I Meant To Say Snape + Grimmauld Place Vs Snape + Spinner's End, But It Could Also Be Black + GP Vs Snape

I meant to say Snape + Grimmauld Place vs Snape + Spinner's End, but it could also be Black + GP vs Snape + SE, whatever. woops

oldstonefacevimes ha respondido a tu publicación: for your mini-essay prompts: Snape + Grimmauld…

Hi, sorry, It’s late and I’m not very articulate lol. Taking out of the way the sirius/gp vs severus/se parallels thing, how about severus’ relationship with spinner’s end? as a space, a state of mind, a prison, an externalization of snapiness, idk.

Oh!  Okay, now those I can do.

I think we can tackle both “Snape and Grimmauld Place v. Snape and Spinner’s End” and “Sirius Black and Grimmauld Place v. Snape and Spinner’s End” with the same line of thought.

As previously written about in these tags and in this post, Snape’s own psyche traps him in Spinner’s End.  He was trapped there as a child by the obvious circumstances of childhood, but when Hogwarts fails to be his saving grace he remains trapped there, and he chooses to keep his childhood home and to live there during school holidays not only as part of his utilitarian lack of self-care and as a sub-conscious form of self-punishment but as an indication of how trapped he feels in the patterns of his childhood.  With Grimmauld Place, though he is not physically trapped there, his roles as Order member and later as Order Secret-Keeper for the house (an unwanted role, one in which Moody forces him to relive the trauma of killing Dumbledore in order to enter the house and do his job) continue this cycle of entrapment, as they are part and parcel of Dumbledore’s role for him, a role he will never (in life) escape.

Sirius Black, like Snape, was trapped as a child in an unpleasant (and potentially abusive) home situation.  However, unlike Snape, Black finds salvation at Hogwarts in the form of friends and popularity, and he escapes the cycle of childhood trauma manifested by Grimmauld Place.  Unfortunately for Black, this escape is but temporary, and by the time both he and Snape end up in Grimmauld Place again they are both trapped by their lives and their roles in fighting Voldemort in the same childhood homes they had hoped to leave behind.  Snape, of course, taunts Black unceasingly for his “cowardice” in remaining safe in Grimmauld Place while the rest of the Order does their dangerous work, mostly because Snape is admittedly an asshole, but in this he almost has a point–Black’s decision to remain in Grimmauld Place is one which keeps him safe.  Snape’s decision to remain in Spinner’s End and in Grimmauld Place is one which places him in constant and immediate emotional and physical danger.

The difference between them is that, while both situations are manifested in a run-down and miserable childhood home, Black’s prison is a physical one–he would leave it behind in a moment if leaving wouldn’t put his life and his friends’ safety in immediate danger.  Snape’s prison is purely psychological–he can physically go anywhere he wants, but his memories and his mentality would never permit it.  When Sirius Black dies, though his death is tragic and meaningless and endlessly harmful to Harry Potter, he dies free, both physically and psychologically.  Snape never escapes the cycles of his childhood; he dies trapped in them, in the very place where Sirius Black tried to kill him when they were children.

I was seeing some Harry Potter debates on Quora and found this interesting and wanted to share this answer with you.

Quora

Credit goes to : Valeria Mesalina

“This is just my opinion, so not canon, and most likely controversial, because “always”.

I do believe Narcissa both liked and loved Severus. And he liked and loved her too.

Only one chapter to show us what Narcissa and Severus’ relationship was like. And one chapter is enough.

She knew where he lived, and knew the way through the labyrinth very well, as if she had travelled those streets many times before. Would Lucius have left Malfoy Manor to have tea and jam and cream scones at Severus’ place? No way.

She called him by his name. All the time. Severus, Severus, Severus… oh, Severus. Very few people called him by his name. Lily, once. Dumbledore. Charity. For the Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix members, he was Snape.

She said she’d come to him because he was Lucius’ friend (not true, because Severus dumped his Death Eater friends when he turned sides - if he ever was Lucius’ friend). She said Severus was the Dark Lord’s most trusted counsellor (not true at that point, either, because the Dark Lord had placed Wormtail to spy on him).

Why was she, then, so confident that Severus would help her? She was acting against the Dark Lord’s express orders; yet she did not think, even for a second, that Severus could betray her. She knew he would help her.

She trusted him completely. Why?

The only explanation I can come up with is that she had a personal relationship with him. Not as a fellow Death Eater, which she wasn’t, anyway, but as a friend - more than a friend, judging by the way she behaved.

