Much about Harry Potter is extraordinary.
It is now more than 20 years since Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was first published. In the space of seven books, J.K. Rowling created a world that has resonated far beyond the storied corridors of Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic.
For those of us who were lucky enough to grow up in parallel to Harry, Ron, Hermione et al, the books represent a significant part our childhood, and conjure vivid imaginings of how our own magical education would play out.
J.K. Rowling's books managed to tackle ostensibly adult themes like love, loss and betrayal in a manner that was at once accessible to children yet also rang true to adult readers.
The Boy Who Lived grew up in chastening circumstances as a result of his parents' deaths; with his cantankerous Uncle Vernon, insipid, highly strung Aunt Petunia and rotund bully of a cousin, Dudley. But it might have been so different for Harry Potter; had his parents not been cruelly murdered by Lord Voldemort, he would have grown up in the plush, gentle surrounds of Godric's Hollow with his mother and father.
Harry did, then, have much in common with a young Severus Snape, who grew up with uncaring parents in the salubrious Spinner's End, described later as a "muggle dunghill".
His clothes patchy and unkempt, his skin sallow and pale, Severus Snape the younger did not have an easy start to life.
Seen for the first time in the final Potter film; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Snape is portrayed by Benedict Clarke, frolicking through fields with a young Lily Potter with whom he is clearly extremely taken, much to a young Petunia's disgust.
Clarke cast a rather cherubic figure at the time; young, wide-eyed and absolutely perfect for a young Severus Snape, though he has since become a fully grown man, and has changed rather a lot since his days in the wizarding world.
He has since appeared in several more movies, and, if his social media is anything to by, is a fully fledged adventurer and lover of craft beer (ladies, form an orderly queue).
Telling the story of how he came to be cast in the film, Clarke told a Tumblr Q&A;
"I guess [the filmmakers] just liked my awkwardness. (laughs) At the first audition, I was going for either young Snape or young James. It wasn't until I was recalled to audition in front of David Yates at Leavesden that I was told I'd be auditioning for the role of young Snape.
"And being a Harry Potter nerd, my description of Snape's character was pretty good. My acting on the other hand..."
Good for Clarke for having a sense of humor over his role in the film, though we happen to think he was pretty perfect as the young Snape in that dream-like sequence of Snape the elder's memories.
