Chapter 36 Summary

Amy Z aiz24 at hotmail.com
Mon Mar 26 07:40:40 UTC 2001


No: HPFGUIDX 15182

Great stuff, Penny, on this and the Hermione sketch!

>4. Do your perceptions of Sirius Black change after reading this
>chapter?  Some have commented that his explosive temper and desire 
for
>vengeance in PoA put them off his character a bit.  Did GoF (and this
>chapter in particular) do anything to change your feelings about or
>perceptions of Sirius?

I liked Sirius already by the end of PoA, but this chapter definitely 
gave me even more to like.  One thought:  one of the key moments where 
Sirius shows a lot of emotion is when Harry talks, not about seeing 
James and Lily, but about Cedric's request that he retrieve his body. 
 It's at this point that Harry is overwhelmed and looks over to see 
that Sirius has sat down and buried his face in his hands.

Now, this doesn't tell us definitively that that detail is what made 
Sirius break down.  It might be any piece of the story; it might be 
Harry's own inability to continue talking.  But Cedric's request is 
the point at which we see him so emotional (weeping?), and it left me 
with a more complex vision of Sirius than ever before.  We know James 
was his best friend, we know he's consumed by guilt about his and 
Lily's deaths; his reaction to Harry's seeing them is something we 
could have predicted (though no less powerful for that).  But that he 
is so moved by the Cedric piece of the story tells us something we 
didn't already know about him.  I really loved this part.

Amy Z

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 "Winky is having trouble adjusting, Harry 
 Potter," squeaked Dobby confidentially.
                 -HP and the Goblet of Fire
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