The Eulogy

"Here lies Severus Snape."

Harry Potter's voice carried well above the heads of the large crowd standing in front of the Hogwarts main door.

"Even if he hadn't done anything else in his life, he would still have a place in Hogwarts: A History, as the Headmaster of the school, who held this position for the longest time. It seems fitting that his demise took place just after the tenth full generation of wizards and witches, who attended this school under his guidance passed their final exams.

"He took the office after my former Head of House, Professor Minerva McGonagall, and held it for seventy years. Many wizards opposed his appointment, although it was the logical continuation of his position as Deputy Headmaster to Professor McGonagall. There were voices who advocated 'bringing fresh blood to Hogwarts' and having 'a new Headmaster, not tied by the local politics'. But all wizards and witches who were offered the position declined. Mean-spirited rumours said Severus Snape blackmailed them into refusal. That is untrue. I... I knew all the other candidates personally. None of them received the smallest scrap of parchment from Professor Snape. They simply believed him to be better suited for the position of Headmaster than themselves.

"And now Severus Snape is dead. I can assure you of this with absolute certainty. Living Snape wouldn't tolerate my speaking his eulogy. He would probably hex me just after I opened my mouth. No, I am not joking. He hated me deeply and nothing could change it. I hated him, too.

"His hatred was petty sometimes. He often bragged about saving ten years of teacher's salary by employing a fully qualified Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor for twenty years on half pay, because that teacher, being a werewolf, had no other option of work.

"He never had second thoughts about firing anyone, either. He eliminated the Divination course from the curriculum. He exorcised Professor Binns, saying that history is too important to be slept through. He made Rubeus Hagrid Gamekeeper again. In his early years as Headmaster, teacher turnover was unprecedented. But those who stayed were the finest specialists available. He established Muggle Studies as compulsory subject for all non-Muggle born students - and balanced it with additional Theory of Magic classes for Muggle-borns.

"Was he a Muggle lover? Oh, no. Severus Snape was a pureblood wizard with no love for Muggles (or for Wizards, for that matter). He simply stated that advancing Muggle technology threatened the Wizarding world, so the ignorance in Muggle matters was a whim that could not be allowed.

"Those suspicions of his were very Slytherinesque, I would say. But then, Severus Snape was the epitome of a Slytherin. A sneaky, ambitious, power-craving bastard. He was proud of his House, the only House to win the House Cup seven years in a row and the Quidditch Cup nine years in a row, as he was too fond of reminding the rest of the world. He tried to change the general attitude towards Slytherins, as stone-hearted, black-souled minions of evil. Judging by the wide berth Slytherin students are given in this crowd, and the dark glances thrown in their directions, I see he has failed.

"He was nasty, mean and arrogant. He never forgot and he never forgave. His teaching style was based on terrorising, bullying and intimidating. He bullied his students. He bullied his colleagues. He bullied the Ministry. See the new greenhouses? Installed last year, when Snape bullied several rich families into donations. No, the school is not in their debt. Actually according to one of them 'we are indebted to the school, because we were able to free ourselves from his pestering so cheaply'.

"Was he a good teacher? What do we mean by 'good '? If a good teacher is one who can instil knowledge in his students, no matter what the cost, then he was an excellent teacher. I happen to know former students of his who pissed their pants -literally - for fear of Snape. But wake up any of them at three in the morning and ask to recite the ingredients of Deflating Draught. They will spill it out readily, together with all variations. They will not even open their eyes.

"Some of you may remember infamous Educational Decrees issued by Cornelius Fudge, when he was Minister of Magic. The last of them was removed two years ago, together with the Ministry's right to issue them. The Ministry probably hated him for this. I am perfectly sure that were he not dead, he couldn't care less. He came under a storm of criticism when he managed to intimidate Minister Bryant twenty years ago into diverting a large share of the Ministry budget into a 'Hogwarts Fund'. How did he manage to do it? We don't know and never will. What was this fund used for? For nothing. It wasn't used. It was turned, under special magical contract, into a Gringotts' safekeeping asset, to be used by the Hogwarts Headmaster in case of need. So if the Ministry would like to pressure the school financially, let me quote our late Headmaster: 'They can stuff themselves.'

"You think he did it for personal reasons? You are right. For personal gain? No, you are wrong. You think it merely moved the source of power from possibly corrupt Ministry officials to possibly corrupt future Hogwarts Headmasters? You think too little of Snape. He secured this money from the Ministry - and against future Headmasters as well. The gold is cursed. And since he could both curse and throw curses, oh yes, he could, any galleon used without real need, will burn a hole in the embezzler's hand. You do not believe me? Try, but don't complain of your missing fingers. You think that it is dark magic? Yes, it is. Do you think he cared? Not in the least.

"Severus Snape was not only a Potions Master. He was also a Dark Arts Master, and a very powerful one, too. One of his many unfulfilled dreams was to be the Defence against Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts. He never attained this position, yet he protected the school more than most of the Defence teachers. Hogwarts now has the strongest wards in its history. As some of you know, the strongest wards are made using life force. After the final fall of Voldemort, in the general confusion, Severus Snape arranged that twenty-four Death Eaters, already sentenced for life in Azkaban, or the Dementor's Kiss, were temporarily imprisoned here, before the prison was again functioning. You've heard how they managed to break out, but all fell prey to the creatures of the Forbidden Forest. Well, that's not the whole story. It was a Death Eater, although a denounced one, who set them free, one by one, and then...utilised them for brand new wards for the school. Did I hear somebody say that one needs to be without a soul to do something like this? And who told you Severus Snape had a soul? Intellect, yes. Feelings - if hatred counts, he had plenty of feelings. But a soul?

