Chapter Thirty-Three: The Prince’s Tale
In chapter thirty-three of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows we get the big Snape reveal and Harry finds out he’s supposed to die to save the world. No pressure, Harry!
(Please be advised that this is a reread and I will be discussing book and movie spoilers.)
Everyone grab some smelling salts and set up on your fainting couches because I’ve got so many THOUGHTS about this chapter all of our brains might explode.
So I’m going to complain for sure about Snape and his behavior this chapter, but I want to also add that paradoxically, the Snape flashback chapters (Snape’s Worst Memory and The Prince’s Tale) are two of my very favorite chapters in all of the books. I’m saying this because my critique of Snape might make it sound like I hate him, or that I find his character badly written. On the contrary, I find Snape to be a pitiable figure who does incredibly noble things and is written with so many shades of grey he is one of the best written characters, on par with Dumbledore, Sirius, Remus, Harry, and Hermione. But let’s face it. he’s still a dang jerk and I refuse to act like he’s the biggest hero in the series. It’s weird because I thought JKR agreed with the interpretation that Snape is complicated and good and bad all at once, then she goes full “Albus Severus” and Cursed Child nonsense on us.
So while the trio stares at Snape’s corpse LV does his creepy voice thing again and says they have one hour to turn over Harry or everyone’s dead, and didn’t we already do this, bitch? Ron and Hermione are immediately like “fuck no, Harry,” knowing him and his saving people thing as they do, and stick a pin in that one, we’re getting to it later.
We find out like a gut punch that not only is Fred dead, but so is Tonks and Remus and we don’t even see how but we do know why: for literary parallels.
Ron and Hermione walk away from Harry in silence to go be with the crying Weasleys and look, I don’t blame Ron for this in the slightest since his brother just died in front of him but Hermione what in the fuck are you doing? You know Harry has a saving people thing. You know he’s just been informed Voldemort is going to kill everyone unless Harry sacrifices himself. And yet you wander off without another word to Harry and like…don’t even notice that he disappears?!
Harry does what any sane person would in this situation, and runs away in a blind grief panic to sink into Snape’s memories, figuring nothing could be worse then his current reality
and then he wanders down memory lane. Now, I will be honest with you. I, myself, had not guessed at this point that Snape was in love with Lily. I had never bought him being full evil on Voldemort’s side, but I hadn’t guessed the twist. However, between book five and six I heavily became involved in the HP fandom and I read an essay that had a full theory about Snape and Lily, even laying out the part where Petunia references Snape in book five and Harry thinks she’s talking about James, so I wasn’t surprised at this revelation. But I was pleased. I love secret backstory!
Snape as it turns out, has been watching his neighbor young Lily (and by extension Petunia) for quite some time like a love struck fool or an intensely creepy weirdo, your pick.
He’s the one who tells her about Hogwarts and the dementors and assures her that it doesn’t matter that she’s Muggleborn, which is of course a lie that she will find out very soon. And he’s also the one who makes a branch hit Petunia when he’s mad at her for being a pill. Which, Petunia IS a horrible pill, but this is an early indication that Snape is the type of person who resorts to using magic against defenseless Muggles and/or people he doesn’t like to physically hurt them when he’s mad.
Our next flashback is even more revealing, when we find out the real reason Petunia hates Lily and Harry so much: she desperately wanted to go to Hogwarts herself and can’t because she’s a Muggle. She even wrote to Dumbledore to ask! This is really sad and makes sense but also does not, in any way, justify her abuse toward Harry, so we can all rest easy knowing Petunia still sucks.
Lily and Snape found Dumbledore’s reply in Petunia’s room and holy shit this was a bad idea to throw this in Petunia’s face, Lily. The girl has to do math and shit instead of waving a magic wand! Of course she’s going to lash out! So we get our second little indication that Snape was always a little asshole when he finds Lily crying and when she says Petunia isn’t talking to her anymore he responds with
“So what? She’s only a–“
and Lily doesn’t hear that last part, which clearly was going to end with “Muggle.” This is our next clear sign that Snape, as noble as some of his actions are, was already harboring problematic feelings. The two are sharing a cart with James and Sirius, and the feud between the three boys is started on that first train, just like Harry and Malfoy. But so is the dislike Lily holds for James.
We skip forward some years, touch on their separate sortings, and go to another revealing flashback, wherein Lily is mad at Snape for being friends with creepy dudes who do unknown but alarming things to other girls and Snape is mad at Lily for bringing up that James saved his life. They also have a little spat over Remus being a werewolf, but let’s go back to the part where Snape gets crazy jealous over Lily saying anything remotely nice about James and gets…how shall we say this…controlling and full of red flags?
Snape’s whole face contorted and he spluttered, “Saved? Saved? You think he was playing the hero? He was saving his neck and his friends’ too! You’re not going to—I won’t let you—”
“Let me? Let me?”
Lily’s bright green eyes were slits. Snape backtracked at once.
“I didn’t mean—I just don’t want to see you made a fool of—He fancies you, James Potter fancies you!” The words seemed wrenched from him against his will. “And he’s not… everyone thinks… big Quidditch hero—” Snape’s bitterness and dislike were rendering him incoherent, and Lily’s eyebrows were traveling farther and farther up her forehead.
“I know James Potter’s an arrogant toerag,” she said, cutting across Snape. “I don’t need you to tell me that. But Mulciber’s and Avery’s idea of humor is just evil. Evil, Sev. I don’t understand how you can be friends with them.”
