Severus Snape

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The only child of Muggle Tobias Snape and pure-blood witch Eileen Snape (née Prince), Severus was raised in the Muggle dwelling of Spinner's End, which was in close proximity to the home of the Evans family, though in a poorer area. He met Lily and Petunia Evans when he was nine. He fell deeply in love with Lily upon their meeting and became a close friend of hers.[7]

Severus started at Hogwarts with Lily in the 1971–1972 school year, where he was Sorted into Slytherin House. This put him in the same year as Lily but unfortunately for him she was Sorted into Gryffindor House. Severus became the immediate enemy of James Potter and Sirius Black and was a frequent victim of their bullying. This led him to be irritable towards James's son Harry when he was a professor. Snape, when young, developed a passion for the Dark Arts, which increased as his desire for revenge against his bullies grew stronger.

Snape became involved with the bullies in Slytherin House, many of whom were pure-blood supremacists. This put his friendship with Lily, a Muggle-born, under great strain until it was eventually broken in their fifth year.[6][7] In a misguided attempt to win back Lily's affections,[18] Snape joined the Death Eaters along with a group of his fellow Slytherins.

Severus was made a member of the Slug Club presumably because of his talent in Potion-making. Horace Slughorn even kept a picture of him as a student, clutching his copy of Advanced Potion-Making. However, Horace did not actually have many hopes for Severus's future, as his photograph was kept behind many others.[19]

As an active Death Eater, one of Snape's biggest contributions was letting Lord Voldemort know about the prophecy Sybill Trelawney made to Dumbledore. This part of the prophecy could have applied to either Harry Potter or Neville Longbottom, who was also born at the end of July 1980 to parents who were members of the Order. Once Lord Voldemort decided to target the Potters over the Longbottoms, Snape begged Voldemort to at least spare Lily. Voldemort ostensibly agreed, but did not actually follow through on this promise due to Lily's refusal to allow him to kill Harry, resulting in her sacrificing her life to save her son's.

Shortly before Lily Evans was murdered by Lord Voldemort, Snape changed sides and became a member of the Order of the Phoenix as well as a double agent during the Second Wizarding War. With tremendous difficulty, Snape prevented Lord Voldemort from learning the truth about his loyalties.

Despite the opinions of most others including Harry during his early life, Albus Dumbledore trusted Snape for reasons that were kept between them both until their deaths. Despite Snape killing Dumbledore, it is learned that they had a special agreement for him to do so. When he died, it was revealed that his deep strong love for Lily Evans caused him to redeem himself, joining Dumbledore's cause for her protection (and, after her death, that of her son) from Lord Voldemort.[7]

The relationship between Dumbledore and Snape would be one of unusually strong loyalty, so much so that Snape agreed to kill Dumbledore upon the latter's own request. Before Dumbledore's death, Snape promised to protect the students of Hogwarts from the Death Eaters, who would inevitably take control of the Ministry of Magic as well as the school.[7]

Snape later participated in the Battle of Hogwarts but was murdered by Lord Voldemort who mistakenly believed that Snape was the master of the Elder Wand (an immensely strong and powerful wand that Voldemort deeply desired, as well as one of the Deathly Hallows)[20] when in reality, Harry Potter was the true master of the Elder Wand, because Draco Malfoy had disarmed Dumbledore on the night of Dumbledore's death at the top of the Astronomy Tower, and Harry had disarmed Draco at Malfoy Manor.[21]

Severus Snape was born 9 January 1960 to Tobias Snape, an abusive Muggle, and Eileen Prince, a neglectful pure-blood witch.[23] He began to identify with his mother's family and created a secret nickname from his mother's maiden name, calling himself the "Half-Blood Prince". His unhappy relationship with his father may have been the origin of his disdain for Muggles. It is implied that Severus was friendless and uncared for by his parents. This lack of care largely shaped Severus's bitter disposition and cruel behaviour later in his life.

