OOP: James( was:Two-way Mirror and other frustrations)

[frumenta]

No: HPFGUIDX 64011

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "M.Clifford" 
<valkyrievixen at y...> wrote:
> 
> No decent person would respect James for being a cruel bully. 
Agreed.
> But, imagine the charismatic rebuttal he would give comments 
> on "mudblood filth" throughout his school life. 
> Snape wasn't an *innocent* victim. On the day of his memory he was 
> already guilty of a cruelty and bullying of his own more insidious 
> kind. Hating people for something they cannot change regardless of 
> their innermost character. 
> James earned a degree of repect for this: his spite was directed 
at 
> someones choice to hate, not merely someones inability to defend 
> themself, as was Snapes attack on Lily. For what defense has a 
> muggleborn witch against such comments, but a charismatic 
pureblood 
> displaying such characters for the fools that they are.
>  
> two knuts from Valky

Hating someone for something they have no control over (being 
Muggleborn) does not constitute bullying. We have no way of knowing 
that James knew what Snape may or may not have felt about 
Muggleborns. We do know that James just went and picked on Snape for 
no reason. I doubt that it was a preemptive strike.

As for Snape's attack on Lily... I saw a boy who had just been 
embarrassed in front of a girl. A Gryffindor girl. A Gryffindor, 
Muggleborn girl. I'm not excusing what Snape said but I understand 
it. He didn't want Lily's sympathy or her help and he bit back the 
only way he could under the circumstances.

I take it James was the charismatic pureblood in defence of 
Muggleborn damsels in distress? Interestingly, Harry didn't see it 
that way and I'm with him.

I'm afraid I'm still too emotional over that scene to make a decent 
argument. By the way, this is my first post, I hope I didn't mess up 
too badly.

Mim