Character Analysis

The Headmaster Snape Conspiracy

a-spitting-slytherin:

mollymcgiftens:

tetragon4:

So, here’s a theory for those
who, like me, bemoaned the fact that Snape has never been given a second
chance. In a way, his biggest flaw was to submit to a master, this being
Voldemort. Which then led to him submitting to a second master, Dumbledore, to
redeem himself. Although his actions might have helped Harry, in the end, he
was unable to start over. It is a sad conclusion, indeed: No matter how hard
you try to make up for the damage you caused, you will not be able to start
over. I do not wish to engage in the debate whether he would have chosen death
over life or not – rather, I would like to offer some hope to those who prefer a
kinder, a more gentle world. This is my contribution to the “Snape survived and lived grumpily
ever after” theme.

In order to give Snape an
escape hatch, we will have to revisit the final battle in Deathly Hallows. Step
by step.

Chapter Thirty: The Sacking of
Severus Snape

On their way to alert the
other teachers, McGonagall and invisible Harry come across Severus Snape, the
official headmaster of Hogwarts. After a fierce fight, Snape takes flight, and
his decision is met with irony by McGonagall:

“Our headmaster is taking a
short break.”

Now, there is an obvious
discrepancy between the title of the chapter, the content, and the comment
itself. Snape was not sacked, because it is the Board of Governors and the
ministry which hold the power to sack a headmaster. We have been reminded of
this fact twice, in book 2 when too many children had been attacked by the
basilisk, and in book 5 when Dumbledore was sacked by Fudge. Of course, one may
argue that the teachers sacked their boss by resisting his orders. For now, I
will let this argument stand as it is. It is worth mentioning, though, that
although McGonagall makes important decisions concerning the security of
Hogwarts, she is not called headmistress at any point in the chapter, nor is
she shown to enter the headmaster’s office, a tell-tale sign of being
acknowledged as the official headmistress.

In an interview, Rowling
claimed that Snape “abandoned his post”, which contradicts the chapter’s title
as well.

Obviously, the title
intends to mislead the reader. The teachers’ actions have nothing to do with
his desertion. Effectively, they did not sack him, even if their actions led to
him fleeing the castle.

The second information that I
take away from the chapter and the interview is that Snape has officially been
acknowledged by Hogwarts as headmaster.  Bear with me, this argument is more amazing
than it sounds. Snape had been installed as headmaster in a similar way to
Umbridge: He was chosen against the better judgement of the other teachers by
the governors/ministry, and both candidates were promoted not with the best
interest of the children in mind.

Now,
Hogwarts actually is not bound to acknowledge the person chosen by the
ministry. Umbridge was denied the post, and due to that, she was unable to
enter the headmaster’s office. Yet, it acknowledged Snape: Thus, Hogwarts is
able to pick up the intention of the candidate. Snape was accepted and allowed
entrance to the office, because he intended to serve the school to the best of
his abilities. In order for him to be able to abandon his post, he must have
controlled access to the headmaster’s office.

Next, let us remember what
happens when Hogwarts is without a headmaster: The office remained closed to
everybody, not just Umbridge, when Dumbledore had been sacked. The castle
therefore does not distinguish between intention when allowing somebody
entrance: Only the headmaster may pass. And when there’s a headmaster, the headmaster
controls the admission of guests. Every time that Harry was allowed into the
office, either Dumbledore was in the office (thereby letting Harry in without a
password) or the headmaster’s password served as proof that the headmaster
invited the person.

Let us move ahead to chapter
thirty-three: The Prince’s Tale

Harry received Snape’s
memories, and in order to watch them, he must gain access to the Pensieve in
the headmaster’s office.

The gargoyle then asks Harry:

“Password?”

Do you spot the discrepancy?

If Snape had abandoned his
post, there would, in effect, be no headmaster. Therefore, the gargoyle would
have to remain silent, because nobody but the new headmaster would be able to
enter the office. Snape’s password would have been rendered invalid.

At this point,
the office still recognises Snape as the headmaster.



The most logical explanation,
of course, is to assume that the castle is unaware of Snape’s death, because it
happened in the Shrieking Shack, which is located in Hogsmeade, and despite its
connection to the Whomping Willow, it is outside the boundaries of Hogwarts
itself. And when Snape failed to return in due time due to his death, he
effectively abandoned his post.

But here’s the thing: Rowling
offers her words above in a very specific context.

Fan: Was the absence of snapes
portrait in the headmaster’s office in the last scene innocent or deliberate

J.K. Rowling: It was
deliberate. Snape had effectively abandoned his post before dying, so he had
not merited inclusion in these august circles.

If Hogwarts was unable to
recognise the death of the headmaster outside the boundaries of Hogwarts, all
the people who received a portrait must have died in Hogwarts. Which is,
statistically, unlikely.

Hogwarts had, according to legend, been built 1000
years ago. According to harrypotterwikia,
there are 23 recognisable portraits in the office (movie version), with eighteen
additional ones. These people would have on average served 24 years. Taking
wizard lifespan into account, this makes sense, especially since some of these
headmasters are known to have served up to 40 years alone. Basically, almost
all of the headmasters in the past 1000 years would have had to have died on
the premises to receive a portrait. Which is incredibly unlikely.

Even if you
disregard movie information: In the books, there are enough portraits to cover
the walls. They have been described as “rows” of portraits. Let us assume that
there are enough portraits in the room for them to debunk the aforementioned
theory.

Conclusion: Hogwarts does
recognise when a headmaster dies outside the castle.

Which leaves us in an
uncomfortable spot: If Hogwarts would have recognised Snape’s death, and Snape
had still been headmaster by the time Harry entered the office, then Snape was
not dead yet.

Yet Harry claimed he was. And of
course, he is the master of death, right? He must know…

Which brings us back to the
Shrieking Shack.

