and traits

Snape shows a deep loathing for Harry Potter, based in part on his experiences with Harry's father, and Sirius Black. They were relentless in picking on Snape during his time at Hogwarts. Snape may also harbour resentment towards the fact that James Potter potentially saved his life by preventing him from wandering into the Shrieking Shack while Remus Lupin was undergoing transformation into a werewolf.

Snape is a powerful and gifted wizard whose abilities include potion-making and dueling. He is extremely skilled in Occlumency, which aids his activities as a double agent. He possesses a ruthless and cunning wit, is rarely caught off guard by any comment or insult and often leaves his verbal combatants with little to say. He is also gifted in nonverbal spell casting and spell invention.

Snape is undoubtedly one of Rowling's most complex characters. The amount of development he has undergone over the span of the series, as well as his ability to be both intensely loathed and adored by readers, has made him regarded as one of her best characters. She, herself, described him as "a gift of a character".

Role in the series

There is mutual enmity between Snape and Harry almost from the moment that they first meet at Hogwarts. In his first year, Harry mistakenly suspects Snape of trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone. In Harry's first Potions class, Snape immediately throws questions at him that a first year could not normally answer and makes fun of "famous" Harry Potter. Snape appears to be muttering a curse to harm Harry when Harry is shaken wildly about on his broom during a Quidditch game. It was actually Professor Quirrell (in league with Voldemort) working the curse on Harry, while Snape was attempting to protect Harry with a counter-curse. Harry retains lingering suspicions of Snape even after Quirrell is revealed as the real culprit, and their relationship remains fraught.

Snape relentlessly antagonises Harry, calling him "a nasty little boy who considers rules to be beneath him".^[HP4] He taunts Harry during lessons, ridiculing his work and giving him frequent and often unjustified detentions and other penalties. He extends some of this hard treatment to Harry's friends and appears to have a strong bias in favour of those in Slytherin, unlike the heads of most of the other Houses. On several occasions, Snape tries to have Harry expelled from the school. Yet in spite of these attempts to sabotage Harry's school career, Snape still saves Harry's life on more than one occasion.

Snape is skilled at making potions, and in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban he is called upon to make Wolfsbane Potion for Remus Lupin, who is the current Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Snape attempts to apprehend Sirius Black, who he believes was responsible for the death of James, Lily and Pettigrew, and acts to defend Harry from the man he considers a dangerous escaped prisoner. After Sirius escapes, he rightly accuses Harry of aiding in the escape, but it transpires that Pettigrew had been responsible for the betrayals rather than Sirius.

At the end of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Dumbledore attempts to convince the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, that Voldemort has returned and is once again a danger. Snape tries to help by showing Fudge the renewed Dark Mark on his arm, still clearly visible from when it burnt black at Voldemort's revival. Dumbledore subsequently sends Snape on a secret mission. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix it is confirmed by Snape that this mission was to rejoin the Death Eaters and spy on Voldemort.

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Dumbledore assigns Snape the task of giving Harry lessons in Occlumency, the protection of one's mind from outside intrusion or influence. Snape is chosen because he is extremely skilled in both Occlumency and reasonably so in its companion art of Legilimency, the discerning of thoughts and feelings from another's mind, both proficiencies undoubtedly useful in his work as a spy. The classes, however, are made difficult for Harry because of their mutual hostility, and they end permanently when Harry is discovered watching Snape's memories stored in the Pensieve. Snape is outraged at this intrusion and throws Harry out.

In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince we learn that Snape lives in a dirty, ramshackle, apparently deserted Muggle slum near a river, at the end of a street called Spinner's End. It is there Snape swears an Unbreakable Vow to Draco Malfoy's mother, Narcissa, that he will protect Draco, help him complete a task set by Voldemort and complete the task himself if Draco seems likely to fail. Snape is finally appointed to his coveted post as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher when a new one takes over Potions. He is seen by Hagrid arguing with Dumbledore, saying that Dumbledore took "too much for granted", and that there was something that he was no longer willing to do. Dumbledore insists that it was agreed and must be done.

