and people forget that harry was a lonely child who lived in an abusive and neglectful household and somehow he managed to be cordial if not kind to people who looked up to him and needed him
he had less than snape coming into hogwarts he didn’t know about hogwarts, he didn’t know there were people like him, he didn’t even have A friend but he was still a basically good person
“can you imagine how much pain snape must have been in when he saw harry” so?
harry is a traumatised child who has been told all his life that he was worthless, that he was trash like his parents, that his parents must have done something to deserve their death, that the abuse rained daily upon him was kindness because he should not expect to be taken care of
he was an eleven year old child i don’t care how much he reminds you of someone you hated you don’t hurt eleven year old children as an adult, as a teacher, especially not ones who have had terrible childhoods to begin with.
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?
It amazes me that people defend Snape by saying he didn’t choose Voldemort, he was forced into it… Perhaps he didn’t choose Voldemort, but he chose fear.
Snape CHOSE to succumb to fear, to prioritise his life over Lily’s when it mattered. He might not have realised it at the time but even after he did, there was absolutely nothing stopping him from betraying Voldemort and warning Lily and James.
He CHOSE to publicly call her the most racist slur, to shatter their friendship because his ego was hurt that a girl was helping him, even though (from the sounds of things) she was the only person who was nice to him.
He CHOSE to surround himself with toxic elitist Purebloods, the kind that despised people like Lily, despite her trying to help him out and stick by him, which he then CHOSE to run back to after she abandoned him because he hurt her.
Snape might be a victim of tyranny, of influence and fear, but he CHOSE to be the coward and prioritise his own life. It was only when it was too late that he realised he chose wrong…James, on the other hand, CHOSE to grow up and mature because he realised that his petty hounding of Lily and bullying of others was wrong and stupid, so he became a better person because he knew that’s what Lily deserved.
He CHOSE to join the Order because he loved her and wanted to make sure there was a future for them, a future where they could live happily ever after.
He CHOSE to defy Voldemort THREE times, despite his fear, despite the fact he could have died any of these times and countless more before and after.
He CHOSE to face the darkest wizard of all time, wandless, unarmed, because his wife and their baby could escape in the time it took for his body to hit the floor and there was no chance it wouldn’t hit the floor. James Potter was many things but he was not an idiot. He knew that facing Voldemort at that point would be the last thing he did, but you know what?
He CHOSE to do it. He decided that Lily’s life, and Harry’s, was more important than his own. He felt the fear but he fought against it because THAT IT WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE IN LOVE.
And I appreciate that that is a difficult thing to do, especially in Snape’s position, so Snily shippers can ship that pairing until the cows come home, but it will never EVER stop being true that Snape chose himself because of his fear, but James chose Lily in spite of it.