aches & mistakes

The number of people I’ve seen complain about Snape’s new casting solely because the Prince’s Tale “now” looks “bad” solely because of the race swap is astounding.

All four marauders were undoubtedly white boys. Yes, even James who, if I recall correctly, is sometimes headcanoned as poc. There is not a shred of evidence that he could be even mixed race. He looks exactly like Harry who is explicitly described as pale/white-skinned. There are no other descriptors for either of them like specific hair texture or facial features that might indicate they were anything other than 100% Caucasian British. Now try to guess whose description has such indicators?

Now, I'm not saying Snape was non-white, let alone that he was black, but he had features that could indicate mixed ancestry. His hooked nose could mean he had either a Jewish or maybe Middle-Eastern ancestry on the side of his father whom he inherited the nose from. His jet-black hair and eyes and sallow skin tone could suggest South-Asian ancestry from the side of his mom whom he apparently resembled a lot. And even if he didn't have any non-white ancestry, he still looked as if he might have, which would be more than enough for the other kids to perceive him as lesser, especially when his somewhat "exotic" looks went hand in hand with poverty and neglect.

I would know since I had a classmate who was undoubtedly white and who was called a monkey just because his complexion was half a shade darker. He didn't even looked mixed, just permanently tan, but that was enough for a bunch of rosy-faced boys from well-off families in my class to target him.

Usually, when you bring up a character’s wrongdoings, their fans are quick to explain their behaviour by bringing up what they went through that led to said wrongdoings. With Draco, they’ll say “but he was raised and spoiled by his blood prejudiced parents.” With Sirius, they’ll say “but he was wrongfully imprisoned and emotionally stunted by Azkaban.” With Snape, they’ll say “but he was severely bullied and had abusive parents.” With Remus, they’ll say “but he came from a marginalised community.” What can they say about James? What possible explanation is there for his wrongdoings? What hardships or emotional distress did he face during that time that might resonate with some readers?

James was as privileged as one could be, he was a rich, white, good-looking, pureblood, smart, athletic, and popular Gryffindor who was loved by his parents. His fans, knowing this, will do everything in their power to twist the narrative and victim-blame 16 year old Snape, just so they can argue that all the bad things James did to him were well-deserved.

I’ve said it before in this post : Snape’s idealization of Lily, his attachment to her memory, was a survival mechanism. Something his mind built to hold onto, to keep himself upright in a life that demanded too much from him for too long. That love—messy, painful, unresolved—tells us something essential about who he is. And it matters.

Yes Snape loved Lily. It was one-sided. It was rooted in insecure childhood attachment And yes, Lily wasn’t the perfect angelic figure Snape imagined. But… so what? Honestly, it just makes him human. Isn’t that exactly what happens to so many of us in real life? Who hasn’t projected childhood wounds onto someone they loved? Who hasn’t clung to an idealized version of a person instead of the real one? Who hasn’t struggled with anxious or unhealthy attachments at some point in their life?

Maybe his feelings don’t quite fit the modern 2025 standards of what a “secure, mutual” relationship should look like. But does that make them invalid? Unnatural? Shameful? Something we should erase? Absolutely not.

And here’s what often gets overlooked:

It astounds me how people sometimes brush over the social ramifications of SWM. The sexual assault took place publically. People were laughing. He was suspended in the air, so even people at the back of the crowd had a good view. Hell, people in the castle could glance out a window and perfectly see what was happening in the courtyard. And if you didn't manage to catch the live show, you can bet everyone at school will describe it to you in explicit, embellished detail.

It's a nightmare. A living, horrific nightmare. Worse than The Prank. Fifteen year olds are already insecure about their bodies. Imagine being violated and exposed in such a way, your body used against you, each scar and pimple displayed, genitals and arse and belly seen and mocked by everyone for two years.

And already Severus' social standing was iffy because he's a low-class boy in a bigotted school. If he had had any respect before this, James and Sirius good as killed and buried it with SWM. The studious kids who might've been neutral about him won't touch him with a six foot pole now because he has become an eyesore and a joke. Those studious kids are the future Healers, Aurors, lawyers, etc, and they will always remember how back when they were in school that Snivellus kid was "pathetic" and "flashed" the whole school. It's horrible and sick, but this is how these things are regarded in life.

And I can guarantee you Severus was getting no invitations to the Slug Club after this. Which means no connections in the Potioneer community, no future sponsors. Nothing but exclusion and vicious ridicule by people he had to sit next to and share meals with every day.

You know what's the worse part? Lily was one of the people who mocked him when he was at his lowest.

Lily, whose furious expression had twitched for an instant as though she was going to smile

“I won’t bother in future. And I’d wash your pants if I were you, Snivellus.”

“I don’t want you to make him apologize,” Lily shouted, rounding on James. “You’re as bad as [Snape] is.”

I can't believe this girl is treated like the paragon of empathy and good morality. Her old friend is being publically humiliated and sexually harassed and she:

1) Almost cracks a smile.

2) Tells him oh what a great bother it is to be constantly helping him and how she won't do it anymore.

3) Calls him the same name his bullies use to break down his confidence and sense of self. A name Severus himself has probably gone to Lily to complain about before, when they were 12 or 13 and comforting your friend over their bullies' namecalling was things friends do.

4) Tells him to wash his underwear before leaving him there. He's poor. He wears his mother's and father's hand-me-downs. He probably has had the same three pairs of underwear for years and he has to rotate between them, and laundry day would render him naked. There's nothing shameful about this. Lily knows these things. She knows the living conditions of his house. His rich bullies have mocked him for years over his hygiene and clothes. And Lily uses the same insults when Severus is a kicked-down cornered animal, lashing out.

5) Tells Severus he is as bad as James. Severus is as bad as his sexual harasser? Severus is as bad as the rich boy who bullies his peers for no reason?

No, tell me how it makes any sense to go to a person obviously in emotional turmoil and compound it by saying, 'Hey, you know this guy you feel bad for? He deserved everything that happened to him. Hey, you know the sexual harassment you read about? He brought it on himself.'