The Marauders' Friendship

[charisjulia]

No: HPFGUIDX 32901

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "clio44a" <clio at u...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., "mullsym255" <tracym255 at a...> wrote:
> >And just one more thing.. was Lupin ever a 
> > bit miffed at James for making Sirius best man and godfather to 
> > Harry? I have to say that if I were in his position, I'd be a bit 
> > jealous.
> > 
> > Tracy
> 
> 
> I would like to add some thoughts to your post. You are right, it 
> appears that Sirius was a 'better' best friend of James than Remus. 
> And in the famous Whomping-Willow-incident Sirius not only 
endangered 
> Snape but also Remus. Imagine what would have happened if Remus 
> really had killed or only bitten Snape. Was that only carelessness 
on 
> Sirius part? 
> I must admit, I doubt Sirius character a little bit.
 > Clio,

        I just wanted to point out that as far as the Whomping Willow 
incident is concerned I think that one really has to take into 
consideration Sirius's general character. He is obviously a very 
excitable and also reckless person who often acts on impulse. Quite 
the devil-may-care type. This is exemplified by many incidents from 
the Marauder's "marauding" to his rather violent reaction to James 
and Lily's deaths. (I know he was in shock, but a calmer person in a 
similar situation would have been more likely to be stunned into 
inaction if not quite able to figure out what would be that best 
legal way get at Peter)

        In my opinion the incident needn't be anything more than what 
Remus says: Sirius got annoyed with Snape's sticking his nose into 
other people's business and thought he'd let him know what Lupin got 
up to every month, just "for laughs". Not very funny, I know, but 
Sirius wouldn't be thinking very far ahead. He just wanted to teach 
Snape a lesson. And surely if Snape had been bitten not only Lupin 
but mainly Sirius himself would be in big trouble. So he was putting 
his own neck on the line too. But "shall I do that, now let's see I'd 
better consider the consequences" does not strike me as something 
he'd think before doing anything. More likely he wouldn't think at 
all.

       As far as the relationship between the Marauders is concerned 
I think canon makes it perfectly clear that Sirius was James's best 
friend:

       "Do you remember who his best friend was?" McGonagall

       "Never saw one without the other
Quite the double act, Sirius 
Black and James Potter" Madame Rosmerta.

       "Potter trusted Black beyond all his other friends" Fudge.

     However I do not believe that undermines their friendship with 
Remus or Peter at all. In messages some people have said that it is 
possible to have lots of best friends simultaneously, while others 
have argued that most people prefer a hierarchy as far as their 
friendships are concerned. Well can't you have both? According to my 
experience it is quite possible to have a group of best friends from 
whom you are closest to one or two. My apologies for the not-exactly-
out-of-real-life example, but take "Friends": it is common knowledge 
to all of the gang that Chandler is both Joey's and Ross's best 
friend, yet this never seems to cause any tensions. Couldn't J., S. 
and R. have had a Chandler-Joey-Ross relationship? 

     Oh, and also the tensions you note between H,R and H in book 4 
aren't due to their three-way relationship as far as I can see. Harry 
and Ron would still have argued even if they had never even met 
Hermione.

     Of course all this is highly personal. Everyone has and is 
entitled to his/her own opinion of what a friendship is supposed to 
be like. These are just my thoughts. 

     Charis Julia. (I hope this is better but have to admit I really 
have no idea what a hard return is!)