Well, I don't think Harry Potter is subjected to an introduction because of the popularity of the whole series of Harry Potter. Most of us are already familiarized with Harry Potter either via movies or books. Such is the popularity and craze of Harry Potter. No doubt, why it's called the masterpiece by J.K Rowling. Now, being a Potterhead, I often found some characters so interesting and confusing at the same time from the whole series that it literally becomes difficult for me to place the same in just one category i.e in the terms of villainous character or protagonist or just a side character or a filler character. The same goes with the character of Severus Snape. Snape forms one of the most controversial and complicated characters in the whole Harry Potter series. From hating this character, in the beginning, to falling in love with Snape is quite an astounding journey itself. So let's trynna explore this character and try to figure out what's so special with Snape that by the end of the story, most people including me fell in love with Severus Snape, a well-written character by JK Rowling and then perfectly performed by Alan Rickman is a cherry on the top.
LOYALTY TOWARDS ALLIES
Snape was deceivingly loyal to many but extremely loyal to one i.e Harry. Apart from Harry, Snape was loyal to Dumbledore as well. In fact, it was Dumbledore who masterstrokes and made Snape's protection of Harry, evidence of his love for Lily. Various characters in the story always doubted his loyalty but by the end, Dumbledore's trust proved to be the final word. Killing Dumbledore to justify his association with Voldemort was also pretentious in order to protect Harry from Voldemort, one way or the other. Dumbledore asked Snape to preserve the legacy of his beloved Lily in the form of Harry Potter and Snape at any cost was ready to sacrifice even his own life to protect that legacy, which clearly justifies his loyalty towards his allies.
INTELLIGENT AND MASTER OF HIS SUBJECT
Snape was comparatively more intelligent and competent than other teachers in Hogwarts. He was the master of his subjects. Snape was one of the most courageous, intelligent, and skilled wizards in the whole Harry Potter universe. Being the only wizard in Hogwarts who mastered the Occlumency (the magic of closing one's mind against Legilimency) clearly highlights his intelligence and capability.
"I told you to empty yourself of emotion!... 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! He will penetrate your mind with absurd ease, Potter!"
This statement taken from the part when Snape was trying to teach occlumency clearly indicates the intelligence level of Snape.
Apart from this, he was the master of making potions, elixirs and Dark arts. He was able to create his own curse ''Sectumsempra'' at a very young age. It was only because of his brilliance that he was able to deceive Lord Voldemort himself by pretending to be on his side.
A PERFECTLY LAYERED CHARACTER
Severus Snape forms a fine example of a perfectly layered character, a character that is neither black nor white. A grey character, a suitable Byronic hero, who hates the hero of the story yet somehow saves him, hates the father of the protagonist still did his best to protect the protagonist and was deeply associated with pain and emotions still manages to emerge as the most badass character of the story. He acted like he wanted to save the child of a girl he loved the most (Lily) and at the same time, he bullied the child of the person he hated the most (James). He was ready to sacrifice his life for Lily's son and was ready to make life hell for James's son.
If ''you don't need to be good to fight evil'' had a face, it'd be Severus Snape.
AN UNCONDITIONAL LOVER
Snape's love story is more than a tale, quite epic in its own sense, marking a fine example of devotion as well as dedication.
LOVE STORY OF SNAPE AND LILY:
The love story of Lily and Snape follows a zig-zag path as growing up with someone being a friend and then marrying someone who always bullied your friend, seems quite interesting, Well yes, it is!
As a teenager, Snape had a crush on Lily. It was platonic at that time in a real sense but later on, it merely turns into a possession. He was very attached to Lily as Lily was the only person who valued him. Lily was the only solace to him in his childhood. At Hogwarts, both Lily and Snape were placed in different houses. He was kind of jealous of James' popularity and was feared of Lily's decision for choosing James over him. He called Lily a mudblood and later turned into an unexpected character. He started hating everyone except Lily and became a death eater, yet he never gave up loving Lily. After Lily's death, her memories form an important part of Snape's life. Lily was the only reason Snape devoted his whole life to protecting her son. From protecting Harry by counter cursing Quirell to acting as a dual agent and endangering his very own life and feeding Lord Voldemort with false information, Snape did his very best to protect the son of his beloved.
He even begged his master Voldemort to spare the life of Lily and it was at this moment Lily decided to sacrifice her life to protect her son Harry.
Then accepting Dumbledore's offer of protecting Harry (perhaps out of guilt) justifies the true love of Snape for Lily.
CONCLUSION: Well every character has its flaws and perks and the same goes with the character of Snape as well. People found him evil as well as good with respect to different terms. In the words of J.K Rowling, Snape is a vulnerable and insecure character. At the same time, he's a damn confident and a perfect portrayal of self-assurance as well. In my perspective, Snape is a hero figure with numerous flaws. Though insecure but a truly devotional character, who literally devoted and dedicated his everything for the sake of his love.
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