Harry Potter ships

Snamione (Snape/Hermione)

2023 Opinion
I'm aware that many people find this ship gross. I do too. However, I'm firmly in the 'liking a problematic ship doesn't make you evil' camp, so I won't judge anyone for liking it. I also don't want to just slap a no on this ship solely because of the gag reaction when I could think about it more analytically.

I personally do dislike Snamione, though not just for the obvious reasons. To get that out of the way, I'll list all the reasons the ship is 'problematic':

1. The teacher x (former) student dynamic
2. It is oppressor x oppressed
3. There's an age gap of about twenty years.
4. Snape is/was an asshole to Hermione and just about everyone else.

Now, before I get into why I don't think the ship would work, I want to critically discuss the above issues.

1. In real life, there is no excuse for this. Snape watched Hermione grow up, teaching her from the age of 11 to adulthood. Hermione is also definitely the type to fall for a teacher, considering her view of authority as infallible (for a while, at least). This is an obvious power imbalance. However...could we really fault a teacher who fell in love with a former student if it's twenty years laters and they haven't seen each other since? It's weird, but not necessarily harmful. Regardless, this is fiction, so the author doesn't have to write it as abusive. I wouldn't read it, but that's just me.

2. I can't deny that I see why people ship oppressor x oppressed ships: the intense, toxic dynamic and star-crossed, forbidden lovers of it all are enticing. Humanity has always had a fascination with those tropes. Again, it doesn't matter because it's fiction, but regardless, at least Snape is a half-blood. He is an oppresser still, seeing as he joined a Pureblood supremacist cult, but he would at the very least have an understanding of the struggles people like him out Hermione through. Also, by the time of the actual series, he didn't hold these beliefs himself. I do agree that Hermione would understand his situation.

3. The age gap is pretty obvious. Then again, while I find it icky, there are plenty of real life relationships with an age gap and it does work for some people. Hermione seeking an older and wiser man wouldn't surprise me.

4. True. While he only made one comment on her appearance, it was still pretty awful. He bullied her for her intelligence and know-it-all behaviour, which is terrible. I can see why — for a teacher, she would've been annoying — but it still was wrong. He would need to repent for that, I think, before Hermione would forgive him.

Not all these problems are present in every Snamione fic. I know that time travels AUs, in particular, are wildly popular. There, those issues don't exist.

As for the actual compatibility...I know many shippers think that Hermione and Snape are intellectually compatible, but I strongly disagree. They're both intelligent and logical, but that does not make their intellect the same. There are several forms of intelligence. They're both book-smart, but where Hermione prefers to memorise facts and learn methodically and by-the-book with little room for experimentation, Snape is much more inventive. Hermione does not show an ounce of creativity, but we know Snape relied on experimentation and creation; he created his own spells rather than learnt existing ones (though he did that too) and added his own techniques to improve potions.

Hermione also is not actually passionate about learning...at least not in the way fanon characterises her. She is incredibly smart, but we only ever saw her learning for practical reasons: to do well at school and to survive. It is a source of stress for her and she doesn't ever focus on topics she enjoys, instead learning because she needs to. Not because she wants to. Snape, conversely, actually enjoys learning and is passionate about it. For him, learning is an outlet and a hobby. He literally made it his whole life, and had he not joined the death eaters, I think he would've studied potions at a more advanced level.

All this to say that Snape would — and does, in canon — despise the way Hermione clings to the exact ideas of other people rather than thinking for herself. He could teach her the importance of creativity, yes, but only if he could put up with her for long enough to. For the record, Hermione is my second favourite character after Luna, so I'm not trying to bash her. Her form of intelligence is completely valid and absolutely awe-inspiring. However, it clashes severely with the way Snape sees magic and learning.

Other than their intellect — which as I said above, isn't actually compatible — they don't seem to have anything at all in common. The beauty and the beast nature of the ship is quite cool, and I do weirdly think both would be attracted to each other, but no, I don't think it would happen or work out. It just doesn't make sense for either of their characters.

Rating: 2/10.