James and Intent

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 186990


> Carol responds:
> 
> All I'm saying is that there's nothing in canon to make his transformation believable. 

Pippin:
Funny, no one's asking for a scene to explain how Lucius could turn from the friendly schoolboy who patted Severus on the back into a guy whose idea of a post-game celebration is a spot of Muggle torture.

All we know is that he fell into bad company. Does it make a difference whether he  felt evil in his heart or just wanted to impress people? Either way, he made bad choices, and we have no doubt that they really were bad. Is that transformation believable?

Carol:
> And, no. Being a loving father isn't sufficient in itself. As someone else pointed out, Vernon Dursley loves his wife and son and would fight to protect them. 

Pippin:
Agreed. But there's something  different about the way that James is depicted.

We have a chance to see both Vernon and Lucius on occasions when they could have enjoyed just being with their sons. But they don't. Vernon takes Dudley to the Zoo and buys him treats, but  spends the car ride complaining to Petunia about his favorite subjects. He doesn't interact with Dudley except when Dudley whines at him, and it's Dudley's birthday. I can't imagine he pays more attention to entertaining Dudley on other days. We never see him just playing with his son.

In the same way, Lucius brings Draco to the QWC, but spends his time sucking up to Fudge, taking a dig at Arthur and organizing a bit of Muggle torture afterwards, no kids allowed. Draco might as well not exist. And Lucius certainly doesn't seem to enjoy having Draco with him at Borgin and Burkes.

Draco and Dudley get beautiful presents -- but that's no substitute for quality time. Draco and Dudley have to fight for their fathers' attention, generally by being obnoxious. Baby Harry doesn't. We see James being not only a loving father, but a kind, attentive one who respects the needs of his child. James had to grow up to be that way, IMO. Otherwise he would have treated Harry the way he treated Lupin or Peter, which is much like the way that Vernon and Lucius treat their kids.  He loved them, he would have died to protect them, but he had no respect for their needs if they didn't coincide with his. 

Sure, you could imagine that Lucius and Vernon didn't always act that way, and that James had days when he kicked the cat and yelled at Lily. But that's speculation. What the text shows us is two very different approaches to fatherhood. 

Pippin