I thought Snape was supposed to have gotten better over time, but as with everything else, not in a way that had much meaning. It seemed like the more time he spent with Dumbledore, basically being *trained* in better behavior, he did find himself softening somewhat. But that leads me to ask first, why that isn't proof of what Emerson suggested to JKR--why keep the Slytherins all together? Why not spread them out over the different houses? Snape seems to be proof that if you put them in a society with normal people where they're accepted as valuable, they actually can start to take on the beliefs of that society. They might not ever really become as good as other houses could be, but they wouldn't be weakening stuff from the inside. The one thing that is redeemable about some Slytherins (some) is that they can genuinely feel connection to other people.

Secondly, since I did have desires for Slytherin the house I feel like Snape let them down. His redemption was strictly personal, and he ultimately seemed to not care at all about anybody but the ones special to him--Lily and Dumbledore. Something for Harry because his place in the scheme of things, but nothing much admirable.

That's a great Orwell quote and yeah, that is how it struck me. I get that in this context it's supposed to be "peace." It's the normal, safe life where everyone's with their family. But to me it really did just seem like a reset to the beginning of PS/SS.