Chapter 255: Lily, Go Teach Sirius a Lesson for Me [bonus]
At Hogwarts, James and Sirius's treatment of Snape had become something of a scheduled event, complete with a regular audience.
It wasn't the occasional clash. It wasn't young wizards butting heads over bruised egos, and it couldn't be waved away as youthful recklessness.
It was sustained, premeditated bullying, carried out with a sense of superiority.
Bullying was the only honest word for it. No justification softened it. It was cruel, and it was deliberate.
James's reason amounted to Snape's existence. He looked down on the boy's background, his manner, his interest in the Dark Arts. He'd built himself a righteous shell to wear over the ugliness, etched with words like he'll end up a Death Eater and he studies Dark magic.
But beneath the shell, things were simpler. He bullied Snape because he enjoyed it.
The arrogance, the contempt, the thrill of dominance, the validation that came from performing strength in front of friends. Those came first. The righteousness was packaging applied after the fact.
Snape had struck first on occasion, but rarely. Most of the time, James was the instigator.
The Marauders' offenses included the degrading nickname, Snivellus. Using the Marauder's Map to track his every movement, deliberately targeting him when he was alone.