Runes in Sirius's "wanted" poster

[odilefalaise]

Hi Everyone,

I haven't seen this referenced yet, but did you guys take a close 
look at the "wanted" poster?

http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/images/2003/11/usatoday-siri
us.jpg

Sirius is holding a sign bearing what I presume is his Prisoner 
ID number.  The first two symbols are the runes "gifu" (its symbol 
looks like the letter X) and "algiz" (it looks like a capital letter Y 
with an extra line in the middle.)  

Gifu is the rune of exchange - my friends and I call Christmas 
"gifumas" (heh heh, aren't we clever).  It is used as the letter G.

Algiz is the gateway to the divine realms - it is the symbol of the 
Rainbow Bridge that leads to the upper three worlds (where the 
gods and others dwell).  When it is pointing downwards, it is 
used to indicate death - strangely, in the 1960s, it was the 
downwards representation (in a circle) that was used as the 
famous peace sign!  Algiz is used for the letter Z.

Also, someone mentioned in a comment on the Leaky Cauldron 
that these runes were among Sirius's tattoos (seen in the picture 
that Warner Brothers asked to be taken down.)

My friend and I were just trying to hash out why these two 
particular runes were chosen for a supposedly dangerous and 
evil criminal.   Maybe a heavenly reward awaits the person who 
catches him?  Then why are they part of his prisoner ID?

I'm thinking they were chosen randomly.  I'm also thinking that 
Curaon et al. didn't count on real witches scrutinizing their 
symbolism.  And I'm thinking that I am probably thinking too 
much.  What are you thinking?

Odile  >^_^<