
I always believed that the fallout with Petunia impacted Lily more than the one with Snape.
I don’t really think these two things are comparable, strictly speaking. I mean, they both hurt her of course, but they weren’t the same thing?
Petunia and Lily’s relationship deteriorated over a long time, and they went months without seeing one another and it probably hurt differently because your family is supposed to love you unconditionally. To have your parents accept something wholeheartedly and then have your sister talking about it with disdain and derision had to hurt a lot. But it was a private kind of hurt, something that she dealt with when she was home, the consequences, while awful, were contained to herself, her sister and her parents. It was an ongoing thing, there was no final moment.
However, the fallout with Snape was very public and there was a final moment. There was a lot of build up, but when he called her a mudblood, it was in front of half the school. In the middle of a war. Where muggle borns were being killed simply for their blood status. This is a different can of worms entirely with a whole lot of implications and consequences.
The people in Lily’s life hurt her, and I think that was one of the reasons she made sure that she was ‘there for [others] when no one else was.’ She knew how it felt to be treated poorly, and I think she made sure that she never made anyone else feel the way she did.
“Snape knew more curses when he arrived at school than half the kids in seventh year, and he was part of a gang of Slytherins who nearly all turned out to be Death Eaters.”
Sirius held up his fingers and began ticking off names.
”Rosier and Wilkes - they were both killed by Aurors the year before Voldemort fell. The Lestranges - they’re a married couple - they’re in Azkaban. Avery - from what I’ve heard he wormed his way out of trouble by saying he’d been acting under the Imperius Curse -he’s still at large.”
(ch 27, gof)
And Severus Snape moved off to the other side of the Hall, away from Lily, to where the Slytherins were cheering him, to where Lucius Malfoy, a prefect badge gleaming upon his chest, patted Snape on the back as he sat down beside him…
(ch 33, dh)
“We are, Sev, but I don’t like some of the people you’re hanging round with! I’m sorry, but I detest Avery and Mulciber!”
(ch 33, dh)
so far be it that snape was an outcast amongst slytherins, or that lily was his only friend (notions that i’ve personally never prescribed to but nonetheless seem to be the general consensus amongst fans). he was a member of a large gang of slytherins who would later turn out to be some of the most notorious death-eaters in the first and second wizarding wars:
- wilkes
- avery
- mulciber
- evan rosier
- the lestranges (bellatrix and rodolphus, possibly rabastan)
- he’s on friendly terms with prefect lucius malfoy (sirius calls snape “lucius malfoy’s lapdog” in ootp)
i would love to see more of this relationship explored in depth tbh. the limelight is mostly focused on lily/snape and sometimes (but rarely) snape/mulciber/avery, but never snape and the entire gang or at least anyone other than mulciber and avery. it’s not even acknowledged that anyone besides those two were part of his gang. it makes his relationship with them as an adult doubly more interesting knowing that they weren’t just at hogwarts together, but they were also part of the same ring of friends who undoubtedly knew about lily and his tension with the marauders (and who likely had their fair share of confrontation with them too).
snape: i found this…‘marauders map’ in potter’s possession. do you know anything about this?
remus ‘moony’ lupin, marauder and prankster extraordinaire, one of the only four people to have successfully mapped hogwarts, knows full well that snape is vaguely aware of his childhood nickname, currently having flashbacks to bewitching this thing to insult everyone but snape in particular: no
so the moment where malfoy cursed hermione’s front teeth to grow and snape just looked down and said “I see no difference” is one of the moments where I realize I really don’t care how hurt he was by his unrequited love for Lily and how much he went through to keep Harry alive; he was needlessly cruel to a whole lot of innocent kids and teens and how in his twisted mind did he seem to think that was what would have made Lily more attracted to him if she had lived?
Snape: Ah, yes. Harry Potter. Our new — celebrity.
