argue if you dare! this man was a hero! if you're agaist this tell me why! I'll convince you other wise!

**TL;DR** - **Snape was a flawed hero.** Throughout the _Harry Potter_ series, Snape captures readers' attention as a character whose allegiances are in question until the final moments of the last book. When Harry sees Snape's memories, readers finally learn that Snape was 'one of the good guys' whose loyalty was to Dumbledore and Harry's mother. His enduring love for her meant that he renounced his loyalty to Voldemort and proceeded to act selflessly to ensure Harry's safety. He was forced to lie and deceive at great personal risk to himself and ultimately he died having done everything he could to protect Harry. This said, Snape was not without his flaws. Most obviously, he was at one point a supporter of Voldemort. However, his inability to let go of his hatred of Harry's father is borderline ridiculous and the fact that he cannot separate Harry from his father results in Snape becoming a version of the person he hated. All of this is said with the full realisation that no hero is without their flaws but perhaps Snape's are more apparent than others.

**TL;DR : Severus Snape was selfish** •Whilst Snape did help Harry and the side of the light, he only did so for his own selfish reasons. • Snape only sought out Dumbledore when he was personally affected by Voldemort's agenda. Although he died for the cause, it does not excuse his actions prior to his death. • He was a bully. He was bullied relentlessly in his school years and once he had a position of authority for himself, he used his power to bully Harry and his friends. • He is biased towards Slytherin House and endorses polarizing house rivalry. • He is Neville's boggart: a creature that takes the form of one's greatest fear. • He knowingly tries to expose Professor Lupin's lycanthropy to a class of students. • He makes fun of Hermione's appearance when Malfoy's hex causes her front teeth to grow at an alarming rate, saying that he sees no difference from her usual appearance. • He is prejudice. He endorses blood supremacy when he calls himself the Half-Blood Prince as a way to connect with his Wizarding heritage. He even calls his life-long friend Lily Evans the slur "Mudblood", in a flashback to his school days.

I'd have to disagree. Snape's every decision came from his obsession with Lily. He never grew past his experiences in school. The bullies he dealt with, the choices he made, they all preyed his fears and insecurities. He was bullied so he lashed out with his own experimental spells--not to mention he joined a cult (Death Eaters) in order to fight back against those who terrorized him in hopes of winning Lily over. He was living in a what if world. What if Lily had chosen him over James, what if he had maintained their friendship, what if the Dark Lord had chosen the Longbottoms instead of the Potters? In living in this delusion, Snape took out his frustration on Neville Longbottom the boy who could've been the chosen one. He torments the boy for years, bullying him, goading other students into doing the same, all because Voldemort didn't choose him to die therefore Lily was killed. If Snape had worked on himself, moved on from his school boy crush and tried to make something of his life--instead of living in the obsession with a girl who left him behind--he could have grown and developed healthier relationships with those around him. 10/10 needed therapy not a kid named after him.

**TL;DR: Snape is an anti-hero** As the most complex character in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series, it is simplistic to interpret Snape as a clear-cut hero. In both literary and social interpretations, [heroes are defined](https://www.verywellmind.com/characteristics-of-heroism-2795943#:~:text=According%20to%20researchers%2C%20empathy%2C%20and,well%2Dbeing%20of%20other%20people.) not only by their courage and strength, but by their altruism and compassion. Whilst Snape undeniably performs brave and morally admirable acts, protecting Harry and contributing to the eventual downfall of Voldemort, his intentions behind these acts do not stem from altruism or compassion. In the chapter ‘The Prince’s Tale’ in _The Deathly Hallows_. Rowling reveals that Snape has dedicated his life to bring down Voldemort solely because of his unrequited love for Lily Potter and guilt about his involvement in her murder. Whether you consider this romantic or [creepy](https://rattlesnakeroot.livejournal.com/166152.html), it remains an insular and self-centred motive for performing heroic acts: Snape does not act out of compassion for the people that his actions will benefit, but to avenge Lily. Throughout the majority of the series, Snape is in fact set up as an antagonist. Harry is the main hero of the story and repeatedly positions himself against Snape, who is consistently unpleasant and aggressive towards him and the other students. Only in the very last chapters of the last book do we finally receive Snape’s perspective and understand the true complexity of his character and role as a double-agent. Snape is therefore an [anti hero](https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/handle/2152/65285/shangamanda_Who%20are%20Heroes_2018.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y) – he is not simply ‘good’ as heroes (like Harry) are required to be, but also commits bad deeds and exhibits negative traits. Even his heroic actions are morally ambiguous – one of the most significant of which concerns killing Dumbledore at the end of The Half-Blood Prince. His role in the text is to add shade and complexity to Harry’s heroism, and to illustrate one of the central themes of the series: “We've all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are.”.