Summary
- Severus Snape’s memories in the book provided important details about his past that were left out in the movie adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
- The memories revealed significant moments in Snape’s relationship with Lily Evans and his feelings towards James Potter, shedding light on their complex dynamics.
- The memories also included important conversations between Snape and Dumbledore, showcasing Snape’s dedication and bravery in his role as a double agent.
Severus Snape’s memories filled in all the details that Harry had been missing in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, but the movie cut most of these important scenes. Of course, this could hardly be avoided with the limited time available in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. The book had an entire chapter dedicated to Snape’s memories, which spanned from his childhood to the final year of his life. Warner Bros was forced to pick out the most important, but that isn’t to say the missed memories didn’t have a significant impact on the story of Harry Potter.
The Boy Who Lived entered the Pensieve several times throughout Harry Potter, and each time ended up rather illuminating to his story. He learned about Barty Crouch Jr’s past in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and first learned what a bully his father, James, had been in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. However, the biggest revelations of the series came when he entered the Pensieve in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The movies included the basics of Snape’s friendship with Lily Evans and the moment he realized her son would have to die. Still, there was so much more to his story—and Harry’s, by extension—that was cut.
10 Snape Telling Lily All About Hogwarts & His Family
In the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows movie, Harry saw Snape meet his mother, Lily, for the first time when they were children. However, the conversations they had were left out. The book included scenes of Snape and Lily talking and evolving their friendship. Little Severus was desperate for a friend, and he told Lily all about Hogwarts and even told her it was no big deal that she was Muggle-born (though he felt conflicted about this). He also told the girl how eager he was to go to Hogwarts to escape his Muggle father, who was abusive and prone to drunken rages.
9 Lily & Petunia’s Big Fight On Platform 9¾
Though a young Petunia was shown calling Lily a freak in the Deathly Hallows movie, this isn’t exactly how it went down in the book. The Evans sisters were instead seen to adore one another—though they were very different. In fact, in one of Snape’s memories, Petunia was seen distraught at having to say goodbye to her sister at Platform 9¾. It was then revealed that the older sister had desperately written to Dumbledore, begging to be allowed to come to Hogwarts, too, even though she wasn’t a witch. Lily tried to comfort Petunia, but the young Muggle became so angry with her sister for leaving that she called her a freak and determined that Hogwarts was just a school for weirdos.
8 Snape & Lily Meeting James Potter On The Hogwarts Express
James and Lily didn’t meet in the Great Hall as was seen in the movies. Instead, their first interaction in the Harry Potter book was on the Hogwarts Express, which did not go well. As Harry watched the scene, he thought about how the young James looked like a boy who had been thoroughly loved and had clearly never considered that he wasn’t the best thing ever to grace the earth. James immediately picked out Snape, who was sitting with Lily, and made fun of him for hoping to be sorted in Slytherin. Harry’s mother came to Severus’ defense and deemed that James was not the sort of boy she wanted to be around.
7 Snape & Lily Argueing About James Potter
After Snape’s interaction with James on the Hogwarts Express (and the Sorting Ceremony scene included in the Deathly Hallows Part 2 movie), his memories jumped ahead a few years. The next scene showed Snape and Lily walking together through Hogwarts, and the latter began to show concern over her friend’s interest in the Dark Arts. Snape grew defensive and stated that the things he was interested in weren’t nearly as bad as anything James Potter had been up to. He warned her that James had a crush on her and was pleased to hear that she found him to be an “arrogant toerag,“—leading him to ignore her warnings about Dark magic.
6 Snape Calling Lily A Mudblood & Their Parting Of Ways
Back in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry witnessed a memory in which James Potter tortured Snape in front of the entire school. Though this was included in the movies, a critical moment was left out in which Lily came to the rescue, and an embarrassed and enraged Snape called her a Mudblood. Of course, when Harry first saw this, he had no clue that Snape and Lily were best friends. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, he saw what happened following this ugly scene.
After Snape came to his senses, he sat outside the Gryffindor common room for hours, waiting for Lily to come out so he could apologize. She refused until another Gryffindor passed on the message that Snape would stay there all night if he had to. She came out, but the confrontation didn’t go well for Snape. She demanded that if Snape were really sorry for what he had done, he would stop associating with his friends who openly aspired to become Death Eaters. Snape refused, and a heartbroken Lily left their friendship for good.
