Meme lore
What is the Black Snape With Dreadlocks meme?
This is a reaction-image and meme crop featuring Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape in HBO’s television adaptation of Harry Potter. The image’s stern expression, low-key lighting, black robes, and extended wand make it useful for captions about issuing a threat, enforcing a rule, delivering a harsh warning, or treating an ordinary situation like a matter of dark magic. The “Black Snape” label refers to the character’s new screen portrayal and is commonly used online as shorthand for the casting and visual redesign, while “dreadlocked Snape” describes the hairstyle visible in the promotional and/or
Origin & history
Unlike a conventional fan-made character swap, the pictured figure is most plausibly Paapa Essiedu’s official portrayal of Severus Snape for HBO’s new Harry Potter series. Warner Bros. Discovery announced Essiedu’s casting as Snape in 2025, and subsequent promotional imagery and teaser coverage showed the actor in the role with a dark, severe costume and long locs or dreadlocked hair. The supplied image appears to be a frame or crop from that promotional ecosystem rather than a scene from the original Harry Potter film series. The exact episode, trailer timestamp, and first meme upload remain unclear.
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