I think this is why PoA is up there as being one of my favourite books, and why I see Lupin as such an antagonist - because he manages to say things throughout that book which appear to be reasonable explanations, and he skews how many read Severus’ actions.
This is what happens when Fudge offers Snape the Order of Merlin - there’s no overt celebration, and no further mention of it by Snape. He simply thanks Fudge.
“Shocking business… shocking… miracle none of them died… never heard the like… by thunder, it was lucky you were there, Snape…”
“Order of Merlin, Second Class, I’d say. First Class, if I can wangle it!”
“Thank you very much indeed, Minister.”
The next mention of the Order of Merlin is by Lupin:
“I just saw Hagrid,” said Harry. “And he said you’d resigned. It’s not true, is it?”
“I’m afraid it is,” said Lupin. He started opening his desk drawers and taking out the contents.
“Why?” said Harry. “The Ministry of Magic don’t think you were helping Sirius, do they?”
Lupin crossed to the door and closed it behind Harry.
“No. Professor Dumbledore managed to convince Fudge that I was trying to save your lives.” He sighed. “That was the final straw for Severus. I think the loss of the Order of Merlin hit him hard. So he — er — accidentally let slip that I am a werewolf this morning at breakfast.”
“You’re not leaving just because of that!” said Harry.
“This time tomorrow, the owls will start arriving from parents… They will not want a werewolf teaching their children, Harry. And after last night, I see their point. I could have bitten any of you… That must never happen again.”
As the reader, we know so much more about Lupin than Severus does; we know that he wasn’t evil, he wasn’t working with Sirius, he had little to do with James and Lily dying etc.
Severus’ perspective is entirely different. Lupin hides truths from Dumbledore (doesn’t mention the map, doesn’t explain that Sirius was an animagus) which may have helped keep Harry safe. Lupin undermines Severus’ authority - his school bully returns and makes him a laughing stock. Lupin doesn’t take his potion and appears in the Shack with Sirius (appearing to Severus as if the two were in cahoots and deliberately lured the trio there) - and he transforms into a dangerous creature, echoing the circumstances of Severus’ own brush with death as a teenager. Lupin misleads the trio about the nature of the relationship between the Marauders, painting Severus in an unfavourable light. When he does this, he also “ers” - just as he does above when he says that it was an ‘accident’ that Severus let his secret slip.
Severus, on the other hand, has watched over Harry for three years. He’s been ignored for the entire school year whilst he’s taken his fears to Dumbledore - and then he was seemingly vindicated. He didn’t wait for reinforcements, but he actively threw himself into danger - into the same situation where he’d almost died 20 years earlier - because Harry’s safety was his priority.
This is acknowledged by Fudge - the acknowledgement that he’s not received all year from Dumbledore. Sirius is due to be Kissed for his efforts (and it’s important to note that Severus still completely believes that Sirius is the traitor and responsible for Lily’s death, and was attempting to murder Harry) - this is possibly what Severus believed Sirius deserved for his first attempt at murder, back when they were at Hogwarts.
It’s hard to know what Severus would be thinking and we don’t know much about his behaviour or his friendship with Lily in that final year, but you could argue that if Sirius’ behaviour had come to light, he might’ve been able to talk more freely with Lily - and she would’ve seen the truth of how the Marauders were behaving. Perhaps they wouldn’t have fallen out, perhaps she wouldn’t have taken a shine to James - perhaps none of that would’ve occurred. However, Sirius met no such punishment, Severus had to keep quiet - and that, again, was decided by Dumbledore.
Then, within minutes, the whole thing falls apart - Dumbledore intervenes with Harry and Hermione, and suddenly Sirius has disappeared. After being maligned all year, he was vindicated by the Minister - only to have Dumbledore come along and snatch it all away. Again.
“Well, there you have it, Severus,” said Dumbledore calmly. “Unless you are suggesting that Harry and Hermione are able to be in two places at once, I’m afraid I don’t see any point in troubling them further.”
Snape stood there, seething, staring from Fudge, who looked thoroughly shocked at his behavior, to Dumbledore, whose eyes were twinkling behind his glasses. Snape whirled about, robes swishing behind him, and stormed out of the ward.
“Fellow seems quite unbalanced,” said Fudge, staring after him. “I’d watch out for him if I were you, Dumbledore.”
“Oh, he’s not unbalanced,” said Dumbledore quietly. “He’s just suffered a severe disappointment.”
The severe disappointment is not the loss of the Order of Merlin, as Lupin later infers - it is the severe disappointment that Sirius was not captured and punished for his various misdeeds (namely, Severus’ attempted murder, Lily’s murder, Harry’s attempted murder).
Then, to add insult to injury, after Dumbledore completely rides roughshod over Severus and all that he did (because even though Severus was misguided, he did undoubtedly act exceedingly bravely and with the trio’s best interests at heart). As Lupin says:
Professor Dumbledore managed to convince Fudge that I was trying to save your lives.” He sighed. “That was the final straw for Severus.”
You’ve spent a year voicing your fears to your employer, who has dismissed and ignored them.
Your employer hires your old school bully and the ‘murder weapon’ you believe to have been complicit in the attack on your life - all whilst the bully’s old friend and the person the wizarding world believes to be responsible for the death of Lily has escaped prison and is apparently hellbent on tracking down Harry and finishing the job…and Harry is the boy you have sworn to protect.
Your ex-bully then mocks you in a lesson to the point that you are ridiculed, undermining your authority in the school where you were previously feared.
You’re forced to brew a complicated potion to neuter the ‘weapon’ and he then doesn’t take the potion, which endangers the kids - and you believe this action to be deliberate.
You believe that the ex-bully let the deranged murderer into the grounds of Hogwarts, again, endangering the kids.
You run down to the site where you were lured as a teenager, to face the murderer and the murder weapon - and you do so, with apparent disregard for your own safety, with only the kids’ safety on your mind.
You don’t take matters into your own hands, but restrain and deliver all those involved back to the castle, so they can meet the Ministry’s justice (which contrasts directly with how Sirius and Lupin were about to murder Peter).
All of this is disregarded, your work is undone, the murderer and traitor is released. You’re ignored and dismissed in front of the Minister, and then, you have to accept Dumbledore heralding Lupin as being the one who was trying to save the trio’s lives - not you, who really did everything within your power to keep them safe, but Lupin, who was repeatedly reckless throughout the year and actively endangered them.
From Severus’ perspective, he is absolutely hard done by - and it is no wonder that he reacts so vitriolically. Frankly, it’s astounding that he returns to Hogwarts and stays committed to Dumbledore’s cause. It’s probably a stroke of luck that Voldemort showed signs of returning over that summer, because if the Dark Mark hadn’t started to show, perhaps Severus would’ve thrown the towel in.
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