The Huge overreactions from a five minute time span.

[Joe Goodwin]

No: HPFGUIDX 150260

  

> >>Betsy Hp:
> > But I *do* think the Gryffindors behaved badly here and that    
> > Draco and friends did *not* deserve to be physically attacked as 
> > they were.
> > <snip>
   
  Joe: 
I went back and checked. It wasn't Gryffindors who did the hexing it was Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws who had been in the DA.



Betsy Hp:
Yeah, that just doesn't work for me.  Draco was being unspeakably 
rude and unkind.  But if everyone was allowed to pound the rude and 
unkind into the ground we'd have sunk back into pure barbarism a 
long time ago.
   
  Joe: 
I have to disagree, if we were allowed to do that we would live in a world where people were much more polite. The very best thing that could have happened to Draco Malfoy is for someone he tormented to have taken him out behind one of the Greenhouse and kicked the crap out of him. Fighting at an early age teaches boys many things. That even if you win a fight you almost always get hurt, thet you are going to lose some times and that you should never judge someone by their size. Draco could have used that knowledge but he didn't have it. Plus I don't remember malfoy being attacked by a crowd before.

Betsy Hp:
No. The Slytherins didn't even draw their wands.  There have been so 
many different occasions where Draco gets stomped by mindless hordes 
it get's difficult to tell them apart, I know <g> but this scene 
took place at the end of GoF and all Draco did was speak.
   
  Joe: 
Must disagree here as well. After rereading the incident JKR uses the word "advancing" to describe how Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle approach Harry. Also it should be noted that Malfoy goes for his wand before Harry and that it is only because Harry is fast that his is out first.

Betsy Hp:
Hmmm, I see what you're saying here, but it doesn't ring quite true 
to me.  There's a bit of healthy competition included in your 
scenario, I think.  It's something more along the lines of Draco and 
Harry, where the two boys can pour their rivalry onto the quidditch 
pitch and possibly (if Harry were more inclined) into the classroom.

James vs. Snape just doesn't strike me as having even a smidgeon of 
that healthiness to it.  It brought out the very worst in James, I 
think, as we see in the pensieve.  And I suspect it also brought out 
the very worst in Snape.  Neither boy gained, in other words.

I know my comparison isn't perfect because there is a lot that's 
unhealthy about Harry vs. Draco.  But if politics were removed, at 
least with those two they're pushing each other on the quidditch 
pitch to fly better, faster, be more alert, etc.  And I think it 
gives them each an extra reason to help their respective houses do 
well in the house competition, which means doing well in class, etc.
<snip>

Joe: 
I agree with you for the most part. Well, except that I think Harry and Draco are just like James and Snape. True if you took out the politics than Draco and Harry's rivary might not be so bitter but I think you can say the same thing about James and Snape. Take out the Dark Arts/Rise of Voldemort and it might not be as bad.
   
  I also think Snape brought out the worst in James. The real question is did James bring out the worst in Snape. What do we really know about Snape at Hogwarts beyond he was intensely disliked by people who were mostly loved? I think this might be part of the key for.
   
  Joe