Waiting to Attack

[cynthiaanncoe at home.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 25263

Barb wrote:
> The inexplicable one, in my book, is PoA.  Once he was free, Sirius 
> Black could have sent an owl to Remus Lupin explaining what really 
> happened with the Fidelius Charm and inform him that Peter 
Pettigrew 
> is alive and well and being kept as a pet rat by Ron Weasley, who 
was 
> at Hogwarts.  Sirius needn't even have known that Lupin was 
teaching 
> at Hogwarts, although that would have made it easier for him to go 
> apprehend Peter.  If Lupin doubted such a letter from a prison 
> escapee who he thought betrayed his friends, all he had to do was 
get 
> Ron to bring him the rat and put the spell on him to turn him into 
a 
> human again.  If it didn't work, as was pointed out in the 
Shrieking 
> Shack chapter of PoA, there wouldn't be any harm done.  The timing 
of 
> the climax for the other books makes a certain amount of sense, 
> IMHO.  For PoA, less so.
> 
> --Barb

I wasn't troubled by Sirius' timing.  First, we know he was weak when 
he escaped, and he had to journey to Hogwarts.  This may have taken 
some time, I think until Halloween.

Second, getting a reliable owl right away may have been difficult or 
impossible.  Eventually, Sirius hooks up with Crookshanks, and that 
is the means by which Sirius is able to have access to 
communication.  That's not until Christmas.

Third, he doesn't "wait to attack."  He attacks a few times (fat lady 
and using a knife).  Indeed, his attacks seem to be getting more 
reckless and risky as the book progresses.

Fourth, I'm not sure it would be a smart move to reveal all to Lupin 
too quickly.  Sirius knows nothing of Lupin's feelings about Sirius 
at this point, so it's hard to know what Lupin might do with any 
information Sirius might provide.  What if Lupin weren't teaching at 
Hogwarts but was a hit wizard with MoM?

But above all, Sirius wants one thing:  revenge.  He wants to kill 
Peter all by himself, with his bare hands if he has to.  He's through 
with relying on anyone else to do this.  So the whole chronology 
worked very well for me.

IMHO, of course.

Cindy