Day 7: Snap(e) Love!

I just returned from watching Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince a little while back and was surprised at myself for shedding a tear when Dunbledore dies. Its a defining moment in the Harry Potter series and I'm sure will touch every Potter fan's heart.

But really I was not shedding a tear for Dumbledore when I was watching the scene. I realised that I was truly getting teary eyed for Snape. Watching that scene and having read the last book of the series, I just feel for Snape so much. He's like 'Karan' of the Mahabharata. Not liked, not understood but central to the whole story. Imagine what must be going through Snape's mind as he kills Dumbledore. He is committing an act of which he knows there will be long lasting repercussions and he will never be forgiven by anyone. I remember feeling so disappointed when I read the book and knowing that Snape kills Dumbledore. I was certain that he was a good man and then when the last one explains everything I was so very happy.

And that gets me to the point of today's post. Forget about what Snape does and lets get to the reason he did it.The one thing I was struck about when I read The Deathly Hallows and explanation of who Snape was and why he did it, was the love that Snape has harbored in him for such a long time!!

Dumbledore: "If you loved Lily Evans, if you truly loved her, then your way forward is clear"
Snape: "What do you mean"
Dumbledore: "YOu know how and why she died. Make sure it is not in vain. Help me protect Lily's son"
Snape: "Very well"

Imagine, can someone love a person for so many years and hold that love so dear that he can commit himself to protecting the progeny? Do whatever it takes - put himself in mortal danger of being discovered by the Dark Lord for who he really is and still work towards protecting the genes of one he loved. How does that love come about? How does that love survive? Snape's patronum is a doe with eyes of Lily Potter.

Does this love exist only in movies and books? Or can it exist in real world as well?

Today's generation talks about love in a snap. They snap their fingers and talk about falling in and out of love. Love for them is a means to an end - to get the person they want. If they get the person, great else lets move to the next one and tell her 'I love you!'. Sometimes love dies and the couple part without trying to revive the love. Why? Because there are more out there.

What is love really? Is it an emotion that can last over years and years? Imagine yourself in Snape's position for a moment of time. He loved someone very dearly but she marries someone else. When he knows Voldermort's plan, he begs Dumbledore to save her and maybe the family. In return he promises "Anything". His 'master' kills that very woman but her son survives. He comes over to the good side and becomes a spy. Years later he comes face to face with those eyes - the eyes that he hoped would have had love for him. He then works tiringly to protect that person and those eyes, each time being mistaken for the wrong.

Snape's single motivation for who he is and his life is his love for Lily! For that he killed Dumbledore, for that he spied in Voldermort's camp, for that he died......almost taking his secret with him.

Ladies and Gentlemen.......tip your hat for Snape for THAT IS LOVE!!!! And that is why Severus Snape is the best character of the Harry Potter series.