Hey guys! Welcome to another installment of
Harry Potter Theory.
In this video, we’re going to be discussing
Hogwarts Potions Professor, and later Headmaster
Severus Snape, and his most powerful spells
and abilities. Now, one thing that I want
to mention right out of the gate is that Snape
is one of the most powerful wizards in the
wizarding world- and what was most impressive
about him is that he wasn’t even that old
when he died. Snape died at the tender age
of 38, and though he wasn’t quite at the
level of Voldemort or Dumbledore, he was getting
there- and had he been around for a few decades
longer, I think that Snape may just have had
a shot at being the most powerful wizard ever.
Unfortunately, we’ll never know, and though
I’m sure he had the potential to achieve
insurmountable levels of power, realistically
he did ultimately fall short of besting the
likes of Voldemort and Dumbledore. With all
of that being said, however, Snape was still
amazing, and I feel like sometimes he’s
a little underrated. Throughout the series,
time and time again Snape showcases spells
and abilities that are difficult to conjure
and often unique. He’s also a well-rounded
wizard because he was never afraid of venturing
in to experimentation with the dark arts-
he knows the good spells, and the more sinister
spells- he knows it all.
Snape is a testament to what can be achieved
if you’re really dedicated to something.
As a student, Snape always had his head in
the books, continually learning and progressing.
He was focused, and he didn’t let temporary
satisfaction get in the way of achieving more-
learning more. Though he had a segue down
a dark path, the result of bullying and the
loss of his friendship with Lily, Snape only
used his hatred for the Marauders as fuel-
it gave him the drive and the motivation to
be more, to do more.
In this video, we’re going to be diving
in and looking at Snapes 5 most powerful spells
and abilities. Let’s get started:
#5 Sectumsempra
Coming in at #5 on the list is Snape’s very
own spell, Sectumsempra.
We first see Sectumsempra in the films when
Harry uses it on Malfoy in the half blood
prince. Sectumsempra is a vicious dark curse
that acts like an invisible sword, causing
lacerations, haemorrhaging and cuts upon it’s
target. Often after being struck the target
will lay there motionless as they lose blood.
It is somewhat of a speciality of snapes,
and is featured in his textbook for advanced
potion-making. The only treatment for sectumsempra
is ‘Vulnera Sanentur’ which was also invented
by Snape.
What’s so dangerous about Sectumsempra is
that it was seemingly easy for Harry to cast,
but still nearly killed Draco Malfoy the first
time that he used it. While the unforgivable
curses require intent and an understanding
of the spells to effectively cast them, Sectumsempra
seemingly doesn’t require this same level
of intent or deep understanding- but still
produces the same lethal results. I think
that the only thing that sets Snape’s spell
apart from the traditional unforgivable curses-
crucio, avada kedavra, imperio-is that it
has a counter-charm.
#4 Creating Potions
Coming in at #4 on the list is Snape’s mastery
of potion making. Snape held the position
of Potions master at Hogwarts from 1981 to
1996, proving himself to be extremely adept
at the act of making potions. Snape, having
always been studious and committed to expanding
his mind, was very successful at creating
any sort of potion that he desired, and thoroughly
impressed his former potions professor, Horace
Slughorn, in his school boy days. In fact,
he was so adept, and in such a league of his
own, that Snape basically rewrote a lot of
the instructions in his potions textbook,
the same textbook that Harry later acquires.
When Harry Potter first attends Slughorn’s
class, he hits the jackpot and finds the former
textbook of Snape- ‘The Half Blood Prince’.
At first, this was just a regular textbook
to Harry, but as he began to flip through
it, he noticed a few peculiarities, the first
thing being the inscription by it’s former
owner:
“This book is the property of the Half Blood
Prince”
The next thing that he notices is that on
each page, portions of the instructions are
scribbled out. And instead, this ‘half blood
prince’ character had written in his own
instructions, instructions that differed from
what the original recipe called for. And what
Harry quickly realized, was that these alternative
instructions were far better than the original
instructions, as he was able to effortlessly
produce the potions that Slughorn called for
in each of his lessons. The book was like
having cheat codes to all of the potions lessons,
and by following the instructions in the book,
Harry was able to thoroughly impress Slughorn.
