Editing Severus Snape (section)

===Personality===
Snape is generally depicted as being cold, calculating, precise, sarcastic, and bitter. He strongly dislikes Harry and often insults him by insulting his father James. As the series progresses, it is revealed that his treatment of Harry stems from Snape's bitter rivalry with James when they were in school together. In particular, James and Sirius bullied Snape, which according to Alan Rickman caused the already lonely boy to further "shut himself in".<ref name="French Interview Translation" /> Rowling further described the young Snape as insecure and vulnerable: "Given his time over again [Snape] would not have become a Death Eater, but like many insecure, vulnerable people he craved membership of something big and powerful, something impressive.[...] [He] was so blinded by his attraction to the dark side he thought [Lily] would find him impressive if he became a real Death Eater."<ref name="Bloomsbury chat">{{cite web |title=Web Chat with J.K. Rowling 30 July 2007 on Bloomsbury.com |url= http://www.raincoast.com/harrypotter/pdfs/webchat-jkr.pdf |access-date=2 October 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070928135035/http://www.raincoast.com/harrypotter/pdfs/webchat-jkr.pdf <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 28 September 2007}}</ref>

The adult Snape, on the other hand, is portrayed as very self-assured and confident of his abilities, to a degree that Rickman described as "full of himself."<ref name="Interviews Transcripts" /> Director [[David Yates]] said Snape is a character with gravitas, authority and power.<ref name="David Yates"/> Snape typically displays a very calm and collected demeanour, rarely at a loss for words or taken off guard. His temper, however, is sometimes short where Harry is concerned and positively flares when dealing with his erstwhile tormentor Sirius, or when accused of cowardice. His otherwise impassive and aloof attitude seems to stem from his belief that people who cannot control their emotions are weak.<ref name="Occlumency" />

Like some other prominent members of Slytherin house, Snape is shown to be a clever and cunning wizard.<ref name=" The Elder Wand " /><ref name="Padfoot Returns"/> He is intelligent and has a keen, analytical mind. In an interview, Rowling adds that Snape is immensely brave,<ref name="Final Chapter" /> and when asked if she considers Snape a hero, replied: "Yes, I do; though a very flawed hero. An [[anti-hero]], perhaps. He is not a particularly likeable man in many ways. He remains rather cruel, a bully, riddled with bitterness and insecurity—and yet he loved, and showed loyalty to that love and, ultimately, laid down his life because of it. That's pretty heroic!"<ref name="Bloomsbury chat" />