Severus Snape: who’s who in the Harry Potter saga

Severus Snape is one of the most intriguing characters in the saga Harry Potter. Rowling fooled us all, she made us believe that Snape was a true villain, that the only thing he wanted was Harry’s suffering. However, she had prepared a huge secret for us that would change everything. Alan Rickman, the actor who gave life to the character, was the only one privileged to know the truth about the Potions professor.

We all shed a tear when we discovered that, after all this time (after all this time), Snape still loved Lily, Harry’s mother and that, in reality, the only thing he had done was ensure the safety of the young man. That fragment in which, finally, we understand everything that Snape has done, in which we realize why Dumbledore had protected him so much, has become one of the most applauded by the fans of the saga.

Snape has made a place for himself among the most remembered and loved characters. But these words and this emotional scene hide something else, something much deeper that Rowling has let us glimpse throughout seven books. Are some characters real heroes? Does goodness exist in its purest form?

Snape acts as a counterpart to Dumbledore.. For a long time, we have thought without hesitation that Dumbledore was the good guy and Snape was the bad guy. However, the roles of bad and good seem to blur over time. Who is who, really, in Harry Potter?

Severus Snape’s dark past

Already since The stone philosopherwe realize that Dumbledore never doubts his trust and loyalty; He believes deeply in repentance and second chances.. Meanwhile, other characters like Harry try to unmask him. Harry’s plans almost always fail and Snape comes out on top of every situation.

As readers or viewers we are surprised that no one, apart from Harry and his friends, is aware of Snape’s evil.. For this reason, the surprise is capital when we discover the truth. Information about his past is presented to us progressively, as if with a dropper. We know that Snape possesses the Dark Mark, an indication that he was once a Death Eater. As a consequence, we identify him as a villain.

Thanks to Lupine, we intuit something more about his past, we discover that his bad relationship with the marauders comes from his stay at Hogwarts.. Through the Occlumency and Legilimency classes that Severus offers Harry, we become aware of some aspects of this bad relationship. We see a teenage Severus Snape being bullied by James Potter, Harry’s father.

Rowling demystifies, in part, the heroism of Harry’s father. We do not doubt that James was a good man, but it is true that, during his adolescence, his teasing towards Snape shows an unpleasant and cruel attitude. We see James as the leader of his group, the “funny” and popular young man who knows how to look for trouble. In a way, Rowling is telling us that even the kindest man can commit reprehensible acts.

On the contrary, His relationship with Lily Potter was very different. They met in childhood and formed a great friendship.. Snape already knew the wizarding world and was, in some ways, a key figure in Lily’s childhood. Lily’s parents were muggles (non-magical people) and, upon discovering that she was a witch, a whole world of strange names opened up before her. This relationship will be the key to the adult Snape that we know in the saga Harry Potter.

The Snape of the saga

The Snape we know in the saga He appears to be a dark, cold man, although frustrated professionally and, probably, also on a personal level. Snape is pedantic, arrogant and lacks empathy. He seems to have a certain predilection for the students of Slytherin house, of which he is head.

He harshly punishes “know-it-alls” like Hermione and those he considers clumsy or unintelligent. But, He especially punishes Harry harshly. Snape takes out all his past frustration with Harry, whom he sees as a reflection of his father and, consequently, as an enemy, a rival.

All his actions lead us to think that he is on the side of Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Our suspicions are confirmed when we discover that, indeed, Severus Snape is one of them and he even murders the person who always trusted him: Albus Dumbledore. Behind all this darkness, in reality, hides a man who has suffered, who is a victim of his own past..

Snape’s duality has been present throughout the entire saga: He seems to do something bad and, in the end, it turns out that he was acting for Harry’s benefit. The scheme is repeated until his death. This hatred, seemingly irrational, hides a greater complexity than we could imagine, turning Severus Snape into a character whose evolution is one of the most significant. In this way, Rowling built a character in her saga that we all grew up hating and that, eventually, we would end up loving..

Rowling plays with the doubt: is Snape a repentant Death Eater? Is he a spy for Dumbledore or is he a spy for Voldemort? Which side is he on? Sometimes, The senses deceive us, what we see or the image that someone projects may not be a faithful reflection of reality..

Severus Snape: the hero

The saga of Harry Potter grows in perfect harmony with its main character. when we read The stone philosopher, we find a children’s book, where evil and goodness seem extreme. However, as we progress, Harry grows and, at the same time, the complexity of the books increases. What seemed like a children’s story has become a dark story full of nuances.

In The deathly hallowsthe last book in the saga, we realize that there are no longer good or bad, there are characters with a past and whose actions derive from it. Voldemort might not be the dark wizard we know if he had enjoyed a somewhat happier childhood. And, in the same way, we understand that good old Dumbledore, perhaps, was not perfect.

As for Snape, we will see that, Behind the shadowy man, hides a devastated heart, a man who has suffered, but who continues to love. The revelation in the pensieve is one of the most devastating moments in the saga, one of the moments in which both the reader and Harry reach maturity.

Dumbledore has been preparing Harry to die at the hands of Voldemort all this time; while Snape has ensured his safety, risking his own life. Does this make Dumbledore evil and Snape a hero? The truth can never be so simple, the world is not only made of good and bad, there are nuances.

Snape’s story moves us, he is the repentant Death Eater who sacrifices his life for the son of the person he loved. Harry names his son after both Hogwarts headmasters: Albus Severus. In this way, he shows us his forgiveness, his acceptance of his mistakes, and his affection for both of us. Because, in the end, we all make mistakes, we can all act incorrectly in certain situations.

Alan Rickman was, without a doubt, a magnificent Severus Snape and a perfect keeper of Rowling’s secret. Unfortunately, he left us prematurely without being able to fulfill his promise: continue reading Harry Potter at 80 years old. Thanks to him, we were able to enjoy Snape in the film version of him; I remember him and his perfect Snape will live forever in the hearts of the saga’s followers. For all these reasons, we can affirm that Severus Snape is one of the most complete and fascinating characters in the Harry Potter universe.

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