

Severus Snape and the Prisoner of Azkaban Snape, of course, gallantly confronted Quirrell, but in the end, Harry and his two friends got all the credit, with Snape getting set on fire in the process.

Because he was clever, Snape saw through Quirrell’s plans pretty quickly, which involved setting trolls loose in the dungeon, and trying to jinx Harry Potter’s broom during a Quidditch match. During Harry’s first year, Dumbledore and Snape suspected a fellow teacher, Defence Against the Dark Arts’ Professor Quirrell, of trying to steal a precious magical object hidden within Hogwarts grounds: The Philosopher’s Stone. Still, that didn’t mean that he had to like the guy, who looked annoyingly like his father (and Snape’s school bully) James Potter. Severus Snape and the Philosopher’s Stone After her death, a heartbroken Snape took up a position at Hogwarts as Potions master (under Dumbledore’s protection), and began his secret mission to keep safe the only thing that he had left of her: her son, a boy with his mother’s eyes. Snape loved Lily deeply: through their years at Hogwarts through her marriage to another wizard, James Potter through his time as a Death Eater and long after her murder at the wand of Lord Voldemort. He grew up as a half-blood wizard in an unhappy family, but found solace in a witch called Lily Evans, a childhood friend. He was tall and lanky, and his black greasy hair hung like curtains around his face. Since JKR attempted to point out the power of love throughout the series, I think it was another illustration of love's redemptive power.Once there was a wizard called Severus Snape. Granted, he withheld that love from many, and was only willing to share it with those he deemed 'worthy,' but he still was capable of loving others regardless. I think that scene perfectly illustrated for us readers that no matter how bitter Snape had become about his situation in life, and no matter how much he behaved poorly toward Harry and his friends, that he was still himself capable of loving very deeply. With Dumbledore having lived over a hundred years, he understood how emotions can fade with the weight of the things one lives through, so he was surprised to find that Snape's affection for his childhood friend never wavered. Not to mention that a few years out of school, when Lily was in danger, they were still relatively young, and those emotions can still be quite strong. When Dumbledore asked, "After all this time?" I think he had assumed that Snape loved Lily all those years ago, but that the way he antagonized Harry so much, Dumbledore might have thought Snape's love for her faded and Snape was only continuing with his obligation.
