James and Intent

[dumbledore11214]

No: HPFGUIDX 186979

> > Alla:
<SNIP>
> > And I also wanted to add it somewhere, so this seems as good place as any about another reason why I totally buy reformed James. Well, of course as an aside  I never thought of him as totally bad guy in school and believed that his interactions with Snape are at least in part based on his hatred of Dark Magic, so it is not like I have to buy the transformation from horrible James to great James, however I certainly think that he did bad things in school as well, so I did think that he needed to grow up. <SNIP>
> 
> 
> Montavilla47:
> I don't get how a hatred of Dark Magic justifies (or even partially
> justifies)  what James and Sirius do to Snape in SWM.

Alla:

Nope, not justifies at all, but makes a portrayal of James (to me) to be not just a bully, but also somebody who thought (even if completely wrongly) that his heart was in the right place.

As I mentioned somewhere in this thread I find the speculation that for example Snape was hunting Muggles (or muggleborns) to be completely well, speculative and not shown anywhere in the text.

However, I certainly think that I can **speculate**, note, not prove anything, speculate that if Marauders thought that Snape was doing activities of that sort that it gives them some sort of misguided right to bully him.

Not that they were right of course, it is not like it gives them anything of the sort, but the fact that they were against dark wizards, on its own, well I like it. I dislike what they used that idea for in Snape's case, but like the idea on its own.



JMO,

Alla.