I have come to an important conclusion....

[D.G.]

No: HPFGUIDX 69735

...and remember:  "Snape-as-tormented/victimized/bullied outcast with 
tormented soul" and "Snape-as-evil-incarnate" are not necessarily 
mutually exclusive.  Many of the darkest, most evil antagonists in 
classic (and other) literature have been "tormented outcasts," 
sometimes even self-styled heroic rebels against authority (I cite, 
once again, Milton's Satan as an example).

On a slightly less lofty (but no less literary) plain, consider 
Wuthering Heights' Heathcliff.  A foundling, mistreated and abused as 
a child, he returns bent on vengeance -- and he's willing to bring 
the entire House and its social order down in flames around him if 
that's what it takes to extract that vengeance.

D.G. ("JazzmanChgo")