JKR doesn’t show us adults actually touching or caressing each other. We have Molly Weasley, The Mum , nagging everyone from her husband to Sirius, and little else.

Then, out of nowhere, Narcissa was touching Severus, seizing the front of his robes, so near him that her tears fell on his chest (her niece did the same thing later on, when she told Remus that she loved him and she didn’t care - very much mirroring her aunt’s actions). He held her hands and tried to calm her; when she fell at his feet, he lifted her up and took her back to the sofa, holding her all the time.

They were touching each other so confidently. That implies they were very much comfortable touching each other - and if they were, it had to be because this was not the first time.

She kneeled in front of him and clutched his hand, kissing it. And he didn’t let go of her hand, didn’t even care Bellatrix was there, he just held her hand and looked into her eyes, till he knelt in front of her, still holding her hand, still looking only into her eyes, and promised her everything, under the astonished gaze of Bellatrix.

Take Bellatrix out of the picture, and next step would have been to make love on that sofa - except this is JKR.

Kneeling in front of one another, looking into each other’r eyes, holding hands and reciting vows…. well.

If that’s not close, I don’t know what is. Theirs was an intimate relationship. Maybe Narcissa never cheated on her husband; but that does not mean she could not have loved another before she married Lucius - and be loved by him.

Apparently, with a few exceptions, people fell in love with their teenage crushes at Hogwarts, got married as soon as possible and produced a child as soon as possible. So, married at nineteen, parents at twenty. Narcissa would have been blackmailed into marrying a Pureblood guy as soon as she was of age (17). There weren’t that many Pureblood guys around, and her older sister did the unthinkable and married a Muggleborn. Better be safe than sorry.

Yet Cissy didn’t have a son till she was 24/25.

She was intelligent, and Severus was already doing advanced magic when he was fifteen. She was a bit older that Severus, but not that much. They would have been, as Voldemort followers, thrown together quite a lot, they were both very intelligent and extremely powerful, unattached, and young. Neither of them was a diehard follower.

Why wouldn’t she be attracted to him? He was brilliant, innovative, he had imagination, he was quite different from the people she knew. She wouldn’t have any anti-Slytherin bias, she wouldn’t have given a damn about the Dark Arts, she had a rebel streak. And probably she also saw what Lily didn’t. That Severus would always be true to a woman he loved.

They could have loved each other. Why not? Many years later, they still did.”

Quora

So what do you think? You believe there was a deeper relationship between Narcissa and Severus or not? I admit I never thought of it this way before but this answer was interesting, because they indeed seem pretty comfortable between each other.

snape is such a fun character to make headcanons for because i feel like there’s so many ways you can go with it. like, i’ve seen a lot of people say that snape doesn’t take care of himself, like not eating well or washing his hair (lol), and i think that definitely makes sense considering his martyrdom/guilt complex and being raised in poverty. but i’ve also seen people imagining that snape is like really good at cooking and baking, which makes sense with him being a potions master but also kind of conflicts with the other point of view. i think the happy medium is that snape knows how to cook and bake but wouldn’t take the time to do them for himself, only for other people. however there’s a secret fourth option that i want to know people’s opinions on

i like the idea that snape actually does take care of himself, but he’s just kind of bad at it. like i think he tries to make his hair look decent, but it just gets greasy really fast and he tends not to notice until it’s already in pretty bad shape. and i also kind of like the idea of snape not only cooking and baking for others, but also for himself – not out of any real love or care for himself, but as a way of chasing success and distancing himself from his childhood and from poverty. like i can just picture him at the malfoys trying some fancy hors d’oeuvres and being like, oh, so this is how the other half lives. i want to get good at this. and there’s something wonderfully ironic (and let’s be real, kind of pathetic) about the idea of snape carefully preparing a charcuterie board of expensive delicacies to eat by himself in the dungeons or the drafty old sitting room in spinner’s end.

in this case, his hair and his eating habits are really symptoms of the same problem – he’s trying to run away from his past, but he just keeps failing. he tries to fit in with the upper class and the purebloods, to the point he acts like them even when he’s alone, but there’s always something that betrays him as an outsider, whether it’s his body, his loneliness, or the fact that he still lives in his childhood home. no matter what he does, no matter how hard he tries to escape himself and his memories, he just can’t succeed.

