Hating Dark Arts (was re James' essence...)

[finwitch]

No: HPFGUIDX 154035

> Julie:
> It's still strange to me that James hated Snape so passionately
> for performing nasty curses (Dark Arts curses, presumably), while
> he was fine with hexing anyone who annoyed him. Does he really
> think it's fine to humiliate and hurt others as long as it's not an
> official "Dark" spell or hex? Does the label truly make the  
difference?
> (Yes, I know this is contradictory to my what I said above!)
>  
> Now I wonder if James has a very specific reason for hating the 
> Dark Arts, as Alla suggests. Something that happened during his
> childhood, perhaps, that made him hate Snape and perhaps most
> Slytherins (or any other kids from "Dark Arts" families) from the 
> moment he came to Hogwarts as an eleven year old. I think it is
> entirely possible. That hate between James and Snape--and between
> Sirius and Snape--that apparently existed from that moment they
> all started school (and didn't yet even *know* each other, to the  
best
> of our knowledge) seems entirely too personal to be engendered
> by a learned and generalized distaste for a particular brand  of 
magic. 

Finwitch:

Now, I don't think James hated *families* associated with Dark Arts 
(or he'd NEVER been friend to Sirius Black) but rather people who 
*chose* to follow that path. Since Sirius' (almost) entire family 
was involved in Dark Arts, but Sirius did NOT go that way - James 
becomes Sirius' closest friend, close as a twin. On Other End, 
there's Snape, whose *father is a Muggle* and YET is up to his ears 
in Dark Arts!!!

As to James hexing anyone who annoyed him... (Lily did agree there 
WAS provocation, though she didn't think it was enough of it)

Maybe - thinking about Harry&Aunt Marge, Petunia worrying 
that 'they'd find the house in ruins' if they left Harry alone in 
there...

I think it's possible that James used to suppress his anger (like 13-
year-old Harry) and ended up having a SERIOUS magical accident. 
(Victim might have been Petunia, which would involve Lily and 
explain why Petunia hates magic and calls James a 'horrible boy' - 
if it was James). As result, James' father may well have 
*instructed* James to hex any who annoy him to avoid accidental 
magic coming up.

Finwitch