During the battle along the battlements of the school, Dumbledore, who is still suffering the effects of drinking an unknown potion earlier in the novel, sends Harry to get Snape. At that moment, Draco Malfoy arrives. Harry is hidden under his Invisibility Cloak, but Dumbledore prevents him taking any part in what occurs by using a non-verbal paralyzing spell upon him. He then begins to reason with Malfoy but is interrupted by a group of Death Eaters, who goad Draco into killing Dumbledore. Snape arrives and assassinates Dumbledore instead (it has been verified by JKR that Dumbledore is actually dead) using the Avada Kedavra curse. Snape, Malfoy and the Death Eaters flee the castle, pursued by Harry (released from his magical paralysis upon Dumbledore's death). Harry attempts to engage Snape in magical combat, to no effect; Snape easily blocks his spells and, in fact, tells Harry what he is doing wrong. He also gets incredibly angry when Harry calls him a coward and when Harry attempts to use one of Snape's spells on him. He is fiercely attacked by Buckbeak and disappears into the night with Draco and the Death Eaters.

Half-Blood Prince

Main article: Half-Blood Prince (character)

In the sixth book in the series, when Snape becomes Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, he is replaced as Potions Master by Horace Slughorn, who taught Potions for many years before his original retirement. Harry is lent an old Potions textbook from the Potions storeroom, which turns out to be filled with the jottings of a highly talented former student. The additional notes include a variety of hexes and jinxes seemingly invented by the student, as well as substantial improvements to the book's standard potion-making instructions, and is signed "Property of the Half-Blood Prince". Harry uses the notes in the book to bolster his performance in the subject during the year. His newfound abilities greatly impress Slughorn, who declares that he must have inherited his mother Lily's outstanding ability at Potions. Harry decides that, whoever the Prince might be, he is a better teacher than either Snape or Slughorn.

Hermione, who is outraged by Harry's easy (yet fraudulent) success in the subject, investigates the possible identity of the Half-Blood Prince and suspects a former Hogwarts student, Eileen Prince. Harry remains ambivalent about the importance of discovering who the Prince really is, although he is convinced that the student in question is male. In a fight with Draco Malfoy, he tries one of the Prince's handwritten spells marked "For Enemies", and discovers to his horror that it causes vicious slashing wounds to Draco. Snape arrives and heals Draco's wounds, muttering an incantation "that sounded almost like a song", and then interrogates Harry about the source of the Sectumsempra spell (from Latin, literally, "cut forever").

Harry is already aware that at least two of the spells were used by Snape and his father during their fifth year, and this is confirmed by Remus Lupin. The way the spells are written into the book, with many corrections, also convinces him that the writer had invented the spells himself. Eventually, when Harry confronts Snape during the latter's flight from Hogwarts after the death of Dumbledore, Snape confirms to Harry that he himself is the originator of the spells, and that he is the "Half-Blood Prince".

Eileen Prince, the student suspected originally by Hermione, was in fact Snape's mother. The nickname was derived from her maiden name of "Prince" and from Snape's father having been a Muggle, making Snape himself a "half-blood". This term is considered an insult by some in the wizarding world, especially among Voldemort's followers and in Snape's own Slytherin House. It is not clear how he came to receive the name, or whether it was in common usage during his studies, though Harry suggested that Snape had chosen this title to "play up the pure-blood side". Remus Lupin, when questioned by Harry, knew nothing of the name despite having been a classmate of Snape's.

Loyalty

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Snape performing a counter-jinx on Harry's broom in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

The question of Snape's ultimate loyalty is one of the most significant unresolved issues in the Harry Potter series. Both followers and opponents of Voldemort think Snape is working as a double agent on their side. Both Dumbledore and Voldemort are masters of Legilimency, which they can use to detect deceit, but Snape is accomplished in Occlumency, which allows him to lie undetectably. Dumbledore says on several occasions that he trusts Snape completely, while Voldemort trusts him enough to include him in some of his most important plans.

