Severus Snape is one of the most interesting characters in the world of Harry Potter. Initially, in the books as well as the movies, Severus Snape appears to be a cold-hearted and cruel potion master, who seemingly hated Harry Potter.
However, there was so much more to Snape than it appeared initially, which fans found out at the end of Snape’s life. There are some interesting and lesser-known facts or secrets about Severus Snape’s past that would not be known to fans of the Harry Potter Universe.
10 Snape Passed On Harry’s Message
In Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix, fans might have seen when Harry tried to tell Snape in code words that Voldemort is holding Sirius captive at the Department of Mysteries as per his vision. Umbridge would not understand it as Harry used a certain name only Snape would understand.
Snape acts dumb and leaves the room, making Harry wonder if he ignored his message or vision. Meanwhile, Snape went on to pass the information to the Order of Phoenix, which Dumbledore clarifies in the book, which is how the Order of Phoenix showed up to save Harry and his friends.
9 Snape Saved Harry From Umbridge
In Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix, Professor Umbridge became the Headmaster and heard a rumor about Dumbledore’s army wanting to retaliate. She used various means of getting the truth out of students and one of them was asking Snape for truth potions.
In order to get this information from Harry, Umbridge asks Snape for a truth potion but Snape hands out a fake one. This was to protect the Order of Phoenix, Sirius as well as any information that was crucially only known by him, Dumbledore, and Snape.
8 Troubled Childhood
Snape had a horrible childhood as he was born to a Muggle father called, Tobias Snape, and a Witch mother, Eileen Prince. His childhood was marked by the strained relationship between his parents, making his father alcoholic and abusive.
Fans might have seen a glimpse of this when Snape was teaching Harry Occlumency, and he fought back. However, Snape met Lily Evans, as they lived close by and having shared some magical abilities, they became close friends. His troubled childhood definitely contributed to his demeanor of being cruel and unforgiving later on in his life.
7 Snape Partly-Responsible For Petunia And Lily’s Separation
When it came to Lily and Snape, they were close but still argued especially when it came to Lily’s sister, Petunia. Fans are aware that Petunia was jealous of Lily having magical abilities and the drama between Snape, Lily, and Petunia comes to a head when Petunia spies on them.
Snape accidentally ends up hurting Petunia with his magic which makes Petunia angry, and she ends up calling Lily a “freak”. However, Lily and Snape saw a letter Petunia sent to Hogwarts begging them to accept her as a student. Lily and Petunia drift forever, partly because of Snape.
6 Lily And Snape’s Differences
After the incident with her sister, Lily, and Snape try to be friends despite their past, however, being sorted into different houses only meant more distance. Lily was sorted to Gryffindor while Snape was sorted to Slytherin. She never approved of Snape’s friends, who eventually went on to become Death Eaters and work under Lord Voldemort.
Meanwhile, Snape does not like Gryffindor's popular troublemaker, James Potter, who ends up being Lily’s friend. Snape had disdain towards him because he kept bullying him. However, Lily assures Snape that she cannot stand James Potter either.
5 Snape And Lily’s Broken Friendship
With their many differences, Snape and Lily tried their best to be friends while advising each other to stay away from certain people. However, an altercation between James bullying Snape ends in the worst way possible.
Snape calls Lily a “Mudblood” which is a horrible slur used for people who are Muggle-borns. He said that while Lily was trying to defend him against James Potter’s bullying. This leads to the end of Snape and Lily’s friendship, as Snape tries his best to ask for forgiveness.
4 Snape Revealed Prophecy To Voldemort
After Lily and Snape leave Hogwarts, they go in opposite directions, where Snape joins Voldemort, helping him to overtake the world. Meanwhile, Lily is on the opposite side as a resistance fighter called the Order of Phoenix. Snape overhears a conversation where Sybill Trelawney predicts the end of Voldemort will happen at the hands of a boy who was born at the end of July.
He was a loyal Death Eater at the time and shared this prophecy with Voldemort, failing to make the connection between Lily Potter and the Prophecy. Although Snape unintentionally exposed Lily, this led to Voldemort going on a killing spree around the same time only to come down to Lily’s house and meet his downfall, ending James and Lily’s life.
3 Only Death Eater Conjuring Patronus
Fans are aware that a Patronus can be conjured only when the witch or wizard has a memory that is happy and gives hope. As far as the books and the movies go by, Snape was the only Death Eater who could conjure up a Patronus charm throughout the series. Death Eaters don’t usually have disdain towards everything, forgetting what made them happy or hopeful.
Fans are aware that he sent his Patronus, which is a silver doe, the same as Lily Potter’s, into the Forest of Dean. This was done in order to help Harry find the sword of Gryffindor. Since Snape’s happiest memories were with Lily, his Patronus took the same form as hers.
2 One Of Slughorn’s Favorite Students
Snape was sorted into the house of Slytherin, and fans are aware that many students in that house are masters of Potions, the Dark Arts, and Charms. Professor Slughorn loved both Snape and Lily, which means they might have been part of the ‘Elite Student Group’.
But this wasn’t mentioned anywhere in the books, as Slughorn only boasted about students he was the proudest of. For instance, he never spoke about Voldemort, although Professor Slughorn adored him as a student. Snape was previously a Death Eater, which might have been the reason Slughorn has never talked about it.
1 Snape Created His Own Spells
In the wake of James Potter’s constant bullying as well as his abusive father, Severus Snape had to cope. He did that by creating several of his own spells, just like he created his own way to become the Potions master. Most likely, to protect himself or save himself from the constant bullying and with the intent to destroy James, he created various spells.
His spell was the one used by Harry that also killed Draco Malfoy in their altercation in the bathroom. Eventually, Snape also learned how to reverse his own spells as he was rightfully the Half-Blood Prince.
Despite his initial appearance of being cold-hearted, his past will tell us how troubled he was as a child in the wake of his dysfunctional family and his broken friendship with Lily Potter, eventually leading to his involvement with Voldemort. However, fans can see his compassionate side with these lesser-known facts or secrets from his past.
Hogwarts Legacy is scheduled to release on February 10 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S, April 4 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and July 25 for Nintendo Switch.