Why snape is a hero

Motivated purely by self-interest and completely void of any sort of higher moral calling, he decides to turn against Voldemort, agreeing to be a spy for The Order. This makes sense because Dumbledore is fully aware that Snape is far too cowardly and unreliable to whip his wand out and stand with The Order, so may as well try to pump him for some intel.

But guess what? Snape is unsurprisingly probably the most useless spy in the history of spies because, after years and years of working for Dumbledore, the information he brought back from the other side was worth exactly dick.

How many Death Eaters did he kill? How many Horcruxes did he help find? Remember that the only reason Voldemort specifically targeted Harry was because of the prophecy, which alluded to Harry or Neville being capable of killing him. Thanks, Sev, but welcome to Last Fucking Week. I was there when Trelawney actually said it, dumbass. And then it turns out—oops! Congratulations, ya just played yaself. You suck at everything, and Lily gets killed anyway.

If not a heroic death, at least a tragic one with some weight. Unlike his actual death. But, no. With Voldemort seemingly defeated, Snape is accepted back into the Wizarding World, and instead of spending time doing something productive with his grief—like, oh, I dunno, growing as a person—he simply wallows in his narcissistic despair, refusing to get over a girl who was never in love with him and convincing himself that if Lily had just chosen him instead of James, everything would have been okay.

Because Snape is a vindictive teenager trapped in the body of a grown man. Owing to his rampant immaturity, he accepts a job that puts him in a position of power over students, and then leverages that power to insult and humiliate children. You would think that—having been bullied himself—Snape would have an issue with the entire idea of it, but no. Or being completely cowed by Umbridge. Having said that, does doing something dangerous make you brave?

The only reason he was willing to keep spying on Voldemort was because he had no other choice. Because what choice did he have? If he refused at any point, Dumbledore could have exposed his treachery, and Voldemort would have just killed Snape. Snape is cowardly and self-serving, and he deserved to die the ignominious and pointless death that he did. It should have passed with no fanfare, no glory, and no praise. How about Remus Sirius Potter, a name that honors two men who actually died for you , and neither of whom emotionally manipulated or abused you for 7 years.

His performance constantly kept us guessing Snape's true motives. It wasn't until Snape's death that we realized Dumbledore had been right to trust Snape. Of all Rickman's moments throughout the films, my favorite is from Order of the Phoenix , when Umbridge inquires about his desire to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

Look at this classic performance:. Even as a student, Snape is ahead of his time. While in school, he invented spells, including Levicorpus and Sectumsempra, and amended procedures to improve various potions Just look at his personally annotated copy of Advanced Potion Making! And as he grew older, his knowledge of potion brewing, spells, transfiguration, and charms only expanded with years of experience and experimentation.

He was capable of brewing highly complicated potions such as the Wolfsbane Potion and Veritaserum, as well as using nonverbal spells and performing wand-less magic. He also is a Dark Magic genius. It's his deep understanding of the Dark Arts that enables him to slow the spread of the curse from Marvolo Gaunt's ring on Dumbledore's hand.

Lastly, Snape is arguably the best Occlumens. After all, he did perfectly conceal his thoughts from Voldemort, the best Legilimens, for years.

While Headmaster of Hogwarts, Snape has access to Dumbledore's office, which has a lot of invaluable instruments, including the pensieve and Dumbledore's portrait. Yet, he never gives such tools to Voldemort. Snape is also able to keep the Death Eaters, especially the Carrows, in check regarding the torture they inflict upon the students.

For example, when Ginny, Luna, and Neville try to steal the sword of Gryffindor, Snape punishes them by sending them into the forbidden forest with Hagrid. Lastly, Snape is able to give authority of Hogwarts back to the Order without blowing his cover or harming anyone. Instead of retaliating when McGonagall engages him into an intense duel, he blocks all her attacks.

He never tries to harm her or deflect any of the spells onto the students. Instead, he uses McGonagall's attack as an opportunity to take out the Carrows. Although his unrequited love can come off as a bit creepy, his unconditional love for her is inspiring. He may have been the one to report the prophecy back to Voldemort, but he does everything in his power to protect Lily, and eventually Harry, once he realizes what he has done.

Hence, it's his strong love for Lily that ultimately leads him on his journey from villain to hero. We learn all sorts of nasty things about Snape. Snape was a Death Eater. Snape is the one that relayed the prophecy to Voldemort that would eventually lead to the death of both of Harry's parents.

But the mystery still remains because there are patches of light that indicate that Snape may be loyal to the Order of the Pheonix after all. And then Snape does the unthinkable: He kills Albus Dumbledore. At this point it seems fairly conclusive that Snape is a villain with zero heroic potential.

However in the final book J. Rowling presents what is arguably the greatest twist in the series. In Snape's dying moments, our entire perception of him is changed.

The first important revelation: Snape didn't murder Dumbledore. Dumbledore had actually asked Snape to kill him for two reasons. First, Dumbledore had less than a year to live due to one of Voldemort's curses.

Second, Dumbledore didn't want Malfoy to have to live with death on his conscious — Dumbledore wanted Snape to protect Malfoy by acting in Malfoy's stead. But this wasn't the only revelation made in the moments just prior to his death. Rowling still had an ace in the hole.

Snape had been in love with Lily Evans Potter for his entire life. This causes us to reevaluate all of Snape's past actions in this new light. Snape's hatred towards Harry may have been a misguided self-hatred. Harry was the physical embodiment of Snape's past mistake that lead to the death of the woman he had always loved.

It is also revealed that this is the reason that Snape had kept Harry safe throughout the series, even though his actions were mostly behind the scenes. The hints had been carefully plotted throughout the series, but never pieced together until this crucial moment. Snape's love for Lily is what lead him to switch sides and to risk his life time and time again to help Harry triumph over Voldemort.

Snape is undoubtedly one of Rowling's most complex characters, something that Rowling has admitted in multiple interviews. But were his motivations selfish or selfless?