J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series may center on the Boy Who Lived and his friends, but they’re far from the only heroes in the story. I’m not talking about Albus Dumbledore or members of the Order of the Phoenix. No, I’m thinking of Severus Snape. For the majority of the books and films, Snape is portrayed as a smug villain. He dares to be impolite to our protagonist and appears to have given his allegiance to Voldemort. But there’s so much going on underneath the surface, and YouTuber kcawesome13 put together an edit of the movies that showcases just how tragic the story of Severus Snape is. I’m not saying it completely absolves Snape of his often misguided actions, but boy, perspective is neat.
As the title suggests, Kcawesome13 put all of Snape’s most important scenes into chronological order. Meeting him as a young boy first rather than as a stern adult makes a world of difference. This cut makes you feel Snape’s struggle and love for Lily Potter so acutely that it aches. Yeah, it’s that intense.
A couple of notes before you press play: It’s heartbreaking. No, seriously. If you have any kind of appreciation for the Harry Potter story, this edit will punch you in the gut. At 14 minutes, it’s not the shortest thing on YouTube but sit down and give it your full attention. Are you ready? Here we go…
I need a spell to put my heart back together, please.
Now I want to take a similar approach with the books and string together Snape’s scenes in chronological order. It won’t have the same visual punch in the gut, but it would be an interesting exercise… that would probably also make me cry. Accio, tissues.
We’re here for you. Go ahead and share your Snape feelings in the comments.
Image: Warner Bros Pictures
Really heartbreaking
Alan Rickman brought so much to Snape.. at first i hated him but i grew to love the character of Snape i agree with Harry he was one of the bravest men !!
Vasculus repairo
Lots of comments here comparing Snape to Draco, but I think his analogue is actually Hermione. Hear me out. The thing people seem to forget about Snape is that he was insanely talented as a young wizard. Dark arts or not, he was writing spells as a student, improving his textbooks from his own experimentation (neither of which we ever see Hermione even attempt), and generally being a magical badass. His downfall was that he was a total creepy loser.
I think Snape is basically Hermione if she had never made any friends. Snape was actively recruited for the Death Eaters because he was a genius. I don’t think it was ever about hate or racism for him, it was just a group that would accept and appreciate him. Hermione, after five years or so of non-stop bullying, probably would have become some kind of House-Elf Rights terrorist or something.
I don’t care how tragic it was, Severus Snape will always be a horrible man for how he treated Harry and most importantly, Neville.
I’m just happy with the use of the Oblivion soundtrack.
That was a nice fine sucker punch right in the feels..
Holy Crap – Is Snape the guy Hanz from Die Hard??
I hate/love whoever put this together, very very much. And whoever posted it here. And Rowling, just a little bit, for hiding how amazing a character he was right up until the end.
Wow, had me very moved
That was so sad. I didn’t believe that I would actually like Snape but, man, he was a really good guy. I have tears right now.
Loved it. Thank you for doing this
Every person has their flaws. He was not a good or kind person. If it hadn’t been for lily, he probably would have remained one of voldemort’s most skilled supporters. But his love redeemed him. He helped save the wizarding world through acting as a double agent. Doesn’t he deserve some credit for that? Snape is my favourite character. Not because he is perfect (none of Jo’s characters are) nut because he overcame desperate circumstances to do far-reaching good.
No one is saying he has a RIGHT to act in hateful ways (imo, it is your RIGHT to have ANY feelings, even hate; acting on them is a different story) – just that it is understandable. Childhood abuse is different from a one-time name calling. If asians consistently abused you as a kid, you WOULD very likely grow up to hate all asians.
Or even something like:
The boy who loved
The lover who lied
The liar who killed to save the world
the way i see it, its like game of thrones character stannis baratheon said once “good deeds dont wash out the bad, nor the bad the good”
This makes no sense. First, according to the books, he only bullied Snape because he was obsessed with the Dark Arts. Other than “hexing people for the fun of it,” which even the Weasley twins did, there’s no evidence that he bullied anyone but Snape. Second, teachers didn’t think he was a bully at all–they thought he was a troublemaker, sure, but not a bully. Third, how can one be a bully while befriending outcasts like Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin? Fourth, by his 7th year he had already “deflated his head” so yes–it was for a few years while he was a kid. And sorry–but Snape was a murderer, a torturer, and a coward before Lily died. James was never even remotely close to being that kind of person.
