The "Truth" About Snape

My responses (as ZoeRose) to questions regarding Snape.


s0nofdavid wrote at HogwartsProfessor.com:
1. Snape, despite his Dark Arts and Death Eater inclinations, does not seem terribly concerned with purity of blood. Indeed, he even advertises his status as a half-blood. So why call Lily a "mudblood" when she steps in on his behalf? No doubt he was humiliated, but I think this may indicate greater depth of feeling on his part where she is concerned than we may have previously believed (perhaps a soured relationship -- perhaps merely a friendship).


We learn in Book VI that Snape's remorse over his responsibility for the death of the Potters was so genuine and believable that Dumbeldore put his entire trust in Snape until the moment he died. He never wavered. The one time Dumbledore wavered was when he paused before telling Harry in his office, just before they go out to the cave for the horcrux locket, why Dumbledore believed Snape's repentance. Why would Dumbeldore pause - except that if he told Harry that the reason was the Snape loved Lily Potter Harry would never be able to handle it. He's all ready demonstrating to Dumbledore that he has no capacity to give Snape the benefit of the doubt (which really makes little sense when you think how many times it appears that Snape has "saved" him, it's just that he's so darn nasty to Harry). It would also explain why Snape loathes James, even after death. He blames James, it would seem, for Lily's death because of the very arrogance that he constantly berates Harry for having. Snape still appears griefstricken - and he has never ever, except in the Pensieve (which is called "Snape's Worst Memory" - wonder why?) ever said anything bad about Lily. It could very well be that Snape's Worst Memory is because he spoke so harshly to Lily and was humiliated in front of her, including her remark about his underwear.

We learn also through the course of the books that Lily befriended the friendless. Ginny seems to have the same type of qualities, sticking up for Luna when others make fun of her. That could mirror Lily as well, and so it is conceivable that there was some sort of connection between Lily and Snape.

Remember Petunia talking about "that awful boy" who was with Lily? We assume she's talking about James since he's the only guy we know was with Lily. But does that description really fit James? Again, since Petunia doesn't say "James" or "your father" to Harry when recalling this memory from her youth, the fact that Jo Rowling keeps the character in the dark makes me think that the "awful boy" is Severus Snape. This would mean, if true, that Lily brought him home. Since Snape is a Half Blood with a Muggle father, he would be comfortable in the Muggle world where Lily comes from, unlike James. The question then would be, why would Lily bring Snape around so that Petunia would see him?

s0nofdavid wrote:
2. James hates Snape. While Sirius seems malicious enough (based on his willingness to nearly send Snape to his death) to harass Snape for his status as a misfit, why should James care? He is better in every quantifiable way, except perhaps academically. I would not be surprised if this came from Snape beating him some other way. Losing out romantically to a rival who seems inferior is far more maddening than losing out to a worthy opponent. I can see where this would push an otherwise benignly mischievous James into becoming an outright bully.


I do agree that James' bully-behavior with Snape makes no sense since James is rich, popular, talented, smart, and athletic.

My guess also is that Snape is not sitting in the bushes spying on James and his gang, but is actually watching the girls down by the lake - he gets up and starts heading in that direction when James attacks him. I think he was watching Lily and James caught him. James' behavior reminds me so much of the behavior of the Socs in the novel "The Outsiders" and Snape is very much like one of the poor Greasers, a sort of "West Side Story" scenario. Lily then becomes like Cherry Valance (a redhead as well) and Snape is like Dallas Winston or Ponyboy Curtis.

s0nofdavid wrote:
3. J. K. Rowling has said that Snape’s apparent betrayal is all the worse because, unlike Voldemort, he has been loved. The only possibilities would seem to be Lily or his mother. However, Voldemort and Snape seem to have had very similar mothers – weak witches overpowered by the men in their lives (a bit more on this below). Lily would seem to be a better choice.


Who do we know for sure loved people who others saw unlovable? In the film (more than the book) of Book III, Lupin says that Lily was able to see the best in people when others or the person himself could not see it. This would certainly be true for Snape.

The other question is why would Snape switch sides in the first place? Does Lily have something to do with that as well? Remember, we know that Lily and James have foiled Voldemort three times - was Snape involved in any of those efforts?

The other interesting connection is to look at Snape as a Heathcliff character (see the quotes on the Jo Rowling's best books thread). Heathcliff was also poor and rather scary, but he loved Catherine (Cathy) even though he couldn't have her. Cathy was a wild child too and Lily shows some signs of being the same sort of wild child (why James finds her so challenging). She seems to be an independent spirit, just as Cathy was. When Cathy died Heathcliff became a character very much like Snape is. He is a tortured soul.

