The Aftermath

The Aftermath: We were all correct J.K. Rowling goes Beyond the Epilogue Severus Snape: Heel or Hero? Sinking our teeth into the character of Snape J.K.'s surprising revelation about Dumbledore The Repeating History of Dumbledore The next Harry Potter: Back to the future or the past? A forbidden peek at young James and Sirius Wand Basics 101 Wands from a Muggle Perspective My Day with Oliver Wood The trials of the Hogwarts IT director Introduction to Arithmancy The Secrets of the Fidelius Charm Doing the Math: How many kids are at Hogwarts? The Five Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law International Quidditch Lessons Spot The Stuntman Foreshadowings in Prisoner of Azkaban Character changes in Goblet of Fire Mischief Managed... Not! Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Parts 1 and 2 Dumbledore Is Not Dead The Septology Mystery Book 7 Predictions

Severus Snape: Heel or Hero? Is Snape a hero? Would James and Lily be alive now if not for him? Would Harry be dead now if not for him? Did he ever care about Harry, or only Lily? At the end of the epilogue, Harry says that Severus Snape was the bravest man he ever knew. Did he feel that way only after years of reflection? How do we feel now, while it's still fresh for us? Pages: << < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 ... > >> Reader Comments: (Page 6) With the exception of Voldemort, who is pure black, all of Rowling's characters are shades of grey. I'd say Snape is a deep charcoal. I look to his relationship with Dumbledore more than anything to find Snape's traces of white. Snape clearly esteems Dumbledore, by far the best person in the series despite his weaknesses which are finally revealed in DH (a dried cement color in my book). Moreover, Dumbledore clearly esteems Snape. At first I was dissappointed in the Lily motive -- all this for some chick that never dug him? Come on. But now I also see the guilt factor, thanks to many of your comments. I think over time Snape continued to care deeply for Lily as the only person that was ever kind to him and the only true friend he ever had; however, I believe that there was something more than this love or guilt within him that kept him on the good side. Lily, the doe, became the symbol for all that was good in Severus Snape, not the sole reason for it. What I think is really so fascinating about Rowling is that her characters take on whole lives beyond her written words. She was genuinely surprised to find that many readers find Snape to be a 'hero.' Obviously she does not view him the same way. She created this character yet she leaves enough of him unwritten to become his own man in our minds. Now to add another layer to the Snape onion: As we've seen in the epiloge, Harry's opinion of Snape has pivoted. There was an awful lot of 'memory juice' captured in Hermoine's jar -- do you think Harry must have taken another dip in the Pensieve and seen more memories to so firmly place Snape in his good graces? Posted by BNICKELSON from Batavia, IL on August 2, 2007 11:07 AM I wanted to point out 2 events from Chapter 33 that should be considered when evaluating Snape. "Don't be shocked, Severus. How many men and women have you watched die?" "Lately, only those I could not save," said Snape. Snape's response displays a sense of regret or sadness about these other lives. It also suggests that Snape wishes that he could have saved these lives.

