Looks aren't everything! (was:Re: Sirius / Severus)

[jwcpgh]

No: HPFGUIDX 86559

> Carol:
> I agree that there are a lot of parallels between Severus and 
Sirius, from similar first names and one-syllable last names to 
virtually identical coloring (black hair, black eyes, pale skin). 
Even Sirius's nickname as a dog ("Snuffles") reflects the cruel 
nickname he called Severus (Snivellus). <snip> 

> Why the difference, then (setting aside any genetic components that
> might partially determine personality traits)? Aside from the fact
> that Sirius, despite his many character flaws, hated his family and
> consequently wanted nothing to do with the Dark Side, he had a
> distinct advantage over Severus: he was handsome. Sad as it may be 
to admit, looks affect the way kids treat other kids. Handsome 
Sirius had only to say he was bored and James was ready to entertain 
him at Severus's expense. Severus, on the other hand, was the target 
of their abuse "because he exists." Skinny, greasy-haired, hook-
nosed, a loner since his older friends had graduated, a Slytherin 
steeped in the Dark Arts, he was treated shabbily because of his 
looks and less than sparkling personality. Such treatment by popular 
boys reinforced his unpopularity. Not even the Slytherins in his own 
year seemed to care enough about him to defend him. No wonder he was 
angry and lonely and wanted to find someone, anyone, who would 
acknowledge and respect his brilliant mind and many gifts.
> 
> Sirius, on the other hand, received recognition effortlessly: he 
was handsome, wealthy, easily scored well on exams, and was the best
> friend of a quidditch champion with an outgoing, fun-loving (if
> sometimes thoughtlessly cruel) personality. He was popular without
> ever seeking popularity. 

He [Snape]is also unwilling or unable to let go of his miserable 
past. But things might have been very different if James and Remus 
had given him the indulgent friendship and brotherly love that they 
gave to the handsome Sirius, if looks and placement in Slytherin had 
not blinded all of them to Severus's many talents. But like 
Kreacher, who was unthinkingly abused by Sirius as something less
than human, Severus was snubbed and abused and tormented because of
> what he looked like and who he was. <snip>

Laura, trying hard to catch up:

I think this is way too simplistic.  Granted, good-looking people 
start out with an advantage.  But there's a lot more to the 
differences than just looks.

Given what we know about the Snape and Black families, we infer that 
neither of them were good places in which to be reared.  We know for 
sure that the Blacks were pretty awful.  We can only theorize about 
the Snapes based on what Harry sees in Severus's memories, but I 
think that the cowering child was Severus.  The question is, what 
effect did their early years have on Sirius and Severus?  

If a child comes from an unhappy home, where there's anger and 
tension, the child might go one of two ways (this is very 
reductionist, but you get the idea).  Either the child may develop 
an intense desire to escape and differentiate himself from the 
source of the bad feelings, or the child might develop a type of 
Stockholm Syndrome and decide that emulating the source of power is 
the best course.  Extrapolating like crazy from that one little 
snippet of memory, I'd have to say that Snape chose the latter 
course.  Snape was placed in Slytherin, which should tell us 
something, even if it is to some degree an self-fulfilling prophecy. 
We know from canon that Snape had an early interest in the dark 
arts. (Some have argued on this list that since the source of that 
information is Sirius, it's not trustworthy, but I have never seen 
any contradictory canon.)  And we know that Snape gave as good as he 
got when it came to hexes-he and James were always after each 
other.   As an adult, he rules by fear and intimidation.  I bet that 
even the Slytherins know not to push him too far.   I don't think it 
was only Snape's unattractiveness that resulted in his being an 
outcast.  I think it was everything about him-his attitude, his 
demeanor, his interests.  His looks just reflected what was inside.  

It's easy enough to see how and why Snape ended up with the 
personality he has.  But Sirius is a more complex question.  How did 
he come to reject his family values at such a young age?  This is a 
kid who was brought up with power, position, money and prestige.  He 
can't have had much exposure to the non-pureblood component of the 
WW.  The Blacks would hang out with purebloods, and not just any 
purebloods, but purebloods who were aware of their "racial purity", 
like the Malfoys and Crouches, not muggle-lovers like the Weasleys.  
As a child, Sirius had every advantage the WW could offer.  He would 
have had no reason to turn his back on his parents' world.  But 
somehow he did.  His being placed in Gryffindor is a bit of a 
mystery.  Did the Hat see something in Sirius that was lying 
dormant?  Or had Sirius already begun to question his parents' 
beliefs? In either case, becoming a Gryffindor was the push Sirius 
needed to separate his own attitudes from those of his family.  

We have no canon indicating what relations were like between Sirius 
and his parents before he went to Hogwarts.  But we can imagine that 
they went downhill rapidly from that time.  Every visit back to 
Grimmauld Place would show Sirius what a great difference there was 
between the values of his school and those of his home.  Tensions 
must have risen exponentially until by the time Sirius was 16, he 
was in full revolt.  

Whatever it was that caused the Hat to place Sirius in Gryffindor, 
it wasn't his looks.  And it wasn't his looks that made the other 
Marauders befriend and trust him.  It was his behavior-his whole-
hearted adoption of the values of Hogwarts (the Hogwarts of DD, of 
course) and of Gryffindor.  Sirius's attractiveness had to 
contribute to his general popularity, of course, but that wasn't 
what made him the person he was.  It was what was inside.