Severus Snape Drives the Entire Harry Potter Saga

It all comes down to him. Here’s the evidence.

Photo taken by author; sketch of Snape also by author

Major spoiler alert! This post is intended only for people who already know the entire Harry Potter story very well.

Professor Severus Snape: tortured hero, or villain with a conscience? Either way, he’s the single most important character in the entire Harry Potter universe. I mean, Harry’s lovely and all, but let’s face it: he’s a bit bland and basically replaceable. He’s not the character with the most dramatic arc.

I once thought that honor went to bumbling-goofball-turned-unexpected-hero Neville, but writing this article has made me reconsider. I now argue that Professor Snape has the most compelling character arc of the series, and really, the entire storyline hinges on him and his complexity as a character.

He hated Harry, but always protected him

Harry might not have even survived the very first book. When Quirrell/Voldemort attempted to kill Harry during a Quidditch match, it was Snape who uttered the counter-curses that kept Harry safely mid-air, even if the act was misconstrued by others at the time. This theme runs on and on, across the entire story.