Snape

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Severus Snape (斯内普) 32
Alias(es)	Professor Snape; Potions Master; Slytherin Director 20 113
Species/Race	Wizard 90
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Hogwarts; Slytherin House 113 197
Occupation/Role	Potions professor; Slytherin Director; Dueling Club assistant 97 113
First Appearance	Chapter 8, Can a Student’s Business Be Called Fighting? 8

Background / History

Snape’s childhood is associated with Spinner’s End. In recurring dreams, he revisits the home amid a black mist of old accusations and memories of a harsh upbringing, including his father’s disapproval of magic. A playful puppy in one such dream ultimately transforms into Eliana, intertwining his past with his present student relationship 108 109.

As a younger man, Snape was resourceful and determined enough to negotiate a partial payment for a book he wanted at Flourish and Blotts 167.

At Hogwarts, he carries an extensive workload: teaching all seven years of Potions, handling classroom accidents, grading, preparing Hospital Wing supplies, patrolling, and conducting potion research. His office becomes an informal study and work space for Eliana, who assists with ingredients and clerical tasks in exchange for guidance and access to his expertise 33.

Appearance

Snape is a black-haired, black-eyed wizard with a hooked nose, severe features, and a habitual dark expression. His long black robes billow behind him when he moves, giving him an imposing, bat-like silhouette 8 11 224.

• Black hair and black eyes 8
• Prominent hooked nose 8 212
• Long, flowing black robes 11
• Dark, piercing gaze frequently used to intimidate students 63 197
• Often carries or wears his little wolf cub on his shoulder 197

Personality

Snape is stern, sarcastic, and exacting. He has little patience for sloppy work, disruptions, recklessness, or students who expect special treatment. His criticism is usually delivered in elaborate, cutting remarks, particularly toward Harry Potter and students whose work falls below his standards 89 111 197.

His severity conceals a practical sense of responsibility. He repeatedly intervenes when students are in danger, produces difficult medical potions, and gives Eliana individual instruction even while complaining about her constant intrusions. He is particularly wary of young students experimenting with advanced dark magic, choosing to establish limits rather than simply indulge Eliana’s ambition 26 56 138.

Snape’s attitude toward Lupin is openly hostile, yet he still regularly brews the medicine Lupin needs. This contrast between his manner and his actions is central to how students repeatedly reassess him 175 208 233.

Abilities & Skills

Potions Mastery

Snape is an exceptionally skilled potion-maker, able to brew, adapt, and administer complex remedies with precise control.

• Brewed a series of unpleasant but effective potions to stabilize Eliana’s uncontrolled magical growth, adjusting them as needed 26.
• Produces Hospital Wing potions and manages rare or sensitive ingredients in his dungeon office 33 95.
• Regularly brews a specialized smoking potion for Lupin’s illness, despite their strained relationship 208 233.
• Recognizes and corrects flawed potion work immediately, including the preparation of Shrinking Solutions 197.
• Created and enchanted a Portkey for Eliana’s orphanage after arranging official approval 231.

Dark Magic Knowledge and Counter-Spells

Snape possesses extensive knowledge of dark magic and demonstrates the ability to counter advanced spells rapidly.

• Identified Eliana’s restricted dark-magic reading material and confronted her about her intentions 63.
• Extinguished Eliana’s Fiendfyre repeatedly with a rapid chain of difficult counter-spells 138.
• Warned that Fiendfyre and similar magic require maturity and a clear understanding of magic before use 138.
• Agreed to teach Eliana the Silencing Charm, while refusing to instruct a second-year student in deeper dark magic 138.
• Blocked an attack in the Forbidden Forest that Eliana believed surpassed her own Confringo 56.

Dueling and Defensive Magic

Snape is a capable combatant whose spellwork is fast, controlled, and forceful.

• Publicly disarmed Gilderoy Lockhart with a clean Expelliarmus during the Dueling Club demonstration 98.
• Maintained a counter-curse on Harry’s out-of-control broom while Quirrell was interfering with it 32.
• Shielded Harry and Eliana behind him when an unknown presence approached in the Forbidden Forest 56.
• Conjured a floating stretcher to transport Eliana after she lost the bones in her legs 90.
• Softened the floor beneath Eliana after throwing her from his office, preventing her from being injured by the fall 212.

