Snape vs. Sirius, round 2

[cindysphynx]

No: HPFGUIDX 34753

Devin wrote:

>I agree with what someone said earlier that it 
> would really take a lot of trust to send a letter to any authority, 
> even with the sentence "Pettigrew is Ron Weasley's rat."  Yes, 
> someone as prudent as Dumbledore would indeed check that out, but 
> once again, fresh out of a place like Azkaban, even months out of 
> such a place, one isn't thinking clearly

How does Sirius know that Dumbledore doesn't hate every bone in 
Sirius' body?  Indeed, from Sirius' POV, it surely looks that way.  
Dementors are at Hogwarts, and Sirius thinks Dumbledore put them 
there to kill him.  Sirius knows Dumbledore has to believe Sirius was 
a traitor and spy.  Why should he trust Dumbledore?

Rather than ask why Sirius didn't trust Dumbledore, shouldn't we be 
asking why Sirius didn't trust Lupin?  I think the answer is the 
same:  Sirius believes everyone in the wizarding world believes him 
guilty.  For all Sirius knows, Lupin may relish the opportunity to 
avenge James' death.

Devin again:

>So, was Sirius 
> justified in attacking the Fat Lady?  No, of course not.  But he 
> wanted to find Pettigrew, couldn't trust anyone but Crookshanks at 
> that point, and was understandably upset when he couldn't get in 
> there and get Pettigrew out.  

I've never believed Sirius slashed the Fat Lady solely out of anger.  
Sirius used to be a student at Hogwarts.  He knows the paintings are 
fabric, and the subjects in them can move out of the way.  Sirius 
figures if he cuts the fabric, he can enter the porthole.  I suspect 
that there is something solid behind the fabric, but Sirius doesn't 
know this.  So he slashes, hoping he can enter, only to find the way 
barred by something solid.  (Otherwise, how do we explain Sirius' 
failure to continue on through the portrait hole to the dorm?)

Cindy