Harry doubted that Snape had even heard her strictures on Mulciber and Avery. The moment she had insulted James Potter, his whole body had relaxed, and as they walked away there was a new spring in Snape’s step…
Bolding is mine, but let’s focus on the fact that Snape says he won’t let Lily do something like he has some sort of power over her and Lily shuts him down like a boss, focusing on the important part, that Snape is friends with guys who do evil stuff for laughs while Snape ignores that and just hears that Lily finds James arrogant.
Moving on, we find out why that memory is Snape’s worst, and it wasn’t because of flashing his knickers, it’s because he called Lily, who just selflessly ran over to help him, a Mudblood in front of everyone because his fragile masculinity has been questioned.
Snape tries to apologize later in private and Lily Evans is such a boss here that I have to quote this important exchange fully:
‘I only came out because Mary told me you were threatening to sleep here.’
‘I was. I would have done. I never meant to call you Mudblood, it just –’
‘Slipped out?’ There was no pity in Lily’s voice. ‘It’s too late. I’ve made excuses for you for years. None of my friends can understand why I even talk to you. You and your precious little Death Eater friends – you see, you don’t even deny it! You don’t even deny that’s what you’re all aiming to be! You can’t wait to join You-Know-Who, can you?’
He opened his mouth, but closed it without speaking.
‘I can’t pretend any more. You’ve chosen your way, I’ve chosen mine.’
‘No – listen, I didn’t mean –’
‘– to call me Mudblood? But you call everyone of my birth Mudblood, Severus. Why should I be any different?’
He struggled on the verge of speech, but with a contemptuous look she turned and climbed back through the portrait hole…
Snape is clearly remorseful at the pain he’s caused Lily, but she’s also clearly done with his shit. The answer of course is that she’s different because he loves her, but Lily, even if she knows this, doesn’t consider this good enough, nor should she. Lily, IMO, wanted a guy who fought for the side of good, who truly believed in doing the right thing, and that’s why she eventually turns to James. Sure James was an arrogant little shit as a fifteen year old who did messed up things. I’m not excusing that at all. But he grew into a man who believed in the right things, did the right things, and died selflessly for his wife and son. Snape joined a murdering, racist death cult in a bizarre attempt to impress Lily who has…already told him that she hates said death cult.
The tragedy of Snape is that if he’d just changed his life around starting here, removing himself from his friends who are future Death Eaters, behaving differently, joining the order, Lily might have fallen in love with him and married him. So he has absolutely no one to blame but himself, which makes him a tragic Shakespearean type figure but does not, exonerate him from his crimes as a horrible bully to Harry, Neville, and Hermione amongst others. And goodness knows what he did the first time he was a Death Eater, before he turned spy. Perhaps nothing, but perhaps he was a murderer. We don’t know.
Flash forward to the part where Snape is more noble, where he asks Dumbledore to protect Lily and then agrees to help protect Harry. But please let’s pause on the part where he still reveals a more ugly underbelly:
‘If she means so much to you,’ said Dumbledore, ‘surely Lord Voldemort will spare her? Could you not ask for mercy for the mother, in exchange for the son?’
‘I have – I have asked him –’
‘You disgust me,’ said Dumbledore, and Harry had never heard so much contempt in his voice. Snape seemed to shrink a little.
‘You do not care, then, about the deaths of her husband and child? They can die, as long as you have what you want?’
Snape said nothing, but merely looked up at Dumbledore.
‘Hide them all, then,’ he croaked. ‘Keep her – them – safe. Please.’
We finally find out why Voldemort doesn’t just immediately kill Lily, and it’s because of Snape’s request. His first thought is to save Lily, which is perfectly fine, but then he doesn’t even think or care about her husband and child until Dumbledore presses the issue, which is gross. Then he barely cares that Harry is alive and is forced into agreeing to help protect him, detesting him all the while.
The rest of the flashback is truly noble however, when Snape returns to the Death Eater’s service, helps Dumbledore with his cursed hand, and agrees to kill him as part of A-Dumbz master plan. the two also have a nice moment where Dumbledore tells Snape he’s brave and he thinks perhaps they sort to early and….okay. OKAY. Are we taking one of our only “good” Slytherins and trying to shove him into Gryffindor now, JKR?! What ambitious and cunning person hurt you?!
So thebombshell gets dropped, that Harry’s got a little baby Horcrux in his head and that’s why Voldz can’t die and you know the drill so I won’t get into it, but Snape’s as disgusted as we are that Dumbledore has been using him to raise Harry like a prized pig for slaughter and when Dumbledore is all “how touching Sev you’re planning on adopting Harry now?”
Snape’s all bitch please it’s still all for Lily check out this doe patronus and we get the “always” line about his love for Lily.
Every little plothole is filled in (Mundungus is the one who suggested 7 potters, Snape accidentally hit George, Snape’s the one who gives Harry the sword) and then we get Snape finding Lily’s letter and picture to Sirius. Oooh boy. We already talked about it but it is creepy as FUCK that Snape only takes the part of the letter where Lily signs her love and the part of the picture that Lily is in. And really? This proves to me that Snape hasn’t ever fully evolved into what he gets portrayed as sometimes: the noble lovestruck man who yearned innocently for a woman who chose the popular bully.
To me, Snape is complicated. Snape is damaged by a messed up childhood. Snape is capable of great bravery. But is his love of Lily ever real? Or is it obsessive love? Snape, in my opinion, is a wonderful character. But he’s not a wonderful human being. And that’s what makes him interesting.
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