Guerilla ? (Re: bullies? twins, padfoot and prongs)

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 118595


Potioncat wrote:
"Just to clarify, James calls out "All right, Snivelus?" Do you think
Severus was wrong to go for his wand? 

Valky answered:
"I think the sentence suggests that from the Narrators POV Severus' 
reaching for his wand was a surprise, an action that meant that Snape
read more from the approach of James than Harry did. "

Del replies :
Agreed : the *narrator* wonders why Snape goes for his wand. But
*James* doesn't. Whether or not he expected Snape to react that way,
James is not taken by surprise. He doesn't go asking "Hey ? What are
you doing ?", he doesn't wait for Snape to hex him, no, he goes
straight for his wand and disarms Snape. The narrator doesn't know
about what we can presume is the habitual dynamic between Snape and
James, but both Snape and James do. Snape expected an attack, and
James expected Snape to expect an attack, this seems clear to me.

But I agree that we have no indication that James's wand was drawn.
However, we are told that Snape dropped his bag before reaching for
his wand. Apparently, he was carrying his bag in a way that prevented
him easy access to his wand, which gave James an advantage.

Moreover, James and Sirius came two against one. Even if James had
played fair and let Snape hex him before retaliating, Snape still
wouldn't have stood a chance, because Sirius would have hexed him back
right away.
And finally, we don't know what was Snape's intent. Just because
someone knows bad hexes doesn't mean he will automatically use them.
For all we know, maybe Snape would just have retreated to the castle
with his wand covering James and Sirius.

In other words : the attack was apparently inexcusable. Normally, you
don't attack someone just because they are drawing their wand out.
Even the Expelliarmus wouldn't be justified.

James and Sirius *wanted* a fight with Snape, and they didn't wait for
a real excuse to have it.

Valky wrote in a previous post :
"Sirius statement about James *Hating* the Dark Arts is adamant and
sincere, How can you doubt that? Of all the things that Sirius has said?"

Del replies :
First, we have only Sirius's word on it. Technically, we must consider
that Sirius might have it wrong. But I tend to believe he was right.
However, that doesn't justify much anything. So Snape was into the
Dark Arts ? So what ? There's a difference between hating something,
and hating the people who do that thing. I hate racism, but I don't
hate all racists. I hate the concept of pureblood superiority, but I
don't hate the Malfoys because of that. I have a certain degree of
contempt, anger and spite for them because of that, but I won't hurt
them because of what they believe. If they do something illegal, I
will demand that they be punished. But I won't chase them down like
James and Sirius chased Snape down that day.

There might have been one very good reason for James and Sirius to act
that way, though, and it's your further comments that bring it on.

Valky wrote :
" Why? In the time of the reign of Voldemort, when a mad "DARK ARTS" 
wizard is killing anyone and any innocent thing he comes across, this
is the time we are referring to. 
How can you possibly question whether the Dark Arts are worse than 
childish pranks.
He is killing people, potioncat. It's like asking a semite if they'd 
rather a brown coat in their house or a frog in their bed. "

Del replies :
LV is killing people and he should be punished for that. But Snape
wasn't killing anybody as far as we know, so at first glance I don't
see why he should be punished.

People are entitled to their opinions and likings. In a relatively
free world like the WW, nobody has any right to punish them for those.
Snape was in the Dark Arts. But we are not told that he did anything
bad with them. He knew curses and hexes and he called Lily a Mudblood.
Those things are respectively dangerous and bad, but they don't make
Snape a criminal. He wasn't abusing anyone, either physically or
verbally, at the time James and Sirius attacked him : this attack was
*unjustified*. 

But now we get to the really important part of the puzzle. If the
attack was indeed based on James's dislike of the Dark Arts and the
link between LV and the Dark Arts, then it definitely wasn't a
childish prank : it was political (can't think of a better word). It's
on the same level as the enmity between the DA and the I Squad, and
even though there's a bit of childishness in it, much of it is based
on a very adult battle for political power.

In other words : if James attacked Snape because he saw Snape as a
junior DE, and Snape expected that attack, then the attack was not at
all a childish prank, it was an act of war, one battle in an on-going
guerilla between Snape and the Marauders, something rooted in motives
infinitely more serious than a personal dislike. That would put the
Worst Memory on a completely different level, but it's the only reason
that would make James' and Sirius' actions acceptable for me.

There are several problems with this theory though.
First Lily doesn't seem to have noticed that dynamic, but then maybe
she wouldn't, if Snape and the Marauders kept their guerilla secret
enough.
The second problem is that Lupin and Sirius don't mention it at all
when they answer Harry's questions. They try to pass it as a childish
prank. I'm not sure why they would do that. If Harry's son happened to
see the treatment Harry gave to Draco at the end of OoP, I don't see
why Harry wouldn't explain that it was much more than a personal dislike.
The third problem is that such a guerilla should have been based on
much more than personal opinions. Snape would have had to have been
*doing* things to justify such drastic punishment. I'm not saying he
wasn't, but JKR isn't saying that he was either. His only crimes so
far seem to have been an unfortunate liking of the Dark Arts, an ugly
physique, and an annoying habit of spying on the Marauders for private
reasons. Nothing political in this, and nothing justifying using
guerilla tactics on him.

Del, still wondering what's so bad about that memory that it would be
Snape's worst