Circe Narcissa

I first met Snape when I watched the first HP movie. I liked the actor -- who wouldn't -- but I wasn't a big fan of the character. I figured there must be some reason why he would hate a child so much, especially one that had grown up entirely out of the wizarding world, but I didn't know why. He is definitely created in such a way as to make you lean toward believing that he is evil, that he is a Death Eater and has no redeeming qualities. I did like some of his interactions with other persons. Professors, students, etc. He could show that he could be witty, that he was intelligent. Sometimes you found yourself second guessing that first impression that he must be evil. Like, for a moment, a hint of humanity slipped through; but then something else would occur and he would be back firmly in the dislike camp. Learning how Snape grew up and how he was treated by the Marauders, you start to feel sorry for him and even kind of view him through a lens of understanding? He still is a jerk, but at least you can somewhat understand how he became that way. I think the moment I started to really like Snape was when he showed, or at least seemed to show, shock that Dumbledore had essentially been grooming Harry to die all of the years he had been at Hogwarts. He might not like Harry, he may even hate him, but even he is not that cold. When you learn what he had devoted his life to, when you understand why he did the things he did, up to and including being cruel to Harry...he does redeem himself a little, but. It still doesn't change that he spent years of his life emotionally torturing children, including Harry and Neville, over something as life-altering as the loss of their parents.