Half-Blood Prince | The Ultimate Canon Severus Snape Site

Severus Snape's Birthday

9th of January 1960

Capricorn

Also:

9th of January: Festival of Janus (Roman)
Double-faced god of gateways, entrances and exits, and beginnings and endings, hence January is named after him.

A big thank you to the great J.K. Rowling for announcing this on her site; I have wanted to know the exact date for years.

I thought he was either Scorpio or Capricorn (according to his personality in the books), and am satisfied that I was half-correct.

Screencaps

Credit for screencaps: JK Rowling.com

Snape's birthday 1

Snape's birthday 2

Snape's birthday 3

Capricorn (or what the stars say)

December 22 - January 20

Excerpts from the brilliant book Blame Your Planet (a wicked astrological tour through the darkside zodiac) , by Stella Hyde:

"Capricorn is a feminine, cardinal Earth sign ruled by the Sun. It is the tenth sign of the zodiac wheel, directly opposite Cancer, and is named for the constellation Capricorn (the goat, or as some pedants insist, the sea goat)... On the Darkside, this makes [Capricorn] a cold, cruel, petty-minded slave driver with unsuspected yet unquenchable ambition and an addiction to tightfisted penny-pinching.

Personality: Petty, parsimonious, pessimistic. Stern, stifling, strong-willed.

Relationships: Friends in high places.

You are unlikely to be at a party (unless your inner goat has chewed through its rope) because you despise wasting your valuable time and resources on fun and leviy that yield no tangible returns. Frankly, you'd rather be at home, gloating over your assets...

But you are obsessed with status and respectability, and you realise that, however velcro-clad your little goat hooves are, you need help negotiating some of the trickier traverses of the social mountain; so you cultivate useful acquaintances on strategic ledges.

You approve of marriage (you approve of any instituition): it's a very sensible way to tie up money and property to your advantage. What's love got to do with it?

Work: Respect my authority!

Your aim is power, not glory; you don't want to be the first person (Leo can do that); as number two, you get to make all th real decisions, and this gives you a chance to make life hell for all those smartarses who laughed at you in the first paragraph. Plus, if you are number two in a dubious organisation and the law catches up with you, you can simply tell them you werejust following orders.

At home: Bleak house.

Although you have made it clear that your residences are open to business contacts only, acquaintances who have found out where you live sometimes make the mistake of dropping in. After you have checked via the one-way spyhole that they are dressed respectably enough to impress the neighbours, you unlock the doors, letting out a welcoming blast of cold air. Your guests blunder about at first, because of the low wattage of the few light bulbs you allow, but eventually find upright wooden chairs to sit on (upholstery and soft furnishings weaken the character). They leave soon afterwards.

Capricorn paint chart: Payne's grey, Pinstripe, Grey eminence, Field grey, Grey matter, Pale black, Light black, Dark White, Greenback, Bluenose. "

For more about Capricorn, visit Astrology Online's Capricorn page.

Free Online Daily Horoscope for Capricorn

Just choose Capricorn from the list below:

Events from the books that happend on or around the 9th of January

Credit: Dates from the books obtained from the timelines at the Harry Potter Lexicon

Philosopher's Stone: 9th of January occurs in Chapter 13. Around the 9th of January, the "weather turns rainy, wet and cold."

Chamber of Secrets: 9th of january occurs in Chapter 13. Hermione Granger in hospital (after her cat-hair Polyjuice potion backfired).

Prisoner of Azkaban: 9th of January occurs in Chapter 12. Slytherin narrowly defeats Ravenclaw at the Quidditch match (January 15th).

Goblet of Fire: 9th of January occurs in Chapter 24.

Order of the Phoenix: 9th of January occurs in Chapter 24. 11th of January: Professor Snape tells Harry that he will be teaching him Occlumency.

Half-Blood Prince: 9th of January occurs in Chapter 18, funnily enough, titled: 'Birthday Surprises' (nice coincidence). Severus Snape's birthday is on a Thursday, and takes place two days after Harry Potter's first lesson with Dumbledore.

It is interesting to note the repetitiveness in the chapters. Professor Snape's birthday takes place once in Chapter 12 - only one chapter away from Chapter 13 where it occurs twice - and it also occurs twice in Chapter 24 (in both longer versions of the books). 24 is also 12 x 2, and we know how many references to twelve there are in the books.

Trelawney Gets It Half Right

Credit: Thanks to Synchestra Duende of Dark Potions fame, for reminding me about this.

Goblet of Fire, chapter 13:

"'Harry!' Ron muttered.
' What?'
Harry looked around; the whole class was staring at him. He sat up
straight; he had been almost dozing off, lost in the heat and his thoughts.
' I was saying, my dear, that you were clearly born under the baleful
influence of Saturn,' said Professor Trelawney, a faint note of resentment in
her voice at the fact that he had obviously not been hanging on her words.
' Born under - what, sorry?' said Harry.
'Saturn, dear, the planet Saturn!' said Professor Trelawney, sounding
definitely irritated that he wasn't riveted by this news. 'I was saying that
Saturn was surely in a position of power in the heavens at the moment of your
birth. . . . Your dark hair. . . your mean stature...tragic losses so young in
life. . . I think I am right in saying, my dear, that you were born in
midwinter?'
' No,' said Harry, 'I was born in July.'
Ron hastily turned his laugh into a hacking cough."

Had professor Trelawney asked Severus Snape the same question - she would have been entirely correct, which goes to show that JKR does know her Hogwarts subjects, even though some of the professors do not.

It would be in typical JKR style to dangle a clue like this right under our noses, and then hope that we do not notice it when she gives us an extra hint, which is why I think this does apply to Severus Snape:

Clearly born under the baleful influence of Saturn: Yes.
Dark hair: Yes.
Mean stature: Yes.
Tragic loses so young in life: This is where you all say "Aha!" This is the clue that JKR has thrown in. If we connect this clue from Goblet of Fire with the scene of a little boy crying in a corner while a hook-nosed man shouts at a cowering woman (in Order of the Phoenix), is it so difficult to believe this?

~~~

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