Severus Snape

"...probably the bravest man I ever knew."

- Harry Potter telling his son about Severus Snape

Professor Severus Snape (9 January, 1960 – 2 May, 1998) was a half-blood wizard who was the son of the witch Eileen Prince and Tobias Snape, a Muggle. During his lifetime, Severus Snape was Potions master (1981–1996), Defence Against the Dark Arts professor (1996-1997), and Headmaster (1997-1998) of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (which he attended as a student from 1971 until 1978). He was also member of the Order of the Phoenix, and played a very important role in both of the Wizarding Wars against Lord Voldemort.

Despite Severus Snape's wizarding heritage, he was instead raised in the Muggle dwelling of Spinner's End, which was actually in close proximity to the home of the Evans family. He met Lily and Petunia Evans when he was nine, and fell deeply in love with Lily, becoming a very close friend of hers. In 1971 he began his first term at Hogwarts where he was sorted into Slytherin. Severus became the immediate enemy of James Potter and Sirius Black and was a frequent victim of their bullying. Snape had developed a passion for the Dark Arts at a young age, and had followed the pure-blood supremacists in Slytherin House, despite his own marred pedigree and his love for Lily, a Muggle-born. This put his friendship with Lily under great strain. After leaving school he joined the Death Eaters along with a large group of his fellow Slytherins.

Shortly before Lily Evans was killed by Lord Voldemort, Snape changed sides and became a member of the Order of the Phoenix and double agent during the Second Wizarding War. With tremendous difficulty, Snape was able to prevent Lord Voldemort from learning the truth about his loyalties. Despite the opinions of most others, Albus Dumbledore trusted Snape for reasons that were kept between them both until their deaths. Upon his death, it was revealed that his deep love for Lily Evans caused him to redeem himself, joining Dumbledore's cause at the prospect of her protection from Lord Voldemort. The relationship between Dumbledore and Snape would be one of an unusually strong loyalty, so much so that Snape agreed to kill Dumbledore upon Dumbledore's own request. Before Dumbledore's death, Snape promised to protect the students of Hogwarts from the Death Eaters, who would inevitably take control of the Ministry of Magic, as well as the school. Snape later participated in the Battle of Hogwarts, but was killed by Lord Voldemort who mistakenly believed that Snape was the master of the Elder Wand, a powerful wand that Voldemort wanted. After his death, Harry Potter ensured that Severus Snape's portrait remained at Hogwarts, honouring him as a hero, despite their significant personal differences.

Childhood


Severus Snape was born 9 January, 1960 to Eileen Prince, a pure-blood witch, and Tobias Snape, a Muggle, making him a half-blood wizard. Severus, whose father was neglectful and possibly even violent, began to identify with his mother's family and created a secret nickname from his mother's maiden name, calling himself "the Half Blood Prince." His unhappy relationship with his father may have been the origin of his contempt for Muggles. It is implied that Severus was friendless and uncared for by his parents. This lack of care largely shaped Severus' unpleasant personality and cruel behaviour later in his life.

Severus' parents lived in a Muggle town near a river, at a place called Spinner's End. This was Severus' home throughout his years at Hogwarts. Spinner's End, located in Cokeworth, is an area of poverty, with cobbled streets, broken street lamps, disused factories and dilapidated houses. Lily Evans and her family likely lived in the same town, close to Spinner's End. After watching her for some time, Severus noticed her evident magical abilities and began making friendly overtures. The two bonded quickly and it appears that he was very interested in Lily right from the beginning, which was never returned though she regarded him as a friend. During this time he also developed a strong enmity towards her sister, Petunia. This was most likely because she made disparaging comments about his clothes and residence, but may also be because she was a Muggle.

Information from Snape's own memories of his first interactions with Lily and Petunia suggests that he was an awkward child with poor social skills. Even when it was important to him to make a good impression, he always seemed to have trouble doing so. Severus expressed a disdain for Muggles, even though, or perhaps because, his father was one. The memories show that both he and Lily had powerful talents for magic before attending Hogwarts.

Hogwarts years
Severus attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as a student from 1971 to 1978, and was Sorted into Slytherin, at that time led by Potions professor, Horace Slughorn. On the way to Hogwarts for his first year, Snape sat with Lily on the train, where they met James Potter and Sirius Black. This hostile first encounter would set the tone for the antagonism between the three of them for the rest of his life.

Snape was made a member of the Slug Club, presumably because of his brilliance at potion-making, and Horace Slughorn kept a picture of him as a student, clutching his copy of Advanced Potion-Making. Despite this, Slughorn did not have many hopes for Snape's future, as his photograph was kept behind many others.

According to Sirius Black, Snape excelled at the Dark Arts from an early age; while still in his first year, he knew more curses and hexes than most of the seventh year students. He reportedly was friends with a gang of Slytherins who later became Death Eaters, including Avery and Mulciber. Severus created quite an amount of spells like Langlock, Levicorpus, Liberacorpus, Muffliato, Sectumsempra, and the Toenail Growth Hex. Other Slytherins that Sirius mentioned as being friends with Snape included Evan Rosier, Wilkes and his cousin Bellatrix. Severus also had contact with Lucius Malfoy, who a prefect during Snape's first year and greeted him kindly when he was sorted into the Slytherin House. Most likely the two had good rapport at Hogwarts (which could also be a reason why Snape seems to favour Draco Malfoy during his later teaching years). Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were also classmates of Severus.

James Potter and his group of friends were constantly at war with Snape throughout their school years. Snape's memories, recorded in the Pensieve, suggest that he was an introverted and studious individual, whereas James was arrogant, popular and athletic. Immediately upon meeting him, Potter disliked Snape for expressing a desire to be in Slytherin. Potter's crush on Lily and Severus' close friendship and unrequited love for her also heightened the tension between the two.

One recorded memory in the Pensieve bears witness to James' bullying of Severus with the spell Levicorpus, turning him upside-down to reveal his underwear in front of many students, including Lily. Lily came to Severus' defence, but this only made things worse: in a subsequent lashing out at James in an attempt to recover his lost dignity, Severus inadvertently called Lily a derogatory name. Lily refused to forgive him for it, even after his desperate apologies. This would forever be Severus's worst memory.

In one occasion, Severus had noticed that Remus kept disappearing during the full moon, and decided to follow him past the Whomping Willow. This act could have cost Severus his life or his humanity (he could have been turned into a werewolf by Lupin's bite) had it not been for James. When James found out what had happened, he went after Severus and managed to save him just before he got to the Shrieking Shack while Remus was in his wolf-form. Albus Dumbledore swore Severus to secrecy, but it was clear to Severus the true nature of Lupin.

By their seventh year, James had grown out of his immaturity and arrogance to the point that Lily agreed to start dating him, even though he never grew out of his hatred for Snape — according to Sirius, Snape had always been a "special case" with James. Lily ended up falling in love with James, which only strengthened Severus' hatred of his rival.

Half-Blood Prince
Severus Snape was a brilliant wizard, even in his childhood years. It was apparent through the notes and scribbles in his Potions textbook that he made time during classes to invent curses, charms, and brilliant potion innovations, while simultaneously learning the required textbook lessons.

Severus Snape's potions textbook contained a few spells which he specifically took credit for inventing: Levicorpus, which grabbed the victim by the ankle and dangled them upside-down, and Sectumsempra, which caused slashing cuts which bled extensively, guided by hand gestures on the victim. Levicorpus somehow escaped from Severus' secrecy, and became very popular around Hogwarts towards the end of his fifth year at school. Some other spells are Muffliato, which filled the ears of anyone nearby with an "unidentifiable buzzing sound"; Langlock, which affixed the victim's tongue to the roof of the mouth; and a hex that caused toenails to grow at an unnaturally fast rate. Snape's book later fell into the hands of Harry Potter in 1996. Harry used the Half-Blood Prince's tips and earned praise with that year's Potions master, Professor Horace Slughorn. Harry considered the Half-Blood Prince to be a better teacher than Snape, unaware at that point that Snape was the Prince in question.

The potions textbook has an inscription indicating it is Property of the Half-Blood Prince. Hermione Granger's research revealed that Prince was the maiden name of Snape's mother and so the nickname was revealed to be a combination of his mother's maiden name and his blood status. This nickname was apparently a secret, as Remus Lupin did not remember it ever being used publicly by Snape.

As a Death Eater
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches … Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies …"

- The part of Sybill Trelawney's first prophecy that Snape overheard

Severus Snape eventually joined the ranks of Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters, and was the spy responsible for informing Voldemort about the prophecy foretelling his downfall.

