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Snape-tember - Week 1 - Discussion


Prof. Tarma Amelia Black

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Do you remember your first time encountering Professor Severus Snape? Were you reading a book or were you watching a movie? 

 

Tell us what you remember, if anything, about your first meeting with Professor Snape.  Did you like him or admire him? Or did you dislike him? Or was he just part of the story and you didn't think much about him until later on, when the story progressed?

 

Write at least 100 words and earn 15 Diamonds!  If you write another post of at least another 100 words, you can earn another 15 Diamonds, too (so remember to leave some information from your first post if you want the additional Diamonds!) 

 

Note:  Do not post twice in a row!  Wait for someone else to post, or 24 hours, before posting again.


You have until the end of September to earn your Diamonds. If you respond within a week of this being posted, though, you earn an additional 3 bonus Diamonds

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My first proper look at Professor Snape was through the eyes of an eleven-year-old Harry Potter, brand new to the Wizarding World.  Professor Snape zeroed in on Harry, teasing him about his 'fame' and asking him questions that he had no idea what the answer was.  I wondered why Harry was singled out for this sort of treatment:  was Snape assuming that Harry had been skating by through life on his celebrity, when Harry's actual life had been a painful struggle up until his eleventh birthday (and Snape did not seem to know this)?  Worse still, when it came time to actually do brewing, Harry appeared to be doing reasonably well enough, only to get singled out for more special treatment when someone else did significantly worse than him as brewing.  Even though Neville Longbottom was the one who managed to melt a cauldron by adding porcupine quills at the wrong time, it was Harry - not Neville - who saw points deducted from him:  Snape suggested that Harry had somehow managed to sabotage the potion from a distance to make Neville look bad!  So "why was Snape so hard on Harry?" really seemed to be my first impression.

 

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When I first read about Snape, I thought that he was kind of mean but as the story progressed, I began to like him more and more.  I liked him so much that I was sad when Snape died his terrible death.  I liked how he was in Slytherin.  I liked how he was friends with Draco.  I liked that he didn't like Harry.  I didn't like how mean he was in the potions classes.  I felt bad for him when he was picked up by James and tipped upside down.  I felt bad that Lily could never forgive him.

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Like Will, I first encountered Professor Snape through the eyes of newly-minted Boy Wonder and fledgling wizard, Harry Potter.  As such, I cannot say that I was overly fond of Professor Snape at all.  Not being privy to the backstory at this point, I thought him overbearing, condescending, and downright unfair.  He seemed to have a grudge against Harry (who I had no reason to dislike at this point) for no reason at all and was overtly pleased when he could deduct points from any House other than Slytherin.  

 

Of course, as time went on my opinion of him changed greatly, but at the first encounter I pegged him as the villainous counterpoint to Dumbledore’s goodness.  Oh how mistaken I would turn out to be!!

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When i first encountered snape it was through the first film and i immediately  disliked him. Harry just wanted to make a good impression and do well on his first day and snape belittled him. Made him feel so unworthy and harry didnt know why, he threw his fame in his face and harry didnt even remember what happened when he was a baby and only just recently found out he was a wizard. I think it was horrible that a grown man was acting like a child and making an actual child feel horrible about himself.

 I still didnt particularly like him when i was old enough to read the book even though i understood more about why he acted like he did, because it wasnt harrys fault what his dad did or how he was treated and what he went through. He was the adult he should of had more control over his emotions and  not bullied a child

 

As the story progressed and we started to learn more about snape my opinion  of him gradually changed. I hated the way he treated harry just because he looked like his father and the way he treated anyone who wasnt in his own house  unfairly especially if it was concerning Malfoy. 

 

But he also did care for harry and he always did his part to protect him and i think him constantly undermining and picking on harry was a front because he was undercover as a death eater pretending to be good to get information but was actually one of the good guys. So he couldnt act like he cared for harry and i think him looking like his father helped fuel is dislike for him which made it believable.

 

 

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Me? I first encounter Snape as through the eyes of Harry Potter, as many did.  I thought he was not fair (as Harry did) and wondered just why this Professor was picking on the new 'celebrity'. I thought, though, that it was just that Snape was Slytherin, and Potter was Gryffindor and also that Snape had a dislike of seeing people lauded for things they had actually done nothing to earn.

 

But there was more, even when first reading it. The dislike was too pronounced ... what was the back story? In the first book, as in the first movie, Snape comes across as totally slanted towards Slytherin House. Being the Head of House, a teacher of Potions (though wanting to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts) and having responsibilities which go along with teaching and being Head of House, I figured that either he was a caricature of someone to be the 'bad guy', or that there was something else going on. 

