The length of the Pensieve Scene

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 118367


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "dumbledore11214"
<dumbledore11214 at y...> wrote:
> 
> > Pippin:
> > 
> > So, if Sirius sank to Snape's level, that makes it better 
> > somehow? I don't think so. Maybe Sirius never used Dark Arts 
> > (though using a werewolf as the tool of revenge is certainly dark 
> > enough for me) but that just makes him like Crouch Sr, justifying 
> > his ruthless measures by the ruthlessness of others. Not a 
> > pretty picture.
> 
> 
> Alla:
> 
> NO, Pippin, it does not make him better. It is just makes the 
> picture more complete, because I just don't see Snape as innocent 
> angel in his schoolyears. I just think that we will find out more 
> about why James and Sirius hated him so, I just don't think that we 
> know everything yet, that is all.
> 
> Although if Sirius never used Dark Arts, I can certainly see him 
> hating someone who did, even if such hatred is absolutely misplaced.

Carol adds:
Here's a thought (Do what you want with it; it's just something that
occurred to me and I have no emotional or intellectual stake in the
argument). Setting aside Sirius, whose motives are, I think, more
personal and more vindictive than James's, maybe James liked to hex
Severus because Severus was the closest thing James had to a worthy
opponent in terms of the number of curses he knew. Of course, James
also disliked Severus, the greasy little Slytherin oddball, and no
doubt enjoyed trying to make him angry. But possibly he also regarded
hexing him as a challenge precisely because he was a skilled opponent
(much as a champion chess player would rather play against another
champion than against an opponent he can easily defeat). If Severus
had been a helpless little wimp like Peter (or James's perception of
Peter), there'd have been no fun in hexing him. As it was, taking on
an opponent who not only could but did fight back (except when
unfairly caught off guard and attacked by two boys at once), James
could show off and gain the admiration of other Gryffindors (and
anyone else who disliked the skinny, studious little Slytherin
"because he exist[ed]"). Quite possibly their confrontations were so
frequent that both instinctively pointed their wands the second they
saw the other--at least after Severus's older Slytherin cronies had
left Hogwarts.

Just a thought.

Carol, who wants to know what happened just before, during, and after
the so-called Prank but doesn't think that any great secrets will be
revealed regarding earlier confrontations