Severus Snape: Biography, Loyalty and Secrets

Severus Snape is the most feared teacher at Hogwarts and the character who sparks the most arguments among readers. He protects Harry for years without a single kind word. The reason does not become clear until the end of the last book.

Who he is

He was born in 1960, the son of a Muggle and a witch, and grew up in a poor, violent home. His first friend was Lily Evans, the neighbor who showed him they were both magical. At Hogwarts he went to Slytherin and she to Gryffindor. He teaches Potions, later Defense Against the Dark Arts, until he becomes headmaster. He is also the Half-Blood Prince, owner of the old Potions book Harry finds in Half-Blood Prince (ch. 9).

Key moments

• Philosopher's Stone, ch. 11: he mutters a countercurse so Harry's broom stops bucking, even though Hermione thinks he is the one jinxing it.
• Prisoner of Azkaban, ch. 7: Neville's boggart takes Snape's shape, and Lupin has him dress it in his grandmother's clothes. Snape walks in just as the class is laughing.
• Order of the Phoenix, ch. 28: Harry sees his worst memory in the Pensieve, the humiliation by James and Sirius, and the insult that ends things with Lily.
• Half-Blood Prince, ch. 27: he kills Dumbledore on the Astronomy Tower.
• Deathly Hallows, ch. 33: the memories he leaves Harry reveal he protected him out of love for Lily, and that Dumbledore planned it all with him.

Relationships

With Lily, the love of his life, and with Harry, her son and James's, who reminds him of what he lost. With Dumbledore there is a pact: total trust and also dependence. With Draco, a promise to Narcissa to protect him (Half-Blood Prince, ch. 2). With Voldemort, a deception he sustains for seventeen years. With Neville, Hermione and nearly all his students, plain cruelty.

What almost nobody notices

In Half-Blood Prince (ch. 2), Snape makes an Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa Malfoy: he will protect Draco, help with his mission and, if Draco fails, finish the task himself. That vow weighs as much as Dumbledore's own order when he climbs the tower.

And in Deathly Hallows (ch. 19), the silver doe that leads Harry to the Sword of Gryffindor is Snape's. Harry does not know whose it is until he sees Snape's memories.

To decide whether he was a hero or a villain, read Severus Snape: Hero or Villain? What the Books Say. And if you think you are a Slytherin, take the house quiz.