Tuesday, November 06, 2001

Is Severus Snape a vampire?

I believe Severus Snape, the potions instructor in the Harry Potter books, is a vampire.

This isn't pure conjecture or speculation. Snape usually is described with a hooked nose, greasy hair, pale skin, and an evil demeanor, all traits that suggest he is a vampire. Read the books closely, and you'll notice more evidence.

First, the only times we've seen him outside were at night: when he discovers Ron and Harry outside the Great Hall after Ron crashes his father's car; when he chases Harry, Ron, Hermione, Sirius, Lupin and Wormtail under the Whomping Willow to the Shrieking Shack; when he and Karkaroff are discussing the likely return of You Know Who; and presumably at the third contest in "The Goblet of Fire."

Second, lore has it that werewolves and vampires hate each other. While Lupin and Snape aren't constantly trying to kill each other, there is a fair amount of antagonism between them.

Witness Snape's efforts to out Lupin with his assignment and the great danger he was in when Sirius tricked him into heading to the Shrieking Shack back when they were students. Dangerous as it would have been for a human to meet a werewolf, a vampire and a werewolf would really have fought -- ahem! -- tooth and nail and probably to the death.

Third, Rowling often uses bat imagery in connection with Snape: His cloak billows behind him like bat's wings; at one point in "Goblet of Fire" Harry asks if Snape could have got down to Barty Crouch and offed him while Dumbledore and he ran down. "Not likely," someone (Ron?) says, "unless he can turn into a bat."

If memory serves, there also is a scene in "Prisoner of Azkaban" where Lupin makes a dig about vampires, and then says, "Oh, sorry, Severus."

Fourth, Snape is always showing up out of nowhere, an entrance characteristic of the night people.

Whether Snape is a vampire, of course, is a matter of conjecture at this point, since Rowling hasn't said definitively. But I think the evidence leans that way.

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