J.K. Rowling, the author of the well known Harry Potter series, posted on Twitter that she would “like to apologise for killing (whispers)… Snape.”
I grew up reading the Harry Potter books, as well as going to see the movies. It became a major film franchise and one of my personal favorite stories. Throughout the story of Harry growing into a wizard and overcoming innumerable obstacles, there was one character that always stood out -- well that character ended up being my favorite. From the very beginning, I enjoyed him because he always appeared to hate Harry, and I was curious as to why. He’s a great character to follow -- it's none other than Professor Snape. Warning: possible spoilers ahead! These are the amazing performances fans witnessed through each of the Harry Potter movies:
1. Sorcerer’s Stone
When we first meet Snape, he’s always glaring at Harry and floating in and out of sight. In reality, he saw Harry’s dad James in Harry and how James bullied Snape when they were younger. He was always nearby to keep an eye on Harry; he tried to keep Harry from falling off of his cursed broomstick, and Snape even tried to prevent Voldemort from stealing the Sorcerer’s stone.
2. Chamber of Secrets
While Ginny Weasley had the cursed diary, Snape helped train students in combative spells. Also, he witnessed Harry behave in a way that confirmed what Dumbledore had always believed -- Harry and Voldemort were connected.
3. Prisoner of Azkaban
After Harry learns about Sirius Black and finds himself in a face-to-face scenario, Snape arrives to help capture Black -- this happens before we learn that Sirius wasn’t a bad guy. Later on, Snape prepares to ward off a werewolf, Lupin, from Ron and Hermione. From this, Snap felt motivated beyond the fact that he was a teacher especially since no other teacher came to help.
4. Goblet of Fire
In this storyline, Harry is entered into the Tri-Wizard Tournament, which is a challenge for participants to swim to the bottom of a lake and retrieve a friend. Harry is given a plant which helps him grows gills. Later, Snape encounters Harry and questions him about stealing the gillyweed, along with other products from his storage. Snape helps capture the man who set Harry up by using a truth serum -- though the man they interrogated was on the side that Snape claimed to be a part of. Although Snape maintained his loathing façade, he once again helped Harry.
5. Order of the Phoenix
With tensions rising against the dark forces, Harry secretly helps train students in combat. A government official, who is also a teacher, finds out and calls upon Snape to use truth serum on Harry. Snape claims that all of the serum is gone, and also is affected when Harry mentions that Sirius is in trouble.
6. Half-Blood Prince
As fate would have it, Harry ends up with Snape’s old potions textbook. These books are filled with notes on various potions and a spell that Harry later learns is an aggressive spell. Towards of the end of the story, Snape kills Dumbledore and also reveals himself as the half-blood prince. Then, Snape officially joins Voldemort’s side -- this is a major turning point for Snape’s character. While we knew that he had been against Voldemort, killing Dumbledore was the pinnacle of Snape’s darkness.
7. Deathly Hallows: Part 1
While Harry, Ron, and Hermione are venturing to weaken Dumbledore, Snape assumes the role of Headmaster at Hogwarts. To me, this seemed like his way to keep the students safe from Voldemort -- if he’s watching over them, Voldemort won’t attack, knowing they’re being protected.
8. Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Harry, Ron, and Hermione return to Hogwarts, looking for a way to further weaken Voldemort, and Harry encounter’s Snape. Thinking he murdered Dumbledore in cold blood, Harry and some of his friends, gang up on Snape, who then flees without even so much as a remark. Later on, Harry witnesses Snape get attacked by Voldemort and Voldemort’s snake. By the time Harry reaches Snape, all Snape can do is give Harry memories in his tears, and makes one final remark, “you have your mother’s eyes," -- a phrase Harry had heard from many people. With the memories, we learn that everything Snape did was to protect Harry. We also learn that Snape was in love with Harry’s mom. When she died, Snape knew that Harry would be vulnerable, and he vowed to protect him on Harry’s mom’s behalf. Harry goes on to name his Albus, Severus Potter, after Dumbledore and Snape.
As I said, I always found Snape to be an interesting character, because we never knew too much about him. As the story progressed, we slowly learned more and more about him. By the time Harry’s story ended, Snape ended up as my favorite character, and he is now a character I follow knowing the real motives behind his actions. To which I say, Ms. Rowling: You need not apologize for killing Snape. In some ways, his character needed to die. He had fulfilled his duties, and it allowed Harry to finally be on his own to defeat Voldemort. Severus Snape will always be one of my favorite characters within the magical world of Harry Potter.
