Albus Dumbledore has done many horrifying things but the fandom, for the most part, adores the character to the point of thinking of him as a saint. This shows that Snape's character arc, while I love it, was done wrong. The majority of the fandom should have hated Snape but eventually learned to love him.
With this post I will show a few different ways that his character could have been changed so the majority of the fandom would love him.
Severus Snape didn't have the easiest childhood. He was abused at home and so he saw Hogwarts as a means of escape. To me this part of his backstory is a reflection of Harry Potter's. But instead of an idealized version that is able to move beyond, Snape is more realistically deeply scarred by his abuse.
One change to hammer home why he became so broken is what Slytherins have to endure. Slytherin has the reputation of turning out the most dark wizards of any House. This leads to the other three Houses not interacting with them much. Or, if they do interact with them, it tends to be of a mocking nature.
This means the chances of a Slytherin becoming friends with students of another House are extremely low.
So Snape isn't just isolated outside of school, he's also extremely isolated inside of Hogwarts. While Harry had to contend with an abusive family outside of school, at least when he was in the magical school he found friendship. Snape, on the other hand, had no place that eased the cruelty of the world for just a little bit.
Well...he did have his fellow Slytherins.
Know what this means? It means Snape more easily mistakes a kind gesture for good intentions. So if Voldemort starts to bring him into his circle, Snape will join because at least people are treating him kindly. At least he isn't alone any longer. Heck, now he even has a cause to fight for. It would take a saint to deny oneself such pleasures after a lifetime of abuse.
If the series focused more on Snape's isolation and how that messes with a person's mind, it will be easier for readers to like him.
I ship a lot of things in fiction as I find doing so fun. So, yes, I ship Severus Snape and Lilly Potter. To me it is extremely bittersweet. With turning away from her, he gave up a chance of being a good person. As his Patronus changed after her death, it is a clearly a mistake that always tore him up inside.
While I like how Snape and Lily are in canon, I don't mind it going in a different direction. Especially as people who hate Snape bring up their relationship. Which is a sure sign their relationship was written poorly as the majority of people don't like it.
There is one thing that needs to remain the same, though. That is that their relationship needs to remain as a metaphor. It needs to have Snape's descent into wickedness be at the heart of it.
Lily represents the potential in the younger Snape to be a good and noble person. Thus it being Snape's fault that their friendship ended and she died needs to be kept. No matter if they were lovers or not, that metaphor needs to be paramount.
No matter how sympathetic Snape becomes, his tainted past can't be shied away from. His cruelty, no matter how unintentionally, caused the death of the thing he loved most. If he doesn't fall to the deepest pits, his redemption won't mean much.
What the original Harry Potter books messed up is how Severus Snape's PTSD was handled. There was no real mention of how deeply being at Hogwarts affected him. This place was supposed to be a refuge from his abusive home. This place instead became another place for him to be abused. It was also the place he started down a dark path and did horrible things because of it.
Things became so bad for Snape that he became a dark wizard because they treated him kindly. How was such a broken child supposed to understand that being kind didn't make a person good?
In Harry Potter, Albus Dumbledore wasn't really held accountable for Snape being at Hogwarts. While it was pointed out numerous times that Dumbledore hired Snape, he isn't blamed for doing so. In this revised Harry Potter, Dumbledore will be blamed for manipulating a vulnerable man into working in an environment that would constantly trigger his PTSD. Dumbledore will be constantly blamed for all the negative experiences students go through because of his decision.
Snape's trait of bullying students needs to be dialed way back. This due to the fact that his bullying makes many people in the fandom not even like the character. So if he is to be more likable, there are lines that he can't cross.
Snape's bullying could be changed to being extremely strict and cold towards students. He would, essentially, be keeping anyone that could emotionally hurt him away. He knows that his past isn't their fault and so wouldn't outwardly bully them. But he wouldn't be a comforting presence as that isn't possible for him anymore.
In the original series, Harry going from hating to admiring Snape was merely to service the plot. I think it would work better if the change in how Harry perceives Snape would be a way to teach readers about PTSD. Especially since this series is aimed at children.
What this means is that is that Snape can't merely be mean and cruel. He can't cause various students emotional pain only for Harry to admire the professor due to a tragic backstory. You can't do that and expect most of your readers to change their opinions about a character.
Harry could mistake Snape's coldness as cruelty. The same misconception that the majority have about the professor. This would make sense as Harry would think about the Durselys every time Snape was cold to him. After all, scars from childhood can take a lifetime to fully heal.
So when Harry finds out that Snape isn't cruel, he is merely struggling with PTSD that is constantly being triggered due to a decision by Dumbledore, this would make the Boy Who Lived think. His thoughts would also help young readers learn about PTSD.
If young people learn about PTSD then they will be better able help themselves if they get PTSD in the future. It will also help them be more empathetic to those experiencing PTSD.
Remember you can submit ideas for future posts by commenting on this post. I also talk about other fandoms, so don't feel that you have to only submit ideas for Harry Potter posts.
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