Severus grew up at Spinner's End, a shabby suburb of Cokeworth.[24] This area of town was near a dirty river and full of dilapidated houses, disused factories and broken down street lamps. Through the rest of his life, Severus continued to return there when he was not at school. The young Severus is depicted as being unwashed and wearing ill-fitting clothes "that were so mismatched that it looked deliberate". As a child, Severus was neglected and his parents often fought with one another. He could not wait to leave for Hogwarts at the end of the summer.[7] Despite this, one of his favourite foods from his childhood was Holiday Blancmange, which persisted into his adult years.[25] One recorded memory in the Pensieve bore witness to James bullying him in the 1975–1976 school year, turning him upside-down to reveal his underwear in front of many students, including Lily. This action was proved to be very offensive and it increased the hatred between the two adolescents. In this accident, Lily came to Severus's defence, but this only made things worse: in a subsequent lashing out at James in an attempt to recover his lost dignity, Severus inadvertently called Lily a Mudblood. Lily refused to forgive him for it, even after his repeated apologies. This would forever be Severus's worst memory.[6]

Severus noticed that Remus kept disappearing during the full moon and once followed him past the Whomping Willow (after being tipped off on how to do so by Sirius Black) to confirm his suspicions. This act could have cost Severus his life, as had it not been for James going after him to stop him when he learned of Sirius' 'prank', he might have found himself all on his own and caught off guard by a fully-fledged werewolf. As it was, however, James did reach Severus in time and managed to save him just before he got to the Shrieking Shack while Remus was in his wolf-form. Albus Dumbledore swore Severus to secrecy, but the true nature of Remus was clear to Severus. By their seventh year, James had grown out of his immaturity and arrogance to the point that Lily agreed to start dating him, even though he never grew out of his hatred for Severus — according to Sirius, Severus had always been a "special case" with James. Though it should be noted Snape's continued friendships with students who were trying to become Death Eaters did not help his relationship with the Marauders or Lily. Lily ended up marrying James, which only strengthened Severus's bitterness towards him.[30]

There was also some overlap between his school career and that of a younger student by the name of Jacob, yet another rule-breaker Snape came to severely dislike. During the later part of his magical education, the school was plagued by several dangerous curses unleashed upon the school by Jacob after he tampered with the fabled Cursed Vaults, which resulted in the death and injury of several of his peers, although he suffered no permanent injury himself. Severus was a talented wizard even in his childhood. It was apparent through the notes and scribbles in his potions textbook that he made time during classes to invent curses, charms, and clever potion innovations, while simultaneously learning the required textbook lessons.[31][27]

Severus's potions textbook contained a few spells and curses which he was credited with inventing: Levicorpus, which grabbed the victim by the ankle and dangled him/her upside-down,[32] and Sectumsempra, which caused slashing bloody cuts (guided by the wand gestures of the caster, like a blade/sword) which bled extensively.[33] Levicorpus somehow escaped from Severus's secrecy, and became very popular around Hogwarts towards the end of his fifth year at school. Some other spells included Muffliato, which filled the ears of anyone nearby with an unidentifiable buzzing sound and another hex that caused toenails to grow at an unnaturally fast rate.[32]

Severus's book later fell into the hands of Harry Potter in September 1996. Harry used the Half-Blood Prince's tips and earned praise with that year's Potions master, Professor Slughorn. Harry considered the Half-Blood Prince to be a better teacher than Severus, unaware at that point that Severus was the Prince, much to Harry's later displeasure.[27]

He is the school's Potions Master, though he is widely rumoured to covet the Defence Against the Dark Arts post. Snape himself confirms the rumour in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Snape is a sinister and malicious teacher who makes frequent snide and disparaging remarks at Harry's expense.

Snape is described as a thin man with sallow skin, a large, hooked nose, and yellow, uneven teeth. He has shoulder-length, greasy black hair which frames his face, and cold, black eyes. He wears black, flowing robes which give him the appearance of "an overgrown bat".[60] The youthful Snape had a "stringy, pallid look", being "round-shouldered yet angular", having a "twitchy" walk "that recalled a spider" and "long oily hair that jumped about his face".