Chapter thirty-two: The Elder
Wand

Snape is bitten by Nagini,
because Voldemort thinks him the master of the Elder Wand. Harry approaches the
bleeding man, and he receives the memories Snape is ejecting. Before Harry
abandons the man, they lock eyes:

[…] after a second something in
the depths of the dark pair seemed to vanish, leaving them blank and empty. The
hand holding Harry thudded to the floor, and Snape moved no more.

Seems quite dead to me. But
here’s the thing: Harry never checks Snape’s pulse, nor his breathing. For all
we know, his eyes have gone starry due to shock, induced by blood loss. Which
is… incredibly likely. Since he is bleeding out. And nobody is even attempting
to do first aid.

To our knowledge, Snape is
still alive, albeit half-way on the other side already. Somehow, Snape survives
far enough into this battle for Harry to walk back to the castle and into the
headmaster’s office.

Still, there are issues. For
instance, we said that Snape did not abandon Hogwarts yet, otherwise the
gargoyle would not ask for a password. So… did he abandon Hogwarts by being
such an ungrateful bastard as to die before his time?

Even it being a rhetorical
question, there is a definitive no as an answer. After all, Dumbledore died
before his time, too, ungrateful bastard that he was, leaving everybody in this
utter mess, and yet he deserved a portrait. Snape did not.

Here’s the thing: Snape must
have abandoned his post after having been left for dead in the Shrieking Shack.
Therefore, he must have lived through this gruesome ordeal.

There are two very obvious
problems with this one.

  1.     Shock due
    to blood loss
  2.    
    Poison

Since Snape lost control over
his extremities due to shock, he is unable to take a potion. Remember?

The hand holding Harry thudded
to the floor, and Snape moved no more.

He would have needed somebody’s
help to survive. Even if the poison was kicking in slowly, because he was
bleeding it out, too, the wound had to be healed. And Nagini’s poison makes
healing the wound quite a difficult task, as we have been told in book 5 when
she bit Mr. Weasley.

However, I do know of a
creature who is able to not only heal deadly wounds, but also the poison of even a
Basilisk. Fawkes.

Now, Fawkes has left Hogwarts
when Dumbledore died, and he would have no reason to approach Snape. How would
he even know to look for him in the Shrieking Shack?

Let us remember what happened
in book 2: Fawkes found Harry in the Chamber of Secrets, although it is
basically inaccessible and unknown to anybody but the heir of Slytherin. Fawkes’s
appearance was blamed on Harry’s loyalty to Dumbledore, and Fawkes acknowledged
this act by offering his protection. This teaches us an important lesson. In
order for Fawkes to offer his tears, Snape would have to perform an incredible act
of loyalty to Dumbledore in the Shrieking Shack.

And he did. Remember when
Voldemort preferred to hear himself talk, like any good, old-fashioned villain?
He had to first make Snape understand why he had to die, before going for the
kill.

“The Elder Wand belongs to the
wizard who killed its last owner. You killed Albus Dumbledore. While you have,
Severus, the Elder Wand cannot be truly mine.”

And Voldemort even remarks on
Snape understanding what this implies:

“Perhaps you already know it?
You are a clever man, after all, Severus.”

Snape is aware of the fact
that his promise to Dumbledore is about to get him killed. In this moment, he
must realise Dumbledore’s original plan: To sacrifice not only himself, but
also Severus for the greater good. Dumbledore had planned to have the ownership
of the Elder Wand die with him, yet Voldemort would believe Snape to be the
master. Once he killed Snape, he would become cocky, giving Harry a chance to
strike back. Snape was never supposed to live.

And yet, he remains silent.
Sure, revealing his betrayal would have gotten Snape killed as well, but I
imagine that it would have been tempting to take revenge on Dumbledore this
way. Instead, Snape raises his wand.

Oh, we all know Snape to be no
fool. The book never tells us which of the two enemies he prepared to attack.
Because it would have told us about his allegiance before the grand reveal:
Despite being betrayed by Dumbledore, being sacrificed without his consent,
Snape decided to do Dumbledore’s bidding once more.


In Snape’s memories,
Dumbledore told him:

“There will come a time when
Lord Voldemort will seem to fear for the life of his snake. […] when Lord
Voldemort […] keeps it safe beside him, under magical protection.”

In the Shrieking Shack, Snape
decided that Nagini had to be killed. He could not do so openly, because she
was in a magical cage to protect her from harm. Despite the fact that Snape is
a talented wizard, he took too long to protect himself – because he was not
even attempting a defensive spell. He was collecting his strength to attack
Nagini in her cage.

This is his act of incredible
loyalty towards Dumbledore. Snape is brilliant at defending himself – that is
what he has been doing all his life. He showcased these particular skills when
he disarmed Lockhart in Book 2, when he applied to become teacher for Defense against the Dark Arts, when he
protected himself against the onslaught of attacks by McGonagall and the others
in chapter thirty-one. Occluding, too, is a defensive technique, and Dumbledore
considers it Snape’s strength. His entire existence is shaped by defending
himself against bullies, emotions, those that consider him of less worth due to
his blood, children’s remarks on teachers… you get the picture. Snape is a
master at defending. He would not have failed to defend himself. Instead, he
failed to attack in time.

Just like when Fawkes found
Harry simply because Harry was loyal to Dumbledore, no matter the consequences,
Fawkes appeared in the Shrieking Shack to save the day.

And Snape decided to
disappear. He abandoned Hogwarts whilst still being headmaster, and therefore,
he did not receive a portrait, even after he died sometime in the distinct
future.

Probably when he heard that Harry named a bloody child after him. And Dumbledore, of all people. And weirdly, that child’s sister has the same name as his first crush. And to mock him, the brother is called after the two people he probably despised more than Voldemort.

For all we know, Snape moved to
Jamaica, got a brilliant tan, and is the proud owner of a strange book shop in
which you are anything but welcome.

I am totally in love with the idea of Survivor Severus. And of him being a book shop owner ala Bernard of Black Books. He just needs his optimistic and cheery assistant Manny and his drunken female best friend Fran.

