Harry Potter’s Severus Snape

Severus Snape, the calculating Slytherin House headmaster in the Harry Potter series, is a cold, unsmiling taskmaster who terrifies his pupils. He is also loosely based on some acquaintances of J. K. Rowling’s, one of whom is likely her former chemistry teacher, john nettleship. Like Snape, Nettleship had long, straight dark hair and a strict disposition. Understandably, Nettleship was not thrilled to hear the comparison. “I was rather distressed about this,” he told the BBC. “But [my wife] said, ‘I realized that a long time ago, but I didn’t dare tell you.’ Joanne [Rowling] has said that Snape is based on three people. I’ll just have to hope that the worst bits of Snape are based on two different ones, won’t I?” He added, “There are ways of pupils getting their revenge, but this is a much more sophisticated retaliation.”