How Did Severus Snape Young Learn Occlumency Techniques?

I still get a little thrill thinking about the moment young Severus Snape would’ve stepped onto platform nine and three-quarters—if you picture the timeline the way I do, he first arrived at Hogwarts in September 1971, at about eleven years old. That’s the standard Hogwarts start: kids begin the term on September 1, and since Snape’s birth year is usually placed around 1960 in the canon timelines, 1971 fits perfectly. He was Sorted into Slytherin and began the seven-year run that shows up in those flashback scenes in 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'. I like to imagine the awkwardness of that first day: a scrawny, intense kid with potion bottles in his bag, catching Lily’s eye for the first time and bumping — later clashing — with James and his rowdy crowd. If you follow interviews and writing from J.K. Rowling and material on 'Pottermore', the dates line up with classmates like James, Sirius, and Lily all starting their Hogwarts journeys together around that same September. It’s a tiny detail that makes the whole backstory feel so concrete to me.

When I think about why young Severus Snape ended up in Slytherin, a few images from 'Harry Potter' pop into my head: the sorting hat's whisper, the way Snape carries himself, and his hunger for belonging. He wasn't born into a perfect world—half-blood, living in a small, tough household, and already keenly aware of how different he was. Slytherin rewards cunning, resourcefulness, and ambition, and those traits fit him like a glove. Beyond personality, there are emotional reasons. Snape craved acceptance and respect, and Slytherin offered a group where he could be powerful rather than powerless. He was fascinated by potion-making and darker branches of magic, and Slytherin's culture made a practical home for that curiosity. The Hat doesn't just look at blood status; it sees choices. Snape chose a path that aligned with secrecy and self-preservation, and the hat responded. There's also the tragic angle: Slytherin shaped him, and he shaped Slytherin back. His time there amplified his worst instincts—bitterness, need for validation—but also honed talents that later mattered in ways nobody expected. For me, that's what makes his sorting so heartbreaking and believable.

My take on young Severus Snape joining the Death Eaters is a mix of sadness and inevitability — he was exactly the kind of kid who was vulnerable to that crowd. Growing up in a tense, unhappy household and being brilliant but socially isolated at Hogwarts made him crave belonging and recognition. He slipped into the company of other Slytherins who were fascinated by Dark Magic and by the promise of power; by the time he left school he was already moving in circles that idolized Voldemort. When you put his personal grudges (especially against James Potter and his friends), his disdain for the rules, and his talent for potions and the Dark Arts together, it’s not hard to see why he was recruited. He wasn’t just seduced by cruelty — there was an ideological pull, a feeling that the pure-blood rhetoric and the promise of control gave him a place to stand. He became a Death Eater as a young man, then later learned of the prophecy and his role in its fallout. The tragic pivot is that his love for Lily Evans made him change course. After realizing Voldemort was after her, he begged for her protection, then switched sides and became a spy for Dumbledore. It’s messy and heartbreaking — a choice rooted in regret rather than heroism, and it’s what makes his story so compelling to me.

Honestly, when I think about why young Severus Snape was bullied at school, it feels like the plot of a tragedy more than a single cause. It wasn't just one thing—his whole situation invited cruelty. He came from a rough home with a Muggle father and a witch mother, and that meant he was poor, poorly dressed, and often smelled of neglect. Kids at a magical boarding school notice that stuff, and in the world of 'Harry Potter' appearances and lineage matter a lot. Then there was his personality and interests: he was obsessive about potions and the Dark Arts, spoke in a blunt, sneering way, and didn't hide his contempt for the popular kids. Being socially awkward and bitter made him an easy target, and that standoffishness fed the cycle. Add to that the overt rivalry with James Potter and his friends—who were loud, confident, and cruel—and you've got a perfect storm. James and his gang mocked, humiliated, and physically hassled Severus, which mostly pushed him deeper into isolation. I always feel a little sad rereading those bits in 'Half-Blood Prince' because they show how neglect, differences, and a little nastiness can warp a kid. He learned to protect himself the only way he knew how, but it cost him dearly.

My throat still tightens thinking about that battered textbook from 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'. When I flip through that scene in my head, it’s obvious: the neat, snarky margin notes and invented spells in the 'Advanced Potion-Making' book were written by a younger Severus Snape. He used the alias 'Half-Blood Prince'—a wink to his mother’s maiden name, Prince—and the handwriting and style match what we later see of him. Rowling’s later revelations and the memories in 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' make it canon: those annotations came from his student days. What I love is how those scribbles tell a story beyond the plot. They show a brilliant, bitter kid honing his craft, inventing things like 'Sectumsempra' and jotting down little improvisations for brews. Reading that book as a teen made me both thrilled and uneasy—thrilled because the tips actually helped Harry, uneasy because the owner’s tone was sharp and isolating. It’s a slice of Snape’s younger self: clever, resentful, intensely private, and very gifted at potions. For me, that textbook scene is one of the best examples of character revealed through objects rather than exposition.

I still get chills watching the Pensieve scenes where Snape’s past gets peeled back. In the films, Alan Rickman is the face we all know as Severus Snape, but the younger version you see in Hogwarts flashbacks was played by Christian Coulson. He pops up in those memory sequences and has that awkward, sullen teen energy that matches what Rickman does as an adult, which helps sell the continuity between young and old. If you want the official credit, check the cast list for 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2' or the specific movie where the memory appears. I always go to IMDb when casts get fuzzy in my head; it’s great for settling debates over who played who in complex flashback scenes.

I still get a little chill thinking about that first meeting — it's one of those tiny, quiet moments that ripples through the whole saga. In canon we see their first encounters through Severus's memories, which are shown in the Pensieve in 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'. Those memories make it clear they met long before Hogwarts, as children living in the same Muggle neighbourhood. The image that sticks with me is simple: two kids playing in a lane or outside a house, not knowing they’re about to shape each other’s lives for decades. Lily is already bright and blunt; Severus is awkward and hungry for belonging. That small, ordinary meeting — not at platform nine and three-quarters, not in a castle corridor, but in a mundane street — is what makes their relationship feel so tragic and real. Thinking about it on a rainy afternoon, I can almost picture their boots splashing in the same puddle, a friendship beginning without knowing how complicated it will become.

I get lost in fan art rabbit holes more often than I'd like to admit, so here's how I track down young Severus Snape pieces when the mood strikes me. First stop is Pixiv and DeviantArt — search terms like 'young Severus Snape', 'teen Snape', or even the Japanese '若いスネイプ' if you want more varied styles. Pixiv especially has a ton of anime-influenced art and you can follow tags or bookmark artists. Instagram and Twitter (now X) are great for scrolling; try hashtags like '#YoungSnape' or '#SeverusSnape'. Pinterest is my go-to for collecting a bunch of images into one board quickly, but always click through to the original artist before saving. I also poke around Reddit communities (for example, fandom and fanart subreddits) and smaller Discord servers where artists share sketches. If you want prints or commissions, Etsy and artists' own shops are where I look. One last tip: use reverse-image search to find the source and always credit or support the artist if you repost — it makes the whole fandom nicer, and finding a new artist to follow is such a thrill.