*bellowing, slamming fists on table* HE LIVES

THIS!!

Dementors

lillymoid:

friends-of-severus-snape:

snapes-many-buttons:

expectopatronuts:

snapedefender:

expectopatronuts:

queenofthedwarrows:

magicalwayswins:

liminy-lemony:

snapedefender:

listen idk why people always bring up neville’s parents being tortured when they’re talking about the boggart scene (e.g. “neville is more terrified of SNAPE even though his PARENTS were TORTURED” you know). like…. y’all. let’s list out why that’s Not Relevent to the Discussion, shall we?

a) we don’t know how much thirteen-year-old neville knows about his parents or their torture. nobody ever brings up how often they visit, when augusta told neville about it, how much detail she went into, and so on. i can assume that he probably does know, but we don’t know how much detail.

b) this is like saying “harry is scared of DEMENTORS even though his PARENTS were BRUTALLY MURDERED” shockingly enough even though something bad happens to you or a person you love, it doesn’t automatically mean it’s going to be the thing you fear most. some of those kids have probably lost family members to the war. hell, remus lupin’s entire friend group either died or went to azkaban and he’s still more scared of his lycanthropy.

c) even if neville knows the details, that doesn’t mean he’s FRIGHTENED per se. nothing about him suggests that he sees (or has ever seen) bellatrix lestrange as a boogeyman. (possibly similar to the way harry isn’t ever really frightened of voldemort….?) esp at thirteen, he’s probably pretty removed from the actual thing that happened – he lives with the aftereffects, but the actual torture isn’t something that’s necessarily going to be clear or real to him.

d) snape is literally right there. right there! he’s in the room TWO SECONDS before remus asks neville what he’s frightened of. of course he’s the first thing that pops into neville’s head! (followed closely by his grandma who treats him pretty terribly too lmao)

d.5) what’s neville going to say instead? “well actually professor, i’m terrified of the woman who tortured my parents into insanity?”

e) i’ve said this before, but neville dispels the boggart in two tries. boggarts! do not show! your ultimate greatest fear! they show A fear. and the deeper the fear, the harder it is to banish. which is why harry can’t banish his boggart with anything less than the actual spell to get rid of dementors and molly weasley can’t banish her boggart on her own either. those are deep fears. neville’s (and all the other children in here) is a childish fear – that doesn’t make it less real, but it also doesn’t make it traumatic and soul-scarring.

i just… feel like this is another “gotcha!” argument that people try, but it doesn’t make sense to me. fears aren’t cut and dry and logical? just bc the boggart is snape doesn’t mean that snape is more deeply traumatizing than neville’s parents’ torture? the entire thing is meant to be read as a joke so when will the antis let me live and stop using this scene to “prove” that snape abuses children….?

F) neville: pls don’t turn into my nan either she’s scary af

G) Neville was a sensitive child and it totally makes sense to be afraid of someone like Snape when you are insecure.

H) Why is that we never talk about the fact that Neville doesnt want it to turn into his Grandmother? Cause I feel like that is a lot more telling than him being afraid of a scary teacher. Like there is a high chance had Snape not had just been there the Boggart could have also taken McGonagalls shape as well since she is equally as intimidating & scary to Neville as well.

I) You know that super widely accepted theory that Hermione’s boggart isn’t really her failing her third year exams, but a deeper fear of failure and/or a fear of not fitting into the wizarding world?

It’s 100% fanon, but it makes a lot of sense a) because that’s human psychology for you, and b) because the boggart has to represent the fear somehow, it has to “embody” it.

So now, let’s take a look at Neville. His family treated him pretty terribly to try to squeeze magic out of him when they thought he was a squib, right? I mean, they put him in danger of death to get his magic to manifest itself. So, in Neville’s experience, being useless at magic is about the worst you can be. Your own family would rather see you dead than see you turn out a squib. Being useless at magic means your uncle Algie dangles you upside down from a window (and drops you accidentally, but never mind that).

And then Neville goes to Hogwarts
and meets the harsh, abrasive teacher that is Professor Snape.

Professor Snape, who points out all his faults and shortcomings. Mind you, so does McGonagall, but while she can be strict, Snape is the one who’s nasty about it.

I think it’s more than plausible that, same as McGonagall telling her she failed represents Hermione’s fear of failing as a witch, Snape’s blunt criticisms represent for Neville a real threat of being rejected by his family and/or being put in threat of death. Again.

And so, the boggart takes on Snape’s form to represent Neville’s deeper fears, and not because Snape is actually so dreadful that he is the main fear-trigger to a boy whose parents were tortured into insanity
and who was threatened and outright abused by his own family for not being to produce magic early enough.

You have to admit – that’s a more plaubisble fear for Neville, especially since Snape has never actually done anything to him (I can’t say this loud enough) in the two years and a bit he’s been his teacher, whereas failing at magic has already had unpleasant consequences.

J) Ok, I know this is already long, but I think we also have to look at this scene from outside canon. We can ignore all this psycho-babble about fears and whatnot, and take a look at what JKR wanted to show her readers.

I think the main point of the boggart scene, apart from giving an early clue regarding Lupin’s lycanthropy, is to show how Harry is not like other kids.

Other kids have fears typical of kids. Sticking to canon, without interpreting anything, we’re shown a mummy, a banshee, a rat, a snake, a bloodshot eye (wtf), an amputated hand (again, wtf), a spider, a nasty teacher (Snape), and failing every subject. Honestly, these sound either like specific phobias that could happen to anyone given certain circumstances, or terrors from stories or films (actually, Hermione’s fear is the one that shows the most maturity).

But not Harry. Harry’s worst fears are the dementors. Fear itself, as Lupin says. And all this goes to show is that Harry isn’t like others. He has a tragic past. He has a shabby childhood. He has already had two near-death experiences while at school. Harry’s boggart shows that he’s been forced into a maturity that doesn’t correspond to his age, and that he’s been able to step up to the situation. He can no longer afford childish fears like teachers or grades, because there are very real threats both in his past and in his future.

