Hello Blog. Its been a while.
Today, (tonight actually) I’m going to write on something I’m passionate about. I really should do that more often and I would like to try. (We’ll see how it goes.) So here we begin.
This was posted on Muggle.Net today: http://www.mugglenet.com/app/news/show/5007
And, me being me, I had to respond to it. I’m passionate about character, nerdy about Harry Potter, and absolutely love Severus Snape. So, it honestly would be near impossible for me to ignore it.
I think my response to the post would be what some of the comments stated; that it is really because of Snape’s flaws that we love him so much. He was never perfect and he made some really, really stupid and dumb decisions in his younger years. He lived with the consequences of those decisions for the rest of his life. But the thing that marks him out, is that despite those flaws, the nasty attitude, the bitterness and meanness that flowed out of him as a result, he still loved. He loved the only person in his life that ever showed any real love towards him: Lily.
I really think most of us who love Snape are not blind to his faults. Whether he ever really cared for Harry? I don’t know if I could ever answer that question satisfactorily. Snape’s one and only defining virtue was his capability to love one person and one person only. This enabled him to find an incredible courage to do what he had to do. But its hard to tell if he could ever forgive Harry for being James’ son. I would like to think that for the sake of Lily, he could forgive Harry, just like he was finally able to do something right for the sake of Lily. I don’t know though. Rowling doesn’t delve that deeply enough into Snape’s character for us to know everything that we could possibly know about him. I think there is some mystery, which leaves room for speculation. But maybe its better that way. I’ve always loved Snape’s complexity, and that complexity isn’t going to explain everything.
As for Harry naming his son after Sev, I think that is actually quite appropriate. Whatever Sev felt or didn’t feel for Harry, he impacted Harry’s life in a way Harry was not likely to ever forget. I think Harry forgave him, and was willing to pay tribute to Snape’s better side and named his child Albus Severus to honor Severus for doing something right. Somehow I think, it doesn’t necessarily matter whether or not Sev would have wanted Harry to name his son after him. Severus was dead. Albus Severus was Harry’s son, and he was living and breathing in a world that was Voldemort-less because of what Severus had done.
I’m not sure I’m necessarily disagreeing with the statements made, but maybe I’m saying it’s kind of a moot point in my perspective. Snape was never perfect. But he did love someone, and he loved her fiercely. This love did not make him a perfect person, but it did I think, save him.
You are right. There are things about Snape we will never know. He was/is a very deep person and also he was very controlled. But I think it is that mystery that draws us to him. Also I agree with you about Harry naming his son after Severus. It just shows that Harry forgave him for the years of hatred. It also shows Harry’s deep respect for Snape. What does that say about Snape? I have to wonder: how much of his “hatred” toward Harry was part of his act? That’s what he did. He played both sides. He risked his life, he risked everything. It was impossible to tell who he loved and who he hated; only Dumbledoor knew where his heart truly lie. He was perhaps more brave than Dumbledoor and even Harry.
I’ve thought for so long that Severus was the strongest character in H.P. Not my fave…but definitely the most brilliant!