lena- I guess you're right there. However, Harry had a horrible history with his foster parents.. and he overcame that. I'm not saying that everyone who's abused has like a moral obligation to just get over it and move on, which is a horrible statement to make, but. bah. Snape didn't ever really try and be nice to anyone except Lily.
It's understandable for Snape to be a little bitter towards Harry, right. I know that much. That's human nature. However, again, he was more than a little bitter towards Harry. He only wanted him to live because Lily died for him. Otherwise, he wouldn't have meant a thing to him.

I agree about his anti-climatic death. It fit, though. It was good. I can't imagine him dying any other way than like, blatantly sacrificing himself for Harry's life, and I think Voldemort killing him was more fitting.

Me too. JKR did a great job with Snape and his story. -sigh- Even if he is good. THERE. okay?x)

I totally thought Harry was going to die, honestly, until my friend, a week before the book came out, got an epilogue page scan online & told me Harry lives. and I was just like D: and then, in the book, when Dumbledore told Snape that Harry was going to have to die, I was like, "WTF. resurrection in store?!" and it totally ruined the surprise for me. It was REALLY well written, though.

Harry living & Snape being good were both events that I thought I'd go the other way but I still really liked how they turned out. x)

The epilogue, at first, I was like.. eh. But now, after JK said that she made it vague on purpose (of course.), I accept it more. I still have to reread it, after my summer reading, but I'm looking forward to it.

Deathly Hallows was DEFINITELY my favorite in the series. It was amazing. It was just great.. I didn't think I'd be able to read it so quickly, but I was blown away and could NOT put it down. I could put down the rest when reading for the first time if I had something important to do, but this book, wow. I almost wanted to skip my belt test for TaeKwonDo so I could have two more hours to read. I skipped my showers Friday and Saturday night so I could finish it at 3:30 earrrrly Sunday morning. It took me by storm.

I like rambling about Harry Potter. It's okay! :D

Nessie- Me too. I wasn't as surprised as I was angry though. >.> I've endured the most of the gloating from my boyfriend & other Harry Potter buddies, though, so I'm over it. I LOVE how Snape loved Lily. I hadn't ever ruled it out as an impossibility, but before the book came out, and when there were all these fanfiction-esque theories about how Snape loved Lily, I thought, "awh, that would be okay, but it's too fanfictiony to actually happen in the books.." and I just, wow. I really liked how she actually wrote it that way. I was surprised, but pleasantly. Imagine, Lily Snape. It doesn't even sound good. x) I agree that they probably wouldn't have gotten very far in a relationship.

Well of course Snape couldn't have told Harry, "It's all your fault your mom didn't love me!" lol. I've already talked about how it's understandable for Snape to be bitter towards harry but that he was more than a little bitter. He's got an understandable grudge that he has blown out of proportion a bit. And I guess I didn't catch Snape crying over Lily! Wow. :'(

I think his death was a fitting one. And yes, I liked how JK elaborated on him & his story after he died. : )

AxelRoxas- I knowwwwwwwwwwww. I loved Dobby's funeral. I was crying a lot.

Tonks and Lupin dying was a huge blow. When Harry saw that they were in the rows of dead people, I thought that there must have been some mistake in editing and that they were in the wrong row of people. Because earlier when Neville had been talking about how they started torturing his gran because Neville was being all rebellious at Hogwarts, he said, "I guess they figure they'd start punishing relatives by torturing their kids.", or something like that, he was commenting on it, but they mixed up relatives and kids, and that caught my eye, so.. ANYWAY.

I just thought that Luponks was an error because of that.. like if there's one small error, why not another? Because their deaths were just, they seemed as small as Colin's.. and yeah, yeah, poor Colin, but Luponks are more major. and then it hit me when Harry was thinking about how they had actually died for him. I was crying a lot because I didn't see it coming at all. I'm tearing up right now. JK said that they were the characters she didn't intend upon killing. -sigh- poor Luponks. and Theodore (lol, teddy. I call him Theodore. Idk why..) got past it, just like Harry and his parents. : ) That was so heartwarming in the epilogue. He was okay, snogging Bill and Fleur's daughter.

