Every so often in the Wizarding World Community, whether Snape was good or bad rears its ugly head. I’ve previously written a post on my opinions of Snape. However, my thoughts have sort of changed. I don’t suddenly think Snape is good, but rather, it depends on where you know Snape from.
Book Snape & Film Snape are vastly different. Many people who have read the books agree that Snape was out of line often. Whereas those who have watched the films (whether they only watched them or lean towards them more) tend to agree that Snape was misunderstood.
In this post, I will focus on Snape as a whole. Combining actions from both the books and films, as in both Dumbledore’s tolerance towards Snape’s actions didn’t change. I want to focus more on how Dumbledore reacted to Snape (or, more like, didn’t react) and how Dumbledore allowed so many actions to slip past him.
Bullying students
Everyone knows that if you weren’t a Slytherin student, then Potions was hell. If you weren’t losing points, then you were at the mercy of Snape’s verbal and psychological abuse. Don’t believe me?
Snape once told Neille he would feed his toad, Trevor, his potion. What was wrong with the potion? It was poisonous and would certainly kill Trevor. Yup. Snape threatened a student with the death of their pet.
You can not convince me that this incident never made it back to Dumbledore. Neville was quite rightly very upset about this, and Hermione was not happy. Surely another teacher would have found out, or a Prefect through gossip. If McGonagall had found out, she would have told Dumbledore.
So, why didn’t anything happen?
Was this so common that there was nothing that could be done? Students, especially primary and high school students, don’t have the power to stand up to authority figures for change or just verbally set boundaries. (I’ll say adult students have a better chance at setting boundaries. As an adult student, I have zero issues discussing matters with my lecturers.) So, the students can’t set boundaries, but teachers can. Again, go to the person causing the issue, then–if needed–go above them. If that doesn’t work, burn the bridges and be maliciously compliant.
You’re telling me not a single teacher heard this. None of them thought, “If Dumbledore is choosing to ignore it, then I’m going to report every little instance of Snape being nasty to him, just to piss Dumbledore”? Seriously.
Is it annoying? Yes.
Could it be seen as being bad? Yes.
Is bullying students bad? YES.
I mean, that’s just Neville and one time. I can’t remember a scene or moment where Neville was safe within a wand’s reach of Snape. It was so bad that Snape was Neville Boggart. Like, dude, how bad is that!
Then there is what he did to Hermione when Malfoy gave her massive front teeth. He made fun of her for it. He is a teacher and made fun of a student. Again, how could Dumbledore not know? I’m pretty sure–if I remember correctly–Hermione went to the Hospital Wing. So, Madam Pomfrey knew of the situation; she probably told Dumbledore, and he did nothing? I think after that, Hermione changed her teeth through magic to help stop it. Her parents are dentists. DENTISTS. They specialise in teeth. And their baby girl changed her teeth through magic–a means they have no control or knowledge of–all because she was getting made fun of for them. And a teacher joined in and encouraged it.
Harry & James Dying
In the later books, we find out that a prophecy describes Voldemort’s downfall. Specifically at the hands of a baby boy born at the end of July. (This could have been Neville or Harry, but Voldemort’s actions determined Harry was chosen.)
Professor Trewlany was the one who told Dumbledore about the prophecy–she had it–and Snape overheard them since they were at some pub in Hogsmeade (I think). Upon finding out, Snape returned to Voldemort and told everything he heard. I can’t remember how, but Voldemort eventually figures out that the Potter’s baby matches the prophecy and decides to kill the baby before the baby kills him. (A bit of a wild take, but go off, Voldy.) Snape finds out, makes the link to Lily and makes what can only be described as a horrific thought process: Find a way to spare Lily
This is where Dumbledore maybe isn’t the worst person, but it’s a bit questionable once Harry starts school.
At some point, Snape realises that Voldemort won’t spare any of them, not even for one of his followers, so Snape goes to Dumbledore. He explains what he heard, what he told Voldemort and what will happen. Dumbledore asks him to explain what Snape wants him to do, and he basically says to save Lily and, if need be, let James and Harry die.
He just wants to save Lily.
I think I mentioned this in my previous post on Snape, but this is still one of the worst things he’s ever said or done. He actually said to rip his crush away from her husband and baby, letting them die, just so he can have her, or at least still have her around and alive.
Anyway, Dumbledore says no–duh–and tells him he can join Dumbledore’s side and try to save the three of them and stop Voldemort or return and deal with the consequences of Voldemort’s side. Snape chooses to stay with Dumbledore and act as a double agent. Ultimately, the Potters die, but Harry doesn’t, and Snape is upset, which is fair.
I mention this moment as a time Dumbledore tolerated Snape’s shit because by the time Harry comes to Hogwarts, Dumbledore is fully aware of how Snape felt towards Harry and James on the run-up to the Potter’s death. So, allowing a grace period for Snape and Harry to interact is fine. However, what isn’t okay is knowing how much Harry’s looks–since he looked like James–upsets Snape and not talking to Snape. Or how much Snape took out on Harry for his father’s wrongdoings. James wasn’t an angel, but that doesn’t mean Snape can take it out on Harry. Dumbledore did nothing to curb this behaviour from Snape; instead, he praised him as someone who valiantly doubled-crossed Voldemort. Cool, but he only did that because he was buggered either way. Dumbledore should have reminded Snape that just because Lily was gone doesn’t mean he could be awful to her son.
Outed Lupin
Outing Lupin is a point I’ve seen a few times, and while I believe somewhere Snape was sort of following a good train of thought–like, yeah, hiding the fact was a bit iffy–but at the same time, it wasn’t that nice.
Honestly for me, I don’t understand why Dumbledore solely left Snape in charge of keeping Lupin’s condition in check with the potions. Yes, Snape is brilliant at potions, but did Dumbledore forget how much Snape hates Lupin? Like, this fully grown man is still holding onto hate from his high school days towards this other man, and you’re like, “Can you just keep giving him this special potion?” I don’t know; maybe they were in a tight spot, but a bit more oversight may have been best.
Also, why was Snape not told off, at least for being shady with the DADA class he taught in Lupin’s absence? He taught the class on lycanthropy, something they said they weren’t due to be taught for a while, which Snape later admitted–or at least Hermione admits–that the class was to make at least Hermione think about everything and put the puzzle together, which she does and figures out Lupin is a werewolf.
Conclusion
Ultimately, I think there are many examples of Dumbledore letting too many actions from Snape slide. I’m not sure why. Yeah, Dumbledore needed him to tell Harry some stuff later on and help guide him places after he passed, but he could have been told off elsewhere. The Lupin situation I’ve seen but I’m not sure how I feel about it. He didn’t outright tell anyone Lupin’s a werewolf, but his intentions were for Hermione to figure it out, and he knew she would quickly be able to do so.
At the same time, this might have been something McGonagall, Lupin and Dumbledore maybe should have explained to the Golden Trio somehow. It’s not like they obeyed the rules all that well, so maybe explaining that there was a werewolf who needed help and was in the forest, so please don’t be dense and stay inside at night. They wouldn’t have had to mention Lupin being a werewolf, but maybe just informed them, so Snape didn’t need to be sneaky.
However, Dumbledore was very relaxed when it came to Snape’s actions. Although this is fictional, had it been real, it would have been in Dumbledore’s best interest to tell Snape to pipe down and stop punishing a child because he looked like his bully. His bully is dead, and it is Snape’s fault. What more could be done?
