[HPforGrownups] Punishment vs Consequences (WAS: So Why didn't Dumbledore Punish Sirius?)

[Sherry Garfio]

No: HPFGUIDX 48297

Angela wrote:
> But, what thoughts does everyone have on WHY Dumbledore let
> the Marauders, especially Sirius, go unpunished?

I would like to take this opportunity to put forth some ideas I have been
contemplating of late, mostly in response to the anti-Harry crowd asking me how
I can justify reading to kids about kids who break the rules and never get
caught, much less punished.  My response is to point out the *consequences*
faced by the Trio: the very first time they go sneaking around at night, what
do they find?  Fluffy!  I doubt McGonnagal herself could have come up with a
more severe punishment <g>.

This all ties in very nicely with what I perceived as a problem with many kids'
morality when I was teaching high school.  The kids I taught seemed to believe
that *getting caught* breaking the rules is the crime, not breaking the rules
in the first place.  In Harry's world, on the other hand, getting caught
breaking the rules usually results in a more *lenient* punishment than not
getting caught.  The reasons for the rules become very apparent to our heroes
as soon as they break them.  I think this is a good thing to teach kids, in
light of the problem with the current views I stated above.  Actions have
consequences, whether those consequences come in the form of authority-imposed
punishment or not.  Kids (and adults, let's not forget about them) see the
punishment, or lack thereof, that others receive much more easily than natural
consequences, hence the current situation of kids avoiding getting caught
rather than following the rules.  [I should also state that as a parent, I very
much subscribe to the "Natural and Logical Consequences" philosophy of
discipline; here's a brief article if you want more info:
http://www.drrobertbrooks.com/writings/articles/0106.html ]

Of course, blindly following arbitrary rules is not a good thing either.  At
the end of each of the first 3 books, the Trio break all sorts of school rules
for the greater good.  In these cases, blindly following the rules would have
allowed much worse things to happen, so breaking the rules was the right thing
to do.  This is a more complex form of moral reasoning.  One needs to see the
reasoning *behind* the rules to know why they should be followed, and when (if
ever) they should be discarded.

Now, getting back to Angela's question, why did Sirius go unpunished for the
Prank?  My question is, *did* he go unpunished?  I have stated before that I
don't see Sirius as lacking in remorse; I think he's *so* remorseful that he
can't bring himself to face it.  His comment that Snape "deserved" the Prank
seems too flippant to be genuine; he perceives that his audience doesn't care
for Snape either, and hopes that they will just agree that he deserved it and
move on so that Sirius doesn't have to examine his own guilt, or worse, defend
himself, because he can't.  If I'm right, then this is his punishment - one
that he relived over and over for 12 years in Azkaban.  Dumbledore didn't need
to *impose* a punishment; the natural consequences were much more appropriate
than anything Dumbledore could have come up with.

If I'm wrong, and Sirius' comments are a true reflection of his beliefs, then
is there any evidence that he suffered any consequences for his actions?  It
seems clear that there was no *authority-imposed* punishment, or at least we
never hear about it.  That would make it easy for Snape to hold a grudge, since
as I have stated, punishment is much more visible to outsiders than
consequence, and Snape may have failed to see how Sirius paid.  Does anyone
know of any such consequence of the Prank?

BTW, thanks to all of you who responded to my Boggart question.  More to
contemplate.

Sherry


=====
"The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above-average drivers."

      -Dave Barry, "Things That It Took Me 50 Years to Learn"

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