#anyway i cant believ that people are like barty and rosier were sweet little boys but FUCK SNAPE

[seriousbrat]

Why do you like snape

Why? because he's an interesting, complex character and I love his dysfunctional friendship with Lily.

he's not "good" but that's not why I like characters, I also love James and Sirius but their flaws and growth are what make them compelling to me, just like with Snape. I don't care for a woobified version of these characters that makes them into harmless little puppies who did nothing wrong, nor do I like when they're made out to be unreasonably evil and irredeemable bc neither is true. this might get a bit long sorry:

I see Sev as a child as being caught between two worlds. On the one hand his Muggle father represents everything he hates. Violent, belligerent, ignorant, careless and cruel to his loved ones, (and this is my hc) overly obsessed with football to the point where Leicester City's losses had a profound effect on stability in the home. I think growing up with Tobias and seeing the way he acted, esp at the pub with his Muggle mates, had a lot to do with Sev's prejudice towards Muggles. Even kinder Muggles like the Evanses I think he viewed as lesser. He was drawn to Lily, yes she was pretty but she was also a witch, the only other connection to the wizarding world in Cokeworth.

On the other hand, his mother. I think Sev's relationship with his mother was much more complex. I do think he resented Eileen for not using her magic to stand up to Tobias (imo she was like Merope where her magic diminished in the presence of her abuser) and basically dooming him to life as a half-blood, but he did seek to connect to her, to her heritage as a witch. he viewed this as an escape route from the oppressive "muggleness" of Tobias and also as proof that mixing with muggles was a bad thing for wizards.

Interestingly enough I think Sirius did a similar thing in plastering his bedroom with muggle stuff to underline his differences from his parents, but the similarities between the two are another story

I think Sev viewed himself as constantly being held back by his blood, by his Muggle upbringing. He resented people like James and Sirius and his fellow Slytherins for their privilege, which had as much to do with class as it did with blood. Here's a really good post on how class defines snape as a character. (though idk where they're getting the black country, it was only ever confirmed to be in the midlands but still. great post)

Finally going to Hogwarts wasn't the great liberation he'd pictured, however. I mean in some ways it was but he was immensely unpopular from day one. Obviously James and Sirius were horrible to him, but he wasn't accepted by the Slytherins either at first. His friendship with Lily did not help matters, and I think sometimes he was a bit embarrassed about it, as was she. They stuck by each other though, and that's something

He was desperate in school to gain validation, recognition despite (what he saw as) his great disadvantage as a half-blood. So when Mulciber and Avery started noticing his talent and bringing him in, he eagerly accepted their friendship and (imo) Mulciber especially put in A LOT of work to radicalise him, preying on his doubts and insecurities and feeding into the worst parts of him. Not that it's all Mulciber's fault, Sev still made Choices™ but I think we underestimate how easy it is for children, young boys especially, to be radicalised into hate groups. It's sad and I think that's an interesting thing to explore, for me at least.

My headcanon but in SWM he called Lily a mudblood not bc he truly believed it, but because his slytherin friends were present and he couldn't bear being humiliated in front of them. Again this isn't a justification, but I don't actually think he had much against Muggleborns, though he did view Lily with a sort of paternalistic air. He thought she was hampered by her upbringing (not true) and related to her in that sense. No one talks about this but in DH he tells Phineas Nigellus not to call Hermione a mudblood. That's growth baby

ofc he was very prejudiced against Muggles. it went too far in his case, but I'd argue that a lot of characters in HP display a tendency to view Muggles as stupid or ignorant, even if it is in a good-natured, condescending sort of way. imo Arthur Weasley as a character is supposed to show that wizards are just as bumbling and clueless about Muggles. Importantly, I think Harry himself does this sometimes, because of how the Dursleys treated him

ANyway, I think a fundamental thing is that his love for Lily superseded all of this in the end. Imo he was trying to protect her, always, and despite his heartbreak at the loss of their friendship I think on some level he was relieved that their distance meant she was kept away from the likes of Avery and Mulciber. And also WEIRD hc but I think a part of him almost... trusted James to keep her safe. Yes this is all very condescending, but that's Severus imo

Obv the picture I'm painting isn't especially pleasant, but so what? He's miles better than the other DE characters that fandom fawns over. He was still a scared, insecure, abused little boy once, and that justifies nothing but ultimately he sacrificed everything to do the right thing. Yeah it was largely about Lily, but honestly he fucking hated Harry's guts and still did everything in his power to protect him. To me he's an incredibly tragic character and a compelling one. Not everyone has to like him, and there's a lot of reasons not to but I do.