Abax Application Revisions

[thricedefied]

(Apologies for the confusion regarding her flaws; I have a habit of trying to sugarcoat things.)

As stated in the original personality section, Lily can be judgmental, bull-headed, and self-martyring. I don’t view these as virtues. In moderation, some of these qualities can temper a person and prove to be assets to the overall personality, but in Lily's case, they lean more to the extreme and are therefore detrimental because some of these are the very qualities which can place others in harm's way.

Judgmental: I stated that Lily was judgmental. When she forms an opinion of someone, particularly a negative one, she will hold to that opinion for an exceptionally long period of time. It may be as simple as disliking someone because of a poorly-made first impression, and it’s truly an unfair attitude. Too, this attitude can lead to heavy-handed self-righteousness from her, and, from there, can further develop into the idea that it’s her duty to school the person in question for their poor behavior. Because she is, as I mentioned, a woman of strong opinions, she can be preachy and sanctimonious.

She’ll treat others poorly if she disapproves of their actions - not in the usual context of rudeness, mind, but as evidenced in canon, she can be cold and curt, and isn’t above name-calling. Admittedly, it is rare for her to reach that point, particularly given her tendency to be kind to others.

Stubborn: Second, I mentioned she was bull-headed. When she makes a decision to do something, she’ll go down with the ship. This isn’t a virtue; it’s stubbornness and an unwillingness to admit when she’s wrong until it’s too late, and on a long enough timeline, that sort of mindset can get people killed. A person has to be flexible and open to the ideas of others; Lily is not often so. It takes her years to change her opinions.

To a smaller degree, this stubbornness also lends itself to the belief that she is right. Until given incontrovertible proof that she’s incorrect, Lily will not back down from an opinion if she thinks the other person is absolutely wrong. This can lead to argumentativeness, a short temper, and an unwillingness to back down on her stance even despite evidence to the contrary (at least until she calms down), but more often than not, it will lead to the aforementioned self-righteousness and possibly a good deal of proselytizing.

I mentioned previously that this tenacity was responsible for the length of time she was friendly with Severus. Remaining friends with someone who treats others badly (to the extreme that Severus and his cronies did) is a bit like giving a stamp of approval to that behavior. That willingness to abide by such behavior is not only be harmful to others, but it was toxic for Lily, as well, particularly when the friend in question was proving to be bigoted or at least condoning bigotry directed towards those of Lily’s birth. Enduring that for as long as she did suggests she wasn’t willing to admit she was wrong until the burden of proof was overwhelmingly against her and she had been personally hurt.

Desire to Change Others: Part and parcel to being judgmental and stubborn is the desire Lily harbors to change others to the way she believes they ought to be. This is a common trait seen in both friendships and romantic relationships, wherein the first person believes, with enough time and pressure, the second person will become what the first believes they should be. While not a flaw in and of itself, it can lead to resentment on both sides, and a dissolution of what might ostensibly have been a good relationship had the first person simply accepted the way the second person was. We see this in the way Lily sticks to her friendship with Severus for years despite the way he treats Petunia and, later, allies himself with the Death Eaters, and again when she marries James Potter though he hasn’t completely changed his bullying, arrogant ways. It’s a personal interpretation of her personality when I say that these are both manifestations of a belief that people can change with Lily’s help. She sees not only the good in others (a good quality for her to have), but the potential for good, which just needs to be tapped to help the person become better (not a good quality if acted upon – it isn’t Lily’s place to decide that a person needs to change, nor her responsibility to attempt to “motivate” said change for that person.) Which, of course, leads me to…

Self-Martyring and Recklessness: While being brave is virtuous, doing so to the point of recklessness and placing yourself and others in the line of danger, particularly in conjunction with the aforementioned stubbornness, is extremely selfish and unsafe behavior. When a person works with a team (the Order of the Phoenix, in this case), it’s important to do what the group decides and not place yourself in unnecessary risk. Lily tends towards recklessness because she believes she’s the only one capable of handling a particular situation (a trait shared by her son). Granted, this is only shown in moderation in canon: when she stands up to James Potter in fifth year instead of seeking an adult in a position of authority, for example, and, as mentioned above, the idea that she is what others need to become better people.

This next does deal heavily with personal perspective, but remaining in the Wizarding World and continuing to defy Voldemort when she had a child who was at the top of his hit list was, regardless of reasoning or greater good, an extremely poor decision. I believe it was reckless to allow the responsibility of their protection to fall on the shoulders of Peter Pettigrew because they wanted to show him, as suggested in canon, that he was as much their friend as Sirius, and more reckless still to remain in their home in Godric’s Hollow. She and James could have left the country, relied upon someone they trusted completely to keep their secret (Sirius Black, for instance), but instead, they decided not to run. (This hearkens back to her stubbornness, as well.) There's a point when it becomes absurd to allow bravery to outweigh good sense and self-preservation, and Lily reached it in canon.


Other Revisions:

I was asked to explain what I meant with the sentence, "... as much as she loved them both, she was not willing to sacrifice her life as a witch for either Petunia or Harry."

First, Petunia: It’s clear in the books that Petunia is envious of Lily for her magic, and throughout their formative years, this causes a rift between them. Petunia is her sister; she’s someone with whom Lily was closer than she might be with anyone else in the world, but neither the divide which formed between them because of the magic Lily possessed nor the hurt and the lifelong negative feelings it inspired were enough to convince Lily to give it all up. It was more important to her to be who she was than to maintain that relationship with her sister - and, indeed, we see this isn't an easy choice for her. Twice, she's shown to have an emotional reaction to the fallout of making that choice. (Once as she's leaving for her first year at Hogwarts, and once in a post-canon short story.)

Similarly, with Harry: as mentioned above, her child’s life was in danger. Granted, a good deal can be said about Gryffindor bravery and how one mustn’t run from what one fears. However, Voldemort was trying to kill her child and her solution was not to leave the British Wizarding World behind and seek sanctuary in another country where Voldemort’s influence had not yet extended, but rather to go into hiding in the comfort of her own home in a magical community. If asked whether she was willing to sacrifice her magic to protect her son, she might object to it just on the principle that doing so would give Voldemort precisely what he wants – that is, to prevent Muggleborns from using magic. But there would also, of course, be the unspoken implication that she would not sacrifice who she is for any reason because knowing who you are and owning it is of the utmost importance. Regardless of how she justified it, Lily would not have given up being a witch in order to protect her family unless there was absolutely no other choice - and even then, she would need convincing.

Intelligence:

I was asked to elaborate further on her intelligence, as well. Lily is extremely book-smart, as shown by her achievements at Hogwarts. She was Head Girl, which suggests her grades were exceptionally high. This sort of intelligence relates to critical thinking, logic, and problem-solving; she’s an academic. She’s better suited to making plans or seeking solutions than she is to acts of subterfuge, where quick thinking and adaptability might be necessary. She isn’t street smart, regardless of her association with the Marauders, and, considering her flaws, she might not have any more common sense than the average person, but she is exceptionally clever.