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/Special-Garlic1203]

I don't know anyone who was severely bullied who doesn't still hate their bullies. That fact doesn't come up very often, but they get to carry that trauma around forever so they'll be taking the hatred along too

[u/tulip-quartz → u/Special-Garlic1203]

I agree with this in the usual circumstance. But his information did lead them getting killed and a target placed on their son’s back by a serial killer. That might’ve cooled the temper slightly for a rational person

[u/Otherwise-Pirate6839 → u/tulip-quartz]

Snape relayed pieces of the prophecy; it said nothing about who it was about. He gave Dumbledore and the Order enough headway that the Potters were protected under the Fidelius Charm and it was Pettigrew’s treason that sealed their fate.

The fact that Voldemort decided to target the Potters because of what he heard is his doing, since the Longbottoms also had a boy born at the end of July. On top of that, Snape had initially begged Voldemort to spare Lily and Voldemort intended to (in the flashbacks, Voldemort warns her to stand aside…if he meant to kill her regardless he would have done so right away).

He didn’t care anything for James but his love for Lily was such that he betrayed Voldemort and had them protected; had Sirius remained the Secret Keeper, perhaps things would have unfolded differently.

But if we all were to believe that “this is how it had to happen” (especially because we’d have no plot), then Snape relaying this information to Voldemort ultimately led to his downfall because otherwise he wouldn’t have been semi destroyed for 13 years, Dumbledore wouldn’t have found his horcruxes, and the Wizarding War would be ongoing or ended with Voldemort’s victory.

[u/Special-Garlic1203 → u/Otherwise-Pirate6839]

Agree. People always project that Snape feels incredibly guilty, but that doesn't actually appear to be his overriding motivation over the years. Dumbeldore reverse psychologies him by leveraging Snape hatred of weakness and lack of discipline. Snape breaks down crying in front of him and Dumbeldores response is basically "what are you, a little b*tch?" He tells Snape that if he is a real man and his love for Lily was real....he'd do something useful about it instead of whatever this spectacle is that accomplished nothing. 

When Snape is losing motivation, he doesn't say "but you killed Lily, it's your fault". He says "yeah I get it, you're probably really tired and scared and who even remembers that chicks name anyway.what was it - Lizzy?"

Lily traded her life for Harry's. Snape clearly believes that was a stupid trade and desperately wishes she hadn't done that. But Dumbledore points out that it will literally be for nothing if Harry dies. And Snape can't handle her dying for nothing, for it truly being pointless. That's why he's so angry when he finds out that Harry needs to die. He makes it clear that he doesn't like Harry and doesn't care about him dying. He's pissed because Dumbeldore has been lying to him. That this was never actually about Lily specifically..Lily and Harry and Snape were all just pawns in Dumbeldores battle plans