snape_profile.html

Bio and Profile of Professor Severus Snape

Name: Severus Snape.
Age: Thirty-five.
House: Former Slytherin. Head of Slytherin House.
Title: Head Professor.
Job: Potions Master, Hogwarts staff, Former Death Eater, one of the three head teachers of Hogwarts, with McGonagall and Dumbledore. Snape would prefer to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts; Snape is also a superb Occlumens. Snape is a member of The Order of the Phoenix. He spied for Dumbledore during the 1970s and he is a member in the 1990s as well (OP).
Office: Located adjacent to the dungeon classroom, where he teaches potions.
Wand: 12 inch Willow, Phoenix feather core.
Familiar: Grey - black tabby cat named Bridget Bishop, after the first witch executed at Salem, Mass. in the 1690s.
Occlumency: "An obscure branch of magic, but a highly useful one." -- Severus Snape

occulto - (Latin) to hide, conceal, cover (the English word 'occlude' comes from this root, as well as the modern astronomy terms about one celestial body hiding another from view).
mens - (Latin) mind.
Occlumency has not often been studied at Hogwarts in the years prior to the second war against Voldemort, particularly not below N.E.W.T. level; it is the art of magically defending the mind against external penetration, sealing it against magical intrusion and influence - the defensive counter to Legilimency.
Occlumency is a necessary prerequisite to defeat a Legilimens' lie-detector abilities without suspicious behaviour such as avoiding face-to-face contact and eye contact. Elementary Occlumency involves clearing the mind of thought and emotion, so that the Legilimens can find no emotional ties to memories that the target wishes to conceal. Simple resistance to attack requires similar skills to those needed to resist the Imperius Curse. In its more advanced form, Occlumency allows the user to suppress only feelings and memories that contradict what the user wishes a Legilimens to believe, thus allowing the Occlumens to lie without self-betrayal (OP24).
Severus Snape is a particularly skilled Occlumens, since he has managed to survive as a spy among the Death Eaters, under the nose of Voldemort, a noted skilled Legilimens who has good cause to be suspicious of Snape's loyalty. Dumbledore knows enough Occlumency that he can teach it if he wishes to (OP38). Harry Potter has learned some of the basic theory of the art, but ordinarily has had a poor success rate in defending himself against attack. However, much of this might be attributed to the high stress he was under during his O.W.L. year and lack of proper practice.

Legilimency: "The mind is not a book, to be opened at will and examined at leisure. Thoughts are not etched on the inside of skulls, to be perused by any invader. The mind is a complex and many-layered thing.... It is true, however, that those who have mastered Legilimency are able, under certain conditions, to delve into the minds of their victims and to interpret their findings correctly." -- Severus Snape

legens - (Latin) a reader
mens - (Latin) mind
Legilimency, a branch of magic not normally taught at Hogwarts (at least, not for O.W.L.s) is the ability to extract emotions and memories from another person's mind. Although the word literally translates as 'mind-reading', this is considered a naive interpretation of the art by its practitioners. Someone who practices Legilimency is known as a Legilimens.
Legilimency is easier when the spell-caster is physically near the target, and when the target is off-guard, relaxed, or otherwise vulnerable. Eye contact is often essential, so it is useful for a Legilimens to verbally manipulate his or her target into meeting the Legilimens' eyes, with the fringe benefit that the target's emotional state may bring relevant associated memories to the surface (OP24, OP26). All of this seems to tally quite nicely with what is known of the nature of human memory in Muggle science.
Notice that when Harry wishes to avoid discussing his vision of Voldemort's confrontation with Rookwood, and how many dreams he's still having about the Department of Mysteries, he's learned enough to avoid Snape's eyes - but Snape taunts Harry just enough that Harry forgets himself and glares at Snape rather than the potion ingredients jars, so that Snape is able to obtain a more truthful assessment of Harry's progress, which he later reported to Dumbledore, as indicated in Dumbledore's interview with Harry after the battle. (OP26, OP38)
Severus Snape is both a Legilimens and an Occlumens, and is in fact better at Occlumency than Voldemort is at Legilimency, which is how he has survived in his difficult role of spy among the Death Eaters for so long (see Occlumency).
Voldemort is a highly skilled Legilimens, in the estimation of Severus Snape (OP24), to the point where Voldemort can nearly always tell when someone is lying to him. Unlike Snape, Voldemort does not have to speak the incantation to use Legilimency, if his first appearance in GF and last scene in OP are any indication. He is able to possess the bodies of snakes while retaining his own body, possibly through Legilimency (OP21). Through his connection with Harry, he was also able to use his ability to feed images and eventually false visions into Harry's dreams, when Harry's mind was most relaxed and vulnerable (OP24, OP38).
Dumbledore is also a Legilimens, describing himself as sufficiently skilled to know when he is being lied to. He is also sufficiently skilled in Occlumency to be able to teach it if he so wishes (OP37).
Since we've been told that the use of Veritaserum is controlled by very strict Ministry guidelines (GF27), the same should be true of Legilimency. (This would not need to be true of Occlumency, since that is purely a defensive measure and only affects the person using it.)

