Severus Snape never stood a chance. When we met him at the age
of 9, he was thin, small, with sallow skin, too long hair, and wearing
mismatched clothes that were either too small or too big. He was clearly
neglected by both parents. I’ve seen some people claiming that we have no proof
that he was abused and that just because Tobias was abusive towards Eileen
doesn’t mean Severus was also abused. Bullshit. Not only is neglect abuse,
there’s a link between
spousal abuse and child abuse.
He went to Hogwarts and became a target for 4 boys who had
more than he did but were determined to destroy what little he had for the
crime of existing. The teachers did nothing to help him, in fact years later
they fondly remember his bullies even after one of them was convicted for mass
murder. It’s quite obvious whose side they took. The Headmaster went out of his
way to silence him after he was almost murdered to protect them. His House was filled
with boys and girls who were being radicalized to hate people like him, muggle-borns
and half-bloods. He was not safe for 9 months out of a year for 7 years
in a place he dreamt would give him security and belonging. So he did what he
could to survive. He made ‘friends’ with the unsavory kind who could
provide him with some protection and he started to speak their language. Maybe
he even believed what they were saying, someone had to take the blame for all that
has had happened to him.
Lily could never have
saved him. For one, she’s a teenage girl who didn’t have a similar background
and she lived with his bullies who would make themselves seem better they were
(remember when James told Lily he saved Severus’ life without mentioning the
real reason why his life was in danger). Two, it’s not her job. It’s the job of
his parents, his school teachers and government officials. They were the
ones who were meant to protect him, not her.
No adult intervened on
behalf of Severus though, instead they ensured his abuse continued until it was
taken advantage of by Voldemort and his Death Eaters. I never understand people
who claim that Severus could have easily chosen not to join Voldemort. If you
think about it, no one extended a hand towards him but this group. No one else
validated his experience, as they must have to convince him to join. No one else
gave him the opportunity to further develop himself out of the hell hole that
was his life. It wasn’t an easy choice, for Severus it was his only choice. Of
course, like almost everyone in the Wizarding World, Severus didn’t know what
Voldemort was really about until it was too late and he was thrust into a war.
Still Severus did what he always did, he survived.
At the age of 20, he delivered a half prophesy
that would seal his former best friend’s fate. He tried to save her life by
bargaining with Voldemort. That still wasn’t enough so he went to Dumbledore
and endured his scorn and manipulations to become a double agent for a full
year. A year where he had to lie to the best Legimens, a year where he had do
everything he could to gain information for Dumbledore, a year where he was
basically condemning people he grew up with to Azkaban or death. In the end,
Lily still died. While he was so grief-stricken about this that he wanted to
die, Dumbledore uses this to gain servitude from Severus before dismissing his
pain like he had ever since he met Severus as a boy.
Trauma and abuse affect the way a person’s
brain develops and the brain continues to develop until the age of 25.
Severus has had so much happen to him by the age of 21 that it was impossible
for him to abide by rules of Good Victimhood. He cannot show kindness,
compassion, understanding, etc., both because his brain has been wired for
survival and so he displays more negative traits like paranoia, self-neglect,
anger, and he lashes out quite often, and also because he had not been on the
receiving end of those positive traits enough to imitate them. Remember you are
socialized to be kind and polite otherwise kids wouldn’t be nasty towards
others. Severus wasn’t even given proper early socialization from his parents let
alone being taught how to be decent towards others. He can’t just spontaneously
demonstrate traits he hasn’t been exposed to.
For the next seventeen years, he taught at Hogwarts
as its youngest teacher. He copied McGonagall and became a strict and competent
teacher with a short fuse. His students were often ahead of the syllabus
because they learnt from what he taught himself. His mental health continued getting
worn down because he was right back where he tried to escape from. There was no
part of the castle that didn’t come with bad memories and he was subjected to
this for 17 years. Dumbledore continuously discredited him, sometimes in front
of an audience, his colleagues remembered his tormenters fondly, one of whom
was a celebrated hero so he would get mentioned often, his students hated him,
and his House was widely despised by both teachers and students. It’s all one
unending nightmare.
Despite all of this, he did what he could to
help people. He saved Katie Bell, the students Petrified by the Basilisk, Remus
Lupin, and the Wizarding World at large. He conjured a stretcher for Sirius
Black instead of levitating him and ‘accidently’ whacking his head everywhere.
