Okay soooo call me a dick but hear me out. I read the Harry Potter series as each book came out which I feel makes my experience somewhat more intimate than people who may have read them after they came out because I had no idea if or how harry would get out of each predicament. That said I never understood how the "always" scene (book and movie) was basically a get out of being a dick card for snape. Like yeah he still loved lilly and so was secretly not secretly looking out for Harry. So maybe that excuses some of his dickish moments toward Harry. Many people argue that it was difficult for him to see Harry after all that had transpired and sympathize with him. I could see how some people may feel that. But it doesn't explain how he was such a jerk to pretty much ALL students who weren't slytherin. I recall an instance when hermione , a likable and main character, was injured by a slitheryn student before class in front of snape with several other witnesses and he did nothing. Wtf
Snake Face liked slytherins, well as close to liked as you are going to get, so he would expect favoritism of them he would expect all others to be treated poorly and anyone associated with Harry needed to be miserable. Again this is how many people describe it to me, and I am summarizing a lot.
Well you would be pretty fucked up if the guy you used to follow murdered the love of your life and the only thing left in this world that reminded you of her was her child that looked like the d-bag who made your life hell in school.
tbh i think most of the gryffindors idolized Harry Potter for being the boy who lived and for being in gryffindor, which was probably a similar situation to how people acted around James and his friends (since he was popular), whilst the Slytherins can't stand Harry that much, just like Snape couldnt stand James. I'm not saying this excuses anything, but it might be an explanation for why he was so bitter all the time
One of the main themes of the books is that no one is simply black and white. That we've all got light and dark inside of us. Snape is a great example of that.
Also remember when Hermionie got hexed so her teeth her MASSIVE and snake said 'I see no difference.' Real freakin mature, bullying a teenage girl for her one insecurity. And remember when Neville messed up a potion and everyone thought it was deadly... So snape put his pet toad Trevor in it? Hoping it would die? But NOOOOOO
'Blah blah blah so loving and caring'
'Blah blah blah so loving and caring'