Prologue

Once there was a wizard called Severus Snape]. He was tall and lanky, and his black greasy hair hung like curtains around his face. He grew up as a half-blood wizard in an unhappy family, but found solace in a witch called Lily Evans, a childhood friend. Snape loved Lily deeply: through their years at Hogwarts; through her marriage to another wizard, James Potter; through his time as a Death Eater; and long after her murder at the wand of Lord Voldemort. After her death, a heartbroken Snape took up a position at Hogwarts as Potions master (under Dumbledore’s protection), and began his secret mission to keep safe the only thing that he had left of her: her son, a boy with his mother’s eyes.

Severus Snape and the Philosopher’s Stone

Still, that didn’t mean that he had to like the guy, who looked annoyingly like his father (and Snape’s school bully) James Potter.

Nonetheless, Snape had a job to do. During Harry’s first year, Dumbledore and Snape suspected a fellow teacher, Defence Against the Dark Arts’ Professor Quirrell(/features/quirinus-quirrell "Quirinus Quirrell"), of trying to steal a precious magical object hidden within Hogwarts grounds: The Philosopher’s Stone. Because he was clever, Snape saw through Quirrell’s plans pretty quickly, which involved setting trolls loose in the dungeon, and trying to jinx Harry Potter’s broom during a Quidditch match.

Snape, of course, gallantly confronted Quirrell, but in the end, Harry and his two friends got all the credit, with Snape getting set on fire in the process. Charming.