5 Dumbledore Telling Snape He Should Have Been a Gryffindor
Many of the memories that followed Snape and Lily’s falling out were included in the Harry Potter movies (like Snape realizing Voldemort was targeting the Potters and asking Dumbledore for help). This brought Snape’s memories to a moment that had happened (unbeknownst to Harry, of course) during the Yule Ball back in Goblet of Fire. In it, Snape told Dumbledore about Karkaroff’s fear of the Dark Mark reappearing on his arm and his suspicions that the man would flee. Dumbledore then asked Snape if he would also run if Voldemort were to return, and he easily answered that he wouldn’t.
It was then that Dumbledore said that Snape was a “braver man by far than Igor Karkaroff,” followed by his opinion that, at Hogwarts, they “Sort too soon.” This left Snape in utter shock since he understood that Dumbledore was implying that, were he to be sorted again, he would be placed in Gryffindor rather than Slytherin.
4 Snape & Dumbledore Argueing On The Hogwarts Grounds
In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Hagrid told Harry about a conversation he overheard between Snape and Dumbledore on the Hogwarts grounds, in which Snape became angry and stated that the headmaster took too much for granted. At the time, Harry didn’t know what this argument might have meant, but he got his answer in Deathly Hallows. In Snape’s memory, Harry saw that the Potions Master had become angry at Dumbledore for his secrecy. He stated that if the old man were to demand Snape to kill him, he should at least tell him what the plan for Harry was. This was when Dumbledore agreed to meet with Snape in his office to tell him the truth about Harry’s connection with Voldemort.
3 Snape Planning The Seven Potters Battle With Dumbledore’s Portrait
The Seven Potters plan to get Harry away from Privet Drive at the beginning of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has received a lot of fan criticism. Still, it makes much more sense when considering the information in Snape’s memories. One of the Harry Potter book scenes cut from the movie was Snape talking to Dumbledore’s portrait, who suggested the idea of planting the Seven Potters plan into the mind of Mundungus Fletcher. This allowed Snape to provide useful information to Voldemort (thus keeping his cover) while ensuring that Harry was kept safe. This memory also included a moment during the escape in which Snape accidentally cursed off George Weasley’s ear while saving him from a Death Eater’s attack.
2 Snape Stealing Lily’s Letter (& Picture) From Grimmauld Place
The Deathly Hallows Part 2 movie included a heartbreaking scene showing Snape crying over Lily’s body at Godrick’s Hallow. Though this was a great addition, it never happened in the book. Instead, Harry witnessed Snape’s memory of finding a letter from Lily in Sirius’ bedroom at Grimmauld Place. This is a letter that Harry had found earlier in the book while he, Ron, and Hermione stayed there, and he had puzzled over the missing second page and a picture of Harry on a toy broomstick that had been ripped in half. Through the memory, Harry learned that a teary Snape had stolen the page that had Lily’s signature (with love), as well as the portion of the picture that showed her laughing.
1 Snape Finding Harry & Returning The Sword Of Gryffindor
The Deathly Hallows movie never explained how Snape had found Harry and Hermione in the Forest of Dean, where they were supposed to be protected. However, the final memory Harry observed in the Pensieve answered this question. The portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black that hung in the headmaster’s office had another frame previously kept at Grimmauld Place. Hermione, thinking Professor Black could provide insight into the goings on of the headmaster’s office, placed this portrait in her magically expanded beaded purse before the Golden Trio left Sirius’ old house. One day, without thinking, she mentioned that they were in the Forest of Dean while holding the bag open.
Professor Black was quick to tell Snape where Harry and Hermione were hiding, and this was when Snape prepared to bring them the sword of Gryffindor. However, Dumbledore’s portrait reminded the new headmaster that he could not be seen since Harry and Hermione would never accept his help. This was why Snape used his silver doe Patronus instead. It was a small moment of explanation, but, like the rest of Snape’s memories inHarry Potter, it brought some resolution to some of the series’ greatest mysteries.