#lmao pretending that harry is ever bothered by snape is SO funny 2 me like he spends half of his time disrespecting snape

[snapedefender]

to be totally honest i feel like people forget that hp is a children’s book series and that the characters in it function the way they do to fit the narrative structure of children’s books. like. 

we can boo-hoo about snape being an abuser or w/e the fuck but the fact of the matter is that his place in the narrative is to be a mildly annoying antagonist. that’s why literally none of the kids except maybe neville are really that bothered by him beyond a “ah fucking SNAPE” attitude. like even that moment where snape insults hermione’s teeth gets blown over in like five pages??? in the next scene she’s totally fine. 

because snape’s narrative purpose is to be the annoying mean teacher. plot-wise, he functions as a narrative hook (what’s snape doing? why is he so suspicious?) and an obstacle to the goals of the protagonists. if we look at the events of a lot of the books, without snape in them there’s immediately way less tension because without snape in them, harry & co would immediately have a much easier time achieving their goals. like yeah, he’s mean but i think we’re also like... forgetting that “mean teacher” is as much a trope as like “prophecy child” or w/e. idk what to tell you except that it’s the same kind of annoying discouse that surrounds people who gasp in moral outrage over child protagonists being made to like fight the evil villains. because for most children’s stories, this isn’t a commentary on child soldiers or loss of innocence or anything like that, it’s just because... these books are for children and kids want to read about themselves conquering evil. it’s that simple. it’s a similar thing with snape. like at no point when i read this series as like a 10 year old did i think “wow that teacher is sooooo abusive and traumatizing his students!!! evil man!!!” i was like “wow he’s mean!! damn him, stop getting in harry & co’s way!!! foiled again by snape!!!” like when i was reaching as a kid/teen i regarded him as a scooby doo villain (affectionate) not a child-abusing sadist. 

and i think it’s just... really necessary to remember that characters in books serve a narrative purpose and also that the way they interact with their world is actually dependent on their genre, you know? and also because i had to read someone’s like four paragraphs on why snape is an evil abuser and i was thinking 2 myself yet again about how it’s Not That Deep. like. he’s a mean teacher. his function in the story is to Be The Mean Teacher. he’s an obstacle, not an abuser and the fact of the matter is harry & co always treat him like that bc that’s his purpose in the narrative. sorry 2 break it to you.

#this one got away from me but tbh im tired of this #lmao pretending that harry is ever bothered by snape is SO funny 2 me like he spends half of his time disrespecting snape #and yelling at him and never once is cowed by snape???? like idk it's wild 2 me to pretend snape traumatizes harry #neville maybe??? altho tbf neville is cowed by like mcgonagall #but hermione sets snape on fire??? harry & co regularly bamboozle him for kicks???? #idk i DO feel like it's really important to remember that snape is a narrative device as much as he is a character #he's supposed to be there to be an obstacle! and the protags treat him as such not their like... abuser or even their bully tbh #snape and harry #there was a reply to that one post about harry not being bothered by snape that made me roll my eyes lmao