In Chapter 33, we also find out that Snape tried to disarm by using Sectumsempra a deatheater that was preparing to cast a spell at Lupin. Snape missed, however, he was placing himself at risk by attempting to protect Lupin. Posted by Tim from New Hampshire on August 2, 2007 12:12 PM Tamara from Malta: When Snape asked Harry to look at him I think it is so he can die looking into Lilly's eyes. Posted by Tor Ø. B. from Ås, Norway on August 2, 2007 12:42 PM I think someone nailed it when they mentioned Dumbledore not putting a stop to Snape's behavior. I believe he had to keep the act up, because if ANYONE saw him act nicely toward Harry, it may have found a way back to Voldemort. Snape could block out any memories of being nice to Harry, if he'd had any, but, as we all know, Harry was terrible at it. And, anyone against the dark lord would probably be terrible at it, as well, and if ANY of them had a memory of Snape being kind to Harry... Voldemort may have wondered. Then again, Snape could always just say that he was 'pretending' to be nice... so perhaps, here, is where his hatred for James comes in. I think Dave commented something about Snape enjoying his position a little too much... I think it is very clear, in Snape's memories, that he cared for Lily and not Harry. When he says, "For him?!" or "For HIM!" or however it was stated, it indicated that he meant, "Are you crazy? Of course I don't care about him, I care about HER!" and produced a Patronus to show this fact. I would say Snape can be considered a hero, but one to Lily, not necessarily to everybody. He did it all for her, but I also cannot sit here and claim that 'he did it only for Lily so he wasn't that great' because I think the very fact that, despite EVERYTHING he had to deal with throughout his entire life, he was someone who was CAPABLE of a very profound and everlasting love for someone, makes him great. Hero might not be the right word, but I would consider him praiseworthy and someone deserving of sympathy and forgiveness. Posted by Katie T from California on August 2, 2007 1:12 PM Severus liked power he aligned himself with powerful people be it Voldemort or be it Dumbledore. Snape was a jealous sort, he didn't want Dumbledore to care for Harry. He protected Harry only because Dumbledore told him to. Snape watched Lily and her sister. He plucked up the courage to talk to her. They became friends. More than friends. Lily defended Sev when James and his gang bullied him. Yet when Lily came to Severus and told him she didn't like the people he was hanging around with, Severus chose them. he chose people involved in the dark arts. Funny how James was pureblood in Gryfindor and Severus was halfblood in Slytherin. All in all Lily came out as the better character. Posted by Diana Cain from Atlanta Georgia on August 2, 2007 1:58 PM I see a LOT of comments regarding how badly Snape treated Harry - but honestly, what did Harry ever do to try to turn his relationship with Snape around? Harry was, in fact, rather a smart-mouthed little punk towards Snape. Rowling takes time in her novels to teach us all about the Golden Rule - treat others as you want to be treated. James Potter was a jerk to Severus now Severus is a jerk to Harry. Harry does not improve the situation by just giving it right back. Didn't we see the magic of the Golden Rule with Kreacher? Sirius treated Kreacher horridly and Kreacher became a nasty little thing. When Harry treated the little guy with respect and dignity Kreacher turned right around. I'm not suggesting that Snape is as simple a creature as Kreature, but it couldn't have hurt for Harry to have shown him some respect. Posted by BNICKEL from Illionois on August 2, 2007 3:14 PM I agree with the comments that have Snape as a complex character and that is the point really, isn't it? One of the reasons why many teachers like the books is that JK presents to children the idea that people are not one dimensional. As Sirius states in OotP (I think), there are not just good wizards or bad wizards. Even our hero Harry is arrogant, impulsive, and has a temper to be proud of! I think that is why adults like the book so much as well. I am really happy to accept Snape as

