Everyone thinks that James Potter was amazing, awesome, a real hero, blah blah blah. But, you skate over everything else. Sure, he was a member of the Order of the Phoenix, and sure, he made a heroic sacrifice to save his son, but still. At Hogwarts, he was a bully. Rather like Draco. He hexed people for the fun of it, and tormented Severus Snape. He wasn't really nice. He also broke a rather serious wizarding law that, if discovered, he could be sentence to a life time in Azkaban. He became an unregistered Animagi. Sure, it was to help his friend, but it wouldn't have been difficult to register themselves. Those who still will try to defend him say that he did save Snape from death. But, he was saving his own skin. Because, Sirius played a trick on Snape that James was in on, and Snape nearly died, but James pulled him back. You might think that admirable. But, if Snape had died, or gotten seriously injured, James and Sirius would have gotten expelled from Hogwarts, which, is worse than death, as Hermione puts it. Consider that.