The Character of James Potter
I think James Potter only listened to Sirius Black out of all other people. We saw that multiple times in SWM where James listened to Sirius.
Potter's one of the issue was his blind trust in his friends especially Sirius over the others. It was Sirius who got him to suspect Lupin being potential traitor spy and it was Sirius who's suggestion actually made sense if Peter wasn't a traitor.
As for the assumption that Potters wouldn't have died if they made Sirius secret keeper, I disagree with it, @darkangel and @thegestaltprince.
Sirius made it very clear that him being the secret keeper was quite obvious and one of the reason for his suggesting Peter. In case he remained keeper, I can count on one hand many scenarios where Peter would've engineered a trap for Sirius leading to his capture by Death Eaters.
What we know about Fidelius is that it's secret couldn't be divulged by torture. But other thing which you should know is that while secret keeper is only one who can tell the secret even if it's known by others, in the event of his death, the others knowing the secret become new secret keeper or keepers.
In canon, the secret keeper of Grimmauld Place was Dumbledore following which Moody told Harry that they all became keepers after Dumbledore's death which included Snape and that's why he put tongue tying curse.
A secret keeper Sirius would've told secret to his close friend Peter and after his death, Peter would've become new secret keeper and events would've gone similar to canon, difference being no Sirius Black who is now dead.
I never believed james truly changed either.
When @heatherlly said as writer you must show, dont tell. Sirius and remus told harry that james deflated his head a bit and stopped hexing people just for the sake of it
Yet the prequel chapter 0 show us that they lied. I am just realized the prequel is happened in late teens(as . When sirius or james already fixed join order of phoenix or in seventh year. You see, late teens for jk rowling is below 20 but above 16 (when jkr told us that barty jr is late teens when he was imprisoned in azkaban when he was age 19) so you see,i reread again and i just realized they are speeding and escaping police authority. And to make matter worse they are destroying muggle police car in their late teens. Remember this is time when they already join order of phoenix,so james already dated lily and they participated bullying muggle behind lily and dumbledore back
Did they are responsible adult? No i think they are teenage boys playing for the war. Suffering hero Disease. To me james and sirius never change to be different person. Prequel already show us they didnt change to be responsible soldier. Why we must believed sirius lies?
When british late teens in times of WW2 served in the war for existensial threat of the nation,james and sirius still be unresponsible person playing at the war
Quote from Naaga on May 30, 2023, 12:19 pmMy point was his alleged change is used to dismiss his past crimes wrt Snape and his stans often argue how Snape was stuck in past while James changed for better
I also don't like this argument. The way I see it is that James died young and if any change happened it wouldn't be much. Snape lived and he might have had time to heal, but since he was at Hogwarts waiting for the return of Voldemort he couldn't. He was a soldier in war and Dumbledore was the general. I'm not hating on Dumbledore because he did what he believed he needed to do to win the war, and it didn't include helping others heal from their emotional wounds. Dumbledore needed Snape in a certain mindset to help win the war. I don't think that Dumbledore let him forget the past.
Quote from StarWrittenFates on May 30, 2023, 3:42 pmA long time ago I did buy into the whole, "James Changed" thing. But that was because somehow I missed the fact that despite "changing for the better", he kept hexing Snape behind Lily's back. And now, since realizing that fact, I just completely don't like James as a character.
I agree with everyone else when they say that just because James "changed", it doesn't still excuse the fact that Severus has PTSD and trauma from everything James has done to him. Plus, with the fact that despite 'becoming a better person', James was STILL bullying Snape behind Lily's back. It doesn't make him a great person. It makes James a liar, manipulator, and still a bully.
In fact, I fully have reason to believe that his 'change of heart' was entirely to get in good graces with Lily. Somewhere (and somehow), he realized that his previous behavior wasn't winning any points with her. After countless failed attempts to ask her out, he decided to try a more extreme approach. Since he already didn't like Severus, but also saw him as an obstacle to getting Lily, James thought it would be best to use him as leverage, but to also show Lily how 'pathetic and terrible' her best friend really was. It's like an inferior vs superior, alpha mentality. James wanted to show he was a better choice, and sadly, James ended up getting what he wanted from it.
Now having Severus and Lily no longer friends, James could make his move. And I think he always believed he was in the right, but he also didn't realize that what he was doing was ever wrong. After all, he always saw himself as the hero. So, he put on an act, having a sudden change of heart. "Seeing the light and error of my ways!" He acted composed and controlled around Lily, no longer bullying or hexing anyone, but behind the guise, he's up to his old tricks.
He never really changed. It was all an act, and sadly Lily was taken along for the ride with this act. While I do believe in the end James willingly sacrificed his life to protect Lily and Harry, I think that was the only time in his life where he acted selflessly with Lily. But it still doesn't change the fact he still bullied others and left them with trauma. If he at least apologized and actually stopped bullying, including with Severus, then he would have actually changed for the better. At least a step in the right direction...but he didn't.
Yes. This is what I think. He changed his tactics to"win" Lily. I also think he regarded Lily as a challenge and that was the main reason he was attracted to her and crushing on her real bad, which is the nature of some teenagers. He probably had other crushes which were reciprocated in some way because of his popularity and decent looks and got over them quickly, but wanted what he couldn't have. At the time. I guess I mentioned this because I don't see Lily and James'relationship as some great romance. I see it more of the "proximity effect", which is how most relationships happen.
Quote from Naaga on June 4, 2023, 3:42 pmYou seriously believe you actually have a good name. 😹😹
Joke is upon you Potter, because you aren't even a character just a plot device to drive the story no matter what you believe in your delusions of grandeur.
I dare you to say that to a Marauders fan. All kidding aside, I think the same. James was built up by fans starting at book one, before all the books were out. I myself thought that more of James and thought we were going to get a lot more great stories about him. Then again I thought he might not be Harry's father, because we are told how much he looked like his father and we were introduced to so many characters were somebody else. It is a magical world. I didn't think it was Snape. I thought maybe it was Lupin, because he had a "A Secret". I guess I just wanted a living family member that loved Harry alive.
Quote from The Gestalt Prince on June 5, 2023, 3:30 amProblem is that James fully trusts Sirius's judgment, even after the werewolf prank. If Sirius suggests something "clever", odds are James will listen to him.
Makes me think that Sirius is the real leader of the pack.
Yes. This is what I think. He changed his tactics to"win" Lily. I also think he regarded Lily as a challenge and that was the main reason he was attracted to her and crushing on her real bad, which is the nature of some teenagers. He probably had other crushes which were reciprocated in some way because of his popularity and decent looks and got over them quickly, but wanted what he couldn't have. At the time. I guess I mentioned this because I don't see Lily and James'relationship as some great romance. I see it more of the "proximity effect", which is how most relationships happen.
I agree with you @iffin, Lily have dating with james because they are both gryfindor and all of lily dormmate and boys (I am just realized that boys in james year is all marauders) singing praise about james to lily every single days. For teenage girls that is vulnerable and loss of friendship with snape and didnt have close relationship (petunia which lily loved is very dislike her) other than marlene, I felt lily fall into conformity and seeing james in majority view that makes her fancies him (he is confident,Brave and loyal,a trait that teenage girl love) even thought his tendencies in SWM is much more show obssessive love and capable of abuse.
