Top 5 Wednesday- Redemption Arcs

Today's Top 5 Wednesdays Topic is:
Redemption Arcs

Professor Severus Snape.
Now, not all of you may agree that he was a good character and some of you may think he was the best character. I'd like to go over qualities that fit within Pros & Cons of his personality and the actions he took during this series.
Personally, I love him simply because he was a deeper character than most that we get to see in literature, especially would could be considered Children's literature. In the first four books he was simply a Professor who hated Harry and Harry's father & co. Then as we move into the final three books, one which was named after him, we learn his motives behind his actions up to this point. Also, Alan Rickman did an amazing job.

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Pros:

• The most redeeming quality of Snape for me was the fact that above it all, he valued the safety of his students. Sure he was mean to a few of them, but should their lives actually be in danger he would protect them by any means necessary. Some explames.
• Performing the Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa Malfoy to protect Draco when her son was tasked with killing Dumbledore.
• Though this bit is a little murky as far as clear intention, he became the Head Master of Hogwarts after Dumbledor was killed. My first though was that he did this to continue protecting the students attending the school. Any other death eater would have treated them unfairly, either banishing them for being Mud-Blood or a Muggle-born. 
• Thought making Harry's life miserable, he also protected the boy. Either from feeling duty to his mother or by going along with Dumbledore's plans, he protected Harry from almost dying as early as the first book by countering Quirrell's curse.

• Though this could be up for interpretation, his love for Lily was true. Despite her marrying his school nemisis, he continued to love her until his dying breath. As ironic as it seems, his most prominent personality trait was his loyalty. Sure he was straddling the line of who's side was he really on through a lot of the series, but in the end he was loyal to one person despite everything he did and it was Lily. 

• My favorite fact about Snape was that he was one brave S.O.B. He got close and was playing with two of the most powerful wizards of the time and didn't bat an eye. Voldemort trusted him greatly, having an honored seat at his table and being considered an amazing spy. This trust was evident after he tried stopping Quirrell from being Voldemort back with the Sorcerer's stone and then being welcomed back into the dark lord's company. He also was trusted by Dumbledore, who informed him of the entire plan regarding Harry and how to defeat Voldemort. He would protect students no matter what his fellow Death eaters would think of him, he would stand up to and with his colleagues at the school. Most importantly, he also was brave enough to put his differences aside and help his enemies, specifically by assisting Lupin with the potion he would take during the full moon during Lupin's stint as a teacher.

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Cons:

• Sectumsempra. Really? Who comes up with that curse who isn't dark and twisted? Slicing people as if by fangs or claws? That's innocent. 

• Fucker killed Dumbledore. *mic drop*

• He's got some terrible personality trails.
• He's petty and vengeful. It's been what, 13 years and he still hates Lupin and Severus? I can't remember the name of my bully from Highschool, let alone still hate them. On top of being petty, he also decides to pick on some innocent kid who had his whole world turned upside down because god forbid he looked exactly like his parents.
• He's hypocritical. Most specifically by the way he treats Neville. I know it was explained that there is a parallel between Neville and Harry and maybe instead of Lily dying she could have been saved but c'mon. He's a child, an awkward child, just like you were Snivellus. You should be sticking up for the underdog, not bullying him.
• You could say he's obsessive. I know we've already touched on his relationship with Lily and it's very lovely that he was so attached to her, but to me it also seems a bit unhealthy. To reiterate what I've mentioned before, it's been 13 years and he's still full of hate for her picking James over himself and being betrayed and murdered. Maybe it's me, maybe I'm emotionally stunted; but I would also think that you would learn to heal and move on.

Although there are many pieces of this series that can continue to be picked apart about why Snape was good or evil, these are the ones I thought encompassed a lot of his character. If you guys would like to talk further on this topic feel free to hit me up in the comments below. 

For the record, I had the Snape portion of the Harry Potter puppet pals song stuck in my head while writing this entire post.