anemonen

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but I've never read a discussion about it.

How come James Potter became a head boy? He was never a prefect; it was made perfectly clear that Remus Lupin was chosen as prefect for their year. Is it common practice for the headmaster to pick someone who's not a prefect for the job? How come he didn't choose Remus, or someone else from the prefects of the year? What changes had James gone through from 5th to 7th year that made Dumbledore choose him before more obvious candidates? What do you guys think?

I mean, logically I get why Rowling did it that way: In first year Harry came from being the outsider, weird and mistreated, to learn the he was famous! and his parents were heroes! I get that presenting his parents as having been head boy and head girl was a useful plot device. And then obviously later on, gradually showing that maybe James wasn't all that perfect in the end? (Did they reveal that Remus was the prefect in 5th book or earlier?) But how does this fit with canon?

Just really want to hear someone's thoughts about this :)