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I was first introduced to Severus Snape while reading the first book in the Harry Potter series. I don't remember what I thought immediately after that first scene in the Great Hall (although the dungeon scene is, I suppose, much more memorable, since Snape isn't a huge part of the Great Feast). I was likely laying in bed while reading because that's where I read most of the series for the first time. My mother had read the books and always acted as though she had this huge secret about Snape while I was reading Philosopher's Stone ("I promise you can't guess who the villain is!"), so I had my suspicions that he wasn't as awful as he appeared, but his actions on their own were still very hostile. He was likely my mother's favorite character, but he always remained somewhere closer to bad than neutral in my head.

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And when we saw what james and his friends did to him when they were in school made me feel so sorry for him but it still didnt justify his treatment of harry

 

When we got to the end and found out how much he loved lily and protected harry for her it broke my heart. He loved her so much which help turn him to the light side. And i loved how he finally sort of made piece with harry when he said to him 'you have your mother's  eyes' and i was so sad when he died. I think snape turned out to be one of my favourite characters.

 

He was a damaged, sad person, who cared deeply for lily and Harry even though  he wouldnt admit it and protected  those who deserved it. He was a good man but went about  things in the wrong way

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My first impression of Severus Snape was from the 1st book. As I read, Snape seemed to jump out at me. Yes, he was horrible to the students, but there was something about him that  intrigued me. It seemed to me that there was more to him that met the eye.

 

When I spoke to other folks who read Sorcerer's Stone, the first question was "Who is your favorite character?" When I gave my answer, "Snape", they all looked at me like I was a crazy and would reply, "But he's so mean to everyone." My reply was always, "True, but there is something going on with him we just don't know yet."

 

And I guess I was right!

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I don't know how it happened, but before I watched the first movie, I had this image of Snape that was entirely incorrect. My family was also watching Star Wars, and Snape became visually synonymous with one of those tan, thin battle droids from the Star Wars franchise - the droids with the long necks and torsos that were mainly just spine and pretty much not human-like at all. After the first movie, Alan Rickman replaced the battle droid Snape, and I only realized then how off I had been before. I suppose I hadn't been listening to the character descriptions very well - I still don't know what color Ron's eyes are.

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It's fun to me to be reading all the posts above. Particularly I notice that many have a 'Eeeeuuuu' attitude towards Snape, or even a distinct dislike which subtly changes over the course of the books.

 

Me? I didn't care for him much at first, but at the same time I appreciated many of his qualities.  When we were all asked, many years ago here in the Sett, which teacher we'd be like, I promptly replied I was a cross between Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape.  I don't think all the books were out then, either. Snape wasn't shown as being a member of the Order of the Phoenix or anything yet. But there was something intrinsically 'good' about him; I don't know how to describe how I felt this. Maybe it was partly that he protected the kids when Lupin went 'wolf'.  I don't know ...

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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.

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My first encounter with Professor Snape happened while reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I was terrified of him. I was afraid for Harry and his friends to get in any trouble around Snape. Then I was just aggravated with him because it seemed like he was always getting Harry into trouble even if it was not Harry's fault. I remember thinking, "Man, he is strict, I am glad none of my teachers as are mean as Professor Snape." By the last book, however, I had come to love Professor Snape. I was very sad when died during the Battle of Hogwarts. 

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When I first encounter Snape in the Sorcerer's Stone. I didn't think he was mean at first. I felt bad for Harry that Snape always bothering him. Like a bully. But Snape has his moments that are funny. But I hated when he called Hermione out in DADA yr 3. Sometimes he has his bad moments that I did like. But he is a little scary but not that much. Him and Dumbledore are the same when it comes to Gryffindor and Slytherin rivals. Which I didn’t like. In my option Snape is misunderstood and my view of Snape change which I will explain in another post. 

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My first encounter with Professor Severus Snape was when I watched the first movie, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I believe I had thought of him as a cruel and petty man for picking on children. He was unfair for taking points from other houses and favoring his own, Slytherin. As the movies (and books) progressed, my opinion of him generally stayed the same, or developed into a further dislike due to how he treated Professor Remus Lupin, along with other scenarios. At first I thought he was prejudiced against Lupin for his unfortunate status as a werewolf, until I realized his hatred was more personal, from his past, his own school days.

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My first impression to professor Severus Snape was not ... very good. The first time I see him it's just like, why is he so mean? Rude people. And then when I finish watch Harry Potter I can't stop crying for one week because of him. It change my point of view about Prof. Severus Snape (╥﹏╥) He's ... He's a great man, a strong man, and the best Harry Potter character ever. 

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The first time I came across Professor Snape was when I first read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. He really stood out from the other members of Hogwarts staff with his bad attitude towards anyone not in Slytherin, and often came across as dominating as well as a bully. While I didn't take an instant dislike to Professor Snape , I would not have envied anyone being taught by him. if I had him as a teacher I think I would be terrified of him and like poor Neville Longbottom, I probably would not do very well in Potions.

