Dumbledore Vs. Sirius (was: Adaptation)

[laurenmcoakley]

I believe that Harry confides in Sirius more, and seems to feel more 
close to Sirius than Dumbledore for many complicated reasons like 
those mentioned below and also because, Sirius *belongs* to Harry.  
Sirius has no family.  Dumbledore has to run a school, and cannot 
publicly take Harry's side for everything.  He has to be fair, and 
in being fair, he can't allow himself to be too close to Harry, 
because it would be tough to be objective.  (Which could give a bit 
of insight to the much debated "manhandling" of Harry by 
Dumbledore).  Dumledore isn't always at Harry's disposal for advice, 
like Sirius is.  What else is Siruis doing, besides hiding?  Plus, 
Dumbledore keeps company with some very mixed characters.  I would 
trust him, but we've seen how certain people that Dumbledore 
associates with are questionable.

In addition, Dumbledore's agenda with LV is a much bigger one than 
that of Harry.  His dislike for LV is for many reasons, not 
necessarily mostly for the death of James & Lilly, like it is for 
Harry & Sirius.

Just my opinion,
Lauren


--- In HPFGU-Movie at yahoogroups.com, Sherry Garfio <sgarfio at y...> 
wrote:
>
> Valerie Flowe <valerie.flowe at v...> replied to me:
>     Sirius slips up a lot in OotP, showing his true colors in 
spite of his good intentions (selfish, self-pitying, alcohol-
abusing, insensitive (to young Snape, young Lupin and Harry. Even 
Kreacher). So why do I love his character so??? :-)
>    
>   He¹s intriguing. Dark. Tortured. And yet still, in the end, 
risks his life to save Harry at the ministry. His loyalty to James 
and Lily (and thus Harry) leave you feeling that in spite of all of 
his faults, he has strong moral fiber.
>    
>   Yes, and after I wrote my last post, I started pondering 
Sirius's behavior in OotP with regard to Harry as well.  Sirius's 
feelings toward Harry are further complicated by his relationship 
with James.  He loves Harry not only because he's supposed to as his 
godfather, but also because Harry is a substitute for James.  Sirius 
hasn't really had to come to terms with James's death until OotP.  
He was locked up in Azkaban immediately after James's death, and 
spent most of his term there focused on his own innocence (to keep 
himself sane) and Peter's treachery.  I'm sure he spent a lot of 
time agonizing over the deaths as well, but not in a coming-to-terms 
sort of way due to the presence of the dementors, and in any case he 
hasn't been in his normal life without James, which is where people 
really come to terms with the death of a loved one (doing "normal" 
things and feeling the absence of the dead person who should be 
there).  In GoF, he was on the run and using Harry as a substitute
>  for James, and therefore still did not have much time to deal 
with James's death.
>    
>   There are several occasions in OotP where Sirius expects Harry 
to behave like James, and finally he voices this when he tells Harry 
that he's not so much like his father after all.  Ouch.  I wondered 
when I read that if he's trying to goad Harry into living up to his 
expectations of being a replacement for James, or if it's an "a-ha" 
moment for Sirius where he finally realizes that Harry is NOT James 
and that this is an unfair expectation.  I still haven't decided; 
maybe it's both.  As for risking his life to rescue Harry at the 
Ministry, was he really rescuing Harry, or was he trying to make up 
for what happened to James?
>      
>   That said, I was always a bit sad to see Lupin leave at the end 
of POA. He and Harry really bonded and he (more than Sirius) seemed 
to be the kind-hearted, confidante, substitute parent role model 
that Harry had craved/deserved all his life. I find it unfortunate 
that JKR dropped that nice relationship in OotP and certainly in 
HBP. Lupin appears here and there with no more major bonding with 
Harry. Sad. And now Harry¹s even lost Dumbledore. What¹s the poor 
boy to do?!
> 
>   Amen to that!  Unfortunately, I think that Sirius's death and 
Lupin's absence are both part of the stripping away of Harry's 
support system like in most archetypal fantasy hero coming-of-age 
stories (Luke Skywalker, Frodo, etc).  The final blow is 
Dumbledore's death.  Even Snape, who antagonizes Harry but has 
always been there to save his butt in a pinch, is gone now, 
presumably turned enemy.  These events force Harry to grow up and 
take his place as hero.
>    
>   Sherry Garfio
>   AKA The Other Sherry
>    
> 
> 
> "Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims 
are identical and our hearts are open."
>     -- Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
>