How old is severus snape harry potter series

Following Cedric's death, Dumbledore decides to get the two foes to patch things up. Sirius and Snape are forced to shake hands and they agree to do all they can to stop Lord Voldemort following his rise to power.

Unfortunately, neither man would outlive the Dark Lord. He refers to Sirius as Padfoot and indicates that he believes Voldemort is holding his godfather hostage, having seen a vision of his father's best friend being tortured inside the Ministry of Magic. Fans of the movie could be forgiven for thinking Snape completely ignored Harry. But devotees of the book know that Snape did register the message, and he was the reason the Order traveled to the Department of Mysteries to come to his rescue.

Tragically, Sirius dies while playing the hero, struck in the heart with a curse fired from Bellatrix Lestrange. Snape reveals his identity as The Half-Blood Prince in the movie of the same name, telling Harry, shortly after murdering Albus Dumbledore.

But fans learn precious little in the big-screen version of the story about his roots. His mother, Eileen Pince, was a witch and his father, Tobias Snape, was a muggle. Hermione discovers this while reading through old copies of the Daily Prophet in the Hogwarts library, but it comes as little consolation to the Boy Who Lived, who is left in utter agony after seeing Dumbledore die right in front of his eyes.

Snape, when he was Potions Master, horribly biased towards his own students. It didn't matter if Hermione Granger or another Gryffindor came top of the class, he still dished out some pretty brutal treatment. He's still cruel, but he's a lot more balanced. He lets Hermione answer questions, something he didn't tolerate that much in Potions, and even gives Crabbe and Goyle detention for being so bad as their classwork. He lasts just a year in the role before taking over from Dumbledore as Hogwarts headmaster, on Voldemort's orders.

He slaughters the Hogwarts headmaster in order to obtain the Elder Wand but, in the books, Harry delivers one last insult. In front of the Great Hall, with all eyes on him and the Dark Lord, Harry sucker-punches the villain by revealing that Snape was never his servant - and instead did the bidding of Albus Dumbledore due to his love of Lily Potter.

He shouts: "Severus Snape wasn't yours, Snape was Dumbledore's, Dumbledore's from the moment you started hunting down my mother! A young Snape crying in his home at Spinner's End. Severus grew up at Spinner's End , a shabby suburb of Cokeworth. Through the rest of his life, Severus continued to return there when he was not at school.

The young Severus is depicted as being unwashed and wearing ill-fitting clothes " that were so mismatched that it looked deliberate ". As a child, Severus was neglected and his parents often fought with one another. He could not wait to leave for Hogwarts at the end of the summer. Lily Evans and her family lived in the same town, close to Spinner's End.

After watching her for some time, Severus noticed her evident magical abilities and began making friendly overtures. The two bonded quickly and it appears that he was very interested in Lily right from the beginning, though she only regarded him as a good friend.

During this time he also developed a contempt towards her older sister, Petunia. This was most likely because she made disparaging comments about his clothes and residence but may also be because she was a Muggle. Information from Severus's own memories of his first interactions with Lily and Petunia suggests that he was an awkward child with poor social skills. Even when it was important to him to make a good impression, he always seemed to have trouble doing so.

Snape looking at Lily shortly before being Sorted into Slytherin. On the way to Hogwarts for his first year, Severus sat with Lily Evans on the train. While on the train they met James Potter and Sirius Black. This encounter between the three of them revolved around a disagreement regarding what Hogwarts house was the best. This hostile first encounter would set the tone for the antagonism between the three of them for the rest of his life. Snape in his fifth year studying by the Black Lake.

Sorted into Slytherin House upon their arrival at the school, classmates would later state that Severus excelled in the Dark Arts from an early age.

At the age of eleven, he knew more curses and hexes than most of the seventh year students, according to Sirius Black. Severus also had contact with Lucius Malfoy , who was a prefect during his first year and greeted him kindly when he was Sorted into the Slytherin House.

Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were also classmates of Severus. While her claims were dismissed by the faculty of the day, young Snape, however, was not so certain; seeing her as uncommonly ambitious for a Gryffindor and, he recognised, far from stupid, he eventually came to question her motives and her intentions for the vaults, eventually coming to regard her as a danger to the school and all who resided at the castle.