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My first encounter with Professor Snape is a bit hazy, as I have a poor memory, but I recall that I disliked his favoritism towards his own house. I remember being just as excited as Harry to meet the potions instructor and sharing his desire to succeed at potions. It was a letdown for me to see that the professor of the class would stomp so hard down on those who were merely wanting to learn. It also made me a bit sad when he ignored Hermione who knew the answers to all of his advanced questions in favor of singling out and mocking Harry.

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Let's start with the fact I never really liked Harry Potter until very recently (well..about six years ago) I became totally obsessed with the whole series and I fell in love with the story and everything.

I started off with watching the movies. The first opinion that came to my mind when I met Snape was negative. I did not like him and found him to be a bit odd. He was super strange at first and him starring at Harry Potter was very confusing and strange to me. I thought he was that one annoying teacher you want to avoid at all cost.

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My first opinion about Snape was pretty much very similar to all your answers, which have been posted above. 

I decided to watch the movies first so I could easily make up my mind about the world of Harry Potter and all the characters from the series. 

The first thing that came to my mind was the way he behaved. Originally, just like Louis, I thought he was very very strange and his behaviour and body language was extremely odd. He seemed like he was mad at literally everything and everyone. It almost looked like he hates every aspect of being a teacher.

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I also saw in him what Harry has mentioned. He indeed looked like a person who is mad at literally every single thing or person that surrounds him. My opinion did change a lot throughout the whole series. I really did not like him and thought he is the most evil wizard in the Harry Potter world, and that he is very similar to Voldemort because of the way he treated Harry and the rest of the students. Then, when his true self was finally revealed, I was truly amazed at how surprising his character was and that he was a really good guy.

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I definitely did not admire Professor Snape for a long time and, to be honest with all of you, I actually did not care about him and his character as much as for the main three characters - Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. 

Just like Louis said, the original opinion about Snape was constantly changing. When Harry found Mrs Norris petrified, Snape turned to be very annoying to me and I really couldn't stand him until the very end when it turned out he was doing a lot to protect Harry Potter from Voldemort and from him getting hurt. 

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I truly do not like Severus Snape. From the beginning, like I said previously, he was a cruel and petty man who picked on children. He graded students harshly resulting in few students in his NEWTs Potions class, which is required for Aurors and Healers. He doesn't help students understand his class, it actually seems like he despises being a teacher but remained because he needed to keep up appearances for his spy position. Snape also did not deserve his 'redemption arc', or people loving his character. Alan Rickman did a wonderful job portraying him, but Snape is a bad person in my opinion. Neither Harry nor his parents asked Snape to make a vow to protect Harry. Plus, when the Potters were killed, Snape went to the nursery and cried over Lily Potter's body, a woman who had not been his friend for many years after their falling out, and completely ignored her toddler son who was bleeding and injured after surviving an attack from the Dark Lord. I don't like Snape as JK Rowling had written him, and I never will.

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You see, I first encountered Severus Snape through the first ever movie. I never actually read the book before watching that movie. It was night and I was sneaking into the kitchen when I heard the TV turn on. I froze. My dad was having one of his night-time television shows. I was about to tiptoe back up, when I heard a familiar song. Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone was on television. I didn't know how long I was there. When it was finally midnight, I saw him. yup, the cruel Severus Snape. I knew he wasn't a teacher you would want to mess with, but I just felt myself go bright red when he kept bullying all the students. He definitely was one of the characters I hated in the Harry Potter franchise. 

 

When I finally watched Deathly Hallows, I was shocked. Sure, Severus was a big bully, but he must've had a reason. He was in love with Lily Potter, Harry's mother, and he was devastated when he found out that she was dead. The truth finally came out. Although this didn't change the fact that he's abusive towards children, I guess he became number 4 or 3 most hated character for me. When I finally bought the books, for some reason I wasn't as angry with him as I was with the movies. Of course, I was still mad at him throughout the books and movies. To be honest, I never thought he would be a big part of the series until a few movies and books later. So, I didn't admire him, but I felt a little sympathetic towards him at the end. 

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Like so many others, my first introduction to Snape was in the books as a young child, and thus very colored by Harry Potter’s viewpoint. I don’t remember distinctly my first reaction to him, but having experienced mean teachers, I sort of wrote him off as a mean or strict teacher. I feel like it took a few books and the movies to warm up to the character, but I do feel by book 3 I was at least intrigued by him.

 

I’m thinking of more the movie scene but the duel between Snape and Gilderoy and the subsequent duel between Harry and Draco I feel very much was the turning point for me. I know certainly we saw Snape plenty before then, but that feels like the scene where he just went from stock ‘mean teacher’ to someone more interesting to me, I think because you could see how he looked out for Harry despite not liking him. Also, I hated Gilderoy almost right off the bat (in the fun ‘love to hate’ category) so Snape did seem to come off better in comparison. 

 

(How ironic then that even now, the two professors are somewhat pitted against each other with different events in different houses lol)

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