In early 1980, Snape eavesdropped on an interview for Divination Professor between Sybill Trelawney and Albus Dumbledore at the Hog's Head Inn. In the course of the interview, Trelawney prophesied that at the end of July, a child would be born who would cause the destruction of Lord Voldemort (which prompted Dumbledore to hire her, partly for her own safety). At that time it was not clear who was meant by the prophecy. Two children of prominent wizarding families were born that year at the end of July: Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom. Dumbledore reported at the Wizengamot trial of Igor Karkaroff that Severus had come to him and explained that he had been the one to overhear the prophecy, and reported it to Voldemort. However, Snape did not hear the entirety of the prophecy, as the barman caught him eavesdropping and threw him out.

Double agent
Severus suffered terrible remorse when Voldemort decided that Harry Potter was the subject of the prophecy, and that Lily, the woman he cared for, was now in danger as a result of his actions. He begged Voldemort to spare her in exchange for the lives of her husband and son. But knowing that he could not leave Lily' safety in question at the hands of someone who could turn back at his word on a mere whim, Snape also approached Albus Dumbledore, who initially thought that Severus came with a message from the Dark Lord for him, to ask for his help in saving Lily; he begged Albus to hide her, along with her husband and yet-to-be-born son if he had to. Dumbledore agreed, but insisted that Severus serve him as a spy among the Death Eaters.

Severus secretly defected from the Death Eaters and joined the Order of the Phoenix, under Dumbledore. When Voldemort went to kill the Potters, he did give Lily a chance to step aside, but when she did not, he killed her anyway. When Severus learned of Lily's death, Dumbledore persuaded Snape to help him protect Lily's son, Harry, reasoning that it was the best thing he could do for her.

Snape then dedicated the remainder of his life to protecting Lily Potter's son, Harry Potter, the boy who was often said to strongly resemble James, the very man he detested. Distrusted for his past as a Death Eater by those on Albus Dumbledore's side, and hated by other Death Eaters for living as Dumbledore's stooge for 10 years, Snape continued living on to complete Dumbledore's plan to protect Harry and defeat Voldemort.

Between wars
Severus Snape applied for the position of professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts, acting under Voldemort's instructions. The timing of this application is of interest. Severus' application came after Sybill Trelawney's prophecy, but before the Potters' deaths (31 October, 1981). It may be that Voldemort specifically sought a spy who could tell him about students from the Hogwarts records of all magical births. Snape was not given his requested position of Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, but rather the position of Potions master and head of Slytherin House, following the retirement of Horace Slughorn in 1981. Following Voldemort's fall, Snape made no attempt to find his master, for he, like other Death Eaters, thought Voldemort was dead, and he could use Dumbledore's protection to avoid being sent to Azkaban. This brought him later into conflict with more hard-line Death Eaters like Bellatrix Lestrange, but Snape was forgiven by Voldemort, because he could provide him with thirteen years of information on Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix.

As a teacher, Snape was a ruthless disciplinarian, with little patience for foolishness, yet effective in his job and well respected by other professors. His deep understanding of potion brewing, as shown by his expert concoction of Wolfsbane Potion, transformed the knowledge of potions from mere chemistry to an art.

While he sometimes threatened to have Harry expelled from the school, Snape never followed through. He also claimed to be unaware of Voldemort's plans, to avoid being held responsible for allowing Harry and his friends to foil them.

1991-1992 school year
"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potionmaking [...] I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses ... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death -- if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

- Severus Snape as a Potions professor Snape faithfully did all he could to protect the Philosopher's Stone from Professor Quirrell throughout the year. However, his job as a double agent was not as complex as it might have been because he didn't know that Quirrell was sharing a body with Lord Voldemort. Harry Potter also became a student in Snape's classes in 1991. The two of them detested each other almost immediately; Harry's resemblance to his father and his acquired "celebrity" caused Snape to jump on the defensive in their very first Potions lesson.

However, Snape saved Harry's life on a number of occasions. When Harry's broomstick was jinxed during a Quidditch match, Snape performed a counter-curse to prevent Harry from being hurled off the broom.

1992-1993 school year
Snape played a relatively minor part during the 1992-1993 school year. When Harry and Ron arrived at Hogwarts in their flying car, he threatened to have them expelled, but Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall stepped in and stopped him.

During this year, Professor Snape also worked with Professor Lockhart in running the Dueling Club, seizing the opportunity to blast Professor Lockhart against a wall. Professor Snape was also among the professors who tried to get Professor Lockhart out of the way while they tried to find out where the Chamber of Secrets really was.

1993-1994 school year
"Silence. Well, well, well, I never thought I'd meet a third-year class who wouldn't even recognise a werewolf when they saw one. I shall make a point of informing Professor Dumbledore how very behind you all are."

- Severus Snape

During this school year, Snape demonstrated his expertise with potions by brewing the complex Wolfsbane Potion for the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, Remus Lupin. Throughout this year, Snape suspected that Lupin may be helping Sirius Black, an escapee from Azkaban, enter Hogwarts castle; Sirius had been convicted (falsely, as it is later revealed) of murdering innocent bystanders and betraying the Potter family's hiding place to Voldemort.



This suspicion stemmed from Lupin's friendship with Sirius and Harry's father James while they were all at Hogwarts as students. It is revealed that Sirius once tricked Snape into almost entering the Shrieking Shack while Lupin was there, transformed into a werewolf. James realised the danger and stopped Snape, saving his life.

Near the end of the school year, Snape ambushed Black as he entered the school again and attempted to apprehend him. When Harry aided Black's escape, Snape was beside himself with indignation. On the last day of school, he revealed to his students that Lupin is a werewolf, forcing to resign his post.

1994-1995 school year
"You might be laboring under the delusion that the entire wizarding world is impressed with you ... but I don't care how many times your picture appears in the papers. To me, Potter, you are nothing but a nasty little boy who considers the rules to be beneath him."

- Snape and Harry in class

Snape was apoplectic when Harry's name was unexpectedly entered into the Goblet of Fire and continued to treat Harry maliciously, believing that he broke into his office to steal ingredients to aid him in the second task of the Triwizard Tournament.

"'Course Dumbledore trusts you. He's a trusting man, isn't he? Believes in second chances. But me -- I say there are spots that don't come off, Snape. Spots that never come off, d' you know what I mean?"

- Barty Crouch Jr., disguised as Alastor Moody, to Snape and referring to Snape's Dark Mark.

Later, Harry accidentally fell into the Pensieve and discovered that Snape was once a Death Eater. However, Dumbledore came to Snape's defence, claiming that although Snape had indeed been a Death Eater, he changed sides before Voldemort's downfall and turned spy against him. Dumbledore later reassured Harry that Snape's reformation was genuine, though he refused to tell Harry why, saying the information "is a matter between Professor Snape and myself".



After the Third Task and the Rebirth of Lord Voldemort, Dumbledore and Snape attempted to convince a disbelieving Cornelius Fudge, that Voldemort has returned. Snape is subsequently sent on a secret mission by Dumbledore to rejoin the Death Eaters and spy on Voldemort as a re-doubled agent, while pretending to spy on Dumbledore on behalf of Voldemort.

1995-1996 school year
During the 1995-1996 school year, with Voldemort having returned to a fully corporeal body, Snape continued working as a re-doubled agent for Dumbledore. During the summer, he was seen at Number 12, Grimmauld Place giving reports to the Order of the Phoenix. Snape frequently taunted Sirius about the latter not being able to take an active role in the Order's missions due to his fugitive status.



Back at school, Snape's allegiance to the Order had no effect on his dislike for Harry. When Harry began having visions about Lord Voldemort, Dumbledore asked Snape teach Harry Occlumency in order to protect his mind from Voldemort's influence. However, the mutual hostility made it difficult for them to work productively during the sessions. When Harry went into the Pensieve to view Snape's worst childhood memory, Snape throws him out of his office.

Towards the end of the school year, Dolores Umbridge captured Harry and questioned him on the whereabouts of Dumbledore. She sends for Snape to provide Veritaserum to force Harry to reveal any information he may be hiding. Snape claims that his supplies of Veritaserum were exhausted earlier, when she had attempted to use the drug surreptitiously to force information from Harry. Snape withholds further assistance.

It is later revealed that Snape had in fact supplied Umbridge with fake Veritaserum on the prior attempt. Upon hearing Harry's cryptic warning about Sirius' capture, he swiftly carried the message back to the other Order members, and helped come up with a plan for them to come to the rescue in the Department of Mysteries while he searched the Forbidden Forest for Harry in case he still believed that Sirius was still captured. However, despite the fact that Snape came to his aid muliple times throughout the year, Harry hated him as much as ever, believing Snape's goading spurred Sirius into joining the battle.

1996-1997 school year


Prior to the start of the 1996-1997 school year, Snape was visited by Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy at his home in Spinner's End. Narcissa's son Draco has been given a difficult task by Voldemort, and Narcissa swears Snape to an Unbreakable Vow, on pain of death should he break it, that he will protect Draco, help him complete Voldemort's task, and finish the task himself if Draco fails. When questioned by Bellatrix about his loyalties, Snape claimed to have been working for Voldemort (rather than for Dumbledore) ever since Voldemort's return, and explained his actions in the previous years in that light. In addition, he points out that Dumbledore's protection has kept him out of Azkaban and free to operate on Voldemort's behalf.

