THE GOOD AND THE BAD IN SEVERUS SNAPE
***SPOILER*** – If you have not read the books of Harry Potter, or seen the movies yet, do not read the following article
Through all the parts of Harry Potter series, Severus Snape left us the biggest question mark. Nobody would expect that at the end, he showed up as a true hero in the story. Severus Snape was a Potions teacher at the Hogwards School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry Potter had never been likeable to him, because he reminded him Harry’s father, James Potter, his old classmate. Neverthless, he always protected Harry from the Dark Side, saving his life and his friends. But why ?
In the fifth serie of Harry Potter and Order of The Fenix, we get to see Snape’s childhood memories, where we finally understand, why did he hate James Potter so much and at the same time, protecting Harry from „He who must not be named“. Snape had always a weakness for Lily Potter, the wife of James. When James and Lily got together, it broke his heart, but despite that, he never stopped loving her. Therefore, when „He who must not be named“, mercilessly killed both Lily and James, he promised himself that he will always protect Harry and he will prepare him for the future fight with the Dark Lord, since he was Lily’s child. That is why , you would hear „You got your mother s eyes, Harry“ a lot in the story.
Snape was a so called „Double Agent“. In the sixth serie of Harry Potter and Half blood Prince, it turns out that Snape was not allied only with Dumbledore, but also with „He who must not be named“ as a Death Eater. This tarnished the situation in the whole story, making him an evil betrayer. So why he did it? In fact, it was just a fake curtain. He never really was trully allied with „He who must not be named“, but he had to pretend so, for the safety of not only Harry, but the whole school. As he was the only one „He who must not be named“ trusted, he knew all his plans and so could warn Dumbledore about them. Because he learned how to lock his thoughts, „He who must not be named“ never got to know about it. And this leads us to another question. Why did Snape killed Dumbledore than?
The answer is simple. The death of Dumbledore was not a spontaneous act, but a planned one. Dumbledore had a ring which cursed him-he knew he was going to die anyway. He asked Snape to kill him, because Malfoy, who was asked by „He who must not be named“ to kill Dumbledore, was too weak to do it. Snape agreed in order to protect Malfoy from getting punished and to protect Harry all along, because Dumbledore could not.
In my opinion, Severus Snape sacrificed a lot. I can not imagine, what would have happened if Snape did not kill Dumbledore and did not ally with Voldemort. However, It is still unclear to me, why Dumbledore made Severus kill him, when he knew that Snape was going to die later on. He could have simply plan a suicide. But that would not be real Harry Potter, right? I believe that love was the reason and his only motivation that at the end, saved Harry Potter. He risked so much, for the good of others. His character show us that love is stronger than any fear. Harry Potter at the end of the book, named his child after Severus, as he was for him the bravest man he ever knew.
Sources:
https://www.hp-lexicon.org/wizards/snape.html
https://www.quora.com/What-makes-Severus-Snape-such-a-compelling-character
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