The world is a darker place now, following the shocking and untimely death of Alan Rickman on Thursday morning. Over the years, we’ve seen him in so many amazing roles, such as Colonel Brandon opposite Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet in Sense and Sensibility, Hans Gruber in Die Hard and the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Theives. But for most of us, we know and love him best as Severus Snape, Hogwarts potions master and one of the most controversial and divisive characters to exist on page or screen.
But regardless of whether you think Snape was a deeply misunderstood hero or just a nasty, vindictive bloke hung up on a woman who never loved him, I think we can all agree that he had some truly great moments in Harry Potter. In honour of the late and brilliant Alan Rickman, here is a countdown of seven of his greatest moments as the greasy haired and hook nosed Professor Snape.
7. Snape vs. Lockhart
Hogwarts has seen its fair share of shockingly terrible Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers, but none were as insufferable as the self obsessed fraud, Gilderoy Lockhart, and so it’s a real pleasure to watch Snape utterly destroy him in his own duelling club.
Right on, Severus.
6. The longest pause in the history of pauses
If anyone had a flair for the dramatic in Harry Potter, it was Severus Snape, and the standout moment from all the many hair flicks and the swishing of the black cloak, is THE dramatic pause from Philosopher’s Stone.
So much suspicion. So much drama. It’s pretty much iconic.
5. Snape vs. Umbridge
Most of the characters in Harry Potter can’t be defined as inherently “good” or “bad”, but Potter fans generally agree that Dolores Umbridge is nothing but straight up evil. Detention, according to Umbridge, involves writing lines in your own blood, she was horribly bigoted and prejudiced, AND she tried to get Hagrid fired. That is so not ok.
We knew we were in for a treat, however, when she attempted to ‘observe’ a potions lesson with Snape, and we were so not disappointed.
The sass is real.
4. Boggart Snape
In this scene, Alan Rickman proves that not only can he play Snape as a menacing, terrifying Potions Master, but he can also play a humiliated and very confused looking Snape, dressed in Neville’s Grandmother’s clothes.
Good show, Alan.
3. Snape vs. McGonagall
Snape and McGonagall are two of the most iconic professors at Hogwarts, and their duel is one of the greatest scenes in the final film.
Made even better by the cries of “oooooooooooh” from the students around them, and Snape’s incredibly dramatic cape-swish-and-exit-through-the-window move at the end.
Also, if you watch the scene closely, you can see that Snape subtly knocks down the Carrows (the Death Eaters standing behind him) and refrains from casting any serious spells at McGonagall. Snape, you sly dog.
2. “You’ve been raising him like a pig for slaughter!”
Dumbledore is perhaps the only other character in Harry Potter whose status as a “hero” has been questioned almost as much as Snape’s has. Many fans over the years have asked whether Dumbledore really had the best of intentions for Harry, or if he was instead incredibly manipulative (and also, nobody can really ignore the fact that he willingly chose to keep a murderous three-headed dog in a castle filled with children). Snape was the only character to properly call Dumbledore out for the fact that he chose not to tell Harry that he must die in order for Voldemort to be killed.
In one of the most moving scenes of the series, we finally see the best of Snape, whose enduring love for Lily Evans has led to him protecting Harry time and time again. Turns out he’s not completely heartless, folks, and while Snape’s love for Lily might not be enough to redeem him from years of bullying and general nastiness, nobody can fault Alan Rickman’s incredible performance in these scenes.
1. “You have your mother’s eyes.”
And finally:
Snape is the ultimate double agent, staying in character right up until the very end. Unfortunately, Voldemort kills him anyway, because The Dark Lord does as The Dark Lord wants. However, Snape’s final act is to give Harry the information he needs to defeat Voldemort, which is basically the ultimate post-humous ‘screw you’ to his old boss.
Also, this scene still makes me cry, even after I’ve watched the film half a million times.
We all raise our wands to you, Alan Rickman. Thank you for being such an awesome Snape.