At the start-of-term feast at Hogwarts, Dumbledore announced he had finally appointed Snape as Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts. Snape was no less severe in teaching Defence than he had been with Potions, although he did allow students who achieved below "Outstanding" at O.W.L. level to enter his N.E.W.T. classes.



Horace Slughorn, a retired Hogwarts teacher, replaced Snape as Potions Master. Slughorn loaned Harry an old Potions textbook, in which Harry found marginalia including helpful tips on how to make potions better and a variety of hexes and jinxes seemingly invented by an unknown student. The book was inscribed "This Book is the Property of the Half-Blood Prince". The notes greatly bolstered Harry's performance in Potions, leaving a strong impression on Slughorn. Snape, who maintained that he "never had the impression that [he] had been able to teach Potter anything at all", was suspicious of Harry's newfound Potions success.

Later, in a fight with Draco, Harry casted one of the Prince's spells marked "For Enemies" (Sectumsempra) and is horrified when it causes devastating wounds to Draco's face and chest. Snape rushed to the scene and heals Draco's wounds, and then interrogated Harry about the source of the spell. After reading Harry's mind and figuring out the source of Harry's knowledge (the Potions textbook) from Harry's mind, Snape demanded that Harry bring him the book. Harry hid the Prince's book and gave Ron Weasley's copy of the book to Snape instead. Snape punished Harry by giving him detention every single day for the rest of the year, including during the final Quidditch match of the season.

Before leaving with Dumbledore to find a Horcrux, Harry discovered from Professor Trelawney that it had been Snape who overheard the prophecy and told it to Voldemort, thus causing Voldemort to hunt Harry and his parents. Despite this and Harry's angry questions, Dumbledore maintained that he trusted Severus. After returning to Hogwarts, Harry and Dumbledore alit on the school's astronomy tower. Gravely weakened by Voldemort's protective potion, and the school being school being under attack by Death Eaters, Dumbledore asked Harry to fetch Snape for him. Before Harry could leave, Draco suddenly arrived, Disarming Dumbledore and intending to carry out Voldemort's ordered assassination of Dumbledore, but cannot bring himself to commit the murder. The Death Eaters arrived and Snape interrupted them, killing the headmaster himself.



An enraged Harry (who had been paralysed by a Full Body-Bind Curse by Dumbledore for his own protection and witnessed the killing while under his Invisibility cloak) chased Snape, Draco, and the Death Eaters as they fled the castle. Snape easily blocked Harry's attempts to attack him and jeeringly pointed out Harry's mistakes, but refuses to strike back.

During the confrontation, Snape also revealed himself to be the "Half-Blood Prince" (being the son of Tobias Snape, a Muggle, Eileen Prince, a pure-blood). Harry was unable to stop Snape before the latter passed through the school gates and Disapparates.

"He staggered blindly toward Snape, the man he now hated as much as he hated Voldemort himself -"

- Harry trying to stop Snape from leaving the grounds

On the run


In the summer of 1997, Snape fed Mundungus Fletcher the idea of using seven decoys of Harry Potter during his movement to a place of safety so that when the Death Eaters arrived, they wouldn't know who the real one was. In order to be consistent in his own role as a Death Eater, Snape Confunded Fletcher so that he wouldn't remember that who told him and later informed Lord Voldemort that Harry was to depart from his relatives' house four days before his birthday.

Snape fought in the Battle of the Seven Potters that summer, and struck George Weasley with a curse in the ear while aiming for another Death Eater.

As Headmaster
"Severus Snape, long-standing Potions master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was today appointed headmaster in the most important of several staffing changes at the ancient school. Following the resignation of the previous Muggle Studies teacher, Alecto Carrow will take over the post while her brother, Amycus, fills the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. 'I welcome the opportunity to uphold our finest Wizarding traditions and values --'"

- Excerpt from a Daily Prophet article in 1997 announcing Snape's appointment to Headmaster

During the 1997-1998 school year, Snape was named Headmaster of Hogwarts, while Death Eaters Alecto and Amycus Carrow were appointed Deputy Heads. Snape used his position as Headmaster to discreetly protect the students and to contain the Carrows. It is later understood that, during his time as Headmaster, Snape consulted with the portraits of the previous headmasters, and continued to receive instructions from Dumbledore's portrait.



A subterfuge took place whereby Godric Gryffindor's Sword, displayed in its glass case in the headmaster's office, was seized by Rufus Scrimgeour for examination, along with the other items Dumbledore left Harry in his will. However, this sword was a fake. The real sword had been hidden in a hole in the wall behind Dumbledore's portrait. When the counterfeit sword had been returned to Dumbledore's office, Snape passed it along to Bellatrix Lestrange, who stowed it away in her vault at Gringotts, thinking that it was real. Upon being informed of Harry Potter's whereabouts, Dumbledore's portrait instructed Snape to give Harry the real sword without Harry knowing that it was Snape.

Not only would Harry not have taken kindly to Snape's appearance after his attack on George Weasley, it would have been dangerous if Voldemort were to read his mind and see Snape helping him. Snape then took the real sword and hid it in a pool of water near Harry's camping spot, and used his Patronus to guide Harry to the sword. As a headmaster, Snape was thoroughly disliked by the students who attempted to rebel against him and the Carrows.

The revolt was led by the members of Dumbledore's Army, recruited two years earlier by Harry. The Army was led by Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood and Ginny Weasley who attempted to rebel against him and the Carrows. Snape following up on his promise to Dumbledore to keep the students safe, subtly undermined the violent, sadistic attempts of the Carrows to keep control by doing things such as sending students to help Hagrid as punishments rather than the Carrows' more dangerous alternatives. During Snape's tenure, the Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four was re-enacted.



"No! You'll do no more murder at Hogwarts!"

- Filius Flitwick arrives during the Ousting of Severus Snape

After Harry returned to the school and defeated the Carrows with the help of Luna Lovegood and Minerva McGonagall, the Heads of House rose up against Snape in rebellion. Snape, having felt his Dark Mark burn due to Alecto using it to summon Voldemort, approached McGonagall looking for Harry, but McGonagall duelled him and when Professors Sprout, Flitwick and Slughorn joined her, Snape fled the castle, using the ability to fly without a broom, which he presumably learnt from Voldemort.

Battle of Hogwarts and death
"Look...at...me..."

- Severus Snape's last words to Harry.

After fleeing the school, Snape was summoned by Voldemort to the Shrieking Shack. Erroneously believing Snape was the master of the Elder Wand, Voldemort had his pet snake Nagini bite him through the neck, mortally wounding him, believing that Snape's death will make him the master of the Wand. Snape, dying from his wounds, released a cloud of memories and told Harry, who has watched the entire scene from a hidden spot, to take them. Snape's last and final request to Harry was simply "look at me". After Snape's death, Harry took the memories to the Pensieve in Dumbledore's office.



From these memories, Harry learned his true loyalties. In this vision, Harry found out that Snape befriended Lily as a child when they lived near each other. Upon their arrival at Hogwarts, the Sorting Hat placed Snape and Lily into Slytherin and Gryffindor Houses, respectively. They remained friends for the next few years until they were driven apart by Snape's arch-enemy, James Potter, and Snape's interest in the Dark Arts; the friendship finally ended following the bullying episode that Harry had briefly seen in his fifth year, in which Snape called Lily "Mudblood". Despite this separation and Snape's animosity toward Lily's eventual husband James Potter, Snape remained in love with Lily, for the rest of his life.

Harry then learns that Snape had revealed the prophecy made by Sybill Trelawney (not knowing, at first, that it was referring to Lily and her family) to Voldemort, prompting the Dark Lord to attack the Potters in an attempt to prevent its fulfilment. Though he asked Voldemort to spare Lily, Snape, still fearing for her safety, went to Dumbledore and begged him to protect the Potters. Dumbledore agreed and ensured that they were placed under the Fidelius Charm. In return, Snape became a re-doubled agent for the Order of the Phoenix against Voldemort, using his powers of Occlumency to hide his betrayal from his master. Even with his efforts to protect her, Snape felt responsible for Lily's death when the Potters were betrayed by their Secret-Keeper, Peter Pettigrew. Snape demanded of Dumbledore, however, that his love for Lily (his reason for switching sides) be kept a secret. Dumbledore agreed and he kept the secret for the rest of his life.