James and his group of friends were constantly at war with Severus throughout their school years. Severus's memories, recorded in the Pensieve , suggest that he was an introverted and studious individual, whereas James was arrogant, popular and athletic. Immediately upon meeting him, James disliked Severus for expressing a desire to be in Slytherin. James's big crush on Lily, and Severus's close friendship and unrequited love for her also heightened the tension between the two.

Snape being bullied by the Marauders. One recorded memory in the Pensieve bore witness to James bullying him, turning him upside-down to reveal his underwear in front of many students, including Lily. This action was proved to be very offensive and it increased the hatred between the two adolescents.

In this accident, Lily came to Severus's defence, but this only made things worse: in a subsequent lashing out at James in an attempt to recover his lost dignity, Severus inadvertently called Lily a Mudblood. Lily refused to forgive him for it, even after his repeated apologies. This would forever be Severus's worst memory. Severus noticed that Remus kept disappearing during the full moon and once followed him past the Whomping Willow after being tipped off on how to do so by Sirius Black to confirm his suspicions.

This act could have cost Severus his life, as had it not been for James going after him to stop him when he learned of Sirius' 'prank', he might have found himself all on his own and caught off guard by a fully-fledged werewolf. As it was, however, James did reach Severus in time and managed to save him just before he got to the Shrieking Shack while Remus was in his wolf-form. Albus Dumbledore swore Severus to secrecy, but the true nature of Remus was clear to Severus.

By their seventh year, James had grown out of his immaturity and arrogance to the point that Lily agreed to start dating him, even though he never grew out of his hatred for Severus — according to Sirius, Severus had always been a "special case" with James. Lily ended up marrying James, which only strengthened Severus's bitterness towards him. There was also some overlap between his school career and that of a younger student by the name of Jacob , yet another rule-breaker Snape came to severely dislike.

During the later part of his magical education, the school was plagued by several dangerous curses unleashed upon the school by Jacob after he tampered with the fabled Cursed Vaults , which resulted in the death and injury of several of his peers, although he suffered no permanent injury himself. Severus was a talented wizard even in his childhood. It was apparent through the notes and scribbles in his potions textbook that he made time during classes to invent curses , charms , and clever potion innovations, while simultaneously learning the required textbook lessons.

Some other spells included Muffliato , which filled the ears of anyone nearby with an unidentifiable buzzing sound and another hex that caused toenails to grow at an unnaturally fast rate.

Harry considered the Half-Blood Prince to be a better teacher than Severus, unaware at that point that Severus was the Prince, much to Harry's later displeasure. The potions textbook has an inscription indicating it is Property of the Half-Blood Prince. Harry Potter also pointed out the similarities between Snape's nickname and the name Voldemort gave himself.

This nickname was apparently a secret, as Remus did not remember it ever being used publicly by Severus. His actions as a Death Eater are largely unknown, though he quickly became an important Death Eater in Voldemort's inner circle. He was the spy responsible for informing Voldemort about the prophecy foretelling his downfall.

In the course of the interview, Trelawney prophesied that at the end of July, a child would be born who would cause the destruction of Lord Voldemort which prompted Dumbledore to hire her, partly for her own safety. At that time it was not clear who was meant by the prophecy. Two children of prominent wizarding families were born that year at the end of July: Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom. Albus reported at the Wizengamot trial of Igor Karkaroff that Severus had come to him and explained that he had been the one to overhear the prophecy, and reported it to Voldemort.

However, Snape did not hear the entire prophecy, as the Hog's Head's barman and Albus' brother, Aberforth , caught him eavesdropping and threw him out. Severus suffered terrible remorse when Voldemort decided that Harry Potter was the subject of the prophecy and that Lily Evans , the woman whom he always loved, was now in danger as a result of his actions.

He begged Voldemort to spare her, who agreed. However, knowing that he could not leave Lily's safety in the hands of someone who could turn back at his word on a mere whim and that Lily would probably defend her child to the last breath, Snape also approached Albus Dumbledore to ask him to save Lily.

He pleaded with Dumbledore to hide her, along with her husband and son if he had to. Dumbledore agreed but insisted that Severus serve him as a spy among the Death Eaters. In fact, it was Snape's request to Voldemort which allowed Lily to let herself die in order for Harry to live when Voldemort attempted to murder him, therefore ensuring that his curse backfired and Voldemort's body was destroyed in the process.