Also–to another comment you made (but it won’t let me reply) Snape was a Death Eater for several years before Lily died. It wasn’t just about loving the Dark Arts, he actually PRACTICED them and used them on people. He supported a wizard who wanted to eradicate muggle-borns. The guy was literally the wizarding world’s equivalent of a Nazi SS. Neither Dumbledore nor James Potter ever sunk that low. Ever.
I think it was a great illustration that no one is entirely good or entirely bad. Everyone is much more complicated than that. I love that James Potter is revealed to Harry as being someone who was a real person. Seeing how he bullied Snape complicates his feelings and confuses the hell out of him as a teenager. Whether James Potter only targeted Snape or whether he was an all out hellion is still up for debate. Even if James only bullied Snape because he was into the Dark Arts (as I have seen suggested in other comments) James acted in a way that Harry would have never approved of acting, It complicates Harry’s view of his father, which, I think, happens to all of us as we grow up.
I do think some things that happen in our lives, our minds do not recognize as significant of memory–such as perhaps James Potter being “nicer” to Snape. That kind of a dialog or scene in the books would be counter-productive, but in real life, often the nice things people do to us (after then have been total jerks to us) we don’t remember, because the sting of the bad is too great, and the presumed insincerity of a nice gesture, even if It were done in Snape’s adulthood, would lesson the sting. Evil clings to evil, and light to light. Never-the-less, those boys (Harry’s father and friends) really hated Snape, for many reasons including that he tried hard to have them expelled from Hogwarts during their full moon outings, and didn’t like that they were exclusive, or cliquish.
Then why did he end up in Slytherin house? Why was he already fascinated with the Dark Arts? Let’s not pretend that it was James’ fault.
It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.e. But let’s not forget, that ou are always a result of the way ou were raised. I mean the scene’s never described what he was as a child, what he suffered. And therein lies a resemblence to voldemort, who also suffered. So both turned to power naturally enough. But whilst voldemort never had something sweet in his live like love, snape did, and that was the sparkle that motivates him to do good in the end.yes, he was not the kindest man. His reign in howarts was not pretty. But one has to admire the strength and depth of him. How focused he was. And i guess its easy to fall for something like power and words if you are vurnurable and deeply hurt – as he was. Even dumbledore fell for it once. And thats the beauty of these books. They discribe how you choose a way in your live that might be right, but could also turn out as a mistake. But what you make of it, thats up to you. Harry often chose the wrong way even with the best intentions. And: a little love in our live can make all the difference. Lily had a powerfull effect on him- but she couldn’t heal his wounds, couldn’t earase what he suffered, she might, if she had fallen in love with him. but she didn’t.”It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” He chose wrong. But something opend his eyes and after that he chose the good, And suffered greatly for it. And that’s why I love his character. And Alan Rickman was perfect in this role. .
yes one could make that argument if one wanted to ignore facts and logic. James and Snape were ENEMIES! this was not a case of one kid being tormented but 2 ppl that hated each other. They tell you that snape attacked James all the time too but for some reason just because JK didnt spell out exactly what those attacks were you ppl choose to call James a bully and pretend Snape was blameless. Furthermore the one attack shown was not what ‘turned’ Snape. He was a dick from the get go. He was spouting off racists things as a kid and if you ppl would pay attention when Lily let him have it after his insult she makes it clear that hes been a scum for years, Hung out with scum, and hoped to join worse scum
Don’t be ridiculous.
W’hat do you think “hexing people for the fun of it” is doing? It’s bullying. Hexes are not fun things to have to deal with.You can be a bully and still befriend outcasts. Let’s be serious here. Being one does not automatically exclude you from being the other. People do not work that way.
By the way:
“Once James had deflated his head a bit,” said Sirius.
“Once he stopped hexing people for the fun of it,” Said Lupin.
That more than insinuates that James bullied more than just Snape.
And, furthermore, it is stated in the books that James hexed people for the fun of it. Rowling also said in a later interview that James suspected Snape’s feelings for Lily and was threatened by their friendship and that it absolutely had involvement in James’ treatment of Snape.