Ron's "git" as well as Dumbledore's trusted colleague, that is what makes him so great to read as a character. Vive la difference! Posted by Annette from Sydney, Australia on August 2, 2007 5:37 PM Did Snape really LOVE Lily? at least a couple time's the book says he looks at her "greedily". Is that love or just plain creepy? Posted by BNICKEL from IL, USA on August 2, 2007 5:40 PM Right while i agree that snape is a difficult character to like you do have to take into account that most of snapes actions were executed under the watching eyes of death eaters and their children. Even if snape wanted to be nice to harry there was nothing he could do in front of crabbe goyle etc.. He also had to be particularly harsh to hermione for the same reasons. I think that snape is a tragic hero. Snape finds his spot in the world as a death eater and is happy with that. he has his one true love and all but otherwise is ostensibly there and in a lot of power as he supplied the prophesy information. However snape gets thouraghally up rooted when his love becomes a target. Snape is torn between letting james who he hates and lily who he loves die. And as a result we get a bitter and twisted adult who is associated with to opposing groups and a true member of neither. You have to give him credit for his extraordinary acting talents. There were agents under deep cover in the cold war that would have had much less taxing roles. In short i think snape is the bravest character in the series. I think he was so brave that it almost undid him. I know i certainly wouldn't have wanted his job. I just wish we could have seen more of snape and dumbledore alone together. those moments in the pensieve were theparts of snapes character we had been longing for the whole way through. I say well done snape. you deserve nothing short of the order of merlin first class for bravery. Snape the tragic hero of harry potter! Posted by Des Grealis from Korea on August 2, 2007 5:59 PM Was Snape a hero? No. Was he brave? Absolutely! Was he a nice person? Of course not. But he was a magnificent character. He was a bully. He showed unacceptable favoritism towards members of his own house. He was mean, often cruel to many of his students; not just Harry. But he was absolutely a man of his word and was intensely loyal to Dumbledore. With his prodigious talent he was one of the few who could have mounted a serious challenge against Dumbledore. But he didn't. In short, JKR has created a magnificent literary character who will be referred to for years to come, not just by Harry Potter fans, but by the world at large. Posted by Richard D from Tulsa, OK on August 2, 2007 6:45 PM To all the people out there who think that Severus is evil: I was shocked by Snape's fate. I cried and felt furious with myself for days, because I had thought that he was a bad guy all that time. As the Pensieve reveals, Snape grew up in a house with parents who fought. That has a major impact on a person's present and future life on its own. But on top of quarreling parents, Snape dealt with being frequently humiliated in front of his peers, watching the love of his life slip away before his eyes, and later being treated coldly by his colleagues because they thought he was a traitor. Snape was constantly misunderstood. Worst of all, though, was probably his conflicting emotions about Harry. I know Severus loved Harry, and not just because he had Lily's eyes. He was Lily's son! How could he not love him, how could he refuse to protect the only thing he had left that represented any happiness in his life? And yet he faced the hard and unavoidable fact that Harry was also James's son, and James represented some of the most unhappy moments in Snape's life. This confusion inside, on top of having such an awful childhood, must have been unbearable for Severus. Every time he treated Harry like dirt, he regretted it ten-fold afterwards. It felt good at the time, but then he would hate himself, thinking that it was disloyal to Lily's memory to treat her son badly. Dumbledore probably became a mentor for Snape, just as he did for Harry. Dumbledore was probably the one who helped him through all that anger and sadness he had built up inside, which was so unbearable that he ended up unintentionally taking it out on students.

At any point in the whole series Snape could have been found out, and Voldemort's wrath would have been severe to the hundredth degree. Thank heavens Snape was so good at Occlumency! He was very brave, risking his life by staying close to Voldemort and passing crucial information. Severus Snape's death was entirely noble. He begged Lord Voldemort over and over to let him go and find Harry, and in the Pensieve we realize that Snape did not want to bring Harry to Voldemort. He wanted to tell him the secret that he needed to know in order to conquer the Dark Lord. And even when the snake bit him, and he knew he was dying, he STILL did not give up, he did the last possible thing he could do to help Harry, by giving him his memories. I think that his asking Harry to look at him was more than wanting to see Lily's eyes; in that one moment, even in his death, he wanted to apologize to Harry, to say that he loved him really, to finally come to terms with him as he had been trying so hard to do for all those years. Severus Snape overcame all the horrible treatment, the conflicting emotions, every obstacle that stood in his way, and that is bravery if I ever saw it. Posted by Severus Snape fan from TX on August 2, 2007 7:08 PM another good thing nobody noticed about snape: in poa snape just "let it slip" about lupin being a werewolf, but that happens after lupin nearly killed harry! he did it (once again making himself look like a bad guy) to protect harry! Posted by dk from il on August 3, 2007 01:04 AM Pages: << < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 ... > >>

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Memories Involving Severous Snape Y M D Do A w 1959