Despite Dumbledore's best efforts to protect the Potters, Voldemort was tipped off by Peter Pettigrew , one of James ' best friends, a spy, and he found them anyway. After Lily's death, Snape was devastated and distraught to the point of wishing himself dead, but Dumbledore urged him to ensure Harry's safety out of respect for Lily's memory; Snape initially insisted the danger had been averted with the Dark Lord gone, only for Albus to insist that he would return and everyone, particularly the boy, would be in danger when that happened.

So Snape spent the rest of his life protecting her child, Harry Potter , who was often said to strongly resemble James. Distrusted for his past as a Death Eater by those on Albus Dumbledore's side, and hated by other Death Eaters for living as Dumbledore's stooge for ten years, Snape continued living on to complete Dumbledore's plan to protect Harry and defeat Voldemort. When Severus Snape began his teaching career at Hogwarts in , taking up a teaching post around the same time as the threat posed by the rampaging curses that had terrorised the castle's residents were contained and the subsequent expulsion of his former peer for the rules he had broken in his quest for the Cursed Vaults and the fellow students who had been endangered in the process, he initially applied for the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, but was rejected multiple times.

Though it seemed rather uncommon for someone as young as Snape to be named Head of any House at Hogwarts, it is possible that Snape was the only Slytherin teacher left at the school, or that he was placed there to keep a watchful eye on the young Slytherins, who were frequently accused of but not without reason joining the Death Eaters.

Following Voldemort 's fall, Snape never attempted to find his old master, having switched sides ever since the Dark Lord had targeted Lily and this allowed him to avoid time in Azkaban as Dumbledore staunchly defended him. He fabricated the fact that he believed Voldemort to be dead as an alibi for still loyal Death Eaters, but in truth, he and Dumbledore had discussed Voldemort and knew he would inevitably return, henceforth the most important reason why he applied as a teacher: to ensure from the shadows the safety of Harry Potter, who Lily had died protecting.

This would bring him into conflict with fanatical Death Eaters like Bellatrix Lestrange later in life, but Snape was almost immediately forgiven by the reborn Voldemort, because he could provide him with thirteen years of information on Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix.

In the meantime and with Voldemort vanished, he focused on his teaching duties at Hogwarts. As a professor, Snape was a stickler for discipline, with little patience for foolishness, yet extremely effective in his job and well respected by the other professors. His deep understanding of potion brewing, as shown by his expert concoction of Wolfsbane Potion , [34] [29] transformed the knowledge of potions from mere chemistry to an art.

This was unfortunate for his classes. He would accept students into his N. He felt that anyone with a lower mark than that would lack the passion and the devotion to the complex and demanding subjects that would follow in the last two years of school. Though strict, Snape had a certain level of bias for Slytherins, giving them undeserved rights over the others, while looking down on the other students somewhat unfairly.

Snape's role during this entire time was extremely sensitive and required master espionage and image-control skills. As he and Dumbledore anticipated that Voldemort would return eventually, and many of Snape's actions would be reported on by Death Eater spies or gained through torture and Legilimency , even if Snape's true mentality and intentions were inaccessible to the Dark Lord, he had to consider every decision and relationship carefully.

He treated Harry Potter with maximal coldness and never missed an opportunity to cause him trouble, as any variation from this would have cast suspicion on him in Voldemort's eyes. But in reality, he protected Harry on numerous occasions; he was happy enough to cause the boy, who resembled his father, Snape's hated rival from school days, humiliation and trouble, but never any actual harm or danger as he was still Lily's son.

He also had to avoid becoming too aware of Voldemort's plans, so as to avoid being held responsible for allowing Harry and his friends to foil them. But he handled all this brilliantly, and his every action during this period created no mistrust on the part of Voldemort.

Closing in on the first half a decade of his tenure as an instructor at Hogwarts, Professor Snape was present at the Start-of-Term Feast of the — school year, during which he was introduced to the new first-years as the Head of Slytherin House during the Sorting ceremony. He witnessed the sorting of, among others, the younger sibling of Jacob, who was sorted into the same house as Jacob and of whom he became immediately suspicious.

Throughout the year, he proceeded to teach this class, among other things, the Wiggenweld Potion [36] , the Herbicide Potion [37] and how to properly concoct a Sleeping Draught. Sometime later, Snape and the school's Charms Master Filius Flitwick were made aware of how there were to be an unsanctioned duel between Jacob's sibling and Merula Snyde in the Clocktower Courtyard , arriving just in time to see the latter successfully deprive their opponent of her wand.

