James Potter and the Dark Arts (was Re: The Huge overreactions

[finwitch]

No: HPFGUIDX 150925

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "potioncat" <willsonkmom at ...> 
wrote:
> Potioncat:
> I should have made this part a different post, but it ties in to 
this 
> event. Sirius has said that James hated the Dark Arts, and it 
sounds 
> as if he hated them at 11. Looking at the Black Family Tree as it 
> appears at the Lexicon:
> http://www.hp-lexicon.org/wizards/blackfamilytree.html
> 
> There is a Charlus Potter who marries a Dorea Black and they have 
one 
> son. I don't think this couple is James's parents, but it could be 
an 
> aunt and uncle. I wonder if something about Dorea led to James's 
hate 
> for Dark Arts. Of course, we have no real idea how closely related 
> James is to Charlus and there may be no connection at all. I just 
saw 
> it as a possible explanation. Dorea is Sirius's great-aunt, but I 
> wasn't looking at it as someone James met through Sirius, but 
someone 
> he knew or had heard about at home.
>

Finwitch:

Well -- You know, Sirius is the brightest star in the black sky. I'd 
say, that despite all that Teen-stuff, Sirius Orion Black was morally 
Brightest of those in the Black family, very likely supported by 
James who hated the Dark Arts.

And as Dumbledore told Fudge in GOF: it matters not what you're born 
but what you grow to be.

What did James grow to be? Someone who defied Voldemort four times 
(and died upon the fourth). He was a husband and father who died 
defending his family. That's what matters, isn't it?

Sirius - what did he grow to be? Someone who died when trying to 
defend his godson, someone who truly stood up for what was right... 
And don't forget the emotional support Sirius gave Harry in the end 
of GoF, nor the moral lesson of duty going over desire of them being 
together. He was there when Harry needed him most. OOP made it clear 
to me that, in contrast to the Black background he came from, he 
truly was the brightest star morally.

What of Snape, then? What did he grow to be? 
The boggart of a student in school where he held the position of a 
teacher. The man who killed the one who trusted him, gave him a job 
etc.

We have yet to see if Snape's able to repair that before he dies, but 
killing Albus Dumbledore is a HUGE ONE against him.

Finwitch