Memory

c LP JP SS PP SB RL Born

1970 9 1 tue c JP LP SS SB PP RL 11 Y/O begin

Description

B Pg k

Lilly James Severous Peter Serious all same age and born 2 0 this year; info JKR "Serius about 22 when went to Azkaban" Entered age 11 - calculated from JKR information see note

2 0

Memories Involving Severous Snape Y M D Do A w

Memory

Description

B Pg k

Hogwarts 1978 6 1 sat c JP LP SB PP SS 18 7 y/o graduate from Hogwarts

Enter school sept of age 11; enter graduating year when 18; 2 0 graduate in next chronological year. Info from JKR

1980 6 1 gvn c Snape overheard a portion of Trelawneys prophecy

SS was caught by the barman listening at the keyhole to an interview between AD and Sybil Trelawney. He only heard a portion of the prophecy she gave about LV & HP

2 0

1982 9 1 tue c SS became Potions Hired after LV acted on the prophecy and he "repented" of teacher at Hogwarts being a Death Eater.

6 0

1991 9 1 sun =HPs scar hurts

Snape looked past quirrells turbin at harry and his scar burned.

1 12 6

9 1 sun =HP dream; green light, laugh

HP dreamed quirrells turbin talked; demanded transfer to Slytherin; it tightened on head and hurt painfully, malfoy laughed turned into Snape; burst or green light and laugh; awoken w/ pain and sweating

1 13 0

9 6 fri

=HP embarassed by SS

HP embarassed by SS in front of class by questions about: 1 13 asphodel & wormwood making "living death"; location of a 8 Bezoar; monkshood & wolfsbane being same plant. He found that ss hated him. Purpose of class: bottle fame, brew glory, even STOPPER DEATH

9 6 fri

=NL intimidated by SS

NL intimidated by SS, spilled potion, got boils went to hospital wing

1 13 9

1 3 thu =Halloween Feast 0 1

RW insulted HG who cried in firls bathroom, quirrel announced troll loose, HP and RW go to warn HG; see SS going up to 3rd floor.

1 17 2

1 1 fri 1

p Warming in courtyard; see SS Limp

"As ENTERED Nov, day before quidditch match"; HG does flame in a jar spell. SS limps to them and takes HPs quidditch book. There are 700 ways of fouling in Quidditch

1 18 2

1 1 fri 1

p SS bit by fluffy

trying to get his book back HP overhears SS complaining about being bit by 3 headed dog. Filtch handing bandages. HP thinks ss let troll in to get past dog and get what it's guarding

1 18 3

1 9 sat p HP broom bewitched HP broom bewitched. SS seen to be muttering and making 1 19 1 eye contact. MF makes 5 goals while no one else watching or 0 playing. 1 9 sat p HG saves HP 1

HG knocks over quirrel and sets SS robes on fire, then puts flame back in jar, broom settles down.

1 1 thu p DM taunts RW 2 5

"one morning mid Dec after potions" (must be thur); HP and 1 19 weasleys sign to stay at Hogwarts for Xmas very deep snow 6 storm; DM taunted RW re: family; Fight; SS docks points; "one more day till holiday starts"

1 2 we =Mirror of Erised 2 5 d

AF told by SS to notify if anyone out at night; HP ducked into empty room saw mirror of erised

1 20 7

1992 2 9 thu p Snape will referee Quidditch

"after term started"; They think SS refereeing to give slytherins advantage and to hurt hp; beating Hufflepuff will overtake slyt 1st time in 7 years

1 21 6

3 1 prb p AD watches 1 Quidditch

"next afternoon"; AD watches match that SS referees; GW penalized for hitting bludger at SS

1 22 2

3 1 sat p SS Quir sneak to 1 forest

HP sees hooded figure (SS) sneaking to forrest during dinner; flew to spy and found ss and Quirr talking about stone.