Although Professor Filius Flitwick wanted to know who it was that cast the first spell, keeping in mind that Jacob's sibling had been instructed to only ever use the Disarming Charm defensively, Snape was largely dismissive of who started the fight.

After subtly criticising his colleague, whom he correctly deduced were the one who had instructed said student in how to cast the Disarming Charm in the first place, he ordered both students to get cleaned up and meet up at the West Tower in order to receive punishment for their transgression. Upon reporting the incident to Albus Dumbledore , Snape asked for Jacob's sibling to be expelled, whom he regarded as a troublemaker just like their brother before them, a request the Headmaster rejected, and which he would soon thereafter lament about in the presence of both Jacob's sibling and Snyde.

Although he docked twenty points from the former's house, he was interrupted by the caretaker of the day, Argus Filch , before he could do anything else. Upon being informed about an incident that had occurred that demanded his immediate attention that was related to the Cursed Vaults, Snape ordered both students to return to their common rooms. Accompanying the caretaker to a corridor on the fifth floor, Mr Filch explained that he and his pet cat, Mrs Norris , had discovered how cursed ice had appeared in one of the rooms there.

Immediately recognising this as one of the curses unleashed when someone had tampered with the Cursed Vaults, Snape immediately ordered Filch to lock the door and stand guard to prevent students from getting inside, before he left to inform the Headmaster. In the aftermath of this discovery, the faculty successfully managed to keep it from spreading any further and securely sealed up the room afterwards, although he was unaware the two students he had just left had followed them and overheard portions of his conversation with Filch and resolved to break into the room in order to look for clues regarding the whereabouts of the vaults.

At some other point early on in the year, Snape became livid when a first-year mentioned Harry Potter in class, and hurled a jar of pickled animal parts at him. Snape continued his job as Potion Master at Hogwarts and tried to prevent students' interference in the Cursed Vaults.

He ordered Argus Filch to retrieve the Jacob 's note, that was an untransfigured black quill, from Jacob's sibling. An old hatred between Snape and Rakepick was fully visible; Professor Snape broke Jacob's sibling's borrowed broomstick and sought an unexpected help from Jacob's sibling with revealing Patricia's true intention.

Jacob's sibling spied on her for many times while taking orders from Snape. Although Snape admitted them spying on her was totally useless since she said whatever she wanted Severus to know and also she knew they were spying. The fifth year began while Snape's hatred to Rakepick was more than anytime. Severus used to think Penny Haywood would have a perfect future as potioneer , although due to what happened to her sister Beatrice , his mind had changed.

A fair warning from him to Jacob's sibling would make them think about Miss Haywood. And this would help Haywood and Jacob's sibling control themselves and try to find a way to break the last curse and free both Jacob and Beatrice. Madam Rakepick was seen while using Lacarnum Inflamari on Snape's cloak.

Snape sitting with Quirinus Quirrell and Rolanda Hooch at the start of the — school year. In , Nicolas Flamel , a famous alchemist and friend of Albus Dumbledore , had the Philosopher's Stone that was keeping him alive moved from his safe in Gringotts to Hogwarts for safekeeping. Snape contributed to the defences set up around the magical artefact by adding a Potions Riddle as one of the obstacles, and the only obstacle that used logic as a key factor instead of magic.

Harry's resemblance to his father and his acquired 'celebrity' status brought the worst out of Snape from their very first Potions lesson. Throughout the year as part of his promise to Dumbledore, Snape did everything he could to prevent Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor Quirinus Quirrell from helping Lord Voldemort obtain the Philosopher's Stone, having seen him as what he was and at least knew he was helping Voldemort, if not also being aware of Voldemort possessing Quirrell.

By 31 October , the turbaned Professor, sure enough, made his first move by letting a Mountain troll into Hogwarts Castle as a diversion. Snape took this chance to stop him from sneaking into the restricted third-floor corridor where the Stone was being hidden in the midst of the chaotic event, only to get bitten in the leg by the corridor's three-headed guard dog , Fluffy. When Quirrell made his first attempt on Harry's life by jinxing his new broomstick during the boy's first Quidditch game, Snape intervened again by performing a counter-curse to prevent Harry from being hurled off.

Unfortunately, Hermione Granger observed the crowd through binoculars to figure out who was performing the jinx and caught Snape discreetly uttering the counter-curse incantation, but erroneously thought he was performing the actual curse.