"In addition to being the Headmaster of longest tenure, he will probably be also recorded as the one of the greatest Headmasters of this school. Possibly even the greatest, surpassing his teacher and mentor Albus Dumbledore.

"He would sneer if he heard it, but he would not protest. Severus Snape was always very sure of his worth. He knew he was one of the best Potions Masters in Europe. He was unhappy, because he was sentenced to life in Hogwarts. Everybody wanted to buy his potions. However, nobody wanted to employ him, with the Dark Mark in his past. Dumbledore's word was good in the Wizengamot and at Hogwarts. Outside it didn't count for so much. Snape suffered, because he owed Dumbledore his second chance, his teaching job in Hogwarts. He never missed an opportunity to remind his colleagues that teaching morons was completely beneath him. He knew it was Dumbledore's word that made Minerva McGonagall appoint him Deputy Headmaster. But he suffered because he knew the only reason for the appointment was that she trusted Dumbledore above her own judgement.

"The Headmaster of Hogwarts in Dumbledore's time was a beloved, but distant person, who, unless there was a Dark Lord to fight, was too preoccupied with sweets and stupid jokes to be taken seriously.

"The Headmaster of Hogwarts in Snape's time was not beloved. But there was hardly anybody in this country and indeed other countries, who did not take him seriously. Not because he didn't have a sense of humour. He did. And I pity whomever it was lavished on. You could search these isles from north to south and you wouldn't find more sarcastic, sardonic, ironic and bitter man. At least he didn't spare himself in his jokes. Not that it changed much. He was too insensitive to be concerned with the cruelty of his sense of humour, even aimed at his very person.

"He decided, which was typical of his deeply hidden, but very strong idealism, that what the Wizarding world needed was better education. He used all his social skills -I see blank stares from those who do not believe in their existence, and shudders from those who were subjected to them - to attain this goal. The reforms he instituted at Hogwarts I have already mentioned. Reforms at other schools I won't describe - just let me remind you that the Department of Education of the Ministry of Magic was all of a sudden awakened from its pleasant slumber by a perfectly orchestrated press campaign and forced to implement strict standards in lower level magical schools. Auror training facilities expanded triply and the Head of the Department once confided to me that: 'The Headmaster obviously enjoyed hearing the Minister whining and crying about expenses.' Cooperation among different schools and responsible Ministries throughout Europe -and beyond - reached new levels. Somehow it became possible to standardise Apparition licences, a thing, which during Professor McGonagall's tenure - excellent teacher and Headmistress as she was - was regarded as: 'Impossible, because of long standing practices in every country.' And so on.

"Professor Dumbledore used to say we are as strong as we are united. He strongly believed in willing participation and cooperation. Severus Snape did not. He believed - or rather he knew - the power of habit. He believed that for the first thirty years it is necessary to bully people into cooperation. Afterwards it is a merely matter of habit and bureaucracy. Once established structures will cooperate, even if only to prove the reason for their existence. Wizards from the International Confederation of Wizards used to daydream about : 'Those old good days of Voldemort, when we only had to care about the Death Eaters.' My old schoolmate, Neville, would probably be pleased to hear that Severus Snape was a bane of existence not only to frightened students, but also to highly regarded and powerful wizards of international standing.

"Was this private crusade of Severus Snape successful? Time will tell. For a moment - if it is any indicator - the easy, almost routine way the last eight Triwizard Tournaments were organised every three years, shows it was. There are people who say that since the last thirteen Tournaments, including the one organised by Albus Dumbledore, were all won by a Hogwarts champion, it in fact generated more hard feelings than any desire to cooperate. Personally I do not think so. Severus Snape didn't give a damn anyway.

"That's enough. I will say no more. I am requested to do one more thing."

The coffin on the simple catafalque on the stairs was black, simple, without any decorations, even handles. There were no flowers, no plaque, not even a Slytherin coat of arms.

"Since it is widely rumoured that I am either related to or partial or full vampire, in order to put all those small minds, who might be entertaining fears of my visiting them late at night, at ease, I hereby request that my body is burned. And even though any house elf or even a Muggle with a tin of petrol and several matches could do it, I further request Harry Potter to do it by his own wand. I believe the 'Wonder Boy' shall be able to satisfy your needs of safety by nobly incinerating my earthly remains. The presence of our celebrity, together with his sidekicks, who will surely not abandon him in an hour of such dire need, shall provide additional entertaining qualities to my burial. I do not doubt that the same persons who will show sad faces, but rejoice in my departure from this world at heart, will be also to able to hypocritically announce the wild party they throw is 'in honour of Harry and his friends'. I am therefore pleased to provide them with a fine pretext for joyful celebration."

Sincerely Yours,

Severus Snape, Headmaster of Hogwarts."

Harry rolled the parchment back.

"Incendio."