Snape is a respected member of the Order of the Phoenix, but in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince he presumably kills Dumbledore with Avada Kedavra, the Killing Curse. A curious fact to note is that previous occurrences of the Killing Curse, the victim merely crumpled to the floor with their expression intact. In the this occasion, Dumbledore is actually blown from the roof and, when other characters investigate, he is said to have the expression of one who is asleep. This is something overlooked by most, but goes to imply that Dumbledore was not truly killed by the Avada Kedavra curse, but by something else. As was mentioned before, Snape is capable of non-verbal spells and it is possible that he said one spell but cast another. It is not clear to what extent the murder, staged or not, was his choice, however, as his actions were constrained by his Unbreakable Vow sworn to Narcissa Malfoy, which required him to ensure that Draco's task for Voldemort be completed. Draco's task (though it is never said explicitly) is assumed to have been to kill Dumbledore, but as he finally refused to do so, it fell to Snape. It is thought that, because of the amount of time inbetween the Vow and this occurrence, that Snape and Dumbledore might have planned a way to have Severus save Draco from the change taken when one kills another human being.

In the chapter "Flight of the Prince", Snape flees Hogwarts with Draco and the Death Eaters, but is confronted by Harry. Snape blocks all of Harry's attacks, and taunts him about his lack of skills in Occlumency and with non-verbal spells. He also prevents Death Eaters from harming Harry, blocking a Cruciatus Curse thrown at him and telling the Death Eaters that "Potter belongs to the Dark Lord". His actions towards Harry may be those of an enemy acting under orders, but could also be interpreted as those of a guardian or protector.

According to Dumbledore, Snape was eavesdropping at the door of a room at the Hog's Head while Sybill Trelawney was being interviewed for the position of Divination professor at Hogwarts. During the interview she fell into a trance, delivering a prophecy regarding Voldemort and a foe that had "the power to vanquish him". Dumbledore told Harry that there was an eavesdropper, but said that the eavesdropper only heard the first half of the prophecy and only reported that portion of it to Voldemort. This conflicts with Trelawney's account of the night to Harry, in which Snape is only discovered after she had finished telling the prophecy (which she did not and still does not know she made). However, the barkeeper did find Snape eavesdropping in the hall and it is possible that it was while telling an unconvincing tale to him that Snape missed the rest of Trelawney's prophecy, fitting in with her story. The prophecy, however, has been found to suit two boys -- Neville Longbottom of Frank Longbottom, an auror, and his wife, Alice Longbottom, and Lily and James Potter, all of whom were members of the Order of the Phoenix. Voldemort identified Harry as the subject of the prophecy (as he was a Half-blood and Neville was a Pureblood) and, seeking to kill him, murdered Lily and James Potter. Harry now believes that Snape bears responsibility for the death of his parents, which serves to amplify his hatred of Snape and colour Harry's own view of Snape's loyalties. Much of the reader's information about Snape comes through the reactions of Harry, and is in turn coloured by Harry's interpretation of events. This is also evidenced in Harry's automatic suspicion of Draco when he spies on Snape offering his assistance to Draco during the Slug Club Christmas party.

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, in the chapter "The Lost Prophecy", Dumbledore explains that Snape coordinated the rescue of Harry and his friends from the Ministry of Magic. This rescue was crucial to saving their lives during the fight there, where they were outnumbered two-to-one by Death Eaters, and, though this fight still resulted in Sirius's death, confirmed Snape's loyalty in the eyes of the Order. However, Snape delayed warning the Order which allowed enough time for the Death Eaters to enter the Ministry, and gave them a real chance of capturing Harry before any Order members arrived. He explained this delay by saying that he had first been searching for Harry at Hogwarts before he realized where he had gone.

In the chapter of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Spinner's End, Snape claims to Bellatrix Lestrange, "I have done my utmost to have him thrown out of Hogwarts", but in the chapter Sectumsempra, Harry grievously injures Draco Malfoy and Professor McGonagall tells him he is lucky not to be expelled, but Snape merely gives him several detentions. In the chapter "The Rogue Bludger" in The Chamber of Secrets, Hermione Granger asks for a diversion so that she may steal the necessary ingredients for the Polyjuice Potion from Snape's cupboard. Harry provides this diversion by throwing a firework into a cauldron, causing much mayhem. Snape's reaction is understandably furious, and he exclaims that he will expel the guilty person from Hogwarts. He stares at Harry, who later says to his friends that he felt that Snape knew it was him, as Snape well might using Legilimency. Although Snape does argue for Harry to be expelled on other occasions, he took no action against Harry in this instance.