This is a point that can’t be made if instead of Snape you show Neville’s uncle threatening to drop him from a window, or his parents dribbling down their chins in St. Mungo’s, or if instead of McGonagall you show Hermione’s friends and teachers spitting at her as she leaves Hogwarts in shame, with her wand snapped, or if instead of spiders you show Ginny’s lifeless body lying in the Chamber, or even if instead of the bloodshot eye you show say, Lavender’s uncle with bloodshot eyes, a bottle of vodka, and an erection. 

[reverting back to in-canon analysis, what the fuck was Lupin thinking? He shields Harry from the boggart, but what about all the other kids? What if the boggart had really become Lavender’s uncle with an erection in front of the whole class?]

So I think there’s definitely an element of downplaying other kids’ fears to show just how horrible Harry’s situation really is. Neville’s boggart, from a story telling point of view, is part of that, and not so much a point about Snape.

And honestly, all of Harry’s character growth in the first two books is basically lost if all you get from this scene is “asdflglkw the greasy git omg he tortured neville in class, RIP in Pieces greaseball”.

i love you so much honestly this is the greatest addition i’ve ever gotten on a neville’s boggart post

because!!! i’ve never actually considered that the boggart might show fear representations. which is sad, because the text literally tells us that it does (harry’s fear is “fear itself” not just dementors… lupin’s fear is not the moon but his lycanthropy which it represents). so it’s such an excellent point that neville’s fear isn’t snape himself, but what snape represents to him – failure and lack of magical talent, which snape is always mean to neville about. but! neville didn’t get that fear of failure and lack of magical talent from snape – he got it from his family (his uncle! throws him from a window! his grandma says over and over that he’s not as talented as his parents). which so easily explains! why snape and neville’s grandma are so linked together for him that his mind immediately jumps to augusta when talking about being afraid of snape. they both represent failure/lack of talent to him…. and the difference between them is that while snape may reinforce those fears, augusta (and the rest of neville’s family) is the one who gave him those fears.

(you could carry on to discuss how neville fears lack of talent potentially bc of his parents even – if they’re so proficient, as augusta always says, and they still end up tortured and mad…. or connect it to neville being afraid that his family won’t love him or care about him if he’s not proficient in magic e.g. “like his parents”…. which connects really nicely thematically back to how harry is always tied to the memory of his parents, but for harry it’s in a really positive way.)

anyway the point, as all of this extremely lovely analysis is saying, is that when you leave the reading solely at “snape is neville’s greatest fear, snape traumatized neville so much” you’re a) ignoring and/or passing over a lot of neville’s kind of shitty backstory which explains why he’s so nervous and timid to begin with and b) failing to understand the entire point of the scene itself, which is really more about harry’s connection to fear and maturity than about neville. neville is another kid in this scene, with another kid fear. his fear of snape is not unusual or dramatic even in the context of the scene itself (everyone laughs about it, even neville. lupin doesn’t seem concerned at all about it – wouldn’t he, if neville is deeply traumatized?). harry’s fear is meant to be the unusual/dramatic one in this scene…. because harry has been through more shit than all of these kids and thus has more mature fears.

anyway. i bolded the parts i especially loved but really i loved all of it bc what a great thoughtful careful reading of this scene!!!!! that’s what critical analysis looks like people.

I love you so much too tbh, because someone has to make these posts and you do. I usually go with the “enjoy what I enjoy, ship my ships, write my fic, ignore the hate” mindset, but sometimes I get pissed off. Because man, this is basic reading. Basic reading from books originally meant for kids. Idk fam, I’m no English major, but still, it’s obvious this is about Harry first, then about Lupin and Neville, and only last about Snape.
Idk boggarts are weird. I always thought they just representations of fear, but I guess sometimes they don’t (for Molly Weasley it seems to be especific fears). But yeah, in any case, I really think Neville:s boggart is a representation of deeper issues.

Bravo everyone! This is so worth the time to read!

Personally, I figure if Perfect-Teacher-Lupin isn’t the least bit concerned that Neville’s boggart is Snape, why should I be?

The definitive answer to “But he was Neville’s boggart”

When you find this on your dash and now have an in depth response to idiots

I’m reblogging this again because there’s something I want to add;

When something terrible happens you stop fearing it.

For years my greatest fear was my mum dying, she was sick- badly- for most of my life and the idea of losing her gave me nightmares well into my teens.

She died when I was 20.

There’s little to nothing left that frightens me now.

Even the thought of getting as sick as she did doesn’t scare me because I’d just top myself and know I was better off.

The only thing I’m anywhere near anxious about is being admitted to the hospital that she died in (I don’t trust the staff but I never did so it’s not her dying that caused that one, just solidified it a bit).

Once it’s done that’s it, you learn that you can get through it and that you’re stronger than whatever you were scared of. That’s how boggarts work, they don’t make your worst fear funny they show you that you CAN face them and survive.

Neville knows that the worst thing that could happen to his parents has happened. It doesn’t scare him anymore.

What scares him is not being worthy of it so when Professor Snape criticised him that’s what the boggart was embodying.

He’s no more afraid of Snape than he was the Carrows or Bellatrix, and he didn’t hesitate to fight them.

Arguably he wouldn’t have had the mental strength to fight back against them if he hadn’t faced Professor Snape down in a classroom for five years.

He learned the hard way that he could face his fear, and any manifestation of it, and survived it. He survived Potions with Professor Snape, he survived facing the fact that he might not be ‘wizard’ enough to do his parents and their sacrifice proud for five years and he came through; and in doing so he made them proud and proved he was good enough.

Facing Professor Snape made him strong enough to fight a war, not because he was afraid of Snape but because he was no longer afraid of not being enough.

