Professor Severus Snape is one of the Harry Potter series’ most adored and beloved characters, despite the fact that over the course of the seven books and eight movies, he proved himself to be a spiteful cold and even cruel wizard. While there’s no denying that Snape did good for the Wizarding World, with Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows revealing that he worked to protect Harry all along – are fans too quick to forget that Snape spent years of his life tormenting school children? Should we so easily forgive Snape for his many misdeeds?
For our latest post on The Blog That Must Not Be Named, we’re examining Snape’s role in the Harry Potter series, and discussing why we believe fans shouldn’t forgive Snape so easily.
It’s important to note that we’re not saying fans shouldn’t feel free to like Severus Snape. We do, in fact, he’s one of the most complex and interesting characters that the Harry Potter series has to offer. We’re just saying that, despite the good things Snape did for Harry and the Wizarding World, we shouldn’t be too eager overlook the fact that Snape spent years at Hogwarts terrorising innocent school children.
If you happen to believe that Snape’s behaviour towards Harry and his fellow students was no big deal, or that he was somehow redeemed for his actions in Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, we’d like to remind you that in a world where werewolves, dementors, vampires and Lord Voldemort all exist, Neville Longbottom’s greatest fear was Severus Snape. That goes to show how truly horrifying and disgusting Snape’s behaviour was, and how big of an impact his bullying had on his students at Hogwarts.
Much like the real world, the Wizarding World isn’t split into good and evil. There are certainly good characters and evil characters, but there are many that find themselves somewhere in-between. This is something that applies to Snape, perhaps more than any other character in the series, because while he was an irreplaceable hero in the fight against Lord Voldemort, he was also a person that clearly enjoyed terrorising children. Snape showed his true colours time and time again, emotionally and verbally abusing the students in his class for no reason other than his personal opinion of them, or in some cases, their parents.
Snape is without question one of the Harry Potter series’ most complex and controversial characters. He did many great things for the Wizarding World, and sacrificed a lot in the process, but he was also a pretty bad person…and the worst teacher imaginable.
Do you think Snape deserves our forgiveness? Let us know in the comments section below this post! You can also find The Blog That Must Not Be Named on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
The Blog That Must Not Be Named is a Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts fan blog, covering all corners of the Wizarding World! Launched in 2019, The Blog That Must Not Be Named offers the latest Wizarding World news, magical features and more!
