bullies? twins, padfoot and prongs

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 118718


Potioncat wrote:
><snip>

> Severus knew more dark arts than "most 7th years" when he arrived at 
> Hogwarts.  It appears normal for 7th years to know dark arts...not 
> wrong, not illegal...normal. <snip>

Carol responds:
IIRC, Sirius says that little Severus knew more *curses*, not more
Dark Arts, than most seventh years when he entered Hogwarts. So
knowing curses is normal for older students, but Sevvie appears to be
something of a prodigy in this regard. As for the Dark Arts, they're
not taught at Hogwarts and it's not really clear how much young
Severus knew or how his fascination showed itself--other than an
obsession with *Defense Against* the Dark Arts revealed by his
behavior during and after the DADA exam in the Pensieve scene.

As Sirius Black is our only witness for both the curses Sevvie knew
and his early interest in the Dark Arts, it's hard to know whether to
accept either statement at face value. (It's true that Percy says in
SS/PS that the adult Snape "knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts"
(Am. ed. 126), but that could be hearsay and in any case does not
apply to the boy Severus.

Carol, trying to avoid calling the kids by their last names even
though the narrator does it