Snape, Professor Severus

Snape was partially influenced by Rowling’s teacher from when she went to school in Tutshil: “We were seated according to the teacher’s perception of our brightness, and after ten minutes she put me in the ‘dim’ row...I found it extremely scary.” (Conversations, 17) “My least favorite teacher was just a bully...We’re back to Snape here.” (Conversations, 21)

Snape is the Potions Master at Hogwarts and head of Slytherin House. He is a tall man with greasy black, shoulder-length hair and a hooked nose. Snape was a student at Hogwarts during the 1970s, a contemporary of James Potter and the other Marauders teaches Potions classes. He is very adept at creating potions but his teaching style is based on intimidation and bullying. He favors students of his own house while actively undermining the efforts of students from ryffindor. He is particularly antagonistic toward Harry, based partly on built up grudges against Harry's dad.

While at school with the Marauders, Snape followed James and the others around, trying to find ways to get them expelled. When he 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 if James Potter hadn't realized what was happening and pulled him back. He has held a grudge about this incident for years and when he got the chance to catch Sirius and turn him over to the Dementors, he tried to do so, turning a deaf ear to the truth that Sirius was innocent. Warning: spoiler information ahead. Snape was for a time a Death Eater, but at some point during the terrible years that Voldemort's power threatened the Wizarding world, Snape turned to the side of Dumbledore and became a spy. He still has the Dark Mark on his arm.

Name meaning: Snape is a small town in Britain. Severus was a harsh Roman emperor.

The meaning of Voldemort’s name is important and debatable. “Voldemort” is a combination of French terms: vol (meaning “flight”), de (meaning “of”), and morte (meaning “death”) in French and Latin. Another theory about the name’s origins states that the Latin for "I wish/want" is “volo,” which is related to the English “volition” and “volunteer.” Perhaps the name means someone who wishes death on others.

Voldemort (pronounced “VOL-duh-mor” because the “t” is silent) is better introduced in the later books. He’s not a very interesting character at this point in the series. At this point in the series he appears to be entirely evil and his motives are unclear.

Minor Characters

Adrian Pucey

A Slytherin Chaser

Alicia Spinnet

A Gryffindor Chaser

Angelina Johnson

A Gryffindor Chaser

Bane

A centaur in the forbidden forest, Bane is black-haired and - bodied and wilder looking than Ronan. He refuses to tell Hagrid anything about the unicorn slayings apart from “Mars is bright tonight.” He sharply criticizes Firenze for helping Harry escape Voldemort and thereby setting himself against the heavens.

Name meaning: A bane is someone or something that causes misery or distress. Bane the centaur was not known to be very cheerful. The German word “bane” means a path hewn through woods

Binns, Professor

History of Magic teacher and the only professor at Hogwarts who is a ghost. Binns enters the classroom through the blackboard. He is ancient and shriveled in appearance and is the semi-transparent, pearly-white color of a typical ghost. The story is that Binns was so old that one morning, upon waking up in front of the staff room fire, he simply went off to class, leaving his body behind. His routine has not varied a whit since. Binns' classes are remarkable only for their utter dreariness. He reads through endless details of goblin uprisings and other events “in a flat drone like an old vacuum cleaner” which puts everyone into a stupor.

Black, Sirius

The Sirius Black who gave Hagrid the motorcycle will reappear as--

Warning, spoiler information ahead--a leading character in both the Prisoner of Azkaban (book 3) and the Goblet of Fire (book 4). He is HarryÂ’s godfather and is one of the most prominent characters of book three.

Name meaning: Sirius Black’s name has astrological origins: Sirius is the brightest star in the galaxy and is part of the constellation Canis Major. Sirius is also called the “Dog Star” so Sirius’ name translates roughly to “Black Dog.”

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