severus snape childhood

ChildhoodEdit

Lily Evans: "They’re not arguing any more?"

Severus Snape: "Oh yes, they’re arguing. But it won’t be that long and I’ll be gone."

Lily Evans: "Doesn’t your dad like magic?"

Severus Snape: "He doesn’t like anything, much."

— Severus and Lily discussing his family.^[src]

Snape tells Lily that she is a witch while Petunia looks on jealously.

Added by Seth Cooper

Severus Snape was born 9 January, 1960 to Eileen Prince, a pure-blood witch,^[2] and Tobias Snape, a Muggle,^[2] making him a half-blood wizard. Severus, whose father was emotionally vacant, began to identify with his mother's family and created a secret nickname from his mother's maiden name, calling himself "the Half Blood Prince." His unhappy relationship with his father may have been the origin of his contempt for Muggles. It is implied that Severus was friendless and uncared for by his parents. This lack of care largely shaped Severus' unpleasant personality and cruel behaviour later in his life.
Severus' parents lived in a Muggle town near a river, at a place called Spinner's End. This was Severus' home throughout his years at Hogwarts. Spinner's End, located in Cokeworth^[3], is an area of poverty, with cobbled streets, broken street lamps, disused factories and dilapidated houses. Lily Evans and her family likely lived in the same town, close to Spinner's End. After watching her for some time, Severus noticed her evident magical abilities and began making friendly overtures. The two bonded quickly and it appears that he was very interested in Lily right from the beginning, which was never returned though she regarded him as a friend. During this time he also developed a strong enmity towards her sister, Petunia. This was most likely because she made disparaging comments about his clothes and residence, but may also be because she was a Muggle.
Information from Snape's own memories of his first interactions with Lily and Petunia suggests that he was an awkward child with poor social skills. Even when it was important to him to make a good impression, he always seemed to have trouble doing so. Snape's father did not seem to approve of magic, while Severus expressed a disdain for Muggles, even though, or perhaps because, his father was one. The memories show that both he and Lily had powerful talents for magic before attending Hogwarts.

Hogwarts yearsEdit

Severus attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as a student from 1971 to 1978, and was Sorted into Slytherin, at that time led by Potions professor, Horace Slughorn. On the way to Hogwarts for his first year, Snape sat with Lily on the train, where they met James Potter and Sirius Black. This hostile first encounter, during which James and Sirius came up with the derogatory nickname "Snivellus," would set the tone for Snape's enmity with the two Gryffindor wizards for the rest of his life.
Snape was made a member of the Slug Club, presumably because of his brilliance at potion-making, and Horace Slughorn kept a picture of him as a student, clutching his copy of Advanced Potion-Making. Despite this, Slughorn did not have many hopes for Snape's future, as his photograph was kept behind many others.^[4]

Severus Snape whilst studying at Hogwarts.

Added by Greekpimp

According to Sirius Black, Snape excelled at the Dark Arts from an early age; while still in his first year, he knew more curses and hexes than most of the seventh year students. He reportedly was friends with a gang of Slytherins who later became Death Eaters, including Avery and Mulciber. Severus created quite an amount of spells like Langlock, Levicorpus, Liberacorpus, Muffliato, Sectumsempra, and the Toenail Growth Hex . Other Slytherins that Sirius mentioned as being friends with Snape included Evan Rosier, Wilkes and his cousin Bellatrix Black (later to become Bellatrix Lestrange). Severus also had contact with Lucius Malfoy, who was a prefect during Snape's first year and who greeted him with a pat on the back when he was sorted into the Slytherin House, suggesting that he treated him kindly at Hogwarts (which could also be a reason why Snape seems to favour Draco Malfoy during his later teaching years). Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were also classmates of Severus. James Potter and his group of friends were constantly at war with Snape throughout their school years. Snape's memories, recorded in the Pensieve, suggest that he was an introverted and studious individual, whereas James was cocky, popular, and athletic. Immediately upon meeting him, Potter disliked Snape for expressing a desire to be in Slytherin. Potter's crush on Lily and Severus' close friendship and unrequited love for her also heightened the tension between the two.

Snape's worst memory.

Added by SnapeFan1

One recorded memory in the Pensieve bears witness to James' bullying of Severus with the spell Levicorpus, turning him upside-down to reveal his underwear in front of many students, including Lily. Lily came to Severus' defence, but this only made things worse: in a subsequent lashing out at James in an attempt to recover his lost dignity, Severus inadvertently called Lily a "Mudblood." Lily refused to forgive him for it, even after his desperate apologies. This would forever be Severus's worst memory.