SweetestPrice

SPOILER WARNING DO NOT READ TILL YOU'VE READ HBP OR LIKE SPOILERS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

This is a profile of one Severus Snape. It is written in an attempt to understand his past, much like the past of Voldemort to try and analyze what he might be doing in the final installment of Harry Potter. This version of the profile will be a loyal Snape leaner.

Severus Snape is perhaps one of the most mysterious of the characters in the Harry Potter series. He is as ambiguous as possible and has still not revealed his true intentions. In the newest installment the Half-Blood Prince we find out many things and are confronted with the murder of Dumbledore by his hand. It is now that I have found it necessary to write a profile of the enigmatic Severus Snape.

In Order of the Phoenix we find out perhaps the only tidbits on the home and young life of Severus Snape. It was neither happy nor cheerful. It was described as a man yelling at a cowering woman while teenage Snape was upstairs shooting down flies. This suggests that it was not an unordinary occurrence and frankly happened often. With the revelations in Half-Blood Prince we find something else new. Eileen Prince was the mother of Severus Snape. She was also the witch in the couple of Prince and Snape. Little is known about the relationship (pre-Severus) between the two of them.

It could be suggested that this Muggle Snape was poor. It could also be suggested that Prince herself came from a poor background. There are slight parallels between herself and Merope Gaunt. I would not be surprised if there was a love potion involved somewhere. Although, I have reason to believe that Snape and Prince were not as far in station as Merope and Riddle.

Of course, this would be completely uncouth for the husband, Tobias that she married. JK Rowling has drawn many parallels between Snape and Harry, as well as Snape and Voldemort himself. One of these parallels is the uncanny resemblance between Uncle Vernon and Tobias Snape. Finding out that not only his wife was a witch and that his only son was also a wizard and one of his wife’s lot, would be a huge blow for someone that believed that face was of the utmost. Although, they were poor as suggested, Tobias evidently cared about what others believed. However, instead of running like Riddle did he stayed in the household. He perhaps believed that leaving and being divorced would be a huge blow. On this point, I would not be surprised if Tobias Snape was a devout Protestant.

Tobias would then grow increasingly hateful. He perhaps, harbored these feelings well before Snape’s birth. It could also be suggested that it was not that far after their marriage that there was a birth to Severus in either 1959 or 1960. He would abuse Eileen; perhaps this was a redux of the abuse she may have suffered. She was described as not being attractive. Children being the way they are would have made fun of her. Her own home life might not have been chipper either. She would have gone into her own defensive maneuver, perhaps well-practiced at that, and cowered at the corner. Memories of her own abuse would perhaps be flying through her head. And yet she stayed with Tobias instead of using her own powers against him. She probably deluded herself into believing that he loved her and she loved him. This is a common delusion from abused women in these relationships.

Child psychologists all believe that this is what is called emotional abuse and neglect. Even from the tiny memory that we see in Order of the Phoenix is enough to diagnose the symptoms of it. According to Helpguide.org “emotional abuse can range from a simple verbal insult to an extreme form of punishment,” Tobias was certainly capable of either. Examples include “ignoring, yelling or screaming, belittling, confinement to a dark room or terrorizing and habitual scapegoat. (Helpguide.org)” Further, this can come from anyone; people such as parents, teachers, bullies, and middle and high-school girls in social cliques. For someone like Severus it would feel as though it was coming from all sides. There was no place for him to find solace. Emotional neglect “is a lack of emotional support and love” and this can result in “failure to attend to needs and domestic violence in the child’s presence” (Helpguide). These types of abuse tend to link with others. It is not impossible that in the Snape household physical abuse was also the word of the day. Physical Neglect and Abuse can come in the form of “inadequate provision of food, housing, or clothing appropriate and inadequate hygiene (Helpguide).” Surely the graying underwear would attest to it. He would have tried to kill things like flies that he knew he could have control over, as he had no control over himself at the time.