So she ran to his stand and set fire to his robes in order to distract him and make him stop, and luckily for Snape, she accidentally knocked Quirrell over during her hurry back to the Gryffindor stands, causing him to break the eye contact necessary for performing his spell correctly.

For the next match, Snape insisted on refereeing to make sure it did not happen again. This did not come across well to the other teachers, who believed that he was just trying to injure the Gryffindor Quidditch team 's chances of winning. Snape intensely confronted Quirrell in the Forbidden Forest on the night after the match, demanding to know why he was after the Philosopher's Stone. Unbeknownst to them both, Harry was watching the entire argument from the treetops, having followed his Potions teacher into the forest on his broomstick after passing him at the school Quidditch shed.

But because the boy suspected Snape of plotting to steal the stone and of attempting to kill him, it seemed to him that the Potions professor was trying to intimidate Quirrell into handing over information regarding the artefact. Snape was present at the End-of-Term Feast that year. He was initially very pleased to see that Slytherin had won the House Cup again, but was forced to shake McGonagall's hand with a forced smile after Dumbledore's additional house points to Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville Longbottom meant that Gryffindor had won instead.

During the beginning of the school year in , Snape learned from the Evening Prophet that Muggles spotted Harry and Ron travelling to Hogwarts in a flying Ford Anglia , instead of on the Hogwarts Express. Knowing the severity of their deeds could very well cause them to be expelled, which would put Harry in great danger as he would lose Dumbledore's protection, Snape took matters into his hand and confronted them when they had landed, where he severely berated them for their breach of one of the most sacred laws of their world and pretended to call upon Professors Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall to make them solve this situation.

It was as Snape wanted: Dumbledore ensured they would not be expelled and Minerva punished them instead by giving them a warning and separate detentions. Regardless of his desire to uphold Lily's memory, Snape considered the punishment too lenient and retaliated by allowing the Slytherin Quidditch team to unfairly usurp the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch during the Gryffindor team's practice time. This was in order for them to train Draco Malfoy as their new Seeker.

They did this by creating a spectacle of a diversion in his classroom, which involved a firecracker and the Swelling Solution that was being made in class. He was utterly furious at the mess and the way he looked it Harry made it clear he knew it was Harry who had caused it considering the way he looked at Harry, with Harry referring to having felt Snape read his mind, strongly indicating Snape used Legilimency on him.

In this period, he quickly visibly showed a large amount of irritation and anger at Professor Lockhart who would remain, evermore, the teacher of the subject he most cherished. Snape took a certain amount of enjoyment in blasting him against a wall with the Disarming Charm and looking ready to murder him on the spot to the point that even Lockhart was intimidated enough to stop annoying Snape.

He ensured that Harry would be engaged with Draco instead, but interfered when Harry and Draco practically checkmated each other, with Harry using the Tickling Charm on Malfoy and was subsequently hit by the Dancing Feet Spell. Although he gave Malfoy the instruction needed to conjure a snake and relished the fact that Harry was alone to face the large angry snake , once Harry showed his Parseltongue ability, Snape quickly interfered to avoid too much of a problem on Harry's part by vanishing the snake and allowing him to be escorted out of the Great Hall by his friends but looked at him suspiciously before he left.

Lockhart would only further irritate Professor Snape during Valentine's Day , where he held a party to celebrate it as Snape looked on particularly dreadfully to the point he looked as if he had been forced to take multiple Skele-Gro and Snape did not hesitate to look utterly infuriated when Lockhart cheerfully asked the students to make Snape brew for them Love Potions to the point he clearly shot a warning look to them that he would force-feed anyone who dared to ask him to poison.

This hatred for Lockhart finally reached its apex when Professor Lockhart walked in upon their discovery of Ginny being taken to the Chamber of Secrets, as even Snape was genuinely concerned for her regardless of how he treated Gryffindor, and furiously led the teachers into forcing him out of the way so that students could be escorted to safety, outright not giving Lockhart even a second to rebuke Snape's claim of having heard Lockhart proclaim that he had found the monster.

By describing the Polyjuice Potion in Potions class which Hermione remembered , and demonstrating the Disarming Charm to the Duelling Club, Snape taught Harry two skills that ultimately proved critical to his success. During this school year, Snape demonstrated his expertise with potions by brewing the complex Wolfsbane Potion for the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, Remus Lupin. Throughout this year, Snape suspected that Lupin may be helping Sirius Black , an escapee from Azkaban , enter Hogwarts castle.