Later Severus tried to ensure Sirius was safe before looking for Harry and his
friends. He tried to teach the art of Occlumency to Harry, which requires that
he attacks Harry’s mind so Harry can learn to compartmentalize. He tried to
keep students away from the demented Carrows siblings. He endured torture and suspicion
to gain Voldemort favour so he can spy on him on behalf of Dumbledore. He
killed Dumbledore to spare both Draco and him pain. He kept Slytherins out of
Voldemort’s grasp as much as he could (I mean compare Slughorn’s tenure where
nearly every Slytherin student we encounter in both Severus’ and Slughorn’s
memories became Death Eaters to a handful during Severus’ time). He saved Harry
multiple times and helped bring about the destruction of Voldemort and the
Death Eaters.
In spite of the abuse, trauma, bullying,
manipulations and disregard he went through, Severus Snape still managed to do
good. He had everything stacked against him but he still performed noble acts.
Many people are alive because of his sacrifice.
I
don’t love him because he loved Lily, I love him because he did what he could
with what little he had.
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 have issues with this…
1. Can we please take a step back and remember that the first two or three books, especially the first one, are very much made for kids. as in, things are black and white, there is no moral greyness, and we’re supposed to be happy that Hagrid did that. Because the Dursley’s are the bad guys. You don’t need to read into everything like that. It’s a children’s book.
2. Literally no one is trying to defend Lockhart for that. People don’t do that. Doing that was so obviously wrong? What is your point?
3. Yes, that was a bad move. But let’s look at my first point. Also McGonagall didn’t expect Neville to not get in, she told the others to tell him the password and that was what she expected to happen. Poor judgement, not malicious.
4. Again, simply poor judgement. Molly read something and thought that was what happened, didn’t realise how Rita Skeeter makes things up like that. When she realised the truth, she was so apologetic.
5. Giving the Order of the Phoenix information about the Death Eaters is completely different to giving Umbridge information about Dumbledore’s Army. Like, they all signed a contract. They all agreed not to tell. And this girl gave information to the bad guy and yeah, she got in trouble.
6. James fucked up there. I won’t defend it, it was a shitty move. But let’s not act like Snape was a perfectly innocent angel, because he wasn’t. And James did eventually mature, plenty of 15 year olds were awful people. Aren’t Year 9 boys infamous for being assholes? He grew up, and that’s when Lily did consider him. Also when does he ever objectify her as something to be caught? He doodles a snitch and writes his crush’s name on it. Like how people write initials in a heart. James loved Quidditch, he loved (or at least had a crush on) Lily. I highly doubt that those were his intentions.
Snape was not a good person. No, he wasn’t completely bad, but he wasn’t good either. Let’s not pretend that he was. And let’s not pretend that the mistakes other characters made were the same as literally joining the Death Eaters after being friends with a Muggleborn, and bullying children who did nothing to him.
1. “You don’t need to read into everything like that.” It doesn’t take “reading into” things to realize that disfiguring and humiliating a CHILD for something his FATHER said is wrong. Also, you claim that we should be okay with Hagrid’s actions because the Dursleys are portrayed as bad and Hagrid is portrayed as good and yet here you are hating on Snape even though J.K. Rowling portrays him as good.
2. I see hardly anyone hate on Lockhart even though what he did to Harry and Ron was far worse than anything Snape did to his students. I definitely have an issue with that.
3. It is literally stated that McGonagall forbid everyone to give Neville passwords. If Snape did that, you would be using it as a reason to hate him.
4. We actually never see Molly apologize to Hermione, we simply know that she became “considerably warmer” towards her. The way she treated Hermione was awful regardless, she didn’t even bother to check the validity of Rita’s words.
5. I’m not denying that what Marietta did was shitty but it didn’t justify her getting her face scarred whatsoever.
6. Snape might have grown up to be a bitter asshole because of the abuse he faced as a child but he did nothing as a child to deserve his abuse, whether by his father or by the Marauders. James also never fully matured, he continued to bully Snape behind Lily’s back and he acted so arrogant and immature when he met Petunia and Vernon that Lily was reduced to tears. Writing your crush’s initials on a Snitch is comparable to writing their initials on a soccer goal or on a trophy; it is treating them as a prize to be won which is the definition of objectification. I also don’t think someone who truly loves another person would threaten to hurt that person for not wanting to date them and relentlessly bully that person’s friend and only agree to stop if the person went out with them. (P.S.: The fact that you’re excusing James’ behavior with “boys will be boys” is really disgusting. It just shows what a low opinion you have of boys because I know the boys at my school would never do anything remotely similar to what James did to Snape. I also know you would have a very different opinion of James if Snape was female, your statement that “Snape wasn’t fully innocent” sounds like victim blaming to me which I doubt you would be okay with if it was done to a woman.)
