Who was the old man in the beginning of harry potter and the deathly halows part 1?

i just beginned watching harry potter and the deathly hallows part 1 and in the beginning of the movie there was this old man that said this stuff like we are loyal and i didnt get who he was. was he from voldamorts side or was he from the ministry of magicand what was his name. also this question is for the people who watched harry potter and the deathly hallows part 2. can someone please explain snapes story please i didnt really get itWho was the old man in the beginning of harry potter and the deathly halows part 1?
He was one of the ministers from the ministry of magic. And Snape's story is that he fell in love with Lily Potter because they met when they were both little and he helped her when her sister (I think) called her a freak because she could do magic. So when Snape got chosen as Slytherin, he was heartbroken because James Potter stole her away. So when Voldemort killed Lily, Snape was crushed. From then on, he wanted to make sure Harry would be protected so he talked with Albus Dumbledore where Dumbledore agreed to help protect Harry.Who was the old man in the beginning of harry potter and the deathly halows part 1?
I believe the man you're refering to is the new minister of magic. And Snape's story? Alright, well...



~~~~~ MAJOR SPOILERS ~~~~~~~~~



Snape is an interesting and complex character. Snape hated Harry because he was in love with Lily, and James was mean to him. Snape also found him arrogant. It was difficult for Snape to tolerate Harry, because he reminded him so much of Lily (he has her eyes). Snape wanted to be trusted by Voldemort, and he killed Dumbledore because he knew that someone was going to kill him, and it best be Snape so that Voldemort could not have control of the Elder wand. However, Snape did not have control of the Elder Wand - the control was transfered to Draco when he disarmed Dumbledore, and Harry when he disarmed Draco.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Who was the old man in the beginning of harry potter and the deathly halows part 1?
That was the new Minster of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour. He was not part of Voldemort's side, he was very much against him and death eaters. But he was killed in the Deathly Hallows part 1, off screen.

Snape knew Lily, Harry's mom, since they were kids. He loved her but she didn't love him. He became a death eater but upon learning the she was to be killed he begged Dumbledore to try to save her. She died, and Snape became a double agent. Working for Dumbledore, but pretending to be on the dark side working against Dumbledore. All this time he did this because of his love for Lily, which he had to his death. That's why his Patronus was the same as hers.
the old man was the Minister of Magic at the time. He was Rufus Scrimgeour.



Snape basically told Harry that he was there all along to protect him. However, he still hates Harry because Snape loved Lily, Harry's mom, and James, Harry's dad, marries her. James also bullied Snape during their time at Hogwarts. Snape lets Harry know that he was a Horcrux that Voldemort never meant to create therefore, harry had to die for Voldemort to die. That's the basic part.



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