Snape Is Back, And This Time He Will Make You Cry [Video]

Severus Snape, with all his powers, could not have seen this coming.

In a recent video uploaded by YouTube user kcawesome13, for the first time perhaps, fans will be able to experience Snape’s journey in its fullness from start to finish, without being distracted by the workings of a plot as complex as Harry Potter inevitably entails.

Meticulously edited by bringing together bits and pieces spread over the eight Harry Potter films, the 14-minute video aims to present Harry Potter fans with a chronological life tale of Severus Snape, perhaps the one character in the entire Harry Potter series to have divided fans in equal measure. The video is certain to resonate even with the uninitiated, because of the simple reason that we see the entire saga unfold from the point of view of Snape.

Beginning from his childhood love affair with Lily, Harry’s mother, it goes on to show how Snape was systematically excluded and often bullied by his classmates, who include Harry’s father, James Potter. We are positioned to sympathize with Snape, to gain an insight into his desires and motivations, and to see him for the kind of character he often was — an unsentimental disciplinarian who, at the core of his being, only intended good things for Harry and his friends.

Since its appearance on YouTube, Snape’s story has gone on to attract wide attention from fans of Harry Potter, on and off the Internet. While some fans believe it to be an accurate description of who Snape really was, others have not been so impressed, citing the fact that the video in fact presents Snape in a distorted light — as a man of heart when he actually wasn’t one.

Vulture went so far ahead as to compare the Snape video with Richard Linklater’s epic coming-of-age film, Boyhood.

“It’s all very Boyhood-esque and still quite the tearjerker.”

While Dorkly, in their review of the video, had a different take on the Snape video.

“With the value of hindsight, we know the story of Severus Snape is one of tragic sacrifice and unrealized love. But so much of the usual Potions professor’s story was told in flashback after we’d gotten to know him as the sourpuss Potter-hater, we didn’t get to fully appreciate his character arc. But… we can finally fully experience the tale of Severus Snape in its entirety — and it’s amazing.”

However, not everyone seems to think so. The folks over at Hypable were not quite as pleased with the effort.

“Presented this way, some people in the fandom can’t help but forgive him for his a**hole-ish attitude. Snape was a jerk for no good reason, and no one should think differently no matter what they feel after watching the video.”

Snape will live long in the memory of his fans, and for his haters, well, we would only like to remind — Snape was pretty good at the Unforgivable Curses.

[Photo: Flickr]