Harry Potter: 8 Things Severus Snape Would Have Been Arrested For In The Muggle World
As fans eagerly await the third movie in the Fantastic Beasts trilogy, Fantastic Beasts and The Secrets of Dumbledore, everyone is beginning to wonder what skeletons Albus had in his closet. Fans always hope for small ties to the main Harry Potter franchise and even though there may not be any young versions of characters audiences know and love, there could always be references to the prophecy of the one who will defeat the dark lord.
One fan favorite character that helped fulfill the prophecy was Severus Snape as he secretly watched over Harry and spied on the Dark Lord's acts under the instruction of Dumbledore. For all the good deeds Snape did for Harry over the years and although he was instrumental in the defeat of the Dark Lord, there are many crimes that Snape committed, and only got away with, partly, because of his vital role in protecting Harry.
Throughout the movies, especially early on, Snape was an incredibly hands-on teacher when it came to threats and punishments. Assault is usually defined as an act of violence towards somebody. While Snape used magic to assault Professor McGonagall, he has also physically assaulted Harry without magic while the two are in a small storage room Snape preceded to toss Harry against a wall and called his father "a swine." He also deflected Harry's use of "Sectum Sempra," a spell of Snape's own creation, back at him.
Snape is renowned in the school for being tough when it comes to punishing his pupils, however on both of these occasions, there were no other witnesses in the storage room, and only the other death eaters saw Snape deflecting the spell back towards Harry, knocking him unconscious. It's likely that even if Snape was caught, Snape could pass it off as a classroom accident. However, given that Snape had just killed Dumbledore, the wizarding world had larger problems on its hands than one student thrown to the ground.
It's easy to forget that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were only 11 during their first year at Hogwarts. Therefore, any physical violence that Snape exercised on the students during their first few years would also count as child abuse.
One prime example is hitting Harry and Ron in the back of the head while studying in the great hall in Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire. It's likely that Snape was also violent towards a number of other students during their first few years. Even though this is something that most teachers, even wizarding ones would have been fired for, Dumbledore needed Snape to remain at Hogwarts to keep an eye on Harry, as he grew up. This essentially gave Snape a 'get out of jail free' card and he was free to hit Harry with as many books as he saw fit.
One of the most heart-breaking scenes in Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince was the murder of Albus Dumbledore. Little did fans know at the time that Dumbledore knew his death was coming and planned for Snape to be the one to kill him. Somehow, it seems unlikely that Snape's excuse of "he asked me to do it" would work on the muggle law enforcement, meaning that Snape would likely serve a life sentence.
Other than Dumbledore, it's unclear how many others Snape killed while serving the Dark Lord, however, if Snape had gone on for so long as one of Voldemort's closest followers without killing anyone, this would have raised a fair few suspicions amongst other death eaters. Also, if muggle authorities were to be made aware of this crime, there would be no wounds on Dumbledore's body, no DNA from Snape to link him to the murder and no witnesses other than Harry.
Snape was one of Voldemort's most loyal followers. As one of the core Death Eaters, Snape likely committed a number of crimes including murder, torture and more on behalf of the Dark Lord. However, even if Snape didn't commit any of these acts himself, being associated with the Dark Lord would be enough to land him numerous years in prison.
From killing Dumbledore to supplying regular information to the Dark Lord regarding Harry's whereabouts, this would certainly come under the umbrella term of Aiding and Abetting Voldemort. However, It's likely that Dumbledore would intervene in anyone that tried to report Snape to muggle or wizard authorities as Snape's aiding and abetting Voldemort was all for the greater good of helping defeat him.
Fans discovered in Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2 that the sword of Gryffindor that was put in Bellatrix LeStrange's vault was a fake, and that an exact replica, only recognized by Goblins, was made by Snape in order to appear to be on Voldemort's side. This was done so that Harry and the others could obtain the real sword and defeat Voldemort.
Forgery is seen as the copying of a document, signature, or artifact. Although Snape had good intentions, it could still be classed as a forgery as Snape created a replica of a precious artifact in order to mislead Voldemort and his followers. While Forgery is a crime, the only people that knew Snape committed this crime were Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Griphook. Had any of the death eaters known, it's likely that they would have killed him instead of turning him in.
Treason, in the wizarding world, falls under the term of capital punishment along with war crimes and genocide. There are many branches of treason such as plotting the murder of the applicable leader or betraying the government. The latter seems fitting given that Voldemort wanted his followers to kill every witch and wizard that wasn't on his side.
Fans knew that Severus was a Death Eater since Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire, however, it was also revealed that Snape had been a Death Eater long before the events of the movie, making it one of Snape's longest-lasting crimes. Similar to the aiding and abetting crime, it's likely that Dumbledore wouldn't let anyone try Snape for treason as it was part of his plan to defeat Voldemort, the evilest character in the franchise, and bring peace to both the wizarding and the muggle world.
In Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince, Severus makes an unbreakable vow. This was one of Snape's best decisions as it cemented his trust amongst the Death Eaters. He vowed to watch over Draco and, if it came to it, kill Dumbledore if Draco should fail to do so. However, Snape knew he had to be the one to kill Dumbledore, meaning that he had to make Draco not commit the act.
The unbreakable vow was not only dark magic but it was a form of magic known and likely used across the wizarding world as Ron and Harry discussed its uses in the sixth film. The main reason Snape was never tried for this crime was due to the fact that no one, other than Dumbledore, knew he was lying when the vow was made, and by the time Harry saw Snape's true allegiance in one of Harry Potter's most powerful movie scenes, he was dead.
As a potions teacher, Snape had access and knowledge to create a giant number of brews that could make anyone essentially do anything including fall in love, enhance their performance and be so suggestible that someone might even commit murder if asked.
Not only did Snape have the means and knowledge, he knowingly taught students from the age of 11 to make these potions as well. If someone in the muggle world was caught with one of these potions, not only would they go to prison, but so would the dealer who supplied them. In the wizarding world, potions seem to be a regular part of witches and wizards' daily activities and are therefore down to the individual user not to misuse potions in a malicious way, which is why no one in the wizarding world would have reported Snape.