Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In this video, we’re going to be
discussing the Mirror of Erised, and everyone’s favourite potions professor: Severus Snape.
Snape is the subject of much controversy in the Harry Potter universe- fighting for both
good and evil forces at one point or another. He’s such a dynamic character, and I think
that’s why he’s a good subject for the question: What would Snape see in the mirror
of erised? In order to properly answer that question, we need to take a look at his past.
Snape was born on January 9th 1960 to a muggle father (Tobias Snape) and witch mother (Eileen
Prince) and grew up in the muggle town of ‘Spinner’s End’. Spinner’s End was
in close proximity to Cokeworth, another small muggle town where the Evans family lived.
Because of the close proximity of the two villages, it was only a matter of time before
Snape would meet Lily Evans- a girl that he would later become deeply infatuated with.
After meeting, the two would go on to spend a considerable amount of time together, and
in 1971 the pair began attending school at Hogwarts.
The beginning of Snape’s tragedy was in that same year, when they were sorted in to
different houses. Snape was sorted in to Slytherin, and Lily in to Gryffindor, and though that
didn’t mean that they were unable to see each other, it did mean that they spent a
bit more time apart. It also didn’t help that Slytherin and Gryffindor were rival houses.
Also sorted in to Gryffindor were the Marauders- Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew,
and of course James Potter. James was a talented student, but also a huge bully, and he spent
a lot of his time ridiculing and pestering Snape, who grew to hate him with a passion.
Snape’s incessant bullying at the hands of James Potter and the Marauders, lead to
his introduction to the dark arts at a very young age.
Snape’s introduction to the dark arts was never good for anyone, particularly because
he was an extremely talented young wizard. His future was quite promising, and while
learning his primary course material at Hogwarts, would even scribble in his notebook and invent
curses, charms, and potions. Snape even produces his own version of the potions class textbook
under the alias ‘The Half Blood Prince’.
However, Lily, who Snape remained friends with, didn’t like the path that he was going
down, or the people that he was spending his time with:
"... thought we were supposed to be friends?” Snape was saying. “Best friends?”
“We are, Sev, but I don’t like some of the people you’re hanging round with! I’m
sorry, but I detest Avery and Mulciber! Mulciber! What do you see in him, Sev, he’s creepy!
D’you know what he tried to do to Mary Macdonald the other day?”
Lily had reached a pillar and leaned against it, looking up into the thin, sallow face.
“That was nothing,” said Snape. “It was a laugh, that’s all-”
“It was Dark Magic, and if you think that’s funny-”
And it was Snape’s pursuit of darkness that further distanced him from Lily. At that point
in time he was intent on achieving power -he had discovered the dark arts, something that
he was particularly good at, and the sky was the limit. Why would he give it up?
By continuing along this path, Snape would eventually become a fully-fledged death eater,
serving Lord Voldemort himself. He may have surrounded himself with the wrong types of
people-but these people praised his magical ability. Snape didn’t join the death eaters
because he was inherently evil- he joined them because he was unsure of his place in
the world. All he knew was that these people accepted him for who he was, and no one else
did.
However, in the year 1980, Sybill Trelawney predicted the fabled Prophecy - a prophecy
that would change everything, and turn Snape’s world upside down:
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have
thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as
his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the
hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power
to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...."
Severus Snape, who was a death eater at the time, quickly found out about the prophecy.
As he was infatuated with Lily, Harry’s mother, he knew almost immediately that he
would need to act. He knew that he would have to do something-but
how could he ensure that Lily Potter stay safe? With nowhere else to go, Snape turned
to his enemy at the time- Albus Dumbledore.
“Well, Severus? What message does Lord Voldemort have for me?”
“No — no message — I’m here on my own account!”
Snape was wringing his hands. He looked a little mad, with his straggling black hair
flying around him.
“I — I come with a warning — no, a request — please —”
“What request could a Death Eater make of me?”
“The — the prophecy… the prediction… Trelawney…”
“Ah, yes,” said Dumbledore. “How much did you relay to Lord Voldemort?”
“Everything — everything I heard!” said Snape. “That is why — it is for that reason
— he thinks it means Lily Evans!”
“The prophecy did not refer to a woman,” said Dumbledore. “It spoke of a boy born
at the end of July —”
“You know what I mean! He thinks it means her son, he is going to hunt her down — kill
them all —”
“If she means so much to you,” said Dumbledore, “surely Lord Voldemort will spare her?
