Day 5- An Unpopular Opinion
So I was talking to my friends and we started talking about the Harry Potter book series and how well written Severus Snapeâs character was. We finally agreed on a very unpopular opinion: Snape is a manipulative prick and does not deserve a redemption arc.Â
Now I know so many people are going to come up to me and tell me things like âbut he loved herâ and âhe was helping Harryâ and âJames was the actual bullyâ and whatnot. Hereâs why this is so far from the truth-
Letâs start with Lily. They were best friends and she had always stood by him. She was his childhood crush. But they were like 15 when he asked her out and she refused, which is well within her right to do so. She didnât leave him, just said she canât be his girlfriend, and despite everything, still stood beside Snape even when he was against people from her own house. And what did Snivellus do? Called her a mudblood, which is the worst racial slur in the wizarding world, and then further acted wounded when she refused to talk to him.
He was never happy for her, he wanted James and Harry dead despite knowing that they were her family and happiness. I mean, he practically walked over Jamesâ dead body in the hallway and ignored the infant in the crib crying because he just saw his own mother brutally murdered and went on to clutch Lilyâs dead body. He could have asked Voldemort to spare the entire Potter family but he didnât care about Lilyâs happiness and loathed James and Harry so much that he wanted them dead.
He didnât love lily. He was obsessed with her and remained bitter about the fact that his teenage crush rejected him his whole life, so much so that he even took it out on her poor innocent 11 year old son. Even his Patronus was a doe, just like Lilyâs, while Jamesâ was a stag. This further proves my point that unlike James, who compliments Lily, he was so infatuated with her that they could never be good match.
And for all those of you who say he turned to the Dark Arts and to Voldemortâs side because of Lily, letâs not forget that he was always into this and him and his group of friends were known to be bullies and pure- blood supremacists and who all later became Death Eaters.
It of course cannot be said that he never helped Harry. He lived many years risking his own life and spying on Voldemort. But that was only because it was Lilyâs life on the line. Had Neville been the Chosen One, he would never have double- crossed Voldemort and would have stayed on the Dark Lordâs side. So no, while this act can certainly not be forgotten, it is also unreasonable to think that he did all this just because he was good and kind or a hero.
He was cruel and manipulative to all the students for no other reason than that he is a lonely and bitter old man. He used his authority to abuse his students to the point that in a world of magical and deadly creatures, a 13 year old boyâs worst fear was Snape himself. He threatened to kill a small boyâs toad. He called Hermione out just for answering in class and taunted her for her appearance. He got mad at Harry and refused to teach him Occlumency at a time when it was crucial for his survival. He even embarrassed him in front of his class on the first day and continuously gave him bad marks for no other reason than spite.
Speaking of him abusing his role as a teacher, letâs not forget how many times heâs picked out favourites and punished the rest. While he let students of his house get away with bullying and snarkiness, he cut points from the other houses for the slightest mistake.
Another thing to add to this list was how he purposely exposed Remusâ lycanthropy to the class and did not just get him to quit his job, but also took away the chance for him to explain his problem in the right light to the world.
Yes, he was very brave. But just because he did good work for the Order does not make up for his other bad deeds, for which he was never even sorry for. Severus Snape is in no way a Hero. Period.
Some other times you can say he was a bully and a prick-
he invented Sectumsempra
he thought he was entitled to Lilyâs love
how the only time he wanted any redemption was at the time of his death
every time he cut points from Gryffindor
how he took out all his grudges with James on Harry
As a last note, I would like to say that it has come to my notice that a lot of people still say that the Marauders were bullies too and that James was no better. James and Severus were both bullies as teenagers. However, the fact remains that James grew out it. Which is also why Lily started going out with him. Snape never did. Hence leading him to be sad, miserable, lonely and bitter even as an old man.
