More on Sirius's Gang of Slytherins

[Judy]

Neri said, in regards to June's Live Journal essay:
> I'd prefer Avery, Rosier and Wilkes older than Snape, perhaps 3 
> years older in order to explain why they didn't show up to help 
> Snape during the Worst Memory incident
...
> What I still find hard to accept is that The Gang was only some kind
> of a Voldemort jugend cell. Well, it probably was that, but it can't
> have been completely underground, or Sirius wouldn't have known 
> about it. These kids must have hanged together somehow, and it's 
> difficult for me to see how a seventh year and a first year can 
> hang together in a way that would make another first year see them 
> as belonging to the same gang. 


June's essay is very thorough and thought-provoking.  However, I just 
can't buy the idea of Snape & Bellatrix being friends (or in the 
same "gang") if they were six years apart.  I just think JKR wasn't 
paying attention to the dates.

As for what is meant by "gang," let me point out that in PoA, the 
teachers sitting around in the Three Broomsticks also describe the 
Marauders as a gang.  So, I don't think the term "gang" necessarily 
means all that much.  

In GoF, Sirius says that nearly all of Snape's gang *became* Death 
Eaters, not that they were Death Eaters while at Hogwarts. Also, 
remember that Voldemort often tried to conceal Death Eaters' 
identities even from each other; he wouldn't want a bunch of them 
runninga round openly. Therefore, I don't see Snape's "gang of 
Slytherins" at Hogwarts as having any explicit connection to 
Voldemort, although some of them may have been *secretly* signing up 
as Death Eaters while still at school.  

Neri continued:
> 1970 – Sirius, James, Remus, Peter, Lily and Severus are in their
> first year. The students are terrorized by a gang of Slytherins that
> includes seventh year Rodolphus and Bellatrix, sixth year Lucius
> Malfoy, forth year Avery and third year Rosier and Wilkes. All the
> first years and especially the Gryffindors suffer, but little 
> Severus, by supplying the gang with some Dark services, becomes 
> their favorite and thus hated by the other students in his year. 

Well, I'm currently involved in a debate on June's Live Journal site 
on whether Snape was mistreating other students (in particular, the 
Marauders.)  My claim is that canon says Snape was *not* mistreating 
the Marauders, at least not by the middle or so of sixth year.  My 
support for this is:

-->  In the Pensieve scene in OoTP, we see Lily angrily ask 
James, "What has he [Snape] done to you?"  If Snape were known to 
terrorize the other students, this question would make no sense.
-->  James' reply is that Snape hasn't done anything, "It's more the 
fact that he exists."  Since James likes Lily and doesn't want her 
angry at him, you'd think he would tell her if Snape had deserved to 
be humiliated.
-->  Harry comes to the conclusion that James & Sirius had no good 
reason for attacking Snape. When Harry accuses Sirius of having 
attacked Snape (after the O.W.L.s) out of mere boredom, Sirius 
doesn't deny that.  "I'm not proud of it," is his sole response. 
Remus then says that James & Sirius got carried away as students, and 
Sirius says that they were sometimes "arrogant little berks."  Still 
no mention of Snape doing anything to deserve being humilated.
--> In PoA, Remus says Sirius nearly got Snape killed (in reference 
to the Prank.)  Sirius replies that Snape deserved it because he was 
always sneaking around, trying to get the Marauders in trouble.  That 
seems to be the worst Snape was doing, as far as Sirius knew. 

Of course, this doesn't mean that Snape was an angel, but I conclude 
that canon says the Marauders were bullying Snape, and not vice 
versa. 

Snapefan!Judy