“You have your mother’s eyes,” a dying Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) tells Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) in 2011’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. Snape has just had his throat slashed by the Dark Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), who then sicced his poison-fanged snake, Nagini, upon the Death Eater with a single command: “Kill.” Snape tearfully tells Harry to collect his tears, take them to the Pensieve, and — looking into Lily Potter’s eyes one last time — dies knowing that the memories will redeem him in Harry’s eyes.

Snape’s demise is an emotional end for the character, playing out generally similar to how it did in author J.K. Rowling’s 2007 novel. But according to the actor’s diaries, published posthumously as Madly, Deeply: The Alan Rickman Diaries in 2022, director David Yates suggested having Voldemort cast Avada Kedavra. The Killing Curse instantaneously kills its victims with a blinding green light, which would prevent Snape’s tearful exchange with Harry in his dying moments. (Not to mention: Voldemort falsely believed Snape to be the master of the Elder Wand, so he wouldn’t have fired such a spell in fear it would rebound.)

In an excerpt from Rickman’s diary dated Nov. 25, 2009, he writes of filming Snape’s death scene: “Cold, wet, draughty but the crew seem miles away so Ralph and I can just get on with inching our way towards the scene. David [Yates] stubborn as ever about [Voldemort] killing me with a spell. (Impossible to comprehend, not least the resultant wrath of the readers.) Great working with Ralph, though. Direct and true and inventive and free.”

Rickman notes that his wife, Rima, pointed out, “‘He can’t kill you with a spell — the only one that would do that is Avada Kedavra and it kills instantly — you wouldn’t be able to finish the scene.’”

Reacting to the revelation on Reddit’s Harry Potter subreddit, fans expressed their own frustrations, and relief, that such an alteration was considered.

“Thankfully, Alan was equally stubborn and prevented Yates from ruining the scene with his insanely nonsensical alterations,” one user writes. “Well, that’s stupid,” the top-voted comment reads. “How was Harry supposed to get Snape’s memories to see the truth if Voldemort insta-killed him?”

“It would’ve robbed the audience of the one emotionally natural scene between Harry and Snape,” reads another response. One user commented, “You have to wonder how much other actors had to hold them back on other topics from making stupid choices deviating from the books.”

In the end, the scene plays out as scripted by screenwriter Steve Kloves: “Harry searches Snape’s face, trying to decipher his words. Snape stares at Harry in wonder, lost in his eyes, then his pupils dilate, his voice trailing off. Snape’s face goes slack.”

In a subsequent entry dated Nov. 26, 2009, Rickman writes, “The Death of Snape. Nearly 10 years later. At least it’s just down to two actors … David is vulnerable and endearing when he’s excited. And he is by this scene. It’s the absolute example of what can happen when a couple of actors pick up a scene off the page and work with the story, the space and each other.”