Snape's memories then revealed that Dumbledore had been afflicted by a powerful curse cast on Marvolo Gaunt's ring, one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, prior to the start of Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts. Although Snape's knowledge of the Dark Arts enabled him to slow the spread of the curse, the curse would have ultimately killed Dumbledore within a year. Dumbledore, aware that Voldemort had ordered Draco to kill him, asked Snape to kill him instead as a way of sparing the boy's soul and of preventing his own otherwise slow, painful death. Although Snape was reluctant, even asking about the impact of such an action on his own soul, Dumbledore implied that this kind of coup de grâce would not damage a human's soul in the same way murder would. Snape agreed to do as the Headmaster requested. Snape's memories also provide Harry with the information he needs to ensure Voldemort's final defeat, in the form of conversations Snape had with Dumbledore.

Because of the memories, Harry finally understood where Snape's true allegiances had always lain. He also showed Harry the memory where Albus Dumbledore had told him about Harry himself being a Horcrux (although he didn't understand it) as Dumbledore had asked him to pass that along to Harry when the time was right.

Final Duel between Harry and Voldemort
"Severus Snape wasn't yours. Snape was Dumbledore's, Dumbledore's from the moment you started hunting down my mother. And you never realized it, because of the thing you can't understand. You never saw Snape cast a Patronus, did you? Snape's patronus was a doe. The same as my mother's, because he loved her for nearly all his life, from the time when they were children."

- Harry to Voldemort during their final duel.

During the final duel between Harry and Voldemort, Harry revealed to Voldemort that Snape had been, in fact, Dumbledore's man. Harry also revealed that Snape was never the true master of the Elder Wand, because Snape never defeated Dumbledore; the two had arranged his death. Before Snape killed Dumbledore, Draco Malfoy disarmed Dumbledore (who was the master of Elder Wand), while Dumbledore was distracted freezing Harry Potter, who would likely have upset the planned events by defending Dumbledore to the last. Therefore, Draco was the true master of the Elder Wand, not Severus Snape. However, Harry had overpowered Draco at Malfoy Manor and taken his wand (10" hawthorn, unicorn hair core); because of the subleties governing wand ownership discussed by Mr. Ollivander, Harry was master of the Elder Wand. Snape's true loyalties remained hidden due to his skills as an Occlumens and the fact his actions were motivated by love, which Voldemort neither understood nor cared about.

Post-mortem
Snape's portrait was not automatically put into the Headmaster's office since he had essentially abandoned his post during the Battle of Hogwarts. However, Harry, in one of his acts of showing reconciliation towards Snape, made sure that his portrait was placed there.

Albus Severus Potter, the second son of Harry, and the only one of Harry's children to have inherited Lily's eyes, is named after Snape. When Albus was worried that he may be sorted into Slytherin, Harry responded that Albus was named after two headmasters, one of whom was a Slytherin and who was "probably the bravest man I ever knew."

Rita Skeeter published a book about Snape's life, entitled Snape: Scoundrel or Saint?, sometime after his death. If it is consistent with Skeeter's other works, it is probable riddled with innaccuracies designed to tarnish Snape's reputation.

Physical appearance


Snape was a thin man with sallow skin and a large, hooked nose. He had shoulder-length, greasy black hair which framed his face in curtains. His cold, black eyes resembled dark tunnels; their colour looked similar to Hagrid's, but contained none of the latter's warmth.

The younger Snape had a "stringy, pallid look", being "round-shouldered yet angular", having a "twitchy" walk "that recalled a spider" and "long oily hair that jumped about his face".

Snape was not a tall man. He had thin, curling lips and uneven, yellowing teeth. He spoke in a soft, contained voice most of the time, though he occasionally became aggressive with people he disliked and lost his temper. Like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the ability to keep students quiet without effort. He preferred to wear black, flowing, billowing robes, giving him an appearance sometimes likened to an "overgrown bat".

Personality and traits
"Don't push it. I've heard Snape can turn very nasty."

- Ron Weasley

Severus Snape is generally depicted as being cold, calculating, cynical, sarcastic, bitter, malicious, and an altogether unpleasant person all around. He had a tendency to hold grudges and was extremely spiteful toward those whom he disliked. In particular, he hated Gryffindor students in general, considering them to be arrogant and attention-seeking, with no regard for school rules (or in his own words, "brawny rather than brainy"). Snape was a repressed, solitary man with no friends. Descriptions of his social interactions as a child suggest that he had poor interpersonal skills.

In his early life, Snape was insecure, vulnerable and yearned to be special. This urgent desire to be a part of something powerful and important was what eventually led to him becoming a Death Eater. The bleak mundanity of life in working-class suburbia compounded by his emotionally vacant Muggle father inspired in him a contempt for ordinariness. Snape's bitterness and resentment towards the world was exacerbated even more by the relentless bullying he endured in school, causing him to further shut himself in.

"Fools who wear their hearts proudly on their sleeves, who cannot control their emotions, who wallow in sad memories and allow themselves to be provoked this easily — weak people, in other words — they stand no chance against his powers! You will find yourself easy prey for the Dark Lord!"

- Snape tries to get Harry to empty himself of emotion

Snape was a very private man who emotional displays were a sign of shameful weakness. As an Occlumens, he was adept at concealing his thoughts and feelings, which allowed him to maintain his cold, collected demeanour. However, Snape had his limits and could be prone to losing his temper, particularly when dealing with Harry Potter. Inevitably, he also became furious when he thought he was being pitied or accused of cowardice.



As a professor, Snape was known for his cavalier and harshly authoritarian attitude towards his teaching. Snape openly treated his least favourite pupils with scorn, often directing snide comments and verbal abuse at them and was not above hounding and bullying students in his classroom. He also had a tendency to treat his students unfairly; like the caretaker Argus Filch he was delighted in doling out punishments to people he disliked while continuing to overlook any rule-breaking done by students in his own House, such as Draco Malfoy.

Snape was extremely intelligent and cunning; he possessed an extraordinarily keen and analytical mind. Snape also had a passion for Dark Arts, and in his youth, viewed most Muggles with disdain. When he returned to school as a professor, he continually applied for the job as the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Dumbledore refused to give him the job because he did not think it would bring out good qualities in Snape, but relented after fifteen years. The fact that he was so drawn to dangerous magic combined with his emphasis on blood purity strained his relationship with Lily Evans. This eventually brought him to reevaluate his beliefs somewhat, though he never entirely stopped being fascinated with the Dark Arts.



Ultimately, it was Snape's past and his love for Lily Evans that defined his inner being. Upon overhearing the prophecy, he immediately informed his then-master of its contents, unwittingly putting Lily and her family in danger. He was devastated by Lily's death and devoted the rest of his life to protecting her son Harry in her memory.

Despite his sinister, vindictive nature, Severus was a very brave man at heart and possessed tremendous strength of character. In fact, Dumbledore once stated that Severus was Sorted too soon into Slytherin in the latter's first year, acknowledging his courageous demeanour befitting those belonging to Gryffindor House. Everything he did was motivated by his devotion to the memory of Lily Evans, whom he loved nearly his entire life. He was a brave and loyal ally to the Order of the Phoenix and in his role as a triple agent, took great personal risk in ensuring Harry's safety at the hands of Lord Voldemort.

Magical abilities and skills
"Snape knew more curses when he arrived at Hogwarts than half the kids in seventh year."

- Sirius Black on Snape's proficiency for the Dark Arts.

Severus Snape was an extremely powerful wizard and was talented in many different branches of magic, showing remarkable skill at casting a variety of spells.


