Well, as you might have guessed, the answer to that will never, ever be that simple. So, could you ever define Snape as good or bad? He was outraged when he discovered that Harry himself had to die to defeat Voldemort, after spending years protecting him, yet still taught Potions in a cruel, bullying and domineering way. Of course, he eventually ended up being Dumbledore’s man through and through, and spent his final years fighting for what was right. There is so much more that can be said about Snape’s anti-heroism, his terrible mistakes, his antagonistic personality. Snape said nothing, but merely looked up at Dumbledore. ‘You do not care, then, about the deaths of her husband and child? They can die, as long as you have what you want?’ ‘You disgust me,’ said Dumbledore, and Harry had never heard so much contempt in his voice. ‘If she means so much to you,’ said Dumbledore, ‘surely Lord Voldemort will spare her? Could you not ask for mercy for the mother, in exchange for the son?’

Which, we have to say, is the ‘having Luna commentate Quidditch’ of bad moves. As Dumbledore pointed out, he would have been quite happy to have let Voldemort go after his enemies, just so long as the woman he loved was protected. Since this didn’t happen, it’s hard to say for sure, but when Snape realised that he had accidentally told Voldemort about the prophecy concerning Harry and realised that the Dark Lord intended to kill the family, he ran to Dumbledore… only so that he would save Lily. And also: Trevor! He was a product of his childhood Because if the prophecy had been interpreted to have been about Neville, Lily would have lived. However, as this is a debate, we’ll say this: since Neville could also have been the subject of the prophecy that eventually led to Lily Potter’s death, it could be that Snape hated him as much as Harry due to this. Neville’s fear of Snape was so great that even his Boggart took Snape’s form, and it's pretty upsetting to think that a child’s worst fear was one of his teachers. And worse – Snape even threatened the life of Trevor the toad!

Neville might not have been the most apt at potions in his first year, but which of us hasn’t messed up ingredients while cooking, for example, with disappointing results? Neville needed help, not to be constantly berated.

And Hermione even got a horrific remark at one point, too, when Snape dubbed an ambitious, intelligent young teenager an insufferable know-it-all.īut Neville seemed to bear the brunt of Snape’s disdain when he wasn’t occupied with Harry and his friend. There was, however, no excuse for why he was so cruel to poor old Neville. Say we accept and understand why Snape treated Harry like leftover Bubotuber pus while teaching him at Hogwarts.

Harry potter severus snape