This suspicion stemmed from Lupin's friendship with Sirius and Harry's father James Potter when they were all at Hogwarts as students. It is revealed that Sirius once played a joke on Snape, telling him that he could find out where Lupin was going every month if he climbed into the Whomping Willow. James realised the danger and saved Snape's life by pulling him back. Snape confronts Sirius and Lupin in the Shrieking Shack. Near the end of the school year, Snape ambushed Black as he entered the school again and attempted to apprehend him, believing him to have been the one who had betrayed Lily to Voldemort.

Snape appeared from under the Invisibility cloak that Harry had left near the Whomping Willow, tied Remus up, and while engaged in a vociferous argument with Harry and Hermione, he attempted to arrange to send Sirius and Remus to Azkaban Prison. Snape also said that Harry, Ron, and Hermione faced suspension for being out-of-bounds. Since Harry aided Black's escape, Snape was beside himself with indignation. On the last day of school, he revealed to his students that Lupin was a werewolf, forcing Lupin to resign his post.

Snape and others' reactions after Harry Potter is selected as the fourth Triwizard champion. Snape was apoplectic when Harry's name was unexpectedly chosen from the Goblet of Fire. Despite the fishy circumstances surrounding the incident and the immense dangers that Harry was facing, Snape refused to believe that he did not deliberately enter himself in for the Triwizard Tournament.

Indeed, he continued to treat Harry as maliciously as ever, thinking that he had broken into his office to steal ingredients that would aid him in the underwater phase of the tournament. Harry later discovered that Snape was once a Death Eater but had been vouched for by Dumbledore. Dumbledore told the Wizengamot that although Snape had indeed worked for Voldemort, he changed sides and turned spy against him.

Dumbledore reassured Harry that Snape's loyalties were genuine, though he refused to tell Harry why. Harry was not the only one who had expressed scepticism over Snape's reform. Professor Moody had Snape's office searched at the beginning of the year, claiming that it was an "Auror's privilege" and that Dumbledore mentioned being watchful of him.

Snape was resentful of Moody's accusations but could not do anything about it. In truth, Moody was actually an impostor who had been raiding Snape's cabinet for ingredients to make Polyjuice Potion. Karkaroff showing Snape his Dark Mark. Despite Snape's unawareness of the real reason why Harry was in the tournament, it had not escaped his notice that Lord Voldemort's mark was becoming increasingly more pronounced throughout the year.

Karkaroff, who dreaded retribution from Voldemort, panicked and confided his fears in Snape. Karkaroff attempted to talk to him numerous times throughout the year, but Snape had no sympathy for him and offered no help. Karkaroff consequently fled when the Dark Lord returned, but Snape, who remained in the Dark Lord's good favour with the information he could provide on Dumbledore, had nothing to fear from him in the term of retribution. In fact, he appeared to have been waiting for Voldemort's return more than ever this year, as he and Dumbledore were conversing about it.

Snape uses his Dark Mark as proof that Voldemort has returned. Soon the effects of Crouch Jnr's Polyjuice Potion wore off; in the excitement, he had neglected to take it at the proper time to maintain his cover. Under the effects of Veritaserum provided by Professor Snape, Crouch described Lord Voldemort's plan to resurrect himself and Crouch Jnr's own involvement in getting Harry to the graveyard.

Dumbledore and Snape attempted to convince a disbelieving Cornelius Fudge that Voldemort had returned. Snape was finally told the truth about Sirius's innocence and was forced by Dumbledore to shake hands. He was subsequently sent on a secret mission by Dumbledore to rejoin the Death Eaters and spy on the Dark Lord as a double agent. During the — school year, with Voldemort having returned to his body, Snape carried on with his work as a double agent for Dumbledore.

During the summer, he was seen at 12 Grimmauld Place giving reports to the Order of the Phoenix. Snape frequently taunted Sirius about the latter not being able to take an active role in the Order's missions due to his fugitive status.

Back at school, Snape's allegiance to the Order had no effect on his dislike for Harry. When Harry began having visions about Lord Voldemort, Dumbledore asked Snape to teach Harry Occlumency in order to shut down the telepathic connection. Indeed, Snape had to be very careful in the ways that he helped Harry, should Voldemort read Harry's mind and discover his servant working against him.