No, Snape wasn’t a completely good person. He wasn’t a completely bad person either, like you said. He was a complex, morally gray character. The bad things he did are inexcusable, just like the bad things the other characters here did. However the good things he did are still valid, just as with all the other characters. I wouldn’t call the cruel actions of the characters here “mistakes” either. I can go into further detail about why Snape joined the Death Eaters and was mean to his students but I think I’ve said enough for now.
The victim-blaming to excuse James committing sexual assault and Sirius committing attempted murder was sickening.
The last comment
It’s also forgotten that Lockhart was going to let Ginny die. He’s not just a comical character, he was willing to let a student die to keep up his facade.
“I shall take a bit of this skin back up to the school, tell them I was too late to save the girl, and that you two tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body – say goodbye to your memories!”
As cruel and bitter as he was, Snape protected students. Lockhart actively tries to harm students and is willing to let one die, but he’s comical and handsome so he’s given a pass.
This is a really pedantic thing to pick up on given all of the madness in the post, but OWL year is not Year 9 (which is PoA year for Harry et al: 13/14).
OWL year is Year 11. This happened during the summer exam period, so all of the people involved were 16 years old.
I mean, 13/14 is old enough to know you don’t forcibly strip another human – but at 16…damn, you were practically an adult in the government’s eyes; free to leave school, join the army, and even get married*
There’s a huge emotional difference between 13 and 16, which is why I am sure the comment was made; it’s all about spreading misinformation to make the scene look more palatable than it was.
(pulls out 800 page dissertation, bags of evidence, the entire Harry Potter series, JK Rowling’s twitter, newspaper clippings from 1990-2017, Severus Snape’s death certificate, and a book series written by Slytherin students testifying that Severus Snape was a good person) My colleague here, although a respected teacher in some communities, is mistaken. I have a PhD in Serevus Snape’s Moral Ambiguity as well as a PhD in Actually You’re Wrong He’s A Good Person and I am here today to explain and correct their mistake.
I wrote this the day the news broke that Alan Rickman had passed away.
There’s a great trope in Harry Potter fanfiction that calls all Slytherins Snape’s children. It’s not wrong. He taught us that we aren’t evil but interesting, he taught us that we could be ourselves, he taught us that courage was so much more than the absence of fear and our experiences were only part of our narrative and that it was our job to own and control it. Even the The Queen Herself hated us, belittled us and reviled us he showed us a better way, and he did it with a wicked sense of humor and some of he best vocal comedic timing ever.
I dunno this one i’m feeling even more than Bowie and Lemmy, because this man’s performances were my ‘Heroes’ and ‘Ace of Spades’ and his final one, a smile with grace and dignity while he battled cancer. That’s one of the most telling, iconic and flawless perfomances he ever gave.
It’s funny how some people say that Snape was “horrible, source of all evil” person because he threatened Neville to poison his frog pet. That same people regularly forget to mention how prof. McGonagall threatened Neville to leave him outside his dorm (when killer was inside Hogwarts) if he forgets the password again.
And Snape was a bully, McGonagall isn’t.
They forget how Dumbledore forbade Severus to never mention Shrieking Shack incident again. How he gave house points to people who tried to kill Snape. How he blackmailed Snape to become spy..
And again, Snape is horrible teacher, Dumbledore is saint.
A well-known facebook group posted this; a virulent, uninformed, attack on Professor Snape as he appears in the Harry Potter Books. I decided to respond to it Point For Point.
Just as a general point before I get into this:
The page is called: I will “Always” be a Potterhead. “To the end.” What kind of Facebook page uses a man’s dying words in its title and then shares blatantly biased anti-character posts?
Anyway, down to business:
Things Severus Snape Actually did:
Within a moment of being sexually assaulted and watching his supposed best friend smile at the sight, he reacted in anger.
Didn’t think that whatever happened to Mary McDonald, which no one was punished for, was as bad as sexual assault and six years of harassment. Indicates, that he’s used to watching people be hurt and has been from a young age which is confirmed in the insight we get into his home life, which is far from ideal.
DIDN’T blow up his aunt at 13 because she insulted his parents; broke a tree branch that didn’t even hit the person who made him angry i.e. consciously tried to redirect his anger away from the person who raised it
Attacked a man he had no reason to believe wasn’t in league with a mass murderer. Believed that someone helping a convicted mass murderer deserved the same sentence for conspiring to kill a teenager.
Saw no reason to give a convicted mass murderer and man who was believed to have given up his best friend to Voldemort any right to lie.
Was suggested to be disappointed at not getting an order of Merlin by a man who would rely on making him seem petty and vindictive in a few years. Was hurt and afraid that someone he KNEW was capable of murder was going to walk free. Exposed a criminally negligent teacher.