I will reiterate AGAIN that Snape had every reason to become involved in the Dark Arts. It doesn’t make it good that he did, not at all. But the Dark Arts made him feel powerful in a world where he had no power. When you are relentlessly bullied simply for existing (as James so put it) and feel like you have no control over your life, you are going to cling to the people and things that make you feel like you have control. For Snape, it was the Dark Arts and his Slytherin friends. This is a pattern we often see reflected in real-life, with bullied kids hanging out with other outcasts and wind up getting into risky and sometimes violent behaviours. Most school shootings have involved perps who were bullied in school.
Writing off James’ bullying ways because he had a change of heart in his last year of Hogwarts does not magically erase the effects his actions had on other students and most importantly on Snape. Ignoring the impact to Snape’s mental health that the bullying had caused because Snape was an outcast interested in the Dark Arts who later joined the Death Eaters is to ignore the inevitable ramifications of the abuse and bullying he received throughout his life. Snape lived in househole wherein he was bullied, neglected, and abused, and left that household and entered another one where the bullying cycle continued. People simply have to stop ignoring this fact just because Snape was a Death Eater (something he was most likely conditioned to become due to his pre-Hogwarts household.)
Even beyond Snape’s Death Eater status, there is NO CANON EVIDENCE that suggests he killed anyone before Dumbledore.
Even Dumbledore accuses him of “watching” people die, not of actually killing them.
vengeance is a powerful motivator to do good. Just ask Batman.
He probably would have, but he actually changed. It may have escaped your notice, but during the transportation of the seven Potters, he tried to save Lupin, whom he didn’t have to save at all, and, in fact, nobody would have held him accountable for letting him rot, BUT, despite all the hate, he wanted to save him. Not to mention he actively protected the students once the Carrows took over, as much as he could without getting himself killed. people go on and on about how James changed, well so did Snape.
You seem to forget that Harry was a stones throw away from being placed in slytherin
This is an argument that ticks me off. Slytherin is not an evil house. It is a house that prizes ambition and cunning. Neither of those are inherently bad things. Ron was incorrect when he told Harry, “There’s not a witch or wizard who went bad who wasn’t in Slytherin.” Even though he couldn’t have known about Pettigrew, there is no reason for this comment. The most famous and ruthless assumed Death Eater at the time was Sirius Black, a Gryffindor.
Hate Snape, love Snape, hate James, love James, it doesn’t matter to me. I’d just like people to stop using their houses as a reason to feel that way. Give us a reason instead of a stereotype, please.
Also, I’m sorry if this feels like a personal attack on your opinion. It’s not intended to be, your comment just happened to be the straw that broke the camel’s back when it came to this situation. Without voice and expression, a lot of context is lost when I voice my opinion and I occasionally come across as more inflammatory than intended.
Yes ^^^
The boy who lovedThelover who liedthe liar who killed to save a boy
Ok here’s the problem with that. Snape had no one but Molly and he lost her because of james. So now he was poor, alone, friendless, and an outcast. Harry had friends and fame and arguably money to support him through his life, plus a mountain of support through the professors. Also hagrid was still alive at the end of the series and he still could visit him anytime.
Durmstrang? Egypt? It’s implied that ten children in a house per year is about average. That means there’s probably less than 300 students in all of Hogwarts. My elementary school had almost that many, and we were pretty small. Between 15 and 17 even a two year age gap is often considered creepy and cradle-robberish simply because people grow so fast at that age. That means Lily’s prospective dating pool, unless she travels to France or something, consists of a grand total of maybe 60 people at best when she graduates. Plus, she’s competing with another sixty girls for those same sixty boys. Any sensible, nice boy in her year would have looked at the love triangle involving that weird, dark-arts loving, creepy loner kid and the puffed-up, bullying jock and decided that he *really* likes that sweet girl from Hufflepuff who wants to be a healer and tutors the younger students in charms.
(…Obviously I have had a few too many discussions with my Mother about the viability of Hogwarts as a school, the proper ratio of pureblood to muggleborn to ensure a healthy population, and future prospects in the wizarding world. It’s a thing we do every now and then.)