Severus Snape
SNAPE KILLS DUMBULDORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! name=Severus Snape| gender=Male| hair=Black| eyes=Black| house=Slytherin| blood=Half-Blood| loyalty=Unknown (double agent: Death Eaters / Order of the Phoenix)| portrayer=Alan Rickman| appearance=Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone }}
Severus Snape (born January 9, 1959) is a fictional character in the Harry Potter series of novels. He taught Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts for 16 years, and was Head of Slytherin house at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a principal setting of the novels. His chequered past and his apparent hatred of Harry Potter cause Harry to distrust and dislike him.
Snape's physical appearance is that of the classic villain: tall, thin, "hook-nosed" and "oily," and clad from head to toe in forbidding black robes "like an overgrown bat" Template:HP1. This has led to speculation that Snape may be a vampire or have vampire blood, but this theory has been denied by Rowling in an interview[1].
JK Rowling claims to have borrowed his surname from the town of Snape, Suffolk. His first name is Latin for "strict" or "harsh" (hence, "severe"), and may have been inspired by the Imperial Roman Severan Dynasty, noted for their dictatorial ways and despised by the rest of the Roman elite as being Phoenician-descended outsiders.
In the Harry Potter movies, the character is played by actor Alan Rickman.
Background
Severus Snape was born to Tobias Snape (a Muggle) and Eileen Prince (a witch). Details of his early life are incomplete, but Harry comes to suspect that Snape suffered neglect from his parents and may have been abused by his father. He comes to these conclusions through his botched lessons in Occlumency. He learns in his final Occlumency lesson that Snape was extremely unpopular and lonely in his teens, perhaps due to or causing his interest in the Dark Arts.Template:HP5
Role in the stories
The enmity between Snape and Harry begins in Harry's first year, from the moment that they first see each other. Much of Severus Snape's disdain for Harry Potter seems to arise from a rivalry between Snape and Harry's father, James Potter, when they were both students at Hogwarts. Snape seems to have been obsessed with the Dark Arts, and it was said that, as a first-year Hogwarts student, Snape knew more hexes and curses than most seventh-year students; additionally, his bookish demeanor and unattractive appearance made him an outsider and a target of scorn.
In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry learns that Sirius Black (one of Harry's father James Potter's best friends, and Harry's godfather), lured Snape to the Shrieking Shack where he could have been seriously injured or killed by Remus Lupin in his werewolf form. Snape's life was saved by James Potter; Snape believes, however, that James had been involved in the plot and only decided to intervene out of fear of expulsion from Hogwarts. Later, in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, it is revealed that Snape suffered teasing and bullying at the hands of James Potter and Sirius Black during their fifth year at the school.
Snape frequently antagonizes Harry, calling him "a nasty little boy who considers rules to be beneath him" Template:HP4. He taunts Harry during Potions lessons, ridiculing his work and giving him frequent detentions. Snape also attempts, on several occasions, to have Harry (and his best friend Ron) expelled from the school. Nevertheless, Snape saves Harry's life on more than one occasion.
At the end of the fourth book Snape tries to convince Cornelius Fudge that Voldemort has returned by showing him the Dark Mark on his arm, which reappeared when Voldemort returned. Dumbledore then sends Snape on a mission, which is later revealed to have been to visit Voldemort.
For a time during the course of the fifth book, Dumbledore assigns Snape the task of giving Harry lessons in Occlumency, the protection of one's mind from outside intrusion or influence. Snape is assigned this task because he is extremely skilled in both Occlumency and its companion art Legilimency, both proficiencies undoubtedly useful in his undercover work among the Death Eaters. The classes are cut short, however, after Harry uses Dumbledore's Pensieve (borrowed by Snape that he might sequester private memories during Harry's Occlumency lessons) to observe Snape's worst memory. Viewing this memory proves to be an unpleasant shock for Harry, who discovers that his father and Sirius had been arrogant bullies who persecuted Snape much as Dudley Dursley and Draco Malfoy persecute Harry.
In the sixth book, Snape is first seen swearing a vow to Narcissa Malfoy (mother of Draco Malfoy), that he will protect her son and help him complete whatever task Voldemort has set him to do. He is finally permitted to take the post of Defence against the dark Arts teacher. He is seen by Hagrid arguing about some important task which Dumbledore has set him. At the end of the book Dumbledore asks Harry to get Snape to aid him, but when Snape arrives, he kills Dumbledore on the Battlements of Hogwarts (Battle of Hogwarts).
In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Snape is revealed, via jottings in an old Potions textbook, to be a highly talented wizard who invented several spells. It is revealed that he was a classmate of Lily Evans (Harry's mother), who was repeatedly described as an outstanding potions creator by her potions teacher Horace Slughorn . Snape's nickname, the Half-Blood Prince, was derived from his mother's maiden name of Prince and the fact that his father was a Muggle, thus making him a 'half-blood'. The description 'half-blood' is considered an insult by some in the wizarding world, especially in Slytherin House where Snape was placed.
It is not clear how he came to receive the name, although it was a private nickname. When Harry asked Remus Lupin if he knew about the Half-Blood Prince, Lupin did not. If the name was commonly used toward Snape when Snape was at Hogwarts, Remus, James, Peter and Sirius would have known it. As Hermione indicated, it seems that he is proud of being half a Prince.
Loyalty
The question of Snape's ultimate loyalty is one of the most significant unresolved issues in the Harry Potter series following the publication of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Snape is the person who told Voldemort about Sybill Trelawney's prophecy. Voldemort identified Harry as the subject of the prophecy and killed his parents while trying to kill Harry. This made Snape indirectly responsible for the deaths of his classmates.
The reflexive distrust of Snape exhibited by Harry Potter and Ron Weasley is starkly contrasted by the view of headmaster Albus Dumbledore, who repeatedly says that he fully trusts Snape. Throughout the series, Snape's sinister personality and antagonism towards Harry have been contrasted by his occasionally heroic actions in Harry's defense. His history of divided loyalty to both the Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix, and his actions in apparent support of both groups, make him one of the most morally complex characters in the series.
Snape's true motivations and loyalties remain unknown at this time: Snape is a respected member of the Order of the Phoenix, but in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, he kills Dumbledore using Avada Kedavra, one of the Unforgivable Curses, and flees Hogwarts with the Death Eaters, leaving behind intense speculation and unanswered questions.
External Links
- Passages concerning Snape
- Character profile
- Summary of interviews where Rowling has given information about Snape
- Fan essays about Snape
