If we were to judge a book by its cover and going by how antagonistic Snape was towards the young Harry Porter, we would surely conclude that he is a bad character. But as we have learned with Harry Potter, there is always more to a situation than meets the eye and nothing is ever what it seems. If you stuck with the series until the last installment, you would know that Snape turned out to be one of the good guys simply masquerading as a bad guy to keep up with Harry’s enemy and help him defeat Voldemort.
The revelation somewhat redeems him, but not everyone still accepts him because truth be told, we have spent a long time thinking of him as the enemy.
Was Snape Good or Bad?
From the foregoing, we can strongly agree that Snape was definitely a good character and this was ultimately strengthened by his backstory which signaled the completion of the arc of his transformation from the bad character we initially thought he was. If you still doubt this, then you probably did not see the end of the epilogue where Harry Potter himself says acknowledges that Snape is one of the most brave people he knows and honors him by naming his second son Snape after him.
For much of Harry Potter, Snape was a bad man who was antagonistic to Harry and appeared to be in cohorts with Voldemort. The fact that he went ahead and killed Albus did not help his image in any way, it simply made him look all the more like the bad character we thought he was. Only when we came to the end of the whole story did we realize he had to do all of those things to strengthen the image that kept him in Voldermort’s good books for the greater good. It also ultimately gave him the insight he needed on how Harry could successfully defeat the evil lord.
Prof. Snape Often Bullied Harry During His School Days
When the curtains open on the first installment of the Harry Potter movie series, Prof. Severus Snape is a busy master of Potions at the Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft. He took an immediate dislike to Harry Potter which we initially assumed was because of his connection and faithfulness to the evil Lord Voldermort who was Potter’s enemy. He proceeds to ensure that Harry Potter’s time at the school is horrible by constantly bullying and giving him a hard time.
Snape insults Harry Potter and makes snide remarks toward him. He also embarks on other actions that make life miserable for the young boy and basically bullies him. He keeps this up throughout most of the story, solidifying many people’s early view that Snape is a bad person.
He also seems to Align Himself With The Evil Voldemort
Asides from being antagonistic to Harry Potter, another fact that cast Snape in a bad light and made many see him as a bad person was his connections to the evil Lord Voldemort. As a youth wizard, Snape became quite interested in the dark arts. He eventually joined Voldemort’s forces as a death eater.
Later, Snape decided to quit his association with Voldemort and lead a straight and narrow life. However, this does not last as long as we expect it to because he soon tires of being a goody two-shoe and goes back to his evil ways in Voldermort’scamp while also continuing his bad habit of continuing to bully Harry. He then cements it all when he killed headmaster Albus who he knows is Harry’s biggest mentor help. this did not help his reputation at all.
Snape Later Helps Harry Potter to Defeat Voldemort
Thanks to his actions, Harry Potter believed Snape to be a bad individual. Even when his beloved Albus assures him that there is more than what meets the eye to Snape, he refuses to believe this until the back story about Snape emerges.
This backstory, unfortunately, tumbled out after Snape was killed by Lord Voldemort. Upon his death, Snape allowed Harry Potter to gain access to his memories. With the information gained from these memories, Harry Potter is ultimately able to defeat Lord Voldemort.
Key Facts About Snape
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Severus Snape |
| Occupation | Potions Master, Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, Headmaster of Hogwarts |
| House | Slytherin |
| Affiliation | Order of the Phoenix, Death Eaters (formerly) |
| Patronus | Doe (same as Lily Potter, symbolizing his love for her) |
| Blood Status | Half-Blood |
| Parents | Tobias Snape (Muggle father), Eileen Prince (witch mother) |
| Notable Traits | Skilled in Potions, Occlumency, and Legilimency |
| Loyalty | Secretly loyal to Albus Dumbledore and the fight against Voldemort |
| Biggest Secret | Loved Lily Potter and worked to protect her son, Harry Potter |
| Key Relationships | Close childhood friendship with Lily Evans (later Lily Potter) |
| Significant Moment | Revealed as the Half-Blood Prince, his spells were written in a textbook |
| Iconic Quote | “Always.” (In reference to his enduring love for Lily Potter) |
| Fate | Killed by Voldemort’s snake, Nagini, in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows |
His Backstory Completes His Redemption
The arc of Snape’s backstory sheds a lot of light on the bad blood that exists between him and Harry Potter, it really explains why Snape cannot seem to stand Potter and it all leads back to the years before the birth of Harry. Apparently, in his younger years, Snape had attended the same school as both of Harry Potter’s parents Lily and James and they were thick as thieves. He even fancied himself in love with Harry’s mother Lily until his dabble in the dark arts made the idea of them impossible. It also signaled an end to their friendship. Things didn’t get better with Potter’s father bullying Snape and giving him a hard time in school.
All of the above made Snape bitter towards Lily and James so that eventually when he met Harry, he simply transferred the aggression of his expression with his parents to the young Potter and proceeded to make his school experience a living hell same as James did to him. This also led him to reveal the prophecy about the child who would be Voldemort’s downfall to Voldemort after they two joined forces. s with Lord Voldemort.
This information made Voldemort go after James and Lily, killing them and leaving Harry Potter orphaned. Snape hadn’t planned for this to happen, and he confessed his anguish to Albus. To gain redemption, he agreed to become a spy against Voldemort. He pretended to be loyal to the evil lord whilst reporting back to Albus.
J.K. Rowling has Described Snape as a Complicated Man
Per the admission of the creator of the Harry Potter story, creating the character of Snape required him to be complicated to achieve the desired effect that would better propel Harry to victory. Apparently, the inspiration for the character was based on the personality of a real-life teacher Rowling had who was equally a bully. She described him as complicated, and flawed, but deserving of redemption and forgiveness. She revealed that the navigation of the relationship between Snape and Harry was of important significance to his defeat of Lord Voldemort.
