i know better now

Durmstrang Institute - Blood and Iron

I hate the Snape vs James thing. I hate that there’s an expectation that we need to choose a side. I think the fandom “war” between fans of either character shows a superficial reading and understanding of the books by the people who participate in it.

I love Snape as a character. I think he’s fascinating and even ultimately sympathetic, given his horrible childhood and social-awkwardness as a teen. If I’d had him as a teacher when I was a kid he’d have given me a nervous breakdown. He’s unnecessarily horrible to Harry and his friends and shows clear favouritism to Slytherin House and bias against Gryffindor. If he hadn’t done what he’d done, the war would have been lost and Voldemort would have taken over. I think he loved Lily as if she were part of himself. She was all the goodness he wanted to embody but couldn’t. I do think his love for her had a romantic aspect, but it clearly went way, way deeper than that. They’d been very close friends pre-puberty, since childhood. Categorising Snape’s feelings towards Lily as merely lust is not only incorrect, it’s a bit stupid. I don’t think his love was obsessive, I think it was deep and real and lasting. I still feel love for people who died decades ago. It’s normal. He felt eternal guilt and remorse over her death and dedicated his life to trying to make up for his part in it by fighting for the cause she believed in.

If JKR said that Lily could have ended up with Snape if he’d taken a different path, then I believe her, because Snape and Lily are her creations.

I do love James, but we don’t know that much about him so it’s not as bright a love as I have for the trio or Sirius or Lupin. He seems to have been a righteous, loving person with a charming personality if he liked you, but he was also an arrogant bully from a very privileged background, unlike Snape who came from poverty and abuse. So it was easy for James to play the hero. He’d had a lot less to struggle against, he was a super confident golden boy, naturally popular. I do think he was a very good person deep down. He risked his life to prevent Snape being killed, he joined the fight against Voldemort.  A lot of his assholishness stemmed from being a stupid teenager. I wish we’d seen more of him as a young adult. I wish we’d seen what made Lily finally fall for him.

My name’s Malfoy, Draco Malfoy.