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Severus Snape is a fictional character in the Harry Potter book series written by J.K. Rowling. In the first novel of the series, he is hostile toward Harry and is built up to be the primary antagonist until the final chapters. As the series progresses, Snape's character becomes more layered and complex. Rowling does not fully reveal the details of his true loyalties until the end of the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Over the course of the series, Snape's portrayal evolves from that of a malicious and partisan teacher to that of a pivotal character of considerable complexity and moral ambiguity. Snape primarily teaches Potions at Hogwarts, though in the sixth novel he teaches Defence Against the Dark Arts, a position which he was known to have desired throughout the series. He ultimately becomes Headmaster of Hogwarts in the final novel. Rowling has described him as "a gift of a character".

In an interview, Rowling described Snape's character as an "antihero". She has said that she drew inspiration for Snape's character from a disliked teacher from her own childhood, and described Snape as a horrible teacher, saying the "worst, shabbiest thing you can do as a teacher is to bully students." However, she does suggest in the books that he is generally an effective teacher. Although Rowling has said that Gilderoy Lockhart is her only character that she "deliberately based on a real person", Snape was reportedly based, at least in part, on John Nettleship, who taught Rowling chemistry and employed her mother as an assistant at Wyedean School near Chepstow. For Snape's surname, Rowling borrowed the name from the village of Snape, Suffolk. In a 1999 interview, and again in 2004, Rowling singled out Snape as one of her favourite characters to write.