Could you not ask for mercy for the mother, in exchange for the son?”
“I have — I have asked him —”
“You disgust me,” said Dumbledore, and Harry had never heard so much contempt in
his voice. Snape seemed to shrink a little, “You do not care, then, about the deaths
of her husband and child? They can die, as long as you have what you want?”
Snape said nothing, but merely looked up at Dumbledore.
Snape was a desperate man, and at this point in time would have done anything to protect
the woman that he loved- LIly Evans. Snape told Dumbledore that he would do ‘anything’
to ensure that Lily was protected, and this was a testament to Snape’s devotion to Lily.
He dropped his death eater status, and the life that he had built for himself in an instant,
when he found out that Lily was in danger. However, all of this ended up being in vain,
as on October 31st 1981, Voldemort found the Potter residence-travelling there with one
goal: kill the boy.
When he entered their home he quickly ended the life of James Potter, and then started
making his way towards Lily and baby Harry. When Voldemort approached Lily, he asked her
to step aside, and let him have Harry. He said that if she did so he would spare her
life-but obviously, Lily’s only goal was to protect her son, and she was subsequently
murdered by Voldemort’s Avada Kedavara. When Voldemort turned his wand on Harry, his
curse rebounded back at him, the result of Lily’s sacrificial protection. It marked
the end of Voldemort, for a time, but also the end of Lily Potter.
The mirror of erised is a magical mirror that shows us the ‘deepest, most desperate desires’
of our hearts. This is reflected in the mirror’s name, no pun intended, as ‘Erised’ flipped
around reads as ‘desire’. The mirror itself was made sometime before the end of the nineteenth
century, and is located in the room of requirement in Hogwarts. In the films, we see very few
characters actually stand in front of the mirror, and I think that this is a good thing
because it allows us to speculate. With the tragic life that Snape had lived, I think
that there are a few things that he would have seen had he looked in to the mirror.
I think that it goes without saying that whatever Snape saw would be somehow related to Lily
Evans, however- what I think we can theorize on is the stage of his life that he would
see himself, and possibly Lily.
I think that the earliest possible event that Snape would see in the MIrror, would be the
Hogwarts sorting ceremony in the year 1971- the year that him and Lily were sorted. This
was a pivotal moment in both of their lives, as it put stress on their friendship. They
were sorted in to different houses- rival houses at that- and this may have been the
defining moment that put them on completely different paths. I think that in this scenario
Snape would have seen himself and Lily being sorted in to the same house-Slytherin OR Gryffindor,
I don’t think it would have mattered as long as he was with Lily. This would have
meant that their paths never diverged quite so much, and could have resulted in a very
different future for them both.
My second theory is that Snape would have seen himself and Lily, together, in Fifth
year. Fifth year was important, because it was the year that Snape really secured his
path of darkness- it was also the year that he called Lily Potter a mudblood.
"I never meant to call you Mudblood, it just —"
"Slipped out? It's too late. I've made excuses for you for years. None of my friends can
understand why I even talk to you. You and your precious little Death Eater friends...
You've chosen your way, I've chosen mine."
Lily never understood why Snape hung out with the would-be Death Eaters. She didn’t like
them and it only distanced the pair. In an interview, Rowling was actually asked why
Snape didn’t excuse himself from their company sooner- for Lily’s Sake.
She responded:
“Well, that is Snape’s tragedy. Given his time over again he would not have become
a Death Eater, but like many insecure, vulnerable people (like Wormtail) he craved membership
of something big and powerful, something impressive. He wanted Lily and he wanted Mulciber too.
He never really understood Lily’s aversion; he was so blinded by his attraction to the
dark side he thought she would find him impressive if he became a real Death Eater.”
So to answer the question- I think that Snape would have seen himself and Lily in fifth
year. The pair would be closer than ever, and Snape would have never followed the dark
path that he eventually lead himself down. He would have never called Lily Potter a mudblood,
and a future with Lily would have still been possible. The two would be lying on the grass
looking up at the clouds smiling, holding hands.
And that’s it for this video! I hope you enjoyed it. What do YOU guys think Snape would
have seen in the Mirror of Erised? Let me know down in the comment section below.
Until next time
YER A WIZARD ARRY