It could also be suggested that she was a parent who wanted the best for her son by perhaps teaching him the art of potion making. With this knowledge it could be suggested that she was excellent at potion making and would teach her son even before Hogwarts what it would be all about. She would have been pleased that he had picked up on it very quickly. He might have had a close bond with her. This is something that his father threw away. Of course, she may have been flighty and fearful. Severus might have wanted a way to protect his mother. Many instances of domestic abuse end with the child killing the father. Surely, Snape may have had these thoughts. Eileen may have restrained Severus so that he would not dirty his hands. This would not have kept him from learning everything he could about the Dark Arts to try and protect his mother from the awful Muggle he called his father.

Slowly, Severus’ disposition would have come to light, molded with the waters of abuse. He would have been outcast from the social circles of Hogwarts. Lucius would have taken the boy under his wing. And Snape feeling ashamed that his mother was being berated everyday by a muggle perhaps tried to call himself, pure-blood. And he would use the nickname “half-blood prince” for the sheer irony of his house life, only he would find it hilarious that a Prince would be living like a pauper. Lucious Malfoy would have been his first friend perhaps. His relationship with Lily Evans is not withstanding. Severus through his years of self-teaching himself the Dark Arts represented a nice tool for Malfoy to use.

At some point in the Hogwarts career Eileen Prince-Snape would have died. Perhaps she died as a result of an “accident” at home. Feeling as though he failed to protect his mother with the knowledge he accumulated, Severus would have gotten depressed. Perhaps he cried, which is where the name Snivellus comes from. Of course, this could have come earlier if the abuse continued at the hands of others in Hogwarts. At this point, I believe that Severus closed himself from all emotion. Lucious and the rest would have graduated and a few years later Severus would have as well and joined the Death Eaters. Ashamed for not saving his mother from the Muggle, and he would harbor an intense hatred of every muggle in existence. He would have also called himself a pure-blood wizard in the company of the other Death Eaters. In much the same way as the Voldemort rejected his half-blood ancestry so did Severus. Voldemort would have used the Severus to get a job at Hogwarts. Severus might not have had the same pull to Hogwarts as Voldemort did, but he did have something. It wasn’t his home on Spinner’s End a Muggle Ghetto in northern England. The Prophesy was half-way overheard and Snape ran to Voldemort to tell him. Perhaps, Voldemort offered the adoration of Lily Potter, someone he at least respected. Voldemort killed James and Lily Potter, and Severus feeling much like Judas at the time would have had guilt larger than anything before. He would have reexamined why he joined. And realized what he must do.

This is where I believe that he came clean to Dumbledore and Dumbledore knew that the Voldwar was not over. This is where the plan was put into action of Snape being a sort of double agent. The hatred for Harry is real from Snape. Although, I believe he sees James Potter when he does the things he does to Harry. I think, he believes James to be weak. Not being man enough to protect James. And in some ways I think Severus sees himself, not being able to save his own mother. But, the war needs to go on.

In more than one occasion Snape has saved Dumbledore and others. Even in the HBP we see this. Snape and Dumbledore could have formed a Father/Son bond. One of the only people Snape may have ever respected. I do not think that Snape wanted to kill Dumbledore and possibly wanted to die if Draco couldn’t do it. But, Dumbledore thought that this was silly. And Dumbledore ordered Snape at the forest to kill him if he must and not tell anyone else about it. This was what Dumbledore asked if he was prepared to do. To do anything that needed to be done to get to Lord Voldemort, even if it meant his death, even if it meant the revulsion of the entire Wizarding World. To kill the one person who gave you a home and a job and in some ways affection must have been very tough for Severus. Dumbledore like Harry represents the only father either of them would have known. The hate that would have been needed to get off the Avada Kedavra would not be hate for Dumbledore; although, this would be possible for Snape to hate Dumbledore for telling him to kill him. But it would be hate for Voldemort, for inadvertently making him kill the one father that he ever knew.

Snape is a deeply horrible person; he is suffering from the sins of the father. However, he as well as Dumbledore knows the game and how it is to be played. This is the biggest power play of them all. By solidifying his position within the death eaters, by giving up his position as a teacher (by finally getting the cursed DADA position) he has paid the sweetest price.

But, the three have many similarities. And the fat lady has not sung yet.