Misunderstood (by readers), all of what you see of James is through the eyes of someone who hated him
There is more than one side to every story and we are only seeing Snape’s side.
James had many good qualities. He despite being a pureblood, didn’t judge people on the basis of their birth.
James was a fiercely loyal friend. He didn’t desert Lupin when he found about his being a werewolf when most people would have and he was a child then. He became an Animagus illegally at 15 YEARS OLD to look out for his friend and didn’t brag about it to anyone. Also, he support Lupin when he couldn’t get a job or find a place to live.
He was young and he still had the kindness and compassion to treat people who society would see as lower class and marginalized with respect and as equals.
He gave Sirius a place to live as a teenager because Sirius’ parents were crazy and abusive and he didn’t want his friend to have to endure that any longer (and the fact that James’s parents allowed that shows what kind of people raised him)
He could have chosen any people as friends but he chose to be with misfits.(Remus was a werewolf, Sirius was the black sheep of this family)
As for him being a bully, he was not a mean person in general. He and Snape were rivals. This was not a bully and his prey, this was rivalry, where there were victories and losses on both sides. We saw James bully Snape in the memory, but I’m sure similar things happened on the other side of the spectrum, where it was Snape and the other future Death Eaters picked on James or Sirius and other Slytherins gathered around to laugh and watch.
(Remember that Snape ran with a crowd that were known to be Voldemort sympathizers, that were biggots and abusive a-holes, and that were the equivalent of a dangerous gang. Snape wasn’t innocent by any means. He wasn’t some poor, lonely, powerless geek being picked on by a group of powerful bullies, he was a bully himself who had friends much more powerful, and more evil, than he to back him up)
Sirius said in OotP, Snape never lost an opportunity to jinx James either. Their relationship was not unlike Harry and Malfoy. Its just that Harry was more emotionally mature at that age than most people including James.
James joined the original Order of the Phoenix.
James defied Voldemort three times.
James defended his wife and son from Voldemort.
James was spoken highly of by pretty much everyone EXCEPT the Dursley’s and Snape.
So what people are seeing is Snape through fangirl lenses and James through Snape’s hatred. If you read between the lines you can see that James had admirable qualities from the very beginning.
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