Some people had been in line all day. They had waited hours, some even an entire day, for this moment. The room was chilly, people huddled beneath blankets, cuddling on couches or curled up in the balcony theater-seats. It was a moment they'd all been waiting for...the end had come...Harry Potter 7 part 2.
Now I wouldn't call myself a die-hard Harry Potter fan. I've been reading the books since they came out so many years ago, so I guess I did grow up on them. I would have been perfectly satisfied with watching the film sometime in the coming week after its release, but my friends had been planning to attend the midnight premiere for nearly a year (since the first half came out at least) and I'm always up for movies, 5 hour energies, and fun times with friends! Plus, I'd never been to the midnight opening of a movie, and I figured the last installation of the famed Harry Potter series was the best time to do it!
Now I sound like a cynic or hater, only there for the people. Not true in the least. I love the Harry Potter series, movies and books. The books I definitely enjoy more, the movies I like because they're part of the culture and the tradition and the story. Without the books backing them up, though, I don't think I'd enjoy them nearly as much.
When we were standing in line, right before the doors were about to open, we were all given raffle tickets to fill out for a drawing later. We wrote down our name, email address, and favorite character. I definitely had too many favorites to write them all down, so I chose three. Dobby, Hagrid, and Snape.
Snape? What?
Yeah, Snape.
He's honestly one of my favorite characters. Before the last book came out, after we'd all read about Snape killing Dumbledore at the top of the tower, there was loads of debate. I remember there being two sides, the Snape is Good side and the Snape is Evil side. I was always on the Snape's Good side. Even though all the evidence pointed against him...what with him being a Death Eater and killing Dumbledore and all, I was just sure that he had to be a good guy. As usual, I was right (only joking about the "as usual" part of that sentence). Still, I was thrilled when he turned out to be Dumbledore's spy all the time, thwarting the supposedly un-trickable mind-reading skills of Voldemort. This last movie, and a reminder of the rest of Snape's story, only strengthened my admiration of him as a character.
Imagine how difficult it must have been to be Snape. He loved Lilly Potter more than anything. But he never got to express that love, or receive it in return. And to add insult to injury, Lilly married James, someone Snape hated. But Snape is so loyal. Despite his clear fascination and appreciation of the Dark Arts, and the Dark Lord himself, Snape never allows anything to overcome his love for Lilly. His undying, loyal love is not broken by Lilly's love for someone else, it is not broken by Voldemort, it is not broken by the struggles and fears and trials of living a double life, never truly fitting in.
No one trusted Snape, except Dumbledore of course. When Snape publicly denounced Voldemort and joined the good side, no one ever truly believed he had ceased to be a Death Eater. So his fellow staff at Hogwarts, the students, and families, didn't trust him. Many said they trusted Dumbledore and therefore concluded that Snape must be good, others said Dumbledore was senile, but none believed Snape. And when Voldemort returned and Snape re-entered the world of Death Eaters, they never fully trusted him either. So no one trusted Snape, but he was the most trustworthy of them all. True, his life was a web of lies and tales and crossing people, but all for good. All to keep Harry safe. All to save the world. All for the love of Lilly Potter.
Such pure love, willing to sacrifice everything. Snape lived a rather miserable life, but he did it all because he loved Lilly. I find that so admirable, and so inspirational. He didn't look after his own interests in the slightest. And if it weren't for Snape, the story would have had a much darker ending. I also love that Harry recognizes this. Though he and Snape never got along, once Harry realizes the true Snape, he understands all that Snape did in his lifetime, all that he sacrificed. And Harry remembers Snape through a name, the name of one of his children, Albus Severus Potter.
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