I truly don’t think we appreciate Snape as a character enough. People seem to dislike him because of his broody and dark personality but when we look at his past, it makes his reasoning for his personality make so much more sense. He grew up in an emotionally abusive household, already starting off his young years in such a dark environment. Snape introduced lily to the wizarding world, and grew a quiet, but strong affection for her. He literally watched the love of his life marry his bully that ridiculed and bullied him for years, eventually falling into the dark side of magic. Before anyone even knew Harry Potter, before his fame, snape begged Dumbledore to put protection for lily and her family, because he knew something would happen, and when it did, he was agonizingly heartbroken. He stayed at hogwarts, for years quietly protecting Harry Potter, even when in the eyes of dumblore Harry’s death to Voldemort was inevitable. Even when everyone, including Harry, looked to him as this brooding and unaffectionate man, snape stayed hidden in this agonizing middle of his loyalty to tje dark lord and to his protection of Harry. He had so much regret in his heart, knowing of he hadn’t spoken those words of his prophecy to the dark lord Lily may have survived, even not being there to save her when that time came. He truly lived through hell, of watching this girl he loved so much grow to love someone else, so much so that they married, had a child. That child who held the eyes of that girl he loved so desperately walked the halls everyday, everyday he lived knowing he couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t protect that child, because he’d be watching the eyes of the love of his life vanish for the second time. With his devotion to the dark lord, he killed dumbledore, knowing it was an action he wished desperately not to do, but one he had to, He literally took his loyalty to Lily and her son’s protection to his death, dying for him. And harry would only catch a glimpse of his past, his pain, and his path to his inevitable death. He was betrayed not only by the dark lord but his undying desire to have that girl he’d spent his whole life loving. He came alive seeing those eyes and they soon loved to be the last light he saw. His character is so criminally unappreciated because if we are really looking at it, he was more loyal to Harry than anyone, even dumbledore. Dumblore himself believed Harry’s death was inevitable and practically led the boy to his own demise, but snape stayed consistent to his promise to protect him, so silently and quietly that no one would ever end up knowing. He truly stood as this double lived character. His heart stood attached to this dark side, finding it to be his only true “loyalty” whilst his other stood on its edge trying desperately to keep alive the eyes of the only one he truly loved. It’s so tragic that his whole life he lived, with no one knowing what he added to Harry’s story, and how he quite literally saved it from ending in his death. He instead died himself, in the hopes afterwards the boy would still be alive. His story deserves so much more recognition because truly Harry never would have gotten the ending he did without snape. Goes to show how often the darkest of appearances are always labeled so, even when their hearts hold so much more, so much that so many will never know.