Sometimes I can’t help myself

the-great-snape-debate:

Can a Snape Hater honestly answer me one thing.

What was Snape supposed to do, other than walk around James’ dead body? Simple question really, since you all make that your main argument to hating him … What should he have done?

Given James’ corpse a good kick and spat at the fucker whilst declaring “good riddance”… ? No?

Taken a quick piss on the corpse? Not that either?

Oh wait, or was he expected to kneel down, cry softly and close his rapists eyes tenderly whilst murmuring forgiving platitudes and last rites for someone who bullied him for nearly a decade? You must be joking!

James is damn lucky all Snape did was walk past him. I don’t think I could be that good a person if presented with the fresh corpse of someone who tormented me for years.

Snape was probably tortured…

mysnarkyslytherinsecret:

halfbloodponce:

Friendly reminder that Snape probably got tortured while being interrogated at the end of GoF, in order to re-establish his position as a spy. In the graveyard, Voldemort says “One, too cowardly to return … he will pay. One, who I believe has left me forever … he will be killed, of course … and one, who remains my most faithful servant, and one who has already re-entered my service.”. The first is Karkakoff, the last is Barty Crouch Jr, and the one who would be killed is…Snape.

Voldy knew that Snape had thwarted him on the Stone. He Crucio-d Avery simply for failing to search for him after his disappearance. In HBP Snape mentions Voldemort’s “Initial displeasure” (bit of an understatement). In GoF, Dumbledore says “Severus, you know what I must ask you to do. If you are ready … if you are prepared …” while looking worried, and Snape himself looked “paler than usual”. Do the math, do you think Voldy discussed his concerns over a cup of tea?

So Snape arrived to Voldemort two hours late, same Voldemort who tortures his followers for minor transgressions. Voldemort thought that Snape had betrayed him and was intending to kill him. Snape had years of bullshitting to answer to. He was also around 13 years out of practice doing hardcore Occlumency (he was a spy in the first war for months as well), so think about how fucked he thought he was. And prior to this, he had revealed his Dark Mark to a room full of people, in hopes of getting the MoM to quickly mobilize their forces against the DEs and warning the rest of the WW, even though Voldy wanted to keep low for as long as possible (don’t know if Voldy ever found out about this, but even if he didn’t, it was still a stunning move on Snape’s part considering how fucked he already was).

And despite all of this he willingly returned to spy against Voldemort, even though Lily was already dead, and despite it having no personal benefit and a shit ton of danger for him. Dumbledore gave him a choice in GoF timeline, asking him if he intended to flee if Voldemort returned (since Karkaroff would) and Snape replied “I am not such a coward”. If all of the above isn’t a testament to his bravery and his skills as an Occlumens, then I don’t know what is (aside from spying against a mind-reading psychopath in general, saving people while spying, agreeing to kill DD and making himself a pariah, protecting the school while still being a spy, and passing on the keys to killing Voldy to Harry as he died, ya those were also very brave).

Another stunning deconstruction for why I can never hate this character.

The definitive answer to “But he was Neville’s boggart”

lillymoid:

friends-of-severus-snape:

snapes-many-buttons:

expectopatronuts:

snapedefender:

expectopatronuts:

queenofthedwarrows:

magicalwayswins:

liminy-lemony:

snapedefender:

listen idk why people always bring up neville’s parents being tortured when they’re talking about the boggart scene (e.g. “neville is more terrified of SNAPE even though his PARENTS were TORTURED” you know). like…. y’all. let’s list out why that’s Not Relevent to the Discussion, shall we?

a) we don’t know how much thirteen-year-old neville knows about his parents or their torture. nobody ever brings up how often they visit, when augusta told neville about it, how much detail she went into, and so on. i can assume that he probably does know, but we don’t know how much detail.

b) this is like saying “harry is scared of DEMENTORS even though his PARENTS were BRUTALLY MURDERED” shockingly enough even though something bad happens to you or a person you love, it doesn’t automatically mean it’s going to be the thing you fear most. some of those kids have probably lost family members to the war. hell, remus lupin’s entire friend group either died or went to azkaban and he’s still more scared of his lycanthropy.

c) even if neville knows the details, that doesn’t mean he’s FRIGHTENED per se. nothing about him suggests that he sees (or has ever seen) bellatrix lestrange as a boogeyman. (possibly similar to the way harry isn’t ever really frightened of voldemort….?) esp at thirteen, he’s probably pretty removed from the actual thing that happened – he lives with the aftereffects, but the actual torture isn’t something that’s necessarily going to be clear or real to him.

d) snape is literally right there. right there! he’s in the room TWO SECONDS before remus asks neville what he’s frightened of. of course he’s the first thing that pops into neville’s head! (followed closely by his grandma who treats him pretty terribly too lmao)

d.5) what’s neville going to say instead? “well actually professor, i’m terrified of the woman who tortured my parents into insanity?”

e) i’ve said this before, but neville dispels the boggart in two tries. boggarts! do not show! your ultimate greatest fear! they show A fear. and the deeper the fear, the harder it is to banish. which is why harry can’t banish his boggart with anything less than the actual spell to get rid of dementors and molly weasley can’t banish her boggart on her own either. those are deep fears. neville’s (and all the other children in here) is a childish fear – that doesn’t make it less real, but it also doesn’t make it traumatic and soul-scarring.

i just… feel like this is another “gotcha!” argument that people try, but it doesn’t make sense to me. fears aren’t cut and dry and logical? just bc the boggart is snape doesn’t mean that snape is more deeply traumatizing than neville’s parents’ torture? the entire thing is meant to be read as a joke so when will the antis let me live and stop using this scene to “prove” that snape abuses children….?

F) neville: pls don’t turn into my nan either she’s scary af

G) Neville was a sensitive child and it totally makes sense to be afraid of someone like Snape when you are insecure.

