r/SeverusSnape

Unfortunately during the 70’s and 80’s it was noticeable more normalized for bullies to do such sexual demeaning things because at the time it wasn’t perceived as sexual assault. Kids and adults viewed acts of stripping as severe physical bullying or a mean prank, but rarely handled as a sexual offense. It doesn’t absolve James at all but It does show he was a product of his time when it came to how people approached bullying and didn’t fully grasp the gravity of such acts beyond “it’s just a prank”. It shows how fucked the system was at the time.

Got to the part in the 4th book where Harry and Krum find Barty Crouch out of his mind, and Harry runs into Snape when trying to find and tell Dumbledore. And Snape just blows him off and even smirks at how desperate Harry is, and makes zero effort to help.

Is this is his worst and most indefensible moment in the books? A lot of his other bad moments people can try to justify or at least acknowledge aren't a big deal in the long run, like how nasty he can be as a teacher. But this moment I think is where he lets his hate for Harry really cross the line, and looks horrible for it. He chose to take the opportunity to essentially taunt Harry instead of trying to help or even just getting out of the way.

Anyone else agree this is worst moment? Harry runs into him and isn't sarcastic or rude or arguing, he just says what's going on and he needs Dumbledore. And despite his desperation Harry does pretty good at making sense, he obviously doesn't get to tell Snape every detail but nobody can try to defend Snape by saying he simply didn't understand what Harry was saying or something.

I dont think Snape's behavior actually contributed to Crouch's murder obviously, since his delaying probably only lasted like one minute tops so even if he assisted Harry, Crouch Jr would still have murdered Sr. But definitely a very bad moment for Snape. He knew bad things were happening, with his dark mark coming back and the world cup actions and presumably Dumbledore giving him more information, yet he chose to troll Harry for his own pathetic enjoyment instead of helping.

After about the upteenth reading of all the books it occurred to me, Snape wanted to teach the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. After about 15 years he finally get his dream job. One year of DATDA and he’s done. The curse continues just he got promoted to head master and the Carrows’ took over. Is this showing the job is still jinxed? Because Amicus didn’t last even a full year, and his was just Dark Arts.

He wasn't. He was a hero who made it possible for Harry Potter to survive and defeat Voldemort, and willingly sacrificed his life, reputation, his future, his mentor figure and was willing to accept being hated for it and remembered as a villain.

So where is the gray part? That he was rude to students? It wasn't his job to be nice to them, he was more or less a spy wizard during the story.

What do you guys think would happen?

I know it’s mentioned plenty of times in the books how much harry is like James. However, as mentioned by Hermione in HBP, Snape does have a similar attitude towards the dark arts as harry at least as an adult. He might have been fascinated by them when he was in school, but he seems to genuinely want to teach students how to protect themselves from what’s out there. It seems like as harry grows up and starts getting involved in the war he becomes a more morally grey character himself (using sectumsempra, imperio, crucio etc). Could they be more similar than harry would like to admit and also could Draco be more similar to James as he would like to admit(Keeping the muggle hatred aside) ?

I saw someone say that Snape’s bitterness and overall behavior toward others was a result of “what was done to him,” and contextually referencing the bullying by the Marauders, and probably also his unfortunate home circumstances growing up. This struck me the wrong way, and I’m just curious what everyone’s opinions are? To say that his character flaws are the result of this, essentially absolving him of any responsibility, is wrong. This makes him (and, in consequence, his actions) mere victim to the behavior of others. The bullying by the Marauders was not, on the whole, any worse than anything Draco or Harry got up to together, and both were pretty bad to each other, but that doesn’t remove any responsibility from their actions towards each other when it happened or their resulting behavior afterwards.

Snape is no different.

You can absolutely say that Snape had unfortunate circumstances growing up, but he also made the *choice* to study the dark arts, befriend other bad people like “Mulciber and Avery,” become a Death Eater, and take the actions which ultimately led to Lily and James’s death. He is not a victim in these events, he is partly responsible. He redeems himself in the aftermath of this by committing to protecting Harry and acting as a spy for Dumbledore, at the greatest possible personal risk. But, he still behaves terribly and chooses to act unfairly to other people. He may be brave, and I think he definitely deserves recognition as a heroic figure, but his actions are still entirely his own fault, and he is still possessed with childishness towards many people and that is entirely within the realm of his control. I don’t care if he was bullied growing up or had a rough home life, he is still completely in charge of his own behavior.

Snape had to face the reality of the decisions he made, much in the same way that Dumbledore did after Ariana’s death, but Dumbledore’s character seems to have changed to someone who was kind and balanced in nature, completely aware of his own faults and selfless in his actions. Snape, on the other hand, retained his bitterness to the end, and constantly treated others with contempt. Understandable and forgivable? Yes. Principally a victim of circumstance? Definitely not.

I love Snape as a character, and he was absolutely a hero, but he wasn’t a victim.

Hi all,

Just wondering how you all imagine Lily and how she interacted with Severus? I see lots of interpretations in fics of her being like another Hermione (which doesn’t match my interpretation) and then we know Harry is often told his inner nature is his mothers and that she was also cheeky and vivacious. Some say she was similar to Ginny and while superficially I would agree with that I do think there would be differences as well.

So I am curious as to how you all imagine her, imagine their interactions and relationship, how they got along, fond memories they shared, whether you think she thought of him much afterwards, any headcanons!

Because I think she is a bit underdeveloped in canon due to being dead at the start of the series but also written into stereotypes in a lot of fics.

Would be nice if this discussion was more hopecore based and not a list of negatives about her for ending their friendship pls.

Once Pettigrew had been resumed to human form, what if the trio DID decide to awake Snape?

Snape sees Pettigrew - sees Sirius is innocent. When the Dementors attack - Snape casts a patronus. No time travel needed - Snape tells Fudge what really happened - Sirius is cleared and doesn't have to live as a fugitive.

Just a chain of events I'm wondering about. Thoughts?

EDIT:

Hillariously, I think Snape would help clear Sirius's name but still advocate for the trip being suspended for being out of bounds at night.

Snape's plan for the night would be:

"Alright lets clear Black's name... Then we'll get you suspended Potter."

I'm chronically addicted to severitus fics but I struggle sometimes to find an accurate depiction of Severus.

It gives me the ick when they make him too nice too fast and overly expressive and caring. That's just not Severus that's low-key Remus.

If you have any fics with a close to canon Severus please share them with me 🥹. Bonus points if it's drarry 😗