I, like so many others (Harry included), couldn't make an unbiased judgement of Snape's character because HE KILLED DUMBLEDORE D: I was pretty distraught... so I couldn't see him as a good guy. I hated him. My mum believed in him though, and now I love him again smile
I never really knew if he was "good" or "bad" to be honest .
I just had a feeling that there was something huge behind the whole thing with him though :3
I never saw the extent of good guy that he was but I knew that Dumbledore wouldn't have trusted him if there hadn't been a very good reason. I'd say being madly in love with Harry's mother and continuing to love her well after she died is a good reason.
Seriously never saw that whole thing coming, I hadn't expected her to add so much depth so far in.
After the first book, I thought of Snape as an example of why Slytherin House is accepted.
Snape is annoying, but very effective- he was the only professor wise to Quirrell's gambit.
(Honestly- if Quirrel is GOOD with trolls, why the panic and passing out? That's suspicious.)
After Book 5, I was certain he was a good guy. Snape was the only one who could notify the
OotP about the Death Eaters in the MoM- and his announcement was the direct cause of the
DE's losing what they set out to accomplish- in fact, being discovered in the process.
I thought that killing Dumbledore was the last we'd see of him. He'd kill him and then disappear, a traitor to be forgotten in favor of Harry's hunt for Horcruxes.
Kind of like nothing special happening to Lockhart after he lost his memory, or Ginny when she was possessed by Voldemort, or Fred/George opening a joke shop.
Everyone seems to have their moment in the sun before disappearing.
Moi!
I love Snape and when I read the end of Half-Blood Prince I was like "Hmm...there's something fishy here."
My friend totally didn't believe me when I thought he was still good and when we got to the end I was just like emotion_awesome.
I guess I'd never really thought about it much. I went along with the story. Most of me was just confused, but maybe a small part thought that he was living two different lives; one as Voldemort's faithful Death Eater, another as Dumbledore's loyal potions master. He's just a very tricky character, which makes it so unbearable to put those books down!! xd
I believed him to be a good person, since Dumbledore trusted him,
but after book six I hated him, thinking he had really betrayed Dumbledore.
After we learned of his past and his devotion to protect Harry up till the very end
I was sort of ashamed that I had hated such a character as Snape.
Im not a rabid fan girl of his, but I do place him in a high level of my favorite characters,
being on par with several other teachers, but below Luna and Neville.
(Always knew he was going to become a god one day.)
I really though he must be a good guy and must be an explanation for his actions... anyway I still hated him, never liked him, and he being a good guy doesn't change it.
I knew he wasn't all bad from the first book when he was interrogating Quirrell and from that moment on I just could not see him as one of the bad guys.