Mugglenet.com's Harry Potter Should Have Died - Emerson Spartz [47]
Yes!
No matter what J.K.R. says, Severus Snape is second only to Harry as a hero for millions of fans. In spite of his stern appearance and his supposed connections to the Dark Side, he always tries to do the right thing. Yes, he takes a wrong turn as a boy and becomes a Death Eater, but he changes. That is his heroic message—people can redeem themselves. As seen through a memory in DH, Snape realizes his huge mistake in telling Voldemort the prophecy about Harry and vows to do whatever he can to save Lily’s family, including James and the baby. That is bravery personified and Snape receives nothing in return for helping the Order of the Phoenix except for a thankless job teaching Potions at Hogwarts. Voldemort only gives Lily a chance to live at all because Snape asks him to spare her—another brave request that ends up keeping Harry alive when his mother sacrifices her life instead of stepping aside. Without Snape, Harry would have been toast.
Snape has two choices—he can waste away from grief, or he can help watch over Harry in case Voldemort returns. It would have been easy for Snape to walk away from that responsibility. Harry isn’t his son and only reminds Snape of everything he has missed out on in life since James married Lily. But Snape is tough and heroically takes a much harder path and stays at Hogwarts. He keeps up friendships with the Malfoys and other Death Eaters so that when the Dark Lord rises again he can say he has been loyal all along. That is why he is prepared to return to Voldemort at the graveyard in GoF, which is just as brave as anything Harry ever does. Snape’s only motivation in life is to save Lily’s son, and he has to carefully hide his true feelings for years with Occlumency so no one will find out. The Dark Lord could have caught him lying and killed him at any time. Who knows how many ways Snape was punished over the years, physically and mentally? No wonder he feels that Harry doesn’t appreciate anything he does, because Harry never thinks of Snape as brave or heroic until after he dies.
Snape is a hero who never gives up and never runs away, and that takes guts. He is Dumbledore’s most trusted friend. He protects the secrets of the Order of the Phoenix, and in DH saves the lives of Lupin and George Weasley. Also in DH, Harry sees one of Snape’s memories about the Yule Ball, when Snape and Dumbledore are talking about how cowardly Igor Karkaroff is, and Dumbledore implies that Snape is heroic enough to be in Gryffindor, so it’s a mystery why J.K.R. would dispute what she wrote herself in the book. Harry says plainly in the Epilogue that Snape was braver than anyone he had ever known. That’s right—anyone. So whether fans love Snape or hate him, he is a hero in Harry’s eyes.
Verdict
Is Snape just a coward who serves two masters? Or is Snape a true hero who protects Harry for the most noble reasons? What should matter more: the snarky Slytherin things he says or his Gryffindor-style willingness to save people? Harry names his youngest son after Severus and tells him that Snape had courage, and that’s a big deal. Verdict: Snape is a hero of the series, too.
Is S.P.E.W. good or bad for house-elves?
Good
S.P.E.W. can only be a good thing for the house-elves because someone needs to help them—even if they’re too brainwashed to know it. Hermione starts the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare in GoF because she believes passionately that house-elves deserve to have the same rights as humans. House-elves are slaves