Not letting go of the past

[hettiebe]

No: HPFGUIDX 130725

When I was at school I suffered from an amount of bullying. I wasn't 
exceptional and, depending on how you quantify it, I think at some 
time everybody goes through this. Popular girls get called sluts; 
those judged to be geeks and nerds get ostracised; anyone who 
physically matures either earlier or later than the majority will get 
teased etc etc. As an adult the thing I find much harder to deal with 
is the bullying I handed out, even if I was just acting as part of a 
crowd. That which was done to me I really don't care about, I view it 
as all part of growing up. That which I did I still feel guilty about 
and can only hope that those on the receiving end have taken the same 
view that I have about it being part of life and are not seriously 
affected. 

So much for letting go of the past. What I really don't understand is 
the immaturity of Snape, Sirius, and, to a certain extent, Lupin in 
continuing their feuds from their schooldays. From my own personal 
experience I would think that they would want to move on and, after 
all, they are supposed to be on the same side now and the issues are 
life and death. Sirius could be said to be suffering from arrested 
emotional development because of the time spent in prison, but what 
is wrong with Snape? Is it because he has spent most of his adult 
life in a school that he has not progressed beyond the level of his 
students? This is a pretty frightening thought that children are 
being left in loco parentis with those no more capable of making 
reasoned judgements than they are.

Hettiebe