 * Love: Severus was one of the few people in Voldemort's inner circle who could feel pure and true love. He fell in love with Lily Evans as a child and maintained his devotion until his death. Despite their differences in beliefs about many things, Severus felt nothing but absolute love for Lily even though she never extended her reciprocity beyond friendship. Unfortunately, his need to cling to her and inability to express himself only led him to jealously resenting James Potter during their time at school. Only after Lily's death did Snape realize the full extent of his actions. Snape spent the rest of his life in constant danger in order to protect Lily's son and ensure that her sacrifice was not in vain. Indeed, Snape's Patronus was a doe, just like Lily's, showing that his love for her was stronger than any attraction he ever had to the Dark side.
 * Dark Arts: Severus had a talent and passion for the Dark Arts from a young age, and was especially proficient at curses. His knowledge extended beyond basic usage to invention, and he has invented several curses himself, the Sectumsempra curse being (according to Lupin) his speciality. His love for the Dark Arts pushed him as far as requesting the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts since his first job application at Hogwarts, but did not occupy this post until 1996. When he did claim this post, he professed to his students about the Dark Arts in an "almost loving" manner.
 * Potioneer: Severus specialised in potion-making and has occupied the post of Potions master at Hogwarts for about 15 years. As with the Dark Arts, his prowess at potion-making extended beyond simple execution from recipes, and as early as his sixth year of magical education, he would alter official instructions with his own variations, which usually resulted in quicker and more efficient results (his old textbook still contained such corrections). Snape has shown immense ability to brew highly complicated potions such as Veritaserum and the Wolfsbane Potion (although not clearly specified, the unknown golden potion that he used to save Dumbledore's life (temporarily) in 1996 might be also a recipe of Snape's). He was also able to identify Polyjuice Potion by smell.
 * Transfiguration: Severus was highly skilled in Transfiguration, being able to conjure objects and animals, vanish potions and Transfigure elements (such as lassos of fire) into other objects with apparent ease.
 * Charms: Another of Severus' great talents was his ability to use charms without fail, such as levitation, disarming, shields, the Mending Charm and he was able to write instructions on a black board with a single flick of his wand. Having his love for Lily Potter overshadow his passion for the Dark Arts, Snaps was also the only known Death Eater who was able to produce a Patronus, which, like Lily Potter's, was a doe.
 * Counter-spells: Severus was also skilled at using counter-curses, as he helped save Katie Bell after she touched a cursed opal necklace, and Albus Dumbledore after he touched Marvolo Gaunt's Ring, though he was unable to actually stop the ring's curse, merely slow down its effects. He also mouthed a counter-curse in an attempt to save Harry when Quirinus Quirrell tried to throw him off his broom, although it didn't seem to work very well, though it should be noted that Quirrell's power was augmented because he was possessed by Lord Voldemort. Also Severus was not using his wand at the time.
 * Healing spells: Although not known for his ability to cast healing magics, Snape must have had decent healing abilities. The most obvious case was when he reverses the damage done by Harry Potter when the latter used Sectumsempra on Draco Malfoy. Snape is indeed seen as one of the only persons (if not the only) able to heal Sectumsempra wounds - Mrs Weasley was unable to do anything beyond cleaning her son George's Sectumsempra wound at his left ear.
 * Duelling: Severus was shown to be a master duellist, as he was able to hold his own against extremely powerful witch Minerva McGonagall. He assisted in a duelling club in 1992 with Gilderoy Lockhart, humiliating him with a basic Disarming Spell (more likely than not to outperform Lockhart, who was good with words but not with magic). He also easily parried all of Harry Potter's hexes during his escape from the battle of the Astronomy Tower, as he did a year later against Minerva McGonagall. His skill in Legilimency, although not directly related to duelling, gave him the edge of predicting the intentions of weak-minded enemies in combat, including non-verbal spells (as was the case of Harry's silent Levicorpus attempt following Dumbledore's death). Severus participated in the battle of the Seven Potters, joining the Death Eaters' side.
 * Spell creation: As a student at Hogwarts, Severus had a gift for creating new spells. Some of the spells he invented were Sectumsempra, healing spell Vulnera Sanentur, Langlock, Muffliato, the non-verbal Levicorpus and its counter-curse, Liberacorpus.
 * Occlumency and Legilimency: Possibly his greatest skills, Snape was known to be formidable in Occlumency and Legilimency. Although not the most noted, he could use Legilimency to great effect when needed, having done so in his Occlumency classes with Harry Potter in Harry's fifth year. As for Occlumency, Snape's skills were even more notorious (Lupin himself described Snape as a "superb Occlumens") and (possibly) stretched to the point where he had to employ it against his Death Eater companions and his (would-be) master, Lord Voldemort. Being able to block his mind against external penetration, in fact, has proven crucial to Snape, who managed to hide facts from Voldemort, such as his love for Lily, his remorse for her death, and his new, stronger loyalty towards Albus Dumbledore.
 * Flight: Severus could fly without the use of a broom or any help whatsoever. The only other known wizards that were able to do this were Lord Voldemort himself (who is likely to have passed down this skill to Snape personally).
 * Non-verbal and wandless magic: Snape was adept at using non-verbal spells, from the most basic uses (such as instruction-writing on blackboards and cleanups) to the most advanced (such as combat curses). Snape was also skilled at performing wandless magic, such as rope conjuring, counter-jinxing and memory extraction. (Although counter-jinxing does not require explicitly the use of a wand, relying instead on direct eye contact, conjuring and memory extraction are more often depicted to take place with the help of a wand.)
 * Logical thinking and intelligence: Snape's logic and knowledge was such that he helped protect the Philosopher's Stone by creating an obstacle, which was based on logic rather then magical skill. Snape was also intelligent enough to predict the cause of a situation (more often than not involving Harry Potter) whereas others might fail to provide an explanation (he was able to track and find Sirius, Lupin, Harry, Ron and Hermione in the Shrieking Shack - albeit thanks to the Marauder's Map; and correctly deduced that Harry was prowling around the castle alone, invisible and in possession of his Triwizard golden egg and clue without too much difficulty).

Parents
Like many other students who went to Hogwarts, Snape never regarded the place where he grew up as being a real home. It can be assumed that there was probably a lot of neglect throughout his childhood. His parents appear to have had a dysfunctional, even abusive relationship, which was probably why they were so emotionally absent in his life. It is unknown what happened to his parents, as he was seen living in their empty house in 1995. This troubled childhood is strongly suggested to have accounted for his severe demeanour, bitterness, and bouts of rage, as seen later in his life. Nevertheless Snape may have had more respect for his mother than his father because during school he nicknamed himself the "Half Blood Prince".

Lily Evans
"Look at me... you have your mother's eyes."

- Snape addresses Harry in the moment before his death

Snape's friendship with Lily Evans was arguably the only meaningful relationship he ever had. He first met at at a very young age, recognising her as a witch one day as she and her sister Petunia played in the park near his house. Longing to escape his humiliating home life and connect with someone who would appreciate him for who he really was, Snape immediately sought to make her his friend. Despite the fact that Lily came from a Muggle family, he never truly saw her as being one of them because he was so smitten with her. In 1971, the two of them were accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and continued a close friendship up until around their fifth year, despite the negative opinions on this relationship expressed by Lily's friends. During this time, Snape began consorting with people who embraced sadistic magic and pure-blood supremacy, which put a huge strain on their friendship. Lily was offended by many of the views that Snape was beginning to adopt and disliked the qualities that his new friends were bringing out in him. After Snape accidentally called her a derogatory name, Lily broke off their friendship, despite Snape's profuse apologies.

When Snape overheard the Prophecy, he immediately relayed its contents to Lord Voldemort, not knowing that it would have anything to do with Lily. Upon first discovering that Lord Voldemort was planning on targeting the Potter family, Snape pleaded with him to spare Lily in exchange for her husband and son. He later appealed to Albus Dumbledore, asking him to do everything in his power to protect all of them unconditionally.

Snape was so completely devastated by Lily's death and riddled with guilt over the circumstances that he expressed the wish to die as well. At Dumbledore's behest, he dedicated the remainder of his career to protecting her son Harry and assisting him in defeating the Dark wizard. Indeed, Snape's Patronus was a doe because he loved her throughout his entire life.

The Marauders
The Marauders were a group of four Gryffindor boys, with whom Snape began a relationship of enmity throughout their school years. The group consisted of Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, James Potter, Sirius Black. Snape and the latter two detested each other almost instantly upon meeting for the first time in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express.

Throughout their times at Hogwarts, James and his friends bullied Snape relentlessly. Snape, in turn, never lost an opportunity to get one up on him whenever possible. Despite this bitterness between Snape and the Marauders, James Potter ended up saving his life when Sirius told Snape how to get into the Shrieking Shack, a building in the neighbouring village Hogsmeade, without telling him that Remus Lupin used the abandoned building as a place to hide while he transformed into a werewolf. Snape caught a glimpse of the transformed Lupin before James pulled him back through the tunnel. Snape did not believe this to be a noble act on James's part, but more of a self-serving act performed in order to avoid expulsion from Hogwarts, and the incident only served to make him resent James more than ever.

During their seventh year at Hogwarts, Lily and James began dating, which fueled Snape's hatred of James even more. James always suspected that Snape had deeper feelings for Lily, which factored strongly into his behavior towards him. Snape's continued bitterness toward the Marauders even into adulthood became apparent in 1993, when Remus Lupin was given the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts, despite Snape and Dumbledore both knowing that he was a werewolf. During the time that Harry Potter attended the school, Snape delighted in comparing Harry to his father and telling him that he wasn't the great man he liked to believe he was. Snape never treated Remus with anything more than thinly veiled anger and scorn, and took to dropping hints about his being a werewolf in the hopes that the students would catch on and Lupin would be sacked.

Snape held an especially strong enmity towards Sirius. Not only did Snape hate Sirius because he bullied him at Hogwarts, but he also believed that Sirius was the one who betrayed Lily to Voldemort. He was eager to be the one to hand Sirius over to the receive the Dementor's Kiss after he broke out of Azkaban, and was furious when he managed to escape yet again. After Sirius's innocence was proven, Snape later took to taunting him about how he was useless to the Order while confined to 12 Grimmauld Place. He also exposed Remus as a werewolf in 1994, forcing him to resign as professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts. Snape treated Pettigrew, the man who truly betrayed Lily, with nothing but scorn. It is possible that Snape regarded Pettigrew as being too negligible of a person to be worthy of hating. When the Dark Lord later assigned Pettigrew to work as his assistant, Snape took to treating him like a servant, forcing him to clean his house and serve food to his guests.

