James, a paragon of virtue? Was: Why Do You Like Sirius?

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 123602


Nora wrote:
> <snip> Remember the canon from PoA from McGonagall about Sirius and 
> James, "...very bright, of course--exceptionally bright, in fact..".  
> How fondly I remember all the times I didn't have to study in high 
> school...oh, those were the days.  Arrogant, yes; true, 
> (unfortunately?) also yes.
> 
> [That's enough canon, McGonagall and the studying, to argue that 
> James and Sirius were actually much brighter than Severus in school, 
> right? (take that with a grain of salt, everyone)] <snip>


Carol responds:
Nope, I'm not going to give you that one. First, Sirius is talking
about the Transfiguration exam, not the DADA exam that we know Severus
studied for. He doesn't need to study Transfiguration because that's
what he and James have been doing since they discovered that Remus was
a werewolf, not in order to get high marks (which were a side benefit)
but in order to become Animagi. No wonder McGonagall thinks they're
exceptionally bright. They do exceptionally well in *her* subject, the
only one she sees them in. Nor is she an unbiased witness. She was
head of Gryffindor House; they were Gryffindors. And James, wh died
fighting Voldemort, is a hero in the WW. 

Quite possibly James and Sirius do well in other classes without
studying, getting high marks because they both have the kind of
short-term memory that allows them to retain information just long
enough to get high marks on a test (I did that, too. Too bad all those
A's I "earned" in Latin and physics don't indicate that I really know
anything about those subjects.) 

Severus, in contrast, clearly *knows* DADA in detail and clearly cares
about what he knows. He's not trying to get a high mark for its own
sake or to "get by" like rich boys Sirius and James, who won't need to
earn a living when they finish school. Severus clearly wants to
*master* the subject, possibly to use it in his career, possibly
because the subject itself is important to him. Just because a student
studies doesn't mean he or she isn't naturally bright. Look at Hermione.

Snape quite possibly has the same sort of retentive memory as
Hermione, which enables him to write more than the question probably
calls for in response to the DADA OWL. Hermione does much the same
thing for the essays she turns in to her teachers. Hermione memorizes
her schoolbooks. Snape has memorized many complicated potions, which
he transfers to the chalkboard with a flick of his wand. And we *know*
that Snape is bright. We've seen him put two and two together time and
again. We never see Sirius do anything of the sort. As for James, we
don't see him do much of anything except tease Remus about being a
werewolf, show off with a Snitch, hex Severus, and talk briefly to a
girl who thinks he's a bully.

So, no. I don't for a moment buy your argument that they were "much
brighter" than Severus (or the equally studious Remus, who hasn't
mastered Transfiguration because he didn't have to learn it to
transform into a werewolf). And their behavior doesn't indicate
intelligence, either. I see no indication of brilliance in the MWPP
conversation in the Pensieve scene, do you? All we have is the fact
that James became Head Boy and the testimony of the less than
objective Minerva McGonagall, who never saw those boys in Potions or
DADA or or Charms or any subject except Transfiguration.


Nora wrote:
<snip>
> You can't make good statements about a hapax. [Umm, to make that
clearer--we have one event witnessed by us (albeit in an unusual way),
and some sketchy accounts of other behavior.  With presentDay!Snape,
we have a whole string of observations of behavior.  The latter can be
seriated, the former cannot.  The term comes from classical philology,
and is used there and in semiotics, as well as archaeology.] <snip>

Carol responds:
Um, erm, what? I'm lost. What do you mean by "seriated" and how does
it relate to the Severus/MWPP discussion? And "hapax"????

Carol