Snapers or Sirists (was Defending Snape, Dissing Sirius)

[kiricat2001]

No: HPFGUIDX 34653

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "rosenatti" <Rosenatti at a...> wrote:

 
> I agree; I also feel a rant coming on. As far as I'm concerned, 
> Sirius' implied heroic status is suspect until he shows some 
modicum 
> of regret for nearly killing another teenager as a "prank" during 
his 
> student days. And that's something he should have done long before 
he 
> wound up in Azkaban. In the Muggle world, his "prank," without 
James' 
> intervention, would have landed him in prison (or reform school) on 
> charges of second-degree murder or manslaughter. If he doesn't 
> acknowledge his own potentially criminal stupidity just because he 
> doesn't like Snape (what, he assumes it's fine to kill kids he 
finds 
> annoying? what a great message to pass on to his impressionable 
> godson), then he's just your garden-variety sociopath. Maybe Snape 
is 
> one, as well, but canon implies that he's actively tried to rectify 
> his greatest mistake -- becoming a DE -- and JKR has never 
disguised 
> his psychological shortcomings. Sirius, on the other hand, has been 
> painted as a candidate for sainthood and never even been asked to 
> apologize to Snape, the kid he tried to kill -- or if he has, he's 
> failed to do it. And people wonder why Snape gets so irrational 
> around Black? Geez.


Don't you all think it interesting that most Snape fans can't seem to 
cut Sirius any slack, and most Sirius fans only want to give Snape 
enough rope with which to hang him? If someone bashes one "S-man", 
the defense of that character almost always includes an attack on the 
other "S-man."

Plus, whether you're a Snaper, a Sirist or neither, Sirius has not 
has nearly as much exposure as Snape.  We have been given much more 
day-to-day glimpses of Snape and how he behaves.  We have all sorts 
of incidents to refer to, either show how awful Snape is or how, 
underneath that gruff exterior, beats the heart of a maligned, 
misunderstood character who has faced terrible trials and ultimately 
came down on the side of Good/Light or whatever you want to call it.

On the other hand, we have had only three scenes in which Sirius 
plays an active role.  By that I mean we see him, hear him speak and 
interact with others.  We're not relying exclusively on second hand 
information or three-line notes written to Harry.  We see Sirius in 
the Shrieking Shack, in the cave with the Trio in GoF and with Harry 
in Dumbledore's office and in the hospital after the Triwizard 
Tournament. 

Now, Sirius was a tad off the beam in the Shrieking Shack, but most 
of the other people in the room were not at their best, either. And, 
in the other two scenes, I don't think Sirius comes across as 
deranged, idiotic, uncaring, or irresponsible.  

I do find it interesting that people will come to Snape's defense and 
cut him major slack regarding his DE status because ultimately he 
rejects that.  And this is without knowing what potentially horrible 
things he may have done.  But, the fact that he came back to the good 
side is seen as him having recognized the error of his ways and 
that's good enough to forgive him for any past transgressions.  

I will once again rant about "The Prank."  People seem to assume that 
Sirius wanted to kill Snape.  The only evidence we have in canon to 
support that was Snape's statement to Dumbledore in PoA about "Sirius 
Black showed himself capable of murder at the age of sixteen." I do 
believe that Snape thinks Sirius wanted to kill him.  But, that is 
not proof of Sirius' intent.

I am not trying to excuse Sirius' actions.  They could have led to 
injury or death as well as dire consequences to Remus, had the 
werewolf done any damage.  They did not.  Did anyone die?  No.  Was 
anyone serverely injured? No. Was Remus "outed" by this? No. Should 
Sirius have received servere punishment?  Yes.  Did he?  We don't 
know. Did Sirius apologize to Snape? To Lupin?  To James? We don't 
know. 

So, to sum up, if we find out in future books that Snape did some 
truly horrible things during his DE days, will people still feel he 
deserves forgiveness because he has worked to rectify his mistakes?  
And, by the same token, if we hear Sirius apologize to Snape (and 
mean it) will people put "The Prank" to rest?

Marianne, who will be really annoyed if either Snape or Sirius buys 
the farm in the upcoming books