However, it should be noted that, despite Snape's strained relationship with the Marauders, he did attempt to save Remus's life when attacked during the Battle of the Seven Potters, showing that it's possible he might have forgiven Remus. Remus was the only one of the Marauders who was able to have a civil conversation with Snape when they were adults.

Harry Potter


From the day Harry set foot in Hogwarts and all during his school years, he and Snape hated each other. Despite the fact that Snape was committed to honouring Lily's sacrifice, Snape could not bring himself to judge the boy objectively because of the connection to James Potter, the archenemy of his school days. Indeed, Snape was filled with nothing but contempt and bitterness towards Harry, who served as living proof of the fact that Lily had preferred another man, and wasted no time in comparing him continually with his father.

During Harry's time at Hogwarts, Snape treated Harry viciously, both in class and out. He frequently derided the boy's abilities, bullied him in class and delighted in punishing him whenever possible. He was also somewhat envious of Harry's popularity, which he also equated with Harry's father. Although Snape threatened to have Harry expelled more than once, he never followed through on these threats — presumably because it would have led to Harry losing the protection surrounding him.

Never, however, did Snape forget that Harry was also Lily's child, and much beyond bureaucratic rules, this led him to put the boy's safety in the most critical situation. When he learned that Dumbledore had meant for Harry to face certain death at the hand of Lord Voldemort, Severus remained horrified, seeing it as a calculated betrayal of his commitment to Lily's memory.

During the brief period in which Snape gave private Occlumency lessons, Snape relished in forcing Harry to relive his worst memories. During the early years, Harry associated Snape with his abusive and bullying ways but when Sirius died, Harry took savage pleasure in blaming Snape for having taunted Sirius about being useless, causing him to leave his hiding place and join the battle. Though Snape came to the aid of the Order as swiftly as possible, Harry blamed Snape mainly to ease his own guilty conscience about the entire incident. However, this was nothing in comparison to the retroactive rage Harry felt upon finding out that Snape was the one who relayed the Prophecy to Lord Voldemort, causing him to hunt down him and his family. When Snape murdered Dumbledore, the hatred between them was sealed almost as personally as between Harry and Voldemort.

Only once did Snape ever truly see him as Lily's son, and that was in the moments right before he died. Following this, Harry was given access to all of Snape's concealed memories, which brought the former Potions master's true intentions to light. When Harry discovered the love Snape had for his mother and the constant danger he put himself in to ensure his safety, his opinion of him changed completely.

Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger
Snape criticised Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger whenever possible, most likely due to the fact that they were friends of Harry, as well as being Gryffindors. Although Snape often could not find anything wrong with Hermione's work, he frequently accused her of being an "insufferable know-it-all". Despite this, Snape saved their lives in 1993 when Professor Lupin was in his werewolf form, and continued to assist the threesome in the search for Horcruxes (without them being aware of it).

Albus Dumbledore


nape's relationship with Dumbledore was one of close, but not indefinite trust. After indirectly and accidentally sending Voldemort after Lily, Snape turned to Dumbledore to keep her safe. Dumbledore chose to capitalize on Snape's remorse and initiated him into the Order of the Phoenix as a double agent.

As a spy for the Order, Snape silently kept his place within the ranks of the Death Eaters, while informing Dumbledore about their movements. He also adopted the role of secret agent for Voldemort, and supplied him with strategic scraps of information about the Order. The content of these reports was often dictated by Dumbledore. It is implied that Snape withheld little, if any, information from Dumbledore that was relevant to the Order's success, while Snape deliberately did the opposite for Voldemort. Snape resented Dumbledore's secrecy and was offended by this lack of faith in his abilities. However, when Snape discovered that he had been used as a pawn in Harry's own destruction, he was horrified, seeing it as a calculated betrayal of Lily's memory.

Dumbledore clearly underestimated Snape's capacity for love, and, years later, was very surprised to learn that Snape still maintained his devotion.

In 1996, Dumbledore became aware of Voldemort's plan to kill him. Knowing Voldemort expected Draco Malfoy to fail, and assuming Snape to be Draco's successor, Dumbledore assigned Snape the task of killing him when the situation arose, despite Snape's numerous attempts to persuade Dumbledore other wise, he did complete his assignment. Dumbledore also entrusted Snape with protecting the students once Hogwarts fell into Voldemort's control.

Petunia Evans
"I heard - that awful boy - telling her about them - years ago."

- Petunia Evans telling her nephew Harry Potter how she came to know of the existance of dementors.

Snape first met Petunia Evans during their childhood. She was the sister of Lily Evans, but Petunia was a Muggle, unlike her sister. Snape and Petunia strongly disliked each other, from the first moment they met. Petunia disliked him because of his poor economic status and for his friendship with Lily. She was also jealous that Snape told Lily she was a witch, something that Petunia was not. Petunia also called Snape and Lily "freaks," during their first day at Hogwarts. While on Hogwarts Express, Snape expressed his disdain for Petunia, making Lily angry with him. Even when Petunia was an adult, she still disliked Snape, calling him "that awful boy," when she remembered him, although they shared a common hatred toward Harry.

Lord Voldemort
"I regret it."

- Lord Voldemort after he kills Severus Snape

In his days as a Death Eater, Snape was one of Lord Voldemort's most trusted and devoted servants. In 1980, Snape overheard part of a prophecy foretelling Voldemort's downfall. After being caught, Snape hurried to tell Voldemort what he had heard, unaware that his information was incomplete. However, he turned against the Dark Lord the moment he decided to target Lily Potter.

When Voldemort returned to physical form in 1995, Snape ostensibly returned to him as a spy for the Order. Using Occlumency, Snape was able to close his mind, hide his true allegiance and maintain his cover as a faithful Death Eater. Snape was one of the rare Death Eaters to have the Dark Lord's complete trust and, after he murdered Albus Dumbledore, he became Voldemort's most trusted adviser. He was held in such high regard that Voldemort accepted to make him Headmaster of Hogwarts after seizing power.

However, Voldemort coldly had his pet snake, Nagini, kill Snape in 1998, believing it would make him the true master of the Elder Wand. Although he claimed he regretted its necessity, he felt no grief over murdering a Death Eater he considered one of his most trusted and useful servants. After Snape's death, Harry Potter revealed to Voldemort that Snape had managed to deceive him for years, and that his true loyalties had lain with Dumbledore since 1980, being dictated by his immense love for Lily Potter.

It is possible the reason Voldemort put so much trust in Snape is because they had a similar background; both half-bloods with a muggle father who resented or neglected them and saw him as a trusted Death Eater who shared the same hatred for for his father as he had for his own. Another possible reason was the fact that both hated Harry Potter for personal, albeit different, reasons.

Snape possessed the ability of flight, which was assumed to be taught to him by Lord Voldemort as he was shown possessing the same ability during the Battle of the Seven Potters. This shows that Lord Voldemort had a great deal of trust in Snape as he taught him a very unique ability, something he would never dare to do with any Death Eater.

Malfoy family
"Tell me, how is Lucius Malfoy these days? I expect he's delighted his lapdog's working at Hogwarts, isn't he?"

- Sirius Black to Snape on his opinion of his and Lucius's relationship.

Snape appeared to be on good terms with the Malfoy family. Lucius Malfoy was a Slytherin prefect when Snape began attending Hogwarts, and the two ran in the same social circles, which included other future Death Eaters. Lucius continued to think and speak highly of Snape later in life, including to Ministry officials such as Dolores Umbridge. Perhaps because of this, Snape also seemed to favour Lucius's son Draco, although this fit in to his favouring of Slytherin students in general. Draco seemed to look up to Snape, once sycophantically saying that he would make a far better Headmaster than Albus Dumbledore. However, after his father's imprisonment in Azkaban following the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, Draco came to resent and mistrust Snape, suspecting that he was trying to usurp his father's place in the Death Eater ranks. He refused Snape's repeated offers of help with the task Lord Voldemort assigned him in his sixth year. Narcissa Malfoy, on the other hand, begged Snape to assist Draco in his task to assassinate Dumbledore, fearing that her son was being set up to fail. She ignored the warnings of her sister, Bellatrix Lestrange, who did not trust Snape, and had him make an Unbreakable Vow to help Draco and take over the task should he fail. This speaks highly as to the trust and respect the Malfoys had for Snape.

Bellatrix Lestrange
"I don't trust you, Snape, as you very well know!"

