Harry Potter: Snape Only Lived Past Part 3 Because Dumbledore Kept His Old Secret

Summary:

• Severus Snape told Voldemort about the Chosen One prophecy, thus dooming Lily and James Potter.
• The only other person who knew about it was Dumbledore, and that was what kept Snape alive.
• If Sirius Black ever learned about Snape’s part in Lily and James’s deaths, he would have killed his old rival on the spot.

Severus Snape was many things: a powerful wizard, a brilliant double agent, a horrendous teacher, and a terrible human being… But few fans realize that he was also a walking deadman, and Albus Dumbledore was holding the killswitch at all times. It wasn’t even about revealing Snape’s loyalty to him; it was about Snape’s biggest mistake that happened many years ago.

Severus Snape Was Universally Disliked

Sorry, movie fans, but it’s true: not a single person in the Wizarding World genuinely liked Snape… Not even Draco, as we learned in The Half-Blood Prince. Reclusive, arrogant, and repulsive, Snape was disliked at best and hated at most by the people who knew him, and let’s be fair — he’d earned it by the years of being an a-hole.

But that’s not the point.

The Order of the Phoenix had some of the Magical Britain’s most powerful wizards among its members, and pretty much all of them didn’t like or trust Snape, either. The only reason the Potions Master was tolerated in the Order was Albus Dumbledore’s word; otherwise, even his usefulness wouldn’t have excused his presence in their eyes.

But even Dumbledore’s vouching for him wouldn’t have saved Snape if his biggest secret was revealed: the secret that made Harry Potter into The Boy Who Lived.

Severus Snape Doomed Lily And James Potter

Many years ago, Severus Snape overheard Sybill Trelawney’s prophecy about the Dark Lord and relaid it to his master. Back then, Snape was still Voldemort’s loyal servant, and he was clueless that the prophecy implied the love of his life, Lily Potter, and her infant son Harry. After learning about the prophecy, Lord Voldemort headed over to Godric’s Hollow and killed the Potter family.

No one but Albus Dumbledore knew about this secret; later, he also shared it with Harry. It was this information that was keeping Severus Snape alive.

In the Order of the Phoenix members learned about Snape’s part in the Potters’ deaths, he would have been hunted by some of the most dangerous wizards in Britain despite Dumbledore’s words. But forget the other Order members…

Harry’s godfather despised his school enemy more than enough already for being a Death Eater — but if only he knew it was Snape behind Lily and James’s deaths… Sirius Black would have most likely killed Snape on the spot, regardless of victims and circumstances, without a second thought or momentary remorse.

So yes, Severus Snape was only alive for as long as Dumbledore kept his ugly little secret.