Loving Lily is the best of Snape. It is not like Dumbledore’s untrustworthy attraction to Grindelwald. She was the first to teach him empathy, standing up for others, and the equality of the oppressed. They played together and created magic of it. She showed him, too, the power of defending the self by walking away. These are good ideals for him to keep in mind when giving form to his truest, most protective magical self.