At one point, Harry peeked into the Pensieve when Snape was out of his office and witnessed a private memory of Snape being viciously bullied and harassed by Harry's father. Upon returning, Snape grabbed him roughly by the arm and threw him out of the office and forbade him from ever coming back again. For all the rest of that semester, he treated Harry with redoubled contempt and fury and ignored him in class whenever possible. Towards the end of the school year, Dolores Umbridge captured Harry and questioned him on the whereabouts of Dumbledore.

She sent for Snape to provide Veritaserum to force Harry to reveal any information he may be hiding. Snape claimed that his supplies of Veritaserum were exhausted earlier, when she had attempted to use the drug surreptitiously to force information from Harry however, it is highly likely that he lied.

As a result, Snape withheld further assistance. It is later revealed that Snape had actually given Umbridge a fake potion during her prior attempts. Upon hearing Harry's cryptic warning about Sirius's capture, he swiftly carried the message back to the other Order members, and helped come up with a plan for them to come to the rescue in the Department of Mysteries while he searched the Forbidden Forest for Harry.

But since Umbridge was near, he pretended to ignore it. However, despite the fact that Snape came to his aid multiple times throughout the year, Harry hated him as much as ever, due to believing that Snape's goading spurred Sirius into joining the battle. In July Dumbledore had been afflicted by a powerful curse cast on Marvolo Gaunt's ring , one of Voldemort's Horcruxes , prior to the start of Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts.

Although Snape's knowledge of the Dark Arts enabled him to slow the spread of the curse, the curse would have ultimately killed Dumbledore within a year. Dumbledore, aware that Voldemort had ordered Draco to kill him, asked Snape to kill him instead as a way of sparing the boy's soul and of preventing his own otherwise slow, painful death.

Furthermore, once Snape had done the deed, he would gain Voldemort's complete trust and learn more of his plans. Snape agreed to do as the Headmaster requested. Narcissa's son Draco had been given a difficult task by Voldemort, and Narcissa swore Snape to an Unbreakable Vow , on pain of death should he break it, that he would protect Draco, help him complete Voldemort's task, and finish the task himself if Draco failed.

When questioned by Bellatrix about his loyalties, Snape claimed to have been working for Voldemort rather than for Dumbledore ever since Voldemort's return, and explained his actions in the previous years in that light. In addition, he pointed out that Dumbledore's protection had kept him out of Azkaban and free to operate on Voldemort's behalf. At the start-of-term feast at Hogwarts, Dumbledore announced he had finally appointed Snape as Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts , much to Harry's shock and displeasure.

Having finally acquired the position he desired for so long, Snape taught the lessons with a tone of passion for the Dark Arts he sought to undo, something he did not do for Potions. Slughorn loaned Harry an old Potions textbook , in which Harry found marginalia including helpful tips on how to make potions better, [30] and a variety of curious spells seemingly invented by an unknown student. Snape, however, was suspicious when he heard about Harry's newfound success, maintaining that he "never had the impression that [he] had been able to teach Potter anything at all ".

In the spring, Snape met with Dumbledore on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest and wanted to know more about the private lessons between Albus and Harry.

Not knowing that they were overheard by Hagrid, Snape burst into resentment that Dumbledore trusts Harry more than him. Dumbledore only ordered Severus to look after Draco even more, after Ron Weasley has been poisoned. Albus also invited him for an evening visit in his office. When Snape arrived and learned that Harry had to die, he showed outrage and ultimately showed that he still after all these years loved Lily by revealing his Patronus to be a doe, the same as Lily's.

Later, in a fight with Draco, Harry cast one of the Prince's spells marked "For Enemies" Sectumsempra and was horrified when it caused devastating wounds to Draco's face and chest. Snape rushed to the scene and healed Draco's wounds , and then interrogated Harry about the source of the spell. When Harry refused to tell him anything, Snape demanded that he bring him all of his books. Harry hid the Prince's book and gave Ron Weasley's copy of the book to Snape instead. Snape punished Harry by giving him a detention every Saturday for the rest of the year, including during the final Quidditch match of the season.

Fearing of exposing himself as the inventor of the curse that injured Draco, Snape did not outright expose Harry's cheating in Potions to Slughorn or the rest of the staff, thus resulting in a punishment much more lenient than usual, which Professor McGonagall saw as something very lucky for Harry.

