bullies? twins, padfoot and prongs

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 118449


Clare Durina wrote:
<snip> a bully picks on someone because he is weak and squashing him
> > makes the bully feel stronger. 
> 
catkind responded:  
<snip> 
> It seems to me that James and Sirius bully Snape, because they carry 
> on tormenting him, and humiliating him publicly, when he is 
> outnumbered and they are evidently stronger than him.  If we try to 
> excuse them we find ourselves saying things like, "he deserved it", 
> which sounds rather like a classic bully's rationalisation. <snip>

Carol responds:
I agree that "he deserved it" is rationalization, as is James's
pathetic "because he exists." I also agree with catkind that James and
Sirius were behaving as bullies in this instance, and probably in
others if we accept Lily's assertion that James hexed anyone who
annoyed him.

But I'm not sure that the young Snape fits the description of a
typical victim that Clare and catkind seem to agree on. In this
particular instance, he was caught off-guard, attacked by two people
at once, and publicly humiliated, and there's no question in my mind
that he was an innocent victim. But that doesn't mean he was weak or
that he was normally susceptible to such attacks. I don't think this
is a typical encounter between Severus and James. Remember that
Severus came to Hogwarts knowing more curses than most seventh-years.
In a *fair* duel, he would have been a formidable opponent, as we can
see by the cut he inflicts on James's cheek before Sirius robs him of
his wand. I'll bet he would have given James a run for his money, and
maybe James would have walked away from the battle a shade or two less
arrogant. Assuming, that is, that the young Slytherin also fought
fair--possibly not a safe assumption.

Carol, wondering how Severus learned so many curses so young and what
those curses were