H) Why is that we never talk about the fact that Neville doesnt want it to turn into his Grandmother? Cause I feel like that is a lot more telling than him being afraid of a scary teacher. Like there is a high chance had Snape not had just been there the Boggart could have also taken McGonagalls shape as well since she is equally as intimidating & scary to Neville as well.

I) You know that super widely accepted theory that Hermione’s boggart isn’t really her failing her third year exams, but a deeper fear of failure and/or a fear of not fitting into the wizarding world?

It’s 100% fanon, but it makes a lot of sense a) because that’s human psychology for you, and b) because the boggart has to represent the fear somehow, it has to “embody” it.

So now, let’s take a look at Neville. His family treated him pretty terribly to try to squeeze magic out of him when they thought he was a squib, right? I mean, they put him in danger of death to get his magic to manifest itself. So, in Neville’s experience, being useless at magic is about the worst you can be. Your own family would rather see you dead than see you turn out a squib. Being useless at magic means your uncle Algie dangles you upside down from a window (and drops you accidentally, but never mind that).

And then Neville goes to Hogwarts
and meets the harsh, abrasive teacher that is Professor Snape.

Professor Snape, who points out all his faults and shortcomings. Mind you, so does McGonagall, but while she can be strict, Snape is the one who’s nasty about it.

I think it’s more than plausible that, same as McGonagall telling her she failed represents Hermione’s fear of failing as a witch, Snape’s blunt criticisms represent for Neville a real threat of being rejected by his family and/or being put in threat of death. Again.

And so, the boggart takes on Snape’s form to represent Neville’s deeper fears, and not because Snape is actually so dreadful that he is the main fear-trigger to a boy whose parents were tortured into insanity
and who was threatened and outright abused by his own family for not being to produce magic early enough.

You have to admit – that’s a more plaubisble fear for Neville, especially since Snape has never actually done anything to him (I can’t say this loud enough) in the two years and a bit he’s been his teacher, whereas failing at magic has already had unpleasant consequences.

J) Ok, I know this is already long, but I think we also have to look at this scene from outside canon. We can ignore all this psycho-babble about fears and whatnot, and take a look at what JKR wanted to show her readers.

I think the main point of the boggart scene, apart from giving an early clue regarding Lupin’s lycanthropy, is to show how Harry is not like other kids.

Other kids have fears typical of kids. Sticking to canon, without interpreting anything, we’re shown a mummy, a banshee, a rat, a snake, a bloodshot eye (wtf), an amputated hand (again, wtf), a spider, a nasty teacher (Snape), and failing every subject. Honestly, these sound either like specific phobias that could happen to anyone given certain circumstances, or terrors from stories or films (actually, Hermione’s fear is the one that shows the most maturity).

But not Harry. Harry’s worst fears are the dementors. Fear itself, as Lupin says. And all this goes to show is that Harry isn’t like others. He has a tragic past. He has a shabby childhood. He has already had two near-death experiences while at school. Harry’s boggart shows that he’s been forced into a maturity that doesn’t correspond to his age, and that he’s been able to step up to the situation. He can no longer afford childish fears like teachers or grades, because there are very real threats both in his past and in his future.

This is a point that can’t be made if instead of Snape you show Neville’s uncle threatening to drop him from a window, or his parents dribbling down their chins in St. Mungo’s, or if instead of McGonagall you show Hermione’s friends and teachers spitting at her as she leaves Hogwarts in shame, with her wand snapped, or if instead of spiders you show Ginny’s lifeless body lying in the Chamber, or even if instead of the bloodshot eye you show say, Lavender’s uncle with bloodshot eyes, a bottle of vodka, and an erection. 

[reverting back to in-canon analysis, what the fuck was Lupin thinking? He shields Harry from the boggart, but what about all the other kids? What if the boggart had really become Lavender’s uncle with an erection in front of the whole class?]

So I think there’s definitely an element of downplaying other kids’ fears to show just how horrible Harry’s situation really is. Neville’s boggart, from a story telling point of view, is part of that, and not so much a point about Snape.

And honestly, all of Harry’s character growth in the first two books is basically lost if all you get from this scene is “asdflglkw the greasy git omg he tortured neville in class, RIP in Pieces greaseball”.

i love you so much honestly this is the greatest addition i’ve ever gotten on a neville’s boggart post

because!!! i’ve never actually considered that the boggart might show fear representations. which is sad, because the text literally tells us that it does (harry’s fear is “fear itself” not just dementors… lupin’s fear is not the moon but his lycanthropy which it represents). so it’s such an excellent point that neville’s fear isn’t snape himself, but what snape represents to him – failure and lack of magical talent, which snape is always mean to neville about. but! neville didn’t get that fear of failure and lack of magical talent from snape – he got it from his family (his uncle! throws him from a window! his grandma says over and over that he’s not as talented as his parents). which so easily explains! why snape and neville’s grandma are so linked together for him that his mind immediately jumps to augusta when talking about being afraid of snape. they both represent failure/lack of talent to him…. and the difference between them is that while snape may reinforce those fears, augusta (and the rest of neville’s family) is the one who gave him those fears.

(you could carry on to discuss how neville fears lack of talent potentially bc of his parents even – if they’re so proficient, as augusta always says, and they still end up tortured and mad…. or connect it to neville being afraid that his family won’t love him or care about him if he’s not proficient in magic e.g. “like his parents”…. which connects really nicely thematically back to how harry is always tied to the memory of his parents, but for harry it’s in a really positive way.)

anyway the point, as all of this extremely lovely analysis is saying, is that when you leave the reading solely at “snape is neville’s greatest fear, snape traumatized neville so much” you’re a) ignoring and/or passing over a lot of neville’s kind of shitty backstory which explains why he’s so nervous and timid to begin with and b) failing to understand the entire point of the scene itself, which is really more about harry’s connection to fear and maturity than about neville. neville is another kid in this scene, with another kid fear. his fear of snape is not unusual or dramatic even in the context of the scene itself (everyone laughs about it, even neville. lupin doesn’t seem concerned at all about it – wouldn’t he, if neville is deeply traumatized?). harry’s fear is meant to be the unusual/dramatic one in this scene…. because harry has been through more shit than all of these kids and thus has more mature fears.

anyway. i bolded the parts i especially loved but really i loved all of it bc what a great thoughtful careful reading of this scene!!!!! that’s what critical analysis looks like people.