Snape proves his loyalty to Dumbledore - by ending the headmaster's life as requested. Before leaving with Dumbledore to find a Horcrux , Harry discovered from Professor Sybill Trelawney that it had been Severus who overheard the Prophecy and told it to Voldemort, thus causing Voldemort to hunt Harry and his parents. Despite this and Harry's angry questions, Dumbledore maintained that he trusted Snape. Gravely weakened by Voldemort's potion, and the school being under attack by Death Eaters, Dumbledore asked Harry to fetch Snape for him.

Before Harry could leave, Draco arrived and disarmed Dumbledore, intending to carry out Voldemort's ordered assassination. Draco was unable to bring himself to commit the murder, however, and Snape killed the headmaster himself. An enraged Harry who had been immobilised by Dumbledore for his own protection and had witnessed the killing while under his Invisibility cloak chased Snape, Draco, and the Death Eaters as they fled the castle.

The two of them engaged in a fierce duel, which became increasingly one-sided. Snape easily blocked Harry's attempts to attack him and jeeringly pointed out Harry's mistakes, but refused to strike back.

However, he became enraged when Harry called him a coward and began using his own spells against him, resulting in him blasting Harry back against the ground. Harry was unable to stop Snape before the latter passed through the school gates and Disapparated. After killing Albus Dumbledore and fleeing the school, Snape once more rejoined the ranks of the Death Eaters. In the summer of , Snape informed Lord Voldemort that Harry was to depart from his relatives ' house four days before his birthday.

On Dumbledore's orders, Snape told the Death Eaters the correct date so as to continue Voldemort's trust in him. Snape then fed Mundungus Fletcher the idea of using seven decoys of Harry Potter during his movement to a place of safety so that when the Death Eaters arrived, they would not know who the real one was. In order to be consistent in his own role as a Death Eater, Snape confunded Fletcher so that he would not remember who told him.

During the battle, Snape accidentally sliced George Weasley 's ear off with Sectumsempra while aiming at another Death Eater. Snape had cut off the letter and took the page, which contained Lily's signature and love. He also cut off the picture of Potter family and took the page, which contained Lily, for himself. According to the official Wizarding World site , his last name is based on the Old Norse word "sneypa" meaning "to outrage, disgrace or dishonor. It's nearly impossible to think of any actor other than Alan Rickman playing Snape , but he almost didn't.

He ultimately turned down the "Harry Potter" role , paving the way for Rickman's iconic portrayal. According to Wizarding World , a Patronus is generated through "memories of happiness and hope.

As far as readers and viewers know, Snape was the only Death Eater to cast a Patronus spell throughout the series. Since his happiest and most loving memories were with Harry's mother, Lily, his Patronus took the same form as hers — which is what made Harry follow it in the first place.

However, Snape isn't the only villainous character in the series that uses a Patronus. It's widely known by Hogwarts students and professors that Snape wanted to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, not Potions. But based on the description of the position on Wizarding World, it seems like Snape was destined for the role. The site reads, "The popular idea of a Potions expert within the wizarding community is of a brooding, slow-burning personality.

Although we know he wasn't always this way, Snape seemed to have grown into the position quite comfortably by Harry's first year. Snape was a half-blood, born to a Muggle father named Tobias Snape and a witch mother named Eileen Prince.

His father was neglectful and sometimes abusive, which may have contributed to Snape's disdain for Muggles. At some point during his school years, he decided to reject his father's name entirely, giving himself the moniker "The Half-Blood Prince" with his mother's maiden name instead. The films give the impression that Snape grew up alongside Lily and her sister, Petunia. Although both families did live in the fictional English town of Cokeworth, they resided in two different neighborhoods.

Snape's family lived on Spinner's End, which is shown as a run-down street in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," insinuating that Snape's family wasn't very wealthy. But the film version doesn't clearly show why their relationship fell apart the way it did. In the book, we learn that James Potter and his friends were bullying Snape, and Lily came to his defense. Instead of accepting her act of kindness, he rejected her and called her a "mudblood" — an insult to witches and wizards with Muggle parents — despite his own impure bloodline.

In , Rowling wrote on Pottermore now Wizarding World that chemistry, the Muggle equivalent to Potions class, was her least favorite subject in school. This partially influenced her decision to make Snape — a hated teacher among Hogwarts students, especially Harry — the Potions Master.