1 22 6

5 2 fri

"wk b4 exams" HP overheard quirrell talking to someone and 1 24

=Quirrell begging

1 19 1

Memories Involving Severous Snape Y M D Do A w 2

Memory "no"

Description begging "no"; thinks it was SS

B Pg k 5

6 3 we p Snape final exam d

"next day"; written plus practical - make a forgetfulness potion

1 26 2

6 4 thu p Quirrell admits trying to kill HP

Q is trying to steal the sorcers stone; admits he tried to kill HP at quidditch match. SS tried to save him.

1 28 8

6 4 thu p SS foolish to try frightening Q

Q admits that he met SS in forrest who foolishly tried to frighten him w/ LV "on his side."

1 29 0

6 7 sun p AD speaks re JP and "unconscious 3 days"; AD said that JP left invisibility cloak SS w/ him, he returned it to harry; JP and SS hated each other but JP saved SS life.

1 30 0

9 1 tue =Caught by snape

SS caught them on grounds took to office

2 78

9 1 tue =Newspaper Article about flying car

Newspaper article: 2 muggles in london saw car over post office tower; at noon in norfolk at peebles in evening; went to get head of Gryffendor

2 80

9 1 tue =Not expelled

after explaning, they weren't expelled; ss upset about breaking decree for underage wizards

2 81

9 5 sat p DM Slytherin seeker OW outlines new quidditch strategy; their practice preempted by slytherin's at SS mandate to train DM their new seeker who's father has bought him into the team with new firebolts 2001 for them all. 1 3 sat =SS offended at GLs 0 1 potion offer

2 10 9

SS failed @ having HP expelled; offended @ GLs offer to 2 14 make mandrake restorative; RW explains: Squibb = opposite 5 of Muggle-Born--born into wizard family but no powers.

1 1 thu =Diversion in potion's "Thursday afternoon potions"; HP threw firework in Goyles 1 0 class cauldron to divert attention while HG stole ingredients from SSs cupboard.

2 18 7

1 1 thu =Dueling Club 2 7

"week later, 8 evening"; GL held dueling club w/ SS who blasted him w/ expelliarmus spell. DM cheated hitting HP who responded w/ Rictusempra

2 19 1

1 1 thu =DM cheats MB 2 7 wrestles HG

DM uses tarantillegra on HP; SS counters it w/ finite incantabut; RW hurt Seamus w/ his wand; MB wrestled HG

2 19 2

1 1 thu =HP speaks 2 7 parceltongue

DM produced snake w/ surpensortia; GL antagonized it w/ defective spell; HP told it to leave Justing alone; it obeyed; SS removed it.

2 19 4

1996 7 1 fri 2

=Wormtail at Snapes Pettigrew was place at Snapes house to "assist him" in to "assist him" something unknown but has been basically cleaning his house and running errands.

6 23

7 1 fri 2

=Snape answers SS took job at Hogwarts on LVs orders and was there when Bellatrix's questions he fell. He didn't try find LV for same reasons others didn't. He had 16yrs info to give him which is better than reminiscences about Azkaban. ADs protection convenient and used it.

6 26

7 1 fri 2

c LV didn't trust SS when possessing Quirrel

Because LV didn't reveal himself to SS while possessing 6 28 Quirrel Snape did all he could to prevent a greedy man from stealing it.

7 1 fri 2

c SS returned to LV on ADs orders

SS explained to LV that because of the dark mark he knew 6 28 he was getting stronger and had time to plan. He delayed his return for 2 hours so he could maintain his usefulness as a spy and didn't "leave forever" as he had thought. Info to kill Emmeline Vance

7 1 fri 2

=LV glad SS didn't kill Didn't kill HP so he could keep ADs protection. LV happy he HP could use HPs blood. Has tried to get him expelled. "Spun AD a yarn" about repentance and he believed me- he still

6 30

Memories Involving Severous Snape Y M D Do A w

Memory

Description

B Pg k

trusts me- he's injured, and reflexes are slowing. 7 1 fri 2

c Narcissa asks SSs help

LV had forbidden Narcissa to speak of "it" so SS said "he already knew." She requested he convince LV to not make Draco do "it" which she saw as impossible and anger and revenge against Lucius' failure. "LV means him to fail."

