Severus Snape
- For other uses, see Snape (disambiguation).
Severus Snape (born January 9, circa 1960) is a fictional character in the Harry Potter series of novels. He taught Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts, and was Head of Slytherin house at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a principal setting of the novels. His chequered past and his apparent hatred of Harry Potter cause Harry to distrust and dislike him.
In the Harry Potter movies, the character is played by actor Alan Rickman.
Parentage
Severus Snape was born to Tobias Snape (a Muggle) and Eileen Prince (a pure-blood witch). Details of his early life are incomplete, but Harry comes to suspect that Snape suffered neglect from his parents and may have been abused by his father.
Snape and Harry Potter
The enmity between Snape and Harry begins in Harry's first year, from the moment that they first see each other. Snape's physical appearance is that of the classic villain: tall, thin, "hook-nosed" and "oily," and clad from head to toe in forbidding black robes "like an overgrown bat" Template:HP1. His name may have been inspired by the Imperial Roman Severan Dynasty, noted for their dictatorial ways and despised by the rest of the Roman elite as being Phoenician-descended outsiders. The name Severus is also evocative of the word "sever," meaning "to cut."
Much of Severus Snape's disdain for Harry Potter seems to arise from a rivalry between Snape and Harry's father, James Potter, when they were both students at Hogwarts. Snape seems to have been obsessed with the Dark Arts, and it was said that, as a first-year Hogwarts student, Snape knew more hexes and curses than most seventh-year students; additionally, his bookish demeanor and unattractive appearance made him an outsider and a target of scorn.
In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry learns that Sirius Black (one of Harry's father James Potter's best friends, and Harry's godfather), lured Snape to the Shrieking Shack where he could have been seriously injured or killed by Remus Lupin in his werewolf form. Snape's life was saved by James Potter; Snape believes, however, that James had been involved in the plot and only decided to intervene out of fear of expulsion from Hogwarts. Later, in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, it is revealed that Snape suffered teasing and bullying at the hands of James Potter and Sirius Black during their fifth year at the school.
Snape frequently antagonizes Harry, calling him "a nasty little boy who considers rules to be beneath him" Template:HP4. He taunts Harry during Potions lessons, ridiculing his work and giving him frequent detentions. Snape also attempts, on several occasions, to have Harry (and his best friend Ron) expelled from the school. Nevertheless, Snape saves Harry's life on more than one occasion.
For a time during the course of the fifth book, Dumbledore assigns Snape the task of giving Harry lessons in Occlumency, the protection of one's mind from outside intrusion or influence. Snape is assigned this task because he is extremely skilled in both Occlumency and its companion art Legilimency, both proficiencies undoubtedly useful in his undercover work among the Death Eaters. The classes are cut short, however, after Harry uses Dumbledore's Pensieve (borrowed by Snape that he might sequester private memories during Harry's Occlumency lessons) to observe Snape's worst memory. Viewing this memory proves to be an unpleasant shock for Harry, who discovers that his father and Sirius had been arrogant bullies who persecuted Snape much as Dudley Dursley and Draco Malfoy persecute Harry.
In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Snape is revealed, via his jottings in his old Potions textbook, to be a highly talented wizard who invented spells and potion shortcuts, much more talented than Harry, Ron, or Hermione gave him credit for. He called himself the Half-Blood Prince because his father was a Muggle and his mother's maiden name was Prince.
It is also revealed that Snape is the person who told Voldemort about Sybill Trelawney's prophecy, leading to the deaths of Harry's parents.
Good or Evil?
Despite Snape's behaviour towards Harry, headmaster Albus Dumbledore repeatedly says that he fully trusts Snape. Until the sixth book, Snape was a member of the Order of the Phoenix, which is dedicated to fighting Lord Voldemort. However, J.K Rowling warned readers that "you shouldn't think he's too nice. Let me just say that. It is worth keeping an eye on old Severus Snape, definitely" [1]. In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the question of Snape's loyalty seems to be settled. When Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange questions Snape's allegiance to Voldemort, he informs her that he was sent to teach at Hogwarts by Voldemort, so he could spy on Dumbledore. Snape has continued in that mission ever since, and has convinced Voldemort that he is still faithful to him. Snape makes the Unbreakable Vow, promising Narcissa Malfoy that he will assist and protect Draco, who Voldemort has assigned to murder Dumbledore. Near the end of the book, Draco loses his nerve, so Snape murders Dumbledore using Avada Kedavra, one of the Unforgivable Curses.