…almost like how even when he’s trying to be a good person, he still has to kill someone he cares about to be one. he’ll never be free of his past, he’ll never be firmly on one side or the other. he’s just kind of doomed.

basically the takeaway here is that any headcanon can be true if you frame it the right way. also we should read way too much into everything forever. ok byeee

Snape did not want to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts

Severus Snape did not covet the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts; his interest in the position was a deliberate ruse between himself and Dumbledore.  

Originally posted by moons-wonderland

On the surface, Snape’s interest in the DADA post makes sense – a supposed Death Eater; a man who has apparently had an interest in dark curses since his youth; his air of disgruntlement towards the DADA teachers in post…

But when you think about it – when you really think about it – it makes very little sense, and it’s testament to Snape and Dumbledore’s joint effort that so many people were convinced by it.

Firstly, Snape knew the job was jinxed.  At the very least, even if he didn’t know the intricate detail of who cursed it and why, he surely would’ve realised – after spending such a prolonged spell at the school – that the DADA teacher always leaves their role at the end of the year.

In Chamber of Secrets, Hagrid explicitly tells the trio:

“An’ bangin’ on about some Banshee he banished. If one word of it was true, I’ll eat my kettle.”

It was most unlike Hagrid to criticise a Hogwarts teacher and Harry looked at him in surprise. Hermione, however, said in a voice somewhat higher than usual, “I think you’re being a bit unfair. Professor Dumbledore obviously thought he was the best man for the job -”

“He was the on'y man for the job,” said Hagrid, offering them a plate of treacle toffee, while Ron coughed squelchily into his basin. “An’ I mean the on'y one. Gettin’ very difficult ter find anyone fer the Dark Arts job. People aren’t too keen ter take it on, see. They’re startin’ ter think it’s jinxed. No one’s lasted long fer a while now.”

Originally posted by yourreactiongifs

…yet Harry and the others don’t pick up on the fact that Hagrid tells them very plainly that Lockhart was the only candidate; meaning that Snape cannot have applied for the post.  

Interestingly, Snape references and gives credence to the rumours when he talks to Bellatrix at Spinner’s End in Half Blood Prince:  

“While I endured the Dementors, you remained at Hogwarts, comfortably playing Dumbledore’s pet!”

“Not quite,” said Snape, calmly. “He wouldn’t give me the Defence Against the Dark Arts job, you know. Seemed to think it might, ah, bring about a relapse… tempt me into my old ways.”

Importantly, this entire scene is masterful because of Snape’s doublespeak – and make no mistake, this small passage is no exception.  It’s a rare depiction of the illusion that Snape and Dumbledore had jointly created – after all, we later discover Snape’s true allegiance – but Bellatrix, of course, is only privy to what Snape tells her and she can glean for herself.  (There’s only a couple of moments in the books that touch on this, and they probably deserve a post of their own.)

So it’s important to see that whilst we’re not remotely fooled by Snape’s admission of ‘being tempted into his old ways’ because we know that Dumbledore has authorised – and indeed, encouraged – Snape’s return to the Death Eaters, we know that he doesn’t have a problem with Snape teaching DADA.  

After all, if you were Dumbledore and you weren’t sure of Snape’s loyalties, what would you be worried about?  Him teaching a few countercurses to spotty teenagers, or y’know, hanging around with his old Death Eater terrorist pals, plotting the downfall of the wizarding world?

Originally posted by walking-fandoms

I know which I’d choose.

But we also know that Snape routinely returned or reported to Voldemort – and did enough to enable him to become Voldemort’s most trusted advisor.  Quite an astonishing turnaround given that Voldemort wanted him dead a mere 12 months earlier.  So it’s evident (to us) that Dumbledore did trust Snape, and would’ve trusted him to teach DADA had the post not been cursed.

Of course, that’s not the only time Snape gives credence to the rumour:

“Now … how long have you been teaching at Hogwarts?” she asked, her quill poised over her clipboard.

“Fourteen years,” Snape replied. His expression was unfathomable. Harry, watching him closely, added a few drops to his potion; it hissed menacingly and tuned from turquoise to orange.

“You applied first for the Defence Against the Dark Arts post, I believe?” Professor Umbridge asked Snape.

“Yes,” said Snape, quietly.

“But you were unsuccessful?”

Snape’s lip curled.

“Obviously.”

Professor Umbridge scribbled on her clipboard.

“And you have applied regularly for the Defence Against the Dark Arts post since you first joined the school, I believe?”

