PoA Chapters 18-20 Summary

[Indigo]

No: HPFGUIDX 21805

1. Do you think it was all right that Lupin didn't tell Dumbledore 
about Sirius?

The loyalty is laudable. And had it been anyone other than 
Dumbledore, I'd have said it was probably prudent given that Sirius 
is actually innocent -- and Dumbledore's proven a kind heart and a 
forgiving nature.  Lupin, however, is used to distrust and suspicion, 
and probably figured he'd be pushing Albus' good graces to let him in 
on the Sirius story too.

2. Did you have any suspicions about Scabbers not being a rat? After 
all, we already knew that he had been in the Weasley family for quite 
some time. 

No. It never occurred to me.

3. What did you think when Harry, Ron and Hermione disarmed Snape? Do 
you think they did the right thing or should they have waited for 
something actually to happen? 

I expected it from Harry and Ron.  I did not expect it from 
Hermione.  She's usually the levelheaded think-things-through type. 
But she was also suffering Time Turner burnout and Buckbeak stress, 
so I guess she was pushed to her limit. 

4. When did you start to believe Sirius? When you heard that Scabbers 
was actually an Animagus or did it take you as long as it took Harry? 

Immediately upon hearing about Scabbers.  I hadn't really suspected 
Black seriously [siriusly?] the whole book. I kept going, "He has to 
be innocent!" Especially considering he was the Potters' best man.  

5. When Sirius told them about the night when James and Lily died, he 
had tears in his eyes. Did this scene have some kind of effect on you 
and deflected a bit from the evil wizard he was supposed to be? 

I felt very sad for Sirius.  Not enough to cry myself, but I was all 
the more convinced of his sincerity.

6. Why do you think has Sirius waited so long before he escaped from 
Azkaban? After all, he could have gotten away years ago, since it 
couldn't have taken him twelve years to get thin enough to pass 
through the bars? 

He didn't know until he saw Scabbers in the photo that Pettigrew did 
still live.  So he had no reason to escape, and until finding out 
that Scabbers was alive, he believed he'd betrayed his best friends 
and orphaned their child.  Thus, given Sirius' loyalty and his hiss 
of "Then you should have DIED for them!"  to Pettigrew, I am fairly 
certain Sirius believed he deserved no better than Azkaban for 
failing James and Lily.

7. When Sirius accused Pettigrew of having sold James and Lily to 
Voldemort, he was shaking all over. Why do you think did he have this 
kind of reaction? 

Horror that a friend could betray his best friends that way. Guilt at 
having put Pettigrew in a position to do so.  Rage that Pettigrew had 
done so, and outrage at Pettigrew's cowardice and deceit.

8. We know Lupin as a very kind and calm person. Why do you think was 
he almost as eager to kill Pettigrew as Sirius was? 

Even a calm man can be driven to rage.  Pettigrew killed the Potters, 
orphaned Harry, sentenced Harry to life with the Dursleys, and framed 
Sirius for it.  I believe given how few friends he likely had as a 
kid, to my mind Remus' loyalty is probably right up there with his 
loyalty to blood family.  


9. Now that you know what happened at the end of Book 4, do you think 
that Harry would have been better off if he would have let Lupin and 
Black kill Pettigrew? 

Nope.  Somebody else would've found the Big V and groveled to help 
him return to power.

10. Did you feel any kind of sympathy for Pettigrew? 

None whatsoever. When he was revealed as an animagus, as compared to 
Padfoot the Dog, and Prongs the Stag, I immediately went: "Hmm, dogs 
are loyal.  Stags are noble.  What are rats?"  

11. When Sirius offers Harry to live with him, Harry immediately says 
yes. Now, we know that there aren't many adults Harry trusts. Why do 
you think does he trust Sirius to the point of going to live with 
him, even though he has known him only for about an hour or so? 

Partly because Harry wants nothing more than to never go back to 
Privet Drive. Partly because he is, as time passes, becoming 
convinced that Sirius is in fact innocent.  Sirius has no reason to 
attack Harry, so his offer is in good faith and has the air about it 
when he asks...as if he's thinking, "Like you'd really want to come 
with ME after *I* failed your parents..."  Plus, Harry likes and 
admires Lupin.  And Lupin considers Sirius like a brother to him, if 
their embrace in the American edition is to be believed.

12. Did you think that Harry really saw his father, or the ghost of 
his father across the lake, or did you think someone else must have 
cast the Patronus? 

At the time, I was sure it was a ghost or some other wizard.

13. Do you think it was an accident that this Dementor tried to 
administer the Kiss to Harry, or do you think the Dementors aren't as 
loyal to Fudge as he would like them to be? 

Given Book 4, I'm sure the Dementors aren't as loyal to Fudge as he 
wants to think.  I think they just find Harry's emotions delicious, 
given they've messed with him before.