Didn’t want a photograph of the man who bullied, humiliated and sexually assaulted him; wanted a photo of his best and probably only childhood friend, the only person who had ever been brave enough to be close to him in the face of risking becoming that bully’s next victim even for a short while.
Went through the proper channels to report cases of bullying and harassment
Dumbledore was not a victim of that kind of bullying; there is a difference between not caring and not thinking, the split second Dumbledore mentioned them Snape changed his attitude and wanted them all protecting and was willing to give “anything” to do it. He was willing to give his life to protect the life his best friend had chosen to live even with a man he (justifiably) hated.
Harry was a CHILD who didn’t like his strict teacher.
Supported his students who had been cast as evil and had been bullied by every other house from the moment they were sorted (Fred and George hissed, and booed at a kid who had just been sorted at the opening feast)
Tried to make a failing student understand that his actions had consequences and tried to motivate him to do better when all other attempts had failed
Saw a young woman going through hell and knew her love was doomed and was trying to warn her off making his mistake.
Had to stand in a corridor of death eater children and manage that situation. Hermione says herself that she had been begging her parents “for years” to let her shrink her teeth with magic, but they wanted her to carry on with braces as they were dentists.
Was bullied, isolated and victimised for years and went searching for somewhere to feel accepted and to have his talents recognised as any normal human being would
Told Voldemort about the prophecy and then promptly threw himself on Dumbledore’s mercy when he realised what information he’d carried.
Was bullied incessantly and then had to teach a child he had no reason to believe was anything but spoiled, rude and disrespectful after first meeting him. Why would Snape have known anything about Harry’s childhood when Even McGonagall apparently didn’t? Or are we going to blame her for sending Harry back to the Dursley’s every summer as well?
Had to manage an incompetent child in a lesson that was dangerous who potentially had the capacity to inadvertently create a bomb every lesson. CLearly had no actual experience of having a positive male role model from whom he might have learned how to handle nervous children.
Yes, you can argue that a shit life causes a person to have bad habits, Sirius was ready to kill someone at sixteen and use his ‘friend’ as the murder weapon! Sirius went out of his way to insult Snape every single time he spoke to him instead of backing off even when Snape hadn’t said a word to him. Even before Snape turned on Remus in the shack, Sirius was calling Him Snivellus and making barbs about “chemistry sets” (and if you think that isn’t a thinly veiled anti-muggle/anti-half-blood microaggression you’re wrong)
Neville’s spirit was entirely broken and only through the love of his friends did he have the chance to develop into a normal adult, he had good influences and people who valued him as a person. Snape didn’t have that he had Lily-meet-me-in-the-park-because-i-can’t-take-a-poor-boy-from-the-wrong-side-of-town-even-in-the-dead-of-winter-home-even-just-for-tea Evans.
Ginny had a loving and supportive family to help her cope with her brush with the dark arts and remembered very little of the things she’d been made to do and the influence it had on her (she admits to long absences and loss of memory when discussing it with Harry in the later books)
Remus encouraged an entire school of students to disrespect their teacher, failed in his duty of care to them by not taking his medication and used Neville as a weapon against Snape. There is no way Neville would have thought to put Snape in his grandmother’s clothes, that is just Lupin continuing the trend of disturbingly sexualised bullying exhibited by the Mauraders in school against Snape.
Luna found a friendship group, imagine if it weren’t the DA she’d joined but Umbridge who had seen Luna’s power and potential, she could have very easily gone the same way save that the Death Eater children saw no discernible use for her so didn’t actively try to recruit her
Hagrid tried to turn an 11-year-old BOY into a pig for something his father said, and you’ve got the nerve to call Snape bad for not liking Harry? Snape at least never attacked a defenceless muggle child
McGonagall allowed her house to run riot. Allowed a baby to be left out in the cold overnight WITH A LETTER, Allowed the twins to almost kill Montague and did nothing (the vanishing cabinet incident), blatantly broke the rules because she wanted her Quidditch team to win (how is this any different to Snape and the house points?)
Harry was a flawed human being just like Snape was; Harry managed to cast the imperious curse on a goblin at 17 without hesitating. He attempted the cruciatus curse at 15 in his rage (how is an insult- no matter how terrible- worse than trying to torture someone?). Wanted to learn hexes and jinxes to use on defenceless muggles at 11, blew up a defenceless muggle because they insulted him so badly they had to be obliviated…. the list goes on and on. If you’re going to Blame Snape for breaking a branch then you HAVE to blame Harry for his accidental childhood magic as well, you can’t have it both ways.
