Just picture it: a retired Severus Snape, happily sunbathing on a beach somewhere, having successfully faked his own death. It sounds absurd, but one Harry Potter fan has come up with a very convincing explanation to suggest why the potions master might not be as dead as we thought.

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Reddit user Der_Gottkaiser's theory is based on two significant details: one, why didn't Snape appear when Harry used the resurrection stone? And two, where's the body?

When it comes to the resurrection stone, Der_Gottkaiser suggests: "You'd think Snape was very important to Harry, he loved his mother, gave his life to save him, and shielded him all his life. Harry just found out how Snape had been protecting him the whole time and died to save him, so when he used the magic ring that brings the spirits of dead people, you'd think Snape would be there.

"He certainly knew Snape longer than Lupin, and you'd think Snape was far more important to him than Lupin, but Snape wasn't around. Perhaps he was not dead."

Adding to the theory, Snape's corpse is never mentioned.

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"After the big battle, they lay out all the bodies, all the people who died, even the death eaters and Voldemorts. Harry sees Lupin's and Fred's body, but Snape's body isn't there," this fan explains. "You'd think Harry would have told everyone about Snape's sacrifice so they can find his body too. But nope, Snape's corpse isn't found."

So what's the alternative explanation? After all, it seemed pretty clear that Snape met his end when Voldemort's snake bit him through the neck. Nobody should be able to survive that.

But what if the snake venom was only able to paralyse Snape and make him seem dead?

"Just think about it, do you really think a POTIONS MASTER wouldn't have access to anti-venom?" our theorist suggests. "You think he wouldn't have prepared for the possibility that Voldemort's snake might turn on him? He was playing a dangerous role as a spy, Voldemort could turn on him at any moment, I think Snape would have obviously taken some kind of prophylactic antidote beforehand."

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So where is Snape now? Having fulfilled his promise, perhaps he is out travelling the world, getting a bit of sun on that pale face and finally living a life free of of responsibility with no more potions lessons for bratty little wizards.

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