In J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter our favourites are generally Albus Dumbledore, Hermione Granger or Voldemort himself. But in my case, it is the mordacious, super skilled, mole in the Death Eaters, Prof. Severus Snape. He is the one character I feel is nearer to the real world as he is neither completely pure nor evil. He is neither black nor white. He occupies a liminal (middle) position, that is grey.
I admire Snape for many reasons, it was wrong of him to join the Death Eaters, but he never got any warmth or wanting from his kin or friends. After coming to Hogwarts, nobody wanted to be friends with a greasy-haired, sullen boy, except for the Voldemort supporters and his secret love, Lily Evans. Lily too left him when he accidentally called her a ‘MUDBLOOD’. He had made many sacrifices in his life, more than you and I can ever make. He didn’t want to be the bad guy, but the journey of life had forced him to become so. Just for his never-ending love for Lily, he becomes a spy in the Death Eaters’ group and informed him of every single notorious activity to Dumbledore. After Lily died, for a short period he felt that life was useless, but when he came to know that she had a son who was now orphaned, he became confused. Harry’s father was the person he loathed the most but his mother was the one for whom he would even give his life (he did give his life for her). It made it all the more difficult for him because Harry and James looked like two peas in a pod (except for the eyes). He decided to help Harry in all ways but the boy must never know that until the end if required. He couldn’t bear that James’ son would think that Snape had bowed down to James. When Harry was stuck in the pool trying to destroy the Horcrux, Snape sent his Patronus, a doe to save him. After Lily’s death, his Patronus took the form of a doe-like Lily’s. He showed this to Dumbledore to show him that he had never ceased loving Lily. When Harry puts Snape’s tears in the Pensieve, he came to know about the great deeds of Snape.
In the starting books, he seemed like a miniature version of Voldemort to readers. But we see in the last book about his unforgettable (in a good way) deeds. This character’s arc is nicely crafted by the author and it shows that she has put a lot of thought into this character. We all think that he was an evil and betraying character, but in truth, he made sacrifices for Harry and Lily that made him seem black and villainous. As noble as Saint Nicholas was the great Severus Snape, who fought with life multiple times for his first and last love………………
