Yeah, sure, Snape watched over Harry, but neither felt connected to each other like Lupin and Sirius were with Harry. You can't really be a father figure if there's no love.

More-so in the "What Could Have Been" way.

I wonder if he were allowed to give away his position, would he have been different?

In some cases, father's are supposed to be stern towards their sons, aren't they? he protected him, but he still made sure Harry did allot of things on his own. That sounds rather paternal to me.

i think yes, he always protectet him from the very begining, i dont know why someone would answer no, or is it just my point of view, Maybe, harry didnt knew, but once he grew up, he understood everything...
That's my.. 'Unpopular Opinion' i guess, Since the answer 'NO' is winning

Sorry, but no.
Snape never gave a single sign of sympathy for Harry.
Even though he's an orphan.
People're all like "Harry's such a bitch for not-knowing Snape well and hating him...." What the hell?
Snape was never good to Harry, he was awful to him and all of his friends.

I agree with Darkshine and Boolander25.

Yes, Severus was a father figure to Harry. He was the father that sets limits and is very strict, whereas Lupin, Sirius and Dumbledore are more representations of the "sweet" father side.

It has nothing to do with sympathy or whatever. Parents and adults in general have to have these sides, they are very structuring for a child's psyche. Severus is one of the teachers that influenced Harry the most : see the Expelliarmus spell, which became Harry's signature spell. Who taught him that ? Severus !

Contrary to what even Severus say, Harry paid attention. He remembered that bezoars are anti-poisons, for example, something he had heard in first year (and read in the Half-Blood Prince's book). We tend to remember fondly how our parents, professors and adults we met as kids, could be harsh sometimes with us. That's because we feel how right they were, how their severity helped us to build our personality. I think the Expelliarmus spell is a good symbol of this (defense, protect and standing for oneself, an important trait of Harry's character).

So yes, Severus is an important father figure to Harry.

Nope. -.-'

Yes, Harry learned things from Snape, but that was because Snape was his teacher, not his father figure. It wasn't until the very end that he learned any "life lessons" from him, like Lupin, Dumbledore, Arthur, etc. taught him.

Also, they really weren't connected. Yes, some parents are strict, but these two hated each other. Snape went out of his way to single Harry out, dock him marks and points, and Harry did everything he could to twart Snape whenever the opportunity arose.

There was no love and there was no respect. Yes, their relationship ended up being an important one, but I don't think it was a "father/son" one.

There were aspects of a fatherly figure (as LadyNottingham pointed out) but there was no connection, as many people have been saying. Severus was there physically (saving his life) when Harry needed him, but not mentally or emotionally like Lupin and Sirius and Dumbledore.

he's too mean to him as a professor

Of course he was! Why else would he have named one of his children after him?!

hmm, he hates Harry, he's to similar to his father James, but he's Lily's son and love to Lily made him to protect Harry. And Harry appreciate it!

I think there was more to Snapes ambiguity than meets the eye. I mean most of you speak as if he truly hated Harry. I think Personally it was just hard for him to look at Harry and not think of James. James was mean to Snape in their youth. And Harry being a spittin image of his father with the exception of his eyes. It was probably very very hard for Severus to look at Harry and try and repress those memories of James, plus his regret of becoming a Death Eater and following the Very Evil person who killed his true love. If he REALLY hated Harry he wouldn't have risked his life on so many occasions for Harry. There has to be some love for the boy there. Like a surrogate son through Lily. Harry and Snape had more respect for eachother by the end of the series. Probably more than we know. Plus Hate is too strong a word

WHAT?? Snape was never a paternal figure for Harry...protecting someone doesn't make you a father figure. Harry despised Snape til DH so he never considered him a father figure. He just learned Potions stuff from him. Just because Snape loved Lily or because he was strict with him doesn't mean he's a father figure for Harry...Sirius, Lupin and Dumbledore can be considered father figures..they had a relationship with Harry, made him reflect, think, change, mature...Snape never did any of these things. And he named his child after him because he respected him a lot.

Ofcourse hes like a father figure to harry he was always there for harry he was the most helpful guardian harry could ever have snape played the role of a strict father you know not every father has to be sweet with his son all the time I mean sirius payed his father figure role as the sweet parent snape was the strict and disaplin father but also highly protective over harrys safety plus as ladynottingham said that snape really did influence Harry like where did he get the Expelliarmus spell from Snape !!! and it also became his signature move throughout the series now that sounds like what a real parent does well atleast my dad is hes really strict but ofcourse sweet in the same time but mainly strict he always pushes me into getting good grades and hes mainly leting me do things on my own and protective in the same time I used to get mad at him for being too strict but my mom tells me thats a way to show you how much he truly cares about you and shes right and I'm sure snapes kind of the same thing :).But except that I'm a girl not a boy like harry :).

Of course not. Sure Snape's watching over him but he still didn't like Harry.He never cared for him, the protecting and so on was all for Lily . And Lily's eyes.

he already had Uncle Vernon,why owuld he want another abusive figure?

No. Harry never saw Snape as any kind of father, and that's what a father figure means. Just because Snape secretly worked to protect Harry, didn't hate him as strongly as he seemed to, and Harry learned some things from him, didn't make him a father figure. Harry middle-named his youngest son after Snape out of respect once he knew the truth about Snape.