divided loyalties
(Anonymous)
"james potter was not a prefect either but became head boy later."
True. OTOH, we're aware of two special circumstances in his case; firstly that the fifth year prefect did such a poor job, and secondly that Dumbledore believed James had magnanimously saved an enemy who was trying to harm James's friend. Also, wasn't he Quidditch captain? That could well be an alternate route to Head Boy.
"people would have reacted differently to her plea - or order - to leave severus snape alone. if not the marauders themselves, then others would have treated her with more respect"
1) Her remarks were addressed exclusively to James, so everyone else was off the hook.
2) If James were the sort to be cowed by authority, he wouldn't have hexed Snape so publicly - or garnered so many detentions over the course of his schooling.
"it would have been impossible for lupin to ignore the bullying the way he did had she been a fellow prefect."
I don't agree. Maybe if she'd reminded him of his duty - which she didn't, of course - but even then his loyalties were to his friends, not the school, so I tend to doubt it.
"i don't think that lily evans was susceptible to peer pressure"
And yet one of the arguments she gives Snape after SWM is "None of my friends can understand why I even talk to you." So I think she was.
"jkr does not describe her childhood explicitly but she must have felt isolated to a certain degree, especially from her sister"
Must? I'd say she's the one who pulls away first, when she starts hanging with Snape against Petunia's wishes.
"she stayed friends with severus snape"
IMO, "stayed friends" is a bit strong, as I see *no* friendship in the post-Shack conversation. "Did not dump" is how I'd put it. But he is her only magical neighbour back home, and maybe she just wants to keep summer companionship an option.
"despite his infatuation with the dark arts"
For which we have only Sirius's testimony as evidence. In the post-Shack conversation Lily's complaining about Snape's *friends'* interest in Dark Magic, not his.
"more than a little unusual with the first wizarding raging since 1970."
"Raging" is a bit stronger than canon supports. Lily doesn't mention feeling personally threatened, Snape seems unaware she could, and a few years later Regulus - a Death Eater's cousin - still thinks Voldemort is about putting purebloods in their rightful place, not about killing. For that matter, there's little support for a strong Gryffindor-Slytherin divide - as against a Marauders-Slytherin divide -on the subject back in the 70s.
"when talking to james potter she wasn't afraid to tell him her opinion"
Why should she be? She must have known she was the one non-Marauder student safe from being hexed. He might *threaten*, but as long as he was trying to date her, he wasn't likely to carry through. (Notice that she doesn't even pull out her wand until Sirius resumes hexing.)
" in the end she turned her back on him but only after he lashed out against her"
IMO, she'd effectively turned her back by the Shack incident, when his near-death incident raised no concern in her whatsoever.
True. OTOH, we're aware of two special circumstances in his case; firstly that the fifth year prefect did such a poor job, and secondly that Dumbledore believed James had magnanimously saved an enemy who was trying to harm James's friend. Also, wasn't he Quidditch captain? That could well be an alternate route to Head Boy.
"people would have reacted differently to her plea - or order - to leave severus snape alone. if not the marauders themselves, then others would have treated her with more respect"
1) Her remarks were addressed exclusively to James, so everyone else was off the hook.
2) If James were the sort to be cowed by authority, he wouldn't have hexed Snape so publicly - or garnered so many detentions over the course of his schooling.
"it would have been impossible for lupin to ignore the bullying the way he did had she been a fellow prefect."
I don't agree. Maybe if she'd reminded him of his duty - which she didn't, of course - but even then his loyalties were to his friends, not the school, so I tend to doubt it.
"i don't think that lily evans was susceptible to peer pressure"
And yet one of the arguments she gives Snape after SWM is "None of my friends can understand why I even talk to you." So I think she was.
"jkr does not describe her childhood explicitly but she must have felt isolated to a certain degree, especially from her sister"
Must? I'd say she's the one who pulls away first, when she starts hanging with Snape against Petunia's wishes.
"she stayed friends with severus snape"
IMO, "stayed friends" is a bit strong, as I see *no* friendship in the post-Shack conversation. "Did not dump" is how I'd put it. But he is her only magical neighbour back home, and maybe she just wants to keep summer companionship an option.
"despite his infatuation with the dark arts"
For which we have only Sirius's testimony as evidence. In the post-Shack conversation Lily's complaining about Snape's *friends'* interest in Dark Magic, not his.
"more than a little unusual with the first wizarding raging since 1970."
"Raging" is a bit stronger than canon supports. Lily doesn't mention feeling personally threatened, Snape seems unaware she could, and a few years later Regulus - a Death Eater's cousin - still thinks Voldemort is about putting purebloods in their rightful place, not about killing. For that matter, there's little support for a strong Gryffindor-Slytherin divide - as against a Marauders-Slytherin divide -on the subject back in the 70s.
"when talking to james potter she wasn't afraid to tell him her opinion"
Why should she be? She must have known she was the one non-Marauder student safe from being hexed. He might *threaten*, but as long as he was trying to date her, he wasn't likely to carry through. (Notice that she doesn't even pull out her wand until Sirius resumes hexing.)
" in the end she turned her back on him but only after he lashed out against her"
IMO, she'd effectively turned her back by the Shack incident, when his near-death incident raised no concern in her whatsoever.