James as head boy (Re: Voldemort's Intentions & Snape's Expectations (Hagrid))

[Geoff]

No: HPFGUIDX 189889



--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "willsonteam" <willsonkmom at ...> wrote:

Potioncat:  
> However, JKR did not go to a boarding school and may not have known that James had to be a prefect in order to become Head Boy, or as someone already offered, JKR forgot she ever wrote that he was Head Boy. 

Geoff:
I wrote in message 189874:
"I was a prefect in an English grammar school and that was the norm for
other schools. We were usually chosen in the Lower Sixth and, in the
Upper Sixth, an experienced prefect would be chosen to be the Head Boy
(or School Captain in our case)."

That was a state boys' day school - not a boarding school. What I described 
as the norm applied to both types of school.
 
Potioncat:
> Here's my question. Given Geoff's information, do you now consider Head Boy itself to be a flint and no longer relevant to the story—that is, James was not a Head Boy? Or do you consider it canon anyway, and James was a Head Boy. Does this change your perception of events?

Geoff:
For me, no. I consider that James was both.

Shelley (in post 189888):
I just assumed it was a mistake. James was too much of a fun lover, like
the twins- didn't mean he wasn't responsible in his own way, because he
was. I never saw him as the type to even want to be head boy- that's a
"Percy" type who cares what people think of them, loves order and rules
and all that jazz. 

Geoff:
Not necessarily true in my opinion. 

One of my favourite books is "To serve them all my days" by R.F. 
Delderfield. For me, it is a great book because it is set on Exmoor, an 
area I have loved for many years and where I now live and it is about
the life of a teacher, one with whom I can so often identify.

In one incident, David, the teacher, has to deal with a guy in the Sixth 
Form who is something of a James - boisterous, devil-may-care, 
popular and not unintelligent. When he runs the risk of getting expelled,
David nominates him to be a prefect in his house. In spite of uncertainty
on the part of the Headmaster, the pupil goes on to become an
excellent prefect, and in later years when David has become the 
Headmaster, he returns as a teacher and thanks David for the trust he 
had placed in him from which he developed a great sense of responsibility.

We know that within about two years of leaving Hogwarts, James had
the responsibility of parenthood, was involved in the battle against
Voldemort and just over three years after leaving, was dead trying to 
protect his family.

Hence, somewhere between his disastrous confrontation with Snape and 
these events, the thoughtlessness and stupidity which he was exhibiting 
was replaced by a sense of responsibility - and dare one say adulthood? 
Perhaps the growing attraction between him and Lily was one of the 
catalysts to this sea change.