For most of his time in Hogwarts, Harry Potter hated his Potions professor Severus Snape, and the feeling is mutual because of Snape's dislike of Harry's father James.
In fact, Harry was never inclined to think that Snape is a reformed Death Eater, and mistrusts him even though Snape has headmaster Professor Albus Dumbledore's full trust.
However, in the epilogue for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," fans learned that Harry and his wife Ginny Weasley actually named their second son Albus Severus. The name Albus comes as no surprise given Harry's loyalty and kinship with Dumbledore, but Severus had always been a curious choice.
Now, "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling is providing the answer why, according to news.com.au.
A fan asked Rowling on Twitter, "Why did you pick Snape to name Harry's kid after? I'm genuinely curious as he was nothing but abusive towards everyone."
She replied: "Snape died for Harry out of love for Lily. Harry paid him tribute in forgiveness and gratitude."
Rowling's answer caused quite the divide among of "Harry Potter" fans, who all had their thoughts regarding the matter. Rowling was so overwhelmed by the response her tweet caused that she later admitted, "I've got to say this: you lot have been arguing about Snape for years. My timeline just exploded with love & fury yet again. Never change x"
Fans still weren't contented with Rowling's explanation, and kept bugging her for more details. One Twitter user even wrote, "Kind of strange you'd say 'in forgiveness', I mean Snape held no malice against Harry (which Harry came to know, eventually)."
Rowling then replied: "That's not true, I'm afraid. Snape projected his hatred and jealousy of James onto Harry."
"There's a whole essay in why Harry gave his son Snape's name, but the decision goes to the heart of who Harry was, post-war," she continued. "This morning I've been thinking a lot about the appeal of simple dichotomies in our messy world, then you raise Snape! Highly appropriate. Snape is all grey. You can't make him a saint: he was vindictive & bullying. You can't make him a devil: he died to save the wizarding world."
Rowling teased all the "Snape-lovers, haters, and in-betweeners" by concluding her explanation: "In honouring Snape, Harry hoped in his heart that he too would be forgiven. The deaths at the Battle of Hogwarts would haunt Harry forever."
