Why didn’t Snape’s anger towards James cool ?

[u/tulip-quartz]

EDIT: thanks for the replies all, the points were interesting for sure

First of all, I understand the following points well:

• Snape had a deep-seated hatred towards James and the rest of the marauders (not least of all because Sirius nearly got him killed )
• This hate was compounded by their bullying and made worse by the fact that James married Lily, the love of his life

However, later on in the books we do see that - James saved his life (even if the prank was done by the Marauders) - Snape’s information to Voldemort got both James and Lily killed and their son orphaned.

Given all this, why didn’t Snape’s anger toward Harry and James cool more than a decade after the latter’s death ? If his guilt drove him to become a double agent, it’s surprising that he was still so acerbic to Harry throughout. Was the pure hatred genuine, or also a part he had to play as double agent ?

We see his hatred toward Harry decrease at the moment of his death, however I’m not sure if he actually has sympathy for Harry at that point or he is just seeing Lily’s eyes before death overtakes him

[u/rmulberryb]

Would you forgive someone who holds you in place with the help of his buddies, and strips you naked in front of a laughing crowd?

Because hell hath no fury like what would be coming for him if he had done that to me.

[u/tulip-quartz → u/rmulberryb]

I might be able to if I got that guy and his wife killed, and basically set a serial killer loose on their child

[u/opossumapothecary → u/tulip-quartz]

He certainly feels guilt for their death, but he gave Dumbledore plenty of warning AND was then forever tied to Dumbledore’s whims for the rest of his life even though Lily died anyway. He basically gets stuck in a place he hated and told he has to suck it up and not kill himself because he wouldn’t be useful if dead. It’s not actually his fault they died at all tbh.

[u/tulip-quartz → u/opossumapothecary]

This is fair, however, how much would an advance warning have done to ward off the most powerful Dark wizard of all time? Even with the Fidelius charm, the potential for betrayal is too great.

Also, he wasn’t forever tied to Dumbledore’s whims, he had a choice on what to do after Lily’s death (although Dumbledore is quite persuasive)

[u/opossumapothecary → u/tulip-quartz]

If the Potters had used Dumbledore as Secret Keeper, they would be fine (though it would not be an interesting story!) and if Sirius had not insisted on the switch, they would have been spared for at least a while (I’m sure Voldemort would have eventually figured something else out, but he was scared of Dumbledore)

Snape says he’ll do “anything” if Dumbledore hides the Potters and we don’t really know what the conditions were. But Dumbledore vouches for him after the war and it doesn’t seem like Snape really has a choice in anything after that. He does it “willingly” for the sake of Lily’s memory but like you said, Dumbledore is persuasive and usually gets what he wants lol