The Truth About Snape

Once again I’ve hidden the text for those who have not yet finished the book.  Highlight the blank space below to read.

Rowling did a phenomenal job building Snape up as a despicable, evil character.  Although I firmly believed that Snape was good, Rowling had me going for most of Book 7.  It seemed that he was just your typical villain until the very end.  Then we learned the truth and learned that he was more than just good, he was a hero.  As I wrote about in my earlier review of the book, the Harry Potter books center on the power of love, and, we learned, that Snape most certainly was able to love.  He loved Lily right up to the day she died.  It was her impending death and realization that Snape was responsible for it by revealing the Prophecy to Voldemort, that turned him to the good side and made Dumbledore trust him unconditionally.  Snape risked his life for the Order of the Phoenix for many years, and in the end died for it.  By giving Harry his memories, he was also redeemed.  

Like Harry and Dumbledore, Snape made many choices that changed the course of his life.  He was placed into the House of Slytherin, and even though Lily was his best friend, he befriended others that turned him onto Dark Magic and ruined his relationship with the girl he had loved his whole life.  Later he made the choice to tell Voldemort the part of the Prophecy he had overheard, and, when hearing that Voldemort believed he had to kill the Potters in order to survive, Snape realized what he had done.  He inadvertently caused the death of Lily, which caused him such grief that he turned to the good side, continuing to do his work for the Order until the day he died.  

While he was not always good, and did make some horrific choices in life, Harry realizes how brave and heroic Snape really was.  Harry himself was tempted by evil, like the Deathly Hallows, as was Dumbledore.  Snape redeemed himself in the end and made himself a true hero.  

 

My Review of Book 7 (SPOILERS!!)

After digesting and re-reading certain parts of the book, I am ready to write what I thought of it. To read, simply highlight the hidden text below.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was not a disappointment at all. I can’t say that it was my favorite book of the series, but J.K. Rowling did an excellent job putting all the pieces of the puzzle together and giving us a fast-paced, riveting story. What I am most pleased with is that there is still so much left to discuss. We now know that all is right in the Wizarding world and Harry defeated Voldemort, but Rowling left it so that there are still items for us fans to ponder.

Dumbledore turned out to be a much more complex character than originally expected. In the first six books he appeared to be an all-knowing, infallible hero, but there were times during Hallows when I began to dislike him. Specifically when we reading about Snape’s memories and Dumbledore so casually mentioned that Harry was going to have to die in order to defeat Voldemort. He was redeemed in the next chapter, however, and I could then understand his intentions. While Dumbledore was a good person overall, he was susceptible to making errors and was tempted by power, glory and immortality, just as most people are. He makes us realize that there is a little bit of good and bad in everyone, and what makes a person truly good is their ability to overcome the bad.

And this is just what we learn about Harry. Here is a character that started off as a young, timid boy in the first book and grew into a true hero and leader by the end of the seventh. He was also tempted by evil – the Deathly Hallows were a strong temptation for him – but what made him good was that he was eventually able to focus on his original intentions and defeat Voldemort. What I found most interesting about Harry was that throughout the first six books, was that while Harry was courageous, he never did anything all that extraordinary. He either had help from his mother, his friends, or Dumbledore. In Book 7, he was revealed to be a true hero. He accepted his fate willingly and was going to die in order to save his friends. By doing this, he gave them extra protection from Voldemort in the final moments of the battle at Hogwarts. Another true heroic feat was that Harry did not have to use the Avada Kedavra curse on Voldemort to defeat him. He maintained his innocence and offered Voldemort another chance to survive by only using the defensive Expelliarmus spell, which collided with the killing curse that then brought about Voldemort’s own demise. Harry did not actually kill Voldemort, Voldemort did it to himself.

Harry won the Elder wand earlier in this scene by disarming Draco (the true owner of the Elder wand), which gave him what many others, Dumbledore included, sought, the three Deathly Hallows, but Harry realized that what he truly wanted was what he saw in the Mirror of Erised all those years ago, not the power, glory and immortality that the Deathly Hallows bring. While Harry became obsessed with the idea of the Deathly Hallows for a while, he was able to snap out of it in time to realize that his more important mission was finding and destroying the Horcruxes, the only way to defeat Voldemort.