“Yes,” said Snape quietly, barely moving his lips. He looked very angry.

“Do you have any idea why Dumbledore has consistently refused to appoint you?” asked Umbridge.

“I suggest you ask him,” said Snape jerkily.

Originally posted by notsosubtlemilitarykink

So why would Snape take part in Dumbledore’s proposed ruse?

The ruse is important for a few reasons – and I suspect, probably had an innocent enough backstory.

In that first year, there was no way that Dumbledore was going to bestow a jinxed post upon his new spy, lest he lose him.  If Snape realised that the post was cursed, then you can imagine him agreeing – as a traitor, he was in a very vulnerable position and would wish to stay under Dumbledore’s protection for as long as he could.  Neither of them wanted a potential time limit of 12 months on Snape’s usefulness.  

We don’t quite know Slughorn’s initial retirement date, but I find there’s something interesting about him moving on from the post of Potions (and Slytherin Head of House) around the time that Snape appears – and both roles are perfect fits for Snape.  

Originally posted by thedailyprophet

What a coincidence.  It’s not as if Snape’s thrown into a role he’s less comfortable with.  Yes, we hear about Snape’s interest in DADA, but we see repeatedly Snape’s skill at Potions – it’s obvious he was a relatively rare talent.

I think it’s also important for Voldemort’s ego that Snape – someone Dumbledore would be desperate to get deep into the Death Eater ranks so he had a spy as close to the action as possible – didn’t receive the DADA post as such a young age.  As a result, I think Dumbledore deliberately hired Snape as Potions – with no intention of giving him DADA, but then instructed him to return to Voldemort waxing lyrical about how he lost out.  This would ensure that Snape wasn’t immediately disliked by Voldemort for succeeding where he’d failed.  

I suspect they followed this up with the rumour that Snape still desperately wished to have DADA. It makes Snape appear loyal to Voldemort, “You told me to get the DADA post, so I’ve tried repeatedly, but Albus won’t select me.”  Not only that, but it also shows Voldemort that whilst Snape is clearly within Dumbledore’s inner sanctum, he’s still not completely trusted – which in turn, is another indication to Voldemort that Snape is telling the truth when he pledges allegiance.  It suggests that Dumbledore vaguely realises something is awry with his Potions Master, but he can’t prove it.  

Furthermore, it reiterates Snape’s position to the wider community – it shows the students, the teachers, the Death Eaters etc that Snape isn’t entirely reformed; he isn’t completely trusted.  In turn, that aids Snape’s cover - as we see in his statement to Bellatrix.    

The punchline to the joke is that when Dumbledore knows his death is certain, he actually bestows Snape with the DADA post.  Dumbledore ensures that Snape is willing to murder him, and to look after the children if he becomes Headmaster.  Both of these things (murdering the incumbent; moving role within the school) would cover the curse and ensure Snape isn’t in post the following year.

So they can assume it’s safe to give Snape DADA and to guess that the jinx probably won’t be fulfilled in a more disastrous way.

As a consequence, just before the war is about to explode, Snape is given a valuable 12 months to teach the kids some valuable DADA tactics.  Indeed, as Snape duels Harry following Dumbledore’s death, we see him continuing to instruct Harry in the art of fighting.  

However, the most wonderful aspect of the whole thing is that the ruse reinforces the horror of Snape’s supposed treachery.  

Just at the point that Dumbledore trusted him enough with his coveted DADA post, the very thing Dumbledore supposedly feared comes to pass:  

Originally posted by hogwartsblackandwhite

Snape teaches DADA and instantly falls back into his old ways…so much so, he murders the headmaster.

Obscurial Snape

Yes folks, today I want to explain why Snape probably was an Obscurial in secret. What makes me think it was the case? Well...

The background

First, Snape has many elements that would prompt him to develop an Obscurus or something of the like.

His father hated magic and abused Severus and his mother (OotP, DH). Severus could have resented his own magic if he saw it as the reason his father was so violent. Perhaps he was well on the path of developping an Obscurus that would end up killing him, as he desired to be loved by his father and hated in turn his own magic; up until he met Lily at an early age, during which he rediscovered the wonders of magic, decided to love Lily and despise his father instead (even though inside he could still desire his love). Loving Lily and her magic could have prompted him to accept his own magic, before his Obscurus truly went out of control.