- Bellatrix Lestrange

Unlike her Malfoy relatives, Bellatrix Lestrange invested none of her faith in Snape. She saw right through his triple agent charade, even though Lord Voldemort could not; part of the reason for this may have been Snape's half-blood status and his avoidance of imprisonment in Azkaban, while she was incarcerated there for years. Given Bellatrix's obsessive, slavish love for Voldemort, she may have envied the trust the Dark Lord put in Snape, whom she considered her inferior in both blood and service. She was suspicious when Snape did not immediately return to Voldemort after his rebirth, and why he never took an opportunity to kill Harry Potter when, as one of the boy's professors, he had easy access to him. Bellatrix was uneasy speaking openly about things around Snape, and tried to discourage her younger sister from asking him for help with Draco's task.

Snape, in turn, regarded Bellatrix coolly. He had very little patience for her tendency towards hysterics.

Igor Karkaroff


Snape was also a friend and comrade of Igor Karkaroff in the First Wizarding War. Karkaroff was captured by Aurors, after Voldemort's first downfall. During his trial, he gave to the Ministry many names of Death Eaters, including Snape's. However, he learned that Snape had joined the Order of the Phoenix before Voldemort's defeat. Snape met Karkaroff again in 1994, for the Triwizard Tournament, when the latter was Headmaster of Durmstrang Institute. Karkaroff was scared when his Dark Mark began to burn. It seems that, despite their acquaintance, Snape held Karkaroff in some contempt for his lack of backbone, saying (though not to his face) "I am not such a coward [as Karkaroff]." This stance was vindicated when, after Voldemort's rebirth, Karkaroff left Hogwarts and went into hiding. He was later killed by Death Eaters for his actions.

Death Eaters
"...you and your precious little Death Eater friends - you see, you don’t even deny it! You don’t even deny that’s what you’re all aiming to be! You can’t wait to join You-Know-Who, can you?"

- Lily Evans on the day she and Snape had their falling out

Severus became a member of the Death Eaters after Hogwarts. During his time at school, he was member of a "gang of Slytherins that would later become Death Eaters". This gang included Avery, Mulciber, Evan Rosier and Wilkes. Lily Evans couldn't understand how he could be friends with them, as they had an "evil sense of humour". Rosier and Wilkes were killed by Aurors after the First Wizarding War; Mulciber was captured (but later escaped), while Avery managed to defect. However, it is possible that none of them was able to die or be imprisoned for Voldemort; it is possible that they wouldn't search for him, if they were all free.

Other Death Eaters Snape knew were Amycus and Alecto Carrow, two siblings. Amycus and Alecto were Deputy Headmasters at Hogwarts, at the time Snape was Headmaster. They were both sadistic, and they liked to torture the students who opposed them. They also ordered the students to practise the Cruciatus Curse on punished students. Death Eater Yaxley appeared to be friendly with Snape, too. Along with Fenrir Greyback, they seemed to fear Snape's abilities, as they instantly stood down when he approached to kill Dumbledore, despite Draco being tasked with the job.

Furthermore, Snape knew the extremely loyal Death Eater Barty Crouch Jr.. Crouch tortured Alice and Frank Longbottom into insanity, and was sentenced to life into Azkaban. For many years, it was believed that Barty Crouch was dead. However, he escaped from Azkaban and planned to send Harry Potter to Voldemort, who would be reborn. Snape, along with Dumbledore and McGonagall, saved Harry from Crouch while he was trying to kill Harry. Snape was surprised that Crouch was still alive. Later, the Death Eater was given the Dementor's Kiss.

Other known Death Eaters were Antonin Dolohov, Augustus Rookwood, Nott, Crabbe, Goyle, Walden Macnair, Jugson, Thorfinn Rowle, Gibbon, Rosier, Avery, Mulciber, Lestrange, Travers, Selwyn, and Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange. Rodolphus and Rabastan were the only ones who tried to search for Lord Voldemort after the first defeat, along with Bellatrix and Barty Crouch Jr. During the Second Wizarding War, all those Death Eaters were either killed or imprisoned, after Voldemort's final defeat.

Neville Longbottom


Neville Longbottom was perhaps one of the worst Potions students Snape ever taught. As such, Snape was especially cruel to him, and often made a point of ridiculing his failures in class. On one occasion, Snape threatened to test Neville's Shrinking Solution on his pet toad, despite the fact that the potion would be poisonous if not brewed correctly. Even outside of his own classroom, Snape did not hesitate from offering harsh opinions of Neville, advising Professor Lupin not to trust him with difficult tasks unless Hermione Granger was "hissing instructions in his ear".

This treatment made Neville extremely nervous to be around Snape, and further contributed to his poor performance in Potions. Neville admitted in 1993 that Snape was his greatest fear, and, predictably, Snape was the form Neville's Boggart took at that time.

Soon Snape heard about Neville's boggart and treated him, if possible, even worse than he usually did. However, in 1996, Snape alerted members of the Order of the Phoenix, in order to save Neville, Harry and their friends from Death Eaters. Although Snape helped save Neville's life, he continued insulting him during his lessons. Neville was surprised that Snape killed Dumbledore, but he did learn the truth later.

Minerva McGonagall
"Coward!"

- McGonagall attempts to apprehend Snape after he flees the castle during The Battle of Hogwarts

Minerva McGonagall was generally on good professional terms with Snape. However, seeing as Snape was the Head of Slytherin House, while McGonagall was the Head of Gryffindor House, there was some antagony between them, as Snape usually teased McGonagall when Slytherin had more points than Gryffindor. McGonagall was also wary of the fact that Snape was once a Death Eater; however, she trusted him because she knew that Dumbledore trusted him, too. McGonagall, like Snape, was very strict, but much more fair, as Harry Potter noted.

Her trust of Snape evaporated after Dumbledore's murder. Furthermore, when Snape became Headmaster of Hogwarts, McGonagall tried to oppose him and the Carrows, without knowing that Snape was trying to protect the students from the Carrows, too. It is unknown how she reacted when she learned about his true loyalties, but she permitted his portrait to be hung in the Headmaster's office, under Harry's request.

Hogwarts staff
"Snape... we all wondered... but he trusted... always..."

- Professor McGonagall after Dumbledore's death



Snape was respected professionally by his colleagues at Hogwarts. When Snape killed Dumbledore, however, the entire staff was shocked. In 1998, Flitwick and Sprout, like many other teachers, tried to oppose Snape and the Carrows, and they were among the ones who chased Snape out of Hogwarts before the battle.

Rubeus Hagrid wasn't crazy about Snape but trusted him, mainly because Dumbledore trusted him. Both Hagrid and Snape became members of the first and second Order of the Phoenix, and Hagrid, like Flitwick and Sprout, was shocked after Dumbledore's death, though all three learned the truth about Snape's loyalties after the Battle of Hogwarts.

Snape disliked most of the Defence Against the Dark Arts professors, such as Quirinus Quirrell, Gilderoy Lockhart, Remus Lupin, and Dolores Umbridge. Though this was at least partially out of his own desire to become D.A.D.A professor, he had legitimate reasons to dislike all of them, as Quirrell was an agent of Lord Voldemort, Lockhart was a fraud, Lupin had acted as a bystander to, without directly participating in, much of the bullying Snape faced in his school days, and Umbridge was obviously an evil woman who was not acting in the school's best interests. The only D.A.D.A. professor Snape refrained from displaying disrespect to was Alastor Moody, a former Auror who expressed scepticism about Snape's reform and of whom Ron suspected Snape was partially afraid.

Snape seemed on good terms with Argus Filch, the caretaker, who respected Snape, and like him, disliked most students at Hogwarts. It is unknown how Filch reacted when he learned that Snape killed Dumbledore.

Hogwarts students
"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making. As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even put a stopper on death — if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

- Snape talking to the students at his first lesson

Snape was not popular among his students at Hogwarts. His having been bullied so much as a child may have fuelled his harshly authoritarian teaching style as an adult, and his dislike of children in general. He especially enjoyed punishing and taking points from the Gryffindors.

Snape appeared to favour the students in his own House, particularly Draco Malfoy. They were the only ones with whom he was lenient in class. However, he was somewhat irritated when Crabbe and Goyle didn't pass their Potions exams.

Although he disliked most students, Snape did everything he could to protect them from Voldemort's control of Hogwarts, while Alecto and Amycus Carrow were appointed at the school.

Order of the Phoenix members
Snape's relationships with some members of the Order of the Phoenix are already known: Lily Evans, the Marauders, Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger and Minerva McGonagall.

Snape didn't seem to like fellow member Nymphadora Tonks. He mocked her when he met her in 1996, telling that she "looked depressed". Tonks was shocked when Snape killed Dumbledore, but never learned that Snape was on their side, as she was killed by Bellatrix Lestrange during the Battle of Hogwarts.

Snape had a mixed relationship with the Weasley family. While he disliked their children, he seemed to be on civil terms with Arthur and Molly. However, when he murdered Dumbledore, the Weasley family turned against him. Snape also accidentally cursed off George's ear, during the Battle over Little Whinging, while he was trying to hit another Death Eater. The Weasley family learned that Snape was on their side in 1998; except Fred, who was killed in the Battle of Hogwarts.