This is a massive testament to Snape’s prowess
in potions - Hogwarts had been around for
over a thousand years, and the potions textbooks
were written by skilled potioneers, but Snape
had still managed to improve them.
For the rest of the year, Harry continued
to follow the Half-Blood Prince's instructions
wherever they deviated from the original author,
Libatius Borage, and it resulted in Slughorn
raving about his abilities.
There are many many potions in Harry Potter,
and I wouldn’t put it past Snape to create
any one of them. Powerful potions include
Veritaserum, which is essentially a truth
potion, Felix Felicis or liquid luck, which
grants unusually good luck, Amortentia, which
gives the drinker a powerful obsession or
infatuation with the giver of the potion,
and Polyjuice potion, which allows the drinker
to assume the appearance of someone else.
Snape could do them all.
#3 Unsupported flight
Coming in at #3 is of course unsupported flight,
or the ability to fly. The only other known
witch or wizard known to fly without a charm
of some sort is the dark lord himself, Voldemort.
This achievement is EXTREMELY uncommon and
is the sign of a truly powerful witch or wizard.
JK Rowling is reported to have stated that
ALL wizards have the power of flight innately,
but that the vast vast majority need a broom
to achieve it. In the case of Snape and Voldemort,
they are just so focused and powerful that
they’re able to channel the power to fly
unsupported- harnessing the energy through
themselves rather than the broom.
Flying can come in handy in many different
circumstances, allowing you to get away quickly
or pursue a target with ease. Unsupported
flight should not be confused with levitation,
which doesn’t work on humans, and only allows
objects to fly a few feet above the ground.
#2 Spell Creation
Coming in at #2 is spell creation. Spell creation
can be highly dangerous and has proven, historically,
to be extremely difficult. Only witches and
wizards with extreme patience and an astounding
understanding of magic have been able to successfully
invent new spells. Snape, who exhibits both
of these things, has proven himself to be
quite successful at spell creation- having
created a multitude of spells over the years.
This list includes the toenail growing hex-
which causes the victims toenails to grow
alarmingly fast, langlock - which affixes
the victims tongue to the roof of their mouth,
the muffliato charm - which fills the ears
of anyone nearby with an unidentifiable buzzing,
levicorpus, which lifts the victims body in
to the air, liberacorpus- which drops them
out of the air, vulnera sanentur, which heals
wounds inflicted by sectumsempra, and lastly,
and perhaps most importantly, sectumsempra,
which I mentioned earlier.
A few other witches/wizards that we’re introduced
to have also created spells, but of all of
them, Snape appears to have the most impressive
portfolio- and I think that this is truly
indicative of his magical ability. I can’t
even begin to imagine what sorts of spells
Snape would have come up with had he lived
a longer, fuller life.
#1 Occlumency
Occlumency is the practice of magically closing
ones mind against legilimency, which involves
navigating through people’s minds to access
their thoughts and feelings, sometimes even
influencing them. Severus Snape is a MASTER
occlumens and is perhaps one of the only people,
besides Dumbledore, whose mind is safe from
a master legilimens like Voldemort. Snape
acts as a double agent in the films but is
still able to deceive lord voldemort despite
frequent interaction, and I think that this
truly speaks to his ability as an occlumens
- perhaps even surpassing Dumbledore’s abilities
in the subject. A basic level occlumens is
simply able to clear their mind in the event
of a mind infiltration, while a master occlumens
is able to change their thought patterns in
order to further confuse the legilimens. Given
that occlumency is a rare skill, and that
Snape is so adept at it, I thought that it
was fitting that it be placed at the top of
this list.
And that concludes the list. I really wish
Snape had lived a longer, fuller life so that
we could have seen the boundaries of magic
being pushed even further. However, in the
time that he was around, he contributed a
lot.
What do you guys think? Do you agree with
this list? Let me know down in the comment
section below.
Until next time
YER A WIZARD ARRY
