[HPforGrownups] Re: defense of Sirius and James

[Ebony Elizabeth Thomas]

No: HPFGUIDX 19217

Welcome, Susan!  We are glad to have you...

>I confess to feeling a bit baffled by a couple of recent posts describing 
>Sirius as "commitmentphobic".  Not only is there nothing in the text to 
>support this (about the only time we hear of  him pre Azkaban he is trying 
>to assume the sole care of an orphaned 15 month old child)
>

I agree.  Of the adult characters (teachers included) Sirius and Hagrid are 
my favorites for this precise reason.  Sirius won me over not because he was 
so dead sexy, but because the end of PoA and his actions throughout GoF 
showed how much he loved a kid who desperately needed it.

(Of course, I may be biased.  My opinions on the HP supporting cast have 
always been directly proportional to their treatment of my favorite 
character.  If they treat Harry well and/or he likes them, they're A-OK with 
me.  If they do not, and he could do very well without them, I tend not to 
be highly interested in them.  Which is why I prefer Sirius discussion to 
Snape.  What can I say?  I'm not all that subtle or sly of a creature, I 
guess.  :-D)

Sirius as commitment-phobe *or* immature is definitely not canon.  As for 
the "dead sexy" thing, according to a HP4GU who has met her, JKR herself 
confirmed this.  Wherever Alix is, kudos to her... of *all* the things you 
could ask JKR... excellent!  :-D (Hmm... runs off to start a thread at 
OT-Chatter.)

>It completely contrasts with my view of him and James, in that I tend to 
>think that not being in a lifetime relationship at 22 is pretty normal, and 
>James and Lily are definitely on the young side to have settled down, 
>especially since >normal wizard lifetimes exceed Muggle ones by about 50% 
>apparently.
>

Which begs the question of whether the J and L romance is typical or 
atypical in the wizarding world.  If typical, then all those who say that we 
shippers are nuts ("who marries the people they grow up with?") ought to 
think twice.  If atypical, then one wonders *why* they were in such a rush 
to get married/have children... I could suggest several reasons why, but the 
prevailing winds on list would blow me over.

Either way, it's a win-win situation for my view of canon.

Had >Voldemort not intervened I  could have imagined James at age 28 or 
 >thereabouts coming home from a long day at wherever he was earning all 
those >Galleons, tripping over Harry and his bratty siblings, having a huge 
row >with Lily in which she works off her frustrations at the sidetracking 
of her >magical career and he works off all his frustrations at his missed 
 >opportunities to play the field, culminating with his final insult "You 
get >more like your sister Petunia every day", a slammed door, and a trip 
out to >meet Sirius in the pub, where he makes bitter remarks about women 
into his
>pint and flirts outrageously with the half Veela barmaid just to prove he 
> >isn't past it....

LOL!  Injecting a dose of reality into the Potterverse, are we?  I love 
it... after all, the category of fantasy JKR is writing seems to be magical 
realism, right?

Thanks for your post!

--Ebony

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Ebony AKA AngieJ
ebonyink at hotmail.com

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