Traumatic school experience. As we all know, Severus was horribly bullied throughout school. He could have come to hate himself for being a wizard and thus having no choice but to study at Hogwarts instead of another school where things probably would have been better (where he wouldn't be tormented and humiliated on the daily by his classmates). He could have resented his magic for being so weak. He could have resented having so little control over himself (and in general, in own life), notably after losing Lily, and that urge to regain control of himself could have prompted him to try and tame his magic excessively. Besides, traumatic and violent life conditions seems to make it easier to develop an Obscurus.

He lived through war, witnessed horrible things and Lily died; again, he could have resented being a wizard, having been born at all. We know he certainly wanted to die.

In summary: His life sucked.

He’s a Master Occlumens. Occlumency has a lot to do with controlling yourself, your magic, your thoughts and emotions, which prompts me to think that excessive Occlumency could be used to keep check on an Obscurus, but also be the cause of it.

The parallel with Ariana

As you might know, Ariana was described as an Obscurial, regardless she wasn’t precisely named as such:

She wouldn’t use magic, but she couldn’t get rid of it; it turned inward and drove her mad, it exploded out of her when she couldn’t control it, and at times she was strange and dangerous.

What I couldn’t get rid of my head is this:

When my sister was six years old, she was attacked, set upon, by three Muggle boys. [...] They forced their way through the hedge, and when she couldn’t show them the trick, they got a bit carried away trying to stop the little freak doing it.

Now the parallel I talk about?

Lupin looked sideways at Sirius and then said, "Look, Harry, what you’ve got to understand is that your father and Sirius were the best in the school at whatever they did — everyone thought they were the height of cool — if they sometimes got a bit carried away —"

This is how Lupin justifies SWM, the Werewolf Incident, and the years of unrelentless torture from four wizard boys to an innocent. "They got a bit carried away."

What happened last time a similar thing happened?

It destroyed her, what they did; She was never right again.

Dumbledore about Severus:

"But I forgot — another old man’s mistake — that some wounds run too deep for the healing."

(Just like wounds caused by Dark Magic can almost never heal.)

Severus and Ariana are very alike: they both were irremedially wounded, destroyed and changed through the pain inflicted by their respective assaulters.

if Ariana can become an Obscurus from that one traumatic experience with three Muggle boys, Severus can develop one as well from countless traumatic experiences with four Wizard boys + a Muggle father. As well as whatever shit happened in his life later on.

EDIT: The parallel with Credence.

In Pottermore, we learn that Snape was whipped by his father. In FB1, Credence is whipped/betled by his... "caretaker". Credence ends up killing her, so I wonder what Severus could have made of his father.

Also it seems that Credence's love for Nagini helped him keep control over his magic, so it could parallel Snape's love for Lily that may have helped him control his Obscurus as well.

EDIT: have you noticed how much Credence looks like Snape in FB3?

The signs

Severus is not just the best Occlumens of Wizarding Britain—and perhaps, the world—he also show signs that his magic is quite overpowered and explosive.

When Snape uses the Disarming Spell against Lockhart, he actually blasts Lockhart off his feet against the wall, which is not what Expelliarmus is supposed to do. We know that because in DH Harry wants to use Expelliarmus so it'll only disarm the opponent, whereas Stupegy would blast them off their broomsticks and kill them with the hundreds-of-meters high fall. (But if Snape had used Expelliarmus against them, who knows, they might have been blasted off their broomsticks like Lockhart was in CoS, so there's definitely a difference in Harry's and Severus' magic.)

When Severus uses Avada Kedavra against Dumbledore, which is supposed to just sweep the soul away, he blasts Dumbledore and makes him topple over the tower’s edge to his fall.

When Snape uses non-verbal Incarcerous against Lupin in the Shack: "BANG! Thin, snakelike cords burst from the end of Snape’s wand and twisted themselves around Lupin’s mouth, wrists, and ankles; he overbalanced and fell to the floor, unable to move."

When Harry tries to use Levicorpus on Snape? '"No, Potter!” screamed Snape. There was a loud BANG and Harry was soaring backward, hitting the ground hard again, and this time his wand flew out of his hand.'

When Severus shoves Harry away from his mind, his magic apparently also shoves him away physically: '"ENOUGH!" Harry felt as though he had been pushed hard in the chest; he took several staggering steps backward, hit some of the shelves covering Snape’s walls and heard something crack. Snape was shaking slightly, very white in the face.'

