Just one little bitty question

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 177058

---  "dreadr" <dreadr at ...> wrote:
>
> I would also like to know more about Lily and James.
> In the first book Hagrid is telling Harry that Lily
> and James were Head Boy and Girl in their day. I find
> it hard to reconcile this picture of James with the 
> later images that we see of him -- Lily maybe but 
> James? Did he have a  sudden brain transplant after
> his O.W.L.S.?
> 
> ...
> 
> debbie
>

bboyminn:

I think Lily was always attracted to James, even in 
the very beginning, but she as much as she found
him physically attractive, she couldn't stand the
way he acted. 

James on the other hand acted the way he did because
that is what got him 'strokes'. People, quite oddly,
generally respond positively to any bully AS LONG AS
he is not bullying them. In the 'Worst Memory' scene
we see the bulk of the students gathering around and,
as I said, reacting positively to James bullying
Snape. I also think James thought that showing off
would draw Lily's attention and she too would view
him in a positive light as other students did.

But, on James part, this was grossly immature action.
I think once James realized that the students apparent
positive reaction was only because he wasn't bullying
them personally. In a sense, for your own safety, you
don't antagonize a bully; you do your best to stay on
his good side.

Once James realized that his apparent fans really 
loathed and feared him, and that his actions were
having the exact opposite to the desired affect on
Lily, he stopped.

Or to give the short version, he grew up. Can anyone
deny that his action in the 'Worst Memory' were 
completely immature and childish?

That's the way it is with most boys; each in his own
way grows from a silly child to a serious man, and 
those who don't spend their lives looking like fools.
Being a silly immature boy is cute when you ARE a
little boy, but it is just plain stupid and annoying
when you grow to be a man.

I think James simply grew up and wised up. Perhaps
the Snape Prank woke him up to how childish he and
his friends were acting. Perhaps a near death and
the grim compromise of his friend Lupin were the
wake-up call that he needed. Perhaps that was the
slap in the face that forced him to mellow. Once he
mellowed, Lily would no longer have any objection to
being friends with him.

Does that make sense?

Steve/bboyminn