I have some Sirius questions here ... seriously :)

[naama_gat at hotmail.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 12304

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., absinthe at m... wrote:
>  "Doreen Rich" <nera at r...> wrote:
> > When it was described about Sirius killing the 13 people, 12 
muggles 
> > (there is that number 12 again) and one wizard, Sirius is said to 
> > have been laughing. Is this just a "repeated rumor"? If not, why 
> > would he laugh if he were innocent and witnessing Pettigrew 
actually 
> > doing the murders?
> 
> IIRC, Sirius noticed that Peter turned into a rat. Perhaps the 
> "laughter" was one of incredulity and was seen by the bystanders as 
> sociopathic laughter. Afterall, Sirius was concentrating on Peter 
more 
> than his surroundings if they dueled in broad daylight in the 
middle 
> of a Muggle street.
> 

As I see it, at that moment Sirius realized just what Pettigrew had 
done, not only his betrayal of James and Lily but also making him, 
Sirius, his scapegoat. He realized Pettigrew's scheme and realized 
that it has succeeded - it will be him, Sirius, who will be blamed 
for the  betrayal of his best friends. Universal disgrace and Azkaban 
await him. His laugh is the laughter of the irony of despair. 
I'm trying to think of literary parallels and can't, except for a 
faint echo of Kafka. Can anybody think of something else?

Naama