Jason Preston
Writing

Harry Potter

Jason Preston · 2 min read ·

The end of Half-Blood Prince proved me wrong about a lot of the predictions I made while I was reading it.

Spoilers Ahead:

I was wrong about who the Prince was (sortof), I was wrong about Dumbledore (I didn’t think he was actually going to die), but I don’t think I was wrong about Snape.

I won’t belittle theferrett and garlandgraves by saying that I came up with all of this myself…I didn’t. But I definitely agree with some of the things they’ve said. The particular things I agree with:

Theferrett:
*
Snape could — could — still be a good guy. And if he’s not, the series has jumped the shark.*

Because if Snape is just a villain, then all of Dumbledore’s kindness was just a foolish weakness, and James and the gang were right to mock and taunt him. Turning Snape into Voldemort’s toady will make the Harry Potter series an extended parable on how first impressions are always right, and you should stomp the shit out of anyone who looks creepy before they get powerful.

Now, Gini doesn’t think that Rowling’s going to redeem Snape… and, frankly, neither do I. But if she does allow Severus to be the bad guy, my Harry Potter books will go back on the shelf, and I don’t think I’ll be picking them up again.

I couldn’t agree more. And as to “how can Snape be a good guy?� read garlandgraves to get the full report, but here’s the gist:

So, here’s my theory: when Snape appears, Dumbledore knows this is the perfect opportunity to accomplish all of his immediate goals—save Malfoy’s life and keep him from doing a despicable act, plus allow Snape to fulfill his Unbreakable Vow (which I am sure he knew all about, just as he knew all about Malfoy’s plan) and therefore a) not die and b) remain ‘in’ with the Death Eaters as a spy—and all this simply by doing something he knew he was going to do anyway: die.

Also, I’d like to point out that Snape is really, very much, a badass wizard. Just reading the last 50 pages of HBP proves that beyond a doubt. If you’re at all interested in this line of HP thinking, I’d strongly encourage reading the two entires I’ve linked to in here.