Rule-breaking--James and Sirius vs. Fred and George

[Milz]

No: HPFGUIDX 22053

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., devika261 at a... wrote:
> In a message dated 7/6/01 1:03:42 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
> absinthe at m... writes:
> 
> 
> > But do we know if James and Sirius were caught? Hagrid made a 
comment 
> > in PoA that Fred and George could give James and Sirius the run 
for 
> > their money, but Fred and George are sometimes caught (throwing 
> > snowballs at Quirrell's turban in SS/PS, dungbombs, etc.). With 
the 
> > exception of the Snape incident, I get the feeling that James and 
> > Sirius had the reputation of being mischeivous but not to the 
extent 
> > of the Weasley Twins.
> > 
> 
> I think that we can be fairly sure that James and Sirius were not 
caught 
> breaking rules most of the time.  After all, most of their 
rule-breaking was 
> possible as a result of their being Animagi, and Dumbledore was 
unaware of 
> this.  I think James and Sirius did have the reputation of being 
just as 
> mischeivous as Fred and George, but they were also "exceptionally 
bright," so 
> they must have gotten some of the highest grades in their year, as 
opposed to 
> Fred and George, who seem to be average students (take their 
performance on 
> their O.W.L.S., for example).  
> Actually, now that I think about it, Fred and George owe much of 
their 
> reputation to Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs.  Fred and George 
> themselves claim that the Marauder's Map is the secret of their 
success.  
> BTW, about the Snape incident...IIRC, that occurred during their 6th 
year.  
> If James had been a prefect, he would have been one at the time.  I 
wonder if 
> James got into any trouble for that, or if he was considered to be a 
hero.  
> If the latter is true, as I'm inclined to think, did Sirius get into 
any 
> trouble?  I think James might have covered for him, but Snape would 
have 
> tried to get them all expelled.  Was Snape perhaps a prefect for 
Slytherin 
> House?  Hmmm....the speculation goes on....
> 
> Devika (who thinks JKR should write a prequel to SS about MWPP and 
their 
> school days)
> 

I think the Weasley twins are exceptionally intelligent; however, they 
use their intelligence for mischief making rather than grades. The 
Twins figured out how to work the map and (most importantly) they 
figured out all their Weasley's Wheezes joke items. That takes skill 
and intelligence, imo. Grades are a so-so indicator of intelligence, 
imho.

IIRC, you are correct that the Snape incident happened in their 6th 
year. James was probably a prefect. At least from Snape's POV, James 
was given an undeserved hero's commendation. Quite frankly, if anyone 
was punished for that it should have been Sirius because he told Snape 
to go to the tree. According to Sirius' and Lupin's account, James ran 
to save Snape when he learned what Sirius had done. My guess is that 
Dumbledore hushed up the incident completely in order to prevent Lupin 
from being exposed, hence, Snape being sworn to secrecy. Snape might 
have been a prefect. Sirius' description of Snape always lurking 
around, spying on them sort of reminded me of Percy's vigilance.

Milz