in defense of sirius black/character comparisons

[kdemcak at hotmail.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 14408

Do we know what Snape did to try and get the Marauders expelled? 
I'll have to go back to the text to make sure, but I don't think we 
do.  While the prank  certainly doesn't speak well of Sirius and was 
dangerous and foolish, I wonder what Snape did to drive him over the 
edge?  Don't you think it had to be something pretty bad?  Certainly 
whatever it was didn't mean Snape deserved being put in mortal peril, 
but put into context, maybe Sirius' actions would make a little more 
sense.

James' reaction, on the other hand, *does* speak well for him. The 
differences between James and Sirius as teenagers sort of remind me
of 
the differences between Harry and Ron.

I love Ron, so this isn't meant to be an insult to him in any way,
but 
he's much more of a typical teenage boy than Harry; he's more  
impulsive and I'd say he's a bit less mature.

I can't really think of a parallel situation because they haven't put
 
Draco in mortal peril and Harry's certainly not above playing pranks 
on Draco. But it seems to me that Ron is quicker to fight and get 
revenge than Harry. For instance, trying to curse Draco after he 
called Hermione a mudblood. It doesn't mean he's *bad*... it's just 
who he is right now!  I mean, teenagers are *supposed* to be 
impulsive!

James' reaction to the prank shows that he was much more mature than 
Sirius at the time, but it doesn't necessarily mean that Sirius was a 
bad person.



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