Severus Snape: Good, Bad, or Both?

As a loyal D.A. member, supporter of S.P.E.W., fan of the Holyhead Harpies, and Potterhead extraordinaire I have been in my fair share of debates concerning the one and only Professor Severus Snape. I've heard it all: from Snape being solely responsible for Harry's success to Snape being the reason Harry's life was so terrible in the first place. Of course, I do hold my own opinions on the matter, however, I would like to give you both sides of the debate. Once you finish reading, feel free to share on social media with your personal thoughts!

Severus Snape: Good

1. Let's begin with the obvious. Snape basically sold his service to Dumbledore in order to save Lily's life. Regardless of the turnout, he was quite willing to do anything to save her even after watching Lily fall in love with Snape's worst enemy.
2. On top of this, James Potter received the love of the woman that Snape was devoted to and went on to have a child with her: Harry Potter. Aside from Snape's clear and obvious hatred for the child, he continuously saved Harry from dangerous situations and threats made toward him. Harry is basically indebted to Snape because of this.
3. In The Prisoner of Azkaban, Snape makes the wolfsbane potion on a regular basis for Remus Lupin. While Lupin was never Snape's greatest tormentor, he certainly did nothing to stop James and Sirius. Even with this considered, Snape gave Lupin uncontaminated potion each full moon in order to keep Lupin healthy and under control.
4. Snape serves as a double agent for Dumbledore for quite a while—even at times, against his better judgment. While in this situation, Snape never has a moment to rest. He must constantly be aware of Voldemort's perception of him and how he comes across. The life of a double agent is never a simple one and Snape agrees to take on this job at the risk of his own life.
5. In The Order of the Phoenix, Dolores Umbridge asks Snape to give her Veritaserum in order to interrogate Harry about the D.A. and the whereabouts of Sirius Black and Albus Dumbledore. We don't technically know whether Snape had access to the potion at that time, but he told Umbridge that he did not.
6. Dumbledore gave Snape one of the most difficult tasks he would ever have to endure: the responsibility of telling Harry that he must die. Snape literally used his dying breath to show Harry the truth of Snape's past and what must happen in Harry's future. In the end, it was almost as if Snape's entire life had led up to that moment—it was as if he sacrificed his life for Lily.

Severus Snape: Bad

1. Snape became a Death Eater. Regardless of how his story ends, he still made the conscious decision to follow Voldemort and he only stopped being a follower when Lily was threatened.
2. Snape tortured Harry. He tormented Harry throughout six solid years at Hogwarts. From the injustice of punishing Harry for Malfoy's wrongdoings to failing Harry in potions regardless of the work Harry submitted to him, Snape never relented when it came to his mistreatment of Harry. Clearly, the fact that Lily was his mother didn't help his case one bit.
3. Not only did Snape torment Harry, but also Harry's friends. Snape took his feelings about James and redirected them on to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, or anyone else in Gryffindor house for that matter. Remember the time Malfoy's hex hit Hermione and her teeth grew to be a foot long? "I see no differ-ence." - Severus Snape That was actually the worst.
4. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 7: The Boggart in the Wardrobe—NEVILLE'S WORST FEAR IN THE ENTIRE WORLD IS SEVERUS SNAPE. Shouldn't that say something about a person? Severus Snape appears when the wardrobe is opened and Neville is confronted by a boggart, a shapeshifter that takes the shape of that which is most feared by the person who encounters it. This situation speaks for itself.
5. When Snape was giving Harry occlumency lessons, there was that one time that Harry snooped and looked in the pensieve with Snape's memories. Now, I will say this that Harry was kind of an idiot when he did that. But regardless, Snape refused to give Harry lessons after that instance. Snape was incredibly selfish in that decision because not only would occlumency protect Harry, but it would protect the entire order and everyone who was trying to defeat Voldemort.
6. When Snape saw that Voldemort had targeted the Potter's, he went to Dumbledore asking him to save Lily. Only Lily. He wasn't concerned over the fate of James and Harry. It was only after Dumbledore mentioned his lack of care for James and Harry that Snape changed his tune and asked Dumbledore to help them all.

So there you have it. It's up to you to decide the true nature of the infamous Severus Snape.

As for me, I can sum up my opinion in one sentence:

Severus Snape was an insufferable jerk who just so happened to be fighting for the side of good.