May Luponks live on forever in our hearts.

I knew the whole time that Snape was good ;]
I tried to convince my friend about it but she wouldn't hear of it. Well, I was right! xD It was obvious to me that it was all planned out. I knew Dumbledore wouldn't have just died that easily, it just didn't make sense to me. I knew if he died it had to be for a very good reason. I was thinking he killed himself [or more made Snape kill him] to show Harry the seriousness of finding the Horcruxes or something, but whatever he died for good 'cause. I wasn't exactly sure of Dumbledore actually telling Snape to kill him, but it all definitely makes sense to me and was very well written I think.

But about Dobbys death [I saw someone write something about it in here] OMGosh! I cried the whole time throughout that chapter! Poor little Dobby! It had to happen though, it added that extra bit of emotion to the book [which I think it needed a lot because the other books were lacking this for the most part]

All in all....I ♥ HP!

♥♥♥

I agree.. lol. It all makes sense now. I'm fine with it.

and dobby... : ( Yeah.

@ Muggles Running Amok: Cry with me.... ;.;

-pulls tissues out of pocket, sobs, and hands some to you.-

lol<3

*sniffles* Snape was one of my favorite characters; perhaps THE favorite. Poor guy; what a way to go...

Anyway.

@Muggles Running Amok: Er, yea...^^; You'll be getting all this in the 7th book. ((Can I say it? Well, here it is anyway. ^^; ))

1. Dumbledore didn't ORDER Snape to kill him, but he pretty much told him to. Something along the lines of Snape will know whether killing Dumbledore will maim his soul or prevent an old man from being humiliated.

2. Dumbledore wanted to die before the cursed ring killed him, and so he wanted Snape to do it--in doing so, the Elder Wand that was Dumbledore's would become Snape's. Alas, it didn't turn out that way, but that was the intention.

3. Snape's been playing double-agent for Dumbledore ever since Lily Potter died--he's been smitten with her since...childhood. I forget the exact age, if it was ever mentioned. Of course, he gives Harry such a hard time because he despised James, but after Lily died, Snape was in Dumbledore's office and he said to him "Help me protect her son". So...he's really doing it for Lily.

All throughout the seven books, I kept going back and forth between "Snape is good", "Snape is evil", and "Snape is undecided." With the finale at hand, I would say...I agree with the view of him being a very flawed hero; a sort of anti-hero. He seems to be the type who's very honor bound and will keep his word no matter what, even if he dislikes doing so--like the whole promising to protect Lily's son thing--but he's not necessarily devoid of evil thoughts. I'm sure there were times he thought about what would have happened if he had remained a Death Eater; he always came back to the "good side", though, but I presume he's mused about it. For another, there's the ease with which he "pretends" to be a Death Eater, letting us all see how easily he can slip into that role.

He isn't "good" in the same sense like Dumbledore, but neither is he "evil" in the terms of the Death Eaters. He's somehow carved another side for himself. A sort of "I-will-help-who-I-wish" type of thing.

If speaking in strictly black-and-white terms, then I suppose I would classify Snape as good. But there are always shades of grey.

EDIT: And, as I have so kindly found out you finally read the book, pretty much ignore anything I have said here that pertains to those who have not read it..

I've already read the book, in case you haven't noticed.

Snape is good, but in the beginning it was hard to tell, you sort of could see that he hated harry, but you could also see that he wanted to protect harry, partly against his will.
It was strange that dumbledore trusted him, but everyone knows that he trusted him for a reason, we didn't know the reason, that is until the last book.
Snape, and dumbledore trusted each other, and snape HATED voldemort, mostly because he killed his one love, but the other part was because he planned to kill the only living part of Lily that was left.
Yes, I agree the last ook was exciting to read, and i really want to read it again, but i can't bring myself around to read it again, because the book scared me so much, i was so shaken when i finished it, i didn't eat for two days, but it was worth it, because it was a really good book, but i think it could have had just a touch of more details, about how voldemort took over the ministry, if you know what i mean, and a few other things, in the other books, but it was a really good series of books, over all. :D

Right, right. I was rejoicing, seriously, when Remus said that Snape blew of George's ear. I was like, "Omgz. this is confirmation. Snape is evil, YAII." it was hard to tell. >.>

I knowww. lol. and I'm not even touching it until I'm done with summer reading. i still have 150 pages to read in a week..