Teaching Legilimency may be legally restricted. For instance, a student may be required to be of age, and/or to pass character tests like those required for Auror training. Note that nobody suggests Harry should be taught Legilimency at his age, and he isn't learning it as part of Occlumency as evidenced by his thoughts during his History of Magic O.W.L.
All that can be true without any contradictions with Voldemort having learned it illegally. Or even legally, since young Riddle was very good at maintaining a respectable public image.
Using Legilimency is apparently not legally restricted, as neither Snape nor Dumbledore appears to have qualms about doing so in teaching Harry or in questioning people in emergencies.
There may be restrictions on the circumstances under which a Legilimens may reveal something learned via the technique.

Looks: He is a tall man with greasy black, shoulder-length hair and a hooked nose. He has an unusually unpleasant personality. Wears black exclusively. See photos below.
Personality: His teaching style is based on intimidation and bullying. He favors students of his own house while actively undermining the efforts of students from Gryffindor. He is particularly antagonistic toward Harry Potter, based partly on built up-grudges against Potter's father. He is also cruel to Neville Longbottom for no discernible reason except that he can sense that Neville is afraid of him. Snape is extremely sharp-tongued, and his behavior is often inexcusable, such as when he sees Hermione with her teeth expanded past her chin and says "I see no difference."
Genetic Background: Wizarding family blood-lines can be presumed; some genetic ties to the Malfoys, Tom Riddle, others. Uncle of Abigail Beware.
History: Snape attended Hogwarts in the 1970s as a Slytherin, and was in the same year as Gryffindors James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin. According to Sirius, Snape was already deeply interested in the Dark Arts, and came to Hogwarts knowing more curses than most upperclassmen. A few childhood memories seen by Harry during his Occlumency lessons hint that Snape's father may have been abusive; Snape may have turned early to a study of combat skills in his own defense. We just don't know.
Snape and James Potter quickly developed a loathe / hate relationship at school, reinforced by Sirius Black. James and Sirius nicknamed Snape "Snivellus", taunting him about his unkempt appearance. James developed an obnoxious habit of hexing people for fun that he didn't break out of until he was past his fifth year. It's unclear exactly who started it or how, but he and Snape rarely lost an opportunity to curse one another. One of Snape's worst memories is of being publicly humiliated by James for Sirius' amusement on the afternoon of their D.A.D.A. O.W.L.
According to Sirius, Snape spent a lot of time following James and the others around, trying to find ways to get them expelled. When Snape became too curious about where Lupin went every month, Sirius tricked him into entering the passage under the Whomping Willow to find out. He would have been killed by the werewolf -- or wound up a werewolf himself -- if James Potter hadn't realized what was happening and pulled him back. Snape deeply resented being in debt to James, and particularly Sirius as the instrument of that debt. Snape was part of a group of Slytherin students in the 70s who nearly all became Death Eaters. He served Voldemort for a time, but at some point before the Potters' murder and Voldemort's downfall, turned against the Dark Lord and became a spy for Dumbledore. Snape still has the Dark Mark on his arm.
Played By: Morgana Le Fey, [email protected]

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