Heathcliff and Snape both are Byronic characters, brooding, dark, foreboding, tortured, and romantic (in a scary sort of way). Now that Jo Rowling has put Wuthering Heights on her list of great books, I think she's giving us a huge hint that she's created a Bryronic character in Snape and the way that Snape is that kind of character is that he is a tortured soul over the death of Lily Evans Potter. Since he may have loved her (remember, Jo Rowling's rather humorous comment, who would want to be loved by Snape?) he will also be placed in an impossible situation of training Lily's son. I do maintain that Snape is still loyal - to Dumbeldore and to Lily (my signature below includes Snape's admonition to Harry on how to defeat Voldemort, even as Snape is running away from the murder scene!). This makes Snape a fascinating character because in the end - if he does truly love Lily - then Voldemort better watch out because if you think Harry wants revenge, one can only imagine the sort of revenge Snape wants for the death of Lily Evans Potter at the hands of Lord Voldemort.

s0nofdavid wrote:
4. Lily could have been spared. Why? Well, Voldemort may have sensed that Snape was wavering in his loyalty while on staff at Hogwarts (perhaps thinking it was a crack in the foundation rather than the total betrayal it actually was). I doubt he cared for Snape personally (though if Voldemort cared for anyone personally, Snape would seem the best bet), but having a trusted spy on staff at Hogwarts might seem to be a worthy investment to Voldemort. He may have thought sparing Lily Potter would solidify Snape’s loyalty to him and enable him to keep an eye on Dumbledore’s doings.


This is one of the big mysteries. Why would Voldemort order a "mudblood" to stand aside and not just kill her as he's just killed her husband? What's up with that? The best guess is that Voldemort does know of the relationship between Snape and Lily and if he kills Lily he'll loose Snape to the other side out of revenge. It is not in Voldemort's interest to kill Lily (maybe later it will be, maybe later it will good to kill them both), but not at this moment. I can't think of any other reason except for some connection to Snape. Voldemort has no mercy, it would be a calculated reason that he would order Lily to stand aside and only kills her when she does not.

s0nofdavid wrote:
5. Lily was a “dab hand” at Potions in the same year as Snape. If Gryffindor and Slytherin always have Potions together (never mind the symbolism there) as they seem to during Harry’s time at Hogwarts, Snape and Lily would have had class together. Perhaps an academic rivalry blossomed into something more. Lily almost certainly would have pitied Snape, but his tactless honesty to her – especially contrasted to her undoubtedly prevalent other suitors – might have been an attractive characteristic to her (a la Emma and George Knightley). Assuming Cuaron is on target with the Lupin-Harry talk about Lily, it would be entirely possible that Lily saw the beauty within Snape.


Hermione, who rarely gets things wrong (except when she's really emotional) keeps telling Harry that some of the handwriting in the Half Blood Prince Potion Book is a girl's handwriting. Was it Eileen Prince's handwriting - or could the potions recipes be both Snape and Lily's handwriting?

One can imagine what Potions class might have been like at Hogwarts in the late 1970s. The two starts - the two "brilliant" Potions students were Severus Snape and Lily Potter. Snape has all ready shown us that he has no time for all that "foolish wandwaving," and would probably admire Lily's talent in potions. We hear it over and over and over again from Slughorn how brilliant Lily was at potions. Why would we be told that so often unless to get it through our heads later that this is significant.

Now that Harry is out to kill Snape as much as he is out to kill Voldemort, one can imagine what will happen if/when Harry finds out the truth about Snape's relationship with Lily? Will it be through a diary at Godrick Hollow, which he intends to visit? Will he meet someone else who will tell him the truth? Will it be another visit into the Pensieve? Will Voldemort tell Harry the truth about Snape?

Harry is so filled with hatred right now it makes him so vulnerable to becoming a Dark Wizard. He's got to get rid of that hatred. He can't fight Voldemort when his greatest weapon - he heart and his capacity to love - is compromised by his hatred of Snape. That's going to have to be dealt with and my guess it will have a lot to do with Lily.

Remember, Harry has learned that his revered father, the one he looks like and the one for years he wanted to grow up to be like, was actually a jerk for quite a long time. One can imagine that the one that Harry loathes turns out to be the bravest soul - and I fear, the Sydney Carton of the series.

I am convinced that Snape was following orders when he "killed" Dumbledore (Dumbledore's flight off the roof was not what happens when someone is hit by the Killing Curse - they don't go flying into the air, they just fall over forward, like the Riddles did at the dinner table when Tom Riddle Jr. killed them). If this is true, then Harry is madly mistaken about Snape and he can't see what his mother saw - a true hero. This revelation will be a turning point in Harry's life - when he learns humility and power of redemption and love. I think Lily is the key to Harry's forgiveness and repentance regarding Severus Snape.

I could very wrong - but that's what I'm thinking right now. What do you think?

ZR