I love you so much too tbh, because someone has to make these posts and you do. I usually go with the “enjoy what I enjoy, ship my ships, write my fic, ignore the hate” mindset, but sometimes I get pissed off. Because man, this is basic reading. Basic reading from books originally meant for kids. Idk fam, I’m no English major, but still, it’s obvious this is about Harry first, then about Lupin and Neville, and only last about Snape.
Idk boggarts are weird. I always thought they just representations of fear, but I guess sometimes they don’t (for Molly Weasley it seems to be especific fears). But yeah, in any case, I really think Neville:s boggart is a representation of deeper issues.

Bravo everyone! This is so worth the time to read!

Personally, I figure if Perfect-Teacher-Lupin isn’t the least bit concerned that Neville’s boggart is Snape, why should I be?

The definitive answer to “But he was Neville’s boggart”

When you find this on your dash and now have an in depth response to idiots

Link

In From The Cold – Chuksha – Harry Potter – J. K. Rowling [Archive of Our Own]

The war is over and Severus is looking forward to a quiet Christmas Eve in front of the TV, then Harry Potter shows up on his doorstep because Minerva is an interfering old tabby.

In From The Cold – Chuksha – Harry Potter – J. K. Rowling [Archive of Our Own]

Link

Picketing For Peace

Severus Snape never expected to go back to Spinner’s End. But when news of the 1984 Miner’s Strike, and subsequent sympathy picket in Cokeworth, hit the Daily Prophet front pages he couldn’t help himself, even if that meant facing his estranged father.

This story was a submission for Age range category 3 (20-30 years old) in the 2018 Snape Showcase over on LJ which has been publishing Snape!centric fics to coincide with Sev’s birthday and #SnapeWeek. Beta’d by the fantastic Snarry5evr.

Picketing For Peace

Black hair isn’t greasy

I have thick naturally jet black hair.

My dad’s Polish and my mum was Jamaican Indian, I got the European thick black hair, the Indian wave and the Caribbean fuzziness the minute it gets vaguely damp until it dries.

Do you know how much of a bitch it is to keep it not looking greasy af?

Like I wash it twice a week it doesn’t get greasy but the wrong light and boom I look like I just finished a twelve hour shift in a chippy on a Friday.

Greasy hair is not mobile, it doesn’t swing or move.

Greasy black hair is shiny and looks like something out of an anime

Greasy hair clings to the skin it doesn’t hang down around the face in curtains

If healthy straight jet black hair doesn’t look slightly greasy it’s because it’s dry and damaged or it’s been bleached and dyed

Now do I really have to clarify what prompted me to make this post?

Come join the Severus Space!

mysnarkyslytherinsecret:

Hey everyone!  I’ve been kinda quiet lately due to some end of the season writing crises (plural), so anyway, I wanted to let you know if you like chatting about Snapey things, I’ve created a Discord for that, since most people aren’t a big fan of Skype. There will be some clearly marked NSFW channels, but most of them will be fine for most folks.

Here is the link.

This place seems lively 🙂

The entire Snape fandom

a-spitting-slytherin:

reformed-deatheater:

the-great-snape-debate:

captainsbabysitter-blog:

auduna-druitt:

samwellhaus:

bangawang:

championofvael:

“I love that character,” I say as I come up with upsetting headcanons for them. “Absolutely adore them,” I tell you as I bunny up sad story ideas for them. “They’re my favorite,” I sigh as I pick the most depressing songs for a playlist for them.

“I just want them to be happy,” I insist as I write horribly angsty oneshots centered around their misery.

“My son,“ I say as I think warmly about his broken body huddled on the ground.

“I love you so much”, I say, as I fill them with self hatred.

@captainsbabysitter-blog @pinkamour1588

Alex and Jacks

Where’s the lie, tho? 🤷‍♀️

The entire Snape fandom

The entire Snape fandom

The entire Snape fandom

Best Pottermore quotes about Snape

silverdoedefender:

“but in the end, Harry and his two friends got all the credit, with Snape getting set on fire in the process. Charming.”

“Of course, when he had to take over Lupin’s lesson, he may have accidentally taught his class how to spot a werewolf, but that was a complete coincidence.”

“Finally, everything’s coming up Severus!”

“Cometh the hour, cometh the Severus.”

“Dumbledore assigned Snape yet another task, and it may have been Snape’s biggest mission yet: to hang out with Harry Potter.”

“Despite all his efforts, everyone still thought he was the worst.”

“Say what you will about the Potions master, we can all agree that he’s no fool.”

“In other words, Snape tried to save Harry’s life, and the only thanks he got was being set on fire. Harsh.”

“As children, Harry, Ron and Hermione had looked at the sarcastic and strict Professor Snape as something of a pantomime villain – the bitter Potions master, stewing in the dungeons. As adults, they learn Snape is far more complex.”

“Snape has taught us that there are no good men and bad men, that we are born full of foibles, and complexities and painted in thousands of different shades.”

Feel free to add

Snarry Saturday Night

Severus: Potter!

Harry: [sweetly] what?

Severus: where are my brewing robes?

Harry: [louder, from the other room] whaaat?

Severus: Where… are my brewing robes!?

Harry:….

Harry:… I uh… put them away…

Severus: [professor voice] where…?

Harry: why do you need to know?

Severus: because I wish to dance the ballet(!)

Harry: No Way Severus! You aren’t backing out on this to do some potion-goo! We’ve been planning this dinner for two months!

Severus: But st. Mungo’s has a dragon pox outbreak! People are in danger!

Harry: my evening is in danger!