Instruction and Academic Guidance

Though he insists he is only a Potions professor, Snape answers Eliana’s questions on spellcasting and Transfiguration as well as potions.

• Allowed Eliana to audit another Potions class and helped her learn the Scouring Charm 13.
• Provided detailed answers to Eliana’s questions beyond his formal subject area 20.
• Began explaining Dementor defense and identified the Patronus Charm as the best-known countermeasure 212.
• Uses harsh standards in class but does not grant Draco Malfoy special treatment when he arrives late and requests help 197.

Relationships

• Eliana Richie — His unusually persistent Gryffindor student. Their relationship develops from classroom friction into reluctant mentorship: he provides private guidance, stabilizing potions, dark-magic boundaries, and a Portkey for her orphanage, while she openly considers him her favorite professor 13 26 138 231.
• Harry Potter — A tense student-teacher relationship marked by Snape’s suspicion and pointed criticism of Harry’s fame and rule-breaking. Despite this, Snape counter-curses Harry’s broom and intervenes during dangerous incidents 32 56 111.
• Draco Malfoy — Snape is Draco’s godfather and initially recognizes his Potions ability, but refuses Draco’s later attempt to claim special treatment for an injured leg 11 18 197.
• Albus Dumbledore — A fellow Hogwarts authority figure. Snape follows Dumbledore’s orders, including searching the castle for Sirius Black, but often disputes Dumbledore’s leniency toward Harry 111 212.
• Remus Lupin — Snape visibly dislikes Lupin and speaks to him with deliberate menace, yet continues brewing the potion Lupin requires 175 208 233.
• Gilderoy Lockhart — Snape serves as Lockhart’s assistant at the Dueling Club and humiliates him with a swift Disarming Charm 97 98.

Story Role / Major Arcs

First Year

• Introduced as Hogwarts’ intimidating Potions professor, Snape immediately draws Eliana’s admiration with his promise to “bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death.” He deducts a point after she climbs onto his podium to protect her cauldron during Neville’s accident 11.
• Permits Eliana to reattend Potions with another year group, where she improves her work and learns the Scouring Charm from him 13.
• Begins recognizing Eliana’s diligence and talent despite his initial misgivings about her Gryffindor placement 18.
• Brews stabilizing potions for Eliana when her rapidly growing magic causes a magical riot 26.
• Protects Harry during the Quidditch broom incident by countering Quirrell’s interference, overturning the students’ suspicions of him 32.
• Receives a carved walnut from Eliana bearing the inscription, “To my best teacher—Severus Snape,” then quietly pockets it 32.

Second Year

• Serves as Lockhart’s Dueling Club assistant and defeats him with Expelliarmus before organizing student pairings 97 98.
• Investigates Eliana’s interest in restricted dark-magic books after catching her in the library 63.
• Stops Eliana from using Fiendfyre against Riddle’s diary, demonstrating superior counter-spell work and restricting her lessons to safer magic 138.
• Reacts strongly when Eliana mentions Tom Riddle, indicating a personal connection to Voldemort’s history 141.

Third Year

• Displays immediate hatred toward Lupin upon his appointment as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, while continuing to prepare Lupin’s necessary medicine 175 208.
• Reluctantly discusses Dementors with Eliana and agrees that she may learn the Patronus Charm later 212.
• Responds to Sirius Black’s intrusion by escorting Eliana to the Great Hall and joining the staff search of Hogwarts 212.
• Approves and creates a Portkey linking Eliana’s orphanage and Diagon Alley, recognizing the burden of her summer travel 231.

Notable Quotes

“I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death—”
— Snape 11

“Put away your current thoughts. I can teach you the silencing spell, but dark magic is not something a second-year student should touch—not until you truly understand the essence of magic and have a sufficiently clear understanding of it.”
— Snape 138

“If I have to repeat myself, anyone not seated will lose ten points.”
— Snape 197

Trivia

• Snape keeps Eliana’s carved Hogwarts walnut despite dismissing it as a distraction from potion-making 32.
• He has a little wolf cub that climbs onto his shoulder, bites his hair, and howls loudly enough to draw ghosts into joining its “concert” 197 199.
• Students are startled to see Snape with freshly washed hair during a third-year Potions lesson 197.
• Eliana interprets the Patronus Charm as a spell for summoning Snape during dangerous situations 212.