Harry identified with and reluctantly admired Snape even before ‘The Prince’s Tale’
So, ‘Albus Severus’ is admittedly is a controversial name in fandom due to Snape’s own dubious morality. And people also think that Harry going from hatred to admiration of Snape so quickly is unrealistic. But, that’s not true. There’s no doubt that Harry hated Snape, but amid that hatred, there was also reluctant admiration and even identification with Snape. Let’s see a few examples:
Harry did not speak; he felt that to say anything might be dangerous. He was sure he had just broken into Snape’s memories, that he had just seen scenes from Snape’s childhood, and it was unnerving to think that the crying little boy who had watched his parents shouting was actually standing in front of him with such loathing in his eyes… .
Probably the first time Harry is looking at Snape as anything more than his hated Potions professor. But it is still significant considering Harry’s own abusive childhood.
His reaction to Snape’s Worst Memory:
What was making Harry feel so horrified and unhappy was not being shouted at or having jars thrown at him — it was that he knew how it felt to be humiliated in the middle of a circle of onlookers, knew exactly how Snape had felt as his father had taunted him, and that judging from what he had just seen, his father had been every bit as arrogant as Snape had always told him.
His immediate reaction after watching Snape’s memory is to empathise with Snape, because he knows what it’s like to be bullied in front of a crowd.
We also get hints of how similar Snape and Harry are. Even Hermione comments on it:
Did you hear him talking about the Dark Arts? He loves them! All that unfixed, indestructible stuff —” “Well,” said Hermione, “I thought he sounded a bit like you.”
“Yes, when you were telling us what it’s like to face Voldemort. You said it wasn’t just memorizing a bunch of spells, you said it was just you and your brains and your guts - well, wasn’t that what Snape was saying? That it really comes down to being brave and quick-thinking?”
Hermione comments on how they both sound similar. Snape and Harry do have a lot in common as we will find out later, but this is one of the first hints of another character noticing it.
But imo, the largest culmination of Harry’s reluctant admiration is in the case Snape’s old textbook, when he called himself the Half-blood Prince. This is teen Snape; Snape as Lily knew him, Snape without all the baggage that he has with Harry. And what is Harry’s opinion of him?
Harry woke early on the morning of the trip, which was proving stormy, and whiled away the time until breakfast by reading his copy of Advanced Potion-Making. He did not usually lie in bed reading his textbooks; that sort of behavior, as Ron rightly said, was indecent in anybody except Hermione, who was simply weird that way. Harry felt, however, that the Half-Blood Princes copy of Advanced Potion-Making hardly qualified as a textbook. The more Harry pored over the book, the more he realized how much was in there, not only the handy hints and shortcuts on potions that was earning him such a glowing reputation with Slughorn, but also the imaginative little jinxes and hexes scribbled in the margins, which Harry was sure, judging by the crossings-out and revisions, that the Prince had invented himself.
Harry’s admiration is practically dripping through the pages. He’s staying up at night reading the book, admiring the boy who was so clever.
One of the most interesting lines is also this:
“My dad used this spell,” said Harry. “I — Lupin told me.” This last part was not true; in fact, Harry had seen his father use the spell on Snape, but he had never told Ron and Hermione about that particular excursion into the Pensieve. Now, however, a wonderful possibility occurred to him. Could the Half-Blood Prince possibly be —?
Harry is so attached to Snape’s old textbook that he wishes it was his father. Harry is hungry for father figures and the fact that he elevates the Prince to this kind of figure from just his textbook is significant. It shows the lost potential between Harry and Snape. Who is the Prince but a younger Snape? It shows that had Snape been a little less bitter and damaged, he could have been a mentor figure for Harry.
These two have so much in common: their lives are defined by Voldemort and they’re not truly free until he’s dead, they’re both half-bloods who grew up in the muggle world, they both suffered abusive childhoods, they were both bullied, they’re both sarcastic and dry, they both can get very vicious (Snape more so obviously), they’re both completely loyal to Dumbledore, they’re both brave and stubborn as hell. I truly believe that had Snape not been so blind, he could have been a great father figure for Harry simply because of how similar they are and how much they could relate to each other.
He felt stunned; it was as though a beloved pet had turned suddenly savage; what had the Prince been thinking to copy such a spell into his book? And what would happen when Snape saw it? Would he tell Slughorn — Harry’s stomach churned — how Harry had been achieving such good results in Potions all year? Would he confiscate or destroy the book that had taught Harry so much…the book that had become a kind of guide and friend? Harry could not let it happen…He could not…
Harry thinks of the Prince as a friend and guide.
“Will you stop harping on about the book!” snapped Harry. “The Prince only copied it out! It’s not like he was advising anyone to use it! For all we know, he was making a note of something that had been used against him!”
“I don’t believe this,” said Hermione. “You’re actually defending —“
“I’m not defending what I did!” said Harry quickly. “I wish I hadn’t done it, and not just because I’ve got about a dozen detentions. You know I wouldn’t’ve used a spell like that, not even on Malfoy, but you can’t blame the Prince, he hadn’t written ‘try this out, it’s really good’ — he was just making notes for himself, wasn’t he, not for anyone else…”
Even after 'Sectumsempra’, Harry defends the Prince like this. As a side note, I also think that Harry’s relationship with the Prince somewhat mirrors Lily’s relationship with Snape. They both admired and loved the boy who was so clever and imaginative and were willing to blind themselves as that boy went deeper into the dark side.
He broke off, looking out of the window. He could not stop himself dwelling upon Dumbledore’s inexcusable trust in Snape…but as Hermione had just inadvertently reminded him, he, Harry, had been taken in just the same…in spite of the increasing nastiness of those scribbled spells, he had refused to believe ill of the boy who had been so clever, who had helped him so much..
This is after Snape killed Dumbledore, and Harry’s primary feeling about the Prince is one of betrayal. Ultimately, I believe Harry’s relationship with the Prince is pivotal in his understanding of Snape, and I firmly believe that this also informed his decision to name his son after Snape. After watching Snape’s dying memories, Harry’s admiration of the Prince returned and merged with his feelings towards Snape. It is no coincidence that the chapter revealing Snape’s true allegiance is called 'The Prince’s Tale’, telling us that Snape truly is the same Prince Harry admired and wished was his father.
Harry’s feelings towards Snape after the Prince’s tale is obvious. Throughout Snape’s memories, he identifies with him, not James. He immediately notices that James has an air of being loved and adored while Snape conspicuously lacks it. He cannot bring himself to watch Snape’s Worst Memory again. After watching the memories, he identifies with both Snape and Tom Riddle as 'the abandoned boys’ who were outcasts and only found their home in Hogwarts.
In short, I believe Harry’s admiration of Snape was not sudden or inexplicable but something he always reluctantly felt. He identified with Snape even when he hated him. Once he saw Snape’s memories in his entirety, he understood and identified with them even more because Harry has been in Snape’s shoes. He’s been a dark-haired, abused, bullied, half-blood outcast. And he knows how hard it is to be brave in those circumstances. While the readers might have trouble understanding why Snape would have a child named after him, Harry doing so is not a surprise.
