... I. What? Did I disagree that they were bullies? No. I was mocking the belief that they were as bad as the Nazi-eaque faction. They were dickish, yes, but didn't go terrorizing random people and treated them like Snape. Hell, even Malfoy wasn't nearly that bad. But I guess that's what you get when you take other people's pain and start answering for them. If I was answering you, I would quote you. Relentless bullying etc etc. Lupin also says that Snape gave as good as he got, and the quote you gave was the textbook definition of Tit for tat.

Snape being bullied sucks. Guess what sucks much more? Being a Nazi and supporting Hitler. Because thats literally what's going on. Having something bad done to you is not an excuse to commit crimes.

A teenager who was spoiled acted in a petty way and was dick. Gasp. Shocking.

 

They may have started as pranksters, but somewhere along the way, they crossed the line into outright bullying.

Sirius flat-out admits to the Marauders targeting Snape 'because he was there', which speaks to their mentality, at least where he was involved.

It was four-to-one odds against Severus. That alone pushed what the Marauders were doing into the 'bullying' category.

And even if it had been one-on-one, I'm sorry but doing what was done to Snape in his 'worst memory'? That's bullying. That's not a prank.

Yes, Snape followed them around and did shit ... but THEY started it. If they'd left him the hell alone, he'd never have felt the need to follow them around and know what the hell they were up to. By fourth or fifth year, Snape had every reason to need to keep an eye on what that lot was doing, because the chances were good it was going to be aimed at him.

 

The marauders were generally pranksters but their behaviour in dealing with Snape was a pure case of bullying.
I believe Snape was targeted not only because he was a Slytherin but also because of his relationship with lily whom James favoured .Also Snape was the rut of the litter ,as being an half blood in a house which gave utter most significance to blood purity would certainly have alienated him so the marauders pranked him without the risk of much retaliation