It’s the way "Marauders fans" talk about Severus Snape that really finishes me off.
Like, they’ll sit there in their comfortable rooms and preach about how "nothing excuses his actions," but they will never, ever understand the view from the bottom. They see a bitter man; I see the kid who had nothing. I see the greasy hair and the mismatched, oversized clothes and I don't see a "villain"—I see the kid who didn't have enough money for soap. I see the kid whose parents were too busy drowning in their own war to notice he was being hunted in the hallways.
And the "bullying victims" who hate him? Those are the ones that hurt the most.
If you were a TRUE victim of that kind of soul-crushing bullying, you wouldn’t be able to stand the Marauders. You wouldn't be able to look at James Potter and see a "hero."
How can you say you were bullied and then turn around and justify the Marauders? You’re doing the exact same thing everyone did to you. You’re looking at a kid who was a scapegoat, a kid who was humiliated for his appearance and his poverty, and you’re saying "Well, James and Sirius had a rough life too, so it’s okay that they targeted him." You’re literally doing what your bullies did. You’re giving the "privileged" bullies a pass because they’re charming or because they "had it rough" in a way that’s easy to pity—like a strict family—while turning a blind eye to the raw, grinding survival of the kid they targeted.
And don’t even start with the "he bullied children when he got older" argument. You want to talk about how he turned out? Let’s talk about what happens when you spend your entire childhood being the punching bag for "golden boys." Let's talk about the bitterness that rots your soul when you realize the world will always prefer a charming bully over a poor, "scary" victim.
You think you and Snape went through the same thing? Then how can you forgive the people who broke him? You’re just proving my point. You’re choosing the side of the people who never had to dig in the trash for a "toy." You're choosing the people who have a safety net, while the rest of us are just trying not to drown in the silence.
It’s the absolute hypocrisy of the "SA victim" to card being used to silence anyone who defends Snape. How can you claim to care about consent and bodily autonomy, and then watch a scene where a boy is levitated, pinned, and stripped by force in front of a laughing crowd, and not call it exactly what it is?
But because it’s Severus, everyone suddenly develops selective amnesia. Because he’s "the weird kid," because he’s a Slytherin, because he’s "ugly" or "bitter," you decide his body doesn't belong to him. You justify James Potter and Sirius Black stripping him in public as "just a prank" or "schoolboy rivalry."
If that were any other character—if that were a girl, or if that were one of the "Golden Trio"—you would be screaming from the rooftops about the trauma of that moment. You would be talking about the lifelong psychological damage of having your privacy and your body violated for the entertainment of your peers.
But no. You’ll look a real survivor in the eye and say it’s different. You’ll say it’s okay because of who he became later. Since when does being a "bitter adult" retroactively make it okay for people to have assaulted you when you were a fifteen-year-old kid with no one to protect you?
How dare you use the language of survivors to protect the bullies and the predators just because they’re "charming" and "heroic." You’re not standing up for victims; you’re standing up for the people who think they have the right to touch and humiliate anyone they deem "lesser" than them just for EXISTING . If you can watch that scene and laugh, or even just shrug it off, you aren't a champion for victims—you’re just another person turning a blind eye to the reality of assault because the victim wasn't "likable" enough for you to care.
It’s the sheer isolation that follows that kind of trauma—the kind where you realize that your body isn't yours and your dignity can be erased in a single afternoon for the amusement of the "heroes."
How can you not see the psychological prison he lived in after that?
Imagine the next day. Imagine walking into the Great Hall and having to meet the eyes of every single student, wondering if they were there. Wondering if they saw everything. Wondering if they’re replaying the moment you were stripped and humiliated while you’re just trying to eat your breakfast. Every laugh in the corridor, every whisper behind a hand—it all becomes a weapon. You stop looking up. You stop making eye contact. You become a ghost in your own skin because it’s the only way to feel safe afraid of ripping your skin with your hands if you don't feel safe.
And the "house" that was supposed to be his family? He became a stranger there, too. When you’re the "poor kid" who got publicly shamed, your own housemates don't always rally around you; sometimes they distance themselves because they don't want the "loser" scent to rub off on them. He was isolated in the one place he was supposed to belong.
Everyone talks about how "he called her a name," but nobody talks about the context of a boy in the middle of a mental breakdown and physical assault. He was being violated, his adrenaline was red-lining, he was humiliated beyond repair—and in that moment of total powerlessness, he lashed out at the only person he cared about try to actually stop instead of just talking or hit the four boys who were actually hurting him.
That small detail—the flicker of a smile before she "caught herself"—is what makes the blood boil. It’s the ultimate betrayal.
Imagine being at your lowest point, being physically violated and publicly mocked, and looking to the one person in the world who is supposed to be your "safe place," only to see them enjoying it for even a split second. That smile confirms every dark thought a person in poverty has: Even the people who "love" me think my humiliation is funny. Even the people who know my heart think I’m a joke.
It’s that specific, cruel brand of "holier-than-thou" behavior. She gets to play the saint later by "defending" him, but that momentary smile proved she was just as entertained by the Marauders' cruelty as everyone else. She was a spectator to his assault before she was a protector, and you can’t just erase that.
It makes her "mercy" feel like pity, and her anger at his slur feel like an easy exit strategy—a way to stop being friends with the "poor, weird kid" without having to feel guilty about it. She used his mistake to justify abandoning him when he was at his most broken.
And she walked away. She refused his apology. She saw a boy being assaulted and focused on a word instead of the trauma. She left him to drown in the aftermath of the Marauders' "joke" because it was easier to be offended than to be a witness to his pain.
And the teachers? The adults? Total silence. They watched it happen. They knew the Marauders were relentless. They saw the "greasy," poor kid being targeted day after day and they did nothing. They validated the bullies by letting them get away with it. When the system that’s supposed to protect you decides your humiliation is "harmless fun," where else are you supposed to go?
You don't just "get over" that you don't tell a victim they should get over what screwed them up in their life like they're entitled you and time
And you know what that comes from? ME WHO WAS CALLED SCARY FACE AS A KID FOR JUST EXISTING I HATED MY FACE FOR THAT. I was Blamed for my cousin actions towards people and was harassed because of that for something I couldn't control I tried multiple times telling him to stop and his friends to yet they didn't listen and I was blamed and hated by the majority of the girls at school for it so don't you dare or rather come on try to defend your marauders in a logical way and I promise you I'm gonna write back and bite like a dog for it bone if I see you justify their actions you understand me? Try a true bullying unattractive poor victim here sweetie