EDIT: as @derschokoladenritter finely pointed out in the comments, "In Chamber of Secrets, Snape cancels a whole room of spells with one Finiter Incantatem during the Dueling Club", demonstrating yet again his overpowered magic.

Perhaps this is just a result of accidental magic, but still, remember when Petunia made a jibd at Severus’ clothes being his mother’s and a branch fell from the tree, falling on Petubitch? Perhaps his Obscurus acted out of his control.

Another instance of Severus’ poor control on his own magic too: "A girl was laughing as a scrawny boy tried to mount a bucking broomstick —"

Severus learned to fly unsupported, perhaps thanks to having mastered his Obscurus and its power.

So now we got many in-books clues; but here comes the cherry:

Fantastic Beasts Quote

Ok I know it’s not in-books and all the problems that come with FB, but still, hear me out.

Why did Grindelwald search for an Obscurial? If you look at this scene, Dumbledore says:

"He had a vision, he said, many years ago, in which an Obscurial killed the man he fears above all others."

"You", Newt will say to Dumbledore.

But we know Credence isn't the one because... Snape fills that role already. Snape is the Obscurial who killed Dumbledore.

Now you'll tell me that not only is this scene out of the books and in a FB movie, which makes it credibility shaky at best, but also that this comes from a deleted scene. True. But does it make it irrevocably irrelevant? There is another deleted scene from FB1 where we are shown a dragon with three heads in Newt's magical zoo. Later, in FB2, Newt uses a description of this dragon with Tina. Meaning that the creators can still consider deleted scenes as valid, at least story-wise.

And this vision makes so much more sense than whatever bullshit they gave us at the end of FB2. Now I hope that, besides a reveal of Tobias Snape as a WW2 soldier, we get the confirmation in FB3 that Severus is the Obscurial Grindelwald was truly searching for. It was not the little girl from FB1. It was not Credence. It was Severus.

It explains why Dumbledore believes (regardless he admits it to himself or not) in visions and prophecies, even though he doesn't like Divination and wanted to stop the subject being taught at Hogwarts.

Who knows, perhaps it explains why Dumbledore treated Snape like shit. Did he know or feel that Severus was the Obscurial that would kill him? Did Dumbledore... fear him? Did he resent Severus, realizing that Grindelwald wasted his time on the wrong Obscurial? Maybe that's why Dumbledore mistreated and neglected chlid-Severus so much, as if he was already the filthiest of criminals. Only, he didn't know the vision would sort itself out in agreed suicide rather than murder. Oh, the irony Dumbledore must have felt when he realized that indeed, Severus would be the Obscurial that "killed" him, and that Dumbledore actually wanted for Snape to do it. That he asked for such a "great favour" from what Grindelwald would call "a miracle".

Severus Snape, the Obscurial Occlumens.

I would have given proper credits to the person who informed me about the deleted FB scenes, but since they don't want, the least I can do is publish as they wanted and ask you what you think about this :)

It's so common to have first war Snape be some super badass high ranking Death Eater, which is really odd imo. All the evidence points to Snape being not at all remarkable among existing Death Eaters. Karakaroff named him as a last resort, and didn't attach any specific crime to his name, unlike the other names he gave. Sirius didn't know he was a Death Eater, and Voldemort thought he was low profile enough that Dumbledore would not know he was a Death Eater and hire him as a teacher (though Dumbledore did in fact know). He wasn't trusted with a Horcrux. His soul is also intact until he kills Dumbledore, which wouldn't happen if he had directly killed anyone (which doesn't remove the possibility of him killing people indirectly like he did the Potter's).

The crime that is consistently emphasized with regards to Snape isn't active malice or sadism. Rather, it's indifference. Whether it's Mary McDonald or James and Harry, the crime that is emphasized were he's involved isn't hurting them, but not giving a shit when others do. Only when the one person who he does care about beyond himself is murdered, by his own indifference to the suffering of an innocent by delivering the prophecy, can Snape's moral journey begin. Evil prevails when men do nothing. Snape learned that lesson painfully, and so he embarks on a journey to learn by actively fighting against evil, so that what's left of Lily can live. In the process, he expands his moral universe beyond Lily, culminating in his year as headmaster, where he gives everything of himself to save others, including those he hates. He also accepts that Harry has to die, acknowledging that Voldemort's defeat and saving the wizarding world is more important than his personal atonement to Lily. He loves the wizarding world, more than he ever did Lily. Snape's arc is one of moving from selfishness, to selflessness.