Severus: you will tell me where the robes are Harry! This is for the greater good!

Harry: Greater Good? Sod off Sev, I am your husband! I am the greatest good you are ever gonna get!

Do you know any more pro snape accounts?

a-spitting-slytherin:

snivellus-snanger:

barebonebacardi-deactivated2017:

Ahem. *whips out a long scroll*

pro-severus-snape

prosnapeblogging

enoughofyourshitblr

mysnarkyslytherinsecret

severusnapers

divinesaber

katniss-mellarky

serpensortia-kedavra

howling-slytherin-394

snivellusriddikulus

snivellus-snanger

severussnapeisourking

snamionemakesmylifeworthliving

severusdefender

xpolyjuicepotion

avada-kxdavra

odaxelagnia13

severusmyalways

accio-professorsnape

obviouslysnape

asphodel27

propertyofseverustsnape

severus-snape-my-eternal-prince

snapes-slytherin

labyrinthphanlivingafacade

snapesrn

snapedefender

snapesbooty

deepperplexity

magalud

death-by-snape

the-great-snape-debate

darlingsnape

big-cock-prince 

alanrickmanseyebrow 

slytherinlock

magicalwayswins

crmediagal

millieanouk

snamioneshipper

All these Snape Hoes will defend their love for the dark, mysterious potion master until the end. 

If I forgot anyone else, feel free to add yourself. More users are being added! ❤

Pro Snaper here, at your service *over-enthusiastic handwaving*

*bows deeply* Please feel free to add me as well. I will Always be here for my Snapedom mutuals.

I will be carried home on my shield before I stop defending His Most Precious Snapeness!

Gallery

s e v e r u s

meggonagall:

s e v e r u s
s n a p e

Gallery

an abuse victim

illume-melamin:

Some Dramatic, Extra Snape™ for your dash

Bonus:

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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.

Now, I wonder where he got it from…(?)

How would Snape decorate his Christmas tree? (Hogwarts professor era)

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.

John Nettleship and the roots of Severus Snape

potteryet:

I wrote some of this earlier as a reblog to one of @feelabitfree​ posts, but I feel like more people could be interested in the subject, so I’m putting it in its own post for the general tag.

So this is about John Nettleship, the man who was one of JK Rowling’s inspirations to create the character of Severus Snape.

He was Head of Science at Wyedean School in Sedbury, Gloucestershire, where he taught Chemistry to JK, who began studying at the school in September 1976. Her mother, Anne, worked as a technician in the Science department from 1978. He was often known as “Stinger” by pupils due to his last name being “Nettleship”.

image

Yes, those are images of Mr. Nettleship in his science lab.

I learned that John, even though he was surprised and mortified at first, later on felt honored for his connection to Severus and wanted it to be remembered. This is all taken from this article, which provides detailed information about… a bit of everything (really), from people who knew him well. There is also this condensed version of it. (And I’d say: do visit the source, there’s a lot of interesting info on other stuff about Snape in there).

John at the time that he taught Rowling was in his thirties, like Snape in the books; whip-thin and (in the words of a former student) “ghostly white”, with swinging curtains of long and often rather greasy black hair, a burning gaze, an intense manner, irregular teeth and a rather large nose, and was often a bit scruffy and unkempt, even though he was always fastidiously clean.

This is John in 1976, 4 weeks after JK started at Wyedean.

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He was a lifelong Labour Party activist and he later became a much-re-elected local councillor.

An innovative, inspirational teacher and an advocate of child-centred learning, John cared deeply about teaching and about his students, but when Rowling knew him his first marriage was failing and he was dazed with insomnia, which explains why Snape is so angry and excitable. He also had to compensate for looking about eighteen – and for the children’s mockery of his social clumsiness.

(…) As a child he suffered extreme physical abuse from youths running a Cub Scouts troop. At the school he taught at before Wyedean his colleagues marginalised and bullied him for his outspoken independence, and at both schools he endured Marauder-like verbal and physical attacks from certain students: but at both there were also students who admired and supported him.

(…) He remembered Rowling, who had spent her break-times in the office he shared with her mother, with fond admiration, and became an active fan who conducted Snape-tours while wearing an academic gown, and lectured on likely local inspirations for people and places in the Potterverse.

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Photos of John when he was 39 and 41 years old, respectively (second one was cut by himself because he didn’t want the entire world seeing his nipples, but the writer of the article makes a point to stress that he had remarkably thin arms).

John did the Rowling family a great favour, for as Head of Science at Wyedean Comprehensive in Sedbury he hired Anne Rowling, a woman already partially disabled by multiple sclerosis and almost certain to get worse, at a time when no-one else would, and took her on as a Biology lab. assistant. He remembered Anne as a jolly, humorous woman with what she herself called “a dirty great laugh”. He was enormously fond of her and fought the school tooth and nail to get improved disability-access for her: in particular, to have a lavatory installed in the science block so she wouldn’t have to struggle back to the main building several times a day. All that is unambiguously good in Snape, his intelligence, wit and passion for his subject, his showmanship and fluency, his protectiveness of others, his courage, love, loyalty, honesty, dedication and sense of duty, his independence and his moral seriousness, is identifiably derived from John.

There is some discussion in the article about how he believed he probably had Asperger’s Syndrome and so some of his behaviour was actually due to missing social cues and not out of spite and rage as JK maybe interpreted (and wrote Snape’s background in order to explain).

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In JK’s drawings of him, Snape often has a stubble and is shown wearing a Dracula-collared cloak which are never described as such in the books, but could be inspired by John and this high-collared hippyish jacket he used to wear.

Also, let me show the Snape fandom this thing his son made because it is adorable and you’ll feel proud:

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Now I want to finish this long ass post with this: John also enjoyed singing! And if you’re interested in hearing the original strong baritone voice that inspired our favorite overgrown bat, you can do that right here (there’s also a video on the link).

I went to find this because I want it on my blog. Now I have it.