Victor the LoreSeeker

"How dare you stand where he stood?" That line hits different when you know everything. Harry isn't just yelling at a teacher. He's yelling at the man everyone thinks killed Dumbledore - in the Great Hall, in front of the whole school, on the spot where Dumbledore used to stand. "Tell them how it happened that night. Tell them how you looked him in the eye. A man who trusted you and killed him. Tell them." And Snape just stands there. No defense. No excuse. Because he can't tell them the truth - that Dumbledore begged him to do it. That it was mercy. That he was already dying. McGonagall stepping in front of Harry with her wand up is the moment Hogwarts finally chooses a side. For 7 years she had to be impartial. Now she gets to say what she really thinks of Snape. And then that song kicks in - "If I only could, I'd make a deal with God, and I'd get him to swap our places" - that's literally Snape's entire life. He would have swapped places with Lily in a second. He would have swapped with Dumbledore. He would have died instead of anyone else, if it meant she lived. That's why he doesn't argue.