I really hate when people say Snape was a good guy.
In the end, he did the right thing, yeah. On his deathbed, he gave Harry a vital piece of information, and a key to his mother’s past he probably never would have known about otherwise.
However, Snape was not a good guy. Ever. Snape was a jerk to Lily, and from the time he joined the Death Eaters, he was bad. In my opinion, he was protecting Harry, but not because he cared for him. He made sure Harry was safe because that was his one and only connection to Lily. And he despised Harry almost as much because of the stronger resemblances to James.
He practically tortured and persecuted Harry all throughout his school years, even going so far as to tell Voldemort about the real night they planned to move Harry to the ‘safehouse’.
I’m sorry, and I realize this is a really unpopular opinion, but you will never convince me that Snape was a ‘good guy’.
^^^^ THIS THIS THIS.
I agree with you, but just want to add a couple of things. If Snape hadn’t told Voldemort about the real night they planned to move Harry, Voldemort would have questioned his loyalty as his double agent. Obviously if Dumbledore trusted Snape (and hadn’t known he was “working for Voldemort” like Voldemort thought) he would have told him the real night, so Snape would have had to tell Voldemort otherwise Voldie would have gotten suspicious. Dumbie told Snape to tell Voldemort. You get me? I think it was even Snape who suggested to Mundungus the “7 Potters” thing so that it would still be hard to get to Harry. I’m pretty sure they covered this in the book.
Also, I still say Snape is my favourite character. I agree with you that he’s horribly mean and acted like a jerk, but I don’t believe that he “wasn’t a good guy”. He was neither a “good guy” or a “bad guy”. He was just a bitter man who was depressed and made some really bad choices, and did bad things. And then in the end, did some good things. I assume he did some good things as a kid too for Lily to be friends with him in the first place. And the thing is that he protected Harry, whether it was selfishly or selflessly. I am not defending him, because yes it was horrible that he bullied children and picked on Harry and joined the Death Eaters, but he is my favourite character because he has so much depth, and JK Rowling explains exactly why he is the way he is, without trying to make it OK. He just is. Yes he joined the Death Eaters, but so did Regulus Black. Would you have called him a “bad guy”, after he tried to destroy one of Voldemort’s horcruxes? Regulus was different than Snape. Snape joined the Death Eaters, realised it was a bad decision after Voldemort went after the Potters, but where Regulus was basically like “Fuck You” to Voldemort’s face, Snape endured and quietly plotted Voldemort’s demise from the inside. He was depressed, and lived his life that way, but was still incredibly brave to be standing up to Voldemort right under his nose.
