In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, we saw Severus Snape on the verge of death, asking Harry to take his tears.
Why did he do so, and what was the significance? Here is all you need to know.
Contents
What’s so special about Snape’s tears?
The tears given by Snape to Harry were a form of memories. Snape wanted Harry to witness his memories using the Pensieve to unearth the truth.
The Pensieve was a magical, shallow basin, kept in the Headmaster’s office at Hogwarts. It was used to store and view memories.
This was helpful in storing all troublesome memories that one could revisit later to gain some clarity.
Usually, a wand was used to extract memories from the mind and either put them directly in the Pensieve or store them in flasks for later use.
As mentioned in a scene from the book, Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix:
“Snape pulled out his wand from an inside pocket of his robes and Harry tensed in his chair, but Snape merely raised the wand to his temple and placed its tip into the greasy roots of his hair.
When he withdrew it, some silvery substance came away, stretching from temple to wand like a thick gossamer strand, which broke as he pulled the wand away from it and fell gracefully into the Pensieve, where it swirled silvery-white, neither gas nor liquid.“
Unlike the usual way of extracting memories using a wand, Snape gave Harry his tears.
“Something more than blood was leaking from Snape. Silvery blue, neither gas nor liquid, it gushed from his mouth and his ears and his eyes, and Harry knew what it was, but did not know what to do—
A flask, conjured from thin air, was thrust into his shaking hands by Hermione. Harry lifted the silvery substance into it with his wand.”
(Deathly Hallows – Chapter 32)
The substance was Snape’s memories in the form of tears.
Book Versus the Movie
In the book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, JK Rowling did not mention anything about tears.
‘silvery blue, neither gas nor liquid, it gushed from his mouth and his ears and his eyes…’
On the contrary, the movie shows Snape crying and Harry collecting the tears from his face in a flask.
This change in the movie could simply be to make it easier for the audience to understand. Visually, tears would make more sense than the display of semi-liquid substance.
Why did Snape give Harry his tears?
Let us explore the reasons behind Snape’s actions:
#1 Snape Was On The Verge Of Death
Snape had been bitten by Nagini, Voldemort’s snake. He had a deep wound on his neck. He was bleeding profusely and could barely speak. He had only a few minutes to live.
Snape wanted Harry to know the whole truth as he was the only person other than Dumbledore who knew the reality.
He gave Harry his tears as they contained all his memories so that Harry could see the complete truth from his eyes. Snape knew that he would not be able to tell Harry everything properly due to his current condition.
He also knew how important it was for Harry to know the truth behind Dumbledore’s death.
#2 Harry Did Not Trust Snape
Harry and Snape had always had mutual loathing for each other.
Snape used to hate Harry because his father, James Potter, had been a bully to Snape during his school years. Harry, on the other hand, believed Snape to be a loyal Death Eater and the murderer of Dumbledore.
Harry held Snape responsible for Dumbledore’s death and would not have believed anything Snape said. It was more effective to give Harry the tears that he could put in the Pensieve and see the memories for himself.
He would then understand the reason behind Snape’s actions. The memories were a recollection of Snape’s love for Harry’s mother, his various interactions with Dumbledore and their final plan to kill the Dark Lord.
#3 The Tears Were Snape’s Attempt at Redemption
Since Dumbledore’s death, Snape was widely hated for being a betrayer. No one knew that he was acting as a double agent on Dumbledore’s order.
Snape had pretended to be a loyal Death Eater to Voldemort to gain his trust and find out his evil plans and report it all back to Dumbledore.
Snape had killed Dumbledore, but it was on Dumbledore’s order. It was part of the plan to save Harry and defeat the Dark Lord.
However, no one knew the truth. Snape was known as a traitor.
By giving his memories to Harry, he was also trying to clear his name. In his final moments, he wanted to help Harry, and also get the redemption he deserved. He wanted Harry and the world to know of his innocence.
You can find out more about why Snape had to kill Dumbledore, and why his Avada Kedvra seemed to be blue in colour instead.
#4 Snape wanted Harry to complete the mission
Snape was about to die. He knew only Harry was capable of ending Voldemort. For this, Harry needed to have all the information regarding the prophecy so he could finish what had started so many years ago.
Hence, Snape gave Harry the tears to share his memories that were paramount to defeating Voldemort. He was on his deathbed and could not communicate directly. This is why he decided to share his memories instead.
Even in his dying moments, Severus Snape wanted to help save Lily Potter’s son to the best of his abilities.
This was also most likely because he felt guilty about telling Voldemort about the prophecy, which ultimately led to him wanting to kill baby Harry!
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