6 32

7 1 fri 2

=SS makes Unbreakable Vow

LV means SS to do "it" in the end but Draco must try first so 6 36 SS might remain as "spy." He offered to help. Bellatrix goaded him into making unbreakable vow to: watch over, protect him and do "it" if looks like he might fail. Bellatrix was "bonder."

7 1 sat =They apparated to In the Weasly's shed AD finally had a chance to empathize 3 the Burrow & talked with Harry about Sirius. Told him he could tell Ron and Hermione about the prophecy but noone else. Will give him "private lessons" this year. Agreed his lessons w/ Snape were a fiasco.

6 76

9 2 mo =McGonagall cleared n Harry and Ron for Potions NEWTs

Now that Snape is not teaching Potions Harry and Ron are cleared to take Potions so he could continue on with his desire to be an Auror. Ron had same classes: Charms, DADA, Herbology, Transfiguration and Potions.

6 17 5

9 1 gvn =Harry's detention 4 sorting rotten flubberworms

Although Slughorn tried to get him out of it Snape made Harry sort rotten flubberworms from good ones without gloves.

6 23 6

1 2 cal c Slughorn praises 2 0 Harry in front of Snape

Slughorn grabbed Harry and Snape and said that he made a 6 31 Draught of Living Death better than Snape had to Snape's 4 annoyance.

1 2 gvn c Draco caught on 7th Filtch drug Draco into the party having caught him in an 2 0 floor "crashing "upstairs corridor" lying about being invited to party. When party" he "admitted" he was crashing, Slughorn invited him but Draco wasn't happy about it. Harry followed Snape & Draco down hallway invisibly

6 32 1

1 2 cal c Snape claims he's 2 0 been "acting"

When Draco claimed that DADA was all an "act" Snape claimed "it's an act crucial to success, where would I have been all these years, if I had not known how to act?" Draco said he was trying to steal his glory and walked out on him.

6 32 4

1 2 tue =Lupin defends 2 4 Dumbledore and Snape

Lupin said: "It comes down to whether or not you trust 6 33 Dumbledore's judgemen. I do; therefore, I trust Severus." 2 He was grateful that Snape had kept him healthy by making the Wolfsbane potion for him the year he taught.

1997 1 5 sun =Talk about Snape and Greyback

1 6 mo =Dumble discounts n info about Snape and Draco

When told, Hermione refused to believe Snape was actually trying to help Draco. She recalled that it was Fenrir Greyback who Draco had threatened Borgin with as an "old family friend." She agreed that Scrimgeour had a lot of nerve asking Harry to help him

6 35 2

He called the news "not… of great importance." Then said "you have not told me anything that causes me disquiet." Not "countering" Harry, just that he didn't want Harry to worry about it.

6 35 8

3 1 sat =Hagrid saw Hagrid let slip that he had seen Dumbledore and Snape Dumbledore arguing near the forest. Snape said "you take too much for argueing with Snape granted and maybe he didn't want to 'do it' anymore." Dumbledore demanded he'd agreed to it and now had to.

6 40 5

3 1 gvn =Harry disagreed Harry expected low marks in his essay about best way to 6 with Snape in essay tackle Dememtors because he disagreed with Snape. Ron's about Dememtor spell-check quill was "running out" and spelled his name "Roonil Wazlib." Hermione finally began helping them with

6 44 8

Memories Involving Severous Snape Y M D Do A w

Memory

Description

B Pg k

homework again. 3 1 gvn =HP failed at Rm of 7 Requirement; defined inferius

Despite Hermione's warning's Harry tried to enter the room 6 45 of requirement as it was for Draco but failed making him late 8 for Snape's DADA class and thus punishment. When Seamus asked about Inferius Snape made Harry answer then belittled his answer.