Snape should have kicked James/Sirius' behinds!!.

[wynnleaf]

No: HPFGUIDX 156195

eggplant: 
> I don't recall that Sirius (or Lupin or Peter) did ANYTHING to Snape
> on that occasion, just James; and it was not a close contest, James
> mopped the floor with him. At the very least you must admit that James
> never showed the smallest tiniest most microscopic bit of fear toward
> Snape, he just treated him as a joke.

wynnleaf
I had to jump into the fray, as it were...
First, when James first called out to Snape, he obviously had the
advantage of knowing that not only was an attack imminent, but exactly
*when* it would take place.  It appears -- since Snape's drawing  his
wand is mentioned, but not James -- that James already had his wand
out.  Therefore it was simple for him to get in an "Expelliarmus"
before Snape got his wand out.  After that, with Snape's wand 10 feet
away, James bravely put unarmed Snape in "Impedementa" which is like
being bound by magical ropes.  Following having couragously bound his
unarmed opponent (isn't it amazing that he didn't need Sirius' help
for this?), James then decided Snape's verbal retaliation was
objectionable and put "Scourgify" on a *bound,* *unarmed* dare-I-say
opponent.  Wow, doesn't this show what how "powerful" James was??

Lily intervenes.  

Okay, next... we are told the Impedementa jinx was "wearing off,"
meaning that it hadn't totally worn off, but Snape was able to crawl
toward his wand.  He obviously wasn't completely in control of himself
physically.   But he gets his wand, but is still lying on the ground,
and throws what appears to be a very controlled limited version of
Sectumsempra at James and cuts his cheek.  James whirls around and
uses the Leviocorpus on him, turning him upside down.  Snape may or
may not still have a grip on his wand, but he's upside down.  

At this point, neither does anything as Lily interjects more comments
and tells James to let him down. 

James drops him.  But here we have the part eggplant must have missed
because Sirius immediately hits Snape with a Petrificus Totalus and
Snape falls over again.  

Lily insists they let him alone, so James does the countercurse,
releasing Snape from being petrified, but keeping him under wand
point.  Notice that from this point on until the end of the memory,
James is holding Snape under wand point.  

Then there are the parts about Snape using "mudblood," James trying to
get him to apologize, Lily saying stuff to James, James and Sirius
talking, Sirius saying that Lily must think James is conceited -- all
of this is while James is holding Snape at wand point.

Then suddenly -- there's been nothing else from Snape after his
mudblood comment -- James turns him upside down in the air and asks
who wants him to take off Snape's pants.  End Of Memory.

I don't see *anywhere* in there where James defeated Snape in any kind
of fair or even fight.  James' first curse was made in a surprise
attack while his wand was out and Snape's wand was not out.  His next
curse was on a wandless Snape.  His next curse was on a bound,
wandless Snape.  His next curse (following Snape's Sectumsempra) was
on a person partly coming out of the Impedimenta jinx.  Then Sirius
curses Snape immediately after James releases him from up in the air.
 Then James releases Sirius' curse, but continues to hold Snape under
wand point, from which he makes his final hex/jinx on someone he
already had at his mercy.

I do not see one, single "fair fight" curse from James in the
incident.  The only one where Snape had any chance at all was the one
after he fired off the Sectumsempra, but was only partly recovered
from the Impedimenta.  

James acted the part of a bully and coward.  On top of everything
else, James knew he had backup in Sirius, who *did* put in one hex. 
It's so easy to be "brave" when everything is stacked in your favor.

eggplant
> I don't think there is any doubt about that, but forget defense he's
> even better AT the dark arts.
> 

wynnleaf

As far as I know, the only specific incidences of Dark Magic from
Snape that we *know* of is the Sectumsempra and the AK at the end of
HBP.  The only reason we know the Sectumsempra is "dark" is because
Snape identified it as such himself.  We don't for sure know about any
other Dark Magic that Snape actually *does.*

We know he knows a great deal about dark magic.  Not only does DD
finally allow him to teach DADA, Snape is the person who helps DD when
he almost dies from the dark magic in the ring horcrux, and he saved
Katie Bell's life from the dark magic associated with the necklace.

What we *know* about Snape's abilities with *defence* against DA, is
greater than what he *know* he has done with the Dark Arts.

wynnleaf