Harry: Remember when you had a life and stopped making bitchy comments about mine..?
ok so what if Harry and Neville got into like this passive-aggressive lie-off regarding what a truly great man Severus Snape was like they got drunk and Harry was like ‘Snape though’ and Neville was like ‘I know right’ and Harry was like ‘what a… what a fantastic bastard. What a guy.’ and Neville was like ‘we should fuckin’ get him like, like… let’s have a funeral. A huge fucking fuck-off sized funeral with like, lilies, and, a marble coffin, and a big statue, an’ crying women, an’ all that shit’ and Harry got whiskey up his nose laughing so hard and he falls off his stool and just wheezes ‘lillies’
and then during the funeral Neville and Harry like spend the whole time trying to give a better eulogy like they keep getting back up after each other are done to try and have another go at it but then they get schooled by Hermione being like ‘for fuck’s sake boys this is how it’s done’ and she goes up to the podium and just bursts into wild banshee hysterics and throws herself across the glistening marble casket, sobbing ‘oh, it should have been me, would to god that it were me, you stallion of a professor’ and all the reporters tear up a little and then go home to pen really fervid biopics on this bleakly noble and tragically overlooked hero of the revolution
anyway like eighteen years later Harry names his kid after Severus and sends an owl off to Neville like ‘your move, mate’ and Neville pauses in the middle of polishing the giant marble statue of Snape tenderly cuddling an armfull of adoring woodland creatures that dominates like 2/3 of his office to cuss a lot and pour himself another drink

#she was laughing at her husband and son#people who she loved dearly enough to give up her life#and snape took that and cut them out of it so he could pretend she was laughing for him#her love in the letter was for sirius who was best man at her wedding and her good friend who fought at her side in the order#and snape took that so he could pretend her love was for him#snape is fucking trash and this is not romantic at allFriendly reminder that this creepy moment existed.
this this this this this omg this si so disgusting this guy is a creep who feels entitled to Lily’s love even though he’s done nothing to deserve it
regardless of how i feel about severus snape in general i can’t stand when people try to brush off the boggart thing like it was nothing, honestly how awful must snape have been to neville to somehow be scarier than frank and alice being tortured to insanity by death eaters AND that whole mess neville’s relatives put him through to make him do accidental magic?
If I called my best friend a racist slur in front of half the school, she would have every right to drop me as a friend.
If I routinely called other people of my best friend’s race a racist slur and then accidentally called her the same racist slur in front of half the school, she would have even more right to drop me as a friend.
If I routinely called other people of my best friend’s race a racist slur because I was spending a lot of time with aspiring Neo-Nazis who thought that people of my best friend’s race were dirty and stupid, and then accidentally called my best friend a racist slur in front of half the school, she would have every right to punch me in the face and drop me as a friend.
I can’t believe I had to read this with my own 2 eyes I just
It’s not Lily’s fault that Snape thought of himself as better than Muggles long before he met her
It was not Lily’s responsibility to make sure that her supposed friend didn’t call her a slur and scorn their friendship in front of half the school
It was not Lily’s responsibility to hold Snape’s hand all through their schooling to make sure he didn’t join a terrorist group intent on wiping out people like her
You can show yourself out
After some thought I have Decided that the whole “Snape testing Harry during his first potions class had a deeper meaning about him regretting Lily’s death and wasn’t him being mean” thing is complete horseshit
A teacher asking a child OWL level potions questions on their first day and then picking on them for not knowing the answers is just cruel and demeaning
I really don’t care if he “”“had some secret message”“” bc like what 11 year old thinks “Hey this teacher is asking trick questions and singling me out I wonder if there’s some Deep Hidden Meaning behind their actions or if they’re just an asshole?” If it were me I would think it was Option B and you’re lying if you say otherwise
mmhm, some happiness for.... no not you...
maybe ron? no but he's supposed to die...
oh but he DOESN'T die there u go
uhhh harry potter, harry potter *laughs hysterically* we'll see, we'll see *wipes tear*
remus lupin? remus john lupin? NEVER, in my life, in all my years of writing have I heard such a *ridiculous* claim
hmmm yes you can die, and you too, sorry sirius at least you're pretty
mhm mhm la da da, always, and down goes the snape, he is dead for always ❤ so cute
good old dumbledore ;) don't u just love the smell of betrayal in the morning
what was I doing again
ah yes, happiness
um
well who needs that anyway lol
and for my next trick, the cursed child a ha