Sirius matters (and so does Draco)

[Horst or Rebecca J. Bohner]

No: HPFGUIDX 18233

Taking an off-list discussion back on list at Amy Z's suggestion.  She
raised a good point when we were discussing differences between fanon and
canon portrayals:

> BTW, if Draco has his pick, how come he goes to the ball with Pansy?  Or
are
> all Slytherin girls pug-faced?

Ooh, there's a tough one for the fanonical "Draco is drop-dead gorgeous and
has the run of the Hogwarts girls" theory.  Any takers?

I also said, with regard to Sirius's sexual history or lack thereof:

> Sirius actually strikes me as a decent kind of guy, just one with fierce
emotions and a tendency to act impulsively rather than thinking things out.
But one of his primary characteristics is absolute loyalty to the people he
cares about -- which to me suggests that he'd be a one-woman type, not the
devil-may-care Don Juan we often see in fanon. <

I should add, unless one wants to suggest that Sirius was into casual
one-night stands, without it ever occurring to him to think about a
"relationship".  This is possible, particularly given the climate of the
70's, as Rita has pointed out.  But I honestly, truly, find it hard to
believe.  Sirius was certainly handsome and popular during his Hogwarts
days, but I know a goodly number of handsome and generally well-liked men
who are not playboys.  And remember, by the time he graduated from Hogwarts
he was only 17.  How common was it, really, for high school seniors to be
sexually active 30 years ago?  Some of them were, to be sure, but I would
suspect nowhere near the number that we have now.  Yes, Sirius's motorcycle
does fit into the "young rebel" image.  But there are different ways of
rebelling.

To me the wizarding world seems, in general, to be more old-fashioned and
straight-laced than the Muggle world.  So I wonder if we don't go too far in
reading Muggle social trends and mores back into the wizarding world and its
characters.

But that's just my opinion, which I will readily eat if JKR contradicts it.
(Although I doubt she will.)
--
Rebecca J. Bohner
rebeccaj at pobox.com
http://home.golden.net/~rebeccaj