He also didn't much care for fellow member of the Order Mundungus Fletcher, who was also a thief. In 1996 he was arrested for impersonating an Inferius. When a student asked Snape about it, he answered that the "Inferius" was, in fact, a smelly sneak thief named Mundungus Fletcher. It is most likely that Mundungus learned that Snape was on their side after the Second Wizarding War.

It is likely that the members of the Order who survived the Battle of Hogwarts were told by Harry of Snape's true loyalties.

Etymology
Severus means “stern” in Latin, and is the root of the English word “severe”. It was a Roman cognomen, common to members of the Severan dynasty of Emperors, including one notorious for his harsh persecution of the early Christians.

Septimius Severus, also known as Severus, was Roman Emperor from 193 to 211. As a young man he advanced through the customary succession of offices under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Severus seized power after the death of Emperor Pertinax in 193 during the Year of the Five Emperors. After deposing and killing the incumbent emperor Didius Julianus, Severus fought his rival claimants, the generals Pescennius Niger (possibly Phineas Nigellus Black) and Clodius Albinus (Albus Dumbledore). Niger was defeated in 194 at the Battle of Issus in Cilicia. Later that year Severus waged a short punitive campaign beyond the eastern frontier, annexing the Kingdom of Osroene as a new province. Severus defeated Albinus three years later at the Battle of Lugdunum in Gaul.

J. K. Rowling has said that she took the surname Snape from an English village in Suffolk. There is also a village called 'Snape' in Yorkshire, which was rebuilt by the aforementioned emperor, Septimus Severus. Snape is also an English verb meaning "to be hard upon, rebuke, snub", derived from the Old Norse sneypa, "to outrage, dishonour, disgrace".

Behind the scenes

 * 340px-Snape5.jpgus Snape is portrayed by British actor Alan Rickman in the film adaptations of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and Part 2 and so is one of the 14 characters to appear in all 8 film adaptations. He was also one of only two people (the other being J.K. Rowling) to know the complete storyline of the Harry Potter series before Deathly Hallows was released. Rowling stated this was done so Alan Rickman could better portray the character.
 * Alec Hopkins plays a young Snape in Order of the Phoenix and Benedict Clarke plays an even younger Snape in Deathly Hallows: Part 2.
 * In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Snape's death takes place in a Boathouse, instead of the Shrieking Shack. The art director of the series, Andrew Ackland-Snow, said in an interview with Cine Premier Mexico: "We wanted to change a bit where Snape dies. In the book, he dies in the Shrieking Shack, and we wanted to get him out from, not a conventional interior, but from that kind of box, to do it in a more dramatic atmosphere. We asked J.K. if she agreed for that to happen in there [...] and she loved it. Besides, it's a very romantic place to die. Snape dies in a extremely good way, I gotta say."
 * Actor Tim Roth was initially offered the role before Alan Rickman was cast, but Roth could not combine it with his work in Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes (2001), and eventually decided to not act as Snape. Only then did Rickman receive a formal offer.
 * In the film adaptations, Severus appears to be much older than he is in the book versions, being only thirty-one years old at the time of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. During the shooting of the film version of Philosophers' Stone, Alan Rickman was fifty-four, which makes him twenty-three years older than Snape was in the book.
 * Moreover, Snape is one of the youngest teachers to be recruited at Hogwarts school. Having taught at Hogwarts for fourteen years in Harry's fifth year, Snape has been teaching Potions since he was twenty-one. (It is to be noted that when Tom Riddle applied for the Defence Against the Dark Arts post when he was eighteen, Armando Dippet, then Hogwarts' headmaster, rejected him on the basis that he was too young, although he invited him to reapply in a few years' time.)
 * The chapter illustrations by Mary GrandPré in the American editions depict Snape with a thin goatee. Rowling's own drawing of Snape, which she held up to the camera in Harry Potter and Me, showed him with a full beard and thick moustache. However, it is nowhere mentioned within the text that Snape has facial hair, nor does Alan Rickman sport any in the films. Ironically, in the novel illustrations, Sirius Black is clean shaven, while in the film versions he wears a beard.
 * J.K. Rowling has stated that Snape was loosely based on an unpleasant teacher she had as a child.
 * Harry Potter gave one of his sons the middle name Severus, and this son had Lily Evans' exact eyes.
 * J.K. Rowling secretly revealed to Alan Rickman that Snape had loved Lily his entire life in order for Rickman to capture the character. Rickman was the only person to know of this until the release of the final book in the Harry Potter series, the Deathly Hallows.
 * Snape's love for Lily has been speculated before Deathly Hallows came out, as it has been noted (which, according to J.K. Rowling, is purely coincidence) that his name is an anagram of "Persues Evans" (although "Pursues" has to be spelt wrong to get the anagram).
 * During his childhood, he personally knew Harry Potter's Aunt Petunia. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, it was Snape that Petunia referred to when she said "that awful boy" told Lily about Dementors and Azkaban, even though Harry assumed she was referring to his father.
 * J. K. Rowling referred to Snape as an anti-hero because while he was incredibly brave, he bullied many of the students, particularly Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Neville.
 * A rumour said that Luna Lovegood was Snape's daughter, because they both have dirty hair, but Rowling stated that this was not true. Luna's father was confirmed to be Xenophilius Lovegood.
 * It was speculated among some fans that Snape was a vampire, as his appearance was often likened to that of a bat. However, JK Rowling dismissed the theory.
 * If this had been true, however, it would have meant that a remark made by Dean Thomas at the end of Prisoner of Azkaban, sarcastically suggesting that one of their next D.A.D.A. teachers would be a vampire, would have proven accurate.
 * Snape is the only character in the series to have more than one chapter named after them. In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone it is the Potions Master and in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince it is the Half-Blood Prince. There are multiple other chapter's that refer to him, including Snape's Worst Memory, the Sacking of Severus Snape and the Prince's Tale.
 * Snape was one of the few wizards capable of wandless magic, attempting to break Harry's broom free of Quirrell's hex without a wand and with a click of his fingers, made the ropes binding Lupin fly to his hands.
 * Coincidentally, Snape attended Hogwarts exactly twenty years before Harry Potter.
 * It is said by J.K. Rowling that Lily Evans may have grown to love Snape romantically if he wasn't so drawn to the Dark Arts.
 * J.K. Rowling said that Dumbledore allowed Snape to be horrible to certain students because "Dumbledore believes there are all sorts of lessons in life... and horrible teachers are one of them."
 * There are clues in the first-six Harry Potter books that shows that Snape loved Lily. While he always compared Harry to his father, he never compared him to his mother.
 * In the book's Hungarian edition, Snape's name is Perselus Piton.
 * In the book's French edition, Snape's name is Severus Rogue.
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone are the only films where Snape smiles. In Philosopher's Stone, he smiles briefly after wishing Harry Potter good luck in his upcoming Quidditch match. In Order of the Phoenix, he smiles when suggesting that Umbridge poison Harry in lieu of using the unobtainable Veritaserum.
 * In the book, Nagini kills Snape with a snake bite after having been released from her protective bubble. In the film adaptation, Lord Voldemort slashes Snape's throat with Sectumsempra, then orders Nagini (who was never in a bubble) to finish him. Surprisingly, less blood is shown than in the book.
 * Also in the book, Snape's memories gushed from his mouth, ears and eyes (kind of like an "essence", or parts of his soul). In the film, Harry takes Snape's tears, which can be seen in the vial to look just alike to normally begotten memories for Pensieves.
 * In the film, a scene is added when Harry is viewing Snape's memories: He sees Snape standing outside the Potter's Cottage in Godric's Hollow after the deaths of James and Lily, passing James's dead body in the hall after entering the cottage and collapsing when he finds Lily's body in Harry's nursery. He cradles her lifeless body in his arms, crying, while one-year-old Harry cries in his crib behind him.
 * Phineas Nigellus Black was cut from the film adaptations of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Hence, it is unclear how Snape located Harry and Hermione in the Forest of Dean. Since Harry was looking at the Two-way mirror before Snape's Patronus appeared, and the inside of the Hog's Head was seen, the most likely explanation is that Aberforth Dumbledore was working with Snape, and that Albus may have told him of Snape's true allegiance prior to his death.
 * Somewhat ironically, Snape is the catalyst for the entire series, since it he who told Voldemort of the prophecy and begged Voldemort to spare Lily, enabling her to sacrifice her life for Harry, thus enabling the protection that protected Harry for so long and ultimately led to Voldemort's death.
 * Snape is the only known Death Eater who could conjure a patronus.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (video game)
 * Harry Potter's copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
 * Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup
 * Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4
 * Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7
 * Lego Creator: Harry Potter
 * Harry Potter LEGO Sets

Notes and references
Severus Snape Severus Snape Severus Rogue Severus Snape Северус Снегг Severus Kalkaros Severus Sneep