bullies? twins, padfoot and prongs

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 118530


catkind wrote:
 I don't actually believe there is such a thing as a "typical"
> victim. But there has to be a difference between bullying and
> fighting, and in this instance James and Sirius together are clearly
> stronger than Snape alone, which seems to make it bullying. <snip>
> 
> Whether Potter vs Snape would be a fair fight isn't clear - given
that in the pensieve scene Snape pulls his wand first but still
doesn't get a shot in, I'd think probably even James alone would be
sufficiently much faster to squish him, from a standing start.

Carol responds:
I absolutely agree that it's bullying, on both James's and Sirius's
part. But I'm not sure that James is "quicker on the draw" than
Severus. It's not clear from the description of the scene whether
James has his wand out already, but since Sirius has pointed Severus
out to him and James is the one who "greets" (insults) Severus, I'm
pretty sure that he does. Note the narrator's description of Severus's
reaction:

"Snape reacted *so fast* that it was as though he had been expecting
*an attack*; dropping his bag, he plunged his hand inside his robes,
and his hand was halfway into the air when James shouted,
"Expelliarmus!" (646). So even taken off guard and unarmed, Severus is
quick, but James is prepared for the *attack* and is almost certainly
already armed. So we can't judge their relative speed in a fair fight
from this scene, but I think Severus reacts as fast as it's possible
to do under the circumstances. It does not help, of course, that
Sirius immediately jumps in and shouts "Impedimenta!" preventing
Severus from getting to the wand James has expelled from Severus's
hand. That, of course, makes the bullying still worse. Not only has
James attacked an unarmed opponent with inadequate warning, it's now
two against one. 

I don't think that Severus was normally weaker than James alone,
especially given his knowledge of hexes and his willingness to use
them. It's the circumstances and the behavior of the two Gryffindors
that make Severus a victim, and James and Sirius Bullies, in this
particular instance.

catkind wrote:
> I have the feeling both parties in this conflict think the other
> doesn't play fair - James detests Snape for his use of dark arts
hexes and so on, and sees that Snape is really aiming to injure. 
> Snape, on the other hand, probably thinks James is being unfair in
> using such humiliation tactics, and not letting it be a "fair fight".
> I bet he'd prefer to be hexed than have his underwear shown off.  

Carol responds:
We really don't have James's view on this subject. He says that he
hexes Severus "because he exists." It's the adult Sirius who credits
James with a hatred of the Dark Arts. (I wonder if he's projecting his
own hatred of his Dark Wizard parents onto Snape and assuming that
James shares his hatred. As I've noted elsewhere, James is quite
casual, and even seems surprised that Lily would criticize him for
harmlessly amusing the onlookers--his apparent attitude, not mine!)

At any rate, he certainly knows that Severus is capable of injuring
him. And Severus is certainly right that "humiliation tactics," in
addition to an unprovoked attack and two against one, is unfair.

Your last sentence I absolutely agree with. Considering that this
incident is "Snape's Worst Memory," at least according to the
narrator, I would almost bet that Severus Snape, boy or man, would
rather be *Crucio'd* than publicly humiliated. (Not that I think James
would cast an Unforgiveable Curse, only that Severus would rather
suffer injury to his body than his pride.) We don't know for sure, of
course, but that's how he appears to me.

Carol