[HPforGrownups] Re: Snape and Harry again.

[feklar]

No: HPFGUIDX 113285

Just bits and pieces

> Alla:
>
> It is  HIGHLY SPECULATIVE as of today and just as Nora, I will bow to
> reality, if things will be simple and James and Sirius were just
> bullies for no reason at all ( No, I don't think that bullying person
> for a reason is right).


Feklar:

I have to admit, to me, James does seem the exact image of someone who
"bullies for no reason at all."  He and Sirius admit as much.  Little kids
are generally amoral, and some are just vicious, unreasoning bastards,
especially to things and people they perceive as weak or vulnerable.  By
OWLs, he hopefully would have outgrown that amoral stage.  Maybe if he'd met
Snape for the first time then, they would have just despised and ignored
each other, but as it was, being a Big Man on Campus and abusing Snape (and
others?) was an ingrained habit that generated positive reinforcement
(attention and applause from most of his peers) and very little negative
results (some from Lilly, little to none form authority figures).   Why
should he give it up under those circumstances?


Alla:

> Sirius knew what the Darkness is from inside. He, after all, tried to
> escape it when he was sixteen. Come to think of it, I think he is
> very reliable witness despite his hatred of Snape.

Feklar:

Actually, I think this is exactly why he's an unreliable witness about
Snape's character.  But I also think this is why Sirius is the only Marauder
who might have had a reason to hate Snape on sight (though that reason may
have been irrational).  I think because SB grew up in a dark household and
hated it (was possibly even abused?), he was predisposed to hate anything
that reminded him of it.  From the beginning, Snape seems designed to
trigger that predisposition -- he even looks like Mrs. Black (coloringwise
at least).

Snape may well have known as much as a 7th year, but there isn't anything
inherently wrong with precocious knowledge, even if it's of curses  (note,
SB didn't accuse Snape of knowing things not even a 7th year should know).
However, I can see how that knowledge combined with Snape's looks and
demeanor would make SB preemptively hate him without any real, or at least
objective, reason.

I can see a first year scenario where James may have been the purposeless
bully-in-waiting, just looking for someone to attack, but sirius was the one
who chose the target.  Then again, James may have just chosen Snape because
he was ugly.  It's a lot easier to get away with abusing an ugly kid than a
pretty one.  There was acrually a study done showing that teachers pay less
attention to and are less likely to help "unattractive" children.

Personally, I don't like SB.  I was dismayed in GOF when he admitted his
solution to the dragons was the Conjuctivitus Curse (ironically, the "dark"
contestant's solution) and he kind of went downhill from there.  I'm
inclined to give him a pass on his early years because he was presumably
raised to be vicious and mean from an early age.  And I can see why he might
have feared and hated Snape from the get go.  But ultimately, while he may
have decided he disagreed with his family's politics, he doesn't seem to
have any problem with their methods.  That is, he doesn't see anything wrong
with being vicious and abusive, so long as it's for a cause he likes.

Feklar