Did you LIKE Snape?/ and other characters too

[dumbledore11214]

No: HPFGUIDX 183287

Potioncat:
<SNIP>
I used to think that the readers who liked James and Sirius had been
the kids who had the upper hand at school, the jocks, the practical
jokers, the in-crowd. The ones who disliked the Marauders or who
liked Snape (not necessarily the same group) were the kids who were
picked on or overlooked in general. But I don't think that's
necessarily true. Many readers liked the Marauders before SWM, and
continued liking them. Others stopped liking them. Sometimes you can
forgive a friend for something that you wouldn't forgive of a
stranger or an acquaintance. <SNIP>

Alla:

I am glad that you changed your mind :-). It is definitely not true in 
regards to me. I was not bullied in school on the regular basis, but 
certainly experienced what I would call mild bullying and occasional 
antisemitism added to the mix. In any event even if one would not call 
my experiences bullying, one of the popular crowd I was NOT. That is 
for sure.

And I adore Sirius. I do like James, but as more secondary character.

I read with great interest what Catlady wrote about liking characters 
in the book that one would not like in real life. And I to the extent 
agree with her about some characters.

With Marauders it is partially true. I totally think that after adult 
Sirius will get A LOT of therapy I could have been friends with him ( 
no I do not think I will day dream of him, but as friend - oh 
definitely, person could have show so much loyalty to his friends, I 
would love to have as friend).

Would I like him as kid? Based on SWM only I do not think so, BUT I 
want to know more about him as kid, because him befriending werewolf 
and having courage to reject his dark heritage, I do like.

In any event I was thinking about something else in the story, as to 
how interestingly JKR plays with our likes and dislikes.

And before anybody asks, NO I do not mean it in the negative sense. I 
do not see anything horrible with the writer introducing characters in 
the order she chooses.

Let me try to explain. Just imagine hypothetically that SWM was somehow 
introduced in the PS/SS. I am not sure how, maybe Harry gets to see it 
accidentally in the pensieve or any other way.

So, if JKR would have made that choice, I of course cannot be sure, but 
I think that my thoughts about Sirius would be forever colored by that 
scene and NOT in a good way.

I just find it interesting that she introduced such an ugly scene late 
enough in the story for me not to be enough to experience any 
significant reversal as to my likes and dislikes of the characters.

JMO,

Alla