Rowling was able to make love a central and important theme in the books, without it becoming sappy or overbearing. Harry saw a loving family when he looked in the Mirror of Erised in Book 1. What he truly wanted was to love and to be loved. Even the Malfoys showed their good side in this book by stressing the importance of family and love, the only thing that helped keep all of them alive. Harry’s desire for a loving family came true after he realized that the Deathly Hallows would not give him happiness, for that is not what power and immortality bring. Harry’s story mirrored Dumbledore’s, because both had a chance at having all three Deathly Hallows but willingly gave them up for love. Dumbledore lost his own family but still surrounded himself with loving people, those members of the Order of the Phoenix. This is a subtle but valid point. Every member of the Order of the Phoenix had the ability to love and to love strongly – from Lupin to the Longbottoms to the Potters to Snape. Voldemort lacked this ability, as, it seemed, did Bellatrix and that brought about their downfalls.

Overall, the book was well-done. I could nitpick, but the only negative I am going to include is that a lot of information was crammed into a small amount of space. Rowling would have been better off tacking on an extra 100 pages and giving us more detailed explanations. I found this especially true in the King’s Cross chapter with Dumbledore. But she certainly gave us an excellent story, that was both original and clever and that is sure to become a classic.

 

If Voldemort dies, how will it happen?

There’s been a lot of debate on whether or not Voldemort will be killed at the end of Book 7. I’ve seen less discussion, though, on the means of his demise. The Harry Potter series has seen it’s share of violence, but it’s never been easy to kill a character. Case in point, consider the battle in the Ministry at the conclusion of Book 5 — there were a dozen or so highly trained and capable wizards engaging each other, but only one death and that one we can judge as accidental. Technically Bellatrix killed Sirius, but he died from the veil and not the spell. Similarly, Harry himself has shown that he’s more willing to see the wicked rot in Azkaban (Wormtail) than be killed.

So in the climactic showdown between Harry and Voldemort, will we witness Harry stepping out of his principled mold and use an Unforgivable curse?

Will it even be Harry that kills him, or will it be Snape, Ron or Hermione, Dobby, Draco, or someone else?

 

Eileen Prince

Snape’s mother was mentioned briefly in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix during an Occlumency lesson.  When Hermione investigates the Half-Blood Prince, she discovers that Eileen Prince married a Muggle by the name of Tobias Snape and they then had a child, Severus.  Eileen was also very good at potions, and Hermione originally believed that she was the Half-Blood Prince.

J.K. Rowling has said that Snape was loved by someone.  Was she referring to his mother or was it romantic love?  Is Snape’s mother still living?  Is Eileen Prince or Tobias Snape going to play any kind of part in Book 7?

 

“Will Voldemort be Defeated?” – Scholastic’s Sixth Question

Scholastic has posted the sixth of their seven questions about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  Will Voldemort be defeated?  Visit the Shrieking Shack to vote with your answer.

I don’t see how the books can end with Voldemort still at large.  I also don’t think that he can be defeated without dying, so my personal opinion is that he will be defeated and die.  Another big question is whether or not Harry Potter will live or die.  If he does happen to die, I believe it will be during a final battle with Voldemort and that it would happen only after Voldemort is defeated.  I am curious to see where this final battle will take place and who will be there to witness the defeat.  Snape and Wormtail are two possibilities and I believe that either one or both will help Harry in the end.  A good place for this final showdown could be Hogwarts – maybe it is where the final horcrux will be found and destroyed?

What do you think?  Can the series end with Voldemort still in power?

 

Scholastic’s Second Question

Scholastic is running a campaign to promote the Harry Potter books, during which they are asking a new question every couple of weeks until there are seven total questions. By going to their website http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/home.asp you can vote on your answer to their latest question – Is Snape good or evil?

Yes, we’ve already asked this question before, but there were lots of great comments. The most interesting theory so far is that Snape was in love with Lily Potter and turned to the good side when Voldemort murdered her. This also brought up the possibility that this was why Voldemort gave Lily a choice to live or die – he knew of Snape’s feelings toward her. Is it possible Snape was with Voldemort at Godric’s Hollow that night? Is his love for Lily the reason he has saved Harry in the past?

Let’s see what you have to say about Snape and his motives.

 

Severus Snape…Devil or Angel?

At the end of book 6, Harry firmly believes that Snape has finally shown his true colors when he kills Dumbledore. Many disagree. After all, Snape previously had chances to let Harry die, and instead had saved him. Dumbledore trusted Snape implicitly…despite his history as a Death-eater, and Dumbledore was no fool. What was Dumbledore pleading for when he spoke to Snape before he died? Snape hated Harry’s father, but what was his relationship with Harry’s mother? These questions and many other contradictions in Snape’s actions make it difficult to jump to the conclusion that Snape is, indeed, the villian Harry has always felt him to be. So, let the argument begin…