Of all of the characters from the Harry Potter series (and there are many), Severus Snape might be the most controversial. He is a character that is rather polarizing. Some fans absolutely love his character arc and think that he was a good person deep down while other people think he’s at his core a bad person who didn’t deserve to be seen as a hero.
Whether you love Snape or hate him, there’s no denying that he’s done some pretty shameless things. He has behaved in ways where he didn’t care at all about what he was doing or how his actions impacted other people.
Here are the ten most shameless things that Severus Snape ever did.
ALWAYS TRYING TO GET HARRY KICKED OUT OF SCHOOL
Overall, some of Snape’s most shameless actions have to do with how he acts about Harry. He never has any shame about the fact that he doesn’t like Harry, even before he actually knows anything about him. While he’s supposed to be helping Dumbledore look out for Harry's safety, he’s also always trying to get him expelled. This just seems ridiculous and immature as Snape is an adult and Harry is just a kid. The fact he has it out for him is shameless and pathetic.
BEING PETTY AND IMMATURE ABOUT LUPIN AND SIRIUS
Lupin, Sirius, and Snape have a lot of history together, and none of it is very good. It’s understandable that Lupin and Sirius would never be friends with Snape and vice versa.
However, Snape often acts very immaturely about the whole thing. He gets very petty and antagonist whenever either of these two is around, and he doesn’t even think about the fact that it just makes him look sad.
BEING OBSESSED WITH LILY AND NOT BEING ABLE TO MOVE ON
While Lily and Snape might have been best friends for a while when they were young, they stopped being friends when Snape became interested in the dark arts and started calling Lily awful slurs. But, despite the fact he totally ruined this himself, he shamelessly never moved on from her. He was rather obsessive about his love for her and could never accept that she had chosen to marry James.
CALLING HIS BEST FRIEND LILY A MUDBLOOD
Snape is someone that might have turned to the good side eventually, but this doesn’t excuse all of the bad things he did before. While he might have some remorse for calling Lily a mudblood, it’s hard to understand why he would do such a thing. This is the equivalent of calling someone a slur in our own world, and the fact he did this shows that he was rather brash and shameless when he started getting into the dark arts.
BLATANTLY FAVORING THE SLYTHERINS
While Snape did a lot of shameless things in his youth, he was just as brazen in his adulthood. After he became a Hogwarts professor, he was never worried about playing favorites. He openly favorited the Slytherins, and he never felt any remorse for this.
This inequality was quite flagrant, and he never felt like he needed to change this behavior despite the fact he was supposed to be helping all of his students.
WHEN HE TOLD EVERYONE THAT LUPIN WAS A WEREWOLF
While Snape and Lupin aren’t friends, the fact that Snape outed Lupin as a werewolf at the end of his first year of teaching is pretty overt and sad. He was actually spending the whole year trying to get some of the students to figure out what Lupin was. Then, because of the fact that Sirius escaped, he decided to get revenge by telling everyone. This is pretty awful because it contributed to the bigotry and judgment that Lupin had been dealing with his whole life.
BULLYING HARRY JUST BECAUSE HE HATED JAMES
While James and Snape might have been rivals and enemies while they were at Hogwarts, this doesn’t mean that Harry is his father. While Snape might not have fond feelings for James, and maybe it makes sense he wouldn’t love Harry, he took things way too far. He had no shame about making assumptions about Harry's character. It’s also really sad because Harry and Snape both had similarly rough upbringings.
TREATING HIS STUDENTS HORRIBLY, ESPECIALLY NEVILLE
While Snape might have done some things to help the good side in Harry Potter, it's hard to forgive how he treated people that he had power over. The fact that he used his position as a professor to bully and humiliate students shows who he really is.
He was very barefaced about how he bullied many students, and Neville was one of his favorite targets. Given that he himself was bullied as a kid, it’s sad he turned around and did the same thing.
ONLY CARING IF VOLDEMORT KILLED LILY, NOT HER HUSBAND AND SON
One of the most disgusting things that Snape does that shows he’s one of the most shameless characters in the entire series is when he doesn’t care if a baby dies at Voldemort’s hand. While he asks Voldemort to not kill Lily, he’s totally fine with her husband and child being murdered. While he might have hated James, not being bothered by a baby getting killed is beyond gross.
BECOMING A DEATH EATER
While Snape might have done many shameless things in his life, the one that tops it all is becoming a Death Eater in the first place. This just goes to show that he didn’t really even care about the fact that Muggles and Muggle-borns were hurt and murdered. In fact, he actively supported this and was in the inner circle that was part of it. He might have changed sides because of Lily, but he never really had any shame about the other awful things he did and supported.