Dumbledore repeatedly makes it clear that Snape has his full confidence. At Igor Karkaroff's trial, as seen in Dumbledore's Pensieve, Dumbledore testified that Snape spied on the Death Eaters "at great personal risk",^[HP4] before Voldemort's fall from power. Interestingly, Karkaroff insisted that this was untrue. In The Half-Blood Prince, Lupin told Harry that though he and the Marauders had a childhood rivalry with Snape, he trusted that Snape was on the right side. He later explains after Dumbledore's death that this was only because of Dumbledore. Minerva McGonagall also revealed a distrust of Snape. She added that Dumbledore always implied that he had a very good reason to trust Snape. Horace Slughorn showed surprise that Snape had acted in this way.

Throughout the series, Snape's sinister personality and antagonism towards Harry are in stark contrast with his heroic actions in Harry's defence. Yet in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Snape claims, to Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy, that his loyalty to Voldemort has never wavered. This history of divided loyalty to both the Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix, and his actions in apparent support of both sides, make him one of the most morally complex characters in the series, and, arguably, its only anti-hero. Template:Spoiler-end

Character origins and possible influences

Rowling says that she borrowed his surname from the village of Snape in the English county of Suffolk. Severus is Latin for "strict", "harsh" or "severe", and the name may also have origins in the name of the Imperial Roman emperor Septimus Severus, who was known for ruling with both vigour and a calculated cruelty. This would be verified by the fact that Rowling said that the Snape character was inspired by a hated teacher in her childhood.

In several foreign-language translations of Harry Potter, Snape's name is altered. In French, he is "Severus Rogue," in Italian "Severus Piton," in Norwegian "Severus Slur," in Hungarian "Perselus Piton," in Finnish "Severus Kalkaros" (kalkkaro, rattlesnake), and in Russian "Северус Снегг" ("Severus Snegg", "снегг" being an alternation of "снег" - "snow").

Portrayal in the films

Severus Snape is played by Alan Rickman in all the Harry Potter films. Alan Rickman is one of the few people J.K. Rowling is said to have spoken to about the future direction of his character, perhaps reflecting the importance of Snape's role in the series. [2]

In the film Snape is shown clean-shaven, although he is shown having a greasy beard and a moustache in a drawing by J.K. Rowling. The chapter pictures of the American book editions drawn by Mary GrandPré also show a goatee-like beard.

Snape's personality in the films is generally not as antagonistic as it appears in print. Although he comes across as extremely strict and perpetually suspicious of Harry, Snape rarely exhibits personal hatred for the son of his old rival. He typically does not display any particular fondness for Draco Malfoy, and in fact appears rather irritated with the arrogant young Slytherin in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Consequently, there is less enmity between Snape and Harry. Most of the time Harry seems to regard Snape as a tiresome annoyance – a minor impediment to his constant rule-breaking – rather than an opponent worthy of real detestation. For his part, Snape seems to be genuinely interested in Harry's wellbeing and, above all, the maintenance of order within Hogwarts.

External links

• SeverusSnape.org - The Severus Snape Fan Site
• Snape Character profile from the Harry Potter Lexicon
• Snapecast, the first and only podcast devoted to Severus Snape
• Information about Snape Severussnapepage.blogspot.com
• Collected information about Snape Half-Blood Prince.org
• Severus Snape fansite: Theories about Snape, Fanfiction and interactive threads
• Interviews in which Rowling has given information about Snape madamscoop.org
• An interview in which JK Rowling ends early fan speculation that Snape is a vampire
• Dumbledore's part in his own death Dumbledore Is Not Dead Website
• Orden Severusiana Spanish Snape Group
• Snape and the events surrounding Trelawney's prophecy editorial by Mugglenet
• Snape's background
• Snape’s loyalties and Dumbledore's death
• Snape and the Dark Arts from Slytherin Serpent Editorial Section.
• The Lazy Man's Guide to Defending Snape and editorial by Ravenaiya and Iris DeHana