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

[marinafrants]

No: HPFGUIDX 86657

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "jwcpgh" <jwcpgh at y...> wrote:
> There's difference of opinion as to whether Sirius was a bully or 
> not.  We know only about his friendship with the other Marauders 
and 
> his dislike of Snape.  We don't know anything about his relations 
> with other students, good or bad. We also don't know the full 
story 
> of the Snape/Sirius hostility.

My own theory is that Snape, being a loyal Slytherin with a contempt 
for Muggleborns and a deep interest in the Dark Arts, was everything 
that the Black family wanted Sirius to be, and thus everything that 
he hated and violently rejected, especially at the time of the 
Pensieve flashback (which took place shortly before Sirius ran away 
from home for good).  

Sirius had a really schizoid upbringing, when you think about it. 
Most of his adolescence was spent shuffling back and forth between 
home, where he was treated as a disgrace and an abomination, and 
school, where he was treated as the greatest thing since sliced 
bread.  This is *not* a good way to instill a balanced sense of self 
in a teenage boy.  (It's not doing Harry any good, either, but Harry 
seems more naturally level-headed than Sirius, and has friends who 
are a better influence.)  Unfortunately, I think Snape made a really 
handy scapegoat for Sirius' family issues.  All the supposedly 
desirable pureblood traits in a geeky, unattractive package.  It 
would've brought out all of Sirius's worst impulses, I'm sure.

Marina
rusalka at ix.netcom.com