Why do we always gang up on Sirius?

[Theresa]

No: HPFGUIDX 105216

Sorry to start a new thread but after working 11+ hours and coming 
home to laundry and dishes and well over 100 post (at least it was 
interesting reading) I decided to combine a few comments made about 
Sirius, James and Snape. (no I am not commenting on the homosexual 
thread as I see both sides but like Bren keep hollaring 'say it aint 
so'. Besides, didn't Rosemerta say they flirted with her - 'quite the 
double act, Potter and Black. Oh how they made me laugh.' So at least 
he flirted with women. Oh well, who knows.)

First of all one quick comment on Snape's house, in GOF (American 1st 
edition pg 531) it states he 'was part of a gang of Slytherins'. To 
me I read that as he was a Slytherin because he was PART of them. I 
just saw a movie recently where the mom tells her son not to hang out 
with another boy as he is 'part of a gang of hoodlums picking on 
elderly people', and yes the other boy was a hoodlum. So that is how 
I read that, plus he just seems like one - ambitious and lover of the 
dark arts. 

Now the pensieve scene, I still see that as two good friends who 
don't like another boy who is a bit odd and also hates them back. I 
just scanned OotP (American version pgs 640-648 and 670-671) which is 
the scene and Harry talking to Sirius and Remus about it. The line 
that struck me the most about it being a two-way street between J/Si 
vs Snape is when Remus and Sirius mention that ' Snape was just this 
little oddball who was up to his eyes in the Dark Arts and James ... 
always hated the Dark Arts.' Also, Remus says on 671 'Snape was a 
special case. I mean, he never lost an opportunity to curse James, so 
you couldn't really expect James to take that lying down...' So I 
always had the impression it was like the Harry vs. Draco rivalry. 
The other evidence to me is the JKR chat on March 4, 2004 someone had 
a quote from (sorry I read them in a daily digest so I don't know the 
post #) 'Kyla: What made Sirius decide to send Snape to the Willow? 
JKR replies - because Sirius loathed Snape (and the feeling was 
entirely mutual). You'll find out more about this in due course.' 
(And boy won't that be nice information to have.) But I do think he 
was not the innocent victim all the time and can be nasty too - he 
wanted to feed Sirius' soul to the dementors afterall.

Anyway, I think both sides were just nasty to one another. I really 
hope JKR sticks to that and let's us all know why Sirius tricked 
Snape. I still maintain that he thought he would a: either not go 
into the willow or b:never get very far so it would just be a case of 
Snape needing new undies after soiling himself. I think Sirius was 
just so comfortable with Lupin since they all hung out every month 
that (I will use the term I use on my sons who are 9 and nearly 13) 
his brain disconnected from his mouth and he had a moment of 
stupidity. Then he was laughing, told James who decided to stop 
Snape. Also, I think they weren't quite in as much danger as 
mentioned. In POA, Remus said he glimpsed him at the end of the 
tunnel and never got to the shack so I always thought of that as 
peeking through a crack in the door but far enough the werewolf 
didn't notice. But I agree it was not a good idea and regardless of 
the outcome, I hope Sirius kissed (not literally) Remus' hiney for a 
month to apologize.
Lastly, James is as bad as Sirius in the pensieve scene and in my 
opinion worse in some ways. First he stole the snitch and then showed 
off with it. He rumpled his hair like a narcissistic jock. When they 
attacked Snape, James kept looking over his shoulder at the girls - 
he was showing off for. He put soap bubbles in Snapes mouth making 
him gag. James made the 'it is more the fact he exists' comment. He 
had the gall to ask Lily for a date during it all. He is also too 
thick to see how conceited he appears to Lily. However, it always 
seems like folks talk about how bad Sirius was in this scene. 
Personally, I had already come to realize in the first few pages of 
OotP, Sirius came from an unhinged family and his mom loved his 
brother while shunning him - which I believe started before Hogwarts 
so he latched onto our Quidditch star from the wealthy family (I know 
Sirius was wealthy too) who actually liked James and though there is 
no canon proof, I think James was an only child who was spoiled. Now 
because I relate Sirius' upbringing to Faramir of LOTR (parent liked 
brother better and shunned you) I kind of expected his attitude in 
the pensieve - plus we had the Shrieking Shack mention of the prank 
for background. James on the other hand, we were thought to be the 
star athlete, popular boy from a good home. Basically well thought of 
by all but Snape whose opinion we usually discount anyway. Then James 
acts like the biggest jerk in the pensieve so I was really 
understanding Harry's pain here. And I agree James was probably the 
Alpha male.

Anyway, I guess my point is...I think both James and Sirius, were 
cocky pinheads but basically loveable loyal good-hearted pinheads. 
Much like Fred and George who I think often say things they should 
apologizes for too. But we seem to focus more on Sirius' bad 
behavior. As for Snape, I think he dished out what he took and can be 
just as cruel.

Theresa
Who wonders if Snape would have accepted an apology from Harry for 
peeking in the pensieve and started up the Occlumency lessons again.