SNAPE WASN’T SLYTHERINS ONLY HERO-
REGULUS BLACK
ANDROMEDA TONKS
NARCISSA MALFOY
DRACO MALFOY
HORACE SLUGHORN
ALL THOSE SLYTHERIN’S WHO CAME BACK TO THE BATTLE FROM HOGSMEADE
THE GREAT MERLIN HIMSELF
SEVERUS SNAPE IS ONLY ONE OF THE DOZENS OF HEROIC SLYTHERINS BECAUSE GRYFFINDOR DOESN’T HAVE A MONOPOLY ON BRAVERY.
♥♠♣♦Here goes my weekend crochet project: card suit coasters for me mum’s Thursday game. 🃏
CLUB ♣️
This pattern is made with three circles worked in spiral rounds, the third circle being left with a long tail (18-24") to join all three and crochet a base on the far side. The chart is highlighted to show round #1 (green), #2 (orange), and #3 (purple).
begin with magic circle; 6 sc in circle and close tight
continuing spiral, (sc in next sc, ch 2) x 6
continuing spiral, (sc in next sc, 3 sc in ch-2 space) x 6; ss in next sc to finish [make 3 discs and leave working tail on 18-24" on one]
thread long tail through craft needle and connect the disc edges to align with a point approx center-to-center (see example below)
with discs connected, pick up tail with hook and ch 7; ss in 2nd ch from hook; hdc in 2nd ch beyond ss; tbc in 3rd ch beyond hdc; hdc in first ‘joint’ of treble; ch 2 and ss in 2nd ch from hook; finish.
Me: *screams and rages at Dumbledore for how he treated Sev*
Dumbledore: my dear there is no need for histrionics…
Me *sarcasm dripping* by YOUR definition I’m speaking to you calmly
RE that bonus shot: Do you know what that is? That is a defensive move made by a man who has learned to expect Every. Single. Touch. To. Hurt no matter where it comes from or if he even knows who it is reaching towards him. That is someone who has learned to jump back against a solid surface so no one can get him from behind. That is someone who prays that holding his hands up will keep him alive and give him enough of a swing to break the hand if it reaches for him again. Someone used to being disarmed or having no defensive weapon to hand.
That right there, folks, is an abuse victim. That right there is someone used to being attacked by more than one assailant at a time. It is a learned reaction. That is not dramatic, that is pure unadulterated momentary panic.
After two years of being mercilessly bullied in school, i did that even when my own mother tried to touch me or hug me.
“Fools who wear their hearts proudly on their
sleeves, who cannot control their emotions, who wallow in sad memories
and allow themselves to be provoked this easily — weak people, in other
words — they stand no chance…”
“It’s real for us,” said Snape. “Not for her. But we’ll get the letter, you and me.”
“Really?” whispered Lily.
“Definitely,” said Snape, and even with his poorly cut hair and his odd clothes, he struck an oddly impressive figure sprawled in front of her, brimful of confidence in his destiny.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Ch. 33 The Prince’s Tale
Some of the other favourite quotes I thought of have been posted, but no, this is important. It shows that little Severus has been living in hope for years that something extraordinary is going to take him out of his ugly, cruel little world and transform him to his true potential, and now he has someone to share the adventure with. Little does he know …
“Happy birthday, my salty little guy💖”
Happy birthday to Snape! I’m happy to have a birthday so close. I used to hate my birthday because it always meant the end of holiday breaks😅
The kissyboop on top of the head, the thing is so adorables– icant even!!! *hiss*
He wouldn’t, he would snap, glare and generally be grinch-y whist Hagrid dragged in a tree that was two feet two tall for the room, decorated with pine cones and magical glitter courtesy Flitwick and then transfigured into something smaller and less likely to spread pine needles (after Severus complains that a pine needle in a pepper up potion will kill them all- they think he’s exaggerating for effect but they also know doing a standard size brew it would cause a minor explosion that will put HIM in the hospital) and decorates with tartan ribbons from Minerva. It wouldn’t be until late Christmas Eve, when he finally got a moment alone, he’d look over at it from where he was sat with a sneaky snifter of something decidedly alcoholic to toast the season and smile at his colleagues antics.
Although, Every year he threatens to feed them all shrinking solutions and use them to decorate the damn thing if they dare invade his quarters with that monstrosity before December first because if Minerva had her way they’d just transfigure what was left of the pumpkins from Halloween straight into trees and he refuses to be allow Christmas to invade NOVEMBER which is his transitional month to recover from the students being all abuzz with returning from the summer and getting hyped up on Halloween before he has to deal with TINSEL and CAROLS.
Slytherblogging 