Thank you Muggles Running Amok. *sniffle*

You're quite welcome.

*blows in the tissue*

Before the seventh book, I seriously considered Snape a bad guy, there just seemed to be something off about him. Yet, in each book, his actions are explained as if it was for the benefit of the good. It's true that nothing in this world is black and white. If you look at the situation from another point besides just the good, Snape is saving Draco's life, yet he killed Dumbledore. And that leads to the question that did Snape make the unbreakable vow before or after Dumbledore knew he was dying. Overall, it's sad that he had a one-side love with Lily, which is what a lot of fanfiction expected, yet it doesn't mean he should be so mean and such a git to everything that not from Slytherin.

x) Exactly.

I find it very pleasing that the reason for Snape's remorse, his whole reason for being on the side of good was for love. The one thing that Voldie could never understand, and which was his downfall from all sides.

Overall, even though I loved Snape anyway, I was very surprised by the intensity of his love for Lily. I'm convinced however, that if Voldie hadn't been a factor when they were in school, if there hadn't been a Dark Lord, Snape would not have fallen in with such prats. He and Lily might have been able to have a life of love or friendship. He loved the dark arts, was fascinated by them, but I like to think that he would simply have become the DADA teacher, or a researcher under other circumstances.

Sigh. I love Snape. Such a wonderful character.

Yeah, I think that's one of the reasons I really think it all fit together and was brilliant. All for love. : )

Me too! It was a good surprise, though, or at least I think. and yeah, I agree.. Voldemort interferes in the worst way possible.

Snape's fun to read about I guess, but I still don't like him much.

Severus Snape is my favorite character for exactly the reasons you mentioned about him being a mix of black and white. I loved him since the first book when you found out that he wasn't the one after the stone and had actually been helping, and never doubted him since.

J.K. Rowling does an amazing job of showing that there is more to the world than Good and Evil. You have people who are against the dark wizards, but aren't good people; you have Snape who is basically a good person, but certainly doesn't act it; and you have the Malfoys, who might be horrible, but they care about something (family). Everyone has flaws, and pretty much everyone but Voldemort and Beatrix have good points. (Though even Voldemort has a back story so that you can understand how he became who he is).

I think it's an awesome series for exactly that reason.

I can't really say anything to you other than I agree. I just love how it turned out.

I'm getting mad at myself for not finding time to re-read it yet..

Up until the 7th book i thought he was just an ass, but now i figure he's probably more ambivalent as to whether he's good or evil. I say instead of either black or white, he's probably somewhere in the lightish mid-grey area. Not the greatest of guys but still can be helpful.

Snape was at least partially evil..... He was a hypocrite, if nothing else. "Oh, all mudbloods are evil--except for the one I've got a crush on!" So, yeah, he was totally playing that for his own benefit.... Dumbledore would save the girl he loved, so he'd side with Dumbledore instead of those who'd kill her. But he did seem truly dedicated to the side after that. So, a bit of self-preservation plus the fact that these were the people who wouldn't kill someone he loved for no real reason. I think he's a bastard, yeah, but a better one than so many others....... And more good than evil.

Has anyone mentioned the Orson Scott Card essay? It was a brilliant analysis of Snape.

www.hatrack.com/misc/who-is-snape.shtml

I believe that Snape was a charater who was like every person: flawed. He was neather good or bad, he was just misunderstood.

I figured he wouldn't be evil. He was just too gray area throughout the books. I will say he's a really fascinating character. I like that he had his own motives and honor system. While I don't think that love is the best reason to do the right thing at least there's more depth there than just doing something because your friends tell you to...

snape is good but acts evil so harry will not think snape likes him which i think is sort of right but wrong...... oh welll yay harry potter!!!!

I think Sev is really cool!! He's a very good character, one of my favs actually. He's just misunderstood.